Daily Archives: April 24, 2020

2020-04-24: News Headlines

Sasha Abramsky (2020-04-24). Once Again, Trump Shreds US Immigration Law. thenation.com Once Again, Trump Shreds US Immigration Law…

Juan Carlos Ruiz (2020-04-24). NYC Immigrant Communities & Mutual Aid. zcomm.org Organizing and helping through mutual aid despite extraordinarily difficult circumstances…

Angelica Salas (2020-04-24). New Stimulus Must Include Benefits for Immigrant Essential Workers. counterpunch.org As soon as it passed, Congressional lawmakers realized the $2.2 trillion CARES stimulus package to help the country through the COVID-19 pandemic would not suffice. Yes, U.S.-born workers would eventually get $1,200 checks and significantly expanded unemployment insurance. But some essential workers have been left out in the cold. The Trump administration's refusal to put

Mark Gruenberg (2020-04-23). Labor leader says Trump immigration ban "another distraction" from bad coronavirus performance. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—GOP President Donald Trump's executive order banning all immigration to the U.S., issued via a Trump tweet early in the morning on April 21 is "another distraction" from Trump's own bad performance in leading the national fight against the coronavirus pandemic. And it's part of a Trump pattern in reacting to bad news which could …

John Bachtell (2020-04-23). Immigrant detainee hunger strikes spread amid COVID-19 danger. peoplesworld.org "We are human beings and want to be treated as human beings," declared Karopet Vatyan, one of many immigrant detainees on hunger strike since April 10 at the Adelanto Detention Facility. The hunger strikers are protesting refusal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to protect them from COVID-19 spreading throughout the facility, a privately run …

teleSUR (2020-04-23). Trump Temporarily Suspends Immigration to US. telesurenglish.net U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he has signed an executive order, limiting immigration to the United States for 60 days amid the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | "In order to protect our great American workers, I have just signed an executive order temporarily suspending immigration into the United States," Trump said at a White House briefing. | The order applies to those seeking U.S. permanent…

Fight Back (2020-04-23). L4A bashes Trump – the visible enemy. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by the Legalization for All Network (L4A) | Monday night [April 20] Trump tweeted, "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!" The "Invisible Enemy" Trump is referring to is COVID-19. Deaths in the U.S. have risen to a staggering 45,318 at the time of writing this statement; the numbers are going up constantly. The blame however cannot be placed on immigrants, the blame is on Tru…

Elie Mystal (2020-04-23). Trump's New Immigration 'Ban' Is an Evil Attempt at Distraction. thenation.com Trump's New Immigration 'Ban' Is an Evil Attempt at Distraction…

Lawrence Wittner (2020-04-23). If Farmworkers Are "Essential," Why Are They Treated So Badly? zcomm.org On March 19, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, spurred to action by the coronavirus pandemic, issued a memorandum that identified the nation's 2.5 million farmworkers as "essential" workers. Soon thereafter, agribusinesses began distributing formal letters to their farm laborers, also declaring that that they were "essential." Of course, it shouldn't have required a

Ali Salam (2020-04-23). Israeli Military Vehicles Infiltrate Gaza Strip, Raze Palestinian Land. imemc.org A number of Israeli occupation military vehicles penetrated, on Thursday morning, the Palestinian agricultural lands along the border with Israel, east of Gaza City, local sources reported. Local sources and residents told Quds Press, that Israeli military vehicles infiltrated dozens of meters into the agricultural lands of citizens east of …

RT (2020-04-22). Trump signs order halting immigration to the US to ensure Americans will be 'first in line for jobs'. rt.com Citing the need to preserve healthcare resources and ensure that more than 22 million Americans made unemployed by the coronavirus response will be taken care of, US President Donald Trump has suspended most forms of immigration. | The 60-day moratorium, which can be extended if needed, bars entry to the US for anyone outside the country who doesn't have a valid immigrant visa or other valid document that would grant them admission, beginning a minute before midnight on Thursday, April 23. | President

teleSUR (2020-04-22). US Deports Thousands of Migrants to COVID-19 Vulnerable Nations. telesurenglish.net The United States is continuing the deportation of thousands of migrants, some already sick with the novel coronavirus, to the most vulnerable countries in the Western Hemisphere despite widespread complaints and criticism, national media has reported. | RELATED: | The worrisome trend comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the White House would halt the immigration of green card recipients for 60…

news.un (2020-04-22). FROM THE FIELD: Migrants use digital 'fab labs' to address Djibouti health protection shortages. news.un.org With Djibouti's health system under enormous strain from the COVID-19 pandemic, young migrants in the country are using 3D-printers to make face shields, and ease the shortfall inside medical facilities in the Horn of Africa country.

Staff (2020-04-21). Death Trap Jail: Pepper-Sprayed, Otay Mesa Detainees Demand Release as COVID-19 Spreads Inside. democracynow.org We look at the mounting number of COVID-19 cases inside immigration jails across the country and one of the largest outbreaks at the Otay Mesa Detention Center near San Diego, run by private prison company CoreCivic. Prisoners were told to sign contracts, written only in English, in exchange for receiving face masks. When some refused to sign, guards pepper-sprayed them. This comes as activists say hundreds imprisoned in detention centers in California are on hunger strike. We get an update from Ruth Mendez, community activist and volunteer with Otay Mesa Detention Resistance.

Staff (2020-04-21). Headlines for April 21, 2020. democracynow.org Trump Says He Will Shut Down All Immigration to the U.S. Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Southern States to Reopen Businesses Despite Mounting COVID-19 Cases | , Coronavirus Cases Surging in Massachusetts , NY Nurses Sue over Lack of Protection Against Coronavirus, MTA Moves Ahead with Increase in Police Force Despite Financial Hardship and Drop in Riders | , Federal Judge Orders ICE to Consider Releasing Immigrants Vulnerable to COVID-19, SCOTUS to Consider Crucial Role of DACA First Responders, Airline Industry Receives $3 Billion in Gov't Funds as Flight Attendants Denounce Working Conditions, Disney to Stop Paying…

RT (2020-04-21). Trump announces 60-day immigration ban to shield American workers from competition. rt.com US President Donald Trump has ordered a two-month pause in issuing most work visas, so that more than 22 million Americans made unemployed by coronavirus lockdowns will not face as much competition. | The 60-day moratorium will apply only to immigrants seeking permanent residence permits, also known as "green cards," Trump said on Tuesday at the daily White House press conference about the US coronavirus response. | "By pausing immigration we'll help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens," the president said. "It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be r…

Staff (2020-04-21). NYC Immigrant Communities Fight Hunger, Exploitation & Invisibility Through Mutual Aid. democracynow.org We look at how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting undocumented people here in New York City, where the coronavirus has hit immigrant communities the hardest, even as the numbers of daily deaths statewide has declined in recent days. As reports of widespread poverty and hunger continue in the immigrant communities, people are also organizing and helping each other through mutual aid despite extraordinarily difficult circumstances. We are joined by Juan Carlos Ruiz, Lutheran pastor at Good Shepherd Church in Brooklyn and co-founder of the national New Sanctuary Movement and the New Sanctuary Coalition here in Ne…

Eddie Bejarano (2020-04-21). Anti-Immigrant Movement Has History of Politicizing Disease. splcenter.org COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, is the latest disease the nativist movement has politicized to demonize immigrants.

Staff (2020-04-20). Headlines for April 20, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Fatalities Top 40,000; Nursing Homes Hit Hard as Death Tolls Soar | , Trump and Governors at Odds over Coronavirus Testing as Uneven Reopening of States Commences, Right-Wing Groups Organize Anti-Lockdown Protests Around the Country | , New Deal on Relief for Small Businesses Could Be Imminent But May Lack Key Democratic Provisions, Immigrant Prisoners at Otay Mesa Launch Hunger Strike, Denounce Inhumane Treatment | , Michael Cohen to Be Released from Federal Detention as Prisoners Nationwide Face Mounting Coronavirus Risk, Italy Records Lowest Daily Death Toll in a Week; Spain & France Also Show Signs of Pr…

ACLU (2020-04-17). What it's Like in ICE Detention During a Pandemic. aclu.org As millions of people in the U.S. shelter in their homes, and millions more who aren't able to stay indoors practice social distancing or other measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a crisis is brewing in the facilities where immigrants are detained. Cramped conditions and inadequate access to hygiene or medical care have created what one medical expert called a "tinderbox" for the disease in a letter to Congress., , Many of those in detention are asylum seekers, who came to the U.S. to ask for protection after fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries. Many others were long-time U.S. resi…

splcenter (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.

splcenter (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.

Katrina Huber (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.

IRNA (2020-04-22). Iran takes delivery of COVID19 test kits bought from France. iranian.com Iran took delivery of some six tons consignment of coronavirus test kits bought from France through Sari Su border market, the managing director of Bazargan Customs Office said. Speaking to IRNA, Sadeq Namdar said this is the third pharmaceutical consignment which arrived in Iran with the agreement of Iranian and Turkish border chiefs and through …