Beyond the Border: ICE officer charged with assault, another in custody death and a poignant place for “I Voted” stickers

Here's what happened this week in immigration news.

Written by Emma Chen, Edited by Kate Morrissey

Welcome to another edition of Beyond the Border, which summarizes immigration news from across the country in a weekly roundup. Did we miss something? Message us via kate@daylightsandiego.org or on Instagram.

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Another in-custody death

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that a Venezuelan man died in Texas following an extended hospital stay, El Informador reported. That brings the death toll in ICE custody this year to at least 31.

ICE use of force

Houston prosecutors charged an ICE officer with aggravated assault after investigators said he struck a man with his vehicle during an immigration operation, Associated Press reported. He later surrendered to authorities and appeared in court, where a judge set his bond at $30,000, the outlet reported.

Video captured masked ICE officers forcibly arresting a Venezuelan man outside a North Hollywood apartment complex while another agent appeared to point a gun at a neighbor walking his dogs, ABC7 reported.

ICE arrests 

The New York Times reported that a police officer in Ingram, Texas, joined a federal program that deputized local officers to enforce immigration laws, leading to arrests and deportations that divided the small community, and now he is questioning that role.

Federal immigration officers arrested at least a dozen Ukrainian truck drivers who fled Russia's invasion, The New York Times reported.

Afghan deportation halted 

The Free Press reported that federal immigration authorities prepared to deport as many as 80 Afghans to Afghanistan, including people who previously assisted U.S. forces and fear Taliban persecution if they return.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration's plans to deport them to Afghanistan or Pakistan after advocates and lawmakers warned that deportations could expose them to persecution, torture or death, NBC News reported.

Election Day

The family of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, whom federal immigration officers fatally shot in Houston, saw hundreds of voters leave their “I Voted” stickers at his memorial after his son placed a sticker there, The Houston Chronicle reported.

Teachers at Hoover High School in San Diego's City Heights neighborhood organized Election Day patrols to monitor federal immigration enforcement activity and help immigrant residents feel safe voting, inewsource reported.

Día de los Muertos

WLRN reported that immigrant rights advocates gathered in Miramar, Florida, for a Day of the Dead vigil honoring people who died in federal immigration custody and calling attention to detention conditions.

About 100 protesters gathered outside North Lake Processing Center in Michigan for a Day of the Dead ceremony honoring people who died in immigration custody or during encounters with immigration officials and demanding changes to detention practices, Michigan Advance reported.

Dozens of San Diegans gathered outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center on Nov. 1 to mark one year of weekly vigils and honor people who died in ICE custody, including a Guatemalan man who died at the facility the previous weekend, Daylight San Diego reported.

Other stories to watch 

Immigration officials have increasingly detained and harassed rapid response volunteers monitoring ICE operations along California's Central Coast, including U.S. citizens who document arrests and alert immigrant communities, American Community Media reported.

Encinitas City Council unanimously advanced six measures to restrict federal immigration enforcement on city property, improve transparency and expand resources for residents amid escalating ICE operations, inewsource reported.

Federal prosecutors indicted a Mexican engineer accused of designing and constructing a nearly 2,000-foot drug-smuggling tunnel connecting Tijuana to Otay Mesa for the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, The San Diego Union Tribune reported.

The Santa Barbara Independent reported that students across Santa Barbara County staged walkouts to protest increased immigration arrests while a member of Congress called for an investigation following federal officers' detention of a U.S. citizen with disabilities.

Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Jim Costa said officials denied them entry to the Golden State Annex ICE detention facility in Kern County during an unannounced visit, raising concerns about transparency and conditions inside the facility, The Fresno Bee reported.

The New York Times reported that immigrants deported from the United States have turned to TikTok to document their experiences rebuilding their lives abroad and connect with online audiences.

NPR reported that a federal judge ordered ICE and Border Patrol agents to stop targeting people based on their perceived Latino ethnicity after finding evidence of unconstitutional immigration enforcement practices across seven Southern California counties.

Migrant Insider reported that a federal judge in Brooklyn ordered ICE to release a Guatemalan worker and ruled that immigration officers cannot use administrative warrants to detain people before filing their removal cases with immigration courts.

Migrant Insider reported that a nonprofit organization published records containing information about more than 41,000 Department of Homeland Security employees and contractors, prompting government takedown efforts and renewed debate over identifying immigration officers.

Humane Borders volunteers dismantled long-standing desert water stations after federal agencies denied their permits, raising concerns about the future of humanitarian assistance along the U.S.-Mexico border, The Border Chronicle reported.

Chicago's Balikbayan Book Club brings Filipino community members together through literature, shared meals and discussions about history and identity to strengthen connections to their cultural heritage, Borderless Magazine reported.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said President Donald Trump agreed to grant a visa to the Ghanaian mother of a 15-year-old boy who died in a Bronx shooting so she could travel to the United States, the Associated Press reported.

Thanks for reading! Take care and stay well.

— Emma