Tag: Trump racism

Exclusive: Jared Kushner on MBS, refugees, racism and Trump’s legacy

Discussing the horrific death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in an interview with “Axios on HBO,” White House adviser Jared Kushner was noncommittal on whether Saudi Crown Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) must account for Khashoggi’s body.

Kushner said he’s still waiting for results of a U.S. investigation to assign blame, even though the CIA reportedly determined with a high degree of confidence that MBS ordered the murder, and the U.S. Senate unanimously declared that he was responsible.

Why it matters: Kushner, who shares the president’s view that Saudi Arabia is a crucial partner to counter Iran, has formed a close relationship with MBS and helped promote him as a great reformer. We see here that even eight months after Khashoggi’s death in a Saudi consulate, the White House still refuses to publicly hold the Saudi leader accountable.

View the complete June 2 article by Jonathan Swan on the Axios website here.

New evidence throws census citizenship case into question

New evidence about a Republican strategist’s role in adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census is putting increased pressure on the Supreme Court.

The justices are weighing whether the controversial question should be allowed on the census after opponents filed lawsuits arguing it would lead to an inaccurate population count. The Trump administration has countered that it’s needed to enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

But documents first made public on Thursday appear to undermine the administration’s position. The court filings claim that late GOP redistricting strategist Thomas Hofeller played a substantial role in adding the citizenship question. The court documents also allege that Trump administration officials lied during testimony by not disclosing the strategist’s efforts.

View the complete June 2 article by Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

Over 200 Allegations Of Abuse Of Migrant Children — And One DHS Employee Disciplined

From 2009 to 2014, at least 214 complaints were filed against federal agents for abusing or mistreating migrant children. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s records, only one employee was disciplined as a result of a complaint.

The department’s records, which have alarmed advocates for migrants given the more aggressive approach to the treatment of minors at the border under the current administration, emerged as part of a federal lawsuit seeking the release of the names of the accused agents.

Last month, attorneys for DHS argued before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that disclosing the names of the federal agents would infringe on their right to privacy. A district judge had earlier ordered the department to make the names public.

View the complete June 1 article by A.C. Thompson on the National Memo website here.

Trump says U.S. to impose 5 percent tariff on all Mexican imports beginning June 10 in dramatic escalation of border clash

President Trump on Thursday said he would impose a 5 percent tariff on all goods entering from Mexico unless it stopped the flow of illegal immigration to the United States, a dramatic escalation of his border threats that could have sweeping implications for both economies.

The White House plans to begin levying the import penalties on June 10 and ratchet the penalties higher if the migrant flow isn’t halted. Trump said he would remove the tariffs only if all illegal migration across the border ceased, though other White House officials said they would be looking only for Mexico to take major action.

After the 5 percent tariffs are imposed on June 10, the White House said it would increase the penalties to 10 percent on July 1 and then an additional 5 percent on the first day of each month for three months. The tariffs would stay at 25 percent “until Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory,” a statement by the president said.

View the complete May 30 article by Damian Paletta, Nick Miroff and Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

Hundreds of minors held at U.S. border facilities are there beyond legal time limits

McALLEN, TEXAS — Many of the nearly 2,000 unaccompanied migrant children being held in overcrowded U.S. Border Patrol facilities have been there beyond legally allowed time limits, including some who are 12 or younger, according to new government data obtained by The Washington Post.

Federal law and court orders require that children in Border Patrol custody be transferred to more-hospitable shelters no longer than 72 hours after they are apprehended. But some unaccompanied children are spending longer than a week in Border Patrol stations and processing centers, according to two Customs and Border Protection officials and two other government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unreleased data. One government official said about half of the children in custody — 1,000 — have been with the Border Patrol for longer than 72 hours, and another official said that more than 250 children 12 or younger have been in custody for an average of six days.

Because the crush of migration at the southern border in recent months has overwhelmed U.S. immigration infrastructure, initial incarceration for the tens of thousands of unaccompanied children who have arrived there has averaged four days, the officials said.

View the complete May 30 article by Abigail Hauslohner and Maria Sacchetti on The Washington Post website here.

Rejecting Trump, Americans Show Decline In Racial Prejudice

The Washington Post reported on Friday that a new study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found decreases in racism among white Americans since the 2016 election, and it might be because of Trump.

“It’s quite conceivable that Trump has simultaneously galvanized a small number of highly prejudiced white Americans while also pushing millions more to affirm that they are not as prejudiced,” political scientist Daniel J. Hopkins told the Post.

The study tracked anti-black prejudice over a 12-year period and found what the Post called “an especially marked drop” between November of 2016 and November 2018, the end of Trump’s first year as president. The study also showed prejudice against Hispanic people saw “a similar decline between Trump’s election and the fall of 2018,” specifically driven by Democrats.

View the complete May 24 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

Trump signs memo requiring immigrants’ sponsors to pay back the government for welfare

Trump is using the 1996 welfare reform bill to go after immigrants who use public benefits like SNAP and Medicaid.

President Trump is getting serious about going after immigrants who use public benefits.

In a presidential memorandum issued Thursday, Trump announced he will direct federal agencies to enforce a longstanding rule requiring the sponsors — usually U.S. citizen family members — of immigrants to reimburse the government for any public benefits they use, including Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, and the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

“Financial sponsors who pledge to financially support the sponsored alien in the event the alien applies for or receives public benefits will be expected to fulfill their commitment under law,” Trump said in the memo.

View the complete May 24 article by Rebekah Entralgo on the ThinkProgress website here.

Harriet Tubman $20 Bill Is Delayed Until Trump Leaves Office, Mnuchin Says

WASHINGTON — Harriet Tubman — former slave, abolitionist, “conductor” on the Underground Railroad — will not become the face of the $20 bill until after President Trump leaves office, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday.

Plans to unveil the Tubman bill in 2020, an Obama administration initiative, would be postponed until at least 2026, Mr. Mnuchin said, and the bill itself would not likely be in circulation until 2028.

Until then, bills with former President Andrew Jackson’s face will continue to pour out of A.T.M.s and fill Americans’ wallets.

View the complete May 22 article by Alan Rappeport on The New York Times website here.

Power Up: Trump’s new immigration coordinator has a lot to coordinate

NOT A CZAR BUT: Former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli II finally found his way into the Trump administration: the hard-right firebrand will serve as Trump’s immigration policy coordinator at the Department of Homeland Security, three administration officials told my colleagues Josh Dawsey and Nick Miroff on Tuesday.

The appointment of the hawkish conservative comes on the heels of major upheaval at DHS after Trump ousted Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, replacing her with acting DHS secretary Kevin McAleenan — all while the administration scrambles to contain a record number of Central American families overwhelming U.S. immigration authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border.

  • “Cuccinelli will work at DHS in a senior role and will report to acting DHS secretary Kevin ­McAleenan, while also providing regular briefings to President Trump at the White House, according to two officials briefed on the appointment,” per Josh and Nick.

View the complete May 22 article by Jacqueline Alemany on The Washington Post website here.

Detained, Abused & Denied Medical Care: How Trump Immigration Policies Led to Child Deaths at Border

A 16-year-old Guatemalan boy died in U.S. custody Monday after spending a week in immigration jail. Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez was found dead at a Border Patrol station at Weslaco, Texas, just one day after being diagnosed with the flu. He was not hospitalized. This marks the fifth death of a Guatemalan child apprehended by Border Patrol since December. Before last year, it had been more than a decade since a child died in the custody of U.S. immigration officials. We speak with Fernando Garcia, the founding director of the Border Network for Human Rights, an advocacy organization based in El Paso, and Jennifer Harbury, a longtime human rights lawyer based in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas.

View the May 21 video on the Democracy Now! website here.