The ruling, which the administration will almost certainly appeal, is a blow to Republican efforts to rein in public-sector labor unions.
Tag: Trump administration
👓 Wife of former Marine to be deported to Mexico Friday, after 20 years in U.S. | CBS
Alejandra Juarez has lived in the U.S. for 20 years and has two daughters who are American citizens
👓 Michiko Kakutani on Her Essential New Book 'The Death of Truth' | Rolling Stone
With a series of brilliant essays, the legendary book critic has crafted the first great piece of literature on the Trump administration
👓 U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials | New York Times
Trade sanctions. Withdrawal of military aid. The Trump administration used both to try to block a measure that was considered uncontroversial and embraced by countries around the world.
You know what I want for my birthday? Stupidity like that described in this article not to exist.
Nestle gave a half-assed response here. They can do far better. Now that their US headquarters has left Glendale, California for Virginia, I suspect their political stance will actually get worse on these issues.
A 2016 Lancet study found that universal breast-feeding would prevent 800,000 child deaths a year across the globe and yield $300 billion in savings from reduced health care costs and improved economic outcomes for those reared on breast milk. ❧
Pure corruption here. Protectionism to prop up profits of approximately 630 million versus major benefits and savings of 300 billion. Even if you look at the calculus of the entire industry of 70 billion it becomes a no brainer.
👓 On July 4th Eve, Jeff Sessions Quietly Rescinds a Bunch of Protections for Minorities | Law and Crime
On July 3, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the DOJ was “rescinding 24 guidance documents that were unnecessary, outdated, inconsistent with existing law, or otherwise improper.” Curiously enough, each point of guidance, document or tool rescinded by Sessions — in line with recommendations from Regulatory Reform Task Forces established by President Donald Trump — was initially drafted to offer basic legal and political understanding to various and distinct minority groups, broadly defined, throughout the United States.
👓 Court rules children facing deportation have no right to court-appointed lawyer | The Hill
Immigrant children who enter the country illegally with their parents have no right to a government-appointed lawyer in court, an appeals court ruled Monday
🎧 ‘The Daily’: Father and Son, Forced Apart at the Border | New York Times
A 5-year-old boy named José and his father fled the violence in Honduras and headed to the United States. They were separated at the border. What has happened to them in the weeks since?
On today’s episode:
• Miriam Jordan, who covers immigration for The New York Times.
Background reading:
• Many children who have been taken from their parents as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy end up in shelters or foster homes.
• Federal criminal prosecutions of migrants have skyrocketed, and the volume of cases has prompted rapid-fire hearings in which multiple defendants — in one instance, 40 people — are brought into the courtroom at once.• Republicans in the House and the Senate voiced their intention to halt the practice of separating families at the border — but clashed over how to proceed.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: How Separating Migrant Families Became U.S. Policy | New York Times
President Trump has blamed Democrats for his administration’s practice of taking children from their parents at the border. Why is one of his top aides, Stephen Miller, claiming credit?
On June 7, Julie Hirschfeld Davis and I interviewed Stephen Miller, President Trump’s senior policy adviser, in his West Wing office about the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy at the border, which has led to heartbreaking images of children being forcibly separated from their families. Here are some key points from that interview.
1. The zero-tolerance policy grew out of a desire to end what Mr. Miller calls “crippling loopholes” that attract illegal immigrants into the United States.
From where Mr. Miller sits, illegal immigration is driven by a belief among people outside the United States that those who make it across the border will be allowed to stay indefinitely. “The success rate is the predominant factor that drives illegal migration,” he told us. By instituting a zero-tolerance policy, Mr. Miller said, the administration is sending a message that should reduce the flow of illegal immigration into the country. He conceded that the policy has not reduced the immigration numbers, but said, “It’ll take a few months of sustained effort.”
2. Anything less than zero tolerance at the border creates what Mr. Miller calls “perverse” incentives for lawbreakers.
Mr. Miller used the example of speeding laws in the United States. Imagine, he said, if the police decided that speeding laws didn’t apply to people who have a child in the back seat. “Could you imagine what the consequences of that would be? Well, one thing, a lot more child endangerment,” he said, comparing the situation to the lack of enforcement of illegal border crossings under prior administrations.
3. Continuing policies in place during the Obama administration would cause what Mr. Miller called a “vicious cycle” that would increase illegal immigration.
Mr. Miller said a “giant hemispheric shift in migration patterns” was driving people toward the United States, which he said must respond with tighter borders. He said Obama-era policies would allow the number of immigrants to “spiral upward endlessly.” Using a favorite phrase, Mr. Miller said: “So you have to turn the ship. And so again, it’s a whole-of-government approach.”
4. Zero tolerance at the border will keep out dangerous illegal immigrants who would otherwise “grievously harm innocent Americans,” Mr. Miller said.
Reading from a list of arrests in Philadelphia in May 2017, Mr. Miller recounted the crimes committed by illegal immigrants: murder, child neglect, negligent manslaughter, car theft, prostitution, racketeering, rape. “It is impossible to take moral lectures from people like the mayor of Philadelphia, who dance in jubilant celebration over ‘sanctuary cities,’ when you had innocent Americans, U.S.-born and foreign, who are victimized on a daily basis because of illegal immigration,” Mr. Miller said.
5. Trump administration officials believe Americans will support their zero-tolerance policies over what Mr. Miller calls the “nihilism” of the Democratic agenda.
Mr. Miller said he believed the issue of border security, even with the controversy over family separations, was a “90-10” issue for Mr. Trump and his Republican allies. He predicted that voters in November would reject “the Democrats’ open-borders extremism,” adding that Democrats had adopted “a point of view so radical that it can really only be described as absolute nihilism.”
On today’s episode:
- Julie Hirschfeld Davis, who covers the White House and immigration for The New York Times.
Background coverage:
- President Trump is facing a growing outcry against his administration’s “zero tolerance” border policy, which requires all migrants who enter the United States without authorization to be taken into federal criminal custody, at which point they are separated from their children.
- Stephen Miller, a top aide to the president, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions — two immigration hard-liners who are shaping Mr. Trump’s approach to immigration — have defended the policy.
- As a result of “zero tolerance,” 1,995 children have been separated from adults accompanying them at the border in six weeks.
- This episode of “The Daily” includes excerpts from an audio recording from inside a United States Customs and Border Protection facility, where children are heard crying after being separated from their parents. Listen to the full recording on ProPublica.org.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: Cracking Down on Leaks | New York Times
For a year and a half, President Trump has threatened to crack down on leaks and leakers.
The seizure of emails and phone records from a reporter at The New York Times tells a great deal about what that might look like.
On today’s episode:
• Matt Apuzzo, a reporter for The Times in Washington who had his records subpoenaed during the Obama administration.
Background reading:
• Federal prosecutors seized years of email and phone records from Ali Watkins, a New York Times reporter.
• President Trump wants better press, and he’s blaming leaks for not getting it.
• From 2012: The Obama administration used the Espionage Act to pursue leak cases.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: The Report on the F.B.I.’s Clinton Inquiry | New York Times
The Justice Department’s inspector general released a long-awaited report on Thursday on the F.B.I. investigation of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.
The findings could be both good and bad for President Trump.
On today’s episode:
• Matt Apuzzo, who covers national security for The New York Times.
Background reading:
• The Justice Department’s inspector general painted a harsh portrait of the F.B.I. during the 2016 presidential election, describing James B. Comey, the former director, as “insubordinate,” but finding no bias in his decision to clear Hillary Clinton.
• The report gives President Trump an opening, but it also undercuts his narrative.
• Democrats saw the document as proof that the F.B.I. had wronged Mrs. Clinton, but it also brought new worries.
• The report is more than 500 pages long. Our reporters break it down.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: The Narrowing Path to Asylum | New York Times
The Trump administration has said that domestic abuse is no longer grounds for receiving asylum in the United States. We share one asylum seeker’s story.
On today’s episode:
• Mariam, a survivor of domestic violence who came to the United States from Burkina Faso, and who asked not to be identified by her real name.
Background reading:
• A ruling that Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued in a closely watched case will make it difficult for asylum seekers to gain entry in the United States based on fears of domestic or gang violence.
• As Washington’s immigration policies become increasingly restrictive, a growing number of refugees from Central America are waiting at the Mexican border.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: What Trump Gave Kim | New York Times
In a joint statement, President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, committed to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Why is a seemingly significant promise being dismissed by critics as meaningless?
On today’s episode:
• Nicholas Kristof, an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times who writes about human rights and global affairs, and who has repeatedly traveled to North Korea.
Background reading:
• The summit meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim yielded a vaguely worded joint statement in which both parties agreed to work toward peace, but offered few details on how they planned to move forward.
• In a news conference after the meeting, Mr. Trump announced that the United States would halt joint military exercises with South Korea, a decision that appeared to catch both the Pentagon and South Korean officials off-guard.
• The president’s concessions to North Korea may vastly outweigh their returns, Mr. Kristof writes in an Op-Ed. Lawmakers in both parties have noted that it remains unclear what, if anything, has been gained by the U.S.
• The encounter between the two leaders was rich in spectacle — and in ambiguity. Here are 10 takeaways from the event.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: A Historic Handshake | New York Times
For the first time ever, a sitting president of the United States has met with a North Korean leader. Was the handshake between President Trump and Kim Jong-un a beginning or an end?
On today’s episode:
• Mark Landler, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, who is reporting on the summit meeting from Singapore.
Background reading:
• In an encounter that seemed unthinkable just months ago, Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim met face-to-face for the first time in Singapore on Tuesday morning. Here are live updates and photographs from the meeting.
• Among the issues on the table were the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War and economic relief for North Korea.
👓 Trump Leaves His Mark on a Presidential Keepsake | New York Times
Under President Trump, once stately medallions have gotten glitzier, and at least one featured a Trump property. Ethics watchdogs are worried.