Daily Archives: July 8, 2019

2019-07-08: News Headlines

Staff (2019-07-08). Thousands of U.S. Citizens Have Been Mistakenly Detained or Deported. truthdig.com We are law professors who have studied civil litigation involving citizenship disputes and thousands of cases involving citizens caught up in immigration cases. | That includes the U.S. citizens who have been accidentally swept up in the government's immigration enforcement efforts since the mid-19th century. In many cases, they have been det…

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers (2019-07-08). Stop Immigrant Arrests, Close The Camps, Transform Immigration Policy. dissidentvoice.org Protesters stand up to Trump's attacks on immigrants in Los Angeles (Molly Adams|flickr). Public awareness of the brutal repression against immigrants seeking entry to the United States, the reasons for their migration, and terrorism against immigrants living in the US are reaching levels that make them hard to ignore. The current immigration crisis is self-created …

Eilís O'Neill (2019-07-08). 'It's a Terrible Existence': The Crisis of Emergency Dialysis Care for Undocumented Immigrants. thenation.com 'It's a Terrible Existence': The Crisis of Emergency Dialysis Care for Undocumented Immigrants…

Repost, Democracy Now! (2019-07-08). Japanese American Internment Survivors Protest Plan to Jail Migrant Kids at Prison Camp. indybay.org Japanese Americans, including at least one from San Francisco, demonstrated at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma on June 22, one day after President Trump directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to conduct a mass roundup of migrant families that have received deportation orders. They were met by uniformed military police who told them they did not have permission to congregate and might face arrest. "You need to move right now!" one of the officers shouted. "What don't you understand? It's English: Get out."

Staff (2019-07-08). Trump Is Trying to Cover Up the Reality of the Concentration Camps. truthout.org There was a time in the early days of Donald Trump's administration when the president went to some lengths to pretend to care about children. You may remember that early, rambling press conference in the White House in which he expressed his great empathy for the Dreamers, the undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, who grew up knowing no other country. | We are going to deal with DACA with heart. I have to deal with a lot of politicians, don't forget, and I have to convince them that what I'm saying is right. And I app…

Jake Johnson via Common Dreams (2019-07-08). Trump Blames Migrants for Appalling Conditions at Detention Centers. indybay.org Reposted from Common Dreams under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

WSWS (2019-07-08). Protest in New Zealand against US brutality towards refugees. wsws.org The July 4 rally outside the US embassy in Wellington demonstrated the growing international outrage at the Trump administration's concentration camps for migrants and refugees.

Aída Chávez (2019-07-08). Socialists on Chicago City Council Fight for Affordable Housing, Immigrant Rights. theintercept.com Democratic socialists now make up 12 percent of the City Council, the highest number that any major American city has seen in more than a century.

Text: RR Photos: Jack Owicki, Pro Bono Photo (2019-07-08). In Palo Alto, 300 Demonstrators Protest Detention Camps. indybay.org On July 2, tens of thousands of people attended over 175 protests across the US to call on the Trump administration to close detention camps where migrants are being held under horrific conditions. Palo Alto, California, the site of one such protest, is the location of grassroots effort Caravan to Clint, a group that goes on trips to a children's detention facility outside El Paso.

Staff (2019-07-08). Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy Sends Asylum-Seekers Back Into Danger. truthout.org Tijuana, where I live and work, has been thrust into the center of the Trump administration's attack on migrants. | It's the first site of the "Remain in Mexico" policy, which forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their U.S. claims are processed. Since January, more than 15,000 people have been returned to Mexico after requesting asylum in the U.S. — many to Tijuana. The administration is now extending that policy all along the southern border. | These roadblocks in the asylum process — along with U.S. pressure on Mexico to crack down on Central American migrants — are intentionally d…

WSWS (2019-07-08). Trump aide threatens one million immigrants with deportation. wsws.org While the White House escalates its attacks on immigrants, congressional Democrats are deepening their collaboration with Trump.

The Canary (2019-07-08). British Museum to help return ancient artefacts looted from Iraq and Afghanistan. thecanary.co Ancient artefacts that have been looted from Iraq and Afghanistan after recent conflicts and illegally exported to the UK will be returned to their country of origin.The British Museum is working with the UK Border Force and other government law enforcement agencies to help to return the seized items, which were brought there for analysis, conservation and cataloguing.Hartwig Fischer, director of the British Museum, said: War, conflict, climate change, globalisation, poverty and migration all play a part in the threats to cultural heritage. | The museum adopts a systematic approach, working with many colleagues ac…

Staff (2019-07-08). Headlines for July 8, 2019. democracynow.org Trump & DOJ Reverse Stance, Will Keep Pushing for Citizenship Question in 2020 Census, Trump Admin Threatens It's Ready to Start Deporting Up to 1 Million People, ICE and FBI Have Used Facial Recognition Technology to Mine DMV Databases, Trump: Migrants "Very Happy" with Situation in U.S. Migrant Jails, Iran Breaches Nuclear Deal Limits, Condemns U.K.'s Seizure of Oil Tanker, Sudanese Military Leaders and Opposition Agree to 3-Year Power-Sharing Deal, Greek Snap Elections Hand Victory to Conservative Party, U.S. Women's Team Wins Soccer World Cup, Shining a Spotlight on Gender Pay Disparity, State of Emergency De…

Barbara Nimri Aziz (2019-07-08). Abu Graib at Home in America. globalresearch.ca "This is not what America is about" argues a reporter referring to revelations of misogynist, violent, racist behavior by employees of the U.S. Border Patrol 'guarding' migrants held in detention centers. | Sorry Mr. Thompson (Propublica journalist who broke this story); …

WSWS (2019-07-08). Hack of Department of Homeland Security contractor exposes government surveillance of drivers on US roads and border crossings. wsws.org A group of transparency advocates hacked and published the extensive infrastructure of government surveillance of drivers on roadways and at border crossings.

Staff (2019-07-07). Sanctuary Leaders Fight Back Against ICE's "Psychological Violence" and Fines. truthout.org Ivan Ramirez, a 13-year-old Guatemalan asylum seeker, says he can't remember a time in his life when he felt free. Now that the federal government intends to fine his mother more than $300,000, he worries that whatever semblance of safety they have in sanctuary is being threatened. | Ivan and his mother Hilda Ramirez came to the United States fleeing familial violence in 2014. Since then, they have been "under attack" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the elder Ramirez said. They were detained together for almost a year after first arriving in the United States. Since their release from detention,…

Staff (2019-07-07). More Details Emerge About Horrible Conditions at Immigration Detention Centers. therealnews.com A DHS Inspector General report and a visit by members of Congress to detention centers, the inhumane conditions become clearer and spark more outrage…

teleSUR (2019-07-07). Two Guatemalan Indigenous Leaders Killed. telesurenglish.net Guatemalan Indigenous leaders Isidro Perez and Melecio Ramirez, members of the Committee of Campesino Development (CODECA), were killed on Friday by armed men in the village of Nuevo Eden in the eastern municipality of Livingston. | RELATED: | Colombia: Revered Social Leader and Activist Killed in Colombia | "These killings are added to the repression maintained against our organization by sectors of economic power and organized crime, supported by repressive forces of the Sta…

Trevor Aaronson (2019-07-07). FBI's Leniency Toward Border Vigilante Contrasts With Harsh Treatment of "Black Identity Extremist" theintercept.com While militia leader Larry Hopkins remained free to terrorize immigrants, Christopher Daniels was jailed for months, losing his home and his job.

Philip Alston (2019-07-07). US Can't Ignore That Climate Crisis Will Force 120 Million People Into Poverty. commondreams.org Climate change is making headlines this summer with record temperatures, devastating floods, and climate-related migration. But in the U.S., mainstream discussions about climate change are remarkably out of touch with the scale of the crisis and the economic and social upheaval it will bring. Political leaders have failed to put forward a vision for avoiding catastrophic consequences or protecting those most affected.

Jonathan Flowers (2019-07-07). 'Horrified at the sights': Coloradans protest ICE facilities and detention profiteers. liberationnews.org Human rights abuses are not just restricted to the border.

Maximillian Alvarez & William Lopez (2019-07-06). Trump Wants to Transform Immigrant Communities Into a Permanent, Hyper-Exploited Underclass. commondreams.org When the president announced in an ominous tweet two weeks ago that mass immigration raids targeting "millions of illegal aliens" around the country were imminent, those who would suffer the worst did not have the luxury of wondering whether or not he was bluffing. Days later, the worst fears of many were seemingly confirmed.

WSWS (2019-07-06). Madrid threatens migrant rescue ship with massive fines. wsws.org Spain's social-democratic government has warned it will impose hundreds of thousands of euros in fines on vessels for rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean.

Special To The Black Star News (2019-07-06). Protest At Italy's New York Consulate–Discriminatory Treatment Against African Migrants. blackstarnews.com At 12 noon today there will be a protest in front of the Italian Consulate in New York City, calling on the government of Italy to drop charges against captain Carola Rackete and the crew of the Sea-Watch 3, to release the boat from impound, and reverse the policy of closing Italian ports to humanitarian vessels. | Every year, thousands of migrants from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East die while crossing the Mediterranean. The crossing has grown more dangerous since Italy closed its ports to humanitarian vessels a year ago. Carola Rackete and the crew of the Sea-Watch 3 rescued 41 migrants from the Mediterranean…

Staff (2019-07-05). Immigration Detention Center Conditions Cause Massive Outcry. therealnews.com The revelation of extreme immigration detention center conditions for exhausted asylum seeking children, who are separated from their relatives, sparked outrage nationwide. In Phoenix, Arizona, Jews for Justice demonstrated, demanding permanent medical staff for Border patrol's Provisional Detention Centers…

Fight Back (2019-07-05). Chicanos protest raids and deportations. fightbacknews.org Los Angeles, CA – A protest on June 29, at the busy intersection of Soto Street and César E. Chávez in Boyle Heights, demanded an end to ICE raids and deportations. Attended by 30 people, the participants included students, parents and Centro CSO. The protest was energetic and extremely well-received by locals, people driving by, public transportation bus drivers and everyone in between. | Chanting, "When I say, 'Stop the raids' you say, 'Now!' Stop the raids! Now! Stop the raids! Now!" and "Dump! Trump!" the energetic protest gathered much support. One Boyle Heights resident joined after hearing the chant, " &de…

United Nations (2019-07-05). Six children among 53 confirmed fatalities after Libya detention centre airstrikes: Security Council condemns attack. un.org The toll from Tuesday's reported airstrikes on a detention centre in the suburbs of Tripoli has risen to 53 dead and more than 130 injured among the "severely traumatized" surviving migrants and refugees, UN aid agencies said on Friday, reiterating their appeal to close all such facilities in the embattled country.

Rémi Carayol (2019-07-05). What Happened When the EU Moved Its Fight to Stop Migration to Niger. thenation.com What Happened When the EU Moved Its Fight to Stop Migration to Niger…

Ryan Devereaux (2019-07-05). Border Patrol Agents Tried to Delete Racist and Obscene Facebook Posts. We Archived Them. theintercept.com The scrubbing began quickly. At 10: 55 a.m., ProPublica published a story reporting the existence of a secret, invitation-only Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents that featured vulgar, violent, and misogynistic content directed at migrants and lawmakers. | A little over two hours later, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called for active-duty agents responsible for…

Staff (2019-07-04). There Are Alternatives to Caging Immigrants in Dehumanized Conditions. therealnews.com We talk with Vicki Gaubeca from Southern Borders Community Coalition about the conditions in the immigration prison camps, the Border Patrol's FB page, and proposals for humane treatment of refugees…

Staff (2019-07-04). Libya's Civil War is Becoming a Proxy War. therealnews.com The shooting down of a Turkish drone near Tripoli and the capture of six Turkish sailors by Gen. Haftar's forces reveals the Turkey's and Egypt's involvement on both sides of the civil war. Meanwhile Haftar's forces are accused of bombing a migration detention center near Tripoli, killing 44 and injuring 130…

The Mind Unleashed (2019-07-04). Pediatricians Release Migrant Children's Drawings of Their Time in US Border Prisons. theantimedia.com (TMU) — Pediatricians have shared harrowing images drawn by migrant children separated from their parents while in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention camps that show people in prison-like conditions. The drawings were released by a social worker at the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas to the American Academy of Pediatrics, who …

Fight Back (2019-07-04). Dallas protesters march against Trump's concentration camps. fightbacknews.org Dallas, TX – About 100 protesters gathered at Dealey Plaza in Dallas in the evening of July 2 to demand an end to the Trump administration's immigrant concentration camps. After the rally, the protesters marched through downtown Dallas. | The protest was organized by North Texas Action Committee, North Texas Dream Team, Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Monsignor Romero Community Center, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. | Signs demanded an end to the concentration camps and legalization for all. Chants included "Down, down deportations, up, up, education," and "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.

Fight Back (2019-07-03). Minneapolis: 4000 march against Trump's separation of families, concentration camps at the border. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – On June 30, 4000 people marched in South Minneapolis to stand with immigrants and Muslims who are under attack by the Trump administration. | The skies cleared from an earlier downpour as marchers went from Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue in the heart of the immigrant community, through Uptown and to the First Universalist Church, where there was an indoor rally. The church sanctuary as well as an overflow room were filled to capacity, with more people continuing to rally outside. | The huge protest came together quickly as word of the horrific conditions in the border concentration camps spread…

Staff (2019-07-03). Scott Warren of No More Deaths Faces Retrial for Providing Humanitarian Aid to Migrants in Arizona. democracynow.org Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday they will retry humanitarian aid volunteer and immigration rights activist Scott Warren on two charges related to aiding migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. This comes just a few weeks after a jury refused to convict Warren for providing water, food, clean clothes and beds to two undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. Eight jurors found Warren not guilty; four said he was. Federal prosecutors will make their case against Warren again in an 8-day jury trial in November. They have dropped a conspiracy charge against him. If convicted on the tw…

Maryam Saleh (2019-07-03). As Trump Announces Mass Immigration Raid, Documents Show How ICE Uses Arrest Quotas. theintercept.com As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at the behest of President Donald Trump, plans mass raids following the July Fourth holiday, newly released documents shed light on the tactics the agency employs during such operations. | The documents, released Wednesday by the immigrant rights groups Mijente, Just Futures Law, and Detention Watch Network, show that ICE officials are building arrest target lists for mass raids to meet specific numbers, even as the agency continues to internally and publicly stress a "public safety" rationale for immigration arrests. | Most…

John Washington (2019-07-03). The US Is Making a Mockery of Its Asylum Obligations. thenation.com The US Is Making a Mockery of Its Asylum Obligations…

Fight Back (2019-07-03). Tucson protest tells Trump: No raids! No deportations! No family separations! fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – Over 100 people braved the intense desert sun Tuesday morning, July 2, to demonstrate their anger at Trump's threat for ICE raids aimed at thousands of undocumented families. Many demonstrators also expressed their demand to reunite families and to close the concentration camps operating as detention centers. | Outside the federal building protesters held signs reading "Close the camps!" and "Dismantle ICE!" The group then marched to the Pima County Office to demand an end to the Sheriff's collaboration with ICE and Border Patrol. Organizer from Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Isabel Garcia, said "The…

Staff (2019-07-03). Headlines for July 3, 2019. democracynow.org DHS Watchdog: "Dangerous Overcrowding" and Dire Conditions at Texas Migrant Jails, 30-Year-Old Honduran Migrant Dies in U.S. Custody, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Plan to Deny Bail to Asylum Seekers, DHS Fining Immigrants Up to $500,000 for Not Leaving the U.S., Nationwide Protests Demand Lawmakers #CloseTheCamps, Cory Booker Vows to End Immigrant Detention in 2020 Proposal, In Defeat for Trump Admin, 2020 Census Will Not Include Citizenship Question, House Dems Sue Treasury and IRS over Trump's Tax Returns, Airstrike Hits Migrant Detention Center in Libya, Killing At Least 40, Ethiopian-Israeli Community Protests…

United Nations (2019-07-03). Wednesday's Daily Brief: Libya 'war crime' attack, Sudan, Myanmar rights violations continue, 'xenophobia' in Assam, South Sudan update. un.org In the news this Wednesday: "Outraged" Guterres demands independent inquiry into fatal Libya migrant centre airstrike deaths; Violence and broken promises in Sudan and South Sudan, while Rohingya violations continue in Myanmar; "xenophobia" and citizenship in India's Assam state.

Emile Schepers (2019-07-03). Trump proposes dumping migrants into Guatemala, a supposedly "safe third country" peoplesworld.org The horrific image of a drowned father and his little daughter in the Rio Grande on the U.S.-Mexico border has intensified efforts in and out of Congress to deal with the situation of refugees and migrants trying to reach the United States from the Northern Triangle of Central America—Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador—and points beyond. …

Staff (2019-07-03). Border Agents Caught Posting Racist, Sexist Messages About Migrants & AOC in Secret Facebook Group. democracynow.org Customs and Border Protection has opened an investigation into…

United Nations (2019-07-03). Libya detention centre airstrike could amount to a war crime says UN, as Guterres calls for independent investigation. un.org An airstrike on a detention centre in Tripoli that killed scores of migrants and refugees "deserves more than condemnation", UN agencies said on Wednesday, as both the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the head of the UN mission in Libya (UNSMIL), insisted that it may amount to a war crime.

Dennis J Bernstein (2019-07-03). Japanese Internment Camp Survivor: 'Never Again Is NOW!'. progressive.org A filmmaker and therapist tells of her family's internment in a maximum security camp during World War II, and her views on the current imprisonment of people from south of the border.

Special to People's World (2019-07-03). The crisis at the southern border: What you need to know. peoplesworld.org "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The retched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door." — Statue of Liberty inscription, written by Emma Lazarus Roughly a year ago, the American public became aware of the …

Marcos Lugo (2019-07-03). Secret Border Patrol agents' Facebook group exposes vile racism, sexism. liberationnews.org This is only the latest incident to reveal law enforcement personnel's connections to facsist and reactionary tendencies.

Ryan Devereaux (2019-07-02). Amnesty International Condemns U.S. Attacks on Border Journalists and Human Rights Defenders. theintercept.com The shape of the Trump administration's approach to policing immigration is at this point familiar. Since January 2017, federal agents and officers have been under orders to enforce a harsh interpretation of immigration laws without restraint. The result has most infamously manifested in the forced separation of immigrant parents from their children and, more recently, a series of horrific reports detailing conditions in border-area detention centers. | Though undocumented people have always been the core target of this campaign, the blast radius of the government's hyper-politicized crackdown has steadily expand…

Editor (2019-07-02). WW editorial: Worker self-defense at the border. workers.org The heartbreaking image went viral: Oscar Ramirez and his daughter Valeria, 23 months old, both dead, facedown in the waters of the Rio Grande — Salvadoran migrants, drowned attempting to cross into the U.S. Reports had come in, almost simultaneously, from legal and medical observers that migrant children were suffering . . . | Continue reading WW editorial: Worker self-defense at the border at Workers.org

Staff (2019-07-02). Headlines for July 2, 2019. democracynow.org Lawmakers Decry Dire Conditions and Lack of Accountability During Visit to Texas Migrant Jails, Migrant Child Freed from Clint Border Patrol Jail: "They Treated Us Badly", ProPublica: Secret Border Patrol Facebook Group Rife with Racist, Sexist and Anti-Immigrant Posts, Migrant Father and Daughter Who Drowned in Rio Grande Buried in El Salvador, #CloseTheCamps Protests Planned Across the U.S., Mexico Deploys National Guard, Ramps Up Crackdown on Immigrants, Hong Kong Protests Continue as Activists Renew Demands to Withdraw Extradition Bill, Iran Surpasses Enriched Uranium Stockpile Allowed Under Nuclear Deal, Jap…

Matt Bors (2019-07-02). Straw Man Argument. thenation.com Straw Man Argument…