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Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on Friday that it would ban new international students from coming to the U.S. if their university has switched to online-only classes. ICE had previously banned all international students from coming to the U.S. if their classes went online, but rescinded it after a lawsuit from dozens of colleges. More than a tenth of U.S. universities have so far decided to go online-only due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Like the initial policy, this new ban was met with widespread outrage. Some students have already reported being blocked from coming into the U.S. due to ICE’s policy. CBS News
In other national news…
陈学理胜选凸显华人社区“右转”
Trump Admin. Sued Over Policy to Detain Children in Hotels
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration on Friday to stop the deportation of children who are being detained in hotel rooms. ICE contractor MVM Inc. has been holding children at three Hampton Inn & Suites hotels in McAllen, Texas; El Paso, Texas; and Phoenix. The McAllen location said it had ended reservations on rooms used to detain minors and ICE confirmed it had taken children away from the hotel. The Associated Press reported the hotels were used nearly 200 times for the detention of children as young as 1. The Associated Press
Immigration Judge Appointed With History of Islamophobia and Homophobia
Brandon Bolling, the Justice Department’s latest hire to become an assistant chief immigration judge in Texas, has a history of Islamophobia and homophobia, Mother Jones reports. Bolling worked at the Thomas Law More Center, a right-wing Christian group where he defended numerous cases opposing Muslims and the gay community. This included the case of Caleigh Wood, who sued his local school district and claimed it tried to indoctrinate his daughter into Islam by including lessons about it. Bolling has no discernible immigration experience but will now help oversee the immigration cases of people detained in El Paso. He is among 46 immigration judges recently hired by the Trump administration. Mother Jones
Guatemalan-Mayans in Florida Among Hardest Hit by Coronavirus
Guatemalan-Mayans in Florida are reporting more new cases of COVID-19 each day than any other population in the state. More than 30% of those tested in Palm Beach County’s 80,000-strong Guatemalan-Mayan community have coronavirus. Several pivotal figures in Florida’s Guatemalan-Mayan community have died due to the virus. Guatemalan-Mayans are at the center of the state’s construction industry and have been forced to work through the pandemic, as have those in landscaping. They often travel close together to construction and landscaping sites and return home to crowded houses. The Washington Post
ICE Attempts to Block the Release of Documentary
The Trump administration tried to delay the August release of “Immigration Nation,” a Netflix documentary series about ICE’s transformation under the Trump administration, until after the election. Two filmmakers, Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz, were granted rare access to ICE starting in early 2017, but now face legal action to block parts of it. ICE specifically takes issue with footage of ICE agents lying to immigrants to gain access to their homes and mocking them after taking them into custody. The head of ICE’s television and film department said the government would use its “full weight” to veto scenes it found objectionable. The New York Times
