ICE Held an NYC Child Incommunicado at Secret Hotels, Then Deported Him

 

Most Read ICE Held an NYC Child Incommunicado at Secret Hotels, Then Deported Him Debbie Nathan “We couldn’t even look out the window,” the New York City high school student said of his isolation while detained in a hotel. excerpts:  The case of a 7-year-old detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sparked indignation across New York City. The child, however, is not the first New York youth caught up in President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant dragnet.  The Intercept has confirmed the identity of a 15-year-old Manhattan high school student deported to Ecuador after a secretive detention that involved days trapped inside hotels hundreds of miles away, while unable to contact the outside world. The teen, Roger Iza, and his father, Edison Iza, were arrested by ICE at a check-in in New York on August 9 and, after being whisked to hotels in Louisiana then Texas, deported to Ecuador on August 14, the pair said by phone from Quito. “We couldn’t call or go on the web to ask for help,” Roger said. “Without our phones, we didn’t know any names or phone numbers.” ICE’s latest published data, from June and July, indicates that 48 minors were arrested in New York City, some counties north of the city, and parts of Long Island during those months, and 32 of them had been deported by last week. But who those children are is frequently shrouded in mystery. Roger Iza’s is the first account from a minor deportee to emerge from the Trump administration’s crackdown on New York City. Detention centers operated by ICE allow unlimited phone calls to anyone with the money to pay for them or make collect calls; they also allow for attorney calls. The case of the 7-year-old and her mother has been highly publicized and garnered efforts by immigration activists, political leaders, and school administrators to keep her in the U.S.  Read More → Bari Weiss’s Free Press Wants You to Know Some Kids Being Starved by Israel Were Already Sick Natasha Lennard The site did an “investigation” into preexisting conditions in starving kids in Gaza — the same logic that would have you believe typhus killed Anne Frank. Read More →

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Top Stories Inside Gaza’s Only Catholic Church, One Month After Israel’s Attack Huda Skaik A reporter in Gaza finds a Catholic community grieving their family members killed by Israeli bombs, but still worshipping together. excerpt: Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, Israel has repeatedly attacked religious sites, including mosques and churches. In October 2023, only days after the brutal attacks began, the Israeli military struck the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest church in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of at least 18 people. On July 17, 2025, in what survivors describe as a blatant violation of human and religious values, an Israeli fighter jet bombed the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, without any prior warning. The strike killed three people and injured at least nine others, three of them critically. Among the dead were Saad Salama, the parish’s 60-year-old janitor; Fumya Ayaad, an 84-year-old woman receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent within the church compound; and Najwa Abu Dawood, 71. Najeeb Tarazi, a man with disabilities, was among the seriously injured. The parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, also suffered a leg wound. One month after the attack on the church, I spoke to some of the survivors about what they experienced that day — and how they are continuing to survive, and worship, within the walls of Holy Family, which remain standing despite the damage. Wasn’t This Supposed to Be a Sanctuary? This was not the first time the Holy Family Church had been targeted. Israeli raids had previously struck the church twice during the ongoing genocide. Since the beginning of the onslaught, the compound had sheltered between 500 and 600 Palestinian Christians — about 200 families — including children, the elderly, and 54 people with disabilities. For them, the church had been a sanctuary amid the destruction and horror. Father Romanelli was known for his daily calls with the late Pope Francis, who remained in contact with Gaza’s Christians until his death in April 2025. These conversations brought a sense of comfort to the Christian people. Pope Francis had repeatedly condemned Israel’s conduct and even suggested that accusations of genocide in Gaza warranted investigation. Read More → WHILE SCHOLTEN DENIED PRESSURE FROM THE DSCC, WE WILL NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE DSCC FOR THIS REASON! THEY'VE MADE MASSIVE BLUNDERS THAT HAVE LOST SUPPORTERS & ELECTIONS! Amid DSCC Pressure, Democratic Populist J.D. Scholten Exits Iowa Senate Race Austin Ahlman Scholten, who is among a small coterie of anti-establishment Democrats to outperform Kamala Harris in deep red states, will endorse Josh Turek. excerpt:  Democrat J.D. Scholten, a two-term Iowa state House representative and former candidate for Iowa’s fourth congressional district, announced Monday that he intends to withdraw from the Iowa Senate primary, ending his race only a few months after launching his campaign.  The withdrawal announcement follows a push from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or DSCC, to recruit and clear the field for fellow state House member Josh Turek, whom Scholten plans to officially endorse at a rally Monday night.  Turek’s recent entrance and Scholten’s sudden withdrawal indicates the DSCC, an organ of the Democratic Party establishment, is taking a more active role in key primaries this year as the party mounts a longshot bid to retake the upper chamber. Two sources close to Scholten’s campaign, who requested anonymity to protect their livelihoods in Democratic politics, told The Intercept last week he has faced increasing pressure in recent weeks to end his bid and back Turek, who announced his candidacy earlier in August. Scholten discussed the race with DSCC officials in early August before Turek announced his bid, according to one of the sources. In an interview with The Intercept last week, Scholten directly denied plans to drop out and endorse Turek. He also denied receiving pressure from national Democrats to end his candidacy. In a follow-up phone call Sunday night, Scholten changed his tune.  Read More → Price Tag for Trump’s D.C. Military Surge: At Least $1 Million a Day Nick Turse An analysis conducted for The Intercept found that the militarization of D.C. could end up costing hundreds of millions. excerpt:  The military forces deploying in Washington, D.C. — whose mission includes not only “community safety patrols” but assisting in “traffic control” and “area beautification” — could cost upward of $1 million per day, with the possible price tag climbing into the hundreds of millions for the open-ended occupation, according to expert analysis. Washington is now ground zero in President Donald Trump’s push to turn America into a full-fledged police state. The power grab in the District of Columbia — which thus far has involved seizing control of D.C.’s police force, deploying National Guard troops, and flooding the streets with federal officers — follows deployments of federal troops from coast to coast, surges of masked federal agents around the United States, and consistent tyrannical use of executive authority in ways with little precedent in modern U.S. history. Trump has brushed off being called a “dictator” since his capital city putsch, which he touted as a law enforcement operation and urban beautification campaign. Read More → Teen Immigrant’s Release Propels Lawsuit to End ICE’s Courthouse Arrests J. Dale Shoemaker, Akela Lacy A new lawsuit seeks to end ICE’s tactic of setting up immigrants to be taken from immigration courts. Read More →

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