Latest news with #migrantRights
Irish Times
17-07-2025
- Irish Times
Garda raid on home of award-winning curry restaurant owner finds bank card in worker's name
A predawn Garda raid on the home of a leading restaurateur last December found personal documents belonging to a migrant chef who has said he was 'never made aware' of a debit card in his name, a tribunal has heard. Fahid Saleem, codirector of his family's award-winning Pakistani curry house group, Daata, told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) he had 'zero knowledge' that his wife had been given the documents belonging to the chef, her orphaned cousin Mohammad Usman Ghani. The WRC noted sworn evidence from Mr Ghani, a commis chef brought to Ireland on a work permit in 2023, that he knew nothing of a debit card for a bank account into which his wages were being paid, and only got access 'thanks to the guards'. The disclosures were made during a WRC hearing into a series of workplace rights claims by Mr Ghani against his former employer Mirha & Aliha Ltd, trading as Daata Restaurant, which have now been 'amicably resolved'. READ MORE Mr Ghani, who was represented by Sylwia Nowakoska and Pretty Ndawo of the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, claimed his wages were 'withheld' while he was working at its takeaway and restaurant in Bray, Co Wicklow for 'about 70 hours a week'. He said company director Fahid Saleem 'was putting pressure on me all the time'. 'There were dishes I would make – he would say: 'Make it again, it's not okay', time and time, again and again,' he said. Mr Saleem would remind him 'again and again; your work permit is on us, your accommodation is from us', he said. In his evidence to the tribunal, Mr Saleem said: 'I treat all my staff… as part of my family, and I would never threaten, harass or bully or annoy any of them.' Mr Saleem said he went to significant expense to bring Mr Ghani, his wife's cousin, into Ireland in July 2023. Mr Ghani was taken in by his wife's family after the deaths of his parents when he was 'very young', the witness said. He said he 'would not be able to get the orders out' in the takeaway if he was forcing Mr Ghani to cook meals 'again and again'. He denied threatening to deport Mr Ghani or 'put him out of the country' and said that would be 'very stupid'. Mr Ghani said he decided on August 1st last year that he was not coming to work the next day after being told he faced being 'deported back to Pakistan' after making a 'small mistake' and being reprimanded for 'not working faster'. Mr Saleem said there was no 'altercation' that day and that he had simply asked Mr Ghani: 'Why are the orders not going out?'. He learned the following day that Mr Ghani was absent from the staff house owned by his younger sister, his codirector Aliha Saleem, he said. Bank account Mr Saleem said that before a bank account was opened in Mr Ghani's name, he gave the worker cash 'for the first couple of months' before bank transfers commenced. Adjudication officer Breiffni O'Neill said there had been 'no suggestion' during Mr Ghani's direct evidence that the worker 'gave any instruction to transfer money to that account' and 'could not explain' how it got there. 'He said he was never made aware at any stage in the immediate aftermath of the account being opened of any card. The first he was made aware was when he got access to the bank account, thanks to the guards,' Mr O'Neill said. Susan Jones, instructed by Jones Magee Solicitors, for the company, submitted that this had to be considered a 'credibility issue' for the worker and said she had witnesses who could testify to Mr Ghani 'operating his bank card'. Mr Saleem said he was not aware of any allegation of money being 'withheld' from Mr Ghani until after December 6th last, when there was a 6.30am 'Garda raid' on his house in Greystones. Mr Saleem said his wife explained to him afterwards that Mr Ghani left 'all his documents' at the company house. These ended up at Mr Saleem's home after Mr Ghani's ex-colleagues tried and failed to return them – and left them with his wife 'for safe keeping', he said. 'I had zero knowledge of this arrangement,' he said. On the working time claims, Mr Saleem said Mr Ghani 'would work six days a week' but had time to take breaks and had access to the restaurant premises before work to cook his own meals. Mr Ghani also claimed for pay in lieu for working public holidays, including Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day in 2023. Mr Saleem's evidence was: 'We don't open on 25th, 26th, 27th December.' Mr O'Neill put it to him that he had signed off on a time sheet that recorded Mr Ghani working those days. 'It might have been an oversight on my part,' Mr Saleem said. Mr O'Neill then turned to the respondent's barrister and said: 'Ms Jones, you might need to reflect on your position overnight and talk to your counterpart in the morning.' Mr O'Neill did not resume the public hearings when the parties met on Thursday at Lansdowne House in Dublin. Migrant Rights Council of Ireland said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that matters had been 'amicably resolved' following talks. The respondent's legal team declined to comment. The business, founded in Bray in 1999 by Mr Saleem's parents, has four restaurants in north Co Wicklow and south Co Dublin, and is preparing to open its fifth in Sandymount at the end of the month.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump's ‘Alligator Alcatraz' reveals the ongoing cruelty towards migrants in US
After the cruelty, the mockery. As the first detainees were being hauled into Donald Trump's controversial migrant jail in the inhospitable, steamy wetlands of the Florida Everglades last week, his supporters were indulging in some parallel retail therapy. 'Surrounded by swamps & pythons, it's a one-way ticket to regret,' the Florida Republican party's official X account crowed, hawking its new range of Alligator Alcatraz-themed shirts and hats. 'Grab our merch to support tough-on-crime borders! Limited supply – get yours before the gators do!' The blatant and brutish grift on the back of the plight of America's undocumented is neither new nor surprising to those who have watched Florida's full-on assault on migrants and immigration rights in recent years, led by its hard-right Republican governor, Ron DeSantis. They remember how he used Florida taxpayers' money for a stunt baiting dozens of Venezuelans to board a flight in Texas with false promises of accommodation and jobs, then dumped them in Massachusetts, promptly followed by the launch of a line of sardonic 'DeSantis Airlines – bringing the border to you' apparel, drinks glasses and coffee mugs. 'Again, it proves that cruelty was always the point,' Maxwell Frost, a Democratic Florida congressman, told the Guardian after the president and governor visited the swamp on Tuesday to boast about how awful the camp will be for those held there. 'Selling hats and merchandise for a place that is about to become a hell on earth for thousands of people who are going to be subjected to some of the worst conditions and human rights abuses you could think of is disgusting. 'These are human beings being held in a tent in the middle of the Everglades, where temperatures are 90F to 100F daily, and hurricane season is an ever-present threat. We saw a run-of-the-mill Florida rainstorm cause flooding on the day that Trump and DeSantis touted the facility. We saw water pouring in and tents shaking because of some slight rain. 'The hats, the facility, the press conferences and media interviews – this is all one fun, cruel, disgusting game to them. To treat people like animals, like they're less than, because they were not born in this country. And the truth is that they don't care about the human lives they will harm and potentially kill because of their actions.' To other observers, Trump's high-visibility visit – his tour of the site flanked by DeSantis and homeland security secretary Kristi Noem, and his scornful advice to any escaping detainee that they would need to learn to zigzag instead of run in a straight line from any pursuing alligator – was the ultimate example of performance over policy. 'This is Donald Trump 101. Come up with a catchy phrase, and market the heck out of the merch,' said Michael Binder, professor of political science and public administration at the University of North Florida. 'I certainly think that is much more about the show than the actual usage of a detention center. Will they hold a bunch of people there? Probably. Will it ever get entirely packed? Maybe. And it's also true that more detention centers are probably going to be needed if they're going to keep rounding people up. 'So theoretically it makes sense. The show provides immediate political benefit. The risk they're taking is down the road.' Binder cited the example of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the botched federal response by the George W Bush administration to a disaster that killed more than a thousand mostly Black and low-income residents in New Orleans. 'What happens if something goes wrong at one of these camps? They're built presumably with aluminum pipes and some tarps. This is Florida, right? We get hurricanes. If you have a hurricane run through there, I think it's gone,' he said. 'The air conditioning is going to be limited at best. It's hot in the summer. What happens if people start dying? These are things that can really turn poorly. If you think about Katrina, and the black eye that put on the Bush administration, if it happened in 2003 instead of 2005 it's probable they wouldn't have been re-elected. 'These things can have real consequences if the national narrative turns exceptionally negative.' Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Any such consequences are unlikely to concern Trump or DeSantis, both of whom have extolled the harshest possible conditions for immigrant detainees, while being termed out at the conclusion of their respective current terms in office. In DeSantis's case, however, some see his full-throated backing for Trump's immigration agenda, Alligator Alcatraz and the warp-speed effort that turned it from a simple idea to operational facility inside 10 days as evidence of his determination to be in the mix for the 2028 presidential election despite his dismal 2024 effort. 'While his time in Florida is on the clock, he certainly has eyes on going back to Iowa in a couple of years, and staying relevant in the national spotlight is vitally important to him,' Binder said. 'Keeping his name in the press, in the media, around an issue that his base thinks is important, is certainly useful to that end.' An alliance of immigration advocates, environmental groups, and the Miccosukee and Seminole Native American tribes that oppose Alligator Alcatraz says that DeSantis's race to build the camp – which state officials have said could hold up to 5,000 detainees and 1,000 staff at capacity – threatens not only area residents, but also the fragile wetlands he has claimed to champion. 'Development of this scale at this location requires massive changes to an ecologically delicate landscape, including running huge generators, trucking in massive amounts of food and water, and trucking out waste,' Melissa Abdo, Sun Coast regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, said. 'Communities in the area, as well as the people detained and working at this facility, could all be at serious risk if the need arose to quickly evacuate from a hurricane, using only a single two-lane highway that's currently under construction.' Representative Frost said he shares critics' fears, and highlighted the choice of the camp's remote location, which is popular with hunters and outdoorsmen. 'For people like Trump, DeSantis and Noem, this is a sick game of hunting, kidnapping, harming and discarding human beings,' he said. 'It was never about helping Americans or putting our country first. What we're seeing is pure hatred and disdain for human beings because of the color of their skin and where they were born.'
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's ‘Alligator Alcatraz' reveals the ongoing cruelty towards migrants in US
After the cruelty, the mockery. As the first detainees were being hauled into Donald Trump's controversial migrant jail in the inhospitable, steamy wetlands of the Florida Everglades last week, his supporters were indulging in some parallel retail therapy. 'Surrounded by swamps & pythons, it's a one-way ticket to regret,' the Florida Republican party's official X account crowed, hawking its new range of Alligator Alcatraz-themed shirts and hats. 'Grab our merch to support tough-on-crime borders! Limited supply – get yours before the gators do!' The blatant and brutish grift on the back of the plight of America's undocumented is neither new nor surprising to those who have watched Florida's full-on assault on migrants and immigration rights in recent years, led by its hard-right Republican governor, Ron DeSantis. Related: Democratic lawmakers denied entry to 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration jail They remember how he used Florida taxpayers' money for a stunt baiting dozens of Venezuelans to board a flight in Texas with false promises of accommodation and jobs, then dumped them in Massachusetts, promptly followed by the launch of a line of sardonic 'DeSantis Airlines – bringing the border to you' apparel, drinks glasses and coffee mugs. 'Again, it proves that cruelty was always the point,' Maxwell Frost, a Democratic Florida congressman, told the Guardian after the president and governor visited the swamp on Tuesday to boast about how awful the camp will be for those held there. 'Selling hats and merchandise for a place that is about to become a hell on earth for thousands of people who are going to be subjected to some of the worst conditions and human rights abuses you could think of is disgusting. 'These are human beings being held in a tent in the middle of the Everglades, where temperatures are 90F to 100F daily, and hurricane season is an ever-present threat. We saw a run-of-the-mill Florida rainstorm cause flooding on the day that Trump and DeSantis touted the facility. We saw water pouring in and tents shaking because of some slight rain. 'The hats, the facility, the press conferences and media interviews – this is all one fun, cruel, disgusting game to them. To treat people like animals, like they're less than, because they were not born in this country. And the truth is that they don't care about the human lives they will harm and potentially kill because of their actions.' To other observers, Trump's high-visibility visit – his tour of the site flanked by DeSantis and homeland security secretary Kristi Noem, and his scornful advice to any escaping detainee that they would need to learn to zigzag instead of run in a straight line from any pursuing alligator – was the ultimate example of performance over policy. 'This is Donald Trump 101. Come up with a catchy phrase, and market the heck out of the merch,' said Michael Binder, professor of political science and public administration at the University of North Florida. 'I certainly think that is much more about the show than the actual usage of a detention center. Will they hold a bunch of people there? Probably. Will it ever get entirely packed? Maybe. And it's also true that more detention centers are probably going to be needed if they're going to keep rounding people up. 'So theoretically it makes sense. The show provides immediate political benefit. The risk they're taking is down the road.' Binder cited the example of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the botched federal response by the George W Bush administration to a disaster that killed more than a thousand mostly Black and low-income residents in New Orleans. 'What happens if something goes wrong at one of these camps? They're built presumably with aluminum pipes and some tarps. This is Florida, right? We get hurricanes. If you have a hurricane run through there, I think it's gone,' he said. 'The air conditioning is going to be limited at best. It's hot in the summer. What happens if people start dying? These are things that can really turn poorly. If you think about Katrina, and the black eye that put on the Bush administration, if it happened in 2003 instead of 2005 it's probable they wouldn't have been re-elected. 'These things can have real consequences if the national narrative turns exceptionally negative.' Any such consequences are unlikely to concern Trump or DeSantis, both of whom have extolled the harshest possible conditions for immigrant detainees, while being termed out at the conclusion of their respective current terms in office. In DeSantis's case, however, some see his full-throated backing for Trump's immigration agenda, Alligator Alcatraz and the warp-speed effort that turned it from a simple idea to operational facility inside 10 days as evidence of his determination to be in the mix for the 2028 presidential election despite his dismal 2024 effort. 'While his time in Florida is on the clock, he certainly has eyes on going back to Iowa in a couple of years, and staying relevant in the national spotlight is vitally important to him,' Binder said. 'Keeping his name in the press, in the media, around an issue that his base thinks is important, is certainly useful to that end.' An alliance of immigration advocates, environmental groups, and the Miccosukee and Seminole Native American tribes that oppose Alligator Alcatraz says that DeSantis's race to build the camp – which state officials have said could hold up to 5,000 detainees and 1,000 staff at capacity – threatens not only area residents, but also the fragile wetlands he has claimed to champion. 'Development of this scale at this location requires massive changes to an ecologically delicate landscape, including running huge generators, trucking in massive amounts of food and water, and trucking out waste,' Melissa Abdo, Sun Coast regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, said. 'Communities in the area, as well as the people detained and working at this facility, could all be at serious risk if the need arose to quickly evacuate from a hurricane, using only a single two-lane highway that's currently under construction.' Representative Frost said he shares critics' fears, and highlighted the choice of the camp's remote location, which is popular with hunters and outdoorsmen. 'For people like Trump, DeSantis and Noem, this is a sick game of hunting, kidnapping, harming and discarding human beings,' he said. 'It was never about helping Americans or putting our country first. What we're seeing is pure hatred and disdain for human beings because of the color of their skin and where they were born.'
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump's ‘Alligator Alcatraz' reveals the ongoing cruelty towards migrants in US
After the cruelty, the mockery. As the first detainees were being hauled into Donald Trump's controversial migrant jail in the inhospitable, steamy wetlands of the Florida Everglades last week, his supporters were indulging in some parallel retail therapy. 'Surrounded by swamps & pythons, it's a one-way ticket to regret,' the Florida Republican party's official X account crowed, hawking its new range of Alligator Alcatraz-themed shirts and hats. 'Grab our merch to support tough-on-crime borders! Limited supply – get yours before the gators do!' The blatant and brutish grift on the back of the plight of America's undocumented is neither new nor surprising to those who have watched Florida's full-on assault on migrants and immigration rights in recent years, led by its hard-right Republican governor, Ron DeSantis. They remember how he used Florida taxpayers' money for a stunt baiting dozens of Venezuelans to board a flight in Texas with false promises of accommodation and jobs, then dumped them in Massachusetts, promptly followed by the launch of a line of sardonic 'DeSantis Airlines – bringing the border to you' apparel, drinks glasses and coffee mugs. 'Again, it proves that cruelty was always the point,' Maxwell Frost, a Democratic Florida congressman, told the Guardian after the president and governor visited the swamp on Tuesday to boast about how awful the camp will be for those held there. 'Selling hats and merchandise for a place that is about to become a hell on earth for thousands of people who are going to be subjected to some of the worst conditions and human rights abuses you could think of is disgusting. 'These are human beings being held in a tent in the middle of the Everglades, where temperatures are 90F to 100F daily, and hurricane season is an ever-present threat. We saw a run-of-the-mill Florida rainstorm cause flooding on the day that Trump and DeSantis touted the facility. We saw water pouring in and tents shaking because of some slight rain. 'The hats, the facility, the press conferences and media interviews – this is all one fun, cruel, disgusting game to them. To treat people like animals, like they're less than, because they were not born in this country. And the truth is that they don't care about the human lives they will harm and potentially kill because of their actions.' To other observers, Trump's high-visibility visit – his tour of the site flanked by DeSantis and homeland security secretary Kristi Noem, and his scornful advice to any escaping detainee that they would need to learn to zigzag instead of run in a straight line from any pursuing alligator – was the ultimate example of performance over policy. 'This is Donald Trump 101. Come up with a catchy phrase, and market the heck out of the merch,' said Michael Binder, professor of political science and public administration at the University of North Florida. 'I certainly think that is much more about the show than the actual usage of a detention center. Will they hold a bunch of people there? Probably. Will it ever get entirely packed? Maybe. And it's also true that more detention centers are probably going to be needed if they're going to keep rounding people up. 'So theoretically it makes sense. The show provides immediate political benefit. The risk they're taking is down the road.' Binder cited the example of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the botched federal response by the George W Bush administration to a disaster that killed more than a thousand mostly Black and low-income residents in New Orleans. 'What happens if something goes wrong at one of these camps? They're built presumably with aluminum pipes and some tarps. This is Florida, right? We get hurricanes. If you have a hurricane run through there, I think it's gone,' he said. 'The air conditioning is going to be limited at best. It's hot in the summer. What happens if people start dying? These are things that can really turn poorly. If you think about Katrina, and the black eye that put on the Bush administration, if it happened in 2003 instead of 2005 it's probable they wouldn't have been re-elected. 'These things can have real consequences if the national narrative turns exceptionally negative.' Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Any such consequences are unlikely to concern Trump or DeSantis, both of whom have extolled the harshest possible conditions for immigrant detainees, while being termed out at the conclusion of their respective current terms in office. In DeSantis's case, however, some see his full-throated backing for Trump's immigration agenda, Alligator Alcatraz and the warp-speed effort that turned it from a simple idea to operational facility inside 10 days as evidence of his determination to be in the mix for the 2028 presidential election despite his dismal 2024 effort. 'While his time in Florida is on the clock, he certainly has eyes on going back to Iowa in a couple of years, and staying relevant in the national spotlight is vitally important to him,' Binder said. 'Keeping his name in the press, in the media, around an issue that his base thinks is important, is certainly useful to that end.' An alliance of immigration advocates, environmental groups, and the Miccosukee and Seminole Native American tribes that oppose Alligator Alcatraz says that DeSantis's race to build the camp – which state officials have said could hold up to 5,000 detainees and 1,000 staff at capacity – threatens not only area residents, but also the fragile wetlands he has claimed to champion. 'Development of this scale at this location requires massive changes to an ecologically delicate landscape, including running huge generators, trucking in massive amounts of food and water, and trucking out waste,' Melissa Abdo, Sun Coast regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, said. 'Communities in the area, as well as the people detained and working at this facility, could all be at serious risk if the need arose to quickly evacuate from a hurricane, using only a single two-lane highway that's currently under construction.' Representative Frost said he shares critics' fears, and highlighted the choice of the camp's remote location, which is popular with hunters and outdoorsmen. 'For people like Trump, DeSantis and Noem, this is a sick game of hunting, kidnapping, harming and discarding human beings,' he said. 'It was never about helping Americans or putting our country first. What we're seeing is pure hatred and disdain for human beings because of the color of their skin and where they were born.'
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
"That's An Incredible Picture Of How Most Americans Feel Right Now" — People Are Praising France's New Lady Liberty "Protest" Mural That's Going Mega-Viral
Welp, yesterday was American Independence Day, and this year's July 4 celebrations came amid ICE detainments of American citizens and immigrant detention center "merch" being sold as the rest of the world watches. Related: Recently, France unveiled a mural called "The Statue of Liberty's Silent Protest," designed to illustrate the "shame" surrounding the recent immigration policies of the Trump administration. The now-viral painting, seen by over 16 million people, features Lady Liberty covering her face with her hands, with her torch lying on her chest. Dutch artist Judith de Leeuw reportedly took six days to complete the mural, which was painted on a building in Roubaix, France. This location was intentional due to Roubaix's "large migrant population" who live in "extremely difficult circumstances," De Leeuw said to Storyful. "The values that the statue once stood for — freedom, hope, the right to be yourself — have been lost for many," she continued. Related: It's important to note that France formally gifted the Statue of Liberty to the United States on July 4, 1884, to celebrate US independence and American democracy, among other things. De Leeuw called the unveiling of her mural on July 4 a "meaningful coincidence." Here's how people online are reacting to France's newest mural: Related: "In case you are wondering what the world is thinking of us," one person wrote. "The French know. Hell the world knows. But tens of millions here, either clueless or shameless," another person wrote. "They should come take the real one back. We don't deserve her anymore." Related: Others on TikTok expressed similar sentiments in the comments: Opposingly, a Republican lawmaker took to X to express his "disgust" at the mural. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below. Also in In the News: Also in In the News: Also in In the News:
