Crafting Immigration Policy in America
This topic was continued by Crafting Immigration Policy in America 2.
Talk Pro and Con
Join LibraryThing to post.
This topic is currently marked as "dormant"—the last message is more than 90 days old. You can revive it by posting a reply.
1margd
Trump likes Canada's merit-based immigration, but it's not what he thinks
Jeremy Robbins, Opinion | Feb. 13, 2018
In Canada, merit-based means two things.
First, it means casting a wide net. Canada currently admits far more high-skilled workers than the United States — one permanent skilled visa for every 409 Canadian residents in 2016, nearly six times more per capita than the U.S. At the same time, and this is an aspect the White House has yet to acknowledge, Canada issues a far higher percentage of visas to agricultural workers, caregivers and others in labor-intensive fields. It also admits more family-based immigrants per capita.
Second, merit-based in Canada means the federal government gives the provinces some control over awarding visas. The goal remains the same: meeting the myriad needs of the modern economy.
...immigrants are more likely to be employed; to be of working age; to start a business; to work nights and weekends, and to move for a job.
And they instill that work ethic in their children, who are some of the highest performing members of society. That goes for immigrants who are black, brown, white, you name it — everyone. Immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, attain higher levels of education than the U.S. population overall and they’re more likely to earn the STEM degrees increasingly in demand by today’s employers...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/02/13/canada-merit-based-immigration...
_____________________________________________
I've noticed Canada is busy welcoming international students scared away from the US by Trump travel bans--U of Toronto now offers at least some of them in-province tuition rates for PhD programs. OTOH, nannies and caregivers for elderly (many from Philippines) are welcomed in a program that offers them citizenship after (six?) years.
Jeremy Robbins, Opinion | Feb. 13, 2018
In Canada, merit-based means two things.
First, it means casting a wide net. Canada currently admits far more high-skilled workers than the United States — one permanent skilled visa for every 409 Canadian residents in 2016, nearly six times more per capita than the U.S. At the same time, and this is an aspect the White House has yet to acknowledge, Canada issues a far higher percentage of visas to agricultural workers, caregivers and others in labor-intensive fields. It also admits more family-based immigrants per capita.
Second, merit-based in Canada means the federal government gives the provinces some control over awarding visas. The goal remains the same: meeting the myriad needs of the modern economy.
...immigrants are more likely to be employed; to be of working age; to start a business; to work nights and weekends, and to move for a job.
And they instill that work ethic in their children, who are some of the highest performing members of society. That goes for immigrants who are black, brown, white, you name it — everyone. Immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, attain higher levels of education than the U.S. population overall and they’re more likely to earn the STEM degrees increasingly in demand by today’s employers...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/02/13/canada-merit-based-immigration...
_____________________________________________
I've noticed Canada is busy welcoming international students scared away from the US by Trump travel bans--U of Toronto now offers at least some of them in-province tuition rates for PhD programs. OTOH, nannies and caregivers for elderly (many from Philippines) are welcomed in a program that offers them citizenship after (six?) years.
2John5918
To stop migration, stop the abuse of Africa's resources (Al Jazeera)
This article is aimed mainly at Europe which, due to proximity, is the main destination of African migrants. Well, actually that's not strictly true because the main destinations of African migrants are other African countries which, though poor, try to absorb migrants, and don't make a lot of fuss about it either. Better to say that Europe is the main external destination of African migrants. However many of the points made in the article could be equally applicable to the USA.
This article is aimed mainly at Europe which, due to proximity, is the main destination of African migrants. Well, actually that's not strictly true because the main destinations of African migrants are other African countries which, though poor, try to absorb migrants, and don't make a lot of fuss about it either. Better to say that Europe is the main external destination of African migrants. However many of the points made in the article could be equally applicable to the USA.
3proximity1
"per capita" means "per person" equally among all individuals.
So this is another example of the common misuse of this term. Canada does not admit "nearly six times more per capita than the U.S." or "more family-based immigrants per capita."
It admits, if accurate, one per 409 Canadian residents (residents? or citizens?--these are not the same, either). That rate may be six times higher than the U.S.'s rate but it is not related to anything "per capita".
42wonderY
Trump is on a tear about immigration. What's really behind it
Notably, these Trump influencers have apparently been devouring "The Camp of the Saints," a right-wing immigrant fear fantasy novel, which has surfaced on Fox News in recent days -- including on Tucker Carlson's show. The Southern Poverty Law Center has referred to the novel as "a favorite racist fantasy of the anti-immigrant movement." All of which is to say, Trump is getting his immigration talking points from commentators reaching dangerously far outside the mainstream.
Has anyone read the novel? It was published in 1973.
Huh! My library system has a copy.
Notably, these Trump influencers have apparently been devouring "The Camp of the Saints," a right-wing immigrant fear fantasy novel, which has surfaced on Fox News in recent days -- including on Tucker Carlson's show. The Southern Poverty Law Center has referred to the novel as "a favorite racist fantasy of the anti-immigrant movement." All of which is to say, Trump is getting his immigration talking points from commentators reaching dangerously far outside the mainstream.
Has anyone read the novel? It was published in 1973.
Huh! My library system has a copy.
5margd
At website, see graph "Total SW Border Apprehensions, 1960-2017".
(I'd love to see one with estimated number immigrants v number border guards.)
The Stats on Border Apprehensions
Lori Robertson | April 6, 2018
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said monthly border apprehensions have returned to “previous levels” since dropping significantly after President Donald Trump took office. That’s true: There was a sharp rise in those apprehended at the Southwest border in March from a year ago, putting the figure back in line with 2016.
But what about the long-term view? Apprehensions have been on a general downward trend since the mid-2000s...
https://www.factcheck.org/2018/04/the-stats-on-border-apprehensions/
(I'd love to see one with estimated number immigrants v number border guards.)
The Stats on Border Apprehensions
Lori Robertson | April 6, 2018
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said monthly border apprehensions have returned to “previous levels” since dropping significantly after President Donald Trump took office. That’s true: There was a sharp rise in those apprehended at the Southwest border in March from a year ago, putting the figure back in line with 2016.
But what about the long-term view? Apprehensions have been on a general downward trend since the mid-2000s...
https://www.factcheck.org/2018/04/the-stats-on-border-apprehensions/
7margd
Not just international students, Canada is eating US lunch when it comes to skilled immigrants:
Engineers Are Leaving Trump’s America for the Canadian Dream
Karen Weise and Saritha Rai | April 20, 2018
The long wait for green cards was bad enough. Antagonism toward immigrants is pushing skilled foreigners across the border...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-04-20/h-1b-workers-are-leaving-trum...
Engineers Are Leaving Trump’s America for the Canadian Dream
Karen Weise and Saritha Rai | April 20, 2018
The long wait for green cards was bad enough. Antagonism toward immigrants is pushing skilled foreigners across the border...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-04-20/h-1b-workers-are-leaving-trum...
8margd
DACA ruling further complicates complex legal path forward
Tal Kopan | April 25, 2018
...A federal judge in Washington became the third judge to say the Trump administration has failed to adequately justify its decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children. Judge John Bates, however, went further than judges who have preliminary put the end of the program on hold and ordered the administration to renew DACA permits, by ordering the administration to begin accepting new applicants unless it can issue a new memo justifying its decision that satisfies him within 90 days, at which point the ruling will take effect.
..."This further muddies the litigation on this issue," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration attorney with Miller-Mayer and Cornell Law School professor. "Overall it's a pretty murky area for everyone involved, there's no certainty for DACA recipients, or employers, or the government, in terms of what's going on."
...It is likely the cases will eventually end up before the Supreme Court once the appeals process runs its course, but that would almost certainly take place in the next term, October at the earliest, and a court ruling of that magnitude could take months to complete...
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/25/politics/daca-legal-path-forward/index.html
Tal Kopan | April 25, 2018
...A federal judge in Washington became the third judge to say the Trump administration has failed to adequately justify its decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children. Judge John Bates, however, went further than judges who have preliminary put the end of the program on hold and ordered the administration to renew DACA permits, by ordering the administration to begin accepting new applicants unless it can issue a new memo justifying its decision that satisfies him within 90 days, at which point the ruling will take effect.
..."This further muddies the litigation on this issue," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration attorney with Miller-Mayer and Cornell Law School professor. "Overall it's a pretty murky area for everyone involved, there's no certainty for DACA recipients, or employers, or the government, in terms of what's going on."
...It is likely the cases will eventually end up before the Supreme Court once the appeals process runs its course, but that would almost certainly take place in the next term, October at the earliest, and a court ruling of that magnitude could take months to complete...
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/25/politics/daca-legal-path-forward/index.html
10margd
Standards for beauty becoming more ethnically diverse: less anxiety reflected in fewer 'nose jobs' in US? 43% fewer since 2000!
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-number-of-americans-getting-nose-jobs-has-...
(Now about Asian eyelid surgery...http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-obsessed-eyelid-surgery-2017-8)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-number-of-americans-getting-nose-jobs-has-...
(Now about Asian eyelid surgery...http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-obsessed-eyelid-surgery-2017-8)
11margd
HHS loses track of 1500 unaccompanied minors.
Some of these children have been released to traffickers.
Nazis separated parents from children. US didn't even do that to Japanese-Americans in WW2.
Trump blames Dems for his own child-separation policy, seeking to use unaccompanied minors, like DACA kids, as chips in his political battles.
Evil.
(Meanwhile Trump-monster adds 15,000 visas for seasonal non-farm workers. Priorities, y'know.)
HHS Official Says Agency Lost Track of Nearly 1,500 Unaccompanied Minors
Leila Miller | April 26, 2018 /
...In 2014, at least 10 trafficking victims, including eight minors, were discovered during a raid by federal and local law enforcement in Portman’s home state of Ohio. As FRONTLINE examined in the recent documentary Trafficked in America, HHS had released several minors to the traffickers. The committee said the case was due to policies and procedures that were “inadequate to protect the children in the agency’s care.”...
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/hhs-official-says-agency-lost-track-o...
____________________________________________________
Trump Blames Own Border Policy on Democrats
D'Angelo Gore | May 22, 2018
https://www.factcheck.org/2018/05/trump-blames-own-border-policy-on-democrats/
..."Put pressure on the Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there parents once they cross the Border into the U.S. Catch and Release, Lottery and Chain must also go with it and we MUST continue building the WALL! DEMOCRATS ARE PROTECTING MS-13 THUGS,” the president wrote on Twitter....
https://www.factcheck.org/2018/05/trump-blames-own-border-policy-on-democrats/
____________________________________________________
U.S. adds 15,000 visas for seasonal non-farm workers
Reuters Staff | May 25, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-visas/us-adds-15000-visas-for...
ETA__________________________________________________
Did the Trump Administration Separate Immigrant Children From Parents and Lose Them?
Amy Harmon | May 28, 2018
...Why might the government want to track migrant children?
After being placed with a sponsor, unaccompanied minors (usually older children) face deportation proceedings. They may seek asylum or other relief to try to remain in the country legally.
Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio and chairman of a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee, has said the government has a responsibility to track them so that they are not abused or trafficked, and so that they attend their court proceedings. In 2016, under the Obama administration, the subcommittee released a report finding that department officials had failed to establish procedures to protect unaccompanied minors from being turned over to smugglers or human traffickers. Eight children, the report found, had been placed with human traffickers who forced them to work on an egg farm.
To prevent similar episodes, the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services Departments agreed to establish new guidelines within a year. It is now more than a year after that deadline.
What will happen to children separated from their parents under the new ‘zero tolerance’ policy?
Undocumented immigrants who are stopped by the Border Patrol or customs officers will be sent directly to a federal court by the United States Marshals Service. Children (some quite young) will be placed in the custody of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, administration officials said — the same office that handles minors who show up at the border unaccompanied by an adult. The adult immigrants would be sent to detention centers to await trial.
If convicted, immigrants would be imprisoned for the duration of their sentences, after which time they could be returned to their countries of origin. First-time illegal entry is a misdemeanor that carries up to a six-month prison sentence. Repeat entry constitutes a felony and carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment. It is not clear how easily they would be able to reunite with their children.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/us/trump-immigrant-children-lost.html
Some of these children have been released to traffickers.
Nazis separated parents from children. US didn't even do that to Japanese-Americans in WW2.
Trump blames Dems for his own child-separation policy, seeking to use unaccompanied minors, like DACA kids, as chips in his political battles.
Evil.
(Meanwhile Trump-monster adds 15,000 visas for seasonal non-farm workers. Priorities, y'know.)
HHS Official Says Agency Lost Track of Nearly 1,500 Unaccompanied Minors
Leila Miller | April 26, 2018 /
...In 2014, at least 10 trafficking victims, including eight minors, were discovered during a raid by federal and local law enforcement in Portman’s home state of Ohio. As FRONTLINE examined in the recent documentary Trafficked in America, HHS had released several minors to the traffickers. The committee said the case was due to policies and procedures that were “inadequate to protect the children in the agency’s care.”...
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/hhs-official-says-agency-lost-track-o...
____________________________________________________
Trump Blames Own Border Policy on Democrats
D'Angelo Gore | May 22, 2018
https://www.factcheck.org/2018/05/trump-blames-own-border-policy-on-democrats/
..."Put pressure on the Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there parents once they cross the Border into the U.S. Catch and Release, Lottery and Chain must also go with it and we MUST continue building the WALL! DEMOCRATS ARE PROTECTING MS-13 THUGS,” the president wrote on Twitter....
https://www.factcheck.org/2018/05/trump-blames-own-border-policy-on-democrats/
____________________________________________________
U.S. adds 15,000 visas for seasonal non-farm workers
Reuters Staff | May 25, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-visas/us-adds-15000-visas-for...
ETA__________________________________________________
Did the Trump Administration Separate Immigrant Children From Parents and Lose Them?
Amy Harmon | May 28, 2018
...Why might the government want to track migrant children?
After being placed with a sponsor, unaccompanied minors (usually older children) face deportation proceedings. They may seek asylum or other relief to try to remain in the country legally.
Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio and chairman of a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee, has said the government has a responsibility to track them so that they are not abused or trafficked, and so that they attend their court proceedings. In 2016, under the Obama administration, the subcommittee released a report finding that department officials had failed to establish procedures to protect unaccompanied minors from being turned over to smugglers or human traffickers. Eight children, the report found, had been placed with human traffickers who forced them to work on an egg farm.
To prevent similar episodes, the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services Departments agreed to establish new guidelines within a year. It is now more than a year after that deadline.
What will happen to children separated from their parents under the new ‘zero tolerance’ policy?
Undocumented immigrants who are stopped by the Border Patrol or customs officers will be sent directly to a federal court by the United States Marshals Service. Children (some quite young) will be placed in the custody of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, administration officials said — the same office that handles minors who show up at the border unaccompanied by an adult. The adult immigrants would be sent to detention centers to await trial.
If convicted, immigrants would be imprisoned for the duration of their sentences, after which time they could be returned to their countries of origin. First-time illegal entry is a misdemeanor that carries up to a six-month prison sentence. Repeat entry constitutes a felony and carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment. It is not clear how easily they would be able to reunite with their children.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/us/trump-immigrant-children-lost.html
12lriley
Trump has a history of hiring overseas workers at his Mar-a-Lago resort. He's not the champion of the american worker and never has been. All his rhetoric about building walls and deporting illegals is mainly aimed at Hispanics to target an audience of right wing hysterics in its effort to gather in disenchanted voters.
It was always such bullshit anyway--pointing the finger at the Obama administration and saying they were too soft on 'illegals' when the Obama administration in actual fact had been deporting them in record numbers. One main difference I suppose was the Obama administration kept overt racism out of it while for the Trump administration it's like the main point. It's not right either way though--this nation has been built and rooted in by immigration and why should these times be any different? Different cultures make our society stronger and more vibrant or at least I think so.
It was always such bullshit anyway--pointing the finger at the Obama administration and saying they were too soft on 'illegals' when the Obama administration in actual fact had been deporting them in record numbers. One main difference I suppose was the Obama administration kept overt racism out of it while for the Trump administration it's like the main point. It's not right either way though--this nation has been built and rooted in by immigration and why should these times be any different? Different cultures make our society stronger and more vibrant or at least I think so.
13margd
Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Is a Boom Time for Private Prisons
Give me your tired, your poor, your per diem…
Madison PaulyMay/June 2018 Issue
...Between 2002, when the Department of Homeland Security was created, and 2017, the total number of immigrants arrested by ICE and apprehended by the Border Patrol fell by more than half, correlating with lower levels of illegal immigration. Yet the average daily population of US detention centers nearly doubled...
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/05/trumps-immigration-crackdown-is-a-b...
Give me your tired, your poor, your per diem…
Madison PaulyMay/June 2018 Issue
...Between 2002, when the Department of Homeland Security was created, and 2017, the total number of immigrants arrested by ICE and apprehended by the Border Patrol fell by more than half, correlating with lower levels of illegal immigration. Yet the average daily population of US detention centers nearly doubled...
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/05/trumps-immigration-crackdown-is-a-b...
14John5918
Indigenous Guatemalan woman shot dead by US Border Patrol (Al Jazeera)
And a different death: Roxana Hernandez: Anger over transgender migrant's death in US (BBC)
And a different death: Roxana Hernandez: Anger over transgender migrant's death in US (BBC)
152wonderY
Nicholas Kristof
Trump Immigration Policy Veers From Abhorrent to Evil
conclusion:
So what’s next, Mr. President? Minefields at the border would be an even more effective deterrent. Or East German-style marksmen in watch towers to shoot those who cross?
We as a nation should protect our borders. We must even more assiduously protect our soul.
Trump Immigration Policy Veers From Abhorrent to Evil
conclusion:
So what’s next, Mr. President? Minefields at the border would be an even more effective deterrent. Or East German-style marksmen in watch towers to shoot those who cross?
We as a nation should protect our borders. We must even more assiduously protect our soul.
162wonderY
Warehousing immigrant children
Have you seen Senator Jeff Markley's attempt to gain access to an HHS paid facility in Brownsville, TX? Management called the police on him.
He did mange to enter and describe the short-term (72 hour) detention facility at McAllen Border Station. His description matches photos taken in 2014.
The Washington Post gave Markley a few Pinocchios for inaccuracies, but did post one of those 2014 photos. Here are more.
The current Administration does have a two weeks notice policy in place for such visits, but the question remains whether they honor that policy.
My opinion - Congressional oversight should outweigh stated concerns of HHS for the privacy of the children or the ability of HHS employees to be present for a visit. If HHS staff are that overstretched, just who IS monitoring the care of these children?
Somebody needs to be able to punch through the opaqueness of the situation and report.
Southwest Key Programs is the non-profit with the state & federal contract at Brownsville.
CEO of Nonprofit Shelter That Called Police on Senator for Trying to Visit Detained Children was paid $770,860 in 2015. The CFO? $530,587. The amount is nearly seven times what the average nonprofit CEO makes, according to a 2016 study by Charity Navigator, which found that the average nonprofit chief makes just over $120,000.
Also,
US Eyes Holding Migrant Children at Military Bases
"What's happening now is a broad indication of a total lack of planning or forethought for the policy they enacted," Peter Boogaard, spokesman for immigration reform group FWD.us and a former Obama Administration official, told NBC. "They didn't think this through at all — what it would mean for kids, for their parents and for the operational challenges."
"Instead of having Border Patrol agents at the border, you have them taking care of kids at border stations."
Have you seen Senator Jeff Markley's attempt to gain access to an HHS paid facility in Brownsville, TX? Management called the police on him.
He did mange to enter and describe the short-term (72 hour) detention facility at McAllen Border Station. His description matches photos taken in 2014.
The Washington Post gave Markley a few Pinocchios for inaccuracies, but did post one of those 2014 photos. Here are more.
The current Administration does have a two weeks notice policy in place for such visits, but the question remains whether they honor that policy.
My opinion - Congressional oversight should outweigh stated concerns of HHS for the privacy of the children or the ability of HHS employees to be present for a visit. If HHS staff are that overstretched, just who IS monitoring the care of these children?
Somebody needs to be able to punch through the opaqueness of the situation and report.
Southwest Key Programs is the non-profit with the state & federal contract at Brownsville.
CEO of Nonprofit Shelter That Called Police on Senator for Trying to Visit Detained Children was paid $770,860 in 2015. The CFO? $530,587. The amount is nearly seven times what the average nonprofit CEO makes, according to a 2016 study by Charity Navigator, which found that the average nonprofit chief makes just over $120,000.
Also,
US Eyes Holding Migrant Children at Military Bases
"What's happening now is a broad indication of a total lack of planning or forethought for the policy they enacted," Peter Boogaard, spokesman for immigration reform group FWD.us and a former Obama Administration official, told NBC. "They didn't think this through at all — what it would mean for kids, for their parents and for the operational challenges."
"Instead of having Border Patrol agents at the border, you have them taking care of kids at border stations."
19margd
Sad that a practice meant to protect children from trafficking or from kidnapping by non-custodial parent has been twisted into a means of discouraging or punishing wouldbe immigrants.
While US residents, both my sister and I had children taken away to be questioned separately by Canadian border officials. My Asian son was not yet officially adopted, and so did not have our last name on his passport, though we also carried placement paperwork. My sister's 4YO biological daughter was crying. Apparently they and their older siblings vouched for our families and the children were quickly returned to us. I remember feeling grateful that border authorities were watching out for the kids. Now they take the kids to punish parents, and then they lose track of them?? Beasts.
While US residents, both my sister and I had children taken away to be questioned separately by Canadian border officials. My Asian son was not yet officially adopted, and so did not have our last name on his passport, though we also carried placement paperwork. My sister's 4YO biological daughter was crying. Apparently they and their older siblings vouched for our families and the children were quickly returned to us. I remember feeling grateful that border authorities were watching out for the kids. Now they take the kids to punish parents, and then they lose track of them?? Beasts.
20margd
Southern Baptists and Catholic conferences respond this week to separation of families and denial of asylum:
Mike Pence Gave a Trump Stump Speech to a Crowd of Southern Baptists, and It Didn’t Go Over Very Well
Ruth Graham | June 13, 2018
...although Pence barely mentioned immigration in his speech on Wednesday, the delegates on the floor overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for immigration reform, affirming the dignity of immigrants, and condemning “any form of nativism.”
...A breeze within the SBC sometimes foreshadows dramatic gusts throughout conservative evangelicalism.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/06/mike-pence-gave-a-trump-stump-speech-to...
___________________________________________________________
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump’s asylum changes, suggest ‘canonical penalties’
June 13, 2018
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (RNS) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opened its spring meeting this week with a stern reproach of the Trump administration’s latest immigration policies, with the group’s president suggesting the new rules on asylum are a “right to life” issue.
Some bishops followed by urging protests, including “canonical penalties” for those who carry out the administration’s new rules.
...Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the USCCB and archbishop of Galveston-Houston, read aloud a statement deeply critical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent announcement regarding asylum qualifications.
“At its core, asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life...The Attorney General’s recent decision elicits deep concern because it potentially strips asylum from many women who lack adequate protection."
“This decision negates decades of precedents that have provided protection to women fleeing domestic violence...We urge courts and policy makers to respect and enhance, not erode, the potential of our asylum system to preserve and protect the right to life.”
...DiNardo also criticized the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy, announced in May, which calls for prosecuting all those who cross the border illegally and separating children immigrating with parents from their families.
“Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma. Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together...Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral."
...The room erupted in applause.
...several bishops suggested bold strategies for countering the policies...bishops be sent to the border to inspect the detention facilities where children are kept...prayer vigils in front of federal courthouses...canonical penalties (denial of sacraments to excommunication) for Catholics “who are involved in this,” referring to children being separated from their families at the border...
https://religionnews.com/2018/06/13/catholic-bishops-rebuke-trumps-asylum-change...
Mike Pence Gave a Trump Stump Speech to a Crowd of Southern Baptists, and It Didn’t Go Over Very Well
Ruth Graham | June 13, 2018
...although Pence barely mentioned immigration in his speech on Wednesday, the delegates on the floor overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for immigration reform, affirming the dignity of immigrants, and condemning “any form of nativism.”
...A breeze within the SBC sometimes foreshadows dramatic gusts throughout conservative evangelicalism.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/06/mike-pence-gave-a-trump-stump-speech-to...
___________________________________________________________
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump’s asylum changes, suggest ‘canonical penalties’
June 13, 2018
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (RNS) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opened its spring meeting this week with a stern reproach of the Trump administration’s latest immigration policies, with the group’s president suggesting the new rules on asylum are a “right to life” issue.
Some bishops followed by urging protests, including “canonical penalties” for those who carry out the administration’s new rules.
...Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the USCCB and archbishop of Galveston-Houston, read aloud a statement deeply critical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent announcement regarding asylum qualifications.
“At its core, asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life...The Attorney General’s recent decision elicits deep concern because it potentially strips asylum from many women who lack adequate protection."
“This decision negates decades of precedents that have provided protection to women fleeing domestic violence...We urge courts and policy makers to respect and enhance, not erode, the potential of our asylum system to preserve and protect the right to life.”
...DiNardo also criticized the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy, announced in May, which calls for prosecuting all those who cross the border illegally and separating children immigrating with parents from their families.
“Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma. Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together...Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral."
...The room erupted in applause.
...several bishops suggested bold strategies for countering the policies...bishops be sent to the border to inspect the detention facilities where children are kept...prayer vigils in front of federal courthouses...canonical penalties (denial of sacraments to excommunication) for Catholics “who are involved in this,” referring to children being separated from their families at the border...
https://religionnews.com/2018/06/13/catholic-bishops-rebuke-trumps-asylum-change...
212wonderY
>20 margd: I would hope those canonical penalties would also apply to Catholic politicians who support the current policy, or refuse to speak against it. Paul Ryan, for instance.
22pmackey
>21 2wonderY: I think that's the gist of it.
232wonderY
My take away was that it would apply to the workers doing the hands-on separating. So that one cannot protest that "I was just following lawful orders."
24pmackey
I took it as applying to both. Why just penalize the workers carrying out the orders and give a pass to the Government branches?
25margd
I don't think "canonical penalties" were ever handed out in any systematic way to RC politicians who supported abortion legislation (Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry), so I doubt Paul Ryan needs to worry? Maybe people actually participating in the hands-on separating are more at risk?
As I recall, Paul Ryan soon shook off Pope Francis's exhortation on preferential option for the poor, so I don't think he'd be much influenced by canonical penalties...
Actions such as inspecting detention facilities and prayer vigils might be more effective--especially if conducted ecumenically and strategically in run-up to 2018 election.
_______________________________________________________________________________
I bet even some hardened enforcement personnel suffer pangs of conscience, if not PTSD, separating children from their parents?
Author of this little piece suggests that those doing the hands-on separating consider just saying "no":
The Ethics of Separating Families at the Border
Carrie Cordero | June 14, 2018
https://www.lawfareblog.com/ethics-separating-families-border
As I recall, Paul Ryan soon shook off Pope Francis's exhortation on preferential option for the poor, so I don't think he'd be much influenced by canonical penalties...
Actions such as inspecting detention facilities and prayer vigils might be more effective--especially if conducted ecumenically and strategically in run-up to 2018 election.
_______________________________________________________________________________
I bet even some hardened enforcement personnel suffer pangs of conscience, if not PTSD, separating children from their parents?
Author of this little piece suggests that those doing the hands-on separating consider just saying "no":
The Ethics of Separating Families at the Border
Carrie Cordero | June 14, 2018
https://www.lawfareblog.com/ethics-separating-families-border
26pmackey
Disobeying an order will get you fired... with this administration fairly quickly, I think. So, disobedience is not an easy choice. This is just so sad that we're doing this.
272wonderY
Huh! Paul Ryan speaks on the issue:
Ryan opposes separating immigrant children from their parents
But Ryan blamed the courts for the separation of immigrant families.
“This is because of a court ruling,” Ryan said. “We believe it should be addressed in immigration legislation. So what’s happening at the border with the separation of their parents and their children is because of a court ruling, and so that’s why I think legislation is necessary.”
Ryan opposes separating immigrant children from their parents
But Ryan blamed the courts for the separation of immigrant families.
“This is because of a court ruling,” Ryan said. “We believe it should be addressed in immigration legislation. So what’s happening at the border with the separation of their parents and their children is because of a court ruling, and so that’s why I think legislation is necessary.”
282wonderY
Trump Ordered Troops to the Border, But They’re Doing Busywork
The headline is a bit misleading. The National Guard is doing support and maintenance work for the Border Patrol. There is value there, but it sounds like the troops aren't particularly happy with the situation.
The headline is a bit misleading. The National Guard is doing support and maintenance work for the Border Patrol. There is value there, but it sounds like the troops aren't particularly happy with the situation.
29John5918
>28 2wonderY:
One of the dynamics noticed by many of those who study and practice peacebuilding is how many aspects of our lives are militarised. Even refugees and those seeking asylum are being dealt with by the military instead of social and humanitarian workers.
One of the dynamics noticed by many of those who study and practice peacebuilding is how many aspects of our lives are militarised. Even refugees and those seeking asylum are being dealt with by the military instead of social and humanitarian workers.
30margd
Our tax dollars at work...
Enslaved and Forced to Watch Her Husband Dig His Own Grave—And Labeled A Terrorist As A Result
Jennifer Daskal, Paul Rosenzweig | June 14, 2018
...In the Matter of A-C-M, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) (last week) concluded that a woman who was “kidnapped and required to perform cooking and cleaning for El Salvadoran guerrillas under threat of death” is—based on the cooking and cleaning done while enslaved—a material supporter of terrorism and therefore ineligible for asylum...
https://www.lawfareblog.com/Watch-Her-Dig-His-Grave-Labeled-Terrorist-Result
Enslaved and Forced to Watch Her Husband Dig His Own Grave—And Labeled A Terrorist As A Result
Jennifer Daskal, Paul Rosenzweig | June 14, 2018
...In the Matter of A-C-M, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) (last week) concluded that a woman who was “kidnapped and required to perform cooking and cleaning for El Salvadoran guerrillas under threat of death” is—based on the cooking and cleaning done while enslaved—a material supporter of terrorism and therefore ineligible for asylum...
https://www.lawfareblog.com/Watch-Her-Dig-His-Grave-Labeled-Terrorist-Result
31John5918
>20 margd:
It is good to see two major churches speaking out in the USA even as government officials try to use the bible to justify this practice: Sarah Sanders uses Bible to defend Trump's separation of families at border (Guardian). This White House functionary has obviously forgotten Matthew 25: 31-46, particularly the verses referring to welcoming strangers.
In a different context it's good to see the church in Spain stepping in to welcome the stranger.
Church in Spain prepares to welcome migrants turned away in Italy (Catholic News Agency)
It is good to see two major churches speaking out in the USA even as government officials try to use the bible to justify this practice: Sarah Sanders uses Bible to defend Trump's separation of families at border (Guardian). This White House functionary has obviously forgotten Matthew 25: 31-46, particularly the verses referring to welcoming strangers.
In a different context it's good to see the church in Spain stepping in to welcome the stranger.
Church in Spain prepares to welcome migrants turned away in Italy (Catholic News Agency)
34margd
The DACA 'compromise' bill is the worst immigration legislation in a century
Alex Nowrasteh | Jun 15, 2018
...Speaker Paul D. Ryan just agreed to bring two bills to the floor of the House of Representatives.
He released one of those bills Thursday (the "moderate/compromise" one Trump said he won't sign?). The other has been kicking around Washington for a while: the Securing America’s Future Act. The White House supported an earlier version of it...even if the SAF Act doesn’t pass, its draconian cuts to immigration will be the Republican starting point for all future negotiations.
...SAF...give(s) Dreamers...renewable residency permits — with no pathway to citizenship — to some DACA recipients. Worse...few Dreamers could ever spend a year as a stay-at-home mother, risk starting a small business or even become a priest. That’s because this bill would make it a crime for anyone holding a SAF permit to have an income below 125% of poverty level.
SAF cuts the number of legal immigrants by about 40% initially, and that number could reach 50% over 10 years. It cancels the diversity green card lottery, eliminates all family-sponsored immigration categories except for the most immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, and cuts to the bone the number of asylum seekers who will be admitted.
...legal immigrants who already have a green card would be mostly unable to bring their foreign-born spouses or children to the U.S. ...immigrants who have waited for decades for a type of green card that would be eliminated by the SAF bill would suddenly have their applications canceled and their fees confiscated.
...even though the number of illegal border crossings is at a 46-year low, the bill would spend about $124 billion over the next five years on border security. That’s about seven times what it cost to fund the Border Patrol for the five years from 2012 to 2017.
...the SAF Act is still the worst immigration bill introduced in almost a century. Republican hardliners say it’s a compromise — helping out Dreamers in return for more border security. It’s not. It’s a strategy for deporting Dreamers over a longer period of time while cutting legal immigration in half, canceling the applications of those who have patiently waited for a green card, and wasting $124 billion.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-nowrasteh-immigration-bill-20180615-s...
Alex Nowrasteh | Jun 15, 2018
...Speaker Paul D. Ryan just agreed to bring two bills to the floor of the House of Representatives.
He released one of those bills Thursday (the "moderate/compromise" one Trump said he won't sign?). The other has been kicking around Washington for a while: the Securing America’s Future Act. The White House supported an earlier version of it...even if the SAF Act doesn’t pass, its draconian cuts to immigration will be the Republican starting point for all future negotiations.
...SAF...give(s) Dreamers...renewable residency permits — with no pathway to citizenship — to some DACA recipients. Worse...few Dreamers could ever spend a year as a stay-at-home mother, risk starting a small business or even become a priest. That’s because this bill would make it a crime for anyone holding a SAF permit to have an income below 125% of poverty level.
SAF cuts the number of legal immigrants by about 40% initially, and that number could reach 50% over 10 years. It cancels the diversity green card lottery, eliminates all family-sponsored immigration categories except for the most immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, and cuts to the bone the number of asylum seekers who will be admitted.
...legal immigrants who already have a green card would be mostly unable to bring their foreign-born spouses or children to the U.S. ...immigrants who have waited for decades for a type of green card that would be eliminated by the SAF bill would suddenly have their applications canceled and their fees confiscated.
...even though the number of illegal border crossings is at a 46-year low, the bill would spend about $124 billion over the next five years on border security. That’s about seven times what it cost to fund the Border Patrol for the five years from 2012 to 2017.
...the SAF Act is still the worst immigration bill introduced in almost a century. Republican hardliners say it’s a compromise — helping out Dreamers in return for more border security. It’s not. It’s a strategy for deporting Dreamers over a longer period of time while cutting legal immigration in half, canceling the applications of those who have patiently waited for a green card, and wasting $124 billion.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-nowrasteh-immigration-bill-20180615-s...
35margd
Republicans scramble to understand if Trump just sunk their (the "moderate/compromise"?) immigration effort
Lauren Fox, Tal Kopan, Ashley Killough and Pamela Brown | June 16, 2018
...After a day of confusion that threatened the future of the legislation, the White House issued a statement on the record that Trump supported the ("moderate/compromise") bill along with a more conservative piece of legislation.
"The President fully supports both the Goodlatte bill and the House leadership bill. In this morning's interview, he was commenting on the discharge petition in the House, and not the new package. He would sign either the Goodlatte or the leadership bills," White House spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement.
After toiling away for weeks on a hard-fought compromise bill that tackled border security and even delivered Trump his campaign promise of a border wall, Republican aides and members involved in the discussions were taken aback by the President's impromptu interview with Fox News on the White House lawn where Trump insinuated he wouldn't support a bill that had been negotiated with his administration's involvement. Many members were desperate to believe that the President had either been referring to another bill or would reverse course later in the day -- while conservatives cheered the President as rightfully demanding changes to the bill...
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/15/politics/republicans-immigration-reaction/index.h...
Lauren Fox, Tal Kopan, Ashley Killough and Pamela Brown | June 16, 2018
...After a day of confusion that threatened the future of the legislation, the White House issued a statement on the record that Trump supported the ("moderate/compromise") bill along with a more conservative piece of legislation.
"The President fully supports both the Goodlatte bill and the House leadership bill. In this morning's interview, he was commenting on the discharge petition in the House, and not the new package. He would sign either the Goodlatte or the leadership bills," White House spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement.
After toiling away for weeks on a hard-fought compromise bill that tackled border security and even delivered Trump his campaign promise of a border wall, Republican aides and members involved in the discussions were taken aback by the President's impromptu interview with Fox News on the White House lawn where Trump insinuated he wouldn't support a bill that had been negotiated with his administration's involvement. Many members were desperate to believe that the President had either been referring to another bill or would reverse course later in the day -- while conservatives cheered the President as rightfully demanding changes to the bill...
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/15/politics/republicans-immigration-reaction/index.h...
36margd
#32 Sessions' invoking Bible to defend immigration policy Bible:
Christian Leaders To Jeff Sessions: The Bible Does Not Justify Separating Families
Jennifer Bendery | 06/15/2018 07:04 pm ET
“It goes against pretty much the entire Bible in the ethos of Jesus, and it’s deeply un-Christian.”
..."While protecting our borders is important, we can and must do better as a government, and as a society, to find other ways to ensure that safety,” Cardinal Daniel Nicholas DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement. ”Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral.”
“Disgraceful,” the Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the late and influential Rev. Billy Graham and a supporter of President Donald Trump, said in a Tuesday interview. “It’s terrible to see families ripped apart, and I don’t support that one bit.”
Even Sessions’ own church, the United Methodist Church, is rejecting what he is doing. “Tearing children away from parents who have made a dangerous journey to provide a safe and sufficient life for them is unnecessarily cruel and detrimental to the well-being of parents and children,” reads a statement signed by Bishop Kenneth Carter, president of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church.
...invoking Scripture to defend their immigration policy. “... makes my blood boil,” said Matthew Schlimm, a professor of the Old Testament at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Iowa. “Sessions has taken the passage from Romans 13 completely out of context. Immediately beforehand and afterwards, Paul urges readers to love others, including their enemies. Anyone with half an ounce of moral conviction knows that tearing children away from parents has nothing to do with love.”
Schlimm noted that people often misuse the Bible. In fact, the same passage Sessions cited has been used to justify slavery and Nazism. “So, it’s not surprising that slave traders tore children away from their parents and tried to justify it with the Bible. Or that Nazis tore children away from their parents and tried to justify it with the Bible. Sessions follows the pattern of history,” he said. “What’s chilling is to think that we again live in such morally deranged times.”
Ian Henderson, an associate professor of New Testament studies at McGill University in Montreal, said that no matter how people want to read into Romans 13, it does not mean that Christian citizens should not protest against bad laws or bad government. “It is perfectly reasonable, indeed a duty and part of ‘submission,’ for Christian citizens to express their ‘concerns’ about whether the law and/or its administration are ethically defensible or politically useful,” he said. “For conservative Christians, this would especially be so when the law of the State seems to be attacking the biblical authority of the family.”
Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest and the editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America, said Sessions’ actions are in fact the opposite of the Bible’s teachings about caring for the poor and being compassionate. “I cannot imagine anyone in his or her right mind thinking Jesus would approve of ripping children from their parents,” Martin said in a Friday interview on MSNBC. “It goes against pretty much the entire Bible in the ethos of Jesus, and it’s deeply un-Christian.”...
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeff-sessions-trump-immigration-family-sepa...
ETA_________________________________________________________________
MSNBC’s Ali Velshi puts his religion degree to work fact-checking Sessions and Sanders: ‘We’re going to church’
Bob Brigham | 15 Jun 2018
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/msnbcs-ali-velshi-puts-religion-degree-work-fac...
Christian Leaders To Jeff Sessions: The Bible Does Not Justify Separating Families
Jennifer Bendery | 06/15/2018 07:04 pm ET
“It goes against pretty much the entire Bible in the ethos of Jesus, and it’s deeply un-Christian.”
..."While protecting our borders is important, we can and must do better as a government, and as a society, to find other ways to ensure that safety,” Cardinal Daniel Nicholas DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement. ”Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral.”
“Disgraceful,” the Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the late and influential Rev. Billy Graham and a supporter of President Donald Trump, said in a Tuesday interview. “It’s terrible to see families ripped apart, and I don’t support that one bit.”
Even Sessions’ own church, the United Methodist Church, is rejecting what he is doing. “Tearing children away from parents who have made a dangerous journey to provide a safe and sufficient life for them is unnecessarily cruel and detrimental to the well-being of parents and children,” reads a statement signed by Bishop Kenneth Carter, president of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church.
...invoking Scripture to defend their immigration policy. “... makes my blood boil,” said Matthew Schlimm, a professor of the Old Testament at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Iowa. “Sessions has taken the passage from Romans 13 completely out of context. Immediately beforehand and afterwards, Paul urges readers to love others, including their enemies. Anyone with half an ounce of moral conviction knows that tearing children away from parents has nothing to do with love.”
Schlimm noted that people often misuse the Bible. In fact, the same passage Sessions cited has been used to justify slavery and Nazism. “So, it’s not surprising that slave traders tore children away from their parents and tried to justify it with the Bible. Or that Nazis tore children away from their parents and tried to justify it with the Bible. Sessions follows the pattern of history,” he said. “What’s chilling is to think that we again live in such morally deranged times.”
Ian Henderson, an associate professor of New Testament studies at McGill University in Montreal, said that no matter how people want to read into Romans 13, it does not mean that Christian citizens should not protest against bad laws or bad government. “It is perfectly reasonable, indeed a duty and part of ‘submission,’ for Christian citizens to express their ‘concerns’ about whether the law and/or its administration are ethically defensible or politically useful,” he said. “For conservative Christians, this would especially be so when the law of the State seems to be attacking the biblical authority of the family.”
Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest and the editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America, said Sessions’ actions are in fact the opposite of the Bible’s teachings about caring for the poor and being compassionate. “I cannot imagine anyone in his or her right mind thinking Jesus would approve of ripping children from their parents,” Martin said in a Friday interview on MSNBC. “It goes against pretty much the entire Bible in the ethos of Jesus, and it’s deeply un-Christian.”...
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeff-sessions-trump-immigration-family-sepa...
ETA_________________________________________________________________
MSNBC’s Ali Velshi puts his religion degree to work fact-checking Sessions and Sanders: ‘We’re going to church’
Bob Brigham | 15 Jun 2018
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/msnbcs-ali-velshi-puts-religion-degree-work-fac...
37margd
Stephen Miller...
Trump Aide Stephen Miller on Separating Children at Border: “It Was a Simple Decision”
Daniel Politi | June 16, 2018
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/stephen-miller-on-separating-childre...
_________________________________________________
‘America is better than this’: What a doctor saw in a Texas shelter for migrant children
Kristine Phillips | June 16, 2018
...(Colleen) Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said colleagues who were alarmed by what was going on at the border invited her to see for herself, so she visited a shelter run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
...One thing immediately became clear to Kraft: Those who work at this shelter, whom she declined to name for privacy reasons, were doing what they could to make sure the children’s needs are met. The children were fed; they had beds, toys, a playground and people who change their diapers. But there are limits to what workers could do. Not only could they not pick up or touch the children; they could not get their parents for them.
...Such a situation could have long-term, devastating effects on young children, who are likely to develop what is called toxic stress in their brain once separated from caregivers or parents they trusted. It disrupts a child’s brain development and increases the levels of fight-or-flight hormones in their bodies, Kraft said. This kind of emotional trauma could eventually lead to health problems, such as heart disease and substance abuse disorders.
...Nearly 4,600 mental-health professionals and 90 organizations have joined a petition urging Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and several elected officials to stop the policy of separating children from their parents. The petition says:
These children are thrust into detention centers often without an advocate or an attorney and possibly even without the presence of any adult who can speak their language. We want you to imagine for a moment what this might be like for a child: to flee the place you have called your home because it is not safe to stay and then embark on a dangerous journey to an unknown destination, only to be ripped apart from your sole sense of security with no understanding of what just happened to you or if you will ever see your family again. And that the only thing you have done to deserve this, is to do what children do: stay close to the adults in their lives for security.
It further says: “To pretend that separated children do not grow up with the shrapnel of this traumatic experience embedded in their minds is to disregard everything we know about child development, the brain, and trauma.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/06/16/america-is-better-...
_________________________________________________
Here’s How You Can Help Fight Family Separation at the Border
Lawyers, translators, donations, protest.
Dahlia Lithwick and Margo Schlanger | June 15, 2018
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/how-you-can-fight-family-separation-...
Trump Aide Stephen Miller on Separating Children at Border: “It Was a Simple Decision”
Daniel Politi | June 16, 2018
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/stephen-miller-on-separating-childre...
_________________________________________________
‘America is better than this’: What a doctor saw in a Texas shelter for migrant children
Kristine Phillips | June 16, 2018
...(Colleen) Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said colleagues who were alarmed by what was going on at the border invited her to see for herself, so she visited a shelter run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
...One thing immediately became clear to Kraft: Those who work at this shelter, whom she declined to name for privacy reasons, were doing what they could to make sure the children’s needs are met. The children were fed; they had beds, toys, a playground and people who change their diapers. But there are limits to what workers could do. Not only could they not pick up or touch the children; they could not get their parents for them.
...Such a situation could have long-term, devastating effects on young children, who are likely to develop what is called toxic stress in their brain once separated from caregivers or parents they trusted. It disrupts a child’s brain development and increases the levels of fight-or-flight hormones in their bodies, Kraft said. This kind of emotional trauma could eventually lead to health problems, such as heart disease and substance abuse disorders.
...Nearly 4,600 mental-health professionals and 90 organizations have joined a petition urging Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and several elected officials to stop the policy of separating children from their parents. The petition says:
These children are thrust into detention centers often without an advocate or an attorney and possibly even without the presence of any adult who can speak their language. We want you to imagine for a moment what this might be like for a child: to flee the place you have called your home because it is not safe to stay and then embark on a dangerous journey to an unknown destination, only to be ripped apart from your sole sense of security with no understanding of what just happened to you or if you will ever see your family again. And that the only thing you have done to deserve this, is to do what children do: stay close to the adults in their lives for security.
It further says: “To pretend that separated children do not grow up with the shrapnel of this traumatic experience embedded in their minds is to disregard everything we know about child development, the brain, and trauma.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/06/16/america-is-better-...
_________________________________________________
Here’s How You Can Help Fight Family Separation at the Border
Lawyers, translators, donations, protest.
Dahlia Lithwick and Margo Schlanger | June 15, 2018
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/how-you-can-fight-family-separation-...
40margd
This should be broadcast at every Trumpian town hall and rally. LOUD!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoncXfYBAVI (07:48)
Listen to Children Who’ve Just Been Separated From Their Parents at the Border
Ginger Thompson | June 18, 2018
ProPublica has obtained audio from inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, in which children can be heard wailing as an agent jokes, “We have an orchestra here.”
...The audio obtained by ProPublica breaks that silence. It was recorded last week inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention facility. The person who made the recording asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation. That person gave the audio to Jennifer Harbury, a well-known civil rights attorney who has lived and worked for four decades in the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border with Mexico. Harbury provided it to ProPublica. She said the person who recorded it was a client who “heard the children’s weeping and crying, and was devastated by it.”
The person estimated that the children on the recording are between 4 and 10 years old. It appeared that they had been at the detention center for less than 24 hours, so their distress at having been separated from their parents was still raw. Consulate officials tried to comfort them with snacks and toys. But the children were inconsolable...
https://www.propublica.org/article/children-separated-from-parents-border-patrol...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoncXfYBAVI (07:48)
Listen to Children Who’ve Just Been Separated From Their Parents at the Border
Ginger Thompson | June 18, 2018
ProPublica has obtained audio from inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, in which children can be heard wailing as an agent jokes, “We have an orchestra here.”
...The audio obtained by ProPublica breaks that silence. It was recorded last week inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention facility. The person who made the recording asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation. That person gave the audio to Jennifer Harbury, a well-known civil rights attorney who has lived and worked for four decades in the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border with Mexico. Harbury provided it to ProPublica. She said the person who recorded it was a client who “heard the children’s weeping and crying, and was devastated by it.”
The person estimated that the children on the recording are between 4 and 10 years old. It appeared that they had been at the detention center for less than 24 hours, so their distress at having been separated from their parents was still raw. Consulate officials tried to comfort them with snacks and toys. But the children were inconsolable...
https://www.propublica.org/article/children-separated-from-parents-border-patrol...
41margd
The sounds of authoritarianism are a nameless agent joking about the wailing children at his feet and
bitter, compassionless Kirstjen Nielsen over-punctuating the letter P into the mic
while defending a policy of terror and extortion that, a day earlier, she claimed didn’t exist.
Walter Shaub @waltshaub
3:21 PM - 18 Jun 2018
bitter, compassionless Kirstjen Nielsen over-punctuating the letter P into the mic
while defending a policy of terror and extortion that, a day earlier, she claimed didn’t exist.
Walter Shaub @waltshaub
3:21 PM - 18 Jun 2018
42margd
In some Central American countries, international adoptions were plagued by rumors that their children were being taken to US as source of organs for transplants. Sure hope DHS is keeping THESE parents informed and in touch. At a minimum...
43alco261
>42 margd: I don't know Marg - these actions accompanied by the grim photos and recordings will probably only reaffirm/strengthen those kinds of rumors.
44madpoet
Detention centers (concentration camps) for kids?! This is inhumane and totally unacceptable. Did Trump get this idea when he met Kim Jong Un? Total disgrace.
45John5918
Donald Trump’s child cruelty shocks us, but it shouldn’t surprise us (Guardian)
The policy of separating families has the president’s name written all over it. But it also has an awful American pedigree...
But as horrific as these stories are, they are only happening because casual racism against immigrants has long been part of America’s identity...
America is built on racism, but it is also built on immigration, and these are not so much two sides of one coin but a snake eating its own tail. Immigrants have been othered so effectively by politicians that people who talk proudly about seeing their great-grandparents’ names in the books at Ellis Island, or boast about being able to trace their family tree to the Mayflower, will tut anxiously about illegal immigration, as though the Mayflower travellers all had visas. Few who talk about immigration talk about why these people are immigrating in the first place. What are they fleeing from? Who cares?
The policy of separating families has the president’s name written all over it. But it also has an awful American pedigree...
But as horrific as these stories are, they are only happening because casual racism against immigrants has long been part of America’s identity...
America is built on racism, but it is also built on immigration, and these are not so much two sides of one coin but a snake eating its own tail. Immigrants have been othered so effectively by politicians that people who talk proudly about seeing their great-grandparents’ names in the books at Ellis Island, or boast about being able to trace their family tree to the Mayflower, will tut anxiously about illegal immigration, as though the Mayflower travellers all had visas. Few who talk about immigration talk about why these people are immigrating in the first place. What are they fleeing from? Who cares?
46margd
What are they fleeing from?
What horror must there be back home to make a mom/dad pick up their kid(s), some quite little, and travel a month overland to an uncertain future. I'll see if I can find the article but one Obama official said that in his time some (albeit a few) parents would part with their kids at the US border, sending them across anonymously, with hope that alone they at least would be admitted and granted asylum. What must a parent be leaving behind to sacrifice like that? Kind of like a biological parent who places a child for adoption...
What horror must there be back home to make a mom/dad pick up their kid(s), some quite little, and travel a month overland to an uncertain future. I'll see if I can find the article but one Obama official said that in his time some (albeit a few) parents would part with their kids at the US border, sending them across anonymously, with hope that alone they at least would be admitted and granted asylum. What must a parent be leaving behind to sacrifice like that? Kind of like a biological parent who places a child for adoption...
47John5918
What is Donald Trump's family-separation endgame? (BBC)
Mr Trump's dual goals appear clear:
Leverage - he wants to force Democrats in Congress to negotiate a legislative package that keeps migrant families intact in exchange for full funding for his much-touted border wall, speedier deportation of undocumented aliens and sweeping changes to legal immigration policy.
Red meat - if he fails to get a deal, he sees this as a winning mid-term election issue, motivating his base to turn out in support of Republicans across the country.
Mr Trump's dual goals appear clear:
Leverage - he wants to force Democrats in Congress to negotiate a legislative package that keeps migrant families intact in exchange for full funding for his much-touted border wall, speedier deportation of undocumented aliens and sweeping changes to legal immigration policy.
Red meat - if he fails to get a deal, he sees this as a winning mid-term election issue, motivating his base to turn out in support of Republicans across the country.
48sturlington
>40 margd: I heard this audio on the way to dinner yesterday and it devastated me. I haven't been able to recover. I've donated, but I feel so helpless. I don't know what else I can do that would help. I truly feel as if our country has turned from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde overnight. I don't recognize this country.
And I know Americans have been responsible for plenty of horrors in our history, but it's the casual evil blatantness of this, the totally open dismissal of the worth of these human beings, the complete lack of concern for children, and the justification of it by Trump supporters that staggers me.
1-A is doing several broadcasts on this issue. Yesterday's interview with an ACLU representative was extremely informative. You can find it here: https://the1a.org/
And I know Americans have been responsible for plenty of horrors in our history, but it's the casual evil blatantness of this, the totally open dismissal of the worth of these human beings, the complete lack of concern for children, and the justification of it by Trump supporters that staggers me.
1-A is doing several broadcasts on this issue. Yesterday's interview with an ACLU representative was extremely informative. You can find it here: https://the1a.org/
49margd
Worse and worse: some of these separations will be permanent...
Does the United States Have a Plan to Reunite Children Separated From Parents at the Border?
Alex Kasprak | 19 June 2018
Attorneys, politicians, and journalists all describe a bureaucracy unprepared for the challenges of reuniting large numbers of children forcibly separated from their parents...
https://www.snopes.com/news/2018/06/19/does-united-states-plan-reunite-children-...
Does the United States Have a Plan to Reunite Children Separated From Parents at the Border?
Alex Kasprak | 19 June 2018
Attorneys, politicians, and journalists all describe a bureaucracy unprepared for the challenges of reuniting large numbers of children forcibly separated from their parents...
https://www.snopes.com/news/2018/06/19/does-united-states-plan-reunite-children-...
50Taphophile13
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo commemorates World Refugee Day
https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2018/06/283358.htm
https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2018/06/283358.htm
51mikevail
My cynical side believes that the way the Israelis treat the Palestinians in Gaza is Trump's dream scenario for his Border Wall.
52margd
Our tax dollars at work...
Young immigrants detained in Virginia center allege abuse
MICHAEL BIESECKER, JAKE PEARSON and GARANCE BURKE | 6/21/2018
WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigrant children as young as 14 housed at a juvenile detention center in Virginia say they were beaten while handcuffed and locked up for long periods in solitary confinement, left nude and shivering in concrete cells.
The abuse claims against the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center near Staunton, Virginia, are detailed in federal court filings that include a half-dozen sworn statements from Latino teens jailed there for months or years. Multiple detainees say the guards stripped them of their clothes and strapped them to chairs with bags placed over their heads.
...In addition to the children’s first-hand, translated accounts in court filings, a former child-development specialist who worked inside the facility independently told The Associated Press this week that she saw kids there with bruises and broken bones they blamed on guards. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to publicly discuss the children’s cases.
Many of the children were sent there after U.S. immigration authorities accused them of belonging to violent gangs, including MS-13. President Donald Trump has repeatedly cited gang activity as justification for his crackdown on illegal immigration.
...But a top manager at the Shenandoah center said during a recent congressional hearing that the children did not appear to be gang members and were suffering from mental health issues resulting from trauma that happened in their home countries — problems the detention facility is ill-equipped to treat.
...Most children held in the Shenandoah facility who were the focus of the abuse lawsuit were caught crossing the border illegally alone. They were not the children who have been separated from their families under the Trump administration’s recent policy and are now in the government’s care. But the facility there operates under the same program run by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. It was not immediately clear whether any separated children have been sent to Shenandoah Valley since the Trump administration in April announced its “zero tolerance” policy toward immigrant families, after the lawsuit was filed...
https://apnews.com/afc80e51b562462c89907b49ae624e79
Young immigrants detained in Virginia center allege abuse
MICHAEL BIESECKER, JAKE PEARSON and GARANCE BURKE | 6/21/2018
WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigrant children as young as 14 housed at a juvenile detention center in Virginia say they were beaten while handcuffed and locked up for long periods in solitary confinement, left nude and shivering in concrete cells.
The abuse claims against the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center near Staunton, Virginia, are detailed in federal court filings that include a half-dozen sworn statements from Latino teens jailed there for months or years. Multiple detainees say the guards stripped them of their clothes and strapped them to chairs with bags placed over their heads.
...In addition to the children’s first-hand, translated accounts in court filings, a former child-development specialist who worked inside the facility independently told The Associated Press this week that she saw kids there with bruises and broken bones they blamed on guards. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to publicly discuss the children’s cases.
Many of the children were sent there after U.S. immigration authorities accused them of belonging to violent gangs, including MS-13. President Donald Trump has repeatedly cited gang activity as justification for his crackdown on illegal immigration.
...But a top manager at the Shenandoah center said during a recent congressional hearing that the children did not appear to be gang members and were suffering from mental health issues resulting from trauma that happened in their home countries — problems the detention facility is ill-equipped to treat.
...Most children held in the Shenandoah facility who were the focus of the abuse lawsuit were caught crossing the border illegally alone. They were not the children who have been separated from their families under the Trump administration’s recent policy and are now in the government’s care. But the facility there operates under the same program run by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. It was not immediately clear whether any separated children have been sent to Shenandoah Valley since the Trump administration in April announced its “zero tolerance” policy toward immigrant families, after the lawsuit was filed...
https://apnews.com/afc80e51b562462c89907b49ae624e79
53margd
With US's aging workforce, immigration (especially skilled) could help keep Social Security and Medicare, etc. afloat:
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Sept. 22, 2016. The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration.
...KEY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS:
• When measured over a period of 10 years or more, the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers overall is very small. To the extent that negative impacts occur, they are most likely to be found for prior immigrants or native-born workers who have not completed high school—who are often the closest substitutes for immigrant workers with low skills.
• There is little evidence that immigration significantly affects the overall employment levels of native-born workers. As with wage impacts, there is some evidence that recent immigrants reduce the employment rate of prior immigrants. In addition, recent research finds that immigration reduces the number of hours worked by native-born teens (but not their employment levels).
• Some evidence on inflows of skilled immigrants suggests that there may be positive wage effects for some subgroups of native-born workers, and other benefits to the economy more broadly.
• Immigration has an overall positive impact on long-run economic growth in the United States.
• In terms of fiscal impacts, first-generation immigrants are more costly to governments, mainly at the state and local levels, than are the native-born, in large part due to the costs of educating their children. However, as adults, the children of immigrants (the second genera-
tion) are among the strongest economic and fiscal contributors in the U.S. population, contributing more in taxes than either their parents or the rest of the native-born population.
• Over the long term, the impacts of immigrants on government budgets are generally positive at the federal level but remain negative at the state and local level—but these generalizations are subject to a number of important assumptions. Immigration’s fiscal effects vary tremendously across states.
https://sites.nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/CNSTAT/Economic-and-Fiscal-Consequenc...
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Sept. 22, 2016. The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration.
...KEY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS:
• When measured over a period of 10 years or more, the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers overall is very small. To the extent that negative impacts occur, they are most likely to be found for prior immigrants or native-born workers who have not completed high school—who are often the closest substitutes for immigrant workers with low skills.
• There is little evidence that immigration significantly affects the overall employment levels of native-born workers. As with wage impacts, there is some evidence that recent immigrants reduce the employment rate of prior immigrants. In addition, recent research finds that immigration reduces the number of hours worked by native-born teens (but not their employment levels).
• Some evidence on inflows of skilled immigrants suggests that there may be positive wage effects for some subgroups of native-born workers, and other benefits to the economy more broadly.
• Immigration has an overall positive impact on long-run economic growth in the United States.
• In terms of fiscal impacts, first-generation immigrants are more costly to governments, mainly at the state and local levels, than are the native-born, in large part due to the costs of educating their children. However, as adults, the children of immigrants (the second genera-
tion) are among the strongest economic and fiscal contributors in the U.S. population, contributing more in taxes than either their parents or the rest of the native-born population.
• Over the long term, the impacts of immigrants on government budgets are generally positive at the federal level but remain negative at the state and local level—but these generalizations are subject to a number of important assumptions. Immigration’s fiscal effects vary tremendously across states.
https://sites.nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/CNSTAT/Economic-and-Fiscal-Consequenc...
54margd
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of this Administration to rigorously enforce our immigration laws. Under our laws, the only legal way for an alien to enter this country is at a designated port of entry at an appropriate time. When an alien enters or attempts to enter the country anywhere else, that alien has committed at least the crime of improper entry and is subject to a fine or imprisonment under section 1325(a) of title 8, United States Code. This Administration will initiate proceedings to enforce this and other criminal provisions of the INA until and unless Congress directs otherwise. It is also the policy of this Administration to maintain family unity, including by detaining alien families together where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources. It is unfortunate that Congress’s failure to act and court orders have put the Administration in the position of separating alien families to effectively enforce the law.
Sec. 2. Definitions. For purposes of this order, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Alien family” means
(i) any person not a citizen or national of the United States who has not been admitted into, or is not authorized to enter or remain in, the United States, who entered this country with an alien child or alien children at or between designated ports of entry and who was detained; and
(ii) that person’s alien child or alien children.
(b) “Alien child” means any person not a citizen or national of the United States who
(i) has not been admitted into, or is not authorized to enter or remain in, the United States;
(ii) is under the age of 18; and
(iii) has a legal parent-child relationship to an alien who entered the United States with the alien child at or between designated ports of entry and who was detained.
Sec. 3. Temporary Detention Policy for Families Entering this Country Illegally. (a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary), shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, maintain custody of alien families during the pendency of any criminal improper entry or immigration proceedings involving their members.
(b) The Secretary shall not, however, detain an alien family together when there is a concern that detention of an alien child with the child’s alien parent would pose a risk to the child’s welfare.
(c) The Secretary of Defense shall take all legally available measures to provide to the Secretary, upon request, any existing facilities available for the housing and care of alien families, and shall construct such facilities if necessary and consistent with law. The Secretary, to the extent permitted by law, shall be responsible for reimbursement for the use of these facilities.
(d) Heads of executive departments and agencies shall, to the extent consistent with law, make available to the Secretary, for the housing and care of alien families pending court proceedings for improper entry, any facilities that are appropriate for such purposes. The Secretary, to the extent permitted by law, shall be responsible for reimbursement for the use of these facilities.
(e) The Attorney General shall promptly file a request with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to modify the Settlement Agreement in Flores v. Sessions, CV 85-4544 (“Flores settlement”), in a manner that would permit the Secretary, under present resource constraints, to detain alien families together throughout the pendency of criminal proceedings for improper entry or any removal or other immigration proceedings.
Sec. 4. Prioritization of Immigration Proceedings Involving Alien Families. The Attorney General shall, to the extent practicable, prioritize the adjudication of cases involving detained families.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented in a manner consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 20, 2018.
https://www.vox.com/2018/6/20/17484300/read-trump-executive-order-family-separat...
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of this Administration to rigorously enforce our immigration laws. Under our laws, the only legal way for an alien to enter this country is at a designated port of entry at an appropriate time. When an alien enters or attempts to enter the country anywhere else, that alien has committed at least the crime of improper entry and is subject to a fine or imprisonment under section 1325(a) of title 8, United States Code. This Administration will initiate proceedings to enforce this and other criminal provisions of the INA until and unless Congress directs otherwise. It is also the policy of this Administration to maintain family unity, including by detaining alien families together where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources. It is unfortunate that Congress’s failure to act and court orders have put the Administration in the position of separating alien families to effectively enforce the law.
Sec. 2. Definitions. For purposes of this order, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Alien family” means
(i) any person not a citizen or national of the United States who has not been admitted into, or is not authorized to enter or remain in, the United States, who entered this country with an alien child or alien children at or between designated ports of entry and who was detained; and
(ii) that person’s alien child or alien children.
(b) “Alien child” means any person not a citizen or national of the United States who
(i) has not been admitted into, or is not authorized to enter or remain in, the United States;
(ii) is under the age of 18; and
(iii) has a legal parent-child relationship to an alien who entered the United States with the alien child at or between designated ports of entry and who was detained.
Sec. 3. Temporary Detention Policy for Families Entering this Country Illegally. (a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary), shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, maintain custody of alien families during the pendency of any criminal improper entry or immigration proceedings involving their members.
(b) The Secretary shall not, however, detain an alien family together when there is a concern that detention of an alien child with the child’s alien parent would pose a risk to the child’s welfare.
(c) The Secretary of Defense shall take all legally available measures to provide to the Secretary, upon request, any existing facilities available for the housing and care of alien families, and shall construct such facilities if necessary and consistent with law. The Secretary, to the extent permitted by law, shall be responsible for reimbursement for the use of these facilities.
(d) Heads of executive departments and agencies shall, to the extent consistent with law, make available to the Secretary, for the housing and care of alien families pending court proceedings for improper entry, any facilities that are appropriate for such purposes. The Secretary, to the extent permitted by law, shall be responsible for reimbursement for the use of these facilities.
(e) The Attorney General shall promptly file a request with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to modify the Settlement Agreement in Flores v. Sessions, CV 85-4544 (“Flores settlement”), in a manner that would permit the Secretary, under present resource constraints, to detain alien families together throughout the pendency of criminal proceedings for improper entry or any removal or other immigration proceedings.
Sec. 4. Prioritization of Immigration Proceedings Involving Alien Families. The Attorney General shall, to the extent practicable, prioritize the adjudication of cases involving detained families.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented in a manner consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 20, 2018.
https://www.vox.com/2018/6/20/17484300/read-trump-executive-order-family-separat...
55sturlington
Melania Trump visits detention center where children are being held wearing a jacket that says, "I really don't care. Do you?"
This is not fake news. This is not an exaggeration. This is like giving the middle finger to everyone who has been shown any concern for the welfare of these children.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/us/politics/melania-trump-jacket.html
This is not fake news. This is not an exaggeration. This is like giving the middle finger to everyone who has been shown any concern for the welfare of these children.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/us/politics/melania-trump-jacket.html
56margd
I never know how complicit Melania is--might Donald be mad at her straying from Admin line and getting better numbers than him? Made her wear that coat? Needed distraction from the children's story?
Trophy wives--one assumes they knew what they were getting into, but can't help but feel sorry for them when it blows up in their faces...
But sometimes they have truly bought into it, I guess...
Trophy wives--one assumes they knew what they were getting into, but can't help but feel sorry for them when it blows up in their faces...
But sometimes they have truly bought into it, I guess...
57southernbooklady
>55 sturlington: It's a measure of my growing cynicism that I find myself wondering if it was deliberate. It's a distraction -- because nothing is more certain to distract people from what's going on than a woman dressed inappropriately.
58sturlington
>57 southernbooklady: It's a cheap jacket from Zara, not something she likely had in her closet. Someone went out and bought it. No one stopped her from wearing it. Of course it was a deliberate.
I don't think it's a distraction. I think it's galvanized people who might have been mollified by the EO Trump signed. Whatever good will her "gesture" of visiting the detention center might have garnered was more than negated.
This is not the same as criticizing Michelle Obama's sleeveless dress or Hillary Clinton's pantsuits. This is not even the same as criticizing Melania Trump for wearing stilettos to a hurricane disaster area. This is not policing women's clothing because of perceived gender roles. There really is nothing subtle about this, and the judgment is deserved.
I don't think it's a distraction. I think it's galvanized people who might have been mollified by the EO Trump signed. Whatever good will her "gesture" of visiting the detention center might have garnered was more than negated.
This is not the same as criticizing Michelle Obama's sleeveless dress or Hillary Clinton's pantsuits. This is not even the same as criticizing Melania Trump for wearing stilettos to a hurricane disaster area. This is not policing women's clothing because of perceived gender roles. There really is nothing subtle about this, and the judgment is deserved.
59southernbooklady
>58 sturlington: This is not the same as criticizing Michelle Obama's sleeveless dress or Hillary Clinton's pantsuits.
that's not my point. It's not about people being mean to Ivanka Trump.
We have an administration who implements human rights violations as a matter of policy. We have entire government departments and cadres of government employees willing to implement that policy. Willing to commit human rights violations because it's now their job. We have children taken forcibly from their parents and put in cages in warehouses. And we have elected officials -- people we voted into office to represent us -- quoting the bible passages used to justify slavery in support of putting kids in cages in warehouses.
But yes, by all means, let's spend our moral outrage on what Ivanka Trump is wearing. After all, dumping on a bitch is easier than having to keep looking at those kids we aren't helping. It's instantaneous moral gratification. Really, if it weren't for the fact that I think Trump, et al is entirely tone-deaf to public perception, I'd suspect them of a deliberate distraction.
But shame on us for every single second we waste whining about what Trump's wife is wearing instead of demanding our elected officials, border patrol agents, customs officials, and sundry other government departments and employees act like decent human beings.
that's not my point. It's not about people being mean to Ivanka Trump.
We have an administration who implements human rights violations as a matter of policy. We have entire government departments and cadres of government employees willing to implement that policy. Willing to commit human rights violations because it's now their job. We have children taken forcibly from their parents and put in cages in warehouses. And we have elected officials -- people we voted into office to represent us -- quoting the bible passages used to justify slavery in support of putting kids in cages in warehouses.
But yes, by all means, let's spend our moral outrage on what Ivanka Trump is wearing. After all, dumping on a bitch is easier than having to keep looking at those kids we aren't helping. It's instantaneous moral gratification. Really, if it weren't for the fact that I think Trump, et al is entirely tone-deaf to public perception, I'd suspect them of a deliberate distraction.
But shame on us for every single second we waste whining about what Trump's wife is wearing instead of demanding our elected officials, border patrol agents, customs officials, and sundry other government departments and employees act like decent human beings.
60sturlington
>59 southernbooklady: I don't see it as an either-or distinction. You can be outraged about it all. This administration is blatantly corrupt, blatantly violating human rights, and they absolutely don't care what you or I think about it. They think that we can do nothing about it. They're counting on most people (their "base") being the same as them.
For me, and I suspect for a lot of people like me, it's not instantaneous moral gratification or "whining." It is all part of the same whole. These atrocities are happening precisely because these people don't care, don't consider immigrants to be actual human beings, and I am outraged by all of it, and I am trying to do everything I can as one individual to stop it. We need the outrage to band us together or otherwise we will not be able to get these people out of power.
So why don't we stop policing what people are outraged about and instead harness that anger to try to make change happen. Rallies are scheduled nationwide for June 30. We cannot let this issue die down.
For me, and I suspect for a lot of people like me, it's not instantaneous moral gratification or "whining." It is all part of the same whole. These atrocities are happening precisely because these people don't care, don't consider immigrants to be actual human beings, and I am outraged by all of it, and I am trying to do everything I can as one individual to stop it. We need the outrage to band us together or otherwise we will not be able to get these people out of power.
So why don't we stop policing what people are outraged about and instead harness that anger to try to make change happen. Rallies are scheduled nationwide for June 30. We cannot let this issue die down.
61southernbooklady
>60 sturlington: So why don't we stop policing what people are outraged about and instead harness that anger to try to make change happen.
I think the reason Trump is even in office is largely due to our attraction to spectacle over substance. And I don't think it is really "policing" to point that out.
But at least NC's governor responded to his constituents. He announced yesterday he was pulling "the three North Carolina members" of the National Guard from the border. How's that for a "strong response"? Now if only Arizona, Texas and New Mexico would do the same.
I think the reason Trump is even in office is largely due to our attraction to spectacle over substance. And I don't think it is really "policing" to point that out.
But at least NC's governor responded to his constituents. He announced yesterday he was pulling "the three North Carolina members" of the National Guard from the border. How's that for a "strong response"? Now if only Arizona, Texas and New Mexico would do the same.
62jjwilson61
>59 southernbooklady: I'm not sure why you're focused on the clothes and not the words on the clothes. If the words were written on placard that she carried to the plane would it make a difference?
63margd
On Twitter, the Melania's green jacket has been photo-shopped to read "Is it over yet?" and "November is coming." :D
64margd
39 contd. (private contracts to hold the children) Almost $500 million this year! CEO of non-profit makes $1.5 million!
The big business of housing immigrant children
Drew Griffin | June 21, 2018
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/21/us/southwest-key-migrant-housing-salary-invs/inde...
Is the Trump Administration Paying Southwest Key $458 Million to Run Immigrant Child Detention Centers?
Southwest Key's chief executive officer earned an annual salary of $1.5 million in 2016.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/is-trump-administration-southwest-key-458-mill...
ETA:
A Latino Nonprofit Is Holding Separated Kids. Is That Care Or Complicity Or Both?
Camila Domonoske | June 22, 20182:25 PM ET
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/22/622186779/a-latino-nonprofit-is-holding-separated...
What if Trump continued "catch and release" or allowing wouldbe refugees into community until hearing. Some of the half billion could be spend pursuing those who didn't return, but the rest could be spent in Central America to improve conditions that drove people to leave in th first place?
The big business of housing immigrant children
Drew Griffin | June 21, 2018
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/21/us/southwest-key-migrant-housing-salary-invs/inde...
Is the Trump Administration Paying Southwest Key $458 Million to Run Immigrant Child Detention Centers?
Southwest Key's chief executive officer earned an annual salary of $1.5 million in 2016.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/is-trump-administration-southwest-key-458-mill...
ETA:
A Latino Nonprofit Is Holding Separated Kids. Is That Care Or Complicity Or Both?
Camila Domonoske | June 22, 20182:25 PM ET
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/22/622186779/a-latino-nonprofit-is-holding-separated...
What if Trump continued "catch and release" or allowing wouldbe refugees into community until hearing. Some of the half billion could be spend pursuing those who didn't return, but the rest could be spent in Central America to improve conditions that drove people to leave in th first place?
65margd
There’s no immigration crisis, and these charts prove it
Christopher Ingraham | June 21, 2018
...falsehoods driving much of the Trump administration's immigration agenda.
The administration has said that the country is in danger of being “overwhelmed” by “massive increases in illegal crossings” that will bring “horrible crime,” “unbelievably great taxpayer expense” and the loss of American jobs.
None of those claims are true...
Myth No. 1: Undocumented immigrants are flooding into the United States...
Myth No. 2: Undocumented immigrants bring crime...
Myth No. 3: Immigrants take our jobs and lower our wages...
Myth No. 4: Immigrants are a drain on the economy...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/21/theres-no-immigration-cri...
Christopher Ingraham | June 21, 2018
...falsehoods driving much of the Trump administration's immigration agenda.
The administration has said that the country is in danger of being “overwhelmed” by “massive increases in illegal crossings” that will bring “horrible crime,” “unbelievably great taxpayer expense” and the loss of American jobs.
None of those claims are true...
Myth No. 1: Undocumented immigrants are flooding into the United States...
Myth No. 2: Undocumented immigrants bring crime...
Myth No. 3: Immigrants take our jobs and lower our wages...
Myth No. 4: Immigrants are a drain on the economy...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/21/theres-no-immigration-cri...
66margd
64 contd. Follow the money...
These companies are expected to profit from Trump’s continued ‘zero-tolerance’ policy at the border
June 22, 2018
The detention of migrants crossing the border will be a boon for business at private prison operators like GEO Group and CoreCivic, analysts say
...These circumstances are an opportunity for some contractors, analysts say.
“We believe that rising detainee populations at U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) is increasing the chances of new business wins that are not the product of long and often delayed public procurement processes,” analysts at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey wrote in a report published Friday.
Contracts with the U.S. Marshals Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, are usually cumbersome and lengthy public processes that are prone to delays. However, with the potential rise in the number of detainees, there is an opportunity for direct, more efficient negotiations with customers such as the federal government, analysts Tobey Sommer and Kwan Kim wrote.
...Still, there are risks.
The companies that stand to profit from the rising wave of detainees face significant reputational risk. Social media-based consumer activism groups Grab Your Wallet and Sleeping Giants have published GEO Group CEO George Zoley and CoreCivic CEO David Hininger’s email addresses. They have urged their hundreds of thousands of Twitter and Facebook followers to reach out to them and voice their displeasure...
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-companies-are-expected-to-profit-from-tr...
These companies are expected to profit from Trump’s continued ‘zero-tolerance’ policy at the border
June 22, 2018
The detention of migrants crossing the border will be a boon for business at private prison operators like GEO Group and CoreCivic, analysts say
...These circumstances are an opportunity for some contractors, analysts say.
“We believe that rising detainee populations at U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) is increasing the chances of new business wins that are not the product of long and often delayed public procurement processes,” analysts at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey wrote in a report published Friday.
Contracts with the U.S. Marshals Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, are usually cumbersome and lengthy public processes that are prone to delays. However, with the potential rise in the number of detainees, there is an opportunity for direct, more efficient negotiations with customers such as the federal government, analysts Tobey Sommer and Kwan Kim wrote.
...Still, there are risks.
The companies that stand to profit from the rising wave of detainees face significant reputational risk. Social media-based consumer activism groups Grab Your Wallet and Sleeping Giants have published GEO Group CEO George Zoley and CoreCivic CEO David Hininger’s email addresses. They have urged their hundreds of thousands of Twitter and Facebook followers to reach out to them and voice their displeasure...
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-companies-are-expected-to-profit-from-tr...
67John5918
>65 margd:
Thanks for this link.
I find it incredible and pretty disgusting that developed countries are making such a fuss about immigration when some of the poorest countries in the world are accepting refugees in their millions (eg Uganda, Jordan) or hundreds of thousands (eg Kenya). Of course there are challenges, but none of them are turning refugees away, arresting them, building walls or fostering extreme anti-immigration narratives, and certainly not dragging children away from their mothers.
Thanks for this link.
I find it incredible and pretty disgusting that developed countries are making such a fuss about immigration when some of the poorest countries in the world are accepting refugees in their millions (eg Uganda, Jordan) or hundreds of thousands (eg Kenya). Of course there are challenges, but none of them are turning refugees away, arresting them, building walls or fostering extreme anti-immigration narratives, and certainly not dragging children away from their mothers.
68margd
Who’s Really Crossing the U.S. Border, and Why They’re Coming
Stephanie Leutert | June 23, 2018
...since the Trump administration took office, the Border Patrol has detected fewer gang members crossing irregularly than during the Obama administration. In FY2017, these detections amounted to 0.075 percent of the total number of migrants
...The peak in apprehensions of irregular migrants actually took place some 17 years ago, in FY2000. At that point, U.S. Border Patrol agents caught 1,643,679 migrants attempting to enter the United States without the appropriate papers, compared to 303,916 apprehensions in this
past fiscal year...Since 2001, the number of Border Patrol agents along the southwest border has nearly doubled from 9,147 agents to 16,605.
...in 2000, Mexican nationals made up 98 percent of the total migrants and Central Americans (referring to Honduran, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran migrants) only one percent. Today, Central Americans make up closer to 50 percent.
...A declining Mexican birth rate, a stable economy (NAFTA??), and the U.S. border buildup have all contributed to the decrease in migration from Mexico.
...Honduras has the highest levels of poverty, with 30 percent of the population living at US$3.20 a day or less, compared to Guatemala (25 percent), and El Salvador (ten percent). Meanwhile, two thirds of Salvadorans live in cities, compared to 55 percent of Hondurans and closer to 50 percent of Guatemalans. Finally, Guatemala’s authorities report that 40 percent of the population is indigenous, versus closer to 10 percent in Honduras, and an almost non-existent indigenous population in El Salvador (0.2 percent).
...cities have high levels of urban gang violence, committed by MS-13 and Barrio 18. These groups have divided control of the cities up into a patchwork quilt and earn the majority of their money from local-level extortion.
...For Central American residents, control of these gangs over their neighborhood likely means a weekly or monthly extortion payment simply for the right to operate a business or live in their territory. The price for failing to provide this money is death. All it takes is a neighbor or nearby shopkeeper to be gunned down for failing to pay the adequate fees, and it becomes clear that the only options are pay or flee. Parents may also send their children to the United States or take them north as the gangs try to recruit them into their activities: Boys of eleven years old (or younger) may be recruited as lookouts and teenage girls may be eyed for becoming the members’ “girlfriends.” Older women who date or at one point dated a gang member can become trapped and unable to escape the violence, with partner-violence a driving migratory factor for many women.
...Across the region’s larger cities, LGBT migrants are fleeing discrimination and violence.
...Guatemalan highlands, which are more rural, agriculture-based, indigenous, and have lower rates of violence (defined by homicides) than other parts of the country. In asylum proceedings in the United States, women and children from this region frequently cite endemic family and domestic violence, and neglect from the local police who cannot speak their languages or do not answer their phone calls. These areas have also been buffeted by a changing climate, frequent natural disasters, and droughts. And the poverty in these regions leaves residents with little ability for resilience in the face of unpredictable rains or external events.
...US$6,000 to $10,000 necessary for hiring a smuggler. To obtain this money, residents may sell their land or property, rely on the generosity of friends or family in the United States, or borrow money from local loan sharks and leave their farms and property as collateral.
...Migrants with significant amounts of money could choose to take planes to the U.S.-Mexico border and cross in to the country on fake documents; migrants with less money may pay to ride in a trailer through Mexico or take buses through the country; and those without any money at all will walk or ride on the roof of the trains that pass through Mexico.
...Hondurans generally enter Mexico closer to the Gulf Coast, Salvadorans enter along the Pacific coast, and Guatemalans enter more frequently through crossing points in between...In 2017, roughly 40 percent of Hondurans reported riding the train and 40 percent said that they traveled in a tractor trailer at one point in their journey. However, Guatemalan and Salvadoran migrants reported taking these two means of transportation at much lower levels.
... journey across Mexico...Migrants are extorted, robbed, assaulted, raped, kidnapped, and murdered at alarmingly high levels and with almost complete impunity...nearly one-third of the women reporting that they were sexually assaulted during their trip through Mexico.
...While female Mexican migrants averaged around 13 percent of all Mexican migrants apprehended by the Border Patrol from FY1995 through FY2017, Central American women averaged between 20 and 32 percent. In recent years these numbers have increased even more, with women constituting 48 percent of all Salvadoran migrants in the last fiscal year and Honduran women reaching 43 percent of migrants from their country.
...While (families and unaccompanied minors) make up a small proportion of Mexican migrants overall, in recent years, Central American families and unaccompanied children have constituted on average between 40 and 60 percent of the migrants from Central America arriving to the United States.
...Previously, many migrants would seek to reach the United States by hiking through the desert undetected. But in recent years, families have begun crossing the border and waiting for a Border Patrol agent, or showing up at ports of entry, to ask for asylum. Before the Trump administration’s recent immigration crackdown, these families would be then taken to a family detention center, where they would have to pass a “credible fear” interview to be released—that is, prove that they have a real fear of returning to their home countries. At least 77 percent of the families pass this hurdle and are released with an ankle monitor or after paying a bond. They can then begin their cases in immigration courts.
...Under the current policy and the June 20th executive order, the administration is pushing to detain families together for months, if not years, while their cases are processed. However, this flies in the face of the Flores settlement, a 1997 consent decree that courts have found to require that children not be detained for more than 20 days. The administration is now seeking to modify the settlement, a gambit that seems unlikely to succeed given the deciding judge’s previous rulings on the matter against the Obama administration...
https://www.lawfareblog.com/whos-really-crossing-us-border-and-why-theyre-coming
____________________________________________________________________
(DH's immigrant story: Sponsored by her sister, my MIL brought her family to US from Polish village in Turkey, after a neighbor was killed in a robbery. The not-rich Polish enclave was targeted by criminals among poorer Turks who believed all Poles were receiving monies from overseas. Some truth: even after retirement on Social Security, my Polish MIL sent money to family in Poland...So, not rich but ultimately it was violence that precipitated her move--and family sponsorship enabled it. Her husband couldn't adjust to the New World and divorce followed. MIL worked two menial jobs to support her four sons, leaving the house on first bus and returning 9-ish in the evening. Inspired by nice car of college-educated in-law, DH, 4YO at entry, likewise worked hard, managing to complete university without debt. )
Stephanie Leutert | June 23, 2018
...since the Trump administration took office, the Border Patrol has detected fewer gang members crossing irregularly than during the Obama administration. In FY2017, these detections amounted to 0.075 percent of the total number of migrants
...The peak in apprehensions of irregular migrants actually took place some 17 years ago, in FY2000. At that point, U.S. Border Patrol agents caught 1,643,679 migrants attempting to enter the United States without the appropriate papers, compared to 303,916 apprehensions in this
past fiscal year...Since 2001, the number of Border Patrol agents along the southwest border has nearly doubled from 9,147 agents to 16,605.
...in 2000, Mexican nationals made up 98 percent of the total migrants and Central Americans (referring to Honduran, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran migrants) only one percent. Today, Central Americans make up closer to 50 percent.
...A declining Mexican birth rate, a stable economy (NAFTA??), and the U.S. border buildup have all contributed to the decrease in migration from Mexico.
...Honduras has the highest levels of poverty, with 30 percent of the population living at US$3.20 a day or less, compared to Guatemala (25 percent), and El Salvador (ten percent). Meanwhile, two thirds of Salvadorans live in cities, compared to 55 percent of Hondurans and closer to 50 percent of Guatemalans. Finally, Guatemala’s authorities report that 40 percent of the population is indigenous, versus closer to 10 percent in Honduras, and an almost non-existent indigenous population in El Salvador (0.2 percent).
...cities have high levels of urban gang violence, committed by MS-13 and Barrio 18. These groups have divided control of the cities up into a patchwork quilt and earn the majority of their money from local-level extortion.
...For Central American residents, control of these gangs over their neighborhood likely means a weekly or monthly extortion payment simply for the right to operate a business or live in their territory. The price for failing to provide this money is death. All it takes is a neighbor or nearby shopkeeper to be gunned down for failing to pay the adequate fees, and it becomes clear that the only options are pay or flee. Parents may also send their children to the United States or take them north as the gangs try to recruit them into their activities: Boys of eleven years old (or younger) may be recruited as lookouts and teenage girls may be eyed for becoming the members’ “girlfriends.” Older women who date or at one point dated a gang member can become trapped and unable to escape the violence, with partner-violence a driving migratory factor for many women.
...Across the region’s larger cities, LGBT migrants are fleeing discrimination and violence.
...Guatemalan highlands, which are more rural, agriculture-based, indigenous, and have lower rates of violence (defined by homicides) than other parts of the country. In asylum proceedings in the United States, women and children from this region frequently cite endemic family and domestic violence, and neglect from the local police who cannot speak their languages or do not answer their phone calls. These areas have also been buffeted by a changing climate, frequent natural disasters, and droughts. And the poverty in these regions leaves residents with little ability for resilience in the face of unpredictable rains or external events.
...US$6,000 to $10,000 necessary for hiring a smuggler. To obtain this money, residents may sell their land or property, rely on the generosity of friends or family in the United States, or borrow money from local loan sharks and leave their farms and property as collateral.
...Migrants with significant amounts of money could choose to take planes to the U.S.-Mexico border and cross in to the country on fake documents; migrants with less money may pay to ride in a trailer through Mexico or take buses through the country; and those without any money at all will walk or ride on the roof of the trains that pass through Mexico.
...Hondurans generally enter Mexico closer to the Gulf Coast, Salvadorans enter along the Pacific coast, and Guatemalans enter more frequently through crossing points in between...In 2017, roughly 40 percent of Hondurans reported riding the train and 40 percent said that they traveled in a tractor trailer at one point in their journey. However, Guatemalan and Salvadoran migrants reported taking these two means of transportation at much lower levels.
... journey across Mexico...Migrants are extorted, robbed, assaulted, raped, kidnapped, and murdered at alarmingly high levels and with almost complete impunity...nearly one-third of the women reporting that they were sexually assaulted during their trip through Mexico.
...While female Mexican migrants averaged around 13 percent of all Mexican migrants apprehended by the Border Patrol from FY1995 through FY2017, Central American women averaged between 20 and 32 percent. In recent years these numbers have increased even more, with women constituting 48 percent of all Salvadoran migrants in the last fiscal year and Honduran women reaching 43 percent of migrants from their country.
...While (families and unaccompanied minors) make up a small proportion of Mexican migrants overall, in recent years, Central American families and unaccompanied children have constituted on average between 40 and 60 percent of the migrants from Central America arriving to the United States.
...Previously, many migrants would seek to reach the United States by hiking through the desert undetected. But in recent years, families have begun crossing the border and waiting for a Border Patrol agent, or showing up at ports of entry, to ask for asylum. Before the Trump administration’s recent immigration crackdown, these families would be then taken to a family detention center, where they would have to pass a “credible fear” interview to be released—that is, prove that they have a real fear of returning to their home countries. At least 77 percent of the families pass this hurdle and are released with an ankle monitor or after paying a bond. They can then begin their cases in immigration courts.
...Under the current policy and the June 20th executive order, the administration is pushing to detain families together for months, if not years, while their cases are processed. However, this flies in the face of the Flores settlement, a 1997 consent decree that courts have found to require that children not be detained for more than 20 days. The administration is now seeking to modify the settlement, a gambit that seems unlikely to succeed given the deciding judge’s previous rulings on the matter against the Obama administration...
https://www.lawfareblog.com/whos-really-crossing-us-border-and-why-theyre-coming
____________________________________________________________________
(DH's immigrant story: Sponsored by her sister, my MIL brought her family to US from Polish village in Turkey, after a neighbor was killed in a robbery. The not-rich Polish enclave was targeted by criminals among poorer Turks who believed all Poles were receiving monies from overseas. Some truth: even after retirement on Social Security, my Polish MIL sent money to family in Poland...So, not rich but ultimately it was violence that precipitated her move--and family sponsorship enabled it. Her husband couldn't adjust to the New World and divorce followed. MIL worked two menial jobs to support her four sons, leaving the house on first bus and returning 9-ish in the evening. Inspired by nice car of college-educated in-law, DH, 4YO at entry, likewise worked hard, managing to complete university without debt. )
69John5918
Is the Border in Crisis? ‘We’re Doing Fine, Quite Frankly,’ a Border City Mayor Says (NYT)
And an example of an actual refugee as opposed to the caricature idle thief and rapist.:
Not Your Average Cup Of Joe: This 27-Year-Old Sudanese Refugee Launches Life-Changing Coffee Brand (Forbes)
arrived in the U.S. 10 years ago as a refugee and is now a purveyor of Sudanese and Ethiopian coffee beans who is donating proceeds from each sale to benefit Sudanese refugees...
Former Sudanese 'Lost Boy' Finds a Way to Help Others (Voice of America)
Edited to add: Trump calls for deportations without judicial process (BBC)
Sounds a bit un-American, or even anti-American, to me, as the USA is noted for its respect for due process.
And an example of an actual refugee as opposed to the caricature idle thief and rapist.:
Not Your Average Cup Of Joe: This 27-Year-Old Sudanese Refugee Launches Life-Changing Coffee Brand (Forbes)
arrived in the U.S. 10 years ago as a refugee and is now a purveyor of Sudanese and Ethiopian coffee beans who is donating proceeds from each sale to benefit Sudanese refugees...
Former Sudanese 'Lost Boy' Finds a Way to Help Others (Voice of America)
Edited to add: Trump calls for deportations without judicial process (BBC)
Sounds a bit un-American, or even anti-American, to me, as the USA is noted for its respect for due process.
70margd
Re Trump proposal to deport without judicial process:
"Utter nonsense, Mr. Trump. Even those who are admittedly here unlawfully are fully entitled to the protections of due process and equal protection, as the Supreme Court held in Plyler v. Doe (1982)."
Laurence Tribe @tribelaw 6/24/2018
https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/10899/Tribe
______________________________________________________
Apparently the definition of "person" as in the 14th amendment has been heavily litigated: "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Scary thing is that our ignorant president may with his ignorant pronouncements inspire his ignorant followers to act illegally.
ETA___________________________________________________
"Trump’s latest scam offers this typically gross deal: “We’ll return your toddler if you give up your asylum claim.” That’s flatly unconstitutional extortion under Speiser v. Randall (1958), Sherbert v. Verner (1963), and Agency for Int’l Dvlp v. Alliance for Open Society (2013)."
Laurence Tribe @tribelaw 6/25/2018
https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/10899/Tribe
ETA___________________________________________________
Migrants told they’ll be reunited with children if they sign voluntary deportation order: report
Brett Samuels - 06/24/18
http://thehill.com/latino/393856-migrants-told-theyll-be-reunited-with-children-...
ETA___________________________________________________
SCOTUS Zadvydas vs. Davis (2001) that "once an alien enters the country, the legal circumstance changes, for the due process clause applies to all persons (not just citizens) within the United States."
Asebeia @EbbysPaws | 8:05 AM - 25 Jun 2018
"Utter nonsense, Mr. Trump. Even those who are admittedly here unlawfully are fully entitled to the protections of due process and equal protection, as the Supreme Court held in Plyler v. Doe (1982)."
Laurence Tribe @tribelaw 6/24/2018
https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/10899/Tribe
______________________________________________________
Apparently the definition of "person" as in the 14th amendment has been heavily litigated: "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Scary thing is that our ignorant president may with his ignorant pronouncements inspire his ignorant followers to act illegally.
ETA___________________________________________________
"Trump’s latest scam offers this typically gross deal: “We’ll return your toddler if you give up your asylum claim.” That’s flatly unconstitutional extortion under Speiser v. Randall (1958), Sherbert v. Verner (1963), and Agency for Int’l Dvlp v. Alliance for Open Society (2013)."
Laurence Tribe @tribelaw 6/25/2018
https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/10899/Tribe
ETA___________________________________________________
Migrants told they’ll be reunited with children if they sign voluntary deportation order: report
Brett Samuels - 06/24/18
http://thehill.com/latino/393856-migrants-told-theyll-be-reunited-with-children-...
ETA___________________________________________________
SCOTUS Zadvydas vs. Davis (2001) that "once an alien enters the country, the legal circumstance changes, for the due process clause applies to all persons (not just citizens) within the United States."
Asebeia @EbbysPaws | 8:05 AM - 25 Jun 2018
712wonderY
The United Methodist Church's complaint against Jefferson Beauregard Sessions:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/Website_Properties/news-media/documents/A_Complaint_rega...
Pursuant to Paragraph 2702.3 of the 2016 United Methodist Book of Discipline, we hereby charge Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Attorney General of the United States, a professing member and/or active participant of Ashland Place United Methodist Church (Mobile, Alabama) and Clarendon United Methodist Church (Alexandria, Virginia), with the chargeable offenses of:
• Child Abuse
• Immorality
• Racial discrimination
• Dissemination of doctrines contrary to the standards of doctrine of the United Methodist Church
And Wayne Flynt weighs in
http://s3.amazonaws.com/Website_Properties/news-media/documents/A_Complaint_rega...
Pursuant to Paragraph 2702.3 of the 2016 United Methodist Book of Discipline, we hereby charge Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Attorney General of the United States, a professing member and/or active participant of Ashland Place United Methodist Church (Mobile, Alabama) and Clarendon United Methodist Church (Alexandria, Virginia), with the chargeable offenses of:
• Child Abuse
• Immorality
• Racial discrimination
• Dissemination of doctrines contrary to the standards of doctrine of the United Methodist Church
And Wayne Flynt weighs in
722wonderY
An E.R. Physician on What It’s Like to Treat Toddlers Who Have Been Separated from Their Parents at the Border
We have toys on the walls they can play with, we have stickers, because toddlers need to stay busy. That’s just what they need to do. And all three of these kids were clutching their foster mothers. I mean, little tiny clenched fists just wrapped around their foster mothers’ necks. And the mothers couldn’t put them down. Every time the foster mothers tried to move them, so I could examine them, the kids would scream, scream, scream, and just claw at their foster mothers.
“The foster mothers all told me that they were like that in their homes, as well. Just desperate, absolutely refusing to be put down, refusing to go out and push their boundaries and explore their world the way that toddlers are supposed to explore.
“One of the little boys, the third child I saw, kept yelling ‘Papa, Papa, Papa,’ all the time. The foster mother was in tears, saying, ‘I’m just trying not to ruin his life.’ It was heartbreaking. She was a caring foster parent who was doing her best and had very clear recognition that her best was not good enough. There was very little she could do to comfort this kid. She could pick him up, she could hold him, but she couldn’t talk him through anything. She couldn’t tell him when he was going to see his parents again, if he was going to see his parents again, where they were, if he could talk to them. She didn’t know.
“I see a lot of child separations in criminal cases. But even when parents go to jail for criminal cases—and this is, people have actually been convicted—they don’t lose their parental rights. They have the right to know where their kids are, and they have the right to know who’s taking care of them, and they have processes they go through to get their kids back. Our child-protective services very much default to family reunification. They do not default to family separation.”
We have toys on the walls they can play with, we have stickers, because toddlers need to stay busy. That’s just what they need to do. And all three of these kids were clutching their foster mothers. I mean, little tiny clenched fists just wrapped around their foster mothers’ necks. And the mothers couldn’t put them down. Every time the foster mothers tried to move them, so I could examine them, the kids would scream, scream, scream, and just claw at their foster mothers.
“The foster mothers all told me that they were like that in their homes, as well. Just desperate, absolutely refusing to be put down, refusing to go out and push their boundaries and explore their world the way that toddlers are supposed to explore.
“One of the little boys, the third child I saw, kept yelling ‘Papa, Papa, Papa,’ all the time. The foster mother was in tears, saying, ‘I’m just trying not to ruin his life.’ It was heartbreaking. She was a caring foster parent who was doing her best and had very clear recognition that her best was not good enough. There was very little she could do to comfort this kid. She could pick him up, she could hold him, but she couldn’t talk him through anything. She couldn’t tell him when he was going to see his parents again, if he was going to see his parents again, where they were, if he could talk to them. She didn’t know.
“I see a lot of child separations in criminal cases. But even when parents go to jail for criminal cases—and this is, people have actually been convicted—they don’t lose their parental rights. They have the right to know where their kids are, and they have the right to know who’s taking care of them, and they have processes they go through to get their kids back. Our child-protective services very much default to family reunification. They do not default to family separation.”
732wonderY
Jeff Sessions Thinks Family Separation Is Hilarious
During his speech today in Los Angeles to the Criminal Justice Foundation, Sessions launched into a scripted rant against the “lunatic fringe” of people, especially those on television, who have the gall to complain about the administration’s policies. “These same people live in gated communities and feature at events where you need an I.D. to even come in and here them speak,” Sessions said. “They like a little security around themselves.”
“If you try to scale the fence, believe me, they’ll be all too happy to have you arrested, and separated from your children!” Sessions said to laughter and applause. “They want borders in their lives, and not in yours.”
During his speech today in Los Angeles to the Criminal Justice Foundation, Sessions launched into a scripted rant against the “lunatic fringe” of people, especially those on television, who have the gall to complain about the administration’s policies. “These same people live in gated communities and feature at events where you need an I.D. to even come in and here them speak,” Sessions said. “They like a little security around themselves.”
“If you try to scale the fence, believe me, they’ll be all too happy to have you arrested, and separated from your children!” Sessions said to laughter and applause. “They want borders in their lives, and not in yours.”
74Taphophile13
>72 2wonderY: The emotional, cognitive and physical damage done to these children may be irreparable.
https://slate.com/technology/2018/06/scientists-have-studied-the-damage-caused-o...
https://slate.com/technology/2018/06/scientists-have-studied-the-damage-caused-o...
752wonderY
I hadn’t noticed this part of the Executive Order. A thorough range of the arguments against the military participating in detention of immigrants:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/james-mattis-must-reject-donald-trum...
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/james-mattis-must-reject-donald-trum...
76margd
Thanks, I think. Growing up on Canadian army bases, I thought of the empty (WW2?) barracks which we used as youth clubs, etc.--barracks which could be made into comfortable, if simple, refuges for these traumatized people. At least in contrast to wire cages and detention rooms at the border...
Article reminds us, however, of larger threat this administration, barely into its second year, poses to the US and its institutions. Every week I think it can't get worse, and then... financial, judicial, environmental, international, healthcare, military...
Article reminds us, however, of larger threat this administration, barely into its second year, poses to the US and its institutions. Every week I think it can't get worse, and then... financial, judicial, environmental, international, healthcare, military...
77Taphophile13
The Pentagon appears to be quietly discharging immigrant recruits that enlisted as part of a U.S. government program that fast-tracked them to citizenship in return for their service.
https://apnews.com/38334c4d061e493fb108bd975b5a1a5d/AP-NewsBreak:-US-Army-quietl...
Hessian soldiers fought in our War of Independence. Some of them became citizens and remained in this country.
https://apnews.com/38334c4d061e493fb108bd975b5a1a5d/AP-NewsBreak:-US-Army-quietl...
Hessian soldiers fought in our War of Independence. Some of them became citizens and remained in this country.
78margd
>77 Taphophile13: It's (Stephen) Miller time... :-(
How Stephen Miller Rode White Rage from Duke’s Campus to Trump’s West Wing
William D. Cohan | May 30, 2017
At the young age of 31, Stephen Miller has his own office in the West Wing and the President’s ear. He also has held a shocking worldview since he was a teenager. From his writings on the 2006 Duke lacrosse-team rape scandal, which gave the then–college junior national media exposure, to an alleged association with a white-nationalist advocate, William D. Cohan dives deep into Miller’s tumultuous past.
...Does (Nick Silverman. Miller's HS classmate, now a writer in Los Angeles) have any advice for people who are just learning about Stephen Miller for the first time? “Take him seriously and know that he is a dangerous person,” he says. “He has a dangerous mind and a dangerous way of thinking. He wants to shift what America is about . . . . You’ve got to stay vigilant. He’s not taking days off. If there’s one thing Miller is, and he’s a lot of things, he’s absolutely motivated. This is his entire life. This is everything for him. He’s not going to rest. He won’t rest. He won’t stop . . . . He’s not a Trump shill. He was this way before Trump, before Bannon. He was radicalized way before that.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/05/stephen-miller-duke-donald-trump
How Stephen Miller Rode White Rage from Duke’s Campus to Trump’s West Wing
William D. Cohan | May 30, 2017
At the young age of 31, Stephen Miller has his own office in the West Wing and the President’s ear. He also has held a shocking worldview since he was a teenager. From his writings on the 2006 Duke lacrosse-team rape scandal, which gave the then–college junior national media exposure, to an alleged association with a white-nationalist advocate, William D. Cohan dives deep into Miller’s tumultuous past.
...Does (Nick Silverman. Miller's HS classmate, now a writer in Los Angeles) have any advice for people who are just learning about Stephen Miller for the first time? “Take him seriously and know that he is a dangerous person,” he says. “He has a dangerous mind and a dangerous way of thinking. He wants to shift what America is about . . . . You’ve got to stay vigilant. He’s not taking days off. If there’s one thing Miller is, and he’s a lot of things, he’s absolutely motivated. This is his entire life. This is everything for him. He’s not going to rest. He won’t rest. He won’t stop . . . . He’s not a Trump shill. He was this way before Trump, before Bannon. He was radicalized way before that.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/05/stephen-miller-duke-donald-trump
79margd
Trudeau needn't worry about that "special place in hell". If there's any justice, it's reserved for someone else.
Trump administration admits they’ve lost track of roughly 20 percent of toddlers’ parents
And only half of the youngest children abducted by the Trump administration will be reunited by the court-imposed deadline.
Adam Peck | Jul 6, 2018
...In addition to the July 10 deadline for the youngest children held in captivity, the government has until July 26 to reunite the remaining minors with their families.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-administration-admits-theyve-lost-track-of-rough...
Trump administration admits they’ve lost track of roughly 20 percent of toddlers’ parents
And only half of the youngest children abducted by the Trump administration will be reunited by the court-imposed deadline.
Adam Peck | Jul 6, 2018
...In addition to the July 10 deadline for the youngest children held in captivity, the government has until July 26 to reunite the remaining minors with their families.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-administration-admits-theyve-lost-track-of-rough...
80margd
This Trump policy change may have won the trifecta of mean-spiritedness, injustice and stupidity:
AP NewsBreak: The U.S. Army has moved in recent weeks to discharge dozens of immigrant recruits and reservists who enlisted through a program that promised them a path to citizenship. http://apne.ws/JOBp0kF
Bill Kristol @BillKristol
3:42 PM - 5 Jul 2018
______________________________________________________
In contrast, Kushner is cleared to view the most sensitive material in spite of neglecting to inform of many foreign contacts, $, etc.
AP NewsBreak: US Army quietly discharging immigrant recruits
MARTHA MENDOZA and GARANCE BURKE | July 7, 2018
..."Some of the service members say they were not told why they were being discharged. Others who pressed for answers said the Army informed them they’d been labeled as security risks because they have relatives abroad or because the Defense Department had not completed background checks on them."
...The service members affected by the recent discharges all enlisted in recent years under a special program aimed at bringing medical specialists and fluent speakers of 44 sought-after languages into the military. The idea, according to the Defense Department, was to “recognize their contribution and sacrifice.”...
The service members affected by the recent discharges all enlisted in recent years under a special program aimed at bringing medical specialists and fluent speakers of 44 sought-after languages into the military. The idea, according to the Defense Department, was to “recognize their contribution and sacrifice.”
...President Barack Obama added DACA recipients — young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally — to the list of eligible enlistees...
https://apnews.com/38334c4d061e493fb108bd975b5a1a5d/AP-NewsBreak:-US-Army-quietl...
AP NewsBreak: The U.S. Army has moved in recent weeks to discharge dozens of immigrant recruits and reservists who enlisted through a program that promised them a path to citizenship. http://apne.ws/JOBp0kF
Bill Kristol @BillKristol
3:42 PM - 5 Jul 2018
______________________________________________________
In contrast, Kushner is cleared to view the most sensitive material in spite of neglecting to inform of many foreign contacts, $, etc.
AP NewsBreak: US Army quietly discharging immigrant recruits
MARTHA MENDOZA and GARANCE BURKE | July 7, 2018
..."Some of the service members say they were not told why they were being discharged. Others who pressed for answers said the Army informed them they’d been labeled as security risks because they have relatives abroad or because the Defense Department had not completed background checks on them."
...The service members affected by the recent discharges all enlisted in recent years under a special program aimed at bringing medical specialists and fluent speakers of 44 sought-after languages into the military. The idea, according to the Defense Department, was to “recognize their contribution and sacrifice.”...
The service members affected by the recent discharges all enlisted in recent years under a special program aimed at bringing medical specialists and fluent speakers of 44 sought-after languages into the military. The idea, according to the Defense Department, was to “recognize their contribution and sacrifice.”
...President Barack Obama added DACA recipients — young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally — to the list of eligible enlistees...
https://apnews.com/38334c4d061e493fb108bd975b5a1a5d/AP-NewsBreak:-US-Army-quietl...
81margd
USCIS is Starting a Denaturalization Task Force
Download (audio 7:03) | July 2, 2018
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is creating a new task force. Its goal: to examine what they say are bad naturalization cases (~2500 peoples' fingerprints msifiled, as id'd in 2008/9), according to Director L. Francis Cissna’s June announcement.
As a result, the organization expects to hire dozens of lawyers and immigration officers in the coming weeks to find U.S. citizens they say should not have been naturalized, to revoke their citizenship, and then eventually deport them.
Ur Jaddou, a former chief counsel for the USCIS, now the director of the immigrant advocacy group DHS Watch, and an immigration law professor at Washington College of Law at American University explains this development (She is concerned that this Administration is revving up an ongoing initiative and publicizing it to create fear among naturalized citizens.)...
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/uscis-starting-denaturalization-task-force/
Download (audio 7:03) | July 2, 2018
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is creating a new task force. Its goal: to examine what they say are bad naturalization cases (~2500 peoples' fingerprints msifiled, as id'd in 2008/9), according to Director L. Francis Cissna’s June announcement.
As a result, the organization expects to hire dozens of lawyers and immigration officers in the coming weeks to find U.S. citizens they say should not have been naturalized, to revoke their citizenship, and then eventually deport them.
Ur Jaddou, a former chief counsel for the USCIS, now the director of the immigrant advocacy group DHS Watch, and an immigration law professor at Washington College of Law at American University explains this development (She is concerned that this Administration is revving up an ongoing initiative and publicizing it to create fear among naturalized citizens.)...
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/uscis-starting-denaturalization-task-force/
82pmackey
>81 margd: Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on this for me? How can the U.S. strip someone's citizenship due to things for which they have no control, such as misfiled fingerprints? It sounds grossly illegal. The only legal ground I can think of is if the naturalized citizen at some point perjured themselves during the process... in other words, they intentionally lied to obtain citizenship.
Just my opinion, but I'm inclined to believe Ms. Jaddou's concerns that the current Administration is posturing to create fear among immigrants and naturalized citizens, and to look tough to Trump's base.
Just my opinion, but I'm inclined to believe Ms. Jaddou's concerns that the current Administration is posturing to create fear among immigrants and naturalized citizens, and to look tough to Trump's base.
83margd
I assume authorities can now link to fingerprints that prove a previous crime. Hopefully something serious and not parking ticket or pot, but I'm sure Trumplets want to scare off immigrants if they can.
Makes me wonder about those elderly (white) guys finally taken to court for association with Nazi death camps.
Were they convicted, and, if so, was their naturalization reversed?
Makes me wonder about those elderly (white) guys finally taken to court for association with Nazi death camps.
Were they convicted, and, if so, was their naturalization reversed?
85John5918
Officials admit they may have separated family – who might be US citizens – for up to a year
Whereas in the UK, Home Office ordered to pay £50,000 after child separated from father
Both from the Grauniad
Whereas in the UK, Home Office ordered to pay £50,000 after child separated from father
Both from the Grauniad
87John5918
Christian refugees admitted to US down more than 50% under Trump (Guardian)
Trump’s harsh immigration policies extend even to a group of people he promised to protect – the number of Muslim refugees has fallen ever farther
Trump’s harsh immigration policies extend even to a group of people he promised to protect – the number of Muslim refugees has fallen ever farther
88John5918
Spain's foreign minister scorns mass immigration claim (Guardian)
Under pressure to take a tough line, Josep Borrell says issue must be kept in perspective
I find this interesting because just a day or so ago I watched on the TV news Trump and the Italian prime minister cosying up to each other with Trump waffling on about high immigration in Europe. Nice to see another European prime minister calling for it to "be kept in perspective".
Under pressure to take a tough line, Josep Borrell says issue must be kept in perspective
I find this interesting because just a day or so ago I watched on the TV news Trump and the Italian prime minister cosying up to each other with Trump waffling on about high immigration in Europe. Nice to see another European prime minister calling for it to "be kept in perspective".
892wonderY
dateline: Storm Lake, Iowa
In My Iowa Town, We Need Immigrants
These Dreamers are our vitality, our future. They want to stay here with family, unlike so many of us who push our children off to Chicago or the Twin Cities.
...
The rest of us know that without them, Buena Vista County could fade away, losing population as 71 of Iowa’s 99 counties have over the last decade. Here, young immigrant families seed a positive birth-to-death ratio. Storm Lake is the rare blue oasis in Representative Steve King’s Fourth Congressional District that is growing organically — with brown babies. The crime rate here has been falling over the decade.
In My Iowa Town, We Need Immigrants
These Dreamers are our vitality, our future. They want to stay here with family, unlike so many of us who push our children off to Chicago or the Twin Cities.
...
The rest of us know that without them, Buena Vista County could fade away, losing population as 71 of Iowa’s 99 counties have over the last decade. Here, young immigrant families seed a positive birth-to-death ratio. Storm Lake is the rare blue oasis in Representative Steve King’s Fourth Congressional District that is growing organically — with brown babies. The crime rate here has been falling over the decade.
90margd
9th Circuit rules White House can’t withhold money from ‘sanctuary cities’
REBECCA MORIN | 08/01/2018
...“We conclude that, under the principle of Separation of Powers and in consideration of the Spending Clause, which vests exclusive power to Congress to impose conditions on federal grants, the Executive Branch may not refuse to disperse the federal grants in question without congressional authorization,” a three-member panel of the 9th Circuit said in its 2-to-1 ruling...
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/01/trump-sanctuary-cities-appeal-ruling-7...
REBECCA MORIN | 08/01/2018
...“We conclude that, under the principle of Separation of Powers and in consideration of the Spending Clause, which vests exclusive power to Congress to impose conditions on federal grants, the Executive Branch may not refuse to disperse the federal grants in question without congressional authorization,” a three-member panel of the 9th Circuit said in its 2-to-1 ruling...
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/01/trump-sanctuary-cities-appeal-ruling-7...
91margd
Shutdown of DACA program: could Trump Admin appeal to the US Supreme Court?
Nominee Kavanaugh is sympathetic to Presidential prerogative?
Judge Orders Trump Administration To Fully Restore DACA
Vanessa Romo | August 3, 2018
...(U.S. District Judge John) Bates did grant Homeland Security's request for time to consider an appeal. The government has 20 days to submit its petition. If that effort is unsuccessful, DACA will have to be fully implemented on Aug. 23.
In closing, Bates wrote that Friday's ruling does not imply that the government cannot revoke DACA but that it simply has not provided a sound legal justification for doing so.
"A conclusory assertion that a prior policy is illegal, accompanied by a hodgepodge of illogical or post hoc policy assertions, simply will not do," Bates wrote.
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/03/635546997/judge-orders-trump-administration-to-fu...
_______________________________________________
The 25 p opinion: https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2017cv1907-27
Nominee Kavanaugh is sympathetic to Presidential prerogative?
Judge Orders Trump Administration To Fully Restore DACA
Vanessa Romo | August 3, 2018
...(U.S. District Judge John) Bates did grant Homeland Security's request for time to consider an appeal. The government has 20 days to submit its petition. If that effort is unsuccessful, DACA will have to be fully implemented on Aug. 23.
In closing, Bates wrote that Friday's ruling does not imply that the government cannot revoke DACA but that it simply has not provided a sound legal justification for doing so.
"A conclusory assertion that a prior policy is illegal, accompanied by a hodgepodge of illogical or post hoc policy assertions, simply will not do," Bates wrote.
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/03/635546997/judge-orders-trump-administration-to-fu...
_______________________________________________
The 25 p opinion: https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2017cv1907-27
92margd
Judge: Trump administration has 'sole burden' to locate migrant parents separated from children
TED HESSON | 08/03/2018
...“The reality is that for every parent who is not located, there will be a permanently orphaned child,” U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said during a court conference by telephone. “And that is 100 percent the responsibility of the administration.”
The Justice Department argued in a court filing Thursday that the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents plaintiffs in the case, should use its “considerable resources” to locate the parents. (!!!!!)
Sabraw rejected that contention during the conference Friday. “The government has the sole burden and responsibility and obligation to make this happen,” he said...
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/03/judge-trump-administration-locate-pare...
TED HESSON | 08/03/2018
...“The reality is that for every parent who is not located, there will be a permanently orphaned child,” U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said during a court conference by telephone. “And that is 100 percent the responsibility of the administration.”
The Justice Department argued in a court filing Thursday that the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents plaintiffs in the case, should use its “considerable resources” to locate the parents. (!!!!!)
Sabraw rejected that contention during the conference Friday. “The government has the sole burden and responsibility and obligation to make this happen,” he said...
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/03/judge-trump-administration-locate-pare...
93margd
The Trump Slump Hits U.S. Tourism
Despite a world-wide boom in travel, ever since our forty-fifth president was elected, tourism to the United States from foreign countries has steadily dropped.
Elizabeth Drew | 08.04.18
...The US (Travel Association) (which is more careful about tourism statistics than the Commerce Department) estimates that if this country had merely maintained its share of the travel market it had in 2015 it would have received 7.4 million more visitors from abroad and $32.2 billion more in spending by tourists, which would have created 100,000 more jobs...
...In the academic year 2017-2018, there occurred the first drop in enrollment by foreign students in the U.S. in ten years, by 4 percent, or roughly 32,000 fewer of them.
...Like it or not, Trump’s face to the world is our face and his voice is ours. The costly—in several ways—drop in tourism and the decrease in curious foreign minds at our universities are not to be taken lightly, though they’re being ignored by the Trump administration.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-trump-slump-hits-us-tourism
Despite a world-wide boom in travel, ever since our forty-fifth president was elected, tourism to the United States from foreign countries has steadily dropped.
Elizabeth Drew | 08.04.18
...The US (Travel Association) (which is more careful about tourism statistics than the Commerce Department) estimates that if this country had merely maintained its share of the travel market it had in 2015 it would have received 7.4 million more visitors from abroad and $32.2 billion more in spending by tourists, which would have created 100,000 more jobs...
...In the academic year 2017-2018, there occurred the first drop in enrollment by foreign students in the U.S. in ten years, by 4 percent, or roughly 32,000 fewer of them.
...Like it or not, Trump’s face to the world is our face and his voice is ours. The costly—in several ways—drop in tourism and the decrease in curious foreign minds at our universities are not to be taken lightly, though they’re being ignored by the Trump administration.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-trump-slump-hits-us-tourism
94alco261
>93 margd:...and let's not forget that foreign students pay full price with respect to college admission/tuition costs - one wonders just how much that impacts the financial status of the nations colleges and universities.
95margd
ACLU sues Trump administration for denying asylum to those fleeing domestic and gang violence
REBECCA MORIN | 08/07/2018
The ACLU is arguing against “expedited removal” policies, put forth by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that it says “generally” deny claims of violence of that nature.
...The lawsuit, Grace v. Sessions, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in conjunction with the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
...In June, the attorney general overturned asylum protections for certain victims of violence, effectively reversing a push by the Obama administration to provide refuge to women with credible claims of domestic violence...
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/07/aclu-immigrants-asylum-violence-766101
REBECCA MORIN | 08/07/2018
The ACLU is arguing against “expedited removal” policies, put forth by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that it says “generally” deny claims of violence of that nature.
...The lawsuit, Grace v. Sessions, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in conjunction with the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
...In June, the attorney general overturned asylum protections for certain victims of violence, effectively reversing a push by the Obama administration to provide refuge to women with credible claims of domestic violence...
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/07/aclu-immigrants-asylum-violence-766101
96margd
Court rules Mexican mother can sue over cross-border Border Patrol shooting
REBECCA MORIN | 08/07/2018
...The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz is not entitled to qualified immunity, saying that the Fourth Amendment — which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures — applies in this case.
"Based on the facts alleged in the complaint, Swartz violated the Fourth Amendment. It is inconceivable that any reasonable officer could have thought that he or she could kill J.A. for no reason," Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld wrote in the majority opinion. "Thus, Swartz lacks qualified immunity."
Swartz, who was found not guilty in April of second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting, has said he shot at people throwing rocks through the border fence in Nogales, Arizona. A retrial in the case will take place in October.
...In the lawsuit filed by Araceli Rodriguez, mother of Jose Antonio Elena Rodríguez, she says her son was "peacefully walking down the Calle Internacional, a street in Nogales, Mexico," according to the opinion. She said the 16-year-old was not throwing rocks and was not engaging in any illegal behavior...
Kleinfeld also wrote that if the facts presented in the case "turn out to be unsupported," then it may be exposed that the shooting could have been excusable or justified.
"There is and can be no general rule against the use of deadly force by Border Patrol agents," he wrote. "But in the procedural context of this case, we must take the facts as alleged in the complaint. Those allegations entitle J.A.’s mother to proceed with her case."...
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/07/lonnie-swartz-border-patrol-shooting-c...
REBECCA MORIN | 08/07/2018
...The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz is not entitled to qualified immunity, saying that the Fourth Amendment — which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures — applies in this case.
"Based on the facts alleged in the complaint, Swartz violated the Fourth Amendment. It is inconceivable that any reasonable officer could have thought that he or she could kill J.A. for no reason," Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld wrote in the majority opinion. "Thus, Swartz lacks qualified immunity."
Swartz, who was found not guilty in April of second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting, has said he shot at people throwing rocks through the border fence in Nogales, Arizona. A retrial in the case will take place in October.
...In the lawsuit filed by Araceli Rodriguez, mother of Jose Antonio Elena Rodríguez, she says her son was "peacefully walking down the Calle Internacional, a street in Nogales, Mexico," according to the opinion. She said the 16-year-old was not throwing rocks and was not engaging in any illegal behavior...
Kleinfeld also wrote that if the facts presented in the case "turn out to be unsupported," then it may be exposed that the shooting could have been excusable or justified.
"There is and can be no general rule against the use of deadly force by Border Patrol agents," he wrote. "But in the procedural context of this case, we must take the facts as alleged in the complaint. Those allegations entitle J.A.’s mother to proceed with her case."...
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/07/lonnie-swartz-border-patrol-shooting-c...
97margd
Now the Trump administration wants to limit citizenship for legal immigrants
Julia Ainsley / Aug.07.2018
The most significant change to legal immigration in decades could affect millions of would-be citizens, say lawyers and advocates.
The Trump administration is expected to issue a proposal in coming weeks that would make it harder for legal immigrants to become citizens or get green cards if they have ever used a range of popular public welfare programs, including Obamacare (children's health insurance, food stamps and other benefits)...
...White House senior adviser Stephen Miller's plan to limit the number of migrants who obtain legal status in the U.S. each year (would not require Congressional approval).
Immigration lawyers and advocates and public health researchers say it would be the biggest change to the legal immigration system in decades and estimate that more than 20 million immigrants could be affected. They say it would fall particularly hard on immigrants working jobs that don't pay enough to support their families...
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/now-trump-administration-wants-limi...
Julia Ainsley / Aug.07.2018
The most significant change to legal immigration in decades could affect millions of would-be citizens, say lawyers and advocates.
The Trump administration is expected to issue a proposal in coming weeks that would make it harder for legal immigrants to become citizens or get green cards if they have ever used a range of popular public welfare programs, including Obamacare (children's health insurance, food stamps and other benefits)...
...White House senior adviser Stephen Miller's plan to limit the number of migrants who obtain legal status in the U.S. each year (would not require Congressional approval).
Immigration lawyers and advocates and public health researchers say it would be the biggest change to the legal immigration system in decades and estimate that more than 20 million immigrants could be affected. They say it would fall particularly hard on immigrants working jobs that don't pay enough to support their families...
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/now-trump-administration-wants-limi...
98margd
'Turn The Plane Around': Federal Judge Threatens Sessions With Contempt
Karoli Kuns | 8/09/18 1:51pm
A federal judge threatened Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III with contempt of court for deporting asylum seekers after Department of Justice lawyers assured him none would be deported before Friday.
After learning that a mother and her daughter were on a plane to El Salvador, the judge was furious, thundering that the DOJ should get that plane turned around and the two asylum-seekers returned to the United States, posthaste. He also threatened Sessions with contempt of court before he issued an order stopping all deportations of asylum seekers fleeing gang and domestic violence situations.
...The deported mother and daughter were hand-picked to send a message to women and girls fleeing violence in Central American countries: Don't come here...
https://crooksandliars.com/2018/08/turn-plane-around-federal-judge-threatens
Karoli Kuns | 8/09/18 1:51pm
A federal judge threatened Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III with contempt of court for deporting asylum seekers after Department of Justice lawyers assured him none would be deported before Friday.
After learning that a mother and her daughter were on a plane to El Salvador, the judge was furious, thundering that the DOJ should get that plane turned around and the two asylum-seekers returned to the United States, posthaste. He also threatened Sessions with contempt of court before he issued an order stopping all deportations of asylum seekers fleeing gang and domestic violence situations.
...The deported mother and daughter were hand-picked to send a message to women and girls fleeing violence in Central American countries: Don't come here...
https://crooksandliars.com/2018/08/turn-plane-around-federal-judge-threatens
99John5918
Melania Trump's parents become citizens through 'chain migration' (Guardian)
Donald Trump has suggested ending most family-based immigration, the path to citizenship the first lady’s parents used
Melania Trump's Slovenian parents become US citizens (BBC)
President Trump has railed against family-based or "chain" immigration in the past. He argues instead for a merit-based system prioritising professionals over relatives...
Donald Trump has suggested ending most family-based immigration, the path to citizenship the first lady’s parents used
Melania Trump's Slovenian parents become US citizens (BBC)
President Trump has railed against family-based or "chain" immigration in the past. He argues instead for a merit-based system prioritising professionals over relatives...
100rastaphrog
>99 John5918: With all the conditions Trump would like to see imposed on immigrants, Melanias parents wouldn't fit any of them.
101margd
Stephen Miller is an Immigration Hypocrite. I Know Because I’m His Uncle.
DAVID S. GLOSSER | 08/13/2018
If my nephew’s ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out.
Let me tell you a story about Stephen Miller and chain migration.
It begins at the turn of the 20th century in a dirt-floor shack in the village of Antopol, a shtetl of subsistence farmers in what is now Belarus. Beset by violent anti-Jewish pogroms and forced childhood conscription in the Czar’s army, the patriarch of the shack, Wolf-Leib Glosser, fled a village where his forebears had lived for centuries and took his chances in America...
https://www.politico.com/magazine/amp/story/2018/08/13/stephen-miller-is-an-immi...
DAVID S. GLOSSER | 08/13/2018
If my nephew’s ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out.
Let me tell you a story about Stephen Miller and chain migration.
It begins at the turn of the 20th century in a dirt-floor shack in the village of Antopol, a shtetl of subsistence farmers in what is now Belarus. Beset by violent anti-Jewish pogroms and forced childhood conscription in the Czar’s army, the patriarch of the shack, Wolf-Leib Glosser, fled a village where his forebears had lived for centuries and took his chances in America...
https://www.politico.com/magazine/amp/story/2018/08/13/stephen-miller-is-an-immi...
102margd
Haitian accounts of immigration across the US-Quebec border
Finding True North
Thousands of Haitians who fled the United States on foot last summer have started very different lives in Canada.
Amy Bracken | August 2018
...Haitians who left the United States to seek asylum in Canada essentially left one uncertainty for another. And yet, for now, there is a sense that they can breathe easy because there is reason and justice in the system, that the rules will be followed, and that meanwhile the tools are there for asylum-seekers to make a life for themselves while they wait...
https://longreads.com/2018/08/13/finding-true-north/
Finding True North
Thousands of Haitians who fled the United States on foot last summer have started very different lives in Canada.
Amy Bracken | August 2018
...Haitians who left the United States to seek asylum in Canada essentially left one uncertainty for another. And yet, for now, there is a sense that they can breathe easy because there is reason and justice in the system, that the rules will be followed, and that meanwhile the tools are there for asylum-seekers to make a life for themselves while they wait...
https://longreads.com/2018/08/13/finding-true-north/
103John5918
'Grannies' on a mission to the US-Mexico border (BBC)
The group, calling themselves the "grannies," travelled from New York City to border town McAllen, Texas, to challenge the administration's policies with a message "of basic human decency."
The group, calling themselves the "grannies," travelled from New York City to border town McAllen, Texas, to challenge the administration's policies with a message "of basic human decency."
1042wonderY
The Myth of the Criminal Immigrant
In general, the study’s data suggests either that immigration has the effect of reducing average crime, or that there is simply no relationship between the two, and that the 54 areas in the study where both grew were instances of coincidence, not cause and effect. This was a consistent pattern in each decade from 1980 to 2016, with immigrant populations and crime failing to grow together.
...
This is not the only study showing that immigration does not increase crime. A broad survey released in January examined years of research on the immigrant-crime connection, concluding that an overwhelming majority of studies found either no relationship between the two or a beneficial one, in which immigrant communities bring economic and cultural revitalization to the neighborhoods they join.
In general, the study’s data suggests either that immigration has the effect of reducing average crime, or that there is simply no relationship between the two, and that the 54 areas in the study where both grew were instances of coincidence, not cause and effect. This was a consistent pattern in each decade from 1980 to 2016, with immigrant populations and crime failing to grow together.
...
This is not the only study showing that immigration does not increase crime. A broad survey released in January examined years of research on the immigrant-crime connection, concluding that an overwhelming majority of studies found either no relationship between the two or a beneficial one, in which immigrant communities bring economic and cultural revitalization to the neighborhoods they join.
1052wonderY
The Minneapolis City Pages created a headine that speaks to criminality and citizenship status.
U.S.-born American citizen in country legally charged in teen's death
U.S.-born American citizen in country legally charged in teen's death
106margd
This vile, unadulterated racism
Eugene Robinson | August 30, 2018
President Trump’s bigoted hatred of Latino immigrants has been clear from the beginning. Now his administration is aggressively persecuting Latino citizens as well.
It is hard to be shocked anymore, given the daily outrages committed by Trump and his minions, but a report Thursday by The Post was jaw-dropping: In the borderlands of southern Texas, the State Department is denying passports to hundreds and perhaps thousands of men and women who have official birth certificates demonstrating they were born in the United States.
In some cases, valid passports have been confiscated and revoked, their holders stranded in Mexico, unable to come home. In other cases, people have been arrested, sent to detention centers and slated for deportation. Imagine how they and their American families must feel — and how their distress must make Trump and his fellow xenophobes feel warm inside.
...There is a backstory: In the 1990s, some Texas midwives admitted accepting bribes to falsely claim that some Mexican infants were born in the United States. These same midwives, however, also delivered many more Latino babies, at least thousands, who were legitimately born in the United States. From official records, it is impossible to tell the difference.
The Trump administration appears to be denying passports simply because the applicant is Latino, was born in southern Texas and was delivered by a midwife — something the federal government explicitly promised not to do in a 2009 court settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union.
...If the government had specific evidence that an individual’s birth certificate was falsified, then we could have a debate about the right thing to do. But this administration is assuming that a person of a certain ethnicity, recorded as being born in a certain part of the country and meeting other unspecified criteria, is de facto not a citizen — and has the burden of proving otherwise...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-administration-doesnt-see-lati...
Eugene Robinson | August 30, 2018
President Trump’s bigoted hatred of Latino immigrants has been clear from the beginning. Now his administration is aggressively persecuting Latino citizens as well.
It is hard to be shocked anymore, given the daily outrages committed by Trump and his minions, but a report Thursday by The Post was jaw-dropping: In the borderlands of southern Texas, the State Department is denying passports to hundreds and perhaps thousands of men and women who have official birth certificates demonstrating they were born in the United States.
In some cases, valid passports have been confiscated and revoked, their holders stranded in Mexico, unable to come home. In other cases, people have been arrested, sent to detention centers and slated for deportation. Imagine how they and their American families must feel — and how their distress must make Trump and his fellow xenophobes feel warm inside.
...There is a backstory: In the 1990s, some Texas midwives admitted accepting bribes to falsely claim that some Mexican infants were born in the United States. These same midwives, however, also delivered many more Latino babies, at least thousands, who were legitimately born in the United States. From official records, it is impossible to tell the difference.
The Trump administration appears to be denying passports simply because the applicant is Latino, was born in southern Texas and was delivered by a midwife — something the federal government explicitly promised not to do in a 2009 court settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union.
...If the government had specific evidence that an individual’s birth certificate was falsified, then we could have a debate about the right thing to do. But this administration is assuming that a person of a certain ethnicity, recorded as being born in a certain part of the country and meeting other unspecified criteria, is de facto not a citizen — and has the burden of proving otherwise...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-administration-doesnt-see-lati...
107margd
Bank of America freezing accounts of customers suspected of not being US citizens
Rob Wile | August 30, 2018
...Proof of citizenship is not required to open a bank account in the U.S., according to Stephanie Collins, a spokesperson for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the federal agency that supervises branch banking. Banks are merely required to identify and report suspicious transactions and maintain and update customer information, she said. Banks have not received any new instructions to collect more information about customers.
...Paulina Gonzalez, executive director of the California Reinvestment Coalition...“We work with consumer groups and financial counselors in immigrant communities across California and the country. This is new. We have Bank of America customers who we’ve spoken to who have never been asked this before last year. If they have this asked of them before they can show us proof.”
In recent months, her group has received several complaints about being asked for proof of citizenship; almost all have come from Bank of America customers, she said. An article in American Banker magazine also highlighted Bank of America as the one institution specifically facing backlash for its policies.
Spokespersons for Wells Fargo and Citibank both said they may ask about customers’ citizenship to maintain compliance with know-your-customer and anti-money laundering rules. They said no new policies asking for citizenship status have been put in place...
Read more here: https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/article217567300.html
https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/article217567300.html#storylink=cpy
Rob Wile | August 30, 2018
...Proof of citizenship is not required to open a bank account in the U.S., according to Stephanie Collins, a spokesperson for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the federal agency that supervises branch banking. Banks are merely required to identify and report suspicious transactions and maintain and update customer information, she said. Banks have not received any new instructions to collect more information about customers.
...Paulina Gonzalez, executive director of the California Reinvestment Coalition...“We work with consumer groups and financial counselors in immigrant communities across California and the country. This is new. We have Bank of America customers who we’ve spoken to who have never been asked this before last year. If they have this asked of them before they can show us proof.”
In recent months, her group has received several complaints about being asked for proof of citizenship; almost all have come from Bank of America customers, she said. An article in American Banker magazine also highlighted Bank of America as the one institution specifically facing backlash for its policies.
Spokespersons for Wells Fargo and Citibank both said they may ask about customers’ citizenship to maintain compliance with know-your-customer and anti-money laundering rules. They said no new policies asking for citizenship status have been put in place...
Read more here: https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/article217567300.html
https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/article217567300.html#storylink=cpy
108margd
Federal judge denies states' request to end DACA
AP | August 31, 2018
A federal judge on Friday declined to order that the U.S. government halt an Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from deportation...
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen said Texas and six other conservative states that sued to block DACA couldn't prove that allowing the program to continue was causing irreparable harm. The judge questioned the legality of DACA but argued that more harm would be done to DACA recipients if they lost the program.
The judge, who has ruled against DACA-related programs in the past, essentially said the states waited too long to ask for the preliminary injunction.
"Here, the egg has been scrambled. To try to put it back in the shell with only a preliminary injunction record, and perhaps at great risk to many, does not make sense nor serve the best interests of this country," Hanen wrote in his ruling.
... DACA as enacted by former President Barack Obama is unconstitutional..."up to Congress"...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-andrew-hanen-denies-states-request-to-end-dac...
AP | August 31, 2018
A federal judge on Friday declined to order that the U.S. government halt an Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from deportation...
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen said Texas and six other conservative states that sued to block DACA couldn't prove that allowing the program to continue was causing irreparable harm. The judge questioned the legality of DACA but argued that more harm would be done to DACA recipients if they lost the program.
The judge, who has ruled against DACA-related programs in the past, essentially said the states waited too long to ask for the preliminary injunction.
"Here, the egg has been scrambled. To try to put it back in the shell with only a preliminary injunction record, and perhaps at great risk to many, does not make sense nor serve the best interests of this country," Hanen wrote in his ruling.
... DACA as enacted by former President Barack Obama is unconstitutional..."up to Congress"...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-andrew-hanen-denies-states-request-to-end-dac...
109margd
#104, 105 contd.
From Mollie Tibbetts' father: Don't distort her death to advance racist views
Rob Tibbetts | Sept. 1, 2018
...do not appropriate Mollie’s soul in advancing views she believed were profoundly racist. The act grievously extends the crime that stole Mollie from our family...
...Mollie was nobody’s victim. Nor is she a pawn in others’ debate. She may not be able to speak for herself, but I can and will. Please leave us out of your debate. Allow us to grieve in privacy and with dignity. At long last, show some decency. On behalf of my family and Mollie’s memory, I’m imploring you to stop.
...The person who is accused of taking Mollie’s life is no more a reflection of the Hispanic community as white supremacists are of all white people. To suggest otherwise is a lie. Justice in my America is blind. This person will receive a fair trial, as it should be. If convicted, he will face the consequences society has set. Beyond that, he deserves no more attention.
To the Hispanic community, my family stands with you and offers its heartfelt apology. That you’ve been beset by the circumstances of Mollie’s death is wrong. We treasure the contribution you bring to the American tapestry in all its color and melody. And yes, we love your food...
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/09/01/mollie-tib...
_________________________________________________________
The dad was responding at least in part to:
Donald Trump Jr.: Democrats' reaction to Mollie Tibbetts' death is heartless, despicable
Donald Trump Jr | Aug. 31, 2018
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/08/31/donald-tru...
From Mollie Tibbetts' father: Don't distort her death to advance racist views
Rob Tibbetts | Sept. 1, 2018
...do not appropriate Mollie’s soul in advancing views she believed were profoundly racist. The act grievously extends the crime that stole Mollie from our family...
...Mollie was nobody’s victim. Nor is she a pawn in others’ debate. She may not be able to speak for herself, but I can and will. Please leave us out of your debate. Allow us to grieve in privacy and with dignity. At long last, show some decency. On behalf of my family and Mollie’s memory, I’m imploring you to stop.
...The person who is accused of taking Mollie’s life is no more a reflection of the Hispanic community as white supremacists are of all white people. To suggest otherwise is a lie. Justice in my America is blind. This person will receive a fair trial, as it should be. If convicted, he will face the consequences society has set. Beyond that, he deserves no more attention.
To the Hispanic community, my family stands with you and offers its heartfelt apology. That you’ve been beset by the circumstances of Mollie’s death is wrong. We treasure the contribution you bring to the American tapestry in all its color and melody. And yes, we love your food...
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/09/01/mollie-tib...
_________________________________________________________
The dad was responding at least in part to:
Donald Trump Jr.: Democrats' reaction to Mollie Tibbetts' death is heartless, despicable
Donald Trump Jr | Aug. 31, 2018
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/08/31/donald-tru...
1102wonderY
As this administration erodes the fundamentals of citizenship (not that Bush and Obama were without fault, but this has been adjudicated already!):
Midwife birth certificates are no longer acceptable forms of proof of citizenship.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-immigration-passports-denie...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/03/opinion/weingarten-homebirth-border-passports...
Midwife birth certificates are no longer acceptable forms of proof of citizenship.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-immigration-passports-denie...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/03/opinion/weingarten-homebirth-border-passports...
1112wonderY
Trump’s Birtherism in Texas
The administration is forcing lifelong U.S. citizens of Latino descent to prove they belong here. It’s a horrifying development with familiar goals.
Some have been jailed in immigration detention centers, others stripped of their passports and stranded in foreign countries.
There’s something cruel about the government’s trying to hold you accountable for verifying an event over which you had no say — your birth. After 40 years, you’d expect the burden to be on the government to prove a fraud took place, instead of on the citizen to prove it did not.
The author of this editorial, Héctor Tobar has written a speculative fiction piece, The Daylight Underground, in which he imagined Trump's government stripping one million American Latinos of their citizenship.
The administration is forcing lifelong U.S. citizens of Latino descent to prove they belong here. It’s a horrifying development with familiar goals.
Some have been jailed in immigration detention centers, others stripped of their passports and stranded in foreign countries.
There’s something cruel about the government’s trying to hold you accountable for verifying an event over which you had no say — your birth. After 40 years, you’d expect the burden to be on the government to prove a fraud took place, instead of on the citizen to prove it did not.
The author of this editorial, Héctor Tobar has written a speculative fiction piece, The Daylight Underground, in which he imagined Trump's government stripping one million American Latinos of their citizenship.
1122wonderY
I thought this report came out earlier, but the story is newly posted.
Trump admin rejected report showing refugees did not pose major security threat
Trump admin rejected report showing refugees did not pose major security threat
113margd
Trump administration to circumvent court limits on detention of child migrants
Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti | September 6, 2018
...the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services (propose) to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement, the federal consent decree that has shaped detention standards for underage migrants since 1997.
The maneuver is almost certain to land the administration back in court, while raising the odds that the government eventually could petition the Supreme Court to grant the expanded detention authority lower courts have denied.
U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who oversees the Flores agreement, has rejected the government’s requests to extend the amount of time migrant children can be held in immigration jails beyond the limit of 20 days. The administration’s new proposal does not set limits on the amount of time children could be held in detention. Rather, it seeks the authority to hold migrant children and their parents until their cases have been adjudicated, a process that could take months...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-to-c...
Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti | September 6, 2018
...the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services (propose) to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement, the federal consent decree that has shaped detention standards for underage migrants since 1997.
The maneuver is almost certain to land the administration back in court, while raising the odds that the government eventually could petition the Supreme Court to grant the expanded detention authority lower courts have denied.
U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who oversees the Flores agreement, has rejected the government’s requests to extend the amount of time migrant children can be held in immigration jails beyond the limit of 20 days. The administration’s new proposal does not set limits on the amount of time children could be held in detention. Rather, it seeks the authority to hold migrant children and their parents until their cases have been adjudicated, a process that could take months...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-to-c...
1142wonderY
Not well publicized, but Trump admin is detaining and trying to deport Vietnamese refugees, despite a long standing bilateral agreement not to.
https://www.courthousenews.com/federal-judge-oks-refugee-lawsuit-against-trump-a...
Even the children of American servicemen:
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/thousands-of-vietnamese-including-children-of-us...
https://www.courthousenews.com/federal-judge-oks-refugee-lawsuit-against-trump-a...
Even the children of American servicemen:
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/thousands-of-vietnamese-including-children-of-us...
115margd
>114 2wonderY: So cruel--I thought the US put this behind us with Child Citizenship Act and DACA.
In the bad old days, the US would deport children adopted by Americans if the kids committed a felony (DUI in some states, shop-lifting, drug offenses, etc.) before they became citizens. Teenagers were sent to birth countries (Thailand, South American nations), where they had no friends or family--and didn't speak the language. Still happens to now-adult adopted before (predecessor of?) Child Citizenship Act went into effect--one fellow was recently deported when he applied for citizenship/passport. Now, US citizenship is automatic when adoption is formalized. Also, only one parent need be American.
In the bad old days, the US would deport children adopted by Americans if the kids committed a felony (DUI in some states, shop-lifting, drug offenses, etc.) before they became citizens. Teenagers were sent to birth countries (Thailand, South American nations), where they had no friends or family--and didn't speak the language. Still happens to now-adult adopted before (predecessor of?) Child Citizenship Act went into effect--one fellow was recently deported when he applied for citizenship/passport. Now, US citizenship is automatic when adoption is formalized. Also, only one parent need be American.
116John5918
How to Save the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (International Crisis Group)
Amid the largest displacement crisis since World War II, President Donald Trump’s administration has cut the U.S.’s annual intake of refugees in half. It should reverse course, and future administrations should strive to put refugee admissions on a stronger political and operational footing...
Amid the largest displacement crisis since World War II, President Donald Trump’s administration has cut the U.S.’s annual intake of refugees in half. It should reverse course, and future administrations should strive to put refugee admissions on a stronger political and operational footing...
1172wonderY
The LA Times has a story today, but I've exceeded my free articles and can't read it, though others might do so:
In response to Trump policies, some Californians open their homes to asylum seekers
It's possibly a follow-up to this June story:
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2018/jun/28/San-Diego-church-housing-asylum-seekers/
San Diego Church To Launch Temporary Housing Network For Asylum-Seekers
And The Guardian posted this today:
'They were laughing at us': immigrants tell of cruelty, illness and filth in US detention
In response to Trump policies, some Californians open their homes to asylum seekers
It's possibly a follow-up to this June story:
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2018/jun/28/San-Diego-church-housing-asylum-seekers/
San Diego Church To Launch Temporary Housing Network For Asylum-Seekers
And The Guardian posted this today:
'They were laughing at us': immigrants tell of cruelty, illness and filth in US detention
118jjwilson61
>117 2wonderY: To bypass the free article limitation for the LA Times and many other newspapers, just right-click the link and choose to open it in an incognito window, or whatever the equivalent is in your browser.
119margd
Special Report: Slamming the door - How Trump transformed U.S. refugee program
Yeganeh Torbati, Omar Mohammed | Sept 12, 2018
...Trump set the 2018 annual refugee ceiling at 45,000, the lowest number since the modern refugee program was established in 1980. And yet, the United States is likely to take in less than half that number of refugees this year.
...the administration has rejected internal findings that refugees could be admitted safely and with little expense.
...extended the strictest kind of vetting to women as well as men from 11 countries, mostly in the Middle East and Africa (Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen). And it has reduced by nearly two-thirds the number of officials conducting refugee interviews, reassigning about 100 of 155 interviewers to handle asylum screenings for people already in the country, including those who crossed the border illegally.
...The percentage who are Muslim is now a third what it was two years ago; the percentage who are Europeans has tripled.
The shift has led to striking imbalances. Refugees admitted to the United States from the small European country of Moldova, for example, now outnumber those from Syria by three to one, although the number of Syrian refugees worldwide outnumbers the total population of Moldova.
...the new policies have been driven by a small core of top administration officials, including White House senior advisor Stephen Miller; Gene Hamilton, a former advisor at the Department of Homeland Security (now at Justice Dept); and John Kelly, former secretary of Homeland Security and now White House chief of staff...
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-refugees-specialrepor/slammin...
Yeganeh Torbati, Omar Mohammed | Sept 12, 2018
...Trump set the 2018 annual refugee ceiling at 45,000, the lowest number since the modern refugee program was established in 1980. And yet, the United States is likely to take in less than half that number of refugees this year.
...the administration has rejected internal findings that refugees could be admitted safely and with little expense.
...extended the strictest kind of vetting to women as well as men from 11 countries, mostly in the Middle East and Africa (Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen). And it has reduced by nearly two-thirds the number of officials conducting refugee interviews, reassigning about 100 of 155 interviewers to handle asylum screenings for people already in the country, including those who crossed the border illegally.
...The percentage who are Muslim is now a third what it was two years ago; the percentage who are Europeans has tripled.
The shift has led to striking imbalances. Refugees admitted to the United States from the small European country of Moldova, for example, now outnumber those from Syria by three to one, although the number of Syrian refugees worldwide outnumbers the total population of Moldova.
...the new policies have been driven by a small core of top administration officials, including White House senior advisor Stephen Miller; Gene Hamilton, a former advisor at the Department of Homeland Security (now at Justice Dept); and John Kelly, former secretary of Homeland Security and now White House chief of staff...
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-refugees-specialrepor/slammin...
120margd
Record number of migrant children detained in United States
Sept 13, 2018
There are more detained migrant children in the United States than ever before, new figures reveal.
Data obtained by the New York Times from the Department of Health and Human Services shows there are 12,800 children currently in custody at shelters for migrant children.
That's almost five times as many as in May 2017 when there were 2,400 children in custody, but the number of people crossing the border has remained relatively steady in that time.
...Many children from Central America crossed the border alone, without their parents.
The Times says shelters are at close to 90 percent capacity and there are fears that any uptick in border crossings could quickly overwhelm the system...
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2018/09/record-number-of-migrant-children-d...
Sept 13, 2018
There are more detained migrant children in the United States than ever before, new figures reveal.
Data obtained by the New York Times from the Department of Health and Human Services shows there are 12,800 children currently in custody at shelters for migrant children.
That's almost five times as many as in May 2017 when there were 2,400 children in custody, but the number of people crossing the border has remained relatively steady in that time.
...Many children from Central America crossed the border alone, without their parents.
The Times says shelters are at close to 90 percent capacity and there are fears that any uptick in border crossings could quickly overwhelm the system...
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2018/09/record-number-of-migrant-children-d...
121margd
'Shameful': US slashes number of refugees it will admit to 30,000
Sept 7, 2018
...a record low of 30,000 in 2019, down from a 45,000 limit this year...which was about half the number of refugees admitted to the country in 2016.
"We proposed resettling up to 30,000 refugees under the new refugee ceiling as well as processing more than 280,000 asylum seekers," (Secretary of State) Pompeo said in an announcement at the State Department, calling the US "the most generous nation in the world when it comes to protection-based immigration."
"This year's proposed refugee ceiling must be considered in the context of the many other forms of protection and assistance offered by the United States," he said.
...Pompeo said the new limit reflected the administration's preference for settling refugees closer to their home countries, something President Donald Trump has said would be cheaper than admitting them to the United States.
Pompeo said the decision was also based on security concerns. "We must continue to responsibly vet applicants to prevent the entry of those who might do harm to our country," he said.
The refugee ceiling of 45,000 set last year was the lowest since 1980, when the modern refugee programme was established. The US is on track to admit only 22,000 refugees this year, about half the maximum allowed.
...the type of refugee admitted has changed under Trump, a Reuters analysis of government data shows. The percentage who are Muslim is now a third what it was two years ago; the percentage who are Europeans has tripled...
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/09/slashes-number-refugees-admit-30000-18091...
Sept 7, 2018
...a record low of 30,000 in 2019, down from a 45,000 limit this year...which was about half the number of refugees admitted to the country in 2016.
"We proposed resettling up to 30,000 refugees under the new refugee ceiling as well as processing more than 280,000 asylum seekers," (Secretary of State) Pompeo said in an announcement at the State Department, calling the US "the most generous nation in the world when it comes to protection-based immigration."
"This year's proposed refugee ceiling must be considered in the context of the many other forms of protection and assistance offered by the United States," he said.
...Pompeo said the new limit reflected the administration's preference for settling refugees closer to their home countries, something President Donald Trump has said would be cheaper than admitting them to the United States.
Pompeo said the decision was also based on security concerns. "We must continue to responsibly vet applicants to prevent the entry of those who might do harm to our country," he said.
The refugee ceiling of 45,000 set last year was the lowest since 1980, when the modern refugee programme was established. The US is on track to admit only 22,000 refugees this year, about half the maximum allowed.
...the type of refugee admitted has changed under Trump, a Reuters analysis of government data shows. The percentage who are Muslim is now a third what it was two years ago; the percentage who are Europeans has tripled...
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/09/slashes-number-refugees-admit-30000-18091...
122margd
This is wild: marijuana will be legal in Canada Oct 27, 2018, as it is already in several US states. Canadians who admit use, who work in the industry (and who invest in the industry?) can be banned for life from the US. This does not apply to Americans, who are expected to travel to Canada in numbers to partake. I've read that the scent of it in your vehicle, as detected by a sniffer dog, is enough to trigger action against a Canadian?
Some illustrious Canadians have been banned from the US in the past, including Pierre Elliott Trudeau (marijuana) and Farley Mowatt (his politics?). You may or may not be pleased to know that Justin Bieber has applied for US citizenship. :) Can you imagine the disruption to various industries including tourism if Canadians, already aggrieved by steel tariffs, etc., all answered "yes" whether or not they ever used marijuana?
From pot to privacy: What we know and don’t know about crossing the Canada-U.S. border
Cherise Seucharan and Perrin Grauer | Aug. 29, 2018
...Going from Canada to the U.S.
...Canadian perspective: If you like smoking the occasional spliff, keep it under your hat when talking to U.S. border agents; they regard this as an illegal act, even though marijuana will soon be legal in Canada and is already in some U.S. states.
Canadians who smoke marijuana legally, or work or invest in the industry, will be barred from the U.S.: Customs and Border Protection official
Because CBP treats an admission of drug use the same as a conviction, answering “yes,” regardless of how long ago that cannabis use may have occurred, will land a Canadian with a lifetime ban on entry to the U.S. (formally known as a status of ‘inadmissibility’).
CBP officers may ask Canadian travellers whether they work in the cannabis industry, and if they are travelling to the U.S. for business purposes.
Answering “yes” to both of these questions renders a Canadian “inadmissible” to the U.S., resulting in a lifetime ban.
If Canadians who are cannabis users — or who work in the cannabis industry — answer “no” when asked, they are likewise eligible for a lifetime ban if CBP officers discover they are being dishonest, since lying to a federal officer is an offence under U.S. law.
These protocols apply at any border crossing between the U.S. and Canada (since, regardless of whether cannabis is legal in the state into which Canadians are travelling, the border is governed by U.S. federal law, under which cannabis is a prohibited substance).
It is possible to obtain a waiver to get around a lifetime ban (or status of inadmissibility) from an immigration lawyer, though waivers are only good for between six months and five years, and cost roughly $500.
The number of Canadians being rendered inadmissible for admitting to cannabis use has seen a marked increase in recent years — 50-fold, according to American immigration lawyer Len Saunders.
The CBP says the policy of banning Canadians from entry to the U.S. for admitting to cannabis use will not change, regardless of how Canadian drug law might evolve.
Canadian travellers do have the option — both at land crossings and in pre-flight clearance — of revoking their request to enter if they do not wish to answer questions posed by CBP officers.
If, for instance, a cannabis user revokes her right to enter in order to avoid truthfully answering a question which would result in a lifetime ban, she may have a ‘lookout’ put on her file. A lookout could mean she is subject to closer scrutiny during her next border crossing attempt, but it will not result in a lifetime ban or permanent consequence of any kind.
CBP officers are entitled to use documentary evidence — whether in print, online or on social media, and whether in text or image — of drug use to determine whether travellers are admissible to the U.S.
https://www.thestar.com/news/cannabis/2018/08/29/from-pot-to-privacy-what-we-kno...
__________________________________________________________________________
Trudeau could be barred from U.S. after he’s PM because he smoked pot: U.S. lawyer
Kyle Duggan | Mar 19, 2018
...A U.S. immigration lawyer says Justin Trudeau could be barred from travelling to the U.S. once he’s no longer prime minister because he once admitted to smoking pot.
“He’s admitted to smoking marijuana as an MP,” Len Saunders, a lawyer for The Immigration Law Firm in Washington state, told Canadian senators Monday. “The second that Prime Minister Trudeau is no longer prime minister, traveling on a diplomatic passport, he is no longer admissible to the United States.”...
https://ipolitics.ca/2018/03/19/trudeau-could-be-barred-from-u-s-after-hes-pm-be...
Some illustrious Canadians have been banned from the US in the past, including Pierre Elliott Trudeau (marijuana) and Farley Mowatt (his politics?). You may or may not be pleased to know that Justin Bieber has applied for US citizenship. :) Can you imagine the disruption to various industries including tourism if Canadians, already aggrieved by steel tariffs, etc., all answered "yes" whether or not they ever used marijuana?
From pot to privacy: What we know and don’t know about crossing the Canada-U.S. border
Cherise Seucharan and Perrin Grauer | Aug. 29, 2018
...Going from Canada to the U.S.
...Canadian perspective: If you like smoking the occasional spliff, keep it under your hat when talking to U.S. border agents; they regard this as an illegal act, even though marijuana will soon be legal in Canada and is already in some U.S. states.
Canadians who smoke marijuana legally, or work or invest in the industry, will be barred from the U.S.: Customs and Border Protection official
Because CBP treats an admission of drug use the same as a conviction, answering “yes,” regardless of how long ago that cannabis use may have occurred, will land a Canadian with a lifetime ban on entry to the U.S. (formally known as a status of ‘inadmissibility’).
CBP officers may ask Canadian travellers whether they work in the cannabis industry, and if they are travelling to the U.S. for business purposes.
Answering “yes” to both of these questions renders a Canadian “inadmissible” to the U.S., resulting in a lifetime ban.
If Canadians who are cannabis users — or who work in the cannabis industry — answer “no” when asked, they are likewise eligible for a lifetime ban if CBP officers discover they are being dishonest, since lying to a federal officer is an offence under U.S. law.
These protocols apply at any border crossing between the U.S. and Canada (since, regardless of whether cannabis is legal in the state into which Canadians are travelling, the border is governed by U.S. federal law, under which cannabis is a prohibited substance).
It is possible to obtain a waiver to get around a lifetime ban (or status of inadmissibility) from an immigration lawyer, though waivers are only good for between six months and five years, and cost roughly $500.
The number of Canadians being rendered inadmissible for admitting to cannabis use has seen a marked increase in recent years — 50-fold, according to American immigration lawyer Len Saunders.
The CBP says the policy of banning Canadians from entry to the U.S. for admitting to cannabis use will not change, regardless of how Canadian drug law might evolve.
Canadian travellers do have the option — both at land crossings and in pre-flight clearance — of revoking their request to enter if they do not wish to answer questions posed by CBP officers.
If, for instance, a cannabis user revokes her right to enter in order to avoid truthfully answering a question which would result in a lifetime ban, she may have a ‘lookout’ put on her file. A lookout could mean she is subject to closer scrutiny during her next border crossing attempt, but it will not result in a lifetime ban or permanent consequence of any kind.
CBP officers are entitled to use documentary evidence — whether in print, online or on social media, and whether in text or image — of drug use to determine whether travellers are admissible to the U.S.
https://www.thestar.com/news/cannabis/2018/08/29/from-pot-to-privacy-what-we-kno...
__________________________________________________________________________
Trudeau could be barred from U.S. after he’s PM because he smoked pot: U.S. lawyer
Kyle Duggan | Mar 19, 2018
...A U.S. immigration lawyer says Justin Trudeau could be barred from travelling to the U.S. once he’s no longer prime minister because he once admitted to smoking pot.
“He’s admitted to smoking marijuana as an MP,” Len Saunders, a lawyer for The Immigration Law Firm in Washington state, told Canadian senators Monday. “The second that Prime Minister Trudeau is no longer prime minister, traveling on a diplomatic passport, he is no longer admissible to the United States.”...
https://ipolitics.ca/2018/03/19/trudeau-could-be-barred-from-u-s-after-hes-pm-be...
123margd
An antidote to all the ugliness--hope Fox had video piped into White House:
Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the L.A. Galaxy played the Seattle Sounders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU0SZXcNNbY
Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the L.A. Galaxy played the Seattle Sounders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU0SZXcNNbY
124margd
Hundreds of Migrant Children Quietly Moved to a Tent Camp on the Texas Border
Caitlin Dickerson | Sept. 30, 2018
In shelters from Kansas to New York, hundreds of migrant children have been roused in the middle of the night in recent weeks and loaded onto buses with backpacks and snacks for a cross-country journey to their new home: a barren tent city on a sprawling patch of desert in West Texas.
Until now, most undocumented children being held by federal immigration authorities had been housed in private foster homes or shelters, sleeping two or three to a room. They received formal schooling and regular visits with legal representatives assigned to their immigration cases.
But in the rows of sand-colored tents in Tornillo, Tex., children in groups of 20, separated by gender, sleep lined up in bunks. There is no school: The children are given workbooks that they have no obligation to complete. Access to legal services is limited.
These midnight voyages are playing out across the country, as the federal government struggles to find room for more than 13,000 detained migrant children — the largest population ever — whose numbers have increased more than fivefold since last year.
...The tent city in Tornillo...is unregulated, except for guidelines created by the Department of Health and Human Services. For example, schooling is not required there, as it is in regular migrant children shelters.
...Several shelter workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being fired, described what they said has become standard practice for moving the children: In order to avoid escape attempts, the moves are carried out late at night because children will be less likely to try to run away. For the same reason, children are generally given little advance warning that they will be moved.
At one shelter in the Midwest whose occupants were among those recently transferred to Tornillo, about two dozen children were given just a few hours’ notice last week before they were loaded onto buses — any longer than that, according to one of the shelter workers, and the children may have panicked or tried to flee.
The children wore belts etched in pen with phone numbers for their emergency contacts...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/30/us/migrant-children-tent-city-texas.html
Caitlin Dickerson | Sept. 30, 2018
In shelters from Kansas to New York, hundreds of migrant children have been roused in the middle of the night in recent weeks and loaded onto buses with backpacks and snacks for a cross-country journey to their new home: a barren tent city on a sprawling patch of desert in West Texas.
Until now, most undocumented children being held by federal immigration authorities had been housed in private foster homes or shelters, sleeping two or three to a room. They received formal schooling and regular visits with legal representatives assigned to their immigration cases.
But in the rows of sand-colored tents in Tornillo, Tex., children in groups of 20, separated by gender, sleep lined up in bunks. There is no school: The children are given workbooks that they have no obligation to complete. Access to legal services is limited.
These midnight voyages are playing out across the country, as the federal government struggles to find room for more than 13,000 detained migrant children — the largest population ever — whose numbers have increased more than fivefold since last year.
...The tent city in Tornillo...is unregulated, except for guidelines created by the Department of Health and Human Services. For example, schooling is not required there, as it is in regular migrant children shelters.
...Several shelter workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being fired, described what they said has become standard practice for moving the children: In order to avoid escape attempts, the moves are carried out late at night because children will be less likely to try to run away. For the same reason, children are generally given little advance warning that they will be moved.
At one shelter in the Midwest whose occupants were among those recently transferred to Tornillo, about two dozen children were given just a few hours’ notice last week before they were loaded onto buses — any longer than that, according to one of the shelter workers, and the children may have panicked or tried to flee.
The children wore belts etched in pen with phone numbers for their emergency contacts...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/30/us/migrant-children-tent-city-texas.html
125margd
Exclusive: Pentagon raises alarm about sharp drop in Iraqi refugees coming to U.S.
Yeganeh Torbati | August 20, 2018
...The Pentagon is concerned that not providing safe haven to more of the Iraqis, many of whom interpreted and did other key tasks for U.S. forces, will harm national security by dissuading locals from cooperating with the United States in Iraq and other conflict zones....
...As of Aug. 15, just 48 Iraqis have been admitted to the United States this fiscal year through a special refugee program meant for people who worked for the U.S. government or American contractors, news media or non-governmental groups, according to data provided by the State Department. More than 3,000 came last year and about 5,100 in 2016.
...the obstacle was a separate process called Security Advisory Opinions (SAOs), which are required for a smaller subset of people - male and female refugees within a certain age range from Iraq and 10 other countries, mostly in the Middle East and Africa.
The FBI and intelligence agencies conduct the SAOs...
At the meeting, the FBI revealed that of a batch of 88 Iraqis it had recently completed SAOs for, it found suspicious information on 87 of them, said the two officials aware of the meeting. Current and former officials said that is a much higher “hit rate” than in past years...
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-refugees-iraq-exclusi/exclusi...
Yeganeh Torbati | August 20, 2018
...The Pentagon is concerned that not providing safe haven to more of the Iraqis, many of whom interpreted and did other key tasks for U.S. forces, will harm national security by dissuading locals from cooperating with the United States in Iraq and other conflict zones....
...As of Aug. 15, just 48 Iraqis have been admitted to the United States this fiscal year through a special refugee program meant for people who worked for the U.S. government or American contractors, news media or non-governmental groups, according to data provided by the State Department. More than 3,000 came last year and about 5,100 in 2016.
...the obstacle was a separate process called Security Advisory Opinions (SAOs), which are required for a smaller subset of people - male and female refugees within a certain age range from Iraq and 10 other countries, mostly in the Middle East and Africa.
The FBI and intelligence agencies conduct the SAOs...
At the meeting, the FBI revealed that of a batch of 88 Iraqis it had recently completed SAOs for, it found suspicious information on 87 of them, said the two officials aware of the meeting. Current and former officials said that is a much higher “hit rate” than in past years...
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-refugees-iraq-exclusi/exclusi...
126margd
Administration moves against spouses of G-4 and H-1B visas.
US ends diplomatic visas for UN same-sex partners
2 October 2018
The change went into effect on Monday, giving partners currently in the US until 31 December to leave, get married or otherwise change their visa.
...The new Trump administration policy update was circulated in a United Nations (UN) memo.
The memo states: "As of 1 October 2018, same-sex domestic partners accompanying or seeking to join newly arrived United Nations officials must provide proof of marriage to be eligible for a G-4 visa or to seek a change into such status."
G-4 visas are granted to employees of international organisations and their immediate families.
...Akshaya Kumar, the Deputy UN Director of Human Rights Watch, wrote that the change "will have an insidious impact on same-sex couples".
"The US government should recognise, as it had for almost nine years until today, that requiring a marriage as proof of bona fide partnership is a bad and cruel policy, one that replicates the terrible discrimination many LGBT people face in their own countries, and should be immediately reversed."
There are currently 71 countries that criminalise same-sex relations, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).
Several others have some form of legal restriction, and same-sex relationships can carry the death penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, and Nigeria.
____________________________________________________________________________
2 US senators seek preservation of job authorisation for H1B spouses
Sep 28, 2018
Washington : Two powerful Democratic women senators have urged the Trump administration not to go ahead with its decision to revoke authorisation to immigrants on H-4 visas, a majority are Indian-Americans, as doing so would impact about 100,000 women.
H-4 visas are issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediate family members, spouse and children under 21 years of age, of the holder of H-1B visa, the most sought-after among Indian IT professionals. Senators Kamala Harris from California and Kirsten Gillibrand from New York wrote a letter about it to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and USCIS Director L Francis Cissna.
The letter comes after Department of Homeland Security told a US court last week it is going to revoke employment authorisation of H-4 visa holders and a notification in this connection is to be issued in less than three months.
http://www.freepressjournal.in/world/2-us-senators-seek-preservation-of-job-auth...
US ends diplomatic visas for UN same-sex partners
2 October 2018
The change went into effect on Monday, giving partners currently in the US until 31 December to leave, get married or otherwise change their visa.
...The new Trump administration policy update was circulated in a United Nations (UN) memo.
The memo states: "As of 1 October 2018, same-sex domestic partners accompanying or seeking to join newly arrived United Nations officials must provide proof of marriage to be eligible for a G-4 visa or to seek a change into such status."
G-4 visas are granted to employees of international organisations and their immediate families.
...Akshaya Kumar, the Deputy UN Director of Human Rights Watch, wrote that the change "will have an insidious impact on same-sex couples".
"The US government should recognise, as it had for almost nine years until today, that requiring a marriage as proof of bona fide partnership is a bad and cruel policy, one that replicates the terrible discrimination many LGBT people face in their own countries, and should be immediately reversed."
There are currently 71 countries that criminalise same-sex relations, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).
Several others have some form of legal restriction, and same-sex relationships can carry the death penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, and Nigeria.
____________________________________________________________________________
2 US senators seek preservation of job authorisation for H1B spouses
Sep 28, 2018
Washington : Two powerful Democratic women senators have urged the Trump administration not to go ahead with its decision to revoke authorisation to immigrants on H-4 visas, a majority are Indian-Americans, as doing so would impact about 100,000 women.
H-4 visas are issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediate family members, spouse and children under 21 years of age, of the holder of H-1B visa, the most sought-after among Indian IT professionals. Senators Kamala Harris from California and Kirsten Gillibrand from New York wrote a letter about it to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and USCIS Director L Francis Cissna.
The letter comes after Department of Homeland Security told a US court last week it is going to revoke employment authorisation of H-4 visa holders and a notification in this connection is to be issued in less than three months.
http://www.freepressjournal.in/world/2-us-senators-seek-preservation-of-job-auth...
127margd
Federal Judge Blocks Trump From Removing Immigrants From 4 Countries
Richard Gonzales | October 4, 2018
A federal court in California has blocked the Trump administration from terminating the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program that allows (300,000) immigrants from four countries (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti and Sudan) to live and work in the United States.
...1990 to allow people from countries suffering civil conflict or natural disasters to remain in the U.S. temporarily.
...American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) alleging the Trump administration violated constitutional protections of due process and equal protection when it announced it would terminate the program, beginning with immigrants from Sudan next month.
...Judge Chen said ending TPS would cause "irreparable harm and great hardship" for immigrants, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for at least a decade, held down jobs, and have raised families. He also said there is evidence that President Trump tried to end the program because he is motivated by "an animus against non-white, non-European aliens."
...would dramatically alter the lives of more than 270,000 U.S. citizen children who have at least one parent with TPS. Such children would be forced to make a choice between the care and support of their parents and the rights and benefits of U.S citizenship.
...government also failed to show how it would be harmed by continuing the TPS program...
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/04/654264072/federal-judge-blocks-trump-from-removin...
Richard Gonzales | October 4, 2018
A federal court in California has blocked the Trump administration from terminating the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program that allows (300,000) immigrants from four countries (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti and Sudan) to live and work in the United States.
...1990 to allow people from countries suffering civil conflict or natural disasters to remain in the U.S. temporarily.
...American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) alleging the Trump administration violated constitutional protections of due process and equal protection when it announced it would terminate the program, beginning with immigrants from Sudan next month.
...Judge Chen said ending TPS would cause "irreparable harm and great hardship" for immigrants, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for at least a decade, held down jobs, and have raised families. He also said there is evidence that President Trump tried to end the program because he is motivated by "an animus against non-white, non-European aliens."
...would dramatically alter the lives of more than 270,000 U.S. citizen children who have at least one parent with TPS. Such children would be forced to make a choice between the care and support of their parents and the rights and benefits of U.S citizenship.
...government also failed to show how it would be harmed by continuing the TPS program...
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/04/654264072/federal-judge-blocks-trump-from-removin...
128margd
AP Investigation: Deported parents may lose kids to adoption
GARANCE BURKE and MARTHA MENDOZA | October 9, 2018
https://apnews.com/97b06cede0c149c492bf25a48cb6c26f
_________________________________________________
Michigan courts reversed an adoption (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Jessica_case) because the father's approval had not been sought, so I can't imagine 2YO Alexa Ramos' adoption will stand. To prevent child snatching & trafficking, etc., the US subscribes to--or at least we used to--
The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (or Hague Adoption Convention).
... the Hague Adoption Convention is the major multilateral instrument regulating international adoption and calls for the need for co-ordination and direct co-operation between countries to ensure that appropriate safeguards are respected.
The Hague Adoption Convention has several requirements. The adoption process includes establishing a "Central Authority" to serve as the country's primary contact in adoption processes; satisfying several checks for a child eligible for adoption, including verifying the propriety of the adoption under the laws of both countries...
...The Implementation and Operation of the 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention: Guide to Good Practice, prepared by HCCH (U.S. is listed as a member/party), provides assistance to the operation, use and interpretation of the Convention...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Adoption_Convention
GARANCE BURKE and MARTHA MENDOZA | October 9, 2018
https://apnews.com/97b06cede0c149c492bf25a48cb6c26f
_________________________________________________
Michigan courts reversed an adoption (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Jessica_case) because the father's approval had not been sought, so I can't imagine 2YO Alexa Ramos' adoption will stand. To prevent child snatching & trafficking, etc., the US subscribes to--or at least we used to--
The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (or Hague Adoption Convention).
... the Hague Adoption Convention is the major multilateral instrument regulating international adoption and calls for the need for co-ordination and direct co-operation between countries to ensure that appropriate safeguards are respected.
The Hague Adoption Convention has several requirements. The adoption process includes establishing a "Central Authority" to serve as the country's primary contact in adoption processes; satisfying several checks for a child eligible for adoption, including verifying the propriety of the adoption under the laws of both countries...
...The Implementation and Operation of the 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention: Guide to Good Practice, prepared by HCCH (U.S. is listed as a member/party), provides assistance to the operation, use and interpretation of the Convention...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Adoption_Convention
129margd
The US has a surplus in services traded with Canada, which Trump disregarded in his NAFTA tirades. So, too, he devalues the input of immigrants...
H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies
Ethan Baron | UPDATED: October 13, 2018 at 11:36 am
Two weeks: That’s how quickly a foreign technology worker in Silicon Valley can get an employment permit from Canada. In the U.S., that process takes months.
As the administration of President Donald Trump has increased scrutiny of H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and plans to ban their spouses from holding jobs in the U.S., Canada has been moving aggressively to suck top foreign talent out of Silicon Valley and other technology-rich regions of the U.S.
...experts say Canada’s year-old “Global Skills Strategy” program, which offers work permits similar to America’s H-1B visa, is ideally structured to attract highly skilled foreign tech workers to Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver. Though immigrants make up just 20 percent of Canada’s population, they hold about half of the science, technology, engineering and math degrees at the bachelor’s level and above...
...When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the Bay Area earlier this year he declined to say whether Trump’s immigration policies were helping Canada attract skilled workers. Instead, Trudeau pointed to U.S. firms’ investments in Canada, including Salesforce’s $2 billion investment in its business there and a plan by AppDirect, another San Francisco tech company, to add 300 jobs in Canada over the next five years. Google and Facebook have established outposts in Canada, along with Amazon and Microsoft.
A spokeswoman for the Canadian government also declined to address the impact of the current U.S. administration’s policies, saying only that Canada selects permanent residents for their “positive impact” on the country’s economy.
“Immigration will continue to play a crucial role in keeping our country at the forefront of the global economy,” according to the government’s statement. “Thanks to immigration, Canada is in a strong position to face future labor-force challenges arising from our aging population.”...
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/08/h-1b-as-immigration-furor-roils-silicon-v...
H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies
Ethan Baron | UPDATED: October 13, 2018 at 11:36 am
Two weeks: That’s how quickly a foreign technology worker in Silicon Valley can get an employment permit from Canada. In the U.S., that process takes months.
As the administration of President Donald Trump has increased scrutiny of H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and plans to ban their spouses from holding jobs in the U.S., Canada has been moving aggressively to suck top foreign talent out of Silicon Valley and other technology-rich regions of the U.S.
...experts say Canada’s year-old “Global Skills Strategy” program, which offers work permits similar to America’s H-1B visa, is ideally structured to attract highly skilled foreign tech workers to Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver. Though immigrants make up just 20 percent of Canada’s population, they hold about half of the science, technology, engineering and math degrees at the bachelor’s level and above...
...When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the Bay Area earlier this year he declined to say whether Trump’s immigration policies were helping Canada attract skilled workers. Instead, Trudeau pointed to U.S. firms’ investments in Canada, including Salesforce’s $2 billion investment in its business there and a plan by AppDirect, another San Francisco tech company, to add 300 jobs in Canada over the next five years. Google and Facebook have established outposts in Canada, along with Amazon and Microsoft.
A spokeswoman for the Canadian government also declined to address the impact of the current U.S. administration’s policies, saying only that Canada selects permanent residents for their “positive impact” on the country’s economy.
“Immigration will continue to play a crucial role in keeping our country at the forefront of the global economy,” according to the government’s statement. “Thanks to immigration, Canada is in a strong position to face future labor-force challenges arising from our aging population.”...
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/08/h-1b-as-immigration-furor-roils-silicon-v...
130manzikertca
Sounds like a good read.When will irefugee immigration end..The way I see it is that refugees cant live in their own countries as conditions are so bad they elect to live in Western countries.If this is their desire why not make their own countries like Western countries starting with laws,security,economics and anti. corruption measures.I think they already had this ,it was called colonialism.
131margd
Trump says he is considering a new family separation policy at U.S.-Mexico border
Philip Rucker | October 13, 2018
...Trump told reporters, “We’re looking at everything that you could look at when it comes to illegal immigration.”
...“If they feel there will be separation, they won’t come”
...“We have people that are trying to get into our country because of how well our country is doing,” Trump said. “You know, in the old days, when the country wasn’t doing well, it was a lot easier. Now everybody wants to come in, and they come in illegally, and they use children. In many cases, the children aren’t theirs. They grab them, and they want to come in with the children.”
... “You have really bad people coming in and using people. They’re not their children. They don’t even know the children. They haven’t known the children for 20 minutes. And they grab children and they use them to come into our country.”
...One option under consideration, according to (WaPo), is for the government to detain asylum-seeking families together for up to 20 days, then give parents a choice: Stay in family detention with their child for months or years as their immigration case proceeds, or allow children to be taken to a government shelter so other relatives or guardians can seek custody...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-he-is-considering-a-new-famil...
Philip Rucker | October 13, 2018
...Trump told reporters, “We’re looking at everything that you could look at when it comes to illegal immigration.”
...“If they feel there will be separation, they won’t come”
...“We have people that are trying to get into our country because of how well our country is doing,” Trump said. “You know, in the old days, when the country wasn’t doing well, it was a lot easier. Now everybody wants to come in, and they come in illegally, and they use children. In many cases, the children aren’t theirs. They grab them, and they want to come in with the children.”
... “You have really bad people coming in and using people. They’re not their children. They don’t even know the children. They haven’t known the children for 20 minutes. And they grab children and they use them to come into our country.”
...One option under consideration, according to (WaPo), is for the government to detain asylum-seeking families together for up to 20 days, then give parents a choice: Stay in family detention with their child for months or years as their immigration case proceeds, or allow children to be taken to a government shelter so other relatives or guardians can seek custody...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-he-is-considering-a-new-famil...
132John5918
>130 manzikertca: The way I see it is that refugees cant live in their own countries as conditions are so bad they elect to live in Western countries.If this is their desire why not make their own countries like Western countries starting with laws,security,economics and anti. corruption measures
Do you think they are not trying to do this? Many of their family and friends will have been killed, imprisoned, tortured, disenfranchised, "disappeared" and/or marginalised while trying to so. Many who live under repressive and authoritarian regimes see self-exile as the only remaining option, a worst-case decision not taken lightly.
I think they already had this ,it was called colonialism.
I think you are misinformed about colonialism.
Do you think they are not trying to do this? Many of their family and friends will have been killed, imprisoned, tortured, disenfranchised, "disappeared" and/or marginalised while trying to so. Many who live under repressive and authoritarian regimes see self-exile as the only remaining option, a worst-case decision not taken lightly.
I think they already had this ,it was called colonialism.
I think you are misinformed about colonialism.
133John5918
How it's done in one of the poorest countries in the world which has nevertheless welcomed huge numbers of refugees:
Uganda’s refugee policies: The history, the politics, the way forward (International Refugee Rights Initiative)
And how it was done in 1939, in the words of Alf Dubs, a refugee who is now Lord Dubs:
British compassion saved my life. It can save our politics too (Guardian)
Uganda’s refugee policies: The history, the politics, the way forward (International Refugee Rights Initiative)
And how it was done in 1939, in the words of Alf Dubs, a refugee who is now Lord Dubs:
British compassion saved my life. It can save our politics too (Guardian)
The empathy that brought me here on the kindertransport has been lost. But a new cross-party movement hopes to revive it...
Eighty years ago, Britain gave me a lifeline. It was 1939 and the Nazis had invaded Czechoslovakia. I, like hundreds of other children, was bundled on to a train out of Prague with little more than some clothes and a packed lunch my mother had made to keep me from going hungry on the long trip to England. I didn’t understand why this was happening. Nor did I know, as I sat in my train carriage trundling through Europe, that I was not only on a journey to a new country – I was starting a whole new life.
Britain offered me sanctuary and it became my home. Most importantly of all, though I didn’t understand that then, Britain gave me safety, which meant that I could make plans for my future and realise those plans.
Now, when I look at the images of refugees drowning in the Mediterranean, I often think back to that little boy on a train crossing Europe. They too are fleeing death and destruction. They too want nothing more than safety. Like me, they are forced to look beyond their countries’ borders for help.
However, 80 years after the UK helped me, Britain is now denying similar help to other refugee children. There are 3,400 unaccompanied refugee children in Greece. More arrive daily. So far the UK government has taken just 15...
134margd
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump | 5:37 AM - 22 Oct 2018:
Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy. Must change laws!
Alternative NOAA @altNOAA | 1:13 AM - 23 Oct 2018:
The Posse Comitatus Act prevents the U.S. Military (with the exception of the USCG) from conducting law enforcement operations within the United States. What the POTUS is advocating for is unconstitutional (that means "against the law"). There is no military invasion!
Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy. Must change laws!
Alternative NOAA @altNOAA | 1:13 AM - 23 Oct 2018:
The Posse Comitatus Act prevents the U.S. Military (with the exception of the USCG) from conducting law enforcement operations within the United States. What the POTUS is advocating for is unconstitutional (that means "against the law"). There is no military invasion!
135mamzel
Trump's suggestion of reducing aid to those Central American countries seems to me to be counter-productive. If this money could be earmarked for fighting the violence that allegedly drives the citizens out of their country, then maybe they would be more comfortable staying there. Better for them - better for those who hate/fear Hispanic immigrants.
(I don't normally read/listen to Fox News but this was the first source I found of his words.)
I found an interesting government website that shows the amount of aid sent to each country historically.
https://explorer.usaid.gov/cd/HND
Honduras and Guatemala are particularly interesting since it appears that aid has already been drastically cut to those countries. Honduras, for instance has been cut from $175 million in 2017 to $17 million in 2018! It's no wonder Hondurans are running. Also means that his threat of cutting aid is no threat - it's a fait accompli.
"We've got to stop them at the border."
— President Trump
"It's a lot bigger than 5,000 people," Trump said, referring to the caravan, "and we've got to stop them at the border."
"And unfortunately, when you look at the countries, they have not done their job," Trump added. "Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador -- they're paid a lot of money every year, we give them foreign aid -- they did nothing for us. Nothing. So we give them tremendous amounts of money --- hundreds of millions of dollars. They, like a lot of others, do nothing for our country."
-President Trump to reporters outside White House yesterday
(I don't normally read/listen to Fox News but this was the first source I found of his words.)
I found an interesting government website that shows the amount of aid sent to each country historically.
https://explorer.usaid.gov/cd/HND
Honduras and Guatemala are particularly interesting since it appears that aid has already been drastically cut to those countries. Honduras, for instance has been cut from $175 million in 2017 to $17 million in 2018! It's no wonder Hondurans are running. Also means that his threat of cutting aid is no threat - it's a fait accompli.
136John5918
'They want to take me away': immigrants under attack as Trump tries to rally Republican base (Guardian)
Scores of people have been rounded up by emboldened immigration agents – but young Latinos hope to turn the tide at the midterms
Scores of people have been rounded up by emboldened immigration agents – but young Latinos hope to turn the tide at the midterms
137John5918
A small example of how US immigration policy is having other side effects, probably detrimental to the USA if it is deterring academic and other experts from travelling to the USA:
British Scholar Can't Travel Visa-Free Due to Sudan Fieldwork (Inside Higher Ed)
I myself had visited USA regularly usng the ESTA scheme until a couple of years ago, when the rules changed and I found I had to apply for a visa due to my previous visits to Sudan. It's not only the expense of a US visa (USD 160 application fee, plus the actual visa fee, although I was excused the latter because I'm over 60) but the application process is truly tortuous and time-consuming (and expensive in itself as one has to travel to a US Embassy, not necessarily in one's country of residence) and many would question whether it is worth it just to attend one meeting and give a single lecture.
British Scholar Can't Travel Visa-Free Due to Sudan Fieldwork (Inside Higher Ed)
I myself had visited USA regularly usng the ESTA scheme until a couple of years ago, when the rules changed and I found I had to apply for a visa due to my previous visits to Sudan. It's not only the expense of a US visa (USD 160 application fee, plus the actual visa fee, although I was excused the latter because I'm over 60) but the application process is truly tortuous and time-consuming (and expensive in itself as one has to travel to a US Embassy, not necessarily in one's country of residence) and many would question whether it is worth it just to attend one meeting and give a single lecture.
138margd
Geez, Lady Liberty welcomes the huddled masses in NY harbor.
On Mexican border, will we see a bronze statue of an armed US soldier?
One needs process, I know, but what a welcome for innocent people hopeful of legal admission, already traumatized by their EXODUS
(not "caravan" with its less positive connotations) :
National Guard troops begin deploying to border security mission
Luis Martinez | Apr 7, 2018
https://abcnews.go.com/US/national-guard-troops-begin-deploying-border-security-...
________________________________________________________________________________________
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Emma Lazarus
November 2, 1883
On Mexican border, will we see a bronze statue of an armed US soldier?
One needs process, I know, but what a welcome for innocent people hopeful of legal admission, already traumatized by their EXODUS
(not "caravan" with its less positive connotations) :
National Guard troops begin deploying to border security mission
Luis Martinez | Apr 7, 2018
https://abcnews.go.com/US/national-guard-troops-begin-deploying-border-security-...
________________________________________________________________________________________
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Emma Lazarus
November 2, 1883
139John5918
>138 margd: will we see a bronze statue of an armed US soldier?
Can't remember if I've commented before on the militarisation of what are actually social problems, and the trend to treat humanitarian issues as if they are security issues. Add to that the total lack of compassion for the distress of one's fellow human beings (eg >133 John5918:).
Can't remember if I've commented before on the militarisation of what are actually social problems, and the trend to treat humanitarian issues as if they are security issues. Add to that the total lack of compassion for the distress of one's fellow human beings (eg >133 John5918:).
141margd
Us U.S. Accession to the Mexico-UNHCR 'Caravan' Plan a Long-Term Mistake?
Dan Cadman | October 22, 2018
...Mexico...announced that it met with, and will be seeking help from, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Mexico asked the UNHCR for help in screening these migrants to determine which among them have legitimate claims to asylum, and which are simply economic migrants who should be repatriated to their home countries. The United States has indicated its support for this plan.
While it sounds on the surface like a sound proposal, it's worth remembering that, even as our government goes back to first principles in deciding what constitutes a legitimate asylum claim...UHNCR is moving in the opposite direction, developing ever-more-expansive notions about who should be allowed shelter under the refugee/asylee umbrella. Further, they speak about the need for new pathways to accommodate individuals who don't qualify for protection under existing domestic or international laws, describing them as "complementary paths such as humanitarian visas, family reunion, and scholarships could help bridge the gaps in terms of needs."
In other words, UNHCR hopes to shape the agenda of international migration by encouraging resettlement of individuals whether or not they actually fit within the mandate of UNHCR's charter, the international Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and its undergirding treaty history, known as the Travaux Preparatoires. In fact, some of this "new thinking" can be found in the nearly final and comprehensive new Global Compact on Refugees being aggressively pushed by UNHCR.
But why should we care, if all of this is being undertaken in a negotiation between Mexico and UNHCR? Because it will directly affect us.
What has not been broadcast quite so publicly as the daily progress of the caravan, and the tense talks among and between the United States, Mexico, and the involved Central American countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras), is that apparently a part of the "plan" for resolving this caravan crisis via UNHCR decision-making is to distribute those who get a thumbs-up among and between various countries, including the United States.
If this comes to pass, we not only forego our right to interview and make decisions about whether these persons meet our legal definition of refugee or asylee, we are expected to go along with a burden-sharing agreement reminiscent of the kind of migrant quota apportioning that the European Union has tried to impose on its member states. And many of those states rebelled at being obliged to surrender their sovereignty to international bureaucrats who can afford to espouse lofty ideas while not actually having to deal with the social, economic, or security consequences of such apportionment schemes... (margd: not that The Donald would pay attention to such quotas--see NAFTA, Paris Agreement, Nuclear treaty, Iran agreement...)
...It is way past time for our members of Congress and our president to act in substantive, meaningful ways to address the (larger immigration) crisis...
https://cis.org/Cadman/US-Accession-MexicoUNHCR-Caravan-Plan-LongTerm-Mistake
The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization founded in 1985. It is the nation's only think tank devoted exclusively to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the United States. ("low immigration, pro-immigrant")
Dan Cadman | October 22, 2018
...Mexico...announced that it met with, and will be seeking help from, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Mexico asked the UNHCR for help in screening these migrants to determine which among them have legitimate claims to asylum, and which are simply economic migrants who should be repatriated to their home countries. The United States has indicated its support for this plan.
While it sounds on the surface like a sound proposal, it's worth remembering that, even as our government goes back to first principles in deciding what constitutes a legitimate asylum claim...UHNCR is moving in the opposite direction, developing ever-more-expansive notions about who should be allowed shelter under the refugee/asylee umbrella. Further, they speak about the need for new pathways to accommodate individuals who don't qualify for protection under existing domestic or international laws, describing them as "complementary paths such as humanitarian visas, family reunion, and scholarships could help bridge the gaps in terms of needs."
In other words, UNHCR hopes to shape the agenda of international migration by encouraging resettlement of individuals whether or not they actually fit within the mandate of UNHCR's charter, the international Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and its undergirding treaty history, known as the Travaux Preparatoires. In fact, some of this "new thinking" can be found in the nearly final and comprehensive new Global Compact on Refugees being aggressively pushed by UNHCR.
But why should we care, if all of this is being undertaken in a negotiation between Mexico and UNHCR? Because it will directly affect us.
What has not been broadcast quite so publicly as the daily progress of the caravan, and the tense talks among and between the United States, Mexico, and the involved Central American countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras), is that apparently a part of the "plan" for resolving this caravan crisis via UNHCR decision-making is to distribute those who get a thumbs-up among and between various countries, including the United States.
If this comes to pass, we not only forego our right to interview and make decisions about whether these persons meet our legal definition of refugee or asylee, we are expected to go along with a burden-sharing agreement reminiscent of the kind of migrant quota apportioning that the European Union has tried to impose on its member states. And many of those states rebelled at being obliged to surrender their sovereignty to international bureaucrats who can afford to espouse lofty ideas while not actually having to deal with the social, economic, or security consequences of such apportionment schemes... (margd: not that The Donald would pay attention to such quotas--see NAFTA, Paris Agreement, Nuclear treaty, Iran agreement...)
...It is way past time for our members of Congress and our president to act in substantive, meaningful ways to address the (larger immigration) crisis...
https://cis.org/Cadman/US-Accession-MexicoUNHCR-Caravan-Plan-LongTerm-Mistake
The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization founded in 1985. It is the nation's only think tank devoted exclusively to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the United States. ("low immigration, pro-immigrant")
142margd
Wagon train (Wikipedia): ...A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together...In the American West, settlers traveling across the plains and mountain passes in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance. Although wagon trains are associated with the Old West, the Trekboers of South Africa also traveled in caravans of covered wagons. (margd: Central Americans travel by foot and whatever means of transportation presents itself--raft, truck, train...)
Perhaps the most famous wagon train trail was the Oregon Trail which had a span of over 2,000 miles. (margd: similar distance as Central Americans face crossing Mexico to US)...
Although "wagon train" suggests a line of wagons, when terrain permitted, wagons would often fan out and travel abreast to minimize the amount of dust blown onto other wagons. (margd; Central American "caravan" likewise disintegrates and reforms-- a murmuration of sorts...)
Membership in wagon trains was generally fluid and wagons frequently joined or left trains depending on the needs and wishes of their owners (margd: again, similar to Central American's "caravan")...
At night, wagon trains were often formed into a circle or square for shelter from wind or weather, and to corral the emigrants' animals in the center to prevent them from running away or being stolen by Native Americans. While Indians might attempt to raid horses under cover of darkness, they rarely attacked a train. Contrary to popular belief, wagons were seldom circled defensively... (margd: sounds like Central American's "caravan" is meant to provide protection from criminals, as well as shared knowledge on best ways forward. ETA: the US steals children. not horses.)
Perhaps the most famous wagon train trail was the Oregon Trail which had a span of over 2,000 miles. (margd: similar distance as Central Americans face crossing Mexico to US)...
Although "wagon train" suggests a line of wagons, when terrain permitted, wagons would often fan out and travel abreast to minimize the amount of dust blown onto other wagons. (margd; Central American "caravan" likewise disintegrates and reforms-- a murmuration of sorts...)
Membership in wagon trains was generally fluid and wagons frequently joined or left trains depending on the needs and wishes of their owners (margd: again, similar to Central American's "caravan")...
At night, wagon trains were often formed into a circle or square for shelter from wind or weather, and to corral the emigrants' animals in the center to prevent them from running away or being stolen by Native Americans. While Indians might attempt to raid horses under cover of darkness, they rarely attacked a train. Contrary to popular belief, wagons were seldom circled defensively... (margd: sounds like Central American's "caravan" is meant to provide protection from criminals, as well as shared knowledge on best ways forward. ETA: the US steals children. not horses.)
143margd
Fail to protect the climate change, slash aid, villify and block climate refugees--ignorant at best, but if not, evil:
Changing climate forces desperate Guatemalans to migrate
Gena Steffens | October 23, 2018
Drought and shifting weather are making it difficult for many small-scale farmers to feed their families, fueling a human crisis.
Guatemala is consistently listed among the world’s 10 most vulnerable nations to the effects of climate change. Increasingly erratic climate patterns have produced year after year of failed harvests and dwindling work opportunities across the country, forcing more and more people like Méndez López to consider migration in a last-ditch effort to escape skyrocketing levels of food insecurity and poverty.
During the past decade, an average of 24 million people each year were displaced by weather events around the world, and although it's unclear how many of those displacements can be attributed to human-caused climate change, experts expect this number to continue to rise.
Increasingly, those displaced seek to relocate in other countries as “climate change refugees,” but there’s a problem: the 1951 Refugee Convention, which defines the rights of displaced people, provides a list of things people must be fleeing from in order to be granted asylum or refuge. Climate change isn’t on the list.
Data from Customs and Border Patrol show a massive increase in the number of Guatemalan migrants, particularly families and unaccompanied minors, intercepted at the U.S. border starting in 2014. It’s not a coincidence that the leap coincides with the onset of severe El Niño-related drought conditions in Central America’s Dry Corridor, which stretches through Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
Seeking to understand the upward trend in emigration from this region, a major inter-agency study led by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) interviewed families from key districts in the Dry Corridor about the pressures that are forcing them to leave. The main “push factor” identified was not violence, but drought and its consequences: no food, no money, and no work.
Their findings suggest a clear relation between climate variability, food insecurity, and migration, and provide a frightening window into what’s to come as we begin to see the real-world effects of climate change around the world...
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/drought-climate-change-fo...
Changing climate forces desperate Guatemalans to migrate
Gena Steffens | October 23, 2018
Drought and shifting weather are making it difficult for many small-scale farmers to feed their families, fueling a human crisis.
Guatemala is consistently listed among the world’s 10 most vulnerable nations to the effects of climate change. Increasingly erratic climate patterns have produced year after year of failed harvests and dwindling work opportunities across the country, forcing more and more people like Méndez López to consider migration in a last-ditch effort to escape skyrocketing levels of food insecurity and poverty.
During the past decade, an average of 24 million people each year were displaced by weather events around the world, and although it's unclear how many of those displacements can be attributed to human-caused climate change, experts expect this number to continue to rise.
Increasingly, those displaced seek to relocate in other countries as “climate change refugees,” but there’s a problem: the 1951 Refugee Convention, which defines the rights of displaced people, provides a list of things people must be fleeing from in order to be granted asylum or refuge. Climate change isn’t on the list.
Data from Customs and Border Patrol show a massive increase in the number of Guatemalan migrants, particularly families and unaccompanied minors, intercepted at the U.S. border starting in 2014. It’s not a coincidence that the leap coincides with the onset of severe El Niño-related drought conditions in Central America’s Dry Corridor, which stretches through Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
Seeking to understand the upward trend in emigration from this region, a major inter-agency study led by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) interviewed families from key districts in the Dry Corridor about the pressures that are forcing them to leave. The main “push factor” identified was not violence, but drought and its consequences: no food, no money, and no work.
Their findings suggest a clear relation between climate variability, food insecurity, and migration, and provide a frightening window into what’s to come as we begin to see the real-world effects of climate change around the world...
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/drought-climate-change-fo...
1442wonderY
The Vast Majority Of Asylum Applicants From The Last Migrant Caravan Were Allowed Into The United States
More than 90% of the Central Americans who applied for asylum after arriving at the US border in last spring's caravan passed the first step of the application process and were allowed into the country, according to figures from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the government agency that processes such claims.
Of the 401 people the government considered to be part of the caravan, 374, or 93%, passed what's known as a credible fear interview, where immigration officers determine whether an asylum applicant has a well-founded fear that they will be tortured or persecuted in their home country because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
…
Allegra Love, an immigration attorney who helped screen potential asylum-seekers in the Mexican city of Puebla during the last caravan, said the reason the positive credible fear figure was so high was because the people who asked for refuge were fleeing very real violence and death threats back home.
More than 90% of the Central Americans who applied for asylum after arriving at the US border in last spring's caravan passed the first step of the application process and were allowed into the country, according to figures from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the government agency that processes such claims.
Of the 401 people the government considered to be part of the caravan, 374, or 93%, passed what's known as a credible fear interview, where immigration officers determine whether an asylum applicant has a well-founded fear that they will be tortured or persecuted in their home country because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
…
Allegra Love, an immigration attorney who helped screen potential asylum-seekers in the Mexican city of Puebla during the last caravan, said the reason the positive credible fear figure was so high was because the people who asked for refuge were fleeing very real violence and death threats back home.
145margd
Why, I wondered, would any Middle Eastern terrorist worth fearing fly to southern border of Mexico to walk 2,000 miles to the US--in the heat, exposed to attacks, with poor, bedraggled Central Americans??
A caravan of phony claims from the Trump administration
Salvador Rizzo | October 25, 2018
(Four Pinocchios = whoppers)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/25/caravan-phony-claims-trump-ad...
A caravan of phony claims from the Trump administration
Salvador Rizzo | October 25, 2018
(Four Pinocchios = whoppers)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/25/caravan-phony-claims-trump-ad...
146John5918
This Terror Sponsor Just Got Into the U.S. on a Diplomatic Passport (Daily Beast)
Atta brings a résumé with the least appropriate background imaginable for a regime seeking to whitewash a record of corruption, repression, genocide, terrorism, and discrimination...
Atta brings a résumé with the least appropriate background imaginable for a regime seeking to whitewash a record of corruption, repression, genocide, terrorism, and discrimination...
148mamzel
>145 margd: Good question! Too bad some people don't have critical reasoning skills.
150margd
>138 margd: contd. What this 'caravan' needs is better PR--maybe borrow theme song from Exodus (1960)?
Ernest Gold: "Exodus" (1960) - Original Main Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEPZ1ef2g_A
Ernest Gold: "Exodus" (1960) - Original Main Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEPZ1ef2g_A
151margd
Unconstitutional, I think? Must be political stunt for midterms. Certainly an indication of animus against immigrants!
Cruel: kids who grew up here, perhaps stateless, maybe extradited to country of parents' birth where they may not speak the language, know anybody...
(Strange timing to announce such an order: Trump visits Pittsburgh this aft. Refugee-shielding Jews were murdered there last Saturday.
Some told him not to come until he renounced white nationalists.)
Trump wants to end birthright citizenship with an executive order
Adam Edelman | Oct. 30, 2018
"It's in the process. It'll happen with an executive order,” Trump told Axios.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-wants-end-birthright-citizens...
Cruel: kids who grew up here, perhaps stateless, maybe extradited to country of parents' birth where they may not speak the language, know anybody...
(Strange timing to announce such an order: Trump visits Pittsburgh this aft. Refugee-shielding Jews were murdered there last Saturday.
Some told him not to come until he renounced white nationalists.)
Trump wants to end birthright citizenship with an executive order
Adam Edelman | Oct. 30, 2018
"It's in the process. It'll happen with an executive order,” Trump told Axios.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-wants-end-birthright-citizens...
1522wonderY
>151 margd: He'll certainly try to enforce that one selectively, eh?
from a year ago:
Russians Flock to Trump Properties to Give Birth to U.S. Citizens
from a year ago:
Russians Flock to Trump Properties to Give Birth to U.S. Citizens
This topic was continued by Crafting Immigration Policy in America 2.
