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Tag: ice detainment

  • Queens mother weeps for return of her teenage son taken by ICE – who threatened to deport her, too – amNewYork

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    Gina Vega wipes tears from her eyes and she pleads for the return of her beloved son detained by ICE.

    Photo by Dean Moses

    Gina Vega sat weeping in the living room of her basement apartment in Queens. It was eerily empty and quiet; the sound of her teenage son within its walls had vanished after he was detained by ICE last year, leaving her alone with her own despair.

    The Ecuadorian mother wiped away tears from her eyes as she thought of her 18-year-old boy, whom she has not seen in more than two months. Despite the overwhelming sense of anguish, she is fighting for his release from an immigration detention center in Virginia.

    Jorge David Delgado Videla was detained on Nov. 5 inside 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, after arriving with his mother for what they believed to be a routine ICE check-in on the fifth floor.

    “They told me to take Jorge’s things and go,” Vega recalled. “I haven’t seen him since then. They said to be grateful they weren’t detaining me, too.”

    While homeland security officials continue to claim that ICE is apprehending “the worst of the worst,” meaning violent criminals, Videla has only one misdemeanor arrest to his name.

    Videla was arrested by the NYPD in August after he got into an argument with a man in the Flushing train station. According to Vega, the stranger began yelling at Videla, and they got into a verbal confrontation.

    Although the fight never got physical, the pair were arrested and charged with menacing, a misdemeanor offense. It was only months later when ICE sent a letter demanding that he appear at the fateful check-in.

    Detained Queens teen’s mom: ‘He is not meant to be locked up’

    Vega escorted Videla inside 26 Federal Plaza when an ICE agent suddenly pointed to the student and took him to another room, where they announced they would be taking fingerprints and photographs. It would be the last time she saw him.

    The female ICE agent then returned with Videla’s belt and headphones and said they would call her later. ICE agents then confiscated her passport as well, without explanation.

    Both Vega and her son had applied for asylum in the United States after escaping a threat from an Ecuadorian gang, “Los choneros or Aguilas,” that had unsuccessfully tried to recruit the teenager two years prior. Videla’s friends lost their lives to the same gang. He had been attending the Pan American International High School and had been scheduled to graduate in July 2026.

    Mother Queens ICE detainment son
    Gina Vega sat in the living room of her basement apartment in Queens. It was eerily empty and quiet; the sound of her teenage son within its walls had vanished after he was detained by ICE, leaving her alone with her own despair.Photo by Dean Moses

    That same afternoon of his detention, Vega received a call from her son confirming what she feared: that ICE was holding him against his will indefinitely. With a friend’s help, she later learned that her son had been transferred out of the Big Apple to another detention center in Virginia.

    Videla’s detainment on the fifth floor comes after amNewYork made a special report last year, outlining the rise of immigrant arrests in that particular area of 26 Federal Plaza. Access is restricted on the fifth floor, with all detainment activity taking place out of sight of the press and the public. 

    According to Vega, Videla is now being held in a cell with people much older than him, despite only being 18 years old. Detention officials allow him limited recreational time and access to a gym, but he refuses most meals and eats only instant noodles that the center’s staff provides.

    “He cries. He says he is not meant to be locked up; he is not a criminal. He asks why they keep him locked up,” Vega said, sharing what she has learned through the infrequent calls with her son.

    Mother Queens ICE detainment son
    Gina Vega shows a photograph of herself and her son Jorge David Delgado Videla.Photo by Dean Moses

    Since his detainment, ICE offered him a “voluntary departure” to Mexico even though he is of Ecuadorian descent and has no ties to Mexico. A court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20, at which it will be determined whether he will face deportation.

    Other family members also spoke to amNewYork in defense of the young man.

    Jorge’s aunt, Yadira, describes her nephew as a calm, respectful person who always helps others. She also railed that the detention has been horrific for his mother since he is also the breadwinner for the family.

    “It’s very hard for his mother,” Yadira said. “She’s depressed because he is her only companion here. Every day we pray for strength – that he can stay here and start his life again.”

    Mother Queens ICE detainment son
    Gina Vega is pleading for the return of her son.Photo by Dean Moses

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    By Dean Moses and Florencia Arozarena

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  • ICE detains City Council staffer at routine immigration hearing; Menin, Mamdani demand immediate release – amNewYork

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    An ICE agent inside 26 Federal Plaza.

    Photo by Dean Moses

    A New York City Council worker was detained by ICE agents on Long Island on Monday, according to City Council Speaker Julie Menin.

    The unnamed staffer, a data analyst for the Council, was taken into custody during what was supposed to be a routine immigration hearing in Bethpage. According to Menin, the employee had been legally permitted to stay in the U.S. until this October.

    “We learned about this very disturbing situation late this afternoon when this employee called the City Council HR appointment for help and told them he had been detained,” Menin said during an emergency press conference she called on Jan. 12.

    Making things worse, the City Council was initially unable to reach ICE to learn more about the detained employee. 

    “We immediately reached out to the ICE facility office at the Bethpage facility, but shockingly, the phone number doesn’t even work. It says that the number is disconnected. There is no public information about how to reach someone who is being detained at the Bethpage facility,” Menin said. “There’s actually no way to reach out to this individual, and I just want to be clear, as Speaker of the City Council, I cannot even call this ICE detention center to collect information.”

    city council speaker speaks about detainment of staffer
    The unnamed staffer, a data analyst for the Council, was taken into custody during what was supposed to be a routine immigration hearing in Bethpage. According to Menin, the employee had been legally permitted to stay in the U.S. until this October.Screenshot via YouTube/@NYCcouncil

    Menin stated that she has since learned that the detained individual, who hails from Venezuela, has since been transferred to a detention center on Varick Street in Lower Manhattan. She also stressed that he was not only on a work visa, but also that he had never been arrested or convicted of a crime later in the year.

    The speaker called the staffer’s detention by ICE an unprecedented “breach of liberty” and a further sign that no one is safe from harm from the federal agency.

    “This is, I want to say, the first time this has ever happened to a City Council Employee, and it must be the only time that this ever happens. But unfortunately, this breach of liberty is hardly an exception,” Menin said. Given recent events across the nation, we’ve seen aggressive escalations by ICE that threaten the freedom and safety of every American. These escalations raise serious concerns about overreach.”

    Man in mask looks back at man in suit, with latter providing a stern gaze and hands on hips
    US Rep. Dan Goldman faces off with an ICE agent.Photo by Dean Moses

    “We are looking at all legal options right now,” the speaker added.

    Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement that he was “outraged” to learn of the City Council staffer’s detainment, and publicly demanded their release.

    “This is an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values,” Mamdani said. “I am calling for his immediate release and will continue to monitor the situation.”

    U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, who has spent months himself railing against ICE operations in the Big Apple and immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, also spoke out against the stunning detainment.

    “I want to be very clear: there is no indication that there is anything about this individual other than his immigration status that caused him to be arrested,” Goldman said. “Venezuela, as we know, is in massive turmoil. The President was just abducted and kidnapped by our United States government. There is a temporary, chaotic government. There is nothing safe and secure about that country.”

    The analyst has worked for the City Council for about one year and, according to those with knowledge of the incident, made their only call to the City Council HR department for help. As of Monday evening, his colleagues had been unable to contact his family.

    Queens City Council Member Tiffany Cabán called the City Council employee’s detainment a “kidnapping.” 

    “A public servant was detained by ICE. Masked police kidnapping a City Council employee who works day in and day out for New Yorkers does not make us safe,” she said. “Trump’s deportation agenda was never about safety. It’s about scapegoating immigrants for problems caused by billionaires. Free our neighbors. Abolish ICE.”  

    The staffer’s detention comes amid citywide and nationwide protests against ICE following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7 as she attempted to drive away from masked, heavily armed ICE agents in Minneapolis. Immigration enforcement has been growing increasingly more aggressive, leading to unrest throughout the country.

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    Dean Moses

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  • A Queens mom and her young family try to find ‘the strength to survive’ after ICE took their husband and father away | amNewYork

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    Ecuadorian native Jessica Supliguicha sat inside her Queens apartment, cradling her month-old baby. She wept as she thought of her husband, Jorge, who had never met the girl she held in her arms; he had been deported to Ecuador three days before their baby was born.

    “I don’t know where I get the strength to survive,” Supliguicha said with tears welling in her eyes.

    The tot’s father was taken into custody by ICE agents inside 26 Federal Plaza on Sept. 6; meanwhile, his eight-month pregnant wife was outside of the building waiting to reunite with him. Although other families emerged, Jorge never came out. A lawyer called Supliguicha frantically, stating that Jorge had been detained.

    It was a moment that not only left her traumatized, with only a month post-partum, she would now be unable to provide for her family. Hearing his mother sob softly, her 9-year-old son Dylan sidled over to her and embraced her.

    How Jorge and Jessica met

    Photo by Dean Moses
    Ecuadorian native Jessica Supliguicha sat inside her Queens apartment, cradling her month-old baby. She wept as she thought of her husband, Jorge, who had never met the girl she held in her arms. Heartbreakingly for Supliguicha, Jorge was deported to Ecuador three days before their baby was born.Photo by Dean Moses

    amNewYork followed Supliguicha as she went about her daily life — preparing food for the newborn and folding laundry while Dylan watched YouTube videos and took his Halloween costume for a test spin.

    “It’s Huggy Wuggy!” the boy exclaimed, disappearing into a blue fury costume. Dylan also explained that he was preparing for the Big Halloween dance at school, something he was brimming with excitement over.

    “It’s Huggy Wuggy!” the boy exclaimed, disappearing into a blue fury costume. Dylan also explained that he was preparing for the Big Halloween dance at school, something he was brimming with excitement over.Photo by Dean Moses

    Despite both of them attempting to put on a brave face, a sense of sadness and despair clung to the walls and ceilings of the home, a pressure that felt as though it added weight to each movement.

    Dylan was born out of a previous marriage, but Jorge was, for all intents and purposes, his father — serving as the patriarch he did not have.

    “Jorge came to fill up that emptiness that Dylan needed,” Supliguicha said.

    Now, Dylan is left without a father figure and feels that the only friend he has is his cat.

    For Jorge and Supliguicha, it was a time-old romance of two friends who just never got the timing right. They had known each other since they were just 15 years old, but it wasn’t until 20 years later that fate struck when they reconnected in 2023.

    Both already had families and kids, but something changed this time. Supliguicha saw Jorge with different eyes.

    Both still feared the violence that continued to brew in their motherland. While Supliguicha became a citizen in 2023 after ten years of residency, Jorge had fled stateside after one of his brothers was killed in Ecuador by a gang. When they both found each other in New York, they also discovered comfort in one another and fell in love.Photo by Dean Moses

    Both still feared the violence that continued to brew in their motherland. While Supliguicha became a citizen in 2023 after 10 years of residency, Jorge had fled stateside after one of his brothers was killed in Ecuador by a gang.

    When they met in New York, they also discovered comfort in each other and fell in love.

    Jorge was attempting to resolve the situation with his papers since he had a deportation order that had to be amended because he was marrying a US citizen and his wife was pregnant. They fitted him with an ankle monitor without explanation; he wore the monitor when they tied the knot.

    After four days of marriage, Jorge received a letter stating that he had to appear in court on Sept. 6. He complied with the order, and was subsequently taken into custody by ICE. Supliguicha has not seen him since.

    “I felt that the world was coming to an end,” Supliguicha said. “They change your life overnight.”

    Photo by Dean Moses
    Photo by Dean Moses

    She was shocked from the moment she lost Jorge in the hands of ICE, and as the days passed, she entered the final month of her pregnancy and fell into a depressive state.

    “I became anemic. She (her baby) was underweight,” Supliguicha said.

    Between tears, Supliguicha remembered how she felt the moment they gave her her child, Maite Cristina, after giving birth on Oct. 5. She explains how her pregnancy was an at-risk one, since she had miscarried in the past.

    Photo by Dean Moses
    Photo by Dean Moses

    “She was a girl that I was going to lose from the beginning. She overcame many things(during the pregnancy). But, I never thought that at eight months she would also have to overcome the absence of her father,” Supliguicha said.

    Still, something was missing: Jorge.

    Currently, Jorge is hiding in Ecuador, where he could be persecuted and killed. Supliguicha fears for her husband’s life, with the continued violence on the streets and his brother being murdered by gang members, Jorge is in hiding to survive.

    The dread for her husband’s life and whether her family will ever see him again is an unbearable weight Supliguicha must carry while caring for her family alone.

    “A former sister in law got involved with that gang of robberies and drugs. His family was harmed.” Supliguicha explains why her husband is in danger in Ecuador. “He couldn’t prove here with facts that he was in danger. Right now, he is in danger. He’s always hiding. He doesn’t go out much.”

    Both are waiting for the I-130 form, a petition used by U.S. citizens to bring a non-citizen relative who wants to come to the U.S, to be approved.

    In the meantime, Supliguicha plans to return to work in three weeks because she is struggling to make ends meet and cannot afford the rent.

    Despite both of them attempting to put on a brave face, a sense of sadness and despair clung to the walls and ceilings of the home, a pressure that felt as though it added weight to each movement.Photo by Dean Moses

    Supliguicha created a GoFundMe account to help support her family. She hopes for the future to reunify the family and wishes her daughter to be able to grow with her father.

    “All I can do is move forward and find a way to do things the way they’re supposed to be. Hoping that the paperwork will one day be approved,” she said. 

    At the same time, she emphasizes that her situation is not unique, but rather one of many.

    “I would like them to stop and give them the opportunity for the people who were deported to be reunited, to be together again. Experiencing family separation is awful. My daughter is very young; she can’t understand, but there are older children who can. My husband’s daughters, who were also left without a father,” Supliguichia said.

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    By Dean Moses, Amanda Moses, and Florencia Arozarena

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  • ICE in courts: Arrests of immigrants continue at Federal Plaza, leaving children in tears after families separated | amNewYork

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    ICE arrests continued in immigration court Wednesday, including an emotional family separation that left two children in tears amid a government shutdown, seeing court hearings briefly delayed.

    Photo by Dean Moses

    A day after roughing up reporters and hours after the federal government shut down, masked ICE agents continued their seizure operations Wednesday at 26 Federal Plaza — which included an emotional family separation that left two children in tears.

    The detainments came one day after a hectic scuffle inside 26 Federal Plaza that saw masked feds brutally shove press photographers, leaving one journalist hospitalized after suffering a serious injury from a fall.

    Tensions reached an all-time high on Oct. 1 as resolute members of the press continued to document ICE activity following the injury. While some of the agents expressed sorrow for the dramatic incident that made headlines, others doubled down, blaming the media.

    Despite the tension and the federal government shutdown, which indefinitely delayed scheduled hearings at immigration courts, business for the federal agents went on.

    A man is arrested without even seeing a judge.Photo by Dean Moses
    Photo by Dean Moses

    Judges initially did not hold court hearings during the early part of the morning. Immigrants arrived on the 12th floor only to be sent away, and although they did not see a judge, ICE agents waiting outside the court quickly whisked them away.

    “There is no due process,” one court observer said.

    Later, however, the courtrooms reopened, but the detainments continued. One man was pulled from his family and rushed down a hallway and out of sight. His two young sons were left howling in sorrow and weeping profusely as their mother guided them away, also crying. Another woman was likewise left in tears at the mere sight of the armed, masked men.

    Court observers could be seen taking her by the arms and guiding her to court as she dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

    A woman is left in tears at the sight of ICE.Photo by Dean Moses
    A child weeps after his father is taken by ICE.Photo by Dean Moses

    This all comes mere days after an ICE agent was suspended and then reinstated for shoving an Ecuadorian mother, Monica Moreta-Galarza, to the ground after she pleaded for mercy for her husband.

    As tensions escalate, Moreta-Galarza’s attorney, Lina Stillman, told amNewYork that she is recommending that those who have upcoming hearings not attend them alone.

    “I would say to them, don’t show up to court by themselves. The entire world is seeing what’s happening to these families because you guys are there. The reason this video went viral is that it’s outrageous.  This shouldn’t happen to anybody, this shouldn’t happen anywhere,” Stillman said.

    A man is arrested by ICE.Photo by Dean Moses

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    Dean Moses

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  • ICE in Courts: Lander, Goldman demand Congressional inquiry into Homeland Security after ICE supervisor who violently shoved mother was reinstated | amNewYork

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    The ICE supervisor relieved of his duties by homeland security after he shoved a mother to the ground in 26 Federal Plaza.

    Photo by Dean Moses

    City Comptroller Brad Lander and U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman are demanding an oversight inquiry into Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem after she reinstated the ICE supervisor who was caught on video shoving a mother to the ground at 26 Federal Plaza last week.

    The two Democratic pols are fuming after it became clear that the infamous ICE agent involved in the viral shoving of an Ecuadorian mother in the hallway of immigration court would be returning to work. 

    In a statement issued on Sept. 26, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed that the fed in question would be suspended pending an investigation.

     “Our ICE law enforcement are held to the highest professional standards and this officer is being relieved of current duties as we conduct a full investigation,” McLaughlin said in a statement.

    That investigation proved to be short-lived, however, after news broke Monday evening that the agent in question had been reinstated, and was back on the job at 26 Federal Plaza — where for months, ICE agents have seized immigrants attending court-mandated hearings.

    Lander and Goldman said Noem has explaining to do as to why the ICE supervisor, who still has not been publicly identified, was brought back on duty so quickly after he was purportedly suspended.

    “With yesterday’s reinstatement of an ICE agent who violently threw a bereft woman to the floor and today’s assault on members of the press, it’s back to business as usual for the Trump Administration — because, after all, the cruelty is the point,”  Lander said on Sept. 30. “These heinous actions cannot go unanswered, which is why I am demanding answers from Secretary Noem and the Department of Homeland Security on the conduct of ICE agents and their use of excessive force.”

    The officials also alleged that ICE is hiring agents with little experience or expertise and without proper training. They are also critiquing Noem for not publicly releasing the findings of the DHS investigation into the shoving incident.

    “The Department’s decision to reinstate this officer is outrageous, especially in light of their own acknowledgement last week that his conduct was unacceptable,” Goldman said. “This officer deserves criminal investigation, not a paycheck from the taxpayers, and it has become clear that giving him a pass for this behavior is incentivizing other rank and file agents to commit violence against civilians.”

    The announcement from Lander and Goldman came hours after masked ICE agents accosted members of the press documenting an arrest at 26 Federal Plaza.

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    Dean Moses

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