A union representing farm workers across the country Thursday delivered a petition to the U.S. Department of Labor calling for an end to what it calls corrupt practices among labor contractors who hire migrant workers using the H-2A visa program. The move comes after the union said a Florida-based contractor still hasn’t paid back stolen… Read more »
LATEST NEWS
Two new COVID-19 testing sites are opening in Hillsborough County
Coalition of Florida businesses call on Congress to oppose offshore finfish farming
Radioactivity Thursday: Progressives and the Biden agenda; Pasco County’s Brian Corley defends Election Integrity
“Letting Down Our Guard” on Morning Energy
German Consul to Florida discusses tourism business investment, the rise of the far-right and immigration
Read MoreVigil for victims of Customs and Border Protection violence
Read MoreSaturday in Tampa: "protest against immigrant dehumanization"
Read MoreImmigration Expert Dispels Myths About Public Benefits
Read MoreClearwater Rep. Legislator Explains Why He Criticized the "Send Her Back" Chants at the Trump Rally; Professor Points to Simi...
Read MoreWMNF Board Statement On The Treatment of Migrants in the US
Read MoreNationwide human rights demonstration "Lights 4 Liberty" comes to Tampa Friday
Read MoreWhat a Tampa resident saw from outside Homestead detention camp for migrant children
Read More#CloseTheCamps protest targets Tampa office of U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor
Read More
Migrant advocates will hold vigil and "noise demonstration" in Ybor City Friday night
Read MoreWorld Refugee Day celebration Friday in St. Petersburg
Read More
Private company helped DHS spy on “family separation” demonstrators
In the summer of 2018 there was a widespread protest movement of people upset at the Trump administration’s “family separation” policy of separating migrant kids from their parents at the border. According to a report in The Intercept, a private company compiled a list of these protests happening across the U.S. It then gave that… Read more »
Debate in Legislature as Florida Senate passes “sanctuary city” ban
On Friday the Florida Senate passed a bill that would force local governments and police departments to cooperate with federal authorities who enforce laws on immigration. The bill that would ban what are known as “sanctuary city” policies passed the State Senate on a 22-18 vote, mostly along party lines. A day earlier the Florida… Read more »
- Agriculture
- Constitution
- Criminal Justice
- Immigration
- Local Government
- News and Public Affairs
- State Government
What has the Florida Legislature done in the last 2 days?
A lot. Florida’s legislature has 60 days (though special sessions can, and are often, be called) to make lots of laws. In odd numbered years, like 2019, the session begins the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March. This year our legislature is in session from March 5, 2019, through May 3, 2019. Let’s… Read more »
Tampa Bay SDS destroys a mock ‘border wall’ at USF
President Donald Trump has backed off his threats to close the U.S.-Mexico border; but he’s still going full steam ahead on plans for a massive wall along the border. There’s a protest against that wall this afternoon on the University of South Florida Tampa campus. WMNF interviewed David Jones, a first year student at USF… Read more »
Occupy ICE Tampa protest against Trump border wall
Last Friday President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border in order to access disaster funds to build a wall between the two countries; now, local groups are planning a rally Tuesday called Block The Wall Tampa. WMNF interviewed PJ Plastino, a member of the Tampa Bay DSA (Democratic Socialists of America)… Read more »
- American History
- Central America
- Civil Liberties
- Civil Rights
- Ethnic Tension
- Foreign Policy
- Human Rights
- Immigration
- International
- Law Enforcement
- Migration
- National Government
- Native American
- News and Public Affairs
- Poverty
- South America
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 »
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 »
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 »
Human rights activists will hold vigil at U.S. Border Control office in Ybor City
The emotional scars from separating children from parents seeking asylum at the U.S. – Mexico border is just one type of violence migrants face; another is being shot by armed Border Patrol agents. This Friday afternoon, immigration activists will hold a vigil in front of the U.S. Border Control office in Ybor City. Ana Maria… Read more »
Dolores Huerta reacts to judge’s rebuke of Trump’s DACA cancellation
Dolores Huerta won the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her life of organizing workers, especially migrant farmworkers. With Cesar Chavez she co-founded the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers. Huerta will speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg in Fox Hall. WMNF began our interview by asking… Read more »
SDS plans May Day and USF sanctuary campus rallies; plus, listeners react to airstrikes on Syria
On MidPoint we asked listeners their thoughts about the latest U.S. / allied missile strikes on Syria. We also spoke about some upcoming actions by Students for a Democratic Society – a May Day rally in Ybor City and a sanctuary campus event at USF. SDS rallies: at USF for sanctuary campus and in Ybor… Read more »
- Criminal Justice
- Immigration
- Latino
- Law Enforcement
- Local Government
- National Politics
- News and Public Affairs
Bob Gualtieri takes the heat in sometimes contentious immigration debate
In January, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held a news conference in Largo, where it was announced that Pinellas and 16 other law enforcement agencies in Florida would now have “housing agreements’ with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that would allow federal agents more time to pick up arrested undocumented immigrants from local jails. The… Read more »
