immigrants? illegal invaders? athletes?
Speaking of Republicans worried about immigrants or even people who may not look like them, we have this:
Tag: immigration
Republican lies about immigration
There are problems with our immigration system but Republicans do not want to fix them. Republicans seem to want this as a campaign issue. They will continue to tell lies and attack immigrants whether is seems reasonable or not,
The latest example is blaming the Baltimore bridge disaster on immigration and diversity
Speaker Mike Johnson and the failure to govern
House Speaker Mike Johnson tied aid to Ukraine to immigration reform. On his visit to the border, he repeated his demand Now a bipartisan agreement has been reached in the Senate on Immigration reform has been reached and President Biden is agreeable. All depends on Mike Johnson and his majority in the House.
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Republican Senators are blocking aid to Ukraine.
This may be the intent of some who don’t think we should be supporting Ukraine. But others are just holding the aid hostage to try to get what they want in immigration policy. This latter group want to hold up aid which is needed to stop Putin’s expansion into Ukraine (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67649497).
I think this is a big mistake. The aid is needed now to resist the invasion. Perhaps more so, since European Union is aid is being blocked by Victor Orban (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67724357).
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Stop the torture – Lights for Liberty
For those who do not approve to President Trump’s Concentration Camps and torturing children, there is a protest on Friday July 12th, 2019. It is called Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Concentration Camps.
As far as I know, the pro-Concentration Camp rally has yet to be organised.
Why is President Trump torturing children?
Is the real purpose of this torture to get us to ignore the Mueller report, various investigations or maybe something else while we are being outraged by his latest actions?
Is torture too strong a word? I don’t think so. Being separated from family and being held in prison is very bad for children. The administration does not call them prisons. They are federal detention centers. They try to use words that minimize the harm they are doing.
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Toothbrush Memo to Justice Department
Seems a bit odd to be writing a “Toothbrush Memo to Justice Department“. But it seems it is needed now since the judges seem to think that toothbrushes and other items are needed for the safe and sanitary conditions required to by children separated from their parents by the Trump administration (see Mistreat children in custody (not safe and sanitary)). The Justice Department lawyers working on the case may need a bit of help from a concerned citizen.
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Mistreat children in custody (not safe and sanitary)
A few days ago the Trump administration argued in court that they do not mistreat children after they are separated from their family at the border and they had not violated the safe and sanitary conditions required for minors in custody. A previous court decision had found that the conditions under which children were held was in violation of the required standards.
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Trump gives GOP members of Congress a second chance
President Trump today gave the GOP members of Congress a second chance to oppose his power grab disguised as a national emergency.
His veto of congressional resolution to rescinded his national emergency declaration at the Mexican border gives those GOP members who did not vote for this resolution (and only a minority did) a chance to vote to override President Trump’s veto and show they have some respect for the Constitution and sepatation of powers.
It is not often that you get a second chance. Make the most of it.
Defending the indefensible
After the Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen spent a bit of time yesterday attempting to defend the indefensible, I think she lost the chance to resign and preserve her reputation as a decent person.
If she had announced a resignation at that time, she might have preserved what reputation is left.
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Torturing children
President Trump and his administration have hit a new low. Is “torturing children” too much here? He is causing children to be taken from their families. In some cases, babies and toddlers ripped from their mother’s arms.
But there is a bit of confusion about why this is being done. Is it a deterrent? Is the the fault of the law and the courts? Is it Congress’ fault? Are the Democrats to blame? Is it a bargaining chip so President Trump can get what he wants in an immigration bill ?
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Is the immigration ban still important?
About 2 weeks ago I wrote about President Donald Trump’s immigration ban wondering why if it was so important that he might get to it next week. If it is so important, why the delay?
At that time the the parts of the ban had been blocked by judges in specific areas followed by a nation-wide ban.
When the acting attorney general told him the immigration ban was unconstitutional, President Trump did not fix it. He fired the acting attorney general.
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Immigration : why can’t we get it right?
I’ve read at least 2 articles in the past few days on failures in our immigration system. Our immigration system does not work well. We seem unable to let people in in a timely manner and we ocassionally deport people people who should not be deported. Why can’t we get it right?
Trudy Rubin, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote about our failure to let in Iraqi’s who helped the US and now face death because our system has failed them :
Shame on U.S.: Iraqi allies betrayed
President Obama is failing these folks. Would any of the candidates do better? They are quick to jump on other perceived failures but I’ve heard no mention of this or a suggestion that any of them would do better.
Then I read an interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor today: Deported teen returns to US. How many Americans are mistakenly banished?
This case certainly has aspects would make me assign partial blame to both the authorities and the teen (and family) but the larger question concerns safeguards against deporting U.S. citizens.
They Are Us: A Plea for Common Sense About Immigration by Pete Hamill (Kindle Single)
This was my first try at a Kindle Single. When I got the email from Amazon, I thought it was an interesting idea – short pieces of writing where the author is free to determine the length needed to present the idea without the constraints of size imposed by a newspaper or magazine.
So I downloaded They Are Us: A Plea for Common Sense About Immigration by Pete Hamill. There has been a lot of talk about immigration and specifically illegal immigrants so I thought I would like to read his thoughts on the subject. His thoughts seemed especially relevant as New York has been the center for American immigrants for long time is he is a well- known New York journalist and writer. (I’ve seen him called the quintessential New Yorker in many places.) I had been hoping for a book length treatment of this but that project was cancelled and this shorter version was available. I had enjoyed a number of his books and articles before and thought it well worth the 99 cent price even though this single seemed very short. It was about 25 pages in the size font I like. I do hope that longer version eventually does come out.
This is really a personal view based on the author’s experience. (The author tells the reader that this is his view not an objective analysis). And it is a well written account of those views and how and why he came to them.
Too often in in our endless discussions on illegal immigrants and possible solutions we focus on the illegal part. People need to be punished for breaking our laws. Let’s deport all of them. But that ignores the children. They did nothing wrong. Some were born here. Other travelled with their parents. (Does a child really have many other choices?) How do we deal with that? Do we have some empathy or even compassion ? It is good to see this side of the debate passionately presented.
Great Book on Ellis Island
I’m reading American Passage: The History of Ellis Island by Vincent J. Cannato. I am enjoying it. I guess I’m about half-way through. There is extensive discussion of the debates about admitting or excluding certain immigrants, changes in immigration law (and the degree of enforcement), and government officials at several levels.
In some cases these are illustrated by discussion of certain cases. For example, in 1912 Chaie Kaganowtiz (a Russian Jewish widow) and her 9 children were almost excluded. But given that milllions of our ancestors came though Ellis Island over about 3 decades, only a very small percentage can be mentioned in any book. By the way, a chapter is devoted to Castle Garden, the previous immigration station in New York.
I’m reading slowly and enjoying while I learn. I’d highly recommend this book to anyone with a interest in Ellis Island, genealogy, or immigration issues.