Una familia de migrantes rezan en una iglesia, el 25 de abril de 2024 en Ciudad Juárez (México). EFE/Luis Torres
Ciudad Juárez (México).- Habrá cada vez más caravanas de migrantes hacia la frontera de México con Estados Unidos ante las elecciones de ambos países, alimentadas por la fe religiosa y los engaños de “la industria de la migración” de los grupos criminales, advierte una investigación de la Universidad de Texas en El Paso y la Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua (UACH).
Emilio Alberto López, investigador de la UACH, expuso a EFE que los traficantes de personas están aprovechando cambios en la aplicación CBP One, que permite conseguir una cita con autoridades estadounidenses para hacerles creer en los países expulsores que es más fácil y rápido entrar en Estados Unidos.
“Aplicamos un instrumento para ver qué saben las personas susceptibles de protección internacional sobre los procesos de asilo y nos encontramos con que la gente básicamente se está aventando (aventurando) con fe en Dios”, explicó el académico en una entrevista este sábado.
El experto apuntó que las conclusiones de este estudio crean entre los investigadores un temor de que esta desinformación se siga utilizando por los traficantes de personas.
“Lamentablemente, ya nos estamos enfrentando con una situación que rebasa las capacidades estatales, el riesgo es que muchos oportunistas o esta industria de la migración están aprovechando para contar mentiras a la migración y enseñar TikToks o videos de: ‘mira, es muy rápido cruzar’”, cuestiona López Reyes.
Apenas el martes pasado, el Comité Internacional de la Cruz Roja (CICR) en México y Centroamérica alertó de que las redes criminales están engañando a migrantes mediante plataformas digitales, porque los grupos delictivos «quieren aprovechar su vulnerabilidad y dar informaciones falsas».
El investigador de la UACH apuntó que estos engaños sobrepasan lo «inhumano» porque afectan a niños e impulsan a habitantes de países expulsores a hacer el peligroso viaje a la frontera con toda la familia.
“Está generando una serie de desinformación entre los traficantes con las personas que están en movilidad, nuevamente se está viendo el arribo de familias casi completas que vienen en esta forma de migración colectiva”, indicó.
Migraciones y elecciones
La presión por la migración crece porque este año coinciden las elecciones presidenciales de Estados Unidos y México, donde los migrantes irregulares detectados por el Gobierno subieron un 77 % en 2023, hasta un récord de 782.000.
El análisis que hicieron las universidades anticipa que la migración aumentará de cara a estos comicios, al prever un aumento de la desinformación en las propuestas antiinmigrantes en Estados Unidos, lo que está presionando a México.
“Estamos acercándonos al proceso electoral de ambos lados de la frontera, como vimos en la primera elección de (Donald) Trump, veremos caravanas, mucha desinformación y el usufructo político de la movilidad humana. Desafortunadamente, hay muchos oportunistas que son todos estos intermediarios que explotan a migrantes”, señaló.
Esta realidad ya cala en migrantes que están varados en la frontera norte de México, como el venezolano Miguel Velazco.
“Yo quiero crear un futuro para mis hijos y en Venezuela no se los puedo dar. (Tengo) fe en Dios que sí lo vamos a lograr. Ya estamos aquí y hemos visto que mucha gente ha pasado y que sí lo ha logrado y así como lo ha logrado yo tengo fe en Dios que así lo voy a lograr también. Aferrarse a él, que es el único que nos puede ayudar”, dijo a un lado del río Bravo en Ciudad Juárez.
Héctor Benítez Cañas es abogado de inmigración en Miami. Su firma Benme Legal se dedica a la práctica exclusiva de la Ley de Inmigración.
El Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos informó recientemente de la acusación contra diez personas por evadir las sanciones impuestas a Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Supuestamente, los acusados hicieron que compañías de EE. UU. enviaran piezas de avión a empresas a otros países, con el fin de suministrarlas finalmente al régimen de Venezuela.
Las sanciones tienen consecuencias muy graves, desde el punto de vista criminal y civil. Hay personas que no entienden qué es la OFAC o cómo funciona. Piensan que son ajenos a este tipo de transacciones o tienen la equivocada creencia de que solo se supervisan transacciones multimillonarias. Pero no es así.
La OFAC es una oficina administrativa del gobierno federal estadounidense, dependiente del Departamento del Tesoro. Se encarga de implementar sanciones de tipo administrativo, o referir investigaciones criminales.
Los diez individuos acusados, algunos de origen venezolano, presuntamente participaron en transacciones que terminaron beneficiando a la industria petrolera de Venezuela. Este país no tiene un embargo propiamente, pero sí un esquema de sanciones a su industria petrolera.
De acuerdo con los hechos narrados en la acusación, las piezas iban a ser utilizadas en la flota de aviones de PDVSA.
Esto es muy importante, porque toda persona que participe en la facilitación de piezas o productos que vayan a ser explotados por el sujeto sancionado, será considerada norteamericana, a efectos de ser juzgados en el país.
Quienes estén involucrados en el esquema de importación y exportación, deben tener mucho cuidado. Muchas personas tienen una concepción errada, partiendo de la idea de que “no pueden controlar a dónde va a llegar la pieza”. El actual esquema sancionador exige, como participante de buena fe, ejecutar ciertas diligencias que garanticen que usted agotó cualquier tipo de conocimiento de que el producto no iba a quedar en manos de personas especialmente designadas, en este caso PDVSA, o cualquier otra.
Los hechos de la acusación narran que las empresas fuera de Estados Unidos fueron utilizadas como matrices para ejecutar un proceso de reexportación para evadir directamente las sanciones. Las personas interesadas en actividades de exportación deben informarse para evitar o mitigar los riesgos asociados. Por ejemplo, la revisión de las listas de sancionados y hacer un “clearance”.
Esto funciona para empresas en España o Costa Rica, como es el caso de dos de las implicadas en la acusación. El hecho de estar fuera del territorio norteamericano, no exime de la responsabilidad. Tan solo el hecho de participar en una transacción donde se establezca la moneda norteamericana, es más que suficiente para otorgarle jurisdicción a Estados Unidos en un proceso acusatorio.
* Héctor Benítez Cañas es abogado de inmigración en Miami. Su firma Benme Legal se dedica a la práctica exclusiva de la Ley de Inmigración. https://www.benmelegal.org/
Kids play outside a polling precinct on March 19, in Guadalupe, Ariz. (Photo: AP/Ty ONeil)
As ranchera music filled the Phoenix recording studio at Radio Campesina, a station personality spoke in Spanish into the microphone.
“Friends of Campesina, in these elections, truth and unity are more important than ever,” said morning show host Tony Arias. “Don’t let yourself be trapped by disinformation.”
The audio was recorded as a promo for Radio Campesina’s new campaign aiming to empower Latino voters ahead of the 2024 elections. That effort includes discussing election-related misinformation narratives and fact-checking conspiracy theories on air.
“We are at the front lines of fighting misinformation in our communities,” said María Barquín, program director of Chavez Radio Group, the nonprofit that runs Radio Campesina, a network of Spanish-language stations in Arizona, California and Nevada. “There’s a lot at stake in 2024 for our communities. And so we need to amp up these efforts now more than ever.”
Latinos have grown at the second-fastest rate, behind Asian Americans, of any major racial and ethnic group in the U.S. since the last presidential election, according to a Pew Research Center analysis, and are projected to account for 14.7%, or 36.2 million, of all eligible voters in November, a new high. They are a growing share of the electorate in several presidential and congressional battleground states, including Arizona, California and Nevada, and are being heavily courted by Republicans and Democrats.
Democratic President Joe Biden has credited Latino voters as a key reason he defeated Republican Donald Trump in 2020 and is urging them to help him do it again in November. Given the high stakes of a presidential election year, experts expect a surge of misinformation, especially through audio and video, targeting Spanish-speaking voters.
“Latinos have immense voting power and can make a decisive difference in elections, yet they are an under-messaged, under-prioritized audience,” said Arturo Vargas, CEO of NALEO Educational Fund, a national nonprofit encouraging Latino civic participation. “Our vote has an impact. These bad actors know this, and one way to influence the Latino vote is to misinform.”
In addition to radio, much of the news and information Latinos consume is audio-based through podcasts or on social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube. Content moderation efforts in Spanish are limited on these platforms, which are seeing a rising number of right-wing influencers peddling election falsehoods and QAnon conspiracy theories.
The types of misinformation overlap with falsehoods readily found in other conservative media and many corners of the internet — conspiracy theories about mail voting, dead people casting ballots, rigged voting machines and threats at polling sites.
Other narratives are more closely tailored to Latino communities, including false information about immigration, inflation and abortion rights, often exploiting the traumas and fears of specific communities. For example, Spanish speakers who have immigrated from countries with recent histories of authoritarianism, socialism, high inflation and election fraud may be more vulnerable to misinformation about those topics.
Misinformation on the airwaves also is particularly difficult to track and combat compared with more traditional, text-based misinformation, said Daiquiri Ryan Mercado, strategic legal adviser and policy counsel for the National Hispanic Media Coalition, which runs the Spanish Language Disinformation Coalition. While misinformation researchers can more easily code programs to categorize and track text-based misinformation, audio often requires manual listening. Radio stations that air only in certain areas at certain times also can be difficult to track.
“When we have such limited representation, Spanish speakers feel like they can connect to these people, and they become trusted messengers,” Mercado said. “But some people may take advantage of that trust.”
Mercado and others said that’s why trusted messengers, such as Radio Campesina, are so important. The station was founded by Mexican American labor and civil rights leader César Chavez and has built a loyal listening base over decades. At any given moment, as many as 750,000 people are listening to the Chavez Radio Network on the air and online, Barquín said.
“They will come and listen to us because of the music, but our main focus is to empower and educate through information,” she said. “The music is just a tactic to bring them in.”
Radio Campesina’s on-air talent and musical guests often discuss misinformation on air, answering listeners’ questions about voting, teaching them about spotting misinformation and doing tutorials on election processes such as how to submit mail-in ballots. The station also has hosted rodeos and music events to register new voters and talk about misinformation.
They allow listeners to call or text questions on WhatsApp, a social media platform especially popular with immigrant communities but where much of the misinformation they see festers. In March, the station partnered with Mi Familia Vota, a Latino advocacy group, for an on-air show and voter phone bank event to answer voter questions.
“We know that there are many people who are unmotivated because sometimes we come from countries where, when it comes to elections, we don’t trust the vote,” said Carolina Rodriguez-Greer, Arizona director of Mi Familia Vota, before she shared information on the show about how voters can track their ballots.
The organization began working with Spanish media outlets to dispel misinformation after seeing candidates such as former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake spread election lies in 2022, Rodriguez-Greer said. Lake is now running for the U.S. Senate with Trump’s endorsement.
“One way to combat this misinformation is to fill the airways with good information,” said Angelica Razo, national deputy director of campaigns and programs for Mi Familia Vota.
In Tempe, Brian Garcia tunes into Radio Campesina on drives to work. When he was growing up, the station played as his dad cooked dinner and his family gathered around the table. It was a staple for his family, he said, and he’s excited about its efforts to tackle election misinformation.
“There aren’t many organizations or folks that go onto Spanish language media to combat misinformation and disinformation,” he said. “And I think serving as a resource and a trusted source within the Latino community that has already built those relationships, that trust will go a long way.”
A variety of other community and media groups also are prioritizing the seemingly never-ending fight against misinformation.
Maritza Félix often fact-checked misinformation for her mother, whom she calls the “Queen of WhatsApp.” This led to Félix doing the same for family and friends in a WhatsApp group that grew into the Spanish news nonprofit Conecta Arizona.
It now runs a radio show and newsletter that debunks false claims about election processes, health, immigration and border politics. Conecta Arizona also combats misinformation about the upcoming Mexican presidential election that Félix said has been seeping over the border.
Jeronimo Cortina, associate professor of political science at the University of Houston, tracks broad misinformation narratives aimed at Spanish-speaking communities across the country but also localized content targeting the state’s rapidly growing Latino electorate. That includes misinformation about candidates’ clean energy policies taking away jobs in Texas’ oil and gas industries and about migrants flooding over the border.
“You won’t see the same content targeting Latinos in Texas compared to Latinos in Iowa,” he said.
This has led to a wider universe of groups tackling misinformation aimed at Latinos. NALEO Educational Fund’s Defiende La Verdad campaign monitors misinformation and and trains community leaders to spot it. In Florida, the We Are Más podcast combats Spanish-language misinformation nationally and locally, said its founder Evelyn Pérez-Verdía. Jolt Action, a Texas Latino advocacy group, registers new voters and helps them make sense of misinformation.
The Spanish-language fact-checking group Factchequeado is building partnerships with dozens of media outlets across the country to provide training and free Spanish fact-checking content.
“Disinformation is at the same time a global phenomenon and a hyperlocal phenomenon,” said Factchequeado co-founder Laura Zommer. “So we have to address it with local and national groups uniting together.”
En esta imagen tomada de un video proporcionado por la cadena ABC, una multitud marcha y grita consignas en contra de la violencia de género, el domingo 28 de abril de 2024, en Melbourne, Australia. (Photo: AP)
CANBERRA, Australia.— El primer ministro australiano Anthony Albanese se refirió el lunes a la violencia intrafamiliar como una “crisis nacional” después de que miles de personas protestaron en diversos puntos del país por la violencia contra las mujeres.
Miles de personas se manifestaron el domingo en ciudades de Australia para atraer atención a los fallecimientos de 27 mujeres en lo que va del año, presuntamente por actos de violencia de género en una población de 27 millones.
Albanese dijo que las manifestaciones eran un llamado a todos los niveles del gobierno australiano para que se haga más con el fin de prevenir la violencia de género.
“Es evidente que necesitamos hacer más. No es suficiente con sólo tener empatía”, declaró Albanese a la televisora Nine Network. “El hecho de que… una mujer muera a manos de su pareja cada cuatro días en promedio es simplemente una crisis nacional”.
El fin de semana hubo 17 manifestaciones en diversos lugares de Australia. En la ciudad de Melbourne marcharon unas 15.000 personas.
Albanese dijo que el miércoles llevará a cabo una reunión con gobernadores de estados y territorios australianos para hablar sobre una respuesta coordinada al problema.
Albanese, su ministra de la Mujer Katy Gallagher, y su ministra de Servicios Sociales, Amanda Rishworth, recibieron una respuesta hostil cuando asistieron a un mitin el domingo en Canberra, la capital.
Algunos manifestantes les gritaron a los funcionarios gubernamentales: “queremos acción” y “hagan su trabajo”.
Albanese dijo que era necesario enfocarse más en los perpetradores y en la prevención de la violencia.
“Necesitamos cambiar la cultura, necesitamos cambiar actitudes… necesitamos cambiar el sistema jurídico”, dijo.
Louisville offensive lineman Mekhi Becton runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Feb. 28, 2020. Becton has agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles on a one-year contract worth up to $5.5 million, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Photo: AP/Michael Conroy/ File)
Former New York Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton has agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles on a one-year contract worth up to $5.5 million, agent Alan Herman told The Associated Press on Sunday night.
The contract is pending a physical, according to Herman.
ESPN first reported that Becton plans to join the Eagles, who needed some depth on their offensive line behind left tackle Jordan Mailata and right tackle Lane Johnson after backup Jack Driscoll signed with Miami as a free agent last month and Philadelphia didn’t draft any tackles over the weekend.
Becton was the 11th overall pick in the 2020 draft by the Jets out of Louisville and was expected to be a long-term anchor of New York’s offensive line. Knee injuries hampered his development after a solid rookie season.
The 6-foot-7 Becton started 16 games last season for the Jets, but New York didn’t pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal and allowed him to become a free agent.
The Jets revamped their offensive line this offseason, signing veteran Tyron Smith to a one-year deal worth up to $20 million to be their left tackle and trading for Morgan Moses to play on the right side. They also drafted Penn State left tackle Olu Fashanu with the No. 11 pick – the same spot at which Becton was taken – last Thursday night.
Becton injured his right knee in the 2021 regular-season opener against Carolina and needed arthroscopic surgery – and he didn’t play in another game that year. He came back for training camp the following summer and was set to play right tackle, but injured the same knee during practice and needed major surgery.
After weighing at least 400 pounds at one point, Becton lost weight during his rehabilitation and was down to a svelte 350 — the lightest he has been since his college days at Louisville – during training camp last summer. He was set to play right tackle, but moved back to the left side when Duane Brown was injured early in the season.
Becton will now work closely with Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, who has overseen one of the NFL’s best O-lines over the past several years.
Firstly, the North Penn School District’s evident mishandling of the case of the aggressive student has intensified the anger of parents and former classmates who had already been victims of his outbursts and bullying.
Secondly, once he carried out his threats by brutally attacking another student, in their first communication sent to parents, the school administration presented the incident as an altercation between students, when it was later clearly revealed that it was an assault by a male teenager, possibly with gender dysphoria (as he identifies as a woman and has a long and violent history) against a seventh-grade student.
The attack left the victim, seemingly chosen at random, with significant injuries. Seventh-graders returned home in shock, deeply worried about returning to school. Several students haven’t returned yet.
While the perpetrator’s biological or perceived gender is irrelevant, their antisocial and aggressive behavior is not. It’s possible that their identity played a role in the heinous attack.
In the pursuit of promoting the freedoms and rights of the LGBTQ+ community, there’s a tendency to avoid a crucial issue: the empowerment of transgender youth can sometimes go awry. In many instances, schools fear imposing the same disciplinary standards on transgender students as on others when they break the rules.
It’s true that bullying can occur within the LGBTQ+ community, but that doesn’t mean they should be exempt from discipline or fair treatment in an attempt to compensate for the mistreatment they may have experienced from other students. These other students also need to be held accountable for their actions.
It’s important to remember that this minority is not the only one facing discrimination or a lack of sensitivity in schools. Students from racialized communities, those with learning or developmental disabilities, those with emotional disorders, and even documented and undocumented immigrants are also part of minority groups susceptible to bullying.
However, this doesn’t exempt students from following the established rules. These rules exist for a crucial reason: to create a safe and supportive learning environment that fosters academic achievement and emotional intelligence development. Promoting healthy social interaction is a fundamental objective of education during the school years.
This has led to some transgender adolescents, like the one in this case, who suffer from severe personality problems and aggressive behavior, not being treated with the same standards. Disciplinary measures are not applied when necessary for fear of backlash from parents, the press, and social media or a legal accusation of discriminatory behavior.
While it is crucial to safeguard the progress made in upholding the rights of LGBTQ+ minorities and related groups – and establishing certain special protections against discriminatory behavior is warranted – we must not, in our fear of being politically incorrect, grant them undue power, lest we paradoxically fall into a culture of discrimination and punishment towards the «binary» majority. This scenario appears to have unfolded at Pennbrook Middle School, where multiple testimonies indicate that warnings about the student’s threats had been issued.
Numerous accounts from students, not only from Pennbrook, have reached parents, highlighting instances where certain members of the LGBTQ+ community enjoy privileges in classrooms and common areas. They observe how teachers often turn a blind eye to their severe misbehavior.
Fearing retaliation, one student from the school, who wishes to remain anonymous, shared that «the teachers themselves are afraid of them; they allow themselves to be verbally abused and don’t react, so they do whatever they want.» Other classmates during this conversation confirmed this, expressing their insecurity and frustration over this «injustice.»
The school district has announced an external investigation to delve into this apparent case of systemic negligence. However, we must question the nature of this investigation in a culture increasingly fearful of challenging common sense, where individuals are gravitating towards extremes, and amidst a climate of ideological and political polarization.
In light of this distressing incident, it is imperative to deeply reflect on the direction we want to give the education of our children. We must question how to provide genuine guidance and support to all children, regardless of whether or not they have mental health issues or whether they belong to minorities or majorities.
It is essential to transform schools into safe and reliable environments where all minors, who in one way or another have been affected by the prolonged period of the pandemic and the current rise in violence, can learn and develop fully.
As educators, we can’t forget that setting boundaries shows we care. It’s how kids build healthy and confident personalities.
As journalists, we should not succumb to self-censorship and have a duty to name facts accurately without fear of being accused of transphobia simply for pointing out that the attacker is transgender. This does not imply blaming the entire transgender community, as many of its members have publicly condemned the actions of this teenager.
Labeling an entire community because of one person’s actions is unfair. But in this case, hiding who the attacker is seems like they’re trying to avoid the truth. All signs point to the attacker’s identity playing a big part in why the school didn’t stop the attack sooner. This has left the students, especially those who saw it happen and weren’t listened to, feeling really hurt.
If the North Penn School District in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, was trying to avoid a discrimination lawsuit against the student who is now in custody, they will now likely have to defend themselves against multiple lawsuits for failing to prevent what was communicated as a credible threat.
Las autoridades anunciaron nuevos cargos contra cuatro jóvenes arrestados tras un tiroteo entre grupos rivales que dejó tres heridos en una celebración del fin del ayuno musulmán de Ramadán en Filadelfia.
Los jóvenes de 15 y 16 años arrestados tras el suceso el 10 de abril en la Plaza Clara Muhammad serán procesados como adultos bajo cargos de asalto con agravantes, conspiración, asalto simple y actitud irresponsable, además de los cargos de tenencia de armas que se les habían imputado antes, informaron autoridades el viernes.
Un hombre de 21 años también enfrenta cargos de tenencia de armas.
Las armas confiscadas a los acusados, según fiscales, se ajustan a solo 13 de los 33 cartuchos hallados en el lugar. Las autoridades pidieron a cualquier otra persona involucrada en el hecho entregarse a las autoridades, o de lo contrario serán arrestadas.
El festejo Eid al-Fitr, realizado cada año en el vecindario Parkside de Filadelfia, terminó abruptamente a eso de las 2:30 de la tarde cuando estallaron unos 30 disparos, dijo la policía. Un joven de 15 años fue herido en la pierna y el hombro al ser baleado por la policía, un hombre fue herido y un joven fue herido en una mano.
Las autoridades dicen que unas 1.000 personas, entre ellas muchas familias, asistían al evento. Testigos narraron cómo corrieron hacia carpas montadas cerca del parque, se escondieron detrás de árboles o se echaron al suelopara proteger a los niños.
Eid al-Fitr es un feriado musulmán que marca el fin del ayuno de Ramadán.
Pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment is seen at the Columbia University, Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Student protests over the Israel-Hamas war have popped up on an increasing number of college campuses following last week’s arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.
The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself.
Protests on many campuses have been orchestrated by coalitions of student groups. The groups largely act independently, though students say they’re inspired by peers at other universities.
A student protester stands in front of the statue of John Harvard, the first major benefactor of Harvard College, draped in the Palestinian flag, at an encampment of students protesting against the war in Gaza, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A look at protests on campuses in recent days:
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Pro-Palestinian student protesters set up a tent encampment at the Ivy League university in New York last week. Police first tried to clear the encampment on April 18, when they arrested more than 100 protesters. But the move backfired, inspiring students across the country and motivating protesters at Columbia to regroup.
Qais Dana stands by the statue of Ben Franklin during a pro-Palestinian protest on College Green in the heart of the University of Pennsylvania campus in the in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Earlier this week, the Ivy League school, where Monday is set to be the last day of classes, switched to hybrid learning. Commencement is set for May 15.
Students said Friday afternoon that they had reached an impasse with administrators and intended to continue their encampment until their demands are met. Columbia officials had earlier said that negotiations were showing progress. Despite dozens of journalists on campus and scores of police officers outside the gates, an unassuming spring day unfolded Friday with students sitting on the library’s steps or grabbing a quick bite while soon-to-be-graduates posed for photos in their powder-blue gowns.
Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, faced a significant, but largely symbolic, rebuke from faculty Friday but retains the support of trustees, who have the power to hire or fire the president. A report by the university senate’s executive committee, which represents faculty, found Shafik and her administration took “many actions and decisions that have harmed Columbia University,» including calling in police. Following the report, the senate passed a resolution that included a task force to monitor how the administration would make changes going forward.
Hundreds of counterprotesters gathered on the streets outside Columbia on Friday morning, many holding Israeli flags and chanting for the hostages being held by Hamas and other militants to be released.
The university said in a statement Saturday night that students and administrators had engaged in negotiations.
“Dialogue between university officials and student organizers is ongoing. We want to be clear: There is no truth to claims of an impending lockdown or evictions on campus,” the Columbia administration’s statement said.
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
Police in riot gear cleared an encampment on the campus of Northeastern University on Saturday. Massachusetts State Police said about 102 protesters were arrested and will be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct. Protesters said they were given about 15 minutes to disperse before being arrested.
As workers pulled down tents and bagged up the debris from the encampment, several dozen people across from the encampment chanted, “Let the Kids Go,” and slogans against the war in Gaza. They also booed as police cars passed and taunted the officers who stood guard.
Northeastern said in a statement that the demonstration, which began two days ago, had become “infiltrated by professional organizers” with no affiliation to the university and antisemitic slurs, including “kill the Jews,” had been used.
“We cannot tolerate this kind of hate on our campus,” the statement posted on social media said.
The Huskies for a Free Palestine student group disputed the university’s account, saying in a statement that counterprotesters were to blame for the slurs and no student protesters “repeated the disgusting hate speech.”
Students at the protest said a counterprotester attempted to instigate hate speech but insisted their event was peaceful and, like many across the country, was aimed at drawing attention to what they described as the “genocide” in Gaza and their university’s complicity in the war.
Israel supporters show up at George Washington University where students protest, during a pro-Palestinian protest over the Israel-Hamas war, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
About 100 people were detained and students who produced a valid ID were released. They will face “disciplinary action» but not legal action, while people who refused to disclose their affiliation were arrested, the university said.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The University of Southern California said on Saturday it had temporarily closed its University Park Campus to nonresidents, without providing details of the closure or possible enforcement measures.
Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications, said in a statement that USC property was vandalized by members of a group “that has continued to illegally camp on our campus,” as well as disrupting operations and harrassing students and others.
Students declined numerous attempts by university President Carol Folt to meet, and the administration hopes for “a more reasonable response Sunday before we are forced to take further action,” Curran said.
“While the university fully supports freedom of expression, these acts of vandalism and harassment are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Curran said.
The university canceled its main stage graduation ceremony set for May 10 after its campus was roiled by protests. The university already canceled a commencement speech by the school’s pro-Palestinian valedictorian, citing safety concerns.
The Los Angeles Police Department said more than 90 people were arrested Wednesday night on charges of trespassing during a protest at the university. One person was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. There were no reports of injuries.
The university said Wednesday that it had closed campus and police would arrest people who did not leave.
In her first public statement in nearly two weeks, President Carol Folt in a statement late Friday — the last day of classes — condemned the protests while imploring the campus community to find common ground and ways to support each other.
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Police clashed with protesters at Ohio State University in Columbus, just hours after they gathered Thursday evening. Those who refused to leave after warnings were arrested and charged with criminal trespass, said university spokesperson Benjamin Johnson, citing rules barring overnight events. Of 36 people arrested, Johnson said Friday that 16 were students and 20 were not affiliated with the university. The school’s commencement is set for May 5.
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
About 50 students at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., set up a tent encampment on the school’s University Yard on Thursday. Later in the day, a group of Georgetown University students and professors staged their own protest walkout and marched to the George Washington campus to join them. The protesters are demanding that the university divest from Israel and lift a suspension against a prominent pro-Palestinian student group.
The university’s last day of classes before final exams is set for Monday and commencement is scheduled for May 19. Because of the noise generated by the protests, the university said it would move law school finals to another building from the one where they had originally been scheduled.
The university said the protesters must remove tents and disperse by 7 p.m.
CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, HUMBOLDT
University officials extended the closure of the campus until May 10 — the end of the semester — saying instruction would continue to be remote, after protesters at the university in northern California used furniture, tents, chains and zip ties to block entrances to an academic and administrative building on Monday. Commencement is scheduled for May 11.
Officials said in a statement Tuesday that students had occupied a second building and three students had been arrested. On Wednesday, officials said some unidentified people who were not students were also inside one of the occupied buildings. On Thursday, the university said protesters continued to occupy the two buildings.
A dean at the school, Jeff Crane, suggested during the meeting that the university form a committee that would include students to do a deep dive into the school’s investments. Crane also suggested faculty and students continue meeting every 24 hours to keep an open line of communication. The sides have yet to announce an agreement.
The school’s senate of faculty and staff demanded the university’s president resign in a no-confidence vote Thursday, citing the decision to call police in to remove the barricaded students Monday.
On Friday, the university released a statement responding to questions from those occupying the buildings. The statement said there will be consequences for actions that violate policy or law, but officials would take into account actions by any students who choose to evacuate the occupied buildings and support efforts to clear them. It did not say the charges faced by those arrested would be dropped.
The administration also offered protesters a 5 p.m. deadline to leave and “not be immediately arrested.” But that deadline passed and local media reported that protesters remained on campus Saturday morning.
Officials on Saturday afternoon said a “hard closure” would be enforced going forward. “Individuals are prohibited from entering or being on campus without permission,” the university said in a statement.
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
An encampment set up by students at NYU swelled to hundreds of protesters earlier this week. Police on Wednesday said that 133 protesters had been taken into custody. They said all were released with summonses to appear in court on disorderly conduct charges. Commencement is set for May 15.
EMORY UNIVERSITY
At Emory University in Atlanta, where Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers had dismantled a camp on the school’s quadrangle, the school president on Friday said in an email that some of the videos of a clash between police and people on the campus “are shocking” and that he is “horrified that members of our community had to experience and witness such interactions.”
School officials said 20 of the 28 people arrested were “Emory community members.»
Video circulated widely on social media shows two women who identified themselves as professors being detained, with one of them slammed to the ground by one officer as a second officer then pushes her chest and face onto a concrete sidewalk. In a separate incident Thursday evening, some protesters pinned police officers against the glass doors of the Candler School of Theology on the campus and threw objects at the officers, Emory’s president said.
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Northwestern University changed its student code of conduct Thursday morning to bar tents on its suburban Chicago campus as student activists set up an encampment.
University President Michael Schill issued an email saying the university had enacted an “interim addendum” to its student code to bar tents, among other things, and warned of disciplinary actions including suspension, expulsion and criminal charges.
“The goal of this addendum is to balance the right to peacefully demonstrate with our goal to protect our community, to avoid disruptions to instruction and to ensure university operations can continue unabated,” Schilling said.
The university’s commencement is scheduled for June 9.
FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
A few dozen protesters set up tents and occupied a building Thursday at the Fashion Institute of Technology, part of the public State University of New York system. Protesters sat on the floor or milled around, many wearing face masks and kaffiyehs. Other protesters outside the building held signs and Palestinian flags. They refused to speak to a reporter. Around a dozen protesters spent the night in tents and sleeping bags inside a campus building. The institute’s museum, which is located in the building where the demonstrators set up camp, was closed Friday.
The school’s commencement was still scheduled for May 22 and May 23.
INDIANA UNIVERSITY BLOOMINGTON
After an encampment was set up at Indiana University Bloomington, police with shields and batons shoved into a line of protesters linked arm-in-arm Thursday afternoon. Videos posted to social media appear to show the protest continuing after law enforcement stopped making arrests.
In an update Friday, the university police said 34 people were arrested. Public information officer Hannah Skibba said charges include trespassing, resisting law enforcement and battery on a public safety official. One officer sustained “minor injuries.» Protests continued Friday, one day before the last day of classes. The university’s commencement is scheduled for May 4.
Jeffrey Kehr, chief deputy prosecutor for Monroe County, said in an email that those arrested were released on their own recognizance and the office will “examine all the reports we receive and any relevant footage to determine what, if any, charges are appropriate.”
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
The University of Pennsylvania interim President J. Larry Jameson called late Friday for an encampment of protesters on the west Philadelphia campus to be disbanded, saying it violated the university’s facilities policies.
The “harassing and intimidating comments and actions” by some protesters violate the school’s open expression guidelines as well as state and federal law, Jameson said, and vandalism of a statue with antisemitic graffiti was “especially reprehensible and will be investigated as a hate crime.”
“I am deeply saddened and troubled that our many efforts to respectfully engage in discourse, support open expression, and create a community that is free of hate and inclusive for everyone have been ignored by those who choose to disrupt and intimidate,” he said.
Failure to disband the encampment immediately and to adhere to Penn’s policies will result in sanctions consistent with our due process procedures as they apply to students, faculty, and staff, Jameson said.
The university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors responded by urging the administration not to “escalate the situation” or “violate the rights of students and faculty.”
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
In Gainesville, Florida, home to the University of Florida, protesters were warned Friday that students could face suspension and banishment for three years, and employees could be fired, if they violated rules including camping, using bullhorns, protesting inside buildings or possessing weapons. Around 50 people have been protesting on campus since Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis directed the state’s universities to make it easier for out-of-state students facing antisemitism and other religious harassment in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war to transfer to Florida campuses.
The Republican governor’s administration last fall also ordered state universities to ban a pro-Palestinian student organization, Students for Justice in Palestine, from campuses, saying it illegally backs Hamas militants who attacked Israel. The group has challenged that decision in federal court.
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Arizona State University said 69 people were arrested early Saturday on suspicion of criminal trespassing for setting up an unauthorized encampment on a lawn on its Tempe campus. The protesters were given chances to leave and those who refused were arrested.
“While the university will continue to be an environment that embraces freedom of speech, ASU’s first priority is to create a safe and secure environment that supports teaching and learning,” the university said in a statement.
Protesters pitched tents, including some that police dismantled, and at least three people were arrested Friday. A television news report put the number of protesters in the dozens and video showed people waving flags and holding signs reading “Free Palestine.»
University and Tempe city police representatives did not immediately answer emails asking about arrests, injuries or the size of the crowd.
A university spokesperson, Elena Bras, issued a statement that said “unapproved encampments” were prohibited on campus, and failure to comply would be grounds for arrest for trespassing.
Police tape cordons off the scene of a crime in Levittown, Pa., Saturday, March 16, 2024. Police departments reported a year-over-year increase in sworn officers in 2023 for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began and since the 2020 police killing of George Floyd spurred nationwide protests and increased scrutiny of police, according to a survey released by the Police Executive Research Forum. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
PHILADELPHIA— Police departments across the United States are reporting an increase in their ranks for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 killing of George Floyd, which led to a historic exodus of officers, a survey shows.
More sworn officers were hired in 2023 than in any one of the previous four years, and fewer officers overall resigned or retired, according to the 214 law enforcement agencies that responded to a survey by the Police Executive Research Forum, or PERF.
Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers spurred nationwide protests against police brutality and heightened scrutiny of law enforcement.
As more and more officers left, many of the departments had to redeploy stretched resources by shifting officers away from investigative work or quality of life issues such as abandoned vehicles or noise violations to handle increases in crime and, in some cases, the shortages meant slower response times or limiting responses to emergencies only, police officials say.
“I just think that the past four years have been particularly challenging for American policing,» said Chuck Wexler, executive director of PERF, a nonprofit policing think tank based in Washington, D.C. «And our survey shows we’re finally starting to turn a corner.”
Individual departments are turning that corner at different rates, however, according to Wexler, who noted many are still struggling to attract and keep officers.
As a whole, the profession “isn’t out of the woods yet,” he said.
The Associated Press left phone and email messages with several unions and police departments to ask about increased hiring.
The survey shows that while small and medium departments had more sworn officers than they did in January 2020, large departments are still more than 5% below their staffing levels from that time, even with a year-over-year increase from 2022 to 2023.
The survey also showed smaller departments with fewer than 50 officers are still struggling with a higher rate of resignations and retirements.
The survey asked only for numbers, Wexler said, so it’s hard to say whether those officers are leaving for larger departments or leaving the profession altogether. He also said smaller departments, which account for 80% of agencies nationwide, were underrepresented in the responses PERF received.
Many larger departments have increased officer pay or started offering incentives such as signing bonuses for experienced officers who are willing to transfer, something smaller departments can’t really compete with. At least a dozen smaller departments have disbanded, leaving the municipalities they once served to rely on state or county help for policing.
But even some of the highest-paying large departments are still struggling to get new hires in the door.
“I don’t think it’s all about money. I think it’s about the way people perceive their job and feel they are going to be supported,” Wexler said. “You have West Coast departments that are paying six figures, but still seeing major challenges in hiring.”
In addition to pay and bonuses, many agencies are reexamining their application requirements and hiring processes.
Wexler believes some of those changes make sense, including allowing visible tattoos, reweighing the importance of past financial issues and processing applicants’ background checks faster. But he cautioned that PERF does not support lowering standards for training or for applicants.
Maria “Maki” Haberfeld, chair of the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, says departments have been too focused on officer numbers. She worries some are lowering education requirements and other standards to bolster numbers instead of trying to find the best people to police their communities.
“Policing is a real profession that requires more skills and more education than people can understand,» she said. «It’s not about tattoos or running a mile in 15 minutes. It’s really more about emotional intelligence, maturity and making those split-second decisions that don’t use deadly force.”
Haberfeld also cautioned that any staffing gains made through incentives could easily be erased, especially as officers, including some in riot gear, have been seen breaking up protests against the Israel-Hamas war at universities across the country.
“In policing, it takes decades to move forward and a split second for the public attitude to deteriorate,” she said.
PERF’s survey showed a more than a 20% drop in resignations overall, from a high of almost 6,500 in 2022 to fewer than 5,100 in 2023. They are still up over early pandemic levels in 2020, however, when a few more than 4,000 officers resigned across all responding departments.
As with the hiring increases, the rate of decrease in retirements tended to depend on the size of the departments. There were fewer retirements in 2023 than in 2019 at large departments, slightly more retirements at medium departments and elevated retirements at small departments. The survey found a steep drop in resignations at large agencies with 250 or more officers and medium-size agencies with between 50 and 249 officers.
In addition to pay and benefit increases, the improved retention can be partly attributed to a shift in how some public officials view their public safety departments, Wexler says.
“We went from having public discourse about defunding the police just a few years ago to public officials waking up to the fact their workforce is leaving,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question that there has been a sea change among political leaders.”
Philadelphia Eagles first round draft pick Quinyon Mitchell holds up his jersey at an NFL football news conference in Philadelphia, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Who needs to draft prospects from the Power Five to build a Super Bowl contender?
The Philadelphia Eagles might soon find out after taking an unconventional approach in the NFL draft. General manager Howie Roseman used a first-round pick on Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell and a third-round selection on Houston Christian linebacker Jalyx Hunt.
Surely those two were on every Eagles fan’s mock draft board.
Only the most diehard college football fans in Philadelphia — of which there are few — and the most dogged Eagles scouts — of which there are many — had much of a report on Mitchell or Hunt. While the picks seemed outside the box, Roseman said it’s not out of the ordinary to find players of that caliber out of more than 400 scouting reports that he receives.
It may have been a surprise to some — it’s just not necessarily the new norm.
«They’re the best players,» Roseman said. “The SEC guys are still playing against great competition. I think these were kind of two extenuating circumstances because of the particular guys. Probably wouldn’t say it’s going to be a trend.”
The Eagles stuck to picks from more familiar football schools with 2023 All-America cornerback Cooper DeJean of Iowa in the second round and Clemson running back Will Shipley in the fourth.
“Once you draft them, it’s what they do in the NFL,” Roseman said. “We bring them in here and we talk about it a lot, we got to develop the player and the person. We’re still talking about a young guy coming to Philadelphia, and I think at this point it’s all what he does from here. Whatever happened pre-draft, none of that matters. Wherever they’re picked, none of that matters.”
EXTENSION TIME
The biggest move of the draft had nothing to do with picks and rounds.
It had to do with an extension — the Eagles and wide receiver A.J. Brown agreed to a three-year extension that included $84 million guaranteed. Brown is set to become the highest-paid receiver in the NFL at $32 million a season.
He had 106 catches for 1,456 yards last season after he had 88 catches for 1,496 yards in 2022 in his first season with the Eagles.
“We try to be proactive to try to keep this team together,” Roseman said. “That starts with (owner) Jeffrey (Lurie) and his support (and) the benefits of trying to keep it together as much as we possibly can. The only way we can possibly do that is by doing deals early. We felt like it was an opportunity to do that here with A.J. Obviously we’ve done a bunch of deals with a bunch of our players, and want to add to that and keep this team together as much as we possibly can.”
DEJEAN COVETED
The Eagles liked DeJean. Like, really liked him.
The Eagles traded picks No. 50, No. 53, and No. 161 to the Washington Commanders in exchange for picks that landed them DeJean.
The 6-foot, 203-pound DeJean, who had seven interceptions in two seasons at Iowa, was considered a first-rounder by the Eagles. It was one reason they were willing to trade the picks to move up for their shot at drafting him.
The Eagles weren’t alone in the assessment of DeJean — he even thought he should have been a first-rounder.
“Obviously there’s a little frustration,” he said. “but I’m excited with where I’m at, being in Philadelphia, being able to play for a great organization.”
Lurie told Roseman it was “rare for us to be picking in the 20s and to get two first-round players.”
“Both those guys were first-round players for us,” Roseman said. “We didn’t have 32 first-round guys, so when you get that opportunity to get two first-round guys, especially picking where we were, we felt like it was an opportunity and it was obviously an area we wanted to address. We felt like we addressed a lot of the areas of our football team through free agency, but that was one area we could address.”
CORNERING THE MARKET
Mitchell might be talented enough to earn a starting spot in the NFL. But can he immediately crack the Eagles’ lineup?
He was widely considered the top cornerback in the draft — he ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the combine. The Eagles have plenty of depth with Darius Slay and James Bradberry returning as starters, at least for now.
“We didn’t feel like we had to a take a corner in the first round but it was the highest-ranked player on our board at a position that we would like to get some younger players here,” Roseman said. “We got some younger players last year and we like those younger players. We wanted to add some competition at the corner position.”
FAMIILAR FACE
The Eagles traded up Saturday to pick at No. 155 and select Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
Yes, the son of that Jeremiah Trotter — an Eagles great, an All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowl selection.
The younger Trotter wears his dad’s No. 54, plays the same position and celebrates sacks and big tackles with the same signature axe swing.
Trotter was a finalist last year at Clemson for the Dick Butkus Award given to the best linebacker in the country. Trotter was projected to be drafted as high as the second round and some draft analysts believed only his size — he’s 6-foot and 238 pounds — kept him out of the first round.
His father was drafted by the Eagles in the third round of the 1998 draft.
