Immigrants and refugees
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.
Right-wing Italian authorities threaten migrant rescuer with 20 years in prison
By Allison Smith, 9 April 2019
Miguel Roldán Espinosa, a Spanish firefighter, is under criminal investigation and faces a potentially lengthy prison sentence.
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.
Prioritizing of profit at root of fire that killed seven Syrian refugee children in Nova Scotia
By Frédéric Charlebois, 5 April 2019
The mandatory installation of automated sprinklers would save lives, but capitalist governments are loathe to diminish the profits of the construction industry.
Thousands protest against German government’s brutal deportation policy
By our reporters, 2 April 2019
In Berlin and other German cities, more than 5,000 people protested on Saturday against Interior Minister Horst Seehofer’s attacks on refugees and their supporters .
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.
Special unit of the Maltese army storms refugee ship
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 30 March 2019
The case of the cargo ship El Hiblu 1 graphically demonstrates the inhumanity of the European Union’s merciless migration policy.
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.
Deportations from Germany to Maghreb states rise sharply
By Elisabeth Zimmermann, 2 March 2019
Deportations from Germany to the Maghreb states rose 35 percent in one year, and 14-fold since 2015.
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.
German government to tighten up deportations
By Marianne Arens, 19 February 2019
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) has presented a 60-page bill on the deportation of refugees that bears the imprimatur of the far-right Alternative for Germany from start to finish.
Chinese community in Australia voices concern over xenophobic “foreign interference” campaign
By James Cogan, 19 February 2019
People fear that the banishment of Huang Xiangmo is the prelude to a campaign of persecution directed against all those of Chinese background.
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.
Australian government loses vote on refugee medical evacuation legislation
By Oscar Grenfell, 14 February 2019
The bill entrenches the power of the minister to prevent detained refugees from travelling to Australia and receiving desperately needed medical care.
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.
Biloela resident: “It is really important that we stand up”
Australian rural town continues to fight deportation of Tamil refugee family
By Max Newman, 2 February 2019
Biloela residents have been conducting a nearly year-long campaign to free a Tamil family seized by the government from their community.
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.
Footage shows police pointing assault rifles at child detainees in Australia
By Corrine Jensen, 1 February 2019
The footage resembled an aggressive military operation in the neo-colonial wars conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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.
Australia: Hundreds of immigration detainees launch hunger strikes
By Eric Ludlow, 26 January 2019
The detainees describe their living conditions as “worse than a prison.”
Lawsuits against Australian government reveal horror in refugee camp
By Max Newman, 24 January 2019
Former Manus Island detention centre security staff members have filed cases alleging physical and psychological harm.
Another 170 immigrants drown in the Mediterranean
By Marianne Arens, 22 January 2019
With the statement “The ports are and will remain closed!” Italian Interior Minister Salvini summed up the EU’s contempt for human rights in its policies towards refugees.
“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.
Migrants in Australia hit by longer welfare wait
By Martin Scott, 22 January 2019
Immigrants in western Sydney, already confronting high unemployment and a lack of affordable housing, now face a four-year wait for welfare benefits.
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.
Germany deports more refugees to Afghanistan
By Marianne Arens, 11 January 2019
On Monday night, a further 36 refugees were deported to Kabul, including a number who had lived and worked for years in Germany and had no idea they were at risk.
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.
Australian senator participates in neo-Nazi rally
By Patrick O’Connor, 7 January 2019
Responsibility for the emergence of fascist groupings lies with the entire Australian media and political establishment.
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.
Scuffles in German city of Amberg exploited to incite right-wing campaign
By Marianne Arens and Peter Schwarz, 5 January 2019
Politicians from Bavaria and Berlin have been lining up to outdo each other with proposals for more restrictive asylum laws.
British government dispatches Royal Navy to stop cross-Channel refugee boats
By Paul Mitchell, 4 January 2019
A right-wing anti-immigration campaign is being manufactured around the minuscule number of desperate souls—539 in total—who tried to cross the Channel in 2018.
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.
Bangladesh to relocate Rohingya refugees on remote island
By Rohantha De Silva, 19 December 2018
Nervous about criticism of its plans, the government is attempting to hide information about the new detention facilities and has placed the island under naval control.
Australian Labor Party to boost police-military operations to block refugees
By Mike Head, 18 December 2018
Shorten unequivocally restated Labor’s intent to keep using the navy to push back refugee boats and to retain the “offshore processing” regime of detaining asylum seekers on remote Pacific islands.
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.
UK: “Stansted 15” anti-deportation protesters found guilty of terrorism charges
By Margot Miller, 17 December 2018
The defendants, who are preparing to appeal the verdict, potentially face life in prison for preventing the departure of an immigration removal flight.
MSF reveals “mental health suffering” in Australia’s Nauru refugee detention camp
By Max Newman, 17 December 2018
Médecins Sans Frontières said the mental health problems were among the worst it had ever seen anywhere in the world.
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.
DSA-backed “progressive Democrats” drop phony opposition to Trump’s attacks on immigrants
By Will Morrow, 17 November 2018
The Democrats “progressive” caucus, including DSA member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is calling for a more “humane” and “effective” American immigration Gestapo.
Pentagon chief heads to border as first refugees from caravan arrive
By Bill Van Auken, 15 November 2018
General Mattis defended the deployment of thousands of active duty troops to confront refugee men, women and children as a “moral and ethical mission.”
Kidnapping, rape and murder by US border patrol agents
By Norisa Diaz and Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 15 November 2018
Numerous migrants, mostly women and girls, have been victims of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping or rape at the hands of US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents.
Albanian immigrant worker, forced to hide in Detroit church for 10 months, fights deportation
By Will Morrow, 14 November 2018
Ded Rranxburgaj, the sole caregiver and provider for his wheelchair-bound wife and two sons, is seeking to prevent his deportation.
“Someone is getting paid millions to provoke racism and hatred”
US autoworkers oppose anti-immigrant campaign
By WSWS Autoworker Newsletter, 13 November 2018
Autoworkers in the Detroit area contacted by the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter spoke forcefully against the attempts by the Trump administration to whip up anti-immigrant hysteria.
Australia: Welfare cut leaves asylum seekers facing destitution
By Max Newman, 13 November 2018
A new report shows that nearly 80 percent of those cut off benefits are at risk of homelessness.
Asylum ban: Trump eliminates right to asylum for immigrants crossing without documentation
By Eric London, 9 November 2018
The decision is the most significant restriction on immigration in decades. It will cause hundreds of thousands of deportations, and send countless immigrants to their deaths.
Increase in self-harm and suicides in UK immigration detention centres
By Simon Whelan, 8 November 2018
Reports show that from 2000 to April, 2018 there have been 35 deaths, 14 of which were self-inflicted.
Government declares child refugees will not remain in Australia
By Max Newman, 8 November 2018
The government’s promise to evacuate detained children from Nauru is a ploy to placate the public outcry over their barbaric treatment.
Canada to dramatically hike, expedite deportations to “secure” borders
By Roger Jordan, 7 November 2018
The Trudeau Liberal government’s anti-refugee policy is emboldening reaction, including outright fascist forces.
Follow the WSWS