South Korea pushed back firmly Friday on comments by U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris, who called on Seoul to consult with Washington about the South’s attempt to resume individual tourism to North Korea.  Harris said Thursday that South Korea should run the plan through a joint working group to “avoid a misunderstanding later that could trigger sanctions.”An official with South Korea’s presidential office called those remarks “very inappropriate,” while stressing Seoul continues to coordinate with Washington.”The issue of [inter-Korean] cooperation is a matter for our government to decide,” the official said.  FILE – Retired Adm. Harry Harris, currently the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, attends a ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 2019.South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, refused to directly respond to Harris’ comments, but a spokesperson said the country’s policy regarding North Korea “falls under our sovereignty.”U.S.-South Korea relations have already been strained by U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that Seoul pay substantially more of the cost of the U.S. military presence here.  The current military cost-sharing deal expired at the end of the year. A sixth round of talks ended this week without a breakthrough and U.S. officials have warned “residual funds” being used to cover the gap are running out.The issue has created unusual friction in a nearly 70-year-old alliance that both sides regularly portray as “ironclad.”Inter-Korean tiesDespite a stalemate in U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks and the consequent retention of sanctions that have prevented implementation of most aspects of inter-Korean agreements, the administration of South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said it is looking for ways to independently improve inter-Korean ties. North Korea has rejected the efforts.Harris said he thinks Moon’s “continued optimism is encouraging,” adding that it is not Washington’s job to approve South Korea’s decisions.”I think his optimism creates hope, and that’s a positive thing,” Harris said Thursday. “But with regard to acting on that optimism, I have said that things should be done in consultation with the United States.”Sanctions are just some of the hurdles that South Korea’s plans for tourism must clear. Another obstacle is North Korea.”Even if South Korea did attempt to restart tours, North Korea won’t accept the proposal right now,” said Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at South Korea’s Handong Global University. “This effort is one-sided for the time being.”North Korea last year ruled out any further dialogue with the South, accusing Seoul of prioritizing its relationship with Washington over Pyongyang.
 
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Japanese environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who has said he will take paternity leave in a rare move for a Japanese man, announced on Friday the birth of his first child: a boy.Koizumi, son of charismatic former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and seen as a future leader himself, said on Wednesday he was planning to take two weeks of leave over three months, in an effort to become a role model for Japan’s working fathers.But some lawmakers have criticized his interest in taking parental leave, saying he should prioritize his public duties.The telegenic Koizumi, popularly known as Shinjiro to distinguish him from his father, grabbed headlines in the summer of 2019 with news he was marrying Christel Takigawa, a French-Japanese television personality, and that they were expecting a child. Soon after, he was named environment minister.Koizumi told reporters he had come straight from the hospital and had been by his wife’s side for the birth. “As a father I’m really happy that a healthy boy was safely born,” a tired but happy Koizumi told a news conference. “Both of them are doing well, that’s the most important thing.”Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying to encourage more men to take paternity leave, and for businesses to allow a better work-life balance, as part of his “Womenomics” program of bolstering women’s employment.While Japan’s parental leave policies are among the world’s most generous, providing men and women with partially paid leave of up to a year, or longer if there is no public child care, just 6% of eligible fathers take child care leave, and most of them for less than a week, according to government data.’Follow his example’Koizumi acknowledged that he had heard comments both for and against his decision.”I’ll keep a priority on policy and on managing anything unexpected that comes up, while also carving out time for child care,” he said.The reaction on the streets of central Tokyo was supportive. “I think it’s a wonderful thing,” said Hitoshi Aoki, a 35-year-old company employee. “It is a very new and good thing for someone who has authority to take initiative with his action.”Kotaro Suzuki, a 22-year-old university student, said: “I hope my boss would say ‘OK’ when I request to take (paternity leave). I wish our society becomes like that.”Cabinet ministers also lauded Koizumi’s decision, with Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura – a father of three daughters – hoping it would have a positive social impact. “I hope he can take as much time as possible. It’ll be really good if many more men follow his example and take time
off.”Koizumi seemed to still be adjusting to his new role. “I don’t really feel like a father yet, but that should come soon. I want to be a father like my dad was,” he was quoted by NHK television as saying.Shinjiro’s father divorced his mother when she was pregnant with their third son and never remarried. He told the couple when they announced their marriage that everybody “should try matrimony once.” 
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Виконавчим директором з трансформації групи «Нафтогаз» став фахівець із Нідерландів Отто Ватерландер, повідомили в компанії 17 січня.

«У «Нафтогазі» Отто Ватерландер відповідатиме за трансформаційні проекти групи, зокрема впровадження нової операційної моделі та дивізіональної структури управління, реалізацію крос-функціональних процесів та розробку баз даних процесів. Він також керуватиме та братиме участь в ініціативах розвитку, які спрямовані на зростання вартості компаній групи «Нафтогаз», підвищення ефективності бізнесу та цінності для акціонерів», – йдеться в повідомленні енергетичного підприємства.

За даними «Нафтогазу», Ватерландер має 30 років досвіду роботи в нафтогазовій галузі.

Згідно з його сторінкою в професіональній соцмережі LinkedIn, Ватерландер закінчив університет Еразма в Ротердамі і спеціалізується на «допомозі вищому керівництву під час трансформаційних змін на глобальному енергетичному ринку».

Читайте також: «Путін особисто обговорював ставки транзиту та юридичні деталі газової угоди». Велике інтерв’ю з Юрієм Вітренком​

До цього він працював у проєкті «Нафта й газ» міжнародної консалтингової компанії McKinsey. Своєю основною експертизою вказує стратегічний розвиток та трансформації в у великих енергетичних компаніях.

З 1 січня 2020 року в Україні остаточно завершений так званий «анбандлінг»: відокремлення від групи «Нафтогаз» незалежної компанії «Оператор ГТС України».
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Rapper Eminem once again dropped a surprise album, releasing of “Music to be Murdered By” on Friday.The follow-up to 2018’s “Kamikaze” – also released without warning – was announced on Twitter just after midnight.The Detroit rapper also released a new music video for one of the 20 tracks on the album, “Darkness,” which depicts a shooting at a concert and includes footage of news broadcasts from recent mass shootings around the U.S. The video ends with an appeal to register to vote: “When will this end? When enough people care. Register to vote at vote.gov. Make your voice heard and help change gun laws in America.”The cover art features a bearded Eminem holding both a hatchet and a gun to his head, in apparent homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 album of the same name, Pitchfork  noted.Among many collaborators, the album features Ed Sheeran, Skylar Grey, Anderson .Paak and Juice WRLD, the 21-year-old rapper who died in December.
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Ukraine has asked the FBI in the United States for help  investigating a suspected cyberattack by Russian military hackers on Burisma, an energy company caught up in the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump.The Ukrainian interior ministry on Thursday also announced an investigation into the possible illegal surveillance of Marie Yovanovitch, formerly the American ambassador to Kiev, following the release of text messages this week by the U.S. Congress as part of the impeachment case.The FBI said it had visited the home and business of Robert Hyde, a Republican congressional candidate in Connecticut who sent the text messages to Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, that suggested Hyde had Yovanovitch under surveillance. The FBI declined to give further details.Hyde was not immediately available for comment but on Twitter he has said he has never been to Kiev and that he made up the story about keeping watch on Yovanovitch to fool Parnas.The FBI declined to comment on Ukraine’s request for help after California-based cybersecurity company Area 1 Security on Monday identified the hacking of Burisma Holdings and linked it to Russia’s Main Directorate of Military Intelligence, or GRU.Burisma was at the center of attempts by Trump in July to persuade Ukraine to announce an investigation into Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential contender, and his son, Hunter, who used to have a seat on the Ukrainian company’s board.There has been no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens, who reject Trump’s allegations of corruption.Trump’s efforts have led to him being impeached on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The president, who denies wrongdoing, faces a trial in the U.S. Senate next week.The same hacking group, known as “Fancy Bear” or “APT28″ by cybersecurity researchers, breached the Democratic National Committee in 2016 in what U.S. investigators described as part of an operation to disrupt that year’s election.Russia’s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment about Area 1 Security’s assertions.”It is noted that the hacking attack was probably committed by the Russian special services,” Ukrainian interior ministry official Artem Minyailo said at a briefing.Minyailo said Ukraine had asked the FBI and Area 1 Security for assistance regarding information that hackers stole personal employee data and emails from executives at Burisma and other companies. These other companies included the media production company of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he said.”The national police has initiated the creation of a joint  international investigation team, to which FBI representatives have already been invited by the ministry,” Minyailo said.Yovanovitch surveillance probeIt was not clear what data the hackers wanted to steal, Area 1 said. Breaching Burisma could yield communications from, to or about Hunter Biden, who served as a director between 2014 and 2019.A source close to Burisma told Reuters earlier this week the company’s website had been subject to multiple break-in attempts over the past six months but did not provide further details.Ukrainian officials said they were also probing allegations that Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine, was subject to illegal surveillance before Trump fired her in May.U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN on Thursday he had sent a letter to the State Department seeking an immediate briefing.A former senior security official with the U.S. State Department told Reuters he did not regard the Hyde text messages as constituting an actual threat to Yovanovitch.“I would have trouble going to a U.S. Attorney and saying, ‘I want an arrest warrant for this person or I want to open an investigation,’” said the former senior security official, who spoke on condition that he not be identified.“I might send somebody to talk with them and say, you know, ‘You have any intent to harm her?’ and if he says no and there’s no other evidence to the contrary … that’s probably as far as I would go.”
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Національний банк України відмовився від обмеження на використання фізичними особами-підприємцями коштів з рахунків. Про це пресслужба регулятора повідомила увечері 16 січня. Рішення Нацбанку від 15 січня набирає чинності 17 січня.

Йдеться про норму щодо порядку використання поточних рахунків ФОПів, яку містила постанова правління НБУ №162 від 27 грудня 2019 року.

«Вимога Національного банку здійснювати за поточними рахунками ФОПів лише ті розрахунково-касові операції, що не пов’язані із власними потребами, та право перераховувати кошти на власний рахунок після сплати усіх податків та зборів, викликала нерозуміння у бізнес-спільноти під час її застосування», – пояснюють у центробанку.

За твердженням НБУ, від заборони вирішили відмовитися з огляду на думку банків та їхніх клієнтів, щоб «усунути маніпуляції і можливі перешкоди для діяльності підприємців». Голова Нацбанку Яків Смолій зазначив, що подібне обмеження вимагає співпраці з Державною податковою службою.

«Я надіюся, що ми з податковою найближчим часом з’ясуємо, як правильно донести цей меседж до ринку, щоб не було подібних спекуляцій», – заявив він на брифінгу 16 січня.

При цьому, згідно з заявою НБУ, регулятор не відмовляється від своєї позиції: «з 2003 року діє норма, що поточні рахунки фізичних осіб не можуть використовуватися для проведення операцій, пов’язаних з підприємницькою діяльністю».

«Оскільки банківська система має бути захищена від ризиків здійснення фінансових операцій з ознаками фіктивності, Національний банк обговорить з Державною податковою службою механізми, спрямовані на мінімізацію таких ризиків», – обіцяють в центробанку.

27 грудня 2019 року Національний банк ухвалив зміни до Інструкції про порядок відкриття і закриття рахунків клієнтів банків та кореспондентських рахунків банків – резидентів і нерезидентів. Зміни передбачали, що власники поточних особистих банківських рахунків можуть використовувати кошти з них лише для оплати власних потреб, а не на видатки, пов’язані з підприємницькою діяльністю. Натомість кошти з рахунків ФОПів не можуть використовуватися для оплати особистих витрат – для цього їх можна перевести на власний поточний рахунок тільки після сплати податків.
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On the day his Senate impeachment trial formally began, U.S. President Donald Trump scored a bipartisan victory Thursday as the Senate passed a North American trade pact, known as USMCA. The international accord replaces the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, and governs trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico. VOA’s Ardita Dunellari looks at what this pact is expected to deliver both for the U.S. economy and for the president’s re-election campaign.
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Today she travels the world, attends a red-carpet movie premiere and sits on panels with astronauts, former presidents and feminist icons.But in the years after 9/11, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh was just a New Jersey teenager, writing a blog from her bedroom. She used the blog to connect with other young Muslim girls and defy stereotypes. At the time, the only reflections of herself in the news seemed to be men in orange jumpsuits who looked like her father and women who seemed silent and oppressed, she said.”Being bombarded with those headlines growing up and never feeling represented by them, I did what any millennial would do, which was to turn to social media,” Al-Khatahtbeh said. “I decided to put my own place out there and create that space for us to talk back.”A decade later, her MuslimGirl.com site is an online magazine with a global audience writing about how it feels to be the only woman in a hijab at a kickboxing class, offering beauty tips and covering stories of teenagers fighting Islamophobia. Last year, the domain that she bought for $7 had more than 2 million visitors.The site “is the biggest English-language online platform for Muslim women voices,” the tech entrepreneur, now 27, said at her family’s video game store in New Jersey. “Our goal is to reclaim our narrative.”Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, founder of Muslimgirl.com, left, and a potential podcast cohost, OD, start recording their pilot in a Spotify studio, Dec. 19, 2019 in New York.She was 9 when the airliners struck the World Trade Center towers, and she remembers the warning of her Jordanian immigrant father: “They’re going to blame us.”In the aftermath, she was bullied. People threw eggs at her home and slashed her mother’s tires. Her family faced such a backlash that her father temporarily relocated them to Jordan.While she is proud of being “born and raised a Jersey girl,” it was only in Jordan that she began to take pride in her roots. She learned Arabic and appreciated Middle Eastern food and hospitality. When she returned to the U.S., she began to wear a headscarf as an act of defiance against a rising anti-Muslim tide.”I lost a lot of friends, people started treating me differently,” she said. But she also became an ambassador for her faith. Students, even teachers, stopped her in school and asked about the Quran and Islam.”I had to learn as much as I possibly could about my own religion, the ins and outs of it, what Islamophobes were saying about it, so that I could understand how to respond,” she said.Eventually, she concluded that if the people around her had those questions, so did many others.She started the blog at 17 with help from friends at her local mosque. Most of the work is still a grassroots effort. Her younger brother, Ameer, a journalism student at Rutgers University, helps run communications. Although the site pays a group of editors, most articles are written by Muslim women volunteers.In this Dec. 27, 2019, photo, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, center, sits near the back of the room at the Islamic Center of New York University during Friday prayers.Muslim Girl has also partnered up with companies like ORLY for the creation of a halal nail polish and received support from the Malala Fund. Most recently, VaynerMedia founder Gary Vaynerchuk became an investor.The site’s topics — in categories like (hash)woke, (hash)fit and (hash)fierce — range widely. Posts include a list of the top 10 most beautiful verses from the Quran, a look at Marvel’s newest Muslim superhero and a story about how hijab-wearing Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad has a Barbie doll made in her likeness.The site and its founder have attracted a legion of devoted fans who follow her on social media under the hashtag “(hash)muslimgirlarmy. She also has detractors who say she is too Americanized or too progressive. Some question her appearance, such as the way she wears her hijab or shows her arms. She also has tattoos, an eyebrow ring and long manicured nails.”A lot of times, at any given moment, I can have like two completely different, opposing parties be bonded by their criticism of us,” Al-Khatahtbeh said,These days, she divides her time between Los Angeles and New York, attending meetings for potential business partners and live-recording moments of her life for Instagram and Twitter.In recent years, Forbes magazine chose her for its “30 Under 30” list of top achievers. Michelle Obama asked her to speak at the United State of Women Summit. She was also part of a panel that included female astronaut Cody Coleman and was moderated by former President Bill Clinton. Most recently, she served on an advisory committee for the live-action remake of Disney’s “Aladdin” and attended the premiere.In this Dec. 27, 2019, photo, old college friends and acquaintances Mohammed Ali, left, of Stanton Island, and Saad Khan, center, of New Jersey, and Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, founder of Muslimgirl.com, right, walk to Al-Khatahtbeh’s favorite bagel shop.”It was such a full-circle moment for me, because when I was a little girl, Princess Jasmine was one of the only representations that I had growing up,” she said.Being on the committee allowed her “to try to course-correct some of the problematic stereotypes” in the first movie, including some that she did not notice as a child.She pointed to two examples: The opening song talked about a faraway place that is “barbaric.” And Jasmine was dressed in a belly dancing outfit and chains in a “hyper-sexualized and oppressive way.”On her site, Al-Khatahtbeh is especially proud of stories that deal with race and sexuality. “Of course, female sexuality is honored within our religion, and it shouldn’t be something we shy away from or think of as a taboo.”Most of the site’s visitors live in the U.S. and Britain, and an estimated 70% are Millennials and Gen Z ages 15 to 32. One of the site’s most controversial stories was written by a Muslim transgender convert.”We want to push the envelope that way by creating that space and reminding people that they have a place within our religion,” she said. “I’m really proud of that, because one thing Muslim Girl does really well is we attract youth. They want to come in, and they want to learn more about Islam because of the way that we put it out there. We always say that our language is the Millennial tongue.”
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Фірми, пов’язані з оточенням міністра внутрішніх справ Арсеном Аваковим, отримали право видобувати тантал та золото в Кіровоградській області з порушенням процедури подачі документів на отримання спецдозволів. Про це йдеться у розслідуванні «Золото для «аваківських»?» із циклу «Схеми в регіонах» – спільного проєкту програми Радіо Свобода і телеканалу «UA:Перший» «Схеми: корупція в деталях» та Інституту розвитку регіональної преси.

Журналісти виявили, що восени 2019 року компанії «Ліра Майн Мінералз» і «Таурус Інфініті» отримали від Держгеонадр спецдозволи на видобуток коштовних руд – у Клинцівському золотому родовищі та на ділянці танталових руд родовища Мостове. При цьому, за даними «Схем», обидві компанії порушили процедуру подачі документів в Державну службу геології і надр. 

Ідеться про те, що і «Таурус Інфініті», і «Ліра Майн Мінералз» 1 та 3 липня 2019 року подали в Держгеонадра заяви на отримання спецдозволів без повного пакету документів, який передбачав Порядок їхнього надання (до набрання чинності змін 06.07.2019). Зокрема, на момент подачі і реєстрації заяв у компаній не було звітів та висновків з оцінки впливу на довкілля, звітів про громадське обговорення, які мали б подаватися разом із заявами.

Компанії «Таурус Інфініті» та «Ліра Майн Мінералз», як з’ясували журналісти, зрештою провели громадські обговорення, однак вже після подачі заяв в Держгеонадра. І, крім того, до них залучили не всіх охочих мешканців населених пунктів, біля яких планують видобування.

У відповіді журналістам Держгеонадра повідомили, що справді зареєстрували заяви до вступу в силу змін до Порядку від 06.07.2019, який дозволяв долучати пакет документів уже після реєстрації.

Однак, зазначили у відомстві, розгляд заяв від компаній завершився 10.07.2019, коли вже вступив у силу спрощений порядок, який дозволив додати пакет документів згодом.

Натомість юристка «Інституту розвитку регіональної преси» Оксана Максименюк переконана: таке пояснення не відповідає нормам закону і судовій практиці.

«Якщо брати до уваги, що зміни вступили в силу на наступний день після того, як була зареєстрована заява, то, відповідно до вимог законодавства, зокрема Конституції, яка каже, що закон не має зворотньої дії в часі, сам орган мав розглядати цю заяву відповідно до тих норм, які діяли на момент подачі заяви, – розповідає Максименюк. –  Тобто на момент реєстрації даної заяви у відповідній інстанції. З цього приводу є свіже рішення, яке набрало законної сили в листопаді минулого року, стосується також Держгеонадр. І, в даному випадку, суд першої інстанції і Апеляційний суд чітко зазначив, що заява має бути розглянута на підставі того законодавства, яке діяло на момент реєстрації заяви».

Компанії «Таурус Інфініті» та «Ліра Майн Мінералз», які отримали спецдозволи на видобуток золота та танталу на Кіровоградщині через їхніх співзасновників Олександра Настенка та Віталія Якименка, пов’язують з оточенням міністра внутрішніх справ Арсена Авакова, зокрема, Ігорем Котвіцьким – їх неодноразово досліджували у своїх матеріалах журналісти видання «Наші гроші».

Крім того, «Схеми» виявили, що син співзасновника «Ліра Майн Мінералз» і «Таурус Інфініті» Віталія Якименка Павло – народний депутат від «Слуги народу», і входить до Комітету з питань екологічної політики та природокористування.

Сам нардеп, з яким журналістам вдалося поспілкуватися в кулуарах Верховної Ради, про родинні успіхи в бізнесі особливо спілкуватися не захотів, відказавши: «Спитайте у батька». З Віталієм Якименком журналістам поспілкуватися не вдалось.

Прессекретарка Арсена Авакова заперечила зв’язок міністра з Настенком та Якименком.

 
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FBI agents on Thursday arrested a former Canadian Armed Forces reservist and two other men who have been linked to a violent white supremacist group and were believed to be heading to a pro-gun rally next week in Virginia’s capital. The three men are members of The Base and were arrested on federal charges in a criminal complaint unsealed in Maryland, according to a Justice Department news release. Tuesday’s complaint charged Canadian national Patrik Jordan Mathews, 27, and Brian Mark Lemley Jr., 33, of Elkton, Maryland, with transporting a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony. William Garfield Bilbrough IV, 19, of Denton, Maryland, was charged with transporting and harboring aliens. The three men were believed to be planning to attend the pro-gun rally planned for Monday in Richmond, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an active investigation. Mathews and Lemley were arrested in Delaware and Bilbrough was arrested in Maryland, according to Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland. All three men were scheduled to make their initial court appearances Thursday afternoon in Greenbelt, Maryland. Search since SeptemberU.S. and Canadian authorities had been searching for Mathews since his truck was found in September near the border between the two countries. He was last seen by family members in Beausejour, northeast of Winnipeg, on August 24, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Canadian military’s intelligence unit was investigating Mathews for possible racist extremist activities'' for several months, according to the Canadian Department of National Defence. Lemley also is charged with transporting a machine gun anddisposing of a firearm and ammunition to an alien unlawfully present in the United States.” The Anti-Defamation League said members of The Base and other white supremacist groups have frequently posted online messages advocating for accelerationism,'' a term “white supremacists have assigned to their desire to hasten the collapse of society as we know it.”  The term is widely used by those on the fringes of the movement, who employ it openly and enthusiastically on mainstream platforms, as well as in the shadows of private, encrypted chat rooms,” the ADL says. 
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Maria Campos sits in the backseat of a car with her grandchildren, her eyes welling with tears as the immigration center comes into view.The seven-hour drive from North Carolina to the Stewart Detention Center in a remote corner of southwest Georgia has become all too familiar. One of her sons was held here before being deported back to Mexico last year, leaving behind his wife and children, who accompany Campos now. Campos fears her other son will meet the same fate after being detained when police were called on his friend.”I said, ‘Don’t tell me this,'” she recalls saying to the jail officer when she learned her son had be sent to Stewart. “I can’t think. I can’t talk. I can do nothing. My mind stays blank.”Maria Campos, 52, approaches the Stewart Detention Center with her grandkids to visit her son, in Lumpkin, Ga., Nov. 10, 2019.The razor-wire-ringed detention center stands beige and gray in the green outskirts of tiny Lumpkin, where detained immigrants outnumber residents. Those immigrants are caught in a larger system of immigration courts that are facing unprecedented turmoil from crushing caseloads and shifting policies.Lumpkin has few available resources — only three immigration lawyers work here full time. There are no hotels, and many businesses in the downtown are shuttered. In the vacuum, a small network has sprung up to help the immigrants, offering them legal advice, places for relatives to stay and even gas cards for the families.Campos doesn’t have money to pay for a lawyer, so her son is representing himself. Campos, her daughter-in-law and two grandchildren stayed at El Refugio, a house run by volunteers who help with food and gas.She feels helpless when she visits her son at the detention center, which private company CoreCivic operates for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”This place is a horrible place because not all the lawyers want to go there and fight for our family members,” Campos said.Attorney Matt Boles, 27, with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, heads to immigration court at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., Nov. 15, 2019.Marty Rosenbluth, one of two immigration attorneys who live in Lumpkin, knows how critical it is to have an attorney physically present for detainees.”There’s so much that happens in the court that, you know, body language, eye contact, all these other intangibles that you just lose if you were telephonic,” Rosenbluth said. “But most important, I think it makes the biggest difference to the clients themselves.”He recently bought a home in town with spare bedrooms to encourage attorneys to attend hearings in person.The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, or SIFI, also has stepped in to help. Two staff attorneys work in Lumpkin full time, and volunteer lawyers come for a week at a time.The organization’s phone number is distributed in the Stewart immigration court, and attorney Erin Argueta estimates they get about 100 new calls a month.A detainee waits for a visit from family who must communicate through a phone at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., Nov. 15, 2019.It’s difficult for detained immigrants to see or even speak to lawyers who live far away, they have no access to email or fax, and the phones sometimes don’t work or are expensive, Argueta said. Communications are done by mail, which slows the process of collecting documentation, filling out forms in English, and getting documents translated and notarized.”It’s really hard for people at Stewart to carry on day-to-day life, never mind meaningfully prepare their case and gather evidence,” Argueta said.Visitors to the immigration court pass through two sliding gates set into chain-link fencing topped by loops of razor wire, the first gate closing behind them before the second opens.”I think that walking into that environment reinforces the desire to give hope to people and get them free to be with their families,” said SIFI attorney Matt Boles, who lives full time in Lumpkin.When detainees are released, it’s often in the evening. If they aren’t fortunate enough to have family waiting for them, they’re driven 30 minutes away to Columbus and left at one of two bus stations.”There is no set time of release, so it’s difficult to formulate plans,” said Rita Ellis, founding member and chief financial officer of Paz Amigos, a volunteer organization that springs into action when bus station staff notify them that a new group of detainees has arrived.Guo Chen of China walks to catch a ride to a local bus station after being released on bond from the remote Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, Nov. 6, 2019.The organization helps between 40 and 50 men a month, picking them up, feeding them and often putting them up in a hotel or a spare bedroom at a volunteer’s home. Donations of snacks, clothes and backpacks are handed out and phone calls are made to family members to arrange their travel.”I think it’s a great gap filler to help the men transition from detention to being free, and there’s that scary moment when they’re left in limbo and they’re unsure of where they are and how to get home to their family and friends,” Ellis said. “We provide that service to make sure they get where they’re going safely and with a little kindness.”Campos, meanwhile, is still waiting for resolution for her son, who has lived in the U.S. since the mid-1990s.”My first son, my heart was broken because he’s not here,” she said. “I don’t want the same for the second one.”
 
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