Loudoun County supervisor says 25 people have been taken from Sterling Immigration Court in past month 17JUN25

 IT seems civil liberties, civil rights, human rights be damned per the ice and hsi thugs operating in Loudoun County with the same disregard for the law they practice across the country. It is unfortunate the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is associated with fascist fotze kristi noem's Dept of Homeland Security because the communities trust in them and their reputation is being damaged. Supervisor Juli Briskman is right to publicly condemn the LCSO for becoming involved with ice and the alleged actions of some LCSO officers, Sheriff Chapman should investigate these accusations and disclose his findings. The best solution for the county and the LCSO would be for Sheriff Chapman to cancel the agreement with ice and concentrate on repairing the reputation of the LCSO and relations with the entire community. This from USA9 News

Loudoun County supervisor says 25 people have been taken from Sterling Immigration Court in past month

Supervisor Juli Briskman accused the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office of enabling ICE operations.

Author: Sophie Rosenthal

Published: 8:54 AM EDT June 17, 2025

Updated: 8:54 AM EDT June 17, 2025

STERLING, Va. — Loudoun County Supervisor Juli Briskman sharply criticized the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office for working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a press release as tensions rise nationwide.

While 10 people were detained and arrested at Sterling Immigration Court last week, Briskman alleged that ICE agents confronted two more people who were watching. One person was "manhandled" outside of the building by plain clothes officers, according to a press release. The officers also pushed away the other person's phone, she wrote.

Briskman condemned the ICE operations as "lawless" and "authoritarian," calling on Sheriff Mike Chapman to immediately terminate the county’s 287(g) agreement with ICE — a federal program that allows local law enforcement to assist with immigration enforcement.

“These actions violate the U.S. Constitution, the values of Loudoun County and the norms of our democracy,” Briskman said in the Monday press release.

The 10 people arrested last Wednesday are among 25 people advocates say have been taken through the backdoor of the Sterling Immigration Court by ICE since May 22, according to the press release. These people all attended their court hearings on various immigration matters in good faith, it said.

In other cases throughout Loudoun County, Briskman said people have been harassed at their homes and detained by sheriff’s deputies after calling for help with a car crash and held for ICE. One man was reportedly detained outside his home, transferred to ICE custody and deported to Guatemala four days later.

"These unlawful, vigilante incidents are happening all over the country and in our community," Briskman said. "The 'officers' carrying out these deeds are often unidentified and wearing masks to hide their faces."

Briskman accused the sheriff’s office of enabling these actions by cooperating with ICE under a 287(g) Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), which allows the Sheriff to notify ICE of detainees and hold them for up to 48 hours after release. She argued that local taxpayer resources should not support “mass deportation efforts” and criticized the LCSO for refusing to share public records detailing ICE pickups and detentions.

“To cooperate with this agency is complicity,” Briskman said. 

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office responded later the same day with a sharply worded statement rejecting Briskman’s claims as “false” and politically motivated.

“Supervisor Briskman's false reporting is a shameful attempt to divide our strong community and undermine law enforcement in one of the safest major counties in the nation,” the statement read.

According to LCSO, the MOA pertains only to the Jail Enforcement Model of the 287(g) program. Under this arrangement, ICE is notified when a person already in custody for an unrelated criminal offense matches a record in the immigration database. ICE may then issue a detainer, and under the MOA, the sheriff’s office may hold that person for up to two additional days to allow ICE to take custody.

“We do not make immigration arrests nor participate in any other form of ICE enforcement,” LCSO said. “To falsely claim that our deputies have been conducting immigration arrests with ICE in the field is unconscionable.”

LCSO said it only holds people they have already detained for unrelated criminal offenses, and that an immigration detainer just means that ICE can show up and pick someone up when the person is released from the county jail, but that doesn't mean they always do.

The sheriff's office also said that though it hasn't been releasing numbers as they happen, it has been publishing the aggregate numbers of ICE pickups. But Briskman criticized LSCO for only beginning to track and publish those numbers on July 1, 2024, so it's unclear if the number of pickups have changed.

A Pregnant Alabama Woman Says She And Her Trump-Supporting Husband Were "Blindsided" When ICE Detained Him 26JUN25

Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian was detained illegally for 3 months, missed the birth of his son and his graduation from college because of the fascist, racist immigration polices of NOT MY pres drumpf / trump, NOT MY vp vance, their neo-nazi administration, the gop / greed over people republican party and project 2025. Morgan Gardner and her family chose voluntary ignorance about drumpf / trump and his cabal, chose irresponsibility and did not vote, chose self-centeredness in not supporting immigrants who were arrested and deported without due process and now are subjecting us to their self-righteous whining because their immigrant is detained and may be deported. Tisk tisk........ From HuffPost via BuzzFeed.....

A Pregnant Alabama Woman Says She And Her Trump-Supporting Husband Were "Blindsided" When ICE Detained Him

Morgan Gardner, who is seven months pregnant, said she felt betrayed after her Iranian spouse was targeted amid ongoing tension between the US and Iran.

by Pocharapon Neammanee

HuffPost Writer

An Alabama woman married to an Iranian immigrant says her family regrets supporting President Donald Trump and his aggressive immigration policies after ICE detained her husband over the weekend as part of a recent round-up of Iranian nationals.

Morgan Gardner / Via theknot.com

“We believed in his [Trump’s] immigration policies and were completely blindsided and truly believed that only criminals were being detained,” Morgan Gardner told Newsweek.

Gardner’s husband, Ribvar Karimi, was one of 11 Iranian nationals arrested Sunday and taken into the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security claimed the arrests reflect its “commitment to keeping known and suspected terrorists out of American communities.” 

AD

DHS has painted Karimi as a threat to national security, saying he served as a sniper in the Iranian army from 2018 to 2021 and had an Islamic Republic of Iran army identification card.

Military service is compulsory in Iran for all men aged 18–49. Draft evaders face prosecution and may lose their social benefits and civil rights, including employment, education, and the ability to leave the country. Deserters face imprisonment. 

“We have been saying we are getting the worst of the worst out—and we are. We don’t wait until a military operation to execute; we proactively deliver on President Trump’s mandate to secure the homeland,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Gardner told CBS affiliate WIAT that her husband “never fought any American forces or our allies,” and said “he actually fought ISIS himself and was captured at one point” during his service. 

According to the couple’s wedding website, they first met online playing the video game Call of Duty: Mobile.

“He brought happiness back to me, and taught me what it is like to be loved correctly,” Gardner wrote on the site. “He encouraged me, and still encourages me each and every day. He sees the best in me, and never has given up, despite how difficult I can be sometimes.”

Gardner’s cousin Cyndi Edwards wrote in a GoFundMe set up to offset legal fees that the couple spent years “meeting in Turkey while navigating the complex immigration process.”

“Ribvar quickly became a beloved member of Morgan’s rural Alabama community, supporting her family and friends, and caring for Morgan’s father during a health crisis,” Edwards wrote. “Most importantly, Ribvar helped Morgan find her self-worth and guided her toward a healthier, happier life.”

DHS said Karimi entered the US legally in October 2024 under a K-1 marriage visa reserved for people engaged to American citizens. However, he never adjusted his status, which is a legal requirement, and not doing so can trigger a removal order.

Gardner told WIAT that her attorney said previous administrations would not have let her husband be taken away and that he should have been protected because he is married to a US citizen. She added that she and Karimi put his green card application on hold after she found out she was pregnant and had pregnancy complications.

“I understand that they’ve got a job to do, immigration, but I just feel like he was specifically targeted because of what’s going on where he’s from, his home country,” Gardner told WIAT. 

Gardner is seven months pregnant, but remains hopeful that her husband will be with her when she gives birth. 

“My heart is broken,” Gardner told the outlet. “Our baby shower is going to be next weekend, and he’s not going to be at home to go to that with me.”

Giving birth alone is not Gardner’s only fear. She told Newsweek that Karimi’s family worries that if he were to be deported back to Iran, the government would kill him due to his open support for the US and opposition to the Iranian regime. 

“My husband himself, even being from Iran, supported Trump, his immigration policies, and understood he was trying to protect the American people and was praying he helped free the Iranian people,” Gardner told Newsweek. 

While Morgan told the outlet she did not vote in the previous presidential election, her family has supported Trump in the past and now feels betrayed.

“Everyone feels like a fool and regrets the decision. I personally didn’t vote in the last election, and neither did my parents. At this point, I believe there are bad people on the left and the right,” Gardner said.

This article originally appeared in HuffPost.

Bahrain: The Revolution That Wasn't 5JAN12

A LOT of us have been inspired by the Arab Spring of 2011. The bravery, the sacrifice of the people of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria and Bahrain, some revolutions won, some still works in progress, and at least one brutally crushed, Bahrain's. All fueled by people's desire to be free, to have their human rights respected and protected, to be able to live without the threat of their own government being able to arrest, detain, torture and even kill them because of their ethnicity, religion, gender, occupation and politics. Now the American government expresses concern about possible Islamist governments coming to power in the Maghreb and what that means for American foreign policy and the human rights of the citizens of these nations. We need to get over ourselves, take the log out of our own eye before judging these nations. American approval of the brutal repression of the Bahraini revolution by the military forces of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. and our approval of the detention, torture, sham trials and even the deaths of members of the political opposition in Bahrain only strengthens the political fortunes of those who are justifiably wary of American approval and support. They have seen first hand that freedom and human rights are OK only if it benefits corporate America and our military-industrial complex. We allowed our corporate interest in Persian Gulf oil (of which very little is exported to the U.S.) and the profit margins of the U.S. military industrial complex (the U.S. Navy 5th fleet in Bahrain, military hardware sales to all in the region except Iran) determine that freedom and democracy and human rights are not necessary in Bahrain. This from NPR....

by Kelly McEvers

Listen to the Story

Morning Edition

[7 min 37 sec]

 

Enlarge John Moore/Getty Images Bahrain is the one Arab country where the government has suppressed a major uprising. Here, protesters wave flags at the Pearl Roundabout in the capital Manama on Feb. 20, 2011, when the demonstrations were at their peak.

Arab revolts against secular leaders have been much more successful over the past year than those against monarchs. The one monarchy that faced a serious threat was the tiny Persian Gulf island of Bahrain. But after weeks of protests, troops from Saudi Arabia rolled into the country, the Bahraini regime imposed martial law, and a government crackdown followed. Kelly McEvers made several trips to Bahrain this past year and filed this report as part of NPR's series looking at the Arab Spring and where it stands today.
Bahrain's uprising didn't get quite as much attention as some of the others in the Arab world last year. But it was one of the first, beginning on Feb. 14.
One man, who has been in and out of jail since then and could only talk to me while hunkered down in his car, was there.
"I remember the 14 February night — I cannot forget this night. Really I cannot forget," says the man, who asked not to be named. "Even my wife, she was telling me you'll be crazy. At the end, you will be crazy. Nothing will happen. A few people will protest and they will crush them and that's all."
No, he told his wife. This time it's different.
Bahrainis had protested before, mainly about the fact that the country's majority Shiites remain poor and disenfranchised by the Sunni monarchy. But they'd never protested like this.
At first the protesters asked for things like an elected Parliament, a new constitution. But then when demonstrators started getting killed, tens of thousands of Bahrainis converged on a place called the Pearl Roundabout to call for the fall of the ruling Al Khalifa family.
Bahrain State TV called protesters traitors and agents of Iran, which is nearby and also has a Shiite majority.
In Bahrain, pro-government thugs attacked protesters, and protesters fought back. Just one month into the uprising, Bahrain's ruling family authorized some 1,500 troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to enter the country.
Apache helicopters circled overhead as authorities cleared the Pearl Roundabout of all protesters. They never made it back.

Enlarge John Moore/Getty Images An independent commission found that the Bahrain security forces used excessive force and tortured some of those detained. Here, family members look upon the body of protester Abdul Ridha Mohammed, who was shot in the head and died of his wounds on Feb. 21, 2011.

An Uprising Supressed
And so Bahrain became the one Arab country whose uprising was definitively put down. One reason, argues Toby Jones, a professor of Middle East history at Rutgers University, is that the United States and its allies wanted it that way.
For all America's talk during the Arab Spring about supporting those who seek freedom, Jones says, Bahrain was different.
"If there is a place globally where there is not just distance but a huge gap between American interests and American values, it's in the Persian Gulf," Jones says. "And its epicenter is in Bahrain. Bahrain is ground zero for the Arab Spring in the Persian Gulf. And the United States has chosen sides. It has decided that it wants to see the Bahraini regime survive and endure. And that's important not only for the American relationship with Bahrain but for Saudi Arabia."
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain, giving the U.S. a major presence that has only increased in significance following the U.S. withdrawal of forces from Iraq.
In addition, Saudi Arabia didn't want protests in its own backyard, Jones says. And it didn't want a Shiite-led uprising to encourage its archrival, Shiite-dominated Iran.
Bahrain's uprising was suppressed in a harsh crackdown. Thousands of people were rounded up, detained, and sometimes tortured. Two of those detained were elected members of Parliament. Others were doctors who treated protesters, journalists who wrote about them, and lawyers who defended them. Several people died while in custody.
Bahrain largely silenced the uprising, but not entirely. Sporadic protests continued and human-rights groups condemned the government actions.

Timeline: The Major Events Of The Arab Spring

A look at the most important developments in the Arab world over the past year.

After The Revolt, An Investigation
Eventually, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa commissioned a group of international jurists to investigate. The commission recently issued its findings at one of the king's palaces.

More In This Series

Part 1: Turning Elections Into Democracy
Part 2: Islamists On The Rise
Part 3: Syria — A Looming Civil War?
Today: Bahrain — An Uprising Suppressed
Part 5: Turkey's Expanding Role
Part 6: The U.S. And The Arab Spring

Nigel Rodley, a human-rights lawyer who served on the commission, says the group didn't have enough time to discover who ordered the crackdown. But it was clear the army, police and intelligence services were all using the same sinister tactics.
"They were all using the same methods of apprehension, detention, ill treatment, and so on, which suggested a policy across different branches of government," he said.
For a moment, activists in Bahrain thought these findings might help revive their revolution. But while committees and commissions have been formed to implement some of the report's recommendations, no single high-ranking official has been held accountable for the deaths and the torture.
Back during the protests, Sadiq Abdullah, a doctor, was interviewed by Al-Jazeera about protesters who had been shot by security forces.
He eventually was called in for questioning by the intelligence service. Three months later and 40 pounds lighter, the doctor was released, but he still faces charges.
He and his wife, Nidhal, recently took me to their private clinic, in a building that houses a dozen or so other clinics.
"Everyone in this building was in jail," Nidhal said.
Sadiq used to be the only doctor in Bahrain who could do kidney transplants. Now he has been fired from his position at the government hospital. One of his students does the transplants.
"They've done two cases in the last eight months," Sadiq said.
And there are 98 people on the waiting list. Sadiq is furious at a government that would deprive its people of such care. Still, he has a lot to lose here in Bahrain. At the clinic he can earn in one day what he made in a month at the government hospital.

The United States has chosen sides. It has decided that it wants to see the Bahraini regime survive and endure. And that's important not only for the American relationship with Bahrain but for Saudi Arabia.

- Toby Jones, professor of Middle East history at Rutgers University

In fact, Sadiq and Nidhal are talking about expanding.
"We have to think of other options," Sadiq said, noting that it could include performing private kidney transplants
This is another way Bahrain differs from the other Arab uprisings. In Bahrain, the wall of fear hasn't been broken. People realize they have a lot to lose.
Now the only form of public gatherings allowed in Bahrain is a funeral — like a recent procession for a man who witnesses say was killed when riot police smashed into his car.
As the man was buried, people started chanting slogans against the regime. The riot police approached. A few young protesters threw rocks. The police responded with rubber bullets, sound grenades and tear gas.
That's all that was left of Bahrain's uprising.
The monument at the Pearl Roundabout has been demolished. All roads to it are blocked by armored vehicles. Protests are stopped before they make it out of the villages.
This is what's happening in villages all over Bahrain. But each one is contained and individual.
There's no large movement as was the case back in February and March. And from what a lot of people say, there's not going to be one anytime soon.
The riot police eventually fell back, protesters went back into their houses, and the village started to put itself back together.
For now, the uprising appears to be over. As the sun goes down, it's time for evening prayer. There is garbage on the streets, but somebody will come and clean it up. And then, life will get back to normal. Just like nothing ever happened.

   

The Arab Spring: One Year Later

Bahrain: The Revolution That Wasn't

After a crackdown, the government has promised reforms. But so far, little has changed.

The Arab Spring: One Year Later

Syrian Uprising Raises The Specter Of Sectarian War

Upheavals in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East have left minorities feeling vulnerable.

The Arab Spring: One Year Later

In Post-Gadhafi Libya, Islamists Start To Rise

Moammar Gadhafi long suppressed Islamists; with his death, Islamists are now starting to organize

MAO HENGFENG, Severely beaten, clearly tortured, barely alive from AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 12AUG11

THE prc's record on human rights is among the worst in the world. Here in the U.S. we have our problems concerning human rights, and the civil rights and civil liberties granted by our constitution and the laws of the nation are under constant attack and too often violated, often by the political extreme right wing. HOWEVER, we can not be compared to the prc in the brutality of the repression of their own people or in the numbers arrested, detained, and tortured by the government in Beijing. Please join Amnesty International in demanding accountability for the torture of human rights activist Mao HengFeng.

	Mao Hengfeng was delivered home from detention unconscious and in a wheelchair.
	The last time Mao Hengfeng was home from jail, the celebration was short-lived. She had roughly two days of freedom before being re-detained on vague charges. Two weeks ago, when Chinese police returned Mao Hengfeng home from her most recent term of "Re-Education through Labor" - it didn't feel right to celebrate at all. She was home, but she was delivered unconscious in a wheelchair...severely beaten...clearly tortured...barely alive1. It gets worse. Shanghai authorities have been known to return detainees to their homes shortly before they die so that they can later wash their hands of all culpability. Because her release was completely unexpected, Mao's husband and family could only expect the worst. I can honestly tell you that some of my happiest moments here at Amnesty International have been the days when a prisoner of conscience is released. Just knowing that they are being reunited with their loved ones makes our work all the more satisfying. But bittersweet doesn't even begin to cover the disgraceful "homecoming" of Mao Hengfeng. Not only should she have never been detained in the first place for voicing her beliefs, but no one - and I mean no one - should ever experience the appalling treatment she did while in detention. Help us demand accountability for the torture and abuse of Mao Hengfeng. For simply demanding political and social change, Chinese authorities have repeatedly arrested this wife and mother of three. Her most recent detention stems from her 2009 protest of the detention of Liu Xiaobo, a prominent human rights defender in China and the recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. She has also been a strong advocate for women's reproductive rights and the victims of forced evictions in Shanghai. We've been told that since being home, Mao's condition has improved slightly. She regained consciousness and has started to walk and talk again slowly. We couldn't be more relieved to hear this news and hope that her progress continues. But even though Mao's condition may continue to improve, Amnesty International will not let her wounds be forgotten. Take action for Mao Hengfeng. Please take action to support this courageous woman's struggle for human rights! Thank You, Michael O'Reilly Senior Campaign Director, Individuals at Risk Amnesty International USA 1. http://blog.amnestyusa.org/women/mao-hengfengs-bittersweet-homecoming		Beaten until she was unconscious No one should ever experience the appalling treatment that human rights defender Mao Hengfeng did while in police custody.
© 2011 Amnesty International USA | 5 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10001 | 212.807.8400

Al Jazeera demands release of journalist from AL JAZEERA 14MAI11

UPDATE on Dorothy Parvaz, missing Al Jazeera reporter last seen in Syria 14 days ago. She has American, Canadian and Iranian citizenship and may have been deported from Syria to Iran and may be in prison there. Click the header to go to the Al Jazeera site for updates on her detention. God be with her....and all the others in Syria and Iran who have been arrested and disappeared....

Al Jazeera demands release of journalist

DOHA, QATAR - Al Jazeera has been given information that journalist Dorothy Parvaz has been deported from Syria to Iran. This information has come from Syrian officials, who had previously told Al Jazeera they were holding Dorothy in Damascus, and that she would be released. An Al Jazeera spokesman said: "We have now received information that she is being held in Tehran. We are calling for information from the Iranian authorities, access to Dorothy, and for her immediate release. We have had no contact with Dorothy since she left Doha on 29 April and we are deeply concerned for her welfare." A statement from Dorothy’s family said: "Dorothy is a dearly loved daughter, sister and fiancée, and a committed journalist. It is now nearly two weeks since she was detained. We appeal once again for Dorothy to be released immediately and returned to us." Dorothy is an experienced journalist who joined Al Jazeera in 2010. She graduated from the University of British Columbia, obtained a masters from Arizona University, and held journalism fellowships at both Harvard and Cambridge. She previously worked as a columnist and feature writer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Al Jazeera is continuing to call for information about the whereabouts of Dorothy Parvaz, access to Dorothy, and for her immediate release. Though Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's foreign minister, has said he has no information about her location, Al Jazeera has requested details from a number of ministries in Tehran in order to secure Dorothy's release. Mr Salehi had previously called on Syria's government to look into her case. For a complete list of Dorothy's feature articles on Al Jazeera, view her profile.

Updates

Iranian minister: No information on reporter Al Jazeera calls for reporter's release after Iranian foreign minister says he has no information about her whereabouts. Last Modified: 14 May 2011 12:18 GMT

Al Jazeera journalist missing for two weeks Al Jazeera's Dorothy Parvaz, missing since arriving in Damascus two weeks ago, is now understood to be in Tehran. Last Modified: 13 May 2011 10:21 GMT

Missing Al Jazeera reporter deported to Iran Al Jazeera's Dorothy Parvaz, missing since arriving in Damascus almost two weeks ago, is now understood to be in Tehran. Last Modified: 11 May 2011 13:46 GMT

Syria confirms journalist detained Al Jazeera calls for immediate release of journalist Dorothy Parvaz, held since arriving in Damascus on Friday. Last Modified: 04 May 2011 21:22 GMT

Family calls for journalist's release The fiance of Dorothy Parvaz, an Al Jazeera journalist held in Syria, appeals for her to be set free. Last Modified: 04 May 2011 20:52 GMT

Reactions to the detention of Dorothy Parvaz Press freedom advocacy groups and several governments speak out over case. Last Modified: 04 May 2011 18:37 GMT

Iran presses Syria over missing journalist Foreign minister "demands" Syrian government look into case of missing Al Jazeera English journalist Dorothy Parvaz. Last Modified: 02 May 2011 21:06 GMT

Al Jazeera journalist missing in Syria Al Jazeera demands information from Syria on whereabouts of journalist missing since arriving in Damascus on Friday. Last Modified: 02 May 2011 12:05 GMT