Author Archives: admin

2019-07-10: Social Media Postees

The Inhumane Treatment of Migrants Is Not New. It's a Key Part of a Decades-Old Bipartisan Policy
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-07-10
More than a week after lawmakers flocked to the U.S.-Mexico border to observe the horrible treatment of refugee children and families in immigration jails, reports of unsafe and unsanitary conditions for asylum seekers are continuing. In Clint, Texas, the Border Patrol station that garnered international attention for jailing hundreds of migrant children without access to sufficient food, water, beds or medical care now has a spreading outbreak of scabies, shingles and chickenpox, according to border agents. In Yuma, Arizona, NBC reports that jailed migrant children have been subjected to mistreatment and sexual…
www.democracynow.org/2019/7/10/john_carlos_frey_immigration_detention_conditions

From the Mediterranean to Mexico, Capt. Pia Klemp Believes Rescuing Refugees Is Worth Facing Prison Time
Camille Baker | theintercept.com | 2019-07-10
If governments are criminalizing people who "show basic human decency, then I think that shows that we're doing something very right."
theintercept.com/2019/07/10/mediterranean-migrant-rescue-pia-klemp/

Inhumane Treatment of Migrants Reflects Decades-Old Bipartisan Policy
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-07-10
More than a week after lawmakers flocked to the U.S.-Mexico border to observe the horrible treatment of refugee children and families in immigration jails, reports of unsafe and unsanitary conditions for asylum seekers are continuing. In Clint, Texas, the Border Patrol station that garnered international attention for jailing hundreds of migrant children without access to sufficient food, water, beds or medical care now has a spreading outbreak of scabies, shingles and chickenpox, according to border agents. In Yuma, Arizona, NBC reports that jailed migrant children have been subjected to mistreatment and sexu…
truthout.org/video/inhumane-treatment-of-migrants-reflects-decades-old-bipartisan-policy/

Appeals Court Sides With Trump in Hotel Lawsuit
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-07-10
RICHMOND, Va.–A federal appeals court threw out a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of illegally profiting off the presidency through his luxury Washington hotel, handing Trump a significant legal victory on Wednesday. | A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously overturned the ruling of a federal judge in Maryland who said the lawsuit could move forward. | The state of Maryland and the District of Columbia sued in 2017, claiming Trump has violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution…
truthdig.com/articles/appeals-court-sides-with-trump-in-hotel-lawsuit/

Day of Action: 2nd Detention Camps Protest
Leon Kunstenaar | indybay.org | 2019-07-10
Protests Resume at SF Federal Building | Photos and text: Leon Kunstenaar…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/07/07/18824521.php

Lights for Liberty Vigil to end detention camps and family separation
Carina Merrick | indybay.org | 2019-07-10
In front of the main Redwood City Public Library | 1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/07/08/18824548.php

'Only the Tip of the Iceberg': Outrage Over Border Abuses Grows Amid Reports of Sexual Assault and Retaliation by CBP Agents
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-07-10
The inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday it was investigating allegations the border agents sexually assaulted children in at least one migrant detention center and retaliated against children who spoke out about the conditions they've been forced to live in. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-11533467391.jpg
commondreams.org/news/2019/07/10/only-tip-iceberg-outrage-over-border-abuses-grows-amid-reports-sexual-assault-and?cd-origin=rss

SF Jews Demand Closure of Detention Camps
Leon Kunstenaar | indybay.org | 2019-07-10
"We've Seen This before, Never Again is Now" | Photos and Text: Leon Kunstenaar…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/07/06/18824488.php

'Just as We Said They Would,' Says Ocasio-Cortez as ICE Opens Three New Detention Centers in Defiance of Congress
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-07-10
"DHS and ICE are flagrantly violating congressional orders." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/ice_funding.png
commondreams.org/news/2019/07/10/just-we-said-they-would-says-ocasio-cortez-ice-opens-three-new-detention-centers?cd-origin=rss

Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration's OK of California Logging That Will Destroy Big Trees, Condor Roosting Sites
Center for Biological Diversity | indybay.org | 2019-07-10
LOS ANGELES, July 10, 2019 ― Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today to halt a logging project in a roadless area of Los Padres National Forest that would destroy prime habitat for endangered California condors. Because of the project's remote location, it also would fail to protect communities from wildfires as federal officials have claimed.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/07/10/18824568.php

Japanese American Internment Survivors Protest Plan to Jail Migrant Kids at Prison Camp
Repost, Democracy Now! | indybay.org | 2019-07-10
Japanese Americans, including at least one from San Francisco, demonstrated at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma on June 22, one day after President Trump directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to conduct a mass roundup of migrant families that have received deportation orders. They were met by uniformed military police who told them they did not have permission to congregate and might face arrest. "You need to move right now!" one of the officers shouted. "What don't you understand? It's English: Get out."
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/07/07/18824511.php

People are having a good laugh at a video of Tommy Robinson pleading with Trump for asylum
Glen Black | thecanary.co | 2019-07-09
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) is trying to escape prison by asking US president Donald Trump for "political asylum". The irony is obvious. But it also reveals something deeper about his true motivations. | Asylum seeker: | Senior judges found Yaxley-Lennon guilty of contempt of court at the Old Bailey on 5 July. It resulted from Yaxley-Lennon's livestreaming outside Leeds Crown Court during a series of grooming ga…
thecanary.co/trending/2019/07/09/people-are-having-a-good-laugh-at-a-video-of-tommy-robinson-pleading-with-trump-for-asylum/

Georgian protests, military parade, Libya and Turkey
unitedEditor | uwidata.com | 2019-07-08
Georgian protests New protests took place this week in Georgia. On July 4, the Georgian Interior Ministry announced the detention of four people accused of assaulting police officers during rallies in central Tbilisi on June 20-21. On Thursday, the Prosecutor General's Office announced that it was investigating a meeting about organizing mass riots and an …
uwidata.com/4172-georgian-protests-military-parade-libya-and-turkey/

Monday's Daily Brief: global homicide figures, neo-Nazi recruitment, Kashmir, and migrants' plight in USA
United Nations | un.org | 2019-07-08
This Monday, we cover: a record high number of civilian casualties in Kashmir this year; a new UN study showing that more people die due to homicide than war; how neo-Nazis target children online to expand their ranks; and condemnation by the UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, over detention conditions for migrants in the USA.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/07/1042021

UN rights chief 'appalled' by US border detention conditions, says holding migrant children may violate international law
United Nations | un.org | 2019-07-08
Conditions in which migrants and refugees are being held in the United States are appalling, said the UN human rights chief on Monday, underscoring that children should never be held in immigration detention, or separated from their families.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/07/1041991

U.S. Women's Soccer Team Wins World Cup, Condemning Pay Discrimination and President Trump
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-07-08
The U.S. national women's soccer team made history by winning its record fourth World Cup after defeating the Netherlands 2 to 0 on Sunday in Lyon, France. The U.S. women's World Cup victory came just months after members of the 2015 women's team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation over gender discrimination. Following the victory, audience members began to chant "equal pay" in solidarity with the team's demands for an equal salary to their male counterparts. Prize money for this year's Women's World Cup is just $30 million compared to $400 million for the 2018 men's World Cup. Co-captain Megan Rapinoe was awarded th…
www.democracynow.org/2019/7/8/seg_1

Cops Raided This Black-Owned Business Eight Times, and They Still Weren't Done
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-07-08
To understand how policing affects the psyche of a community, we explore the story of black business owner in Baltimore who was raided so many times he filed a lawsuit, and won…
therealnews.com/stories/cops-raided-this-black-owned-business-eight-times-and-they-still-werent-done

'Horrified at the sights': Coloradans protest ICE facilities and detention profiteers
Jonathan Flowers | liberationnews.org | 2019-07-07
Human rights abuses are not just restricted to the border.
liberationnews.org/horrified-at-the-sights-coloradans-protest-ice-facilities-and-detention-profiteers/

FBI's Leniency Toward Border Vigilante Contrasts With Harsh Treatment of "Black Identity Extremist"
Trevor Aaronson | theintercept.com | 2019-07-07
While militia leader Larry Hopkins remained free to terrorize immigrants, Christopher Daniels was jailed for months, losing his home and his job.
theintercept.com/2019/07/07/fbi-border-vigilante-black-identity-extremist/

More Details Emerge About Horrible Conditions at Immigration Detention Centers
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-07-07
A DHS Inspector General report and a visit by members of Congress to detention centers, the inhumane conditions become clearer and spark more outrage…
therealnews.com/stories/more-details-emerge-about-horrible-conditions-at-immigration-detention-centers

Six children among 53 confirmed fatalities after Libya detention centre airstrikes: Security Council condemns attack
United Nations | un.org | 2019-07-05
The toll from Tuesday's reported airstrikes on a detention centre in the suburbs of Tripoli has risen to 53 dead and more than 130 injured among the "severely traumatized" surviving migrants and refugees, UN aid agencies said on Friday, reiterating their appeal to close all such facilities in the embattled country.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/07/1041911

Friday's Daily Brief: Sudan power-sharing deal welcomed, hope for Venezuela talks, Rohingya camps flooded, Libya airstrikes update
United Nations | un.org | 2019-07-05
Friday's main news stories include: Guterres welcomes Sudan power-sharing deal; six children are among 53 confirmed dead after Libya detention centre airstrikes; Monsoon rains wreak havoc in Rohingya camps; and Bachelet calls for "time and space" in Venezuela.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/07/1041951

Over 1000 union educators protest Houston Detention Center
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-07-05
Houston, TX – July 4 saw union educators push for freedom for refugees and undocumented families. After a daylong meeting of the annual National Education Association's annual Representative Assembly, a massive group of educators demonstrated their anger at Trump's concentration camps for children and families. | Rank-and-file education workers organized the protest within less than 48 hours of arriving at the convention. The group marched around a detention center located in downtown Houston, holding signs reading "Free the children!" and "Close the camps!" As they marched, they chanted "Up up with education! Do…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/7/5/over-1000-union-educators-protest-houston-detention-center

Immigration Detention Center Conditions Cause Massive Outcry
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-07-05
The revelation of extreme immigration detention center conditions for exhausted asylum seeking children, who are separated from their relatives, sparked outrage nationwide. In Phoenix, Arizona, Jews for Justice demonstrated, demanding permanent medical staff for Border patrol's Provisional Detention Centers…
therealnews.com/stories/immigration-detention-center-conditions-cause-massive-outcry

Pediatricians Release Migrant Children's Drawings of Their Time in US Border Prisons
The Mind Unleashed | theantimedia.com | 2019-07-04
(TMU) — Pediatricians have shared harrowing images drawn by migrant children separated from their parents while in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention camps that show people in prison-like conditions. The drawings were released by a social worker at the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas to the American Academy of Pediatrics, who …
theantimedia.com/pediatricians-release-migrant-children-drawings/

American Concentration Camps, Then and Now
Foreign Policy in Focus | theantimedia.com | 2019-07-04
(FPIF) — In our history textbooks, "Japanese internment," as it's carelessly called, features as a mistake, blunder, or brief departure from constitutional piety following the trauma of Pearl Harbor. The summary detention of 120,000 people of Japanese descent — around 80,000 of whom were American citizens — can be more accurately described as one of the worst …
theantimedia.com/american-concentration-camps-then-and-now/

There Are Alternatives to Caging Immigrants in Dehumanized Conditions
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-07-04
We talk with Vicki Gaubeca from Southern Borders Community Coalition about the conditions in the immigration prison camps, the Border Patrol's FB page, and proposals for humane treatment of refugees…
therealnews.com/stories/there-are-alternatives-to-caging-immigrants-in-dehumanized-conditions

Libya's Civil War is Becoming a Proxy War
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-07-04
The shooting down of a Turkish drone near Tripoli and the capture of six Turkish sailors by Gen. Haftar's forces reveals the Turkey's and Egypt's involvement on both sides of the civil war. Meanwhile Haftar's forces are accused of bombing a migration detention center near Tripoli, killing 44 and injuring 130…
therealnews.com/stories/libyas-civil-war-is-becoming-a-proxy-war

Tucson protest tells Trump: No raids! No deportations! No family separations!
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-07-03
Tucson, AZ – Over 100 people braved the intense desert sun Tuesday morning, July 2, to demonstrate their anger at Trump's threat for ICE raids aimed at thousands of undocumented families. Many demonstrators also expressed their demand to reunite families and to close the concentration camps operating as detention centers. | Outside the federal building protesters held signs reading "Close the camps!" and "Dismantle ICE!" The group then marched to the Pima County Office to demand an end to the Sheriff's collaboration with ICE and Border Patrol. Organizer from Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Isabel Garcia, said "The…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/7/2/tucson-protest-tells-trump-no-raids-no-deportations-no-family-separations

How the Third Temple Movement in Israel Rebranded Theocracy as "Civil Rights"
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2019-07-03
The Temple Activist movement is now more mainstream than ever before and its effort to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam, has advanced with great rapidity since the year began and has picked up precipitously in recent weeks.
mintpressnews.com/third-temple-activist-movement-israel-theocracy-civil-rights/260142/

I Spent 16 Months in Solitary Confinement and Now I'm Fighting to End It
aclu.org | 2019-07-03
A new report proves that the degrading conditions in solitary confinement continue to harm people and communities. | I was just 17 years old when I was sent to solitary confinement in "Camp J," one of the most severe lockdown units at one of America's most brutal prisons, the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. I languished in solitary for 16 months. | Back then I didn't know that Louisiana was the solitary confinement capital of the world. All I knew was that I'd been convicted of a crime I didn't commit, and I had to maintain my humanity in one of the most dehumanizing places on earth. | It's called "23 and…
aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights/solitary-confinement/i-spent-16-months-solitary-confinement-and-now-im

Chicago: Book signing for Frank Chapman's autobiography
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-07-03
Chicago, IL – Frank Chapman's new book, The Damned Don't Cry: Pages from the Life of a Black Prisoner and Organizer, is getting a great reception. About 30 people attended a book signing at the office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, July 2. Chapman's autobiography is available here.
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/7/3/chicago-book-signing-frank-chapman-s-autobiography

Japanese Internment Camp Survivor: 'Never Again Is NOW!'
Dennis J Bernstein | progressive.org | 2019-07-03
A filmmaker and therapist tells of her family's internment in a maximum security camp during World War II, and her views on the current imprisonment of people from south of the border.
progressive.org/dispatches/never-again-is-now-internment-camps-protest-bernstein-190703/

Thousands of Voices Are Telling the Supreme Court: Don't Roll Back LGBTQ Rights
aclu.org | 2019-07-03
Businesses, women CEOs, civil rights organizations, Republicans tell the Supreme Court to protect LGBTQ employees like Aimee Stephens and Don Zarda. | President Trump has told the Supreme Court it should be legal to fire someone just because they're LGBTQ. The President may be a bully, but he's just one voice. Today, more than 2,000 voices from across the country joined together to tell the Supreme Court: Don't roll back our rights. | The message came in the form of friend-of-the-court briefs–nearly 50 in all–filed in a…
aclu.org/blog/lgbt-rights/lgbt-nondiscrimination-protections/thousands-voices-are-telling-supreme-court-dont

SPLC sues Florida officials to keep citizens from losing right to vote again
splcenter.org | 2019-07-02
After completing her prison sentence and probation time, Rosemary McCoy had her voting rights restored and cast a ballot in the Jacksonville, Florida, runoff city council election earlier this year.
splcenter.org/news/2019/07/02/splc-sues-florida-officials-keep-citizens-losing-right-vote-again

Smart Ass Cripple: Happy Birthday Olmstead
Mike Ervin | progressive.org | 2019-06-29
Twenty years ago, a civil rights victory helped disabled people escape institutional life.
progressive.org/dispatches/smart-ass-cripple-happy-birthday-olmstead-ervin-190629/

How to Help Families at the Border Right Now
aclu.org | 2019-06-28
We know that a better future is possible, and we at the ACLU, along with our supporters and allies, are daring to create it. | The images of Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria, who lost their lives trying to seek refuge in the United States, have left us haunted. They serve as an ever-important reminder of the urgency of the fight for immigrant justice on our southern border and the need to stand up to the Trump administration's policies denying humanitarian protection and basic due process to families fleeing for their lives. | We remain at the frontlines of the family separation fight…
aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/how-help-families-border-right-now

Working in Prison, I Witnessed the Inhumane Conditions of Solitary for Incarcerated Women
aclu.org | 2019-06-28
Solitary confinement can amount to torture. One practitioner witnessed this first hand, and shares her story and her journey to action. | At the first checkpoint at Tennessee Prison for Women, there was a large, scrolling television screen behind the desk displaying the image of two pairs of hands — one pair with a key and one pair in handcuffs. The message read, "You can either be one of us or one of them." I had been working in the facility for less than a year, but this message exemplified an uneasiness I had long felt without articulating: The prison's faàßade of "rehabilitation" masked a system s…
aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights/solitary-confinement/working-prison-i-witnessed-inhumane-conditions-solitary

Georgia Tried to Ban Abortion, So We Sued
aclu.org | 2019-06-28
Abortion bans place people in danger, and Georgia's is no exception. | Alabama. Arkansas. Kentucky. Ohio. And today, Georgia. That's the list of states where the ACLU has had to go to court over the last few months to challenge laws banning abortion. | The Georgia law bans abortion at six weeks of pregnancy and is in clear violation of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade. In fact, that is the whole point of the law. Georgia politicians, including Governor Brian Kemp, emboldened by President Trump's appointment of two new justices to the Supreme Court, think this is their chance to get the court to take aw…
aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/abortion/georgia-tried-ban-abortion-so-we-sued

Why the ACLU Is Suing Florida For Its New Poll Tax
aclu.org | 2019-06-28
The law forces returning citizens with criminal records to pay for the right to vote. | On November 6, 2018, nearly 65 percent of Florida voters–more than 5 million people–resoundingly approved Amendment 4, restoring voting rights to over a million of their fellow citizens. By passing Amendment 4, Floridians successfully ushered in the largest expansion of the electorate in nearly 50 years. The people of Florida did it on their own, using a constitutional ballot initiative, to finally achieve change where Florida politicians had failed. | Instead of celebrating this progress, Florida politicians are t…
aclu.org/blog/voting-rights/voter-restoration/why-aclu-suing-florida-its-new-poll-tax

Charlottesville Federal Court Sentences James Alex Fields to Life in Prison for 'Unite the Right' Killing
splcenter.org | 2019-06-28
A neo-Nazi sympathizer from Ohio received two consecutive and 27 concurrent life sentences in federal prison for killing a counterprotester and injuring others in the aftermath of 2017's racist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/06/28/charlottesville-federal-court-sentences-james-alex-fields-life-prison-unite-right-killing

SPLC: Sentencing of James Alex Fields Jr., who killed Heather Heyer at 'Unite the Right,' will not heal victims or their families
Keegan Hankes, Intelligence Project | splcenter.org | 2019-06-28
James Alex Fields Jr., who was sentenced to life in prison today for murdering a woman who was protesting a white supremacist rally two years ago, is a remorseless killer and a domestic terrorist.
splcenter.org/news/2019/06/28/splc-sentencing-james-alex-fields-jr-who-killed-heather-heyer-unite-right-will-not-heal

Supreme Court Finds that Wilbur Ross Lied To Put Citizenship Question on the 2020 Census
aclu.org | 2019-06-27
The ruling affirms that the Trump administration cannot offer pretextual reasons to cover up its anti-immigrant attacks. | This morning, the Supreme Court told the country what we and our clients have long known: that Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross provided a false reason for his decision to add a citizenship question to the Decennial Census. The court explained that the Trump administration's stated reason for adding a citizenship question–enf…
aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/supreme-court-finds-wilbur-ross-lied-put-citizenship-question-2020-census

What Should We Do About Concentration Camps in Trump's America?
Jennifer Lunden | progressive.org | 2019-06-27
Portland, Maine is welcoming a wave of migrants with kindness as the administration comes under fire for its cruelty at immigrant detention centers.
progressive.org/dispatches/concentration-camps-in-trumps-america-lunden-190627/

Horrific detention center conditions expose Trump's true immigration policy: unmitigated, unrelenting cruelty
splcenter.org | 2019-06-26
A year ago, America awoke to the shocking images of children being held in cages — children who had been stolen from their asylum-seeking parents at the border by an administration that had no plan to reunite them.
splcenter.org/news/2019/06/26/horrific-detention-center-conditions-expose-trumps-true-immigration-policy-unmitigated

UN Human Rights Head Visits Venezuela, Meets Maduro and Guaido
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-06-24
Michelle Bachelet commented on access to food and medicine, allegations of political prisoners, and the impact of sanctions, among other issues.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14554

Brian Mier on Brazilian Political Scandal
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2019-06-21
The Brazilian anti-corruption crusade, called Car Wash or Lava Jato, that put popular ex-president Lula da Silva in prison and paved the way for fascist president Jair Bolsanaro–all while being celebrated in the US corporate press–was actually, as critics contended, less interested in corruption than in keeping Lula's Workers Party out of power.
fair.org/home/brian-mier-on-brazilian-political-scandal/

Behind the Syrian Network for Human Rights: How an Opposition Front Group Became Western Media's Go-To Monitor
Max Blumenthal | mintpressnews.com | 2019-06-17
Top media outlets turn to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) for figures on deaths and detentions, never noting the group's seamless connection to Syria's opposition, the support it receives from states that waged war on the country, or its open lobbying for US military intervention.
mintpressnews.com/behind-syrian-network-human-rights-syria-opposition-front-group/259233/

The Coming Show Trial of Julian Assange
Chris Hedges | truthdig.com | 2019-06-17
LONDON–On Friday morning I was in a small courtroom at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. Julian Assange, held in Belmarsh Prison and dressed in a pale-blue prison shirt, appeared on a video screen directly in front of me. Assange, his gray hair and beard neatly trimmed, slipped on heavy, dark-frame glasses at the start of the proceedings. He listened intently as Ben Brandon, the prosecutor, seated at a narrow wooden table, listed the crimes he allegedly had committed and called for his extradition to the United States to face charges that could result in a sentence of 175 years. The charges include…
truthdig.com/articles/the-coming-show-trial-of-julian-assange/

Patrick Gaspard to Receive Prestigious NAACP Spingarn Medal
Austyn Ross | naacp.org | 2019-06-17
BALTIMORE — The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation's foremost civil rights organization, has announced that Ambassador Patrick Gaspard will be awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal on July 24, 2019, during the 110th NAACP Annual Convention, taking place in Detroit, Michigan. The award recognizes Gaspard's lifelong commitment to equality and …
naacp.org/latest/patrick-gaspard-receive-prestigious-naacp-spingarn-medal/

2019-07-09: News Headlines

Jake Johnson, staff writer (2019-07-09). 'Never Again Means Close the Camps!': Hundreds of Jewish Activists Surround ICE Office to Protest Trump Detention Centers. commondreams.org "We have a responsibility as a people whose history included these kinds of atrocities to identify the signs and prevent them from happening." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/ice_detention_chicago.jpg

Leon Kunstenaar (2019-07-09). SF Jews Demand Closure of Detention Camps. indybay.org "We've Seen This before, Never Again is Now" | Photos and Text: Leon Kunstenaar…

Text: RR Photos: Jack Owicki, Pro Bono Photo (2019-07-09). In Palo Alto, 300 Demonstrators Protest Detention Camps. indybay.org On July 2, tens of thousands of people attended over 175 protests across the US to call on the Trump administration to close detention camps where migrants are being held under horrific conditions. Palo Alto, California, the site of one such protest, is the location of grassroots effort Caravan to Clint, a group that goes on trips to a children's detention facility outside El Paso.

Leon Kunstenaar (2019-07-09). Day of Action: 2nd Detention Camps Protest. indybay.org Protests Resume at SF Federal Building | Photos and text: Leon Kunstenaar…

Carina Merrick (2019-07-09). Lights for Liberty Vigil to end detention camps and family separation. indybay.org In front of the main Redwood City Public Library | 1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA…

teleSUR (2019-07-09). Democrats Subpoena Trump Over Foreign Payments. telesurenglish.net A group of more than 200 Democratic Party lawmakers said in a statement that as part of lawsuit in federal court they had issued 37 subpoenas the Trump Organization and other entities, seeking information about foreign government payments accepted by properties in his real estate empire. | RELATED: | Pompeo Launches Commission to Study Human Rights Role | The subpoenas also seek information about trademarks granted to Trump businesses by foreign governments. | "Our goal is simple and s…

Repost, Democracy Now! (2019-07-09). Japanese American Internment Survivors Protest Plan to Jail Migrant Kids at Prison Camp. indybay.org Japanese Americans, including at least one from San Francisco, demonstrated at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma on June 22, one day after President Trump directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to conduct a mass roundup of migrant families that have received deportation orders. They were met by uniformed military police who told them they did not have permission to congregate and might face arrest. "You need to move right now!" one of the officers shouted. "What don't you understand? It's English: Get out."

teleSUR (2019-07-09). Far-Right Activist Tommy Robinson Begs Trump for Asylum. telesurenglish.net The vocal right-wing media personality, Tommy Robinson, has publicly begged U.S. President Donald Trump to grant him asylum ahead of his sentencing hearing in a contempt of court case. The so-called 'anti-Islamification' activist is begging for asylum in the U.S. because he alleges that he will be killed in prison because U.K. jails are "controlled by jihadi gangs." | RELATED: | Democrats Subpoena Trump Over Foreign Payments | "I beg Donald Trump, I beg the American government, to look at my c…

The Canary (2019-07-09). Protesters defiant despite Hong Kong leader declaring extradition bill 'dead'. thecanary.co Hong Kong protest leaders opposed to the administration of Chief Executive Carrie Lam have said they will continue their demonstrations, even after Lam declared the effort to amend a highly contentious extradition bill "dead".Protesters are persisting in their demands for the bill to be formally withdrawn and an investigation opened into heavy-handed tactics used by police against demonstrators.Hundreds of thousands of people have joined the month-long protests, expressing growing concerns about the steady erosion of civil rights.Protesters take part in a march in Hong Kong on Sunday (Kin Cheung/AP)"We cannot fin…

United Nations (2019-07-08). UN rights chief 'appalled' by US border detention conditions, says holding migrant children may violate international law. un.org Conditions in which migrants and refugees are being held in the United States are appalling, said the UN human rights chief on Monday, underscoring that children should never be held in immigration detention, or separated from their families.

United Nations (2019-07-08). Monday's Daily Brief: global homicide figures, neo-Nazi recruitment, Kashmir, and migrants' plight in USA. un.org This Monday, we cover: a record high number of civilian casualties in Kashmir this year; a new UN study showing that more people die due to homicide than war; how neo-Nazis target children online to expand their ranks; and condemnation by the UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, over detention conditions for migrants in the USA.

Barbara Nimri Aziz (2019-07-08). Abu Graib at Home in America. globalresearch.ca "This is not what America is about" argues a reporter referring to revelations of misogynist, violent, racist behavior by employees of the U.S. Border Patrol 'guarding' migrants held in detention centers. | Sorry Mr. Thompson (Propublica journalist who broke this story); …

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2019-07-08). Smithsonian Seeking Child Migrants' Drawings of Horrific Detention to Document 'History as It Unfolds'. commondreams.org Request by Smithsonian's National Museum of American History comes as U.N. rights chief condemns "alarming situation" at southern border facilities | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/child-migrants-drawings-detention-aap.jpg

Staff (2019-07-08). Cops Raided This Black-Owned Business Eight Times, and They Still Weren't Done. therealnews.com To understand how policing affects the psyche of a community, we explore the story of black business owner in Baltimore who was raided so many times he filed a lawsuit, and won…

Staff (2019-07-08). Headlines for July 8, 2019. democracynow.org Trump & DOJ Reverse Stance, Will Keep Pushing for Citizenship Question in 2020 Census, Trump Admin Threatens It's Ready to Start Deporting Up to 1 Million People, ICE and FBI Have Used Facial Recognition Technology to Mine DMV Databases, Trump: Migrants "Very Happy" with Situation in U.S. Migrant Jails, Iran Breaches Nuclear Deal Limits, Condemns U.K.'s Seizure of Oil Tanker, Sudanese Military Leaders and Opposition Agree to 3-Year Power-Sharing Deal, Greek Snap Elections Hand Victory to Conservative Party, U.S. Women's Team Wins Soccer World Cup, Shining a Spotlight on Gender Pay Disparity, State of Emergency De…

Staff (2019-07-08). Jeffrey Epstein, a Billionaire Friend of Presidents Trump & Clinton, Arrested for Sex Trafficking. democracynow.org Billionaire hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein, who has been accused of sexually assaulting underage girls for more than a decade, will appear in federal court today in Manhattan on sex trafficking charges. He was arrested on Saturday for allegedly running a sex trafficking operation by luring underage girls as young as 14 years old to his mansion in Manhattan. Epstein was previously accused of molesting and trafficking dozens of underage girls in Florida, but he ended up serving just 13 months in county jail after the U.S. prosecutor in Florida, Alexander Acosta, cut what's been described as "one of the most len…

Staff (2019-07-08). U.S. Women's Soccer Team Wins World Cup, Condemning Pay Discrimination and President Trump. democracynow.org The U.S. national women's soccer team made history by winning its record fourth World Cup after defeating the Netherlands 2 to 0 on Sunday in Lyon, France. The U.S. women's World Cup victory came just months after members of the 2015 women's team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation over gender discrimination. Following the victory, audience members began to chant "equal pay" in solidarity with the team's demands for an equal salary to their male counterparts. Prize money for this year's Women's World Cup is just $30 million compared to $400 million for the 2018 men's World Cup. Co-captain Megan Rapinoe was awarded th…

Special To The Black Star News (2019-07-08). Deportations: Gov. Cuomo Denounces Trump's Threat to Deploy ICE Agents in Cities. blackstarnews.com Today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo denounced the most recent Trump Administration deportation plans in a statement. | "Once again, the Trump Administration is reportedly gearing up to send ICE agents into our cities with plans to deport 1 million people. This is the latest example of this administration's politicization of immigration in this country and constant assault on the civil rights and dignity of individuals and families. | "New York will continue to stand with all immigrants to ensure they have the full protections afforded under the law. | "If any New Yorker, regardless of their immigration sta…

teleSUR (2019-07-08). Italy Sentences 24 to Life for Operation Condor Disappearances. telesurenglish.net An Italian court in Rome sentenced 24 military personnel from Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, and Peru to life imprisonment Monday for disappearing Italians during Operation Condor during which left-wing activists were hunted by military dictatorships in South America. | RELATED: | CIA Declassified Info: Europe Wanted Own 'Operation Condor' | The present ruling changed th…

Kiana Calloway (2019-07-08). I spent 16 months in solitary confinement and now I'm fighting to end it. nationofchange.org I was just 17 years old when I was sent to solitary confinement in "Camp J," one of the most severe lockdown units at one of America's most brutal prisons, the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. I languished in solitary for 16 months. | Back then I didn't know that Louisiana was the solitary confinement capital of the world. All I knew was that I'd been convicted of a crime I didn't commit, and I had to maintain my humanity in one of the most dehumanizing places on earth. | It's called "23 and 1" because you spend 23 hours alone in your cell, with one hour to take a shower or make a phone call, if allowed…

Jonathan Flowers (2019-07-07). 'Horrified at the sights': Coloradans protest ICE facilities and detention profiteers. liberationnews.org Human rights abuses are not just restricted to the border.

Staff (2019-07-07). More Details Emerge About Horrible Conditions at Immigration Detention Centers. therealnews.com A DHS Inspector General report and a visit by members of Congress to detention centers, the inhumane conditions become clearer and spark more outrage…

Trevor Aaronson (2019-07-07). FBI's Leniency Toward Border Vigilante Contrasts With Harsh Treatment of "Black Identity Extremist" theintercept.com While militia leader Larry Hopkins remained free to terrorize immigrants, Christopher Daniels was jailed for months, losing his home and his job.

The Canary (2019-07-07). Increase in workplace sex discrimination claims, study suggests. thecanary.co The number of sex discrimination claims by workers has increased by 69% to a five-year high, new research suggests. | More than 9,300 claims were made in the past year, with women increasingly likely to come forward since the start of the MeToo movement, said employment lawyers GQ Littler. | Moves by companies to tackle sex discrimination, such as banning alcohol at work-related events, or discouraging hugging, are not preventing claims being made, said the law firm. | Hannah Mahon of GQ Littler said: The increase in…

Kiwanuka Lawrence Nsereko (2019-07-07). At Jesse Jackson U.S. Global Gathering, Honoree Bobi Wine Describes Gen. Museveni's Brutal Dictatorship. blackstarnews.com May the torch be with you. Civil and human rights veteran Rev. Jesse Jackson honors Bobi Wine and offers words of wisdom. | | The civil rights struggle continues with the resistance against tyrants around the world, Ugandan political and human rights leader Robert Sentamu Kyagulanyi, told a U.S. gathering while receiving an award from Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr., in Chicago. | | Kyagulanyi, musician-turned-leader, commonly known by his stage moniker Bobi Wine, spoke last week at the Rainbow Push coalition annual convention. He was recognized for standing up for civil rights in Uganda and was one of six honorees fr…

RT (2019-07-07). Billionaire Epstein arrested on child sex trafficking charges, faces 45 years in prison — report. rt.com Financier Jeffrey Epstein has been arrested in New York for alleged years of sex trafficking underage girls. It comes more than a decade after he struck a plea deal with prosecution.

David Rovics (2019-07-07). So This Is What It's Like. dissidentvoice.org Concentration camps in the United States are nothing new. As has been widely reported, one of the many new, austere, prison camps for dividing up and indefinitely detaining families for the crime of being refugees that has recently opened up is one in Oklahoma that was previously used for the same purposes during the Second …

John Shafthauer (2019-07-06). Crime still illegal even if you commit it 'patriotically', Robinson discovers. thecanary.co A judge has found Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson) guilty of contempt of court. This is despite him assuring the judge that he was "one of the best patriots going". | Indefensible: | Robinson offered a number of unique defences. He claimed his 'patriotism' should make him immune to any crime. Examples of his patriotism included the fact that he: | Owns the complete DVD collection of Only Fools and Horses and has started making his way through…

Staff (2019-07-05). Immigration Detention Center Conditions Cause Massive Outcry. therealnews.com The revelation of extreme immigration detention center conditions for exhausted asylum seeking children, who are separated from their relatives, sparked outrage nationwide. In Phoenix, Arizona, Jews for Justice demonstrated, demanding permanent medical staff for Border patrol's Provisional Detention Centers…

United Nations (2019-07-05). Friday's Daily Brief: Sudan power-sharing deal welcomed, hope for Venezuela talks, Rohingya camps flooded, Libya airstrikes update. un.org Friday's main news stories include: Guterres welcomes Sudan power-sharing deal; six children are among 53 confirmed dead after Libya detention centre airstrikes; Monsoon rains wreak havoc in Rohingya camps; and Bachelet calls for "time and space" in Venezuela.

United Nations (2019-07-05). Six children among 53 confirmed fatalities after Libya detention centre airstrikes: Security Council condemns attack. un.org The toll from Tuesday's reported airstrikes on a detention centre in the suburbs of Tripoli has risen to 53 dead and more than 130 injured among the "severely traumatized" surviving migrants and refugees, UN aid agencies said on Friday, reiterating their appeal to close all such facilities in the embattled country.

Fight Back (2019-07-05). Over 1000 union educators protest Houston Detention Center. fightbacknews.org Houston, TX – July 4 saw union educators push for freedom for refugees and undocumented families. After a daylong meeting of the annual National Education Association's annual Representative Assembly, a massive group of educators demonstrated their anger at Trump's concentration camps for children and families. | Rank-and-file education workers organized the protest within less than 48 hours of arriving at the convention. The group marched around a detention center located in downtown Houston, holding signs reading "Free the children!" and "Close the camps!" As they marched, they chanted "Up up with education! Do…

The Mind Unleashed (2019-07-04). Pediatricians Release Migrant Children's Drawings of Their Time in US Border Prisons. theantimedia.com (TMU) — Pediatricians have shared harrowing images drawn by migrant children separated from their parents while in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention camps that show people in prison-like conditions. The drawings were released by a social worker at the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas to the American Academy of Pediatrics, who …

Foreign Policy in Focus (2019-07-04). American Concentration Camps, Then and Now. theantimedia.com (FPIF) — In our history textbooks, "Japanese internment," as it's carelessly called, features as a mistake, blunder, or brief departure from constitutional piety following the trauma of Pearl Harbor. The summary detention of 120,000 people of Japanese descent — around 80,000 of whom were American citizens — can be more accurately described as one of the worst …

Staff (2019-07-04). Libya's Civil War is Becoming a Proxy War. therealnews.com The shooting down of a Turkish drone near Tripoli and the capture of six Turkish sailors by Gen. Haftar's forces reveals the Turkey's and Egypt's involvement on both sides of the civil war. Meanwhile Haftar's forces are accused of bombing a migration detention center near Tripoli, killing 44 and injuring 130…

Staff (2019-07-04). There Are Alternatives to Caging Immigrants in Dehumanized Conditions. therealnews.com We talk with Vicki Gaubeca from Southern Borders Community Coalition about the conditions in the immigration prison camps, the Border Patrol's FB page, and proposals for humane treatment of refugees…

Maryam Saleh (2019-07-03). As Trump Announces Mass Immigration Raid, Documents Show How ICE Uses Arrest Quotas. theintercept.com As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at the behest of President Donald Trump, plans mass raids following the July Fourth holiday, newly released documents shed light on the tactics the agency employs during such operations. | The documents, released Wednesday by the immigrant rights groups Mijente, Just Futures Law, and Detention Watch Network, show that ICE officials are building arrest target lists for mass raids to meet specific numbers, even as the agency continues to internally and publicly stress a "public safety" rationale for immigration arrests. | Most…

Staff (2019-07-03). Headlines for July 3, 2019. democracynow.org DHS Watchdog: "Dangerous Overcrowding" and Dire Conditions at Texas Migrant Jails, 30-Year-Old Honduran Migrant Dies in U.S. Custody, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Plan to Deny Bail to Asylum Seekers, DHS Fining Immigrants Up to $500,000 for Not Leaving the U.S., Nationwide Protests Demand Lawmakers #CloseTheCamps, Cory Booker Vows to End Immigrant Detention in 2020 Proposal, In Defeat for Trump Admin, 2020 Census Will Not Include Citizenship Question, House Dems Sue Treasury and IRS over Trump's Tax Returns, Airstrike Hits Migrant Detention Center in Libya, Killing At Least 40, Ethiopian-Israeli Community Protests…

Fight Back (2019-07-03). Tucson protest tells Trump: No raids! No deportations! No family separations! fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – Over 100 people braved the intense desert sun Tuesday morning, July 2, to demonstrate their anger at Trump's threat for ICE raids aimed at thousands of undocumented families. Many demonstrators also expressed their demand to reunite families and to close the concentration camps operating as detention centers. | Outside the federal building protesters held signs reading "Close the camps!" and "Dismantle ICE!" The group then marched to the Pima County Office to demand an end to the Sheriff's collaboration with ICE and Border Patrol. Organizer from Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Isabel Garcia, said "The…

United Nations (2019-07-03). Libya detention centre airstrike could amount to a war crime says UN, as Guterres calls for independent investigation. un.org An airstrike on a detention centre in Tripoli that killed scores of migrants and refugees "deserves more than condemnation", UN agencies said on Wednesday, as both the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the head of the UN mission in Libya (UNSMIL), insisted that it may amount to a war crime.

ACLU (2019-07-03). Thousands of Voices Are Telling the Supreme Court: Don't Roll Back LGBTQ Rights. aclu.org Businesses, women CEOs, civil rights organizations, Republicans tell the Supreme Court to protect LGBTQ employees like Aimee Stephens and Don Zarda. | President Trump has told the Supreme Court it should be legal to fire someone just because they're LGBTQ. The President may be a bully, but he's just one voice. Today, more than 2,000 voices from across the country joined together to tell the Supreme Court: Don't roll back our rights. | The message came in the form of friend-of-the-court briefs—nearly 50 in all—filed in a…

ACLU (2019-07-03). I Spent 16 Months in Solitary Confinement and Now I'm Fighting to End It. aclu.org A new report proves that the degrading conditions in solitary confinement continue to harm people and communities. | I was just 17 years old when I was sent to solitary confinement in "Camp J," one of the most severe lockdown units at one of America's most brutal prisons, the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. I languished in solitary for 16 months. | Back then I didn't know that Louisiana was the solitary confinement capital of the world. All I knew was that I'd been convicted of a crime I didn't commit, and I had to maintain my humanity in one of the most dehumanizing places on earth. | It's called "23 and…

Whitney Webb (2019-07-03). How the Third Temple Movement in Israel Rebranded Theocracy as "Civil Rights" mintpressnews.com The Temple Activist movement is now more mainstream than ever before and its effort to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam, has advanced with great rapidity since the year began and has picked up precipitously in recent weeks.

Austyn Ross (2019-07-03). NAACP Responds to Trump Administration's Decision to Abandon Attempt to Add Citizenship Question to 2020 Census. naacp.org The following statement is from Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of NAACP on the Trump Administration's decision not to include the controversial citizenship question to the 2020 Census: "The Trump administration's decision today to abandon its attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census is a victory for democracy. It is the outcome …

Fight Back (2019-07-03). Chicago: Book signing for Frank Chapman's autobiography. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Frank Chapman's new book, The Damned Don't Cry: Pages from the Life of a Black Prisoner and Organizer, is getting a great reception. About 30 people attended a book signing at the office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, July 2. Chapman's autobiography is available here.

Carl Winter (2019-07-03). Letter from prison: Communist leader Carl Winter on the 4th of July. peoplesworld.org Editor's Note: Carl Winter, who was an editor of The Worker (formerly the Daily Worker and later re-named People's World), was among the first group of defendants falsely convicted under the anti-communist Smith Act of conspiring to overthrow the United States Government in 1949. Winter would serve a five-year sentence in federal prison. Upon release, …

Dennis J Bernstein (2019-07-03). Japanese Internment Camp Survivor: 'Never Again Is NOW!'. progressive.org A filmmaker and therapist tells of her family's internment in a maximum security camp during World War II, and her views on the current imprisonment of people from south of the border.

Ryan Devereaux (2019-07-02). Amnesty International Condemns U.S. Attacks on Border Journalists and Human Rights Defenders. theintercept.com The shape of the Trump administration's approach to policing immigration is at this point familiar. Since January 2017, federal agents and officers have been under orders to enforce a harsh interpretation of immigration laws without restraint. The result has most infamously manifested in the forced separation of immigrant parents from their children and, more recently, a series of horrific reports detailing conditions in border-area detention centers. | Though undocumented people have always been the core target of this campaign, the blast radius of the government's hyper-politicized crackdown has steadily expand…

Robert Mackey (2019-07-02). 2020 Census Form Will Not Include Citizenship Question, Trump Administration Says. theintercept.com The Trump administration admitted defeat on Tuesday, confirming that forms for the 2020 U.S. census will not include a question asking residents who respond to the survey if they are U.S. citizens. The change of plans follows last week's Supreme Court decision that the Commerce Department had failed to provide a valid reason for adding the question. | The news was conveyed in an email from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to lawyers who had contested the effort in lawsuits, and confirmed to The Intercept by…

Staff (2019-07-02). Headlines for July 2, 2019. democracynow.org Lawmakers Decry Dire Conditions and Lack of Accountability During Visit to Texas Migrant Jails, Migrant Child Freed from Clint Border Patrol Jail: "They Treated Us Badly", ProPublica: Secret Border Patrol Facebook Group Rife with Racist, Sexist and Anti-Immigrant Posts, Migrant Father and Daughter Who Drowned in Rio Grande Buried in El Salvador, #CloseTheCamps Protests Planned Across the U.S., Mexico Deploys National Guard, Ramps Up Crackdown on Immigrants, Hong Kong Protests Continue as Activists Renew Demands to Withdraw Extradition Bill, Iran Surpasses Enriched Uranium Stockpile Allowed Under Nuclear Deal, Jap…