Ethics – Page 8 – immigrationcourtside.com

🏴‍☠️🤮 SURPRISE: NIHILISTS CAN’T GOVERN — INCOMPETENT, UNINTERESTED — With Wars Raging, GOP Clown Show On Full Display, As Scalise Withdraws!🤡

Clown Car — “GOP House Conference en route to Capitol.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Ellin Beltz, 07-04-16, Creative Commons License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Creator not responsible for above caption.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/us/politics/scalise-jordan-house-speaker.html

By Luke Broadwater

Reporting from the Capitol

Oct. 12, 2023

Updated 8:57 p.m. ET

Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana withdrew on Thursday from consideration for the speakership he was on the cusp of claiming after hard-line Republicans balked at rallying around their party’s chosen candidate, leaving the House leaderless and the G.O.P. in chaos.

After being narrowly nominated for speaker during a Wednesday closed-door secret-ballot contest among House Republicans, Mr. Scalise, their No. 2 leader, found himself far from the 217 votes needed to be elected on the House floor. Many supporters of his challenger, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the right-wing Republican endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, refused to switch their allegiance.

With no clear end in sight to the G.O.P. infighting that has left one chamber of Congress paralyzed at a time of challenges at home and abroad, Mr. Scalise said he would step aside in hopes that someone else could unite the fractious party.

“I just shared with my colleagues that I was withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee,” Mr. Scalise said. “If you look at where our conference is, there’s still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together, and it’s not there. There are still some people that have their own agendas.”

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

With two wars involving our allies raging and the USG on track to run out of funding in a month, the GOP focuses on what’s important to them: THEMSELVES!

The GOP is a national disgrace and an international menace! They have brought the same disorder, callous disregard for the common good, and wacko, selfish, far right minority agenda to national politics that they have to the states they misgovern.

The GOP also also threatens America’s standing and influence on the world stage. The only thing standing between us and disaster is President Biden’s determination to lead and govern despite the GOP’s disgraceful chaos and betrayal of the common good!

And remember, it’s not like Scalise, who has coddled White Supremacists — once comparing himself to Klanster David Duke — and is a lifetime shill for a divisive far/right extremist agenda, was qualified to be Speaker. He was, at best, “slightly less unqualified” than insurrectionist election denier and Trump toady Jim Jordan!

As for Trump, his incoherent, hateful, anti-democracy rantings and unhinged ravings shows why the GOP he controls is an existential problem for American democracy. See, e.g., https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/12/hamas-israel-biden-trump/

Just vote ‘em out, vote ‘em out!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-13-23

⚖️🗽 STEPHANIE SPIRO @ NIJC: “[O]ver the past several months there has been an onslaught of Biden administration policies designed with one goal: to rapidly deport people. These programs block people from a fair asylum process . . . !” ☠️

Stephanie writes in The Hill:

https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/4241980-were-deporting-asylum-seekers-so-fast-they-cant-get-attorneys-or-justice/

For six years, I have represented adults, children and families who have fled persecution in their home countries and sought protection in the United States. My clients have traveled thousands of miles from countries including Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cameroon, Togo, Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border to seek asylum. They leave their homes, communities and culture because the pain and risks of fleeing pale in comparison to the dangers they will face if they stay.

I have seen the difference between the outcomes for clients who have meaningful access to legal counsel and due process, who are able to safely settle into a community as they pursue their cases, and people who are deprived of these basic human rights. But over the past several months there has been an onslaught of Biden administration policies designed with one goal: to rapidly deport people. These programs block people from a fair asylum process, and I am deeply concerned that thousands of individuals fleeing persecution will never be able to tell their stories and have a chance at safety in our country.

For the clients I have helped win asylum, the key to my representation was consistent and thorough communication. Through multiple sessions, we built a rapport, I provided them with information about their legal rights and the immigration system and they provided me with the details of their lives. These details formed the basis of their legal claims, which I assisted them in presenting to the immigration judge. The judge decided whether they could stay in the United States based on an individualized determination of their future risk of harm if deported.

When one of my clients and her six-year-old daughter completed their two-month journey from El Salvador to Texas, Customs and Border Protection detained them for three days and then released them with notice of their obligation to appear in immigration court. They made their way to the Midwest, where they sought legal representation.

At the National Immigrant Justice Center, my colleagues and I worked with the mother over several months to document her experiences of being raped, impregnated, beaten and locked up at home by her older relative. Finally safe in the United States, she started therapy and began working at a restaurant to support herself and her daughter. At her final immigration court hearing, she bravely testified about her traumatic past, and the immigration judge granted both mother and daughter asylum.

. . . .

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

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

On the basis of reports like this, there is reason to believe that not only should many more of the individuals allowed to enter the U.S. be granted asylum under a properly functioning system, but that many of those barred, rejected, and deported are erroneously being returned to life-threatening situations.

This, of course, directly contradicts the restrictionist myths peddled by most GOP politicos and even some Dems. It also contradicts the fear-mongering and scare tactics employed by the right-wing media that has unfortunately spilled over into the so-called “mainstream media.”

The real “border crisis/tragedy” is the lack of a legitimate, well-functioning, fair, efficient system to carry out our legal obligations to asylum seekers under both domestic and international laws. Calls for more “deterrents, cruelty, walls, harsh imprisonment, lawless deportations, and truncations of already-routinely-violated rights” are not going to solve the real problems! Indeed, they are likely to make things even worse!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-11-23

🤮 AMERICAN ASYLUM POLICY: GOP POLITICOS PANDER, ADMINISTRATION BUILDS WALLS, DEMS PREPARE TO THROW ASYLUM SEEKERS UNDER THE BUS (AGAIN) — What Happens To Those Waiting To Use “CBP One” At The Border? — They Get Raped & Extorted! — “It’s the saddest, most horrible thing that can happen to a person!”

""Rape of the Sabine Women" — “Rape of the Sabine Women”
Peter Paul Rubens
Circa 1635
Public Domain

From Reuters:

https://www.voanews.com/a/migrants-being-raped-at-mexico-border-as-they-await-entry-to-us-/7291239.html

REYNOSA, MEXICO —

When Carolina’s captors arrived at dawn to pull her out of the stash house in the Mexican border city of Reynosa in late May, she thought they were going to force her to call her family in Venezuela again to beg them to pay $2,000 ransom.

Instead, one of the men shoved her onto a broken-down bus parked outside and raped her, she told Reuters. “It’s the saddest, most horrible thing that can happen to a person,” Carolina said.

A migrant advocate who assisted Carolina after the kidnapping, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, confirmed all the details of her account.

The attack came amid an increase in sexual violence against migrants in the border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros, both major transit routes for immigrants seeking to enter the U.S., according to data from the Mexican government and humanitarian groups, as well as interviews with eight sexual assault survivors and more than a dozen local aid workers.

“The inhumane way smugglers abuse, extort, and perpetrate violence against migrants for profit is criminal and morally reprehensible,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Luis Miranda said in response to questions about the rise in reported rapes.

Criminal investigations into the rape of foreign nationals, excluding Americans, were the highest on record in the two cities this year, according to state data from 2014 to 2023 obtained by Reuters through freedom of information requests.

The U.S. State Department considers Tamaulipas, where the two cities are located, to be the most dangerous state along the U.S.-Mexico border.

. . . .

A Venezuelan migrant said he was kidnapped in May in Reynosa by a cartel while traveling to the border for his confirmed CBP One appointment. He couldn’t raise the full $800 ransom, so he was forced to work for two months to pay off the remaining $200, he said.

Two other migrants who said they were held at the house during the same time period confirmed the man was forced to work against his will, and that they heard female migrants being raped.

On the nights the Venezuelan man was tasked with standing guard over the other migrants, he said he watched the cartel members ask the man in charge of the house for permission to rape the women of their choosing.

He said the answer was always the same: “Take her.”

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Read the full article at the link.

Walls, detention, eliminating the right to asylum aren’t going to solve this. But, solving it doesn’t seem to be the objective. Blaming the victims is a lot easier than treating them as human beings.

As my friend Debi Sanders (who alerted me to this report) said: “Terrifying!” Yup! 🤯🏴‍☠️

How disingenuous is the Biden Administration’s latest attempt to “get tough” at the border with more proven to fail deterrence? Well, just this week, DHS announced plans to deport more individuals to Venezuela. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-restarting-direct-deportations-venezuela-senior-official-2023-10-05/

Yet, just a few days earlier, in deciding to extend TPS to nearly a half million Venezuelans in the US, that same DHS found:

Overview

Venezuela continues to face a severe humanitarian emergency due to a political and economic crisis, as well as human rights violations and abuses and high levels of crime and violence, that impacts access to food, medicine, healthcare, water, electricity, and fuel, and has led to high levels of poverty. Additionally, Venezuela has recently experienced heavy rainfall in the spring and summer of 2023 which triggered flooding and landslides. Given the current conditions in Venezuela, these issues contribute to the country’s existing challenges.

Venezuela is experiencing “an unprecedented political, economic, and humanitarian crisis.” ^[5]“Venezuela is suffering one of the worst humanitarian crises in the history of the Western Hemisphere,” which has been characterized by “[h]igh levels of poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, and infant mortality, together with frequent electricity outages and the collapse of health infrastructure.” ^[6]Though there were some positive developments in Venezuela in 2022 “as the economy stabilized and showed signs of economic growth,” the effects of these changes were not felt across the Venezuelan population and did not offset the impact of the large-scale economic contraction which resulted in significant humanitarian challenges that continue today and will take time to address.^[7]

Political Repression and Human Rights

The Maduro regime has closed off channels for political dissent, restricting enjoyment of civil liberties and “prosecuting perceived opponents without regard for due process.” ^[8]The UN Human Rights Council’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (IIFFM) found in its September 2022 report, “Venezuela’s military and civilian intelligence agencies function as well-coordinated and effective structures in the implementation of a plan” to “repress dissent.” ^[9]

Crime and Insecurity

Venezuela has one of the highest rates of violent deaths in the world.^[10]Additionally, “Venezuelans face physical insecurity and violence from several sources, including irregular armed groups, security forces, and organized gangs.” ^[11]Corruption in Venezuela exacerbates insecurity. InSight Crime has reported that “criminal groups and corrupt state actors together form a hybrid state that combines governance with criminality, and where illegal armed groups act at the service of the state, while criminal networks form within it.” ^[12]Human trafficking remains a serious concern. Traffickers exploit and subject Venezuelans, including those fleeing the country, to egregious forms of exploitation, including sex trafficking and forced labor.^[13]Members of non-state armed groups that operate in the country with impunity, subject Venezuelans to forced labor and forced criminality, and recruit or use child soldiers.^[14]

Economic Collapse

Since 2014, Venezuela has suffered from an “economic recession marked by hyperinflation, shortages of basic goods and a collapse in public services such as electricity and water.” ^[15]Recently, Venezuela’s economy has shown some signs of recovery; however, it is still in a precarious condition.^[16]In a report covering the period from May 2022 through April 2023, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) noted that while economic growth which occurred in 2022 “would bring hope for improved economic prospects, persistent challenges and other factors continued to negatively affect essential public services, transport, education, and health.” ^[17]

In its annual report covering 2022, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) noted “the high rates of poverty and inequality in the country, in which there are estimates that more than 90% of the population lives in poverty.” ^[18]The same report stated that “as of March 2022, HumVenezuela estimated that 94.5% of the population would not have sufficient income to cover items such as food, housing, health, education, transportation and clothing.” ^[19]

Health Crisis

Various sources have referred to severe problems with health systems in Venezuela, including the IACHR, Human Rights Watch, and the Congressional Research Service (CRS).^[20]Per The Associated Press, Venezuela’s “health care system crumbled long before” the start of the COVID–19 pandemic.^[21]Likewise, in its 2022 annual report, the IACHR acknowledged that while the COVID–19 pandemic “has had significant impacts on the health sector and the population, the serious affectations of the system preceded the health emergency.” ^[22]Elaborating on this topic, the IACHR identified “shortages of medicines, supplies, materials and medical treatment” as of 2018, and that the “situation has been worsening since 2014, and it is important to highlight that the health system has reportedly collapsed due to its persistent precariousness, which would have been exacerbated by the pandemic.” ^[23]

According to OHCHR, health centers in Venezuela “report structural underfunding and understaffing resulting in for example, regular blackouts and water shortages.” ^[24]In its report on the humanitarian situation in Venezuela in 2022, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted that “[h]ealth services continue to be affected by insufficient water and sanitation conditions and the lack of electricity supply in facilities.” ^[25]Similarly, Human Rights Watch stated in its annual report covering 2022 that “[p]ower and water outages at healthcare centers—and emigration of healthcare workers—were further weakening operational capacity.” ^[26]Furthermore, the IACHR has reported that “98% of the hospitals in the country lack medicines, electrical plants and water, as well as failures in laboratories, reagents and wards. As a result, it is estimated that only between 3 and 10% of the hospitals have medical and surgical material to solve medical circumstances.” ^[27]

Food Insecurity

In a humanitarian response plan published in 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) identified food insecurity as “the most pressing challenge for the population.” ^[28]Human Rights Watch stated in its annual report covering 2022 that HumVenezuela reported in March 2022 that “most Venezuelans face difficulties in accessing food, with 10.9 million undernourished or chronically hungry. Some 4.3 million are deprived of food, sometimes going days without eating.” ^[29]Moreover, the IACHR noted in its 2022 annual report that “32% of children live in a situation of chronic malnutrition.” ^[30]

Heavy Rains and Flooding

Since May 26, 2023, as hurricane season began, Venezuela has experienced heavy rains which resulted in flooding that affected several areas of the country.^[31]According to ACAPS, “Between June and July there have been 19 tropical waves, that have brought heavy rains, floods and landslides across the country.” ^[32]As of July 11, 2023, the meteorological situation in Venezuela indicated “that rainfall and resulting damages are expected to be more severe than previous years.” ^[33]Reports of the damage caused by the heavy rains include 5,100 people affected with damage to houses and blockages in the drainage system in the state of Portuguesa.^[34]In another area—Delta Amacuro state—around 7,500 people are affected by the 2023 floods.^[35]

In summary, extraordinary and temporary conditions continue to prevent Venezuelan nationals from returning in safety due to a severe humanitarian emergency which has resulted in food insecurity and the inability to access adequate medicine, healthcare, water, electricity, and fuel. Additionally, human rights violations and abuses, high levels of poverty, high levels of crime and violence, and heavy rains and flooding prevent Venezuelan nationals from returning in safety and permitting Venezuelan noncitizens to remain in the United States temporarily would not be contrary to the interests of the United States.

Based on this review and after consultation with appropriate U.S. Government agencies, the Secretary has determined that:

• The conditions supporting Venezuela’s designation for TPS continue to be met. See INA sec. 244(b)(3)(A) and (C), 8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(3)(A) and (C).

• There continues to be extraordinary and temporary conditions in Venezuela that prevent Venezuelan nationals (or individuals having no nationality who last habitually resided in Venezuela) from returning to Venezuela in safety, and it is not contrary to the national interest of the United States to permit Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries to remain in the United States temporarily. See INA sec. 244(b)(1)(C), 8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)(C).

• The existing designation of Venezuela for TPS (Venezuela 2021) should be extended for an 18-month period, beginning on March 11, 2024 and ending on September 10, 2025. See INA sec. 244(b)(3)(C), 8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(3)(C).

• Due to the conditions described above, Venezuela should be redesignated for TPS beginning on October 3, 2023, and ending on April 2, 2025. See INA sec. 244(b)(1)(C) and (b)(2), 8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)(C) and (b)(2).

For the redesignation, the Secretary has determined that TPS applicants must demonstrate that they have continuously resided in the United States since July 31, 2023.

Initial TPS applicants under the redesignation must demonstrate that they have been continuously physically present in the United States since October 3, 2023, the effective date of the redesignation of Venezuela for TPS.

There are approximately 243,000 current Venezuela TPS beneficiaries who are eligible to re-register for TPS under the extension.

It is estimated that approximately 472,000 additional individuals may be eligible for TPS under the redesignation of Venezuela. This population includes Venezuelan nationals in the United States in nonimmigrant status or without immigration status.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-10-03/pdf/2023-21865.pdf

Does this sound like a country that will “ensure orderly, safe and legal repatriation?” Duh!

As for the DHS attempt to “blame the victims” for not taking advantage of legal opportunities, the legal right to apply for asylum in the U.S. attaches at the border to ANYONE “who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters), irrespective of such alien’s status.” INA, section 208.

With huge backlogs at both the Asylum Office and EOIR, and some problematic adjudicators, judges, administrators, and poor precedents, just how could hundreds of thousands of legal removals take place without huge systemic changes that to date the Administration has failed to make at either DHS or EOIR? Sounds like a prescription for massive legal and human rights violations!☠️

Yes, we’re going to hear chants of “we can’t take them all” from all sides. But, the truth that few acknowledge is that we haven’t and won’t be “taking them all” — not by a long shot! Of the more than 7 million who have fled the Maduro regime in Venezuela, only approximately 10% (about 750,000) have come to the U.S.! https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66875264. The vast, vast majority — approximately 90% — have taken refuge elsewhere in Latin American, in poorer countries far less able than the U.S. to absorb them! But, hey, when does truth and reality ever enter into the U.S. political debate on immigration?

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-05-23

🎬 NEW FROM COURTSIDE VIDEO: Ashley WARMELING & Paul Wickham SCHMIDT — Together for The First Time! — Starring 🌟 in the Compelling Legal Thriller ⚖️ “CONFIDENCE WITH CRESPO” — A VIRGINIA DEFENDERS 🛡Production — Directed by Alison Powers & Katie Borton

Ashley I. Warmeling ESQUIRE — Ashley Warmeling ESQUIRE
Immigration Resource Attorney
Virginia Defenders
PHOTO: Linledin

Paul Wickham Schmidt, Retired U.S. Immigration Judge

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11VCif9_I8fEiEDG7Y9n0dGNxRqHMs0ry/view?usp=sharing

Here’s what audiences are saying:

“Must see if you love your Virginia law license!”

____ Dean D’Ethico, Richmond

“Warmeling and Schmidt are awesome, we want more!”

____ Nola Contendre, Alexandria

“Best hour I ever spent!”

____ Sheila Savumall, Norfolk

“I feel like a better lawyer already!”

____ Pedro Pleademout, Fairfax

“Can’t wait for the sequel!”

____ Ginny Khort, Roanoke

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

Here’s my “Crespo Shortlist”

PWS ON “DON’T’S OF CRESPO” – VA Defenders Training – 09-28-23

Don’t plead guilty or nolo
Don’t admit or stipulate anything
Don’t go to trial
Don’t “chitchat” with judge or prosecutor on record (Pickering).

PWS ON CRESPO

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-05-23

🤡 THE CLOWNING OF AMERICA: AS McCARTHY SLITHERS 🐍 OFF, WHO WILL BE THE “NEXT CLOWN UP?” — Who Would Want To Be? 🤮 — “The moment he began to negotiate with the caucus terrorists in order to secure his seat, he sowed the seeds of his ultimate destruction.”

Clown Court — “Speaker in Waiting”
PHOTO: Clown Civertan.jpg, Creative Commons License

Jay Kuo in “The Status Kuo” on Substack:

https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/ousted?utm_campaign=email-post&r=330z7&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

It wasn’t supposed to end this way for Kevin McCarthy. After all, he had done nearly everything that the far-right faction of his caucus wanted, given in to their every demand. Why ever would that fail to satisfy them? But in the end, his actions recalled the parable of the scorpion and the frog. As Fortune magazine retold it,

A scorpion asks a frog to carry him over a river. The frog is afraid of being stung, but the scorpion argues that if it did so, both would sink and the scorpion would drown. The frog then agrees, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When asked why, the scorpion points out that this is its nature.

It is the nature of nihilistic, burn-it-to-the-ground extremists to destroy everything around them, including the very party that once carried them to victory. McCarthy’s mistake was thinking he could ever change that by actually inviting the crazies in and embracing them even closer. Instead, he became the first ever speaker in the 240-year history of the House of Representatives to be ousted. In a period of historic firsts—first president impeached twice, first president to be indicted (and charged 91 times), and now first successful motion to vacate the chair—the GOP seems determined to outdo itself.

As writer Charlotte Clymer colorfully put it, “McCarthy served 270 days, the equivalent of 27 scaramuccis or 0.093 of a pelosi, after giving away his power—and his dignity—to man-toddlers who eventually stabbed him in the back.”

Let’s look at what happened yesterday and then answer some common questions about where things go from here in the GOP’s fractured majority in the House.

Subscribe

Mean Girls Day

October 3rd is a day that sticks in my mind because of my favorite movie, Mean Girls, which is turning out to carry many lessons for the GOP. The Lincoln Project was out with a meme quickly.

“On October 3rd, he asked me what day it was!” exclaims Cady Heron of the dreamy Aaron Samuels.

“It’s Kevin McCarthy’s last day as Speaker,” Cady responds.

Indeed, it was.

After Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) made good on his promise to file a motion to vacate the chair, McCarthy pressed for quick consideration of the motion, rebuffing calls to wait until Thursday when more members were back in Washington. He apparently had hoped to catch a number of Democratic House members away. Nancy Pelosi missed the votes, for example, because she was attending the funeral of her longtime friend, the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

No matter. After first losing a procedural vote to table the motion, with 11 Republicans voting “no” along with all the Democrats present, Kevin McCarthy faced a full vote of the House and was removed by a vote of 216 to 210, with eight GOP members joining all of the Democrats. Even Gretchen Wieners—er, I mean, Nancy Mace (R-SC)—who styles herself as a moderate, was a yea on the motion. Et tu, Nancy?

It bears noting that the Democrats had met as a group earlier that day and emerged with a consensus that they would not be helping McCarthy out. There was simply too much bad blood, from his kissing Trump’s ring two weeks after condemning him for January 6; to his reneging on the budget deal struck in May; to his launch of an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden based on nothing but speculation; to his blaming the Democrats for the near shutdown of the government, when it was Democrats who had kept it open. They simply did not trust him and saw no reason to throw him a lifeline. In fact, he never even asked for help from them directly, though his minions reportedly made a series of calls begging moderate Democrats to save him.

After the vote, several members of the House Republican caucus gathered in a group to pray on the House floor, while Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), wept openly. It was quite a fall for Rep. Wagner, who had triumphantly spearheaded two anti-abortion measures earlier in the year with Speaker McCarthy’s blessing.

McCarthy’s loss of the speakership leaves the GOP caucus effectively without leadership, at a time when appropriations remain largely unfinished.

The Speaker pro tempore

The gavel is currently in the hands of a caretaker Speaker pro tempore, Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC), who gaveled out the evening with such ferocity that he damn near cracked the thing. It’s a good thing men aren’t emotional in politics.

McHenry is supposed to hold the position only so long as it takes to elect a new speaker, and to wield the gavel only for purposes of getting this done. But he couldn’t help but act like yet another petulant man-baby, ordering Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi to clear out her office in the Capitol building and relocate to the Cannon Building. Pelosi issued a response:

With all of the important decisions that the new Republican Leadership must address, which we are all eagerly awaiting, one of the first actions taken by the new Speaker Pro Tempore was to order me to immediately vacate my office in the Capitol. Sadly, because I am in California to mourn the loss of and pay tribute to my dear friend Dianne Feinstein, I am unable to retrieve my belongings at this time.

Petty moves aside, McHenry won’t have any real power to push legislation through, and few even inside the GOP would likely stand for him seeking to assert himself in any way except as a momentary caretaker.

So what happens next?

With McCarthy out, the GOP is back to where it was in January, without the numbers to put someone over the top. One key piece of news that already broke: McCarthy won’t be running for the job again.

That leaves a number of possible replacements. The No. 2 in the House is Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), who is well liked but faces health challenges, as he is currently undergoing treatment for blood cancer. Other names that have bubbled up include Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and the No. 3 guy in charge of this mess, Tom Emmer (R-MN).

There is no consensus candidate as of this moment. The House GOP members scattered to their districts on Tuesday night after the debacle, giving a cooling off period before they regroup next week.

Isn’t the devil we know better?

There is considerable and understandable consternation that we might wind up with someone worse than McCarthy, whose feckless cowardice at least led to predictable capitulations and back to the inevitable point of political equilibrium.

But it’s also fair to say that even someone more extreme, like a Jim Jordan, couldn’t actually do anything with this fractured majority beyond what McCarthy already did with it. A House majority without a Senate in concurrence can accomplish little other than hearings and inquiries, which is what the GOP has been up to for months already with nothing to show for it. Handing the keys to the bus to someone else who doesn’t know how to drive isn’t going to keep the party from catastrophe next November.

It also might take some time before they can coalesce around a new leader. Extremists want someone to the right of McCarthy, but moderates might never support such a candidate. And even assuming they did, the party would quickly find itself exactly where it is now: facing a government shutdown while it tries to renege on a deal already agreed to, and up against a Democratically-controlled Senate ready to get on with the business of governing.

The political fallout

The collapse of GOP leadership in the House likely will become a central talking point for Democrats for the 2024 elections. The GOP brand is already badly tarnished by everything from anti-abortion extremism to election denialism to authoritarian suppression.

One thing is clear, however: It was Trump, acting behind the scenes by pressing extremists to hold the line against the budget, who is in large part to blame for the destruction of the House GOP caucus. He won’t take ownership of that, of course, but the amount of damage he has inflicted upon his own party cannot be overstated.

And in a weird twist, some members of the far-right are moving to nominate Donald Trump as Speaker. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) announced late Tuesday he will file paperwork to nominate the former president to be the next Speaker, who in fact doesn’t have to be a member of the body to preside as Speaker. In the past Trump has said he would not be interested in the job, so it’s unclear whether he would take such a nomination seriously. But it does demonstrate how rudderless and leaderless the House GOP caucus is that they once again turn to their Dear Leader to beg him to rescue them. (Trump of course wouldn’t know the first thing about how to act as Speaker, or move legislation through, or count votes, nor would he have time to learn the ropes given his trial schedule. Perhaps they could recruit his son Eric, who at least is foolish enough to accept and might soon have nothing to do because all his businesses have had their certificates to operate in the state canceled.)

That plan might run smack into the GOP’S own House rules, though, which requires leadership to step aside if indicted for a felony with a punishment of more than two years.

Returning to the scorpion and frog fable, and looking back at his tragic and brief tenure, McCarthy’s political death was inevitable. The moment he began to negotiate with the caucus terrorists in order to secure his seat, he sowed the seeds of his ultimate destruction. After all, under the terms of his parole, a single missed frog step could bring down a motion to vacate by a single member. By May, McCarthy had already committed the giant sin of compromising with the Democrats in a near evenly divided government, and a few months later, a single MAGA scorpion planted its stinger right into his back.

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Of course, it’s supreme irony that about the only responsible leadership action McCarthy took during his short tenure as speaker led to his demise at the hands of the GOP anti-American nihilists whom he coddled and ingratiated himself with to get the job in the first place!

At some point, the anti-American GOP voters who put these dangerous, yet cowardly, spineless, and valueless, nut cases into positions of influence have to be held accountable, if only by history! 🏴‍☠️

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-04-23

🇺🇸 COURTSIDE POLITICS: DEMS BAIL OUT McCARTHY, SAVE AMERICA (FOR NOW)! — NATIVIST IMMIGRATION NONSENSE STRIPPED OUT, BUT GOP THROWS UKRAINE 🇺🇦 UNDER THE BUS!🚌

Matt Gaetz (R-Outer Space)
The so-called mainstream media has seen fit to anoint this evil clown as the official spokesthing for the insurrectionist GOP.
PHOTO: X (formerly Twitter)

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

Courtside Exclusive

October 1, 2023

Saturday, at the 12th hour, GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) finally did the obvious — reached out to Dems to save America from insurrectionist, anti-American GOP extremists by passing a last-minute continuing resolution that will fund American government until Nov. 17.

All Dems except one (who was protesting the GOP’s pro-Putin defunding of Ukraine aid) voted for the House bill, while 90 GOP insurrectionists voted to tank America and manufacture a needless crisis. The bill passed the nominally Dem-controlled Senate in about 30 seconds, and was signed by President Biden before midnight. The message about which party is serious about governing for the common good is obvious to all real patriots, even if a shocking number of GOP voters have foisted these far-right GOP clowns upon the rest of us.

The mainstream media uses the namby-pamby misnomer “border security,” to refer to the GOP’s proposed racist-nativist attack on immigration, destruction of the long-established right to asylum, and bogus attempts to reinstate “proven to fail,” draconian deterrence measures. As happened when tried unsuccessfully in the past, the GOP would turn over control of border migration policies to cartels, smugglers, and organized crime, while deflecting attention and undermining law enforcement efforts to control human and drug smuggling.

A true accounting for the GOP extremist agenda would clearly show how firmly on the side of Putin and border bandits today’s dangerous, “destroy America” GOP has become. Too bad the so-called “mainstream media” has so little interest in digging beyond the cosmetics on the border issues and Ukraine aid.

The mainstream media is also salivating about the bogus prospect of MAGA-maniac Matt Gaetz (R-Outer Space) unseating McCarthy. The fact that Gaetz is an extremist idiot who has nobody to replace McCarthy with doesn’t seem to have dawned on the “mainstreamers.” (“Matt Gaetz’s Motto is, ‘I’m an Asshole, What are You Going to Do About It?’” https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjnkLH8h9WBAxXPkYkEHcr5CdoQFnoECBIQAQ&url=https://buzzflash.com/articles/matt-gaetz&usg=AOvVaw2XoHad3KzJeQitggMsTve3&opi=89978449).

In perhaps the ultimate example of clueless, Fox News inspired, “mainstream journalism,” CBS’s “This Sunday” saw fit to inflict Gaetz and his bombastic nonsense on hapless viewers today. NBC, on the other hand, maybe still smarting from new-host Kristen Welker’s disastrous, totally uncalled for, “inaugural” interview with a raving, incoherent, lie-spouting Trump, gave us wall-to-wall coverage of the Ryder Cup in place of “Meet the Press.” Honestly!

Look forward to more clownish theatrics and anti-American posturing from the GOP and their “Chief Clown” Trump, and more insipid reporting from the mainstreamers as America careens toward another likely GOP-generated “crisis” in mid-November. It’s NOT a “Washington problem! It’s purely a GOP that lacks any interest whatsoever in responsible governing.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-01-23

🤡🤯AS AMERICA SUFFERS, THE GOP CLOWN SHOW ROLLS ON TOWARD OBLIVION!

Clown Parade — The GOP, in full regalia, heads for the U.S. House. PHOTO: Public Domain

Dana Milbank writes @ WashPost:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/22/gaetz-mccarthy-shutdown-house-gop-deadlock/

Martin Luther nailed his theses to a church door. Matt Gaetz displayed his in the men’s room.

Specifically, the congressman (or somebody) left a draft of his “Motion to Vacate” on a baby changing table in a restroom downstairs from the House chamber, where it was found by journalist Matt Laslo. “H. Res. __,” it began. “Resolved, that the Office of Speaker of the House of Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant.”

But Gaetz (R-Fla.) doesn’t need a resolution to “vacate the chair,” as a motion to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker iscalled. For all practical purposes, the chair is already vacant.

It should have been obvious to all this week, if it wasn’t already, that McCarthy (R-Calif.) is speaker in name only, as his leaderless Republican caucus stumbles toward a government shutdown. Review some of the labels House Republicans hurled at each other over the last few days:

“Clown show.” “Clowns.” “Foolishness.” “Weak.” “Terribly misguided.” “Selective amnesia.” “Stupidity.” “Failure to lead.” “Lunatics.” “Disgraceful.” “New low.” “Enabling Chairman Xi.” “People that have serious issues.” “Pathetic.”

Amid the epithets, Republicans brought the House to another standstill. For the second time in as many weeks, hard-liners blocked the House from even considering a bill to fund the troops. Two days later, they blocked it for a third time. They also forced party leaders to pull from the floor their plan to avert a shutdown — a plan that would do nothing to avert a shutdown even if it passed.

Walking into yet another grievance-airing session among House Republicans this week in the House basement, first-term Rep. Richard McCormick (Ga.) remarked to a colleague: “I think we should call this the Dance of the Dragons.” That was a “Game of Thrones” reference to a civil war in which (spoiler alert) both of the aspirants to the Targaryen throne died, along with several of their children and most of the dragons. McCormick later developed the metaphor for me: “We have a lot of powerful people in one room who are ferocious,” he explained in part, and “it’s going to get even uglier.”

. . . .

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

Read Milbank’s full article at the above link.

Dana Milbank
Opinion Columnist
Washington Post

Remember, folks, the problem here is NOT “Congress,” as the so-called “mainstream media” would have you believe! No, it’s the GOP — the anti-American party of nihilism, insurrection, lies, and extremism! McCarthy COULD have had an agreement in hand long before now. all it would take is picking up the phone and working with Leader Jeffries and the Dems to come up with a reasonable funding proposal that could actually PASS the Senate! Indeed, McCarthy earlier cut such a deal with President Biden until he violated it under pressure from a few right-wing members of the GOP “wrecking crew” in an act of supreme cowardice (a McCarthy specialty) and total failure to pursue the common good.

Notably, when the House had a REAL Leader, Speaker Pelosi, there was no shutdown during the Trump Administration — even though there were plenty of issues (Dreamers being a key one) that some Dems would have liked her to “go to the mat” on. When the chips are down, Dems believe in governing; the GOP believes in destroying!

Upcoming generations who don’t want to live in a country where conspiracy theories, cruelty, misinformation, hatred, intolerance, false grievances, vengeance, dehumanization, greed, self-aggrandizement, racism, anti-semitism, grotesque fiscal and moral irresponsibility, misogyny, incompetence, and just plain stupidity replace democracy and governing for the common good had better get energized and busy coming up with a strategy to remove GOP members from every elected position from the national level to local animal control officers. Otherwise, the majority of the next generations will face a bleak future in a nation trying to return to a past that never was with faux “leaders” who demonstrably can’t lead, and don’t even make a pretense of trying to do so.

The “forced birth party” shows little, if any, concern for the well-being of humanity once it has exited the womb!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-26-23

⚖️👩🏼‍⚖️ HON. DANA LEIGH MARKS: DOJ’S PROPOSED RULE ENHANCING IMMIGRATION COURT INDEPENDENCE & EFFICIENCY IS A “BIG DEAL!”

Hon. Diana Leigh Marks — Hon. Dana Leigh Marks
Retired U.S. Immigration Judge
San Francisco Immigration Court
Past President, National Association of Immigration Judges, Member Roundtable of Retired Immigration Judges

From the Los Angeles & San Francisco Daily Journal:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Fmf6Fqu_Hl8hkIxclUllNEZLQ2LGouU9/view?usp=sharing

The just published proposed regulation is a big deal. It begins with over thirty pages of introductory information debunking the misguided justifications for the previous version of this rule [enjoined by a Federal Court]. Point by point the flawed logic, counterproductive encroachment on judicial discretion, and unnecessary micromanagement [an endemic EOIR problem] is called out.

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

Read Dana’s complete article at the link.

Many thanks my friend for your incisive, outstanding analysis! It’s astonishing and quite disturbing the amount of absolute “bunk” and racially-focused misinformation DOJ and EOIR foisted on the public under Trump. Indeed, EOIR under Trump pushed out a scandalously false and misleading bogus “fact sheet” smearing asylum seekers and their lawyers. See, e.g., https://immigrationcourtside.com/2019/05/13/special-roundtable-of-former-immigration-judges-blasts-eoir-director-mchenry-for-spreading-lies-misrepresentations-political-pandering-undermining-judicial-independence-and-gro/.

It appears that EOIR is slowly correcting some of the mistakes of the recent past. What’s disappointing and of great concern: 1) Should and could have been “day one stuff;” 2) Judge Dana Marks was on the EOIR payroll on Jan. 20, 2021, and she or a qualified expert like her could and should have been put in charge and empowered to kick tail, take names, clean house, bring in top judicial and administrative talent, and implement long-overdue, still absent, EOIR reforms!

Better late than never? Perhaps, we’ll see. But, I’m not betting the farm on it!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-21-23

☠️🤯 CAL. PRISONS ILLEGALLY REFERRING U.S. CITIZENS FOR REMOVAL, REPORTS ACLU, LA TIMES!

Andrea Castillo reports for the LA times:

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-08-29/californa-prisons-ice-records-us-citizens

WASHINGTON — On Aug. 18, 2022, a records department employee at the California Correctional Center emailed federal immigration authorities a list of people they believed could be subject to deportation. The list noted that most of those named were born outside the U.S. or had an unknown birthplace. But 12 people were listed as having been born in this country.

That email was obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and shared with The Times. The advocacy group says California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation staff routinely assume people in their custody are deportable immigrants — even when their own records indicate they are U.S. citizens or immigrants who should not be deported — and report those individuals to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while denying them rehabilitation opportunities.

The records stem from a public records request filed last year by the ACLU NorCal, which sought communications between the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or CDCR, and ICE. The ACLU and other advocacy groups said they analyzed about 2,500 uniquerecords from August and September 2022, during which the agency transferred more than 200 people from CDCR facilities to immigration custody.

The groups detailed the results in a report to be published Tuesday that they say describes the practices employed by the CDCR in cooperation with ICE and provides examples of alleged actions by department staff that are discriminatory, including against immigrants.

“In their zeal to collude with ICE, CDCR is not only targeting people who have served their time and are set to return home for detention and deportation but is also sweeping up U.S. citizens and Green Card holders, relying on racist assumptions and ignoring their own records,” the report states.

. . . .

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

Read the rest of Andrea’s report at the link.

Totally outrageous!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

08-30-23

🇺🇸🗽👍 WATCH TEA’S COFFEE: Immigrant Food’s Superstar 🌟 Co-Founder/COO & Cato’s Alex Nowrasteh Take Apart The White Nationalist Restrictionist Myths About Immigrants!

Tea Ivanovic
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
Immigrant Food
PHOTO: Immigrant Food

Tea writes:

Editor’s Note – August 2023

Dear Reader,

America is built on the drive and determination of immigrants. Even though immigration is one of America’s founding principles, it remains one of the most hotly contested social and political issues of modern times. This ongoing debate is fueled by a number of negative myths about immigrants that have taken root in society.

This month, we are committed to busting the common political, economic, and demographic myths about immigration. We examine how these myths have taken root in our society, how they spread, and what can be done to change the narrative on immigration.

For this month’s issue, we spoke with Alex Nowrasteh, the Vice President for Economic and Social Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. Alex is one of the leading voices when it comes to immigration policy.

Hope you gain new insights,
Téa

Watch “Tea’s Coffee” where she interviews Alex Nowratseh here:

https://immigrantfood.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ce06e58bfebaeac8af360fd3e&id=2800d3f1d8&e=16814f5ced

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

Watch the video at the above link and find out more on the Immigrant Food website here:

https://immigrantfood.com/

Alex says there are three things we can do to combat the myths and lies being spread by the nativist/restrictionists:

Recognize the humanity of immigrants and their legal rights under our laws;
Emphasize that immigrants compliment, rather than compete with, us;
Point out that the “border chaos” is largely the result of bad laws and failed deterrence policies rather than the fault of immigrants.

By contrast, you can spot the bogus restrictionist/nativist myths a mile way because they:

Dehumanize immigrants by falsely reducing them to “statistics, numbers, apprehensions, beds, costs, graphs, and charts;”
Make the bogus claim that our economy is a “zero sum game” where every additional immigrant means “less of the pie” for you or me — a claim which is demonstrably false because people and immigration are what have allowed us historically to expand our economy so there potentially will be more for everyone (provided that those at the top don’t grab a disproportionate share for themselves);
Promote the myth of “just get in line” when there in reality is no line for most to get in because of the unduly restrictive nature of our laws and their poor administration by successive Administrations. They ignore the reality that robust migration is here to stay. The real choice is whether or not we want realistic laws and policies that recognize and harness that reality or instead continue to reward smugglers, enrich jailers, and force millions of migrants into the “extralegal” underground economy where they can not contribute fully economically or politically.

As another “myth debunker,” Time’s Haley Sweetland Edwards, said:

These political reactions fail to grapple with a hard truth: in the long run, new migration is nearly always a boon to host countries. In acting as entrepreneurs and innovators, and by providing inexpensive labor, immigrants overwhelmingly repay in long-term economic contributions what they use in short-term social services, studies show. But to maximize that future good, governments must act -rationally to establish humane policies and adequately fund an immigration system equipped to handle an influx of newcomers.

https://immigrationcourtside.com/2019/01/27/inconvenient-truth-haley-sweetland-edwards-time-tells-what-trump-miller-cotton-sessions-their-white-nationalist-gang-dont-want-you-to-know-human-migration-is-a-powerful-force-as-old/

“Governments must act rationally!” Certainly, neither Trump nor any of the GOP clowns 🤡 seeking to be him are “rational actors” on immigration, the economy, infrastructure, education, individual rights, or anything else of importance to our nation. Indeed, the ignorance, indecency, irrationality, and bias exhibited during the so-called “GOP debate” was beyond appalling, despite the media’s pathetic attempts to “normalize” idiocy. Six folks afraid to say “hypothetically” that they would vote for someone OTHER than a convicted felon who made totally baseless claims that he won the 2020 election! Gimmie a break! (I’m certainly not the only one impressed by the disturbingly low quality of the GOP “field.” See, e.g., https://www.huffpost.com/entry/larry-hogan-gop-candidates-trump-conviction-question_n_64e82302e4b0a2a9abc4bdc0).

Tea Ivanovic — an amazing immigrant entrepreneur and inspirational leader who is on Forbes’s list of “30 under 30” — is a stellar example of how immigrants of all types — from those at the border to those in boardrooms — make America better! See, e.g.,

https://immigrationcourtside.com/2023/07/22/🦃-hokie-hero-va-tech-honors-ndpa-all-star-tea-ivanovic-of-immigrant-food-industry-leader-spotlight-disruptive-food-startup-incorporates-gastronomy-a/

Food for thought from Tea and the good folks at Immigrant Food!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

08-26-23

🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️ GOP WHITE NATIONALIST THEOCRACY THREATENS AMERICA, STARTING @ BORDER! — “Worthy of Goebbels!” — “[N]othing new. . . . It’s called fascism.” — “America’s Orbans” Undermine Liberal Democracy, Promote Illiberalism!”

https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlYm9yZGVyY2hyb25pY2xlLmNvbS9wL3RoZS1vcmJhbi1wbGF5Ym9vaz90b2tlbj1leUoxYzJWeVgybGtJam94TURneE5UYzVPVEFzSW5CdmMzUmZhV1FpT2pFek5qTXdOVGt5T1N3aWFXRjBJam94TmpreU56SXlPVEUyTENKbGVIQWlPakUyT1RVek1UUTVNVFlzSW1semN5STZJbkIxWWkwek56TTBNeklpTENKemRXSWlPaUp3YjNOMExYSmxZV04wYVc5dUluMC54MlRnTzJuSXN4NHdXbUN6Uzg5ejVMMHhVUWVYSUlaVGluemlpNnotWUJJIiwicCI6MTM2MzA1OTI5LCJzIjozNzM0MzIsImYiOnRydWUsInUiOjEwODE1Nzk5MCwiaWF0IjoxNjkyNzIyOTE2LCJleHAiOjE2OTUzMTQ5MTYsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0wIiwic3ViIjoibGluay1yZWRpcmVjdCJ9.Rwn0xJ7gMZxpR5nks4NIo58FlfZsCsJm972lF9tcKws?

Melissa Del Bosque writes in the Border Chronicle:

. . . .

While this might seem uniquely cruel, Abbott is closely following the authoritarian playbook of Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister, and current European thought leader for MAGA Republicans. Donald Trump calls Orbán a friend, and White supremacist Tucker Carlson spent a week covering him for his former show on Fox, later making a “documentary” about Hungary called Hungary vs. Soros: Fight for Civilization. For the last two years, the right-wing Conservative Political Action Conference, founded in the U.S., has held a “Woke Free Zone” conference in Budapest.

Share

By studying Orbán’s crackdown on asylum seekers and its progression over the last several years, you can see exactly where Abbott’s Texas is headed (and DeSantis’s Florida, for that matter).

In a speech in July 2022, Orbán argued that European and non-European people should not mix. Europeans “do not want to become peoples of mixed-race,” he said. After the speech, one of Orbán’s longtime advisers quit in protest. “I don’t know how you didn’t notice that you were presenting a pure Nazi text worthy of Goebbels,” his adviser wrote in her public resignation letter. Orbán’s speech was widely condemned in Europe, and it further alienated him from other Western leaders.

But in Texas, just days after his speech “worthy of Goebbels,” Orbán was welcomed with a standing ovation at the CPAC conference in Dallas, where he touted his “zero migration” and Judeo-Christian nationalism. “The globalists can all go to hell,” he boasted. “I have come to Texas.”

On the same CPAC stage that day, Abbott followed with similar xenophobic talking points. He bragged about Operation Lone Star and encouraged conference-goers to donate to a state-run website to pay for bussing migrants out of Texas. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick echoed Orbán’s White Christian nationalism: “The framers did not write the Constitution,” he said. “God wrote the Constitution. We are a Christian nation.”

. . . .

Unsurprisingly, Orbán’s cruel tactics against asylum seekers, which have included kidnappings and beatings, do not deter people from coming. They are fleeing wars, after all. But Orbán has used his poisonous populism to solidify his power, just as Abbott and DeSantis are trying to do. It began with asylum seekers in 2015, but now in Hungary there is no independent media or judiciary, and the LGBTQ community and immigrants have become targets for persecution as the prime minister has consolidated his control over the government. Antisemitism is also on the rise.

This is the playbook that MAGA Republicans are following in Texas, Florida, and elsewhere. We already know how it ends. Orbán’s “illiberal democracy,” which is being lionized by Trump, Abbott, and others, is nothing new. In fact, it’s very old. It’s called fascism.

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

Read Melissa’s complete article at the link. Nearly 80 years after the fall of the Nazi regime, Hitler’s hateful, racist, virulently anti-Semitic views are alive and well in today’s GOP. Even in Texas, a Federal Judge had no time for Abbott’s racist/absurdist claim of “invasion.” https://linkst.dallasnews.com/click/32480676.167870/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGFsbGFzbmV3cy5jb20vbmV3cy9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDIzLzA4LzIyL2ZlZGVyYWwtanVkZ2UtcmVqZWN0cy10ZXhhcy1taWdyYW50LWludmFzaW9uLWRlZmVuc2UtaW4tZG9qLWxhd3N1aXQtb3Zlci1ib3JkZXItYnVveXMvP3NhaWx0aHJ1X2lkPTYyNjgxMjQyNGY3NTdmNjRiYWUyYWEzMg/626812424f757f64bae2aa32C5a2af025.

This is NOT a “normal” American political party!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever, White Nationalism, Never!

PWS

08-23-23

🏴‍☠️🤯☠️ INVITE ‘EM TO DEFECT, THEN ARBITRARILY REJECT — Russian Allies Find Broken U.S. Asylum System Akin To Russian Roulette! — “I don’t understand how we are denying Russians at all,” says Jennifer Scarborough, Refugees’ Lawyer!

Jennifer Scarborough, EsquireLaw Firm of Jennifer Scarborough PLLC Harlingen, TX PHOTO: Firm — Jennifer Scarborough, Esquire
Law Firm of Jennifer Scarborough PLLC
Harlingen, TX
PHOTO: Firm

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=df3af6fe-6f28-47f0-a65a-95a9e0272c10

Hamed Aleaziz & Tracy Wilkinson report for the LA Times:

WASHINGTON — Numerous Russians attempting to escape conscription onto the Ukrainian battlefield have made perilous journeys to the United States, trusting in the Biden administration’s declaration that the U.S. would “welcome” those fleeing the war and their forced participation in it.

Instead of winning asylum, however, some of these men have been detained and, in at least one case, deported back to Russia, where they could be thrown into the fight against U.S.-armed Ukraine — into “the meat grinder,” as the U.S. secretary of State recently put it.

The U.S. has deported nearly 190 Russians since the beginning of October 2022, almost three times as many as were removed during the entire prior year.

Some Russian conscripts have refused to board deportation flights, forcing U.S. immigration officers to return them to immigration detention and legal limbo.

Three Russians the U.S. detained and sought to deport told The Times that certain abuse awaited them at home, where draft dodgers are subject to imprisonment or swift dispatch to front lines. The three Russians said they felt bewildered — betrayed, even — bythe U.S. asylum system. The Times is withholding their identities because they fear retribution if they are returned to Russia.

“Death awaits me there if I go back,” said one Russian man in his 20s. He said he was slated to be deported but fainted when immigration officials loaded him onto the plane, which forced them to return him to detention.

Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Russians who opposed the war to stay at home and fight to topple Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Biden administration has explicitly encouraged Russians who do not want to fight in Ukraine to seek asylum in the United States.

“There are people out there in Russia who do not want to fight Putin’s war or die for it,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in September. “We believe that, regardless of nationality, they may apply for asylum in the United States and have their claim adjudicated on a case-by-case basis.

“We welcome any folks who are seeking asylum, and they should do that,” she said.

But Russians who have taken the U.S. up on that offer have quickly discovered that seeking asylum is not the same as winning it. The U.S. government’s willingness to help people who flee Russia — even if doing so undermines Russia’s war effort — is limited.

In some cases, the government has argued that being called up to serve in the Russian military is not alone sufficient grounds for asylum. Jennifer Scarborough, the lawyer for the three Russians The Times interviewed, has countered that they qualify for asylum because they did not want to be involved with the war for political reasons and would face unreasonable repercussions for refusing to serve.

“They could be deported back to a regime that is committing gross human rights violations,” she said. “I don’t understand how we are denying Russians at all.”

The number of Russians crossing the southern U.S. border surged in November and December, shortly after Putin, facing massive casualties among his troops, ordered up a fresh army mobilization and drafted up to 300,000 reservists.

Russians crossed the southern border more than 5,000 times in November and nearly 8,000 times in December, a major increase from earlier months.

More than 8 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland since Putin launched his invasion of the former Soviet Republic on Feb. 24, 2022. Their escapes have involved trains and commercial flights and massive assistance, and they have largely been welcomed in other countries.

By contrast, many of those fleeing Russia for the U.S. have used the same difficult and at times treacherous route that disfavored refugees from all over the world use. A flight from Dubai or Istanbul gets them to South America, where they continue on flights, buses and by foot northward, sometimes trekking through jungle, to reach Mexico and the U.S. border.

One man who spoke to The Times was picked up by immigration agents in December near Tecate. The man made the weeks-long journey to the U.S. with his younger brother.

The man fled Russia when his call-up notice arrived.

“Even in childhood, I understood that, for me, America was a symbol of freedom,” he said in a telephone interview from a detention center in Pennsylvania. “And yes, there was a dream to move here one day. Because during your entire life in Russia, it is difficult; you’re discriminated against at every turn.”

“I went through war,” the man said. “I know what this entails. I saw the war. And now they are trying to force me to bring this to Ukraine.”

. . . .

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

Read the complete report at the link.

Jenn Scarborough asks the right question. In a functioning protection system, one would expect most cases like this to be granted in short order. However, the BIA generally has restrictive precedents on draft evaders and deserters stemming largely from a desire to deny protection to applicants fleeing civil wars in Central America decades ago. See, e.g., Matter of A-G-, 19 I & N Dec. 502 (BIA 1987).

As “Courtsiders” know, the endemic problem is lack of expert, progressive, dynamic, courageous intellectual leadership in a system now solely controlled and operated by a Dem Administration that often acts more like an “old school GOP” one on immigration and human rights! Administration of both parties live in perpetual fear that making good on promises of fair treatment and legal protection would actually motivate refugees to seek it!

That’s a particular problem at EOIR which should be the legal intellectual leader here! We need practical, scholarly, generous, common sense precedents focusing on what should be easily grantable protection claims!

Instead, we have a leaderless, bureaucratic, non-expert mess, still retaining too many elements of the anti-immigrant, anti-asylum, any reason to deny, go along to get along, court as a “deterrent” system constructed and promoted by the Trump Administration. That has continued to churn out both egregious inconsistencies and backlog-building inefficiencies in critical “life or death” cases!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

08-20-23

🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️💰 DECADES OF DEADLY FAILURE FAIL TO DIM PROFITS OF BORDER DETERRENCE GIMMICKS!

Border Death — Full coffins mean full coffers for the “border deterrence industry.” This is a monument for those who have died attempting to cross the US-Mexican border. Each coffin represents a year and the number of dead. It is a protest against the effects of Operation Guardian. Taken at the Tijuana-San Diego border.
Tomas Castelazo
To comply with the use and licensing terms of this image, the following text must must be included with the image when published in any medium, failure to do so constitutes a violation of the licensing terms and copyright infringement: © Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Todd Miller reports for the BorderChronicle:

https://substack.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.w-bNM02eUaZHfY7ojKTD4aVI7br24RMUUozCM32pBPs?

When I first came across Cochrane International, the company that built the floating barrier deployed in Eagle Pass, Texas, I watched a demonstration the company gave with detached bemusement. I was at a gun range just outside San Antonio. It was 2017, three months after Donald Trump had been sworn in and the last day of that year’s Border Security Expo, the annual gathering of Department of Homeland Security’s top brass and hundreds of companies from the border industry. Among industry insiders, the optimism was high. With Trump’s wall rhetoric at a fever pitch, the money was in the bank.

All around me, all morning, Border Patrol agents were blasting away body-shaped cutouts in a gun competition. My ears were ringing, thanks in part to the concussion grenade I had launched—under the direction of an agent, but with great ineptitude—into an empty field as part of another hands-on demonstration. The first two days of the expo had been in the much-posher San Antonio convention center, where companies displayed their sophisticated camera systems, biometrics, and drones in a large exhibition hall. But here on the gun range we seemed to be on its raw edge.

So when a red truck with a camo-painted trailer showed up and announced its demonstration, it wasn’t too much of a surprise. The blasting bullets still echoed all around as if they would never cease. Two men jumped out of the truck wearing red shirts and khaki pants. They frantically ran around the camo trailer, like mice scurrying around a piece of cheese trying to figure out the proper angle of attack. Then the demo began. One of the men got back in the truck, and as it lurched forward, coiling razor wire began to spill out of its rear end as if it were having a bowel movement. As the truck moved forward, more and more of Cochrane’s Rapid Deployment Barrier spilled out until it extended the length of a football field or more. It was like a microwavable insta-wall, fast-food border enforcement.

Little did I know that six years later, this same company, Cochrane, would give us the floating barrier, with its wrecking ball–sized buoys connected side by side with circular saws. The floating barrier, as the Texas Standard put it, is the “centerpiece of Operation Lone Star,” Texas governor Greg Abbott’s $4.5 billion border enforcement plan. For this barrier, which has now been linked to the deaths of at least two people, the Texas Department of Public Safety awarded Cochrane an $850,000 contract.

. . . . .

When I first saw Cochrane back in 2017 among the ear-ringing gunfire on the last day of the Border Security Expo, I had a feeling I might see them again. No matter how ludicrous the rapid barrier deployment camo truck seemed to me then, there was, indeed, plenty of money to be made.

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

Money and profit over humanity, common sense, and the rule of law. Read the full article at the link.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

0-19-23

☠️🤮🏴‍☠️ “NO EXCUSE,” SAYS NDPA MAVEN DEBI SANDERS AS NPR REPORTS THAT BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PLAYED “HIDE THE BALL” ON HORRIFIC CONDITIONS IN THEIR “NEW AMERICAN GULAG” (“NAG”)! — Tom Dreisbach Reports For NPR On Yet Another Grotesque Failure By Garland, Monaco, Gupta, Clarke, & Prelogar To Do Their Jobs!

Inside the Gulag
The legacy of Biden, Harris, Mayorkas, Garland, Monaco, Gupta, Clarke, Prelogar and others will be truly ugly for the abuses in the “New American Gulag” that Mayorkas continues to operate while DOJ aids cover up and inexcusably defends grotesque human rights abuses! What happened to the concept of integrity and ethics at DOJ?

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/16/1190767610/ice-detention-immigration-government-inspectors-barbaric-negligent-conditions

In Michigan, a man in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was sent into a jail’s general population unit with an open wound from surgery, no bandages and no follow-up medical appointment scheduled, even though he still had surgical drains in place.

A federal inspector found: “The detainee never received even the most basic care for his wound.”

In Georgia, a nurse ignored an ICE detainee who urgently asked for an inhaler to treat his asthma. Even though he was never examined by the medical staff, the nurse put a note in the medical record that “he was seen in sick call.”

“The documentation by the nurse bordered on falsification and the failure to see a patient urgently requesting medical attention regarding treatment with an inhaler was negligent.”

And in Pennsylvania, a group of correctional officers strapped a mentally ill male ICE detainee into a restraint chair and gave the lone female officer a pair of scissors to cut off his clothes for a strip search.

“There is no justifiable correctional reason that required the detainee who had a mental health condition to have his clothes cut off by a female officer while he was compliant in a restraint chair. This is a barbaric practice and clearly violates … basic principles of humanity.”

. . . .

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

Many thanks to my friend Debi Sanders for sending this my way with her succinct, “says it all,” two-word comment! Read and listen to the full report at the link.

Yet one more example of the failed Attorney Generalship of Merrick Garland! Where is the integrity, decency, and adherence to the rule of law that we were promised from a former Federal Judge and Supreme Court nominee?

Sure, the inhumanity flourished under the Trump regime! But, the last election was about a change and improvement, particularly in immigration. Garland’s performance on immigration, human rights, and racial justice should be a totally unacceptable to Dems!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

08-17-23

☠️👎🏼 ANOTHER SUPER-SHODDY PERFORMANCE BY BIA ON CENTRAL AMERICAN ASYLUM OUTED BY 9TH CIR. — Reyes-Corado v. Garland

Four Horsemen — BIA Asylum Panel In Action. It’s hard to ignore the BIA’s violent, deadly, abuse of asylum seekers, particularly those of color. But, somehow, Merrick Garland, Lisa Monaco, Vanita Gupta, Kristen Clarke, and other DOJ officials manage to look the other way, as do Congressional Dems! Too busy fecklessly complaining about Justice Clarence Thomas to look at their own house?
Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2023/08/11/18-70225.pdf

SUMMARY** Immigration

The panel granted a petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of Francisco Reyes-Corado’s motion to reopen removal proceedings based on changed circumstances, and remanded.

The Board denied reopening based, in part, on Reyes- Corado’s failure to include a new application for relief, as required by 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(1). The government acknowledged that under Aliyev v. Barr, 971 F.3d 1085 (9th Cir. 2020), the Board erred to the extent it relied on Reyes- Corado’s failure to submit a new asylum application for relief. Here, however, unlike in Aliyev, Reyes-Corado did not include his original asylum application with his motion to reopen. Consistent with the plain text of § 1003.2(c)(1) and various persuasive authorities, the panel held that a motion to reopen that adds new circumstances to a previously considered application need not be accompanied by an application for relief.

The Board also denied reopening after concluding that Reyes-Corado did not establish materially changed country conditions to warrant an exception to the time limitation on his motion to reopen. Reyes-Corado initially sought asylum relief based on threats he received from his uncle’s family members to discourage him from avenging his father’s murder by his uncle’s family. The Board previously concluded that personal retribution, rather than a protected

** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.

REYES-CORADO V. GARLAND 3

ground, was the central motivation for the threats of harm. In his motion to reopen, Reyes-Corado presented evidence of persistent and intensifying threats.

As an initial matter, the panel explained that the changed circumstances Reyes-Corado presented were entirely outside of his control, and thus were properly understood as changed country conditions, not changed personal circumstances. The panel also held that these changed circumstances were material to Reyes-Corado’s claims for relief because they rebutted the agency’s previous determination that Reyes-Corado had failed to establish the requisite nexus between the harm he feared and his membership in a familial particular social group. The panel explained that the Board’s previous nexus rationale was undermined by the fact that the threats, harassment, and violence persisted despite the lack of any retribution by Reyes-Corado’s family against his uncle’s family for at least fourteen years after Reyes-Corado’s father’s murder, and where multiple additional family members were targeted, including elderly and young family members who would be unlikely to carry out any retribution. Thus, the panel held that the Board abused its discretion in concluding that Reyes-Corado’s evidence was not qualitatively different than the evidence at his original hearing.

The panel also declined to uphold the Board’s determination that Reyes-Corado failed to establish prima facie eligibility for relief because Reyes-Corado’s new evidence likely undermined the Board’s prior nexus finding, and the Board applied the improperly high “one central reason” nexus standard to Reyes-Corado’s withholding of removal claim, rather than the less demanding “a reason” standard.

4 REYES-CORADO V. GARLAND

The panel remanded for the Board to reconsider whether Reyes-Corado established prima facie eligibility for relief and to otherwise reevaluate the motion to reopen in light of the principles set forth in the opinion.

COUNSEL

David A. Schlesinger

(argued), Kai Medeiros, and Paulina

Reyes, Jacobs & Schlesinger LLP, San Diego, California, for Petitioner.

Enitan O. Otunla (argued), Trial Attorney; Bernard A. Joseph, Senior Litigation Counsel; Joseph H. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General; Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice; Washington, D.C.; for Respondent.

OPINION

KOH, Circuit Judge:

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

Congrats to David A. Schlesinger & colleagues!

I’ve often discussed EOIR’s all-too-frequent use of bogus nexus determinations – basically turning normal legal rules on causation on their head – to deny protection to bona fide refugees, particularly those from Latin America and Haiti.

There is a growing body of evidence that EOIR is systematically unfair to Central American asylum applicants. But, Garland, his lieutenants, and Congressional Dems have basically looked the other way as this stunning, widespread denial of due process and equal protection under our Constitution continues to unfold in plain view on their watch! Why? Where’s the dynamic, values-based, expert, ethical leadership we should expect from a Dem Administration?

This particular example of substandard “judging” literally reeks of pre-judgement and “endemic any reason to denialism!”

Dems wring their collective hands about Justice Clarence Thomas, who is essentially unaccountable and untouchable! But, they have done little or nothing to address serious competence, bias, and ethical issues festering in a major “life or death” Federal Court System they totally control!

Lots of “talk,” not much “walk” from Dems!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

08-15-23

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

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Stephanie writes in The Hill:

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From Reuters:

Overview

Political Repression and Human Rights

Crime and Insecurity

Economic Collapse

Health Crisis

Food Insecurity

Heavy Rains and Flooding

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

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Here’s what audiences are saying:

Here’s my “Crespo Shortlist”

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Jay Kuo in “The Status Kuo” on Substack:

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Dana Milbank writes @ WashPost:

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From the Los Angeles & San Francisco Daily Journal:

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Andrea Castillo reports for the LA times:

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Tea writes:

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Melissa Del Bosque writes in the Border Chronicle:

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Hamed Aleaziz & Tracy Wilkinson report for the LA Times:

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Todd Miller reports for the BorderChronicle:

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