ICE officers ignored dozens of court orders to release immigrants.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Minneapolis have repeatedly detained people under a new interpretation of a 1996 law that states that anyone in the United States illegally is "liable to be detained" without bail indefinitely, according to The Washington Post.
José Avendaño tried to explain to the immigration officer who pulled him from his car that he had permission to be in the United States. The 62-year-old dishwasher fled El Salvador decades ago. He now has a valid work permit and one of the few temporary statuses offering protection from deportation that the Trump administration has not revoked.
"They didn't listen to me," Avendaño said.
As he was being transported to a detention center near the U.S. military base in El Paso in early January, the attention of Minneapolis residents and the nation was riveted by clashes between protesters and federal immigration officers. These clashes resulted in the deaths of two U.S. citizens, and tensions surrounding the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign soared.
On the subject: A US citizen was shot and killed in Minneapolis by immigration officers.
Since Operation Metro Surge began in December, more than 4000 people have been detained in Minneapolis. Federal judges and civil rights lawyers argue that many of these detentions were unlawful. The Washington Post reviewed nearly 70 cases in which U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz found that the Trump administration violated court orders. The court records provide the most detailed information to date on who exactly officers detained in Minneapolis and how the arrests were carried out.
Case files show that officers repeatedly detained people under a new interpretation of a 1996 law that stipulated that anyone in the United States illegally was "liable to be detained" indefinitely without bail. This was applied even in cases where courts had already ordered a bail hearing or release. Most of those detained were quickly transferred to detention centers in Texas or Louisiana.
Of the 66 cases reviewed by The Post, 52 involved immigrants applying for asylum or other legal status. None had a final deportation order. Most had no criminal records, and more than a third had lived in the United States for over a decade. Some were legal refugees. The detainees hailed from around the world, and despite President Donald Trump's comments about Somalis, relatively few of the people on the judge's list were from the East African country.
Country of origin
- South America - 28
- Central America - 14
- Mexico - 13
- Africa - 5
- Europe and Asia - 5
- Caribbean - 1
Years of residence in the United States
- 0-5 people - 40
- 6-10 - 4
- 11-15 - 3
- 16 and over - 18
- Unknown - 1
The immigration application is pending.
- Yes - 52
- No - 13
- Unknown - 1
Judicial history
- Yes - 7
- No - 48
- Not specified - 11
The government claimed it had broad powers to detain people indefinitely.
Avendaño, an older man with a heart condition, spent nine days in custody while his lawyer filed a lawsuit, after which a judge ordered his release.
A majority of federal judges across the country have ruled that the Trump administration's policy of mandatory detention of undocumented immigrants living in the United States is unlawful. Government agencies have previously denied bail to individuals who have committed serious crimes, as well as to those who recently crossed the border. However, Trump administration lawyers continue to defend their position in appeals, and legal experts say the issue could reach the Supreme Court.
The Trump administration defends its campaign to deport all undocumented immigrants, but following the violence in Minneapolis, the president somewhat softened his rhetoric on immigration enforcement. Since then, the administration has not conducted such a large-scale operation in any city. On March 5, Trump also fired Kristi L. Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security and announced that she would be replaced by Senator Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma.
Nevertheless, government officials continue to defend the mandatory detention policy in court. They argue that federal law allows undocumented immigrants to be held without bail, in part to prevent them from evading court hearings. Courts note that the US government has never used detention powers so broadly before, but officials respond that this does not mean they cannot be used now.
ICE officials say their goal is to effectively enforce deportation orders and avoid keeping people in detention for long periods.
"We detain to deport," Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons, who instituted the mandatory detention policy in July, explained to Congress at an oversight hearing.
In Minnesota, case files show that attorneys quickly became overwhelmed, struggling to cope with the large number of detainees. At the Department of Justice, government lawyers, working overtime, reported receiving more emails than they could read. Lawyers acknowledged that tracking the whereabouts of detainees was difficult, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement quickly transferred them to other states. Judges threatened to hold several government lawyers in contempt of court.
Michael Tan, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who is leading a nationwide class-action lawsuit on behalf of undocumented immigrants, accused ICE of using indefinite detention to "pressure people into giving in and agreeing to deportation." He noted that most detainees lack lawyers and fail to file lawsuits, despite the $5 filing fee.
Since Trump took office, immigrants have filed 23,700 habeas corpus petitions seeking their release from detention. District courts in Texas and California account for 37% of all habeas corpus cases, followed by Florida, Minnesota, and Georgia.
The Department of Homeland Security reported that more than half a million people were deported last year.
"We have the largest mandatory detention system in the United States," Tan noted. "We're talking about millions of people."
"Emergency"
On January 9, Avendaño was driving to the Chinese restaurant where he'd been washing dishes for 16 years when three cars blocked his car. He said an agent in a green uniform and mask roughly pulled him out of the car like a criminal.
Avendaño tried to explain to them that he had Temporary Protected Status, which the George W. Bush administration granted to thousands of Salvadorans in 2001 after the devastating earthquakes. This status protects immigrants from deportation, although it does not provide a path to U.S. citizenship.
"It's canceled," one of the agents told him, but Avendaño knew it wasn't true. Trump, an ally of El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, had upheld the temporary protection for Salvadorans.
While officers held Avendaño in Minnesota for several hours, handcuffed and shackled, his family and lawyer tried to locate him. The lawyer said his client's criminal record included only a speeding ticket. In his application for temporary status, Avendaño cited a shoplifting conviction in 1999, for which he claimed he received five days of probation. He has lived in the United States for 32 years.
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Avendaño told officers he suffered from cardiomyopathy, a heart condition for which he had a pacemaker installed. He required daily medication. His arrest forced him to miss an important medical procedure to stabilize his heart rhythm. Two of his brothers died at a young age from heart failure.
A federal magistrate judge ordered the Justice Department to explain why Avendaño was arrested. When the government's lawyers failed to respond, U.S. District Judge Nancy Bracel, a Trump appointee, declared them in violation of court orders and ordered Avendaño's immediate release. ICE held him in custody for three more days. He was told to report to ICE in April.
"Even when the court issues an order, everything turns into chaos," Miller concluded. "Nobody listens to anyone."
Read also on ForumDaily:
Trump fired Kristi Noem as DHS director; Senator Markwayne Mullin will lead the agency.
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