Our roundup of everything we have consumed and thought about over the past week.
A lot more immigration news: A few days ago SB4, a law that makes illegal entry into the country a state crime and allows Texas police to deport people without seeing a judge, went into effect, was blocked, then rejected by Mexico in the span of mere hours. "Mexico categorically rejects any measure that allows state or local authorities to exercise immigration control," and "Mexico will not accept, under any circumstances, repatriation by the state of Texas.” Chief Neil Noakes, the chief of police in Fort Worth, Texas had something to say as well, stating in a video: “It is the mission of the Fort Worth Police Department to serve every member of our community, and our day-to-day commitment to that mission will not change with the passage of Senate Bill 4. Although we will always follow the law, the primary responsibility for immigration enforcement and border protection should be left to our federal and state partners.” Which has people online calling him a “boot-licking TRAITOR to America and Americans.”
Then, yesterday, footage of migrants rushing through the National Guard & a barbed wire fence was released. It’s worth noting the footage was obtained from behind the border wall, through the fence, with a zoom. Many people sharing this are insinuating that this group rushed into the US and is now roaming the streets when, in reality, they were actually detained and deported immediately. Uriel J. García who reports for the Texas Tribune wrote in a Twitter thread: “If the migrants are this close to the National Guard, it means they already crossed the border. The wire and the barriers are on the U.S. side. Texas nor the US is allowed to erect barriers on the Mexican side. Border Patrol is legally supposed to arrest anyone who crosses the border. The more accurate thing to say here is the National Guard is preventing people from turning themselves into Border Patrol agents.”
New York, which has traditionally had a longstanding and unique legal obligation to provide shelter to homeless people, scaled the policy back significantly this week, giving adult migrants 30- and 60-day limits, citing the city’s struggle to house thousands of migrants.
Online, everyone seems to be trying to figure out what the issue behind the issue actually is. History always helps. To start, we found helpful context in watching, Performing the Border | 1999, a video essay by Ursula Biemann and a recommendation from Keller Easterling.
And, as we wrap up our immigration issue, we recommend revisiting some of our interviews from earlier this year:
Minneapolis City Council passed a minimum pay ordinance for rideshare drivers: And now Uber and Lyft will leave on May 1. The Guardian writes, “The bill, to go into effect on 1 May, would establish a minimum pay of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 cents per minute for rideshare drivers, with a $5 per ride minimum. The city council voted to override the mayor’s veto of the ordinance, prompting Uber and Lyft to threaten to leave the region in response.”
The Justice Department sues Apple: “The US Justice Department and more than a dozen states filed a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, accusing the giant company of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market.”
A Sign of the Times: Does where the U.S. Military decide to train suggest something about their future plans? Special Forces training has been happening in Georgia recently. And news has broken that U.S. Special Forces are now also operating in Taiwan.
See you all next week!