By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

Dec. 1,  2019 (San Ysidro) “How is it that some of the poorest nations around the world can take in people in crisis?” questioned Rep. Karen Bass (D-37th) at a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Field Hearing held at the San Ysidro Public Library on Nov. 22. 

“What can we learn from these countries? How do international organizations like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Organization for Migration and others monitor and advise on the surge in migrants, refugees and asylum seekers? What are the international protocols, norms, standards, and practices that should be followed?” she continued. “Basically, I want to know, what can we learn from other countries around the world. But mostly, I want to understand where the United States is with regard to these practices, norms and standards.”

Dozens dead, estimates of injured range from 600 to nearly 1,200

Photo: Maryam Deuge and Mina Abdelahad want Iraq to have water, food, electricity, internet and jobs, and an end to widespread corruption

By Jonathan Goetz

October 4, 2019 (El Cajon) - “Over the last 24 hours all these people in Iraq are dying,” Mina Abdelahad told East County Magazine at an impromptu rally yesterday in downtown El Cajon following reports of brutal crackdowns on protesters in Baghdad.

Around 450 protesters gathered in El Cajon, home to tens of thousands of Iraqi immigrants and refugees. The local protesters stand in solidarity with demonstrators in Iraq and decried the violent crackdowns on protesters in Iraq that have injured between 600 and 1,200 people, killing 20 to 30 or more.

Abdelahad shows us graphic pictures on her phone: people carrying dead bodies, a child with a gunshot wound, and protesters weeping over a dead one-year-old girl. As of Thursday, Al-Jazeera put the death toll at 20, the Associated Press 33, CNN 22, Fox 31 and Reuters 27. 

By Miriam Raftery

Hear our interview at the audio link and scroll down for highlights.

July 28, 2019 (Lemon Grove) – East Count Magazine sat down last week for an interview with Warsan Artan.  Born in Nairobi, Kenya, after her parents fled civil war in Somalia, she came to Lemon Grove as a refugee at the age of 10. A decade later, she is the lead Youth Organizer at Youth Will, a nonprofit dedicated to making San Diego a world-class region for children and youth. Youth Will recently rolled out a Summer of Youth Power campaign with a series of events to help young people’s voices be heard.

Her goal to create a brand-new regional master plan for San Diego's children and youth. The organization also recently held the region’s first youth county budget forum with Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, created a youth bill of rights, hosted youth presidential debate watch parties, and more.

"The Trump administration's attempt to politicize and manipulate this fundamental pillar of our democracy has failed."

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer

Reprinted with credit to CommonDreams.org under a Creative Commons License

June 27, 2019 (Washington, D.C.) - Civil liberties and immigrant rights advocates celebrated Thursday as the U.S. Supreme Court blocked—at least temporarily—the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, an effort critics had decried as a blatant attempt by Republicans to "weaponize" the national survey for political advantage.

East County News Service

June 10, 2019 (La Mesa) – “We’ve recently read and heard about the number of Hondurans coming to the United States,” says Scott Elam with the La Mesa Rotary Club. “Join us for another perspective to learn about Honduran women who are making great strides to improve the lives of their families and villages through the benefits of micro-financing.”

By José A. Álvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

Video by Andy Tolley

May 23, 2019 (San Diego) - San Diego County Public Health officials are responding to an influenza outbreak among asylum seekers recently flown to San Diego from Texas by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

By Suzanne Potter, California Public News Service

May 17, 2019 (Sacramento) -- Immigrants' rights groups are speaking out against President Donald Trump's new immigration proposal - unveiled yesterday - saying it betrays American values and ignores the thorniest issues that have thus far held up a comprehensive immigration deal in Congress. 

By Miriam Raftery

Illustration by Duke Windsor*

February 24, 2019 (San Diego) – Following revelations that the Trump administration failed to inform a federal judge that it had begun separating migrant children from their parents back in 2017, a federal judge in San Diego sent strong signals Thursday that he is prepared to expand his June 2018 reunification order to mandate reunions of more families who came to the U.S. seeking freedom from persecution.

Judge Dana Sabraw’s original order required unification only of children who were in government custody at the time, taken from migrant parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. But on Thursday, Judge Sabraw made clear, “No one but a few in the government knew that these separations had been going on nine or 10 months before, and that hundreds if not thousands were” being separated. He added, “The court didn’t know that and plaintiff didn’t know that, and I don’t think government counsel knew that.”

A new archive of hundreds of letters between a group of volunteers and asylum seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border has been developed and is being digitized at the SDSU Library.

By La Monica Everett-Haynes

February 13, 2019 (San Diego) - What began as a casual gathering of friends has become a first-of-its-kind living archive of handwritten letters shared by hundreds of asylum seekers detained along the U.S.-Mexico border. Those letters, in the collective correspondence, provide a detailed description of each person’s path to pursuing asylum, and the conditions inside detention centers. 

By Miriam Raftery

February 11, 2019 (San Diego) – California Governor Gavin is withdrawing most of the 360 National Guard troops from deployment at the Mexican border, leaving in place a limited number to enforce drug smuggling laws.

New freeway exit signs to be installed at El Cajon Boulevard on February 1

Source: Little Saigon Foundation

January 27, 2019 (City Heights) --Starting in February, commuters on I-15 will notice new freeway exit signs directing them to exit El Cajon Boulevard to reach the Little Saigon District in City Heights, San Diego. Caltrans confirmed that the signs will be set up at the transit station on El Cajon Boulevard over the I-15 North and South exits on February 1. An unveiling ceremony will be held on that day at 10 a.m. with guests including City Council President Georgette Gomez and Assemblymember Todd Gloria.

Her journey as a refugee led her to Syria, Kuwait, Jordan and Russia. Now an El Cajon resident, she has worked as a scientist, realtor, poet, and humanitarian.

By Briana Gomez

Photo, left: Nital Meshkoor in Iraq, approximatey 20 years ago

January 5, 2019 (El Cajon) -- Nital Meshkoor settled in El Cajon in 1998 following her escape from the first Iraq war, a journey that cost her many years of hardship, but her actions in the community have set her apart as a human rights activist and role model for refugees to come.

By Miriam Raftery

January 4, 2019 (Washington D.C.) – One of the last acts of the outgoing Congress in 2018 was passage of H.R. 390, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act. The measure passed the House and Senate by unanimous consent and was signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 11, 2018.

The new law could impact familes, friends and loved ones of tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian immigrants and refugees who now call San Diego's East County home.

The action came shortly before President Trump ordered a pull-out of troops from Syria, against the advice of his generals and top security advisors. It is unclear how the troop withdrawal may impact implementation of the bill’s provisions.