Category Archives: racism

4 Ways ICE Doesn’t Hold Immigration Detention Facilities Accountable : Immigration Impact

ICE fails to penalize contractors that don’t meet key detention standards. All facilities with an ICE contract are supposed to follow national detention standards. The standards generally define the facility’s responsibilities, services, and safety and security requirements. ICE’s own inspection process—which the OIG previously found to be inadequate—uncovered more than 14,000 instances of deficient standards at the contract facilities between October 2015 and June 2018. Despite identifying deficiencies, such as failing to notify ICE of sexual assaults or allegations of staff misconduct, ICE imposed a financial penalty on bad contractors only twice. That’s 0.014 percent of identified deficiencies.

Source: 4 Ways ICE Doesn’t Hold Immigration Detention Facilities Accountable : Immigration Impact

Trump’s National Emergency? Think Again | Human Rights Watch

We have seen Trump’s fear-mongering before. There are real humanitarian problems at the border, but they have largely been manufactured by the Trump Administration, for example, by blocking asylum seekers from entering at ports of entry and lodging claims. Processing increasing numbers of children and families seeking asylum is not a crisis; it is not only manageable but a responsibility any country should willingly bear.

Source: Trump’s National Emergency? Think Again | Human Rights Watch

Portland police and far-right leader had friendly relationship, texts reveal | World news | The Guardian

On 23 December 2017, Niiya texted to Gibson: “Heads up just told 4-5 black Bloch [antifascists] heading your way. One carrying a flag. We will have officers nearby but you may want to think about moving soon if more come.” Niiya also appears to advise Gibson about avoiding the arrest of group member Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, who has allegedly been involved in acts of violence in the city. On 8 December 2017, discussing Toese’s presence at a rally at a time when he was the subject of an outstanding warrant, Niiya wrote: “Just make sure he doesn’t do anything which may draw our attention. If he still has the warrant in the system (I don’t run you guys so I don’t personally know) the officers could arrest him. I don’t see a need to arrest on the warrant unless there is a reason.”

Source: Portland police and far-right leader had friendly relationship, texts reveal | World news | The Guardian

Rambling Trump calls an emergency in speech that goes on and on and on | US news | The Guardian

Trump’s White House screed was him at his Trumpiest – the old man at the bar sounding off about the world’s ills

Source: Rambling Trump calls an emergency in speech that goes on and on and on | US news | The Guardian

Wife of White House communications chief goes on anti-vaccine tirade | US news | The Guardian

Darla Shine, a former TV producer, is married to Bill Shine, the former executive at Fox News who was appointed last year as Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for communications. Faced with criticism over her comments, Shine accused “the Left” of attempting to smear her. She also suggested, without evidence, that measles can cure cancer, pointing to a 2014 case that was far more complex and did not draw any kind of definitive conclusions. Advertisement This is not the first time Darla’s Shine’s public statements have sparked controversy. She once declared that sunscreen was “a hoax” and on numerous occasions pushed debunked theories about the danger of vaccines. Other unearthed tweets found Darla Shine making profane remarks about race, questioning why white people were considered racist for using “the n’word” given its use by black people and defending the Confederate flag. She has repeatedly struck a dismissive tone when discussing allegations of sexual assault, be it in the military or at Fox News.

Source: Wife of White House communications chief goes on anti-vaccine tirade | US news | The Guardian

Covington Students ‘Did Not Instigate’ Lincoln Memorial Encounter, Bishop Says – The New York Times – while balancing two buckets of white paint for the school’s fences

Chase Iron Eyes, a spokesman for the Indigenous Peoples Movement, which organized the march, criticized the investigation as showing “a serious lack of understanding about the intrinsic, racist culture” in the United States. “We feel that our elder is vindicated by the videos that are out there right now,” he said. “We would expect the adults that are responsible for these children to take responsibility for the racism, or ignorance, that is represented by their children doing the tomahawk chop.”

Donald Trump’s SOTU, AOC, and the History of Red Baiting DJT has no problem with Fascist Russian Dupe though – lol

“Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” Donald Trump said in his State of the Union speech, adding that, “Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”

Source: Donald Trump’s SOTU, AOC, and the History of Red Baiting

Will Chinese company’s stake in Reddit normalise censorship? | Emily Bell | Media | The Guardian

The creation of concentration camps for a million Uighurs in Xinjiang has not been enough to persuade any of the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs receiving funds from Chinese companies to refuse the cash. Neither is it apparently enough of a deterrent to stop the US companies investing in China to stop their plans to enter the market. Trade tensions between the US and China revolve entirely around tariffs and not around human rights. Most troubling of all, against a background of demonstrably tightening censorship, internment camps and an extension of totalitarianism, the narrative of western companies is that their presence in China, and the presence of Chinese money in western companies, is helping ease those restrictions. All the evidence says this is not true.

Source: Will Chinese company’s stake in Reddit normalise censorship? | Emily Bell | Media | The Guardian

Friday Open Thread | James Comey: Take down the confederate statues now | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Comey argues that the Confederate statues are “much larger and more powerful symbols of that oppression — symbols born of a similar desire to keep black people down.” He describes them as “gigantic bronze embodiments of that same racism.” “They loom over Virginians every day,” Comey writes. “If Virginia’s leaders want to atone for a troubling legacy, changing state law so Richmond’s statues no longer taunt the progress of our country would be a good place to start.” The former FBI director argues that the statues of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson “weren’t put up to celebrate history or heritage; they were put up as a message: The 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution aren’t going to help you black folks because the South has risen from that humiliation. Jim Crow — a name rooted in blackface mockery — is king.”

Source: Friday Open Thread | James Comey: Take down the confederate statues now | 3CHICSPOLITICO

‘Disgusting’ razor wire must go, say U.S. border city residents | Reuters

“They’re turning our town into a military base. It’s like the front lines of some kind of war zone,” Nixon, 68, told the Nogales City Council on Wednesday night. “Please take a stand and at least have them get rid of the razor wire. It’s a public nuisance, it’s lethal.” Minutes later, the council unanimously passed a resolution condemning the use of the concertina wire as an indiscriminate use of lethal force normally reserved for battlefields and high-security prisons.

Source: ‘Disgusting’ razor wire must go, say U.S. border city residents | Reuters