SAN DIEGO : Kneeling in front of riot police, 32 religious leaders and activists were arrested at the US border fence in San Diego on Monday during a protest to support the Central American migrant caravan.
More than 400 demonstrators, many leaders of churches, mosques, synagogues and indigenous communities, sought a halt to detention and deportation of migrants and for the United States to welcome the caravan that arrived in Tijuana, Mexico in November.
Singing and praying, religious leaders moved forward in lines of four to six, some wearing T-shirts reading, “Love Knows No Borders.” They were handcuffed and led away by federal agents upon entering a restricted area in front of the fence.
“As a Quaker who believes in our shared humanity...We’re calling on the US to respect the rights of migrants,” said Joyce Ajlouny, general secretary of the American Friends Service Committee, which has run a week of actions to back migrants.
US Border Patrol spokesman Theron Francisco said 31 people were arrested by Federal Protective Services for trespassing and one was arrested by Border Patrol for assaulting an agent.
The arrests marked the second confrontation with US authorities since the caravan reached Tijuana. US Border Patrol agents fired tear gas at migrants on Nov. 25 after they said they had stones thrown at them.
Thousands of migrants are living in crowded shelters and encampments in Tijuana after traveling from Central America to escape poverty and violence. They may have to wait weeks or months to claim asylum at the US border.
Data released on Monday by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showed asylum claims at the US-Mexico border rose 67 percent in the 2018 fiscal year from a year earlier.
US immigration officials say these claims, most of which are accepted, exploit a legal loophole allowing migrants to enter the United States while they await a court hearing on their asylum case.
“As the majority of these claims will not be successful when they are adjudicated by an immigration court, we need Congress to act to address these vulnerabilities,” CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said in a statement.
Protest leaders said President Donald Trump had portrayed the caravan as a security threat to advance his “anti-immigrant” agenda and further restrict migrants’ ability to seek asylum.
A US judge in November blocked Trump’s proclamation to bar migrants who cross the US-Mexico border illegally from seeking asylum.
US arrests religious leaders, activists at border protest
US arrests religious leaders, activists at border protest
- US immigration officials say these claims, most of which are accepted, exploit a legal loophole allowing migrants to enter the United States while they await a court hearing on their asylum case
More than 1,000 councilors in UK sign Palestine pledge
- Issue could prove decisive in local elections set for May, campaigners say
- Campaign pledges councilors to ‘uphold inalienable rights of the Palestinian people’
LONDON: More than 1,000 local councilors in the UK have signed a pledge of solidarity with Palestine, in what could prove to be a crucial issue in upcoming elections, Sky News reported on Saturday.
Many Labour-run councils face the prospect of losing power in the local elections, set for May.
The issue of Palestine could play a decisive role in key sections of the electorate, campaigners have said.
The document, launched by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and signed by 1,028 councilors so far, pledges signatories to “uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people” and prevent councils’ complicity in “Israel’s violations of international law,” including by divesting from pension funds invested in arms companies.
Zoe Garbett, a Hackney Green councilor who signed the pledge, told Sky News: “I think that this is really important to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people and to make sure that we can make ethical investments. They want to see their council representing them on a national level.”
She added: “We know that most people really want to see an end to the genocide in Gaza, and an end to wars and conflicts all across the world, and they want to see their local representatives standing up for them.”
Of the signatories to the pledge, 245 councilors are from the Green Party, 338 from Labour, 104 Liberal Democrats, 38 from the Scottish National Party, 17 from Plaid Cymru, 12 from Your Party, three Conservatives and many independents.
Labour has faced significant pressure from its traditional voter base over the issue of Gaza, especially after Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared reluctant to call for a ceasefire.
Key London borough councils, dominated by Labour, have seen councilors sign up en masse to the pledge.
In Islington, a Labour stronghold, 59 percent of councilors signed the pledge, while 49 percent signed in Tower Hamlets.
Similar trends have taken place in Sheffield — where no party has overall council control — and Bradford.
Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, said: “I think that so many Labour councilors have been so keen to sign the Palestine pledge as councilors because it puts on record that support for Palestine and distinguishes them from the position taken by the leader of the Labour Party.”
Alongside PSC, Britain’s most significant pro-Palestine group, the pledge is also supported by the Palestinian Youth Movement Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, The Muslim Vote and the British Palestinian Committee.
PSC political organizer Dan Iley-Williamson said local councils in the UK “administer pension funds that invest more than £12 billion ($16 billion)” in weapons firms linked to Israel.
“The mass movement for Palestine — which has brought millions onto Britain’s streets — is not going away,” he added.
