Update November 16, 2022: The judge has granted an extension until Dec. 21 for this ruling to take effect, though if an appeal is filed, that deadline could be put on hold.

By Miriam Raftery

File photo: migrants in Mexico: CC by SA via Bing

November 15, 2022 (Washington D.C.) -- A federal court today struck down Title 42, which was used by the federal government to expel asylum seekers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling applies to families and single adults.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Creative Commons image by SA-NC via Bing

March 14, 2022 (San Diego) – The Biden administration has announced a 120-day pilot program in Houston and Baltimore to test placing migrants into house arrest as an alternative to detention facilities while they await immigration hearings. The home curfew program would cost only $6 to $8 a day per person, far less than the $142 per day for detention in a facility, Reuters reports.

By Miriam Raftery

July 5, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) –Called in by family members or others to search for immigrants who have gone missing after crossing the border, volunteer with the nonprofit Aguilas del Desierto (Eagles of the Desert) brave triple digit heat, rattlesnakes and other perils in a desperate effort to save lives. 

Hear our exclusive interview with Vicente Rodriguez and Henri Migala, originally aired on KNSJ radio earlier this year, at the audio link and scroll down for highlights.

According to the Border Patrol, 7,000 migrants are known to have died crossing the border since the wall began. The toll is likely much higher, since it doesn’t include those missing and never found.

By Miriam Raftery

December 20,2018 (San Diego) – Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen today announced that Central American migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. must wait in Mexico until their hearing dates, except for unaccompanied minors. But the action is likely to be challenged in court—and thus far, federal courts have consistently ruled against the Trump administration efforts to restrict the rights of asylum seekers.

By Miriam Raftery

January 19, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – A new report by humanitarian organizations  reveals that Border Patrol agents  have been systemically destroying water bottles left in desert areas for undocumented immigrants in the Arizona desert, condemning people to die of thirst.  While its unknown if this is occurring in California, this article in Britain’s The Guardian hit home for me in a visceral way, reminding me of an experience that brought me to tears.

On the 4^th of July In 2008, I rode alongwith Border Angels founder Enrique Morones. We discovered sabotage of water bottles his group had left in rugged locations--all slashed open, empty. My article, Dying to Come to America, was published in our very first edition of East County Magazine. Morones vividly described what it is like for people to die of dehydration – hallucinating, throwing off clothes and shoes. We saw the signs of this torment – a woman’s high-heeled shoe cast aside, a man’s crumpled shirt.  The heat was triple digits.

I went along to learn about experiences faced by people so desperate to come to America that they rely on water left by benevolent strangers to survive. I learned that coyotes, or human traffickers, often lie to the migrants, telling them it's just a short walk to freedom; some women dressed up to meet their husbands are unaware of the dangers. I choked up, imagining their pain. My story included photos of those slashed water bottles and graves of people--some so very young--who died crossing East County's rugged border mountains in their failed quest to find freedom.

• Returning migrants boost Mexico’s middle class: net immigration to U.S. now zero (Washington Post)
• Pressure mounts to stop China’s forced abortions (USA Today)
• Syria says could use chemical arms against foreigners (Reuters)
• Tax havens: Super rich ‘hide’ 21 trillion (BBC)
• Murdoch resigns from his British papers’ boards (NY Times)

• Poverty issue missing on presidential campaign trail (OpEd News)
• Offshore jobs play role in campaign and economy (KPBS)
• Romney walks political tightrope on foreign policy (CNN)
• What happens to current nursing home residents if House Budget Resolution becomes law? (Medicare Advocacy)
• White House threatens to veto GOP drilling bill (The Hill)
• Solar trade war hurts Chinese imports (Technology Review)