Subject:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

  • Blogs

    November 2, 2012

    Berkeley Police to Disregard Immigration Status

    The Berkeley City Council broke ranks with the federal government this week, ordering their police department not to participate in immigration policing. The council, bowing to demands from the Coalition for a Safe Berkeley, voted to instruct its Police Department to ignore the immigration status ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 28, 2012

    Feds to Ease Up on Deporting Gay Immigrants With American Partners

    Two years ago, SF Weekly highlighted the sad story of gay immigrants who were being forced to choose between love and leaving the U.S. But it appears that conundrum is no more. According to Washington reports, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has decided that gay and lesbia ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 27, 2012

    San Francisco Immigration Community to Protest Deportation of Alleged Rape Victim

    We've all missed a deadline, but how many of those missed appointments meant the difference between a life of refuge and a life of fear? That's what it has meant to Blanca Medina, an El Salvadorian woman currently classified as a fugitive after she missed her immigration court hearing. Medina had a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 15, 2012

    Bay Area's DREAM Act Leader Prerna Lal Responds to Obama's New Policy for Immigrant Youth

    Just like the gay community celebrated the president's newfound support for same-sex marriage last month, the immigrant community is now rejoicing in today's news that President Barack Obama would temporarily halt deportations of some immigrant youngsters.It's a remarkable feat for the hundreds of t ... More >>

  • News

    June 6, 2012

    Days of Rage: Immigrants and Allies Must Fight Back

    Just like the gay community celebrated the president's newfound support for same-sex marriage last month, the immigrant community is now rejoicing in today's news that President Barack Obama would temporarily halt deportations of some immigrant youngsters.It's a remarkable feat for the hundreds of t ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 1, 2012

    New Immigration Reforms Basically Cite Months-Old Training Memos

    The U.S. Immigration and Custom's Enforcement agency has taken much criticism for its "Secure Communities" initiative, where participating local police departments give immigration officials access to the fingerprints of people brought into its jails. In September, for instance, a Department of Ho ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 27, 2012

    El Balazo Owners Sentenced to Prison for Hiring Illegal Immigrants

    The Mexican food competition in this city is fierce. There are great burrito joints and margarita offerings in every direction. Perhaps Marino and Nicole Sandoval, owners of the El Balazo chain, were just wanting a little boost when they stiffed the feds on taxes and hired undocumented immigrants fo ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 2, 2012

    ICE Does Immigration Sweeps, Arrests Thousands of "Criminal Aliens"

    ​Immigration authorities have arrested more than 3,100 convicted illegal immigrants and fugitives, including 200 in Northern California, during a massive, high-profile sweep nationwide over the last week. Some 1,900 ICE officers and agents throughout the United States conducted the largest six-day ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 29, 2012

    Cindy Chang, Sunday School Teacher, Released After Three-Week Detention at Arizona Immigration Checkpoint

    ​Cindy Chang was driving from San Jose to Phoenix for a friend's wedding early this month when she was stopped at an immigration checkpoint in Eloy, Ariz. These structures are common this close to the border. Chang, a 26-year old Sunday school teacher who has lived in the Bay Area since her f ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 30, 2011

    Roberto Acosta, MS-13 Snitch Convicted of Lying to Government, Seeks New Trial

    The snitch wants a new day in court. ​The MS-13 snitch who provided federal agents with information that led to the mega-indictment of the transnational gang -- and recorded alleged murder confessions that will be allowed as evidence in an upcoming Superior Court trial -- wants a new trial of his ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 17, 2011

    Minhaz Kahn, DREAM Act Eligible Student, Spared Deportation -- For Now

    No deportation for Minhaz Kahn. But others might not be so lucky. ​A DREAM-Act-eligible recent college grad won reprieve on his deportation case earlier this week, yet the celebration ends there. San Francisco-based immigration officials warned attorneys that not all DREAM Act-eligible immigrants ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 10, 2011

    Minhaz Kahn, DREAM Act-Eligible Neuroscience Grad, Set For Deportation

    Minhaz Kahn is facing deportation on November 18. ​Federal immigration officials in San Francisco are ignoring a June memo from immigration authorities that deprioritizes deportation immigrants who came into the country as kids. In the most recent case, it's affecting a UC-Riverside neuroscie ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 13, 2011

    Roberto Acosta, MS-13 Informant Convicted of Lying, Wants Out of Jail

    The MS-13 snitch thinks the government is ungrateful for his help. ​Roberto "Bad Boy" Acosta, the MS-13 gang informant who for years gave federal agents details about San Francisco's branch of the gang, faces sentencing in federal court next week for lying to his handlers about how many people he' ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 12, 2011

    Feds Want Maximum Prison Time for Roberto Acosta, MS-13 Informant Who Lied

    The government's snitch is about to get sentenced. ​Federal prosecutors are pushing for the maximum five-year sentence for the criminal informant who was shaping up to be their star witness in the case against San Francisco's MS-13 clique. But his future took a turn when Roberto Acosta was instead ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 9, 2011

    San Francisco Gay Binational Couple to Appeal DOMA Visa Denial

    Anthony Makk, left, with husband Bradford Wells in happier times.​Anthony John Makk -- the gay Australian national fighting separation from his San Francisco spouse after his marriage visa petition was denied last week -- is not giving up yet. Makk will now appeal the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrat ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 13, 2011

    Immigration Judge Delays Deportation for Alex Benshimol, S.F. Gay Man Married to American

    Alex Benshimol, left, can stay in the country with his husband Alex Gentry.​In another victory for same-sex couples, a San Francisco immigration judge ignored the Defense of Marriage Act today when she delayed the deportation proceedings against a gay Venezuelan man who is married to an American c ... More >>

  • Film

    July 6, 2011

    "A Better Life": Illegal Immigrant Melodrama Too Sudsy By Half

    Alex Benshimol, left, can stay in the country with his husband Alex Gentry.​In another victory for same-sex couples, a San Francisco immigration judge ignored the Defense of Marriage Act today when she delayed the deportation proceedings against a gay Venezuelan man who is married to an American c ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 1, 2011

    Feds Close Deportation Case Against Same-Sex Spouse of Gay American

    Henry Velandia, right, and his American spouse, Josh Vandiver​The immigration woes of same-sex couples has finally reached a tipping point: The Immigration Court in Newark, New Jersey, has closed the deportation case against the foreign spouse of a gay American this week. The couple's attorney, La ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 27, 2011

    Black Market Giants World Series Gear to Be Donated to Haitians

    Giants win goes global. ​Remember when the feds were vigorously seizing knock-off Giants World Series clothing from black-market vendors around AT&T Park last year? Well, it turns out that all those clothes won't just rot in federal custody. In one of those unexpected turns in a globalized wor ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 20, 2011

    ICE Softens Its Stance on DREAM Act Kids, but Still Hazy On Gays

    Can Anthony Makk, left, and Bradford Wells get a break? ​The DREAM Act kids seem to be getting a break, but what about gay couples? A memo sent on Friday from the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to tell immigration officers to have a little heart when it comes to enforcing ... More >>

  • Calendar

    May 18, 2011

    Long-Distance Father

    Can Anthony Makk, left, and Bradford Wells get a break? ​The DREAM Act kids seem to be getting a break, but what about gay couples? A memo sent on Friday from the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to tell immigration officers to have a little heart when it comes to enforcing ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 12, 2011

    Federal Fingerprinting Program May Still ID Illegal Immigrant Teens Shielded By City

    Looking for the right fingerprints​This week Mayor Ed Lee announced the city would stop alerting federal immigration officials about illegal immigrant youth they book into juvenile hall on felony charges -- if the teens have family in the Bay Area.Even with this new policy, immigration authorities ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 11, 2011

    Mayor Ed Lee: City Will Shield Some Illegal Immigrant Youth from Deportation

    Supervisor Campos after his law policy passed two years ago. Now it will be enforced - for some. ​Mayor Ed Lee announced Tuesday that he will begin implementing the city's controversial Sanctuary City law, only reporting illegal immigrant youth to federal immigration authorities if they have been ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 6, 2011

    Sheriff Michael Hennessey to Give Illegal Immigrants a Break

    Talk to the hand, ICE.​Today we woke up to the news that Sheriff Michael Hennessey has found a loophole in the federal fingerprinting program that identifies illegal immigrants in the county jail. And as of June 1, Hennessey will no longer hold illegal immigrants booked into county jail on minor m ... More >>

  • News

    April 27, 2011

    A Rat's Life: MS-13 Snitches Run Wild While Turning State's Evidence

    Talk to the hand, ICE.​Today we woke up to the news that Sheriff Michael Hennessey has found a loophole in the federal fingerprinting program that identifies illegal immigrants in the county jail. And as of June 1, Hennessey will no longer hold illegal immigrants booked into county jail on minor m ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 27, 2011

    San Francisco MS-13 Gang Wasn't Violent Enough for Edwin Ramos, Witness Says

    Accused murderer of the Bologna family jumped into a more violent clique in Richmond, witness testifies. One attorney alleges Bologna murders could have been prevented had federal agents deported Ramos when they first knew about his crimes.Edwin Ramos wasn't indicted with the 24 alleged MS-13 gangst ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 26, 2011

    Few Deportable Inmates Are from San Francisco

    Mexicans top the list, but the Soviets aren't so far behind. ​Yesterday, we told you about California being a national leader when it comes to the number of criminal aliens incarcerated in our state prisons. It turns out that very few of those criminal aliens hail from San Francisco. Criminal alie ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 21, 2011

    Ammiano Bill to Change State's Involvement In ICE Fingerprinting Program

    Barter: Fingerprint for a one-way flight to Tijuana​Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has introduced a glut of controversial and liberal legislation in the last week, including lowering the penalty for growing pot. And now San Francisco's comedian-turned-politician has stepped into the mired debate around a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 3, 2011

    Supervisors Want Mayor Ed Lee to Take a Stand on Sanctuary City

    Newsom's gone. Will Campos' law get a second chance?​With former Mayor Gavin Newsom gone, city supervisors are hoping to convince Mayor Ed Lee to enforce their version of the San Francisco's Sanctuary City policy. Let's rewind to the drama: Three years ago, Newsom reversed a city policy that shiel ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 6, 2011

    Elizabeth Lee Granted Six Month Stay Of Deportation

    She Can Stay!​Just yesterday Elizabeth Lee ,18,  was facing deportation in two weeks absent some miracle or legal wrangling by her attorneys. But officials from the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency informed her lawyers this morning that they would grant Lee and her family at l ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 1, 2010

    Washington First State To Spurn Feds' Secure Communities Fingerprinting Program

    ​Washington State just did what San Francisco tried so hard to do but ultimately failed at: It gave the metaphorical finger to Secure Communities, the controversial fingerprinting program that identifies illegal immigrants picked up by local police.Washington became the first state in the country ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 19, 2010

    Conservative Immigration Think Tank Wants To Kill San Francisco's Federal Dollars

    Sorry, Buster. No more money to keep you here...​San Francisco jails should lose roughly $750,000 in Department of Justice dollars. That's the gist of a  memo released this month by the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank Center for Immigration Studies, which accuses San Francisco ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 22, 2010

    Feds Say Fuck No to Lincecum-Themed T-Shirts

    ICE Fucking Took It​The federal government is not your friend. Barry Bonds knows this -- the home run king will be in federal court next year not for using steroids, but for allegedly lying to a federal grand jury about using them (this after a federal agent rooted through BALCO kingpin Victor Con ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 1, 2010

    So You *Can* Opt Out of Secure Communities Fingerprinting Program. Will S.F. Be Allowed?

    ​Local officials are awaiting a response to San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey's letter yesterday, which once again asked federal immigration officials to allow San Francisco to opt out of the fingerprint ID program that targets illegal immigrants booked into jail. The request comes afte ... More >>

  • News

    August 25, 2010

    Asylum Denied

    Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum.

  • Blogs

    August 10, 2010

    'Secure Communities' Deporting Low-Level Criminals and Innocents, Opponents Say

    Jaywalking? That'll get you deported, hombre​The majority of illegal immigrants deported by a controversial federal program known as Secure Communities are not the "high threat" criminal immigrants the Feds claimed the program would ensnare, according to statistics released today by civil rights o ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 3, 2010

    Feds Indict Fisherman's Wharf Merchants For Selling Fake Louis Vuittons

    No, you didn't get a real, $5 Louis Vuitton...​In what is being billed as the largest takedown of retailers of designer fakes on the West Coast, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement busted a slew of Fisherman's Wharf merchants for allegedly smuggling and trafficking in fake Oakley, Nike, A ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 7, 2010

    Swindler Dresses As Clown On Kiddie Bike To Impersonate Immigration Official

    Oh look! Two immigration officials! ​The evidence is in: To immigrants, there is little difference between an immigration authority and a clown on a kiddie bike. That was the disguise Frank Salvador Solorza used when impersonating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official and extorting ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 28, 2010

    Is Philadelphia More Immigrant-Friendly Than San Francisco?

    Does Philly's Michael Nutter have more spine than Gavin Newsom?​Philadelphia's deputy mayor said yesterday that his city will likely cease cooperating with federal immigration officials by sharing records of local arrests, a policy change that would put it in the vanguard of so-called "sanctuary c ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 24, 2010

    'Secure Communities' Program Nails 29 Illegal Immigrants In S.F. Jail

    After all, now we have finger prints...​ICE touts success stories of new program -- but San Francisco sheriff's department would have reported "criminal aliens" anyways under old sanctuary city policyIn the first nine days after the San Francisco Sheriff's Department begrudgingly implemented the f ... More >>

  • News

    June 9, 2010

    Worlds Apart

    Federal law gives gay citizens with foreign partners tough choices: Leave the U.S.A. Lose your love. Break the law.

  • Blogs

    May 10, 2010

    Newsom Spokesman's Mantra: 'We Report, We Don't Deport'

    Well, these guys do deport​Rare is the catchphrase that makes the jump to the public consciousness. If the glove doesn't fit,  you must acquit: Johnnie Cochran at the O.J. Simpson trial (they acquitted). Read my lips; no new taxes: George H.W. Bush (he enacted new taxes). Mayor Gavin Newsom's ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 6, 2010

    Will Feds' Move Gut S.F. Sanctuary City Policy?

    ​An overarching federally mandated program will take decisions about who to report -- or not report -- to immigration authorities out of local officials' hands, the Chronicle reports. In June, San Francisco's County Jail will begin using the Secure Communities initiative -- a program the Departmen ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 4, 2009

    ICE Denies Amuse Bouche Vendor's Deferral Request -- He'll Be Deported in the Next Week or Two

    Photo via SFistFrench national Murat Celebi-Ariner will be deported on the next available flight.​The attorney for Murat Celebi-Ariner said his client's Deferral of Action request was denied late last night, meaning the street-food vendor will be deported to France. Randall Caudle said he rece ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 2, 2009

    No Action Today in the Case of Detained Amuse Bouche Street-Food Vendor

    ​The attorney for Murat Celebi-Ariner reported no action today in the case of the Amuse Bouche street-food vendor, who was detained last week for a visa waiver overstay. Sasn Francisco immigration attorney Randall Caudle said his client had been expected to have his case reviewed today, when t ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 22, 2009

    Right-Wing Institute Gearing Up 'To Take Down San Francisco' Over Sanctuary City Policy

    Challengers to the city's proposed new sanctuary policy are already circling​You may remember the furor over the memo Mayor Gavin Newsom leaked from the city attorney stating the city would face a "likely legal challenge" if it changed the hard-line policy towards reporting undocumented juveniles ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 29, 2008

    Snapshot: Guerilla Postering

    Challengers to the city's proposed new sanctuary policy are already circling​You may remember the furor over the memo Mayor Gavin Newsom leaked from the city attorney stating the city would face a "likely legal challenge" if it changed the hard-line policy towards reporting undocumented juveniles ... More >>

  • News

    May 2, 2007

    Funny Dinero

    The mayor says the city won't help the Bushies crackdown on illegal immigrants--but why is SF still getting money from the feds then?

  • More >>
VOICE Daily Deals

Now Trending

©2013 SF Weekly, LP, All rights reserved.
Browse Voice Nation
  • Voice Places San Francisco / Bay Area

    Voice Places

    Find everything you're looking for in your city

  • Happy Hour App

    Happy Hour App

    Find the best happy hour deals in your city

  • Daily Deals

    Daily Deals

    Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%

  • Best Of

    Best Of...

    Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city

Join
Log In