IRTF News

This article by the American Immigration Council provides overview on the newest detention expansion.

Admist media attention being drawn to trumps "war on drugs" and his interference in Venezuela, a regime change operation in Honduras and the pardoning of it's former president a convicted criminal, drug trafficker is overshadowed. This article gives insight on how the elections went and which parties where involved with not only influencing elections but the broader political landscape in Honduras.

While Trump's imperial endeavours in Venezuela and aspirations to extract gain from  other countries within the western hemisphere such as Mexico Columbia and Panama, Nicaragua seems to be broadly ignored by the White House. This article by Politico explains how a dictator lead country manages to evade US interference and why the administration hasn't focused on Nicaragua yet.

This article by In Sight Crime reviews the conspiratorial nature of the Berta Cáceres Murder. Investigating on the ties that banks and Investors had to the assasination.

Drawing on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., FOR an Religious Peace Fellowship oppose the U.S. attack on Venezuela, urging nonviolent engagement, humanitarian solidarity, and an end to imperial military interventions.

A sharp reflection on how U.S. officials have long responded to state violence by blaming the dead—-from the murder of churchwomen in El Salvador to the killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE—-and a warning that such lies can only hold for so long.

A new report by Austin Kocher evaluating the latest ICE detention data gives insight on ICE's methodolgy and schemes . The Trump administration continues to represent aggressive immigration enforcement practices across the country as necessary to address threats to national security and public safety. The available data so far do not support these claims. There are periods of tremendous surges in the growth of non-criminal detainees, and, except for the beginning of last February (2025), no corresponding surge in the detention of people with criminal convictions.

Due to the dramatic and chaotic ending to the recent presidential election in Honduras, the international human rights organization Global Exchange and the Center for the Study of Democracy wrote a report stating that Honduras is navigating the collision of corporate lawsuits, historical corruption, and the urgent struggle for democracy.

The report concludes that Honduras is trapped between the desire to reform and a pushback from international capital and domestic elites. To break this “siege,” Global Exchange recommends that Honduras withdraw from international arbitration treaties that prioritize profits over human rights; abolish ZEDEs to restore full national sovereignty; establish an independent mechanism to protect human rights defenders; and prosecute those responsible for the murders of activists, and urges the international community, especially the U.S., to respect Honduran sovereignty and allow fair elections.

Global Exchange’s report serves as both a warning and a call to action to stand with the Honduran people in their struggle for democracy and dignity.

The Trump administration aims to send thousands of immigrants to the Guantánamo Bay Detention Center where fifteen men remain in indefinite detention, 24 years since the abusive and torture prison opened.

Congress can step up and assert its authroity. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia has introduced resolutions in the Senate seeking information on the human rights practices of six countries to which the U.S. has reportedly deported immigrants who have no ties to those countries. Using a process under Section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act, a US senator can force debate and a vote to scrutinize and restrict security aid to countries engaging in “gross violations of human rights,” requiring the State Department to report on these issues.

Even if the resolutions fail, they allow senators to raise concerns on the floor about sending immigrants to places where they may be tortured. NRCAT has issued an action alert urging supporters to contact their senators about it.

Most of the Americas have suffered from interference from their powerful northern neighbour --and are usually the worse off for it. The US bombardment of Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro, follow a long history of interventions in South and Central America and the Caribbean over the past two centuries. But they also mark an unprecedented moment as the first direct US military attack on a South American country.