(2020-04-14). Privately-run immigrant jails denying detainees masks, dodging responsibility. peoplesworld.org 
HOUSTON (AP)—Elsy was on the phone in an immigration detention center when guards showed up with face masks and forms to sign. The asylum-seeker from El Salvador and others had resorted to tearing their T-shirts into face coverings after a woman in their unit tested positive for COVID-19. But the guards would not give out …
(2020-04-14). Essential or Expendable? Farmworkers Condemn Lack of Protection and Economic Help During Pandemic. democracynow.org 
As the coronavirus sweeps through the United States, the country's 2.5 million farmworkers are continuing to go to work every day, often facing crowded and unsanitary conditions without personal protective equipment, for poverty wages. We speak with Gerardo Reyes Chávez, a farmworker leader with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, who describes the conditions farmworkers in Florida are facing and how they are calling on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to protect farmworkers during the COVID-19 crisis, and with Mónica Ramírez, president and founder of Justice for Migrant Women and co-founder of the National Farmwork…
(2020-04-14). Conservation Groups Will Sue Feds to Stop Massive Timber Sale in Critical Habitat for Snake River Steelhead. counterpunch.org 
Since time immemorial Pacific salmon and ocean-run steelhead trout have fought their way up the tumultuous waters of the Columbia and Snake Rivers to spawn in the headwater streams that flow west from Idaho's towering snow-capped mountains. Their vast numbers fed wildlife such as bears and eagles, while sustaining the Indian tribes along the migration route. But
(2020-04-14). "Terrified to Go to Work": Hundreds of Workers in Meat & Poultry Plants Test Positive for COVID-19. democracynow.org 
We look at the spike in coronavirus infections at meatpacking plants. In just one case, Smithfield Foods shut down a plant responsible for 5% of U.S. pork production after more than 350 workers at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, deaths of slaughterhouse workers have been reported in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Colorado. Many meat processing facilities employ large numbers of immigrants, including undocumented workers. We speak with Wenonah Hauter, executive director and founder of Food & Water Watch, and with Magaly Licolli, executive director of Venceremos, an advocacy group for poultry plant…
(2020-04-14). China moves to block new coronavirus flare-up on Russian border. thecanary.co 
China is facing a new coronavirus flare-up along its remote northern border with Russia.The frontier has been sealed and emergency medical units rushed to the area to prevent travellers from bringing the virus back from overseas.The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic began in China, which is now striving to keep the virus out while other countries struggle to bring their own outbreaks under control.The long, porous border of Heilongjiang province and neighbouring Inner Mongolia has much less travel than major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. But it is a popular alternative route into the country.Many Chinese live a…
(2020-04-14). Immigrants at US detention centers lead hunger strikes, face persecution demanding protections from pandemic. wsws.org Nearly 200 immigrants, in male and female cell blocks, are currently staging a hunger strike and sit-in at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, California.
(2020-04-14). How the Deportation Machine Criminalizes Immigrants. thenation.com How the Deportation Machine Criminalizes Immigrants…
(2020-04-14). Our Crime-Based Deportation Machine. thenation.com Our Crime-Based Deportation Machine…
(2020-04-14). Hundreds of Workers in Meat and Poultry Plants Test Positive for COVID-19. truthout.org We look at the spike in coronavirus infections at meatpacking plants. In just one case, Smithfield Foods shut down a plant responsible for 5% of U.S. pork production after more than 350 workers at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, deaths of slaughterhouse workers have been reported in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Colorado. Many meat processing facilities employ large numbers of immigrants, including undocumented workers. We speak with Wenonah Hauter, executive director and founder…
(2020-04-14). Headlines for April 14, 2020. democracynow.org New York Says Coronavirus Cases May Be Stabilizing But Hospitals Still Overwhelmed, 50 NYC Education Employees, Including At Least 21 School Teachers, Have Died of COVID-19, New Jersey Grapples with Surge in Cases as Deaths Mount in Veterans' and Nursing Homes, Deceased COVID-19 Patients Were Piled into Vacant Rooms as Detroit Hospital Overwhelmed with Cases, Virginia Pastor Who Held Packed Services, Defying Order to "Stay at Home," Dies of COVID-19, Sailor from Coronavirus-Stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt Dies of COVID-19, At Least 19 Immigrant Children Infected with COVID-19 at Chicago Facility, Demolition of Ch…
(2020-04-14). 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!
(2020-04-14). The US Will Indefinitely Maintain Border Closure With Europe. telesurenglish.net RELATED: | "We want to do it [lift the shutdown] very quickly, but we want to make sure everything is fine. Right…
(2020-04-14). Migrant Crisis Rocks India's Financial Capital Mumbai as Police Use Force to Implement Lockdown. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): The Indian government has extended a 21-day lockdown to 40 days until 3 May in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the national lockdown, migrant workers began heading home due to the uncertainty over their livelihoods.
(2020-04-14). European Countries in Mass Recruitment Drive for Agricultural Workers Amid COVID-19 Outbreak. sputniknews.com The EU has urged member states to allow the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who help plant and harvest crops to cross borders despite travel bans to contain the virus.
(2020-04-14). It's Free Real Estate: Birds Build Nest Under Airbus A320's Wing – Video. sputniknews.com Most civilian planes are standing idle now, as the pandemic has closed borders and paralysed multiple airlines across the world, but this does not mean that nobody needs the aircraft. If they can't fly – that is totally fine, there is always another way to use them!
(2020-04-13). Fascist admirers and collaborators: New book exposes Hitler's American friends. peoplesworld.org 
An emboldened right-wing, with an enabler in the White House, has reemerged since the 2016 elections. Its most reactionary elements are not shy about openly associating with hate groups—white supremacist, anti-immigrant, Holocaust deniers—which, of course, is cause for alarm. With this in mind, Bradley W. Hart's Hitler's American Friends: The Third Reich's Supporters in the …
(2020-04-13). China Rejects US Accusation of 'Xenophobia' Against Africans. telesurenglish.net China's government refuted Monday the United States accusation that authorities in the southeastern province of Guangdong discriminated against African migrants in the process of coronavirus prevention and control. | RELATED: | "During our fight against coronavirus, the Chinese government has been attaching great importance to the lives and health of foreign nationals in China. All foreigners are treated equally, a…
(2020-04-13). Immigrants Are Bearing the Brunt of the Coronavirus Crisis. thenation.com Cinthya Santos Briones, The Nation, Magnum Foundation Immigrants Are Bearing the Brunt of the Coronavirus Crisis…
(2020-04-13). Dozens of Migrants Feared Dead in the Mediterranean Sea. telesurenglish.net A rubber boat packed with 85 migrants and refugees appears to have capsized after sailing from Lybia while three others carrying 173 people in all are in distress in the Mediterranean Sea, German rescue organizations Sea-Watch and United4Rescue said Sunday. | RELATED: | "No state wants to rescue them," Sea-Watch said, referring to those in distress after Libya, Italy, and Malta shut their borders due to the coronavirus…
(2020-04-13). Headlines for April 13, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Leads in Coronavirus Death Toll, as Trump Eyes Easing Restrictions in Weeks, Trump Moves to Slash Pay for Essential Migrant Farmworkers | , USPS Says It Will Become Insolvent Without Gov't Help, But Trump Refuses to Bail It Out | , 200+ Prisoners Released in Philadelphia After Weeks of Protest Calling for Decarceration, Protests Call Out Mounting COVID-19 Cases at Immigrant Prisons in Arizona, California | , Mounting COVID-19 Clusters Reported at Meat Processing Plants | , Almost 600 Sailors On Board USS Theodore Roosevelt Test Positive for COVID-19 | , Judge Blocks Alabama Coronavirus Abortion Ban; Texas Pr…
(2020-04-13). Libya: Tripoli Govt Retakes 2 Cities From Rival Haftar's Forces. telesurenglish.net Libya's U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord said Monday its troops have seized control of two western coastal cities located between the capital Tripoli and the Tunisian border from the Libyan National Army of eastern-based military General Khalifa Haftar. | RELATED: | "Our forces took control of Surman and Sabratha and are pursuing [Haftar's forces]," a spokesperson of the GNA Mohammed Gnunu, said in a statement. | The offic…
(2020-04-13). Iranian American Organizations Urge ICE to Immediately Release Dr. Sirous Asgari. iranian.com Iranian American organizations PAAIA, NIAC, IABA have come together to campaign for the release of Dr. Sirous Asgari from Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. Dr. Asgari is currently unjustly detained in a civil immigration detention center in Louisiana, which has put his health at serious risk amidst the likelihood of COVID-19 exposure. We, the undersigned …
(2020-04-12). Israeli Troops Open Fire on Palestinian Farmers in Southern Gaza. imemc.org Israeli troops opened fire, early on Sunday morning, on a number of Palestinian farmers in the southern besieged Gaza Strip. Local Palestinian media sources and witnesses said that Israeli troops, stationed on watch towers, near the border fence with Khuza'a village, southeast of the coastal territory, opened fire with their …
(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…
(2020-04-10). 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. …
(2020-04-08). "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.
(2020-04-07). 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.