On November 8, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced an Interim Final Rule declaring that foreign nationals “who contravene a presidential suspension or limitation on entry into the United States through the southern border with Mexico issued under section 212(f) or 215(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) will be rendered ineligible for asylum.” Under the new rule, based on the “Presidential Proclamation Addressing Mass Migration Through the Southern Border of the United States” that was signed by President Trump on November 9 the following day, migrants seeking asylum will have to make their claims only at official ports of entry on the border where according to the rule they will “be processed in a controlled, orderly, and lawful manner.”
Read moreGreat People
Last Week Tonight: Family Separation
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.”
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.
Read moreHealthy Democracy
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.”
Read moreTrue Lived Experiences
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).