Trump's Deportation Drive Rolls On After Midterm Wipeout

Donald Trump mused after the midterm wipeout that his immigration crackdown may have been “too tough,” telling CBS “60 Minutes” he'd “love to do something on immigration” with Democrats. Hours later, he named Stephen Miller — the architect of that hardline agenda — as his new chief of staff. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said nothing was changing, posting that “Deportations will continue” and that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes no days off, “this includes on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Election Day.”

Advocates from California to Michigan to Massachusetts reported arrests continuing unabated. María Bilbao, a campaign coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee in Miami, said she has fielded at least one call a day from someone detained in South Florida since the election. “Everything remains exactly the same. The arrests have not ceased at all,” she said. Florida Highway Patrol officers and ICE agents have detained people in their cars and at supermarkets, pharmacies and gas stations, and immigrants under supervision were picked up when they showed up at ICE's Miami office for appointments.

In Los Angeles, masked officers in body armor blocked a hospital emergency room driveway in a heavily Latino neighborhood early Saturday. Erick Gasca, 31, who lives near Adventist Health White Memorial Medical Center, said an “unprecedented” number of vehicles with tinted windows and no license plates were parked near the ER entrance. “I thought they were going to raid the hospital or something,” he said. About 30 residents and passersby gathered, and video shot by Gasca's cousin shows protesters shouting as officers pinned someone down. The Department of Homeland Security declined to explain the officers' presence, though Bill Essayli, the top Justice Department prosecutor in Los Angeles, said they were bringing a detainee for medical treatment and that two people were arrested for assaulting federal agents. DHS said “ICE does not target hospitals, schools, or churches,” and hospital president Daniel Fontoura said White Memorial “does not participate in immigration enforcement.”

At the Phoenix airport Saturday, Gustavo Romanello and Agustin Baccega — a married couple from Orlando — were arrested while traveling to a funeral. The two Argentinians have work permits while seeking asylum after entering the U.S. roughly six years ago, according to family friend Jonathan Batchelor, who was on the phone with them as two casually dressed officers approached. Batchelor heard an officer say, “Asylum seekers are not in the United States legally.” He said he listened as officers realized there was a second person to cuff, then the call cut out. Both men, acrobats in Florida with no criminal record, remain in detention centers. DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In central Alabama, twin 19-year-old brothers from Venezuela were stopped while driving back to college after visiting their parents. Luis and Carlos Orta-Santoro, in the U.S. for four years, play soccer at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville. Relatives say they have pending asylum applications, valid work permits and no criminal records; both are now in an immigration detention facility. “Our family is devastated,” said their aunt, Carolina Orta. DHS said the brothers entered legally but “overstayed in defiance of our laws,” and that pending asylum applications do not confer legal status, with their case set for an immigration judge. The school said the young men are “valued members of the Wallace State community” and hoped for “a positive resolution.”

In San Diego, an 8-year-old Haitian boy who had lived with his uncle since his father was deported last year was taken into custody Nov. 4 after the uncle brought him to an ICE office. San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Fabi Bagula and school board members wrote to top administration officials that the boy was left “without the support of their family, community and their school,” adding: “Children should not lose access to education simply because of circumstances unfolding around them.” Pastor Johny Oxeda of the Fairmount Haitian Community Church, which helped secure the boy legal representation, said he'll ultimately benefit by going through legal channels. Guerline Jozef of Haitian Bridge Alliance was blunt: “This is not child protection,” she said, calling it “state-inflicted trauma.”