North American immigrant issues
Trump threatens to shut US-Mexico border, cuts aid to Central America
By Patrick Martin, 1 April 2019
The Trump administration is cutting off $600 million in aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, while threatening to devastate the economy of Mexico by closing the US-Mexico border.
Trump administration ordered jails to hold thousands of US citizens for deportation
By Norisa Diaz, 30 March 2019
ICE sent the Miami-Dade County jails 420 detainer requests for US citizens over a two-year period, but across the country the numbers are in the unknown thousands.
US detaining immigrants under highway overpass in Texas amid renewed crackdown
By Eric London, 29 March 2019
Amidst a media blackout, the Trump administration is arresting unprecedented numbers of immigrants at the border while demanding the expansion of internment camps.
Outrage grows over leaked government database targeting journalists, activists at US-Mexico border
By Kevin Martinez, 29 March 2019
Congressional committees are now seeking information on repression of journalists and civil rights activists by the Trump administration.
Pentagon announces transfer of $1 billion for border wall construction
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 28 March 2019
The Pentagon announcement came as Congress failed to override Trump’s veto supporting his declaration of a national emergency on the US-Mexico border.
US Supreme Court rules government can indefinitely detain immigrants years after release from criminal custody
By Niles Niemuth, 20 March 2019
The ruling emboldens the Trump administration in its fascistic war on immigrants, giving Immigration and Customs Enforcement a free hand to detain any migrant who has served time for an offense.
US Senate votes to overturn Trump emergency decree
By Patrick Martin, 15 March 2019
The resolution has no immediate practical effect, because Trump will veto it and there is little prospect of an override by Congress, which requires a two-thirds vote.
Trump Homeland Security chief defends family separation and caging children
By Patrick Martin, 7 March 2019
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee, one of four congressional hearings Wednesday on aspects of US immigration policy.
US detains 77,000 immigrants at border in February, a 10-year high
By Norisa Diaz, 6 March 2019
The number of immigrants detained at the border hit a 10 year high in February, while employer audits and mass workplace sweeps continue to rise.
Reports document sexual abuse of immigrant children detained in US
By Eric London, 28 February 2019
The Trump administration’s assault on immigrants underscores the urgent need to oppose all attacks on democratic rights and due process.
Immigrants endure inhuman conditions at ICE prison in New Jersey
By Erik Schreiber, 26 February 2019
A report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general describes detainees sickened by spoiled meat and moldy bread, forced to sleep on mattresses that are falling apart and shower in areas filled with mildew.
Sixteen Democratic-led states file lawsuit against Trump’s national emergency
By Eric London, 21 February 2019
As the faction fight in the ruling class intensifies, the legal question the courts will answer is: can the president usurp the powers of the legislature?
“My story belongs to every single human being who has sacrificed and risked their life in search of a better life”
Mexican migrant details harrowing journey across the Sonoran desert following deportation
By Angel Andres and Anthony del Olmo, 20 February 2019
The threats posed by an unforgiving terrain and climate are only a portion of the dangerous landscape that is filled with the Mexican police, cartel thugs and the US border patrol.
Forty-five-year-old migrant dies in US Border Patrol custody
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 20 February 2019
A 45-year old man taken into custody by Customs and Border Patrol for “illegal reentry” early this month died in a medical facility in McAllen, Texas.
ICE raids terrorize immigrants across the US Southwest
By Norisa Diaz, 18 February 2019
A five-day immigration sweep in Southern California targeting 122 businesses has led to the arrest of 212 immigrants.
No More Deaths volunteers prosecuted for providing humanitarian aid to migrants
By Anthony del Olmo, 16 February 2019
The targeting of humanitarian aid groups is a warning that no one will be spared in the administration’s fascistic attack on immigrants.
As Congress enacts huge “border security” bill
Trump to declare national emergency to build wall
By Patrick Martin, 15 February 2019
The emergency declaration is an authoritarian move that overrides the constitutional separation of powers, elevating the executive branch above the legislative.
Uncertainty hangs over US border deal as shutdown deadline nears
By Patrick Martin, 14 February 2019
President Trump has not yet guaranteed that he will sign the deal to provide $1.375 billion to fund his planned border wall.
Mexican President López Obrador cracks down on Central American migrants
By Don Knowland, 14 February 2019
Central American immigrants detained in Piedras Negras, Coahuila on the Texas border are rebelling against detention at the hands of López Obrador.
Following Democrats' capitulation on border wall
Trump pushes for more anti-immigrant concessions from the Democrats
By Barry Grey, 13 February 2019
The government funding agreement represents a capitulation by the Democrats to Trump’s demand for a border wall and his mass detention of undocumented immigrants.
Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage detained by ICE agents in “targeted operation”
By Nick Barrickman, 11 February 2019
The 26-year-old Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph is facing “removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts” for overstaying a temporary residency visa that expired in 2006.
US “border security”: Troops, torture, barbaric prisons
By Patrick Martin, 5 February 2019
While the Democrats claim to oppose Trump’s wall, they support all the other repressive actions carried out against defenseless immigrants and refugees.
Immigrants in US subjected to nasal force-feeding at ICE detention center
By Patrick Martin, 1 February 2019
The Trump administration has imported the savage tortures carried out at Guantanamo Bay and other CIA prisons, for use against immigrants and refugees.
The fraud of "oversight" by Democrats
Pentagon officials provide few answers at House committee hearing on troops at the border
By Kevin Martinez, 31 January 2019
The new committee, staffed by many former military officials, failed to get any real answers from the Pentagon brass and instead gave them a platform to ask for more funds and troops.
ICE arrests of immigrants at New York courthouses up by 1,700 percent since 2016
By Josh Varlin, 30 January 2019
A report by the Immigrant Defense Project indicates that ICE routinely violates its own rules for such arrests.
NBC’s Tom Brokaw provokes backlash over “assimilation” comment
By Patrick Martin, 29 January 2019
During Sunday’s broadcast of “Meet the Press,” former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw gave vent to the racism, anti-immigrant bigotry and sheer ignorance that media pundits usually keep under wraps.
Trump retreats on federal shutdown
By Patrick Martin, 26 January 2019
The political confrontation over White House demands for a border wall has only been postponed for three weeks, with Trump reiterating threats to declare a national emergency.
Trump’s war on immigrants escalates
Thousands seeking asylum in US to be pushed back into Mexico
By Norisa Diaz, 26 January 2019
The Department of Homeland Security will force asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their immigration cases are considered in the United States, forcing many to languish on the streets for months or years.
“If giving water to someone dying of thirst is illegal, what humanity is left in the law of this country?”
Four “No More Deaths” volunteers convicted for providing humanitarian aid to migrants crossing US border
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 22 January 2019
A Federal Judge in Arizona has rendered a guilty verdict against four volunteers from “No More Deaths” for the crime of leaving water and food in the Arizona desert to help migrants.
Mexican strikers show working class answer to capitalist reaction at US-Mexico border
By Eric London, 17 January 2019
At the US-Mexico border, the two chief social classes under capitalism—the capitalist class and the working class—are demonstrating the two alternatives for the future of mankind.
Pentagon extends troop deployment at Mexican border until September
By Matthew Taylor, 17 January 2019
The Trump administration is increasing its repressive measures against immigrants, including doubling the capacity of an immigrant detention center for youth in Homestead, Florida.
Trump’s “national emergency” threat and the danger of presidential dictatorship
By Patrick Martin, 10 January 2019
Congressional Democrats and the corporate media are deliberately downplaying the danger to democratic rights and constitutional norms embodied in Trump’s threats.
As US shutdown heads toward its fourth week
Trump delivers fascistic White House rant to demand border wall
By Barry Grey, 9 January 2019
The government shutdown marks a significant step in the direction of authoritarian rule, directed squarely against the working class.
Guatemalan establishment indifferent to deaths of US incarcerated migrant children
By Andrea Lobo, 9 January 2019
The reaction in ruling circles not only reflects their disdain for the country’s impoverished masses, but also their efforts to demonstrate loyal submission to the Trump administration.
Twenty-two deaths reported in immigrant detention centers since Trump took office
By Niles Niemuth, 8 January 2019
A review of the circumstances leading to the death of each person in ICE custody reveals that nearly all died as the result of criminal neglect or abuse.
As government shutdown enters third week
Trump threatens to declare national emergency to build border wall
By Niles Niemuth, 5 January 2019
Legal options are reportedly being seriously considered within the Trump administration for circumventing Congress, including redirecting funds already appropriated to the Department of Defense.
Trump administration opens 2019 with tear gas attack on migrants at US-Mexico border
By Niles Niemuth, 3 January 2019
Border patrol agents fired three volleys of gas at a group of approximately 150 people as they sought to cross over a border fence from Tijuana into the United States.
Amid global crackdown on refugees
One sixth of world’s people want to flee their home countries
By Eric London, 31 December 2018
Some 750 million people, not including children, want to escape war, poverty, conflict and disease caused by capitalism.
Federal agents release more than 1,000 immigrants in El Paso, Texas
By Patrick Martin, 28 December 2018
The mass releases, with detained immigrants dropped at bus stations, shelters and city parks, seem to be a politically-motivated campaign by ICE agents.
Residents defend immigrant workers after ICE raids Indiana restaurants, arrests five
By Michael Walters, 27 December 2018
Over 100 people rallied last week in Portage, Indiana to support the workers who had been detained earlier this month.
The death of Felipe Alonzo-Gómez: A crime of US imperialism
By Eric London, 27 December 2018
The eight-year-old immigrant died in US custody after fleeing from Nentón, Guatemala, close to where a horrific massacre took place in 1982 during the country’s civil war.
Trump administration to immediately deport new Central American asylum seekers to Mexico
By Eric London, 21 December 2018
The policy announced Thursday is a historically unprecedented attack on workers and peasants fleeing violence and inequality caused by decades of US imperialist intervention and corporate exploitation.
Trump administration to immediately deport new Central American asylum seekers to Mexico
By Eric London, 21 December 2018
The policy announced Thursday is a historically unprecedented attack on workers and peasants fleeing violence and inequality caused by decades of US imperialist intervention and corporate exploitation.
Central American asylum seekers forced to wait for months at US-Mexico border
By Norisa Diaz, 19 December 2018
WSWS reporters spoke with a number of Honduran immigrants in Tijuana who have fled poverty, extortion, and death threats from gangs in their home country.
Woman convicted for climbing Statue of Liberty to protest Trump’s anti-immigrant policies
By Trévon Austin, 19 December 2018
Therese Patricia Okoumou explained that the treatment of children at the US-Mexico border prompted her to make a brash statement by climbing the monument in New York City.
Democrats, media silent on child’s death at US border
By Patrick Martin, 17 December 2018
The Caal family's attorneys dispute the official account, saying Jakelin was in good health on arrival at the border station, only displaying signs of illness after being held there for eight hours.
The death of Jackeline Caal: A seven-year-old victim of Trump’s war on immigrants
By Patrick Martin, 15 December 2018
While Democrats denounced the death, they supported equally repressive policies under Obama.
Trump’s war on immigrants
Nearly 15,000 children held in detention camps across the US
By Niles Niemuth, 14 December 2018
The growth of the child detainee population and the Trump administration’s escalation of workplace raids represent an attack on the entire working class.
Trump threatens to use military to fund border wall
By Kevin Martinez, 12 December 2018
The president’s threat was followed by a tense meeting in the Oval Office with Democratic leaders where he threatened a government shutdown over funding for the wall.
San Diego workers and youth speak out in defense of refugees at US-Mexico border
By our reporters, 4 December 2018
American and Mexican citizens alike defended the migrant caravan and condemned the tear gas fired by the Border Patrol.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador inaugurated as new president of Mexico
By Alex González and Don Knowland, 3 December 2018
Popular illusions in promises by the new president to end decades of poverty and oppression in Mexico will crash against his limited, bourgeois program.
Central American migrants facing horror on US border
By Bill Van Auken, 1 December 2018
The deliberate confinement of thousands of refugees—men, women and children—under desperate conditions is a crime against humanity.
Three killed, eight injured in high speed US Border Patrol chase in southern California
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 1 December 2018
This latest tragedy must be viewed in the context of the Trump administration’s fascistic attack on immigrants.
Transgender asylum seeker beaten in US custody before her death, according to autopsy
By Kevin Martinez, 29 November 2018
Roxsana Hernandez Rodriguez died weeks after turning herself in at the San Ysidro port of entry in California seeking asylum from the discrimination and abuse she faced in Honduras.
After Trump fires tear gas at immigrant children
Sanders declares caravan members lack a “credible” claim to asylum
By Barry Grey, 29 November 2018
Asked whether he believed that immigrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America “all have a credible claim for asylum,” the senator declared, “No, I don’t.”
The military-police assault at San Ysidro
Defend immigrant workers from state violence!
By Eric London, 27 November 2018
The Socialist Equality Party (US) condemns the US government’s military operation at the US-Mexico border Sunday as a horrific crime against humanity.
US immigrants go hungry for fear using food stamps will lead to deportation
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 27 November 2018
Household food insecurity among immigrant families in the US for less than five years increased from 9.9 percent in 2007 to 17.8 percent in the first half of 2018.
Hundreds rally in San Diego in defense of migrant caravan
By our reporters, 26 November 2018
Over 200 people attended a rally just hours before the US Customs and Border Protection shut down the crossing and fired tear gas at immigrants seeking to enter the US.
US military, border police attack asylum seekers at US-Mexico border
By Eric London, 26 November 2018
With the border under effective martial law, US forces deployed tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bang grenades against impoverished Central American workers and their families.
In Thanksgiving teleconference, Trump appeals to military against courts, political opponents
By Joseph Kishore, 24 November 2018
In a call with representatives of the five branches of the US Armed Forces, Trump denounced judges for “telling our incredible military and law enforcement what to do.”
US and Mexican officials stoke up nationalist backlash against immigrants
By Norisa Diaz, 22 November 2018
Following an anti-caravan demonstration on Sunday in Tijuana, Border Patrol closed down the San Ysidro Port of Entry Monday morning, leaving tens of thousands in panic, in an effort to stoke up anger and confusion.
Migrant caravan reaches US border as Latin American governments discuss austerity and repression
By Andrea Lobo, 17 November 2018
As the first caravan of mostly Honduran migrants begins to arrive at the US border, local elites met at the Ibero-American Summit, vowing deeper social austerity and militarized repression.
DSA-backed “progressive Democrats” drop phony opposition to Trump’s attacks on immigrants
By Will Morrow, 17 November 2018
The Democrats “progressive” caucus, including DSA member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is calling for a more “humane” and “effective” American immigration Gestapo.
Pentagon chief heads to border as first refugees from caravan arrive
By Bill Van Auken, 15 November 2018
General Mattis defended the deployment of thousands of active duty troops to confront refugee men, women and children as a “moral and ethical mission.”
Kidnapping, rape and murder by US border patrol agents
By Norisa Diaz and Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 15 November 2018
Numerous migrants, mostly women and girls, have been victims of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping or rape at the hands of US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents.
Albanian immigrant worker, forced to hide in Detroit church for 10 months, fights deportation
By Will Morrow, 14 November 2018
Ded Rranxburgaj, the sole caregiver and provider for his wheelchair-bound wife and two sons, is seeking to prevent his deportation.
“Someone is getting paid millions to provoke racism and hatred”
US autoworkers oppose anti-immigrant campaign
By WSWS Autoworker Newsletter, 13 November 2018
Autoworkers in the Detroit area contacted by the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter spoke forcefully against the attempts by the Trump administration to whip up anti-immigrant hysteria.
Asylum ban: Trump eliminates right to asylum for immigrants crossing without documentation
By Eric London, 9 November 2018
The decision is the most significant restriction on immigration in decades. It will cause hundreds of thousands of deportations, and send countless immigrants to their deaths.
Canada to dramatically hike, expedite deportations to “secure” borders
By Roger Jordan, 7 November 2018
The Trudeau Liberal government’s anti-refugee policy is emboldening reaction, including outright fascist forces.
Democratic candidates praise Trump’s attacks on immigrants as troops arrive at the border
By Eric London, 5 November 2018
The Democrats are either silent or supportive of police state measures that are putting the lives of immigrants in imminent danger and preparing the way for violent attacks on all workers.
Immigrant tent cities and right-wing terror: The new normal in America
By Eric London, 3 November 2018
Halting the growth of political violence and the moves toward dictatorship requires a break with the Democratic Party and the mobilization of the immense power of the American and international working class.
Trump calls for “massive cities of tents” and indefinite detention of immigrants
By Eric London, 2 November 2018
The right-wing demagogue described a hellish vision of concentration camps to imprison helpless men, women, and children, and urged the thousands of troops being rushed to America’s southern border to open fire on unarmed crowds.
All men are not created equal
The American oligarchy’s attack on birthright citizenship
By Eric London, 1 November 2018
All factions of the ruling class view basic democratic rights as obstacles in their drive for wealth and world domination.
Child detainees speak out: “I just wanted a hug from someone”
The view from inside America’s child immigrant detention shelters
By our reporters, 1 November 2018
The World Socialist Web Site spoke with several immigrant children recently released from child detention shelters about conditions in the facilities.
Trump deploys military to confront “immigrant invasion”
By Eric London, 30 October 2018
The White House, deploying thousands of troops to the border, is seeking to to whip up a climate of right-wing chauvinist hysteria on the eve of the November 6 midterm elections.
Mexican police shoot and kill 26-year-old immigrant as repression intensifies along Mexico-Guatemala border
By Andrea Lobo, 30 October 2018
Despite the US threats and the militarized operations by the Guatemalan and Mexican governments, thousands of Central American migrants continue to leave.
US armed forces deployed to Mexico border in preparation for expected closure
By Norisa Diaz, 29 October 2018
A violent clash is being prepared on the US-Mexico border as Washington readies emergency powers to close the border.
Defend immigrant workers against Trump’s military crackdown
By Bill Van Auken, 27 October 2018
American workers must come to the defense of immigrants and refugees as the Trump administration threatens to close the border and turn armed troops against working class men, women and children.
Trump to deploy hundreds of troops to the border against Central American migrants
By Andrea Lobo, 26 October 2018
The domestic deployment of the military against immigrants is a warning to the entire working class.
Interview with photographer Tom Kiefer: “This work is part of the historical documentation of our country’s response to migration”
El Sueño Americano: Exhibition of migrants’ items seized and discarded by US border patrol
By Norisa Diaz, 26 October 2018
Kiefer worked as a part-time janitor at a US Customs and Border Patrol facility in Arizona for 12 years, collecting items thrown out by officials.
Oppose Trump’s attacks on immigrants! Defend the migrant caravan!
By Niles Niemuth, 25 October 2018
Workers in the US must unite with workers in Mexico and Central America to ensure the safe passage into the country of the several thousand workers making their way towards the US-Mexico border.
As refugee caravan heads north
Trump administration prepares draconian new anti-immigrant measures
By Bill Van Auken, 24 October 2018
Amid Trump’s demagogy about deploying the army to the border and cutting all aid to Central America, US immigration officials are preparing new repressive measures against refugees.
“Migrants are not criminals, we are international workers!”
The migrant caravan and the fight to unite the international working class
By Eric London, 23 October 2018
The caravan is proving that the division of the world into nation states under capitalism is incompatible with the aspirations and material needs of billions of workers.
Central American caravan reaches Mexico chanting “We are international workers!”
By Andrea Lobo, 22 October 2018
The caravan is becoming a symbol of working class internationalism and is being denounced by every government in North and Central America.
Pompeo meets with Mexican government as its police attack Honduran migrants
By Eric London, 20 October 2018
Hundreds of women and children were injured in the crackdown on a narrow bridge over the river separating Mexico and Guatemala.
Trump threatens to deploy military to close US-Mexico border
By Eric London, 19 October 2018
Trump, with the complicity of the Democrats, has invoked the phony “threat” of the immigrant caravan to whip up xenophobia before the midterm elections.
US, Mexican and Guatemalan governments harass caravan of Honduran refugees
By Andrea Lobo, 18 October 2018
Thousands of refugees are fleeing rampant violence and poverty imposed by the economic plundering and political meddling of US imperialism.
Amnesty International: Immigrants separated from family members for alleged “fraud”
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan and Norisa Diaz, 17 October 2018
Amnesty International reveals thousands of children have been separated from relatives for supposed fraud and defines separation as a form of torture under US and international law.
Trump considers reinstating family separations at the border
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 15 October 2018
The proposal to force parents to choose between separation and deportation to war-torn Central America is a form of emotional torture.
US government may put separated immigrant children up for adoption
By Eric London, 11 October 2018
In one case, AP reports, “It took 28 minutes for a judge in a rural courthouse” to transfer guardianship of a toddler, without even notifying her mother.
Federal judge issues injunction against Trump administration refugee order
By Matthew Taylor, 6 October 2018
The four countries cited in the lawsuit represent nearly 300,000 of the 437,000 refugees who are currently receiving TPS in the United States.
Horrors at ICE prison in California: nooses found hanging in majority of cells
By Norisa Diaz, 4 October 2018
An unexpected visit from DHS inspectors found three quarters of the cells had nooses hanging from overhead pipes at a California immigrant detention center.
Child concentration camps in America
By Eric London, 2 October 2018
Immigration officials are rounding up hundreds of children at night and transporting them to a tent city in Texas.
Protests hit mass detention of immigrant children in Texas tent camp
By Bill Van Auken, 1 October 2018
The barren tent camp in the desert on the Mexican border is built to house up to 3,800 children.
US announces new barrier to citizenship for low-income immigrants
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 29 September 2018
The Trump administration has announced a new rule requiring immigrants applying for permanent legal status or citizenship to report their credit scores and histories.
Eighty-three abducted by ICE across Wisconsin in four days
By Jacob Crosse, 27 September 2018
Relishing in the chaos and uncertainty it had caused, ICE remained silent over the weekend as armed agents conducted “targeted raids” in over 14 counties.
“Keep out your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…”
Trump administration moves to impose class-based restrictions on immigration
By Eric London, 26 September 2018
The explicit formalization of a class-based immigration system marks a turning point that will substantially alter the state of social relations in favor of the rich.
ICE conducts anti-immigrant raids throughout Wisconsin
By Jacob Crosse, 24 September 2018
The families of the workers seized by federal agents have been given little information as to why they were detained or where they are being held.
Trump administration takes aim at immigrants who receive federal benefits
By Harvey Simpkins, 24 September 2018
Even current green card holders could be subject to the new rule and lose their status as lawful permanent residents if, in certain circumstances, they leave the country and try to return.
Notes on Trump’s war against immigrants
Department of Health and Human Services lost track of another 1,500 immigrant children
By our reporters, 21 September 2018
In addition to the “lost” children, funds are being diverted from AIDS and cancer research to jail immigrant children and ICE held nearly 1,500 US citizens as “aliens.”
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