Daily Archives: December 8, 2019

2019-12-08: News Headlines

Local activists (2019-12-08). Abolish ICE Protest in Santa Rosa. indybay.org Where: Old Courthouse Square, 3rd & Mendocino Ave and 4th & Santa Rosa Ave, Downtown Santa Rosa 95404…

South Front (2019-12-08). Video: Israeli Air Force Bombed 'Iranian Targets' Near Syria-Iraq Border. globalresearch.ca The Israeli Air Force has carried out a new round of strikes on Iranian-linked targets near the Syrian-Iraqi border. The airstrikes reportedly hit at the al-Hamadan airport north of the town of al-Bukamal. | Pro-Israeli sources claimed that the strike destroyed …

Staff (2019-12-08). Migrant Women and Girls Are Leading the Battle Against Climate Change. truthout.org Into the late afternoon hours, the blistering light gave way to soft, horizontal rays that crisscrossed over Lebanon's Beqaa valley. The rays played with the children, casting long silhouettes of their forms, while they chased each other. As the temperature subsided, the elders of the community descended to the lowest level of the mosque-turned-refugee shelter. | Amid the cacophony, Abu Hassan paced back and forth along the dried-up marble fountain, the centre-piece of the makeshift living room, eve…

RT (2019-12-08). 'I plan to seek justice': Max Blumenthal vows legal action after US govt drops 'bogus' assault charges against him. rt.com The US government has dropped all charges against Max Blumenthal, after arresting the journalist over a dubious 5-month-old warrant. But the Grayzone editor says the case is far from closed. | Blumenthal was detained for nearly two days after police raided his Washington, DC office in October. The month-old warrant for his arrest listed the journalist as "armed and dangerous," and police carrying out the warrant reportedly threatened to kick down his door.The government's case was based solely on an unsubstantiated claim made by a right-wing Venezuelan opposition activist, Naylet Pacheco, who alleged that Blum…

The Canary (2019-12-08). Boris Johnson accused of lying over pledge to cut immigration after Brexit. thecanary.co Boris Johnson has been accused of lying to the public over his promises to reduce immigration.The Conservative Party has set out its plans for an Australian-style points-based immigration system, which would put no limits on highly educated and award-winning workers, investors or entrepreneurs coming to Britain after Brexit.It would also fast-track and offer reduced fees to doctors, nurses or social care workers who want to come to work in the NHS. | In an interview with Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Johnson said he could guarantee "numbers will come down" as part of the "controlled" measures.But sha…

Staff (2019-12-07). Trump Has Built a Bureaucratic Wall to Keep Out Immigrants He Says He Wants. truthout.org This story was originally published by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at revealnews.org and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at revealnews.org/podcast. | Samir came to the United States from India in 2006 as a graduate student. He got a master's degree in environmental engineering, and af…

WSWS (2019-12-07). Video exposes US Custom and Border Protection's lies in death of teenage immigrant. wsws.org The gross and criminal negligence shown in the video is not an accident, but is in line with the anti-immigrant policy of the Trump administration.

Mark Gruenberg (2019-12-06). 'Scrooge would be proud': Trump pulls food stamps from 700,000 people. peoplesworld.org First it was banning Muslims from entering the country. Then it was ripping screaming toddlers from their mothers' arms at the U.S.-Mexico border. Then it was throwing poor people out of public housing for flimsy reasons. And starting in April, it may be letting people starve. Welcome to TrumpWorld, where people whom right-wing nativist GOP …

M. G. Piety (2019-12-06). A Lesson From the Danes on Immigration. counterpunch.org Denmark is in the news now because of its purported hostility to immigrants. Brooke Harrington, a sociology professor at Dartmouth, published an op ed in the New York Times on Tuesday about how she was nearly carted off to a Danish prison for giving invited guest lectures to the Danish parliament. Danes had tightened up More

James Goodman (2019-12-06). goodman climate refugees teaser. progressive.org Climate change, pollution, and violence drive people to the U.S. border, even with no promise of a path to citizenship.

Staff (2019-12-06). Headlines for December 6, 2019. democracynow.org Pelosi Calls On Democrats to Proceed With Drafting Articles of Impeachment, Joe Biden Lashes Out at Iowa Town Hall over His Son Hunter's Work in Ukraine, Pentagon Weighs Sending Up to 14,000 More U.S. Troops to Middle East, Saudi Aramco Raises $25.6 Billion in Historic IPO, 140,000 Died Globally from Measles in 2018, 62 Refugees Died after Boat Capsized off Coast of Mauritania, Shocking Video Shows How Border Patrol Let Teenage Asylum Seeker Die in Custody, French Workers Continue National Strike into Second Day, Uber Says It Received 3,000 Reports of Sexual Assault in U.S. in 2018, The Guardian: Ilhan Omar and R…

Shaw Drake (2019-12-05). A Border Officer Told Me I Couldn't Opt Out of the Face Recognition Scan. They Were Wrong. aclu.org "Look at the camera," a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) | officer told me as I approached the primary inspection point at the Paso del | Norte port of entry. | "Is that the face recognition technology?" I asked. "If so, I want to opt-out." | "Look at the camera." | "I want to opt-out." | "Look at the camera." | On the evening of November 25, 2019, I crossed from Mexico into the United States. Signs in the port noted the new use of face recognition technology and United States citizens' option to "undergo alternative procedures." After handing over my U.S. passport card, and despite my repeated protests…

Cora Currier (2019-12-05). Filmmakers Sue to Shield Visitors to U.S. From Social Media Vetting. theintercept.com A filmmaker working on a documentary that's critical of U.S. policies. A writer who operates a pseudonymous Twitter account to evade an authoritarian regime in their home country. An activist who uses Facebook to organize protests at the U.S.-Mexico border. | These are the kinds of people who might not want U.S. immigration agents poring over their social media profiles before deciding whether they should be allowed into the country. Yet that's exactly what the State Department now requires as part of the Trump administration's "extreme vetting" of millions of visa applicants. As of May, people who need a visa to…

Staff (2019-12-05). Headlines for December 5, 2019. democracynow.org Constitutional Experts Debate Impeachment at House Judiciary Committee Hearing, GOP Rep. Devin Nunes Sues CNN over Story about Nunes' Ukraine Meeting, Trump Departs NATO Early after Video of Other World Leaders Mocking Him, Report: Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Hit Record High in 2019, Colombia Holds Third National Strike in Two Weeks, Workers Strike Across France Today over Macron's Pensions Plan, Hand Grenade Thrown over Wall of Migrant Shelter in Madrid, India: Rape Survivor Attacked on Her Way to Court in Latest Assault on Women, Head of Japanese Aid Agency Killed in Afghanistan, AG Barr Threatens Commun…

Fight Back (2019-12-04). Immigrant rights activists protest ICE detention at Sherburne County commissioners' meeting. fightbacknews.org Elk River, MN – Immigrant rights activists mobilized to the Sherburne County commissioners' meeting at 9: 00 in the morning Tuesday, December 3 in Elk River, a town of around 20,000 people an hour northwest of Minneapolis. They held signs throughout the meeting, and several of them spoke passionately during the public comment section of the agenda, appealing to the commissioners to stop participating in and profiting from immigrant detention in the Sherburne County Jail. | The Sherburne County Jail has a contract for 300 beds to detain immigrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), making it the la…

Sulma Arias (2019-12-04). Immigrants Targeted by Trump Deserve Protection. progressive.org The termination of this program and the deportation of TPS holders is a cruel political tactic, with real-life consequences.

Fight Back (2019-12-04). Activists decry Minnesota investments in border militarization, climate destruction. fightbacknews.org St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) held its quarterly meeting at the State Capitol December 2 and got sharp criticism from immigrant rights and anti-war activists, as new documents revealed a nearly $1 million increase in investment in a controversial military technology company. Youth climate strikers also highlighted the SBI's inaction over state ties to environmental destruction. Both groups were met with vacillation and excuses from the board which is tasked with the responsible investment of public pensions and related funds. | At issue was Elbit Systems, an Israel-based manufacture…

Staff (2019-12-04). U.N. Report Finds Over 7 Million Children Worldwide Are Being Held in Various Kinds of Detention. democracynow.org A damning United Nations report says that 7 million children are deprived of their liberty worldwide, from children imprisoned on the U.S.-Mexico border to the missing children of ISIS fighters. The Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty says that at least 410,000 of those children are detained in jails and prisons, where violence is "endemic." The study also found that the number of children detained in the context of armed conflict has dramatically risen. The global study was published in November, on the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the landmark international treaty affi…

Fight Back (2019-12-03). Miami activists unite against U.S. imperialism in Latin America. fightbacknews.org Miami, FL – On December 1, immigrant groups representing several different countries in the Caribbean and South America rallied together at the Torch of Friendship to show unity and strength against U.S imperialism and far-right political violence in Latin America. Various groups of immigrant activists united in what they said was just the beginning of a new movement in South Florida to bring together the various struggles in Latin America against neo-liberalism and neo-colonialism. | Activists representing Chile, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Brazil spoke out against neoliberal policies, U.S militarism, and…

James Goodman (2019-12-01). The Sanctuary Strategy. progressive.org Policies and activism that work to shelter undocumented immigrants have spread across the country—and are remarkably effective.

Ashoka Mukpo (2019-11-27). "If I Could Just Look at Her" aclu.org Watch the journey of two separated parents trying to cross the border and reunite with their children.: | " data-whitelisted="false" data-domain="www.youtube.com"> | In October, the Trump administration admitted that in a 12-month period, beginning in July 2017, it separated 4,370 immigrant children from their parents at the border. Since then, over 1,000 more have been separated under a dubious loophole that all…

David Cole (2019-11-26). We're Grateful for the Constitution. aclu.org Thanksgiving is here: that time of year when we pause to take stock of all we're grateful for. At the ACLU, we're saying thanks for all the crucial wins from our legal teams — and for the Constitution. | In just the last few months, we've racked up many essential victories in the ongoing battle to protect civil liberties and civil rights. The scope of these victories is breathtaking: they span criminal justice, privacy, religious freedom, reproductive rights, due process for immigrants, racial justice, LGBTQ rights, and the right to protest the Keystone pipeline, among others. We've won crucial victories…

Ashoka Mukpo (2019-11-25). In Nicaragua, She Dodged Bullets. Now She's Stuck at the Border. aclu.org (Ciudad Juarez, Mexico) The sting of tear gas was still in Julia's eyes when she ran into a public park in the center of the Nicaraguan city of Estelí on June 20, 2018. Earlier that day, she'd wrapped her face in a blue-and-white bandanna — the colors of the Nicaraguan flag — and joined a student-led march against the government of President Daniel Ortega, whose proposed cuts to social benefits were sparking tense street demonstrations across the country. [Note: 'Julia' is a pseudonym; the ACLU is protecting her identity for her safety.] | As the students marched through the streets, paramilitary p…

Charlie Hogle (2019-11-25). The Trump Administration is Unlawfully Detaining a U.S. Resident Without Charge. aclu.org Adham | Hassoun completed his criminal sentence and was set to be released from prison almost | three years ago. But the government — now claiming unprecedented and | unconstitutional powers under the USA Patriot Act — continues to hold Adham in | detention, indefinitely and without charge. | We're | in court to secure his freedom. | Adham | has called the United States home for 30 years. Born in Lebanon to Palestinian | refugees, Adham and his family — like many other refugees — suffered…

splcenter (2019-11-21). Emails Confirm Miller's Twin Obsessions: Immigrants and Crime. splcenter.org Stephen Miller linked immigration to violence in emails to Breitbart News — writing of crimes committed by nonwhites that "each one [is] more disturbing than the next."

splcenter (2019-11-05). Emails Detail Miller's Ties to Group That Touted White Nationalist Writers. splcenter.org White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller demonstrates a connection to an anti-immigrant think tank that promoted white nationalist writers, according to emails acquired by Hatewatch.