Tag: Trump racism

Trump Ordered DHS Officials To Break Asylum Law

Trump told several officials to break federal law as part of an attempt to block immigrants from entering the United States.

CNN reports that first, Trump tried to order the port of El Paso closed, but officials objected and pointed out it would be dangerous and economically devastating to states like Texas. The network reports that chief of staff Mick Mulvaney talked Trump out of it.

So, he decided to try and break the law.

View the complete April 8 article by Cody Fenwick with AlterNet on the National Memo website here.

Stephen Miller’s influence rising amid changes at DHS

Stephen Miller’s power in the White House is on the rise with the departure of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, giving the influential immigration adviser a stronger hand in reshaping President Trump’s border security team.

The senior White House staffer’s name has been linked to recent upheaval in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the president seeks more like-minded allies in enforcing immigration law and curbing the flow of migrants into the country. Over the past four days, Trump has withdrawn his nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced Nielsen’s resignation and ousted the head of the Secret Service.

Opponents of increased immigration hailed Nielsen’s departure and a shift in strategy as a step in the right direction. They cited Miller, a former Senate staffer to then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), as a positive presence in pushing Trump’s immigration agenda.

View the complete April 9 article by Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

GOP fears Trump return to family separations

President Trump will be picking a new fight with Senate Republicans if he decides to renew his past policy of separating families detained at the border as a way of stopping the wave of immigrants.

Trump is expected to select a hard-liner to replace Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who was ousted on Sunday — reportedly after she resisted returning to the policies that led to children being taken from their parents at the border.

The family separations created deep unrest among congressional Republicans ahead of the midterm elections, and Senate GOP sources warn that if Trump taps a hard-liner to replace Nielsen, it could lead to a brutal confirmation battle.

View the complete April 8 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Judge halts Trump policy requiring asylum seekers stay in Mexico

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Monday to stop the Trump administration’s policy of having some asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their case is under consideration.

District Judge Richard Seeborg wrote in his ruling that while it’s unclear how much risk asylum seekers are facing under the policy, “there is no real question that it includes the possibility of irreparable injury.”

The ruling will go into effect on Friday.

View the complete April 8 article by Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

Trump administration nearly doubles H-2B guest visa program, which brings many Mexican workers

As President Trump threatened to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border in recent days, his Department of Homeland Security nearly doubled the number of temporary guest worker visas available this summer.

The Homeland Security and Labor departments plan to grant an additional 30,000 H-2B visas this summer on top of the 33,000 they had already planned to give out, the agencies confirmed.

The H-2B visa allows foreign workers to come to the United States legally and work for several months at companies such as landscapers, amusement parks or hotels. About 80 percent of these visas went to people from Mexico and Central America last year, government data shows.

View the complete April 6 article by Heather Long on The Washington Post website here.

‘Our country is full’: Trump says migrants straining system

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Declaring “our country is full,” President Donald Trump on Friday insisted the U.S. immigration system was overburdened and illegal crossings must be stopped as he inspected a refurbished section of fencing at the Mexican border.

Trump, making a renewed push for border security as a central campaign issue for his 2020 re-election, participated in a briefing on immigration and border security in Calexico before viewing a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) see-through steel-slat barrier that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier — and not new wall.

“There is indeed an emergency on our southern border,” Trump said at the briefing, adding that there has been a sharp uptick in illegal crossings. “It’s a colossal surge and it’s overwhelming our immigration system, and we can’t let that happen. … We can’t take you anymore. We can’t take you. Our country is full.”

View the complete April 6 article by Zeke Miller and Jonathan LeMire on the Associated Press website here.

House sues Trump administration over border wall

The House sued members of President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday over his emergency declaration to force funding for a border wall.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., asserts Trump’s emergency acts in direct disregard of Congress’ will and disputes the president’s ability to access certain funds for the wall simply by declaring an emergency. It names Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and the departments they oversee. It does not name Trump as a defendant.

“The House has been injured, and will continue to be injured, by defendants’ unconstitutional actions, which usurp the House’s appropriations authority and mean that the relevant funds are no longer available to be spent on the purposes for which they were appropriated,” the complaint says.

View the complete April 5 article by Matthew Choi on the Politico website here.

At Southern Border, Trump Delivers Another Angry Anti-Immigrant Rant

Trump’s attacks on Central American migrants fleeing violence in their countries continued on Friday, when he falsely claimed that the United States is full and can no longer accept immigrants.

“The system is full. We can’t take you anymore,” Trump said. “Whether it’s asylum. Whether it’s anything you want. It’s illegal immigration. Can’t take you anymore. We can’t take you. Our country is full. Our area is full. Our sector is full. We can’t take you anymore, I’m sorry. So turn around. That’s the way it is.”

Trump made the remarks during a roundtable with Border Patrol officials in an area of California located on the U.S.-Mexico border.

View the complete April 5 article by Emily Singer on the National Memo website here.

Trump gives Mexico ‘one-year’ warning for auto tariffs, border shutdown

President Trump on Thursday retreated further from his threat to immediately close the southern border, instead saying he would give Mexico a year before taking drastic measures to address drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

Speaking to reporters in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Trump said he would slap auto tariffs on Mexico if the government has not done enough to address the problems during that time before closing the border.

“You know I will do it,” Trump said. “I don’t play games.”

View the complete April 4 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

Trump hits out at ‘crazed and incompetent’ Puerto Rican leaders after disaster bill fails

President Trump on March 28 defended his administration’s assistance to Puerto Rico, saying he has taken care of the island more than “any man ever.” (Reuters)

Hours after the Senate voted down a disaster relief package that Democrats argued didn’t include enough money to help storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, President Trump took to Twitter on Monday night to lash out at the opposition party and the island’s leaders.

Trump, who has reportedly said in private that he doesn’t want “another single dollar” going to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, again complained about funding for the island and called San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, a frequent critic, “crazed and incompetent.”

“The Democrats today killed a Bill that would have provided great relief to Farmers and yet more money to Puerto Rico despite the fact that Puerto Rico has already been scheduled to receive more hurricane relief funding than any ‘place’ in history,” Trump tweeted around 11 p.m. “The people of Puerto Rico are GREAT, but the politicians are incompetent or corrupt.”

View the complete March 2 article by Tim Elfrink on The Washington Post website here.