"Sarah Towle joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her book "Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands" where she writes about how unwelcoming our government is to...
Valerie Lacarte, Ph.D., Aug. 2024 "The charge that immigrants are taking jobs from U.S.-born Black workers has made its way from conspiracy circles to the broader public conversation this election...
I have some thoughts for the Harris/Walz team, the Supreme Court, Congress, DHS, DOL, and DOJ regarding the border. Please consider subscribing to my free Substack . Comments welcome via Substack,...
Eric Asimov, New York Times, Aug. 27, 2024 (gift article) "Arjav Ezekiel rose through the restaurant ranks becoming a sommelier and opening Birdie’s in Austin, Texas. Few knew of his past...
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the ACLU, the ACLU of Louisiana, Immigration Services & Legal Advocacy, National Immigration Project, Aug. 26. 2024 "A coalition of immigrants’ rights groups...
Adolfo Flores, BuzzFeed News, Sept. 11, 2019
"Tent border courts for asylum-seekers forced to return to Mexico under a Trump administration policy have opened for hearings Wednesday in Laredo, Texas — but few got to see inside as the public, including media, was denied access.
A DHS officer who didn’t wear a name tag and declined to offer his name said the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) hearings were not open to the public and that only law enforcement, attorneys with clients who had hearings that day, and government contractors would be allowed inside.
“It’s not a public hearing,” the DHS officer told BuzzFeed News.
A DHS official said that while immigration court proceedings are generally open to the public, asylum hearings at the tent facilities were unique from other immigration courts because of “the law enforcement sensitive priorities” of the nearby official border crossings.
“These soft-sided facilities will not be open to in-person public access, including media access,” the DHS official said.
The public, including the media, will have the ability to observe proceedings at immigration courts in San Antonio, DHS said, where judges who are conducting hearings via video teleconference are located more than 150 miles away. MPP hearings at tents in Brownsville are expected to start Thursday."
[Editor's Note: I'm hoping media organizations will sue DHS and DOJ. This is a clear violation of 8 C.F.R. 1003.27.]