吃瓜直播

NEW YORK 鈥� New documents obtained by the 吃瓜直播 and 吃瓜直播 of Colorado reveal further details about Immigration and Customs Enforcement鈥檚 (ICE) plans to expand ICE detention facilities in Colorado. The records, obtained as a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the 吃瓜直播 and 吃瓜直播 of Colorado in April 2025, identify facilities under consideration as potential ICE detention sites in response to a Request for Information issued by ICE for facilities in the Denver area. The documents are released on the heels of congressional passage of a reconciliation bill that has allocated $45 billion to ICE to expand its immigration detention infrastructure nationwide. This amount is larger than the budget for the entire federal prison system and is estimated to allow for the detention of over 100,000 people daily. 鈥淚CE鈥檚 planned expansion of immigration detention will only serve to endanger the lives of immigrants held in dangerous and inhumane conditions, while enriching prison profiteers,鈥� said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 National Prison Project. 鈥淚CE鈥檚 ability to expand immigration detention has been supercharged by recent congressional appropriations, placing immigrants in our communities at even greater risk.鈥� The 115 pages disclosed by ICE identify six potential locations for ICE detention facilities in Colorado and also provide information regarding the history of facility use; available transport; and proximity to local hospitals, immigration courts, and legal services. Notably, many of these facilities have not been operational for several years. The facilities include: Huerfano County Correctional Center in Walsenburg, owned by CoreCivic, a private prison corporation. The facility formerly held Colorado and Arizona state prisoners, but closed in 2010, and has a capacity to hold 752 people. Cheyenne Mountain Center in Colorado Springs, owned by the GEO Group, Inc., a private prison corporation. GEO lost its contract with the facility, leading to its closure in March 2020. Hudson Correctional Facility in Hudson, owned by real estate investment trust Highlands REIT. This facility is a prison formerly leased to GEO, which incarcerated Alaska state prisoners under contract, and was shut down in 2014. The Baptiste Migrant Detention Facility in La Junta, owned by the Baptiste Group, formerly a Boys鈥� Ranch facility last used in 2023. The Baptiste Group has operated other migrant children鈥檚 facilities, including one at Homestead, Florida. In 2021, Tennessee suspended the Baptiste Group鈥檚 license due to arrests of workers on charges of sexual battery and child abuse at a migrant children鈥檚 facility. The Colorado Springs Migrant Detention Facility in Colorado Springs, also owned by the Baptiste Group, is a former skilled nursing facility. Apex Site Services, a provider of temporary structures and modular buildings, proposed a soft-sided detention facility in Walsenberg, and BHPE LLC (Begini Howard Private Equity), a private equity firm, also submitted proposals. 鈥淐urrent immigration detention sites, including the GEO detention facility in Aurora, are already notorious for their inhumane conditions, including persistent medical negligence, inadequate nutrition, and routine rights violations,鈥� said Tim Macdonald, legal director at 吃瓜直播 of Colorado. 鈥淚t is unconscionable to go on to expand this cruel, for-profit detention machine.鈥� These FOIA documents follow several other similar disclosures released by ICE as the result of the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 litigation that detail proposals to expand immigration detention nationwide. In 2019, 吃瓜直播 of Colorado released 鈥淐ashing in on Cruelty,鈥� a report detailing death, abuse, and neglect at Aurora Contract Detention Facility, operated by the GEO Group, Inc. In 2024, the family of Melvin Ariel Calero Mendoza, a 39-year-old Nicaraguan asylum seeker, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility and its medical director. The lawsuit alleged the facility failed to diagnose and treat a blood clot in Mendoza鈥檚 leg. As the 吃瓜直播 has鈥痯reviously documented, the federal government鈥檚 immigration detention system overwhelmingly relies on private prison corporations. The FOIA documents are available here.      

NEW ORLEANS 鈥� A federal appeals court upheld an injunction late Thursday night against Senate Bill 4 (88-4), endorsing a district court order that prohibits the anti-immigration law from being enforced in a major win for immigrant rights. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with every court to have examined such laws that federal law leaves no space for this type of state immigration statute: 鈥淔or nearly 150 years, the Supreme Court has recognized that the power to control immigration 鈥� the entry, admission, and removal of aliens 鈥� is exclusively a federal power.鈥� S.B. 4鈥檚 provisions 鈥渞ob every administration of the very discretion in alien removal matters that Congress granted to the federal executive and not to the States.鈥� The extreme Texas law criminalizes people who are undocumented from entering Texas from Mexico, attempting to wrest control of the immigration system from the federal government and allow local police officers to make arrests based on immigration status. It also purports to allow state officers to deport people. Texas had argued that it should prevail because the federal government, which had originally sued, dropped its case earlier this year. But the court of appeals confirmed that the private plaintiffs have standing to sue, and that S.B. 4 is unconstitutional. This decision extends a long and unbroken string of defeats that the courts have dealt to S.B. 4 and related laws in Florida, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Iowa. This includes appellate decisions from the Fifth, Eighth, the Eleventh Circuits. The ruling affirms the injunction, keeping S.B. 4 blocked during the remainder of the litigation. Oral arguments were held in front of the Fifth Circuit on April 3, 2024. Originally, a federal court granted a motion for preliminary injunction in February 2024, which was subsequently appealed by the state of Texas. Advocates have long warned that the law鈥檚 implementation would lead to racial profiling, separating families, and harming Black and Brown communities across the state. The 吃瓜直播, 吃瓜直播 of Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project and El Paso County filed the lawsuit, arguing that S.B. 4 violates the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution and is preempted by federal law. The plaintiffs are Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, American Gateways, and El Paso County. Quotes from co-counsel are as follows: Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Immigrants鈥� Rights Project, said: 鈥淐ourts around the country have repeatedly and emphatically rejected these state immigration laws. These illegal schemes violate 150 years of Supreme Court precedent and are deeply harmful to our communities.鈥� David Donatti, senior staff attorney at the 吃瓜直播 of Texas, said: 鈥淭he Fifth Circuit鈥檚 decision affirms the longstanding and simple rule that the United States speaks with one voice about when and how to regulate immigration. S.B. 4 is plainly unconstitutional in all its applications, and it does not reflect the values of Texans. We are and always have been a border state. Immigrants belong here.鈥� Rochelle Garza, president of Texas Civil Rights Project, said: 鈥淭his ruling proves that no state, not even Texas, has the power to create its own immigration laws. The court has affirmed decades of precedent making clear that immigration is within the sole dominion of the federal government. S.B. 4 threatens to upend our Constitution, tear apart our democracy, and oppress our Texas communities through racial profiling. We, at the Texas Civil Rights Project, remain dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights of all Texans and stopping S.B. 4, or any law like it, from ever going into effect.鈥� Christina Sanchez, El Paso County Attorney, said: 鈥淎s the largest border county in the State of Texas, the County of El Paso has held steadfast in its opposition to this law because the county prioritizes pushing back on unconstitutional actions that seek to bankrupt our community and divert local law enforcement resources away from other priorities. We remain in this fight for justice and the rights of all individuals in our community and continue to urge the courts to uphold the protections guaranteed by the Constitution and to continue rejecting measures like S.B. 4 that undermine local law enforcement and create unfunded mandates for counties to handle federal immigration matters.鈥� Quotes from plaintiffs are as follows: Jennifer Babaie, director of Advocacy and Legal Services at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, said: 鈥淲hat this decision does is recognize the value of the work conducted daily by the staff of organizations like Las Americas. When government officers use their power to directly and illegally threaten immigrants, they not only place those individuals directly in harm's way, they also directly interfere with our ability to simply do our job and meet our mission 鈥� to deliver quality legal services to the most vulnerable among us. As immigration advocates across the state and country have been saying for years, S.B. 4 is unconstitutional, out of touch, and dangerous. Even as we write this, baseless and violent attacks against immigrant communities continue. Our communities deserve so much better.鈥� Rebecca Lightsey, co-executive director of American Gateways, said: 鈥淲e are pleased to see that this hateful, anti-immigrant law will not take effect. There is so much fear and misinformation throughout the immigrant community, and we need to do everything we can to welcome people who are fleeing persecution and give them a right to make their claims and avoid harm.鈥�        

WASHINGTON 鈥� The U.S. House of Representatives today gave final approval to H.R. 1, a budget bill that guts Medicaid and will wreak havoc on our communities, sending it to President Trump鈥檚 desk for his signature. H.R. 1 is the biggest cut to Medicaid in history 鈥� slashing approximately $1 trillion, which will result in at least 12 million people being removed from the program. The bill also cuts off access to Planned Parenthood services for Medicaid enrollees and restricts higher education opportunities, all to fund a dramatic and permanent increase to an immigration detention and deportation apparatus that denies due process and violates human rights. Following the vote in the House, Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer with the 吃瓜直播, issued the following statement: 鈥淭his reckless monstrosity is the most harmful bill to pass Congress in a generation. Instead of strengthening Medicaid, they鈥檝e taken an axe to it. Instead of reining in ICE鈥檚 abuses, Congress is throwing the agency billions more to terrorize our communities. 鈥淲hen 12 million people are kicked off Medicaid, patients are no longer able to get lifesaving cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood, disabled people lose access to essential care and autonomy, and ICE ramps up lawless raids in our communities, the American people will remember who caused this devastation to our health, rights, and dignity. We won鈥檛 let them forget.鈥�

WASHINGTON 鈥� A federal court today blocked President Trump鈥檚 proclamation aimed at completely shutting down asylum at the border. The 吃瓜直播, National Immigrant Justice Center, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS), Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP), 吃瓜直播 of the District of Columbia, and 吃瓜直播 of Texas brought the federal lawsuit on behalf of Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, and the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, which provide legal services to asylum seekers, and a nationwide class of people barred from seeking protection in the United States under this proclamation. The court rejected the administration鈥檚 efforts to use the 鈥�212(f)鈥� proclamation, which falsely cited an 鈥渋nvasion鈥� as justification to deny asylum protections expressly granted by Congress and summarily deport families and individuals to countries where they are at grave risk of persecution with no recourse. The groups successfully argued that Trump鈥檚 action ignored protections put in place by Congress (and backed by the courts for generations) that ensure people have the opportunity to have their asylum claims heard. This proclamation is even more extreme than Trump鈥檚 previous attempts to shut off asylum in his first administration, as this move leaves no avenue open for people to seek asylum. 鈥淭his is a hugely important decision. Not only will it save the lives of families fleeing grave danger, it reaffirms that the president cannot ignore the laws Congress has passed and the most basic premise of our country鈥檚 separation of powers,鈥� said 吃瓜直播 attorney Lee Gelernt, who argued the merits of the case. 鈥淲e are grateful that the federal courts continue to agree with us that the right to seek asylum is a fundamental protection provided by Congress and ingrained in U.S. law for decades. No president has the authority to unilaterally block people who come to our border seeking safety. The courts have repeatedly sided with us on this issue, and we will continue to fight cruel policies, under any administration, that harm individuals and families who flee persecution,鈥� said Keren Zwick, director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center. 鈥淭his decision is a win for human dignity and the rule of law. It sends a clear message: the government cannot use cruelty as a weapon against people fleeing violence. The court鈥檚 blocking of the Trump administration鈥檚 executive action underscores the inhumane and unlawful nature of this policy and strengthens our call to protect the right to seek asylum. The Texas Civil Rights Project will continue fighting for the rights of those seeking safety at our border,鈥� said Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project. 鈥淲e are grateful that today the court refused to accept the administration鈥檚 reckless disregard for the legal right to seek asylum. Every day that the United States fails to uphold its asylum process puts women, children, and families fleeing violence at risk of exploitation and serious harm,鈥� said Jennifer Babaie, director of advocacy and legal services of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center. 鈥淲e are pleased that the court has ruled in favor of people seeking protection at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Trump administration鈥檚 invocation of a 212(f) proclamation to block all access to asylum is blatantly xenophobic. Both U.S. and international law are clear 鈥� people have the right to seek protection at the border. We are grateful that the court has recognized this right and demand that the Trump administration comply and restart processing at the border immediately,鈥� said Laura St. John, the legal director for the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project. 鈥淎s the court rightly affirmed today, the Trump administration cannot rewrite our immigration laws and invent its own extra-statutory system to block people from exercising their rights,鈥� said Edith Sang眉eza, senior staff attorney at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS). 鈥淯nder our laws, any person seeking safety at our southern border has a legal right to apply for asylum. The government cannot wield racist, baseless claims of an 鈥榠nvasion鈥� to demonize refugees and unilaterally strip them of that right. For over six months, the illegal border proclamation has wrought nothing but suffering and chaos, forcing people fleeing persecution back to peril and leaving others stuck in detention, struggling to navigate a made-up process. The administration should now comply with the court鈥檚 order and immediately reinstate a fair asylum process at the southern border.鈥� 鈥淭oday鈥檚 ruling makes clear three salient points that transcend immigration at the border and speak to who we are as Americans. First, we are a nation of laws. Second, the Trump administration鈥檚 sweeping invocation of executive branch authority transgresses the bounds established by our Constitution and our legislative branch. And third, the judicial branch is what stands between us and anarchy. The Trump administration's prerogative is once again found to be unlawful. It is increasingly clear where the illegality lies, and it is not with the immigrant families upon whom this administration is inflicting unfathomable harm,鈥� said Javier Hidalgo, legal director at RAICES. 鈥淔ederal law unequivocally guarantees the right of refugees to seek asylum and the right not to be returned to face torture. President Trump鈥檚 attempt to eliminate these life-or-death rights with the swipe of a pen and under false pretenses had no legal basis, as the court today made clear,鈥� said Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at the 吃瓜直播 of the District of Columbia. 鈥淭he court rejected the Trump administration鈥檚 efforts to upend our asylum system in a key ruling for our nation,鈥� said Adriana Pi帽on, legal director for the 吃瓜直播 of Texas. 鈥淭his attempt to completely shut down the border is an attack on the fundamental and longstanding right to seek safety in the U.S. from violence and persecution.鈥� The case was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The ruling is here.