New regulations and restrictions on applications for asylum for 2020.

New extensive restrictions on applying for asylum in the U.S.  Jan. 1, 2020.

https://www.univision.com/noticias/inmigracion/entre-prohibiciones-y-amenazas-como-la-politica-migratoria-de-trump-cambio-las-reglas-de-juego-en-eeuu

Pope Francis on Migration and Dignity

ICE To Collect Data From Adults Picking Up Migrant Kids From Shelters:

Under a secret plan by Trump aide Stephen Miller, federal agents could gather information to target migrants for deportation, The Washington Post reports.

By Sarah Ruiz-Grossman

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be able to collect fingerprints and other information from adults who come to get unaccompanied migrant children from shelters under a new plan designed by President Donald Trump’s senior immigration adviser, Stephen Miller, according to The Washington Post. 

This month the White House planned to have ICE agents embedded in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, which runs government shelters for unaccompanied children who cross the border into the U.S. ― but senior officials at HHS rejected the plan, the Post reported, citing unnamed current and former administration officials. 

However, HHS officials agreed to let ICE collect fingerprints and other biometric information from adults who came to claim unaccompanied children. If the adults were deemed “ineligible” to take the child into custody, ICE could use the information to arrest and deport them.   

This appears to skirt laws meant to limit HHS’ refugee program from being used to deport potential sponsors of unaccompanied children and may drive fear among migrants and discourage potential sponsors living in the United States ― often family members ― from coming forward to get the children out of government shelters.

HuffPost reached out to the White House, ICE and HHS for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

California DOJ Cuts Off ICE Deportation Officers from State Law Enforcement Database

California DOJ Cuts Off ICE Deportation Officers from State Law Enforcement Database

Young Latinos Have Strong Preference for Sanders

By Adrian D. Pantoja

In a previous analysis, I noted that Bernie Sanders is a clear favorite among Latino voters in California. A recent study by The Latino Community Foundation shows that young Latinos have an even stronger preference for Sanders, with over two-thirds rating the senator favorably. The favorability gap between Sanders and the other Democratic contenders is significant, yet all are evaluated higher than Donald Trump. Interestingly, the data show a significant gender gap when it comes to Donald Trump.

Latinas rate Trump unfavorably by 83 percent, while male Latinos rate him unfavorably by 69 percent—a 14 point gap. Regrettably, Elizabeth Warren, the top remaining female candidate, has failed to use this to her advantage. In fact, Warren is rated less favorably by Latinas (44 percent favorable) than by Latinos (52 percent favorable). Given the high stakes of the California primary, the failure of key Democratic candidates to reach out to young Latinas may prove to be a strategic mistake.

Moreover, young Latinos are advantaged because they are overwhelmingly U.S.-born citizens. A lack of citizenship has long stymied the growth of the Latino electorate. That barrier is eroding as the balance of power shifts toward younger voters. Capitalizing on their numbers and energy could prove to be decisive in determining the winner of the Democratic presidential primary. Presently, one candidate appears to be doing just that—Bernie Sanders.

Sanders’ lead among young Latinos is due to his policy issues, the establishment of offices in Latino communities, hiring significant numbers of Latino staff and receiving endorsements from influential Latinos. He is offering a blueprint that others should follow for winning young Latino voters and the wider Hispanic electorate.

***

Adrian D. Pantoja is a Professor of Politics at Pitzer College and Senior Analyst for Latino Decisions.

U.S. Labor Defends Mexican Labor

DRIVING THE DAY

HOW LABOR BEAT MEXICO ON TRADE: After weeks of negotiations, Mexico was nearly ready to walk away from the USMCA. The issue: whether the AFL-CIO could send American inspectors into Mexican factories where workers weren't being given their full union rights. But, in the end, Mexico agreed to last-minute concessions that will allow multinational inspection teams to investigate allegations of labor violations, POLITICO's Sabrina Rodriguez and Ian Kullgren report. The new enforcement mechanism was enough to win the endorsement of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, marking the first time the federation had endorsed a trade agreement since 2001. Under the deal, "the U.S. can file a complaint to Mexico if it suspects that a factory is denying its workers their union rights," Rodriguez and Kullgren report. "If Mexico agrees that there is a problem at the factory, the Mexican government has 45 days to solve the problem." But if Mexico does not mitigate the problem, the U.S. can demand creation of a panel made up of three independent labor experts, one of them American, to investigate the facility. (Mexico will be similarly free to investigate and inspect American factories.) One big victory for Democrats and labor, Rodriguez and Kullgren write, "is that the U.S. can impose stiff penalties on Mexican factories if they fail to uphold union rights. If a factory has recurring violations, the U.S. can block the goods made there from entering the country."  Ed. note:  If this seems a little arrogant- it is. Mexico reformed its labor laws to overcome this particular problem of company unions last Spring under the AMLO government.  But, governments come and go.  This tries to establish free labor unions under any government.  Note: Mexico can also investigate U.S. work sites, That should be interesting for Uber, Amazon, and others.

Methodist church’s nativity scene depicts Jesus, Mary and Joseph as separated and caged family

Methodist church’s nativity scene depicts Jesus, Mary and Joseph as separated and caged family: A Christmas nativity display outside a Methodist church in southern California features a separated and caged Holy Family, in direct criticism of inhumane administration policies that have included attacks on refugees and the forcible separation of family.

Border Patrol Refuses free Vaccination for Migrants

U.S. Border Officials Refuse Free Flu Vaccine For Migrants

US border officials deny request by doctors to administer free flu vaccine to detained migrants. Common Dreams: “A group of doctors seeking to vaccinate migrants detained by President Donald Trump’s Customs and Border Patrol were denied at the gates of the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station in San Ysidro, San Diego Monday. ‘Refusing to vaccinate is inhumane,’ tweeted Immigrant Families Together director Julie Schwietert Collazo. ‘The agency is willingly putting lives at risk of death.’ It was the latest example of what critics of the administration call the “intentional cruelty” of Trump’s immigration policies. ‘People are needlessly suffering and dying,’ said Dr. Marie DeLuca, one of the physicians who was turned away. ‘You can’t lock people up in inhumane conditions, watch them get sick, and then refuse them access to medical care.’ The doctors were supported by a coalition of immigration advocates, including the groups Doctors for Camp Closures, Families Belong Together, and Never Again Action. Monday’s action marks the beginning of a planned week of action by the doctors and others at Chula Vista. In a statement, Families Belong Together chair Jess Morales Rocketto said that recent reporting from ProPublica on the death from flu and border patrol inaction of an immigrant child in detention gave the protest added urgency. ‘This administration’s cruel immigration agenda is intentionally barring life-saving medical care from children by refusing to provide vaccines during flu season,’ said Rocketto. ‘Earlier this year, as immigration authorities sat by, 16-year-old Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez died from the flu on the floor of his concrete jail cell.'”

Capitalism, Imperialism, and Borders - Webinar

The Democratic Socialists of America’s Immigrant Rights Working Group organized a very successful webinar on the topic, No One Is Illegal! Capitalism, Imperialism and Borders on November 21. Hundreds of people registered and about eighty participated.  We were assisted by the national office of DSA. 

For those that missed the webinar live, find the link to the recording here.

https://drive.google.com/a/dsausa.org/file/d/1klH099AlL9hst23I0rDKyUW_vA8jISWI/view?usp=sharing

 We encourage immigrant rights groups and activists  to share it and also organize discussions around it. The speakers explained the roots and nature of the attack on immigrants and presented a working class strategy for resistance and liberation.

This webinar is the first of several that we will be organizing. The next one will be a version of this one in Spanish. Please stay tuned for details on that one. We are also going to be putting together a webinar on practical tips and models for immigrant rights organizing. 

Many on the first webinar asked for more information from the panelists who joined us. See below for both their bios and publications. Also, to supplement these, we encourage everyone to read, share and discuss the many excellent articles in the DSA’s Fall 2019 Socialist Forum. 

Harsha Walia is a community organizer and cofounder of No One Is Illegal. She is the author of Undoing Border Imperialism. She’s based in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada.

Todd Miller is the author of Empire of Borders, Border Patrol Nation. You can read an interview that summarizes his argument on Jacobin. He writes for NACLA among other publications. He’s based in Tucson, Arizona. 

Justin Akers Chacon is the author of No One is Illegal and Radicals in the Barrio. He wrote a recent article on Punto Rojo entitled The Anti-Migrant International. He is an immigrant rights activist in San Diego, California and a co-founder of the Coalition to Close the Concentration Camps.

Jorge Mújica is author of Voces Migrantes: Movimiento 10 de Marzo, a member of DSA, an Organizer with Arise Chicago, and a National Council member of the National Writers Union. He is based in Chicago, Illinois. 

Enviar a niños solos para que crucen la frontera: el drama de decenas de...

Menudo Fundraiser- Dec 7.