The rising listing of ICE violations towards U.S. residents wrongfully detained by ICE consists of practically 20 American youngsters—together with two with most cancers
It’s onerous to not see the all-too-often brutal footage of ICE wrongfully concentrating on our residents and our neighbors – until you’re the Speaker of the Home. Mike Johnson, one of many prime Republicans in your complete nation, has drawn some side-eye after claiming that he’s but to see any proof of the mass deportation company crossing the road. If he simply opened his eyes he would witness a rampage violating the due course of rights of immigrant contributors and U.S. residents alike. Severely, Mike, simply activate the television.
“We’ve seen photographs out of Chicago of federal brokers capturing religion leaders with pepper balls and arresting journalists,” a reporter mentioned throughout a press convention final week. “The place’s the restrict for you on what’s acceptable conduct by federal regulation enforcement? And when is it incumbent on Congress to amend oversight on federal regulation enforcement?”
“‘I’ve not seen them cross the road but,’ Johnson replied, saying that there have been some committees with jurisdiction over federal regulation enforcement,” The New Republic reported. “It’s not risen to that degree.”
Q: We have seen photographs out of Chicago of federal brokers capturing religion leaders with pepper balls and arresting journalists. The place’s the restrict for you on what’s acceptable conduct by federal brokers?MIKE JOHNSON: I’ve not seen them cross the road but.
That federal brokers have apparently not crossed the road possible involves a shock to the quite a few religion leaders who’ve been shot with pepper balls for expressing their constitutional rights of meeting and spiritual freedom – together with one clergy member who mentioned that she’s been repeatedly hit. Rev. Hannah Kardon “mentioned she has been shot a number of instances with pepper bullets, together with whereas she was praying together with her eyes closed and fingers lifted, carrying a clerical collar and stole,” Faith Information Service reported Oct. 7.
DHS didn’t touch upon concentrating on the religion leaders, and as a substitute despatched a press release claiming that the protesters have been “rioters,” the outlet mentioned. Truly, that is what a rioter seems like. Rev. Kardon makes clear that she and others have been peacefully demonstrating when federal brokers have been those who grew to become the agitators.
“Each time now we have been attacked with pepper bullets or tear gasoline or pepper spray that I’ve been current, it has felt prefer it got here from anger that we have been there, and never from any decided security want or protocol,” Rev. Kardon informed Faith Information Service. “They’re unhinged.” And as a Portland Police Bureau assistant chief not too long ago mentioned in courtroom, federal brokers have been “instigating” violence.
📍 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋:Over 170 U.S. residents have been arrested and detained by immigration brokers — kicked, dragged, held for days — typically with out entry to attorneys or rationalization. The federal government doesn’t even observe how typically this occurs. #AbuseofPowerWatch
— Abuse of Energy Watch (@abuseofpowerwatch.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T15:09:56.158Z
You’d suppose that with the federal government shutdown (until you occur to be serving to Stephen Miller separate households) and his ongoing refusal to swear in Arizona’s first Latina congress girl, Johnson would’ve had an opportunity to at the very least learn the ProPublica report revealing how immigration brokers have crossed the road by harassing and detaining greater than 170 U.S. residents throughout the first 9 months of Trump’s time period (and the true quantity is probably going far greater, because the federal authorities refuses to trace these violations).
“Individuals have been dragged, tackled, overwhelmed, tased and shot by immigration brokers,” ProPublica stories. “They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held exterior within the rain whereas of their underwear. At the least three residents have been pregnant when brokers detained them. A type of girls had already had the door of her dwelling blown off whereas Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem watched.”
ProPublica additional reveals that almost 20 of those Individuals have been youngsters, together with two with most cancers. “That features 4 who have been held for weeks with their undocumented mom and with out entry to the household’s lawyer till a congresswoman intervened.” You don’t need to take it from us, Mr. Speaker. There are examples in every single place of the road being crossed.
In August, ICE brokers wearing full tactical gear blew the entrance door off a house so as to violently arrest U.S. citizen and expectant mother Sabrina Medina, who was coming back from a being pregnant check-up. Medina, who mentioned that brokers had repeatedly stalked her so as to find her husband, mentioned that brokers additionally threatened her undocumented mother with “federal time” if she didn’t help them. “Cameras in her dwelling captured ICE’s raid, which included masked brokers storming her Huntington Park home with rifles in hand,” The Every day Beast reported.
Medina “alleges an agent turned an out of doors surveillance digicam away from what was transpiring—an act she caught on digicam and shared with KTLA.”
Or Speaker Johnson might wish to learn up on the case of Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen and Chicago resident who was shot 5 instances by Border Patrol brokers. Physique-camera footage confirmed an officer taunting the American with “Do one thing, bitch” earlier than pulling over and capturing Martinez, contradicting official claims that she drove towards officers (this isn’t the primary time they’ve been dishonest). Martinez’s lawyer informed the Chicago Solar-Occasions that “brokers have been in such a rush to take her into custody on the hospital that they needed to return later when Martinez started bleeding from her wounds.” She fortunately survived her accidents.
Then simply days in the past, three teenage U.S. residents in Cook dinner County, Illinois have been held for hours regardless of making an attempt to inform federal brokers that they’re Individuals. Footage confirmed brokers violently pulling one of many teenagers, 18-year-old Evelyn, from the passenger aspect of a car. “She is then thrown to the bottom, all whereas saying she shouldn’t be resisting arrest, because the officer handcuffed her and appeared to place a knee on her again,” CBS Information Chicago reported. As soon as once more, officers denied the “horrific ICE arrest by straight up mendacity about it,” The New Republic mentioned.
The kids “have been telling them they have been U.S. residents, and so they didn’t care,” her mother informed CBS Information Chicago. “It was very scary to see that video.” In contrast to Speaker Johnson, Evelyn’s mother would possibly agree that federal brokers have certainly crossed the road.
Speaker Johnson additionally acknowledged throughout the press occasion that there have been Home committees with jurisdiction over federal regulation enforcement. That is true – and he ought to have them look into how ICE is obstructing his personal members from conducting detention oversight and blocking the remainder of us from exercising our constitutional rights, like with the ability to report ICE exercise so long as it doesn’t intervene with enforcement operations. “Daniel Montenegro was filming a raid at a Van Nuys, California, House Depot with different day-laborer advocates this summer time when, he informed ProPublica, he was tackled by a number of officers who injured his again,” the outlet reported.
Montenegro was then accused by a prime Border Patrol official “of utilizing do-it-yourself tire spikes to disable automobiles.”
Montenegro has no concept what the heck he’s speaking about, nor has he really been charged with any wrongdoing. “I had no concept the place that story got here from,” he informed ProPublica. “I didn’t discover out till we have been launched. Individuals have been like, ‘We noticed you on Twitter and the information and also you guys are terrorists, you have been planning to slash tires.’ I by no means noticed these spike tire-popper issues.”
Q: What’s your message to the 170 US residents who’ve been detained by ICE? About 20 of them are childrenMIKE JOHNSON: I do not know what you are speaking about with the youngsters. I have not seen that so I am not going to touch upon it.
Following ProPublica’s report on the greater than 170 U.S. residents focused by ICE, Speaker Johnson once more feigned ignorance, prompting The New Republic to query what he does know. “That is removed from the primary time Johnson has performed dumb a few query, as he continues to conduct day by day propaganda press briefings throughout the ongoing authorities shutdown. ‘I don’t know’ has develop into his reply for every part.” Johnson repeated this ploy on Wednesday when questioned about stories that the president is searching for to provide himself a $230 million settlement from the Division of Justice.
Right here’s what we additionally know: when the rights of some are threatened and violated, it poses a danger to the rights of all. Yesterday it was Maryland dad Kilmar Ábrego García. Tomorrow it may very well be any one in every of us, because the consultants mentioned. Leo Garcia Venegas, a U.S. citizen and building employee in Alabama, has already been wrongfully detained twice. Recall that in final month’s shadow docket ruling giving the inexperienced mild to racial profiling by federal immigration brokers, Supreme Court docket Affiliate Justice Brett Kavanaugh insisted that any wrongful concentrating on of Americans by ICE would show nothing greater than a light inconvenience. “Welcome to the period of ‘Kavanaugh Raids,’” as Georgetown College and former Politico editor Garrett Graff wrote at his Doomsday State of affairs e-newsletter.
“When federal officers roll by communities in the way in which the Supreme Court docket permitted, the constitutional rights of each residents and noncitizens are inevitably violated, argued David Bier, the director of immigration research on the libertarian Cato Institute,” ProPublica continued. “He not too long ago analyzed how sweeps in Los Angeles have led to racial profiling. ‘If the federal government can seize somebody as a result of he’s a sure demographic group that’s correlated with some offense class, then they will do this in any context.’”
“Cody Wofsy, an lawyer on the American Civil Liberties Union, put it much more starkly. ‘Any one in every of us may very well be subsequent.’”
