ICE arrests more than 100 workers in raid on Ohio meat supplier

Source: CNN

(CNN)Federal immigration officials on Tuesday raided a large meat supplier based in Massillon, Ohio, and arrested more than 100 workers suspected of using stolen or fraudulent identification to gain employment.

As many as 100 agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Customs and Border Protection and the US Border Patrol descended upon four facilities operated by Fresh Mark during the late afternoon raid. Authorities said they made 146 arrests during the raid, which ICE said makes it the largest worksite raid nationally in at least a decade.

The raid -- which was conducted with no prior notice to the business -- was the largest workplace enforcement action to take place under the Trump Administration, said Steve Francis, special agent in charge of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit, which oversees Michigan and Ohio.

Officials arrived with criminal and federal search warrants to collect documents on more than 200 employees. The warrants were served at Fresh Mark's facilities in Salem, Massillon and Canton, Ohio.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/19/us/ice-raid-meat-supplier-fresh-mark/index.html

Trump Changes Tune: Praises Nielsen For 'Fabulous Job' At Press Conference

Source: TPM

In a rare move, President Donald Trump praised his secretary of homeland security Tuesday, saying that she did a “fabulous job” at a Monday press conference about the administration’s policy of separating families at the border.

Homeland Security @SecNielsen did a fabulous job yesterday at the press conference explaining security at the border and for our country, while at the same time recommending changes to obsolete & nasty laws, which force family separation. We want “heart” and security in America!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 20, 2018

Recent reports have catalogued Trump’s rage with Nielsen, who he considers to be too soft on immigration, a feckless Bush administration holdover. He has been unhappy with her nearly since the beginning of her tenure when he flagellated her at a Cabinet meeting in an episode some attendees called “the most uncomfortable scene they have witnessed in their professional lives.”

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-praises-nielsen-for-fabulous-job-at-press-conference

EU to impose duties on U.S. imports Friday after Trump tariffs

Source: Reuters

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will begin charging import duties of 25 percent on a range of U.S. products on Friday, in response to U.S tariffs imposed on EU steel and aluminum early this month, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

The move confirms a tit-for-tat dispute that could escalate into a full trade war, particularly if U.S. President Donald Trump carries out his threat to penalize European cars.

The Commission formally adopted a law putting in place the duties on 2.8 billion euros ($3.2 billion) worth of U.S. goods, including steel and aluminum products, farm produce such as sweetcorn and peanuts, bourbon, jeans and motor-bikes.

“We do not want to be in this position,” EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement, adding that the “unilateral and unjustified” U.S. decision had left the EU with no choice.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-eu/eu-to-impose-duties-on-u-s-imports-friday-after-trump-tariffs-idUSKBN1JG1AY?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=twitter

Parents, fans brawl during youth softball tournament

Meghan McCain calls out Ivanka Trump for silence on family separation policy

Source: The Hill

Meghan McCain criticized Ivanka Trump on Tuesday for not speaking out against the Trump administration's controversial “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.

“Where is Ivanka in all of this? Because she is all for women and mothers, and she has a White House role, and a job,” McCain said on ABC's "The View," referring to Trump's position as a senior White House adviser.

“And I’m sort of interested that her whole platform has been women and mothers and she doesn’t seem to have anything to say about this,” McCain added.

Her remarks come a day after her father, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), called on the Trump administration to rescind the border policy, saying the separation of families is "an affront to the decency of the American people." The policy, which is supported by President Donald Trump, has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, particularly as more details emerge about conditions inside the immigrant detention centers.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/393030-meghan-mccain-calls-out-ivanka-trump-for-silence-on-family

Russians and the American right started plotting in 1995. We have the notes from the first meeting.

New Report Reveals Just How Difficult Life Can Be for Texas' Latina Domestic Workers

“I know so many workers who are still working for $20 a day and getting taken advantage of.”

Life for Latina domestic workers in the Texas border region can be incredibly bleak. Many face severe economic hardships, often struggling to pay rent and cover basic needs, according to a new report released Tuesday—one of the first to provide a window into the lives of these women, many of whom face heightened instability under President Trump.

The report, published Tuesday by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, aims to “bring to life conditions of a sector that’s integral to the economy, but is overlooked and in the shadows,” says Linda Burnham, a senior advisor at the organization and one of the report authors. More than 200,000 domestic workers live in Texas, and it has roughly the third highest number of domestic workers in the country, after California and New York. The organization collaborated with three local groups focused on workers’ rights to survey 516 domestic workers along the Texas-Mexico border during the summer of 2016. Most of the surveyors were domestic workers themselves, who collected the data through interviews with house cleaners, nannies, elder care workers, and those who provide support for people with disabilities. The majority of the participants were women; 51 percent were undocumented or didn’t have work authorization.

One of the report’s biggest findings is that a significant portion of domestic workers in the region face economic uncertainty; more than 40 percent of them struggled to pay their rent at some point in the last year, while 37 percent reported going hungry—more than double the rate of food insecurity in Texas as a whole. More than half of the workers said they were unable to pay for medical care for someone in their household. Abuse was not infrequent: About 27 percent of the workers said they had been yelled at on the job, while 12 percent said they had been pushed or physically hurt by their employer. A small number said they had been touched in a sexualized way.

Making matters worse, workplace protections were few and far between. Only a third of domestic workers have written contracts, making them far more likely to suffer wage theft and abuse, or to be forced to work longer hours than scheduled, according to the report. For instance, an overwhelming 97 percent of house cleaners did not have a contract.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/06/new-report-reveals-just-how-difficult-life-can-be-for-texas-latina-domestic-workers/

Tim Kaine: The real Trump Hotel.

"I tweeted this almost three weeks ago. It's an exclusive document I obtained. It might make more...

Aura Bogado
?Verified account @aurabogado

NEW: The DOJ is mandating *all* immigration court staff (not just judges) make themselves available for six weeks to travel to remote courts, including on the weekends, between July and January to deal what it calls “mass migration emergencies” and “enforcement initiatives.”


7:00 PM - 31 May 2018

Ivanka's deafening silence