The Trump administration opened up a new front in its human trafficking crime spree — commonly referred to as “third-country deportations.” As Reuters exposed, they are sending gay, lesbian, and trans people to countries where their existence is not only illegal, but punishable by death. They had been granted protection from deportation by Immigration Judges, under U.S. law, but the government deported them anyway.

Reuters documented 40 cases of people who were “granted US legal protection after being persecuted for their LGBT status [and] deported to third countries in Africa that either criminalize same-sex relations or have been described by the State Department as hostile to LGBT people.”

If you want to know what’s wrong with the U.S. immigration system and how to make it work, don’t ask Congress. All they have done is over-fund the out-of-control agencies. Ask the immigration lawyers, and former immigration judges, agents, and immigrants who have been on the inside — some of whom have been violently discarded after building lives here for decades.

That’s what Demba Ndiath did in his new book, From Welcome To Deportation. Learn more about solutions from immigrants, lawyers, and judges in this blog post.

Salif Sarr is a Mauritanian-Ohioan pop star. Shema Asifiwe is the Cincinnati-based artist (and high school student) behind the Ohio Immigrant Alliance’s new coloring book. Demba Ndiath is about to publish his book about West African migration to Ohio.

They are all part of “Ohio Is My Second Country,” the Ohio Immigrant Alliance’s fourth presentation at the Columbus Arts Festival on June 13. 

From December 13 to 14, Yeumbeul Nord — one of Senegal’s most vibrant yet underserved suburbs — became the epicenter of the largest technology gathering ever organized in the country’s banlieue (suburbs). Banlieue Smart Days, an initiative born from lived experience and a deep commitment to youth empowerment, brought together more than 1,000 participants over two days of learning, innovation, and inspiration.