Meet the Extreme Nativists Guiding Our Immigration Policy
President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in El Paso, Texas on February 11, 2019.Joe Raedle/Getty Images It may be difficult to remember now, but there was once a time when nativism was a relatively fringe ideology. Forty years ago, a Michigan ophthalmologist turned political activist named John Tanton pioneered a movement that sought to rebrand…
Joe Biden Is Working His Way Toward an Answer on Obama’s Deportations
Cory Booker and Joe Biden during the second of two Democratic debates in Detroit.John Nowak/CNN via ZUMA Wire During Wednesday night’s debate, Joe Biden completely dodged questions about his views on the record number of immigrant deportations carried out while he was Barack Obama’s vice president. But on Saturday, he took a shot at addressing…
Dozens of ICE Detainees Were Pepper-Sprayed by Guards for Protesting at a Louisiana Jail
Shane Bevel/The (Shreveport) Times/AP Immigrants held at a Louisiana jail say they were beaten and pepper-sprayed Friday after protesting their indefinite detention at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mother Jones obtained several text messages sent by detainees to attorney Lara Nochomovitz, who represents clients held in the Bossier (Parish) Sheriff Medium Security Facility,…
Trump Just Strong-Armed Guatemala Into a “Safe Third Country” Agreement. Now What?
President Donald Trump watches over acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan and Guatemalan Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart on Friday as they sign an agreement that would force many asylum seekers to apply for protection in Guatemala, not the United States. Stefani Reynolds/AP The United States and Guatemala have reached a deal that has the potential…
A Federal Judge Just Blocked Trump’s Latest Attempt to Turn Away Asylum Seekers
Protesters hold signs outside the San Francisco federal courthouse on Wednesday.AP Photo/Haven Daley In another rebuke to President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, a federal judge blocked the White House’s most recent asylum ban Wednesday, writing that it is “inconsistent with the existing asylum laws” set by Congress. On July 15, Trump announced a rule…
HUD’s Lynne Patton Had a Surprising Take on Kicking Undocumented Immigrants Out of Public Housing
J. Scott Applewhite/AP On Tuesday, Lynne Patton, Department of Housing and Urban Development regional administrator and longtime Trump family friend, appeared to have reservations about a proposed HUD rule that would remove undocumented immigrants from federally-subsidized housing and leave tens of thousands of people homeless. “Do I think that this proposal is a priority when we…