Daily Archives: April 28, 2020

2020-04-28: News Headlines

Brett Heinz (2020-04-28). US Deportations Are Exporting COVID-19 to Nations Unprepared for a Pandemic. cepr.net On April 22nd, President Trump signed an Executive Order putting a 60-day halt on the issuance of new green cards to immigrants admissible for permanent residency in the United States. This measure, coming on the back of other government measures restricting legal immigration, ostensibly seeks to protect the US from imported cases of COVID-19. But …

James Phillips (2020-04-28). COVID-19 and Central America: a Learning Moment? counterpunch.org The countries of Central America are indeed central to the foreign and domestic policies of the United States in many ways, most obvious of which is immigration. But the current COVID19 pandemic has exposed significant differences in the responses of Central American countries and examples of gross disaster opportunism and the double standard applied to

Jake Johnston (2020-04-28). Exporting COVID-19: ICE Air Conducted Deportation Flights to 11 LAC Countries, Flight Data Shows. cepr.net There were 232 likely ICE Air deportation flights to Latin America and Caribbean countries between February 3, 2020 and April 24, 2020, CEPR analysis shows. In 2019, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 267,258 individuals — 96 percent of whom were from the Latin America and Caribbean region. Though much of the media focus has …

Sasha Abramsky (2020-04-28). The Federalist Fight Against Fascism. thenation.com The Federalist Fight Against Fascism…

en.mehrnews (2020-04-28). Iran FM expresses deep concern over conditions of migrants in US detention center. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 28 (MNA) — Iran Foreign Ministry has expressed deep concern over the conditions of 1,500 migrants in the US detention center.

Staff (2020-04-28). Headlines for April 28, 2020. democracynow.org Known U.S. Deaths Top 56,000 as New Study Shows True Number Likely Much Higher, Trump Ignored Early Intelligence Reports as Coronavirus Spread, Trump Denies Responsibility for Spike in Disinfectant Poisonings, Texas Reopens Businesses, California Warns Against Violating Restrictions | , Trump's Plan to Give Commencement Address at West Point Could Bring Back 1,000 Cadets to Campus, NY Cancels Primary After Removing Bernie Sanders from the Ballot , U.N. Calls for Release of Immigrant Prisoners as San Diego Facility Refuses to Allow Face Mask Delivery, More Cases Reported at Prisons as New Study Shows 96% of Inmate…

RT (2020-04-28). Serbia cautiously eases lockdown, plans to restart public transport. rt.com Serbia will resume bus and rail services and allow commercial flights as part of its cautious easing of the nationwide lockdown as the rate of coronavirus infections slows, health authorities said on Tuesday. | Passenger air transport, suspended in March when Serbia introduced a state of emergency and closed its borders, will be possible from May 18, epidemiologist Branislav Tiodorovic told reporters. Commuter transport in major cities, including the capital Belgrade, will be restored in the first half of May, along with rail and bus services. Shopping malls, cafes and restaurants will also reopen on the condi…

WSWS (2020-04-28). India: Vicious attack on Maruti Suzuki trainees highlights plight of migrant workers during COVID-19 lockdown. wsws.org The goon attack on the Maruti Suzuki trainees was clearly aimed at fomenting division and confusion among India's workers and toilers who are undergoing extraordinary hardship during the Modi government's ill-planned nationwide lockdown.

en.mehrnews (2020-04-28). Police confiscates 497 kg illicit drugs in Iran's Mirjaveh. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 29 (MNA) — The police forces of the Sistan and Baluchestan province have busted a consignment of illicit drugs in the southeastern borders.

news.un (2020-04-27). FROM THE FIELD: How refugees are helping overwhelmed health systems' COVID-19 response. news.un.org With many European health services struggling to deal with an influx of COVID-19 patients, many refugees and migrants with experience in the sector, are being drafted in to help respond to the crisis.

teleSUR (2020-04-27). Fire in Migrant Camp in Greece Leaves Hundreds Homeless. telesurenglish.net More than 200 migrants and refugees have been left without shelter after a fire broke out Sunday evening in a severely overcrowded camp on the Greek island of Samos, according to Migration Ministry Secretary Manos Logothetis. | RELATED: | "Around 200 people have been left homeless," Logothetis told AFP Monday. The blaze was due to "internal disputes [between residents]." | On Monday, another fire was started in a…

Jim Goodman (2020-04-27). Without Farmworkers You Wouldn't Eat. thenation.com Without Farmworkers You Wouldn't Eat…

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…

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.

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.

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.

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

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…

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 (2020-04-21). 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…

sputniknews (2020-04-28). Palaeontologists Detail Secrets of Earth's 'Most Dangerous Place Ever'. sputniknews.com A fossil-rich deposit near the Moroccan-Algerian border dating back to the Late Cretaceous period has been revealed to have been a place "where a human time-traveller would not last very long," say researchers, citing a range of uniquely excavated items.

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-04-27). Citing Pandemic, UN Human Rights Expert Urges US to Release Migrants 'Held for Processing'. commondreams.org A United Nations human rights expert on Monday urged the U.S. government to stop detaining migrants who are being "held for processing" of their immigration claims in "overcrowded and unsanitary administrative centers," citing concerns about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-6456371761.jpg

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-04-27). WATCH: Bernie Sanders to Host Livestream Discussion on the Coronavirus Pandemic and Undocumented Immigrants. commondreams.org Sen. Bernie Sanders will be joined by national immigrant rights advocates Monday evening for a livestream discussion about the effects of the coronavirus on undocumented immigrants in the United States. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/sanders_32_0_0.jpg

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…