Washington, DC — Ezequiel Veliz is a doctor in a medically underserved, rural part of a red state married to a U.S. citizen. After being “forced out of his hospital job by a federal visa pause,” he was detained by CBP and is now facing potential deportation.
Annie Ramos is a college student majoring in biochemistry, a Sunday School teacher of younger children and a newlywed, married to a U.S. Army staff sergeant preparing for deployment. After accompanying her husband to his base, she was detained by ICE last week and sent to immigration detention. While public outcry helped secure her release yesterday, why was she targeted in the first place?
Meanwhile, Stephen Miller and allies continue to build a surveillance state to further their mass deportation agenda, with new reporting highlighting how ICE is using spyware tools inside the country.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Stephen Miller is hell bent on ripping this nation apart. His mass deportation obsessions not only harm immigrants, but hurt every American. His fixation with purging black and brown immigrants from the nation undermines everything else – including the preparedness and priorities of military families, the healthcare needs of rural Americans, and the privacy concerns of all of us. The Trump and Miller anti-immigrant crusade weakens the country, undermines our values, and hurts all of us.”
See below for more details on each of the above examples:
- New York Times, “Doctor in South Texas Community Detained by Border Patrol,” noting, “A Venezuelan-born family physician who had been caring for Americans with chronic illnesses in an area facing a doctor shortage was detained by Border Patrol agents in Texas late Monday … Dr. Veliz treated people with diabetes, hypertension and other ailments, and was named resident of the year in 2025 at UT Health, Rio Grande Valley. He had entered the United States legally and was forced to withdraw from his position after losing his work permit because his immigration status ended. He had been trying to transition to a new visa, according to documents he submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.”
- Associated Press: “Wife of US soldier released from federal immigration detention,” noting, “The detention of 22-year-old Annie Ramos, the Honduran born-wife of a U.S. Army staff sergeant preparing to deploy, prompted public backlash from critics of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign who warned it demoralized troops during an ongoing war … ‘All I have ever wanted is to live with dignity in the country I have called home since I was a baby,’ [Annie] Ramos said in a statement to the AP after her release. ‘I want to finish my degree, continue my education, and serve my community — just as my husband serves our country with honor.’”
- NPR, “ICE acknowledges it is using powerful spyware,” noting, “Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using spyware tools that can intercept encrypted messages … [ICE acting director Todd] Lyons’ confirmation that the agency is using spyware comes as ICE has ramped up its use of surveillance technologies to find people in the U.S. without authorization as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. Those tools have also been used extensively on American citizens who have protested ICE’s activities.”
