The Latin American Report # 543

The Spanish agency EFE reports from Miami that two organizations advocating for Latino immigrant rights have criticized a controversial agreement between Medicaid and Medicare services with the department led by Kristi Noem, which would allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to access the data of nearly 80 million users, potentially weaponizing the public health system to strengthen actions aimed at immigration raids and deportations. "Sharing Medicaid data with ICE is a violation of trust and privacy. Nearly 80 million Americans could be affected. This measure turns healthcare into a weapon," stated the organization Unidos US, arguing that the agreement could result in many families not joining the critical health program, established during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration.

About 27 million Latinos would be included in it, according to another organization, Voto Latino, which stated in a press release that what is happening constitutes "an unprecedented violation of public trust." "The use of healthcare data as a weapon to enforce immigration laws is a blatant abuse of power and an alarming escalation of the Trump administration's ongoing immigration control measures," they added.

Alligator Alcatraz

Besides sending migrants—in this case, it seems, actual convicts—to Africa's last absolute monarchy, the inhumane conditions faced by those detained in the already infamous immigrant detention center called Alligator Alcatraz have also been making headlines. Activists report that at least six people are hospitalized, potentially victims of the environment in which the facility, recently built in record time by Ron DeSantis's government, is located, surrounded by wetlands housing alligators, pythons, and ferocious mosquitoes, estimated to number around 7 billion, carrying viruses such as Everglades, Zika, dengue, and West Nile.

"[Alligator Alcatraz] is an atrocity in our community," said Tessa Petit, a leader of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, in a statement, arguing that the detention center mimics the concept of concentration camps. "Prolonged exposure to heat not only facilitates the spread of germs and viruses but can also cause serious health problems, even cardiac arrest," she added. "Detainees report sleeping in overcrowded spaces, drinking water from outlets connected to toilets, constant exposure to light, and denial of medical care. Additionally, there have been sewage overflows flooding cages with feces," denounces the spokesperson for the organization Dream Defenders.

Brazil

We update the tense political situation in Brazil, whose echo now resonates strongly, more than ever, on Pennsylvania Avenue, which, in turn, wants to have a say in it. As we warned in our last report, the Brazilian Federal Police are investigating whether Jair Bolsonaro and his son Eduardo—based in the U.S.—have lobbied the White House to impose sanctions on public officials involved in the trial against the former conservative president, which is underway in the Supreme Court of the South American giant. Trump has threatened that if the case is not dismissed, he will impose 50% tariffs on Brazilian products in the U.S., framing the case against his loyal friend as a "witch hunt," a trademark rhetoric of his.

The Supreme Court has recently issued precautionary measures against Bolsonaro Sr., accusing him of coercion, obstruction of justice, and an attack on national sovereignty. Among the material impacts of the new action, which the former military leader portrays as an attempt at total humiliation, are the use of an electronic ankle monitor and a ban from accessing his social media, where yesterday he shared a letter of support sent by Trump. The controversial judge Alexandre de Moraes, overseeing the coup-related case that could sentence him to around 40 years in prison, argues that the Bolsonaros seek "to induce, instigate, and assist a foreign government in committing hostile acts against Brazil and in the ostensible attempt to subject the Supreme Court's functioning to the U.S., with the goal of [dismissing or extinguishing]" it.

The ultraconservative politician, who now also faces a sort of curfew between 7:00 PM and 7:00 AM, refers to his son's actions as efforts for justice, as a fight for "democracy and freedom." Cleverly, he has also suggested that he could directly intervene with Trump regarding the trade conflict if he is allowed to leave the country exclusively for this purpose. By the way, in a video sent to Trump, Bolsonaro portrays in his own way the charges he faces, seemingly implying that the issue for which he is being tried relates to the January 8, 2023 riots, where, admittedly, his refusal to acknowledge his defeat had an indirect effect. In reality, he is being tried for his alleged involvement in a plan to prevent Lula's inauguration by exploiting state apparatus through illegal proposals, among other crimes.