International
DACA program celebrates 11 years in place amid legal turbulence
June 15 |
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA, which was established by the Barack Obama administration, turns 11 years old Thursday amid calls for permanent protective action.
“Only Congress can provide permanent and lasting stability for these young people and their families. Congress must act to protect our Dreamers,” President Joe Biden, who was vice president of the country at the time the program was instituted, said in written communication.
Since 2012, DACA has provided protections from deportation to some 800,000 people known as “Dreamers,” who entered the U.S. irregularly as children. This program does not offer legal residency status or a path to citizenship, however, it does allow them to have a work permit, driver’s license and social security.
“Dreamers are Americans. Many have spent most of their lives in the United States. They are our doctors, our teachers, and our small business owners,” he said.
Biden noted in his message that “the first version” of a legislative measure to regulate DACA was presented to Congress more than 20 years ago, and since then, it has been championed by coalitions and organizations. However, Biden said, “Congress has failed to act.”
Under the Donald Trump administration, repeated attempts were made to dismantle DACA. In 2017, the then-president assured that “DACA is a very, very difficult issue for me” and in noted that “(the beneficiaries) are here illegally.”
During the presidential campaign in 2016, Trump promised that he would end “the two executive amnesties” implemented by Obama, in reference to DACA and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans.
On July 16, 2021, a U.S. court ruled that DACA was “unlawful” and issued an order prohibiting the government from continuing to grant applications for the program. However, the nullification order was temporarily stayed.
Under this ruling, it was established that the program would not receive new applications, however, those approved prior to July 16 would continue to be eligible to renew DACA and their work permits.
Finally, on October 5, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals issued a decision upholding the declaration of illegality of the policy. However, it upheld the partial stay and remanded the case back to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to consider a final rule on implementation.
With this, the program remains in “limbo” according to organizations such as the National Immigration Law Center, which asserts that “it is another clear and serious reminder of the urgency for Congress to act quickly to provide a permanent legislative solution.”
International
Trump: U.S. has hit three venezuelan narco boats in Caribbean
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that American forces have struck three suspected Venezuelan drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean so far, not two as previously reported.
“We took down boats. It was actually three boats, not two, but you only saw two,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a state visit to the United Kingdom.
The president was asked about remarks by Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who accused Washington of plotting to invade his country.
“Stop sending members of the Tren de Aragua to the United States. Stop sending drugs to the United States,” Trump responded.
The Republican leader mentioned this third vessel a day after announcing that U.S. forces had struck a speedboat in which, according to him, three “terrorists” were killed. Later, from the Oval Office, he claimed the boat had been carrying cocaine and fentanyl.
The attacks come amid escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas, as the U.S. military maintains a Caribbean deployment under the banner of counter-narcotics operations.
The Trump administration accuses Maduro of heading the so-called Cartel of the Suns, which the Venezuelan government denies. Washington has also offered a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture.
On Monday, Maduro said communications with the U.S. were “broken” in the face of what he called an “aggression” and declared that Venezuela is now “better prepared” in case of an “armed struggle.”
International
Ecuador’s Noboa declares State of Emergency in seven provinces amid fuel price protests
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in seven provinces due to what he described as “serious internal unrest,” as road blockades and demonstrations erupted in response to the elimination of the diesel subsidy and growing concerns over insecurity.
The 60-day measure applies to the provinces of Carchi, Imbabura, Pichincha, Azuay, Bolívar, Cotopaxi, and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas.
Since Monday, partial protests have been reported in Pichincha, Carchi, Azuay, and Imbabura. On Tuesday, road blockades extended to northern Pichincha and routes in Carchi, near the Colombian border. In response, the Executive headquarters was temporarily relocated to Cotopaxi and the Vice Presidency to Imbabura.
The presidential decree states that the measure comes amid “strikes that have disrupted public order and provoked acts of violence, endangering the safety of citizens and their rights to free movement, work, and economic activity.”
According to the decree, the goal is to “prevent the radicalization of disruptive actions” in the affected provinces and to limit the impact on the population. It further emphasizes that the situation requires an “exceptional intervention by state institutions to safeguard security, guarantee citizens’ rights, maintain public order, and preserve social peace.”
Social organizations and labor groups, including the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), have strongly rejected the diesel price increase following the subsidy’s elimination.
The decree justifies the two-month duration as necessary “to ensure a strengthened state presence in the affected territories, restore order, and prevent further acts of violence against people, public, and private property.”
International
Colombia’s special peace tribunal hands down first sentence against former FARC leaders
Seven former rebel leaders, including their last known commander Rodrigo Londoño, alias “Timochenko,” have been handed the maximum penalty established in the 2016 peace agreement.
Under the ruling, they will face mobility restrictions and be required to carry out activities aimed at restoring the dignity of victims, such as helping locate missing persons and participating in landmine clearance in territories where they once operated. These alternative sentences to prison were part of the historic deal signed in 2016 between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) —once the most powerful guerrilla group in Latin America— and then-President Juan Manuel Santos, Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) found the ex-commanders guilty of being responsible for the kidnapping of 21,396 people before laying down their arms and transitioning into a political party. “Investigations showed that kidnapping became a systematic practice. These crimes not only broke the law but also left open wounds that persist in families, communities, and the daily life of the country,” a magistrate told reporters in Bogotá, in the absence of the former commanders, who had accepted responsibility for their crimes back in 2022.
It took the tribunal more than seven years to deliver its first ruling, amid criticism from opponents of the peace deal who argue it is too lenient on the rebels. The former commanders still face charges for other crimes against humanity, including the recruitment of minors.
During their decades-long conflict, the FARC held hostage soldiers, police officers, businesspeople, and political leaders, including French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt. Images of emaciated captives chained in jungle camps shocked the world and became symbols of the conflict.
Trump: U.S. has hit three venezuelan narco boats in Caribbean
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