IRTF News

This article by Consortium News examines the Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDEs) in Honduras and how tech billionaires like Peter Thiel profit of neocolonialist enclaves, allowed to have their own government, police force, courts, laws and any taxes collected, while indigenous people that have been dependent on that very land are subjected to exploitation, persecution and displacement.  

This CBS article takes a look at th testimony of whistleblower Ryan Schwank, a former career ICE employee who resigned in February 2026.

Support a historic shift in U.S. foreign policy. House Resolution 1056 calls for ending the Monroe Doctrine and building a “New Good Neighbor” relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean. Urge your US representative to co-sponsor this landmark resolution acknowledging two centuries of intervention and injustice. 

IRTF board member Ape Bleakney is one of the artists featured here, communicating political messaging through artistic expression. Ape blendis her social advocacy and community engagement with her art. Her recent series of silkscreen posters (proceeds  donated to immigration support organizations) directly confront ICE imagery.

This article by ProPublica examines the special treatment enjoyed by convicted then pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, former President of Honduras, who was imprisoned for accepting bribes and allowing traffickers to export more than 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S.

On the 60th anniversary of his death, Colombia finally recovered and returned the remains of priest, sociologist, and guerrilla fighter Camilo Torres Restrepo, ending a six-decade disappearance that began with his killing by the Army in 1966. His reburial at the National University crowns a long struggle led by social movements and human rights advocates, turning his case into a powerful symbol of the country’s broader fight for truth, memory, and justice for the disappeared.

UN experts revealed at least 80 Indigenous Guatemalan children were illegally disappeared, institutionalized, and adopted abroad, and raised alarms over alleged involvement of current attorney general Consuelo Porras. They are urging Guatemala to investigate state officials, bar rights-abusing candidates from top posts, and guarantee truth, justice, and reparations for victims.

UN experts revealed at least 80 Indigenous Guatemalan children were illegally disappeared, institutionalized, and adopted abroad, and raised alarms over alleged involvement of current attorney general Consuelo Porras. They are urging Guatemala to investigate state officials, bar rights-abusing candidates from top posts, and guarantee truth, justice, and reparations for victims.

This piece highlights five recent in-depth reports that use original data and investigative research to reveal how U.S. immigration enforcement, detention, and deportation systems are expanding and shifting in practice. It argues that careful, expert-driven analysis-—rather than headline news—-offers the clearest view of who is being targeted, how enforcement works, and who profits from it.

ICE’s detention system is expanding at an unprecedented pace, with 237 facilities now detaining migrants.  Making sense of that expansion requires making the limited data ICE releases publicly accessible and understandable. That means tools that turn spreadsheets into insight, that make facility-level information accessible to reporters on deadline, researchers conducting analysis, and advocates tracking conditions on the ground.DetentionReports.com, a public tool tracking ICE detention facilities, has launched major upgrades including an interactive national map, new comparison graphs, and an archive of ICE detention contracts.