AFSC's Pedro Rios reports from the U.S. – Mexico border in Tijuana.

At the start of the pandemic, the Trump administration closed the southern border to asylum seekers, deporting many back to dangerous conditions—against the advice of public health experts who found there was no public health justification for the decision.

Since 2013, AFSC has worked in Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya, a sprawling complex that is now home to hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Many have fled civil war, drought, famine, and extreme poverty. Others have never known life outside of the camps, being part of a second or even third generation in their family to live in these settlements, the first of which was constructed in the early ’90s. 

In observation of Earth Day, AFSC Florida Program Director Guadalupe De La Cruz is joined by Earthjustice attorney Dominique Burkhardt and Emma Shaw Crane to discuss AFSC’s report on toxic contamination at the Homestead child detention center, and other ways that environmental issues intersect with ongoing work to build social justice.

Join us on Facebook Live every Thursday at 4pm ET for updates from AFSC staff.

If all goes according to schedule, Palestinians will have the opportunity to vote for the first time in 15 years this year. The Palestinian Legislative Council is to be elected in May, the president of the Palestinian Authority in July, and the Palestinian National Council of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in August. 

It’s significant that most Palestinian political factions have agreed to participate in these elections -- and the results could lead to significant political changes in Palestine and the region.

“My conviction led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on truth for authority, not on authority for truth.” – Lucretia Mott