Trump Toughening Immigration Stance for Electoral Reasons: Critics – This week, President Trump carried out an unprecedented purge of senior officials of the Department of Homeland Security. White House sources confirmed that vacant positions will be filled by officials who would not hesitate to control what he considers to be a national immigration emergency. However, critics say that electoral motives are what lie behind Trump’s cruel hard line against immigrants and asylum seekers. José López Zamorano has the details from Washington.
Bill Proposed to Stop Abuses by Border Agents – Following the resignation of Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen and alleging that she presided over a policy of escalation of cruelty against migrants, members of congress and immigrant advocates in El Paso announced a new bill that seeks to end abuses on the border. Its author, Democratic congresswoman from El Paso, Verónica Escobar, is demanding better supervision of the Department of Homeland Security to limit abuses by border patrol and custom agents. New York Congressman Adriano Espaillat and El Paso lawyer Carlos Spector Calderón expressed support for the initiative at a press conference.
Volunteers Provide Emotional Support for Migrant Children at Shelters in Arizona – In the last five months, more than 26,000 unaccompanied minors, mostly from Central America, have been detained by immigration authorities while attempting to cross into the United States. While their situation is being resolved, these minors are transferred to dozens of shelters around the country, where groups of volunteers visit them. Paulina Verbera tells the story of one of the volunteers who went through the traumatic experience of immigration detention and today helps provide comfort to children at a center in Phoenix. This report was written and researched by Paulina Verbera and Karina Espinoza of Cronkite News, an information service of Arizona State University.
