Politics
ICE releases FY 2021 report showing drop in arrests, deportations as Biden-era rules went into effect
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday launched its annual report for FY 2021 — displaying that arrests and deportations had sharply decreased in comparison with prior years, coinciding with the Biden administration’s implementing of narrowed priorities for the enforcement company.
The report outlines how ICE’s Enforcement and Removing Operations (ERO) arrested 74,082 noncitizens in FY 2021, and deported 59,011.
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That’s down dramatically from prior years. In FY 2020, there have been 103,603 arrests and 185,884 removals. In FY 2019 the company arrested 143,099 unlawful immigrants and deported 267,258.
Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has considerably affected ICE enforcement in each FY 2021 and FY 2020, one main issue has been the Biden administration’s implementation of latest rules for ICE officers, starting in February, that dramatically restricted the scope of enforcement.
ICE has been instructed to prioritize three classes of unlawful immigrants: latest border crossers, aggravated felons and nationwide safety threats. The administration has claimed it permits brokers to focus restricted assets on prime precedence threats. Within the following months, ICE was restricted from finishing up worksite enforcement operations and operations close to sure areas, together with courthouses.
In September, a memo instructed brokers that somebody’s unlawful standing shouldn’t alone be the premise for arrest and deportation.
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“We’ve basically modified immigration enforcement within the inside,” Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas declared in an interview with CBS Information in January. “For the primary time ever, our coverage explicitly states {that a} non-citizen’s illegal presence in the US won’t, by itself, be a foundation for the initiation of an enforcement motion.
The report says that of the 74,082 arrests between October 2020 and October 2021, solely 47,755 happened after Feb. 18 when the brand new priorities had been carried out. Of removals, simply 28,677 of the 59,011 deportations happened after Feb. 18. Of the arrests, 32% had been immigrants who had been encountered by Border Patrol and issued Notices to Report back to ICE.
“In Fiscal 12 months 2021, ICE officers and particular brokers successfully carried out their nationwide safety, public security and border safety mission regardless of having to work by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic,” performing ICE director Tae Johnson mentioned in an announcement. “Because the annual report’s knowledge displays, ICE’s officers and particular brokers centered on instances that delivered the best legislation enforcement affect in communities throughout the nation whereas upholding our values as a nation.”
The ICE report touts what it sees because the successes of this coverage, regardless of the general drop in arrests and removals. It mentioned that ERO arrested 12,025 unlawful immigrants with aggravated felony convictions, almost double the 6,815 arrested in FY 2020. Prior experiences don’t use the time period “aggravated felon” and senior ICE officers who spoke to reporters forward of the report’s launch says the definition of the time period usually refers to extra critical felons, but in addition differs in several jurisdictions.
“It is slightly totally different to form of quantify aggravated felonies as a result of the definition does change based mostly on litigation in circuit court docket to circuit court docket however a normal rule of thumb is that an aggravated felon is usually the next degree felony conviction – definitely one thing often that has a sentence of greater than a 12 months and oftentimes entails violence however not at all times,” the official mentioned.
Of these eliminated, 2,718 had been recognized or suspected gang members (down from 4,276 in FY 2020 and 5,497 in FY 2019) and 34 had been recognized or suspected terrorists — up from 31 in FY 2020 however down from 58 in FY 2019. The report additionally highlights an operation that arrests 495 intercourse offenders from 54 international locations, in comparison with 194 in the identical 90-day interval.
In the meantime, the report says that offenses related to these arrested in FY 2021 included 1,506 homicide-related offenses (down from 1,837 in FY20 and 1,923 in FY19), 3,415 sexual assaults (down from 4,385 in FY20 and 5,061 in FY19), 19,549 assaults (down from 37,247 in FY20 and 45,804 in FY 19), 2,717 robberies (down from 3,816 in FY20 and 4,736 in FY 19 and 1,063 kidnappings (down from 1,637 in FY 20 and 1,833 in FY 19.)
Politics
Appeals court rules Texas has right to build razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration: 'Huge win'
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that Texas has the right to build a razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration into the Lone Star State.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the ruling on X, saying President Biden was “wrong to cut our razor wire.”
“We continue adding more razor wire border barrier,” the Republican leader wrote.
Wednesday’s 2-1 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals clears the way for Texas to pursue a lawsuit accusing the Biden administration of trespassing without having to remove the fencing.
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It also reversed a federal judge’s November 2023 refusal to grant a preliminary injunction to Texas as the state resisted federal efforts to remove fencing along the Rio Grande in the vicinity of Eagle Pass, Texas.
Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee during the president-elect’s first term, wrote for Wednesday’s majority that Texas was trying only to safeguard its own property, not “regulate” U.S. Border Patrol, and was likely to succeed in its trespass claims.
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Duncan said the federal government waived its sovereign immunity and rejected its concerns that a ruling by Texas would impede the enforcement of immigration law and undermine the government’s relationship with Mexico.
He said the public interest “supports clear protections for property rights from government intrusion and control” and ensuring that federal immigration law enforcement does not “unnecessarily intrude into the rights of countless property owners.”
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton called the ruling a “huge win for Texas.”
“The Biden Administration has been enjoined from damaging, destroying, or otherwise interfering with Texas’s border fencing,” Paxton wrote in a post on X. “We sued immediately when the federal government was observed destroying fences to let illegal aliens enter, and we’ve fought every step of the way for Texas sovereignty and security.”
The White House has been locked in legal battles with Texas and other states that have tried to deter illegal immigration.
In May, the full 5th Circuit heard arguments in a separate case between Texas and the White House over whether the state can keep a 1,000-foot floating barrier on the Rio Grande.
The appeals court is also reviewing a judge’s order blocking a Texas law that would allow state officials to arrest, prosecute and order the removal of people in the country illegally.
Politics
Rep. Katie Porter obtains temporary restraining order against ex-boyfriend on harassment allegations
U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) secured a temporary restraining order Tuesday against a former boyfriend, saying in dozens of pages of court filings that he had bombarded her, as well as her family and colleagues, with hundreds of messages that she described as “persistent abuse and harassment.”
Porter, 50, alleged in a filing with Orange County Superior Court that her ex-boyfriend Julian Willis, 55, was contacting her and her family with such frequency that she had a “significant fear” for her “personal safety and emotional well-being.”
Judge Stephen T. Hicklin signed a restraining order Tuesday barring Willis from communicating with Porter and her children until a mid-December court hearing. He also barred Willis from communicating about Porter with her current and former colleagues.
In the court filing, Porter said that Willis had been hospitalized twice since late 2022 on involuntary psychiatric holds and had a history of abusing prescription painkillers and other drugs.
She said in a statement to The Times that Willis’ mental health and struggles with addiction seemed to have gotten worse since she asked him in August to move out of her Irvine home. She said she sought the court order after his threats to her family and colleagues “escalated in both their frequency and intensity.”
“I sincerely hope he gets the help he needs,” Porter said.
Willis declined to comment. He will have an opportunity to file a legal response to the temporary restraining order and challenge Porter’s allegations.
Porter is leaving the House of Representatives in January after losing in California’s U.S. Senate primary in March. She has been discussed as a front-runner in the 2026 governor’s race in California after Gov. Gavin Newsom is termed out, but has not said whether she will launch a campaign.
The 53-page court filing, first reported by Politico, included 22 pages of emails, text messages and other communications among Porter, family members and colleagues who had received messages from Willis, as well as messages that Willis sent to Porter’s attorney and to her political mentor Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The filing also included messages between herself and Willis’ siblings as they discussed trying to help him during his psychiatric holds and while he was staying in a sober-living facility.
Porter said that since she ordered Willis to move out, he had sent her more than 1,000 text messages and emails, including texting her 82 times in one 24-hour period in September, and 55 times on Nov. 12 before she blocked his number.
Porter said in the filing that her ex-boyfriend had “already contacted at least three reporters to disseminate false and damaging information” about her and her children, which she said “poses a serious risk to [her] career and personal reputation.”
The filing includes an email that Porter said Willis sent to her attorney late Monday, in which Willis said he had visited Porter’s son at college in Iowa and told him that he would “bring the hammer down on Katie and smash her and her life into a million pieces.”
Another screenshot shows Willis telling Porter’s attorney that he would file a complaint about Porter, who has children ages 12 and 16, with child protective services.
One of Porter’s congressional staff members received a text message from Willis saying he would “punish the f—” out of him if he did not agree to “cooperate” with a New York Times reporter and Willis’ attorneys, according to a screenshot included in the court document.
Willis previously made the news in 2021, when he was arrested after a fight that broke out at a Porter town hall at a park in Irvine.
Times staff writer Christopher Goffard contributed to this report.
Politics
Homan taking death threats against him ‘more seriously’ after Trump officials targeted with violent threats
Incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan reacted to news of death threats against Trump nominees on Wednesday and said he now takes the death threats he has previously received seriously.
“I have not taken this serious up to this point,” Homan told Fox News anchor Gillian Turner on “The Story” on Wednesday, referring to previous death threats made against him and his family.
“Now that I know what’s happened in the last 24 hours. I will take it a little more serious. But look, I’ve been dealing with this. When I was the ICE director in the first administration, I had numerous death threats. I had a security detail with me all the time. Even after I retired, death threats continued and even after I retired as the ICE Director. I had U.S. Marshals protection for a long time to protect me and my family.”
Homan explained that what “doesn’t help” the situation is the “negative press” around Trump.
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“I’m not in the cabinet, but, you know, I’ve read numerous hit pieces. I mean, you know, I’m a racist and, you know, I’m the father of family separation, all this other stuff. So the hate media doesn’t help at all because there are some nuts out there. They’ll take advantage. So that doesn’t help.”
Homan’s comments come shortly after Fox News Digital first reported that nearly a dozen of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and other appointees tapped for the incoming administration were targeted Tuesday night with “violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” prompting a “swift” law enforcement response.
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The “attacks ranged from bomb threats to ‘swatting,’” according to Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman and incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” she told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “In response, law enforcement acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action.”
Sources told Fox News Digital that John Ratcliffe, the nominee to be CIA director, Pete Hegseth, the nominee for secretary of defense, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, the nominee for UN ambassador, were among those targeted. Brooke Rollins, who Trump has tapped to be secretary of agriculture, and Lee Zeldin, Trump’s nominee to be EPA administrator, separately revealed they were also targeted.
Threats were also made against Trump’s Labor Secretary nominee, GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and former Trump attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz’s family.
Homan told Fox News that he is “not going to be intimidated by these people” and “I’m not going to let them silence me.”
“What I’ve learned today I’ll start taking a little more serious.”
Homan added that he believes “we need to have a strong response once we find out is behind all this.”
“It’s illegal to threaten someone’s life. And we need to follow through with that.”
The threats on Tuesday night came mere months after Trump survived two assassination attempts.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report
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