Friday, March 29, 2024

DREAMEr qualifies for the Olympics, but his DACA status almost kept him away

Runner Luis Grijalva, an Arizona college student, got the news that he will be going to Tokyo to participate in the Olympics, representing his native country, Guatemala. However, in his case, being able to live his dream as an Olympian went beyond qualifying as an athlete. Grijalva was named to the Guatemalan Olympic team last […]

Hurricane Eta destroys communities in Central America

Just last week, countries in Central America; Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Belize, among other Caribbean countries, were hit by Hurricane Eta, category 4. Hurricane Eta was expected to bring high winds, but the storm lasted for several days in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, these countries were not […]

Separated children and families sue the Trump Administration

The Trump administration’s family separation policy resulted in thousands of traumatized children and parents who were “cruelly and inhumanely separated from each other,” according to a lawsuit filed against the administration yesterday. The lawsuit from the ACLU covers families separated at the southern border from 2017 through the present. “The suffering and trauma inflicted on […]

Former ICE Director says closing the border could end up hurting Americans

John Sandweg, a former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that President Trump’s apparent plan to close the southern border would do “absolutely nothing” to curb the number of people illegally crossing to the U.S. from Mexico. Sandweg, who temporarily headed the federal immigration agency under the Obama administration, told CNN yesterday […]

Trump to end aid to 3 Central American countries over border crossings

President Trump said on Friday that there would be a “very good likelihood” that he would seal off the United States border with Mexico next week, even as he moved to punish Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador for migrant caravans by cutting off all foreign aid to the countries. “I will close the border if […]

An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy dies while in the custody of Border Patrol

An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy died late Christmas Eve in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection, the agency said, the second Guatemalan child to die in the agency’s custody this month. Rep. Joaquin Castro, chairman-elect of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, identified the child in a statement as Felipe Alonzo-Gomez. The boy, who was detained […]

Mexico deporting Central Americans at an alarming rate

Data from Mexico’s National Immigration Institute indicate that the country has deported 79 percent more people – at least 51,565 individuals – from Central America’s Northern Triangle region since January 2015 than the same time last year. The government statistics shed light on both the ongoing crises in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador that are forcing mass […]

Deported 4-year-old to Reunite with Parents

Four-year-old Emily Samantha Ruiz who was deported to Guatemala earlier this month will rejoin her family in New York on Tuesday, according to family attorney David Sperling. As reported in La Plaza, Ruiz, a U.S. citizen was on her way back home from a family trip to Guatemala with her grandfather, when he was detained […]

Four-year-old American Citizen deported to Guatemala

Emily Samantha Ruiz, a 4-year-old U.S. citizen was deported to Guatemala along with her grandfather earlier this month, raising concerns over the treatment of children born to undocumented immigrants in the country. “The case is alarming because it shows what can happen once you start treating kids who are born here whose parents are undocumented […]

Missouri Court to Rule on Rights of Deported Mother

This week, the Missouri Supreme Court is hearing arguments on a custody battle between a Guatemalan immigrant mother who is facing deportation and an American family who adopted her son through a private arrangement. In the spring of 2007, Encarnacion Romero was arrested in a raid at a Missouri poultry plant.  She was arrested and […]