Gutting of Key US Watchdog Could Pave Way for Grave Immigration Abuses, Experts Warn
The federal watchdog system at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that oversees complaints about civil rights violations, including in immigration detention, has been gutted so thoroughly that it could be laying the groundwork for the Trump administration to “abuse people with impunity”, experts warn. Former federal oversight officials have sounded the alarm at the rapid dismantling of guardrails against human rights failures – at the same time as the government pushes aggressive immigration enforcement operations.
Miscarriages, Infections, Neglect: The Pregnant Women Detained by ICE
Alicia reported for her scheduled check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in April, a process she had completed many times as an immigrant living in Louisiana for nearly a decade. This time, she was abruptly taken into federal custody. ICE transported her to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, where agents conducted a health screening that revealed she was pregnant. Despite an ICE directive generally prohibiting the detention of pregnant women, Alicia was held there for three months. At the facility, away from her two kids, she was given small portions of “substandard” food that left her hungry. She also underwent a medical examination that she did not consent to, and suffered a miscarriage, civil rights groups said in a letter to ICE last month.
African Leaders Push for Recognition of Colonial Crimes and Reparations
African leaders are pushing to have colonial-era crimes recognised, criminalised and addressed through reparations. At a conference in the Algerian capital, Algiers, diplomats and leaders convened to advance an African Union resolution passed at a meeting earlier this year calling for justice and reparations for victims of colonialism. Algerian foreign minister Ahmed Attaf said Algeria’s experience under French rule highlighted the need to seek compensation and reclaim stolen property. A legal framework, he added, would ensure restitution is seen as “neither a gift nor a favour.”
Former President of Honduras Is Freed From Prison After Trump Pardon
President Trump formally pardoned former President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras on Monday evening, fulfilling a vow he had made days before to free an ex-president who was at the center of what the authorities had characterized as “one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world.” Mr. Trump pledged to issue the pardon last week, after Mr. Hernández sent him a four-page letter casting himself as a victim of “political persecution” by the Biden-Harris administration and comparing his fate to that of the American president.