Friday, June 20, 2025

The Snapshot

Friday, June 20, 2025.  The ICE horror stories multiply.  A pregnant American gets imprisoned and chained up, an Afghan who was a translator for the US military gets rounded up, a journalist stopped from doing his job and detained and imprisoned.  Those are just some of the horror stories Chump, ICE and Homeland Security are creating daily. 


Let's start with some good news.  Yesterday, MEIDASTOUCH NEWS reached five million subscribers.


That's a big deal and huge applause for them for the achievement. 



Anything can happen in Chump Land.  That includes an American citizen Cary López Alvarado being targeted. Will Conybeare (THE HILL) reports:

A pregnant U.S. citizen who was detained by federal agents approximately two weeks ago has since given birth to a healthy baby girl, but her boyfriend is now being held out of state and her problems are far from over.  

Cary López Alvarado told Nexstar’s KTLA that she “tried to remain strong” during the scary ordeal, which took place outside a building where her boyfriend and cousin were doing maintenance work on June 8. She was nine months pregnant at the time. 
Video taken by López depicts her struggling with a masked agent wearing a Border Patrol uniform asking to see her identification as she was protecting a truck carrying her boyfriend Brayan Nájera and cousin Alberto Sandoval — the latter of whom is also a U.S. citizen.  

All three of them were eventually detained. Further footage posted on social media shows agents detaining López after they had pinned her truck between a wall. 

[. . .]
The then-soon-to-be-mother was taken to a processing facility in San Pedro, where, according to her, the agents automatically assumed she was undocumented.  

“[They said] ‘But you’re from Mexico, right?’ And I’m like ‘No, I’m from here,’” López said. “[They asked] … ‘Where’s here?’ and I’m like, ‘Here, the U.S., Los Angeles.” 
“They put us in chains, so I had a chain from my hands under my belly that went all the way to my legs,” she added. “Every now and then, I would fix my hands because I felt like I would be putting too much pressure because the chain went under my belly.” 

López was released after complaining of stomach pain and went straight to a hospital where she started having contractions, which she believes were caused by the stress of what she had gone through.  

These horror stories are not accidents.  I'm not a psychic.  Months before the election, I noted what Chump was saying he would do could not be done without a lot of US citizens ended up targeted and harmed as well.  Racial profiling, that's what they're doing.  It's what they did to Cary, insisting she was from Mexico because of the way she looked.  Putting her in chains because of the way she looked.  Imprisoning her because of the way she looked.

She was pregnant when this happened -- pregnant and about to pop.  

And she's an American citizen and this is what they did to her.

This is what hate merchants posing as Christians are embracing in the US now.  There is nothing Christian about this. 



Yesterday, MSNBC reported on Sayed Naser.




LEILA FADEL, HOST:

As part of its aggressive immigration policy, the Trump administration has been making it harder for asylum-seekers to stay in the U.S., and that includes at least one immigrant seeking safety here after helping the U.S. military in his home country. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports.

QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: The scene of ICE agents arresting immigrants at courthouses has become common in the past few months, but this one played out a bit differently last week in San Diego.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ICE AGENT #1: Yeah, yeah, go ahead. We're going to take him.

LAWRENCE: Bystanders filmed as Sayed Naser was approached by two masked ICE agents after a routine immigration hearing. They don't show a warrant, and they don't even seem to be sure they have the right person.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ICE AGENT #2: What's your name?

LAWRENCE: As they handcuff him, he starts to tell the onlookers that he's a former interpreter for the U.S. Army.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SAYED NASER: I worked with the U.S. military back in my home country, Afghanistan.

LAWRENCE: Sayed Naser asked to withhold his family name because he fears for their safety in Afghanistan. And that's the whole point, says his lawyer, Brian McGoldrick.

BRIAN MCGOLDRICK: He spent three years working with the U.S. military at great risk to himself. And they've already killed part of his family.

LAWRENCE: Sayed Naser fled Afghanistan after the Taliban showed up at a family wedding and killed one of his brothers. He made a journey from Afghanistan to Brazil and then, sometimes on foot, traveled north to the U.S. border, where he was admitted legally last year. But McGoldrick says ICE agents took none of that under consideration.

MCGOLDRICK: Was all about filling their quota of 3,000 a day. They didn't care that, you know, he was really our ally. I don't think anybody took the time to even go through that.


Only the worst of criminals.  That's what Chump lied and continues to lie.  That's what Kristi Noam lies.  Lies.  The justification?  Lies.  They hide with lies.  They break the law with lies.  They evade oversight with lies.  Earlier this week, US House Rep Dan Goldman's office issued the following:


Rep. Dan Goldman: “And the question is, why can't we go in? What are they hiding? If they're going to treat Comptroller Lander, if they're going to treat Senator Padilla, if they're going to treat Congresswoman McIver the way that these agents have been treating them, as if it's the police state out in the open in public, how are they treating immigrants behind closed doors who have to sleep on floors for multiple nights?” 
 
Rep. Dan Goldman: “This is unacceptable. It is unacceptable that they denied our access, and we will be continuing to push for access with the executives at the Department of Homeland Security because they are violating the law. And we will not stop until we get to go in and observe what is going on in these detention centers with these non-criminal, nonviolent immigrants going through the process the correct way.” 
 
Watch Video of Rep. Goldman Being Denied Access to Detention Area Here 
 
Videos and Photos from the Press Conference Here 
 
 
New York, NY — Congressmen Dan Goldman (NY-10) and Jerry Nadler (NY-12) hosted a press conference today after observing court proceedings at 26 Federal Plaza and being denied access to the federal building’s 10th floor, where immigrants are being detained for days and sleeping on the floor and benches in inhumane conditions. The Congressmembers confronted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Deputy Field Director Bill Joyce and Field Office Director Judith Almodovar, who confirmed reports that immigrants were sleeping on the floor. The members raised concerns about the detentions and ICE’s ongoing refusal to allow lawful congressional oversight of detention facilities. 
 
The press conference came on the heels of continued ICE raids at federal immigration courts across the country, targeting law-abiding immigrants attending routine court appearances. Most recently, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander was detained at 26 Federal Plaza while overseeing similar proceedings. 
 
On May 29, Rep. Goldman observed similar court proceedings at 290 Broadway in Manhattan, where he confronted ICE and Department of Homeland Security agents about their continued use of face coverings while detaining law-abiding immigrants following routine asylum hearings. 
 
A transcript of the Congressman’s comments is available below: 
  
Rep. Dan Goldman: "Thank you. Thank you all for coming.  
 
I'm here with Congressman Nadler in front of 26 Federal Plaza. We just went in to conduct our constitutional oversight authority of ICE and ICE detention facilities. We were denied access, even though we are allowed to show up unannounced by statute, and we must be allowed in. 
 
We gave advance notice that we would be coming this morning, and they still denied our access. They said that this building is not being used as a, this is not a “detention facility,” even though the statute very clearly says that we are allowed into any facility that is being used to detain or otherwise house aliens. 
 
The Deputy Field Director said that there are people who have been staying there for two nights or more after they have been processed, sleeping on benches and on the floor. We are very concerned about what conditions these immigrants are being held in while this mass deportation scheme is underway.  
 
We observed the courtroom before that, where the government is trying to dismiss these immigration cases. 
 
These are nonviolent, non-criminal immigrants going through the proper process, and the government is trying to dismiss the cases.  
 
We observed two cases where the respondent, the immigrant, rejected the government's motion to dismiss it and moved ahead with their asylum claim. So they were not arrested by the numerous federal agents in masks who were waiting outside of the courtroom. 
 
And those federal agents are not just ICE agents. There are numerous FBI agents. These are people whose responsibility and job duties are to investigate serious crimes. And they're being pulled away from investigating serious crimes so that they can arrest nonviolent, non-criminal immigrants going through the lawful legal process so that they can be deceptively removed in an expedited fashion. 
 
And the question is, why can't we go in? What are they hiding? If they're going to treat Comptroller Lander, if they're going to treat Senator Padilla, if they're going to treat Congresswoman McIver the way that these agents have been treating them, as if it's the police state out in the open in the public, how are they treating immigrants behind closed doors who have to sleep on floors for multiple nights? 
 
This is unacceptable. It is unacceptable that they denied our access, and we will be continuing to push for access with the executives at the Department of Homeland Security because they are violating the law. And we will not stop until we get to go in and observe what is going on in these detention centers with these non-criminal, nonviolent immigrants going through the process the correct way.  
 
And the question for everybody to ask is, not only what are they hiding with the masks, but what are they hiding about this facility that they are using to house immigrants for multiple days?"
 
Earlier this month, Rep. Goldman and and House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02) led 84 House Democrats in an oversight letter of inquiry to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem seeking answers regarding the rise in ICE employing its masked, plainclothes officers to detain non-violent, law-abiding immigrants immediately following and in coordination with the dismissal of their existing deportation cases by DHS attorneys.   
 
 
###

Things like this are happening all over the country.  Jen Psaki covered the issue last night on her MSNBC progam.




It's outrageous, it's not fair, and it's not about humanity.  It's certainly not about "Christianity" though some liars try to hide behind Jesus while they persecute immigrants.  June 10th, Christopher Wells (VATICAN NEWS) reported:


In a statement issued on Friday after expanded federal immigration enforcement operations, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, José Gomez issued a statement saying he was “troubled” by the raids.

The Archbishop said he is praying for the community, and “that everyone involved will exercise restraint and calm.”

While agreeing that “undocumented immigrants who are known terrorists or violent criminals” are unwanted, Archbishop Gomez said “there is no need for the government to carry out enforcement actions in a way that provokes fear and anxiety among ordinary, hard-working immigrants and their families.”

Echoing the position of the US bishops, the Archbishop repeated his call for the US Congress “to get serious about fixing our broken immigration system that leads so many to seek to cross our borders illegally.”

Noting the “coherent” immigration policies in other countries, Archbishop Gomez said the United States likewise needs a policy “that respects the natural rights of people to emigrate in search of a better life and also ensures control” of the border.

“it’s been almost 40 years since the last reform of our immigration laws,” he concluded. “That’s too long and it’s time to do something about it.”


And it's not just the Church calling out these attacks on immigrants.  It's not just former US President Barack Obama, US House Rep Dan Goldman, it's many people from all walks of life stating loudly and clearly: This is not America.  This is not who we are and this is not what we were.  Carlos De Loera (LOS ANGELES TIMES) reports:


Bad Bunny has chimed in on the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that are taking place in his native Puerto Rico and all over the country.

The 31-year-old "Nuevayol" singer posted a video with commentary of ICE agents conducting a raid on the island to Instagram.
 
"Look, those motherf— are in these cars, RAV4s. They’re here on [Avenida] Pontezuela," he said of the officials arriving in the Puerto Rican city of Carolina. "Sons of b—, instead of leaving the people alone and working."

Since the onset of President Trump's second term, the U.S. territory has been subjected to ICE raids, which have targeted the island's largely Dominican immigrant population. For years, immigrants from the neighboring Caribbean island have been allowed to open bank accounts and obtain special driver's licenses that indicate their immigration status. The AP estimates that there are over 55,000 people from the Dominican Republic currently living in Puerto Rico.

Rebecca González-Ramos, ICE's top investigator in Puerto Rico, told NPR that the agency has made nearly 500 arrests, of which roughly 75% have been Dominicans. NPR further noted that fewer than 80 of the 500 people arrested have a criminal record, with the most common charge being reentry into the country following a deportation.



Again, this is not the America that inspires other countries.  This is land of hate and fear with people egged on to hate and to fear by the ridiculously overweight and elderly fool Donald Chump whose 'blond' hair is about as real as his sex life (with his weight and his age, he's not getting it up anymore and that's why he rages nightly on social media).  We're better than this and we need to reject the hate that Chump peddles. Patricia Caro (EL PAIS) notes:

The current U.S. immigration policy, which has defined much of the Trump administration’s five-month term, is not approved by a majority of Americans. According to the latest survey conducted by Pew Research, the Trump administration’s overall approach to immigration is viewed more negatively than positively, with 42% approving and 47% disapproving.
The mass expulsions of undocumented immigrants, which Trump wants to increase even further to achieve the largest deportation in history, are dividing citizens. Half of Americans say the administration’s immigration policies when it comes to deporting undocumented migrants are “too careless,” while 39% say they are “about right” and 9% say they are “too careful.”

Trump had announced a crusade against immigration during his campaign run, but the measures he has taken since January 20 have exceeded many expectations. The Republican’s rhetoric was that deportations would focus, at least initially, on undocumented immigrants who had committed crimes, but the reality has been very different.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in restaurants, factories, and other workplaces, or in courthouses where immigrants go to attend scheduled hearings, are disliked by the majority. Fifty-four percent disapprove of increasing raids in workplaces where people in the U.S. illegally may be working, compared to 45 percent who approve.


This is not who we are and it is not who we want to be.  The more we see this in our communities, the greater our repulsion grows and for good reason.  It's not Christian, it's not Muslim, it's not Jewish, it's not Hindi, it's not a reflection of any real religion, it's not a reflection of any ethical and humane code of life.  

It is hatred plain and simple.

And Chump lies and claims these are the worst of the worst to justify it.  He lies about an innocent man having a tattoo on his hand -- there was no tattoo -- so that he can scare people because scared people lay down in front of a bully.  Scared people go along.  The problem is that America's nature -- good or bad -- is one of individualism.  That's the American character.  And you can't spook even a majority of the American population with lies for very long.  Chump's lies are exposed in every community across the country. 

And the pushback against Chump's horrible actions starts with one and builds and builds. 



Poetic phrases come to mind
Whenever I find injustice being done
And I wonder, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do
What can one do except to be one
Talking to two, touching three
Growing to four million
Each of us is one--all of us are one
-- "One," written by Carole King, first appears on her album SIMPLE THINGS


The more horror stories are learned of, the stronger the pushback grows.  It's obvious unless you're a fool n cognitive decline.  In which case?  It's all a joke to you like it is to demented Donald.  Li Zhou (HUFFINGTON POST) explains:


While touting the installation of new flag poles at the White House on Wednesday, President Donald Trump paused to ask the workers involved an awkward question about their immigration status. 

“Do we have anybody here?” Trump asked the workers, who were flanking him in an apparent photo opportunity. “Any illegal immigrants?”


It's a joke to him.  It's not a joke to the people whose lives are being destroyed, or to the people who worry their lives are about to be destroyed, or to those of us who know and love them as our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors.  I've said this repeatedly including earlier this week, Americans are rejecting this and we're doing it as We The People because so few leaders have emerged on this issue.  Bad Bunny's comments?  They're going to help.  But this is still, right now, about communities standing up for the people who live in them.  And this repulsion to Chump's tactics is spreading and spreading.


Moises Sotelo is someone we've noted before. The vineyard manager in Oregon who ICE took away from his church June 12th and has held ever since.  Cy Neff (THE GUARDIAN) reports:


Left in the lurch is Sotelo’s family, the church he attends, the employees of his small business, the vineyards he works with and friends made along the way. Requests to Ice from family or attorneys regarding next steps in Sotelo’s detention are hitting dead ends.
Anthony Van Nice, the owner of a local vineyard, first worked with Sotelo in the mid-1990s when Van Nice was a “cellar rat” getting his start in the wine industry. He considers Sotelo a friend and said he was “disappointed and disgusted” by the arrest, and the government’s treatment of immigrants.

“My concern is about my friends and neighbors who are getting rounded up by Ice,” Van Nice told the Guardian. “We built this country on the backs of immigrant labor … To just round them up like criminals and throw them into these overcrowded detention centers, send them packing without telling their family or attorneys where they are or where they’re going, it’s inhumane. It’s a human rights issue.”

Sotelo’s detention comes as Ice raids on farm workers are heating up in Oregon’s wine country and across the US. The Trump administration briefly directed US immigration agents to shift their focus away from farms, only to abruptly reverse course this week. Meanwhile, reports of masked, unidentified agents conducting workplace raids have become commonplace. America’s agricultural industry, where at least 42% of workers are estimated by the US Department of Labor to be undocumented, is exemplifying the practical limits of Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation agenda.


I don't believe that we've noted Victor Avila here before.  Mandy Taheri (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Victor Avila, a 66-year-old green card holder who has lived in the United States since he was a teenager, was detained in May by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at San Francisco International Airport after returning from a trip to visit his son, a U.S. Air Force servicemember stationed in Japan, according to local reports and a GoFundMe page.
A longtime resident of San Diego, Avila has worked as a legal assistant at the workers' compensation law firm Kiwan & Chambers APC for over a decade. Colleagues from the firm organized the fundraiser.

It's one horror after another.  AP's Russ Bynum reports:

U.S. immigration authorities said Wednesday they have detained a Spanish-language journalist, who will face deportation proceedings following his arrest on charges of obstructing police and unlawful assembly while covering a weekend protest outside Atlanta.

Mario Guevara was turned over by police to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody three days after he was jailed in DeKalb County, agency spokesman Lindsay Williams said in an emailed statement. His case now goes to immigration court to determine whether Guevara, a native of El Salvador, can remain in the U.S.
His attorney, Giovanni Diaz, has said that Guevara was doing his job and committed no crime when police arrested him. He also says Guevara has legal authorization to live and work in the U.S., and has a pending application for permanent residency. Diaz did not immediately return phone and email messages Wednesday.


David PlazaS (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION) notes that Mario was covering the No Kings protest in Atlanta when he was arrested and had posted on his INSTAGRAM account :


Buen día mi gente, yo sé que a más de alguno le va a molestar lo que diré, pero prefiero hacerlo y no callar, pues así se puede prevenir alguna desgracia. Se avecinan manifestaciones en contra de los operativos de ICE en diversos puntos de Estados Unidos, pero no vale la pena que la gente llegue a protestar con violencia ni a faltarle el respeto a las autoridades. Eso sólo nos hace quedar muy mal como comunidad. Nos deja ante la vista pública como seres violentos y malos, cuando la verdad es que somos todo lo opuesto. Otra cosa, si careces de estatus legal en el país, piénsalo un millón de veces antes de ir a estas demostraciones “pacíficas”. El riesgo de ser identificado y arrestado por las agencias federales es demasiado alto y la mayoría tenemos familias acá que dependen de nosotros. No vale la pena eso. Finalmente NO llevemos banderas de nuestros países. Se supone que queremos que algún día nos den legalización, pues tenemos que mostrar que amamos su tierra, lo cual es verdad, pues ya la mayoría nos hemos encariñado con esta patria, a pesar que no es nuestra y estoy seguro que más de alguno como yo, empuñaría un arma sin pensarlo para salir en defensa de USA si fuese necesario, en especial, los que tenemos hijos nacidos acá. ¿O me van a negar que cuando escuchan las notas del himno estadounidense sienten nostalgia, a pesar que no somos de acá? Porque yo sí lo he sentido muchas veces. Pongámonos en el lugar de los gringos, si yo estuviera en El Salvador y llegaran 1000 extranjeros, poniendo música en su idioma, y ondeando las banderas de Rusia, por ejemplo, yo lo tomaría como un intento de invasión y me preocuparía. Es mi opinión. Tiene derecho a pensar diferente. Si es el caso, pero déjamelo saber con respeto y educación, porque ese es otra cosa que aprovechamos las redes sociales para maldecir a los demás que ni siquiera conocemos a veces. Mal hecho.


He's noting protests going on and it is not worth it to protest violently or disrespectfully because that will be used to make the community look bad. He advises people who do not have documentation to avoid going to the protests to avoid being arrested. He advises them not to carry any flags other than US flags. He states if he were in El Salvador and 1000 people showed up waiving Russian flags, he would think El Salvador was being invaded.


Guevara is a prominent independent journalist in metro-Atlanta, known for his Spanish-language coverage of ICE and the Latino community. He was arrested by the Doraville Police Department last Saturday, while covering an anti-ICE protest on Chamblee Tucker Road in northeast Atlanta. 

When he was arrested, Guevara was wearing a vest clearly marked “PRESS” and a helmet, while holding his phone to livestream the protest and police response. During his arrest, which he captured on his Facebook feed, Guevara can be heard calmly telling officers he is a member of the media. 

During the protest, Atlanta Civic Circle reporters witnessed police in riot gear deploy tear gas on protestors at least three times and indiscriminately threaten to arrest both demonstrators and journalists who were standing on the sidewalk or in the parking lot of the Embry Village strip mall where the rally took place. 

Joyce Lupiani (FOX 5) adds, "Guevara has extensively covered ICE arrests in the metro Atlanta area. He fled his native country of El Salvador in 2004 ahead of threats from leftwing paramilitary groups, according to laopinion.com. He has worked for Spanish-language media outlets including Atlanta Latino and Mundo Hispanico and won an Emmy Award in 2023 for his work. He founded MGNews in June last year to focus on immigration enforcement in metro Atlanta. He has more than 780,000 followers on Facebook alone."  Shyna Mae Deang (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES) notes, "He was booked into DeKalb County Jail, and while bond was initially granted, ICE filed a detainer. Instead of walking free, Guevara was moved to Stewart Detention Center, where he remains under immigration custody."  Anyone can be targeted.  Even if they have all the legal papers, as Mario did.  Even if they'd been a Chump supporter, as Mario had. The Committee to Protect Journalists offers:

“We are deeply concerned by the ongoing detention of Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara by authorities in DeKalb County, Georgia. He must be released immediately and the charges against him dropped,” said CPJ U.S., Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Guevara was doing his job and reporting the news at the time of his arrest. It is alarming that the charges he is now facing could be a pretext to begin deportation proceedings against him.” 

Guevara, an Emmy-winning reporter who covers immigration on his “MGnews” Facebook page, and other social media platforms was livestreaming the protest in the Embry Hills neighborhood northwest of Atlanta when he was detained by police. At the time of his arrest, Guevara was wearing a press pass and clearly identified himself as a journalist to law enforcement, according to video footage of his arrest.

As we've noted before when it comes to the farm raids, the worst of the worst criminals are not spending their down time harvesting vegetables for someone else.  That's not how it works.  So these raids on workers?  They're not capturing anyone whose some big time criminal.   Jireh Deng (BUSINESS INSIDER) reports:

The normally bustling streets of Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles were quiet except for the commotion of sirens and gusty helicopters. Loud bangs punctuated the night, but LA's street vendors were still slinging tacos and crêpes to the few pedestrians who had ventured out.
It was the evening of Monday, June 9, the week that the LA Times reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained several hundred immigrants in Southern California. In response, the streets of downtown had been embroiled in four consecutive days of uproar.

From the taco stand where Celeste Sughey works as a cashier, we could hear protesters and law enforcement clashing. Sughey and her co-workers have continued to sell food despite the risk of being undocumented because their families depend on the paychecks.

"This is our only job, this is how we get to survive," Sughey said. She asked that the business not be named out of fear that it could be targeted by federal law enforcement.

Two other vendors I spoke to said they had work authorization in the US but aren't citizens. They feared being swept up in what they see as indiscriminate arrests targeting Latino workers.



These are dark days.  But the sun does come out and it will come out.  And those who hid in the shadows will not be looked upon kindly.  The voices objecting to this unAmerican behavior are growing and will continue to grow.  


Lastly, we'll close with this from THE ELEVENTH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE who is disgusting the economy and the lies of Chump -- lies that include his 'big beautiful bill.'




The following sites updated:

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