CONCORD, Calif. – A coalition of health, labor and environmental groups is asking the Trump administration to release specific locations for immigrant detention centers to be built on military bases – sites that may be polluted.

President Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy at the border has resulted in the detention of tens of thousands of men, women and children.

Attorney Lisa Evans with Earthjustice, the law firm representing the groups, has filed an expedited Freedom of Information Act request to find out exactly where the migrants will be housed, because, she says, these military bases have a long history of toxic pollution.

"To round those people up and put them at risk of perhaps permanent harm by housing them in areas that are either on top of or close to hazardous waste sites is an unconscionable act and it's unnecessary," she stresses.

The administration is rushing to build two migrant detention centers in Texas – one at Fort Bliss in El Paso, home to several Superfund sites, and another on a former firing range at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo.

There also have been rumors of plans to use land at the former Concord Naval Weapons Station in the Bay Area.

Exposure to toxic chemicals from sites such as these can cause cancer, neurological damage and developmental harm, but the government says the sites are safe.

Evans says the planned migrant housing is flimsy and insufficient to protect people from environmental hazards.

"These are not dormitories,” she stresses. “These are not bunkers that have been converted to housing, that might be more protective. These are soft-sided temporary shelters set on the ground that can be constructed very quickly to house these children and families."

The groups making the Freedom of Information Act request include the Hispanic Federation, the National Hispanic Medical Association, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, the Southwest Environmental Center, GreenLatinos and Alianza Nacional de Campesinas.


get more stories like this via email

Advocates for immigrants' rights in Washington state are voicing concerns about the possible expansion of the H-2A visa program, which they say exploits migrant workers.

Washington is one of five states most dependent on H-2A workers in the country -- whose numbers have ballooned in the last decade to about 33,000.

Edgar Franks, political director for the independent farmworker union Familias Unidas por la Justicia, based in Skagit County, said farm labor shortages caused by mass deportations could increase reliance on the program, and H-2A workers often face wage theft and poor housing.

"Being crammed into a small room, or if you're in a place where it's really hot, there's no ventilation or air conditioning," said Franks. "The bathrooms are lacking in sanitation. Sometimes they give mattresses with bed bugs in them."

From 2018 to 2023, the Department of Labor found nearly 70,000 violations against employers of H-2A workers - the most common was wage theft.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., wants to expand the program through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which he says would ease burdens on farmers.

Franks said one of the problems with the program is that workers' visas are connected to a specific employer, giving that employer too much control.

If a worker is laid off or fired, their visa becomes invalid and they must leave the country immediately.

"It's really hard for workers to really speak up," said Franks, "and talk about their wages, or make formal complaints, because of fear of retaliation."

U.S. companies should raise their wages in Mexico, added Franks, which would reduce the need for people to go North.

He also called for workers who have already been working in the state, sometimes for decades, to be legalized.

"If you have workers that are protected and paid well and treated well," said Franks, "that's in the interest of the whole nation. We should recognize that and really step up for farmworkers."


get more stories like this via email

Protests are planned this Saturday throughout Arizona as organizers mobilize a "nationwide day of defiance" against what they're calling the Trump administration's attacks on civil rights, working families, public education and health care. The "No Kings" protests follow a week of immigration sweeps throughout the country, including in Arizona, that have sparked public outrage against President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This week, the president said people can expect additional ICE raids and warned protestors they can expect to be met with "equal or greater force."

But Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the advocacy organization Indivisible, said there is power in collective action.

"This is coming at a moment when they are illegally sending troops into Los Angeles, intentionally attempting to escalate in order to justify broader crackdowns on dissent that makes it that so much more important for all of us collectively to be in solidarity with our immigrants friends and neighbors, with basic American values," she explained.

The widespread movement will run counter to Trump's projected multi-million-dollar birthday military parade happening in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. More than 100 pro-democracy groups are backing the nationwide No Kings events. To find where protests are happening visit no-kings-dot-org.

Greenberg argued that the Trump administration is actively attempting to chill dissent and create consequences for those who speak out, and claimed the administration is trying to create a false sense of inevitability.

"Their power, fundamentally, is dependent on all of us actually agreeing, actually obeying. If we collectively organize, if we collectively expose that lie for what it is - then we are are going to be in a completely different position and they are not going to be able to get away with the things they are trying to do," she continued.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, reminded people the power of the United States' government is derived from those it represents.

"Not from one man, not from one party, not from a crown," she contended. "That is what was the most important focus of the framers. That is why they shed lots of blood, sweat and tears to actually create this country, the first 13 colonies."

Immigrant rights groups have said they are considering legal action to restore a Texas law allowing in-state tuition rates for undocumented college students.

The move comes after the Department of Justice sued Texas and within hours, state officials complied without a fight. According to the U.S. attorney general, federal law prohibits schools from providing benefits to undocumented students not provided to U.S. citizens.

Kelly Cobb, partner and business immigration attorney at the Jackson Walker Law Firm in Houston, said the law had been on the books since 2001.

"They get the same residence requirement as someone that was born here," Cobb pointed out. "I think it's more of a policy argument. These were children brought here and why should they be penalized and have to pay higher tuition?"

Texas was the first state to enact such a law to help young adults without legal status. Conservative legislators have tried to repeal the law for years. Cobb noted if an appeal is filed, a judge could allow the law to remain in effect through the appeals process.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took partial credit for the legislation being overturned. The lawsuit was filed just days after the end of the legislative session, where a bill to repeal the law stalled after passing out of a Senate committee. According to the American Immigration Council, the state will lose an estimated $460 million a year in wages if the ban remains in effect.

"It's going to have a financial impact on the universities," Cobb explained. "Also, they're going to college so they are going to come out professionals with degrees, who should be earning more. So, they will make money; they will make jobs."

The move is part of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. Currently, 24 states allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition.