John Oliver recently examined the Trump administration family separation policy on his show. While noting that “immigration has been dominating the news all week long, as a caravan of migrants from Central America continues to head north,” he focused on the family separation policy, which has “faded from the headlines.” Oliver looked at the incompetence and miscommunication between government agencies that resulted in children getting lost in the system as well as parents being removed from the US without their children. Demonstrating the devastating human cost of the family separation policy, he played footage from an investigation by The Atlantic showing a traumatized boy crying, angry at his mother because he thinks she doesn’t love him. “This separation was so long,” the mother said in the footage. “My son has changed so much. With so much trauma.” Oliver, concerned that family separation may happen again, concluded: “I would argue the biggest threat to our status as the greatest nation on earth is not a caravan a thousand miles south of us it’s whoever thinks doing this is an acceptable f—king response.”
Last Week Tonight: Family Separation
New York Times: "President Wants to Use Executive Order to End Birthright Citizenship"
President Trump announced last week that he was preparing an executive order to nullify the long-standing constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship in the US, one of the many aggressively anti-immigrant actions he and his administration have made leading up to the midterm elections, including sending over 5,000 troops to the US/Mexico Border. “We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years, with all of those benefits,” Mr. Trump falsely told Axios in an interview.
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ChalkFIT 2018
Every fall senior illustration students at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) create temporary murals at Seventh Avenue and West 28th Street, just down the block from our office. This year over fifty students interpreted the theme, "The future of the human experience." In addition to the yearly theme, the individual murals were inspired by everything from robots and technology, science fiction horror, and the immigrant crisis, to kewpie babies and propaganda art. Visitors can download the Arilyn AR App (on iTunes and Google Play) on their smartphone to enjoy the animation and augmented reality features of the murals.
Take an Immigrant’s Journey
Experience Magazine, published by Northeastern University, aims to take readers inside eight immigrant stories, each told through “composite characters but based on real laws and historically documented scenarios.” In the fascinating interactive article, readers are invited to follow their paths and respond to often incredibly difficult choices many immigrants have faced in their lives. The stories introduce the eight characters in various time periods in history and at various stages of their life. They include Margaret (age eighteen) from Ireland starting in 1848; Li Wei (age eighteen) from China starting in 1868; Joyce (age eight) from the Philippines starting in 1990; Yesenia (age twenty-three) from El Salvador starting in 1981; Ama (age twenty-six) from Ghana starting in 1992; and others.
Read moreThe Washington Post: "U.S. will deploy 5,200 additional troops to the Mexican border, officials say"
Department of Homeland Security and Pentagon officials announced Monday that they will send 5,200 troops, military helicopters, and razor wire to the US/Mexican border in advance of the potential arrival of a large group of Central American migrants. This troop deployment, according to the Washington Post, appears to be the “largest U.S. active-duty mobilization along the U.S.-Mexico boundary in decades and amounts to a significant militarization of American border security.”
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Museum of Illusions
The Museum of Illusions in New York is an interactive museum featuring optical illusions, holograms, puzzles, and educational games. Located at 14th Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan, the museum promises to teach attendees about “vision, perception, the human brain and science so it will be easier to perceive why your eyes see things which your brain cannot understand.” Highlights of the museum include the Head on a Platter, which (spoiler!) cleverly uses mirrors to create the effect of a decapitated head; the Chair Illusion, which shrinks whoever sits on it using angles of perception; and the Rotated Room, which makes it look like gravity has no effect. It’s all worth seeing before it disappears! (Yes, that was a magic joke).
USCIS: Revised Policy Guidance for the Validity Period of Form I-693, Medical Examination and Vaccination Record
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced they are revising their policy concerning the validity period of Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, which is used to determine whether an applicant for an immigration benefit is inadmissible under the health-related grounds of inadmissibility. The updated policy, effective November 1, 2018, will require applicants to submit a Form I-693 that is signed by a civil surgeon no more than sixty days before filing the underlying application for an immigration benefit.
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