Immigrants and refugees
A murderous pact: The European Union to deport refugees
By Peter Schwarz, 26 September 2020
Wrapped up in sugary phrases about “values,” “responsibility” and “solidarity,” the EU Commission president has presented a plan that spells deportation, misery and certain death for hundreds of thousands.
Australian government seeks to ban phones in immigration detention
By Martin Scott, 25 September 2020
The proposed new laws will allow warrantless searches and the use of sniffer dogs.
Further revelations about sterilizations and medical malpractice at ICE detention facility in Georgia
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 24 September 2020
The latest revelations, including the naming of the doctor who performed them, strengthens the account given in a recent whistleblower complaint, while giving lie to the US government’s dismissals.
“I thought this was like an experimental concentration camp”
Nurse alleges forced sterilizations, medical malpractice at Georgia immigrant detention center
By Niles Niemuth, 16 September 2020
The chilling report provides further evidence of the sadistic abuse meted out by the Trump administration in its fascistic war on immigrants.
The Moria catastrophe and the European Union’s war on refugees
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 16 September 2020
The inhumane treatment of the desperate people on Lesbos is the product of deliberate policies being pursued by the European Union and its member states.
COVID-19 outbreak at Virginia migrant detention center caused by repression of anti-police brutality protesters
By Joe Williams, 14 September 2020
The outbreak at the Farmville detention center demonstrates the capitalist class’s disdain for democratic rights and the lives of the entire population.
Thousands sleeping rough after the burning down of Moria refugee camp on Lesbos
By John Vassilopoulos, 12 September 2020
Shocking footage and pictures show refugees of all ages sleeping on roads and hillsides, surrounded by their meagre possessions.
Australia’s brutal immigration policy in Stateless: “What is my crime?”
By Joanne Laurier, 12 September 2020
Stateless, now showing on Netflix, deals with the harsh Australian immigration detention program and the horrors inflicted on persecuted refugees fleeing colonial wars.
Lesbos refugee-camp blaze leaves 13,000 without shelter
By Robert Stevens, 10 September 2020
A call from a detainee during the blaze asked, “Where is the police, where is the fire brigade, where is anyone? We are burning, our tents are burning. Everything is burning. We came here to burn to death. All is on fire.”
Australia: International students and foreign visa holders face major social crisis
By Robert Campion, 4 September 2020
Some 61 percent of international students and other foreign visa holders were relying on savings which they said would be exhausted in a matter of weeks.
The Socialist Equality Party denounces Trump’s mass arrest of 2,000 immigrants!
By Norissa Santa Cruz—SEP candidate for US vice president, 4 September 2020
The assault on immigrants across the United States is a threat to the entire working class.
Trump administration considered using “heat ray” microwave weapon on migrants crossing the US-Mexico border
By Carlos Reed, 2 September 2020
What was deemed too inhumane to be deployed in war has been discussed in the highest government circles for use as an anti-immigrant weapon.
Johnson government’s “hostile environment” for immigrants and asylum seekers wins fascist allies
By Robert Stevens and Barry Mason, 2 September 2020
This week, the Ministry of Defence confirmed that an Army Watchkeeper drone—previously used in Afghanistan war zones—is to fly over the English Channel to monitor migrant boats.
Immigration Nation reveals the suffering of migrants at the hands of the US detention and deportation machine
By Fred Mazelis, 1 September 2020
The Trump administration tried to stop or delay the release of this important documentary.
Greek government continues evictions of over 11,000 asylum seekers
By John Vassilopoulos, 31 August 2020
The ND government's actions are particularly brutal amid a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, with hundreds of new infections being announced each day.
EU refuses to accept hundreds of refugees rescued in the Mediterranean
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 31 August 2020
More than 400 refugees are waiting in the central Mediterranean Sea off Sicily to be assigned to a safe haven.
UK “hostile environment” sees two more asylum seeker deaths
By Thomas Scripps, 27 August 2020
Mercy Baguma’s death sparked anger with a protest held yesterday outside the Home Office immigration centre in Glasgow.
Sudanese refugee drowns attempting to cross English Channel
By Robert Stevens, 21 August 2020
Family members say the victim had his claim for asylum in France refused, and risked the dangerous sea crossing seeking a better life.
Federal judge orders second investigation into Virginia immigrant detention center hit by mass outbreak of COVID-19
By Joe Williams, 21 August 2020
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found prison staff were refusing to use safety equipment or provide inmates with protection from COVID-19.
Government watchdog concludes acting heads of Homeland Security were illegally appointed by Trump
By Jacob Crosse, 15 August 2020
The Government Accountability Office report is a soft rebuke to Donald Trump, who has frequently circumvented congressional approval in order to install acting department heads loyal to him.
Journalists in Malaysia persecuted for exposing treatment of migrant workers
By Owen Howell, 15 August 2020
The government’s investigation into seven Al Jazeera journalists, including a police raid of their offices, is part of a broader crackdown on press freedom.
Oregon residents block unmarked ICE buses carrying detained immigrants
By Julio Patron, 14 August 2020
The standoff lasted around 12 hours in Bend, Oregon, until dozens of federal agents were deployed to disperse the protesters using pepper spray.
Johnson government deploys armed forces against refugees making Channel crossings
By Tony Robson, 12 August 2020
These inhumane, illegal, and xenophobic measures must be opposed. What is being legitimised is state repression and a further evisceration of the right to asylum.
Germany deports Roma family to Moldova despite life-threatening conditions
By Carola Kleinert, 12 August 2020
The deportations were planned and carried out by the Social Democratic/Left Party/Green government in the state of Berlin.
New York University withholds completed dental degree, student facing deportation
By Sam Dalton, 8 August 2020
Despite their completion of coursework, an international student faces deportation because they are unable to pay exorbitant tuition costs and fees.
Canadian court rules Safe Third Country Agreement with US violates refugee rights
By Laurent Lafrance, 7 August 2020
The Trudeau government took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to eliminate the “loophole” that had allowed some refugees fleeing Trump’s anti-immigrant witchhunt to escape immediate deportation under the STCA.
Germany: Right-wing terror in Erfurt
By Marianne Arens, 6 August 2020
On August 1, three Guineans were brutally attacked by neo-Nazis in Erfurt and had to be taken to hospital.
Trump installs ex-general and anti-Islam bigot in top Pentagon post
By Patrick Martin, 4 August 2020
The appointment of retired Gen. Anthony Tata was carried out by means of a maneuver designed to bypass opposition from both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.
US Border Patrol raids “No More Deaths” humanitarian aid camp in southern Arizona
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 3 August 2020
Last week’s operation is presumed to be in retaliation for the organization’s recent exposure of the involvement of the paramilitary BORTAC force in a 2017 raid.
Lawsuit exposes massive COVID-19 outbreak at privately-run immigrant detention center in Virginia
By Joe Williams, 1 August 2020
The Farmville Detention Center has the largest COVID-19 outbreak of all immigrant detainment facilities in the United States.
In latest attack on immigrants
Trump administration suspends DACA applications and renewals
By Sam Dalton, 31 July 2020
A recent Supreme Court ruling has allowed the White House to make a new attack on the program.
Australian Tamil refugee mother denied urgent medical treatment for weeks
By Max Newman, 27 July 2020
Despite outrage in her Australian home town of Biloela, Priya Murugappan was flown to a mainland hospital only after suffering prolonged abdominal pain.
What is BORTAC and why is it patrolling the streets of Portland?
By Genevieve Leigh, 27 July 2020
The special paramilitary arm of Customs and Border Protection has been deployed to intimidate and terrorize young people and workers amid the greatest health, economic and political crisis in modern American history.
Trump signs executive order on 2020 Census declaring undocumented immigrants are not persons
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 25 July 2020
The order would affect the distribution of federal funding as well as the apportionment of congressional seats.
Couples and families separated by New Zealand’s border restrictions
By Tom Peters, 24 July 2020
A woman who is unable to enter New Zealand, despite being married to a citizen, said that migrants have become political pawns in the campaign for the national election.
Despite withdrawal of ICE ruling, international students in the US remain at risk
By Sam Dalton, 22 July 2020
Amid an intensifying anti-immigrant and anti-China campaign, Trump’s tactical retreat from the July 6 ruling putting international students at risk of deportation is not any cause for celebration.
Deaths in ICE custody rise as pandemic rages across the United States
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 20 July 2020
ICE reported the deaths of two men in custody over the last week, at least one of whom had tested positive for COVID-19 in early July.
COVID-19 outbreak hits central Michigan flood recovery migrant workers
By Luke Galvin, 20 July 2020
The workers were housed in cramped hotel rooms, with upwards of five workers per room.
Campaign continues against New Zealand visa processing delays
By Tom Peters, 20 July 2020
One migrant from South Africa told the WSWS that being sent back would put her in extreme poverty and at risk of dying from COVID-19.
Seventeen states and tens of universities file lawsuits against ICE attack on international students
By Sam Dalton, 14 July 2020
Even if the current set of lawsuits are successful, the immigration and educational rights of international students remain under threat.
After police killing of Badreddin Abadlla Adam
More evidence of ill-treatment of asylum seekers in Glasgow hotels
By Steve James, 9 July 2020
Two weeks after the police killing of 28-year-old Sudanese man Badreddin Abadlla Adam, asylum seekers in Glasgow continue to face appalling conditions.
US Border Patrol deployed against anti-police violence protestors
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 8 July 2020
Federal law enforcement agencies under the direction of the Trump administration are currently working with the Portland Police Bureau to suppress peaceful protests.
Hands off international students! Oppose ICE deportation of foreign college students!
By Joseph Kishore—SEP candidate for US president, 8 July 2020
The Trump administration’s xenophobic attempts to terrorize and scapegoat international students in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic must be opposed.
ICE threatens international students with deportation unless their college resumes in-person classes
By Sam Dalton, 7 July 2020
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, an ICE rule change is forcing international students to risk their lives to stay in the US
Dozens of immigrants drown in eastern Turkey’s Lake Van
By Barış Demir, 7 July 2020
Migrants traveling from Central Asian war zones are reportedly forced to travel by boat over Lake Van to bypass police checkpoints on land.
More migrants speak out against New Zealand’s visa-processing delays
By Tom Peters, 3 July 2020
There is growing support for a petition urging the government to immediately process tens of thousands of residency applications which have been left in limbo.
Australian state Labor government’s police arrest refugee protesters
By Michael Smith, 2 July 2020
Governments continue to condemn protests and invoke the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to silence dissent, even as they accelerate the reopening of the economy.
Migrants challenge visa processing delays by New Zealand authorities
By Tom Peters, 1 July 2020
The Labour Party-led government is delaying the processing of migrant visa applications, leaving tens of thousands of people in limbo.
US Supreme Court rejects environmental groups’ appeal to halt border wall construction
By Jacob Crosse, 30 June 2020
The appeal was rejected without comment by the justices.
Sudanese asylum seeker shot dead in Glasgow
By Steve James, 29 June 2020
The tragedy is the consequence of the brutal treatment handed out to asylum seekers in the city and throughout the UK.
UK government refuses support to unemployed migrant workers facing destitution during pandemic
By Harvey Singh, 27 June 2020
Although exact figures are difficult to obtain, it is estimated that up to 250,000 children could directly be threatened with poverty due to the “no recourse to public funds” status of their parents.
US Supreme Court rules recent asylum seekers have no right to habeas corpus or due process
By Eric London, 26 June 2020
As in Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Supreme Court made the most sweeping anti-democratic ruling possible.
Trump signs reactionary proclamation expanding immigration restrictions
By Kevin Reed, 24 June 2020
The order extends and expands anti-immigrant restrictions on workers coming to the US for jobs in multiple industries.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the global plight of refugees and migrant workers
By Jordan Shilton, 24 June 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to tear through the global population, the disease is having an especially devastating impact on the tens of millions of displaced people throughout the world.
Antigone from Canada recounts the struggle of an immigrant youth to defend her brother against state violence
By Laurent Lafrance, 24 June 2020
Unlike insipid mainstream Canadian cinema, Antigone deals honestly with critical issues such as the oppression of immigrants, police violence, a mounting youth revolt and, to some extent, social inequality.
Germany seeks to tighten European asylum law
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 23 June 2020
The core elements are the internment of refugees at the EU’s external borders and the implementation of fast-track asylum procedures.
Sweeping attacks on migrant workers in Russia amid COVID-19 pandemic
By Andrea Peters, 3 June 2020
The Russian government is considering the creation of a vast database that contains foreign workers’ biometric information, health histories, legal and “social” status, and criminal records.
After ignoring migrant workers’ plight, the Indian Supreme Court now acknowledges unfolding social tragedy
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 30 May 2020
The court’s intervention reflects concerns fear by India’s legal authorities that mounting mass anger will erupt against the entire capitalist elite and its state.
White House considers expelling Chinese graduate students and researchers
By Shuvu Batta, 29 May 2020
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to expel some three to five thousand Chinese graduate students and researchers.
Thomson Reuters actively helping Trump administration target immigrants
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 27 May 2020
The parent company of the Reuters news agency has been aiding Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the targeting of immigrants for arrest, detention and deportation.
Washington’s criminal deportations to Haiti threaten to ignite pandemic
By Alberto Escalera, 26 May 2020
In addition to slating coronavirus-positive detainees for deportation, Washington is seeking to ship back infamous death squad leader and CIA “asset” Emmanuel “Toto” Constant.
The global pandemic and global war on immigrants and refugees
By Bill Van Auken, 26 May 2020
As with attacks on the working class as a whole and the drive to war, capitalist ruling classes the world over have responded to the pandemic by intensifying the brutal assault on migrant workers.
Oppose the Trump administration’s deportation of 1,000 immigrant children!
By Norissa Santa Cruz—SEP candidate for US vice president, 23 May 2020
International laws and statutes that once offered special protections for immigrant youth seeking asylum have been made a dead letter by the Trump administration.
Coronavirus infections surging in German refugee shelters
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 21 May 2020
The forced placement of refugees in large communal accommodation facilities exposes many people whose health is weakened to a deadly risk.
The last resort of the EU fighting refugees in Greece—armed force and COVID-19
By Katerina Selin, 18 May 2020
Greek soldiers used tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and live ammunition against refugees stranded in the no-man’s-land between Greece and Turkey.
Australian Labor Party exploits pandemic to scapegoat foreign workers
By Max Newman, 12 May 2020
Labor’s call for immigration cuts lines up directly behind the drive by governments around the globe, personified by US President Trump, to promote toxic nationalism.
Hundreds of Rohingya refugees stranded in Bay of Bengal
By Rohantha De Silva, 11 May 2020
The Rohingya were attempting to reach Malaysia in a bid to escape the appalling conditions in Bangladesh and in the hope of finding work as undocumented labourers.
First ICE detainee dies of COVID-19 in San Diego
By Adam Mclean, 11 May 2020
Lacking basic sanitation and living in squalor, infections among immigrants in ICE custody have skyrocketed.
Immigrant families living in Tennessee mobile home park denied aid, threatened with deportation by property managers
By Warren Duzak, 7 May 2020
Immigrants in Tennessee mobile homes denied aid, threatened with deportation.
Australia: Biloela residents continue fight to free Tamil refugee family
By Max Newman, 4 May 2020
Angela Fredericks, a campaign leader, spoke to the WSWS after a recent partial legal victory.
Record 50.8 million people internally displaced in 2019
By Jean Shaoul, 2 May 2020
The plight of tens of millions of internally displaced people is virtually ignored, attracting little global attention during the escalating global pandemic.
US citizens married to undocumented immigrants denied stimulus checks
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 1 May 2020
A provision in the CARES Act prohibits stimulus checks from being sent to couples if one of them has used an individual tax ID number in jointly-filed returns.
California ICE detainee speaks to the WSWS as coronavirus spreads
By Norissa Santa Cruz, 28 April 2020
The WSWS spoke to Jorge, a father of two, about the deadly dangers facing detainees in the midst of the growing coronavirus pandemic.
Rescue of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea halted
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 23 April 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has become a wretched excuse to halt aid to refugees and abolish the fundamental right to asylum in the European Union.
Australian court ruling means continued imprisonment for Tamil refugees from Biloela
By Max Newman, 23 April 2020
The people of Biloela are continuing a national campaign, entitled “Home to Bilo,” demanding the release of the family and return home to Biloela.
Trump announces plan to halt all immigration to US
By Eric London, 22 April 2020
Trump’s “pause” on immigration is a desperate attempt by the crisis-riddled administration to distract from the criminality of the ruling class’s own response to the coronavirus pandemic.
COVID-19 lockdown leaves Gulf states’ migrant workers penniless in unsanitary conditions
By Jean Shaoul, 21 April 2020
Unable to return home because of travel restrictions or their countries’ refusal to accept them, migrants are left to fester in lockdown, confined to overcrowded, unsanitary dormitories without access to either health care or help.
Mass COVID-19 infection among migrant workers in Singapore
By Gustav Kemper, 21 April 2020
The number of COVID-19 infections is exploding in the Singapore workers’ camps.
“We have the technology and knowledge, but it won’t work under capitalism”
An interview with a foreign-trained doctor prevented from fighting COVID-19 in Canada
By Janet Browning, 16 April 2020
“Politicians,” said Dr. Wijesooriya, “talk endlessly about the economy, stock markets and oil price. Meanwhile, the hospitals are understaffed.”
Canada: Thousands of foreign-trained medical staff prevented from assisting in COVID-19 fight
By Janet Browning, 16 April 2020
Canada recorded its thousandth death due to COVID-19 on Wednesday, yet thousands of foreign-trained medical staff are not being mobilized in the fight against the deadly virus.
Working-class immigrants terrorized by Trump administration avoid COVID-19 testing, treatment
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 16 April 2020
Reports from doctors, immigration lawyers and community organizations reveal that a significant number of immigrants, despite showing symptoms associated with COVID-19, have avoided getting tested.
Australian police use COVID-19 emergency powers to ban refugee detention protest
By Max Newman, 16 April 2020
The police action, which state Premier Daniel Andrews’ Labor government must have authorised, constitutes a direct attack on the right to protest.
“[COVID-19] will turn our detentions into a death sentence”
Immigrants at US detention centers lead hunger strikes, face persecution demanding protections from pandemic
By Renae Cassimeda, 14 April 2020
Nearly 200 immigrants, in male and female cell blocks, are currently staging a hunger strike and sit-in at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, California.
Trump administration using pandemic to deport 30,000 refugees and asylum seekers to Mexico
By Joe Williams, 11 April 2020
US government has been using an obscure statute on communicable diseases to expel tens of thousands.
The COVID-19 crisis in New York City: Why Elmhurst has become a center of the crisis
By Ali Elhassan and Clara Weiss, 10 April 2020
Elmhurst is the most heavily immigrant working class district in New York City.
Africa’s refugees and internally displaced: The weakest link in the human chain
By Jean Shaoul, 8 April 2020
As the pandemic spreads to Africa, Asia and Latin America, the coronavirus will hit the world’s most vulnerable even harder.
Refugees left to die as COVID-19 spreads across Greece
By George Gallanis, 7 April 2020
Greece’s New Democracy government is ignoring calls to move refugees, presently clustered on islands, to mainland facilities to combat COVID-19.
Germany marked an increase in violent attacks on refugees in 2019
By Isabel Roy, 3 April 2020
The Left Party has been instrumental, along with the country’s other political parties, in creating a hostile climate and the corresponding explosion of violence against refugees and immigrants.
Modi government represses desperate migrant workers amid calamitous coronavirus lockdown
By Wasantha Rupasinghe and Keith Jones, 2 April 2020
People across India and around the world have been shocked and outraged by the pictures of poor migrant workers caught up in the Indian government's ill-conceived and socially reckless 21-day nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
Fears grow that coronavirus is taking hold among immigrants in US custody as three children test positive
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 28 March 2020
Adult and child detainees living in cramped quarters, herded into cafeterias and denied basic sanitation are facing the very real possibility of an escalated rate of contagion.
Australia’s imprisoned refugees plead for release as coronavirus risk increases
By Max Newman, 27 March 2020
Detainees have protested at being held “in a potential death trap in which we have no option or means to protect ourselves.”
First immigrant in ICE custody tests positive for coronavirus in New Jersey
By Erik Schreiber, 26 March 2020
This development highlights the criminal lack of basic sanitation that the Trump administration maintains in immigrant detention centers, as well as the ruling class’ callous disregard for public health.
Trump continues to spend billions on border wall construction amid coronavirus pandemic
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 24 March 2020
Rather than marshal all available resources to fight the pandemic, huge sums of money are being directed to construct of 150 miles of border wall in Arizona, New Mexico and California.
Exploiting Coronavirus pandemic, Canada’s Trudeau closes border to asylum seekers
By Laurent Lafrance, 24 March 2020
Just days after reiterating that barring “irregular entrants” from seeking asylum would violate Canadian and international law, the Trudeau Liberal government has done just that.
“No one wants to die in jail”
Immigrants at New Jersey ICE detention center launch hunger strike over COVID-19 threat
By Erik Schreiber, 23 March 2020
Detainees at the Newark, New Jersey jail used by ICE are protesting filthy conditions that increase their risk of infection by the coronavirus and are demanding to be released.
Coronavirus transforms Greek refugee camps into death camps
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 21 March 2020
The intolerable hygienic conditions in the internment camps prevent even the most basic protective measures from being adopted.
Trump administration exploits coronavirus to block all asylum seekers from entering US
By Kevin Martinez, 21 March 2020
The blanket rejection of asylum seekers is the latest in a series of steps aimed at abrogating the right to asylum, which is protected by both international and US law.
Syriza leader Tsipras offers collaboration with New Democracy against refugees and Turkey
By John Vassilopoulos and Chris Marsden, 20 March 2020
Tsipras is signing off on a policy of brutal repression of refugees waged jointly by the government, fascist thugs who have benefited most from the stoking up of chauvinism and xenophobia, and the European Union.
First ICE officer tests positive for COVID-19
Immigrants in US detention facilities plead for help as coronavirus pandemic spreads
By Genevieve Leigh, 20 March 2020
The lack of medical care and the extremely close quarters in America’s detention camps create excellent conditions for the coronavirus to spread rapidly if even a single person catches the disease.
Australian government continues to imprison Tamil refugee family
By Max Newman, 20 March 2020
Despite legal challenges and widespread opposition, the government remains determined to deport the family to Sri Lanka.
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