First Nations activists held protests across Canada over the Canada Day holiday weekend in a National Day of Action against the Conservative government emphasizing land claims and other disputes. In Ontario, camouflage-clad Mohawks, some reportedly armed, blocked Highway 401 between… Read moreCanada: Mohawks block roads, rail lines in National Day of Action
On June 24, several thousand demonstrators, many carrying US flags, marched through Hollywood, California, to demand full rights for immigrants. Police estimated the crowd at 1,100. Organizer Raul Murillo said the marchers want lawmakers in Washington to know immigration reform… Read moreLos Angeles: protesters defend immigrant rights
On June 28, the US Senate defeated a measure that would have limited debate on immigration reform and cleared the way for final passage of a proposed “compromise” bill. The measure to end debate and move forward with the bill… Read moreImmigration bill fails
Early on May 31, a Border Patrol agent shot and killed Benito A. Gonzalez after trying to handcuff him in an unincorporated area north of Escondido, California, just east of Interstate 15. Gonzalez was an out-of-status immigrant who lived in… Read moreUndercover border agent kills migrant
On June 15, a federal judge in Trenton, New Jersey, ruled that officials at the Monmouth County jail in Freehold can use intravenous or feeding tubes to force feed immigration detainee Samuel Izrailovich Shevaniya, who is on hunger strike. Shevaniya… Read moreHunger-striking immigration detainee force-fed in NJ
On June 12, more than 150 ICE agents executed search and arrest warrants at three sites in Portland, Oregon, connected with the Fresh Del Monte company and its Portland fruit and vegetable processing facility, arresting about 165 workers and three… Read moreICE raids spark protests in Portland, New Haven
The UN is expected to release a report shortly that will shed light on human rights violations of migrants in the United States. The report will be presented to the Human Rights Council by Special Rapporteur on the Rights of… Read moreUN to report on rights abuses of immigrants in United States
Now, let’s see. A May 26 AP account by Larry McShane on the case of Syed Hashmi, a 27-year-old Pakistan-born US citizen and former Queens resident extradited from England back to New York to face terrorism charges, says he is… Read moreNew Yorker on trial for possession of terrorist rain gear
A prisoner has died in an apparent suicide at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the US military announced May 30. A statement by the US Southern Command said the inmate, a Saudi Arabian national, was found… Read moreApparent suicide at Guantanamo Bay
Interesting. A Pew survey finds that 87% of Muslim Americans polled (just some 1,000 out of the total 2 million-plus) condemn the practice of suicide bombings. But for those under 30, the 13% finding them sometimes justified doubles to 26%…. Read moreMuslim-American views: poll results in eye of beholder
Declaring fires set at a police station, an SUV dealer and a tree farm were acts of “terrorism,” US District Judge Ann Aiken May 23 sentenced former Earth Liberation Front militant Stanislas Meyerhoff to 13 years in prison. Judge Aiken… Read moreELF militants convicted of (dubious) “terrorism”
On May 17, key Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and the administration of President George W. Bush reached a compromise agreement on a Senate immigration reform bill after months of closed-door negotiations. (Arizona Republic, May 18) Under the plan,… Read moreSenate immigration bill: attack on the family?
