By U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Annual Report provides an overview of the agency’s key programs, enforcement metrics, and accomplishments. It represents the agency’s commitment to transparency and accountability, and meets and exceeds the requirements in the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act, 2023, which states: ICE is directed to continue issuing annual Fiscal Year ERO and HSI reports by not later than 90 days after [the] end of each fiscal year. The reports should compare data for the reporting fiscal year to the prior five fiscal years in a sortable, downloadable, and printable format, with a description of any significant deviations in data representation when compared to prior years. ICE was created in 2003 through the merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the former U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Today, it is a premier federal law enforcement agency with over 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel in more than 400 offices across the United States and around the world. Its mission is to promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade, and immigration. In support of this mission, ICE works to uphold hundreds of federal statutes, administer U.S. immigration laws, oversee the cases of more than 6.2 million noncitizens on the agency’s national docket, combat fentanyl and other illegal narcotics, prevent terrorism, and combat the illegal movement of people and goods across the U.S. border. The agency is one of the three principal operational components charged with the immigration and customs authorities Congress placed in DHS under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and is a member of the federal law enforcement community. ICE’s unique combination of legal authorities and intelligence-driven law enforcement capabilities position the agency to respond to a range of increasingly complex cross-border and domestic threats. The agency has an annual budget of approximately $8 billion, primarily devoted to three operational directorates: Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA). A fourth directorate — Management & Administration (M&A) — supports the three operational branches to advance ICE’s mission, while the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) promotes integrity and accountability by conducting independent reviews of ICE programs and operations. Additionally, several support programs within the ICE Office of the Director (OD) are devoted to improving the agency’s operational and policymaking capabilities, enhancing stakeholder relationships, cultivating a professionally trained and diverse workforce, and ensuring safe and humane conditions for those in ICE custody.    

Washington, DC: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2023. 99p.

Edited by Ivan Ureta

Sensitive issues like migration and human mobility provoke paradigms and prejudices in public opinion. Media, Migration and Public Opinion is a collective effort of academic criticism to overcome these myths. The main motive of this book is linked to the fact that migration, media and public opinion related issues focusing on North Africa have not been addressed properly by available literature. Against this background, the objective of Media, Migration and Public Opinion pursues three aims: Firstly, it fills a gap in the scholarly literature regarding media, political communication and migration by shifting the focus to the North African countries Morocco, Algeria and Libya. Secondly, it assesses to what extent the paradigms of the «other» and its characterization as a source of problems established in receiving countries are also present in sending and transit countries. Thirdly, the book puts North African issues in relation to European countries by presenting case-studies focused on Spain, Malta and Switzerland in order to raise commonalities and differences.

Bern, SWIT: Peter Lang, 2011. 292p.

Edited by Hirschberger, Bernd and Voges, Katja 

Populism is a growing threat to human rights. They are appropriated, distorted, turned into empty words or even their opposite. The contributors to this volume examine these practices using the example of freedom of religion or belief, a human right that has become a particular target of right-wing populists and extremists worldwide. The contributions not only show the rhetorical patterns of appropriation and distortion, but also demonstrate for various countries which social dynamics favor the appropriation in each case and propose how to strengthen human rights and the culture of debate in democratic societies.

Bielefeld, transcript Verlag, 2024. 268p.

Edited by: Laura Merla, Sarah Murru, Giacomo Orsini , Tanja Vuckovic Juros 

This open access book critically examines how discourses and policies target and exclude migrants and their families in Europe and North America along racial, gender and sexuality lines, and how these exclusions are experienced and resisted. Building on the influential notion of intersectional borderings, it delves deep into how these discourses converge and diverge, highlighting the underlying normative constructs of family, gender, and sexuality. First, it examines how radical-right and conservative political movements perpetuate exclusionary practices and how they become institutionalized in migration, welfare, and family policies. Second, it examines the dynamic responses they provoke—both resistance and reinforcement—among those affected in their everyday lives. Bringing together studies from political and social sciences, it offers a vital contribution to the expanding field of migrant family governance and exclusion and is essential for understanding the complex processes of exclusion and the movements that challenge and sustain them. It expands academic discussions on populism and the politics of exclusion by linking them to the politicization of intimacy and family life. With diverse case studies from Europe, North, and Central America, it appeals to students, academics, and policymakers, informing future mobilizations against discriminatory and exclusionary tendencies in politics and society.

IMISCOE Research Series Cham: Springer Nature, 2024. 183p.

By Pilatowsky, Eynel; Ruiz Contreras, Juanita

This document analyses public perception regarding migration in the region for 2023, using data collected by the Public Perceptions Laboratory on Migration. Social media monitoring shows a slight decrease in the conversation about migration compared to the previous year, but security remains the most relevant topic for the public. Concerns about crime and unemployment continue to be common, influencing the perceptions of host societies. Additionally, xenophobia remains present in public discourse, with an increase in xenophobic responses to institutional tweets. The report focuses on two dynamics of continental mobility: the arrival of Venezuelan population in specific countries and changes in public opinion regarding new migratory flows in El Darién and the Central American corridor towards the United States. The Laboratory aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of perceptions in the region to support decision-making and grasp the overall state of public opinion on regional migration dynamics.

023 Inter-American Development Bank.IDB , 2023. 20p.

Edited by Vishanthie Sewpaul, Linda Kreitzer, and Tanusha Raniga   

Cultural practices have the potential to cause human suffering. The Tensions between Culture and Human Rights critically interrogates the relationship between culture and human rights across Africa and offers strategies for pedagogy and practice that social workers and educators may use. Drawing on Afrocentricity and emancipatory social work as antidotes to colonial power and dehumanization, this collection challenges cultural practices that violate human rights, and the dichotomous and taken-for-granted assumptions in the cultural representations between the West and the Rest of the world. Engaging critically with cultural traditions while affirming Indigenous knowledge and practices, it is unafraid to deal frankly with uncomfortable truths. Each chapter explores a specific aspect of African cultural norms and practices and their impacts on human rights and human dignity, paying special attention to the intersections of politics, economics, race, class, gender, and cultural expression. Going beyond analysis, this collection offers a range of practical approaches to understanding and intervention rooted in emancipatory social work. It offers a pathway to develop critical reflexivity and to reframe epistemologies for education and practice. This is essential reading not only for students and practitioners of social work, but for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of African cultures and practices.

Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2021. 323p.

By International Organization for Migration Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean San Jose, Costa Rica

The increase in irregular migration in the Central American and Mexican routes has generated an increase in the flow of migrants through dangerous zones, exposing migrants to various risks, from the use of dangerous means of transportation to situations of exploitation, violence and disappearances. In recent years, hundreds of migrants have been reported missing or dead in these zones. Protection services face challenges and limitations in providing comprehensive care to the large number of migrants passing through the region. These risks are increased for vulnerable populations such as unaccompanied minors, women and LGBTIQA+ persons. In response, governments recognize the need to ensure the physical, legal and emotional safety of migrants in transit through the region. This study, developed by the IOM Regional Program on Migration with the support of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the United States Department of State, provides crucial information and lines of action to protect migrants in transit, contributing to the fulfillment of international commitments and the strengthening of coordination among member countries for the assistance and protection of migrants.

International Organization for Migration Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean San Jose, Costa Rica, 2024. 50p.   

By Daniel Drewski and Jürgen Gerhards

Across the world, the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes has more than doubled during the last decade. Although international law does not allow states to turn back refugees, some countries close their borders to refugees, some open their borders and grant extensive protection, while others admit some groups of refugees while excluding others. How can we make sense of these different responses to admitting refugees? In this book, Daniel Drewski and Jürgen Gerhards show that governments' refugee policy, as well as the stance adopted by opposition parties on the issue, is heavily dependent on how they frame their country's collective identity on the one hand and the identity and characteristics of the refugees on the other. By defining the "we" and the "others", politicians draw on collectively shared cultural repertoires, which vary by country and by political constituency within a country. The book is based on a discourse analysis of parliamentary debates. It explores the specific framing of nations' identities and the corresponding perceptions of otherness by focusing on six countries that have been confronted with large numbers of refugees: Germany, Poland, and Turkey, all responding to the exodus of Syrian and Middle Eastern refugees; Chile's reaction to the Venezuelan displacement; Singapore and its stance towards Rohingya refugees; and Uganda's response to the displacement from South Sudan. The study explores not only differences between governments of different countries but also the conflicting views of different political parties within the same country.

Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press,  2024.  321p.

Edited by Angela Di Stasi, Ida Caracciolo, Giovanni Cellamare, Pietro Gargiulo

This book discusses existing and future trends concerning the development of migratory policies between local and global levels, to understand the challenges and gaps in the protection of migrants. The collection explores international migration and its impact on sovereignty, international cooperation, security, and human rights. In particular, it takes into account the composite framework of international and national rules, and the role of judicial and monitoring bodies in protecting the rights of migrants, with the aim of assessing the state of the art, identifying the gaps, and formulating possible remedies. The work of some international organizations such as the UN and its specialized agencies and the European Union is investigated, together with a set of regional practices such as those of Latin America and South-East Asia, and countries, such as Mexico, Georgia, Tunisia, Italy, and the United States. The issues of the fundamental rights of migrants in the European legal order are also addressed, including the emerging scenarios related to recent crises like the one generated by the war in Ukraine. This timely collection will be essential reading for academics, researchers, and policy-makers working in the areas of Migration Law, Asylum and Refugee Law, International Law, International Organizations, EU Law, International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, Comparative Law and Socio-Legal Studies.

London; New York: Routledge, 2025. 705p.

Crisis Group Latin America Briefing N°51  

What’s new? Across the region where Brazil, Colombia, and Peru meet deep in the Amazon, an assortment of criminal organizations are exploiting the feeble reach of states, abundance of natural resources, and poverty of local communities to grow, diversify, and hatch new cross-border ventures. Why does it matter? Surging cocaine production in Peru and the spread of other rackets like gold dredging and illicit logging threaten Indigenous ways of life, spur deadly violence, and harm the environment. Should these criminal ventures go unchecked, they could undermine the already tenuous state control of the world’s largest rainforest. What should be done? Following up on promises made in 2023, the three countries should bolster security cooperation and harness foreign assistance with a view to prosecuting and sanctioning those responsible for environmental crimes. Support for law-abiding livelihoods and stronger collaboration with Indigenous communities at the front lines of criminal expansion are vital.

  Bogota/Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2024.    28p.

By Robert E. Speer

This book emphasizes that all races are part of one human family, created by God, and that racial distinctions are not biological but social constructs. It discusses the erroneous belief in racial superiority and the harm it causes, and argues that races can change and progress through education and environment, not just heredity. The ultimate solution to racial problems is presented as following the teachings of Jesus Christ, promoting love, peace, and unity among all races.

By Tiie Council of Women For Home Missions And Missionary Education Movement Of The United States And Canada. 1924. Read-Me.Org Classic Reprint 2024. .263p.

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Stanley V. McDaniel

Published in 1886, "The Philosophy of Nietzsche" delves into the revolutionary ideas of the renowned German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Exploring concepts such as the will to power, the eternal recurrence, and the Ubermensch, this influential work challenges traditional beliefs and offers a unique perspective on morality, religion, and human nature. Nietzsche's provocative writings continue to inspire scholars, thinkers, and readers around the world, making this book a timeless cornerstone of philosophical literature.

NY. Monarch Press.1063. 153p.

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Translated by Philip Vellacott

"Euripides: The Bacchae and Other Plays" presents a collection of thought-provoking dramas by the renowned ancient Greek playwright. In "The Bacchae," Euripides delves into the clash between rationality and primal instinct, exploring the consequences of denying the power of the gods. This tragedy, along with other plays like "Ion" and "Iphigenia at Aulis," showcases Euripides' ability to weave complex characters and timeless themes into captivating narratives. Through his exploration of human nature, morality, and the divine, Euripides continues to captivate readers with his enduring insights into the human experience. This collection offers a compelling glimpse into the dramatic world of one of the greatest playwrights of classical antiquity."

NY. London. Penguin. 1954. 251p.

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BY WILLIAM JAMES

"The Will to Believe: And Other Essays in Popular Philosophy" is a thought-provoking collection of essays by renowned philosopher William James. Delving into the realms of belief, faith, and truth, James challenges readers to explore the significance of our deepest convictions in shaping our lives. Through engaging prose and philosophical insight, this book invites readers to contemplate the nature of belief and the power it holds over our actions and perceptions. Whether you are an avid philosopher or simply curious about the complexities of human thought, "The Will to Believe" offers a compelling journey into the realms of popular philosophy that will leave you questioning your own beliefs and values.

Longnans Green. Project Gutenberg. 1896. 173p.

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By Wiliam James

"The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature" by William James is a timeless exploration of the diverse ways individuals experience and express their spirituality. Published over a century ago, this seminal work delves deep into the psychology of religion, examining the fundamental nature of religious beliefs, rituals, and mystical encounters across different cultures and traditions. Drawing from an extensive range of examples, James offers profound insights into the profound impact of religious experiences on human consciousness, behavior, and overall well-being. A thought-provoking and insightful read, this book continues to resonate with readers seeking a deeper understanding of the complex tapestry of human spirituality."

NY. Longmans Green. Project Gutenberg. 1902. 336p

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By William James

In this highly anticipated sequel to the influential work 'Pragmatism,' author A continues to delve into the intricate nature of truth and reality. Building upon the foundations laid out in the original book, 'The Meaning of Truth' takes readers on a thought-provoking journey exploring the complexities of how we perceive and understand the world around us.

Through engaging prose and compelling insights, A challenges readers to reconsider their preconceptions about truth, inviting them to question the very essence of reality. This sequel is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of pragmatism and its implications on our daily lives.

'The Meaning of Truth' promises to be a captivating continuation of A's exploration into the fundamental concepts that shape our understanding of truth and existence. Dive into this enlightening sequel and discover a new perspective on the profound mysteries of the world we inhabit.

Project Guttenburg. 1909. 86p.

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BY FLOYD L. RUCH AND PHILIP G. ZIMBARDO.

Psychology and Life, authored by Floyd L. Ruch and Philip G. Zimbardo, offers an insightful exploration of the intricate relationship between psychology and everyday existence. Delving into the complexities of the human mind, this book provides a compelling analysis of various psychological principles and their profound impact on our lives. Through engaging narratives and thought-provoking examples, Ruch and Zimbardo skillfully guide readers on a journey of self-discovery and understanding. With a blend of academic rigor and practical relevance, Psychology and Life is a captivating read that sheds light on the mysteries of human behavior and cognition, making it a must-have for anyone seeking to unravel the enigmas of the mind.

London. Scott, Foresman. 1971. 329p.

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Derek Wright

Derek Wright's work on the psychology of moral behavior delves into the intricate mechanisms and underlying motivations that drive human ethical decision-making. Through his research, Wright sheds light on how individuals navigate complex moral dilemmas, exploring the interplay between cognitive processes, emotions, and societal influences. By examining the factors that shape our moral compass, Wright's insights contribute to a deeper understanding of human behavior and morality. His work prompts critical reflection on the intricacies of ethical decision-making and offers valuable perspectives on the complexities of human nature.

London. PELICAN. 1971. 287p.

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Soren Kierkegaard. Translated by ALEXANDER DRU. Introduction by WALTER KAUFMANN

THE PRESENT AGE

In "The Present Age," Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard reflects on the state of society during his time, critiquing the lack of passion, depth, and authenticity in the modern age. He delves into the concept of constant distraction and the rise of a superficial culture driven by the pursuit of instant gratification. Kierkegaard challenges readers to question the values and norms prevalent in society, encouraging them to seek a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.

OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GENIUS AND AN APOSTLE

Exploring the distinction between a genius and an apostle, Kierkegaard delves into the realms of individuality and universality. While a genius may possess exceptional talent and creativity, an apostle embodies a higher calling, serving as a messenger of profound truths and ideals. Kierkegaard emphasizes the transformative power of faith and purpose in distinguishing between mere brilliance and true enlightenment, inviting readers to contemplate the significance of their contributions to the world.

HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK. 1962. 103p.

By William James

"PRAGMATISM: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking" delves into the philosophy of pragmatism, shedding light on how this approach offers a fresh perspective on age-old concepts. In this insightful exploration, readers are invited to reconsider traditional modes of thought through the lens of pragmatism, which emphasizes practicality and real-world application. This thought-provoking book challenges readers to reflect on the ways in which pragmatism can reshape their understanding of familiar ideas, making it a must-read for those seeking a more pragmatic approach to navigating the complexities of life.

Harvard 1907. 80p.