Weekly adamisacson.com - Issue #4
A week ago right now, I was flying back from Colombia. That trip feels like it happened a very long time ago. This week, while catching up on what I missed during that 9-day trip (and celebrating my 48th birthday on Tuesday), I wrote a few things that will come out over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, here's some stuff I posted this week.
The Trump administration released data showing a jump in child and family migrant arrivals at the border in August.
Further proof that tough rhetoric and threats of family separation and detention won't deter people fleeing horrific levels of violence and bad governance.
The data may also point to a modest, but sharply increased, number of Nicaraguans escaping their country's authoritarian meltdown.
Charts: migration at the U.S.-Mexico border in August
This afternoon, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported on its apprehensions of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in August. While it was a slightly higher August than usual, it saw a jump in arrivals of children and families seeking asylum. The Trump Homeland Security Department lamented the increase in asylum-seekers, and blamed the rise on […]
We posted a neater, more streamlined presentation of this data at WOLA's website. It concludes: "Zero Tolerance? Zero Deterrence."
Latin America-related events in Washington next week
I see only a few on the calendar, and more than half of them take place at 10:00 Tuesday, for some reason.
Not included here is WOLA's annual Human Rights Awards Gala next Thursday night, which costs money to attend and is just about sold out. But join us if you're able—it's a fun night and the donated Chilean wine is amazing.
Tuesday, September 18
- 10:00 in Room 342, Dirksen Senate Office Building: Hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on “The Implications of the Reinterpretation of the Flores Settlement Agreement for Border Security and Illegal Immigration Incentives.”
- 10:00 in Room 419, Dirksen Senate Office Building: Business meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for ambassadorial nominations (Suriname, Nicaragua, Honduras).
- 10:00–11:30 at CSIS: Crisis Response: Tracking Venezuela’s Unprecedented Migrant and Refugee Flows (RSVP required).
- 3:30–5:00 at the Wilson Center: Book Launch—Under-Rewarded Efforts: The Elusive Quest for Prosperity in Mexico (RSVP required).
Wednesday, September 19
- 10:00–12:00 in Healey Family Student Center, Georgetown University: Responding to Venezuela’s Exodus (RSVP required).
Latin America-related events in Washington next week
Tuesday, September 18 10:00 in Room 342, Dirksen Senate Office Building: Hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on “The Implications of the Reinterpretation of the Flores Settlement Agreement for Border Security and Illegal Immigration Incentives.” 10:00 in Room 419, Dirksen Senate Office Building: Business meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for ambassadorial nominations […]
Links to some important Latin America reads
Five links from the past week
Western Hemisphere Regional Franco Ordonez, “Latin America Says U.S. Has Itself to Blame for Chinese Entry Into Region That It Opposes” (The Miami Herald, September 11, 2018). “You left some space and the other guy moved in,” a Latin American diplomat told McClatchy Colombia Edinson Arley Bolanos, “El Fantasma Detras de las “Aguilas Negras”” (El […]
Civil-military relations in Latin America: links from the past month
Brazil Tom Wheeldon, “The Military Is Back in Brazilian Politics” (France 24 (France), September 10, 2018). When questioned by a journalist about Mourao’s speech, the head of the army, Eduardo Villas Boas described him as a “great soldier” and insisted that the military has a constitutional right to “intervene” if Brazil is “on the edge […]
Music I've had on heavy rotation
The best song I washed dishes to tonighttps://www.getrevue.co/app/issues/current#ht
“Confusion in the Marketplace” by The Hold Steady (2018).
Links to all the most notable Latin America news I saw this week
Some articles I found interesting this morning
(Even more here) September 14, 2018 Western Hemisphere Regional Maria Sacchetti, “Ice Says It Needs a $1 Billion Funding Boost to Meet Trump’s Aggressive Deportation Goals” (The Washington Post, September 14, 2018). The deal would keep the government open using a series of spending bills, including a “continuing resolution” that would fund federal agencies through […]
Some articles I found interesting this morning
(Even more here) September 13, 2018 Western Hemisphere Regional Ken Klippenstein, “National Guard Pursuing Reaper Drones for Border” (TYT, September 13, 2018). Two National Guard generals told a House committee this summer that they expect the Reaper to be used. One said his state’s National Guard has begun the process to acquire them Nick Miroff, […]
Some articles I found interesting this morning
(Even more here) September 12, 2018 Western Hemisphere Regional Nick Miroff, “Trump Administration to Triple Size of Texas Tent Camp for Migrant Children” (The Washington Post, September 12, 2018). Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, said the need for emergency capacity was the result of the latest surge at the […]
Some articles I found interesting this morning
(Even more here) September 11, 2018 Guatemala Enrique Naveda, “El Origen de la Crisis en Guatemala y Lo Que Podria Suceder” (The New York Times, September 11, 2018). Acompañado por el alto mando militar y solo tres ministros de su gabinete (Gobernación, Defensa y Exteriores), en una imagen que recordaba a las épocas más represivas […]
Some articles I found interesting this morning
(Even more here) September 10, 2018 Western Hemisphere Regional Eli Saslow, “Trump’s Border Wall Threatens to End Texas Family’s 250 Years of Ranching on Rio Grande” (The Washington Post, September 10, 2018). “Border Infrastructure Project,” the map read, and across its center was a red line that cut through the Cavazos family barn, through their […]
Thanks for reading. See you in a week.