August, 08 2018, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Alejandro Dávila, Earthjustice bilingual media strategist, 202-745-5229
Rosemary Martinez, Sin Fronteras Organizing Project president, 915 867 2194
David Baake, Southwest Environmental Center attorney, 575-343-2782
Laura M. Esquivel, Hispanic Federation director of National Advocacy, 202-899-8608
Andrea Arenas, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, 202-508-6989
Elena Rios, MD, National Hispanic Medical Association, 202-628-5895
Amanda Aguirre, GreenLatinos, 281-814-4627
Andrea Arenas, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, 202-508-6989
Texas Migrant Detention Centers Probed for Toxic Waste Threats
Bases slated to house families have a history of radioactive and chemical contaminationÂ
WASHINGTON
Health, labor and environmental organizations represented by Earthjustice are asking the government via expedited records request to reveal where exactly it plans to detain migrant families slated to be housed in Texas military bases known to have toxic hazards. Filed today, the Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) comes as the Trump Administration is rushing to build migrant detention centers in Fort Bliss in El Paso, and Goodfellow Air Force Bases in San Angelo.
Besides separating children from parents, Trump's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy created a need for additional capacity to house migrant families detained at the border. The military is providing the extra space. But Fort Bliss is riddled with toxic radiological contaminants and hazardous chemicals including heavy metals and volatile organic compounds from its munitions burial and burning, unexploded ordnance and landfills.
Fort Bliss, in particular, has Superfund sites, which are polluted locations requiring a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contamination. At Goodfellow Air Force Base, the area where tents will be constructed is directly over a former firing range and adjacent to a closed but uncapped landfill. Exposure to toxic chemicals from these sites can cause cancer, neurological damage, developmental harm, and many other diseases. The bases could also have remnants of polyfluorinated compounds called PFAS stemming from the foams used to douse fires during training.
"Detaining migrant families with children in hastily constructed tents on military bases is ill-conceived and dangerous," said Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans. "Families could be exposed to radiation, toxic chemicals, unexploded munitions, polluted drinking water and multiple other health hazards. Migrants fleeing desperate conditions do not belong in cages, let alone toxic ones."
Water testing conducted in 2017 showed certain sites in Fort Bliss had chromium and radiological contaminants. Chromium has been associated with increased risk of respiratory system cancers. Multiple Superfund sites at the base are suspected to contain medical waste, lead-acid batteries, unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, and munition constituents.
"The Trump Administration can't be trusted, especially after it separated families, kept toddlers in inhumane conditions, and then failed to meet court-imposed deadlines to reunite children with parents," said Rosemary Martinez, Sin Fronteras Organizing Project president. "My father, a veteran, passed away in 2010 because of Agent Orange exposure and other toxic chemicals while stationed at Fort Bliss. What's happening in our borders is a violation of human rights and now innocent children will continue to pay for the government's hatred-driven ineptitude."
The FOIA also seeks data about ten different polluted sites on the two bases that include former nuclear weapons storage areas, firing ranges, open burning, detonation areas and dumping sites. Furthermore, groups wish to know which other bases besides Fort Bliss and Goodfellow Air Force Base may be turned into migrant detention centers.
"The public has a right to know what pollutants are in the base and where will innocent children be detained," said David Baake, Southwest Environmental Center attorney. "The surrounding community steadfastly opposes the Family Detention Policy, and should not be forced to contribute to suffering by hosting new detention centers in their backyard."
"This administration first separated migrant families at the border and detained immigrant children in inhumane conditions," said Laura M. Esquivel Hispanic Federation director of National Advocacy. "Now it could very well detain families together in toxic military sites like Fort Bliss. We will not let this happen."
"It is horrifying that the few reunited Latino families are being exposed to radioactivity from unexploded ordnance, munitions and years of gunfire training," said Elena Rios, MD, President & CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association. "In Fort Bliss, there are still present toxins from past landfills--which means detained immigrant families with children could be forcibly exposed to toxicity linked to cancer and development defects."
"Our nation needs investment in infrastructure and schools, it does not need detention centers aimed at breaking families apart. Constructing these buildings with the purpose of holding immigrants captive and at the same time endangering their health is inexcusable, and what is more, it is a bigoted action geared at targeting our community," said Hector Sanchez from the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. "We will not stand by as this administration divides our families, and hurts our communities. We will fight against these atrocities."
"It's shocking but unfortunately par for the course that this administration might be on the brink of detaining families with children next to toxic dumping sites and radioactive firing ranges," said Mark Magana, President & CEO of GreenLatinos."But this must not stand. Risking poisoning detained families and children after the Trump Administration ripped families apart is beyond the pale."
The FOIA was filed on behalf of Hispanic Federation, National Hispanic Medical Association, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Southwest Environmental Center, GreenLatinos and Alianza Nacional de Campesinas.
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
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House Dems Voice 'Deep Concern' Over Biden Claim That Israel Is Legally Using US Arms
A letter from 26 lawmakers notes the "stark differences and gaps" between what Biden administration officials say and the opinions of "prominent experts and global institutions" accusing Israel of genocide.
Apr 16, 2024
More than two dozen House Democrats on Tuesday challenged the Biden administration's claim that Israel is using U.S.-supplied weapons in compliance with domestic and international law—an assertion made amid an ongoing World Court probe of "plausibly" genocidal Israeli policies and practices in Gaza.
Citing "mounting credible and deeply troubling reports and allegations" of human rights crimes committed by Israeli troops in Gaza and soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank, 26 congressional Democrats led by Texas Reps. Veronica Escobar—who co-chairs President Joe Biden's reelection campaign—and Joaquin Castro asked U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines "whether and how" their agencies determined Israel is lawfully using arms provided by Washington.
"We write to express our deep concern regarding the U.S. Department of State's recent comments regarding assurances from the Israeli government, under National Security Memorandum (NSM) 20, that the Israeli government is using U.S.-origin weapons in full compliance with relevant U.S. and international law and is not restricting the delivery of humanitarian assistance," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Cabinet members.
The letter acknowledges the "grave concerns" of institutions and experts around the world regarding Israel's "conduct throughout the war in Gaza, its policies regarding civilian harm and military targeting, unauthorized expansion of settlements and settler violence in the West Bank, and potential use of U.S. arms by settlers, in additional to limitations on humanitarian aid supported by the U.S."
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Flour Massacre" in which nearly 900 starving Palestinians were killed or wounded at a food distribution site—and "the closure of vital border crossings" as Gazan children starve to death as causes for serious concern.
While the lawmakers didn't mention the International Court of Justice's January 26
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The lawmakers' letter came amid reports of fresh Israeli atrocities, including a drone strike on a playground in the Maghazi refugee camp in northern Gaza that killed at least 11 children. Eyewitnesses described a "horrific scene of children torn apart."
While Biden has called out Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza—much of it carried out using U.S.-supplied warplanes and munitions including 2,000-pound bombs that can level whole city blocks—his administration has approved more than 100 arms sales to Israel, has repeatedly sidestepped Congress to fast-track emergency armed aid, and is seeking to provide the key ally with billions of dollars in addition weaponry atop the nearly $4 billion it gets annually from Washington.
This, despite multiple federal laws—and the administration's own rules— prohibiting U.S. arms transfers to human rights violators.
According to Palestinian and international officials, more than 110,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces since October 7. Most of the dead are women and children. At least 7,000 Palestinians are also missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of hundreds of thousands of bombed-out homes and other buildings.
Around 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forcibly displaced in what many Palestinians are calling a second Nakba, a reference to the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Arabs from Palestine during the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
A growing number of not only progressive lawmakers but also mainstream Democrats are calling for a suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel.
On Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—who was criticized earlier in the war for not calling for a cease-fire—stood beside a photo of a starving Gazan girl while declaring "no more money for" the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his "war machine."
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'Weasel Words': Julian Assange's Wife Slams US Assurances to UK
"The diplomatic note does nothing to relieve our family's extreme distress about his future—his grim expectation of spending the rest of his life in isolation in U.S. prison for publishing award-winning journalism."
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The wife of jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sharply criticized "assurances" the U.S. government made as the U.K. High Court considers allowing the 52-year-old Australian's extradition to the United States, where he faces 175 years in prison.
The U.S. document states that if extradited, "Assange will have the ability to raise and seek to rely upon at trial (which includes any sentencing hearing) the rights and protections given under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States," though it points out that "a decision as to the applicability of the First Amendment is exclusively within the purview of the U.S. courts."
"A sentence of death will neither be sought nor imposed on Assange," the document adds, noting that he has not been charged with any offense for which that is a possible punishment. It comes after the U.K. court ruled last month that the Biden administration had until Tuesday to confirm that he wouldn't face the death penalty and if it did not, he could continue appealing his extradition.
Responding on social media, his wife, Stella Assange—who is an attorney—blasted the U.S. assurances as "weasel words."
"The United States has issued a nonassurance in relation to the First Amendment, and a standard assurance in relation to the death penalty," she said. "It makes no undertaking to withdraw the prosecution's previous assertion that Julian has no First Amendment rights because he is not a U.S citizen."
"The Biden administration must drop this dangerous prosecution before it is too late."
"Instead, the U.S. has limited itself to blatant weasel words claiming that Julian can 'seek to raise' the First Amendment if extradited," she added. "The diplomatic note does nothing to relieve our family's extreme distress about his future—his grim expectation of spending the rest of his life in isolation in U.S. prison for publishing award-winning journalism. The Biden administration must drop this dangerous prosecution before it is too late."
The U.K. court's next hearing is scheduled for May 20. Last week, reporters asked U.S. President Joe Biden about requests from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and members of the country's Parliament to drop the extradition effort and charges. He said that "we're considering it."
So far, the Biden administration has ignored significant pressure from Australian and U.S. politicians as well as human rights and press freedom groups, and continued to pursue the extradition of Julian Assange, who was charged under former President Donald Trump—the Republican expected to face the Democratic president in the November election.
Assange was charged under the Espionage Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for publishing classified documents including the "Collateral Murder" video and the Afghan and Iraq war logs. Since British authorities dragged Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London—where he lived with political asylum for seven years—he has been jailed in the city's Belmarsh Prison.
The WikiLeaks founder's wife, with whom he has two children, was not alone in condemning the U.S. assurances on Tuesday.
"This 'assurance' should make journalists even more worried about how the Assange prosecution could impact press freedom in the U.S. and globally. The U.K. should grant Assange's appeal and refuse to extradite him," said the Freedom of the Press Foundation. "The U.S. doesn't disclaim the ability to argue that the First Amendment doesn't apply to Assange because of his nationality or other reasons, or for a court to rule against a First Amendment challenge to his prosecution."
Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, similarly said that "no one who cares about press freedom should take any comfort at all from the United States' assurance that Assange will be permitted to 'rely upon' the First Amendment."
"If the prosecution goes forward, the U.S. government will be trying to persuade American courts that the First Amendment poses no bar to the prosecution of a publisher under the Espionage Act," Jaffer warned. "And if the government is successful, no journalist will ever again be able to publish U.S. government secrets without risking her liberty."
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Workers Stage Sit-Ins to Demand Google End Israeli Cloud Contract
"Just as people of conscience demanded institutions cut ties with apartheid South Africa in the 1980s, the time is now to rise up in support of Palestinian human rights," said Google employees in an open letter.
Apr 16, 2024
Following recent reports that Google may soon expand its tech collaboration with the Israeli government, dozens of the company's employees on Tuesday entered its offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California and announced that they wouldn't leave until executives pull out of its $1.2 billion cloud services and data contract with the country.
The No Tech for Apartheid coalition—including the Muslim-led MPower Change and the Jewish-led Jewish Voice for Peace—organized the sit-in, which marks an escalation in Google workers' protests against Project Nimbus, the 2021 contract under which Google and Amazon provide cloud infrastructure across Israel's government.
The deal includes a stipulation that the companies cannot prevent Israel from using Project Nimbus for any government agency, including the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)—which means Google employees' work may be directly supporting the country's assault on the Gaza and its killing of at least 33,843 Palestinians since October.
"Workers will NOT allow business as usual while Google continues to profit from the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza," said MPower Change.
In Sunnyvale, workers began occupying the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, while employees in the company's New York office began a sit-in in a common space.
Outdoor rallies were also scheduled to take place in San Francisco and Seattle, with both Amazon and Google employees attending.
Former Google cloud software engineer Eddie Hatfield, who was fired last month for disrupting a Google Israel event, was among those who protested in New York.
The sit-ins came a week after Time magazine reported that Google has entered further negotiations with the Israeli government in recent weeks, even as international human rights experts raise alarm that Israeli officials have directly caused famine to take hold in parts of Gaza by blocking humanitarian aid.
No Tech for Apartheid released an open letter addressed to Kurian and other Google and Amazon executives, saying that as long as the companies' "tech continues to power the Israeli military and government, [they] are actively complicit in this genocide."
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