Death of Rohingya refugee left in parking lot by US border agents ruled a homicide

Welcome to our news segment: TL;DR of Immigration News, for when the news is Too Long and you Didn’t Read it.

This is a weekly collection of immigration-related news stories. These bite-size summaries will keep you up to date without overwhelming your inbox.
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Nurses Forge Alliances to Protect Patients From Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

In January, the nation’s largest nurse’s union issued a statement demanding that Congress abolish ICE. Hours later, ICE agents killed nurse Alex Pretti, executing him in cold blood. This moment galvanized nurses and other hospital workers in Minnesota and across the nation. As patient advocates, nurses were already being put in horrifying, impossible positions. Now, both union organizing and person-to-person organizing have strengthened hospital workers’ resolve to defend their patients and shield them from terror in their most vulnerable moments.
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Choctaw Nation Shuts Down Attempt to Open ICE Facility Near Tribal Headquarters

On March 14th, the Choctaw Nation Council passed a bill to approve the purchase of a 1.2 million square foot facility that was formerly owned by the retail company BigLots. The facility is located very close to the Choctaw Nation headquarters and the city of Durant, which is located on tribal lands.

Officials became concerned because they heard local sheriffs were in talks with DHS officials to purchase the facility and turn it into an ICE detention center. “Choctaw Nation council members sounded the alarm that the facility is ‘unacceptably close to the nation’s governmental headquarters and community-serving facilities, including childcare and elderly services.’”

Both the city and Choctaw Nation headquarters decided to work quickly to pass an ordinance affirming that they did not want the warehouse to be turned into an ICE facility. After growing concern that this would not be enough, the Council approved the purchase of the facility so ICE can’t have it.

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Action at the state level may be necessary to contain ICE

Individual states are uniquely able to pass legislation reigning in the unconstitutional terror perpetrated by the federal Department of Homeland Security. States like California and Washington have passed legislation either banning the wearing of masks by federal agents (except in cases of medical necessity) or, in the case of the Washington law, allowing anyone detained by a masked agent to sue for damages.

Responding to the duress created by the Trump administration requires our collective creativity. These laws demonstrate legal agility and have, so far, met with success when challenged in court.
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Death of Rohingya refugee left in parking lot by US border agents ruled a homicide

We are sad to learn that Nurul Amin Shah died by homicide. Shah was a visually impaired Rohingya refugee from Myanmar who had come to the US to escape the near-genocidal persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar.

New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, opened an investigation into Shah’s death in March. The Erie county district attorney’s office requested the autopsy as part of its parallel investigation. While such investigations cannot return Shah to his wife and children, strongly enforced accountability may help prevent recurrence of this kind of tragedy.
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In ICE custody, medical delays drive record deaths

Reporters at the San Francisco Chronicle reviewed records of each of the 48 deaths that have happened in ICE custody since Trump returned to office. This is the highest rate of death under ICE supervision, ever. Even more tragic and infuriating, these deaths were mostly preventable. Doctors who reviewed the files said that many of the deaths were due to inexcusable delays, missed diagnoses, care workers ignoring emergencies, or workers waiting too long to provide care.

When asked for comment, CoreCivic, GEO Group, and DHS all claimed that detainees receive high standards of medical care. Every single expert consulted by the Chronicle disagrees with that assessment. The Chronicle points out that standards of questionable care by ICE and DHS precede the current administration. This is true, because cruel deterrence policies stretch back decades. The cruelty is, and has long been, the point.
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She paid into Medicare for years. Trump's immigration policy will end her coverage

Rosa María Carranza, like over 100,000 other workers, has been paying part of her wages into Medicare and Social Security over many years. Records show she made contributions totaling tens of thousands of dollars. Now, thanks to the current regime, she and many more like her will be “disenrolled” from these programs. That’s a polite term for “kicked off” and it hides the truth that peoples’ payments into these systems are intended to be returned to them in their times of need.

In plain language, the BBB is stealing millions of dollars from people who can least afford it, while depriving them of health care and retirement possibilities.
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Action items:

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