International
ICE under fire for detaining undocumented teen from Florida foster care
Lawmakers and civil rights organizations condemned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday for handcuffing and detaining a 17-year-old Honduran teenager who was living with a foster family in Florida, in what they say is a likely violation of long-standing legal protections.
The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights accused Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) of violating a 30-year-old policy that prohibits the transfer of undocumented minors to immigration authorities.
“Instead of protecting this young person and keeping him safe from harm, the state of Florida did the opposite by calling ICE—who then cruelly removed him from his foster home in shackles and placed him in immigration detention,” said Kelly Albinak Kribs, co-director of the organization, in a statement.
The group referred to a Miami Herald article published Wednesday, reporting that Florida officials contacted ICE to report the teenager, identified only as Henry, who was subsequently taken from his foster family in Pensacola.
Henry and his mother, who has already been deported, had crossed the border into Texas and later traveled to Florida in search of work after falling victim to labor trafficking.
In response to the incident, several lawmakers sent a letter on Friday to DCF Secretary Taylor Hatch, demanding an explanation of the department’s collaboration with ICE, calling the incident “unnecessary and unacceptable.”
“It is morally reprehensible to try to meet deportation quotas by targeting vulnerable children under Florida’s protection,” wrote Representative Fentrice Driskell, who shared the letter co-signed by over a dozen colleagues. “Florida is better than this, even if our government isn’t.”
State Senator Ileana García, co-founder of Latinas for Trump, blamed Stephen Miller, senior adviser to President Trump and architect of anti-immigration policies, for these actions.
“Miller has placed undocumented minors—including many trafficking victims—into the foster care system, using it as a tool to meet weekly deportation quotas,” said García on X. “These children are being picked up from foster homes. This is unacceptable, regardless of anyone’s citizenship status.”
The controversy comes as Florida remains a national leader in enforcing Trump’s immigration policies. Governor Ron DeSantis has promoted 287(g) agreements, requiring all 67 counties to cooperate directly with ICE.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction