BREAKING: Adelanto Detention Center has now a #COVID19 outbreak. We heard yesterday that 32 ppl were in quarantine by noon. @ahilan_toolong & the @aclu team confirmed 38 case as of last night. This is after 300 new arrests were made by ICE in LA the last 50 days. Connect the dots
About 50% of new #COVID19 tests so far have been positive. This may be the highest positivity rate of a control sample in ICE detention to date.
This was so preventable.
On 14 September 2020 while they already had notice of the start of the outbreak, ICE filed declarations in court claiming that they have done everything there was to do & have been so successful in preventing #COVID-19 outbreak at #Adelanto.
Then they went through the medical history of our clients who they refuse to release because they are, get this! not "individuals with disabilities" & they have NOT exhibited any #COVID19 related symptoms so they was no need for them to be tested. Look at their declaration
This is an asylum seeker without ANY criminal record!
L complained of chills, cough, sore throat, headaches, body aches & asked 4 #COVID19 test.
A *nurse* recorded only "sore throat, headaches, body aches" in med records & send her back 2 unit w ibuprofen. Told her "we cant test everyone who asks, if U unhappy go back 2 U country"
See ya' in court assholes!
Advocates have been screaming into the void that is ICE & our judicial system. Judge Hatter ordered major population reduction in Adelanto in April but 9th Cir stayed it. Since then ~ 40 individual judicial bail grants have had. The only workable solution is to #FreeThemAll
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Hmm, either this is the biggest deportation scandal of Trump 2.0 or this "article" is just an appalling effort to generate clicks at the expense of immigrants victimized by ICE.
The article claims that Luis Leon, an 82-year-old Allentown ***green card holder ** (who was granted asylum in 1987) and a citizen of Chile, WITHOUT ANY CRIMINAL RECORD-- was arrested and detained by ICE on 20 June 2025 at his replacement green card "appointment", disappeared in the bowels of hell that is the ICE detention system, and secretly and summarily deported to Guatemala. IF THIS IS TRUE, this is the most outrageous action of ICE to date (in my opinion)!!!
But reading the "article" leaves me with the unmistakable sense that someone with a 5-7 year old glib understanding of how the immigration system works is spinning a tale for an ulterior motive. I hope I'm wrong.
The reason I'm going to do this thread is because I am tired and seething about the absolute lack of integrity in reporting the monumental human rights violations and illegality of ICE in the last six months. Please, PLEASE read and follow the GOOD immigration reporters we have. 🧵
1. So here we go.
The piece states that "The last time anyone in the family saw Leon was June 20, when he went with his wife to a Philadelphia immigration office to have his lost green card replaced." It further asserts that Mr. Leon's life "all fell apart, [according to his granddaughter], when he lost the wallet holding his green card and made the fateful appointment to replace it at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office on 41st Street in Philadelphia."
No. You do not go to the local USCIS office to get your green card "replaced". This was phased out, probably when they stopped using the laminated GCs that were indeed printed at local offices decades ago.
What the claim tries to build on is that some years ago people could schedule an INFOPass appointment and go to the local USCIS office to talk to immigration information officer and one of the type of appointments was to get an ADIT stamp (a temporary evidence of legal permanent residence in the form of a red stamp placed in one's passport or on an I-94). They stopped doing that a few years ago in almost all cases and either include an automatic extension on the I-90 receipt or send an I-94 and confirmation letter in the mail when you request one from Emma-- but occasionally, you may get a call from a 202 number inquiring about the need for an appointment and scheduling one. Don't see why they would have scheduled one here, unless there is more, much more to the immigration background. Just sayin'
2. Then the article claims that Mr. Leon "was handcuffed by two officers, who led him away without explanation. His wife, who speaks little English, was left behind and kept in the building for 10 hours until she was released to her granddaughter."
This all sounds too familiar these days unfortunately, but what bothers me is that there is zero details as to what happened to Mr. Leon's while she was F* detained for 10 hours by ICE !!!!! or what did the local ICE "officers" told the granddaughter when they "released" her grandma into her custody but her 82-years old granddad was no where to be found.
Yes, ICE officers are as*holes but not saying anything at "release" in THESE circumstances is highly unusual. So I'm gonna go on a limb and say, they did tell them something -- probably 30% of the truth -- but they did say something. Why not report it?
The practical implications of SCOTUS decision to allow people subject to a final order of removal to be deported to any country without any process -- other than a day notice and zero judicial oversight -- is so astonishing that it is difficult to comprehend they allowed it.
For one, this decision renders both withholding of removal and CAT relief for all practical purposes useless.
Even if a non-citizen can meet the demanding burden of proof, all that a grant does is prevent the removal to the country or countries specifically prohibited in the order. The way the Trump Admin envisions it, for the next 3.5 years, those granted withholding or CAT just limit so very slightly the universe of places where they can be sent. For example, if one can convince an IJ that they would be persecuted or tortured in country X, all that means is that the person cannot be sent to country X but can be sent on 15 minutes' notice to 194 other countries in the world agreeing to take them.
Both forms of relief are mandatory for a reason!!!
But now all that getting such protection means is that someone meeting the definition of 'refugee' who missed the 1-year deadline or has a preclusive conviction can be arrested, detained, and sent to a country that has agreed to get paid by the US government to take in ppl. There is zero protection that when impoverished or war torn countries in Africa and Asia agree to take in US deportees those countries would provide any rights or protection. They can be sent there and imprisoned indefinitely; or sent to the country from which they have protection under US law. This is nothing short of a new form of government-sponsored slave trade.
So, here are some interesting tidbits from today's hearing in the Mahmoud Khalil case, courtesy of .@innercitypress- the best court coverage reporter in the biz by far!
The small Good news first: the docket will be made public! Huray for 1st amendment right to access to court records!
The not so good news -- a 🧵
As I said before, this is an immigration habeas corpus petition and those are very squirrely.
This is not a deportation case and the judge cannot and has not blocked Mr. Khalil's deportation on the merit -- the judge blocked his removal temporarily only to preserve jurisdictional issues. He really does not need to do so, because Mr. Khalil is a LPR and until there is a final order of removal, he remains so and cannot be removed.
According to the reporting, the AUSA represented that Mr. Khalil has been served with a Notice to Appear (NTA) that initiated removal proceedings against him in Jena where he is currently detained by ICE. Meaning, he was served with the formal "charging" document that sets forth the facts [very, very abbreviated] in support of his removal proceedings and the INA provisions invoked to strip him of his green card. Let me say this -- unless his attorneys manage to get him transferred back to NYC or somehow get him released -- his removal proceedings will be conducted in Jena and under 5th Cir law. Having had the misfortune to do many cases in the shithole that is la Salle IC, I would not want this case there. It could be worse but ... just sayin'
The dreaded #immigrationFriday is upon us again: the 5th Circuit again found the DACA program unlawful but limited the injunctive relief to Texas and stayed the ruling pending cert review. It is an awful ending of a
good program that should had long ago been replaced by a Congressional Act providing a path to citizenship for Dreamers. A depressing thread ...
The decision is by Judge Smith so of course the standing issue was dealt quicky (he issued the DAPA decision). Basically the standing decision goes like this:
1. We found standing in DACA I; 2. We don't want to change the result so you lose again 3. SCOTUS hasn't told us we are wrong about that DACA I -- so go pound sand.
Hah! I missed this one: Bernie Sanders has introduced an #H1B Amendment to the Laken Riley Act, which
* eliminates the concept of "prevailing wage" and replaces it with "the higher of the median local wage level or the actual wage of similarly employed
workers". (More on that later in the thread)
* introduces the concept of "employer at common law" which is going after the outsourcing model in H1B and if passed, would pretty much end it.
* mandates more rigorous lay-off certifications from both the petitioning employer and the "employer at common law", i.e. the H1B chop shops
* if a petitioning employer or the chop shop is required by law to provide a notice of a mass layoff and has H1B on payroll "the status of such nonimmigrants shall
expire on the date that is 120 days after the date on which such notice is provided."
* expands the grace period from 60 days to 120 days for a laid-off H-1B to switch employers
The whole H1B MAGA "civil war" as the @thehill called it, is fake as hell and it "erupted" because of xenophobia and racism & coz certain people do not want to address the real issue about "legal" immigration: It has nothing to do with the inability to get and retain the 0.01% of any profession!
The conversation should not be about H1B visas (this should have been reformed line a decade ago to remove the caps). It is and should be about REMOVING the COUNTRY CAPS preventing talented and hard-working people from getting their green cards and having the certainty and security they need to help America prosper.
Musk's whole message about desperately needing #H1B to keep geniuses like him and prominent Tech entrepreneurs is total BS. H1B is not and has never been about the top anything.
H1B is a non-immigrant visa program that is open to both entry-level and experienced non-citizens by Congressional design. All that you need is
* good faith job offer in a specialty occupation (which is defined as involving theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge (yeah I know!)
and
* a bachelor's or higher degree in the specific specialty (or its equivalent) actually required as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the United States.
*** OR be a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability.
So this is how both Musk and Melania got their foot in and on their way to green cards and later US Citizenship.