GPHC 2018-2019

Donald Trump will be getting his State of the Union Speech after all, after Nancy Pelosi threatened him with the removal of that possibility during the longest ever government shutdown. Many are wondering what exactly Mr. Trump could be planning to address at the speech, and whether or not he will continue to pursue his harsh rhetoric on immigration, which was the primary cause for gridlock during the shutdown where he refused to sign spending bills without a $5.7 billion dollar allocation for a "southern border wall." . Although there is some hope that perhaps the President has come to his senses about the issue, and is willing to compromise and work with the new Democratic majority in the House, the likelihood of that is doubtful, as there are also speculations that he will declare a National Emergency tonight to bypass Congress for his funds. This will certainly die a slow death in the court system, ultimately costing the government a fortune and accomplishing nothing. ...

21 Savage Arrested by ICE The well known rapper, 21 Savage, was arrested by ICE on Sunday. ICE claims that 21 Savage, whose real name is Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was born in the UK and is illegally living in the US. ICE says that Mr. Abraham-Joseph entered the US lawfully in 2005 as a minor, but overstayed his Visa after it expired in July 2006. ICE has him in custody in Georgia, and he is currently waiting for his federal immigration court hearing. This is unfortunate timing because Mr. Abraham-Joseph has been nominated for a Grammy, which means he might not be here for the award. This was very surprising for Mr. Abraham-Joseph's fans to hear, because he has claimed to be from Atlanta for the entirety of his music career. Even his name is based off of a gang in Atlanta, which shows how dedicated he is to that town. This whole situation is very bizarre because of one main factor. Which is that he was arrested in 2014 for felony drug charges, yet he was not detained then. T...

       No matter your stance on immigration and the rules and laws that come as a byproduct, some things should be universally viewed as unacceptable.        Recent developments have revealed that nine men (including three new individuals, up from six late last month) are being force-fed at an El Paso detention facility. The force-feedings come as a result of a court order that seeks to prevent immigrants from performing hunger strikes so that they may continue to live. While, in my view, this is not necessarily a bad thing in itself, the way that US Customs and Immigration officials are going about it is disgusting, in both a literal and figurative sense. Insider information suggests that feeding tubes are inserted up victims' noses, where nutrients are supplied to the point of vomiting. When the detainees requested pillows so that the force feedings would be slightly more bearable, they were refused.        The incidents ...

The article that I read, "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant," was written by Jose Antonio Vargas about his journey to and life in the US as an illegal immigrant. He was sent by his mother from the Philippines at a very young age to live with his grandparents in the US. He was able to go through all of his schooling and make a career with fake papers and the help of a network of friends. While this article follows only his story, it is probably very similar to that of countless other illegal immigrants who arrived here as children hoping for a better life. It was a really interesting insight into the specific logistics of how a child is able to get into the US and stay here for their whole lives undetected. The article talked about all the fake papers that he had to have, how carefully he had to keep his immigration “problem” a secret, and how he was supported by a vast network of people. He ended up being a successful journalist and living what he mentioned as the “ameri...

AP Photo/Eric Risberg Immigration courts here in the United States have been completely overwhelmed due to the government shut down that recently occurred. Many undocumented immigrants who are in the process of trying to obtain citizenship and avoid deportation here in the states have received fake hearing dates. Last Thursday on January 31st, about 1,000 immigrants showed up to courts houses expecting to be seen only to find out that their scheduled appointment did not exist. Many immigrants were turned away in cities across the country from Miami to San Diego. Although the issue of America’s clogged up court system is nothing new, the recent government shutdown certainly did not elevate the issue. The Trump administration made promises to appoint more judges in order to fix the up issue of slow movement in immigration courts, however, there are currently 80 open positions that could be filled by judges. There is a growing number of Immigration cases across the states and the pro...

In 2015 there were 1,015,078 people who immigrated to Europe, 800,000 of which were from Turkey going to Greece. Greece has been and continues to be one of the most populated countries of migrants who are trying to immigrate to other parts of Europe. Since 2015, the amount of migrants going to Greece has dropped significantly since the EU and Turkey signed an agreement which sent back people from Turkey who did not apply for asylum or who had claims rejected. By 2017 there were less than 100,000 migrants arriving in Greece. In 2018, there were just over 20,000 migrants arriving in Greece. Currently, the majority of migrants and refugees arriving in Greece are from Syria (Iraq and Afghanistan are also up there). Lesbos is the most common place in Greece where migrants arrive, and the issue since last year has been that the island is overpopulated and thousands of refugees and migrants are just stuck at Moria Refugee Camp (the designated refugee camp on the island). Because t...

     Earlier today, the massively successful Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage (pictured here) was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).       He and several other associates were taken into state custody after an ICE sting operation. Representatives from the agency have claimed that the artist is a British national who is in the United States illegally. 21 Savage, according to officials, came to the US in 2005 on a one-year visa, and failed to go back to the UK after it expired. He was just 12 years old when he took up residence in the US. While a judge is still considering his case, there is a very strong likelihood the rapper may be deported back to Britain. This revelation shocked 21 Savage's many fans, as the truth of his upbringing in the UK seemed to contradict his public identity as an Atlanta native and a sort of cultural ambassador for the city, as evidenced by tweets such as this:       Per...