Pascal Lamy said Trump’s actions went against the spirit of diplomacy after Mexico agreed to expand asylum program
The immigration deal imposed on Mexico by Donald Trump under the threat of punitive tariffs is a victory for “hostage-taking” over international rules, a former head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Saturday.
Related: Trump calls off tariffs after US-Mexico deal but Mnuchin says threat remains
Continue reading...Under pressure from Trump, Mexico has launched a crackdown on the Guatemala border, arresting activists and holding migrants
As Donald Trump’s deadline for new tariffs on Mexican imports draws near, Mexico has stepped up security along its porous border with Guatemala – deploying police and soldiers to its southern frontier and arresting prominent migration activists.
Trump last week pledged to impose 5% tariffs on Mexican products on 10 June unless Mexico stops Central American migrants from travelling through its territory.
Continue reading...Officials say language classes and recreation programs for immigrant children staying in federal shelters ‘not directly necessary’
Vice President Mike Pence will meet Wednesday with top Mexican officials who are seeking to head off the administration’s threatened tariffs, the Hill reports.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard is representing his country at the talks and expected to argue Mexico is already taking steps to prevent migrants from crossing the US-Mexico border.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Paul Manafort should not be held in solitary confinement, and nor should anyone else. Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chair, is reportedly heading for Rikers Island where he’s likely to be held in solitary while awaiting trial on New York state charges.
Yes - released from solitary.
NYT used the term solitary confinement, & that’s what I am commenting on.
“Protective custody” IS a separate practice, but does not necessarily exclude solitary. If he is in fact not being held in solitary, great. Release everyone else from it too.
Lawmakers in president’s own party voice firm opposition to threat over Mexico
In a rare confrontation, Republican senators declared deep opposition Tuesday to Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on all goods coming into the US from Mexico. But it’s unclear they have the votes to stop him, and Trump said they’d be “foolish” to try.
All sides, including officials from Mexico meeting Trump negotiators in Washington this week, remain hopeful that high-level talks will ease the president away from his threat. But with the tariffs set to start next Monday, and Trump declaring them “more likely” than not to take effect, fellow Republicans in Congress warned the White House they were ready to stand up to the president.
Continue reading...Measure to protect Dreamers and others stands little chance of passing but highlights Democrats’ push for immigration reform
Democrats shunned a White House veto threat and muscled legislation through the House on Tuesday that would bestow a chance for citizenship on an estimated 2 million-plus migrants, a bill that stands virtually no chance of enactment but lets them showcase their efforts on one of their highest-profile priorities.
The measure is just one skirmish in Democrats’ multi-front battle against most congressional Republicans over immigration, an issue that has deadlocked the two parties for decades but intensified under the harsh policies and rhetoric of Donald Trump. It is likely to join a host of other House-passed measures advancing Democrats’ agenda that are running aground in the GOP-run Senate, including legislation on healthcare, gun control, climate change and election security.
Continue reading...Death of Johana Medina Leon, hospitalized following chest pains, echoes case of Honduran woman a year ago
A transgender migrant has died after becoming sick while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody, sparking renewed claims of medical neglect and human rights violations.
Johana Medina Leon, a 25-year-old asylum seeker from El Salvador, died Saturday at a hospital in El Paso, Texas, after she was detained for over a month and complained of chest pains, officials said. Leon had repeatedly pleaded for medical help and was held in poor conditions, advocates who had contact with her and others at the privately run New Mexico detention center said.
Continue reading...Mexico’s president hinted on Saturday that his country could tighten migration controls in order to defuse Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Mexican goods. Andrés Manuel López Obrador also said he expected “good results” from talks in Washington next week.
Related: 'No idea too lunatic': how Trump's shock troops attack US democracy
Continue reading...After 5% tariff announced, president tweets ‘Mexico has taken advantage of the US for decades’
Donald Trump has defended his decision to impose new tariffs on Mexico as stock markets worldwide were rattled by fears of an escalation in trade tensions.
“Mexico has taken advantage of the United States for decades,” Trump tweeted. “Because of the Dems, our Immigration Laws are BAD. Mexico makes a FORTUNE from the U.S., have for decades, they can easily fix this problem. Time for them to finally do what must be done!”
Continue reading...President called plan to transform the nation’s green card system ‘pro-American, pro-immigrant and pro-worker’
Donald Trump has announced plans for “merit-based” legal immigration – but before the US president even stepped up to the lectern in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday afternoon, opponents declared the sweeping reforms “dead on arrival”.
Trump appeared to acknowledge as much when he warned that Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, might block the changes – a sign of his political impotence as the next presidential election draws ever closer.
Continue reading...President unveiled new immigration strategy including favouring a 'merit'-based system over family ties, as well as making it a requirement that future immigrants learn English and pass a civics exam. Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Trump said he wanted to increase the proportion of highly skilled immigration from 12% to 57%, adding: 'We discriminate against genius. We discriminate against brilliance. We won't any more.'
Continue reading...For Mexican farmworkers, seasonal employment in the US is an opportunity to earn more – but those who make the journey can be easily exploited by recruiters
The sun is rising and a line of workers dressed in jeans and hoodies is already snaking its way around the block. A few of them started gathering outside the US consulate building as early as 4am.
Monterrey, the third largest city in Mexico, is a little over 100 miles from the US border, and a hub for farmworkers applying for temporary work visas.
Continue reading...The decision could mean more business – and fewer rules – for the private company behind the Adelanto, California, site
The immigration detention center in Adelanto, California, is flanked by industrial buildings, power lines and expansive mountain views. At its front entryway, the American flag flies alongside the banner of the Geo Group, the private prison corporation operating the facility for US immigration authorities.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) processing center in this high desert town is home to nearly 2,000 immigrants, many of whom are asylum seekers. There have been numerous allegations of detainee abuse and mistreatment at the facility, prompting investigations from several state, federal and non-governmental agencies.
Continue reading...The crowd cheered and Trump laughed when an audience member at a Florida rally said the best way to deal with migrants was to ‘shoot them’
Jill Biden said she would like to continue working as a teacher if her husband Joe wins the presidency.
“I would want to make sure that my students were safe, but boy, would I love to do it,” Jill Biden said in an interview with MSNBC.
The plan proposed today by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would cap credit card interest rates at 15%, Bloomberg News reports.
The legislation would also let post offices offer low-cost basic financial services, such as checking and savings accounts and loans.
Continue reading...An audience member at a Donald Trump rally in Florida yelled 'shoot them' in reference to migrants at the border. Trump had asked the crowd: 'How do you stop these people?' After laughing at the response, he added: 'Only in the panhandle can you get away with that statement'
Continue reading...US border agency, which previously forced migrants to sleep under a bridge, says an influx of arrivals demands more shelter space
The US government has begun erecting tents close to the border with Mexico to house detained migrants – even as Donald Trump likened the treatment of undocumented families entering the US to “Disneyland” on Sunday.
Life at the foothills of the Franklin mountains in El Paso, Texas, has been rudely disrupted in the last few days by construction crews coming and going near the adjacent border patrol station.
Continue reading...Gonzalez Carranza was once permitted to live and work in the US but his future is uncertain as Trump pushes to deport non-criminal immigrants like him
On a warm April morning in the Arizona desert, Jose Gonzalez Carranza, a thickset man with a slight lisp, a crooked smile and an intricate tattoo of a hundred-dollar bill creeping across his left hand, sits at his kitchen table trying to unpack what’s happened to him.
Gonzalez Carranza, 30, the Gold Star immigrant dad who made national news when he was briefly and mistakenly deported to Mexico in early April, has seen his life spiral out of control.
Continue reading...A member of an armed civilian group that has detained migrants near the US-Mexico border who was arrested on Saturday reportedly faced similar charges in Oregon 13 years ago.
Related: Videos appear to show armed militia detaining migrants at US-Mexico border
Continue reading...Larry Mitchell Hopkins accused of illegal weapons possession after videos apparently showed men stopping migrants in New Mexico
A member of an armed rightwing militia group accused of illegally detaining migrants at the US-Mexico border has been arrested, officials said on Saturday.
Related: Videos appear to show armed militia detaining migrants at US-Mexico border
Continue reading...Nicole García Aguilar was granted asylum in October but was held another seven months while Ice appealed
A Honduran transgender woman who was detained in a US immigration facility for seven months despite being granted asylum has been released after a legal challenge.
Nicole García Aguilar was freed from the Cibola County detention facility in New Mexico on Wednesday night, a week after lawyers filed a habeas corpus writ challenging her unjustified and prolonged detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).
Continue reading...José González Carranza was arrested by Ice officers and deported to Mexico, but brought back after an Arizona paper reported on it
US immigration officials deported the husband of a soldier killed in Afghanistan – then reversed course and let him back into the country.
José González Carranza, 30, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers last week at his home in Arizona and quickly deported to Mexico, he and his attorney told the Arizona Republic.
Continue reading...