🇺🇸⚖️🗽👍🏼REV. CRAIG MOUSIN @ DePAUL WITH A HOLIDAY MESSAGE: “FEAR NOT!” — Listen To Craig On The “Lawful Assembly” Podcast Here!

Rev. Craig Mousin
Rev. Craig Mousin
Ombudsperson
Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, Grace School of Applied Diplomacy
DePaul University
PHOTO: DePaul Website

From ImmigrationProf Blog:

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2022/12/craig-mousin-on-immigration-reform.html

Click this link to listen to immigration law professor Craig Mousin’s podcast Lawful Assembly.  He makes the case for not pitting demands for border security against immigration reform and justice for asylum seekers.

.

Mousin explores how the claim for a fully secure border has stalled immigration reform for over three decades.  He calls for comprehensive immigration reform to address many of the issues the failed policies of detention and deportation have been unable to resolve.

 

KJ

*****************

Thanks Craig for speaking truth when so many are spreading false information and advocating trading human rights that aren’t ours to give away for “benefits” that should be conferred on their own merits with no “strings attached.” 

Unhappily, even the normally reliable and sensible Greg Sargent @ WashPost is spouting some of this absolute nonsense! He speaks of indefinitely extending massive violations of legal and human rights (“Title 42”), prisons for asylum seekers (“processing centers”), and expedited dockets (“deportation railroads without due process”) as if they are “OK trade-offs” for so-called “immigration reform.”

Notably, there is nothing now stopping the Administration from processing more refugees outside the U.S., providing grants to innovative organizations like “VIISTA Villanova” for training more qualified pro bono asylum representatives without having to rely exclusively on law schools, replacing poorly qualified Asylum Officers and Immigration Judges with asylum and human rights experts, appointing a new expert BIA qualified to establish affirmative precedents to guide Asylum Officers, IJs, and lawyers on both sides in how to recognize, document, and grant asylum in accordance with the generous intent of the law and the U.N. Convention on which it is based, providing grants to NGOs for systemic resettlement of asylees and applicants away from the border, targeting and prosecuting  human smugglers, and expeditiously removing those arriving at or near the border who can’t establish a “credible fear” of persecution.

That the Administration has failed to bring in the necessary visionary, dynamic, competent leadership to accomplish any of the foregoing, and that  a Dem-controlled Congress has failed in its oversight responsibilities and to push the Administration to fulfill its legal obligations to asylum seekers is a question of competence and will, NOT the fault of asylum seekers and their advocates. Nor is it a basis to reduce the already unfairly and illegally compromised rights of asylum seekers

Craig basically echoes some of the themes I set forth this week in my “Dissenting Opinion!”

🗽DISSENTING OPINION: TRADING AWAY REFUGEE RIGHTS & DUE PROCESS FOR LONG OVERDUE DREAMER PROTECTIONS IS “NOT OK!”

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

12-17-22

 

🗽👍HUMANITY WINS:  FOOD, SHELTER, REPRESENTATION, TEAMWORK, OVERCOME DeSANTIS’S & ABBOTT’S CRUEL SHENANIGANS! — DeSantis created “a picture of a carefully orchestrated, taxpayer-funded operation with little apparent concern for the interests of the migrants caught in the middle.” 

Beth Reinhard
Beth Reinhard
Investigative Reporter
Washington Post
PHOTO: WashPost Website
Maria Sacchetti
Maria Sacchetti
Immigration Reporter, Washington Post
Molly Hennessy-Fiske
Molly Hennessy-Fiske
Immigration Reporter
Washington Post
PHOTO: WashPost Website

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/25/desantis-perla-migrant-flight-marthas-vineyard/

This WashPost article by and sets forth in detail how the courage and perserverance of asylum seekers, the humanity and initiative of the local community in Martha’s Vineyard, timely assistance by the Massachusetts Government, and heroic efforts by pro bono lawyers, came together  to  “redirect” the cruelty behind nativist GOP Govs’ idiotic political stunt. 

. . . .

Nearly two weeks later, though, Jose is one of dozens of migrants who now question Perla’s efforts to entice them onto a flight that unexpectedly ended on the wealthy island of Martha’s Vineyard — a political operation engineered by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to gin up outrage over the United States’ border crisis.

Much remains unknown about the effort. While DeSantis has embraced his role in staging the flight, arguing that it protected Florida from “negative ramifications” of a border crossing surge, his office has been less clear about the purpose of nearly $1.6 million paid to a contractor, according to state records, and the role of state officials in developing the plan.

But Post interviews with several migrants directly recruited by Perla, as well as court documents and state records, paint a picture of a carefully orchestrated, taxpayer-funded operation with little apparent concern for the interests of the migrants caught in the middle. Florida officials began researching Texas’s migrant situation weeks before the flights, and a contractor with ties to the DeSantis administration later handled the efforts. Some migrants, meanwhile, say they were misled into signing documents after being lured into the trip with food and hotel stays.

. . . .

****************

Read the complete article at the link.

Imagine what could be accomplished if Texas and Florida officials actually worked to HELP resettle individuals in an orderly and reasonable manner that recognized their humanity and respected and facilitated their legal rights to apply for asylum and other protections in the US? What if the Biden Administration actually brought in a team of qualified experts to lead and operate our existing refugee and asylum systems fairly and effectively instead of using stale approaches and personnel who simply lack the skills, vision, and courage to get the job done?

Fortunately, the asylum seekers, NGOs, and state and local officials, and ordinary citizens in welcoming American communities have stepped up to get the job done notwithstanding the glaring failures and counterproductive efforts of the previously-mentioned groups!

The preposterous attempt by DeSantis to link “sanctuary” with asylum seekers! Loosely speaking, “sanctuary jurisdictions” are those that have declined to voluntarily cooperate with certain ICE enforcement activities, primarily directed at so-called “civil” immigration enforcement. 

But, the Venezuelan asylum seekers “orbited” to Martha’s Vineyard had all been examined by DHS and released to pursue their legal requests for asylum in the US! Indeed, most probably turned themselves in to DHS Enforcement after being forced to cross illegally to present claims that the U.S. Government (with the connivence of GOP state Attorneys General and biased right wing Federal Judges) has refused to accept at legal ports of entry as they are supposed to do under our laws. 

These individuals are NOT “wanted” by ICE enforcement. There is no connection whatsoever between any “sanctuary jurisdiction’s” decision not to cooperate with ICE enforcement in rounding up certain individuals for possible deportation and legal asylum seekers from Venezuela (or any other country) pursuing their claims, beyond the fact that sanctuary jurisdictions value human dignity and are more welcoming to migrants of all types and statuses when called upon to provide assistance to them.

Venezuelan asylum seekers are part of the larger forced exodus of 6-7 million Venezuelans escaping the repression of the Maduro regime. 95% of these forced migrants have found refuge in countries OTHER than the U.S. Colombia is the largest destination country with at least 1.7 million Venezuelans, many times more than the U.S.

The vast majority of Venezuelans have found refugee in countries far poorer and less able to resettle them than the U.S. The idea that “sanctuary policies” of Martha’s Vineyard or any other U.S. jurisdiction is driving Venezuelan asylum seekers is beyond absurd. Indeed, it now appears that the Venezuelan asylum seekers “orbited” to Martha’s vineyard as part of the DeSantis scheme neither knew where it was nor had any idea they were being sent there until they were well on their way! 

Indeed, the decision to  send these individuals to an island with neither a DHS Office nor an Immigration Court (as opposed to, say, resettling them in Boston with advance notice), and with few “own site” pro bono lawyers, actually undermined their ability to comply with legal requirements and squandered resources that could and should have been put into getting timely and fair adjudications of their legal asylum applications. But, even in the face of GOP-led efforts to create maximum chaos, these legal asylum seekers and their supporters are committed to making our legal system work — against all odds! 

Finally, congrats to Molly Hennessy-Fiske, long time LA Times immigration reporter who has now joined the team at WashPost!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-26-22

MICHAEL GERSON @ WASHPOST: Trump Is Without Morality, Human Decency, Integrity, or Intelligence — Just Why Is This Vile Racist Who Is The Wrong Man For Our Time Still In Office & Threatening The Safety & Security of Every American?☠️🤮⚰️👎🏻🏴‍☠️

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/if-trump-ignored-bounties-on-us-soldiers-this-represents-a-new-level-of-debasement/2020/06/29/4901633e-ba36-11ea-8cf5-9c1b8d7f84c6_story.html

. . . .

Discerning a hierarchy of depravity among Trump’s provocations is not easy. His increasingly strident racism is complicating America’s reckoning with current injustices and grave historical crimes. His politically motivated sabotage of essential public health measures has likely cost thousands of lives. But there is something uniquely debased about a commander in chief who receives the salutes of soldiers while his administration does nothing about credible information on a plot to kill them.

And that is what the Trump administration seems to have done. If, as reported by multiple news sources, the White House was informed in March that Russian intelligence units were placing bounties on the heads of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, then the administration’s silence and inaction have been a form of permission.

The president’s claim of ignorance is not credible. This act of aggression would be a major escalation by a strategic rival. If the United States received intelligence about the bounties, and if response options were considered at a high level within the White House, there is simply no way the president and his senior staff would have been kept in the dark. It is information directly pursuant to Trump’s function as commander in chief.

. . . .

**************

Read the rest of Michael’s article at the link.

Sadly, Michael, the answer to the question I posed above is “the modern GOP.” 

You really appear to be a decent human being and a courageous writer. How did you ever fall in with such a disreputable gang as the GOP?

Anyway, glad you finally have seen the light. My parents were Republicans. But, to state the obvious, this isn’t your parents’ (or at least my parents’) GOP. Apparently, not yours either. Which is a good thing — at least a start.

PWS

07-01-20

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️AMERICAN GOVERNANCE APPEARS TO BE IN A DEATH SPIRAL THANKS TO TRUMP KAKISTOCRACY & THE GOP — NOVEMBER COULD BE OUR LAST CHANCE TO AVOID THE FATAL CRASH!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/with-trump-leading-the-way-americas-coronavirus-failures-exposed-by-record-surge-in-new-infections/2020/06/27/bd15aea2-b7c4-11ea-a8da-693df3d7674a_story.html

From WashPost:

Politics

With Trump leading the way, America’s coronavirus failures exposed by record surge in new infections

By Toluse Olorunnipa, Josh Dawsey and Yasmeen Abutaleb

June 27 at 5:38 PM ET

. . . .

Later Friday, the United States recorded more than 40,000 new coronavirus cases — its largest one-day total.

It was the latest example of whiplash from the Trump administration, which has struggled to put forward a consistent message about the pandemic. While public health experts urge caution and preventive measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing, Trump, Pence and other top aides repeatedly flout their advice, leaving confused Americans struggling to determine who to believe.

“They’re creating a cognitive dissonance in the country,” one former senior administration official said. “It’s more than them being asleep at the wheel. They’re confusing people at this point when we need to be united.”

This portrait of a nation in crisis — and its failure to contain an epic pandemic — is based on interviews with 47 administration officials, lawmakers at the national and state level, congressional staff, federal and local health officials, public health experts and other current and former officials involved in the bungled and confused response.

America’s position as the world’s leader in coronavirus cases and deaths is in large part the result of human error, and the still-rising caseload stands as a stark reminder of the blunders that have characterized the national response. Trump’s actions, and his position in the Oval Office, make him a central figure in any assessment of the country’s handling of the outbreak.

. . . .

As local officials struggled to enforce stay-at-home orders and other restrictions, the virus continued to circulate throughout a country riven by partisan politics and devoid of a national public health strategy, said Max Skidmore, a political scientist at the University of Missouri at Kansas City and author of a book on presidential leadership during health crises.

“We’re the only country in the world that has politicized the approach to a pandemic,” he said.

Now, covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is advancing at an accelerated pace in the United States, even as other countries reopen their economies after getting their outbreaks under control. European diplomats are poised to approve an agreement that will reopen the European Union to travel from many countries but not American tourists, because the coronavirus is still raging in the United States.

In contrast, states from Arizona to Florida are pausing or reversing their attempts to reopen their economies.

The new peak in cases — coming so quickly after the first and with just months to go before a presidential election and an impending flu season — has alarmed public health experts and the president’s political allies.

“These epidemics are going to be hard to get under control,” said Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and an informal adviser to the Trump administration. He said he expects deaths to soon climb to more than 1,000 per day again. “It’s going to continue to spread until you do something to intervene. I’m not sure we are taking enough forceful action to break the trend right now.”

The president has dramatically scaled back the number of coronavirus meetings on his schedule in recent weeks, instead holding long meetings on polling and endorsements, his reelection campaign, the planned Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Fla., the economy and other topics, according to two advisers, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

. . . .

******************************

Read the full article at the link.

There’re no “good” time for the insanity of a supposedly advanced nation putting an evil moron and his kakistocracy in charge. That’s particularly true when that evil, grotesque ignorance, and astounding dishonesty were well-advertised and documented in advance of the 2016 election.

How would you expect a jerk whose most famous line was “You’re fired” to perform in a leadership position requiring intelligence, integrity, compassion, vision, moral courage, and the ability to positively inspire others to perform? Duh!

It’s no mystery that a man without visible redeeming qualities will perform just as horribly, if not worse, than the majority of us predicted. But, next to a world war, a worldwide pandemic is probably the worst possible time to have “malicious incompetents” at the controls. 

Got a healthcare crisis? Eliminating health insurance for 23 million Americans is the obvious solution!

This plane is going down folks. Better get a real pilot into the cockpit before it’s too late!

This November, vote like your life depends on it! Because it most certainly does!

PWS

06-28-20

WashPost OPINION: EUGENE ROBINSON — Rep. Steve King (R-IA) Is A Self-Proclaimed Racist/White Supremacist — White House Doesn’t Appear To Have A Problem With That

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/white-supremacism-is-ready-to-roar/2017/03/13/883e7570-082b-11e7-b77c-0047d15a24e0_story.html?utm_term=.52288350b631

Robinson writes:

“White supremacism was never banished from American political thought, just shoved to the fringe and hushed to a whisper. Now, in the Age of Trump, it’s back in the mainstream and ready to roar.

Witness the words of Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) on the subject of immigration: “Culture and demographics are our destiny. We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.” King offered these sentiments Sunday in a tweet expressing solidarity with Geert Wilders, an openly racist and Islamophobic Dutch politician who has a chance of becoming prime minister in elections this week. Wilders is someone who “understands,” King wrote.

And we understand just what King meant. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke certainly got the message, using his vile Twitter account to proclaim, “GOD BLESS STEVE KING!!!”

. . . .

“Immigrants — both voluntary and involuntary — have shaped this nation since long before its founding. The first Africans were brought here in bondage in 1619, one year before the Mayflower. Americans have never been a single ethnicity, speaking a single language, bound by the centuries to a single patch of land. We have always been diverse, polyglot and restless, and our greatness has come from our openness to new people and new ideas.

King’s distress about birthrates can be read only as modern-day eugenics. If he is worried about the coming day when there is no white majority in the United States, he has remarkably little faith in our remarkable society — or in the Constitution that he, as a member of Congress, is sworn to support and defend.

President Trump played footsie with the white supremacist movement during his campaign. His chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, waged civilizational war when he ran the Breitbart News site. Trump could definitively denounce King’s racism with a statement or a tweet, but so far his silence is deafening.”

********************************

I’m glad that Robinson makes the point that America literally was developed, founded, and built on the backs, free labor, and talents of African American “involuntary” immigrants. (In my Refugee Law and Policy course at Georgetown Law we referred to them as “forced migrants.”)

In fact, of our first five Presidents, only John Adams was self-supporting. The others owed their livelihood to the free labor provided by enslaved African Americans. Sad, but true.

PWS

03/15/17

 

DHS Trumpets The New Bureaucratic Doublespeak: You’re All Targets, But Don’t Worry Because We Don’t Have The Ability To Do What We Say We’ll Do — And, When We Do Deport You (Ideally, Without A Hearing & After Detaining You Just Because You’re You & We Can), We’ll Be Polite & Humane About It — We’ve Finally “Taken The Shackles” Of Restraint, Wisdom & Prudence Off Our Agents So That They Are Free To Be Nice & Reasonable — And We’re Planning To Bring On Thousands Of Minimally Trained New Agents And Local Cops To Do What We Can’t Do Now — But, Don’t Worry, It’ll All Work Out For You Back In Mexico, El Salvador, Somalia,Or Wherever You Belong

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-administration-seeks-to-prevent-panic-over-new-immigration-enforcement-policies/2017/02/21/a2a695a8-f847-11e6-bf01-d47f8cf9b643_story.html?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_3_na&utm_term=.20ca5c9e4384

David Nakamura Reports in the Washington Post:

“The Trump administration on Tuesday sought to allay growing fears among immigrant communities over wide-ranging new directives to ramp up enforcement against illegal immigrants, insisting the measures are not intended to produce “mass deportations.”

Federal officials cautioned that many of the changes detailed in a pair of memos from Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly will take time to implement because of costs and logistical challenges and that border patrol agents and immigration officers will use their expanded powers with care and discretion.

Yet the official public rollout of Kelly’s directives, first disclosed in media reports over the weekend, was met with outrage from immigrant rights advocates over concerns the new policies will result in widespread abuses as authorities attempt to fulfill President Trump’s goals of tightening border control.

Trump took a hard line against illegal immigration during his campaign, at times suggesting he would seek to create a nationwide “deportation force” to expel as many of the nation’s estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants as possible.

In a conference call with reporters, a senior Department of Homeland Security official moved to avert what he called a “sense of panic” among immigrant communities.”

*********************************

Summary: Duh! So, we roll out this big new program in the first 35 days of the new Administration to great fanfare. But, nobody considered the resource and funding implications with Congress. So, it’s much ado about nothing (for now). But, don’t you dare lie about all the great things we’ve already accomplished. Watch for the biased media falsely claiming that it’s all smoke and mirrors or that we’re already rounding up some of the folks we said we’d deport. We mean what we say, but we’re not actually doing what we said we’d do. What kind of fools would panic about that?

PWS

02/22/17