California Passes Measure Banning Law Enforcement From Wearings Masks To Hide Identity Amid ICE Raids
'So, we have a bill, we're looking at the constitutionality of it'
ICE agent ‘seriously injured,’ suspect dead in Chicago operation gone wrong
A law enforcement operation involving agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago led to serious injuries for one officer and the fatal shooting of a suspect on Friday morning.
'We are praying for the speedy recovery of our law enforcement officer.'
A Department of Homeland Security press release obtained by Blaze News revealed that an ICE officer was "seriously injured" during a traffic stop. The department described the stop as a targeted operation to arrest Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez.
The suspect was described as "a criminal illegal alien with a history of reckless driving" who entered the U.S. at an unknown date.
Villegas-Gonzalez allegedly "refused to follow law enforcement's commands" and attempted to flee the scene in his vehicle, driving toward ICE officers. One officer was struck and dragged "a significant distance," the DHS stated.
"Fearing for his own life, the officer fired his weapon," the department said.
RELATED: Trump eyes National Guard deployment in Chicago — but is it constitutional?
The FBI was at the scene where the shooting occurred.
The DHS noted that there has been a 1,000% increase in assaults against immigration agents.
"We are praying for the speedy recovery of our law enforcement officer. He followed his training, used appropriate force, and properly enforced the law to protect the public and law enforcement," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "Viral social media videos and activists encouraging illegal aliens to resist law enforcement not only spread misinformation, but also undermine public safety, as well as the safety of our officers and those being apprehended."
Both the agent and the suspect were transported to the hospital for treatment, where the suspect succumbed to his injuries, CBS News reported.
RELATED: ‘Operation Midway Blitz’: Trump administration launches Chicago ICE surge
Meanwhile, leftist protesters gathered outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Friday afternoon. Blaze News' Julio Rosas was on the ground as the activists blocked the driveway to the facility for over four hours, forcing federal agents to come outside to clear the road when federal vehicles come in. Local police are helping keep the protesters off federal property, but that is the extent of their help.
Protesters have been heckling and accosting the agents who come outside the building. When the agents go back inside, the protesters' ire is then turned on Broadview police for "helping the kidnappers."
This is the second time a larger crowd has appeared outside the ICE building. Last Friday, the organizers declared victory because ICE vehicles reportedly turned around after seeing the crowd in the road.
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DHS gives stern warning after foreign-born sex felon who recently worked for Walz's Minnesota nabbed by ICE
The Department of Homeland Security has issued a stern warning after a foreign-born sex offender in Minnesota who recently worked for the state Department of Education was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Earlier this summer, news broke that Wilson Tindi, a 43-year-old native of Kenya, was working as the director of the Internal Audit and Advisory Services division of the Minnesota Department of Education despite pleading guilty to felony criminal sexual conduct in 2015.
'It is a privilege to be granted a green card to live in the United States of America.'
In June, just three months ago, Tindi was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence and refusing a field sobriety test. He has been charged with three misdemeanors.
Within hours of the initial report from Alpha News about Tindi's troubling history, Blaze News learned Tindi was no longer employed at MDE.
Now Tindi is back in the news for yet another arrest — this time by immigration officers.
Though the date of his arrest is unclear, Alpha News reported on Monday that members of ICE and other law enforcement agencies arrested Tindi at his residence in Plymouth, Minnesota, just outside the Twin Cities. Tindi did not seem surprised to see the officers — according to reporter Liz Collin, who rode along with St. Paul ICE field director Sam Olson — and was placed in handcuffs in his garage, standing next to his BMW.
Footage of the arrest shows that Tindi was afterward processed in a detention center, but the status of his case remains unclear. A major complication with the case is that Tindi is not in the U.S. illegally. He became a lawful permanent resident in 2014, even though he reportedly overstayed the six-month visa issued to him in 2005, had a previous application for permanent residency denied, and later spent 18 months in ICE custody following his aggravated felony conviction.
"We really have to go through, work with our legal team to make sure that the conviction would qualify for removability from the U.S. So it did take us kind of a long time and a lot of research with help from our legal team, who are amazing. We did come up with [an] immigration charge because of his criminality," Olson told Collin. "We do have a warrant of arrest for him."
"We’re law enforcement officers, here to get the worst of the worst off of the streets and back to their country," he added.
Whether Tindi is slated for deportation is unclear. A search of his information in the ICE detainee database did not yield any results.
Tindi and the office of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (DFL), who oversees the two state departments that employed Tindi, did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
In addition to deporting those who broke the law to enter the U.S., it seems DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and the rest of the Trump administration are taking a stand against foreign-born legal residents who commit non-immigration crimes while they are here.
"It is a privilege to be granted a green card to live in the United States of America. When you break our laws, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Blaze News.
"President Trump and Secretary Noem have been clear: Criminal aliens are not welcome in the United States."
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Exclusive: Aliens Arrested By ICE In New Push Had Records Of Assault, Child Sex Crimes
'The media’s vile smears demonizing ICE is leading to our officers facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them,' said Tricia McLaughlin.ICE Launches Operation Midway Blitz Targeting Chicago’s ‘Worst Of The Worst’ Criminal Aliens
DHS says the new effort is in honor of Katie Abraham, who was killed in a hit-and-run car crash earlier this year.SCOTUS’ ICE Ruling Is The Latest Embarrassment For Rogue Lower Courts
'Consistency and neutrality are hallmarks of good judging, and in my view, we abide by those enduring judicial values in this case by granting the stay.'‘Operation Midway Blitz’: Trump administration launches Chicago ICE surge
President Donald Trump launched a law enforcement surge in Illinois this week to crack down on illegal immigration.
The Department of Homeland Security explained that “Operation Midway Blitz” was named in honor of Katie Abraham, a 20-year-old who was killed in January in a hit-and-run drunk driving accident caused by a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala.
‘That’s not war; that’s common sense.’
“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” the DHS wrote in a social media post. “President Trump and Secretary Noem stand with the victims of illegal alien crime while Governor Pritzker stands with criminal illegal aliens.”
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The Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement has focused its efforts on clamping down on sanctuary jurisdictions that protect criminal illegal aliens. This new option targets individuals in Illinois, including Chicago, a sanctuary city.
“In an ICE-led operation, we are here to remove these dangerous public safety threats from American communities,” ICE remarked.
Trump slammed Pritzker for stating he does not want help from the federal government to end violent crime in Chicago.
“6 people were murdered in Chicago this weekend, 12 others were shot, and in serious condition. This would mean that over the past number of weeks, approximately 50 people were killed, and hundreds were shot, many expected to die. Governor Pritzker just stated that he doesn’t want Federal Government HELP! WHY???” Trump questioned. “I want to help the people of Chicago, not hurt them. Only the Criminals will be hurt! We can move fast and stop this madness. The City and State have not been able to do the job. People of Illinois should band together and DEMAND PROTECTION. IT IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE!!! ACT NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!”
Trump posted an apparent AI-generated photo on Truth Social showing himself, the Chicago skyline, a fire in the background, and helicopters overhead, with the words “Chipocalypse Now.”
“‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning,’” Trump wrote. “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”
Pritzker pushed back on Trump’s claim that he wants to help the people of Chicago, citing the Truth Social post.
“‘I want to help people, not hurt them,’ says the guy who just threatened an American city with the Department of War,” the governor said.
RELATED: SCOTUS overrules lower court giving ICE a big win
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has also rejected Trump’s offers to help the city.
“The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution,” Johnson said. “We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.”
When a reporter over the weekend asked Trump whether he was seeking to go to war with Chicago, the president corrected the record.
“We’re not going to war. We’re going to clean up our cities. We’re going to clean them up so they don’t kill five people every weekend. That’s not war; that’s common sense,” Trump declared.
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ICE sets new deportation plan for Kilmar Abrego Garcia after he blocked 22 countries with fear claims
President Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been engaged in an ongoing legal battle to remove Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal alien from El Salvador, from the United States.
'That claim of fear is hard to take seriously, especially given that you have claimed (through your attorneys) that you fear persecution or torture in at least 22 different countries.'
A letter obtained by Fox News revealed that ICE has plans to deport Abrego Garcia to Eswatini, a small country in Southern Africa.
Last month, a federal judge blocked ICE from deporting Abrego Garcia to Uganda.
"As you know, the United States seeks to remove you from the United States based on your final order of removal," ICE wrote in a letter to Abrego Garcia on Friday. "Currently, you are designated to be removed to Uganda. Your attorney has informed us, however, that you fear persecution or torture in Uganda."
The letter went on to list nearly two dozen countries — including El Salvador, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras — where Abrego Garcia expressed similar fears.
RELATED: Federal judge forbids Trump to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia while legal defense proceeds
"That claim of fear is hard to take seriously, especially given that you have claimed (through your attorneys) that you fear persecution or torture in at least 22 different countries," ICE continued. "Nonetheless, we hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini, Africa."
Abrego Garcia was previously deported in March to El Salvador's CECOT prison, but returned to the U.S. in June to face human trafficking charges. He pleaded not guilty.
The federal government has accused Abrego Garcia of engaging in "extensive criminal activities since he has been in the United States," including being an MS-13 gang member, which he denies.
RELATED: MS-13 associate Kilmar Abrego Garcia urges Obama judge to silence DHS, DOJ officials
Abrego Garcia is currently being held in a detention center in Farmville, Virginia, while he awaits deportation following a judge's 2019 order of removal.
"This man is a suspected terrorist known to affiliate and be friends with MS-13 members. He's an extremely dangerous individual," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Newsmax. "A known wife-beater. This is someone that should never be free in the United States of America, and bringing him to justice is incredibly important to the safety of the American people."
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Federal agents arrest nearly 500 in immigration raid at Hyundai plant
Homeland Security Investigations announced a massive raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia that resulted in the arrest of hundreds of individuals.
HSI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and other federal agencies participated in an operation on Thursday into “unlawful employment practices and other serious federal crimes.”
‘As of today, it is our understanding that none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company.’
Federal law enforcement agents arrested 475 individuals who were “illegally present in the United States or in violation of their presence in the United States,” according to Steven Schrank, a special agent in charge of HSI for Georgia and Alabama.
“Yesterday, Homeland Security Investigations, in coordination with our law enforcement partners, executed a judicial search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices and serious federal crimes,” Schrank stated during a press conference on Friday.
“This was not an immigration operation where agents went into the premises, rounded up folks, and put them on buses,” he continued. “This has been a multi-month criminal investigation where we have developed evidence, conducted interviews, gathered documents, and presented that evidence to the court in order to obtain a judicial search warrant.”
He stated that the arrested individuals, the majority of whom were South Korean nationals, were “working unlawfully.” Schrank explained that some of these individuals had either crossed the border illegally, overstayed their visas, or entered the country through visa waivers but were not permitted to work.
RELATED: After ICE removes illegal workers, job applicants flood meatpacking plant to replace them
Lee Jaewoong, a spokesman for South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, stated Friday, “The economic activities of our investment companies and the rights and interests of our citizens must not be unjustly violated during U.S. law enforcement proceedings.”
The raided facility was a construction site for HL-GA Battery Company, a joint venture between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution. This plant will supply batteries to the nearby Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing plant.
The arrested individuals worked for “a variety of different companies that were on the site.” Those determined to be illegally in the U.S. were turned over to ICE custody, according to Schrank, who called the raid “the largest single-site enforcement operation” in HSI’s history.
No criminal charges were announced as of Friday.
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Hyundai Motor Company told Blaze News, “We are aware of the recent incident at the HL-GA Battery Company construction site in Bryan County, Georgia. We are closely monitoring the situation and working to understand the specific circumstances.”
“As of today, it is our understanding that none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company. We prioritize the safety and well-being of everyone working at the site and comply with all laws and regulations wherever we operate,” the statement added.
Blaze News contacted HL-GA Battery Company for comment.
Mary Beth Kennedy, senior public relations specialist with the HL-GA Battery Company, previously told WSAV-TV, “HL-GA Battery Company is cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities regarding activity at our construction site. To assist their work, we have paused construction. We do not have further details at this time.”
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