5
They Ambush People In Hospitals
ICE is back with a brand-new invention -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that is. Some branches have tried to visit hospitals to "develop potential sources of information," despite the fact that hospitals are considered "sensitive locations" that should be off-limits. Thankfully, hospital staff have been turning them away, but sometimes ICE officers actually need to go to the hospital when a detainee has a medical emergency, like when Sara Beltran-Hernandez got sick while detained in Praireland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.
She was taken to the hospital, where her family couldn't seem to find her. According to her lawyer, she wasn't even listed as a patient. Once the attorney finally tracked Sara down -- alone, with possible brain damage, and only ICE agents and hospital staff to speak to (or for) her -- they still weren't allowed to contact her. This went beyond not having a phone; ICE employed Magneto-level security protocols for a 26-year-old mother of two.
Ultimately, Sara was diagnosed with a brain tumor, though a benign and operable one. That was the last of her good luck. After over a week in the hospital, her doctor told ICE agents that she was in stable condition, but still in need of surgery. They took that as a cue to bring her back to the detention center, where she was held in isolation. She claims that she was basically dumped directly out of her wheelchair, tied up by the hands and ankles, and refused treatment. ICE has denied all of it, but fortunately, she was later released on bond, and ICE learned their lesson.
Just kidding. They recently did the same thing to a ten-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who was on her to way to the hospital for surgery.
4
They'll Deport You Even If You're Trying To Report A Crime
Imagine you're minding your own business, walking home from your shift at the Fleshlight factory, when someone commits a heinous crime in front of you. What do you do? Hightail it the fuck to the police station, right? But what if you knew that by doing so, you would destroy your whole life? That's reality for people like Danny Sigui, who was rewarded for providing key testimony which put a murderer behind bars with ... an unceremonious deportation. Local law enforcement agencies have been trying to rebuild trust with the undocumented community, recognizing that murder is probably a more severe crime than existing, but ICE saw this and thought, "Wait guys, what if we posed as police? You know, the people they're supposed to trust?"
Technically, of course, ICE are police. You just might not expect to find them in a family courtroom, which is exactly where they've been hanging out, dressed in normal police garb that in no way identifies them as immigration agents. It's the perfect cover to catch dangerous scum like abused women who make the mistake of trying to get restraining orders. This has led to a death in at least one case. In September 2017, Juan Coronilla-Guerrero went to his local courthouse for what he thought would be a routine hearing, when he was detained and sent back to Mexico City -- which he left after a local gang put a price on his head. Guess what happened when he returned? Even his wife (with whom he was presumably not on the best terms, considering that the initial hearing was regarding a family violence charge against him) urged the judge not to deport him, because he very well might not survive the trip. And he didn't.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
RIP, JC-G. WTF, ICE?