Immigrants and refugees
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.
Life for immigrants in the US during COVID-19 pandemic
ICE raids continue, asylum seekers turned away, and detention facilities remain potential hotbeds for coronavirus
By Genevieve Leigh, 19 March 2020
“We do not have access to hand sanitizer or masks, or anything else that could protect as we are all stuck together in close quarters.”
Hungarian government uses coronavirus epidemic to promote racism
By Markus Salzmann, 19 March 2020
As throughout Europe, the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Hungary.
Pregnant migrant teenager dies after falling from US border wall in southern Texas
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 18 March 2020
Estefany Girón Luna from Guatemala fell nearly 20 feet as she attempted to scale the steel mesh border wall near Clint, Texas. Despite multiple surgeries, neither Girón Luna nor her child could be saved.
ICE officials running unchecked facial recognition searches on Maryland drivers
By Dmitri Church, 17 March 2020
Officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been accessing Maryland state driver’s license photos for years to catch undocumented immigrants given licenses by a special state program.
Concerns spread over inevitable outbreak of coronavirus in US immigrant detention centers
By Trévon Austin, 12 March 2020
Migrant rights advocacy groups have called for the immediate release of detainees who are at high risk from the coronavirus.
Greek police shoot at refugees using live ammunition
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 9 March 2020
More than 10,000 people are trapped in the Greek-Turkey border area, unable to move backward or forward.
Spain’s PSOE-Podemos government sends police to Greece to attack migrants
By Alejandro López, 9 March 2020
The pseudo-left is complicit in the dispatching of police to Greece, where far right thugs are attacking refugees with the complicity of the government.
German government incites racism with commemoration of right-wing terrorist attack in Hanau, refugee policy
By Peter Schwarz, 9 March 2020
The state has not “underestimated” the danger posed by the far-right, but rather systematically incited and encouraged it.
Trump administration moves forward with unconstitutional DNA testing of immigrants
By Kevin Reed, 7 March 2020
The Trump administration’s plan to collect DNA samples from immigrants in US custody has proceeded while nothing has been done to prepare for the spread of the coronavirus.
Sri Lankan government withdraws from UN resolutions in order to boost the military
By W.A. Sunil, 7 March 2020
Rajapakse’s government is moving toward dictatorial rule amid mounting economic problems and social tensions.
European Union intensifies war against refugees at Turkish-Greek border
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 4 March 2020
Under the eyes of a high-ranking EU delegation, Greek border guards brutally attacked unarmed refugees.
Defender 2020: Largest mobilisation of NATO troops against Russia in 25 years
By Markus Salzmann, 4 March 2020
Seventy-five years after the end of World War II, the scale of NATO's provocative military exercise underscores how far advanced the preparations for war are.
Amid Syrian war, Turkey opens borders for Syrian refugees to travel to Europe
By Baris Demir, 4 March 2020
The persecution of asylum seekers in Turkey and Greece—which fight with each other over the flow of immigrants—is the product of the EU's brutal policies.
Stop the war on refugees at the Greek-Turkish border!
By Johannes Stern, 3 March 2020
The pictures seen around the world over recent days recall the darkest chapters of European history, and expose the true character of the European Union and all capitalist governments throughout the continent.
Federal court rulings challenge Trump immigration policies
By Kevin Reed, 2 March 2020
Several court rulings in recent days have challenged a range of policies implemented by the Trump administration since taking office as part of its war on immigrants.
Federal appeals court backs Trump’s attack on sanctuary cities
By Kevin Reed, 27 February 2020
A federal appeals court overturned previous lower court rulings and upheld the Trump administration’s plan to deny federal funding to sanctuary cities.
US Supreme Court grants border police a license to kill
By Jacob Crosse, 26 February 2020
The latest 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court follows a series of anti-immigrant court rulings and provocations by the Trump administration.
UK Johnson government rolls out restrictive “points-based” immigration system
By Richard Tyler, 21 February 2020
Those in the trade union bureaucracy who advocated for Brexit, including various Stalinists in the Rail, Maritime and Transport union and “Blue Labour” ideologues such as Paul Embery, together with their accomplices such as the Socialist Party, are politically responsible for this outcome.
Stop all anti-immigrant raids! Abolish ICE and CBP! For a socialist policy of open borders!
Norissa Santa Cruz – Socialist Equality Party candidate for US vice president, 17 February 2020
The Trump administration’s deployment of militarized police forces to cities throughout the country is aimed at terrorizing immigrant neighborhoods and is a warning to the entire working class.
Growth of fascistic attacks on refugees in Greece
By George Gallanis, 14 February 2020
A thousand threads tie the fascistic thugs on the streets hunting down refugees to the ruling Greek capitalist party, New Democracy.
UK government spearheads anti-migrant crackdown with deportation of Jamaican nationals
By Thomas Scripps, 14 February 2020
Under Britain’s deeply reactionary UK Borders Act 2007, any offence can serve as a pretext for deportation.
Justice Department sues New Jersey and Washington state county over “sanctuary” policies
By Erik Schreiber, 13 February 2020
The lawsuits are a new stage in President Trump’s campaign of anti-immigrant bigotry. In their public responses to the lawsuits, Democratic officials from New Jersey and Washington state revealed their own willingness to trade away immigrants’ rights.
“I fear for the future of democracy in Britain”
Protesters speak out at demonstration against Tory government deportation plans
By our reporters, 11 February 2020
WSWS reporters spoke with those attending Monday night’s demonstration outside Downing Street in London demanding an immediate halt to all deportation flights.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shoots unarmed man in the face in New York City
By Shuvu Batta, 7 February 2020
Eric Diaz-Cruz was shot as he sought to stop his mother’s boyfriend from being detained by ICE early Thursday morning.
Human Rights Watch report finds 138 Salvadorans killed after being deported from the US
By Adam Mclean, 7 February 2020
The report, based on interviews with over 150 people over a one-and-a-half-year period, additionally identified 70 other deportees who were beaten, sexually assaulted, extorted or tortured.
President Trump expands anti-Muslim travel ban to thirteen countries
By Kevin Reed, 1 February 2020
Trump’s war on immigrants is intensifying in the aftermath of the impeachment trial and in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election in November.
Right wing whips up anti-refugee sentiment in Greek island protests
By John Vassilopoulos, 31 January 2020
Posters advertising the protests portrayed refugees as invaders and bore the slogan “We want our islands back… we want our life back!”
Paralysed woman faces life-threatening deportation from New Zealand to Tonga
By Harry Hall and Tom Peters, 31 January 2020
Paraplegic woman Taipaleti Vaeatangitau is due to be deported with her family at the end of the month, despite doctors warning she could die in Tonga.
Amazon employees defy management and publicly protest corporate policies
By Kevin Reed, 30 January 2020
Hundreds of Amazon employees posted public criticisms of their employer and statements of support for fellow workers who have been threatened with firing for speaking out against the tech company’s climate policies.
US Supreme Court approves public charge rule directed against legal immigrants
By Jill Lux and Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 29 January 2020
The highly contested rule, which was announced last August, altered existing immigration law to allow the administration to deny visas to legal immigrants who it claims would rely on the government’s assistance.
Mexican President López Obrador breaks up migrant caravan
By Andrea Lobo, 28 January 2020
While claiming to “protect” migrants, López Obrador is protecting the political and financial ties of the Mexican oligarchy to US imperialism.
“People are going to die because of this”
Trump administration to deny visas to pregnant women
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 25 January 2020
The Trump administration has launched yet another salvo in its ongoing war against immigrants.
Iranian student deported from Boston by Customs and Border Protection despite court order
By Julian James, 25 January 2020
At the time of his deportation, Abadi held a valid F1 student visa recently issued by the United States Customs and Immigration Services to continue pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Northeastern University in Boston.
Bangladesh prepares to send 100,000 Rohingya refugees to isolated island
By Rohantha De Silva, 23 January 2020
More than 610,000 refugees currently live in overcrowded, prison-like camps surrounded by barbed-wire fences on Cox’s Bazar.
Chicago police to be deputized as federal immigration agents
By Kylie Rose and Andy Thompson, 20 January 2020
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency says it will use the Chicago Police Department to enforce federal immigration laws.
Trump administration to illegally divert an additional $7.2 billion to border wall construction
By Jacob Crosse, 17 January 2020
For the second year in a row, the Trump administration is diverting congressional appropriated funds in violation of the Constitution.
New migrant caravan departs Honduras defying stepped-up controls
By Andrea Lobo, 16 January 2020
Workers across Guatemala, Mexico and the United States must mobilize to demand the safe passage of their class brothers and sisters from Honduras.
German captain of refugee rescue ship “Lifeline” acquitted of criminal charges in Malta
By Marianne Arens, 16 January 2020
Despite the acquittal neither Malta nor the EU have retreated from its inhumane and murderous anti-refugee policy with Valletta continuing to prevent NGO ships from entering its waters.
New Zealand’s Daily Blog demands anti-immigrant measures against “Australians fleeing climate change”
By John Braddock and Tom Peters, 15 January 2020
The trade union-funded blog, which supports the Labour-led government, calls for a major increase in military spending to turn New Zealand into a “fortress” against immigrants.
Texas becomes the first state to refuse refugee resettlement
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 14 January 2020
An order issued by Trump in September precludes non-governmental and non-profit organizations from resettling refugees without the consent of state and local governments.
Denied US entry, asylum seeker takes his own life on US-Mexico border bridge
By Norisa Diaz, 11 January 2020
The suicide of Jesús García Serna casts light on the dire conditions facing the migrants being turned away from the US southern border.
Trump administration initiated program to deport Mexican asylum seekers to Guatemala
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 10 January 2020
The deportations were already under way when the story broke Monday; however, the Trump administration has since paused the program, in part due to the strong criticism from immigration advocates as well as within federal agencies.
Trump administration begins collecting DNA from detained immigrants
By Kevin Reed, 9 January 2020
The new policy violates Fourth Amendment rights and is the first step in the establishment of a law enforcement biometric database for the entire population.
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