Academic Reportage – Page 290 – MIL Submissions Engine

March 12, 2026

Afrobeats celebrates cybercrime and it’s becoming a global problem

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Suleman Lazarus, Visiting Fellow, Mannheim Centre for Criminology, London School of Economics and Political Science

When former US secretary of state Colin Powell took to a London stage alongside Nigerian artist Olu Maintain in 2008 and danced to a song called Yahoozee, he almost certainly didn’t know that the track is widely understood in Nigeria as a celebration of internet fraud.

The moment became a striking illustration of something my research keeps returning to: how music can carry the moral codes of cybercrime far beyond their origins, laundering them in rhythm, recognition and prestige.

Over the last ten years I’ve studied cybercriminal pathways, romance fraud, victimisation of senior citizens, business email compromise, and the cultural politics of cybercrime.

My latest collaborative study examines 40 Afrobeats songs released between 2023 and 2025, looking for themes.

Afrobeats is the broad label often used for contemporary Nigerian and west African popular music that has come to dominate global streaming culture in the 2010s and 2020s. Driven by artists such as Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Tems and Asake, it has grown from a regional sound into a global cultural force, filling arenas, winning major awards and shaping youth culture far beyond Africa.

Yet some of what travels with Afrobeats is more ambivalent. In the Nigerian context, the cybercrime most often referenced in music is linked to Yahoo Boys, a popular term for online fraudsters involved in scams such as romance fraud and advance fee fraud. In some lyrics, these figures are framed not simply as offenders but as resourceful hustlers or icons of success.

The songs in our study all contain explicit references to online fraud. All were performed by male artists. And all were globally available on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. What we found goes well beyond glorification. Afrobeats, we argue, is functioning as a moral text – one that actively rationalises, spiritualises and normalises cybercrime for millions of listeners worldwide.

In other words, some of this music is doing more than making crime sound cool. It is helping listeners make sense of online fraud as acceptable, even justified. It wraps criminal behaviour in the language of hustle, survival and divine favour, making it feel not just normal, but earned. And because Afrobeats is now heard everywhere, these ideas are travelling with it.

More than just ‘hustle culture’

It is tempting to dismiss fraud themed lyrics as bravado. They can seem like a form of performative edginess, not unlike gangsta rap. Gangsta rap is a branch of hip hop in which hustling, toughness and street survival became both narrative material and cultural style.

But that reading misses the depth of what’s happening. Our analysis shows that these songs use subtle rhetorical moves to present fraud as something other than wrongdoing.

One of the most pervasive techniques is what researchers call euphemistic labelling. Fraud is rarely called fraud in Afrobeats songs. It becomes “hustle”, “grind” or “blessing”. Lyrics frame scamming as honest work blessed by God, stripping away its moral weight. In one track, the phrase “work and pray for the payday” wraps a reference to cybercrime in the language of religious devotion and diligence.

Victims fare even worse. In these songs, they are rarely granted humanity. They become “maga” or “mgbada”, terms linked to the Igbo word for antelope, casting the fraudster as hunter and the victim as prey. In this language, victims are no longer people to be harmed, but targets to be chased: “clients”, “profiles”, even “cash cows”. We argue that this dehumanisation is not incidental. It makes exploitation feel rational, even honourable.

God, juju, and the spiritual economy of fraud

Perhaps the most striking finding in our research is the pervasiveness of what we call cyber-spiritualism. Across multiple tracks, success in online fraud is framed not as a product of skill or cunning but as a matter of divine favour and ritual protection.

This aligns with a broader phenomenon scholars have documented in Nigeria known as “Yahoo Plus” or cyber spiritualism, a variant of internet fraud in which digital scamming is combined with spiritual practices such as juju rituals, charms and incantations. The idea is that metaphysical forces can be mobilised to manipulate victims, attract luck and protect perpetrators.

What is striking is how openly some of these beliefs appear in music. One track includes lyrics invoking Aje – a Yoruba deity associated with wealth – while another frames a ritual object (“soap”) as essential spiritual insurance for a fraudster. Another song merges Islamic thanksgiving phrases with references to successful scam transactions, as if divine gratitude and financial crime can occupy the same moral space. Fraud, in this framing, is not a choice. It is destiny.

Why this matters beyond Nigeria

The genre now circulates across continents, through algorithms and playlists, reaching audiences who may know little about Nigeria’s specific struggles. These include a high unemployment rate, elite corruption, and the longer afterlives of British colonial rule. In some of these lyrical worlds, fraud is not framed simply as greed but as a way of taking back from a global order understood to have first taken from them. Similar justifications also appeared in interviews with active scammers in Ghana.

The fraud narratives in these songs emerge from real and painful structural conditions: blocked opportunities, absent institutions, the pressure on young men to provide for their families. Understanding those conditions is essential. But as these lyrics travel globally, they become detached from their context. For diasporic or international listeners, “maga don pay”, meaning “the senseless animal has paid”, stops being a commentary on poverty and starts sounding like a lifestyle aesthetic, a marker of ingenuity, cosmopolitan hustle and transgressive cool.

Our research also reveals a telling career dynamic. Emerging artists lean heavily on fraud references to establish credibility and street authenticity. More established artists tend to drop them as their careers develop. Fraud talk, in other words, is a currency for those still trying to break through. This makes it all the more concentrated among the youngest, most influential voices in the genre.

What should be done?

I want to be clear: this research is not a moral panic about Afrobeats. The genre is not responsible for cybercrime, and reducing it to a crime soundtrack would be both inaccurate and deeply unfair to its richness and complexity.

But music is never politically or morally neutral. When lyrics consistently dehumanise fraud victims, frame exploitation as a divine blessing and circulate these ideas to hundreds of millions of people, the cultural consequences are real. My previous study on scammers and their allies reports on that.

Streaming platforms must take seriously their role in amplifying these narratives. Policymakers, educators and the music industry itself need to understand the moral ecosystems in which cybercrime thrives.

Dr Suleman Lazarus is affiliated with the Police Foundation. This article was written in an independent academic capacity and does not represent the views of the author’s institutional affiliation.

– ref. Afrobeats celebrates cybercrime and it’s becoming a global problem – https://theconversation.com/afrobeats-celebrates-cybercrime-and-its-becoming-a-global-problem-277543

March 12, 2026

‘I felt like a specimen’ – New clinical recommendations aim to improve trauma-informed care in pelvic medicine

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Pauline McDonagh Hull, PhD Candidate, Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary

An estimated 64 per cent of adults in Canada report experiencing at least one potentially psychologically traumatic event during their lifetime, and in the United States, research suggests the figure may be closer to 90 per cent.

Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a holistic approach to health care that acknowledges the potential impact of patients’ experiences of trauma and actively aims to prevent exacerbating or causing new trauma in the medical setting.

Importantly, this can lead to more positive experiences and improved health outcomes for patients who may otherwise avoid or reluctantly show up for treatments and preventive screening, which is especially critical for cervical cancer. It offers benefits for providers, too.

However, TIC is not yet standardized in pelvic medicine in Canada or the U.S., and practice varies significantly by profession. This is why my co-authors Lauren Walker, an adjunct associate professor in the departments of oncology and psychology at the University of Calgary, and Krystyna Holland, a pelvic floor physical therapist operating out of Denver, Colorado, are developing a new clinical practice tool to bring TIC into pelvic health care.

They first assembled a multidisciplinary team representing obstetrics and gynecology, urology, urogynecology, midwifery, labour and delivery, pelvic floor physical therapy, oncology, family medicine and sexual assault response practitioners to advise on clinical recommendations.

Through patient interviews, they identified examples of positive and negative pelvic health care experiences. Positive experiences ranged from, “…they didn’t make me feel bad for needing that help,” to “…it made me feel better…to have power in my decision making.” Negative comments included things like, “I was in excruciating, excruciating pain,” and “I felt like a specimen.”

Evidence suggests the widespread adoption of TIC practices could potentially improve access to care and quality of care for all patients. Therefore, the project’s main goal is to ensure all pelvic health-care practitioners consider the vulnerabilities associated with trauma experiences and minimize harm.

Medical trauma and pelvic health

According to the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), medical trauma is defined as a set of psychological and physiological responses to pain, injury, serious illness, medical procedures and frightening treatment experiences. The organization estimates that 20 to 80 per cent of children and adults may even experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following medical events and procedures.

Often described as being “stored in the body,” trauma responses can be triggered through medical examinations. This can be through pelvic exams, which may be experienced as invasive because of their intimate nature, but also even in more mild contexts, such as disrobing.

Some populations may be more vulnerable than others. For example, research shows that women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) are more likely to have experienced higher rates of abuse and trauma, and as such the likelihood of retraumatizing in this population is high.

Certain specialties within health care that are at an increased risk of retraumatizing patients with trauma histories include gyne-oncology care (diagnosing and treating cancers of the female reproductive system), peri- and postnatal care (before and after pregnancy), obstetrics and midwifery, urogynecology and pelvic floor physical therapy.

As a registered psychologist and clinical sex therapist in Alberta, Dr. Walker is acutely aware of how TIC guidelines for pelvic and reproductive care can improve women’s mental, physical and sexual well-being.

What is trauma-informed care (TIC)?

TIC is a guiding framework designed to reduce re-traumatization and promote shared decision-making and collaboration. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has established a guiding document on TIC, outlining six key principles:

Safety, trustworthiness and transparency;
Peer support;
Collaboration and mutuality;
Empowerment, voice and choice; and
Cultural, historical and gender issues.

It also offers a simple method for practitioners to remember TIC:
The four Rs.

Realize there may be trauma (past and present);
Recognize the signs (look and listen) and impact of trauma;
Respond (in a sensitive and accommodating manner); and
Resist Re-traumatization (think patient autonomy).

Based on these TIC principles, organizations like the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada heavily emphasize informed consent for exams and procedures. However, the aims of TIC extend well beyond this into areas such as physical environment, documentation and practitioner self-reflection.

While most practitioners would agree in principle that empowering patients through autonomy, consent, safety and trust can be a positive step to improve health-care experiences, this does not always translate into action. In practice, barriers to TIC include a lack of training, time constraints, competing demands in clinics, and viewing TIC as irrelevant to their specialty area or patient population.

Understandably, some practitioners also express concerns that querying patients’ trauma histories could “open a can of worms” they don’t feel equipped to address. Such feared consequences include feeling responsible to directly treat the trauma or experiencing personal discomfort, particularly when disclosures trigger re-traumatization from their own lived experiences.

Making TIC the norm in pelvic health care

In an effort to overcome these challenges, the clinical practice tool being specifically developed by Dr. Walker and Dr. Holland for pelvic health is based on the SAMHSA recommendations. From the outset of the tool’s design, they have engaged with health-care practitioners and invited input to assess feasibility, perceived importance and any barriers to implementation.

This consultation process is ongoing, so input is still welcome from health providers and patients. The team plans to launch the pelvic health tool in late 2026 and then disseminate it more broadly to health-care practitioners of all backgrounds, with the goal of making TIC the standard of care in Canada.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. ‘I felt like a specimen’ – New clinical recommendations aim to improve trauma-informed care in pelvic medicine – https://theconversation.com/i-felt-like-a-specimen-new-clinical-recommendations-aim-to-improve-trauma-informed-care-in-pelvic-medicine-268347

March 12, 2026

The war on DEI reflects the quiet normalization of white nationalism — in the U.S. and beyond

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Henry Giroux, Chaired professor for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the Department of English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University

Political theorist Hannah Arendt warned that authoritarian politics rarely begin with spectacles of repression. More often, authoritarianism advances through routine administrative decisions that appear technical or neutral but gradually reshape public life — a kind of bureaucratic normalization of injustice she later described as the banality of evil.

Over time, these measures alter what can be discussed, remembered or taught. They also redefine who counts as belonging within the political community.

The backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI) reflects a deeper political transformation. Public debate often treats DEI as a dispute over university offices or workplace training programs, but the conflict runs far deeper. Under Donald Trump’s administration in the United States and its allies, diversity itself has been recast as a threat.

Campus protests, for example, are frequently invoked as proof that equity initiatives foster antisemitism, turning demands for justice into evidence of alleged institutional decay.

False claims about equity measures

American feminist philosopher Judith Butler argues the attack on DEI is a “shameless display of hatred, the contempt for rights, [and] the willingness to strip people of their rights to equality and freedom.”

In the U.S., federal directives have dismantled diversity programs across government agencies as political leaders pressure universities to eliminate initiatives addressing systemic racism. Presented as restoring merit and neutrality, these measures define structural inequality as a threat and place citizenship itself at stake.

This reversal reflects a political narrative that treats demands for racial justice as grievance politics and portrays multicultural democracy as national decline. Within this narrative, equality appears as loss for historically dominant groups. Immigration, demographic change and racial justice movements are framed as dangers to “western civilization,” while policies expanding opportunity are depicted as attacks on merit.

Under the Trump administration, DEI has been transformed into a political weapon. It is cast not as an effort to confront historical injustice but as a threat to the nation itself, a supposed assault on merit, tradition and order.

These types of arguments echo the ideological logic of contemporary white nationalism, which presents social hierarchies as natural and treats efforts to confront inequality as illegitimate.

Once politics is framed in these terms, dismantling diversity initiatives can be cast as a defence of fairness rather than a retreat from civil rights. Government actions targeting DEI programs, restricting how racism is discussed in classrooms and pressuring universities to abandon race- and gender-conscious research are justified as restoring neutrality. Yet such measures narrow the intellectual and moral spaces where democratic debate takes place.

Not improvement, but elimination

Similar tensions are emerging beyond the U.S. In Canada, the Alberta government has advanced proposals promoting “institutional neutrality” in universities. Critics say these policies could weaken or suspend equity initiatives addressing barriers facing racialized and Indigenous scholars.

Critics on the political left, including political activist and philosopher Angela Davis, have long noted that many DEI initiatives are limited in their ability to address deeper structures of power. Workshops and diversity statements cannot dismantle economic systems marked by racial inequality or institutions shaped by centuries of exclusion.

Yet the current political campaign against DEI isn’t aimed at improving these programs. It seeks to eliminate even the limited institutional recognition that systemic inequality exists.

Arendt’s work helps illuminate why this moment is politically consequential. In her writings on authoritarianism, she argued that the greatest danger arises when institutions cease to question the assumptions guiding their actions. Political choices appear technical, administrative procedures replace ethical judgment and thinking is displaced by routine compliance.

The backlash against diversity and inclusion initiatives operates within this dynamic. By portraying historical analysis as ideological bias and structural critiques of inequality as threats to social cohesion, it encourages institutions to treat questions of justice as matters best avoided.

Refusing cruelty

When societies stop examining the histories that produced inequality, public memory narrows and democratic debate contracts. Social hierarchies begin to appear natural while demands for justice are reframed as sources of division.

But remaining alert to these erosions of rights is urgent at a moment when the capacity to think historically and judge morally is being deliberately eroded under the Trump administration and other emerging authoritarian movements. What is being normalized is precisely the condition Arendt warned about: a political culture in which thoughtlessness allows cruelty to appear ordinary and injustice to operate as a routine function of governance.

That is the banality that some western societies are now being asked to accept.

The challenge is to refuse it and expose the systems that produce it while rebuilding the civic capacities democracy requires. In the face of accelerating authoritarianism, the struggle to build a future grounded in equality, shared prosperity and the radical promise of collective freedom has become not only necessary, but essential.

Henry Giroux does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The war on DEI reflects the quiet normalization of white nationalism — in the U.S. and beyond – https://theconversation.com/the-war-on-dei-reflects-the-quiet-normalization-of-white-nationalism-in-the-u-s-and-beyond-278234

March 12, 2026

How do women entrepreneurs survive in Ghana’s informal economy? We went to a local market to ask them

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Nadia Zahoor, Associate Professor, Queen Mary University of London

The informal economy is the basis of everyday economic life across sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, as in many low- and middle-income contexts, a lot of retail trade, food distribution, artisanal production and service provision happens outside formal regulatory frameworks.

Women occupy a prominent position in this world. They trade in open-air markets, process and sell foodstuffs, produce garments, provide hairdressing services and manage micro-enterprises that sustain households and anchor local economies.

Many do this work because they haven’t been able to get an education, a formal job or formal finance.

The informal economy is easier to enter – but also less secure. Enterprises tend to work without firm tenure, enforceable contractual protections or social insurance mechanisms. Income streams are volatile, exposure to risk is routine and it’s difficult to expand the business.

Despite these challenges, women’s informal enterprises play an important developmental role. They generate income where few alternatives exist, finance children’s education and contribute to local supply chains.

Public debates often portray them as vulnerable victims of poverty or as heroic symbols of resilience.

Both pictures oversimplify a far more complex reality.

We are researchers specialising in gendered entrepreneurship and informal economies. We conducted a study to explore how women in Ghana with low or no formal education sustain businesses where they are at a disadvantage, and how they deal with being portrayed as “weaker vessels”.

The research sheds light on what entrepreneurship looks like when resources are scarce, institutions are fragile and gender norms remain powerful. Our findings show resilience, as well as the hidden costs of survival in an economy where formal support systems are largely absent.

Our findings suggest that by supporting women in Ghana’s informal economy, policymakers can strengthen local markets, reduce economic precarity and enhance inclusive economic growth. Informal enterprises are deeply embedded in broader supply chains and community networks. Recognising and supporting them can increase productivity, stabilise livelihoods and create spillover benefits for the wider economy.

Life on the ground

We interviewed 21 women in southern Ghana and observed market spaces. The women were invited to share stories of actions they believed had enabled their businesses to survive despite limited resources.

These conversations highlighted the advantages associated with formal education, like access to networks, skilled labour and government programmes.

We also learned how informal women entrepreneurs kept ventures going without that kind of support. The findings pointed to informal-formal collaboration as an important, if often overlooked, linkage.

Participants described an environment marked by pervasive uncertainty:

threats of eviction
fluctuating input costs such as wholesale food prices, transport overheads and cooking fuel
ad hoc levies imposed by local market associations, informal gatekeepers and neighbourhood officials
harassment by municipal authorities.

This instability shaped how they operated.

As one trader explained:

Today you are selling peacefully. Tomorrow they can tell you to move.

The women also said they couldn’t get conventional bank finance because they didn’t have collateral, formal documentation or credit histories. Instead, they relied on rotating savings and credit associations (locally known as susu), kin-based financial support and reinvestment of modest profits.

The bank will ask for papers I don’t have. So we depend on our susu (rotating savings system).

Risk diversification was a key survival strategy. Some managed multiple activities. For example, they combined food vending with petty trading or seasonal commodity sales.

If one business is slow, the other one helps.

Equally critical were dense social networks. Fellow traders provided short-term loans, shared information about changes in prices and regulations, and offered psychosocial support.

Informal subcontracting relationships with formal enterprises sometimes provided extra income streams. This showed that informal entrepreneurship is embedded within broader economic circuits.

Participants also had to deal with people’s ideas about women as inherently fragile or dependent. Yet women’s survival depends on physical endurance, negotiation skills and financial acumen. One market trader put it this way:

If you are weak in this market, you cannot survive.

Rather than openly rejecting what people expected of women, some used those ideas to their advantage. They framed entrepreneurial activity as caregiving. This made income-generating work look more socially and morally acceptable.

I tell them I am doing this for my family. Then people accept it.

The women also spoke of the physical and psychological strains they worked under. They managed multiple income streams, absorbed market shocks and fulfilled unpaid care responsibilities.

Implications

Several recommendations emerge from our study.

First, informal women entrepreneurs should be formally recognised and supported. Simplified registration processes and flexible regulatory frameworks can help reduce barriers to formalisation. They can also give access to legal protection, institutional support and market opportunities.

With legitimised informal businesses, women would be able to operate more securely and plan for sustainable growth.

Second, access to context-sensitive finance is essential. This could include microfinance schemes, low-barrier credit products and support for community-based savings mechanisms.

Third, targeted capacity-building and social support programmes would help. This could include:

literacy and context-sensitive training in business management, financial literacy and digital skills
social protection measures like affordable childcare and healthcare access
time-saving interventions such as improved water and energy infrastructure.

Finally, links between informal and formal sectors need to be strengthened. Policies that encourage collaboration through subcontracting, supply chains or networking platforms can improve income stability, access to resources, and long-term business sustainability.

These measures can create an enabling environment where women’s informal enterprises don’t just survive, they thrive, and contribute to economic development.

Nadia Zahoor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How do women entrepreneurs survive in Ghana’s informal economy? We went to a local market to ask them – https://theconversation.com/how-do-women-entrepreneurs-survive-in-ghanas-informal-economy-we-went-to-a-local-market-to-ask-them-277634

March 12, 2026

Les communautés autochtones sont touchées de manière disproportionnée par les incendies de forêt. Voici ce que peuvent faire les gouvernements

Source: The Conversation – in French – By Tara McGee, Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta

Chaque été depuis dix ans ou presque, c’est la même chose dans de nombreuses régions du Canada : des feux de forêt incontrôlables font rage et le ciel se remplit de fumée. Les populations à proximité sont souvent contraintes d’évacuer.

Les feux de forêt ont des répercussions démesurées sur les communautés autochtones. Selon une enquête de 2024, 42 % des communautés canadiennes qui ont évacuées en raison des feux de forêt au cours des quatre dernières décennies étaient autochtones.

Il y a 13 ans, on comprenait peu les difficultés rencontrées par les communautés des Premières Nations lors des évacuations, bien qu’elles les vivaient fréquemment. Voilà pourquoi nous avons conclu un partenariat avec sept Premières Nations de l’Alberta, de la Saskatchewan et de l’Ontario et 16 ministères et organismes intervenant durant les évacuations provoquées par des feux de forêt pour créer le First Nations Wildfire Evacuation Partnership (FNWEP)

Depuis 2013, le FNWEP étudie les expériences des Premières Nations évacuées, identifie les facteurs qui influencent positivement ou négativement leur vécu et recommande des moyens d’atténuer les répercussions négatives des évacuations dues aux feux de forêt.

Paru en 2021, notre ouvrage First Nations Wildfire Evacuation Experiences : A guide for communities and external agencies est structuré en plusieurs chapitres, chacun correspondant à une différente étape d’une évacuation en cas de feux de forêt, de l’observation de la fumée à distance au retour chez soi une fois le feu maîtrisé.

Dans chaque chapitre, nous avons résumé les conclusions de nos recherches, fait des recommandations pratiques et proposé des mesures que les communautés et les organismes externes peuvent prendre pour mieux se préparer aux évacuations.

Défis posés par l’évacuation

Vidéo expliquant le FNWEP et les défis auxquels sont confrontées les communautés autochtones évacuées (CRSH).

Nos recherches nous ont permis de constater que de nombreuses Premières Nations ne disposent souvent pas des ressources adéquates pour se préparer et réagir aux feux de forêt. Beaucoup d’entre elles ne comptent aucune personne entièrement dédiée à la gestion des urgences.

Parmi les facteurs qui compliquent l’évacuation des peuples autochtones mentionnés dans nos recherches, citons :

le fait d’être sur les terres, loin de chez soi, lorsque la décision de devoir évacuer est prise, ce qui complique la tâche de prévenir les personnes concernées et d’organiser leur transport ;
la crainte de perdre son logement, exacerbée par la pénurie actuelle ;
le manque d’intérêt des médias envers l’évacuation des communautés autochtones, ce qui réduit l’accès à l’information ;
les problèmes de langue et le manque de services de traduction ;
la pauvreté causée par la colonisation ;
les familles nombreuses et multigénérationnelles vivant sous le même toit, ce qui complique la coordination du transport ;
les problèmes de santé ;
les inquiétudes quant aux coûts de l’évacuation et à leur remboursement.

Parmi les autres défis, mentionnons les courts délais d’avertissement, les difficultés de transport, dont les évacuations en plusieurs étapes, le manque d’informations pour les personnes évacuées, les logements surpeuplés, les chocs culturels, la séparation des familles et le racisme.

Séparation des familles

One of the most severe cases of family separation occurred in 2011 when people from [Sandy Lake First Nation]) were sent to 12 different host communities, which led to reduced support for evacuees. In some cases, community leaders and a select group of residents stayed behind in the community to communicate with government agencies and evacuees, provide advice, deal with problems and look after the community.

L’un des cas les plus graves de séparation familiale s’est produit en 2011, lorsque des membres de la Première Nation de Sandy Lake ont été dispersés dans 12 communautés d’accueil différentes, réduisant ainsi le soutien qui leur a été apporté. Dans certains cas, les responsables communautaires et un groupe restreint de résidentes et résidents sont demeurés sur place pour communiquer avec les organismes gouvernementaux et les personnes évacuées, prodiguer des conseils, régler les problèmes et protéger la communauté.

Nous avons relevé d’autres situations qui nous ont paru absurdes. Par exemple, lorsque âmaciwîspimowinihk (Stanley Mission), dans le nord de la Saskatchewan, a été évacué en 2014, les sièges d’auto pour enfants n’étaient pas autorisés à bord des autobus d’évacuation. Les personnes évacuées ont été forcées de tenir leurs bébés sur leurs genoux pendant tout le trajet vers les communautés d’accueil, dont Regina ; elles ont raconté avoir dû passer près de 12 heures sur la route.

Mais le cas le plus inapproprié date de 2011 quand la Première Nation de Deer Lake a été hébergée au Rideau Regional Centre, à Smiths Falls, en Ontario. Construit en 1951 pour accueillir des personnes atteintes de troubles du développement, ce centre avait fermé ses portes en 2009, deux ans avant l’évacuation. L’état du centre était totalement inadapté. Certaines personnes évacuées ont dû dormir à même le sol parce qu’on ne leur avait pas fourni de lit de camp, certaines chambres n’étaient pas nettoyées et les cabines de douche des salles de bain communes n’avaient ni rideaux ni portes.

Résilience communautaire

Toutefois, nous avons trouvé de nombreux cas où les personnes évacuées ont eu une bonne expérience parce que les membres de leur communauté ont fait preuve de résilience. Les chefs communautaires ont joué un rôle essentiel en assurant la liaison entre leur communauté et la communauté d’accueil, en participant aux réunions des organismes, en communiquant des informations aux personnes évacuées, en défendant les intérêts de leur communauté et en réglant les problèmes rencontrés.

Resté sur place, le chef de la Première Nation de Sandy Lake a enregistré des vidéos en oji-cri et en anglais pour rester en contact avec les membres de sa communauté et leur offrir des informations quotidiennes durant leur évacuation.

Des jeunes de la Nation ojibwée Mishkeegogamang et d’autres Premières Nations ont créé des groupes Facebook privés pour permettre aux personnes évacuées de partager de l’information. En outre, en plus de leur rôle de liaison, des membres des communautés des Premières Nations se sont portés volontaires pour apporter de l’aide de nombreuses façons, notamment en tenant compagnie aux Aînées et Aînés, en commandant et en allant chercher les ordonnances, en fournissant des services de garde d’enfants et de sécurité et en livrant des repas.

Recommandations pour améliorer les évacuations

La compétence juridictionnelle est un facteur déterminant dans toutes les évacuations. En effet, alors que la gestion des feux de forêt et des situations d’urgence relève de la compétence provinciale, les Premières Nations relèvent de la compétence fédérale, ce qui complique considérablement les évacuations en cas de feux de forêt. Nous avons répertorié des cas où les responsables locaux ne savaient pas à quel organisme s’adresser pour déclencher une évacuation.

Cependant, malgré des résultats de recherche cohérents et des efforts de sensibilisation constants, bon nombre des communautés évacuées entre 2011 et 2015 avec lesquelles nous avons travaillé ont été à nouveau évacuées depuis et ont encore été confrontées à plusieurs des mêmes difficultés.

En 2025, la vérificatrice générale du Canada a réitéré les lacunes constantes dans la façon dont Services aux Autochtones Canada gère les urgences, malgré l’augmentation spectaculaire de son financement au cours des dix dernières années — de 13 milliards de dollars en 2019-2020 à près de 24 milliards de dollars en 2023-2024. Elle a également constaté que seul l’Ontario respecte les normes de services d’évacuation.

Les autorités fédérales et provinciales devraient augmenter leur financement à long terme au profit des Premières Nations afin de leur permettre de gérer les situations d’urgence. Elles devraient aussi appuyer la construction de bâtiments équipés de filtres à air et de purificateurs d’air afin que les personnes qui les occupent n’aient pas à les évacuer uniquement en raison de la mauvaise qualité de l’air. En outre, elles pourraient simplifier les processus de remboursement pour faciliter le processus de retour à la normale à la suite des feux de forêt.

De plus, les gouvernements devraient investir davantage dans la prévention et l’atténuation des feux de forêt afin de réduire le besoin d’évacuer, notamment avec l’aide du programme Intelli-feu. Ils devraient également financer et soutenir les programmes autochtones de surveillance des incendies partout au Canada, dans le cadre desquels des Autochtones travaillent toute l’année pour assurer la prévention, l’atténuation, l’intervention et le rétablissement en cas d’incendie.

Alors que la période des feux de forêt s’aggrave d’année en année, les gouvernements peuvent prendre dès maintenant des mesures concrètes pour s’assurer que les communautés les plus touchées sont bien équipées pour faire face aux évacuations et s’en remettre.

Tara McGee est financée par Ressources naturelles Canada dans le cadre du First Nations Wildfire Evacuation Partnership, un partenariat qui a déjà reçu un financement du Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada.

Amy Cardinal Christianson est affiliée à l’Initiative de leadership autochtone. Elle travaillait auparavant au Service canadien des forêts (Ressources naturelles Canada) et à Parcs Canada. Au cours des dix dernières années, elle a fait des contributions en nature au First Nations Wildfire Evacuation Partnership.

– ref. Les communautés autochtones sont touchées de manière disproportionnée par les incendies de forêt. Voici ce que peuvent faire les gouvernements – https://theconversation.com/les-communautes-autochtones-sont-touchees-de-maniere-disproportionnee-par-les-incendies-de-foret-voici-ce-que-peuvent-faire-les-gouvernements-278043

March 12, 2026

Constant technology changes throw seniors a curve – and add to caregivers’ load

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Debaleena Chattopadhyay, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Illinois Chicago

Shifting interfaces and frequent updates challenge elders and increase the burdens on people who try to help them. Maskot via Getty Images

This past Christmas, I helped my parents choose a water filter. The latest “smart” models all came with a smartphone app that promised to monitor filter life, track water quality and automatically request service. Yet my father, age 75, and mother, 67, were quick to reject them in favor of a nondigital model.

“Every time it updates or I forget how to use it, we’ll have to call you,” my dad said.

As an only child living 8,000 miles (12,875 kilometers) away, I didn’t need convincing. My parents are aging in place and don’t need traditional caregiving – they cook, drive and manage their home just fine. Instead, I provide what I call technology caregiving: helping them with their digital activities of daily living, from online banking to booking theater tickets.

But as the tech industry shifts toward artificial intelligence agents and generative user interfaces – promising to make devices smarter than ever – I am bracing for this invisible workload to become heavier, not lighter. In addition to being a technology caregiver, I’m a computer scientist who studies human-computer interaction.

Technology caregiving

Technology caregiving is the act of helping someone use digital tools. While this isn’t entirely new – people have long helped grandparents program VCRs and connect parents’ desktop computers to the internet – the stakes have changed.

Today, digitization is ubiquitous. Helping with these tools is no longer just occasional unpaid tech support – it is a form of continuous caregiving essential for maintaining independence. For example, even the simple act of clipping coupons has gone digital – marginalizing older adults who are unable to navigate store apps to access these discounts.

People often view older adults as resistant to technology, but recent years – particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic – have shattered that myth. While gaps in internet access and device ownership remain, they are no longer major barriers to technology access.

an older woman uses a laptop computer at a table — Today’s seniors are not tech-averse, but constant updates and interface changes make using technology more difficult for them.
Jose Luis Raota/Moment via Getty Images

The emerging crisis is not about access, but effective use. Many older adults are now online and willing to use these tools, but they require frequent help from family, friends or communities.

The innovation tax

The problem isn’t just that devices and apps are getting complex; it’s that they are constantly changing. Frequent software updates and shifting interfaces can be frustrating for all users, but they turn familiar tools into foreign concepts for older adults.

This unpredictability is about to accelerate. Take generative user interfaces, which designers can use to dynamically generate an interface in minutes. Pair them with AI agents, and the system can assume the designer’s role, taking independent actions based on how it perceives a user’s intent or need.

If the “Pay Bill” button is in a different place every third time you open a particular app because an AI decided to optimize the interface, you might feel perpetually incompetent if you can’t quickly locate it. While the industry calls this personalization, for an older adult it is a moving target.

This relentless pace of change – even when intended to be helpful – is directly at odds with age-related cognitive changes. And this dynamic is continuing with the new generation of seniors. They may be more eager to adopt new tools than the last, but wanting to use technology is not the same as being able to use it when the rules are constantly changing.

To navigate a brand new or shifting interface, your brain relies on fluid intelligence: the ability to reason, solve novel problems and ignore distractions on the fly. Unlike the knowledge that people accumulate over time, fluid intelligence naturally declines with age.

When an app updates or an AI optimizes a layout, it forces the user to discard their hard-won mental models and start over. For an older adult, this isn’t just a minor inconvenience; it is a taxing job for their working memory.

As an older adult participant in a study my colleagues and I conducted put it:

“I had a computer on my desk in 1980, OK, when nobody else did. So this is not a foreign language, but the changes that are made with little to no explanation and then things that you knew how to do have either changed or disappeared completely, that is the stuff that absolutely drives me, and I will tell you, every other older adult in America nuts.”

Help the helper

I believe that the way forward is to stop treating tech support as an afterthought and start designing for the technology caregiver. Digital literacy training for seniors and encouraging designing technologies for all users are important but not enough; it’s important to build tools that share the burden.

Two promising paths are emerging. First, cognitive accessibility features – like AI assistants that find buried buttons or provide real-time tech support – can offload tasks from the caregiver. Second, tools for caregivers are beginning to move beyond simply controlling device feature access to capabilities such as allowing authorized access for banking as co-users, or recording personalized instructions.

These tools will also need to be tailored: Family caregivers need different tools than community helpers like libraries and senior centers.

In the age of AI, innovation shouldn’t be a tax on the aging brain – it should help bridge the digital divide.

Debaleena Chattopadhyay receives funding from NSF, NIH, and CDC.

– ref. Constant technology changes throw seniors a curve – and add to caregivers’ load – https://theconversation.com/constant-technology-changes-throw-seniors-a-curve-and-add-to-caregivers-load-274814

March 12, 2026

Not just Patriot interceptors: A defense expert explains the various weapons US and allies use to defend against missiles and drones

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Iain Boyd, Director of the Center for National Security Initiatives and Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

An Israeli air defense system fires interceptor missiles at missiles launched from Iran on March 1, 2026. AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean

Patriot missile batteries have been the iconic air defense system in the United States’ arsenal for several decades, but evolving threats – from cheap rockets to even cheaper drones – have forced the U.S. and other militaries to develop a range of defensive weapons to match.

In retaliation for ongoing strikes by the U.S. and Israel, Iran has been conducting daily aerial attacks using missiles and drones against Israel and countries in the Persian Gulf region. In December 2025, Iran also launched a large-scale, coordinated raid involving hundreds of missiles and drones against Israel. Hamas launched an even larger assault in October 2023 of many thousands of low-cost rockets and primitive missiles against Israel, overwhelming its highly touted Iron Dome air defense system. And, in the conflict between the Ukraine and Russia, there have been several examples of large-scale drone raids by both sides.

As an engineer who studies defense systems, I see that as the variety and number of missile and drone threats grow, militaries are forced to adapt the defensive side of the equation and respond with matching speed and breadth.

The defensive weapons are components of integrated air defense systems, which include the means to detect and track threats, typically through various forms of radar. Stemming from the Cold War, interceptor missiles have been the established weapon used to disable or destroy the threats.

Well-known examples of air defense systems that use interceptor missiles include the Patriot system and the Israeli Iron Dome. These systems are designed to be effective against small numbers of missiles, including short-range ballistic missiles, as well as aircraft and drones. The U.S. also uses the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense to defend against intermediate range ballistic missiles, including intercepting the missiles before they reenter Earth’s atmosphere.

The Phalanx Close-In Weapon System, shown here in target practice, is an automated machine gun that can defend against drones and missiles.

The numbers

The current conflict in the Gulf provides the latest example of the math at the heart of the air defense challenge. Iran has fired thousands of missiles and drones, and it often requires more than one interceptor to take out an incoming missile. The Gulf states are reportedly running low on interceptors. U.S. stocks are also under pressure, and the United States is reportedly planning to move some interceptors from South Korea to the Gulf region.

Because each interceptor costs several million dollars, it is a losing proposition to use such systems to destroy rockets that only cost US$100,000. Such an asymmetric conflict is not only too expensive on the defensive side, but it is also challenging to replenish interceptors in a timely manner.

In addition, an attacker can overwhelm a defender. In the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023 against Israel, the established interceptor-based air defense approach proved less than effective against the large-scale attack involving thousands of relatively primitive missiles and rockets. There are initial reports of a large barrage of rockets fired by Hezbollah at Israel on March 11, 2026.

What is needed instead are air defense approaches that scale to meet the numbers and sophistication levels of the evolving threats. One example is the U.S. Navy’s Phalanx Close-In Weapon System used to defend ships against missiles as well as small surface craft. It is an automated machine gun that can fire up to 4,500 rounds per minute. It destroys incoming targets by literally shooting them to pieces. Each round costs about $30, and usually about 100 rounds are expended on a target.

While this is a more cost-effective approach than expensive interceptors, a Phalanx magazine can be quickly depleted in 20-30 seconds, thus leaving it open to being overwhelmed by large numbers of incoming missiles. It is also the last line of defense. Ideally, you would address threats long before the Phalanx system is activated.

Drones and anti-drone drones

Large-scale, low-cost air attacks involving weaponized drones have been used in the Ukraine-Russia war and in the Middle East. While drones can be shot out of the sky by missile interceptors, this is not a cost-effective approach. Gun systems such as the Phalanx are effective against drones. U.S., Gulf states and Israeli forces have also downed drones using guns fired from aircraft.

Another new approach that has been used by Ukrainian forces is the development of anti-drone drones, or counter unmanned aircraft systems. Drones can damage or destroy other drones through a variety of mechanisms, including electronic warfare that involves jamming their radio control and communications systems, and kinetic intercepts, in which they ram directly into the target drone. An example is Merops, which the U.S. is reportedly sending to the Gulf region.

a small rocket sits on a pole protruding from the bed of a pickup truck — A Polish soldier stands by an American-made anti-drone drone.
AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski

Energy weapons

Militaries are also developing non-kinetic defensive weapons that are based on directed energy technologies. The two most common forms of directed energy weapons are high-energy lasers and high-power microwaves. In both cases, they transform electrical power into physical effects that can damage or destroy aerial targets.

One of their key advantages over traditional kinetic defensive weapons is the claim that directed energy systems have an “infinite magazine.” As long as these systems are connected to an electrical power source, they can keep firing. While this is not entirely true – directed energy systems have to be cycled off to allow them to cool down – they are more cost-effective and have deeper magazines than kinetic systems.

Militaries around the world are fielding high-energy laser weapons for protection against light artillery, drones and surface craft. Lasers can create a number of different effects, including burning holes in threats and even setting them on fire.

For example, the U.S. Navy’s High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance is a 60-kW kilowatt ship-based system used for aerial protection. It can interfere with, or dazzle, the sensors of missiles and drones.

High-power microwave weapons are not yet as advanced for air defense applications. They operate by causing short circuits in the electrical systems of missiles and drones, causing them to lose control and veer off target.

Rapid evolution

In the cat-and-mouse game of modern warfare, there is a continual carousel of offensive weapons development and responsive defensive countermeasures. Against a recent trend toward the use of large numbers of less capable and relatively inexpensive weapons, the defensive side is responding with affordable, high-volume approaches.

Iain Boyd receives funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed-Martin Corporation.

– ref. Not just Patriot interceptors: A defense expert explains the various weapons US and allies use to defend against missiles and drones – https://theconversation.com/not-just-patriot-interceptors-a-defense-expert-explains-the-various-weapons-us-and-allies-use-to-defend-against-missiles-and-drones-278047

March 12, 2026

A successful USDA program that has supported more than 533,000 affordable rental homes in rural America is getting phased out

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Brian Y. An, Co-Director of Center for Urban Research, Director of Master of Science in Public Policy Program, & Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology

Low-income Americans in rural areas can struggle to pay market-rate rents. mphillips007/iStock via Getty Images Plus

The high cost of renting and buying homes in U.S. cities is no secret. But this affordability problem isn’t limited to urban regions – it affects rural areas as well.

Rural areas, home to about 25% of Americans, benefit from federally supported rental housing programs – particularly a U.S. Department of Agriculture program to provide affordable homes for low-income residents.

The USDA’s Section 515 program is the primary way that the U.S. government finances affordable rental homes in rural communities. Since its inception in 1963, the program has supported the construction of over 533,000 apartments, townhouses and other small, multifamily rental homes.

The program offers below-market-rate loans to private and nonprofit developers who build and manage residential housing for low-income residents in small towns and rural counties. The terms of the deal between property owners and the government obliges these landlords to keep rents affordable for their occupants for decades, generally restricting rent to about 30% of tenants’ income.

Last new loans were in 2011

People who live in Section 515 housing typically pay around US$325 per month. That’s much less than rural market-rate rents, which typically run $800-$1,100 per month for modest homes.

Because the USDA stopped issuing new Section 515 loans in 2011, this arrangement is phasing out now as existing loans mature.

Loans for about 90% of all remaining Section 515 homes will mature by 2045, according to the Housing Assistance Council, a national nonprofit that supports affordable housing efforts throughout rural America. By 2050, the owners of nearly all properties currently in the program’s portfolio are projected to have paid off their mortgages.

And once most of the owners of these homes exit the Section 515 program, it will have been fully phased out.

An often-overlooked housing program

As a public policy professor who studies housing, I wanted to understand what happens when Section 515 loans mature. I also was interested in what determines whether properties remain affordable or leave the program after the loans are paid off.

To find out, I worked with three other housing policy researchers on a national study that was peer-reviewed and published in Housing Policy Debate in September 2025.

As of 2024, these loans were still supporting some 400,000 homes on almost 13,000 properties across 87% of all U.S. counties.

The roughly 750,000 Americans in those homes are among the nation’s poorest. The average household income of someone living in Section 515 housing in 2023 was just about $16,000 per year, which was only about one-fifth of the national median household income, which hovered around $76,600 during the same period in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars.

In addition to having a very low income, more than 60% of the people enrolled in the program are over 62, have disabilities, or fall into both of those categories.

Market-rate options after maturity

The vast majority of these affordable rental homes were built in the 1970s through the 1990s and financed with USDA loans that last between 30 and 50 years.

By 2050, there will be no Section 515 housing left.

The owners of these rental properties no longer have to keep rents affordable once they have paid off their loans. And their owners and tenants may also lose access to a USDA rental assistance program, which helps keep tenants’ housing costs low.

They can refinance the homes or sell the properties. They also can continue to charge affordable rents to occupants or convert those units to market rate. Because of this flexibility, a large share of rural affordable housing units could soon be converted to properties rented at market rates.

What the data shows so far

For this study, our research team analyzed data from nearly 15,000 of the Section 515 properties throughout the country, which have been placed in service since 1963 – including many that are no longer providing rural affordable housing.

We found that the largest factors determining whether a building remains affordable after a Section 515 loan matures are who owns and manages that property. Buildings owned by for-profit companies are far more likely to leave the program than those that belong to nonprofit housing organizations.

Nonprofit-owned buildings, after accounting for building age and local market conditions, are 30% to 40% less likely to convert formerly Section 515 affordable housing into market-rate properties after the owners pay off their loans.

After analyzing this data, we also concluded that buildings run by small property management companies are more likely to leave the program than those managed by larger ones. Properties where the owner manages the homes are also more likely to exit.

Landlords owning more residential properties were also more likely to exit the program. This indicates that larger landlords may be able to afford the renovations and upgrades required to turn their buildings into market-rate housing once restrictions end.

A symbolic wooden house, containg a stack of $1 bills and a money bag with a dollar symbol, sits next to an alarm clock in a grocery cart. — Time is running out on the nation’s main affordable housing program in rural areas.
Max Zolotukhin/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Why subsidies and local markets matter

Having subsidies through other government programs can help keep affordable housing units from being converted to market-rate housing.

One-third of Section 515 properties also get support from other programs, including Section 8 vouchers and low-income housing tax credits. Those tax credits are another federal incentive that’s provided to developers who build and rehabilitate affordable rental housing while allowing lower rents for low-income tenants.

Those properties are more likely to remain affordable, even years after some of these tax incentives expire.

Local economic conditions can play a role too. In areas with high unemployment rates, large military populations and low housing inventory, properties are also more likely to exit the program.

That means the same rural counties experiencing economic or demographic pressures are often the most likely to have a decline in affordable housing units when owners pay off their Section 515 loans.

Steps that can be taken

Congress and the USDA have taken some steps to slow the loss of affordable housing in rural areas.

For example, the USDA has funded preservation efforts such as the Multifamily Housing Preservation and Revitalization pilot program, which provides grants, loan restructuring and other financing tools to help repair aging Section 515 properties and extend their affordability.

These efforts have helped preserve some buildings and support ownership transfers from private sector landlords to nonprofit housing groups. But they spend only tens of millions of dollars per year and focus mainly on maintaining existing properties rather than building new housing.

Researchers estimate that about $5.6 billion in repairs would be needed to preserve the affordable housing currently tied to the Section 515 program.

Some lawmakers have proposed reforms aimed at doing more than chipping away at the loss of this kind of affordable housing. The bipartisan Rural Housing Service Reform Act, first introduced in 2023 and reintroduced in 2025, would modernize USDA rural housing programs and allow certain rental assistance contracts to continue after mortgages mature. As of early 2026, the bill remains under consideration.

Over the next two decades, most of these landlords will pay off their Section 515 loans. Unless the government reinvigorates the program or replaces it with something else, much of rural America’s affordable rental housing could gradually disappear as owners convert all Section 515 properties to market-rate housing.

Whether rural communities retain affordable housing will depend not only on what the federal government does, but also on the properties’ owners.

Brian Y. An received funding from JPMorganChase and this research was made possible through their generous support. Unless otherwise specifically stated, the views and opinions expressed in the published research paper are solely those of the paper’s authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of JPMorganChase or its affiliates.

– ref. A successful USDA program that has supported more than 533,000 affordable rental homes in rural America is getting phased out – https://theconversation.com/a-successful-usda-program-that-has-supported-more-than-533-000-affordable-rental-homes-in-rural-america-is-getting-phased-out-273637

March 12, 2026

Legal refugees now face long detention after DHS reinterprets law on applying for a green card after a year

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Ashley Sanchez, Associate Professor of Immigration, University of Notre Dame

A group of refugees and asylum-seekers tour a commercial fishing marina as part of a summer immersion program in August 2018 in Eastport, Maine. John Moore/Getty Images

The Department of Homeland Security issued a policy memo in February 2026 that could lead to the detention of refugees who are legally in the country.

The new policy states that “DHS may arrest and detain a refugee who has lived in the United States for at least one year and has not yet acquired” lawful permanent resident status. Approximately 100,000 refugees could be at risk for such arrest and detention.

The policy rescinds a 2010 DHS policy that limited the agency’s ability to arrest refugees. The 2010 policy was cited in a 2026 court order that temporarily prohibited agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from arresting refugees in Minnesota in an effort to root out cases of fraud in the refugee admissions process.

As an immigration scholar, I believe the new DHS memo constitutes a massive departure from previous policy – one that could result in the detention of thousands of people who have lawful immigration status.

To better understand the new DHS policy and the change it represents, it’s helpful to clarify what it means to be a refugee.

Refugees flee persecution

Refugees flee their countries to escape persecution due to their race, religion, nationality or political opinion. Under U.S. immigration law, a refugee is someone who arrived in the U.S. through an official U.S. resettlement process.

After registering as a refugee abroad, the process for being resettled in the U.S. can take years – sometimes decades – and requires rigorous background checks.

Upon arrival, refugees are permitted to live and work indefinitely in the U.S. They are also eligible to “adjust” their immigration status to lawful permanent resident, also known as a “green card,” after one year in the country.

At issue with the new DHS policy is the interpretation of Section 209 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the statute that governs refugee adjustments and moves them from refugee status to lawful permanent resident.

Section 209 states that refugees who have been physically present in the U.S. for one year and haven’t yet received lawful permanent resident status “shall, at the end of such year period, return or be returned to the custody of DHS for inspection and admission” as a lawful permanent resident.

Historically, this has meant that refugees are required to undergo a secondary screening, through an interview or paper application, before receiving their green cards.

Hundreds of people stand on a ship. — Vietnamese evacuees fill a landing craft, assisted by U.S. Marines, on May 4, 1975. More than 125,000 refugees from Vietnam were resettled in the U.S. between 1975 and 1980.
AP Photo/Neal Ulevich

But DHS is now interpreting the language in Section 209 to impose a duty on refugees to voluntarily return to DHS custody – which it defines as detention – after one year in the country. This is despite the fact that refugees are not even eligible for legal permanent resident status until they have been in the country for a full year, putting refugees in an impossible situation.

Essentially, every refugee could face imprisonment unless immigration officials review and approve their green card applications at exactly the one-year mark.

History of refugee policy

The language in Section 209 arose after the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980, a law that created our current refugee resettlement framework. Prior to this, there was no fixed legal mechanism for resettling refugees in the U.S.

Instead, the government responded to humanitarian crises largely on an ad hoc basis. It temporarily allowed people into the U.S. from Vietnam and Cuba.

Once here, those individuals had no long-term legal status unless Congress managed to pass after-the-fact legislation authorizing them to apply for green cards, as it did for Cubans with the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966.

The Refugee Act of 1980 was meant to solve this problem. It established a legal mechanism for refugee resettlement. It created a new refugee immigration status and ensured that refugees are eligible for permanent residency.

The earliest regulations implementing Section 209 show the “returned to custody” language was satisfied by attending an interview at a local immigration office. It was part of the green card process that was eventually replaced with a paper application.

The regulations implementing that change state that the “‘custody’ requirement for refugees applying for adjustment of status” can be met by filing an application.

What the DHS memo means for refugees

So, what normally happens if a refugee fails to submit their application?

Usually, nothing.

Until relatively recently, refugees weren’t even permitted to file for lawful permanent residence until after living in the country for a year.

Previous ICE guidance recognized that even if a refugee fails to file a green card application at all, they still maintain their lawful refugee immigration status. The failure to submit an application did not create any basis to deport a refugee. Therefore, absent other factors, immigration detention was inappropriate.

A man and his family push a cart through a supermarket. — A Syrian refugee and his family shop for groceries in El Cajon, Calif., on Aug. 31, 2016.
AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi

What will refugees do now?

Immigration attorneys are advising their refugee clients to file for lawful permanent status immediately, if they have not yet done so, to reduce the risk of detention. But that may not be enough.

The DHS memo states that a refugee “may be considered to have voluntarily returned to custody” if they filed their application and complied with any interviews. But the wording of the memo leaves open the door to detain anyone who has not yet had their application approved.

This leads to another issue, which is DHS administrative delays. The government currently takes approximately 12 months to approve refugee green card applications for requests it’s willing to process.

In January 2026, another DHS policy put an indefinite hold on all applications for individuals from a list of 39 countries. Consequently, applications for refugees from countries including Haiti, Afghanistan and Republic of the Congo are not being reviewed at all.

This means that refugees who have done everything right could be imprisoned indefinitely under this policy, because the U.S. government is refusing to judge their applications.

Against this backdrop, the Trump administration has capped refugee admissions for 2026 to a record low of 7,500.

At least one federal lawsuit has already been filed to challenge this new policy.

What happens now depends on how far DHS is willing to go and whether the courts allow it to do so.

Ashley Sanchez is the director of the Notre Dame Immigration Clinic, where she and her students represent refugees seeking permanent residency. She was previously the Supervising Attorney at Cleveland Catholic Charities, Migration and Refugee Services.

– ref. Legal refugees now face long detention after DHS reinterprets law on applying for a green card after a year – https://theconversation.com/legal-refugees-now-face-long-detention-after-dhs-reinterprets-law-on-applying-for-a-green-card-after-a-year-277054

March 12, 2026

Federal benefits cuts are looming – here’s how Colorado is trying to protect families with children

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Stephen Roll, Assistant Professor of Social Policy, Washington University in St. Louis

Colorado is leveraging its tax code to reduce child poverty. Royalty-free/Getty Images

Childhood poverty in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in history in 2021. The fall was largely due to the expanded child tax credit and other COVID-19 pandemic supports that put cash directly in the hands of parents and lifted millions of children out of poverty.

Once these safety net changes expired at the end of 2021, childhood poverty rebounded, surging from 5% in 2021 to 13% in 2024.

While federal anti-poverty initiatives like the child tax credit expansion have stalled, states like Colorado are increasingly leveraging their tax codes to combat poverty. The Colorado Family Affordability Tax Credit took effect in tax year 2024. It is one of the most substantial and accessible state-level programs designed to support families, potentially offering thousands of dollars to low-income Colorado parents.

As economic policy researchers, we are conducting a three-year evaluation of the Colorado Family Affordability Tax Credit. We estimate that the credit reduces child poverty in Colorado by about 20%, and that reduction increases to 37% when combined with other state tax credits for low-income families, moving roughly 52,000 children above the poverty line.

Colorado’s approach is projected to have one of the strongest anti-poverty effects among state refundable child tax credits. If Colorado’s design were implemented in every U.S. state, child poverty nationwide could be reduced by more than one-third.

However, due to the complicated funding structure of the Colorado tax credit, the program is at risk. Changes in federal legislation created tax breaks for Colorado businesses, reducing state revenue projections. Since the credit is only available when Colorado state revenue growth is above 3%, these tax breaks caused the Family Affordability Tax Credit to be suspended for 2026, meaning the credit may not be part of families’ 2027 tax refunds.

Changes put Colorado families at risk

State anti-poverty programs are more vital now as planned cuts to federal safety net programs may substantially reduce the benefits available for low-income families. The 2025 federal tax breaks and spending cuts package expanded work requirements for the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and Medicaid – programs that millions of families rely on to meet their food and healthcare needs.

Following this change, most working-age adults enrolled in these programs must work 80 hours per month. Previously, Medicaid had no work requirements and SNAP had work requirement exemptions for older working-age adults. The law requires states to implement these changes by Jan. 1, 2027, though some states, such as Georgia and Ohio, are starting earlier. Proponents argue that work requirements encourage labor force participation and reduce government spending.

“PBS NewsHour” reports on the changes to SNAP as a result of the passage of the 2025 federal tax breaks and spending cuts bill.

However, research finds that stricter work requirements reduce program participation more than they increase work. Changing enrollment systems requires retraining staff and providing outreach and education to enrollees, which is costly to implement.

As a result, many Americans may lose benefits not because of an unwillingness to work, but because of complex rules and red tape, which are difficult to manage while juggling unsteady jobs, caregiving obligations or health issues.

Federal changes to the safety net will hit Colorado especially hard. Early estimates from simulation models applying the new requirements show that roughly 298,000 Colorado families could lose their SNAP benefits, and 154,000 could lose Medicaid coverage. These cuts will disproportionately affect families with children, low-wage workers and families already struggling to make ends meet.

Amid soaring costs of living in the state, tighter eligibility doesn’t eliminate need. Instead, it forces families into difficult trade-offs. Those could include skipping meals, delaying medical care or falling behind on rent.

Using the tax system to support families

Colorado’s Family Affordability Tax Credit was implemented in 2024. The credit provides US$3,200 per child under age 6 and $2,400 per child ages 6 to 16, making it one of the most substantial state child tax credits.

Married couples filing jointly with eligible children who earn up to about $95,000 per year qualify for a portion of the credit. It is fully refundable, meaning families can receive the credit as a tax refund even if they do not owe anything in state taxes. Delivered through the tax system, access is simple and largely automatic for most households.

Colorado families with children could qualify for up to $7,000 in tax credits.

Parents who received the credit consistently told us in interviews that it made it easier for them to afford paying for their basic needs, such as food, housing, utilities and transportation. The reduced financial strain also improved their emotional well-being and family dynamics. As one caregiver noted, lower stress meant they weren’t in “hustle mode” just to keep the lights on.

The credit is “more than a dollar amount,” another said. It provides “peace of mind.”

Parents also highlighted the positive effects that receiving this tax credit had on children. The money allowed some to take their kids to activities and on outings, and allowed many parents to feel more present with their children.

“If I’m relaxed and my own cup is full, I can fill theirs,” said one parent. “It’s a ripple effect.”

More than 60% of the families we surveyed said they preferred the tax credit to other kinds of government benefits, citing its flexibility and ease of use. Unlike programs that require frequent reporting or compliance checks, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Colorado’s Family Affordability Tax Credit was often described as straightforward.

“I never feel it’s that difficult to get,” said one participant we interviewed.

Why tax credits work — and where this approach can fall short

Colorado’s tax-based approach to fighting poverty, which includes the Family Affordability Tax Credit, the Colorado Earned Income Tax Credit and the Colorado Child Tax Credit, offers flexible support via a familiar system. However, this approach has limitations.

Millions, including about 1 in 4 workers eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit in Colorado, don’t file taxes. That means they may miss out on the tax credits.

Another issue is that lump-sum payments can be difficult to budget for people who rely on government benefits to make ends meet. Our research suggests that one-third of Colorado respondents preferred monthly payments. We’ve also found that two-thirds of federal child tax credit recipients in 2021 preferred monthly payments for budgeting reasons.

Why state investment in children matters

Although the full impacts of the Family Affordability Tax Credit on Colorado’s children are not yet known, a robust body of research points to the powerful role state policies can play in shaping young children’s development. Increased family income benefits children by enabling greater family resources, such as educational spending, and reducing parental stress.

Importantly, increasing spending that supports families with children can yield long-term benefits for society by improving children’s health, education, employment and economic stability later in life. Research shows a 10-to-1 return on investment from providing refundable tax credits to these families.

As federal support wanes, state policies, like Colorado’s, could be crucial for providing the stability children need to grow, learn and thrive. Unless Colorado makes the Family Affordability Tax Credit a permanent and reliable fixture of the state budget – as a recent proposal aims to do – the progress the state has made in reducing child poverty may only be temporary.

Read more of our stories about Colorado.

Stephen Roll receives funding from Gary Community Ventures.

Jenn Finders has received funding from the National Science Foundation, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

Leah Hamilton receives funding from Gary Community Ventures.

– ref. Federal benefits cuts are looming – here’s how Colorado is trying to protect families with children – https://theconversation.com/federal-benefits-cuts-are-looming-heres-how-colorado-is-trying-to-protect-families-with-children-275199