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drdconlon

@drdconlon.bsky.social
235 followers 291 following 34 posts

researcher—immigration detention and destitution economies, borders—educator—urban and global studies—wannabe runner—m-dash lover.

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drdconlon @drdconlon.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
A powerful report from @laurenvillagran.bsky.social, cuts through misconceptions about detention, who is detained, sheds important light on how awful food and care are in detention: eu.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
eu.usatoday.com
ICE says it provides 'proper meals.' Detainees see crystalized jelly, rancid beans and iced bologna
In the business of immigration detention, researchers say 'bad food is the business model.'
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Scholars Strategy Network @scholars.org · 17/10/2025
In this No Jargon podcast episode, Nancy Hiemstra (stonybrooku.bsky.social) explains how detention became a massively profitable industry, highlighting who profits, who pays, and how communities across the country have become tied to detention economics. 🎧 Listen now: scholars.org/podcast/big-...
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drdconlon @drdconlon.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Phenomenal investigative reporting from @emilybregel.bsky.social in the Arizona Daily Star:
eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
'Hell on earth': DHS mass-detention net ensnares more non-criminals
Seventy-one percent of those held in ICE detention have no criminal convictions. Trump's mass-detention net is ensnaring long-time residents with deep community ties, as well as those with valid work
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drdconlon @drdconlon.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Here’s my co-author and great colleague @nancyhiemstra.bsky.social speaking about our work with @scholars.org scholars.org/podcast/big-...
scholars.org
The Big Business of Immigration Detention | Scholars Strategy Network
The number of people held in immigration detention centers in the U.S. has exploded in recent years, reaching record highs under multiple administrations. And thanks to the Republican-led budget bill ...
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Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
📘TODAY📘 Authors @nancyhiemstra.bsky.social and @drdconlon.bsky.social discuss their book, Immigration Detention Inc. with Setareh Gandehari of the @detentionwatchnetwork.org 🗓️Fri, Oct 3 ⏰6 pm 📍@peoplesbooktakoma.com peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/immigr...
peoplesbooktakoma.com
Immigration Detention Panel
The United States has the most extensive immigration detention system in the world, expanding from a capacity of less than 5,000 detainees per day in the 1980s to 52,000 by 2019. While the most voc…
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NYCLU @nyclu.org · 26/08/2025
Federal law generally prohibits schools from releasing students's personal info without parental consent. ICE officers can only access a student's confidential information if they have a signed judicial warrant or a subpoena. Here's what else you should know before the first day of school:
gothamist.com
NYC's immigrant families face new source of back-to-school anxiety: Federal agents
What undocumented families need to know as students head back to school.
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Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
“We have studied immigration detention for over a decade and can say with grim certainty that it's just a matter of time until someone dies at Alligator Alcatraz.” Immigration Detention Inc. authors @nancyhiemstra.bsky.social and @drdconlon.bsky.social for @newsweek.com buff.ly/AKmDSJY
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ACLU @aclu.org · 11/08/2025
The Trump administration is set to expand Fort Bliss into the largest immigration detention center in the country, but the El Paso community is pushing back. We join demands for transparency and assurance that local elected officials, attorneys, and advocates will be able to access the facility.
cbs4local.com
El Paso County commissioner demands transparency for new Fort Bliss detention center
An El Paso County Commissioner is raising concerns over the new Fort Bliss migrant detention facility and calling for transparency.
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Scholars Strategy Network @scholars.org · 11/08/2025
The SSN Media Fellowship is back for a third year! This program supports SSN members who are new to media work by connecting them with mentors in the network, offering workshops with the SSN national staff, and more. #Fellowship 🗓️ Apply by September 1st 🔗 Apply now: scholars.org/features/ssn...
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Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
@drdconlon.bsky.social, author of Immigration Detention Inc. speaks with the Make Me Smart Podcast by @marketplace.org about how immigration detention became dominated by private companies in the United States. Listen here: www.marketplace.org/episode/2025...
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Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
“The authors reviewed hundreds of ICE inspection reports and compared them with external. The discrepancies are stark.” @austinkocher.com in conversation with Immigration Detention Inc. authors @nancyhiemstra.bsky.social and @drdconlon.bsky.social buff.ly/ppxZcpi
austinkocher.substack.com
Listen to Nancy Hiemstra and Deirdre Conlon Discuss Their New Book: "Immigration Detention Inc."
Immigrant detention is at record highs and the Trump admin wants nearly $50 billion to expand detention capacity. A new book provides critical information about who profits from detention.
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Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
@drdconlon.bsky.social, author of Immigration Detention Inc. speaks with the Make Me Smart Podcast by @marketplace.org about how local economies have become entangled with the business of detention. Listen here: www.marketplace.org/episode/2025...
marketplace.org
Who profits from immigration detention?
A look at the industry underpinning President Trump’s immigration agenda.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 31/07/2025
Hey Bluesky community, can we please elevate/reshare this issue like crazy to get @bsky.app's attention? It is absurd that after two years of promising to make user's data accessible for download, Bluesky STILL hasn't provided a simple accessible way to do this. Release our data!!!
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Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
“We have studied immigration detention for over a decade and can say with grim certainty that it's just a matter of time until someone dies at Alligator Alcatraz.” Immigration Detention Inc. authors @nancyhiemstra.bsky.social and @drdconlon.bsky.social for @newsweek.com buff.ly/AKmDSJY
newsweek.com
People Will Die at Alligator Alcatraz | Opinion
If we don't demand accountability and eliminate profit incentives, more companies and communities will become economically dependent on locking up, starving, and making human beings sick.
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Jacob Soboroff @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
just went to immigration court in Lower Manhattan to see with my own eyes how masked and armed federal agents are apprehending people in the hallways as they walk out of their scheduled hearings.
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drdconlon @drdconlon.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
@nancyhiemstra.bsky.social and me @drdconlon.bsky.social have a new op-ed in Newsweek. Thanks to Scholars Strategy Network @scholars.org for all the support with this: www.newsweek.com/people-will-...
newsweek.com
People Will Die at Alligator Alcatraz | Opinion
If we don't demand accountability and eliminate profit incentives, more companies and communities will become economically dependent on locking up, starving, and making human beings sick.
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
"They give you food only once a day, food that even has worms in it," Izquierdo said.
nbcmiami.com
Detainees being held at ‘Alligator Alcatraz' describe conditions at Everglades facility
Florida still has not released the number of people being detained at what they call “Alligator Alcatraz” – but for the first time, we’re hearing from several men who are being held inside the facilit...
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Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
📚See you at the American Library Association Conference!📚 Authors @kylietcheung.bsky.social‬, ‪@nancyhiemstra.bsky.social‬, and @drdconlon.bsky.social‬ will speak about their books. Come join us! 🗓️June 26-30 🎟https://2025.alaannual.org/
2025.alaannual.org
2025 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition
June 26 – 30, 2025 in Philadelphia, PA. — ALA Annual Conference is the biggest library event of the year. Attend in person or online for top-quality education, inspiring speakers, author talks,…
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Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
📕Find Pluto and other radicals at @socialismconference.org‬ in Chicago! Authors @kylietcheung.bsky.social‬, @nancyhiemstra.bsky.social‬ and @drdconlon.bsky.social‬ will speak about their books. Come join us! 🗓️July 3-6 socialismconference.org/2025-schedule/
socialismconference.org
2025 Schedule • Socialism 2025
This is the most up-to-date schedule for Socialism 2025. Session times are tentative and SUBJECT TO CHANGE due to developing circumstances. All attendees are invited to create a profile through Sched…
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nancyhiemstra.bsky.social @nancyhiemstra.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Immigration Detention Inc Book Launch: July 1, 7pm at Book Culture @drdconlon.bsky.social @plutopress.bsky.social
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Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
📚See you at the American Library Association Conference!📚 Authors @kylietcheung.bsky.social‬, ‪@nancyhiemstra.bsky.social‬, and @drdconlon.bsky.social‬ will speak about their books. Come join us! 🗓️June 26-30 🎟https://2025.alaannual.org/
2025.alaannual.org
2025 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition
June 26 – 30, 2025 in Philadelphia, PA. — ALA Annual Conference is the biggest library event of the year. Attend in person or online for top-quality education, inspiring speakers, author talks,…
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Pluto Press @plutopress.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
“A revealing overview of the American business of for-profit migrant incarceration.” Immigration Detention Inc. by Nancy Hiemstra and @drdconlon.bsky.social reviewed in @publisherswkly.bsky.social
publishersweekly.com
Immigration Detention Inc.: The Big Business of Locking up Migrants by Nancy Hiemstra, Deirdre Conlon
Geographers Hiemstra (Detain and Deport) and Conlon provide a revealing overview of the American business of for-profit migrant ...
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Colin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
UK and France in talks over a one in, one out migrant returns agreement on.ft.com/3RSo5Jo
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Silky Shah @silkys13.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
For @truthout.org I wrote about Mahmoud Khalil’s detention, how Trump is capitalizing on the normalization of incarcerating immigrants to enforce his creeping fascist agenda, and why this moment calls for us to bridge across our movements for social change. truthout.org/articles/kha...
truthout.org
Khalil Case Shows How Migrant Justice and Palestine Solidarity Are Tied Together
The detention of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil was made possible by the normalization of deportation.
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AAUP @aaup.org · 14/03/2025
Columbia University’s immediate submission & betrayal of the core mission of higher education reflects cowardice and capitulation to a government that appears intent on destroying US higher education. Full statement from AAUP President Todd Wolfson: www.aaup.org/news/cowardi...
aaup.org
Cowardice and Capitulation: Columbia Has Sacrificed Its Own Students to Authoritarianism
The AAUP condemns in the strongest possible terms any university that would sacrifice its own students to the demands of an authoritarian government. Columbia University’s decision to punish students ...
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Border Criminologies @bordercrim.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Read @aviddetention.bsky.social's review of @mfbosworth.bsky.social's Supply Chain Justice: "[I]t is people who are the 'product' — people who arrive or stay in the UK and are subject to detention, people who are sorted, managed, moved, and monetised." www.aviddetention.org.uk/article/refl...
aviddetention.org.uk
Reflections on
This is a book review, reflection and summary of Mary Bosworth's (Professor of Criminology at Border Criminologies) recently published book,
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Vera Institute of Justice @vera.org · 12/03/2025
#NewYorkCity: Today, city leaders took one of many necessary steps to protect immigrant communities from the Trump administration’s relentless attacks by passing resolutions in support of the Access to Representation Act and the New York for All Act.
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Vera Institute of Justice @vera.org · 12/03/2025
With this move, the NYC Council chose to support due process and strengthen public safety in this critical moment. Now, Governor Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers must do the same and safeguard immigrant communities by passing these two critical state bills. Read our full statement ⬇️
vera.org
New York City Council Passes Resolutions Supporting Immigration…
For Immediate Release Contact: media@vera.org NEW YORK – Today, the New York City Council took a stand against the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on immigrants by passing resolutions in s...
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
When I was young--which is to say, up until January 19, 2025--lawsuits were sort of boring and technical. Now they're bold and technicolor, as good lawyers stand up against against a luridly criminal administration. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
This case concerns an Executive Order issued on March 6, 2025, entitled, “Addressing Risks From Perkins Coie LLP” (“the Order”). The Order is an affront to the Constitution and our adversarial system of justice. Its plain purpose is to bully those who advocate points of view that the President perceives as adverse to the views of his Administration, whether those views are presented on behalf of paying or pro bono clients. Perkins Coie brings this case reluctantly. The firm is comprised of lawyers who advocate for clients; its attorneys and employees are not activists or partisans. But Perkins Coie’s ability to represent the interests of its clients—and its ability to operate as a legal-services business at all—are under direct and imminent threat. Perkins Coie cannot allow its clients to be bullied. The firm is committed to a resolute defense of the rule of law, without regard to party or ideology, and therefore brings this lawsuit to declare the Order unlawful and to enjoin its implementation.
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
NEW from me in the FT today... The UK's university 'system' is now in freefall. How on Earth did the disaster unfold? Read all about it: www.ft.com/content/0ec7...
ft.com
The UK’s academic recession is in full swing
This university crisis is a grim scrabble for numbers
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Craig Gilmore @craiggilmore.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Wonderful piece on the many dangers & limits of criminalizing anti-semitism.
thediasporist.de
Towards a Non-Carceral Anti-Antisemitism – the Diasporist
Carceral anti-antisemitism follows a logic that criminalizes or scandalizes any consideration of cause and context behind various instances of angry, unreasonable, ignorant, or hyperbolic speech, broa...
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Silky Shah @silkys13.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Three people died in detention over the last month, ages ranging from 29-45. As @prisonculture.bsky.social has said, prisons are death making institutions. The expansion being implemented by Trump & enabled by the Dems will only lead to more loss of life www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/pressroom/re...
detentionwatchnetwork.org
Three deaths in ICE custody in just over a month of Trump’s presidency marks the most deaths to occur in this fiscal year time period in five years
United States – This week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported the death of Maksym Chernayak, 44, who died in ICE custody on February 20 after being detained at the Krome Service and Pr...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 22/02/2025
I talked to USA Today this week for an important story: "If the data was out there and transparent, it would undermine their story," said Austin Kocher, a research professor at Syracuse University who studies immigration." www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
usatoday.com
White House broadcasts immigration raids, but are arrests really up?
Despite images of a nationwide sweep, there is little evidence so far that ICE is arresting, detaining or deporting many more people than usual.
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Scholars Strategy Network @scholars.org · 19/02/2025
The Trump admin is quickly expanding migrant detention. In this brief, Nancy Hiemstra (@stonybrooku.bsky.social) & @drdconlon.bsky.social (@envleeds.bsky.social) explain how this creates incentives to keep facilities full, making rollback difficult. Learn more: scholars.org/contribution...
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Colin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
"Editor's Note: Insiders tell me these firings are political punishment for judges deemed too liberal." www.lexisnexis.com/community/in...
lexisnexis.com
Despite 3.7M Case Backlog, Trump Fires 20 Immigration Judges
Elliot Spagat, Associated Press, Feb. 15, 2025 "The Trump administration fired 20 immigration judges without explanation, a union official said Saturday...
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NPR @npr.org · 07/02/2025
San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, joined by three other cities and counties across the country, are suing the Trump administration over its threats to punish jurisdictions that have sanctuary immigration policies, calling the moves unconstitutional. via @kqednews.kqed.org
kqed.org
San Francisco Leads Lawsuit Against Trump’s Threats to Punish Sanctuary Cities | KQED
San Francisco and Santa Clara counties are joined by three other cities and counties in accusing the Trump administration of illegally coercing them to carry out federal responsibilities.
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CUNY Graduate Center @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Announcing spring 2025 public programs! In-depth discussions, nuanced perspectives, inspiring ideas. Join us in person or online – RESERVE: www.gc.cuny.edu/public-progr... @cathyndavidson.bsky.social @pkrugman.bsky.social @asrc-gc.bsky.social @humanitiescuny.bsky.social @cuny.edu
Photos of some of our spring 2025 participants: Cathy N. Davidson, Angela Y. Davis, Paul Krugman, Kiki Morente, Alexa Avilés, and Shelly Lowe
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Mario Bruzzone @bruzzone.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
For what it’s worth, I have also heard that both funded and private LSPs have been kicked out of ICE detention centers
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 18/01/2025
Even amid the excitement of a remarkable farewell, the Biden administration also leaves behind immigration policies and measures bound to have a profound and damaging impact after his departure from office.
documentedny.com
Biden’s Legacy on Immigration - Documented
While Biden left the White House with a speech of immigration optimism, he also leaves behind policies bound to have a damaging legacy.
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Detention Watch Network @detentionwatchnetwork.org · 13/01/2025
Private prisons have been working closely with ICE under the Biden admin and their stocks have risen with Trump elected. But do local economies actually benefit from immigration detention? No. immigration detention just means mass suffering. Read more: www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/sites/defaul...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 03/01/2025
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 270,000 people to 192 countries over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade. apnews.com/article/immi...
apnews.com
Immigration agency deports highest numbers since 2014, aided by more flights
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it deported more than 270,000 people over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade.
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Eunice Cho @eunicehcho.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Thread/Breaking : New documents obtained by the ACLU reveal that ICE is actively considering proposals to expand its immigration detention capacity in at least 6 states , including in California, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
washingtonpost.com
Lawsuit shows private detention companies offered beds to ICE this year
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is considering proposals for expansion of immigration detention nationwide, including in sanctuary states such as California.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 18/12/2024
There will be no mass deportation without mass detention, which is why I wanted to revisit this important topic from a new perspective. Immigrant Detention in Focus: The Unconventional Photography of Greg Constantine austinkocher.substack.com/p/immigrant-...
austinkocher.substack.com
Immigrant Detention in Focus: The Unconventional Photography of Greg Constantine
Greg Constantine's "Seven Doors" project captures the lives and stories behind immigrant detention in the United States and around the world through patiently composed photographic essays.
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Eunice Cho @eunicehcho.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Financial reporting about the GEO Group, ICE's biggest private contractor for detention, reveals that GEO has announced a $70 million investment to increase ICE detention capacity from 21K to 32K beds/day. www.stocktitan.net/news/GEO/the...
stocktitan.net
GEO Group Unveils $70M ICE Services Expansion, Plans Major Detention Capacity Growth
GEO Group announces strategic $70M investment to expand ICE detention capacity by 11,000 beds, while restructuring leadership and optimizing asset portfolio.
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geoffboyce.bsky.social @geoffboyce.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
"Researchers like Geoff Boyce... have published work that shows how some surveillance towers, and other border and surveillance infrastructure, create a funneling effect that corrals and drives migrants to some of the most remote and harsh desert landscapes, sometimes resulting in their deaths."
latinousa.org
The Border Has Eyes - Latino USA
Many have heard of the physical border wall that exists in different parts of the U.S.-Mexico border, but there is...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 06/12/2024
The Biden administration “will hand off the same system that Democrats and Republicans have always created”, said Austin Kocher, assistant research professor at Syracuse University, who studies the US’s immigration enforcement system. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
theguardian.com
Biden extended contracts to private immigration jails despite reports of ‘horrific’ conditions
Congress, federal watchdogs and advocates call for closures of facilities as DHS inspector general reports medical shortages, sanitation violations and neglect of detainees
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Colin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
French Interior Minister threatens to terminate Le Touquet Treaty and calls for a more comprehensive deal between the UK and EU. UK would be very keen on latter. Not so keen on former... Meeting with Yvette Cooper on 9 Dec. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
independent.co.uk
France can no longer bear ‘entire burden’ of defending UK border, warns minister
Bruno Retailleau, the new French interior minister, has threatened to denounce the Le Touquet agreement that allows Britain to carry out border checks on French soil
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geoffboyce.bsky.social @geoffboyce.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Quoted today in the VT Digger, where they mentioned Sam, Sarah’s and my research on border surveillance towers:
vtdigger.org
Eye in the sky: The feds have quietly built surveillance towers along the Canadian border in Vermont, New York - VTDigger
VTDigger found that at least three towers first proposed in 2021 have been built in the region since — and it’s possible more are on the way.
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drdconlon @drdconlon.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Interested in the train wreck that’s unfolding in UK higher ed? This is worth a listen: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
File on 4 - The International Student Scandal - BBC Sounds
Are UK universities ignoring poor English language skills to attract overseas students?
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