Today's Liberal News

Gabe Ortiz

Cory Booker becomes the second senator to join farmworkers as part of ‘Take Our Jobs’ challenge

New Jersey’s Cory Booker joined California farmworkers last week to harvest lettuce, plant tomatoes, and prepare leafy greens for selling, becoming the second U.S. senator to take part in the “Take Our Jobs” campaign.

To date, only Booker and California Senator Alex Padilla have accepted the challenge from United Farm Workers’ (UFW), UFW Foundation (UFWF), and farmworkers to work side-by-side with them for one day.

‘Long live Plyler v. Doe’: Historic case that guarantees public education to all kids turns 40

The Latino families that launched the landmark lawsuit that guaranteed a public school education to all children regardless of immigration status went to court at great risk to themselves. An NBC News report marking the 40th anniversary of the Plyler v. Doe case this week said that when one of the four Texas families went to court to testify, they took their belongings with them because they were afraid they’d be deported.

The case would eventually go to the U.S.

Bilingual ‘Show Me Your Friends’ campaign shows ties between Republican candidates and extremists

There’s a popular saying in Spanish that goes: dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres. In English, it translates to, show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are. It basically means that you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. 

That knowledge is essential when an entire political party has openly embraced white supremacist rhetoric and authoritarianism.

Immigrant families cry, celebrate after Massachusetts legislature overrides GOP governor’s veto

The Massachusetts legislature on Thursday easily overrode Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto of legislation opening driver’s licenses to undocumented residents. When the Work and Mobility Act goes into effect in July 2023, the commonwealth will join at least 16 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., in making roads and communities safer by allowing undocumented residents to drive legally.

Latino civil rights group MALDEF sues Illinois landlord who threatened tenants with deportation

Illinois couple Maria Maltos Escutia and Gabriel Valdez Garcia entered a verbal agreement to rent a basement apartment in 2017, agreeing to pay Marco Antonio Contreras and Denise Contreras $600 a month. This verbal agreement continued on for several years until early 2020, when the Contreras’ asked for a signed contract, to which Maltos Escutia and Valdez Garcia agreed.

‘Words are not enough’: Civil rights groups urge release of meatpacking plant worker targeted by ICE

Civil rights advocates in Mississippi have added their voices to the call for freedom for Lladi Ambrocio-Garcia, Mississippi Free Press reports. The former food plant worker was deported following a retaliatory workplace raid in 2019. When she attempted to reunite with her family in the U.S., she was again detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She has now been held for months across numerous dangerous facilities.

Mexico to reroute trade railway connection from Texas to New Mexico due to Abbott’s $4 billion stunt

Mexico has been planning a trade railway that spans thousands of miles from Mazatlán to Winnipeg, with a connection in Texas. But while the T-MEC Corridor railway connecting the two nations is still happening, the stop in Texas is not.

Mexican officials have now decided to instead reroute the line through New Mexico, The Dallas Morning News reports. It’s a major loss for Texas, because border states thrive and depend on international trade.

Biden administration expands Ukrainian TPS eligibility to thousands more people

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it is changing the cutoff date for Ukrainian Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a welcomed decision that stands to greatly increase the number of immigrants eligible for relief.

The Biden administration initially announced that Ukrainian immigrants who are already in the U.S. as of March 1 would be eligible to apply. But this week, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced a new eligibility date of April 11.

Black immigrants welcome Cameroonian TPS, continue urging relief for Ethiopia and Mauritania

In a victory for Black immigrants and Black-led organizations that have been leading this years-long fight, the Biden administration announced on Friday that it will designate Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), citing “extreme violence perpetrated by government forces and armed separatists.” 

The decision stands to shield from deportation tens of thousands of Cameroonian immigrants who are already in the U.S., advocates said.

Numerous immigrants jailed at CoreCivic prison claim sexual misconduct by staff worker

The CoreCivic-operated Otay Mesa Detention Center in California is back in the news for the usual, but no less horrific, reason: it’s abusive treatment of people in its custody.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that a number of immigrants have reported sexual misconduct by a staff worker, who they say walked into their cells unannounced and stared at their groins and buttocks while making inappropriate remarks.

‘My life matters too’: Black migrants note disparate treatment under U.S. immigration policy

Reports last winter revealed that while the Biden administration was internally warned that Haitian deportations under Stephen Miller’s anti-asylum policy could violate human rights and international refugee law, they continued into the thousands. But just a few months later, the administration would then also issue a memo reminding U.S. border officers that they have the discretion to exempt Ukrainians from the policy.

‘Operate with impunity’: Internal email warns of risks facing asylum-seekers under Remain in Mexico

The GOP-led effort to resurrect the cruel Remain in Mexico policy continues to endanger the lives of asylum-seekers. BuzzFeed News reports that the State Department urged the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pause sending vulnerable people enrolled in the inhumane policy to a Mexican city where “heavily armed members of criminal group” have been operating “with impunity.

ICE lies again, this time claiming to Congress that detained people have had ‘unabated’ legal access

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have made it purposefully difficult for detained immigrants to be able to access legal representation, and it’s all been right out there in the open.

In one example, ICE gladly used the pandemic to try to block lawyers from seeing their clients, by requiring them to bring their own face masks. This doesn’t seem like a big ask in March 2022.

‘Glades is a dangerous place for immigrants’: EPA is urged to probe chemical misuse at ICE facility

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is being asked to investigate the illegal misuse of a toxic chemical at a Florida immigration detention facility that already has a history of human rights abuses. More than two dozen groups are urging the agency to probe Florida’s Glades County Detention Center (GCDC), expressing worry the facility is miusing the chemicals at up to 50 times the permitted concentration.

Russian invasion forced flight cancellation for some Ukrainian refugees approved to arrive to U.S.

Viktoriya, a U.S. citizen originally from Ukraine, tells CNN that she’s agonizing over what she can do to help loved ones who are also in the immigration process but have now had to flee their homes following brutal Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s invasion. “Right now, they are in different places, which makes us scared,” she said in the report. “They don’t know what to do.

‘I just want to get out of here’: Immigrants testify on abusive conditions at New York facilities

Immigrants and their advocates testified on detention facilities before a New York City council hearing this week, detailing inhumane and abusive conditions that people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody are frequently subjected to in New York-area facilities (and around the country).

Testimony included people currently in detention. They submitted their experiences in written statements.

Following disturbing human rights report, advocates again urge deportation relief for Cameroonians

Affected individuals and advocates have in recent days renewed calls for the Biden administration to protect thousands of Cameroonian immigrants from deportation and imminent harm. While lawmakers led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Karen Bass urged the implementation of temporary protections last November, Cameroonians have not yet been able to access critical relief. Without protections, they risk being deported to imminent danger.

Despite new memo, advocates say Border Patrol’s shadow police units still have no legal authority

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memo that claims to limit the power of the shadow police units that have for years worked to cover up abuses by border agents, including the brutal death of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas in 2010. The Feb. 2 memo loops in the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which investigates misconduct among federal employees.

Groups urge California leaders to act as virus again sweeps though immigration detention facilities

Dozens of immigrant rights groups and legal service providers have issued a letter urging California leaders to use their available authority to protect immigrants in federal custody against the exploding COVID-19 numbers seen in detention facilities across the state and nation. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has claimed that if detained immigrants want a booster, all they have to do is ask. But a recent lawsuit has shown that’s a complete lie.

Immigrant communities describe ‘relief’ after Georgia sheriffs terminate ICE agreements

Georgia Sheriff Keybo Taylor campaigned—and won—on ending Gwinnett County’s harmful 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This is the racist policy that allows local law enforcement to act as mass deportation agents. On his first day in office at the very end of 2020, Taylor kept his promise and terminated the agreement.

In Cobb County, Sheriff Craig Owens also won on the issue that same year.

‘Requests have been simply ignored’: ACLU sues ICE for refusing to boost detained immigrants

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have tried to push back on very legitimate criticisms that they’ve completely failed on pandemic safety response by claiming that if detained people want to be vaccinated or boosted against the virus, all they have to do is ask.

But a group of medically vulnerable immigrants says they have asked to be protected, and have been denied.