truthout--2020-05-03--As We Shelter in Place, Access to Outdoors Should Not Only Be for the Privileged

On the weekend that shelter-in-place orders were announced in California , regional parks and beaches registered record-high visits .
The following week , as parks started to close across the country , visits boomed in the few that remained open , such as the Grand Canyon .
In a historical moment of uncertainty , thousands sought relief in nature .
Isolation in quarantines can have disastrous psychological outcomes , including post-traumatic stress symptoms , confusion and anger , sometimes with long-lasting effects .
Research has shown that nature can be a protective factor against these dangerous outcomes .
In addition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risk of diabetes and heart disease , access to nature has been shown to elevate mood , lower rates of anxiety and depression , and even lower mortality rates .
As the COVID-19 crisis passes its peak and we potentially enter several months of sheltering-in-place , it has been suggested that parks should remain open in order to improve community health and well-being .
Like many other inequities that are exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis , the opportunity to breathe fresh air in a safe green space is not available to all .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ visiting parks only if adjacent to one ’ s place of residence — will disproportionately affect low-income , marginalized populations .
Urban parks and beaches serve as a backyard for those who do not have one .
Moreover , it is well documented in U.S. cities that lower-income and residents of color live in neighborhoods with less vegetation than their white , wealthier counterparts .
While some larger regional parks remain open , these are often farther from urban centers and with fewer safe public transit options .
Thus , it is increasingly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ green spaces .
Outdoor space can also be a safe space for victims of domestic violence .
The United Nations warns that there has been a “ horrifying surge ” in domestic violence under quarantine , as families shelter in the place of supposed safety — their homes .
Seeking refuge in nature can not only be a place of healing , but can literally be a place to find physical safety from violence that might be occurring in the home .
The cruelest irony is that among the most vulnerable are the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ choice but as defenseless victims to viral transmission .
Many homeless communities rely on social networks for safety and survival , and individuals are often older and afflicted by chronic diseases , making them especially susceptible to severe COVID-19 infections .
In California alone , where two-thirds of the unhoused population lives outdoors , Gov .
Gavin Newsom recently estimated that there might be more than 60,000 coronavirus infections in the homeless community .
Considering downstream impacts of the virus , including mass layoffs and record-high unemployment claims , we can only expect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ result of the crisis .
If parks were kept open during the quarantine , solutions could concurrently protect visitors from viral transmission and prioritize equity .
For example , urban parks that serve lower income communities should be prioritized as leaders consider plans to ease shelter-in-place policies .
Traffic closures on streets to promote safe outdoor access , such as in Oakland and San Francisco , could focus on areas that otherwise do not have green space access .
Given that some homeless populations are being relocated to hotels , they may be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Addressing the immediate inequity to green access is also an opportunity to promote solutions that empower local communities in the long term .
Emergency green space should be built now with the intent to stay .
As the streets remain empty because of shelter-in-place policies , trees , lawns and bushes could be introduced in urban environments .
Private , underutilized green space could be donated or bought by local governments to be urgently converted into parks .
Milan , Italy , is using this time to massively replace streets with cycling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work to prioritize equal access to parks for all , such as California ’ s Parks Now and the Next 100 Coalition , could provide insight into equity-based solutions that have been developed .
To avoid dangers of future environmental gentrification , a “ just green enough ” strategy should be used , which ensures that environmental goals are defined by local communities themselves .
Data suggest that COVID-19 is already hitting people of color the hardest .
The inequitable access to safe outdoor space during the shelter-in-place era eliminates one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ balanced and healthy .
In the long term , this will further broaden the chasm between the benefits of nature and populations that are in dire need for them .
These times dictate that the most basic action in keeping us healthy — taking a breath of fresh air — should be a right , not a privilege .

Like many other inequities exacerbated by COVID-19, access to fresh air in a safe green space is not available to all.
Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
On the weekend that shelter-in-place orders were announced in California, regional parks and beaches registered record-high visits. The following week, as parks started to close across the country, visits boomed in the few that remained open, such as the Grand Canyon. In a historical moment of uncertainty, thousands sought relief in nature.
Isolation in quarantines can have disastrous psychological outcomes, including post-traumatic stress symptoms, confusion and anger, sometimes with long-lasting effects. Research has shown that nature can be a protective factor against these dangerous outcomes. In addition to many physical benefits such as reduced risk of diabetes and heart disease, access to nature has been shown to elevate mood, lower rates of anxiety and depression, and even lower mortality rates.
As the COVID-19 crisis passes its peak and we potentially enter several months of sheltering-in-place, it has been suggested that parks should remain open in order to improve community health and well-being.
Like many other inequities that are exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, the opportunity to breathe fresh air in a safe green space is not available to all. Policies on park closures — which encourage visiting parks only if adjacent to one’s place of residence — will disproportionately affect low-income, marginalized populations. Urban parks and beaches serve as a backyard for those who do not have one. Moreover, it is well documented in U.S. cities that lower-income and residents of color live in neighborhoods with less vegetation than their white, wealthier counterparts. While some larger regional parks remain open, these are often farther from urban centers and with fewer safe public transit options. Thus, it is increasingly challenging for urban low-income populations to access green spaces.
Outdoor space can also be a safe space for victims of domestic violence. The United Nations warns that there has been a “horrifying surge” in domestic violence under quarantine, as families shelter in the place of supposed safety — their homes. Seeking refuge in nature can not only be a place of healing, but can literally be a place to find physical safety from violence that might be occurring in the home.
The cruelest irony is that among the most vulnerable are the homeless who are constantly outside not by choice but as defenseless victims to viral transmission. Many homeless communities rely on social networks for safety and survival, and individuals are often older and afflicted by chronic diseases, making them especially susceptible to severe COVID-19 infections.
Policies on park closures — which encourage visiting parks only if adjacent to one’s place of residence — will disproportionately affect low-income, marginalized populations.
In California alone, where two-thirds of the unhoused population lives outdoors, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently estimated that there might be more than 60,000 coronavirus infections in the homeless community. Considering downstream impacts of the virus, including mass layoffs and record-high unemployment claims, we can only expect the homeless population to grow as a result of the crisis.
If parks were kept open during the quarantine, solutions could concurrently protect visitors from viral transmission and prioritize equity. For example, urban parks that serve lower income communities should be prioritized as leaders consider plans to ease shelter-in-place policies. Traffic closures on streets to promote safe outdoor access, such as in Oakland and San Francisco, could focus on areas that otherwise do not have green space access. Given that some homeless populations are being relocated to hotels, they may be chosen based on proximity to green space.
These times dictate that the most basic action in keeping us healthy — taking a breath of fresh air — should be a right, not a privilege.
Addressing the immediate inequity to green access is also an opportunity to promote solutions that empower local communities in the long term. Emergency green space should be built now with the intent to stay. As the streets remain empty because of shelter-in-place policies, trees, lawns and bushes could be introduced in urban environments. Private, underutilized green space could be donated or bought by local governments to be urgently converted into parks. Milan, Italy, is using this time to massively replace streets with cycling and walking space. Organizations that already work to prioritize equal access to parks for all, such as California’s Parks Now and the Next 100 Coalition, could provide insight into equity-based solutions that have been developed. To avoid dangers of future environmental gentrification, a “just green enough” strategy should be used, which ensures that environmental goals are defined by local communities themselves.
Data suggest that COVID-19 is already hitting people of color the hardest. The inequitable access to safe outdoor space during the shelter-in-place era eliminates one of the few opportunities for vulnerable populations to remain balanced and healthy. In the long term, this will further broaden the chasm between the benefits of nature and populations that are in dire need for them. These times dictate that the most basic action in keeping us healthy — taking a breath of fresh air — should be a right, not a privilege.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-05-03--Corporations Don’t Need Another Bailout — Schools Do

Money matters in education .
Someone needs to tell Mitch McConnell that .
The Senate majority leader said on April 22 that the federal government should let states battling COVID-19 go bankrupt rather than supplying critical aid .
Given that the CARES Act barely relieves pressure on states ’ already strained education budgets , bankruptcy severs a lifeline for students in low-wealth areas with longstanding challenges in accessing quality education .
The inequities in K-12 public school funding are well understood .
Currently , schools get roughly 45 percent of their funding from the local level , or local property @ @ @ @ @ @ @ live in a neighborhood with a country club , but it is problematic if you live in an area without working streetlights .
In towns like Greenwich , Connecticut , where property values are in the millions , tax revenues are higher , which means a greater share of schools ’ budgets are satisfied by local funding .
In low-income neighborhoods , like Hartford , Connecticut , where property values generate much lower revenue , schools are left dependent on state and federal funding .
In a perfect system , the state and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But we are far from a perfect system .
Since the financial crisis of 2008 , combined state and local funding dropped in 36 states — largely as a result of steep tax cuts and rising education costs .
During this time , public school enrollment steadily increased by over 1 million students .
Meanwhile , over 300,000 education jobs have vanished .
That means that nearly three-quarters of states across the country slashed education spending at a time when schools were ballooning and families were reeling from job loss .
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ becoming more resourceful .
You might be thinking that schools are trimming waste or spending more efficiently to educate their students .
Evidence suggests that ’ s not the case .
The National Bureau of Economic Research found that per-pupil spending cuts in the wake of the Great Recession led to drops in test scores and college matriculation .
The majority of schools are scrambling to serve more students with less money .
This is not efficiency .
This is a failure in policy and leadership .
Unfortunately , there seems to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ address this failure .
In the midst of another global recession — and when analysts think the worst is yet ahead — McConnell wants to leave states and schools out to dry while bailing out large corporations .
It seems like legislators repeatedly pit short-term economic interests against long-term educational ones , presenting a false dichotomy that regularly rewards corporate recklessness .
There is undoubtedly room for improvement in school spending .
Poor accounting contributes to more funds going toward wealthy students than low-income students , primarily because wealthier areas draw more advanced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solve this is to revise the uniform salary schedule and include subject matter and student demographics into teacher pay , rather than seniority and credentials .
However , the need to improve school accounting proves the need for more funding .
Getting salary restructuring right requires resources .
Study after study has confirmed that school spending , especially when directed at retaining high quality teachers and reducing class sizes , has a positive impact on student outcomes — most significantly for students from low-income families .
Investing in education narrows the achievement gap @ @ @ @ @ @ @ living in poor neighborhoods .
Yet , despite the evidence , some legislators still prefer to give companies a pass over investing in our future .
Education inequities will get a lot worse after COVID-19 , unless Congress acts now .
Researchers project dramatic learning loss — up to 50 percent in math and 30 percent in reading — when students return to school .
This is staggering given the expected knowledge loss over a typical summer break : 27 percent less math and 20 percent less reading compared to the previous school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students — especially those with severe learning and physical disabilities — will require compensatory education , as this shutdown disproportionately sets back their learning and skills development .
Congress must use this opportunity to step up aid .
While the $ 13.5 billion stimulus earmarked for K-12 public schools in the CARES Act is a good start , it is nowhere near enough .
A group of superintendents , teachers ’ unions , and family advocates are pushing legislators for roughly $ 200 billion in education funding to keep teachers in classrooms and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reopen .
Given that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided only $ 100 billion for education , winning more federal funding this time around will be an uphill battle .
Governors must make education a priority and pressure Congress to set aside at least $ 200 billion in education funding that helps schools in the hardest-hit districts .
Legislators should avoid the mistakes of the last recession , where stimulus money failed to adequately support schools in low-wealth districts and was pulled well before state budgets recovered .
What we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Threats of bankruptcy and shameless politicking will not cut it .
We can not afford to let our students fall through the cracks again .

Existing inequities in our schools will get a lot worse after the pandemic, unless Congress acts now.
Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
Money matters in education. Someone needs to tell Mitch McConnell that.
The Senate majority leader said on April 22 that the federal government should let states battling COVID-19 go bankrupt rather than supplying critical aid. Given that the CARES Act barely relieves pressure on states’ already strained education budgets, bankruptcy severs a lifeline for students in low-wealth areas with longstanding challenges in accessing quality education.
The inequities in K-12 public school funding are well understood. Currently, schools get roughly 45 percent of their funding from the local level, or local property taxes. This is fine if you live in a neighborhood with a country club, but it is problematic if you live in an area without working streetlights. In towns like Greenwich, Connecticut, where property values are in the millions, tax revenues are higher, which means a greater share of schools’ budgets are satisfied by local funding. In low-income neighborhoods, like Hartford, Connecticut, where property values generate much lower revenue, schools are left dependent on state and federal funding.
In a perfect system, the state and federal government would fill in the gaps. But we are far from a perfect system. Since the financial crisis of 2008, combined state and local funding dropped in 36 states — largely as a result of steep tax cuts and rising education costs. During this time, public school enrollment steadily increased by over 1 million students. Meanwhile, over 300,000 education jobs have vanished. That means that nearly three-quarters of states across the country slashed education spending at a time when schools were ballooning and families were reeling from job loss.
You might be tempted to think schools are becoming more resourceful. You might be thinking that schools are trimming waste or spending more efficiently to educate their students.
Evidence suggests that’s not the case. The National Bureau of Economic Research found that per-pupil spending cuts in the wake of the Great Recession led to drops in test scores and college matriculation. The majority of schools are scrambling to serve more students with less money. This is not efficiency. This is a failure in policy and leadership.
Unfortunately, there seems to be no urgency from the federal government to address this failure. In the midst of another global recession — and when analysts think the worst is yet ahead — McConnell wants to leave states and schools out to dry while bailing out large corporations. It seems like legislators repeatedly pit short-term economic interests against long-term educational ones, presenting a false dichotomy that regularly rewards corporate recklessness.
In the midst of another global recession, McConnell wants to leave states and schools out to dry while bailing out large corporations.
There is undoubtedly room for improvement in school spending. Poor accounting contributes to more funds going toward wealthy students than low-income students, primarily because wealthier areas draw more advanced, higher-paid teachers. One way to solve this is to revise the uniform salary schedule and include subject matter and student demographics into teacher pay, rather than seniority and credentials. However, the need to improve school accounting proves the need for more funding. Getting salary restructuring right requires resources.
Study after study has confirmed that school spending, especially when directed at retaining high quality teachers and reducing class sizes, has a positive impact on student outcomes — most significantly for students from low-income families. Investing in education narrows the achievement gap and increases future earnings drastically for students living in poor neighborhoods. Yet, despite the evidence, some legislators still prefer to give companies a pass over investing in our future.
Education inequities will get a lot worse after COVID-19, unless Congress acts now. Researchers project dramatic learning loss — up to 50 percent in math and 30 percent in reading — when students return to school. This is staggering given the expected knowledge loss over a typical summer break: 27 percent less math and 20 percent less reading compared to the previous school year. Additionally, many special education students — especially those with severe learning and physical disabilities — will require compensatory education, as this shutdown disproportionately sets back their learning and skills development.
Education inequities will get a lot worse after COVID-19, unless Congress acts now.
Congress must use this opportunity to step up aid. While the $13.5 billion stimulus earmarked for K-12 public schools in the CARES Act is a good start, it is nowhere near enough. A group of superintendents, teachers’ unions, and family advocates are pushing legislators for roughly $200 billion in education funding to keep teachers in classrooms and provide remedial and trauma services once schools reopen.
Given that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided only $100 billion for education, winning more federal funding this time around will be an uphill battle. Governors must make education a priority and pressure Congress to set aside at least $200 billion in education funding that helps schools in the hardest-hit districts. Legislators should avoid the mistakes of the last recession, where stimulus money failed to adequately support schools in low-wealth districts and was pulled well before state budgets recovered.
What we need now is swift and equitable leadership. Threats of bankruptcy and shameless politicking will not cut it. We cannot afford to let our students fall through the cracks again.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-05-03--For Families Divided by ICE, the Pandemic Compounds the Nightmare

On March 25 , Alexandra Seo ’ s mother sent her a message : “ Alexandra .
Call 911 for me .
We don ’ t have any water.
” Seo watched as more messages came in : Her mother told her there was no bathroom she could use .
There was a foul chemical smell in the air that made it hard to breathe .
And there was no running water for her to wash her hands to try to protect herself from the coronavirus .
“ It ’ s panic around here , ” she messaged .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ please.
” Seo felt nauseous as more texts arrived .
“ Receiving those messages , I personally just freaked out , ” she says .
“ I didn ’ t know what to do.
” Marlen Seo , Alexandra ’ s mother , was messaging her from Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) detention in Jena , Louisiana .
( The LaSalle ICE Processing Center , run by the for-profit prison company GEO Group , provides tablets for detained people to message and call their families — for a steep price ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ call , Marlen told Truthout she wanted to be home , so she could help take care of her family during the pandemic .
“ I ’ m desperate , ” she said .
“ I want to be home .
My kids need me .
My family needs me.
” For most people , the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted concern for the well-being of loved ones , but families currently divided by ICE detention say their anxiety has reached constant , intolerable levels .
Marlen is one of the over 32,000 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , like her , the vast majority of people held in immigration jails have family somewhere else in the United States .
On the inside , people like Marlen Seo feel helpless to support and protect not just their families , but themselves—in the LaSalle facility , at least seven people had confirmed cases of the virus as of April 30 , according to ICE ’ s offical count .
On the outside , people like Alexandra fear that their detained family members might catch the virus in the cramped and notoriously harsh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also struggle to support their loved ones over the phone .
“ It breaks my heart hearing my mom tear up and start crying , ” Alexandra says .
“ I don ’ t know what to say ; I have never experienced the thing she ’ s going through .
I don ’ t know how to help calm her down , or tell it ’ s all going to be OK — when it ’ s not going to be OK. ” While Alexandra is grown up , and has children @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families with young children who rely on their support .
Guerline Jozef , an advocate with the Haitian Bridge Alliance , a coalition that supports Haitian and Black immigrants across the United States , says she ’ s gotten desperate calls from family members with loved ones stuck in ICE detention .
“ One woman called me crying , saying she has kids , and her husband is their only provider during the pandemic , ” she says .
René Escobedo González is one of the people divided from his children .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , traveling back home to his daughters in Florida .
When he was almost at the Louisiana border , local police pulled over the car he was in , and turned him over to ICE .
Since then , through the entire duration of the pandemic , Escobedo González has remained locked in Jefferson County Jail in east Texas .
With travel restricted , his family — including his 15-year-old and 8-year-old daughters , both U.S. citizens — have been unable to visit him .
Now , he says , he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can go home to be with them .
“ His family is here ; his kids are here .
We ’ re all worried for him , ” Escobedo González ’ s nephew Giovanni says on a phone call from Florida .
In the four months he ’ s been detained , Escobedo González says he ’ s seen a shocking deteriation of conditions in the jail , as the pandemic creates staff shortages and interrupts supply chains .
He ’ s had to call family to ask them to put money in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ goods as basic as soap and ramen noodles .
As these calls come in , Giovanni says he and the rest of René ’ s family have becoming increasingly desperate , as they worry about his safety from the virus .
When Jose Miranda-Gonzalez was first booked into ICE detention in Georgia in December 2019 , he messaged his sister to assure her that conditions weren ’ t too bad .
“ They treat us good , ” he wrote .
But in March , as the pandemic worsened , he sent another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We aren ’ t getting disinfectant sprays .
There are low and poor amounts of soap , [ sometimes ] hardly any .
The COs [ corrections officers ] don ’ t even come to work anymore .
I take back that they treat us good , ” he messaged on March 27 .
Reached by phone , Miranda-Gonzalez says that he and other detained people have had to hunger strike to try to pressure staff at the Folkston ICE Processing Center to provide them with goods as basic as soap .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ we can get their attention , ” he says .
In detention centers across the country , people have staged hunger strikes and other actions to protest ICE ’ s handling of the pandemic .
ICE and private detention center staff have responded with increasing repression .
Many of the stories some detainees have shared with family members in the last month have been traumatic .
Marlen ’ s first messages to Alexandra on March 24 preceded a major crackdown by detention center guards .
Her conversation with her daughter , as they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shocking contemporaneous account of the whole event .
As Marlen continued to message Alexandra that day , she told her daughter that the 70 other women in her dorm were panicking .
According to Marlen , they had been locked in the dorm without access to working restrooms or running water , and cleaning chemicals in the shower area had produced a smell that made it hard to breathe .
When Alexandra made a video call to her mother ’ s tablet , Marlen answered with her grey uniform sweatshirt pulled up over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ smell .
All around , other women were doing the same , coughing and retching .
Over the sounds of crying and shouting in the background , Marlen told her daughter what she was experiencing , and then passed the tablet around for other women to talk .
“ We ’ re in a state of alarm over the coronavirus , ” one woman says in the video in Spanish , explaining her fear that the sickness was in the building .
Another woman says they ’ d gone almost two days without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treating us like animals , ” yet another woman says , as someone else sobs in the background .
“ It was horrific to watch , ” Alexandra says .
“ Out here I ’ ve been hearing people say , ‘ Oh , it ’ s not that bad ; [ people in detention are ] taken care of.
’ They say that we ’ re exaggerating when stories do come out about it , But when I saw all the women in the video call freaking out , it just brought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to suffer like that.
” After the short call , Marlen continued to message her daughter .
“ It ’ s all an uproar here , ” she said .
The state of terror increased as the two women messaged each other , when suddenly GEO Group guards re-entered the room along with ICE medical personnel .
According to a statement ICE later gave BuzzFeed , the group had entered to give a “ presentation ” about the virus .
As the detained people protested their conditions , a small handful of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stench of the dorm — tried to rush to the door .
The guards cracked down , shooting something into the room .
“ Alex .
They just pepper sprayed us in here , and everyone is practically dying from the coughing .
We can ’ t breathe .
Help !
!
!
” Marlen messaged her daughter .
By the end of the repressive crackdown , guards had pepper sprayed over 70 people , including Marlen .
Alexandra could only read her mother ’ s messages , helpless .
“ She said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bad , ” Alexandra says .
“ I feel like it hurts even more [ than hearing about the lack of water ] when you hear about them….
” ( Here , she pauses to try to find the right words . )
“ I guess getting abused ?
Not only does my mom not deserve it , some of other people in there are very young .
It ’ s brutal to have to go through that .
It ’ s traumatizing.
” A week after the incident , Marlen described her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ They pepper sprayed us all , because the girls were upset when they didn ’ t answer our questions about the virus .
We were all gasping for air .
We couldn ’ t breathe , ” Marlen says .
The violence of that day , coupled with the anxiety of detention during a pandemic , has left her shaken .
In the time since the crackdown , Marlen says she has been dealing with severe depression .
A pill she had been given by detention center medical staff only made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her out for almost a day .
“ I just want to be back with my family , ” Marlen says .
She had entered ICE detention intent on resisting her deportation , so she could rejoin her children .
Marlen had lived in the country since she was two years old ; she had a green card before a tax evasion charge put her legal permanent residency at risk .
But after spending more than three months in detention — and growing more and more scared of the coronavirus — she has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ICE keeps people here so long they want to be deported .
I have thought about it , ” she says Like Marlen , Miranda-Gonzalez has also spent decades in the U.S. — he ’ s lived in Atlanta since he was 2 years old .
Today , he says part of what ’ s hard about detention isn ’ t just what he ’ s experiencing on the inside , but also what he ’ s missing on the outside , as his family weathers the pandemic .
He ’ s missed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Miranda-Gonzalez ’ s son was born in the suburbs of Atlanta .
Miranda-Gonzalez has never met him , but he says he calls his family on video every day so he can see his baby .
( It ’ s not cheap — each call costs more than $ 6 for about 15 minutes . )
Miranda says he feels far away from his people .
Folkston is over 300 miles from his home back in Atlanta , where he ’ s lived since he was a toddler .
During the pandemic , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ centers , so no one has been able to come to see him .
Still , Miranda says his communication with his family by phone has been crucial during the COVID-19 crisis , as they keep him updated with the latest news .
( He says that detention centers have attempted to downplay the dangers — he claims that one of the medical officers has repeatedly told the men “ Everything on the news is lies.
” ) “ Thank god for our family members , they let us know what ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he says .
Alexandra says that she knows her mother is fighting severe depression , so Alexandra tries to video call her every day so she can see Alexandra ’ s young children , Marlen ’ s grandchildren .
“ Her getaway is seeing my girls .
I try to video call her daily so she can get her mind away from what ’ s going on in detention , ” Alexandra says .
“ She absolutely loves her grandbabies .
I ’ m glad she has us ; she says there are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t have families they can call , and it ’ s really hard for them.
” But even though many can do video calls , families say they feel desperately far apart .
Alexandra is in Denver , and her mother is detained in Lousianna .
Miranda is hundreds of miles away from his family in a rural detention facility .
The remoteness of the Folkston facility has also prevented him so far from finding a lawyer .
His family has tried to find an attorney who might help him , but it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and in a time of pandemic .
Across the country , dozens of political organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union — as well as leaders like Congresswoman Alexandrea Ocasio-Cortez — have called on ICE to release all detainees in light of the COVID-19 danger .
While lawyers have won the release of dozens of people , and ICE has made some of its own parole decisions , the agency has thus far vehemently opposed releasing more than a small portion of the over 30,000 people detained .
In detention , Miranda @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but he ’ s holding out in hopes he can someday meet his son .
“ I want to be with him , ” he says .

As families deal with the stresses of the pandemic, those with loved ones in immigration jails are feeling desperate.
Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
On March 25, Alexandra Seo’s mother sent her a message: “Alexandra. Call 911 for me. We don’t have any water.” Seo watched as more messages came in: Her mother told her there was no bathroom she could use. There was a foul chemical smell in the air that made it hard to breathe. And there was no running water for her to wash her hands to try to protect herself from the coronavirus. “It’s panic around here,” she messaged. “Everyone is going crazy. Tell dad please.” Seo felt nauseous as more texts arrived.
“Receiving those messages, I personally just freaked out,” she says. “I didn’t know what to do.”
Marlen Seo, Alexandra’s mother, was messaging her from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention in Jena, Louisiana. (The LaSalle ICE Processing Center, run by the for-profit prison company GEO Group, provides tablets for detained people to message and call their families — for a steep price). Reached a week later by video call, Marlen told Truthout she wanted to be home, so she could help take care of her family during the pandemic.
“I’m desperate,” she said. “I want to be home. My kids need me. My family needs me.”
For most people, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted concern for the well-being of loved ones, but families currently divided by ICE detention say their anxiety has reached constant, intolerable levels. Marlen is one of the over 32,000 people currently held in ICE detention, and, like her, the vast majority of people held in immigration jails have family somewhere else in the United States. On the inside, people like Marlen Seo feel helpless to support and protect not just their families, but themselves—in the LaSalle facility, at least seven people had confirmed cases of the virus as of April 30, according to ICE’s offical count. On the outside, people like Alexandra fear that their detained family members might catch the virus in the cramped and notoriously harsh conditions in ICE detention centers. They also struggle to support their loved ones over the phone.
“It breaks my heart hearing my mom tear up and start crying,” Alexandra says. “I don’t know what to say; I have never experienced the thing she’s going through. I don’t know how to help calm her down, or tell it’s all going to be OK — when it’s not going to be OK.”
While Alexandra is grown up, and has children of her own, many people have families with young children who rely on their support. Guerline Jozef, an advocate with the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a coalition that supports Haitian and Black immigrants across the United States, says she’s gotten desperate calls from family members with loved ones stuck in ICE detention. “One woman called me crying, saying she has kids, and her husband is their only provider during the pandemic,” she says.
In detention centers across the country, people have staged hunger strikes and other actions to protest ICE’s handling of the pandemic. ICE and staff have responded with increasing repression.
René Escobedo González is one of the people divided from his children. In January, he was driving through Texas, traveling back home to his daughters in Florida. When he was almost at the Louisiana border, local police pulled over the car he was in, and turned him over to ICE. Since then, through the entire duration of the pandemic, Escobedo González has remained locked in Jefferson County Jail in east Texas. With travel restricted, his family — including his 15-year-old and 8-year-old daughters, both U.S. citizens — have been unable to visit him. Now, he says, he’s terrified of catching the virus before he can go home to be with them.
“His family is here; his kids are here. We’re all worried for him,” Escobedo González’s nephew Giovanni says on a phone call from Florida.
In the four months he’s been detained, Escobedo González says he’s seen a shocking deteriation of conditions in the jail, as the pandemic creates staff shortages and interrupts supply chains. He’s had to call family to ask them to put money in his commissary account so he can access goods as basic as soap and ramen noodles. As these calls come in, Giovanni says he and the rest of René’s family have becoming increasingly desperate, as they worry about his safety from the virus.
When Jose Miranda-Gonzalez was first booked into ICE detention in Georgia in December 2019, he messaged his sister to assure her that conditions weren’t too bad. “They treat us good,” he wrote. But in March, as the pandemic worsened, he sent another message: Conditions had quickly collapsed.
“We aren’t getting disinfectant sprays. There are low and poor amounts of soap, [sometimes] hardly any. The COs [corrections officers] don’t even come to work anymore. I take back that they treat us good,” he messaged on March 27.
Reached by phone, Miranda-Gonzalez says that he and other detained people have had to hunger strike to try to pressure staff at the Folkston ICE Processing Center to provide them with goods as basic as soap. “It’s the only way we can get their attention,” he says.
In detention centers across the country, people have staged hunger strikes and other actions to protest ICE’s handling of the pandemic. ICE and private detention center staff have responded with increasing repression. Many of the stories some detainees have shared with family members in the last month have been traumatic.
Marlen’s first messages to Alexandra on March 24 preceded a major crackdown by detention center guards. Her conversation with her daughter, as they both become increasingly alarmed, gives a shocking contemporaneous account of the whole event.
“ICE keeps people here so long they want to be deported.”
As Marlen continued to message Alexandra that day, she told her daughter that the 70 other women in her dorm were panicking. According to Marlen, they had been locked in the dorm without access to working restrooms or running water, and cleaning chemicals in the shower area had produced a smell that made it hard to breathe. When Alexandra made a video call to her mother’s tablet, Marlen answered with her grey uniform sweatshirt pulled up over her mouth to protect her from the smell. All around, other women were doing the same, coughing and retching. Over the sounds of crying and shouting in the background, Marlen told her daughter what she was experiencing, and then passed the tablet around for other women to talk.
“We’re in a state of alarm over the coronavirus,” one woman says in the video in Spanish, explaining her fear that the sickness was in the building. Another woman says they’d gone almost two days without dependable water. “They’re treating us like animals,” yet another woman says, as someone else sobs in the background.
“It was horrific to watch,” Alexandra says. “Out here I’ve been hearing people say, ‘Oh, it’s not that bad; [people in detention are] taken care of.’ They say that we’re exaggerating when stories do come out about it, But when I saw all the women in the video call freaking out, it just brought me to tears seeing everyone to have to suffer like that.”
After the short call, Marlen continued to message her daughter. “It’s all an uproar here,” she said. The state of terror increased as the two women messaged each other, when suddenly GEO Group guards re-entered the room along with ICE medical personnel.
According to a statement ICE later gave BuzzFeed, the group had entered to give a “presentation” about the virus. As the detained people protested their conditions, a small handful of the women — struggling to breathe in the stench of the dorm — tried to rush to the door. The guards cracked down, shooting something into the room.
“Alex. They just pepper sprayed us in here, and everyone is practically dying from the coughing. We can’t breathe. Help!!!” Marlen messaged her daughter. By the end of the repressive crackdown, guards had pepper sprayed over 70 people, including Marlen. Alexandra could only read her mother’s messages, helpless.
“She said she was literally dying from coughing so bad,” Alexandra says. “I feel like it hurts even more [than hearing about the lack of water] when you hear about them….” (Here, she pauses to try to find the right words.) “I guess getting abused? Not only does my mom not deserve it, some of other people in there are very young. It’s brutal to have to go through that. It’s traumatizing.”
A week after the incident, Marlen described her experience on a video call with Truthout.
“They pepper sprayed us all, because the girls were upset when they didn’t answer our questions about the virus. We were all gasping for air. We couldn’t breathe,” Marlen says. The violence of that day, coupled with the anxiety of detention during a pandemic, has left her shaken. In the time since the crackdown, Marlen says she has been dealing with severe depression. A pill she had been given by detention center medical staff only made it worse: She said it knocked her out for almost a day.
“I just want to be back with my family,” Marlen says. She had entered ICE detention intent on resisting her deportation, so she could rejoin her children. Marlen had lived in the country since she was two years old; she had a green card before a tax evasion charge put her legal permanent residency at risk. But after spending more than three months in detention — and growing more and more scared of the coronavirus — she has started to consider giving up. “ICE keeps people here so long they want to be deported. I have thought about it,” she says
Like Marlen, Miranda-Gonzalez has also spent decades in the U.S. — he’s lived in Atlanta since he was 2 years old. Today, he says part of what’s hard about detention isn’t just what he’s experiencing on the inside, but also what he’s missing on the outside, as his family weathers the pandemic. He’s missed major life events: In February, Miranda-Gonzalez’s son was born in the suburbs of Atlanta. Miranda-Gonzalez has never met him, but he says he calls his family on video every day so he can see his baby. (It’s not cheap — each call costs more than $6 for about 15 minutes.)
Miranda says he feels far away from his people. Folkston is over 300 miles from his home back in Atlanta, where he’s lived since he was a toddler. During the pandemic, ICE has suspended family visitation to detention centers, so no one has been able to come to see him. Still, Miranda says his communication with his family by phone has been crucial during the COVID-19 crisis, as they keep him updated with the latest news. (He says that detention centers have attempted to downplay the dangers — he claims that one of the medical officers has repeatedly told the men “Everything on the news is lies.”)
“Thank god for our family members, they let us know what’s going on in our communities,” he says.
Alexandra says that she knows her mother is fighting severe depression, so Alexandra tries to video call her every day so she can see Alexandra’s young children, Marlen’s grandchildren.
“Her getaway is seeing my girls. I try to video call her daily so she can get her mind away from what’s going on in detention,” Alexandra says. “She absolutely loves her grandbabies. I’m glad she has us; she says there are other people in there who don’t have families they can call, and it’s really hard for them.”
But even though many can do video calls, families say they feel desperately far apart. Alexandra is in Denver, and her mother is detained in Lousianna. Miranda is hundreds of miles away from his family in a rural detention facility. The remoteness of the Folkston facility has also prevented him so far from finding a lawyer. His family has tried to find an attorney who might help him, but it’s hard to do over distance, and in a time of pandemic.
Across the country, dozens of political organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union — as well as leaders like Congresswoman Alexandrea Ocasio-Cortez — have called on ICE to release all detainees in light of the COVID-19 danger. While lawyers have won the release of dozens of people, and ICE has made some of its own parole decisions, the agency has thus far vehemently opposed releasing more than a small portion of the over 30,000 people detained.
In detention, Miranda says he sometimes feels like giving up, but he’s holding out in hopes he can someday meet his son.
“I want to be with him,” he says.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-05-04--Following Mexico’s Worker Strikes, the US Steps in to Keep Border Factories Open

In Washington , D.C. , President Trump is trying his best to reopen closed meatpacking plants , as packinghouse workers catch the COVID-19 virus and die .
In Tijuana , Mexico , where workers are dying in mostly U.S.-owned factories ( known as maquiladoras ) that produce and export goods to the U.S. , the Baja California state governor , a former California Republican Party stalwart , is doing the same thing .
Jaime Bonilla Valdez rode into the governorship in 2018 on the coattails of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador .
And at first , as a leading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Party , he was a strong voice calling for the factories on the border to suspend production .
López Obrador himself was criticized for not acting rapidly enough against the pandemic .
But in late March , in the face of Mexico ’ s rising COVID-19 death toll , he finally declared a State of Health Emergency .
Nonessential businesses were ordered to shut their doors , and to continue paying workers ’ wages until April 30 .
Bonilla ’ s Labor Secretary Sergio Martinez applied the federal government ’ s rule to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ producing goods for the U.S. market .
Again , only essential businesses would be excepted .
When news spread that many factories were defying the order to close , Bonilla condemned them .
“ The employers don ’ t want to stop earning money , ” he said at a news conference in mid-April .
“ They are basically looking to sacrifice their employees.
” But now , a month later , he is allowing many non-essential factories to reopen .
Explaining the about-face are two competing pressures .
At first , workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them down , a move widely supported in border cities .
But as the owners themselves resisted , they got the help of the U.S. government .
The Trump administration put enormous pressure on the Mexican government and economy , vulnerable because of its dependence on the U.S. market .
Now as the factories are opening again , the deaths are still rising .
Although Baja California is much less densely populated than other Mexican states , it ’ s now third in the number of COVID-19 cases , with 1,660 people infected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and 164 in Tijuana alone .
That ’ s more deaths than 131 in neighboring San Diego , a much larger metropolis .
Fifteen percent of those with COVID-19 in Tijuana die , while only 3.5 percent die in San Diego .
As is true everywhere , with the absence of extensive testing , no one really knows how many are sick .
In Tijuana , most who die are working-age .
Since one-tenth of the city ’ s 2.1 million residents work in over 900 maquiladoras , and even more are dependent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the virus among maquiladora workers is very threatening .
Alarm grew when two workers died in early April at Plantronics , where 3,300 employees make phone headsets .
Schneider Electric closed when one worker died and 11 more got sick .
Skyworks , a manufacturer of parts for communications equipment with 5,500 workers , admitted that some had been infected .
In the growing climate of fear , workers began to stop work .
In Mexicali , Baja California ’ s state capital , workers struck on April 9 at three U.S.-owned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Protesters said the companies were forcing people to come to work under threat of being permanently fired , refusing to pay the government-mandated wages and failing to provide masks to workers .
The factories were forced to close by the state government .
Work then stopped at three more factories — Jonathan , SL and MTS .
There , the companies offered bonuses of 20-40 percent if workers would stay on the job , but employees rejected the offer .
One striker , Daniel , told a reporter for the Mexican newspaper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — we don ’ t want money , or bonuses or even double pay .
We just want them to comply with the presidential order that nonessential factories close , and to pay us our full salary.
” Jonathan makes metal rails for machine guns and tanks for U.S. companies .
Workers denied company claims that they made “ essential ” telecommunications equipment , a common claim by factories that want to stay open .
The Organization of the Workers and Peoples , a radical group among maquiladora workers in Baja California , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Skyworks , and a strike at Gulfstream on April 10 .
At Honeywell Aerospace , workers began shutting down production on April 6 .
“ The company then laid off 100 people without pay , and fired four of them , ” said Mexicali worker/activist Jesus Casillas .
Honeywell closed for a week , and then reopened .
As the strikes progressed , workers reported the death of two people in Clover Wireless ’ s two plants that repair cellphones .
They were closed for one shift , and then started up again @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a general strike was called by Mexicali maquiladora workers , and supported by the state chapter of the New Labor Center , a union federation organized by the Mexican Electrical Workers Union .
Companies that said they were closing never really did , workers charged .
“ They ’ d close the front door and put a chain on , ” Casillas explained .
“ Then they bring workers in through the back door .
They ’ d call the workers down to the factory , and would tell them that if they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they ’ d lose their jobs permanently.
” Elsewhere on the border , workers also complain about being forced to work .
Company scofflaws even included breweries .
In the rest of Mexico , beer began to disappear from store shelves as a result of López Obrador ’ s order , shuttering breweries because alcohol production was not deemed “ essential.
” Modelo and Heineken , two huge producers , complied .
Constellation Brands ’ two enormous breweries in Coahuila , which make Corona and Modelo for the U.S. market , did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook post even showed workers at the Piedras Negras glass plant that makes the bottles for Constellation Brands lined up without masks .
A message from a worker , Alejandro Lopez , charges , “ We ask for masks and they deny us , like they do with [ sanitizing ] gel , which they only give us at the [ brewery ] entrance , and that ’ s it.
” The response posted by the plant human relations director , Sofia Bucio , says the company does everything required , and then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We didn ’ t go take you out of your house and force you to work with us , right ?
… If you don ’ t like the measures IVC [ the glass company ] is taking , the doors were wide open to let you in when you came here , and they ’ re the same to let you out.
” In border cities across the Rio Grande from Texas , other factories that wanted to stay open said they ’ d let workers worried about the virus stay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their normal wages .
“ People can ’ t possibly live on that , ” charged Julia Quiñones , director of the Border Women Workers Committee .
Since López Obrador ordered a raise a year ago , the minimum wage on the border has been 185.56 pesos ( $ 7.63 ) per day .
Fifty percent of that , in Nuevo Laredo , would barely buy a gallon of milk ( 80 pesos ) .
“ There ’ s no other work the women can do in town , ” Quiñones explained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers crossed the border to earn extra money by donating blood .
But the border is now closed , even for those that have visas .
They can ’ t sell things in the street because of the lockdown .
The only option is to work.
” One worker told her , “ It is better to work at 100 percent , even if we ’ re risking our lives , than to be at home with 50 percent.
” Meanwhile , work stoppages spread to other border cities , as the death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employs 24,000 people making car seats in Ciudad Juárez , closed its 12 plants there on April 1 .
Lear had more COVID-19 fatalities than any company on the border .
It won ’ t cite a number , and says it only learned of the first death on April 3 .
By the end of April , however , 16 Lear workers were dead from the virus , 13 from its Rio Bravo factory alone .
As other plants continued operations despite a death toll , strikes broke out .
On April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , demanding that the companies stop operations and pay workers the government-mandated wages .
Twenty people in the city had died by then , including two workers at Regal Beloit ( a coffin manufacturer ) , and two workers at Syncreon , according to protesters .
At Honeywell , 70 strikers said the company hadn ’ t provided masks , and had forced people with hypertension and diabetes to show up for work .
The Electrolux plant stopped work on April 24 after two workers , Gregoria González and Sandra Perea , died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had protested the lack of health protection .
When workers finally stopped working , the company locked them inside and later fired 20 .
One told journalist Kau Sirenio , “ The company wouldn ’ t tell us anything though we all knew that we were working at the risk of getting infected .
They waited until two died before they closed , and fired those who protested the lack of safe conditions .
They still say their operation is essential , but you can see how little they care about the lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the mayor closed the city ’ s restaurants but allowed the maquiladoras to keep running .
When workers at TPI Composites began their protest , the city police were even called out against them .
Nevertheless , in Juárez and other border cities throughout April , the pressure of workers did succeed often in forcing the government to demand compliance from the companies .
At the end of April , the U.S. government intervened on behalf of the owners of the stalled plants .
The Trump administration is set on protecting the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effect on July 1 .
While the agreement has theoretical protections for worker health and safety , there is no expectation that it would be invoked to ensure that plants remain shut until the COVID-19 danger recedes .
Instead , its purpose is to protect the chains of supply and investment between Mexico and the U.S. , especially involving factories on the border .
López Obrador ’ s order classified as “ essential ” only companies directly involved in critical industries such as health care , food production or energy , and excluded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those industries .
But from the beginning , many maquiladoras claimed they were “ essential ” anyway because they supplied other factories in the U.S. Luis Hernandez , an executive at a Tijuana exporter association , admitted , “ Companies have wanted to use the ‘ essential ’ classifications of the U.S. “ The military-industrial complex has a growing stake in border factories , which exported $ 1.3 billion in aerospace and armament products to the U.S. in 2004 , climbing to $ 9.6 billion last year .
To defend that huge stake @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Mexican Federation of Aerospace Industries , told the Mexican government it had to give Mexico ’ s defense industry the “ essential ” status it enjoys in the U.S. and Canada .
Pentagon Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord announced she was meeting Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to urge him to let U.S. defense corporations restart production in their maquiladoras .
“ Mexico right now is somewhat problematical for us , but we ’ re working through our embassy , ” she said .
She later announced her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ language of the Trump administration , U.S .
Ambassador Christopher Landau played down the risk to workers .
“ There is risk everywhere but we don ’ t all stay at home out of fear that we ’ re going to crash our cars , ” he said in a tweet .
“ Economic destruction also threatens health… .
On both sides of the border , investment = employment = prosperity.
” Finally , on April 28 , Baja Governor Bonilla bowed to the pressure and ordered the reopening of 40 “ closed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Economic Development Mario Escobedo Carignan , they are now considered part of the supply chain for essential products .
“ We ’ re not in the business of trying to suspend your operations , ” he told owners , “ but to work with you to keep creating jobs and generating wealth in this state.
” Given that many “ closed ” factories in fact were operating already , Julia Quiñones said bitterly , “ This is what always happens here on the border .
The companies break the law , and then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all legal.
” And Mexico ’ s federal government itself has begun to back down as well , announcing three days after a U.S. request that it will allow the many enormous auto plants in Mexico to restart their assembly lines once automakers restart them north of the border .
The announcements didn ’ t indicate that Mexico had flattened the coronavirus infection curve or that the factories were now safe .
In one 24-hour period , from April 29 to 30 , the number of cases per million people went from 138 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in over 3,000 factories on the border .
The virus has already led to numerous deaths among them , and if all factories resume production while it still rages , the death toll will surely rise .
Luis Hernández Navarro , editor at Mexico ’ s left-wing daily , La Jornada ( no relation to the Tijuana businessman ) , reminded his readers that the catastrophic spread of the virus in Italy was caused by the continued operation of factories in Lombardy until it was too late .
“ The maquiladora industry has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operators , just its profits , ” he wrote recently .
“ Their production lines must not stop , and in the best colonial tradition , Uncle Sam has pressured Mexico to keep the assemblers operating… .
The obstinacy of the maquiladoras makes it likely that the Italian case will be repeated here .
”

Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
In Washington, D.C., President Trump is trying his best to reopen closed meatpacking plants, as packinghouse workers catch the COVID-19 virus and die. In Tijuana, Mexico, where workers are dying in mostly U.S.-owned factories (known as maquiladoras) that produce and export goods to the U.S., the Baja California state governor, a former California Republican Party stalwart, is doing the same thing.
Jaime Bonilla Valdez rode into the governorship in 2018 on the coattails of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. And at first, as a leading member of López Obrador’s MORENA Party, he was a strong voice calling for the factories on the border to suspend production.
López Obrador himself was criticized for not acting rapidly enough against the pandemic. But in late March, in the face of Mexico’s rising COVID-19 death toll, he finally declared a State of Health Emergency. Nonessential businesses were ordered to shut their doors, and to continue paying workers’ wages until April 30.
Bonilla’s Labor Secretary Sergio Martinez applied the federal government’s rule to the foreign-owned factories on the border, producing goods for the U.S. market. Again, only essential businesses would be excepted.
When news spread that many factories were defying the order to close, Bonilla condemned them. “The employers don’t want to stop earning money,” he said at a news conference in mid-April. “They are basically looking to sacrifice their employees.” But now, a month later, he is allowing many non-essential factories to reopen.
Explaining the about-face are two competing pressures. At first, workers in the factories took action to shut them down, a move widely supported in border cities. But as the owners themselves resisted, they got the help of the U.S. government. The Trump administration put enormous pressure on the Mexican government and economy, vulnerable because of its dependence on the U.S. market.
Now as the factories are opening again, the deaths are still rising.
Strikes Start in Mexicali
Although Baja California is much less densely populated than other Mexican states, it’s now third in the number of COVID-19 cases, with 1,660 people infected. Some 261 have died statewide, and 164 in Tijuana alone. That’s more deaths than 131 in neighboring San Diego, a much larger metropolis. Fifteen percent of those with COVID-19 in Tijuana die, while only 3.5 percent die in San Diego. As is true everywhere, with the absence of extensive testing, no one really knows how many are sick.
David Bacon
In Tijuana, most who die are working-age. Since one-tenth of the city’s 2.1 million residents work in over 900 maquiladoras, and even more are dependent on those factory jobs, the spread of the virus among maquiladora workers is very threatening.
Alarm grew when two workers died in early April at Plantronics, where 3,300 employees make phone headsets. Schneider Electric closed when one worker died and 11 more got sick. Skyworks, a manufacturer of parts for communications equipment with 5,500 workers, admitted that some had been infected.
In the growing climate of fear, workers began to stop work. In Mexicali, Baja California’s state capital, workers struck on April 9 at three U.S.-owned factories: Eaton, Spectrum and LG. Protesters said the companies were forcing people to come to work under threat of being permanently fired, refusing to pay the government-mandated wages and failing to provide masks to workers. The factories were forced to close by the state government.
Work then stopped at three more factories — Jonathan, SL and MTS. There, the companies offered bonuses of 20-40 percent if workers would stay on the job, but employees rejected the offer. One striker, Daniel, told a reporter for the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, “We want health — we don’t want money, or bonuses or even double pay. We just want them to comply with the presidential order that nonessential factories close, and to pay us our full salary.” Jonathan makes metal rails for machine guns and tanks for U.S. companies. Workers denied company claims that they made “essential” telecommunications equipment, a common claim by factories that want to stay open.
The Organization of the Workers and Peoples, a radical group among maquiladora workers in Baja California, reported a week of work stoppages at Skyworks, and a strike at Gulfstream on April 10. At Honeywell Aerospace, workers began shutting down production on April 6. “The company then laid off 100 people without pay, and fired four of them,” said Mexicali worker/activist Jesus Casillas. Honeywell closed for a week, and then reopened.
As the strikes progressed, workers reported the death of two people in Clover Wireless’s two plants that repair cellphones. They were closed for one shift, and then started up again. Finally, on April 14, a general strike was called by Mexicali maquiladora workers, and supported by the state chapter of the New Labor Center, a union federation organized by the Mexican Electrical Workers Union.
The Factories Don’t Actually Close
Companies that said they were closing never really did, workers charged. “They’d close the front door and put a chain on,” Casillas explained. “Then they bring workers in through the back door. They’d call the workers down to the factory, and would tell them that if they didn’t go back to work, they’d lose their jobs permanently.”
David Bacon
Elsewhere on the border, workers also complain about being forced to work. Company scofflaws even included breweries. In the rest of Mexico, beer began to disappear from store shelves as a result of López Obrador’s order, shuttering breweries because alcohol production was not deemed “essential.” Modelo and Heineken, two huge producers, complied. Constellation Brands’ two enormous breweries in Coahuila, which make Corona and Modelo for the U.S. market, did not.
On May Day, a Facebook post even showed workers at the Piedras Negras glass plant that makes the bottles for Constellation Brands lined up without masks. A message from a worker, Alejandro Lopez, charges, “We ask for masks and they deny us, like they do with [sanitizing] gel, which they only give us at the [brewery] entrance, and that’s it.” The response posted by the plant human relations director, Sofia Bucio, says the company does everything required, and then goes on to berate the worker: “We didn’t go take you out of your house and force you to work with us, right?… If you don’t like the measures IVC [the glass company] is taking, the doors were wide open to let you in when you came here, and they’re the same to let you out.”
In border cities across the Rio Grande from Texas, other factories that wanted to stay open said they’d let workers worried about the virus stay home, but only at 50 percent of their normal wages. “People can’t possibly live on that,” charged Julia Quiñones, director of the Border Women Workers Committee. Since López Obrador ordered a raise a year ago, the minimum wage on the border has been 185.56 pesos ($7.63) per day. Fifty percent of that, in Nuevo Laredo, would barely buy a gallon of milk (80 pesos).
“There’s no other work the women can do in town,” Quiñones explained. “In the past, some workers crossed the border to earn extra money by donating blood. But the border is now closed, even for those that have visas. They can’t sell things in the street because of the lockdown. The only option is to work.”
One worker told her, “It is better to work at 100 percent, even if we’re risking our lives, than to be at home with 50 percent.”
The U.S. government intervened on behalf of the owners of the stalled plants. The Trump administration is set on protecting the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Meanwhile, work stoppages spread to other border cities, as the death toll rose. Lear Corporation, which employs 24,000 people making car seats in Ciudad Juárez, closed its 12 plants there on April 1. Lear had more COVID-19 fatalities than any company on the border. It won’t cite a number, and says it only learned of the first death on April 3. By the end of April, however, 16 Lear workers were dead from the virus, 13 from its Rio Bravo factory alone.
As other plants continued operations despite a death toll, strikes broke out. On April 17, workers struck at six maquiladoras, demanding that the companies stop operations and pay workers the government-mandated wages. Twenty people in the city had died by then, including two workers at Regal Beloit (a coffin manufacturer), and two workers at Syncreon, according to protesters. At Honeywell, 70 strikers said the company hadn’t provided masks, and had forced people with hypertension and diabetes to show up for work.
The Electrolux plant stopped work on April 24 after two workers, Gregoria González and Sandra Perea, died. Two weeks earlier, workers there had protested the lack of health protection. When workers finally stopped working, the company locked them inside and later fired 20. One told journalist Kau Sirenio, “The company wouldn’t tell us anything though we all knew that we were working at the risk of getting infected. They waited until two died before they closed, and fired those who protested the lack of safe conditions. They still say their operation is essential, but you can see how little they care about the lives of the workers.”
In Juárez, the mayor closed the city’s restaurants but allowed the maquiladoras to keep running. When workers at TPI Composites began their protest, the city police were even called out against them. Nevertheless, in Juárez and other border cities throughout April, the pressure of workers did succeed often in forcing the government to demand compliance from the companies.
The U.S. Intervenes
At the end of April, the U.S. government intervened on behalf of the owners of the stalled plants. The Trump administration is set on protecting the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement set to go into effect on July 1. While the agreement has theoretical protections for worker health and safety, there is no expectation that it would be invoked to ensure that plants remain shut until the COVID-19 danger recedes. Instead, its purpose is to protect the chains of supply and investment between Mexico and the U.S., especially involving factories on the border.
The catastrophic spread of the virus in Italy was caused by the continued operation of factories in Lombardy until it was too late.
López Obrador’s order classified as “essential” only companies directly involved in critical industries such as health care, food production or energy, and excluded companies that supply materials to factories in those industries. But from the beginning, many maquiladoras claimed they were “essential” anyway because they supplied other factories in the U.S. Luis Hernandez, an executive at a Tijuana exporter association, admitted, “Companies have wanted to use the ‘essential’ classifications of the U.S.“
The military-industrial complex has a growing stake in border factories, which exported $1.3 billion in aerospace and armament products to the U.S. in 2004, climbing to $9.6 billion last year. To defend that huge stake, Luis Lizcano, general director of the Mexican Federation of Aerospace Industries, told the Mexican government it had to give Mexico’s defense industry the “essential” status it enjoys in the U.S. and Canada.
Pentagon Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord announced she was meeting Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to urge him to let U.S. defense corporations restart production in their maquiladoras. “Mexico right now is somewhat problematical for us, but we’re working through our embassy,” she said. She later announced her visit had been successful.
Using the language of the Trump administration, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Landau played down the risk to workers. “There is risk everywhere but we don’t all stay at home out of fear that we’re going to crash our cars,” he said in a tweet. “Economic destruction also threatens health…. On both sides of the border, investment = employment = prosperity.”
Finally, on April 28, Baja Governor Bonilla bowed to the pressure and ordered the reopening of 40 “closed” maquiladoras. According to Secretary of Economic Development Mario Escobedo Carignan, they are now considered part of the supply chain for essential products. “We’re not in the business of trying to suspend your operations,” he told owners, “but to work with you to keep creating jobs and generating wealth in this state.”
Given that many “closed” factories in fact were operating already, Julia Quiñones said bitterly, “This is what always happens here on the border. The companies break the law, and then the law is changed to make it all legal.” And Mexico’s federal government itself has begun to back down as well, announcing three days after a U.S. request that it will allow the many enormous auto plants in Mexico to restart their assembly lines once automakers restart them north of the border.
The announcements didn’t indicate that Mexico had flattened the coronavirus infection curve or that the factories were now safe. In one 24-hour period, from April 29 to 30, the number of cases per million people went from 138 to 149. A million workers labor in over 3,000 factories on the border. The virus has already led to numerous deaths among them, and if all factories resume production while it still rages, the death toll will surely rise.
Luis Hernández Navarro, editor at Mexico’s left-wing daily, La Jornada (no relation to the Tijuana businessman), reminded his readers that the catastrophic spread of the virus in Italy was caused by the continued operation of factories in Lombardy until it was too late.
“The maquiladora industry has never cared about the health of its operators, just its profits,” he wrote recently. “Their production lines must not stop, and in the best colonial tradition, Uncle Sam has pressured Mexico to keep the assemblers operating…. The obstinacy of the maquiladoras makes it likely that the Italian case will be repeated here.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright by David Bacon