In The News

BBC: Health Impact of Separating Children from Parents

Jessica Lussenhop June 21, 2018
Doctors speak out against a Trump administration policy that separates children from parents attempting to cross the US border. The policy could cause long-term, irreversible harm unless the families are swiftly reunited. The new policy began in a chaotic way with empty big-box stores and tents used to shelter the children, including babies and toddlers, with the risk that some families may never...

NPR: US Announces Withdrawal From UN Human Rights Council

Colin Dwyer June 20, 2018
The US ambassador to the United Nations and the secretary state announced that the country is withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council. The diplomats insist withdrawal is not a retreat from human rights commitments and called some of the organization’s endeavors “hypocritical” and “self-serving.” Ambassador Nikki Haley has complained about the Council’s bias against Israel for its treatment...

The Atlantic: Moral Reckoning for Trump’s Immigration Policy

Krishnadev Calamur June 18, 2018
Public outrage intensifies over a Trump administration policy that labels incoming immigrants without documentation, including asylum-seekers, as law-breakers and requires border agents to separate children from detained parents. About 2000 migrant children have been separated under the “zero tolerance” policy and kept in makeshift shelters including barren tents and former Walmart stores. “The...

Washington Post: Cruel US Immigration Policies

Paul Waldman May 30, 2018
The US since its founding flourished with the help of immigrants fleeing persecution, poverty and conflict. Supporters of US President Donald Trump view the vulnerable newcomers as competitors for jobs and a threat to a way of life. The administration aims to tighten border controls and deter immigration with harsh rhetoric and policies – including separating parents from children. “The cruelty...

Center for Public Integrity: TPS Cancellations in the US

Susan Ferriss May 8, 2018
Since 1990, the United States could grant temporary protected status for citizens of select countries with challenging conditions including conflict or disasters that prevented safe return. The Trump administration has announced an end of this protected status for citizens of Honduras as of January 2020 and Nepal as of June 2019. The limited status was granted to Hondurans after a 1998 hurricane...

Project Syndicate: Why We Need Globalization

Koichi Hamada May 2, 2018
Open economies with active trade, immigration and foreign investment have historically enjoyed prosperity, and “globalization does not deserve voters’ ire,” argues Koichi Hamada for Project Syndicate. Competition does harm some communities and individuals, but governments can target policies that encourage economic security, job training and adaptation. “Yet such countervailing policies are...

Politico: US Foreign Visas Plunge Under Trump

Nahal Toosi, Ted Hesson and Sarah Frostenson April 16, 2018
The United States is granting visitor visas at a lower rate to applicants from around the world, according to Politico’s analysis of State Department data – a trend suggesting that government officials have adopted President Donald Trump’s hardline attitude toward immigration, legal or otherwise. Due to limited information, the writers could not determine how much of the downward turn is due to...