Anxiety, Fear Keeping Migrants From The Medical Care They Need

The New York Times: Migrants Are Skipping Medical Care, Fearing ICE, Doctors Say
A man lay on a New York City sidewalk with a gun shot wound, clutching his side. Emily Borghard, a social worker who hands out supplies to the homeless through her nonprofit, found him and pulled out her phone, preparing to dial 911. But the man begged her not to make the call, she said. “No, no, no,” he said, telling her in Spanish that he would be deported. Ms. Borghard tried to explain that federal law required hospitals to treat him, regardless of his immigration status, but he was terrified. (Baumgaertner Nunn, Agrawal and Silver-Greenberg, 5/8)

AP: Suit Challenges New Rules On Children In Federal Custody Who Crossed Into US
Two advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit Thursday asking the courts to halt new Trump Administration vetting procedures for reuniting children who crossed into the U.S. without their parents, saying the changes are keeping families separated longer and are inhumane. The lawsuit was filed by the National Center for Youth Law and Democracy Forward in federal court in the District of Columbia. It names the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its Office of Refugee Resettlement and seeks a return to prior reunification procedures. (Gonzalez, 5/8)

AP: Reports Of Trump Deportation Plans Highlight Abuse Of Migrants In Libya
Reports of plans to deport migrants from the U.S. to Libya, a country with a documented history of serious human rights violations and abuse of migrants, have spotlighted the difficulties they face in the lawless North African nation. Migrants in Libya are routinely arbitrarily detained and placed in squalid detention centers where they are subjected to extortion, abuse, rape and killings. (Brito and Khaled, 5/8)

On foreign aid —

AP: US Says It Will Reduce Health Aid To Zambia Because Medicines Were Stolen And Sold
The United States will cut $50 million worth of medical aid a year to Zambia because of “systematic” theft of the aid in past years and the government’s failure to crack down on that, the U.S. ambassador said Thursday. The U.S. had discovered in 2021 that medicines and medical supplies that were meant to be provided free to Zambians had been taken and were being sold by pharmacies across the southern African country, U.S. Ambassador to Zambia Michael Gonzales said at a press briefing. (Sichalwe, 5/8)

Bloomberg: South Africa Says AIDS Drugs Available Despite US Funding Cut
South Africa’s government said its HIV-AIDS treatment program is fully funded for the current financial year despite the withdrawal of support from the US, and all patients should continue to receive their medication. About 7.8 million South Africans, or almost 13% of the population, live with the virus that causes AIDS — the world’s biggest HIV epidemic. About 17% of the funding for the country’s HIV-AIDS program has come from America’s Presidential Emergency Funding for Aids Relief, or Pepfar, but President Donald Trump suspended that program in January, meaning 7.5 billion rand ($414 million) needs to be found to plug the gap. (Vecchiatto, 5/8)

Los Angeles Times: Aid Group Closes Soup Kitchens Across Gaza Due To Dwindling Supplies
Israel’s ongoing blockade of humanitarian assistance for Gaza forced a leading aid group to shut its community soup kitchens Thursday as it faced empty warehouses and no replenishment of supplies in the war-battered enclave. U.S.-based World Central Kitchen, which was serving 133,000 meals per day, said there is almost no food left in Gaza with which to cook. (Shurafa and Chehayeb, 5/8)

Also —

The New York Times: Bill Gates Accuses Elon Musk Of ‘Killing Children’ By Cutting Foreign Aid 
In his sharpest rebuke of the world’s richest man, a distinction he once held, Bill Gates accused Elon Musk at least twice in the past week of “killing” children in the world’s poorest countries by cutting foreign aid under the Trump administration. He said that Mr. Musk bore responsibility for gutting the U.S. Agency for International Development, a decision that Mr. Gates argued had undermined decades of progress fighting diseases such as measles, H.I.V. and polio. (Vigdor, 5/8)

Bloomberg: Bill Gates’ Charity Vows To Give Away 99% Of His Fortune By 2045
The Gates Foundation plans to give away $200 billion over the next 20 years before shutting down entirely in 2045, marking a new deadline for one of history’s largest and most influential charities. That target would represent a doubling in spending for the nonprofit, which has disbursed more than $100 billion since it was co-founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2000. Originally, the foundation was set to close 20 years after the Microsoft Corp. co-founder’s death. (Nix, Furlong and Alexander, 5/8)