One thousand more single migrant adults are being detained by U.S. border protection each week in 2019, with the detention system at "serious risk of exceeding safety standards on a regular basis," documents reported today by Newsweek show. Read the rest
Trump-aligned extremists are busily spreading disinformation online this week about 'Immigrants Are Bringing Ebola To The US.' Officials say the conspiracy amplified by Alex Jones of Infowars, Gateway Pundit, and other right-wingers is "Patently False." Read the rest
The administration of President Donald Trump is today reported to be considering a plan to detain separated migrant children at Fort Benning, a military base in the state of Georgia. Read the rest
Newly obtained documents show that under the administration of Donald Trump, thousands of ICE detainees who are mostly from Central America are “sometimes forced into extended periods of solitary confinement for reasons that have nothing to do with rule violations.” Read the rest
“Why are we just apprehending them (…) not lining them up and shooting them? We have to go back to Hitler days and put them all in a gas chamber.”
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Remember that US-Mexico border white supremacist terrorist group that published videos of members detaining hundreds migrants at gunpoint, with the Border Patrol's apparent tacit consent?
Today, we learn that one member of that racist New Mexico border militia told police that another fellow member once said, “Why are we...not lining them up and shooting them? We have to go back to Hitler days and put them all in a gas chamber,” reports Ken Klippenstein. Read the rest
A youth pastor threatened to call federal immigration authorities on an underage girl and her family while he was coercing the girl into non-consensual sexual acts, say Florida police. Read the rest
Photographs we're seeing online today, including one by Mark Lambie of the El Paso Times, below, capture the desperation of the unknown number of men, women, and children currently penned in, inside cages, under the Mexico-US international bridge, in El Paso, Texas. Read the rest
In El Paso, Texas, the U.S. Border Patrol has confirmed that it is holding asylum seekers in a "transitional" camp under the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry bridge. A photo was making the internet rounds yesterday, and it seemed impossible they'd be literally holding them in a tent under a bridge. Read the rest
There are 17 Mac's Fresh Markets throughout Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana and this week, shoppers got a message about immigration in their sales flyer along with ads for discounted pork chops.
You know, because nothing goes better with pork chops than a steaming side dish of xenophobic bullshit.
Reggie McDaniel owns the Mac's chain and when asked about the message, which has some shoppers calling for a boycott, he told Louisiana's KALB, " If I used a political message, and I’m very aware it's political, to highlight Jesus Christ, then I’m guilty of it."
McDaniel says he plans on including more political messages in the future.
Local grocery store company stirs controversy with ad mailer (KALB) Read the rest
As Donald Trump prepares for his 8-minute “The Wall” remarks, which will be televised live by all major U.S. networks, read Nicholas Rasmussen's take in Just Security on the so-called terrorism crisis at the southern border. Spoiler. There is none.
“Bottom line,” says Rasmussen, a career defense professional who was the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center from 2014 to 2017:
“There is no crisis, and anyone who says there is probably trying to mislead or scare the American people.” Read the rest
As populism and a tilt to the political right has prompted many nations to question once welcoming immigration and refugee policies and embrace xenophobia, a nation with a centuries long reputation for insularity has decided to move in the other direction. With its rapidly aging population and an underwhelming birthrate, Japan is opening its doors to large-scale immigration.
From The New York Times:
Under a bill approved by Parliament’s upper house in the early-morning hours, more than a quarter-million visas of five-year duration will be granted to unskilled guest laborers for the first time, starting in 2019.
Under the new measure, between 260,000 and 345,000 five-year visas will be made available for workers in 14 sectors suffering severe labor shortages, including caregiving, construction, agriculture and shipbuilding.
The measure also creates a separate visa category for high-skilled workers, who will be allowed to stay for unlimited periods and enjoy greater benefits, including permission to bring their families to Japan.
As The New York Times points out, over the next 25 years, Japan's population is set to shrink by 16 million people, or 13 percent. During the same period, the number of old folks in Japan will increase to make up 1/3 of the population. This leaves an incredible vacuum of caregivers, laborers and other positions that must be filled.
Not everyone is thrilled with the country's fresh, welcoming approach to immigration. But their feelings on the matter are moot: unless the Japanese start having a shitload of babies, which they're not, the nation will be in a serious bind when the bulk of their current population becomes too old to be able to keep the nation's infrastructure and businesses humming along efficiently. Read the rest
