(2020-01-13). Turkey nabs over 2,500 irregular migrants past week. yenisafak.com Nearly 2,530 irregular migrants were arrested across Turkey over the last week, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency from security sources.Turkish gendarmerie forces held 962 of migrants in the northwestern Edirne province, which borders Greece and Bulgaria.According to local sources in Edirne, Greece has stepped up efforts to send irregular migrants to Turkey in violation of the Geneva Conventions, the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention Against Torture.In the coastal western cities of Mugla, Canakkale, Izmir and Aydin, the Turkish Coast Guard and gendarmerie forces rounded up more…
(2020-01-12). The Deadly Myth of the Border. truthdig.com 
"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" | Purchase in the Truthdig Bazaar | In my memories, the U.S.-Mexico border is always seen at night. I'm crossing home — how many times in my life? — through San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate, Mexicali. I'm bored, impatient, sometimes drunk in a rowdy car with more people than seats, other times sleepy after a vacation with my parents, still carrying Ensenada beach sand in my shoes. And suddenly ther…
(2020-01-12). Mexico's AMLO Vows Justice in Visit to Town Scarred by Massacre. telesurenglish.net Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledged Sunday that those behind a massacre that killed nine members of a U.S.-Mexican family of Mormon origin will be punished and that the truth surrounding the crime will eventually come out. | RELATED: | Gunmen Kill Mormon Family Members in North Mexico | In a speech before extended family members near the U.S. border, Lopez Obrador also promised to keep relatives appraised of the investigation into the ambush carried out by cartel gunmen t…
(2020-01-12). Israelis Flood Gaza Lands with Rainwater, Damaging Crops. imemc.org Israeli occupation forces pumped huge amounts of rainwater into agricultural lands east of the Gaza Strip, causing planted crops to sink, witnesses said. They said Israeli authorities opened the rainwater collection dams along the border with the Gaza Strip, causing about 1,000 dunams of agricultural land planted with wheat, barley, …
(2020-01-11). White House Considering Dramatic Expansion of Travel Ban. truthdig.com WASHINGTON — The White House is considering dramatically expanding its much-litigated travel ban to additional countries amid a renewed election-year focus on immigration by President Donald Trump, according to six people familiar with the deliberations. | A document outlining the plans — timed to coincide with the third anniversary of Trump's January 2017 executive order — has been circulating the White House. But the countries that would be affected if it moves forward are blacked out, according to two of the people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the measu…
(2020-01-11). Iranian Americans Have Rights, Too—No Matter What's Happening Abroad. commondreams.org What happened at the U.S. border this past weekend was a painful reminder that sometimes, we are still considered outsiders.
(2020-01-11). FROM THE FIELD: West Africa's wishful gold diggers. news.un.org The mining of gold in unregulated and often hand-dug pits in West Africa, can be a deadly occupation, but one which many impoverished people in the region are pushed into by necessity, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
(2020-01-10). California's New 'Gig Worker' Law Will Hurt Freelancers. thenation.com California's New 'Gig Worker' Law Will Hurt Freelancers…
(2020-01-10). Security Council beats midnight deadline, renews Syria cross-border aid in contentious vote. news.un.org The Security Council on Friday evening renewed a UN operation delivering humanitarian aid across the Syrian border to millions of civilians, but some of the body's members expressed disappointment that the "watered down" measure cut in half the number of crossing points and duration of the authorization.
(2020-01-10). Weekend Read: SPLC sues Trump administration over family separation policy. splcenter.org The SPLC and its allies have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration policy that has separated and traumatized thousands of migrant families.
(2020-01-08). Iranian-American Lawmaker Warns of Rising Xenophobia as U.S.-Iran Tension Escalates. democracynow.org 
In the midst of escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, Border Patrol has been detaining Iranian Americans at the U.S.-Canada border. At least 100 people were delayed at ports of entry along the border over the weekend, following the U.S. assassination of Qassem Soleimani on January 3. For response, we speak with Anna Eskamani, Florida Democratic state representative of Orlando. She is the first Iranian American to be elected to any public office in Florida. "The reality is that when we see the potential war rise in countries like Iran … we'll see xenophobia rise right here locally" in the U.S., Eskamani says.
(2020-01-08). Iranian Americans Have Rights, Too — No Matter What's Happening Abroad. aclu.org Like most Iranian Americans, my family immigrated to the United States in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution in Iran, hoping to find safety and acceptance in a country that prides itself on diversity and freedom of expression. We learned and embraced the principles of the Constitution, including freedom of speech and religion, due process, and equal protection — protections that apply to every person, citizen and non-citizen alike. But what happened at the U.S. border this past weekend was a painful reminder that sometimes, we are still considered outsiders. | In the state of Washington this weekend,…
(2020-01-07). Iranian Americans Harassed and Detained at US Border. therealnews.com 
Dozens of people, including American citizens, faced hours of questioning at the Washington entry point. Jamal Abdi of the National Iranian American Council says the reports could indicate a directive for heightened screening of people born in Iran.
(2020-01-07). It Is Time for a New Way Forward. aclu.org In 1996, at the height of the "tough on crime" era, President Bill Clinton signed two laws that dramatically changed the criminal legal system and radically altered the U.S. immigration system. Just as the 1994 crime bill instituted unjust mandatory minimum sentences and ballooned the prison population, the immigration bills of that same era led to similarly disastrous consequences for immigrants — an explosion in the growth of detention and unfairly harsh punishments for immigrants, including mandatory deportations for minor…
(2020-01-07). Greasing the Gears of the Armageddon Engine – Reporting on 'Wexit' shows how not to cover extremist movements. fair.org 
by Frank Black | Remember how most reporters covered that Canadian Islamic separatist movement? | You know the one: It wanted to seize control of the entire provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, along with their oil fields, and create a republic with its own national borders, constitution, laws, and military. Its two main leaders accused Justin Trudeau's Liberal government of promoting pedophilia and trying to eliminate the Muslim population of Canada; one was a "journalist" with few if any searchable publications, and the other was a former RCMP officer convicted of threatening his wife, and who ran a lobby gro…
(2020-01-05). Students learn in the streets: struggle wins release of Connecticut teen from ICE custody. liberationnews.org 
The struggle for Mario's freedom is not over, and neither is the fight for immigrant rights overall.
(2019-12-23). The Other Americans: Asylum Seekers Routed to Guatemala. progressive.org A proposed amendment to immigration policy endangers asylum seekers, advocates warn.