Daily Archives: January 18, 2020

2020-01-18: News Headlines

Mark Gruenberg (2020-01-18). AFL-CIO to the nation: Make King's dream America's reality. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Faced with the renewed and rising right-wing onslaught against women, workers, immigrants and people of color, unionists at the AFL-CIO's annual Martin Luther King Civil and Human Rights Conference spent their two days in D.C. focusing on reclaiming voting rights, battling voter suppression and educating and empowering workers to ensure they can vote this year …

Staff (2020-01-18). Hunger Striker Nearing Death in ICE Custody: "I Just Want Freedom" truthout.org Doctors and advocates for incarcerated immigrants are demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) release five South Asian asylum seekers on hunger strike at a remote ICE jail in Louisiana, where at least three strikers are being force-hydrated and at least two are being force-fed after refusing to eat and drink for over 75 days. | When a hunger striker's health fails, ICE may obtain a court order to restrain the striker and force fluids and nutrients into their body with tubes, a process hum…

teleSUR (2020-01-18). Mexico Halts Migrant Caravan by Closing Border With Guatemala. telesurenglish.net In response to the arrival of the caravan of Central American migrants, Mexico temporarily closed its border crossings near the Guatemalan cities of El Ceibo and Tecun Uman on Saturday morning. | RELATED: | Mexico's President Offers 4,000 Jobs in Attempt to Stop Caravan | Previously, around 4,000 Hondurans had arrived in the country and were waiting on a bridge at Tecun Uman. Some of them began pushing and shoving before being driven back by Mexican security officials, who shut…

Tom Anderson (2020-01-18). A British woman explains why she intended to cut the Gaza fence. thecanary.co This week Julia Lister, a British Palestine solidarity activist, was arrested with a group who were on their way to the Israeli fence separating the Palestinians of Gaza from Israel. | Gaza is surrounded by a fence on three sides. Israeli snipers shoot at any Palestinian who dares to go near it. Israeli drones and F-16s patrol the skies and military…

yenisafak (2020-01-18). Over 1,400 irregular migrants held off Turkey's coasts. yenisafak.com A total of 1,471 irregular migrants were held off Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts over the last one week, the Turkish Coast Guard said on Friday."A total of 1,471 irregular migrants and 1 migrant smuggler were captured by the Coast Guard Command in 41 incidents between 10-16 January 2020 within the scope of anti-irregular migration activities," the coast guard said on Twitter.As many as 12 dead bodies were also recovered during the same period, it added.Turkey has been a main route for irregular migrants trying to cross into Europe, especially since 2011, when the Syrian civil war began.

Staff (2020-01-17). Interpretation Crisis at the Border Leads to Deportation of Mayan-Language Speakers Seeking Refuge. democracynow.org As the U.S. continues to use hostile policies to stop people from seeking refuge and asylum in the United States, we look at a key problem that is preventing migrants from getting due process, and in many cases getting them deported: inadequate interpretation for indigenous asylum seekers who speak Mayan languages. Guatemala has a population of 15 million people, and at least 40% of them are indigenous. In the past year, a quarter of a million Guatemalan migrants have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border. At least half of them are Mayan. Many speak little or no Spanish. This is the focus of a new report in…

Eds. (2020-01-17). The climate-migration-industrial complex. mronline.org Thirty years ago there were fifteen border walls around the world. Now there are seventy walls and over one billion national and international migrants. International migrants alone may even double in the next forty years due to global warming. | Source

RT (2020-01-17). Passengers at 3 major US airports to be screened for deadly Chinese VIRUS. rt.com Authorities at major airports in New York and California will screen passengers traveling from the Chinese city of Wuhan gripped by the outbreak of a new deadly pneumonia-like virus, which has since spread to Japan and Thailand. | Starting Friday, passengers from Wuhan who arrive at San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles's main international airports will undergo screening for the symptoms of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) that broke out in the Chinese city last month. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will carry out the checks, along with Customs and Border Protection (CBP)…

Staff (2020-01-17). At US Border, Inaccurate Mayan-Language Interpretation Can Lead to Deportation. truthout.org As the U.S. continues to use hostile policies to stop people from seeking refuge and asylum in the United States, we look at a key problem that is preventing migrants from getting due process, and in many cases getting them deported: inadequate interpretation for indigenous asylum seekers who speak Mayan languages. Guatemala has a population of 15 million people, and at least 40% of them are indigenous. In the past year, a quarter of a million Guatemalan migrants have been apprehended at the U.

teleSUR (2020-01-17). Mexico's President Offers 4,000 Jobs in Attempt to Stop Caravan. telesurenglish.net Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) Friday reported that his government will not grant transit visas to migrants from the caravan trying to reach the United States but that there are about 4.000 jobs available. | RELATED: | 'Mexico Won't Let the Caravan Pass' Guatemala's President Says | "Between 2,500 and 3,000 Honduran and Salvadora…

Staff (2020-01-17). Headlines for January 17, 2020. democracynow.org Senate Impeachment Trial Opens as Accountability Office Says Trump Broke Law by Withholding Aid, Pentagon Contradicts Trump and Says 11 U.S. Troops Injured in Iranian Strikes, Senate Votes to Approve USMCA, Report: Six Banks Reaped $18 Billion Last Year from Trump Tax Cuts, Guatemalan Protesters Demand Outgoing President Be Arrested for Corruption, Deported Immigrant Rights Leader Jean Montrevil Sues U.S. Government, FBI Arrests 3 Suspected Neo-Nazis Ahead of Pro-Gun Rally in Richmond, Virginia, Florida Supreme Court Upholds Law Limiting Voting Rights for People with Felony Convictions, Harvard Law Students Prote…

Staff (2020-01-17). The Battle With Trump Over Refugee Resettlement Is Not Over Yet. truthout.org Refugee resettlement groups throughout the country are, thankfully, back to their usual work of finding new homes for refugees following this week's ruling by a federal judge in Maryland temporarily barring the implementation of Trump's executive order 13888, signed this past September. That order, part of a much broader package of anti-immigrant, anti-refugee and ant…

W. T. Whitney (2020-01-17). Mexico Takes Action on Coup in Bolivia and on CELAC. counterpunch.org Mexico's government intervened recently in two difficult situations beyond its borders. One is turmoil in Bolivia following a U.S. — assisted coup. The other is about renewing the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). At issue there is regional integration and independence. Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced out of office on November More

William deBuys (2020-01-17). Trump's Border Wall Is an Environmental Disaster. thenation.com Trump's Border Wall Is an Environmental Disaster…

WSWS (2020-01-17). Trump administration to illegally divert an additional $7.2 billion to border wall construction. wsws.org For the second year in a row, the Trump administration is diverting congressional appropriated funds in violation of the Constitution.

William deBuys (2020-01-17). Making America Great Again in a New Wild West. zcomm.org The Humanitarian and Environmental Disaster of Trump's Border Wall…

Staff (2020-01-15). In First All-White Democratic Debate, CNN Didn't Ask a Single Question About Immigration. democracynow.org As the federal government plans to divert an additional $7.2 billion from the military budget for the construction of President Trump's promised border wall, and tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Central America, the Caribbean and other regions are stranded throughout the U.S.-Mexico border, CNN moderators failed to question Democratic presidential candidates on border and immigration issues. We speak to Julio Ricardo Varela, co-host of the Latinx political podcast "In the Thick" and founder of Latino Rebels. "Anyone who thinks that a wall is going to protect us, the statistics aren't there. … But that i…

Tom Anderson (2020-01-15). British activist among those arrested for attempting to cut Gaza border fence. thecanary.co An international group of activists from Gaza 2020: Breaking the Siege were arrested in southern Israel on 13 January after they attempted to cut the military fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip. | British citizen Julia Lister, 25, was one of those arrested. | Two activists were also arrested on 9 January at the Gaza fence. | "Time has already run out": | According to a press release received by The Canary: | In both cases the activists had intended to cut the fortified border fence and enter Gaza in a forceful but symbolic action to demand an im…

Staff (2020-01-14). "Floaters": Martín Espada Pays Tribute to Salvadoran Father & Daughter Who Drowned at U.S. Border. democracynow.org Acclaimed poet Martín Espada pays tribute to àìscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his 23-month old daughter Angie Valeria, who drowned in the Rio Grande river in June 2019 trying to cross into the United States. A photo of the drowned Salvadoran father and daughter caused widespread outrage at the humanitarian crisis at the U.S. southern border and also raised questions about the ethics of exploiting such images in the press. Espada's poem "Floaters" meditates on their passing and its aftermath.

Eunice Cho (2020-01-14). The Trump Administration Weakens Standards for ICE Detention Facilities. aclu.org Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officially released a new version of its National Detention Standards (NDS), which govern the treatment of immigrant detainees held in almost 140 facilities in 44 states. These facilities include local and state jails and prisons — some operated by private prison companies — under contract with ICE. Despite being considered "civil detention," almost 20 percent of ICE detainees are held in these jails and prisons, many of which are located in remote, rural locations. | ICE describes its…

Staff (2020-01-14). Headlines for January 14, 2020. democracynow.org "It Doesn't Really Matter": Trump Changes Story on Soleimani Killing, Six Democratic Candidates Will Take Stage for Debate in Iowa Tonight, Sanders Refutes Warren's Charge That He Said a Woman Couldn't Win in 2020, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Launching New PAC to Support Progressive Democrats, Trump Plans to Divert Additional $7.2 Billion from Military Budget to Border Wall, Turkey and Russia Broker Ceasefire for Idlib, Syria, France to Send More Troops to West Africa Amid Rising Violence in Sahel, 55 Die in Avalanches in Pakistan, Study: 2019 Was Hottest Year for World's Oceans on Record, AG Barr and Apple Face Off…

splcenter (2020-01-13). Miller Dismisses DACA in Emails, Mirroring Anti-Immigrant Extremists' Views. splcenter.org White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller went against many Republicans when siding with white nationalists and other extremists on the issue of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, more commonly known as DACA, emails show.

news.un (2020-01-11). FROM THE FIELD: West Africa's wishful gold prospectors. 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).

splcenter (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.

news.un (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.

Frank Black (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…

Chris Garaffa (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.