Las Notis is a daily news column that gets you up to speed on the political, media + other goings-on in the United States, Latin America, and the diaspora—all in one quick digest.
Here’s your glimpse at what’s going on today:
-
- According to a court document filed Tuesday by the U.S. Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union, 545 children are still missing after being taken from their parents as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy at the border that resulted in thousands of family separations. The ACLU sued the government and won a court ruling to reunite families within weeks back in 2018, but about 1,000 families were not included in the order and of those, many children now can’t be located. [NPR]
- The United States Army released a statement on Tuesday saying that investigators have concluded Specialist Vanessa Guillen died “in the line of duty,” which entitles her family to her Army benefits and some compensation, as well as a funeral with full military honors. Guillen was murdered by another soldier who had repeatedly sexually harassed her; in September, the House of Representatives introduced a bill named after her that would require sexual harassment complaints involving service members be sent to independent investigators. [NYT]
- Pope Francis directly addressed the issue of civil unions in a new documentary called Francesco that debuted in Rome this week. In his remarks, the Pope affirmed his support for the legal rights of marriages in the LGBTQ community by saying, “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered. He added, “I stood up for that.” [NYT]
- César Marroquín, a 29-year-old Guatemalan man, was deported back to his country by ICE on August 19, despite the fact that he was supposed to appear that same day before a judge for his asylum hearing. ICE has admitted that deporting him was a mistake and that they did not have a deportation court order, but Marroquín still remains in Guatemala and there are no plans to bring him back or to rectify ICE’s mistake. [Mitu]
- After an arrest last Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport and an indictment on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, Mexico’s former defense minister, General Salvador Cienfuegos, is being held in U.S. custody without bail. He will remain in custody until his trial. [Reuters]
- Ahead of the soccer titan Pele’s 80th birthday, Brazilian graffiti artist Eduardo ‘Kobra’ has unveiled a massive mural to mark his place in sports history. The mural has gone up in Brazil’s n the coastal city of Santos.[BBC]
- AOC broke Twitch records after going live and inviting people to play the popular game Among US to get out the vote. More than 400,000 people tuned in, making AOC’s stream one of the most-viewed on Twitch of all time. During the game, AOC chatted about issues such as healthcare. [Remezcla]