• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson triggered an uproar with his proposed scheme to deport asylum seekers who arrive in the UK by crossing the English Channel to Rwanda for processing. Immediately critics, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby the head of the Church of England, criticized the plan as “cruel and callous.” Human Rights Watch claims the Boris Johnson’s initiative is illegal in creating a two-tiered asylum system that discriminates based on a refugee’s method of arrival.
(“Britain Seeks to Send Refugees to Rwanda,” Foreign Policy, April 20, 2022; “Home Office Chief Questions Whether Rwanda Plan Will Deter Asylum Seekers,” Guardian, April 17, 2022)
• Despite the spike in global energy prices driven by sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there are oil rigs sitting idle in North Dakota, which was the second biggest oil producer during the last oil boom. Now rig owners on the prairie cannot find enough skilled workers to safely run the drilling rigs.
( “Demand for Oil is Spiking. So Why is North Dakota Rigs Lying Idle,” Christian Science Monitor, April 15, 2022)
• In 2018, Democrat Conor Lamb won a “red” congressional seat in western Pennsylvania, with a pledge to refuse to take corporate political action committee contributions. In Congress, Lamb remained a stalwart of campaign finance reform even while being a Trump ally on the Border Wall — and opposing efforts to block Trump from using the military against Black Lives Matter protesters.
(“Conor Lamb’s Shift on Campaign Finance,” American Prospect, April 13, 2022)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo
