North American immigrant issues
Trump expands network of immigrant concentration camps
By Eric London, 11 June 2019
The Democratic Party is facilitating Trump’s escalation of attacks on immigrant workers as well as his moves toward unchecked presidential power.
Democrats, Mexican president collaborate with Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown
By Eric London, 10 June 2019
The US also announced it will house 3,000 to 4,000 immigrant children at army base internment camps.
Mexico to deploy 6,000 troops to southern border as Trump postpones tariffs
By Alex González, 8 June 2019
No faction of the American or Mexican ruling class offers any genuine opposition to the assault on immigrants and democratic rights.
Trump administration cuts education and recreation funding for immigrant children in detention centers
By Shelley Connor, 7 June 2019
The Office of Refugee Settlement has halted the flow of funding for any activities they consider “not directly necessary for the protection of life and safety,” including legal aid and recreation.
Three immigrants die in US custody in three days
By Niles Niemuth, 6 June 2019
Immigrants are being subjected to inhumane treatment all along the line, guaranteeing that there will be more deaths in federal detention centers across the US.
Lutheran student pastor Betty Rendón deported back to Colombia less than a month after being detained by ICE
By Jacob Crosse, 6 June 2019
Pleas from community members and family fell on deaf ears as the Trump administration escalates its war on immigrants.
US requiring visa applicants to reveal social media information
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 5 June 2019
The implementation of the new “extreme vetting” policy is another step in the Trump administration’s war against immigrants.
“It’s immoral. It’s unethical. It’s torture”
US uses solitary confinement as weapon against detained immigrants
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 1 June 2019
An International Consortium of Investigative Journalists report documents the widespread use of solitary confinement by the US government against detained immigrants.
Knock Down the House and the Democratic Party politics of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
By Genevieve Leigh, 25 May 2019
Knock Down the House reviews the election campaigns of several Democratic Party primary candidates in the 2018 congressional elections, focused on Ocasio-Cortez in New York City.
Six immigrant children dead in US custody since September
By Eric London, 24 May 2019
Protecting the lives and democratic rights of immigrants requires a fight against imperialist war and the capitalist system.
After sixth death of a migrant child
Flu outbreak leads to quarantine at Texas immigrant detention center
By Alex González, 23 May 2019
The death of a migrant teenager on Monday has highlighted the inhumane conditions at one of the largest immigration detention centers in the US.
Trump administration shipping immigrants to sanctuary cities as fifth child dies in ICE custody
By Norisa Diaz, 21 May 2019
Trump is seeking to further inundate processing centers and jails to justify the border wall as the fifth Guatemalan child has died in ICE custody since December.
More migrant deaths as Trump unveils class-based immigration quota
By Eric London, 17 May 2019
Trump announced the new plan as the military agreed to build six new internment camps along the US-Mexico border.
ICE conducts armed raid on student pastor’s home in Chicago, abducts three
By Jacob Crosse, 16 May 2019
Betty Rendón had been preaching at Emaus Lutheran Church in Racine, Wisconsin while studying for her doctorate degree in Chicago when she, her husband and cousin were snatched by federal agents last week.
Trump planning nationwide military round-up of 10,000 immigrants
By Eric London, 15 May 2019
The unprecedented scope of the raid would require de facto martial law and serve as a test run for the mass arrest and detention of political dissidents.
Trump rally roars approval for call to “shoot” immigrants
By Eric London, 10 May 2019
When an audience member at a Trump rally Wednesday yelled that the US should “shoot” immigrants, Trump laughed. Meanwhile, the government is arresting record numbers of families at the border.
“We want him to come to graduation!”
Arizona students demand release of classmate detained by immigration agents
By Norisa Diaz, 8 May 2019
Over 200 high school students in Tucson, Arizona walked out of school Monday to protest the detention and deportation of their classmate, Thomas Torres.
Former Trump chief of staff John Kelly joins board of migrant detention firm
By Genevieve Leigh, 8 May 2019
The retired general and anti-immigrant demagogue is profiting from the draconian policies he helped implement while working in the Trump administration.
Democrats line up behind Trump’s war on immigrants
NY Times demands: “Give Trump his border money”
By Kevin Martinez, 7 May 2019
With death and misery mounting along the southern US border,the Democratic party is signaling its support for further repression.
Guatemalan boy detained by US Border Patrol dies after succumbing to illness
By Kevin Martinez, 3 May 2019
The 16 year old, who has not been named, is the third immigrant child to die in government custody in just five months.
In violation of international law
Trump orders new attacks on rights of refugees, asylum seekers
By Norisa Diaz, 1 May 2019
Trump has directed that his top officials to impose a fee on asylum seekers, give border patrol cops authority to determine credible fear claims and place restrictions on work permits.
US government tries to distance itself from border militia
By Trévon Austin, 30 April 2019
The arrest of Larry Hopkins was carried out to mask the fact that militia groups act as auxiliary arms of Border Patrol.
US military set to loosen rules for troops operating along southern border
By Genevieve Leigh, 27 April 2019
The Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security are clearing the way for Trump to escalate his anti-immigrant program amidst silence from Democrats.
Massachusetts judge and court officer charged with helping immigrant evade ICE officer
By Kevin Martinez, 27 April 2019
Newton District Court Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph and former trial court officer, Wesley MacGregor both face up to 20 years if found guilty of obstructing ICE.
Mexican police detain hundreds of Central American migrants during mass raid
By Alex González, 26 April 2019
The arrest of over 370 migrants, the largest in recent years, shows that the Mexican ruling class is subserviently implementing the Trump administration’s fascistic attacks on immigrants.
Hillary Clinton’s McCarthyite rant
By Joseph Kishore, 26 April 2019
In a column published Wednesday in the Washington Post, the former Democratic Party presidential candidate resurrects the conspiracy theories that were the staple of Cold War anticommunism.
Responding to public outrage, FBI arrests leader of border militia which detained hundreds of migrants
By Norisa Diaz, 23 April 2019
The arrest of border vigilante leader Larry Hopkins on Saturday is an effort by federal agents and CBP to publicly distance themselves from the right-wing militia groups with whom they routinely collaborate.
Armed militia detaining asylum seekers at gunpoint along US-Mexico border
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan and Niles Niemuth, 20 April 2019
An armed militia calling itself the United Constitutional Patriots posted videos of its members detaining hundreds of migrants at the New Mexico border, in actions seemingly coordinated with the Border Patrol.
US attorney general orders denial of bond, indefinite detention of asylum seekers
By Patrick Martin, 18 April 2019
The action by William Barr overturns more than a decade of legal precedent and sets the stage for the criminalization of refugees seeking asylum.
Canada’s Liberal government attacks refugee rights
By Laurent Lafrance, 18 April 2019
The Trudeau government is pursuing anti-refugee policies and collaborating with Washington in its anti-immigrant witch hunt.
Trump officials discussed using troops to run migrant detention camps
By Barry Grey, 13 April 2019
Trump has been able to carry through his anti-immigrant program, despite popular opposition, because the Democrats have done nothing to seriously oppose it.
White House to intensify anti-immigrant rampage
By Patrick Martin, 11 April 2019
Multiple media reports say that the Trump administration is pushing for new anti-immigrant measures, including forcible separation of asylum seekers from their children.
The dictatorial impulse behind Trump’s political purge
By Patrick Martin, 9 April 2019
The abrupt firing of the DHS secretary and Secret Service chief are part of an effort to surround Trump with a loyal praetorian guard.
Bernie Sanders joins Trump’s attack on “open borders”
By Tom Hall, 9 April 2019
Sanders echoed the right-wing fraud that a nation with nearly 600 billionaires, whose net worth totals over $3 trillion, cannot afford to welcome people emigrating to the US to work.
University of Arizona students arrested for protesting Border Patrol agents
By Shuvvu Batta, 8 April 2019
In Arizona, a Class 1 misdemeanor is punishable by up to six months in jail and three years’ probation, along with a $2,500 fine plus surcharges.
US Homeland Security chief forced out as anti-immigrant crackdown looms
By Eric London, 8 April 2019
Trump advisor Stephen Miller is orchestrating a right-wing takeover of the federal deportation apparatus with the support of a network of fascist Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and border patrol officers.
Trump visits border to step up attack on immigrants
By Dan Conway, 6 April 2019
Trump’s visit took place two days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 280 immigrant workers in a raid on an electronics plant in Texas.
Massive ICE workplace raid jails 280 immigrant workers in Texas
By Matthew Taylor, 5 April 2019
The mass raid, the largest in the US in over a decade, has devastating consequences for immigrant workers and US-born workers alike.
Trump threatens to shut US-Mexico border, cuts aid to Central America
By Patrick Martin, 1 April 2019
The Trump administration is cutting off $600 million in aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, while threatening to devastate the economy of Mexico by closing the US-Mexico border.
Trump administration ordered jails to hold thousands of US citizens for deportation
By Norisa Diaz, 30 March 2019
ICE sent the Miami-Dade County jails 420 detainer requests for US citizens over a two-year period, but across the country the numbers are in the unknown thousands.
US detaining immigrants under highway overpass in Texas amid renewed crackdown
By Eric London, 29 March 2019
Amidst a media blackout, the Trump administration is arresting unprecedented numbers of immigrants at the border while demanding the expansion of internment camps.
Outrage grows over leaked government database targeting journalists, activists at US-Mexico border
By Kevin Martinez, 29 March 2019
Congressional committees are now seeking information on repression of journalists and civil rights activists by the Trump administration.
Pentagon announces transfer of $1 billion for border wall construction
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 28 March 2019
The Pentagon announcement came as Congress failed to override Trump’s veto supporting his declaration of a national emergency on the US-Mexico border.
US Supreme Court rules government can indefinitely detain immigrants years after release from criminal custody
By Niles Niemuth, 20 March 2019
The ruling emboldens the Trump administration in its fascistic war on immigrants, giving Immigration and Customs Enforcement a free hand to detain any migrant who has served time for an offense.
US Senate votes to overturn Trump emergency decree
By Patrick Martin, 15 March 2019
The resolution has no immediate practical effect, because Trump will veto it and there is little prospect of an override by Congress, which requires a two-thirds vote.
Trump Homeland Security chief defends family separation and caging children
By Patrick Martin, 7 March 2019
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee, one of four congressional hearings Wednesday on aspects of US immigration policy.
US detains 77,000 immigrants at border in February, a 10-year high
By Norisa Diaz, 6 March 2019
The number of immigrants detained at the border hit a 10 year high in February, while employer audits and mass workplace sweeps continue to rise.
Reports document sexual abuse of immigrant children detained in US
By Eric London, 28 February 2019
The Trump administration’s assault on immigrants underscores the urgent need to oppose all attacks on democratic rights and due process.
Immigrants endure inhuman conditions at ICE prison in New Jersey
By Erik Schreiber, 26 February 2019
A report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general describes detainees sickened by spoiled meat and moldy bread, forced to sleep on mattresses that are falling apart and shower in areas filled with mildew.
Sixteen Democratic-led states file lawsuit against Trump’s national emergency
By Eric London, 21 February 2019
As the faction fight in the ruling class intensifies, the legal question the courts will answer is: can the president usurp the powers of the legislature?
“My story belongs to every single human being who has sacrificed and risked their life in search of a better life”
Mexican migrant details harrowing journey across the Sonoran desert following deportation
By Angel Andres and Anthony del Olmo, 20 February 2019
The threats posed by an unforgiving terrain and climate are only a portion of the dangerous landscape that is filled with the Mexican police, cartel thugs and the US border patrol.
Forty-five-year-old migrant dies in US Border Patrol custody
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 20 February 2019
A 45-year old man taken into custody by Customs and Border Patrol for “illegal reentry” early this month died in a medical facility in McAllen, Texas.
ICE raids terrorize immigrants across the US Southwest
By Norisa Diaz, 18 February 2019
A five-day immigration sweep in Southern California targeting 122 businesses has led to the arrest of 212 immigrants.
No More Deaths volunteers prosecuted for providing humanitarian aid to migrants
By Anthony del Olmo, 16 February 2019
The targeting of humanitarian aid groups is a warning that no one will be spared in the administration’s fascistic attack on immigrants.
As Congress enacts huge “border security” bill
Trump to declare national emergency to build wall
By Patrick Martin, 15 February 2019
The emergency declaration is an authoritarian move that overrides the constitutional separation of powers, elevating the executive branch above the legislative.
Uncertainty hangs over US border deal as shutdown deadline nears
By Patrick Martin, 14 February 2019
President Trump has not yet guaranteed that he will sign the deal to provide $1.375 billion to fund his planned border wall.
Mexican President López Obrador cracks down on Central American migrants
By Don Knowland, 14 February 2019
Central American immigrants detained in Piedras Negras, Coahuila on the Texas border are rebelling against detention at the hands of López Obrador.
Following Democrats' capitulation on border wall
Trump pushes for more anti-immigrant concessions from the Democrats
By Barry Grey, 13 February 2019
The government funding agreement represents a capitulation by the Democrats to Trump’s demand for a border wall and his mass detention of undocumented immigrants.
Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage detained by ICE agents in “targeted operation”
By Nick Barrickman, 11 February 2019
The 26-year-old Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph is facing “removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts” for overstaying a temporary residency visa that expired in 2006.
US “border security”: Troops, torture, barbaric prisons
By Patrick Martin, 5 February 2019
While the Democrats claim to oppose Trump’s wall, they support all the other repressive actions carried out against defenseless immigrants and refugees.
Immigrants in US subjected to nasal force-feeding at ICE detention center
By Patrick Martin, 1 February 2019
The Trump administration has imported the savage tortures carried out at Guantanamo Bay and other CIA prisons, for use against immigrants and refugees.
The fraud of "oversight" by Democrats
Pentagon officials provide few answers at House committee hearing on troops at the border
By Kevin Martinez, 31 January 2019
The new committee, staffed by many former military officials, failed to get any real answers from the Pentagon brass and instead gave them a platform to ask for more funds and troops.
ICE arrests of immigrants at New York courthouses up by 1,700 percent since 2016
By Josh Varlin, 30 January 2019
A report by the Immigrant Defense Project indicates that ICE routinely violates its own rules for such arrests.
NBC’s Tom Brokaw provokes backlash over “assimilation” comment
By Patrick Martin, 29 January 2019
During Sunday’s broadcast of “Meet the Press,” former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw gave vent to the racism, anti-immigrant bigotry and sheer ignorance that media pundits usually keep under wraps.
Trump retreats on federal shutdown
By Patrick Martin, 26 January 2019
The political confrontation over White House demands for a border wall has only been postponed for three weeks, with Trump reiterating threats to declare a national emergency.
Trump’s war on immigrants escalates
Thousands seeking asylum in US to be pushed back into Mexico
By Norisa Diaz, 26 January 2019
The Department of Homeland Security will force asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their immigration cases are considered in the United States, forcing many to languish on the streets for months or years.
“If giving water to someone dying of thirst is illegal, what humanity is left in the law of this country?”
Four “No More Deaths” volunteers convicted for providing humanitarian aid to migrants crossing US border
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 22 January 2019
A Federal Judge in Arizona has rendered a guilty verdict against four volunteers from “No More Deaths” for the crime of leaving water and food in the Arizona desert to help migrants.
Mexican strikers show working class answer to capitalist reaction at US-Mexico border
By Eric London, 17 January 2019
At the US-Mexico border, the two chief social classes under capitalism—the capitalist class and the working class—are demonstrating the two alternatives for the future of mankind.
Pentagon extends troop deployment at Mexican border until September
By Matthew Taylor, 17 January 2019
The Trump administration is increasing its repressive measures against immigrants, including doubling the capacity of an immigrant detention center for youth in Homestead, Florida.
Trump’s “national emergency” threat and the danger of presidential dictatorship
By Patrick Martin, 10 January 2019
Congressional Democrats and the corporate media are deliberately downplaying the danger to democratic rights and constitutional norms embodied in Trump’s threats.
As US shutdown heads toward its fourth week
Trump delivers fascistic White House rant to demand border wall
By Barry Grey, 9 January 2019
The government shutdown marks a significant step in the direction of authoritarian rule, directed squarely against the working class.
Guatemalan establishment indifferent to deaths of US incarcerated migrant children
By Andrea Lobo, 9 January 2019
The reaction in ruling circles not only reflects their disdain for the country’s impoverished masses, but also their efforts to demonstrate loyal submission to the Trump administration.
Twenty-two deaths reported in immigrant detention centers since Trump took office
By Niles Niemuth, 8 January 2019
A review of the circumstances leading to the death of each person in ICE custody reveals that nearly all died as the result of criminal neglect or abuse.
As government shutdown enters third week
Trump threatens to declare national emergency to build border wall
By Niles Niemuth, 5 January 2019
Legal options are reportedly being seriously considered within the Trump administration for circumventing Congress, including redirecting funds already appropriated to the Department of Defense.
Trump administration opens 2019 with tear gas attack on migrants at US-Mexico border
By Niles Niemuth, 3 January 2019
Border patrol agents fired three volleys of gas at a group of approximately 150 people as they sought to cross over a border fence from Tijuana into the United States.
Amid global crackdown on refugees
One sixth of world’s people want to flee their home countries
By Eric London, 31 December 2018
Some 750 million people, not including children, want to escape war, poverty, conflict and disease caused by capitalism.
Federal agents release more than 1,000 immigrants in El Paso, Texas
By Patrick Martin, 28 December 2018
The mass releases, with detained immigrants dropped at bus stations, shelters and city parks, seem to be a politically-motivated campaign by ICE agents.
Residents defend immigrant workers after ICE raids Indiana restaurants, arrests five
By Michael Walters, 27 December 2018
Over 100 people rallied last week in Portage, Indiana to support the workers who had been detained earlier this month.
The death of Felipe Alonzo-Gómez: A crime of US imperialism
By Eric London, 27 December 2018
The eight-year-old immigrant died in US custody after fleeing from Nentón, Guatemala, close to where a horrific massacre took place in 1982 during the country’s civil war.
Trump administration to immediately deport new Central American asylum seekers to Mexico
By Eric London, 21 December 2018
The policy announced Thursday is a historically unprecedented attack on workers and peasants fleeing violence and inequality caused by decades of US imperialist intervention and corporate exploitation.
Trump administration to immediately deport new Central American asylum seekers to Mexico
By Eric London, 21 December 2018
The policy announced Thursday is a historically unprecedented attack on workers and peasants fleeing violence and inequality caused by decades of US imperialist intervention and corporate exploitation.
Central American asylum seekers forced to wait for months at US-Mexico border
By Norisa Diaz, 19 December 2018
WSWS reporters spoke with a number of Honduran immigrants in Tijuana who have fled poverty, extortion, and death threats from gangs in their home country.
Woman convicted for climbing Statue of Liberty to protest Trump’s anti-immigrant policies
By Trévon Austin, 19 December 2018
Therese Patricia Okoumou explained that the treatment of children at the US-Mexico border prompted her to make a brash statement by climbing the monument in New York City.
Democrats, media silent on child’s death at US border
By Patrick Martin, 17 December 2018
The Caal family's attorneys dispute the official account, saying Jakelin was in good health on arrival at the border station, only displaying signs of illness after being held there for eight hours.
The death of Jackeline Caal: A seven-year-old victim of Trump’s war on immigrants
By Patrick Martin, 15 December 2018
While Democrats denounced the death, they supported equally repressive policies under Obama.
Trump’s war on immigrants
Nearly 15,000 children held in detention camps across the US
By Niles Niemuth, 14 December 2018
The growth of the child detainee population and the Trump administration’s escalation of workplace raids represent an attack on the entire working class.
Trump threatens to use military to fund border wall
By Kevin Martinez, 12 December 2018
The president’s threat was followed by a tense meeting in the Oval Office with Democratic leaders where he threatened a government shutdown over funding for the wall.
San Diego workers and youth speak out in defense of refugees at US-Mexico border
By our reporters, 4 December 2018
American and Mexican citizens alike defended the migrant caravan and condemned the tear gas fired by the Border Patrol.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador inaugurated as new president of Mexico
By Alex González and Don Knowland, 3 December 2018
Popular illusions in promises by the new president to end decades of poverty and oppression in Mexico will crash against his limited, bourgeois program.
Central American migrants facing horror on US border
By Bill Van Auken, 1 December 2018
The deliberate confinement of thousands of refugees—men, women and children—under desperate conditions is a crime against humanity.
Three killed, eight injured in high speed US Border Patrol chase in southern California
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 1 December 2018
This latest tragedy must be viewed in the context of the Trump administration’s fascistic attack on immigrants.
Transgender asylum seeker beaten in US custody before her death, according to autopsy
By Kevin Martinez, 29 November 2018
Roxsana Hernandez Rodriguez died weeks after turning herself in at the San Ysidro port of entry in California seeking asylum from the discrimination and abuse she faced in Honduras.
After Trump fires tear gas at immigrant children
Sanders declares caravan members lack a “credible” claim to asylum
By Barry Grey, 29 November 2018
Asked whether he believed that immigrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America “all have a credible claim for asylum,” the senator declared, “No, I don’t.”
The military-police assault at San Ysidro
Defend immigrant workers from state violence!
By Eric London, 27 November 2018
The Socialist Equality Party (US) condemns the US government’s military operation at the US-Mexico border Sunday as a horrific crime against humanity.
US immigrants go hungry for fear using food stamps will lead to deportation
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 27 November 2018
Household food insecurity among immigrant families in the US for less than five years increased from 9.9 percent in 2007 to 17.8 percent in the first half of 2018.
Hundreds rally in San Diego in defense of migrant caravan
By our reporters, 26 November 2018
Over 200 people attended a rally just hours before the US Customs and Border Protection shut down the crossing and fired tear gas at immigrants seeking to enter the US.
US military, border police attack asylum seekers at US-Mexico border
By Eric London, 26 November 2018
With the border under effective martial law, US forces deployed tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bang grenades against impoverished Central American workers and their families.
In Thanksgiving teleconference, Trump appeals to military against courts, political opponents
By Joseph Kishore, 24 November 2018
In a call with representatives of the five branches of the US Armed Forces, Trump denounced judges for “telling our incredible military and law enforcement what to do.”
US and Mexican officials stoke up nationalist backlash against immigrants
By Norisa Diaz, 22 November 2018
Following an anti-caravan demonstration on Sunday in Tijuana, Border Patrol closed down the San Ysidro Port of Entry Monday morning, leaving tens of thousands in panic, in an effort to stoke up anger and confusion.
Migrant caravan reaches US border as Latin American governments discuss austerity and repression
By Andrea Lobo, 17 November 2018
As the first caravan of mostly Honduran migrants begins to arrive at the US border, local elites met at the Ibero-American Summit, vowing deeper social austerity and militarized repression.
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