Daily Archives: April 27, 2020

2020-04-27: News Headlines

RT (2020-04-27). UK Environment Secretary Eustice blasted after suggesting furloughed workers get 2nd job picking fruit. rt.com Environment Secretary George Eustice has come under sharp criticism after suggesting that workers furloughed due to the Covid-19 pandemic could get a second job in agriculture picking fruit and vegetables. | Speaking at a daily briefing on Sunday, Eustice gave some insight into how the coming shortage in the workforce can be managed. At the moment, he said, Britain's agriculture is doing fine, yet "we do anticipate" the sector to experience troubles in June at the height of the harvesting season. | "We estimate that probably only about a third of the migrant labor that would normally come to the UK is here, an…

RT (2020-04-27). 'WHO sounded alarm early on, world should have listened carefully'. rt.com The head of the World Health Organization warned on Monday that the new coronavirus crisis was far from over and said that he was "deeply concerned" about the impact of the disruption of normal health services. | "The pandemic is far from over," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding that the body was concerned about increasing trends in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and some Asian countries. "We have a long road ahead of us and a lot of work to do." He added that shortages of vaccines against other diseases were being reported in 21 countries as a result of border restrictions li…

Jim Goodman (2020-04-27). Farmworkers Are Finally Being Recognized as Essential. thenation.com Farmworkers Are Finally Being Recognized as Essential…

teleSUR (2020-04-27). Colombia Delays Venezuelans From Returning to Their Country. telesurenglish.net The Colombian authorities have delayed nearly 12,000 Venezuelans from returning to their country, leaving them stranded on their side of the border. | RELATED: | Venezuelans stranded at the Colombian border decided to return home due to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19. | According to teleSUR correspondent in Colombia Hernan Tobar, about 180 people are waiting since Thursday in Barrio Visión Colombia, west of Bogotá, for t…

teleSUR (2020-04-26). Mexico All but Empties Migrant Shelters Citing COVID-19 Risk. telesurenglish.net Mexico has almost entirely cleared out its migrant shelters over the past five weeks citing health hazards in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed Sunday. | RELATED: | In a statement, the National Migration Institute (INM) said that in order to comply with health and safety guidelines, since March 21 it had been removing about 3,759 migrants from Mexico's 65 migrant facilities, retu…

Danica Jorden (2020-04-26). COVID-19 Sweeping Through Ranks of US Immigrant Farmworkers and Meatpackers. commondreams.org A team of immigrant farmworkers clean the remains of a field near Coachella, Calofornia. (Photo: Robert Gallagher/ZUMA Wire/PA Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/pa-53298121.max-760x504_0.jpg

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-25). Israeli Troops Open Fire on Palestinian Farmers in Southern Gaza. imemc.org Israeli troops opened heavy fire, earlier Saturday, towards Palestinian farmers east of Khan Younis city, south of the Gaza Strip. Local media reports said that Israeli soldiers, stationed on the Israeli side of the border fence between Gaza and Israel, fired tear-gas canisters and some live ammunition, towards local farmers, …

Michael Edison Hayden and Eddie Bejarano (2020-04-24). Trump's Immigration Order Was Drafted by Officials With Ties to Hate Groups, According to Report. splcenter.org Two officials with ties to anti-immigrant hate groups helped write President Trump's executive order blocking the issuance of new green cards, according to a report.

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

splcenter (2020-04-24). Fraihat v. ICE Community Resources. splcenter.org On April 20, 2020, a federal district court granted a nationwide preliminary injunction requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take a number of important steps to protect medically vulnerable people in its custody from COVID-19.

Scarlet Kim (2020-04-24). They Were Willing to Make the Ultimate Sacrifice for the U.S., but Trump Won't Let Them Become Americans. aclu.org Ange Samma, a 22-year-old green card holder from Burkina Faso, came to the United States seven years ago, when he was still a teenager. After studying electrical engineering at community college, he decided to enlist in the U.S. Army in 2018. He wanted to give back to his adopted country and also hoped joining the military would help him achieve his goal of becoming an electrical engineer. , , Ange currently serves on active duty as a soldier in South Korea. But despite serving this country on a U.S. military base in a foreign country, he still hasn't been able to obtain citizenship through his military servic…

Elie Mystal (2020-04-24). SCOTUS Just Found a Way to Inflict More Terror on Immigrants. thenation.com SCOTUS Just Found a Way to Inflict More Terror on Immigrants…

Staff (2020-04-24). Organizer: Domestic Workers Make All Work Possible, But the Coronavirus Relief Bill Discounts Them. democracynow.org To talk more about how the coronavirus relief bills have affected essential workers, we speak with an organizer in Queens, New York, the epicenter of the epicenter of the pandemic. "Things are being done, but it's not enough to serve the domestic workers who are essential workers and keep this city running," says Riya Ortiz, lead organizer and case manager for the nonprofit Damayan Migrant Workers Association in New York City.

Marilyn Bechtel (2020-04-24). California sets disaster relief, local officials urge protection for undocumented. peoplesworld.org Among those feeling the sharpest impact from COVID-19 are undocumented immigrant workers facing partial or total unemployment because of the pandemic. Their plight is causing special concern among California elected officials at every level, from school board and city council members through Gov. Gavin Newsom. These workers, who make up some 10% of California's workforce …

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…

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…

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

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…

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.

yenisafak (2020-04-27). COVID-19: UN expert urges US to free detained migrants. yenisafak.com The US must urgently use available alternatives for the detention of migrants held in overcrowded and unsanitary administrative centers in order to counter the risk of a novel coronavirus outbreak, a UN human rights expert said Monday."It is very difficult to keep the necessary physical distance in overcrowded detention facilities," said the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe Gonzalez Morales."Significantly reducing the number of detained migrants by releasing them into alternative settings can easily solve this," he said in a statement.Gonzalez Morales said that UN human rights expert…

yenisafak (2020-04-27). Israel's population hits 9.2M including 1.93M Arabs. yenisafak.com Israel's current population has reached 9.2 million, including over one-quarter Arabs and other non-Jews, according to official new statistics.Israel's population is made up of 6.8 million Jews (74%), 1.93 million Arabs (21%), and 454,000 non-Arab Christians or adherents of other faiths (5%), the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said on Sunday.The figures were released by the bureau ahead of Israel's 72nd anniversary, which showed the rise in the population since 1948 and gave some projections for Israel's future population.The figures showed that 3.3 million Jewish people have immigrated to Israel in t…

yenisafak (2020-04-27). Turkey: 72-hour rule to ease safe trade amid virus. yenisafak.com Under a new measure to allow for safe trade with Turkey amid the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign truck drivers who comply with stringent health rules will be able to deliver their cargo and exit the country within 72 hours without being subject to a 14-day quarantine."The 72-hour rule will apply to foreign drivers found not to have any symptoms during health checks at the borders," Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said in a statement Monday outlining the new measure.Turkish drivers with no symptoms who follow strict safety rules will also be allowed to exit the country again without being subject to a 14-day quarantine, e…

yenisafak (2020-04-27). Virus showed US can't rely on foreign supplies: Kushner. yenisafak.com The coronavirus pandemic has emphasized the importance of US manufacturing independence from foreign supplies, Jared Kushner, senior adviser at the White House, has said."The campaign platform that President [Donald] Trump ran on in 2016 was basically 'you have to secure your borders and you have to control your own manufacturing as a national security issue,'" Kushner told Fox News' The Next Revolution program on Sunday."I think those have been totally vindicated positions from the virus, and I doubt it will be easy for people to argue against them in the future."As the leader of the federal government's effort…

sputniknews (2020-04-27). One Killed, Another Injured as India, Pakistan Engage in Massive Firefight at Border. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): India and Pakistan have long been loggerheads over the disputed territory of Kashmir with numerous instances of firefights and shelling, but the situation escalated in 2019 after dozens of Indian soldiers were killed in a vehicle-borne suicide bombing attack in Pulwama district.