Chard deNiord: Open Letter to the President from a Citizen, August 21, 2019
I write to you, Mr. President, from inside
the cell in which you’ve locked the country
with ICE.
Mario Garcia: More Central American migrants take shelter in churches, recalling 1980s sanctuary movement
To avoid arrest, thousands of Central Americans have taken shelter in churches, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement considers sensitive locations where officers should be hesitant to make arrests.
Karen J. Greenberg: No Fairy Tale
The Trump administration has taken a giant step in trying to abolish the very idea of human rights as a part of the country’s identity.
Andrew J. Bacevich: The Great Reckoning
From our present vantage point, it seems clear that, by 2019, the United States had passed a point of no return. In retrospect, this was the moment when indications of things gone fundamentally awry should have become unmistakable
Harry Blain: American Concentration Camps
When human beings are framed as a national security threat, barbed wire is the next logical step. But unlike during the Japanese internment, today there’s high-level political resistance.
Ginger Thompson: A Border Patrol Agent Reveals What It’s Really Like to Guard Migrant Children
With the agency under fire for holding children in deplorable conditions and over racist and misogynistic Facebook posts, one agent speaks about what it’s like to do his job. “Somewhere down the line people just accepted what’s going on as normal.”
Aura Bogado: The US is quietly opening shelters for babies and young kids. One has 12 children and no mothers.
One of the infants is just 2 weeks old and was born in the United States, making the child a U.S. citizen in the custody of the federal refugee agency.
Video: The Office of Missing Children
Nearly 15,000 unaccompanied minors currently are detained in the U.S.; they’re held in places ranging from tent cities to trailers and shelters, some of which have a history of mistreatment, including forced drugging, sexual assault and physical abuse.
Angele Ellis: Occurrence on the Lake Shore Limited
The officer stopped at my seat and thrust his face toward mine. “Are you an American?”
Cassandra Burke Robertson, Irina D. Manta: The government sometimes detains and deports US citizens
More than 1,500 U.S. citizens spent time in immigration detention between 2007 and 2015. In many cases, they were deported.
Video: Willie Nelson’s new song “Immigrant Eyes” (with lyrics)
It turns out that Oscar Alberto Martínez and his 23-month-old daughter Angie Valeria were just two of dozens who’ve died in the Rio Grande this year. In this spirit, here’s Willie Nelson’s new song celebrating immigrants.
Abby Zimet: Never Again. Still. Really.
“When Jews say never again,” said one marcher, “We fucking mean it.”
Video: “Dear America” by Jose Bello
Two days after he read this poem at a TRUTH Act forum in Bakersfield, California, ICE arrested Jose Bello.
A.C. Thompson: Inside the Secret Border Patrol Facebook Group Where Agents Joke About Migrant Deaths and Post Sexist Memes
Perhaps the most disturbing posts target Ocasio-Cortez. One includes a photo illustration of her engaged in oral sex at an immigrant detention center.
