Daily Archives: March 25, 2020

2020-03-25: News Headlines

RT (2020-03-25). Bulgaria bans entry of trucks en route to Turkey as Ankara imposes Covid-19 restrictions. rt.com Bulgaria has imposed a temporary entry ban on trucks from more than 65 countries that plan to pass through the Balkan state en route to Turkey, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The decision was taken after Ankara imposed stringent coronavirus restrictions on truck drivers. | A 45-km long line of trucks has already built up at the Bulgarian-Turkish main border checkpoint of Kapitan Andreevo after Turkey banned entry of truck drivers coming from countries with large coronavirus outbreaks, Reuters reports. | Many of the drivers, who have to wait more than 72 hours to cross the border into Turkey, do not hav…

Jocelyn Sherman (2020-03-25). 'Imperative to take proactive steps' to ensure farm worker safety. peoplesworld.org After carefully monitoring developments over coronavirus COVID-19, the United Farm Workers has sent an open letter to all agricultural employers and organizations urging them to take "proactive steps to ensure the safety of farm workers, protect buyers and safeguard consumers." Those steps include extending "state-required sick pay to 40 hours or more," removing "caps on …

splcenter (2020-03-25). SPLC and allies seek federal court injunction in system-wide suit to protect people detained by ICE from contracting COVID-19. splcenter.org The SPLC and its allies asked a federal court today to issue a preliminary injunction requiring that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) take immediate steps to protect people in its custody, particularly those who have medical conditions making them more susceptible to serious illness and death from COVID-19.

Staff (2020-03-25). Headlines for March 25, 2020. democracynow.org Senate and White House Reach Agreement on $2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill, NY Governor Blasts Trump's Coronavirus Response, Asking "Where Are the Ventilators?", Two Georgia Medical Workers Die of COVID-19 Amid Critical Shortage of Protective Gear, California Seeks to Add 50,000 Hospital Beds Ahead of COVID-19 Peak, Washington to Inspect Nursing Homes After 37 Die of Coronavirus at Life Care Center, Minnesota Lt. Gov.'s Brother Dies of COVID-19; Sen. Klobuchar's Husband Hospitalized, Defying Medical Advice, Trump Calls for Return to Normal and "Packed Churches" on Easter Sunday, U.S. Immigration Agencies Quara…

teleSUR (2020-03-25). Russia Suspends Constitutional Referendum to Fight Covid-19. telesurenglish.net Russia's President Vladimir Putin Wednesday postponed the referendum on the amendments to the constitution and called on the people to stay home to quickly curb the Covid-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | "It is now extremely important to abort the threat of a rapid spread of the disease," Putin said in a televised message to the nation. | Although Russia closed its border with China in late January, the coronavirus has managed to sne…

teleSUR (2020-03-25). Another Migrant Domestic Worker Found Dead in Lebanon. telesurenglish.net The lifeless body of Faustina Tay, 23, a domestic worker from Ghana was found on March 14 in a car park under the fourth-story home of her employers in Beirut, Lebanon, according to a report by Al Jazeera. | RELATED: | Some hours before her death, Tay had sent a last hopeless message to

sputniknews (2020-03-25). Leaders of Nine EU Nations Call for Common Debt Instrument to Tackle Coronavirus – Reports. sputniknews.com Europe has currently become the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic forcing the majority of the nations to shut their borders and restrict every day life activities. The International Monetary Fund earlier said it is ready to provide an additional $1 trillion to support its members during the coronavirus crisis.

yenisafak (2020-03-25). Turkey plants saplings in terror-freed Syrian city. yenisafak.com Syria's northern Tal Abyad city, liberated of terrorists by a Turkish cross-border operation last year, is set to become greener with Turkey's efforts to afforest the area.In a statement on Wednesday, the Regional Directorate of Forestry in Turkey's southeastern Sanliurfa province bordering Syria said a project to plant saplings in Tal Abyad was underway through the Syria Support and Coordination Center (SUDKOM), a division of the Sanliurfa governor's office.As part of the project, assigned teams are planting saplings along roadsides and in recreational areas for the public, according to the statement.The project…

Eds. (2020-03-25). Arrest the virus, free the prisoners! mronline.org We cannot allow the capitalist ruling class to turn a blind eye to the plight of the incarcerated population — not in general, nor in the particular circumstance of the global pandemic of Covid-19. In the U.S., there are 2.3 million human beings in state, federal, and county jails and more than 52,000 in immigrant …

Ken Klippenstein (2020-03-24). Exclusive: ICE Detainees Are Being Quarantined. thenation.com Exclusive: ICE Detainees Are Being Quarantined…

Fight Back (2020-03-24). Legalization for All Statement: Covid19 and DACA. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Legalization for All Network. | The Legalization for All (L4A) Network is a coalition of various individuals and organizations from around the U.S. who fight to win legalization for all undocumented and Temporary-status peoples in the U.S. The need for full equality has never been clearer than in the face of a global pandemic, like Covid-19. Trump and the ruling-class have nothing stopping them from making changes that could devastate the undocumented, as the majority of people are preoccupied with the very real danger of Coronavirus. | Putti…

Staff (2020-03-23). Former ICE Director: Release Immigrants from Detention or COVID-19 Will Spread Like Wildfire Inside. democracynow.org Alarm is growing about the safety of more than 37,000 people held in immigrant detention centers and private jails that contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, where it is nearly impossible for them to avoid close contact to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Nearly half of those detained by ICE are accused of no crime other than civil immigration violations. Immigrants at three jails in New Jersey are now on hunger strikes over unsanitary conditions that put them at high risk during the pandemic.‚Ä®‚Ä® We hear from a detained person on hunger strike and speak wit…

Staff (2020-03-23). COVID-19 Will Spread Like Wildfire in Migrant Jails If Detainees Aren't Released. truthout.org Alarm is growing about the safety of more than 37,000 people held in immigrant detention centers and private jails that contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, where it is nearly impossible for them to avoid close contact to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Nearly half of those detained by ICE are accused of no crime other than civil immigration violations. Immigrants at three jails in New Jersey are now on hunger strikes over unsanitary conditions that put them at high…

news.un (2020-03-23). UN expert raises alarm over migrant, asylum seeker 'pushbacks' at Turkey-Greece border. news.un.org Greece must take immediate action to end the violence against migrants and asylum seekers at the border between Turkey and Greece, an independent UN human rights expert said on Monday, expressing alarm at reports of violence at the hands of some Greek security officers and unidentified armed men.

Fight Back (2020-03-23). Car protest at Gov. Walz's mansion demands immediate release of immigrants in Minnesota jails. fightbacknews.org Saint Paul, MN – In one of the first known protests organized since the widespread implementation of 'social distancing' and 'shelter-in-place' with the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, a car caravan lined Summit Avenue outside Governor Tim Walz's mansion in Saint Paul to demand immediate release of all immigrant detainees in Minnesota jails. | The protest participants stayed in their cars to avoid social spread of coronavirus. Cars were painted and adorned with posters with slogans like "Governor Walz: Free them all." People in some cars led chants with megaphones. Periodically, all the cars would honk at the…

Andrea Flores (2020-03-20). How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses. aclu.org Two years ago, the ACLU set a clear goal: push Greyhound to refuse Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers access to their buses to conduct warrantless searches. As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CBP officers were targeting bus passengers around the country, boarding their buses to racially profile, harass, and too often, detain people who they suspected of being undocumented. Of course, you can't tell someone's immigration status by how they look or sound — this practice is unconstitutional and blatantly racist. By pushing aggressively with the help of our membership and…

splcenter (2020-03-20). COVID-19 Updates: SPLC continues fight against injustice. splcenter.org We are only beginning to feel the impacts of the coronavirus, but we know that the communities we serve — including low-income people, immigrants and people of color — are already among the most affected.

Michael Edison Hayden and Hannah Gais (2020-03-20). As White House Contemplates Coronavirus Asylum Ban, Hate Groups Urge Trump to Seize the Moment. splcenter.org The Trump administration took steps to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This nativist policy course has been pushed by anti-immigrant pundits and hate groups from the time the crisis started to unfold.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-03-19). California Anti-Immigrant Activist Robin Hvidston Seeking State Assembly Seat. splcenter.org Robin Hvidston, a longtime anti-immigrant activist, is running as a Republican for a California Assembly seat in District 41.

Shaw Drake (2020-03-18). The Military Should not be Searching Cars or Checking Documents at the Border. aclu.org There's an old saying that goes, "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." This adage is especially applicable to the Trump administration's approach toward border policy, which is ever more militarized. On March 6th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials

Staff (2020-03-18). Headlines for March 18, 2020. democracynow.org Global COVID-19 Cases Top 200,000 Worldwide with Over 8,000 Dead, Researchers: Left Unchecked, Coronavirus Could Kill 2.2 Million in U.S. , New Yorkers Prepare to Shelter in Place as Hospitals Face Severe Shortages, Coronavirus Fears Grow for Prisoners and Migrants in ICE Jails, Trump Admin Pushes Economic Stimulus Package Worth Over $1 Trillion, WHO Considers Airborne Precautions for Medical Workers After Coronavirus Found in Aerosols, Rewriting History, Trump Says "I've Always Known" About Pandemic, Internet Providers Drop Data Caps as Calls for Net Neutrality Grow, Biden Wins 3 States as Coronavirus Fears Caus…

Staff (2020-03-16). Headlines for March 16, 2020. democracynow.org Coronavirus Pandemic Death Toll Tops 6,500 Worldwide, About 170,000 Confirmed Cases, U.S. Coronavirus Cases Reach 3,600 as True Number of Infections Continues to be Unknown, Trump Tests Negative for Coronavirus After Being in Contact with Brazilian Official Infected with COVID-19, States Across U.S. Ramp Up Measures to Control Spread of Coronavirus, Including Massive School, Business Closures, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Rule That Would Have Thrown 700,000 People Off Food Stamps, AOC Confronts ICE Agent at LaGuardia Airport as 6 Migrant Children Detained in Texas Were Relocated to New York, Sanders, Biden Faced Of…

Ashley Gorski (2020-03-12). The Government Has a Secret Plan to Track Everyone's Faces at Airports. We're Suing. aclu.org U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration are putting us on an extraordinarily dangerous path toward the normalization of face surveillance. But because key facts about this surveillance are still secret, the public lacks the information it needs to hold these agencies to account. We're

Chelsey Birgisdóttir (2020-03-10). San Diego Police Stop Black People at a Rate 219 Percent Higher Than White People. aclu.org "They did what human beings looking for | freedom, throughout history, have often done. They left." | These | are the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson in her book, "The | Warmth of Other Suns." The book | follows the story of three Black Southerners and their journey escaping racial | violence — a sharecropper's wife who | left Mississippi in the 1930s for Chicago, an agricultural | worker who left Florida for New York City in the 1940s, and a doctor who left Louisiana in the early 1950s. | Their | journey was part of the Great Migration that occurred between 1916 and 1970,…