Daily Headlines: September 11, 2014

* Brazil: New government data indicated that deforestation in the Amazon rainforest increased for the second consecutive year due to illegal logging and the expansion of major infrastructure projects.

* Central America: Panama’s president claimed that a major expansion of the Panama Canal is expected to be completed in December 2015 while construction of a planned interoceanic waterway in Nicaragua will reportedly commence later this year.

* U.S.: Homeland Security senior officials denied rumors of ISIS terrorists trying to cross the border from Mexico into the U.S.

* Haiti: Over one million doses of a treatment for the chikungunya virus as authorities worry that the rainy season could worsen the outbreak of the disease.

Video Source – YouTube user EarthOutreach

Online Sources – BBC News; ABC News; Inside Costa Rica; TVNZ; New York Daily News

Ads Nauseam: Behind bars

A series of U.S. Department of Homeland Security ads aimed at preventing human trafficking will soon be airing domestically according to a CNN.com article. Viewers in parts of the U.S. will soon be able to see the same ads for the "Don't Be Fooled" campaign that have already aired in Central America and Mexico.

"We want to involve the American public in ending this abomination," said David Aguilar, deputy administrator of Customs and Border Protection, regarding human trafficking. Hence, the ads will air in states that are key immigrant destinations (e.g. Florida, Georgia, and Washington) where the issue of trafficking may not be as well known in comparison to border states.

Will the ads be as memorable as some federally-funded counternarcotics commercials like in the "This is Your Brain on Drugs" series of the 1990s? Or will the DHS series be ineffective like federally-funded anti-drug commercials (according to a 2006 Government Accountability Office report)? Check it out for yourself:

Online Sources - CNN, Wikipedia, AdAge.com
Video Source - YouTube

Daily Headlines: June 25, 2010

* Mexico: The U.S. plans to deploy a pair of unmanned drones along the Texas-Mexico border as part of a comprehensive border security plan.

* Haiti: The New York Times looks at how areas of post-earthquake Port-au-Prince have become an “ideal climate for rape.”

* Venezuela: Authorities threatened U.S.-owned Helmerich and Payne with nationalizing eleven oil rigs due to a dispute with PDVSA.

* Ecuador: Several entertainment groups and documentarians have publicly defended the director of a film critical of Chevron and their alleged illegal dumping in Ecuador.

Image – Washington Post
Online Sources- Variety, AFP, New York Times, Reuters

Undocumented Haitian migrants granted TPS

A few days ago we wondered if undocumented Haitian migrants would receive temporary protected status (TPS) in the aftermath of Tuesday’s massive earthquake. On Friday, the White House answered that question:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Haitians would be granted Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, that would allow undocumented individuals living in the United States to remain for 18 months. That would allow them to renew or obtain drivers licenses, and work legally.

"Providing a temporary refuge for Haitian nationals... whose personal safety would be endangered by returning to Haiti is part of this administration's continuing efforts to support Haiti's recovery," Napolitano said.

Though having TPS would protect Haitians from being deported having such a status requires paying a $340 fee and denies them the chance to become permanent U.S. residents or citizens. TPS would not help Haitians trying to depart their devastated homeland; Napolitano warned that those “attempting to leave Haiti now will only bring more hardship to the Haitian people and nation.” (Nevertheless, immigration officials in South Florida are preparing for a “mass exodus” from Haiti).

Several prominent Democratic and Republican politicos backed the TPS decision though one GOP lawmaker cold-heartedly claimed that Haitian migrants “have no reason to fear deportation but if they are deported, Haiti is in great need of relief workers.” The move also received partial support from some anti-immigration groups but the head of the Center for Immigration Studies cautioned that “all previous grants of TPS in actual fact ended up being permanent.”

Issuing TPS to Haitians has been a move long advocated by Haitian expats as well as immigration activists. According to Napolitano, an “estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Haitians ‘not legally in the United States’ as of Jan. 12” would receive TPS.

The Pan American Health Organization estimated that the death toll from Tuesday’s tremor is 50,000 to 100,000 while over a dozen aftershocks have shaken Haiti over the past five days.

(Hat tip: Global Voices Online).

Image- The Globe and Mail (“Children from an orphanage destroyed during the earthquake in Fontamara close to Port au Prince.”)
Online Sources- Globs Voices Online, The Latin Americanist, Miami Herald, AFP, csmonitor.com, cbs4.com, New York Times, Wonkette, YouTube, NPR, Xinhua

DHS policy change may help detained minors

Contributed by Jill Seymour:

It is no secret that there are many flaws in our immigration system and especially in the facilities where illegal immigrants are held. In the last two years, many stories have surfaced about immigrants dying in detention facilities because of medical conditions and/or lack of medical care, those who disappear into the system, and even those with mental illnesses. Overlooked are the children who are in the system, often separated from their families, and placed in detention facilities with violent criminals.

This week, a small glimmer of hope has shined down upon us from the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. After much criticism about our detention system, the Obama administration is looking at how immigrants are detained. Most people who are accused of immigration violations are sent to jail facilities, when only about 11 percent of them have committed violent crimes. The image of non-violent women and children offenders being hauled off to jail is not a pretty thought. With the changes being discussed, a new classification system would be devised to deal with people who have medical or mental health needs and the new detention center models could be converted hotels and nursing homes. These new options would be less expensive, under contract costing around $14 a day, far cheaper than the $100 a day under contract that jail facilities cost.

Image- Maryland Film Festival (Scene from the documentary “The Least of These” which focuses on families held in the T. Don Hutto Residential Center.)
Online Sources- Immigration Policy Center, New York Times

Reprieve granted to three deported minors

In a rare moment of clarity, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reversed its decision to deport three teens on their way to school.

The three minors between the ages of 15 and 17 were nabbed last month in San Diego while waiting at a trolley stop. The minors were not engaging in any crime at the time of arrest and their parents were living in the U.S. Yet immigration officials claimed that they couldn’t find the teens’ legal guardians and thus sent them to Mexico.

After uproar by the community and immigrants rights activists, DHS granted the kids a “humanitarian parole” and allowed them to return to the U.S. Though proper procedure was not followed by immigration officials, DHS claimed that “authorities took into account the totality of the circumstances and what was in the best interest of the minors and their families.” The three former deportees will be granted the chance to appear in front of a judge to argue their case and could be sent to Mexico again.

The above case demonstrates one of the main fallacies if the current immigration policy: the agenizing splitting of families. Yesterday, the nonprofit American Fraternity reiterated its plans to sue President Barack Obama to halt the deportations of the parents of 150 children until immigration reform is passed. Until Obama and the rest of the politicos get their collective heads out of the sand, however, heart wrenching tales like that of Ronald Soza will continue:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Online Sources- MSNBC, AP, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune

New Strategy for US-Mexico Border

The United States announced its new joint strategy for dealing with drug trafficking on the U.S.-Mexico border today, the AP reports, at a news conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Attorney General Eric Holder.

It is hoped that the strategy will allow the United States to better coordinate with state, local and Mexican police on drug-related issues. Some specific aspects of the plan include: visual shields at the border so lookouts for the drug cartels cannot alert drivers about inspection points, an increase in intelligence analysts and the revival of an interargency working group. Bloomberg reports that the new strategy will give police officers in patrol cars access to federal databases so that they are able to check to see if suspects that they pull over are involved in drug cases. Lastly, the plan proposes $8 million for the hiring of new U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency officers in the next fiscal year.

Online sources: Associated Press, Bloomberg
Image credit: Minnesota Public Radio

New rules to impact U.S.-Mexico border

Legally crossing the border into the U.S. will be different after several new rules are going to come into effect on Monday.

The new rules- which were drafted shortly after 9/11- states that U.S. citizens returning home from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda will need to carry one of several approved types of government-issued IDs. The method of showing a regular driver's license or birth certificate and answering a few questions will be scrapped. Instead, travelers will have to show forms like a valid U.S. passport or an enhanced driver's license (only available in Michigan, New York, Vermont and Washington).

The new rules reportedly don’t apply to travelers returning from Puerto Rico due to the island’s status as a U.S. commonwealth. Mexican nationals- such as the hundreds who cross the border to shop, work, or go to school- are also exempt from the new regulations:

All Mexican nationals, including children, are currently required to present a passport with a nonimmigrant visa or other approved travel documents to cross the U.S. border. The new law will not change current practices.

However, it will affect U.S. residents attempting to re-enter the country at the southern border. They will face the same document requirements as at the northern border.

Image- AP
Online Sources- Connecticut Post, CNN, Houston Chronicle, Canada.com

Today’s Video: The bubbling cauldron

Are a weakened economy, the election of a black president, and illegal immigration factors in an increase of right-wing extremism in the U.S.? The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) thinks so in a confidential report leaked this week:

As the above video showed, rightist commentators are peeved at the report. One of them has even called for the resignation of DHS chief Janet Napolitano. Also upset are some veterans groups like the American Legion whose president called the study "incomplete, and, I fear, politically-biased".

Napolitano released a statement emphasizing that “we are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not -- nor will we ever -- monitor ideology or political beliefs.” In addition, the Obama administration issued a warning months ago about some far leftist groups and the previous Bush administration issued published several reports on “left-wing extremism”.

There are terrorists abroad who target the U.S. and foolishly wish for the country’s destruction. Yet there are also domestic fringe groups on both sides of the ideological spectrum who for different reasons have the same objective: to spread fear, violence, and anarchy. Monitoring all of them should not be an easy excuse for the country to become an overbearing surveillance state yet we must be alert against the danger these groups pose.

Online Sources- CNN, AFP, UPI, BBC News, Guardian UK, Think Progress

U.S. plans large maze for southern border

Last week the White House announced plans to stem the overflow of violence from Mexico. Hidden in the proposal’s small print is a unique idea for entry into the U.S.

The secret clause in the plan calls for the building of a fifty acre shrubbery maze several miles away from the San Diego-Tijuana border crossing. Though Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano admitted recently that she’s not too keen on a lengthy barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border she appears to be okay with the shrubbery maze.

As a DHS spokesman admitted today:

“The maze adds an element of fun for those who wish to cross our border by foot. Migrants who are smart and strong enough to make it to the center will be allowed to enter the country legally. We hope they enjoy the challenge”.

The maze plan is expected to peeve off groups on both sides of the immigration debate. Immigrants rights’ activists worry that the maze is too big and the walls will be too high. Meanwhile, some border vigilantes are worried that they’ll have no webcams to look at and that they may have to do something better with their time.

Image- Guardian UK (Artistic rendition of the planned border shrubbery maze)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Al Jazeera English

Daily Headlines: February 16, 2009

* Brazil: Swiss police said that a Brazilian woman may’ve faked her claims that she was pregnant and attacked by a trio of skinheads.

* Paraguay: Today is President’s Day in the U.S. and apparently nobody can be prouder of that than Paraguayans.

* U.S.: A Department of Homeland Security report released on Friday concluded that over 100,000 immigrant parents of U.S. citizens were deported between 1997 and 2007.

* Mexico: The country’s Supreme Court ruled that riot police “committed serious human rights violations” such sexually abusing women during 2006 protests in the town of San Salvador Atenco.

Image- AP (“The scarred midsection, allegedly of Paula Oliveira, 26, of Brazil, can be seen in this photo taken in Zurich, Switzerland, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009, and given to a Brazilian newspaper by Oliveira's family. Zurich police on Thursday were investigating an alleged skinhead assault on Oliveira that caused her to miscarry twins and left her scarred with the initials of Switzerland's main right-wing party.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, MSNBC, New York Times, LAHT

DHS nominee vows to fix “broken” immigration system

Actions speak louder than words and I won’t be satisfied until compressive, fair, and well-meaning immigration reforms are passed. However, we may be headed in that direction very soon if the testimony of Department of Homeland Security nominee Janet Napolitano is to be believed:

Janet Napolitano, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for homeland security secretary, told a congressional panel this morning that fixing the “broken” U.S. immigration system would be a priority.

Napolitano, 51, is a critic of U.S. immigration policy. As governor of Arizona, a border state, she called for the National Guard to help secure the Mexican border and billed the federal government for state services used by illegal immigrants. She would be integral in pushing legislation Obama supports to boost enforcement as well as opportunities for foreign workers.

“I have walked, flown over, and ridden horseback along our southwest border,” Napolitano told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “I appreciate its vastness, as well as the grave consequences of our broken system.”

Mind you, Napolitano’s testimony won’t please nativists who will whine about “shamnesty” or some pro-immigrant factions who will complain about too much enforcement. But compromise is needed to reform a busted immigration system and reverse backwards immigration policies.

On a related note, a report released yesterday concluded that the weakening U.S. economy has not caused a return of illegal immigrants to their countries of origin. The study conducted by the Migration Policy Institute noted that illegal immigrants tend to jump from state to state seeking better economic conditions rather than leave the U.S.

Image- AP (“In this Dec. 3, 2008 file photo, Homeland Security Secretary-designate Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, left, speaks as Vice President-elect Joe Biden, center, is briefed by Jim Talent, co-chair Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, right, at the presidential transition headquarters in Washington.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, Bloomberg, New York Times

Daily Headlines: January 12, 2009

* U.S.: The nominee to be the next head of Homeland Security- Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano– said that more Border Patrol officers are needed and expressed some reservations over constructing border barriers.

* Bolivia: Catholic Church officials denied that the diocese planned a local day of prayer which united opposition leaders.

* U.S.: A Guatemalan woman testified in court that she was forced to become a prostitute after migrating into the U.S.

* Dominican Republic: Brazilian firm Embraer sold eight “light-attack aircraft” to the Dominican Republic, according to execs with the company.

Image- Tuscon Weekly
Online Sources- eastvalleytribune.com, Catholic News Agency, UPI, Reuters

Critics blast Homeland Security reality show

Last night was the debut episode of a reality show that looks at the work of Department of Homeland Security officers. The show may turn out to be a hit, yet critical reception to “Homeland Security USA” has been largely negative. Here are a few choice quotes from some critics:

• Tom Shales (Washington Post)

It's doubtful that very many viewers will feel more secure after witnessing that and other Keystone Kop-like operations; there's little about "Homeland Security USA" that's warmly reassuring in the post-9/11 world …Even if it's better to be safe than sorry, however, "Homeland" still seems a sorry excuse for a television show.

• Richard (Gawker)

If a TSA agent cries after making you take off your shoes or throw away expensive makeup, will you still be mad at him?

• Verne Gay (Newsday)

Not particularly exciting, and it does occasionally feel like a commercial for the government agencies that helped produce it. But it is nominally instructive and engaging.

• Linda Stasi (New York Post)

While we're all used to these sometimes silly, sometimes humiliating, often over-the-top but usually necessary security measures imposed since 9/11 that are about as much fun as a two-hour MRI…But are these measures worth a whole series? Not really.

• Carrie Kahn (NPR)

At first, the show has the feel of a glitzy public service announcement or a fast-paced recruitment video. But within minutes, the feverish pitch slows slightly to show off the unprecedented access given to ABC's producers.

• Mark A. Perigard (Boston Herald)

While “Homeland Security” displays the dedication of agents, it also quite inadvertently could be giving tips to train a better class of criminal.

Did you watch “Homeland Security USA”; if so what did you think of it?

Image- New York Times
Online Sources- Washington Post, Gawker, Newsday, New York Post, NPR, Boston Herald