Coalition of the Confused

A message reads 'El Paso Strong' at a makeshift memorial honoring victims outside Walmart, near the scene of a mass shooting which left at least 22 people dead, on August 6, 2019 in El Paso, Texas.

A woman who helped investigators after a 2019 mass shooting at a Walmart in Texas has been deported.
The woman, identified only as Rosa publicly, was deported following a traffic stop.
A legal aid group helping Rosa said she was "an important witness in the case against the alleged shooter & came out of the shadows to cooperate [with] law enforcement about what she saw."

A woman who survived a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and has since been helping investigators as a witness was deported on Friday following a traffic stop, her lawyers say.

The woman, who has only been identified publicly as Rosa, was arrested on Wednesday on two outstanding traffic citations from 2015 and deported to Mexico days later by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the organization Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services told KTSM.

Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, which helps low-income immigrants access legal aid, is calling for Rosa's immediate return to the United States.

"Rosa is an important witness in the case against the alleged shooter & came out of the shadows to cooperate [with] law enforcement about what she saw," the legal clinic said in a statement on Facebook.

Rosa was a witness to the El Paso Walmart shooting in 2019, in which 22 people were killed. A 23rd person died last year from injuries he sustained in the shooting.

Anna Hey, an attorney and Deputy Director of Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, told BuzzFeed News that Rosa told investigators she had seen the gunman, identified by investigators as Patrick Crusius, enter the store before the shooting.

Hey said Rosa received a certification from the El Paso District Attorney's Office for cooperating with investigators, which allowed her to apply for a victims of criminal activity U Visa.

She was in the midst of applying when she was deported, Hey said.

"Some of the information that she had had not been corroborated yet by any other witnesses so it's very important, whatever information she has, is important to building the case, which is another concern as to why they decided to remove her from the country," Hey told KTSM.

Crusius, meanwhile, has been charged with capital murder and has pleaded not guilty in the mass shooting.

Prosecutors say Crusius posted an anti-immigrant manifesto online before the shooting and had told police that he was targeting Mexicans.

An El Paso Walmart shooting survivor who has been helping investigators just got deported (msn.com)

Edited February 1, 2021 2:23 pm by el gringo (ramseylurker)

Msg 16 of 61 to bml00bml00

In reply toRe: msg 15

From: el gringo (ramseylurker)

Feb-1

Accused El Paso mass shooter charged with 90 counts of federal hate crimes

EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas man accused of deliberately targeting people of Mexican heritage in a shooting rampage that killed 22 people at an El Paso Walmart WMT.N store last year was charged on Thursday on 90 counts of federal hate crimes.

The charges against Patrick Crusius, 21, included 22 counts under the U.S. classification of hate crimes - violence with an added element of bias - resulting in death, for which he could face the death penalty.

Crusius was charged last year by state courts, where his capital murder trial is in its early stages.

Crusius would now face a separate trial in federal court, John Bash, the U.S. attorney for the western district of Texas, told reporters after the grand jury indictment.

“We all share same goal here - to achieve justice for the families of the victims,” Bash said.

Bash said the El Paso shooting was an act of domestic terrorism and an attack against an entire ethnic group.

“We’re firing on all cylinders to stop this. We’re going to stop hate crimes,” he said.

Crusius is accused of driving 11 hours to El Paso from his hometown of Allen, near Dallas, on Aug. 3 last year and firing at shoppers with an AK-47 rifle inside the Walmart store. He surrendered to officers who confronted him outside.

Crusius confessed while surrendering and told police he was targeting Mexicans, according to an El Paso police affidavit released days after the shooting. Most of those killed were Latinos.

In a manifesto prosecutors say was posted online by Crusius on 8chan, a now-defunct message board often used by extremists, the accused shooter said his Walmart attack “is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

The federal indictment quoted the manifesto as also saying that Crusius was “defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by the invasion.”

Democrats have said that Republican President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant and racially charged language at political rallies and on Twitter has fanned racist, white nationalist sentiments, creating a political climate that is conducive to hate-based violence.

Former Texas congressman and El Paso native Beto O’Rourke, at the time of the shooting one of the contenders for the Democratic nomination for president, said Trump “helped create the hatred” that made the massacre possible.

Trump has roundly rejected the criticisms as Democrats looking to score political points off a tragedy.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-shooting/accused-el-paso-mass-shooter-charged-with-90-counts-of-federal-hate-crimes-idUSKBN2002PK

Msg 17 of 61 to Jenifer (Zarknorph)Zarknorph

In reply toRe: msg 8

From: el gringo (ramseylurker)

Feb-1

Jenifer (Zarknorph) said...
bml00 said:
...and this is designed to heal the rift ?

No, this is designed to attempt to return humanity to the US government.

Don't worry - Republicans have stacked the courts, remember? They'll make sure people continue to suffer.

Witness to El Paso mass shooting deported after federal judge blocks Biden deportation pause

Witness to El Paso mass shooting deported after federal judge blocks Biden deportation pause (msn.com)

Msg 18 of 61 to el gringo (ramseylurker)ramseylurker

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Host

From: Jenifer (Zarknorph)

Feb-3

U.S.

Biden moves to reverse Trump immigration policies, too slowly for some

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered a review of asylum processing at the U.S.-Mexico border and the immigration system as he seeks to undo some of former President Donald Trump's hardline policies.

From: el gringo (ramseylurker)

Feb-3

Here's a 4 year old article from the first days of the Trump administration.

Report: LA religious leaders create network to hide immigrants

BY NIKITA VLADIMIROV - 02/23/17 07:04 PM EST

Religious leaders in Los Angeles are forming an underground network of homes as part of an effort to provide shelter for families facing deportation, CNN reported Thursday.

According to CNN, the Rapid Response Team network could shelter hundreds and potentially thousands of undocumented immigrants across Southern California.

"That's what we need to do as a community to keep families together," said Pastor Ada Valiente, after showing CNN a house that is ready to host three families.

Similar services for immigrant families are already being provided by numerous churches and religious buildings in the area.

According to CNN, this Rapid Response Team seeks to go beyond the existing measures.

Another participant who did not want to be identified told CNN he will do everything in his power to protect his guests if immigration authorities come knocking on his door.

"I definitely won't let them in. That's our legal right," he said. "If they have a warrant, then they can come in. I can imagine that could be scary, but I feel the consequences of being passive in this moment is a little scary."

Under President Obama, the authority of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials was limited at various religious locations.

Members of the new underground network have voiced skepticism that the policy will last under President Trump.

This week, the new administration presented a plan to increase domestic deportations, expanding those who may be targeted by ICE.

https://thehill.com/latino/320936-cnn-an-underground-network-is-readying-homes-to-hide-immigrants

Msg 20 of 61 to katiek2katiek2

In reply toRe: msg 19

From: el gringo (ramseylurker)

Feb-3

This article, and the article in the post directly above, are 4 years old, and come from the beginning of the Trump administration.

Note how Christians and Jews worked together for a common cause. This is religion at its finest.

Underground network readies homes to hide undocumented immigrants

By Kyung Lah, Alberto Moya and Mallory Simon, CNN

Updated 8:46 PM EST, Sun February 26, 2017

(CNN) — A hammer pounds away in the living room of a middle class home. A sanding machine smoothes the grain of the wood floor in the dining room.

But this home Pastor Ada Valiente is showing off in Los Angeles, with its refurbished floors, is no ordinary home.

“It would be three families we host here,” Valiente says.

By “host,” she means provide refuge to people who may be sought by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. The families staying here would be undocumented immigrants, fearing an ICE raid and possible deportation.

The purchase of this home is part of a network formed by Los Angeles religious leaders across faiths in the wake of Donald Trump’s election. The intent is to shelter hundreds, possibly thousands of undocumented people in safe houses across Southern California.

The goal is to offer another sanctuary beyond religious buildings or schools, ones that require federal authorities to obtain warrants before entering the homes.

“That’s what we need to do as a community to keep families together,” Valiente says.

At another Los Angeles neighborhood miles away, a Jewish man shows off a sparsely decorated spare bedroom in his home. White sheets on the bed and the clean, adjacent full bathroom bear all the markers of an impending visit. The man, who asked not to be identified, pictures an undocumented woman and her children who may find refuge in his home someday.

The man says he’s never been in trouble before and has difficulty picturing that moment. But he’s well educated and understands the Fourth Amendment, which gives people the right to be secure in their homes, against unreasonable searches and seizures. He’s pictured the moment if ICE were to knock on his door.

“I definitely won’t let them in. That’s our legal right,” he says. “If they have a warrant, then they can come in. I can imagine that could be scary, but I feel the consequences of being passive in this moment is a little scary.”

The secret network

Rev. Zach Hoover wants to help immigrant families fearing deportation stay hidden and together.

The religious leaders have a name for their network: the Rapid Response Team. The idea is not necessarily a new one, according to Reverend Zach Hoover, executive director of the interfaith community organization LA Voice.

Hoover, 37, wasn’t an active member during the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s when US congregations across faiths resisted federal law and provided shelter for Central Americans fleeing violence in their home countries. Many congregations offered direct sanctuary, housing the undocumented immigrants, while others offered food and legal assistance.

The Rapid Response Team mirrors that structure, but goes one step further by also incorporating private homes, which offer a higher level of constitutional protection than houses of worship and an ability to make it harder for federal agents to find undocumented immigrants.

Under federal law, locations like churches and synagogues are technically public spaces that authorities could enter to conduct law enforcement actions. In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security instituted a policy limiting ICE action at religious locations. The policy ordered ICE to not enter “sensitive locations” like schools and institutions of worship.

Religious leaders in Los Angeles that spoke to CNN are skeptical whether that policy will stand under a Trump presidency.

“There’s a difference between someone knocking on your door at the church who’s a federal agent and someone knocking on the door of your home,

...[Message truncated]

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Edited February 3, 2021 9:10 pm by el gringo (ramseylurker)

Msg 21 of 61 to el gringo (ramseylurker)ramseylurker

In reply toRe: msg 20

Host

From: Jenifer (Zarknorph)

Feb-4

U.S.

U.S. Supreme Court scraps arguments in Trump-era immigration and wall cases

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday canceled upcoming scheduled arguments in appeals filed by Republican former President Donald Trump's administration defending his funding of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and his so-called "remain in Mexico" asylum policy.

From: el gringo (ramseylurker)

Feb-5

Google News

Biden will sign order rebuilding refugee program that Trump nearly dismantled

A child stands in front of a UN High Commissioner for Refugees tent for Ethiopian refugees who fled fighting in Sudan's eastern Gedaref state, on November 19, 2020. | Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he will sign an executive order to rebuild the US's refugee resettlement program, raising the annual cap on admissions to 125,000 starting in October. In...

From: Jenifer (Zarknorph)

Feb-6

U.S.

Biden set to accept more refugees after years of Trump restrictions

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he plans to raise annual refugee admissions to 125,000 in the coming fiscal year, a more than eight-fold increase after former President Donald Trump slashed levels to historic lows.

Coalition of the Confused

Coalition of the Confused

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Witness to El Paso mass shooting deported after federal judge blocks Biden deportation pause

From: Jenifer (Zarknorph)

Biden moves to reverse Trump immigration policies, too slowly for some

From: el gringo (ramseylurker)

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From: Jenifer (Zarknorph)

U.S. Supreme Court scraps arguments in Trump-era immigration and wall cases

From: el gringo (ramseylurker)

Biden will sign order rebuilding refugee program that Trump nearly dismantled

From: Jenifer (Zarknorph)

Biden set to accept more refugees after years of Trump restrictions

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