Months ago, I stumbled upon old photographs of the "Algerian Man," an early 20th-century immigrant to the U.S. whose attire struck me as all too familiar. What ensued were hours of interviews and weeks of sifting through often indiscernible archives — and then this long story.

Older generations in Gabes recall being happy when the plant was inaugurated in the early 1970s by then president Habib Bourguiba. "We went out in the street singing and clapping," recalled an interviewee, now 76. "But we didn't know we were cheering our own demise.".

Nearly everyone interviewed said they were supporters of President Kais Saied and had pinned their hopes on him to address the issue. But it is at Saied's behest that Tunisia is now banking on phosphates to boost its struggling economy.

Many said they hoped to be relocated, and without official solutions some considered selling their homes and moving elsewhere. But "who would buy a house here?" one person said.

The plant dumps radioactive and highly toxic waste directly into the open air and sea. And families interviewed by @AFP said they survived several health plights, including breast & uterus cancers and respiratory problems they said were caused by pollution from the plant.

I spoke with families in Gabes, a highly polluted city in southern Tunisia where the air smells like burned rubber and where the culprit — a large phosphate-processing plant — is ramping up production despite government promises to shut it down.

RT @ZohranKMamdani: Andrew Cuomo is afraid he'll lose, so his donors want you to fear me. His SuperPAC just sent out a mailer that artific….

I interviewed protesters and relatives of one of the students who died in the collapse.

For years, locals in Mezzouna had warned that the wall at their town’s only high school was at risk of falling. And when it did, it laid bare their town’s long-standing underdevelopment and the neglect that plagues Tunisia’s interior regions.

After a crumbling school wall collapsed and killed three students in a small town near Tunisia’s central Sidi Bouzid — where the Arab Spring began 14 years ago — outraged residents launched days of protest over a tragedy they said had been long in the making. (@AFP)

Some photos I took two years ago at a West African immigrant-run mosque in the Bronx as part of a ⁦⁦@newmarkjschool⁩ assignment — later incorporated into a photo essay for ⁦⁦@africasacountry⁩. Eid Mubarak to my community! .

RT @SaChellali: #Tunisia The long-awaited trial for "conspiracy" began yesterday without the main defendants who refused to attend by video….

RT @RashaElass: Between 1905 and 1925, a clerk at Ellis Island took photographs of immigrants to the U.S. Today, the images created by Augu….

RT @DannyPostel: Between 1905 and 1925, a clerk at Ellis Island took photographs of arriving immigrants. His portraits displayed remarkable….

RT @hxhassan: Between 1905 and 1925, a clerk at Ellis Island took photographs of immigrants to the U.S. Today, the images created by August….

RT @drdivine: Between 1905 and 1925, a clerk at Ellis Island took photographs of immigrants to the U.S. Today, the images created by August….

RT @Ola_Salem: Between 1905 and 1925, a clerk at Ellis Island took photographs of immigrants to the U.S. Today, the images created by Augus….

RT @newlinesmag: NEW: Between 1905 and 1925, a clerk at Ellis Island took photographs of immigrants to the U.S. Today, the images created b….

The American Dream 100 Years After the National Origins Act: How a clerk on Ellis Island at the dawn of the 20th century documented discrimination through photography, and what that tells us about today’s malaise.

Why would Ellis Island inspire Kafka's "In the Penal Colony"? Or come to be named the "isle of tears"? Or come to see over 3,000 immigrants take their own lives in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

And who shall not pass?. Well, Muslims — I mean, polygamists. Communists and anarchists, too — classic. But also "idiots, imbeciles, feebleminded persons, epileptics" AND. "persons who have been insane within five years previous."