WASHINGTON
Lawmakers demand Homeland Security investigate arrest, detentions, and deportations of U.S. citizens
U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), along with Representatives Lou Correa (D-Calif.-46) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.-10), led 45 Congressional Democrats in urging Department of Homeland Security offices to launch an investigation into the Department’s stops, arrests, detentions, and deportations of U.S. citizens.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy makes clear that by law, “ICE cannot assert its civil immigration enforcement authority to arrest and/or detain a U.S. citizen.” Yet, in recent high-profile cases, including in Los Angeles, ICE has arrested U.S. citizens, even appearing to use violent physical force. ICE has also detained citizens in immigration detention facilities, sometimes for over a week.
ICE has even deported U.S. citizens, including children, along with their undocumented parents, reportedly against the families’ wishes, stoking widespread fear among American families, particularly in Latino and Native American communities. DHS’ detention and deportation of American children has forced them to miss months of school or lose access to lifesaving cancer treatments and medications.
“Sweeping enforcement operations by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents — particularly within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — threaten the safety, due process, and civil liberties of Americans around the country,” wrote the lawmakers.
“When immigration agents arrest Americans without sufficient cause or simply because they are near an enforcement action, detain them without access to counsel, or ignore proof of citizenship, DHS fails in its core duty to protect the public and undermines trust in its operations,” continued the lawmakers.
Agents are also failing to attempt to verify citizenship and ignoring citizens’ offers to show proof of citizenship, even though ICE policy directs them to “handle these matters with the utmost care and highest priority.”
ICE’s erroneous enforcement actions against U.S. citizens are not new, and have long been acknowledged by the agency. But under the second Trump Administration, this rare practice is becoming more frequent. Experts warn that “citizens are becoming increasingly vulnerable in a system moving faster and operating with fewer safeguards.” The number of impacted citizens may continue to grow, as ICE engages in indiscriminate raids to triple arrest numbers to meet an arbitrary 3,000 daily quota while gutting due process — including by firing immigration judges, inappropriately expanding expedited removal, and misusing the Alien Enemies Act. ICE has reminded field offices to update citizenship data in agency databases, but it is unclear whether agents are complying with that directive.
The lawmakers asked the agency to provide, by Sept. 5, 2025, clarity on its policies and guidelines related to the arrests or detentions of U.S. citizens, along with: data on stops, arrests, detentions, and deportations of citizens this year; information about how agents are trained to verify citizenship status; and any ongoing reviews or investigations of wrongful detentions of citizens.
here: https://www.padilla.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Letter-on-US-Citizens-Immigration-Enforcement.pdf
—Submitted
LAKEPORT
Mozart, Bach among those featured in LCSA Summer Chamber Concert
The Lake County Symphony will present its annual summer chamber concert on Sunday, August 17, at 2 p.m. at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport. (Doors open at 1:30 p.m.) Tickets are $20. This concert is not as lengthy as the regular season concerts, and consists of a smaller group of musicians, featuring mostly strings and harpsichord with some woodwinds, brass and percussion. There is one performance only; there is no discounted “rehearsal” performance this time. As usual, though, there is no charge for youth aged 18 and under.
The chamber orchestra will play several selections by composers who are considered among the best in Western history.
LCSA Musical Director/Conductor John Parkinson opens the concert with “Rondeau from Abdelazer Suite” by Henry Purcell (1659-1695). A composer of Baroque music, Purcell incorporated Italian and French elements in his musical style and is generally considered one of the greatest English opera composers.
The orchestra’s next piece is “Marche pour la Ceremonie des Turcs” by Jean-Babtiste Lully (1632-1687). Lully was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist who was considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Originally from Florence, he spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France and became a French subject in 1661.
Luigi Boccherini’s “Overture in D Major” (G. 521 -Op. 43) is a lively piece often performed as a standalone concert overture. Boccherini (1743-1805) was born into a musical family in Lucca Italy and received his first music lessons at age five from his father, who taught him the cello. Considered a child prodigy, he continued his musical studies and by age 13 he and his father were employed by the Vienna court as musicians. As an adult, he was employed for many years by the younger brother of King Charles III of Spain.
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) has two selections in this concert: “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3” (1st mvmt) and his “Flute Concerto in E minor,” featuring Celesta Deter on flute. Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period, known for his “prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms.” Bach is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, as are the final two composers, Mozart and Haydn.
Following intermission, the audience will hear “Serenade in D Major, K239” by Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791). Mozart’s music is admired for its “melodic beauty, its formal elegance and its richness of harmony and texture.”
The final piece is “Symphony No. 88” by Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Born in Rohrau, Austria, Haydn has been called the “father of the symphony” due to his prolific output. His compositions include 104 symphonies, 50 concertos, 84 string quartets, 24 stage works, and 12 masses, among numerous other works.
Tickets may be purchased through the Soper Reese website or at the Soper Reese box office at 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport 30 minutes prior to the 2 p.m. performance. Refreshments will be available in the lobby before the concert and during intermission. Season ticket holders should note that this concert is “open seating” with no reserved seating and that LCSA member discounts will not apply.
—Submitted
