(2020-04-12). UK pledges £200 million to WHO and charities in aftermath of Trump's threat to freeze US financial support for watchdog. rt.com 
In a move that Washington may interpret as a snub by one of its closest allies, the UK has gotten its checkbook out for the World Health Organisation, just days after Donald Trump threatened to cut the watchdog's funding. | The UK announced on Sunday that it is pledging £200 million ($248 million) to the WHO and various charities in a bid to stop a second wave of Covid-19 hitting Britain. | "Coronavirus does not respect country borders, so our ability to protect the British public will only be effective if we strengthen the healthcare systems of vulnerable developing countries too," International Develop…
(2020-04-12). Farmworker Appreciation Caravan in Watsonville. indybay.org Check out the Campesino Appreciation Caravan that happened this morning, April 11, in Watsonville! | Share far and wide, and get mobilized in your community!
(2020-04-12). China's Suifenhe city, bordering Russia, strengthens controls to prevent imported cases. yenisafak.com China's northeastern city of Suifenhe, on the country's border with Russia, said on Sunday it's strengthening border controls as part of measures to prevent imported cases.The city will also step up controls on traffic and enforce strict quarantine measures, city authorities said in a statement.The city has banned all types of gatherings and drawn up a list of businesses that must be suspended from operations.
(2020-04-11). Magnitude 5.3 earthquake strikes California close to Nevada border. rt.com 
A 5.3 magnitude earthquake has struck near Yosemite National Park, along the California-Nevada border. | Occurring at a depth of six miles (10km), the quake hit shortly after 7: 30am on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported. | Its epicenter was around 90 miles (144km) southeast of Lake Tahoe, just north of the sprawling Yosemite National Park. | Also on rt.com | | Yosemite draws upwards of four million visitors per year, b…
(2020-04-11). Trump Welcomes More Guest Workers Amid Crisis While Rejecting Asylum Seekers. truthout.org Two recent news items neatly sum up U.S. immigration policy during the COVID-19 crisis. | Asylum seekers are now being
(2020-04-10). Communist Party USA demands immigrant safety and justice in current health crisis. peoplesworld.org 
In a statement released April 9, the Immigrant Rights Subcommittee of the Communist Party USA's Political Action Commission calls for a "complete immigrant-friendly overhaul of our laws and policies regarding immigrants and refugees, including a fair and just method for workers to enter the U.S., the right to not be tied to one employer, and …
(2020-04-10). Over 530 Bolivians Remain Stranded at the Border With Chile. telesurenglish.net Over 530 Bolivian citizens remain stranded at the border between Bolivia and Chile. Given the precarious retention conditions, they are vulnerable to COVID-19 contagious. | RELATED: | According to Colchane city Mayor Javier Garcia, Bolivia's coup-born regime led by Jeanine Añez has abandoned migrants during the sanitary emergency. This Chilean local authority her of being discriminatory with her citizens. | Those who entered Bolivian territory in airships were…
(2020-04-10). Saudi Arabia Violates its Own Ceasefire As Yemen Announces First Cases of Coronavirus. mintpressnews.com The Saudi regime has engaged in a number of questionable activities since the global outbreak of COVID-19, including moving masses of African refugees deported from areas with coronavirus to the Yemeni border.
(2020-04-10). Exclusive: Inside Trump's Failed Plan to Surveil the Canadian Border. thenation.com Exclusive: Inside Trump's Failed Plan to Surveil the Canadian Border…
(2020-04-10). Medical aid cargo from Bulgaria arrives in Iran. iranian.com Head of Bazargan Customs Administration Sadegh Namdar announced on Friday that Bulgari's eight-ton consignment including anti-coronavirus medical requirements arrived in Iran through Sari Su trans-boundary market at Iran-Turkey joint Bazargan border. Namdar explained that this is the second cargo which arrives in Iran through Sari Su trans-boundary market, after conducting the required coordination between Iranian and Turkish customs officials. …
(2020-04-09). Femicide Does Not Respect the Quarantine. dissidentvoice.org 
Days, weeks, months, an indeterminate amount of time as the world seems paralysed by the journey of SARS-CoV-2. The lack of certainty increases the anxiety. This virus, as Arundhati Roy writes, 'seeks proliferation, not profit, and has, therefore, inadvertently, to some extent, reversed the direction of the flow [of capital]. It has mocked immigration controls, …
(2020-04-08). "They Don't Care if You Die": Immigrants in ICE Detention Fear the Spread of COVID-19. aclu.org 
Mario Rodas, Sr. first found out there was a deadly virus spreading through the country while he was watching television at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts. In early March, Rodas had been pulled over and arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while driving to the supermarket with his wife, a legal resident and the mother of his three U.S. citizen children. Since then, he'd been in the custody of ICE, mostly at Plymouth. | The more Rodas heard about the disease, the more fearful the 59-year-old became. | "I was scared for my health," he told the ACLU. "I was worr…
(2020-04-08). Nativist Hate Groups Want to Keep People in ICE Detention Despite COVID-19 Threat. splcenter.org Anti-immigrant think tanks are pushing for the U.S. to detain immigrants and asylum seekers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, even as prisoners stage hunger strikes and other protests in response to what they describe as deteriorating health conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.
(2020-04-08). Iran Welcomes Putin's Idea for Green Corridor in Coronavirus Fight. iranian.com Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif welcomed a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin to create a green corridor for the global battle with the coronavirus pandemic. "In order to contain the situation of coronavirus, different countries have closed their geographical borders, but opened them to provide assistance," Zarif said in a tweet on Wednesday, …
(2020-04-07). Deaths of Inequality: AOC on Black and Latinx Communities at Epicenter of Epicenter of the Pandemic. democracynow.org 
As COVID-19 deaths spike in African-American and immigrant communities, almost a third of New York City's infections are in Queens, one of the most diverse places in the world, and many in the hardest-hit neighborhoods are undocumented and working-class. We speak with Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the neighborhoods at the epicenter of the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, about how the Trump administration's response to the pandemic is causing "deaths of incompetence," "deaths of science denial" and "deaths of inequality."
(2020-04-03). Protect Immigrant Communities: Fear Mounts of Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak in U.S. Border Camps, ICE Jails. democracynow.org 
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement release all prisoners from immigration jails as the coronavirus continues to spread. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are working to prepare crowded encampments of asylum seekers across the U.S.-Mexico border for a potentially catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19. Since the implementation of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers from regions like Central America and Africa have been stranded in Mexican bord…
(2020-04-03). Detained immigrants across Deep South feel like 'sitting ducks' as ICE ignores their safety amid global pandemic. splcenter.org COVID-19 began to infect the nation at rapid speed in March, reaching every corner of the country and taking the lives of more than 6,000 people by April 3. The United Nations has dubbed the coronavirus the "most challenging" crisis the globe has witnessed since World War II.
(2020-04-02). Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic. splcenter.org As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world — people in immigrant detention centers.
(2020-04-02). COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate — Neither Should Congress' Response. aclu.org Congress' third bill addressing the impacts of COVID-19, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), was a necessary attempt to respond to this public health crisis but its exclusion of immigrant communities is downright racist and xenophobic. Immigrants were
(2020-04-01). SPLC, partners seek temporary restraining order to prevent immigration courts from becoming public health hazard. splcenter.org …
(2020-03-30). [Correspondence] No time for dilemma: mass gatherings must be suspended. thelancet.com The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic places unprecedented pressure on societies and health-care systems around the world. This first pandemic of the 21st century demands internationally unified, cogent, and collective actions by individuals, communities, commercial bodies, institutional systems, and all governments in mitigating its escalating impact. Each day, more countries are closing their borders, repatriating their citizens, and discouraging tourism. Air travel between continents has been largely suspended.
(2020-03-30). Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative: COVID-19 Parole Informational Guide for Sponsors. splcenter.org …
(2020-03-27). Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers. splcenter.org …
(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.