Akima, el conglomerado que gestiona el centro de detención de Guantánamo, tiene más de 40 empresas filiales y más de 2.000 contratos con docenas de agencias federales, que van desde el mantenimiento informático hasta la seguridad armada.

Alexander C. Kubitza/Department of Defense

El Secretario de Defensa Pete Hegseth, en el centro, recorre las instalaciones del Centro de Operaciones para Migrantes de la Estación Naval de Guantánamo el 25 de febrero de 2025.

El presidente Donald Trump ha estado enviando inmigrantes al centro de detención de Guantánamo en Cuba desde el 4 de febrero, y en las últimas semanas, el gobierno estadounidense ha deportado a 177 migrantes de Guantánamo a Honduras.

Sin embargo, Akima, el conglomerado que gestiona el centro de detención de Guantánamo, se encuentra en el foco de atención y enfrenta mayor escrutinio por presuntos abusos contra los derechos en otros centros de detención en EE.UU.

Akima tiene más de 40 empresas filiales y más de 2.000 contratos con docenas de agencias federales, que van desde el mantenimiento informático hasta la seguridad armada. Trabajan no solo en los Estados Unidos sino también en países como Arabia Saudí. Akima Global Services, una de sus filiales, gestiona al menos cinco centros de detención de inmigrantes entre los que se encuentra el centro de detención de Buffalo, en Nueva York.

El gobierno ha gestionado durante años un centro de detención de migrantes en la base naval de Guantánamo, y el año pasado el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE por sus siglas en inglés) adjudicó un contrato para la base a una de las filiales de Akima.

Antes de su partida, la administración de Joe Biden adjudicó a Akima Infrastructure Protection un contrato de $163.4 millones de dólares para gestionar el centro de detención de inmigrantes de Guantánamo hasta junio de 2029.

El centro de detención de Guantánamo está separado de la prisión militar en la que se recluye a sospechosos de terrorismo. Anteriormente, este centro de detención se utilizaba para albergar a personas interceptadas en el mar.

“A finales de agosto de 1994, miles de personas llegaban diariamente a los campos de Guantánamo. Junto con unos 12.000 haitianos, la población en los campamentos ascendía a unas 45.000 personas en septiembre de 1994”, explica un reporte del gobierno.

Pero tras la firma de una orden ejecutiva el 29 de enero ordenando al Departamento de Defensa y al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional que ampliaran el centro de detención en la isla para acoger hasta 30.000 migrantes. Desde entonces, se han instalado nuevas carpas para la “primera fase de expansión” para acoger hasta 400 migrantes, según un sitio web de contratación del gobierno.

En febrero, la Unión Americana de Libertades Civiles demandó a la administración Trump para exigirle que permitiera a los migrantes detenidos el acceso a abogados.

Así que para hablar del centro de detención de Guantánamo, Akima y los presuntos abusos contra los inmigrantes detenidos invitamos a José Olivarez, un periodista que cubre temas de inmigración, América Latina y derechos humanos y quien investigó a la compañía para el peiodico inglés, The Guardian.

Más detalles en nuestra conversación a continuación.

Ciudad Sin Límites, el proyecto en español de City Limits, y El Diario de Nueva York se han unido para crear el pódcast “El Diario Sin Límites” para hablar sobre latinos y política. Para no perderse ningún episodio de nuestro pódcast “El Diario Sin Límites” síguenos en Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Pódcast y Stitcher. Todos los episodios están allí. ¡Suscríbete!

The post PODCAST: ¿Qué se sabe de la empresa que gestiona el centro de detención de inmigrantes de Guantánamo? appeared first on City Limits.

By CHRIS MEGERIAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal employees face a midnight deadline to comply with Elon Musk ‘s second demand for reports on their recent accomplishments, a request that has become a flashpoint within the government workforce.

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Musk and President Donald Trump have suggested that employees who don’t comply could get fired. They’ve also described the requirement — a list of five things that each person did last week — as an unobjectionable way to increase accountability within a sprawling bureaucracy.

But for many workers, the request has been a source of anxiety and confusion as the new administration tightens its grip on the federal government. Some agencies are still telling their workforces not to respond or to limit what they say in response, just as they did after Musk’s first request last month.

Judging by instructions that have circulated in recent days, the workforce will face a standing request for lists of accomplishments every Monday. There are roughly 2.4 million federal workers excluding active-duty military and postal workers, 80% of whom are based outside of the Washington, D.C. metro area.

At the Food and Drug Administration, employees received three emails Monday on the topic — the first at about 6:45 a.m. Eastern letting them know about the request, the second before 8 a.m. telling them to await guidance, and the third after 11:30 a.m. explaining how they should respond.

Employees were told to write back with “a high level of generality” and not include any sensitive data, discuss specific grants or identify colleagues that they’re working with.

There was similar guidance at the Department of Energy, which plays a key role in managing the country’s nuclear arsenal.

“Do not include any sensitive or classified information, and do not send any links or attachments,” wrote Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “If all your activities are sensitive, please reply ‘All of my activities are sensitive.’”

Meanwhile, the State Department on Saturday told its workforce that department leadership would respond on their behalf. And the Federal Bureau of Prisons said employees could respond that “disclosure of my duties may compromise institution security or operations.”

The initial demand for lists of five accomplishments came last month. The Office of Personnel Management eventually told agencies that it was optional despite Musk’s threat of layoffs for noncompliance.

This time, some of the requests came from individual agencies, which have the power to hire, fire and discipline workers.

Musk described the requirement as a “pulse check” during Trump’s first Cabinet meeting of his second term.

“Do you have a pulse and two neurons?” he said. “So if you have a pulse and two neurons, you can reply to an email.”

Associated Press writers Matthew Perrone, Rebecca Santana, Matthew Lee and Michael Sisak contributed to this report.

The 97th annual Academy Awards returned to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, March 2. Conan O’Brien hosted the show for the first time in Oscar’s history. Here are some of the top moments that got people talking on social media.

Memorable performances between awards

The Oscars kicked off with a medley of songs performed by “Wicked” stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. Rumors about the performance had been circulating online for weeks, and the combination of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” from the “Wizard of Oz,” “Home” from “The Wiz” and “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked” definitely exceeded expectations.

There was another medley of the night featuring popstars Lisa of k-pop group Blackpink, Doja Cat and Raye performing some of the lead tracks from the James Bond franchise “Live and Let Die,” “Diamonds Are Forever” and “Skyfall.”

“The Wiz” made a splash later in the show when Queen Latifah performed “Ease on Down the Road” to honor the late Quincy Jones who was the music producer for the film.

The comedian’s get the last laugh

From the moment Conan O’Brien took the stage for his opening monologue, it was apparent to both viewers at home and those inside the Dolby Theatre that the crowd was on his side and ready to laugh. He came through with what many have come to expect from comedians who host award shows: some edgy jokes here and there, poking fun at the nominees, and setting up what viewers can expect for the evening.

He provided a few more fun bits throughout the show, including a PR pivot to bring people back to movie theaters by pitching it as “CinemaStreams.” The sketch had O’Brien selling movie watchers on the concept of a “building for movies,” telling them, “we took 800 smartphones and glued them all together and made one giant smartphone.” The video also included a surprise cameo from director Martin Scorsese who ended the bit by telling potential customers to “Tell them Marty sent you.”

But O’Brien wasn’t the only star to get major laughs throughout the evening. “Saturday Night Live” and “Wicked” star Bowen Yang was one of five actors to present the best costume design category, but unlike his fellow presenters, he was the only one to do so in the costume from the film. Yang joked with fellow presenters, including John Lithgow, that they could have informed him in the group chat ahead of time that they had all decided to bail on the idea.

SEE ALSO: Oscars 2025: Kieran Culkin wins first award, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo pay ‘Oz’ tribute

Historical wins

Paul Tazewell became the first Black man to win the best costume design category for his work in “Wicked.” Zoe Saldana became the first Dominican-American actor to win an Academy Award after winning best supporting actress for her role in “Emilia Perez.” “I’m Still Here,” won best international film, giving Brazil’s first Oscar win in the category.

When Harry reunited with Sally

Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan of “When Harry Met Sally” reunited on the Dolby Theatre stage to present the final award of the night, Best Picture. Crystal even made a nod to the film by putting a fun spin on one of its famous lines, “because when you have a chance to be an Oscar winner for the rest of your life, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

Unexpected win leaves viewers feeling robbed

Throughout this year’s award season, Demi Moore has taken a few of the best actress category awards for her role in “The Substance,” leaving many to think that she was a shoo-in for the Academy Award. However, the award went to breakout star Mikey Madison for her role in “Anora.”

Madison expressed her gratitude in her acceptance speech, sharing that she “grew up in Los Angeles, but Hollywood always felt so far away from me, so to be here standing in this room today is really incredible.”

Many viewers expressed mixed feelings online, with one user stating “Look, OK….I Love Mickey Madison, but DEMI MOORE WAS ROBBED.” Another user chimed in with a more optimistic view, “On the bright side Demi Moore won many awards this season and she got introduced to a new younger audience of people and I’m really hoping good scripts stack up on her desk and she just keeps getting amazing opportunities!”

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Women’s college flag football is coming to the East Metro.

The Vikings announced Monday the organization is helping to launch a six-team league that will compete on three weekends in April. The six participating colleges are Northwestern-St. Paul, Bethel, Wisconsin-Stout, Gustavus Adolphus, Augustana and Concordia-Moorhead.

Those six schools will play in a pair of jamborees — on April 5 at Northwestern-St. Paul and then on April 12 at Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wis. — prior to the championship tournament on April 26 at the Vikings’ practice facility, TCO Stadium, in Eagan.

The Vikings, along with the NFL, are contributing $140,000 to the league and its participating schools.

“This is a significant moment for the continued growth of girls’ and women’s flag football,” Vikings vice President of social impact Brett Taber said in a release. “These institutions are set to do something unique, and their partnership with the Vikings and the NFL will bring further awareness to the future of women’s football and empower the next generation of athletes to find opportunities to compete and shape this game.”

This league wasn’t the only of its kind announced Monday. ESPN reported the Atlantic East Conference — a Division-III conference located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country — announced it was launching its first varsity women’s flag football season this spring, becoming the first NCAA conference to do so. That venture also is receiving financial support from the NFL.

Last month, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics recommended all three divisions across the NCAA add flag football to the NCAA’s Emerging Sports for Women program, which gave all three divisions the chance to sponsor legislation that would move the sport through governing structures of the NCAA.

A sport must have a minimum of 40 schools sponsoring it at the varsity level, and meet minimum contest and participation requirements, to be considered for championship status. The Associated Press reported last month that at least 65 NCAA schools were sponsoring women’s flag football at the club or varsity levels this year, with more slated to join in 2026.

While that process plays out, leagues such as the one announced for local competition this spring could allow programs to hit the ground running if and when women’s flag football receives championship status from the NCAA down the road.

“It’s definitely the hope that it would continue to grow at an NCAA level and that the NCAA will sponsor it,” Rebecca Mullen, interim commissioner of the Division III Atlantic East conference, told ESPN. “To see it continue to grow and buy into that is really a unique opportunity.”

The Associated Press reports there are 14 states that have sanctioned girls flag football as a high school varsity sport.  Nearly 500,000 girls ages 6 to 17 years old played flag football in 2023, per NFL FLAG.

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