By Valarie Kaur — Family, We are reeling. As we watch the horror in Afghanistan, grief and rage are tearing through us. But we are not helpless. I was just on the phone with my dear friend who has worked and lived in Kabul on and off for fifteen years. He helped build the…

Originally published in Salon, February 25 2020 — This article was produced in partnership by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. The Democratic candidates missed the opportunity last week in Nevada — a state with a 30 percent Latino population — to address the root causes…

Are migrant children being detained in hotels by private contractors? — This story, released by NPR, is both terrifying and enraging. We knew the U.S. was inhumanely separating families and detaining children. What we didn’t fully know, however, was that ICE is using secret hotels to detain children before sending them back to their home countries —ensuring that they remain undetected by the immigration system and unseen by the potential advocates who would protect them. This secret approach also prevents children from having access to the special protections that would normally kick in to prevent them from being sent back to dangerous situations. Rather than being placed in appropriate shelters, they are instead held secretly for days — sometimes weeks — and eventually sent back to the very same dangers they fled.

June 18, 2020 — Among the thousands who march each day in support of the Black Lives Matter movement are immigrants and their advocates. But protesting for them has an added risk: inadvertently winding up in immigration custody. All over the country, immigrants are expressing solidarity with the movement that has taken off since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The same organizations that advocate for migrant rights are lending their support to Black Lives Matter, and many feel compelled to also march, often saying they relate to the struggle black people face with punitive policing and racism.

April 14, 2020 — Migrants — particularly in lower paid jobs — may be both more affected by and vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19 in countries already impacted and those countries where the pandemic is spreading, but migrants also play an important role in the response to COVID-19 by working in critical sectors. As of 22 April 2020, migrants accounted for at least 10 per cent of the population in 10 of the 15 countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases (UN DESA, 2019; WHO, 2020)1. Compared to the global share of international migrants making up 3.5 per cent of the total population, international migrants are overrepresented in these countries. In addition, as of 10 March 2020, at least 1,820 movement restrictions had been implemented due to COVID-19.

June 2, 2020 — A doctor contracted by the Department of Homeland Security to advise on detention health conditions appeared before Congress on Tuesday to personally criticize the Trump administration as COVID-19 continues to spread through civil immigration detention centers. Dr. Scott Allen, an independent health expert and medical school professor, told lawmakers that the novel coronavirus‘ persistence in Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities was in part due to “some gaping holes” in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.