'Like a kidnapping': Harrowing video shows ICE snatch a 25-year Minnesota resident from his family

[turbinetree]

Plainclothes, refusal to show ID, threats of federal assault charges -- all in the broad daylight of a county courthouse.
ALAN PYKE
JUL 31, 2018, 4:34 PM

Carlos knew it was dangerous for him to go to the courthouse on July 26.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have dramatically stepped up their hunt for undocumented people, friends from his church-based social justice group warned him, even those who’ve lived in the U.S. for decades like he has.

But it was important to him to do the right thing. His dedication to inpatient and outpatient rehab, and the ample evidence of his beloved status in his community, had helped his lawyer convince a Minnesota judge that Carlos should be given probation rather than a jail term. Besides, Carlos figured ICE knew he was scheduled for a check-in with immigration officials just a couple weeks later, and he’d shown up consistently to those meetings for years.

Yet the second Carlos arrived in court with family members and his long-time church friend Catalina – each of whom ThinkProgress is identifying only by first name because of the community’s fear of reprisals from ICE and local cops alike – they knew something was wrong. Two unfamiliar, burly white men — the spitting image of some of the Minnesotans who’ve gone out of their way to hurl verbal abuse at Catalina in the past two years, she said – were in the back of the courtroom, watching Carlos closely as he stood next to his lawyer to listen to the judge’s ruling.

https://thinkprogress.org/carlos-immigrant-taken-by-ice-minnesota-courthouse-b8df5da98eb8/

Where is due process, and where is the warrant.......................

[CurtEastPoint]

1. THIS IS AWFUL!

[turbinetree]

2. Whats really despicable is that he was reporting to the government................they were waiting

for him to get probation, then he can be deported.................see how they are doing this................

[metalbot]

3. The physical deportation was badly handled...

But I'm not going to lose sleep over the deportation of people with a history of driving drunk. I get that the guy has been here for 25 years, but he should have been deported after his first DUI, not after his 4th run in with the law.

There are lots of atrocious deportations that are cruel and purposeless. This one? Not so much.

Drunk driving is 100% preventable and kills 10,000+ people a year. Is there some appropriate number of drunk driving convictions we should allow before deporting someone? If anything, his close ties to his family and community make it worse, because it means that there was a family and community around him who enabled his behavior.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. From the article:

Drinking and driving and hurting someone is the kind of thing that’s fueled vilification of immigrants for decades, with right-wing media especially fond of pushing such stories going back to the inception of Fox News and before. Such stories can often tip the scales for more liberal-minded viewers, too.

But two judges – the criminal court judge he’d come to see that Thursday, and the immigration judge presiding over his case – had looked deeply at Carlos’ conduct and found him worthy of mercy and understanding. Two other DUI pops and a domestic assault charge that was dismissed, all from more than a decade ago, made it onto the immigration court’s radar too. Yet still, a judge canceled his deportation, ruling in mid-2017 that he should continue to have a shot at a green card provided he kept his nose clean.
“It’s important to note that judge knew all of [Carlos’ history]. The immigration judge knew about the accident from early last year, knew about these other charges, and still granted him a cancellation of removal,” said Rich Morales of the national Faith In Action network, of which Carlos and Catalina are members. “I think Carlos has shown that he is deserving, and deserves to stay with his family.”

So an immigration judge says he can stay, then 2 strange men show up, with no id, and grab the guy, and assault one of the women from the church group.

[metalbot]

5. I read the full article

But the assertion that "an immigration judge ruled he can stay" is a little misleading. A judge ruled he did not have to be deported (not that he was being granted status), and that judge was overruled by a review panel of other judges, so this isn't ICE somehow deciding to go against a court ruling.

As I led with in my reply title, the deportation/arrest was badly handled, so I don't disagree with most of the rest of your post.

For the lead paragraph of your quoted post - I'd partially agree. Drunk driving is absolutely one of the _crimes_ (not "kind of thing&quot that vilifies undocumented immigrants. And you know what? It's a _crime_ (not "a kind of thing&quot that is completely preventable by the person involved. Want to know how to avoid having undocumented immigrants vilified for drunk driving? Have undocumented immigrants stop driving drunk.

[kcr]

7. So you read the article. Even this part?

"Drinking and driving and hurting someone is the kind of thing that’s fueled vilification of immigrants for decades, with right-wing media especially fond of pushing such stories going back to the inception of Fox News and before. Such stories can often tip the scales for more liberal-minded viewers, too."

Yeah, you keep repeating that you don't like the badly handled part. It doesn't earn you any points.

[metalbot]

8. That's the part that I specifically addressed in the last part of the post you respond to

Please read the last paragraph of the post you responded to, which specifically addresses the use of drunk driving to vilify immigrants.

As to "badly handled", there are two things that one could potentially be upset about here:

1. That ICE agents dragged the guy away from his family without identifying themselves. We all agree this is bad.
2. That a guy with 2 DUI's, a domestic violence charge, and now a felony charge for hitting a pedestrian while under the influence is being deported. I don't think this is bad.

I would legitimately like to understand why people here would be opposed to deporting this particular guy. Seriously. Help me to understand why I should be upset. I'm not taking the right wing position of "we need to crack down on illegal immigrants because they do things like driving drunk". I'm taking the practical position of "when people drive drunk and do so repeatedly, we should probably deport the people who do that".

How many DUI's does an individual need to have before you would no longer be sympathetic about his deportation?

[kcr]

6. Heartless n/t

[DeminPennswoods]

9. And people think it's a bad idea to abolish this agency

I realize "ICE" encompasses more than just the law enforcement component, but these agents are obviously out of control and taking far too much pleasure in grabbing and deporting people. The whole ball of ICE needs to be unwound and law enforcement agents given psychological testing to evalute their fitness to continue holding their employment.