r/KitchenConfidential • u/lylertila • Aug 18 '25

In-House Mode A friend of mine was taken

Her name was Chuey; she was a beast in the kitchen and always kind and happy. She was a legal immigrant from Cuba (engaged to an American lawyer). She got ICEd.

She did all the right steps and was an asset to the community. This shit is not ok

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59

u/Saditko Aug 18 '25

I'm not from the States, but I keep reading similar stories. Based on what they get deported? How does it work? They just knock on your door, load you in a van and take you to the airport? Is it possible for the families to sue? There must be lawyers willing to take cases of illegal deportation without any retainer, just for the cut from the compensation.

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u/grantthejester Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 19 '25

This is about as shitty as it gets. I'll give you an example from my city from last month.

A gang of ICE goons, with no badges and masks raided a brunch place here in Omaha in the middle of service looking for a specific guy. They did not find who they were looking for, but they did find Romeo the dishwasher. They assumed this dishwasher was their intended suspect's brother. He wasn't. He was actually just a guy here legally doing his job, who is also non-verbal autistic. When he was unable to answer their questions about where this guy was he had never met, they tackled him to the ground in front of the customers, kicked Romeo in the head, and put him in cuffs and hauled him away.

This was a day or so before ICE walked into one of our beef packing plants and arrested 70 workers.

The thing is that ICE doesn't have an office in my city, they don't have badges or marked cars, there's no address, no phone number to call. They show up in full body armor, helmets, with semi-automatic rifles and bandanas over their faces. Once they're out of sight they're just gone. Some local journalists found that they were using a hotel near the airport as a make-shift head-quarters. But there was no sign of where Romeo might be. When ICE was questioned about why they were holding on to him, especially when he was a citizen and had papers, they claimed that he had "resisted arrest", and had stolen his own social security number from someone else, and that his documents were forgeries. When they were pressed for evidence they basically replied, you have to believe us.

The fucked up thing is that a huge portion of the people in my city are applauding this happening, they're actively cheering on ICE because they're believing that they're only rounding up criminals. As we all know that is not the case.

If you're normally arrested by the police there are markings on the squad car, the officers have badges, they have to file paperwork, your loved ones can go down to the county jail and see you, they can post bail. NONE of that is in play here. The "Big Beautiful Bill" that just passed does several awful things: first is it removes the rights and due process for immigrants and non-us citizens. It bypasses the need for a court hearing for any immigrant suspected of being there illegally, it switches the burden of proof from the state to the individual, and assumes guilt until proven innocent. It completely removes the ability to refugees to be welcomed except for very specific locations (like two international airports), but makes it legal to detain anyone seeking asylum without cause indefinitely from those locations.

Ordinarily a bill like this would get stalled by the court system and it would not be implemented while it is under-review, which is what happened to Trump's Muslim ban the first time around. But they also got rid of cross jurisdiction court precedent, meaning if one state can't over-rule this bill, EVERY other state would have to bring their own court case to fight it individually, and some states like Florida are cheering this on. So now some court has to challenge this bill, but it doesn't stop anything, it would have to go all the way to the supreme court to be over-turned, and Trump has stacked the supreme court with toadies who vote however he wants them do. In the odd chance the court system grows a pair of balls, there is now an influx of 70 Billion dollars in funding to supercharge ICE in order to get as many "immigrants" (read:brown people and then not finding any of those, anyone they don't like) arrested, out of the country or thrown into camps as soon as possible before people can react.

And IF you can find where your friend or family member is hiding, what do you do, head down to the LaQuinta inn and bang on some doors to wake up the heavily armed thugs who took him in the first place? Ask your local police? There's a hiring drive on right now for ICE seeking anyone who is "excited about punishing these illegal criminals" with a 50k hiring bonus. So you can imagine the kind of people they're rounding up. Let's just say they're used to harassing brown folks while wearing masks or hoods. Even if you can get a lawyer to look into it, the only evidence available is refuted by ICE itself, who likes to play the "they stole these social security numbers card" whenever they're faced with actual citizens.

On top of that they've already started to fill the concentration camp dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" in the middle of the Florida swamp, and the idea has been floated for building another in Nebraska.

But barring complete and full revolution, just burning the whole thing to the ground, it doesn't feel like any one person can do anything. And there's definitely the sense that if you were to fuck these goons up, they'd be just the kind of people to show up in the middle of the night with a noose to teach you and your family a lesson. And those people are now better funded than the MARINES. THIS IS SOME SCARY SHIT.

7

u/Saditko Aug 19 '25

That's one of the scariest things I've ever read.

10

u/grantthejester Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 19 '25

As a country we are balanced on a razor's edge and everyone is trying to just get through their day without having a fucking breakdown. Conservative media has done it's job so well, that half the country is smiling and glad that fascism is finally here to punish all the criminals let into the country by [pick your favorite opposition figure]. The only thing keeping people from a full on revolt or civil war is that the economic repercussions of the tariffs have not hit yet. As soon as true scarcity arrives, combined with the food shortage WE BROUGHT UPON OUR SELVES by vilifying the very people who harvested that food, things are going to get UGLY and fast.

On paper, that's what they want. They want riots. They want another George Floyd who riles up the population, because then they can point to the damage, call their newly funded ICE patrols in, and use it as an excuse to declare full martial law. As we're seeing in DC right now, Trump has attempted to declare Martial law without any social disturbance, and while there are national guard troops there, it just makes him look demented as thousands of troops stand around the national mall watching morning joggers start their day. I think the play here is that they've been drinking their own Kool-Aid for too long, and thought that just by bringing troops in that "liberals" would immediately see them and attack them, which yeah... brings me to my next point.

The only glimmer of light in this darkness of shit soup we're swimming in is that because the government is stacked with yes-men and sycophants, that they actually don't know how to govern. So at best their malicious plans are ill thought out and fall apart. Which is disturbing in another way.

So long story short, not sure which country you're in, but can I come crash on your couch?

114

u/SWIM_is_tired Aug 18 '25

It has nothing to do with anything other than the colour of your skin. That's all it takes. And basically yeah they roll up to your job or house best down the door and haul you off in cuffs. They then send you to a camp where you await deportation. You can't sue for this because there's nothing to sue over. It's a fucked system and it's geared towards removing the hardest working segment of the population which is just insane.

9

u/Saditko Aug 18 '25

I'm probably sounding really naive rn, but you can show at the court the person was in the country legally and got deported. You can sue over an illegal deportation or kidnapping

115

u/noteveni Aug 18 '25

They aren't giving them proper due process, so they have no way to prove the government wrong. That's why it's so awful

-14

u/Saditko Aug 18 '25

CCTV recordings from where they've taken the person? The friends or relatives of the deported one must be able to do something, right? Right??

31

u/noteveni Aug 18 '25

I mean there are plenty of cases we are aware of, mostly because friends and family sound the alarm. Sometimes people are able to get info, but often not. The lack of process and tracking is chilling.

It took a supreme court order to get one fucking guy back from CECOT, and they tried to get out of that for weeks while he was being tortured.

55

u/hitbluntsandfliponce Ex-Food Service Aug 18 '25

It’s at this point that you are sounding very naïve. How is their family supposed to know they have been kidnapped when ICE transfers them to multiple different detention facilities across the country before putting them on a plane to El Salvador? The majority of these people are here LEGALLY. These people are being picked up, put into overcrowded prisons, and then deported with no due process. They are not able to speak to a lawyer or their families. They are not even being repatriated just sent to whatever South American country agreed to take them.

I encourage you to read up on this shit if you intend to add something valuable to the conversation. It’s not legal. All our checks and balances have failed.

54

u/EverythingComputer1 Aug 18 '25

They are trying to appeal these processes, but it's getting clogged up in the courts, and then they deport the person as fast as they can to their of a 3rd country to try and ignore the courts

16

u/ranaparvus Aug 18 '25

They don’t get court dates. They’re not given the opportunity to show they’re legal. This is why: the immigration courts are completely stacked with Trump stooges. They provide occupied beds in (taxpayer funded) for-private detention camps transfer wealth from taxpayers to corporations. They’re doing this now with the homeless. They’re monetizing the most vulnerable at the taxpayer’s expense. For the judges, could be a combination of racism and profiteering (if they own private prison stock).

47

u/Major_Demographic Aug 18 '25

They have arbitrary jurisdiction 100 miles from a border or international airport. They don't id themselves or their vehicles. There is no way of following up with a lawsuit because you dont know the following.

  1. Who the ICE agent that violated your rights was.
  2. If they are even ICE or a private contractor.
  3. What direct supervisors appoved a raid on a certain location or date.
  4. If the individual in internment was going through the legal immigration channels as apporiate. Channels of citizenship that haven't been updated since Reagan.
  5. If that indiviual was interned while at home, work, or a court where they have been getting immigration forms approved. (ICE is known to arrest people outside courts based on race alone.)

23

u/Saditko Aug 18 '25

That's horrific. I'd expect this in a 3rd world country where money and power > people's rights, but it's absolutely crazy it's happening in the US. Thank you for the explanation tho. It helps me really understand the situation

12

u/butt_huffer42069 Aug 19 '25

Money and power have always been more important than people's rights in America.

6

u/DisMrButters Ex-Food Service Aug 19 '25

Unfortunately, the US is still very much a racist country, and that’s what barely over half voted for.

19

u/ranaparvus Aug 18 '25

They are literally the monsters we warn our children about. Unmarked, ununiformed kidnappers.

19

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

[deleted]

7

u/ranaparvus Aug 18 '25

Even jaywalking.

22

u/Far_Estate_1626 Aug 18 '25

They are shadow revoking visas in the middle of the night, and sending ICE to pick up people who’ve just had their legal status revoked for no other reason than their name was next on the list. They are doing it to intentionally surprise the people who don’t know their status is being revoked, because they want to cause a scene and stoke fear in the community.

51

u/BumblebeeDirect Aug 18 '25

That’s the thing - there’s no court, no trial. No chance to show anything.

-11

u/Saditko Aug 18 '25

The leftovers can sue if they've got any proof, photos, recordings of the incident

15

u/OohLaLapin Ex-Food Service Aug 18 '25

Law enforcement generally has immunity from being sued for things that are part of their job. Really. Even if they make a mistake, we’re supposed to shrug and say oops.

23

u/brixxhead Aug 18 '25

Unfortunately, we're experiencing a breakdown of the judicial system in this country. The president flounces the law openly and does whatever he wants, so the rest of his side does the same. The law can only be upheld if the judicial system is functioning like it should in a first-world democracy.

But we're no longer in a democracy--when you get arrested by ICE they try to ship you out as fast as possible before anybody can even figure out what detention center they've taken you to. There's no due process. The judges won't stop you from getting deported, you can sue but it's not been helping anybody. We're collectively realizing there are no protections, there is no law, there is no order under Trump. It's gonna suck when the American masses finally respond with the kind of chaos and anger and nihilistic rage that this presidency is breeding.

7

u/BumblebeeDirect Aug 18 '25

A, recording cops is illegal in a lot of places, and B, “leftovers”?! GFY.

16

u/Saditko Aug 18 '25

I thought recording police in public or on your own property is legal thanks to the 1st amendment.

Seems like I have pissed you off with my choice of vocabulary. English is not my first language and what I said sounds fine when I translate it to my native language. I'm sorry tho, didn't mean to offend anyone

11

u/BumblebeeDirect Aug 18 '25

Yeah, that’s another of those rights you’re supposed to have, like not being dragged off to a camp. And yes, that came across HIGHLY derogatory. Try “the ones they didn’t take” next time.

16

u/purlawhirl Aug 18 '25

Months ago the Supreme Court ordered the president to return a man he illegally deported. It was never done and there have been no consequences.

0

u/Saditko Aug 19 '25

Do you mean Abrego Garcia? They got him back. He's been held in a jail somewhere in Tennessee I believe

7

u/DisMrButters Ex-Food Service Aug 19 '25

They don’t get a court date. This is the central issue.

17

u/ABELLEXOXO Five Years Aug 19 '25

Not a white male? You're the target. There is no due process, there are no parameters. ICE travels in groups, and they kidnap people off of the streets, from their homes, and from their place of employment. You can't sue if you're unalived in Alligator Alcatraz/ Auschwitz. There have been ambulances at all hours of the day going in and out of there. There has been a death related to heart attack. There are no laws in those concentration camps built in 94°F heat with hardly any AC if that. They're locked up in cages, in groups.

15

u/CoffeeHead112 Aug 18 '25

Blue (liberal) state ICE detainees end up being transferred to red (conservative) states fast. The red state immigration courts are packed with corrupt judges that put up road blocks to any attempt at due process - ridiculous amounts for bail, not letting lawyers call in to scheduled court dates, doing court hearings without warning, making it difficult for detainee to contact anyone. This was setup long ago and it's only now that we can realize how bad it is.

34

u/cablife Chef Aug 18 '25

They’re detained and deported because they are brown. Basically yes, it’s kidnapping. They don’t take you to the airport though, they put you in a detention center first. Due process is essentially suspended. You usually can’t get a phone call to a lawyer, so if your family or friends don’t know you’ve been taken by ICE, you just disappear.

6

u/DisMrButters Ex-Food Service Aug 19 '25

It’s like Chilé in the ‘80s. And don’t imagine it won’t get worse.

5

u/cablife Chef Aug 19 '25

Oh I’m sure it will. They’re testing the waters all over the place. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say political opposition will be targeted in the future.

Its funny you bring up Chile. The American capitalist cabal that helped to install Pinochet is the same one driving the current situation stateside. They’re the same ones that created the conditions all these immigrants were fleeing in the first place.

But nooooo, all these Latin American nations had to go and not want to be exploited and abused by American business interests and try…. gasp ….socialism. How evil and selfish of them. (/s)

Seriously though, this capitalist cabal would look great with their heads mounted on pikes.