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For Immediate Release
January, 15 2010, 02:28pm EDT
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
Haiti: * Debt * Aristide * Letting Haitians Stay
WASHINGTON
MELINDA ST. LOUIS
Melinda St. Louis is deputy director of the Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of more than 75 religious denominations, human rights organizations and development agencies. The group just released a statement, "Debt for Disaster? Jubilee USA Dismayed by IMF Proposal for $100 Million Loan to Haiti."
The group is calling for cancellation of Haiti's debt and an infusion of aid, not loans.
Also see: "Our Role in Haiti's Plight: If we are serious about assisting this devastated land we must stop trying to control and exploit it."
KEVIN PINA
Founder of the Haiti Information Project, Pina was in Haiti last week, shortly before the earthquake, and met with scores of groups. He reports that "many people were complaining of the [Rene] Preval government and how it was using aid in a political manner." He also reports witnessing growing malnutrition and accounts of wrong doing by the UN forces. Pina recently wrote the piece "Allow Aristide to return to Haiti now."
Also see ousted Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide's recent statement as well as commentary by Randall Robinson, author of "An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President," at Democracy Now.
See recent interviews with Pina at Flashpoints.
FRITZ GUTWEIN
Gutwein is co-director of the Quixote Center and coordinator of Haiti Reborn. He said today: "With a stroke of a pen, Obama could give Haitians in the U.S. temporary protective status so they could continue to work in the U.S., pay taxes here -- and send remittances back home that are estimated to account for 20 to 30 percent of Haiti's GDP."
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
LATEST NEWS
As Big Tech Oligarchs Wage War on Workers, Sanders Warns AI Could Kill Nearly 100 Million US Jobs
"We must stand up to the greed of Big Tech and make sure the future of artificial intelligence is a future that works for all of us—not just the people on top."
Oct 06, 2025
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday argued in an opinion piece for Fox News that artificial intelligence "must benefit everyone, not just a handful of billionaires," and released a related report warning that AI puts up to 97 million US jobs at risk.
"Some of the very wealthiest people in the world, including Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos—are now investing hundreds of billions into these revolutionary technologies," Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote at Fox. "Why is that? Is it because they want to improve the standard of living of the 60% of our people who live paycheck-to-paycheck—Americans who are struggling to pay for groceries, healthcare, housing, and education? Maybe. But I doubt it."
"I think it's because investing in AI and robotics will increase their wealth and power exponentially. The artificial intelligence and robotics being developed by these multibillionaires today will allow corporate America to wipe out tens of millions of decent-paying jobs, cut labor costs, and boost profits," he said, warning of major shifts within the next decade.
The senator continued:
Most of us want to see the United States develop a strong, clean, and efficient transportation system—including the production of millions of new cars, buses, and trucks. But, if Musk and others get their way, those vehicles won't be operated by truck drivers, bus drivers, or taxi drivers. They will be driverless vehicles. Millions of jobs in transportation will be eliminated.
This is not science fiction. It's already happening. FedEx is using driverless trucks to haul heavy loads along the I-45 Corridor between Dallas and Houston through a company called Aurora. Walmart is using autonomous trucks for short-haul deliveries in Arkansas through a company called Gatik. Kodiak Robotics has partnered with IKEA to conduct driverless deliveries in Texas. Waymo is operating self-driving cabs in Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Austin.
As the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Sanders noted, "I released a report today finding that AI, automation, and robotics could replace nearly 100 million jobs in America over the next decade, including 40% of registered nurses, 47% of truck drivers, 64% of accountants, 65% of teaching assistants, and 89% of fast food workers, among many other occupations. And as bad as that may seem, I am afraid it may be an underestimate."
The report—The Big Tech Oligarchs' War Against Workers—takes aim at not only tech billionaires but also their ally in the White House, Republican President Donald Trump.
As Sanders' office summarized in a statement, the report also found:
- Corporations are already using AI to cut jobs. Amazon, Walmart, UnitedHealth Group, JPMorgan Chase, and other companies are openly telling investors that AI will allow them to slash payrolls—even as they post tens of billions in profits and reward CEOs with pay packages of $25 million, $35 million, or more.
- AI companies admit their goal is to lower labor costs. Firms like Salesforce and Artisan advertise digital labor platforms to "stop hiring humans." Self-driving truck companies boast that their technology eliminates the "problem" of higher driver wages.
- Trump is making matters worse. The Trump administration has appointed AI executives to top policy roles, gutted labor protections, and even fired tens of thousands of federal workers to pave the way for AI replacement. Trump's policies encourage corporations to automate jobs while kneecapping unions and worker rights.
Last month, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) unveiled a legislative framework for artificial intelligence, including a bill to create a "regulatory sandbox," which he said is part of the "AI Action Plan" Trump announced in July.
"Technology can and should improve the lives of working people," Sanders said Monday. "But it will not happen if decisions are made in boardrooms by billionaires who only care about short-term profits. Congress must ensure that AI and automation benefit workers, not just corporate CEOs and Wall Street."
Specifically, Sanders is advocating for a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay, requiring corporations to share profits with workers and give them seats on boards, expanding employee ownership, creating a US Employee Ownership Bank, enacting a "robot tax" on companies that replace workers with machines, passing the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, ending union busting, guaranteeing paid family and medical leave, restoring defined benefit pensions, and banning stock buybacks.
"Working people built this country," Sanders stressed. "They deserve to benefit from new technology, not be thrown out on the street while billionaires get even richer. We must stand up to the greed of Big Tech and make sure the future of artificial intelligence is a future that works for all of us—not just the people on top."
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House Democrats Demand Answers About ICE Targeting of K-12 Students for Deportation
"ICE is using your tax dollars to target children," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Nearly 2,350 kids have been brought into immigration detention since Trump retook office.
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A group of House Democrats is demanding that the departments of Homeland Security and Education provide answers for the deportation of K-12 students by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to an investigation published last week by The Guardian, since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, "nearly 2,350 kids under the age of 18, including 36 infants, have been booked into immigration detention centers around the country."
In a letter sent Friday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and 10 other New York lawmakers wrote that "ICE’s targeting of not only adults without criminal convictions, but also children and families, negates the administration’s stated policy of going after the 'worst of the worst' for deportation proceedings."
They added that many of the individuals targeted "do not even have open orders of removal in their family's immigration proceedings."
The lawmakers highlighted five K-12 students in New York City who have been arrested by ICE over the past year.
These include Dylan Lopez Contreras, a Bronx high school student who was arrested in May while showing up for a legal asylum court hearing. Chalkbeat reported that Lopez Contreras had arrived in the US last year after making a perilous journey from Venezuela and was allowed to remain in the country while he awaited his court date.
At that court appearance, he was detained without the ability to consult a lawyer and was then shuttled in and out of several detention facilities in at least five different states. According to the lawmakers, he is currently being held in Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania, where the ACLU says "those in detention have endured insufficient medical and mental healthcare, grossly inadequate access to non-English language services, and rampant discrimination."
The lawmakers also highlighted the arrest of a 6-year-old named Dayra, who was arrested in August alongside her mother, Martha, and deported back to Ecuador. Martha's 19-year-old daughter was also taken into ICE custody, but not deported with her family. Meanwhile, her 16-year-old public high school student was left in the care of her 21-year-old brother.
Other students mentioned by the lawmakers include Mamadou Mouctar Diallo, a 20-year-old legal asylum-seeker from Guinea, and Derlis Chusen, a 19-year-old high school student from Ecuador, who was arrested outside a court hearing and taken to an immigration facility in Texas, where he was released on what the lawmakers called an "exorbitant" $20,000 bond.
(Video: Fox 5 New York)
As the lawmakers noted: "Not only did these students have no criminal convictions, they made every attempt to comply with their immigration hearings and ICE check-ins. Despite that, they were held in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, and were transported far away from their families, lawyers, and school communities."
Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema, a 20-year-old student from Ecuador, told The City that while she was held for 10 days at the notorious detention center at 26 Federal Plaza: “We had to beg the people working there that they gave us something to eat, they didn’t even give us water. Sometimes a few cookies they’d throw in there. A human being doesn’t deserve to be treated that way… it was a horrible thing I wouldn’t wish on anyone. They had us in there like animals.”
These are just a few of the dozens of students in New York City who have been deported under the Trump administration. According to numbers from the Deportation Data Project reported on by The City, ICE's New York City field office, which also covers Long Island and some areas north of the city, arrested 48 children in June and July alone, with 32 of them deported as of August 19.
"Poor conditions and inadequate care in immigration detention not only cause immediate harm to a child’s health, they can have long-term physical and mental consequences, impacting their studies and their adult life," the lawmakers wrote. "There is no doubt that these experiences are deeply traumatic for the children and young people detained, but also for their classmates and educators, regardless of immigration status. Exposing K-12 students to the trauma of immigration enforcement is certain to have social and economic consequences for their entire communities."
The Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that states cannot constitutionally deny children access to a free K-12 public education based on their immigration status, including if they are undocumented.
The lawmakers demanded that DHS provide a list of all the students it has arrested since January 20, 2025, and information about how students in immigration detention are receiving education.
"It is impossible to reconcile ICE’s narrative of making communities safer by going after 'the worst of the worst' when the majority of those currently in ICE detention, almost 70%, have no criminal convictions, according to data published by the agency," the lawmakers said. "Students like Dylan and Dayra represent the very best of this country. Their cases remind us of the irreparable harm that this administration’s reckless mass deportation policies cause our students and communities."
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Trans Plaintiffs Call On Supreme Court to Reject Trump's 'Discriminatory' Passport Restrictions
"The administration’s attempts to deny that right to transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people has no basis in law or policy," said one lawyer.
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A group of transgender plaintiffs is calling on the US Supreme Court to reject the Trump administration's request to lift a judge's order blocking what they describe as a "discriminatory" passport policy.
The US State Department earlier this year announced that it would bar transgender Americans from changing the gender listed on their passports from the gender assigned to them at birth. Several transgender plaintiffs, represented by attorneys from the ACLU, quickly filed for an injunction against the policy, which was granted by a lower court and upheld by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.
In asking the Supreme Court to reject the Trump administration's request for a stay, the ACLU attorneys argue that the passport policy "irrationally undermines the very purpose of passports—identifying a US citizen when they travel" and also is "motivated by antitransgender animus."
The ACLU attorneys are asking for the injunction to be upheld so that transgender and nonbinary Americans can continue to either change the designated gender on their passports or receive a passport with a gender marked as "X."
Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts, said that the injunction should be upheld because the administration's policy would "cause immediate, irreparable harm" if it came into effect.
"Transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Americans rely on accurate identity documents to travel with safety, privacy, and dignity," Rossman said. "We are asking the Supreme Court to reject this request for a stay and preserve the injunction issued below so our clients will be spared profound disruption and distress while their case proceeds."
Li Nowlin-Sohl, staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project, urged the Supreme Court to follow the lead of the lower courts, which "made abundantly clear how discriminatory and baseless the State Department's new policy is and the harm it poses for hundreds of thousands of people like our clients."
"People across the country depend on identity documents that accurately reflect their identity—who they are in their workplaces, their schools, and their communities," Nowlin-Sohl emphasized. "The administration’s attempts to deny that right to transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people has no basis in law or policy, and we’ll continue to fight this policy until it is permanently defeated."
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