Tag: ice

LA County Steals $5M Fire Relief For ICE-Raid Checks

In bombshell findings, Los Angeles County sliced a wildfire housing fund in half and steered the cash toward households claiming income loss from ICE raids, detentions, and deportations – without requiring anyone to disclose immigration status.

Taxpayers who watched entire neighborhoods burn in January 2025 now watch the same government treat federal immigration enforcement as another “emergency” worthy of six-figure rent wipeouts.

After the Eaton and Palisades fires, supervisors approved $10 million to help tenants and landlords dealing with fire-related rent losses. They then kept $5 million for fire claims and moved the other $5 million into a priority category covering “economic hardship because of federal actions targeting immigrant communities.” Another $9.788 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund was pointed at the same category unless fire victims still had unmet need.

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The Most Dangerous — And Incompetent — Feds You’ve Never Heard Of

Nested within ICE is an American Stasi with the power to target U.S. citizens. Called Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, it is the country’s second-largest criminal investigative agency behind only the FBI — though with broader authorities.

But the most dangerous feds in America may also be the most incompetent. The Justice Department’s ongoing attempt to turn 15 Minnesota anti-ICE activists into a sprawling “Antifa” conspiracy opened a rare window into HSI, with disclosures that are equal parts creepy and hilariously inept, including:

  • The Dropped Wire: An undercover agent spying on a church gym when her concealed surveillance wire fell out — which she only realized later.
  • The Terrorist Dental Plan: Hunting for a “terrorist financing” ring, HSI secretly subpoenaed years of labor union SEIU’s bank records only to uncover a paper trail consisting entirely of strike supplies, retiree dues, and member dental benefits.
  • The Antifa Bike Shop: Prosecutors showed a grand jury an Alex Jones-style HSI briefing titled “The Conspiracy” that framed a bicycle repair shop as a key node in a criminal syndicate.

Federal court records describe Operation Puppet Master — yes, that’s the official name — HSI’s clandestine effort to infiltrate anti-ICE groups that the agency believe are fronts for “Antifa” domestic terrorists.

The reality of HSI’s work, as depicted in the court filings, contrasts starkly with the ICE’s official propaganda. Press releases highlight HSI’s work busting child predators and little more. It is an unimpeachable public relations shield: who isn’t against pedophiles? But HSI has quietly evolved into a lightly regulated domestic intelligence apparatus that under the name of “counterterrorism” now investigates unions, non-profits, environmental groups, and protesters.

In a document detailing Operation Puppet Master entered in the court record, HSI says: “Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) St. Paul has opened an investigation … [which] will prioritize the identification of funding sources, organizational structures, and predicate actions behind these campaigns.”

Here’s what that looked like in practice.

Two undercover agents sat through a skills workshop at the Minneapolis Public Library. Their report is a memo of pure nothing. The marquee finding: an attendee had red curly hair.

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US Deports Ex-Ecuadorian Minister Tied to Cartel Murder of Presidential Candidate

ICE overrode judge’s decision blocking José Serrano’s removal.

Ex-Ecuadorian minister José Serrano, accused of aiding a cartel murder presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023, has been deported by ICE.

Ecuadorian conservative Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated at a campaign rally in August 2023.

Fernando Villavicencio was reportedly shot in the head three times.

Supporters of the popular conservative, Fernando Villavicencio, managed to capture a suspect after the assassination.

A grenade was also found at the scene.

The criminal gang “Los Lobos,” based in Ecuador, later claimed responsibility for the assassination.

José Serrano’s removal took place even after a US judge blocked Serrano’s removal arguing he may be tortured if returned to the South American nation.

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ICE to Deploy Boston Dynamics Robot Dogs for Its Enforcement Operations

Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to deploy robotic dogs as part of its immigration enforcement operations.

The agency planning to spend as much as $2 million on Boston Dynamics’ four-legged Spot robots.

The Department of Homeland Security says ICE needs remotely operated robots capable of entering dangerous locations where sending officers could put them at unnecessary risk.

According to procurement documents, the robots will be used for “inspection, situational awareness, and hazard assessment” in confined, unstable and otherwise difficult-to-access environments.

ICE is expected to spend between $1 million and $2 million purchasing Spot robots and accompanying equipment.

With individual units costing roughly $75,000 before additional equipment, the contract could put dozens of robotic dogs into service.

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ICE Awards $16.7 Million No-Bid Contract For 6,000 Pairs Of Electric Shock Gloves

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has awarded a $16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves that can deliver electric shocks. Officers would use them to control resisting detainees and protesters, according to a federal notice published Thursday.

The no-bid deal went to Compliant Technologies LLC, a Kentucky firm that manufactures the devices, and covers the gloves plus support equipment and services over the next six months.

ICE moved forward with the purchase despite ongoing objections from civil rights advocates and Democratic senators. They said the agency already draws criticism for use of force with unclear oversight.

Hours before the notice appeared, a group of senators led by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) wrote to ICE’s acting director, urging the agency to abandon the plan. Fifteen colleagues from the Democratic caucus signed on.

“The blatant and tragic misuse of force in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston, Maine, and other locations around the country raises significant skepticism about the agency’s professional capability to safely deploy a new tool that could be used to harm Americans without cause,” the letter said.

The Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, defended the purchase Thursday.

“Sanctuary politicians attempting to ban our federal law enforcement from any safety equipment is despicable and a deliberate attempt to undermine and endanger our officers,” the agency said in a statement.

The plan for the purchase surfaced earlier this month when ICE posted a notice about buying thousands of “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices” for officers and investigators.

Gloves Look Like Regular Gear Until Button Is Pressed

The gloves appear as ordinary patrol gloves until an officer presses a button, which activates electrical mode. The shock works only on bare skin, and aims to produce enough pain to make a resisting person comply. Some local jails and police departments already use similar equipment.

ICE’s notice listed several scenarios for the devices, including high-tension environments during arrests, transport of combative detainees, and civil disturbances outside detention facilities.

“It will be used when a subject is actively or passively resisting and an officer needs to gain control quickly to prevent injuries to both parties,” the document said.

Officials said the shocks would help maintain control over inmates, stop aggression or escape attempts, let officers handcuff people who hide their hands, and aid crowd control efforts. The aim is to avoid the deployment of greater force, including firearms. The notice mentioned approved policy, training, and accountability standards but no further details.

ICE initially intended to spend up to $20 million on the devices, known as CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E., or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, with delivery expected by March 31, 2027. The gloves were earmarked for Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations officers and agents.

Compliant Technologies said the gloves should not be deployed in the face of verbal defiance or belligerence, serve as punishment, or be used for torture. The company also warned against deploying them on children, the elderly, pregnant women, or people with disabilities.

The manual advised using them when a suspect becomes violent enough to endanger an officer or the public, and only to meet lawful objectives under agency policy. Officers need training and certification, with recertification every two years.

“Every decision is made with careful consideration and appropriately reviewed to ensure that any technology ICE utilizes is consistent with all applicable law enforcement policies and standards,” an ICE spokesperson told The Epoch Times earlier this month via email. “Our officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training.”

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Minnesota Just Got Handed a Loss Following Its Absurd Request Over ICE Agent Christian Castro

Minnesota has been fighting for the longest time to override Texas’s laws surrounding the incarceration of ICE agent Christian Castro. But a judge just reminded it that all the requests in the world from Gov. Tim Walz will fall on deaf ears when they don’t make any sense.

As you know by this point, Minnesota has been showing absolute fury against ICE agents. Ever since President Donald Trump ordered agents to enter the state to arrest violent illegal immigrants, Mayor Jacob Frey has been pushing back, riling up his citizens to angrily protest their every move.

Since that time, we’ve seen a number of shootings after citizens went on the attack against ICE agents. Renee Good, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, and Alex Pretti were all killed trying to act against ICE while they were trying to do their job. And rather than coordinating efforts with them, Frey actually made things even worse – at one point even saying that ICE needs to get the (censored) out of our city.”

Earlier this year, an arrest warrant was issued for ICE officer Christian Castro by the state, who was taken into custody shortly thereafter in Cameron County, Texas. He was formally charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime after being accused of firing into a Minneapolis home and striking a Venezuelan national’s leg.

Now, this is an incident that could’ve easily been put under investigation by the Department of Justice, but Minnesota decided to push the matter into overdrive. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had been demanding the extradition of Castro to the state, and even making such demands as public as possible to look good for his audience.

Following suit, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit last week, citing that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott needed to pay attention to the request at hand, and demanded the judge issue a temporary restraining order to prevent Cameron County from releasing Castro.

“Gov. Abbott’s withholding of the rendition warrant threatens to deprive Minnesota of its constitutional right to Castro’s return,” Ellison noted in a public statement again. 

Madness, isn’t it? The good news, however, is that Abbott wasn’t having any of it.

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Fifteen NY Sheriffs Sue Kathy Hochul Over New Anti-ICE Law

Fifteen New York sheriffs are suing Gov. Kathy Hochul over a state law that took effect this week banning formal agreements between local governments and federal agencies.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington, D.C., filed the lawsuit on behalf of the sheriffs of St. Lawrence, Wayne, Broome, Madison, Cattaraugus, Orange, Jefferson, Saratoga, Lewis, Franklin, Delaware, Fulton, Oswego, Cayuga and Rensselaer counties, according to the Albany Times-Union.

Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said Hochul had “escalated her administration’s war on the police and she expanded policies to put criminals before the citizens of New York.”

“Under the New York Constitution’s guarantees of Home Rule (Article IX) and Separation of Powers, and under the independent status of their office, they possess the authority to make their own judgments about whether and how to participate in the cooperative framework Congress created,” the lawsuit said, according to WSTM-TV.

The lawsuit said the constitutional overreach to ban what are known as 287(g) agreements harms public safety.

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Federal Appeals Court Rejects Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver’s Immunity Defense After She Assaulted ICE Agents

A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver’s immunity defense after she assaulted ICE agents at a Newark ICE detention center last year.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected LaMonica McIver’s argument that she was immune from prosecution because of the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause.

This is the latest legal set back for LaMonica McIver.

Last year, a federal judge declined to toss out the federal charges against Rep. McIver.

Politico reported:

Rep. LaMonica McIver is not immune from prosecution for her contact with ICE officials during a heated scrum at New Jersey’s Delaney Hall detention facility, even though it occurred during a legislative investigation, a federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday.

“The charged conduct … is unambiguously non-legislative,” 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Cindy Chung, a Biden appointee, wrote in a 2-1 opinion joined by Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee.

McIver is facing three federal charges related to alleged assaults on ICE officials and interference with them during a May 2025 oversight visit to Delaney Hall. McIver and two other Democratic lawmakers were present when federal officials moved into a small crowd to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who joined them on the oversight visit. The confrontation escalated and became physical, and McIver was ultimately charged with making physical contact with the officials.

The 3rd Circuit ruling sustains the bulk of the criminal case against the Democratic lawmaker despite her protestation that the charges were brought for political purposes. McIver pointed to commentary by Trump, his allies and the former federal prosecutor who brought the case at the time: Alina Habba, a former Trump personal lawyer and current White House aide.

In June 2025, a federal grand jury returned a 3-count indictment charging Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver with forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers at the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark.

McIver is facing a maximum of 17 years in prison for all three counts.

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Iowa Dem Josh Turek Advised Illegal Immigrants How to Avoid ICE Detainment in Official Newsletter

Obama-endorsed Iowa Democrat U.S. Senate nominee Josh Turek has portrayed himself as a “common-sense” moderate, even as his official legislative newsletter advised illegal immigrants on avoiding ICE detainment and as he called for an “easier pathway to citizenship.”

Turek, who has been an Iowa state representative since 2023, is running against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA). He has described himself as a “prairie populist” and a “common-sense” lawmaker capable of appealing to “Iowans of all political stripes.”

But Turek’s immigration record complicates that moderate pitch.

Turek’s official legislative newsletter included guidance for illegal immigrants on avoiding detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A section of Turek’s newsletter titled “Know Your Rights as an Immigrant,” which includes a link to the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) “Immigrants’ Rights” page, stated:

Given the recent policy changes enacted by the Trump administration on both legal and illegal immigrants, I wanted to provide a thorough list of your rights and how they apply in different scenarios. The ACLU is a great resource that provides tips on what to do in various situations. Please click here to read more.

Turek first called for “an easier pathway to citizenship” for illegal immigrants in April and used the same phrase again this month in an interview with the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

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New York Counties Sue Governor to Protect Cooperation with ICE

Two New York counties are suing Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul to stop a new state law that bars them from working with federal immigration officers.

Officials of Rensselaer County and Broome County have announced that they intend to join a federal lawsuit challenging the new state law sponsored by state Democrats, according to PIX 11.

The federal lawsuit seeks to void a New York state law that bars police departments and other state law enforcement agencies from entering into the federal 287(g) program which formalizes a working relationship between the departments and federal immigration law enforcement branches.

Officials of Nassau County have also expressed interest in the lawsuit, but have not yet committed to joining the other two counties in the filing.

The law, called the Local Crimes, Local Cop Act, went into effect on August 25, and would summarily nullify agreements with ICE that are already in place for 13 New York counties.

“Local police will assist ICE only if a real crime has been committed,” Gov. Hochul said. “But on civil immigration matters, ICE is on their own.”

The New York Attorney General’s Office has also issued subpoenas to the counties that have not yet officially confirmed that they have terminated any agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or will abide by newly implemented state law.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is running for Gov. against Hochul, strenuously opposed the Local Crimes, Local Cop Act and says that his county has taken a serious bite out of crime by working with ICE.

“We got rid of 2,000 illegal migrants with criminal records in Nassau County without raiding a church, a school, a daycare center, a hospital, because we cooperated with ICE,” Blakeman recently said.

Blakeman also railed against Hochul and said her law will make New Yorkers less safe.

“Kathy Hochul, where do you want those guns? What neighborhood do you want to destroy? Where do you want those drugs? What community do you want to destroy? Where do you want those illegal migrants with criminal records to live? You want them back in New York? We say no!” he said at a recent rally.

Hochul, though, is warning the counties to knuckle under to the new law and said of any lawsuit filed to stop her law: “Bring it on.”

“No county executive should think that they are above the law in the state of New York,” the Gov. said. “The attorney general will be fully responsible for enforcement.”

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