The United Nations celebrates World Refugee Day on June 20; in St. Petersburg there will be a celebration of refugees on Friday. One organizer is Doug Haskett, the program coordinator for PREP, the Pinellas Refugee Education Program. He says the number of refugees allowed into the United States has declined drastically under President Trump. “In… Read more »
Private company helped DHS spy on "family separation" demonstrators
Read MoreDebate in Legislature as Florida Senate passes "sanctuary city" ban
Read MoreWhat has the Florida Legislature done in the last 2 days?
Read MoreTrump claims Obama was responsible for migrant child separations: Fact Check
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Fact Checking POTUS on Mexico
Read MoreTampa Bay SDS destroys a mock 'border wall' at USF
Read MoreSenator, seeking its closure, visits migrant youth detention camp in Homestead
Read MoreOccupy ICE Tampa protest against Trump border wall
Read MoreProtests against the president's National Emergency Declaration
Read MoreHow exactly does immigration detention work? (updated)
Read MoreFact Checking POTUS: Fake news for February Fourth
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Hundreds of immigrants given court dates for hearings that weren’t scheduled
Courts turn away hundreds of immigrants, blame shutdown By JENNIFER KAY and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON, Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — The already backlogged immigration courts faced more hurdles Thursday when hundreds of immigrants arrived with government-issued notices to appear in court for hearings that were never scheduled. U.S. immigration officials blamed the government shutdown and the… Read more »
Citizenship question barred by one court from the 2020 census
Judge bars citizenship question from 2020 census By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge blocked the Trump administration Tuesday from asking about citizenship status on the 2020 census, the first major ruling in cases contending that officials ramrodded the question through for Republican political purposes to intentionally undercount immigrants. In a… Read more »
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Activists Protest Killing of Civilians by Border Patrol
Last Wednesday in Tampa’s Ybor City a group of about a dozen people protested the killing of people in Mexico by US Border Patrol agents. The Associated Press is reporting this morning that: “U.S. authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the first hours of the new year to repel about 150 migrants who tried… Read more »
US claims medical checks on every child in Border Patrol custody after second child’s death on Christmas Eve
US conducts medical checks on children after 2 deaths By NOMAAN MERCHANT, Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — U.S. immigration authorities said Wednesday that they have done new medical checks on nearly every child in Border Patrol custody after the death of a second youngster in the agency’s care in the span of less than three weeks…. Read more »
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Refugee children in America, at Christmastime
‘A moral disaster’: AP reveals scope of migrant kids program. By GARANCE BURKE and MARTHA MENDOZA, Associated Press Decades after the U.S. stopped institutionalizing kids because large and crowded orphanages were causing lasting trauma, it is happening again. The federal government has placed most of the 14,300 migrant toddlers, children and teens in its care in… Read more »
Florida & Texas migrant teen detention centers don’t screen staff for abuse or neglect
Caregivers for 3600 migrant teens lack complete abuse checks By MARTHA MENDOZA and GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press Nearly every adult working with children in the U.S. — from nannies to teachers to coaches — has undergone state screenings to ensure they have no proven history of abusing or neglecting kids. One exception: thousands of workers at… Read more »
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Feds waive FBI background checks for migrant children camp staff
US waived FBI checks on staff at growing teen migrant camp By GARANCE BURKE AND MARTHA MENDOZA, Associated Press TORNILLO, Texas (AP) — The Trump administration has put the safety of thousands of teens at a migrant detention camp at risk by waiving FBI fingerprint checks for their caregivers and short-staffing mental health workers, according to… Read more »
SDS at USF rally to protect undocumented students
On Tuesday the group Students for a Democratic Society at the University of South Florida is hosting a rally on campus to draw attention to immigrants’ rights and to ask the school not to cooperate with federal agencies cracking down on undocumented students. Their “Immigrants are here to stay: rally!” is next Tuesday at 1:35… Read more »
Occupy ICE Tampa sets up encampment
About ten people set up camp Thursday evening outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office near the Tampa International Airport; they’re upset about how ICE has detained migrants crossing the US border and has separated children from their parents. WMNF News interviewed Syd Eastman. She is with the Sex Worker Solidarity Network, one of the… Read more »
US administration says nearly half of the small children are still separated from their families
US: Nearly half of youngest children not rejoining families By COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Thursday all eligible small children separated from their families as a result of its zero-tolerance immigration policy have been reunited with their parents. But nearly half of the children under 5 remain separated from their… Read more »
Congress battles again over family separations policies
Battle over family separations flairs anew in Congress By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress’ fight over President Donald Trump’s now abandoned policy of separating migrant families stirred anew Wednesday, drawing fresh attention to an issue that has divided Republicans and that Democrats hope will propel voters their way in the midterm elections. The… Read more »
Families Belong Together rallies in Tampa & Gulfport
WMNF’s Yvonne Gougelet contributed to this report. On Saturday more than 700 marches and rallies were organized across the country to protest the separation of families at the border; WMNF’s Rob Lorei reports that more than 3,000 people rallied at the Families Belong Together rally in Joe Chillura Courthouse Square in downtown Tampa. on MidPoint… Read more »
“I’m not a radical, and I’m not an activist” ~ Moms become protest leaders
Moms outraged by family separations become protest leaders By GILLIAN FLACCUS and AMY TAXIN, Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Immigrants who have spent years fighting to change the country’s immigration system are getting newfound support from liberal activists, moms and first-time protesters motivated by a visceral narrative: President Donald Trump’s administration separating children from their… Read more »
