“Makes so much sense! I like how his ears are half-heartedly trying to stand up a little,” one user said in the comments.
Day: September 16, 2025
Entering a fifth NBA season in his prime, he is healthy and pumped for a remodeled Knicks offense.
Three weeks ago, an ICE raid in Viejo San Juan jolted the city. In full view of locals and tourists, several masked agents in unmarked cars detained migrant employees from the Argentine restaurant El Viejo Almacén, just steps from La Fortaleza, the governor’s residence.
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Neighbors in my chat group were stunned. It was not an isolated case. Stories of similar scenes are sweeping Puerto Rico—raids without court orders, marked by deception and racial profiling, often regardless of legal status. Federal figures show that of the nearly 1,000 immigrants detained across the archipelago, fewer than 12% have criminal records, and most of those detained are minors. With about 90,000 immigrant residents, more than 20,000 undocumented, families are torn apart and neighborhoods live in fear.
This surge in arrests is the direct impact of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies, which hit Puerto Rico with devastating force, increasing detentions five-fold. In Bayamón, ICE agents stopped a Dominican fruit vendor at a traffic light and hauled him away, leaving his dog tied and abandoned—an act his lawyer called a violation of basic decency. In Carolina, Bad Bunny posted a video of agents forcing people into unmarked cars, while in other raids officers pointed weapons. In Barrio Obrero, where the first raids began, parents now fear sending children to school and residents avoid clinics and supermarkets. These raids unravel Puerto Rico’s society.
Migrants have long been part of Puerto Rico’s culture and history. Dominicans, Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, and others have been arriving for decades, enriching the archipelago’s culture and economy. Many of them risk their lives, chasing the same dream that pushes Puerto Ricans to move to the mainland United States: the hope of work, safety, and better life. And yet, for their labor, they are repaid with fear and betrayal.
It wasn’t always this way. In 2013, Governor Alejandro García Padilla signed a law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, and by 2015 they were also able to open bank accounts, recognizing that equality and stability mattered more than papers. Celebrated as progressive, these measures also created a database of immigrant drivers. Today, ICE uses that very database—shared by Puerto Rico’s current government who has been cooperating—to identify and arrest migrants. Governor Jenniffer González defended the practice, saying, “We cannot choose which laws we are going to follow.” Unlike Puerto Rico, cities such as Boston, Colorado, Chicago and many others have chosen not to cooperate, adopting sanctuary policies to protect immigrants like the city hall of the western town of Aguadilla did, but the local government later withdrew federal funds after declaring itself a sanctuary city.
For many, this cooperation felt like a betrayal. The Puerto Rican government had promised immigrant communities that they would not be targeted. Municipal offices were supposed to be safe spaces. Yet in Cabo Rojo, a Dominican woman disappeared after seeking municipal services, only to end up in ICE custody. In Ocean Park, residents were forced to form a human shield to prevent federal agents from snatching workers at a construction site. What is happening is not simply the enforcement of U.S. law; it is the active participation of local authorities in a policy that criminalizes and dehumanizes people who came here to contribute.
Puerto Rico’s colonial status makes the situation more painful. With no voting representation in Congress, the archipelago has no formal say in federal immigration policy. The White House dictates; Puerto Rico enforces. Yet to claim there is no choice is misleading. Local governments could refuse to cooperate and resist acting as ICE’s outstretched hand. Instead, officials reinforce colonial subordination while deepening the vulnerability of immigrant communities.
At the heart of this debate is the question of solidarity. Puerto Ricans must ask ourselves: do we see Dominican, Haitian, Cuban, Venezuelan, and other migrants as outsiders, or as part of a broader Caribbean family? To stand with them is not just an act of compassion—it is an act of resistance. It is resistance against the colonial system that demands obedience to laws we had no part in creating. It is resistance against racialized exclusion that paints Black and Brown migrants as threats. And it is resistance against the broader war on immigrants that has now reached our shores.
Solidarity is also an affirmation of history. Before 1492, the Caribbean was a space of constant movement and exchange. The Taíno of Borikén, who had migrated from the Orinoco, traded with the Warao of Florida, with crops and knowledge flowing freely across the sea. Avocado, cassava, sweet potatoes, and maize traveled between islands long before Europeans divided the waters into empires. With European colonization came African and Asian communities, and under control by the United States migration has continued. Still today, migrants arrive, proving the Caribbean was never a land of walls but of bridges, kinship, and mutual survival.
There are already powerful examples of solidarity. In Ocean Park, when ICE agents arrived, neighbors locked arms to block them. Churches have offered food, shelter, and legal aid. The ACLU of Puerto Rico, alongside Amnesty International, Kilómetro 0, and Comuna Caribe, launched the campaign migrar no es un crimen, or “migrating is not a crime,” to denounce institutional violence and provide tools for community defense. Through sacalacarapr.com, Puerto Ricans can access guides, legal resources, and strategies to support immigrant neighbors. Protesters have marched with banners declaring, “Yo defiendo a mis hermanos.” These actions reject complicity and affirm justice.
Critics argue that Puerto Rico has no choice, that federal law leaves no room for resistance. But history proves otherwise. Sanctuary cities across the United States have limited cooperation with ICE, insisting that community trust and safety matter more than punitive enforcement. To claim helplessness is to embrace colonial subjugation, to accept that Puerto Rico can only obey. In reality, refusing to participate in raids would be both legally possible and morally necessary.
Some Puerto Ricans also argue that undocumented immigrants are a burden, straining public services or competing for jobs. But this framing ignores reality. Immigrants in Puerto Rico work in sectors often abandoned by others. They pay rent, buy food, and pay taxes through sales and consumption. Far from draining resources, they help sustain the economy. And even if they did not, their humanity would not be negotiable. No amount of economic contribution should determine whether a person deserves dignity, safety, and the chance to build a life.
Aimé Césaire warned that colonization “works to decivilize” not just the colonized but the colonizer as well.
Puerto Rico faces a choice. We can remain an obedient colonial outpost, handing our neighbors to American ICE agents, or we can stand with them, recognizing them as part of the same Caribbean family that has shaped us for centuries. Solidarity here is not symbolic. It is survival. It is resistance. And it is memory—memory of a time when the sea was not a wall but a bridge.
Puerto Ricans know what it means to migrate. We know the hope and heartbreak of leaving home in search of better futures. To turn our backs on those who come here seeking the same is to betray not only them but ourselves. Amid the raids, the handcuffs, and the families living in fear, we must remember who we are: a Caribbean people, forged in movement and connection. To defend our immigrant neighbors is to defend our own history, our own dignity, our own humanity. If we say we are one Caribbean, now is the time to prove it.
Krystal Ball quipped that Tyler Robinson is “not as good-looking as Mangione so he’ll be less inspirational to people.”
Categories
live: Trump administration
Inflation in Kazakhstan is continuing to erode household incomes, driven by the country’s dependence on imports, rising utility tariffs, and increasing tax burdens. While living costs soar, wages remain sluggish, forcing many families to allocate most of their earnings to essentials such as food, medicine, and utilities.
Rising Prices, Stagnant Wages
As of August, annual inflation had reached 12.2%, and experts warn it could climb even higher by year’s end. The National Bank’s original 2025 inflation target of 5% has proven to be overly optimistic. “This is a negative, sad trend. It shows that not enough measures have been taken. That it was necessary to tighten monetary policy earlier. It was necessary to contain inflation risks,” said Ramazan Dosov, chief analyst at the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan.
The National Bank’s base rate, its primary instrument for controlling inflation, currently stands at 16.5%. Financier Rasul Rysmambetov notes that the rate is unlikely to be lowered in the near future. However, high interest rates also reduce access to loans for businesses, curbing investment. Despite frequent government statements about inflation-control measures, experts argue that artificial price regulation offers only temporary relief.
In his September 8 address to the nation, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev acknowledged the severity of the issue, stating, “Today, the main problem is high inflation, which is eating away at economic indicators and household incomes. There is no ready-made solution to this problem.” Tokayev called for coordinated efforts across government agencies.
At the beginning of 2025, Kazakhstan’s average monthly salary was reported at 424,200 KZT (about $800), reflecting a 24% increase over the previous year. However, this figure obscures wide regional disparities. In many areas, typical monthly salaries range between 180,000 and 230,000 KZT ($330-430). Per capita income reached 194,000 KZT ($362), up 17% from early 2023, but not enough to keep pace with inflation. According to kazkredit.kz, average families now spend up to 95% of their income on day-to-day expenses. In 2023, 52% of income went toward food; that figure has risen to more than 54% in 2025.
Halyk Finance, cited by inbusiness.kz, reports that more than half of Kazakhstan’s workers earn below the national average. Salary data reveals stark income inequalities across sectors, with higher wages in mining, finance, and telecommunications, and significantly lower wages in agriculture, healthcare, and public administration. Analyst Arslan Aronov notes that although nominal wages increased by 11.3% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, real wage growth was effectively zero due to inflation.
Public sentiment reflects the strain. Economists at KZTnomika reported a slight easing of inflation expectations in August 2025, but overall confidence in price stability remains low. Eighty-two percent of survey respondents reported rising food costs, with meat and dairy products leading the list. Among non-food items, medicines, clothing, and cleaning products were most frequently cited. For paid services, rising costs for housing, internet, mobile communication, and healthcare were prominent concerns.
Background and Analysis
Kazakhstan’s struggle with inflation is rooted in both external shocks and structural weaknesses in its economy. The country remains heavily dependent on imports for everyday goods, making local prices highly sensitive to global markets and exchange rates. This dependence has been magnified by its trade with Russia, where sanctions and supply disruptions have spilled over into Kazakhstan. The tenge’s depreciation – more than 13% against the US dollar in 2024 – has made imports more expensive, feeding directly into consumer price inflation. The International Monetary Fund has noted that inflation in Kazakhstan is “primarily imported,” with foreign price movements quickly transmitted onto households.
Domestic policy has compounded these pressures. In recent years, government social spending and wage hikes helped offset public discontent, but they also fueled demand without boosting supply. Economists argue that subsidies and benefits, while politically popular, tend to be inflationary in an import-reliant economy: more money in consumers’ hands often means higher spending on imported goods, which in turn weakens the tenge further. Credit expansion has also played a role, with consumer lending growing rapidly and pushing demand for food, housing, and services beyond domestic capacity.
The National Bank of Kazakhstan has responded with one of the highest base rates in the region. While this helps to cool demand, it also threatens investment and growth. Analysts warn of a policy dilemma: rates must remain tight to curb inflation, yet high borrowing costs risk slowing the economy. The government’s frequent resort to price controls, such as capping utilities or subsidizing essentials, offers only short-term relief. When these controls are lifted, prices often spike sharply.
Regional comparisons underline the scale of the problem. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have also battled double-digit inflation, but Kazakhstan’s rate remains among the highest in the CIS. Institutions like the OECD argue that sustained relief will require structural reforms: diversifying production, modernizing agriculture, and strengthening logistics to reduce reliance on imports.
The broader consequence is a steady erosion of real incomes. Even as wages rise on paper, inflation cancels out most gains, leaving families with little disposable income and risking a cycle of high inflation and weak purchasing power.
The Politics of Inflation
Political analyst Daniyar Ashimbayev has warned that ballooning social spending has made the national budget increasingly unsustainable. “Social spending, which has increased significantly over the past six years, partly to ensure political loyalty and partly to offset inflation, is now consuming the lion’s share of the budget,” he stated.
Although tax hikes were introduced in 2025, inflation continued to rise, which Ashimbayev attributes to the government’s economic policies. Ashimbayev predicts that in 2026, the effects of a new Tax Code, combined with further tariff increases and expanded budgetary obligations, will slow economic growth and diminish real incomes.
Rysmambetov, meanwhile, has called Tokayev’s directive to reduce inflation “unrealistic,” especially given the current approach to price controls. Kazakhstan imports many consumer goods from Russia, which remains under international sanctions, further complicating supply chains and pricing. The country’s dependence on raw material exports also limits its economic flexibility. Rysmambetov has proposed a more structural response, including the creation of an electronic goods catalog to track pricing and eliminate intermediaries in food and fuel markets. Long-term stability, he argues, will require a shift toward domestic production and broader economic diversification.
What Comes Next?
Despite these concerns, the Ministry of National Economy has pledged to hold inflation and utility rates in check through the end of 2025, with a new targeted inflation rate of 10-11%. For now, Kazakhstan’s battle with inflation underscores the delicate balance between short-term fixes and long-term reforms. Whether the government’s latest pledges will be enough to stabilize prices remains uncertain, leaving households and businesses braced for continued volatility through 2025.
For all intents and purposes, the Mets’ postseason starts Tuesday night when Clay Holmes toes the Citi Field rubber.
The 23-year-old won the race with a time of 1:44.91 against a stacked field with American Bryce Hoppel coming in second in 1:45.09 and Jamica’s Tyrice Taylor in third in a time of 1:45.13.
The tribute montage shows the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee playing cards, swimming in a pool, dancing and hugging her friends.
“They didn’t deserve her,” said one commenter on the viral Reddit post and another wrote: “Some people shouldn’t have pets.”