June 19, 2018

The Truth about Trump's Zero Tolerance Policy

I'm sorry. I'm too tired and wrung out to format this at all. But it's a very useful thread, with documentation about the TRUTH of what's going on with this border crisis thing.


Thread by @AltNatSecAgency: "So I keep seeing people buying into the administrations bullshit that this is an old “law” that needs to be fixed. First off it is not and n […]" https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1008580714353348609.html

So I keep seeing people buying into the administrations bullshit that this is an old “law” that needs to be fixed. First off it is not and never has been a law:
Trump blames Democrats for own policy separating families
President Donald Trump wrongly blamed Democrats for his own administrator’s immigration policy. "Put pressure on the Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there (s…
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/may/29/donald-trump/trump-blames-democrat-own-policy-separating-family/
Second off @TheJusticeDept announced the policy change referring all improper entry cases to DOJ:
Attorney General Announces Zero-Tolerance Policy for Criminal Illegal Entry
Attorney General Jeff Sessions today notified all U.S. Attorney’s Offices along the Southwest Border of a new “zero-tolerance policy” for offenses under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a), which prohibits both attem…
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-announces-zero-tolerance-policy-criminal-illegal-entry
By the way Improper Entry is a misdemeanor with civil penalties: 8 U.S. Code § 1325 - Improper entry by alien

8 U.S. Code § 1325 - Improper entry by alien
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1325
The @TheJusticeDept itself even argued in a lawsuit brought by the @ACLU the splitting of families is discretionary:

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Here is @KellyannePolls admitting it’s an @realDonaldTrump policy:
Fight intensifies over Trump's family separation policy after Democrats visit detention facilities
Trump has falsely blamed the separations on Democrats. But the separations instead largely stem from a "zero-tolerance" policy announced by AG Jeff Sessions.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-immigration-family-separation-20180617-story.html
.@jeffsessions is trying to use the Bible to defend it:
Opinion | Bible verse Sessions used to defend immigration crackdown once defended slavery
Jeff Sessions cites Romans 13 to justify immigration policies, the same Bible passage once used to defend slavery
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/bible-verse-jeff-sessions-used-defend-immigration-crackdown-once-also-ncna883676
Stephen Miller was behind it:
Trump aide Stephen Miller brags about policy ripping immigrant kids away from parents: 'It was a simple decision'
Controversial White House advisor Stephen Miller bragged about President Donald Trump’s new policy of child separation as a “simple decision” during a West Wing interview with The New York Times. “No…
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/trump-aide-stephen-miller-brags-policy-ripping-immigrant-kids-away-parents-simple-decision/
And possibly the most infuriating of any of the examples I have in this tweer @SecNielsen denies the policy everyone else is talking about and trying to defend even exists, a bold faced lie:

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Children are put in cages and traumatized:
Hundreds of children wait in Border Patrol facility in Texas
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Inside an old warehouse in South Texas, hundreds of children wait in a series of cages created by metal fencing. One cage had 20 children inside. Scattered a
https://www.apnews.com/9794de32d39d4c6f89fbefaea3780769
Children are attempting suicide because of this policy:
'Prison-like' migrant youth shelter is understaffed, unequipped for Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy, insider says
A rare inside look inside the Southwest Key shelters where migrant children are sent after they're separated from their parents at the border under Trump's new "zero tolerance" policy.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-border-migrant-shelter-20180614-story.html
Children are being psychologically tortured by this policy:
Doctors Concerned About 'Irreparable Harm' To Separated Migrant Children
One pediatrician says the staff at a shelter facility told her that federal regulations prevented them from touching or holding a crying child to soothe her. The shelter says there's no such rule.
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/15/620254326/doctors-warn-about-dangers-of-child-separations
This is an @realDonaldTrump @jeffsessions policy and theirs alone. The @GOP is complicit and refuses to do a god damn thing. Trump tries to blame the @TheDemocrats and say it’s on them to fix, it isn’t. It’s on him and the @GOP as they hold the majority.
The only reason he’s doing this is he’s using the torture of children to blackmail the Democrats into giving him $ for the wall. This is what Nazis started with. This is a crime against humanity. This is the @realDonaldTrump administration in action.
Adding the @DHSgov site itself to this thread:
Frequently Asked Questions: Zero Tolerance Immigration Prosecutions
The Attorney General directed United States Attorneys on the Southwest Border to prosecute all amenable adults who illegally enter the country, including those accompanied by their children, for 8 U.…
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2018/06/15/frequently-asked-questions-zero-tolerance-immigration-prosecutions

Here’s the policy fact sheet:
Fact Sheet: Zero Tolerance Immigration Prosecutions - Families
The Attorney General directed United States Attorneys on the Southwest Border to prosecute all amenable adults who illegally enter the country, including those accompanied by their children, for 8 U.…
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2018/06/15/fact-sheet-zero-tolerance-immigration-prosecutions-families

And here is the PDF explaining their children have been taken and how to contact them:
Next Steps for Families
Information provided to families who are in the custody of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for the crime of illegal entry into the United States.
https://www.dhs.gov/publication/next-steps-families

Actual US Gov footage of the cages:

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Also this is bullshit, it deals with unaccompanied minors not families

They missed the Flores Agreement too: “The government is required to release children from immigration detention without unnecessary delay to, in order of preference, parents, other adult relatives, or licensed programs willing to accept custody.”
The Flores Settlement: A Brief History and Next Steps
A Brief History and Next Steps The Ninth Circuit is currently considering an appeal by the U.S. government of the 2015 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that th…
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/flores-settlement-brief-history-and-next-steps
Meaning they should be released to parents

June 18, 2018

HHS's Cruel Games against Asylum seekers makes them break the law

This is unconscionable. It's the equivalent of -- oh, what's the word. When the cops push protesters into a certain closed-in area so they can't escape? These poor people are being set up -- prevented from seeking asylum at the proper places and made to suffer to boot while waiting, then treated like criminals when they try to cross at the INappropriate places. They U.S. makes them break the law by preventing them from following the proper procedures.


- Chris Van Hollen @ChrisVanHollen
At the Hidalgo Bridge. A few weeks ago, the Trump Administration essentially stopped families seeking asylum from crossing at this legal point of entry. Left people stranded for days without food and water. So many then crossed the river, were arrested and had children taken.


https://twitter.com/ChrisVanHollen/status/1008476564688900101

June 15, 2018

Cambridge Analytica just won't die -- working w/Trump 2020 campaign

Report: Trump Reelection Campaign Working With Former Cambridge Analytica Staffers

https://www.thedailybeast.com/report-trump-reelection-campaign-working-with-former-cambridge-analytica-staffers

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has been working with a company run by former Cambridge Analytica staff members, according to an Associated Press report. Cambridge Analytica shut down last month after it was accused of harvesting the personal data of up to 87 million Facebook users. At least four former Cambridge Analytica employees, including the company’s former head of product and chief data scientist, are now associated with Data Propria, a consulting firm similar to Cambridge Analytica. Data Propria leader and former Cambridge Analytica head of product Matt Oczkowski insisted his new company is not involved with Trump’s 2020 campaign, but is doing work on the 2018 elections for the Republican National Committee.

June 12, 2018

Ominous prediction from Steve Schmidt

https://twitter.com/SteveSchmidtSES/status/1006079446368030720

June 8, 2018

Avenatti's spectacular public relations win

I've been fascinated by Avenatti -- alternately dazzled by his competence and then, in turn, fearful he's about to stop just a little too far.

But one thing he's done with aplomb, and finesse, that I believe will have a lasting effect on women's rights and equality. He has mainstreamed Stormy Daniels' and her profession as one that deserves every bit the same respect as any other "career."

I've watched him from early on treat her with respect, and then demand others treat her with respect as well. We've seen him stare down her detractors, and win.

Had either Daniels or Avenatti themselves shown any less apparent integrity and credibility it would never have worked. But they have been up to the task, so it's worked tremendously well.

I can't imagine what feminists would have had to do to get even half the respectability for this woman and her profession that Avenatti has.

June 3, 2018

What?? 4 Mile Long eruption of Liquid Sand + stored CO2 @ Fracking opn in CO

I just happened on this guy a day or two ago as I continued to watch Kilauea videos. He tracks earthquakes and such and from the 2 videos I've watched so far, it sounds like he thinks something big is in the works. Well, this video says a plate is shifting (somewhat dramatically).

In any case, I certainly like his anti-fracking stance and while I'm not VOUCHING for him until I know more about him, I do think this is verrrrry interesting and I'll try to find the earlier video I watched the other day as well --


5/31/2014 -- 4 Mile Long eruption of Liquid Sand + stored CO2 @ Fracking operation in Colorado

This isn't it, but it's interesting. I'll say one thing, if I lived in California, I'd definitely be staying up to date with the guy.

6/02/2018 -- Multiple M5.0+ earthquakes strike across whole Pacific -- Hawaii update -- Be prepared

June 1, 2018

I'm a single issue voter --

Borrowed from Twitter:

June 1, 2018

The C Word. And the B word.

But first let's talk about racism and Trump. I started this thread to do a little research:

I have to admit I've been a little surprised by the answers but I suspect a lot of people just ignored my thread entirely (it got only 1 recommendation), and one person questioned my education level, ever so politely:


In truth, I don't know that there's any MORE racism today than a few years ago, but I know that it's certainly more overt, and that most people -- both here at DU and analysts, activists and pundits on cable -- fully credit Trump as the main cause of the degeneration.

How does he do that? By his words and actions (or lack thereof). He SAYS things that are racist or express his own racism in equally clear but less overt ways -- lack of compassion, for example or the refusal to denounce or even comment on others' racist acts and words. He creates policies that disadvantage PoC: allows thousands to die in Puerto Rico, separates children from parents at the border, and so forth.

All these things embolden racists to feel free to overtly express their own racism.

It only makes sense: A person in a position of power expressing overt racism with impunity is going to encourage a lot of people to feel free do the same.

And let's be clear. Surely we all know that racism involves a lot more than hurtful words. It ultimately kills. It kills directly (see Black Lives Matter), and it kills indirectly with harmful or neglectful legislation and policy, and not just at the governmental level but also places like medicine, schools, police departments, etc.

---------------------------------

Okay, so what's all this got to do with the C word? And the B word?

It's the same thing.

The words themselves are misogynist, and you can never separate the words from that reality, that context (tho I've seen people try with all their might, right here at DU).

Their use, therefore, validates, entrenches and promotes sexism and misogyny. I would say their use IS an act of overt misogyny.

When women use the word about other women? They may not mean harm, the target women may not feel harm, but that doesn't erase the harm, it just camouflages it.

Some women don't mind these words (either or both). Doesn't change or erase the harm.

Frankly, you can't tell me that when Samantha Bee used it (whether it was her word or one of her writers), that there wasn't a smidgen of woman-hating against Ivanka involved. We women are not immune from having internalized some of our culture's misogyny. I've been there myself: SO angry at some woman that I wanted to scream gender slurs at her.

So if you really consider yourself a progressive, or a liberal, or just an equality-loving centrist Democrat, lose the misogynist language and defense of it, eh?

ALL sexism, ALL racism, ALL homophobia, ALL classism, ALL ableism, ALL ageism kills. All of it. Let's not do it.

June 1, 2018

AT LAST. Some action on the Emoluments Clause

This has chapped my hide about Trump since before he was inaugurated. Senator Bluementhal to the rescue --

UNROLLED: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1002380514685140992.html

One week out from oral arguments in our case to compel the President to obey the Constitution of the United States. We’re seeking to hold President Trump accountable for violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause – the Constitution’s preeminent anti-corruption provision.

President Trump has repeatedly&flagrantly violated the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause. He has thumbed his nose at its plain text, and in doing so, thumbed his nose at the American people as well.

What is the Foreign Emoluments Clause? Before the President receives any gifts, payments, or benefits from foreign governments he must first receive the consent of Congress. Pretty simple, right? Not for this President.

Thanks to the work of investigative journalists, we already know that President Trump has benefited from foreign governments granting him&his businesses trademarks&overseas governments paying rent to Trump properties. What don’t we know?

President Trump calls his business dealings with foreign governments “little conflicts of interest.” But they have big implications for American policy&Americans’ trust in their government.
Mr. President, we’ll see you in court.


TWITTER THREAD: https://twitter.com/SenBlumenthal/status/1002380522683879426

June 1, 2018

Is the U.S. really experiencing more racist and bigoted incidents?

More verbal attacks, more threats, more actual physical attacks?

If so, what's the cause? Any idea?

ETA: Charles Blow NYT Op: Trump is a walking, talking permission slip for the white supremacist. https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210682219