Marco Flores and his mother migrated to the U.S. from El Salvador in hope of a better future. When Marco was 9, a neighbor began sexually abusing him. This abuse continued until Marco was 14 years old. Eventually, Marco's mother told him that the neighbor would soon be moving into their home to babysit his 6-year-old nephew. Convinced that this was the only way to protect his nephew from the same abuse he had endured, teenage Marco murdered Jaime Galdamez and confessed to the crime. Marco accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Now in his early 30s, Marco has served ..read more

Five years after the Trump administration separated nearly 5,000 children and families in an attempt to deter migration, the Department of Justice has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit, Ms. L v. ICE, brought on behalf of those families by the ACLU. What began as a lawsuit representing one mother and one child quickly grew, as initial discovery in the case revealed that the scope of separations was far greater, and started far earlier, than May and June 2018, when the bulk of the separations took place. “All of the consequences of such a horrific policy came, in part, because we don’t hav ..read more

U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report. This week: Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women shuttered after years of documented physical and sexual abuses by guards; a new White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research; Trump-appointed judges deal blow to Voting Rights Act; and more. The post War on Women Report: New White House Research on Women’s Heal ..read more

For nearly three years, Siranush Sargsyan has documented Azerbaijan’s siege of the 120,000 indigenous Armenians in her disputed homeland of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The former history teacher and state worker turned wartime freelance journalist is now among the over 100,700 forcibly displaced taking refuge in neighboring Armenia.  The post A Freelance War Correspondent Covers Ethnic Cleansing of Her Indigenous Nation appeared first on Ms. Magazine ..read more

Latinas are disproportionately affected by harmful immigration policies and the continued attacks on abortion care one year after the Dobbs decision ended the constitutional right to abortion. National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice's Lupe M. Rodríguez talks about her own experience coming to the U.S. and why the Biden administration must do everything it can to improve our immigration system. "I know firsthand that far too many of our families live in constant fear of the threat of deportation, detention and separation. This pushes us further into hiding and prevents us from living ..read more

Compounded crises—including conflict, climate and COVID-19—are driving unprecedented levels of human suffering, economic vulnerability and forced displacement.  Tuesday, June 20, we celebrate World Refugee Day—honoring the strength and bravery of those who have been forced to flee their homes. With the 2023 theme of World Refugee Day, "Hope away from home," we must question whether we, as humanitarians, are effectively using our resources to create an environment for refugees to become self-sufficient. The post On World Refugee Day, 110 Million People Must Leave Home to Flee Conflict and ..read more

Aisha Abdel Gawad calls her first novel, Between Two Moons, “a love letter to Arab and Muslim communities.” The story centers around the Brooklyn, New York-based Emam family, American-born twins Amira and Lina, their older brother Sami, and their parents, Mariam and Kareem.  It’s an emotionally rich and revelatory portrait, set in a post 9-11 world that is still feeling the aftershocks of that unprecedented attack. But despite this grim overlay, humor and joy exist in the struggles Gawad documents. The post ‘Between Two Moons’: A Love Letter to Arab and Muslim Communities, by Aisha A ..read more

A ..read more

A ..read more

A ..read more