Paul Wickham Schmidt

🤯 JASON “THE ASYLUMIST” DZUBOW EXPLORES THE “INCREDIBLE EXPLODING ASYLUM BACKLOG!” — Predictably, EOIR’s “Aimless Docket Reshuffling on Steroids” Remains a Significant “Driver” of Unnecessary Backlogs!

https://www.asylumist.com/2023/10/04/the-incredible-exploding-backlog/

Jason writes:

. . . .

In Immigration Court, the number one “internal” problem has probably been aimless docket reshuffling, where cases are repeatedly re-arranged depending on the priorities of different administrations. Other problems include inefficient Master Calendar Hearings and pre-trial conferences, insufficient guidance from the Board of Immigration Appeals, which leads to inconsistent decision-making, and not enough staff members to support the Immigration Judges. In addition, there is a shortage of DHS attorneys (the prosecutors), and those attorneys have insufficient power (or willingness) to resolve cases or narrow contested issues prior to the final hearing.

What does all this mean for asylum seekers? In court, cases are still being heard, though I expect that delays will increase and more cases will be rescheduled. We can also expect that more non-priority cases (i.e., people who do not have criminal or security issues) will be dismissed based on prosecutorial discretion. At the Asylum Office, nothing seems to be moving. You can try to expedite your case and if that fails, file a writ of mandamus to force the agency to adjudicate your application. Otherwise, I would not expect any progress any time soon.

Finally, we might as well end on a positive note. Having recognized that most asylum applicants will be stuck waiting for years and years, the government has recently increased the validity period of asylum-pending work permits from two years to five years. For asylum applicants, this change will save money and reduce stress, and for USCIS, it will reduce their workload and allow them to focus on other applications. I guess the lesson here is that every cloud has a silver lining–even a mushroom cloud.

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

Read Jason’s full analysis at the link.

As Jason acknowledges, some of the drivers are “world events” over which — contrary to GOP and other nativist blather, often fanned by the so-called “mainstream media” — receiving countries like the U.S. have relatively little effective control. This is particularly true in the short run.

We’ve notoriously tried “taking over” countries in conflict. It never works! Moreover, it can eventually create additional refugee situations rather than resolving them. See, e.g., Afghanistan.

Nor are border barriers, razor wire, dungeons, arbitrary deportations, stripping asylum rights, xenophobic rhetoric, criminal prosecutions, killing some migrants by forcing ever more dangerous crossings, and a host of other unilateral measures pushed primarily by the GOP (but also by some Dems) going to change the actions of Maduro, Ortega, Putin, Diaz-Canel or any of the other authoritarian autocrats whose policies drive folks to flee their native lands and seek refuge abroad.

So, rather than wringing hands about what we can’t change, why not change that which is under our control? Long overdue, common-sense reforms and improvements in asylum adjudication, reception, and resettlement, some mentioned by Jason, could be achieved.

They won’t necessarily halt the flow of refugees, nor are they guaranteed to eliminate backlogs, particularly in the short run. But, they will reduce the backlogs, contribute mightily to a better U.S. legal system, and comply with our international and domestic legal obligations. That, in and of itself, appears to be a worthy and achievable goal. But, nobody in charge seems to be interested in anything but “quick fixes” — which aren’t really “fixes” at all, since they have all been tried and failed.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-08-23

🏈 BUTKUS DIES @ 80 — Bears’ 🐻 Hall of Famer Was The Ultimate Tough Guy In A Grittier Age of The NFL!

Richard “Dick” Butkus
1942-2023
Hall of Fame Middle Linebacker
Chicago Bears
PHOTO: Milwaukee Journal Sentinal Archives

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

Courtside Sports Special

Oct. 7, 2023

It was a different football era. Powerful running backs like Jim Brown (Browns), Jim Taylor (Packers), and Gayle Sayers (Bears) dominated the offenses. Quarterbacks threw strategically and relatively sparingly, by today’s standards. (Packer Hall of Famer, Bart Starr, one of the best ever to play the position, averaged fewer than 20 pass attempts/game during his career. Some of today’s top QBs throw more than that by halftime!) 300 pounders were almost unheard of, on either side of the ball (today, most major college teams average over 300 pounds “up front.”)

The defenses were dominated by tough middle linebackers. Guys with names like Ray Nitschke (Packers), Sam Huff (Giants/Washington), and “Cousin Joe” (actually no relation) Schmidt (Lions). Today, most fans probably can’t name their own team’s starting middle linebacker, let alone their opponent’s. There’s really no current NFL counterpart, on either side of the ball, to the “fearsome, dominant middle linebacker” of the circa 1960’s NFL!

There was one middle linebacker that every fan knew: Dick Butkus of the Bears — the toughest of the tough, the meanest of the mean, the nastiest of the nasty, the baddest of the bad!

Growing up as a Wisconsin kid steeped in the Packers-Bears rivalry, the NFL’s oldest, Butkus was the “villain you loved to hate.” But, there was no denying his greatness and his impact on the game. The legendary Packer coach Vince Lombardi and his team had great respect for Butkus. “Butkus, hell, we used to put three people on him and still couldn’t block him,” said former Packer Dave “Hawg” Hanner. https://www.packers.com/news/packers-had-total-respect-for-the-legendary-dick-butkus.

Known on the field for his brawn, Butkus was also brainy. Although slowed by injuries at the end of his career, he retired young with his marbles and most of his essential body parts still intact. Like his great rival Jim Brown, Butkus went on to a successful career as an actor and tv personality. He became symbolic of the Bears’ franchise and the city of Chicago.

Farewell to Butkus — “Da baddest of da big bad Bears!” Thanks for the rivalries, memories, and excellence!

You can read Mike Freeman’s retrospective on Butkus’s life and career in USA Today here:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/mike-freeman/2023/10/05/dick-butkus-ferocious-legacy-chicago-bears/71077657007/

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-07-23

🤮 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.

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

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

🍁FALL ON LINEKIN BAY — “SHINE ON HARVEST MOON” 🌝

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🇺🇸 Due Process Forever & Happy Harvesting From Boothbay Harbor!

PWS

10-03-23

😢🗽🇺🇸 HUMANITARIAN CRISIS DEMANDS HUMANE RESPONSE: GOP DEMAGOGUERY, DEM INDIFFERENCE TO SUFFERING WON’T GET THE JOB DONE! 🤯 NGO’s Once Again Step Up To Do The USG’S Job! — They Need Help! ⛑️

Immigrant Defenders posted this on LinkedIn:

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues to inhumanely release asylum seekers onto San Diego streets, often with little more than the clothes on their backs. #TeamImmDef, Lindsay Toczylowski, Margaret Cargioli, Melissa Shepard and Jesús Contreras Barajas, continues to join various non-profit organizations, grassroots groups and community members to receive asylum seekers with respect and help them reach their friends and family members all over the United States. Our dedicated team, in collaboration with our remarkable San Diego-based partners, is tirelessly working to continue to welcome migrants with dignity. We have welcomed more than 8500 asylum seekers in 13 days.

We need all levels of government, local and federal, to provide infrastructure and financial resources to help NGOs welcome with dignity.

If you want to help, please consider donating airline miles to Miles4Migrants. Please see the link in our bio to donate. Or donate directly to ImmDef at Immdef.org/donate.

#AsylumIsAHumanRight #WelcomeWithDignity

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

Scandalously, rather than looking to solve this humanitarian crisis, the GOP seeks to punish victims of Government dereliction of duty and their humanitarian responders for asserting well-established legal rights! Talk about a party of lawlessness! Sadly, it’s no surprise since they owe homage to an insurrectionist “leader” who is a notorious fraudster, con man, and criminal defendant in multiple cases!

While resisting the GOP’s worst racist/nativist nonsense, the Dems’ approach has been largely to avoid talking about immigration and human rights, apparently believing that pretending like they don’t exist will make them go away. But, migration isn’t going away!

While we can to some extent control, channel, and optimize migration, irresponsible “zero tolerance/uber deterrence” policies will do little to stop reality in the long run. It will, however, eventually force more migration underground and cede policy control to smugglers, cartels, and other criminals.

At the same time, obsessing over deterring and deporting those who merely seek refuge and a chance to contribute to America will actually diminish the harder work of focusing on criminals out to turn border disorder and misplaced priorities to their advantage.

Neither party appears to have a realistic plan for the border, and the GOP actively seeks to make things worse! Meanwhile, not for the first time, NGOs, local communities, and compassionate individuals are left to pick up the slack!

Recently, the San Diego County Board showed the potential for bipartisan cooperation on the border.

//www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/story/2023-09-26/county-declares-humanitarian-crisis-at-border-will-ask-federal-government-for-more-help

But, without a more realistic approach from the Feds — currently blocked by the GOP — local efforts are unlikely to succeed. And, that’s an avoidable humanitarian tragedy!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-02-23

🇺🇸 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

‼️⚖️🗽ATTENTION: NDPA PRACTICE ALERT: USCIS Announces FY 2025 Diversity Visa (“DV”) Window!

GW Law Immigration Clinic Director Professor Alberto Benítez & Co-Director Professor Paulina Vera

Submitted by Professor Alberto Benitez at GW Law Immigration Clinic:

The entry submission period for the FY2025 Diversity Visa lottery is from 12:00 pm (ET) on October 4, 2023, to 12:00 pm (ET) on November 7, 2023. Please see the attached.

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

Alberto Manuel Benitez

Professor of Clinical Law

Director, Immigration Clinic

The George Washington University Law School

650 20th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20052

(202) 994-7463

(202) 994-4946 fax

abenitez@law.gwu.edu

THE WORLD IS YOURS…

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

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

Thanks my friend!

The window opens,

And the window closes.

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-30-23

☠️🤮 DEADLY UNFAIR “COURTS” POTENTIAL “DEATH TRIBUNALS” FOR AFGHAN HAZARA REFUGEES — Hon “Sir Jeffrey” Chase Speaks Out: “Case law supports granting protection for people who belong to a group long persecuted in their homelands even if an individual cannot prove specific threats, said Chase!”

https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-deportation-taliban-asylum-us-immigration-court-cabf3bcdec9a62b12f08300d1260cd68

Julie Watson reports for AP:

The Afghan man speaks only Farsi, but he wasn’t worried about representing himself in U.S. immigration court. He believed the details of his asylum claim spoke for themselves.

Mohammad was a university professor, teaching human rights courses in Afghanistan before he fled for the United States. Mohammad is also Hazara, an ethnic minority long persecuted in his country, and he said he was receiving death threats under the Taliban, who reimposed their harsh interpretation of Sunni Islam after taking power in 2021.

He crossed the Texas border in April 2022, surrendered to Border Patrol agents and was detained. A year later, a hearing was held via video conference. His words were translated by a court interpreter in another location, and he said he struggled to express himself — including fear for his life since he was injured in a 2016 suicide bombing.

At the conclusion of the nearly three-hour hearing, the judge denied him asylum. Mohammad said he was later shocked to learn that he had waived his right to appeal the decision.

“I feel alone and that the law wasn’t applied,” said Mohammad, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition that only his first name be used, over fears for the safety of his wife and children, who are still in Afghanistan.

. . . .

Hon. Jeffrey S. Chase
Jeffrey S. Chase Blog
Coordinator & Chief Spokesperson, Round Table of Former Immigration Judges

Former immigration judge Jeffrey Chase, who reviewed the transcript, said he was surprised John-Baptiste waived Mohammad’s right to appeal and that the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld that decision. Case law supports granting protection for people who belong to a group long persecuted in their homelands even if an individual cannot prove specific threats, said Chase, an adviser to the appeals board.

But Andrew Arthur, another former immigration judge, said John-Baptiste ruled properly.

“The respondent knew what he was filing, understood all of the questions that were asked of him at the hearing, understood the decision, and freely waived his right to appeal,” Arthur, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for immigration restrictions, said via email.

Chase said the hearing appeared rushed, and he believes the case backlog played a role.

“Immigration judges hear death-penalty cases in traffic-court conditions,” said Chase, quoting a colleague. “This is a perfect example.”

Overall, the 600 immigration judges nationwide denied 63% of asylum cases last year, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. Individual rates vary wildly, from a Houston judge who denied all 105 asylum requests to a San Francisco one denying only 1% of 108 cases.

John-Baptiste, a career prosecutor appointed during the Trump administration’s final months, denied 72% of his 114 cases.

. . . .

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

Read Julie’s complete article at the link.

Hazaras are an historically persecuted group in Afghanistan whose already perilous situation has demonstrably worsened under the Taliban. See, e.g., https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/blog/urgent-action-needed-hazaras-in-afghanistan-under-attack. This case should have been a “slam dunk grant” under a proper application of precedents like Cardoza and Mogharrabi! Additionally, Hazara claims should be routinely grantable under the “pattern or practice of persecution” regulations that EOIR judges are supposed to apply (but seldom do).

No wonder this system builds incredible unnecessary backlogs when it botches the easy grants, wastes time on specious, disingenuous reasons for denial, and allows questionably-qualified judges to run roughshod over due process, the rule of law, and binding precedents.

Here’s additional commentary from “Sir Jeffrey:”

Thankfully, the amazing Steve Schulman at Akin Gump took on Mohamed’s case after his pro se hearing, and Human Rights First provided additional support.

(The Round Table was prepared to file an amicus brief on this one at the Fifth Circuit, but an agreement was reached to reopen the case at the IJ level before briefing was due.)

That the Government agreed to reopen this case basically “says it all” about the absurd result in the original hearing and the bogus “waiver” of appeal.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-29-23

🤯 WRONG AGAIN! — BIA Flubs Divisibility In 3rd Cir. — Pesikan v. Atty. Gen.

Dan Kowalski reports for LexisNexis Immigration Community:

https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/insights/legal/immigration/b/insidenews/posts/ca3-on-divisibility-pesikan-v-atty-gen

https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/203307p.pdf

“Petitioner Srecko Pesikan argues that the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) erred in concluding that his 2018 Pennsylvania conviction for driving under the influence (“DUI”) of marijuana constituted an offense involving a “controlled substance,” as defined in the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), thereby rendering him removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a) (“INA”). We agree and will grant his petition for review. … In sum, because the identity of the specific controlled substance is not an element of the Pennsylvania DUI statute, the state statute of conviction is indivisible and cannot serve as the basis for Pesikan’s removal under the INA. … For the foregoing reasons, we will grant Pesikan’s Petition for Review in case number 21-1262 and will reverse the order for removal.”

[Hats way off to appointed pro bono counsel Bruce Merenstein, Arleigh Helfer and Stephen Fogdall (argued)! Here is a link to the audio of the oral argument.]

Stephen A. Fogdall, Esquire

– Stephen A. Fogdall

—

Daniel M. Kowalski

Editor-in-Chief

Bender’s Immigration Bulletin (LexisNexis)

cell/text/Signal (512) 826-0323

@dkbib on Twitter

dan@cenizo.com

Free Daily Blog: www.bibdaily.com

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

These are important cases with high stakes! They deserve expert analysis from expert judges.

Eliminating unnecessary Circuit reversals and remands like this would also help address the backlog-building, due-process-denying phenomenon of “Aimless Docket Reshuffling” at EOIR. Avoidable mistakes at the “retail level” are systemically costly to our justice system in more ways than one!

And, remember, that for every EOIR mistake that gets “caught” by the Article IIIs, dozens of these injustices probably go uncorrected! Circuit review is a luxury that isn’t available to most individuals who lose at the BIA level. Even here, Mr. Pesikan would have had no chance at the Circuit except for court-appointed pro bono counsel Stephen A. Fogdall and his team at Dillworth & Paxon, LLP, another luxury unavailable to litigants at the EOIR level.

Moreover, even when Circuit review does take place, the inappropriately deferential standards established by Congress allow (or even require) some Circuit panels to merely sweep glaring injustices under the rug without grappling with the overall constitutional implications of this shoddy, due–process-denying system. Why on earth would “deference” be given or review restricted over the “gang that can’t shoot straight” at EOIR?”

Gang that couldn't shoot straight — Would you give “deference” to these guys?
Theatrical poster from Wikipedia

Congress and the Article III Courts appear unlikely to face up to the need for constitutionally-required reforms at EOIR in the near future. Therefore, as I pointed out yesterday, it’s critical that NDPA experts apply for judicial positions at EOIR to change the system for the better and save lives from “within.” https://immigrationcourtside.com/2023/09/27/🇺🇸⚖%EF%B8%8F🗽🧑⚖%EF%B8%8F👨🏾⚖%EF%B8%8F-attention-ndpa-better-courts-mean-a-better-america-fr/.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-25-23

🇺🇸⚖️🗽🧑‍⚖️👨🏾‍⚖️ ATTENTION NDPA: BETTER COURTS MEAN A BETTER AMERICA, FROM THE “RETAIL LEVEL” TO THE SUPREMES! — The Future Immigration Courts Are Being Formed Today — We Need NDPA All-Stars 🌟 On The Bench! — You Can’t Be Selected If You Don’t Apply (My History Notwithstanding)!

I want you — Don’t just complain about the awful mess @ EOIR! Get on the bench and do something about it!
Public Domain

EOIR is looking for “many judges in many locations:”

https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/insights/legal/immigration/b/insidenews/posts/many-immigration-judge-positions-open

https://www.justice.gov/legal-careers/job/immigration-judge-26

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

Some folks who should be applying for these jobs tell me they “couldn’t work with such an unfair law.” I say “poppycock.” To a large extent, the law and the unfair results are only as bad as EOIR judges choose make them.

But, it doesn’t have to be that way! For example, you can choose to:

Apply Cardoza-Fonseca, Mogharrabi, Kasinga, A-R-C-G-, and other precedents favorable to applicants fairly and robustly;
Honestly apply the presumption of future persecution set forth in 8 CFR 208.13 and actually put the burden on DHS to rebut it with evidence, not mere conjecture;
Carefully consider the possibility of a discretionary grant of asylum under the regulations (“so-called Chen grant”), even where the government rebuts the presumption of a well-founded fear;
Make realistic, practical, proper credibility determinations based on “the totality of the circumstances and all relevant factors;”
Require only “reasonably available” corroborating evidence;
Actually follow the legal principle that credible testimony, in an of itself, can be enough to grant relief;
Apply the “reasonableness of internal relocation” regulation set forth at 8 CFR 208.13(b)(3) honestly;
Fairly apply the properly generous interpretation of the “well founded fear” standard required by the Supremes in Cardoza and described by the BIA in Mogharrabi to cases where there is no past persecution;
Incorporate the latest scholarship on “country conditions,” rather than “cherry picking” DOS Country Reports looking for ways to deny;
Use the latest body of scholarship on “best interests of the child” in deciding cancellation of removal for non-LPRs;
Schedule cases in a reasonable manner, in consultation with both counsel, to eliminate endemic “aimless docket reshuffling;”
Take measures to promote and facilitate representation of individuals, rather than throwing up roadblocks;
Make ICE counsel do their jobs, rather than doing it for them, particularly in cases where ICE unilaterally declines to appear at the merits hearing;
Use all of your practical skills and knowledge of the law and practice to solve problems and promote efficiency;
Consider all interpretations available to you, not just “defaulting” to the one offered by ICE;
Make careful, analytical, findings of fact, rather than just glossing over facts favorable to the individuals and over-emphasizing or fabricating the facts most favorable to DHS;
Make your “courtroom a classroom” where exceptional scholarship, due process, fundamental fairness, teamwork, practical solutions to human problems, and best practices are promoted and institutionalized.

You might well find, like I did, that being guided by Cardoza and Mogharrabi, sticking to your guns, providing full due process, and faithfully following the law actually leads to grants of relief in the majority of individual hearings. Notably, ICE seldom appealed my grants, and I was rarely reversed by the BIA, no matter who appealed.

I actually did better with my former BIA colleagues as an IJ than I had during my eight years of service on the Board. Indeed, as I sometimes quipped, as an IJ, I finally got that which my colleagues often denied me during my tenure as BIA Chair and an Appellate Judge/BIA Member: deference!

Worried about “life after EOIR!” Yes, there is such a thing!

And, a quick survey of our Round Table of Former Immigration Judges and BIA Members 🛡⚔️ would show everything from partners and of counsel in law firms, professors and educators, major NGO supervisors and attorneys, community activists, consultants and coaches, to those, like me, who claim to be “fully retired and just enjoying life.” The Round Table actually has great credibility with the Federal Courts and the media because, unlike sitting judges and their “handlers,” we can actually speak truth to power outside the courtroom!

Whether you serve for a year or the rest of your career, what you learn as an EOIR judge if you pay attention, will give you a “leg up” and otherwise unobtainable practical knowledge of how America’s most important, yet least understood, court system actually works (or not)!

Every week, almost every day in fact, we see in Federal Court reversals and remands to EOIR and reports from practitioners about unpublished successes the fundamental difference that great litigation and equally “great judging” can make in reaching correct results! Making it happen every day, in every court, at the “retail level,” rather than counting on the uncertainties and limitations of Circuit review, will save lives and change the delivery of justice throughout America!

NDPAers, the “EOIR train” is leaving the station. 🚅 As a nation, we can’t afford the “best and the brightest” of today’s legal profession not to be on board! So, get those “many applications” in for those “many jobs” and let’s see if we can fix this “life or death system” from both the inside and the outside! We won’t know if we don’t try!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-27-23

🤡🤯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

🏈❤️ COURTSIDE SPORTS: GOTTA LOVE THAT COMEBACK — JLove Leads Q4 Surge As Pack Down Saints 18-17 In Epic Home Opener @ Lambeau!

Jordan Love
Quarterback
Green Bay Packers
PHOTO” Packer website

Courtside Sports Exclusive

September 24, 2023

Last week, the Packers took a 12 point lead into the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons. They came up short, as the defense allowed three scores, the Jordan Love led offense whiffed big time on all their possessions, and the Falcons won 25-24.

For three quarters, the funk continued as Green Bay hurt themselves with penalties, while the visiting New Orleans Saints held a commanding 17-0 lead in the fourth quarter. At that point, the Pack had been outscored 30-0 over four quarters.

Then, with about 12 minutes left in the game, Love and the Packer offense came alive, scoring a field goal, and two touchdowns on their next three possessions to lead 18-17. Following the field goal, Love (22-44-259-1-1) ran for his first Lambeau touchdown, topped by a laser to Samori Toure for a huge two-point conversion that turned out to be the difference maker. On the Packers’ next possession, Love hit Romeo Doubs on an 8-yard TD pass with the kick by Anders Carlson giving the Pack their first and only lead of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Pack defense, led by Rashan Gary (3 sacks), pitched a second half shutout. Their cause was helped when Saints QB Derek Carr (13-18-1-0) left the game with an apparent shoulder injury in the third quarter following a Gary sack. His replacement Jameis Winston was largely ineffective.

However, after Green Bay took the lead, Winston did rally his troops into position for a potential lead-retaking field goal with a little over a minute remaining in the game. But, Blake Grupe’s kick drifted wide right, and the Pack went into victory formation.

The Pack overcame a 17-point halftime deficit for only the second time in team history. Apparently, it’s only they third time in the last three decades that an NFL team has erased a deficit of that magnitude in the fourth quarter.

New Orleans (2-1) suffered its first defeat of the season. The Pack meanwhile improved to 2-1 with the Detroit Lions, also 2-1 and victors over the Falcons Sunday, up next on Thursday night at Lambeau.

🇺🇸🗽FRANCESCO ISGRO @ VOCE ITALIANA: WE NEED A RETURN TO UNITY & ACTING FOR THE COMMON GOOD: “Rather than disparage fellow humans and our time-honored institutions, we should instead seek to rediscover that lost common ground, where solutions to common problems have resided and still do.”

Francesco Isgro, Esquire
President & CEO of Casa Italiana Sociocultural Center, Inc.
Editor-in-Chief,
Voce Italiana
PHOTO: Linkedin

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

Well said, my friend! (You might need to use your computer to enlarge the above reprint.)

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-24-23

Jason writes:

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

Related posts:

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

Related posts:

From Reuters:

Overview

Political Repression and Human Rights

Crime and Insecurity

Economic Collapse

Health Crisis

Food Insecurity

Heavy Rains and Flooding

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

Related posts:

Here’s what audiences are saying:

Here’s my “Crespo Shortlist”

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

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Jay Kuo in “The Status Kuo” on Substack:

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

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Immigrant Defenders posted this on LinkedIn:

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

Related posts:

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

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Submitted by Professor Alberto Benitez at GW Law Immigration Clinic:

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

Related posts:

Julie Watson reports for AP:

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

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Dan Kowalski reports for LexisNexis Immigration Community:

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

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EOIR is looking for “many judges in many locations:”

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

Related posts:

Dana Milbank writes @ WashPost:

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

Related posts:

🏈❤️ COURTSIDE SPORTS: GOTTA LOVE THAT COMEBACK — JLove Leads Q4 Surge As Pack Down Saints 18-17 In Epic Home Opener @ Lambeau!

Paul Wickham Schmidt

Courtside Sports Exclusive

September 24, 2023

Related posts:

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

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