I’m surprised it took the Russkis so long.
The U.S. Postal Service used to have an annual auction of abandoned packages in their gigantic main building in Manhattan. In about 1970, my Mom scored a set of Lenox bone china and a 100-piece set of gold-plated flatware with Thai heads decorating it. (I thought the flatware was tacky and later bought her a set of sterling silver flatware but that’s a different story.)
The U.S. government and many municipalities sell seized property. I have read about instances when seized property is sold before the owner has been convicted of a crime.
https://www.treasury.gov/auctions/treasury/rp/index.shtml
Wendy
I’m pretty sure that the government is selling off all the property owned by the thousands of people being deported, without legal due process. Some years ago, a documentary I watched noted that, in the late 30s, some 25% of the German federal budget was funded with the sale of property seized from people who had been deported, or tossed in a concentration camp.
Michigan has had a law, “civil forfeiture” that allows government seizure of personal property, without legal due process, for people who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or have the wrong friends.
Steve
You made an assertion with no reference or proof.
I asked Chat GPT, “Can the government seize the property of illegal aliens who are deported?”
ChatGPT answered:
In general, the U.S. government cannot simply seize the property of illegal immigrants who are deported. However, there are specific circumstances in which the government might seize property connected to illegal activities, such as:
- Criminal Activity: If an individual has engaged in criminal activities (like drug trafficking, money laundering, etc.), the government may seize assets related to those crimes under asset forfeiture laws, regardless of their immigration status.
- Immigration Violations with Additional Charges: If someone who is in the U.S. illegally is involved in activities like human trafficking or fraud, the government may seize property connected to those crimes.
- Civil Asset Forfeiture: In some cases, if the government believes that property is involved in illegal activity, it can be subject to civil asset forfeiture, which could happen even if the person is being deported.
However, in a straightforward deportation situation, without any associated criminal or illegal activity, the government typically cannot seize an individual’s property just because they are being deported. [end quote]
So, unless you have documentation that the government is illegally seizing property, I will chalk this up to another bitterly cynical rant from @steve203.
Of course, the government just flew a bunch of accused Argentine gang members to Argentina without due process and against a judge’s order so it’s possible ICE could accuse illegal aliens of criminal activity without due process. But that’s not the way the system is supposed to work.
Wendy
OK
Yet migrants and U.S. citizens alike regularly report that Customs and Border Protection officers have confiscated their property – from their money and identification cards to their phones and automobiles – without a meaningful opportunity to seek return of that property. This is not only unfair, it is often dangerous for migrants who are deported after being stripped of their property and must then navigate the streets of Mexico without money, identification, or other belongings.
This one is from 2014:
Steve
I been watching Steve Lehto YTs for years.
He’s a self proclaimed lawyer, lemon law specialist, in MI.
His subscribers send him tips on stories, he then explains the story in a YT.
Every couple months he covers another civil asset forfeiture.
Lehto lauds the Institute For Justice, a pro bono legal firm, for their work in fighting civil asset forfeiture.
The process is rather entangled between local Leo n Fed Leo.
Local seizes, passes the asset to Feds, who kickback part to the local. This creates a maze of courts, filings, proceedings, court dates, filings, ad infinitum…
Apparently there is often NO CRIME ALLEGED.
The locals get assets. The feds get assets.
Here’s a Lehto civil asset forfeiture YT from 3 years ago.
Seizing assets enjoys a long history.
Lehto covers a wide range of topics.
Here, Lehto covers the 23andMe bankruptcy.
FWIW.
ralph
Then seizure of the assets of anyone involved in a federal crime faces losing everything.
Then seizure of the assets of anyone involved in a federal crime faces losing everything.
Most have probably seen the video of a Turfts University student, a Turkish citizen, with a valid US student visa, who was grabbed off the street by DHS agents, in plain clothes, and whisked off to a prison in Louisiana. No legal due process. No charges filed. Apparently, she was arrested for saying something against Israel’s conduct in the current conflict. Of course, the agents seized her backpack and cell phone. Fat chance she will ever see her stuff again.
Steve