Extra! Extra!: Chelsea Manning Will Be Free, and More News Amid This Strange Week – Autostraddle

So many things feel like theyve come to a standstill because of the Coronavirus, but, in the words of Anais Mitchell, the sun just goes on rising. This weeks Extra! Extra! Covers US election interference, two articles from opposite sides of the world sharing the challenges facing immigrants and refugees and Chelsea Mannings recent release from jail.

A reminder that for right now, were putting news about COVID-19 in its own roundup that can be found here!

Justice Department Drops Plans for Trial over Russian Interference in 2016 U.S. Election

Natalie: Its been amazing to see what Republicans across the country are doing while our collective attentions are monopolized by coronavirus.

In Kentucky, the legislature continues to meet (so much for social distancing!) and just passed a voter ID law thatll govern this falls election. In Idaho, where one county has been forced to shelter in place due to a community outbreak of coronavirus, legislators are focused instead on anti-trans legislation..

And in DC, theres this: while Congress is consumed with finding a suitable relief package, the Attorney General of the United States is trying to eliminate the possibility that there will be any accountability for the attack on American democracy in 2016. Once again, the Trump presidency will be shielded from being exposed for the fraud that he is.

Its all just a reminder we need to be vigilant about staying engaged on issues beyond coronavirusbecause, as the saying goes, the Devil never sleeps.

Anchor Babies: The Ludicrous Immigration Myth That Treats People as Pawns

Somewhere Like Home: Uighur Kids Find A Haven At Boarding School In Turkey

Himani: Around the world, people continue to be dehumanized for being different, for being other. America has long positioned itself as the country of immigrants, the melting pot, the place where people from around the world could go to find solace. Of course, that was always a lie.

In America, Republicans and the Trump administration keep spreading dangerous myths about immigrants. This isnt new: the notion of anchor babies has been around for at least two decades and the 1996 immigration law arguably created the inhumane situation that exists in the US today. Now were at a point where the US has resettled the lowest numbers of refugees in the last three decades, people in situations like the Uighars in China who face violence and persecution.

What these two articles reminds us is that the vast majority of immigrants face countless challenges when they make the difficult decision to uproot their lives. Thats true whether were talking about Latinx people seeking a better life for their family in the US or Uighars trying to find safety and security for their children in Turkey. People dont make decisions like this out of malice. They dont just have children because that will somehow give them security. (In fact, they sometimes have children because the hUS has made contraceptive care so difficult to access.) And those children even if they are more fortunate than the ones who were left behind dont, by any means, have it easy.

But the other thing that connects these two stories, for me, is the hope these communities create for each other and their dedication to the fight to improve the lives of others in situations like their own.

Immigrant rights group and Microsoft workers blast ICE raids amid coronavirus crisis: The way ICE is operating is reckless

Thousands of ICE detainees at high risk amid coronavirus pandemic

Yudith is a wife and mother of six children whose husband has been detained by ICE.

Rachel: Given the context that only essential jobs and orgs are supposed to be operating normally right now, its become even more glaringly clear that this administration views ICE raids, family separation and deportation as essential raids have continued, including on quarantined homes and in hospitals where people are seeking treatment. In at least one (anecdotal) case, its reported that ICE agents posed as doctors to gain access to a home where they wanted to arrest someone. While of course ICEs actions are always harmful and violent on a personal and structural level, right now its incredibly clear that theyre also willfully contributing to the spread of a pandemic and potentially condemning those who they detain to infection ICE detention centers are crowded and have always been severely lacking in hygiene and sanitation resources, even before they became in short supply. In addition to demanding our elected officials work to release and distribute the necessary resources to healthcare workers and to individuals, we need to demand that they stop expending state resources on an institution that now more than ever serves only to harm.

Rachel: As many of us know and have been following, whistleblower Chelsea Manning has been detained indefinitely in solitary confinement essentially as punishment and coercion for refusing to testify before a grand jury against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. She was initially jailed for her cooperation with WikiLeaks, and had her sentence commuted in 2017 by Obama; she was then subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury and once again jailed when she refused to testify. In addition to her incarceration, Chelsea was fined exorbitant amounts, $1000 per day, as a repercussion for her refusal to cooperate. Incarceration is always harmful, and hers has been no different; this week, news broke that Chelsea had attempted suicide while in prison, her third attempt over the long course of her multiple incarcerations. She survived, and was treated in the hospital.

The good news is that shortly after her hospitalization, a federal judge actually ordered Chelseas release he announced that her testimony was no longer needed before the grand jury, and so coercive measures werent necessary any longer. Its unclear whether this was a genuine announcement Judge Trenga was already scheduled to issue a ruling or whether the court was motivated to wrap up the issue and Chelseas incarceration by her suicide attempt.

While Chelsea will be freed, her fines remain, totaling over $250,000 obviously Chelsea hasnt been able to earn income while incarcerated. A friend has organized a GoFundMe for supporters to help contribute toward paying the cost.

+ Chelsea Manning attempted suicide while in jail for refusing to testify against WikiLeaks

+ Chelsea Manning Is Ordered Released From Jail

New Challenge to Transgender Military Ban Filed by Naval Officer

Dousing the Glim: Reflections on Shutting Down Canada

Tribunal Orders Canada to Compensate Parents Who Lost Children in Care

A Sneaky Attempt to End Encryption Is Worming Its Way through Congress

More here:
Extra! Extra!: Chelsea Manning Will Be Free, and More News Amid This Strange Week - Autostraddle