This Week’s Under-reported News Summary – May 13, 2026

Compiled by Bob Nixon

  • ICE has detained 11,000 parents of U.S. citizen children
  • South American crime groups now prefer illegal gold mining over drug trafficking
  • Portland's affordable housing strategy a model for other cities

The Trump administration is deporting immigrant parents with children who are U.S. citizens at four times the rate of the Biden administration. The Trump White House rewrote the rules for dealing with such cases by eliminating instructions to handle immigrant parents in a way that is “humane” when related to family separations. Often, immigrant parents facing ICE arrest must quickly find a guardian for their children, turning to friends, neighbors or their place of worship.

“Trump has Detained Parents of More Than 11,000 US citizen Kids,” ProPublica, March 23, 2026

Indigenous residents of a small village near the Napo River in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest now fear for their lives from criminal gangs illegally operating goldmines. Violence targeting villagers has grown with the influx of miners. In 2025, there were 19 killings in Napo province, nearly twice the number of the previous year.

“South American Crime Groups are Going for Gold,” Foreign Policy, April 17, 2026

Portland, Oregon has become an innovator in building new affordable housing by promoting smaller denser units, such as duplexes, triplexes, four-plexes and six-plexes. The city has succeeded in providing incentives to developers to construct what’s called infill or middle housing in existing residential neighborhoods.  These are townhouses that stack one behind another, going deep into a lot, rather than all facing the street.

“Portland Has a Wonky Secret to Build Cheaper Housing. Other Cities Are Copying,” Washington Post, March 18, 2026

Subscribe to our Weekly Summary