Transcript

9.8.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post from Monday,
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September eighth, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, radio Y
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. Your reader for to day is Cindy Fraser.
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To day's front page headlines from the Washington Post are
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workers to be sent back to South Korea, deal with
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US to release more than three hundred nationals detained in
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work site raid. Next. Job seekers are facing worse conditions
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in years inflation, tariff concerns and the shift to a
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I drive labor market gridlock Our next headline, Russian strikes
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batter keys airlessault is largest of war. Main government buildings
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set ablaze. Next, ice to reopen prisons that were beset
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by riding abuse. Advocates ay doing so would put emigrant
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detainees at risk. Next, Agent holmes are crumbling across US.
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More Americans are living in unsafe housing that tests their
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finances and their self esteem. The final headline from today's
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front page GMU president keeps head high as conservatives target
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him and his school. Also on the front page is
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a photo headline off to a good start. The caption.
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Zach Ertz scored the game's first touchdown for the Commanders
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in their twenty one to six season opening victory over
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the New York Giants at Northwest Stadium, then joined fellow
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tight end John Bates in a celebratory leap. Washington's newcomers,
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including Deebo Samuel Sr. Played outsized roles in their win.
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Now let's turn to our first item entitled workers to
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be sent back to South Korea. Deal with US to
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release more than three hundred nationals detained in work site
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raid by Annevil Timpson, Michel ye He Lee, and Douglas Macmillan.
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South Korean workers who were detained in a large scale
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immigration raid at a Hondai factory in Georgia will be
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released and flown home as part of a deal with
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the United States, the country's presidential office said Sunday. The
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agreement comes just days after Korean officials said that more
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than three hundred of the country's nationals were detained Thursday
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by U S law enforcement agents during the largest work
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side enforcement operations so far in President Donald Trump's second term.
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The workers will be flown to South Korea around Wednesday,
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According to a South Korean national news agency. The White
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House did not respond to requests for comment. The agreement
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comes at a delicate time for relations between Washington and Seoul,
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an important US ally. The country's leaders held cordial talks
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at the White House last month amid strayed negotiations over tares,
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and after Trump threatened on social media before the meeting
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that the US might stop doing business with the country.
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The electric vehicle battery plant under construction in Georgia, a
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joint venture between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, which is
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part of the broader LG Group, represents a significant foreign
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investment in the United States. In twenty twenty three, Georgia
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Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, called it the largest project
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in state history. The Trump administration's raid at the work
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side came as a surprise to many in South Korea.
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On Saturday, Cho Hun, the country's foreign minister, said the
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government was deeply concerned and felt a heavy sense of
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responsibility over the arrests of our nationals. Trump on Sunday
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night supported the U S Emigration and Customs enforcement operation
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in Georgia. I am hereby calling on all foreign companies
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investing in the United States to please respect our nation's
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immigration laws, he posted on social media. Your investments are welcome,
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and we encourage you to legally bring your very smart
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people with great technical talent to build world class products,
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and we will make it quickly and legally possible for
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you to do so. What we ask in return is
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that you hire and train American workers, Trump added. Trump
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plans to travel to South Korea in October, coinciding with
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the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Form to be held there,
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to discuss economic collaboration, CNN reported Saturday, citing three unnamed
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administration officials. A State Department spokesperson declined to comment. In July,
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Trump said he had reached a deal with South Korea
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to bring down an announced tariff rate of twenty five
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percent to fifteen percent, stressing as a country would invest
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three hundred fifty billion dollars in the US and purchase
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one hundred billion dollars in American energy. Many South Korean conglomerates,
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such as Hyundai and al g would play a big
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role in driving those investments. In recent weeks, Hondai has
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pledged to invest twenty six billion dollars in the United States.
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Hundai said in a statement that none of the four
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hundred seventy five people arrested Thursday were employed directly by
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the company. Citing a statement from LG Energy Solution South Korea,
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jan hopped News reported that forty seven of the detained
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workers were LG Energy Solution employees, forty six were South
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Korean and one was from Indonesia, and about two hundred
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fifty were subcontractors. Video released by ICE showed workers being
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lined up outside the factory, padded down by officers and
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put into handcuffs. The majority of them were taken to
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an ICE detention center in Fuxton, Georgia. According to a
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news briefing Friday by Stephen Schrenck, a Special Agent in
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charge of Homeland security investigations in Georgia and Alabama. Schrank
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said some of the workers had crossed into the country illegally,
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some were working in violation of their visas, and some
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had overstayed their visas. The rest were part of an
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ongoing months long investigation that involved multiple federal agencies, he said,
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adding that no criminal charges have been filed yet. Sarah Owings,
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an immigration attorney who was representing about thirty of the
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South Koreans, arrested in the raid. Said many of the
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people detained came to the US only recently under visas
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that permitted them to work in limited capacities as a
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Hyundai plant. She said her clients maintained they had not
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violated the terms of these visas. This is going to
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be very alarming to the business community if people can
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be arrested and prosecuted on immigration proceedings on this basis,
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Owings said, it is going to make people think twice
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about establishing factories in the United States. At a government
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meeting on Sunday, South Korea's presidential Chief of Staff Knganseik
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pledged to work on reviewing and improving the visa system
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for workers traveling to the U S to prevent similar
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incidents in the future. Yonap News reported US borders are
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Tom Homan said Sunday that he expects the administration to
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perform a lot more work side enforcement operations like the
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Hundai factory raid. No one hires an elegal alien out
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of the goodness of their heart, homand said in an
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appearance on CNN, they hire them because they can work
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them harder, pay them less, and undercut the competition that
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hires US citizen employees they drive wages down. Next an
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item entitled Russian strikes batter Kiv aerial assault is the
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largest of war. Main government building set ablaze by Shiavan
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O'Grady and Sera Morgunov from Kiev. Russia unleashed its largest
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ever a assault on Ukraine early Sunday, sending more than
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eight hundred drones and thirteen missiles into the country in
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an hour's long attack that set the main government building
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in Kiva blaze for the first time during the war.
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A Russian drone also struck a residential building in the capitol,
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killing at least three people, including a mother and her
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infant son. At least twenty other people were wounded. In Kiev,
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officials said the morning attack sent residents running to bomb
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shelters as plumes of smoke rose over the city center.
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The assault marked the largest number of Russian drones sent
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into Ukraine in a single day, and continued a worrying
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trend of increased Russian attacks on the center of the
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capital following another major strike on Kiv last week. Such killings,
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now when real diplomacy could already have begun, are a
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deliberate crime and an attempt to prolong the war. Ukrainian
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President Wolodamyzealinski wrote on telegram, it has been said more
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than one in Washington that sanctions will follow for refusing
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to talk. We must implement everything that was agreed upon
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in Paris. Zelensky's comments appeared to be directed at President
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Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to impose tougher sanctions
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on Russia. Kiev, pointing to a wave of recent deadly
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attacks against civilians, has urged Washington to follow through. When
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last Sunday outside the White House whether he was ready
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to impose more sanctions on Russia, Trump replied, yes, I am.
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His chief economic advisor, Kevin Hassett, called the Russian attack
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on Keef very disappointing and said it may warrant additional sanctions.
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I'm sure that there's going to be a lot of
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talk today and tomorrow about the level of sanctions and
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the timing of sanctions, hast said on CBS news's Face
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the Nation. Zelensky visited Paris to meet with European and
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US officials last week and discuss future security guarantees for
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his country in the event of a cease fire. Russian
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President Vladimir Putin meanwhile proposed that Zelensky visit Moscow, a
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non starter for Ky if he is serious about ending
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the war. I can't go to Moscow when my country
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is under missiles, under a tax each day, Selensky said
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in an interview with ABC News this week that aired
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Sunday morning. He said he told Trump, I'm ready for
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any kind of meeting, but not in Russia, any kind
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of meaning bilateral trilateral. Trump announced last month, after hosting
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Putin in Alaska, that the next step in talks would
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involve a face to face meeting between the Russian leader
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and Zelensky. Such a prospect briefly seemed possible, with Zelensky
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agreeing that he would be ready to meet Putin in
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various locations, including the Middle East or Europe. But Putin's
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latest comments and Moscow's relentless attacks on Ukraine suggests a
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Kremlin is not seriously engaging with the process. In addition
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to launching regular air strikes on major Ukrainian cities, Russia
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also continues to inch forward on the front line in
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Ukraine's east and south. Ukrainian officials are also pleading for
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more air defense support and weaponry to allow Ukraine to
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protect itself against Russian attacks the target civilian infrastructure. Each day,
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Ukraine's air defenses shot down or suppressed seven hundred fifty
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one drones and missiles of the more than eight hundred
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launched into the country since five p m. On Saturday,
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officials said Sunday, but the sheer number of targets is
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stretching thin Ukraines already overworked air defense systems. Prime Minister
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Julius Friydhenko visited the damaged cabinet of Minister's headquarters, posting
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footage of herself stepping through the wreckage of the historic
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building that houses offices of many of the country's top officials.
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Fire Fighters were deployed to the government headquarters all morning
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to quell the flames burning through the roof. We will
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rebuild what has been destroyed, but the live's loss cannot
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be restored. Russia continues to terrorize and murder our people
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every single day, Serdhenko wrote on x adding that Ukraine's
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partners must intensify sanctions, especially against Russian oil and gas industries,
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and most importantly, Ukraine needs weapons. Only strength can stop
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the terror and prevent Russia from killing Ukrainians every day.
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It was not immediately clear whether the building took a
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direct hit or Ukraine's air defenses had shot down the
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arm drone and a breeze sparked the fire. Helicopters swooped
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over the city for hours, pouring water onto various buildings
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that were struck over night. Drone and missile warnings continued
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to blare in the capital as fire fighters hosed down
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the government building early Sunday. As Washington Post reporters arrived
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on the scene, another Russian drone buzzed overhead, sending police
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and other emergency responders running for cover. Keith Mayor Vitali
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Klitschko said the fire in the government building followed the
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suspected downing of a drone. At one Keeve apartment building
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struck by a drone, an elderly woman named Valentina stood
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outside Sunday waiting for news of her son in law,
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Edward fifty five, who was trapped under rubble in his bedroom.
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The Post is withholding her last name because close family
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members had not yet been informed about his fate. Valentina
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said she woke up in her bedroom in the family
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apartment the moment the drone hit early Sunday. Edward's bedroom
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door was locked, and as the apartment filled with smoke,
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she ran downstairs to beg for help reaching him. A
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neighbor rushed upstairs and heard Edward confirm from the other
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side of his door that he was alive but stuck
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and needed help. Before rescue workers could reach him, the
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fire spread and his room collapsed, she said, sending several
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floors from the building crashing to the ground and bearing
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Edward under more rubble. His phone continued to ring all morning,
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but he did not answer. Valentina frantically called her daughter Techiana,
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Edward's wife, to tell her to rush to Key from
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southeastern Zabarisia region, where she is a soldier serving on
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the front line. Edward is also a soldier, she said,
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who was on three days of sickly from his job
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in an air defense unit, that his task was stopping
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these kinds of strikes. While waiting for news of Edward,
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she said, she watched her neighbor, a young man who
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was displaced from Ukraine's war tour east, screamed for his
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child and wife. The man was badly wounded and rushed
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to a hospital. Soon after, rescuers found his wife and
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infant child dead. Valentina said the couple's bed and the
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baby's crib had fallen six stories. They were a very
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beautiful family, she said. The wife was pregnant when they
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purchased the flat about six months ago. They were so
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happy and in love. I saw the bodies, she added
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she was lying on her bed face down. The apartment
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block where the families lived was originally built to house
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Ukrainians who had to flee Pripyat the city, where employees
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of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant lived until the disaster
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there displaced them in nineteen eighty six. Valentina, whose husband
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was one of the liquidators who helped clean up Chernobyl
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and later died after developing disabilities from exposure, said her
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family was the first to move into the building. Now
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it was the scene of a new tragedy. Fata Alexeviya,
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forty five, stood outside watching her six year old son
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Love play with crayons and clay as fire fighters dumped
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water on their building. They had narrowly escaped the strike,
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but all the windows in their apartment were broken. She
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was not surprised the attacks continued despite recent peace talks.
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Russia just wants to kill us, she said. Tachiana Ponomaryova, forty,
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stood outside her damaged apartment building, her trembling dog, Nika,
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an eight year old Vizla, tucked between her legs. The
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building had no bomb shelter, she said, so she rushed
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to the hallway when she heard the hum of the
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drone intensify. Then her window shattered. Such attacks on Ukraine
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will not end, she said, until Washington puts real pressure
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on Putin to stop the war. Trump's repeated shifts and
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stands toward Putin and Zelensky, at times appearing to favor
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one over the other, have deeply frustrated Ukrainians, who are
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exhausted after more than three years of full scale war
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and are desperate for an end to the violence that
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besieges their country daily. Last week, Trump suggested that a
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summit in Shanghai between Putin, Chinese president jees And Ping,
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and North Korean leader Kim Jong lung was held to
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quote conspire against the United States. Kim, who has sent
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thousands of troops to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine,
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promised to do even more for Moscow, under constant attack
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by Russia. Many Ukrainians have dismissed the recent talks hosted
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by Trump as little more than a political show that
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is allowing Putin to prolong his war. Any negotiations that
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have happened so far, Potomarova said, do not amount to progress.
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Peace talks are not happening for real. They're just fake.
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She said. What's for real is that the war continues.
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If not here, then in another city in Ukraine. If
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it's not us, it's someone else. When asked whether she
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had any message for Trump, she replied, enjoy your golf
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game while we are dying our Next article from today's
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front page is entitled job seekers are facing worst conditions
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in years. Inflation, tariff concerns and the shift to AI
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drive labor market gridlock by Taylor Telford, Jacqueline Peiser, and
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Federico Coco. It's the toughest time in years to be
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searching for work in America. New data last week showed
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a fourth month of tepid job growth and propelled joblessness
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to its highest level since late twenty twenty one, when
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the economy was still recovering from the effects of the
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coronavirus pandemic. Now, as companies wrestle with inflation, economic uncertainty,
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and trade policy whiplash. Many are shredding payrolls and shifting
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tasks to artificial intelligence while pulling in higher profits, and
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some executives are pointedly broadcasting sizable layoffs as wins, a
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sign they're making work forces leaner and more efficient. Hardly
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any corner of the economy as untouched by job cuts
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and slow down. Employment in all goods producing industries slumped
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in August, with the deepest losses coming from manufacturing and mining.
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The service sector was racked by steep layoffs in business
19:04
and professional services and it. Meanwhile, job vacancies are shrinking
19:10
as employers hold fire on hiring. Data show factor in
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dimming consumer sentiment, which hit a three months low in August,
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and conditions are ripe for labor market gridlock, said Bill Adams,
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chief economists for Comerica Bank in Dallas, leaving the economy
19:27
operating in low gear. Employers added twenty two thousand jobs
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in August, well below expectations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
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reported Friday, pushing the unemployment rate up to four point
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three percent. Meanwhile, job postings fell across nearly every sector
19:44
compared with a year ago, with the steepest declines recorded
19:48
in shock care, community and social service, scientific research, retail,
19:53
and hospitality, according to the Employment Website. Indeed, administrative roles
19:59
such as human resources and accounting also posted double digit declines.
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While the pace of the layoffs has picked up somewhat,
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the hiring rate remains quite low, said Mike Frettantoni, chief
20:11
economists and senior vice president of Research at Mortgage Bankers Association.
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Is increasingly difficult for those laid off and for new
20:19
entrants into the job market to find a position. Yet,
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while the labor market is cooling, unemployment is coming off
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years of historic loves and four point three percent recorded
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in August is a little beyond what economists deem full employment.
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And though the economic impact of teriffs is rattling consumers
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in businesses, US stock indexes are hovering near record highs,
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and the recession many predicted has yet to manifest. Some,
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including President Donald Trump, squarely blame the Federal Reserve for
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any economic weakness. He has been agitating for interest rate
20:56
cuts for months, though the Central Bank has citing economic uncertainty.
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The softening employment outlot raises the likelihood it will begin
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trimming borrowing costs in the near term. Job ads created
21:10
in the past month, which economists see as a key
21:13
gauge of current hiring intentions, suggest employers are still posting
21:17
some positions, but are either filling or withdrawing them quickly,
21:22
leaving fewer listings overall. In a broader measure of total postings,
21:26
which captures all active ads, the sharpest contractions have been
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in childcare, education, community services, and scientific research. This article
21:38
includes a table detailing the percent change in new postings
21:42
in various sectors in the economy. Meanwhile, laugh announcements keep
21:47
piling up. Technology, retail services, and finance have borne the
21:52
brunt of cuts. According to Challenge, a grand Christmas affirm
21:56
that tracks workforce reductions. The estimates do not include the layoffs,
22:01
but also early retirements and buyouts, and not every announcement
22:04
is ultimately carried out. Challenger estimates that US employers announced
22:09
more than eight hundred thousand job cuts year to day,
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the highest January to August total since twenty twenty, when
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the pandemic era down sizing pushed layoffs to record levels.
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Pharmaceutical companies, nonprofits, and warehousing also have seen sharp increases,
22:26
underscoring the breadth of pullback. Federal workforce reductions, economic and
22:31
market conditions, store and plant closings, and restructuring in bankruptcies
22:36
ranked among the most commonly cited motivations for layoffs, and
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more than ten thousand cuts were explicitly tied to artificial intelligence.
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Retail job loss is skyrocketed up two hundred forty two
22:49
percent through August compared with the same period last year,
22:53
according to Challenger, affecting roughly eighty three thousand, six hundred
22:58
fifty six positions. Meanwhile, nearly six thousand stores shuttered in
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the first half of twenty twenty five, according to data
23:05
from Corsite Research. Mark Cohen, the former director of retail
23:10
Studies at Columbia Business School, expects those numbers to grow
23:14
as retailers contend with tariff headwinds and as consumers feel
23:18
increasingly pessimistic about the economy. There's enormous uncertainty throughout the economy.
23:25
Retail and retail support is well over seventy percent of
23:28
the economy's make up, and the inputs to retail are
23:32
entirely linked to international trade, he said. In the face
23:35
of uncertainty, what choice do they have higher fewer people.
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In the past eight months, Kroger, the nation's largest supermarket chain,
23:45
has overseen three rounds of layoffs. The latest announced last month,
23:50
included one thousand corporate staff and mainly affected its technology
23:54
and digital team, according to LinkedIn posts from former employees. Nike,
24:00
which has reported softening sales and an estimated one billion
24:04
dollars a year hit from tariffs, said recently it would
24:08
lay off nearly one percent of its corporate staff, while
24:11
the sporting gear maker undergoes a realignment as a Lauder,
24:16
which expects a one hundred million dollar tariff bill this
24:19
fiscal year, cut seven thousand jobs in February, about eleven
24:23
percent of its staff. There has also been an uptick
24:26
in retail bankruptcies, which oftenly to store closures and shaved
24:30
down corporate staffs. Forever twenty one, which filed for Chapter
24:35
eleven protection in March, closed its corporate headquarters and laid
24:38
off seven hundred people. Party City, Joanne and Big Lots
24:43
shuddered stores following their bankruptcies. Meanwhile, Trump's unprecedented tariff policy
24:49
has made it nearly impossible for retailers, brands, and importers
24:53
to plan for the future, Cohen said, and thus harder
24:57
for them to justify hiring more employees. But big box
25:01
retailers will still have to beef up staffing in stores
25:05
and at fulfillment centers for the upcoming holiday shopping season. Still,
25:09
the number of seasonal openings is unlikely to match that
25:13
of previous years. I think the announcements will be conventional,
25:18
the numbers will be conservative, and the actual hiring will
25:21
be muted. It has to be, Cohen said. The tech sector,
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which shed more than one hundred fifty thousand workers in
25:29
twenty twenty four, according to independent tracker Layoffs dot f
25:33
y I, has overseen several large scale layoffs this year.
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Microsoft alone acts more than fifteen thousand despite soaring sales,
25:43
Many brands are working to free up capital for artificial
25:46
intelligence and related investments. As such, executives including Nvidia's Jensen
25:52
Huang and anthropoeg's Darya Amode are warning of the potential
25:56
for AI to spark sweeping job losses down the line.
26:00
What's less clear is to what extent the automation of
26:03
some tasks is fueling current retrenchment. Intel has cut thousands
26:08
of workers, mostly in Oregon and California and plans to
26:12
cut more as it overhauls operations. Obviously, we're taking a
26:17
lot of people out. Chief financial officer Dave Zinzer said
26:21
at an investor conference Thursday. The chip maker is trying
26:25
to winnow down roughly eleven layers of middle management that
26:29
he said slowed the company down and cost it money.
26:32
CEO Lep Bhutan has managed to cut that basically by half.
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Zinzner said, we just had a lot of people, and
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everyone has to be part of the decision. Zinzner said,
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when everyone has to be part of the decision, it
26:46
slows everything down. In late August, Salesforce CEO Mark Binnioff
26:52
said on the Logan Bartlett's Show podcast that AI is
26:56
easing workloads enough to allow him to slash four thousands
26:59
from the company's ranks because I need less heads. At Oracle,
27:04
whose stock is up more than forty percent this year
27:07
amid booming AI demand warn notices, which employers are required
27:12
to file sixty days before a mass layoff or plan closing,
27:16
show the company plans to cut thousands of jobs across Washington, Texas,
27:21
and Kansas in the coming months. Oracle did not immediately
27:25
respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post, Cisco,
27:30
whose stock is out fifteen percent of the year, said
27:33
it would cut hundreds of rolls, including many software engineers,
27:37
even as the company reported a spike in sales last quarter,
27:41
boosting its revenue beyond fourteen point five billion dollars. Cisco's CEO,
27:47
Chuck Robbins downplayed the notion of AI cutting into the
27:50
company's headcount in an August interview with c n b C,
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but he said he wants to help the engineers innovate
27:57
faster and be more productive. In energy, rising costs and
28:02
lower oil prices are causing firms to pull back, with
28:06
Haliburton joining the ranks of companies trimming head count in
28:09
recent weeks. According to reporting from Reuters, Connaco Phillips, the
28:14
oil juggernaut, announced plans this week to cut twenty to
28:18
twenty five percent of its global workforce. We are always
28:23
looking at how we can be more efficient with the
28:25
resources we have, Dennis Nuss, the company's director of media relations,
28:30
said in an emailed statement. Aaron Gregg contributed to this report.
28:37
Next an item entitled ice to reopen prisons that were
28:41
beset by riding abuse advocates say doing so would put
28:46
immigrant detainees at risk. By Douglas mac millan and Marianne Levine,
28:52
The Trump administration plans to reopen several former prisons and
28:56
detention centers that were closed by the federal government years
28:59
ago h over concerns about violence, medical neglect, and systemic understaffing,
29:05
as part of the president's plan to carry out the
29:08
largest deportation campaign in US history. Three of the facilities
29:13
in Texas, Kansas, and Georgia are on a government list
29:17
of detention centers that u S Immigration and Customs Enforcement
29:21
plans to reopen or expand by the end of this year.
29:24
According to an internal planning document obtained by The Washington Post,
29:29
all three would be operated by the companies that ran
29:32
them previously. Congress has approved forty five billion dollars to
29:36
expand immigrant detention over the next four years. Meanwhile, the
29:40
Trump administration has stripped away oversight measures and provided limited
29:45
details on how it plans to address chronic issues that
29:48
led to pass problems at these facilities, including understaffing in
29:53
remote areas. The troubled facilities were closed during the Biden
29:57
administration after serious insect and in some cases, years of
30:03
recurring problems at a sprawling Reeves County prison in West Texas,
30:07
which could hold more than four thousand people. Inmates rioted
30:11
to protest poor medical care, food, and the use of
30:14
solitary confinement, causing twenty million dollars in damage. A Senate
30:20
investigation found that a physician affiliated with the one thousand
30:24
bed Irwin County Detention Center in rural Georgia appeared to
30:28
have performed excessive, invasive and often unnecessary gynecological procedures on
30:34
dozens of women detained between twenty seventeen and twenty twenty,
30:39
and at a prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, with capacity for
30:43
about one thousand inmates, understaffing led to such a level
30:47
of violence and chaos that one federal judge characterized the
30:51
facility as an absolute hell whole. The facilities that have
30:56
been closed in prior administrations were closed for good reason,
31:00
after a lot of thought and negotiation and consideration, said
31:04
Deborah fly Shaker, former acting ice Chief of Staff under
31:07
President Joe Biden. And to reopen those without really really
31:12
clear mitigation plans and oversight and staffing models is just
31:17
a recipe for more harm to detainees. Reeves was overseen
31:22
by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Erwin by ICE, and
31:26
Leavenworth by the US Marshall Service. Representatives for the private
31:30
companies that operate the Reeves and Erwin detention facilities, Geogroup
31:34
and LaSalle Corrections, respectively, did not respond to requests for comment.
31:40
Steve Owen, a spokesman for a Corcivic, the owner of
31:43
the Leavenworth facility, said in an email that the company
31:47
meets or exceeds government standards at all of its forty
31:51
two correctional and attention facilities across the country. He said
31:55
that the Kansas prison faced security challenges related to understaffing
32:00
during a short period of its thirty years in operation,
32:03
and that the company has seen a positive response from
32:06
job seekers as it lays plans to reopen the facility.
32:10
As with any difficult situation, we sought to learn from it.
32:13
He said. Staffing was a main contributor to the challenges,
32:17
and the COVID nineteen pandemic compounded the labor issues. Trisha
32:22
mc laughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said in
32:26
an e mail statement that ICE detention centers abide by
32:29
higher standards than most prisons. She also said that the
32:33
internal planning document is still subject to changes, and the
32:37
agency may ultimately decide against issuing certain contracts. DHS noted
32:42
that funds for staff who would be responsible for medical
32:45
and detention standards compliance were included in congress and spending bill.
32:50
The Trump administration said in March that it was closing
32:54
two watchdog agencies that oversaw detention centers and investigated detainee complaints.
33:00
DHS later reversed course, but lawyers for immigrants and non
33:04
profit advocacy groups assert that deteriorating conditions at some locations
33:08
are festering unchecked. A federal judge in New York ruled
33:12
last month that ICE needed to improve conditions at a
33:16
Lower Manhattan immigration holding facilities, where detainees claimed they were
33:20
being held without beds, showers, or medical support and received
33:24
only two small meals per day. Unlike criminal detention, immigration
33:30
detention is not meant to be punitive. A Supreme Court
33:34
ruling and ICE's website state that those facing civil violations
33:39
should not be held as a form of punishment. Rather,
33:43
detention for immigration offenses is meant to insure people show
33:47
up for proceedings. Detainees at some facilities are housed in
33:52
dormitory style rooms with bunk beds and limited access to
33:55
a recreational area at certain times during the day. But
33:59
Unice Chow, Senior Council of the American Civil Liberty Union's
34:03
National Prison Project, says detainees are increasingly being locked in
34:08
sales with little access to bare necessities. Punitive conditions can
34:13
take place in a number of ways, cho said, including
34:16
deprivation of medical care, deprivation of access to council, abusive force,
34:22
severe overcrowding, remote locations, isolated detainees. Many of the facilities
34:29
that ICE plans to reopen are in remote, rural areas
34:32
where historically few people have been willing to work a
34:36
difficult job that requires frequent overtime shifts. Many state and
34:41
local prisons are already experiencing a staffing crisis, said Lauren
34:45
Brooke Eisen, who researches private prisons as a senior director
34:49
of the Breton Center's Justice Program, a nonpartisan law and
34:53
policy organization affiliated with New York University's Law School. Nearly
34:58
ninety percent of iced yases are held in facilities run
35:02
by contract companies in the private sector. These firms shifted
35:06
away from holding people on federal prisons over the past decade,
35:10
after Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden ordered the Bureau
35:14
of Prisons to phase out contracts with privately run prisons,
35:18
citing federal research showing such facilities were more likely to
35:21
have security problems and do not substantially save taxpayers money.
35:26
President Donald Trump has reversed these policies, but federal prison
35:30
contracts have continued to wind down, and private prison companies
35:35
now own many empty facilities. This year, I started working
35:39
with contractors to convert a few of those prisons into
35:42
immigrant detention centers, including in Michigan and Tennessee, and plans
35:48
to issue many more contracts in the coming months. The
35:51
Reefs County Detention Center, located in the remote trans Pacos
35:56
region of West Texas, was so hard to staff when
35:59
it received a contract in two thousand seven to house
36:02
migrant men that officials eliminated the minimum required staffing levels
36:06
determined by the federal government. According to a twenty fifteen
36:10
audit by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General,
36:14
the unusual concession meant Reeves was rarely, if ever fully staffed.
36:20
Reeve's remoteness contributed to a sense of guards can act
36:23
with impunity, said Lisa Graybill, former legal director for the
36:27
ACLU of Texas, who sued the federal government and the
36:31
administrators of the prison over the deaths of an undocumented
36:35
immigrant who was denied medical care at the facility. Greybill,
36:40
who litigated the case on behalf of his survivors, said
36:43
that he was epileptic and put in solitary confinement merely
36:47
because he was demanding medication. Geogroup claimed legal immunity and
36:52
said it had acted in good faith in court filings.
36:56
The case was resolved in a monetary settlement awarded to
36:59
the detail Tiney's family. The understaffing was astounding, even in
37:05
a system that flourishes and profits on what I would
37:08
call planned understaffing. Greybill said these factors contributed to a
37:14
series of riots in two thousand eight and two thousand
37:16
nine in which inmates set a mattress on fire and
37:20
destroyed property, demanding better food, medical care, and living conditions.
37:25
Three inmates were hospitalized, according to a CNN report at
37:29
the time. Graybill described the events as an act of desperation.
37:35
Two of the three units at Reeves closed in twenty
37:37
seventeen after the government did not renew its contract. The
37:42
third unit closed in twenty twenty two after the Biden
37:45
administration issued its executive order phasing out Justice Department contracts
37:50
with private prisons, saying that provide incarceration that is less
37:54
humane and less safe. ICE plans to reward GEO a
37:59
new attract to reopen reas by October and eventually to
38:03
house up to five thousand, seven hundred immigrant detainees there.
38:07
According to the internal planning document obtained by the Post,
38:11
that includes two thousand beds for unauthorized migrant parents and children,
38:16
which would make it one of the largest family detention
38:19
centers in the country. Gynecological abuse. The Erwin County Detention
38:25
Center is in the tiny town of Oscilla, Georgia, which
38:29
is more than one hundred miles from the nearest major
38:32
city and has a population smaller than some high schools.
38:36
In twenty twenty, former Erwin detainees complained that they had
38:41
undergone non consensual and unnecessary gynecological procedures, but an outside
38:46
doctor whom Erwin's medical staff had referred them to. Sarah Owings,
38:51
a Georgia based immigration attorney who represented some of the women,
38:55
alleging this treatment set the facility's location in the middle
38:59
of nowhere likely constrained its ability to higher qualified medical staff,
39:04
as well as a failure of authorities to see what
39:07
was happening to the women there. There's no oversight, she said.
39:11
When you combine that with the absolute powerlessness of the
39:14
people you are talking about detaining, that makes it possible
39:18
for bad things to happen in the dark. Studies have
39:22
shown numerous deficiencies in the health care that ICE and
39:26
its contractors typically provide detainees, from ineffective mental health screenings
39:31
to improper surgical procedures. One report last year by the
39:36
ACLU and Physicians for Human Rights found that over ninety
39:40
five percent of the deaths that occurred in ICE custody
39:43
between twenty seventeen and twenty twenty one could have been prevented.
39:48
A bipartisan Senate report in twenty twenty two found that
39:52
ICE failed to end a year's long pattern of what
39:56
medical experts described as aggressive and una ethical treatment by
40:01
a single doctor working with Erwin's detainees. Senator John Ossoff,
40:06
Democrat from Georgia, then chair of the Senate subcommittee that
40:10
led The investigation blamed ICE for not properly vetting the doctor,
40:15
and noted that he had been previously sued by the
40:18
Justice Department and the State of Georgia for allegedly performing
40:22
excessive and unnecessary procedures. He had also been dropped by
40:27
a major insurer for excessive malpractice cases and was not
40:30
board certified, the report said. At the time, an ICE
40:35
health Care official testified that the agency did not find
40:38
evidence of such procedures, but immediately stopped sending patience to
40:42
the doctor out of an abundance of caution. A representative
40:46
from Losalle Corrections, the Erwin operator, testified that ICE was
40:51
solely authorized and responsible for vetting and credentialing all off
40:55
site medical providers. The doctor has denied any wrongdoing. Elaura Mukherjee,
41:02
a law professor at Columbia University who filed a class
41:06
action complaint against the facility, said that the gynecological abuse
41:10
was one piece and a horrifying scene of myriad problems.
41:14
The case was subbed last year. The Biden administration ended
41:19
ICE's contract with Erwin in twenty twenty one. Irwin is
41:23
on the list of facilities for which ICE plans to
41:26
issue a new contract in the coming months. According to
41:29
the agency planning document, Trump's borders are Tom Homan has
41:35
repeatedly said that expanding ICE's detention capacity is necessary to
41:39
arrest and apport more people. The more beds we have,
41:43
the more success we're going to see, he told reporters
41:46
at a press briefing in Washington last month. Communities on
41:51
edge with the reopening of these facilities. Some people who
41:55
lived near them see the problems of the past as
41:59
reason to worry about what happens next. A group of
42:02
residents in Leavenworth has come together to oppose the planned
42:06
reopening of the local prison as an ICE facility, writing
42:10
newspaper editorials, putting up yard signs, and stating protests. They
42:15
contend that the facility's owner, Corsivic, presided over an era
42:19
in which the prison failed to keep its guards and
42:22
inmates safe. A judge in Kansas issued a temporary injunction
42:27
this summer, blocking Corsivic from reopening the facility without a
42:31
local permit or sagna from a court. Corcivic is appealing
42:35
that decision. Corcivic operated the former maximum security prison before
42:41
closing it in twenty twenty one after the ACLU wrote
42:44
a letter to the White House claiming that understaffing and
42:48
rampant drug used by prisoners created an unruly atmosphere where
42:52
beatings and bloodshed were the norm at the time. A
42:56
corcivic representative described the allegations in a letter as false
43:01
and defamatory and designed to exert political pressure. William Rogers,
43:07
a former guard at the Luvenworth facility, said in an
43:10
interview that he was assaulted seven times during the five
43:14
years he worked there from twenty sixteen to twenty twenty,
43:18
including once when he was stabbed korsoviks Owen said the
43:22
company has hired about one hundred thirty of the three
43:25
hundred staff it expects to need at the facility, and
43:29
plans to pay them a starting wage of twenty eight
43:31
dollars twenty five cents an hour, slightly higher than the
43:35
median wage for correctional officers last year according to the
43:38
Bureau of Labor Statistics. The facility is about thirty miles
43:42
from Kansas City, closer to a major city than many
43:46
other detention centers. Owen said the facilities are regularly subject
43:51
to independent audits without any prior notice, and that the
43:54
company sees as its responsibility to care for each person
43:58
respectfully and human while they receive the legal due process
44:02
that they are entitled to. Rogers, a member of the
44:06
local community who has participated in recent protests against Corsivic,
44:11
said he nonetheless fears that conditions could be worse than
44:14
they were before, in part because the Trump administration's aggressive
44:19
approach to arresting and deporting people might foster an atmosphere
44:23
of carelessness toward migrants. There's growing to be a whole
44:27
different level of how these people are treated, Rogers said.
44:31
Aaron Schaeffer contributed to this report. Our next item is
44:36
entitled aging homes are crumbling across the US. More Americans
44:42
are living in unsafe housing that tests their finances and
44:46
their self esteem by Tim Craig from Philadelphia. Even has
44:52
her pre World War II era house falls apart around her,
44:56
Bernardette Rhyes Hobson tries not to feel like a failure
45:00
of a homeowner. Her home is still her refuge, giving
45:03
her space to sip tea while staring at family photographs
45:07
head line the walls. But there is a trash can
45:10
size hole in her living room ceiling, caused by water
45:14
that continually drips on piles of dank plaster and crumbled
45:17
wooden beams on the floor, a gaping hole in her
45:20
basement water heater spills even more water onto her belonging,
45:25
and when Reese Hobson steps into her shower, she fears
45:28
she could fall through the wobbly floor because the pipes
45:32
underneath her are corroded. I've tried to keep up the
45:35
home and pay bills, and I just couldn't keep up,
45:38
said Reese Hobson, sixty three, a retired social worker and
45:42
daycare attendant who now lives off a one thousand, four
45:45
hundred dollars a month Social Security payment. It became one
45:49
thing after another and has been like a domino effect
45:52
in this house. Across the nation, and especially here in Philadelphia,
45:58
home owners are increasingly struggling to maintain and repair aging
46:02
homes that are withering, crumbling, and forcing homeowners to exist
46:07
in almost unlivable conditions. According to the National Association of
46:12
home Builders, the average U S home is forty years old,
46:16
up from thirty one years old fifteen years ago. Homes
46:20
tend to be the oldest in the Northeast and mid
46:22
Atlantic states and along the Appalachian Mountains. Repair costs are
46:27
rising and homeowners face one hundred billion dollars in needed maintenance,
46:32
according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Analysts say
46:37
the problems associated with deferred maintenance and dilapidated properties spend
46:41
both rural and urban properties, resulting in structure collapses of
46:45
occupied properties in Pittsburgh, Reading, Pennsylvania, Syracuse, New York, and elsewhere. Philadelphia,
46:53
one of the nation's oldest cities, has emerged as a
46:57
center for the problem and the debate about whether government
47:00
that can or should step in. City records show forty
47:04
percent of houses in the city were built before nineteen
47:07
thirty nine, with nearly two thirds built before nineteen fifty four.
47:12
Philadelphia also has a home ownership rate that far out
47:16
ranks most other major East Coast cities, about fifty three
47:20
percent according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, but Philadelphia ranks
47:25
as the poorest big city in the nation, with about
47:28
one in five residents living in poverty. It's the perfect
47:33
chaos for a storm for upkeep of properties, said Angela D. Brooks,
47:38
Philadelphia's chief Housing and Urban Development officer. We have people
47:42
who have the benefit of being able to afford a
47:44
house or maybe they inherited it, but they don't quite
47:48
have the money to do even basic systems repairs. For years,
47:53
the hole got bigger. Rhys Hobson, who lives in Philadelphia's
47:57
Mount Airy neighborhood, purchased her three bedroom row house in
48:01
two thousand one for seventy five thousand dollars. A single
48:05
mother who never recalls earning more than one thousand, six
48:08
hundred dollars a week, Reese Hobson said the property was
48:12
her life goal, as had provided a stable upbringing for
48:16
her three children. City record show the house was built
48:19
between nineteen thirty four and nineteen forty two. The house
48:23
includes a quaint living room with a fireplace, a dining room,
48:27
hardy wooden stairs, and a second floor bathroom with a
48:30
standalone tub and a separate shower. I got the home
48:34
on my own, Terese Hobson said. I would say for
48:37
at least ten or fifteen years, it was a beautiful house.
48:41
But about five years ago a bathroom pipe burst and
48:45
she was unable to pay for repairs. Reese Hobson watched
48:49
for years as the water dripped into a living room
48:52
and the hole in the ceiling continued to expand. Other
48:56
elements of her plumbing system also failed. The faucet in
49:00
her bathtub now runs continually, and the water has seeped
49:03
throughout the foundation of the house, causing the ceiling above
49:06
her living room to also sag. Meanwhile, another water leak
49:11
in the kitchen has caused a Florida buckle and become
49:14
covered in rust and mildew. The problems in the kitchen
49:17
also degraded the stove, causing the local gas company to
49:21
cut off service to her home, Reese Hobson said. Reese
49:25
Hobson said coming up with money to fix the problem
49:27
became impossible, especially after she retired last year due to
49:32
chronic weakness. Reese Hobson's autistic, thirty seven year old son
49:36
lives in the house and receives about one thousand, three
49:39
hundred dollars a month in Social Security due to his disability.
49:43
About half of their combined income pays, at one thousand
49:46
dollars a month mortgage and utility bills. Reese Hobson said
49:51
she has thought about selling the house, even for a
49:54
lesson she paid for it, but worries she wouldn't be
49:57
able to find a rental unit as cheap as her
50:00
mortgage for now. Rhese Hobson said she just tries to
50:04
enjoy her house as much as she can. It makes
50:07
me feel like it's all my fault that the home
50:09
is in such bad, bad shape, she said. I don't
50:13
think my self esteem as a homeowner can go any
50:15
lower conditions that other people would be appalled at. Philadelphia
50:22
leaders and social service agencies say growing numbers of families
50:26
now live in properties that are teetering on becoming uninhabitable.
50:30
Emily Shapira, president of the Philadelphia Energy Authority, said problems
50:35
include plaster and bricks falling off facades, collapsed chimneys, porches
50:40
that have caved in, mold, unsimple flooring, non functioning kitchens
50:45
and bathrooms, and even trees that are growing through the
50:48
backs of houses. People have adjusted to living in conditions
50:53
that other people would be appalled at. Shapira said, anyone
50:58
can get into this situation, and we have seen that
51:01
can be true across every neighborhood and income spectrum. Because
51:05
deferred maintenance is tough, Shapiro said Philadelphia has at least
51:11
sixty thousand houses that are in a pretty difficult situation
51:15
and need immediate repairs. Nationwide, about six point seven million
51:20
households are living in inadequate properties, according to the US
51:24
Census Bureau. Just on my block, if you saw ninety
51:29
percent of the roofs, you would look and say, all
51:31
of those roofs need to be replaced, said Bill mc kinney,
51:35
executive director of the New Kensington Community Development Corporation, which
51:39
is in central Philadelphia. There is a house at the
51:43
back of my house where I can look and see
51:46
their kitchen through the brick work. I can see through
51:49
the holes. In March, an eighty one year old woman
51:53
was killed when the floor inside her house collapsed in
51:56
an upper middle class neighborhood in northwest Philadelphia. According to
52:00
the city Fire Department, Patricia Terry died of blunt impact injuries.
52:05
According to the Medical Examiner's Office, a few months before
52:09
the collapse, neighbor James Williams had called the city three
52:12
one one service to report the property was in distress.
52:16
I just saw the roof was in such disrepair it
52:19
was separating from the foundation, he said. City records estimate
52:23
Terry's house was constructed around nineteen sixty. Michael Slade, another
52:28
neighbor whose house was built about the same time, said
52:31
the cost to maintain houses in the neighborhood has been soaring.
52:36
He recently had to pay nineteen thousand dollars to replace
52:39
his heating system. It would be hard to thrive in
52:43
any of these homes making under a hundred thousand dollars
52:46
a year, and that's minimal, said Slade, forty four, who
52:50
assesses at risk children and inherited his house from his grandparents.
52:55
Life saving and life changing repairs. David Thomas, president of
53:01
the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation, said he hears from home
53:05
owners or their neighbors every day expressing concerns that a
53:09
property could collapse. When that occurs, Thomas said he connects
53:14
people with the Philadelphia Basic System Repair Program, which awards
53:18
low income homeowners grants of up to forty thousand dollars
53:22
to fix structural, roofing, electrical, and major plumbing problems. The
53:27
city funded program, which costs about fifty million dollars annually,
53:31
has a five thousand person waiting list. In recent months,
53:35
Philadelphia Mayor Cherrell Parker, a Democrat, has pushed through a
53:39
plan to borrow eight hundred million dollars to build and
53:43
preserve thirty thousand affordable housing units over the next four years.
53:49
A significant portion of the money would be allocated toward
53:52
helping homeowners remain in existing properties. We believe the most
53:57
affordable home is a home that you currently live in,
54:00
Thomas said. Another city program, Built to Last, also works
54:05
with low and moderate income households to do comprehensive repairs
54:09
on distressed properties. In twenty twenty two, Pennsylvania allocated one
54:14
hundred twenty five million dollars from the Biden Administration's American
54:18
Rescue Plan to pay for major home repairs throughout the state.
54:23
About eight million dollars of that money when to Build
54:26
to Last, but Shapira, who administers a program, said it
54:30
has a four thousand person waiting list and is out
54:33
of money. Governor Josh Shapiro, Democrat, is seeking fifty million
54:38
dollars for a statewide program that would benefit local initiatives
54:42
such as Built to Last. We want to avoid, at
54:45
all costs people abandoning their homes, said State Senator Nikhil Saval,
54:51
a Democrat who represents Philadelphia. You see this in cities,
54:55
but frankly, it's just as prominent in sections of northwest
54:59
or western Pennsylvania. Former coal and steel producing regions that
55:03
have lost serious amounts of money and of many older homes.
55:07
According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University,
55:11
the country's poorest homeowners spend an average of three thousand,
55:14
one hundred dollars on home improvements and repairs in twenty
55:18
twenty three, about sixteen percent of their household incomes. The
55:23
highest income owners spent more than three times that amount,
55:27
but it equaled just four percent of their incomes. Lisa
55:30
Martinez contacted Built to Last after discovering cracks on an
55:34
exterior wall of her Northeast Philadelphia house and windows that
55:38
were dry rotted in her basement. The program inspected the
55:42
home and paid for new windows, electrical wiring, and air ducks.
55:47
I had been depressed and scared, not knowing what to do,
55:50
where to go, and how to get help, said Martinez,
55:53
who earns two thousand, one hundred dollars a month in
55:56
Social Security benefits. Now this is life saving and life
56:00
life changing because I am finally feeling secure in my
56:03
own home. Evelyn Texeira, sixty eight, who uses a wheelchair
56:08
after she lost both of her legs due to diabetes,
56:11
got seventy thousand dollars from repairs to her leaky bathroom
56:15
and unstable kitchen floor. From the program, the house would
56:19
have fallen down, Tixia said, the bathroom was leaking and
56:23
everything was leaking, and I just know everything would have
56:26
collapsed if it wasn't fixed. Rhes Hobson, who needs about
56:31
fifty thousand dollars in repairs to her house, is still
56:34
waiting to see whether built a last can salvage her property.
56:38
I realize this is my last chance, probably to keep
56:41
this home, she said. The last item from to Day's
56:45
front page is entitled g M Your President keeps head
56:49
high as conservatives target him and his school by Dan
56:55
Rosenswick Zif and Karina Elwood. Most presents of universities targeted
57:01
by the Trump administration have kept their heads down. Not
57:05
Gregory Washington. When the Trump administration announced the first of
57:09
four civil rights probes in a George Mason University in July,
57:13
the president of Virginia's largest four year public university sent
57:17
a campus wide letter defending the school's efforts to combat
57:20
anti Semitism. He would later send similar letters about its diversity,
57:25
equity and inclusion programs. An engineer by training, Washington is
57:29
a planner by nature. When he became George Mason's first
57:33
black president, the latest of many barriers he has broken,
57:37
he vowed to faculty to over communicate so he couldn't
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stay silent when the allegations of civil rights violations came.
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I don't run from the hard issues, Washington said in
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an interview, I run to them. I don't ask people
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to agree with me, just to enter a dialogue with me.
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And interviews seventeen current and former colleagues of Washington, including deans, professors,
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vice presidents, and four past board chairs, described the fifty
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nine year old as methodical, intensely prepared, principled, and at
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times aggressive. Too criticized him for prioritizing diversity too much,
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alleging that he pushed faculty to consider race in hiring. Unfortunately,
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due to the constraints of time, we will be unable
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to complete this item. This concludes the readings of The
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Washington Post for to Day, Monday, September eighth, twenty twenty five.
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Your reader to day has been Cindy Fraser. If you
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have any question, comments, or suggestions concerning this program, please
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feel free to call us at A five nine four
58:41
two two six three nine zero. Thank you for listening,
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and now please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio
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I