Month: July 2019

Our elections correspondent, Chrysostom, is back–and just in time! This week he analyzes the effect of retirements, critical Virginia elections, and the gerry-mandering decision. And he speculates on what Susan Collins is really going to do. Find him here.

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. Heather Heyer’s murderer sentenced

James Alex Fields Jr., a self-described white supremacist, was sentenced to life plus 419 years for killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens during the August 12, 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Vox reports. JM

2. McConnell receives donations from voting machine companies, blocks election security measures

Despite repeated warnings of Russian election interference (including a very clear warning from Robert Muller during his House testimony on July 24), Mitch McConnell continues to block Senate votes on election security measures, using the specious justification that Democratic election security legislation is being championed for “political benefit” and is “partisan legislation,” reports the Hill. McConnell’s position disregards the Senate’s own report, which came out hours after the vote, which concludes that “leading up to the 2016 election, Russians hacked voting machines and registration rolls in all 50 states, and they are likely still doing so,” according to reports from PBS and Slate.

One piece of election security legislation McConnell is currently blocking is H.R.1, the For the People Act, which expands voter registration and voting access, makes Election Day a national holiday, limits the removal of voters from voting rolls, establishes nonpartisan redistricting commissions, supports improvement of election-related cyber-security systems, expands federal code of ethics requirements for candidates and others, requires release of presidential candidates’ tax returns. McConnell is also blocking Senate action on H.R.2722, the SAFE Act, which would provide grants for election system upgrades and paper ballots and mandate particular election security minimums. Earlier this year, McConnell received donations from voting machine companies, according to Newsweek. S-HP

If you have something to say to McConnell about election security, you can write to him here.

3. Another assault on immigrants

The Trump administration has announced a new “expedited removal” process, which has been posted on the Federal Register for public comments. Undocumented immigrants who cannot prove they have been continuously present in the U.S. for the previous two years will be subject to immediate deportation. As Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project Omar Jadwat put it, in a written statement cited by Politico, “Under this unlawful plan, immigrants who have lived here for years would be deported with less due process than people get in traffic court.” S-HP

If you would like to comment for the public record on the “expedited removal” policy, see the instructions here.

4. Ruling could invalidate thousands of convictions

Thousands of people were prosecuted for crossing the border illegally, prosecutions which made possible the separation of children from their parents. Now a ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals invalidates part of the statute on which those prosecutions were based, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Hundreds of families could be affected by the ruling. RLS

5. Rule change would limit access to food stamps

Some three million people could have their access to food stamps limited if a proposed federal rule change goes through, according to the Washington Post.. At the moment, people who qualify for federal or state aid also automatically qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The rule change would require that SNAP benefits only be given after a separate income verification, in addition to those already used by the federal and state governments. The Republican administration claims that SNAP benefits are being misused and inappropriately given to people whose income doesn’t merit the support. However, given the difficulty of qualifying for federal and state aid programs, it’s unlikely that anyone is getting “underserved” food assistance via current SNAP qualification practices. Instead, this looks to be the deliberate creation of a new “hoop” for those qualifying for aid to jump through, in the hopes of preventing qualified applicants from accessing SNAP by creating additional an additional barrier to program participation. S-HP

If you wish to submit a comment for the public record about this rule change, or want to write relevant people in Congress, here is how to do it.

6. Who might be implicated by Epstein documents?

A hearing in the Epstein case scheduled for July 24 has been postponed, according to Bloomberg. Documents in the case have been ordered unsealed by an appeals court, the Miami Herald reports. Bloomberg suggests that names of Epstein’s associates may be revealed. Epstein himself was found injured in jail three days after being denied bail; the New York Times says it is not clear whether he was assaulted or whether the marks on his neck were self-inflicted.

Florida Senator Lauren Book told the Miami Herald that she had asked for help from the Capitol police after receiving anonymous threatening phone calls telling her to stop pressing for an inquiry into Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s handling of Epstein’s work release.

Recall that a 2016 lawsuit was filed by a woman who says that she was sexually assaulted by Epstein and Trump when she was 13. Snopes has a good summary of the situation surrouning the suit: The suit was at first dismissed because of improper paperwork, then refiled, then dropped when the plaintiff said she was afraid to pursue it. Her affiavit in a court document from 2016 is unsettling. RLS

7. Greyhound: Working for ICE

Greyhound continues to let Border Patrol agents board its buses to question and arrest passengers without a warrant or any suspicion of wrongdoing. As the American Civil Liberties Union puts it, “the company is throwing its loyal customers under the bus.” Because of Greyhound’s intransigence, the ACLU is urging that we pressure the owners of Greyhound: FirstGroup, a United Kingdom-based transportation group. The FirstGroup Code of Ethics and Corporate Responsibility reads, “We are committed to recognising human rights on a global basis. We have a zero-tolerance approach to any violations within our company or by business partners.” Greyhound’s continued participation in unwarranted, unjustified Border Patrol searches is a clear violation of FirstGroup policy. S-HP

If you would like to suggest that FirstGroup require Greyhound to honor its code of ethics, write to: Mike Murray, President and Chief Executive Officer, FirstGroup America Headquarters, 600 Vine St., Suite 1400, Cincinnati, OH 45202, (513) 241-2200.

8. Good blockades make good neighbors

In Hermitage, TN, this week, a man was confronted by ICE agents attempting to pull over the vehicle he and his son were in. After a 4 hour standoff where the agents called the Metro Nashville Police Department and neighbors and local activists formed a human chain around his vehicle, the ICE agents left to de-escalate the situation and the man was able to return to his home, surrounded by his neighbors, accordimg to CNN. JML

The ACLU won a suit earlier in July confirming that the Border Patrol may not require passengers on domestic flights to show identification and proof of citizenship. It also reminds us that they provide a “Know Your Rghts” pamphlet.
Scroll down–it is also available in Spanish.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

9. Bill would provide support to Latin American countries

The movement of asylum seekers from Central America to the U.S. has a great deal to do with  U.S. foreign policy in the past: our focus on military assistance, which builds violence and government intransigence; our exporting of firearms; our collaboration in silencing the voices of those speaking out for representative government, social justice, and environmental protection. The U.S. looms like a huge shadow over Central America, and until we find ways to turn that shadow to light, asylum-seekers are going to continue northward because of the danger and hopelessness of life in Central America. An excellent way to shine that light would be to enact H.R.2615, the United States-Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act, which has made it through the House and is now with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. H.R. 2615 has been almost completely ignored by the mainstream media; the Yonkers Tribune has the story. S-HP

If you want to encourage positive rather than punitive engagement with Central America, here are some senators you might write.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

10. Green New Deal passes in New York

New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill described as New York’s own “Green New Deal,” focusing heavily on renewable energy production. The so-called “Green New Deal” endorsed by progressives in Congress is actually more of a platform, a host of wide-ranging policies advocating everything from a universal basic income to changes in agricultural policies. The New York version is much more focused on the expansion of renewable “green” energy in the state with a particular emphasis on boosting off-shore wind generation. With a signed contract for two new wind farms generating a total of 1.7 gigawatts, New York is poised to become the largest producer of off-shore power. The bill also provides for a Climate Justice Working Group in order to help ensure that the benefits of green energy are enjoyed by low-income communities as well as wealthier areas, according to Ars Technica.
JC

11. Russian bots pushing anti-Vax “debate”

A study conducted by George Mason University on twitter bots from Russian troll farms found that the bots post about vaccine conspiracy theories far more than an average poster would, according to CBS News. This fits with the generally accepted theory that along with election interference, the goal of this disinformation blitz is to foster division among Americans. The bots also appear to be starting to propose conspiracies about health risks associated with 5G digital networks, suggesting they cause cancer, autism and Alzheimer’s. The United States is in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in decades; health agencies and social networks are pushing back and attempting to remove these dangerous bits of propaganda–but a lot of damage has already been done, just as with our political system. JC

12. “Unprecedented” fires in the Arctic

Last month, the Guardian reported that permafrost in the Canadian north is melting 70 years earlier than expect. Now, following the hottest June on record, wildfiles are raging in the Arctic, across Alaska, Siberia and Greenland., covering so much territory that they can be seen from space, according to Science Direct. Fires in Alaska have already burned 1.6 million acres, with no end in sight. The fires are both created by and contributing to global warming. Describing the fires as “unprecedented,” Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast, told the Independent that “the amount of CO2 emitted by Arctic wildfires between 1 June and 21 July 2019 is around 100 megatonnes and is approaching the entire 2017 fossil fuel CO2 emissions of Belgium.” RLS

RESOURCES

• One way to support immigrants: help them pay their bail bonds, a major hurdle to freedom, through the Bay Area Immigration Bond Fund, Eastern Iowa Community Bond Project, Fianza Fund, Immigrant Bail Fund, Immigrant Family Defense Fund, LGBTQ Freedom Fund, Minnesota Freedom Fund, New Sanctuary Coalition, or this directory of immigration bond funds.
• The Americans of Conscience Checklist recommends this list of actions you can take to address issues at the border.
• Sarah-Hope suggests actions you can take in response to the stories above and others; see her full list.
• Martha points out that many of the items on her list are easy to respond to, but the Bureau of Land Management ones “are more difficult because they want to know how your own land-use activities are impacted. What I tell them is that as a citizen I want hearings both Congressional and at state and local levels to hear from citizens who drink the water, use parks, and breathe.”
• Rogan’s list suggest actions you can take in response to the detention of citizens, the conditions in detention centers, access by congresspeople to detention centers–and much more.

Be inspired–by the protestors in Puerto Rico, by the four activists who have hounded Big Pharma for twenty years, by the attorneys working doggedly to protect the rights of asylum-seekers, by the reporters who uncover these stories, and by Martha, Sarah-Hope and Susan Rogan, who offer significant ways to respond to the news.

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. New Rule blocks most asylum-seekers

A new rule, published in the Federal Register, bars asylum-seekers who pass through another country on the way to the U.S. from seeking asylum in the U.S., according to the LA Times. Unless civil rights organizations succeed in getting it blocked, as of Tuesday asylum requests on the southern border could only be made by Mexican citizens. All other asylum-seekers would be expected to request asylum from the first nation they enter. This rule would apply to all asylum-seekers, including unaccompanied children. Individuals who are refused asylum in the first nation they enter could then continue to the U.S. to request asylum, but the asylum process can take years. For example, if this rule holds, a Guatemalan or Honduran asylum-seeker could not come directly to the US to request asylum; they would have to request asylum in Mexico or any other country they passed through, a process which would take a very long time. A coalition of organizations that serve immigrants filed suit in federal court the day after the policy was announced, according to the NY Times. S-HP

If you want to ask your members of Congress to keep the U.S. a welcoming country, here is how to find addresses. If you want to comment for the public record, here is the Federal Register site.

2. ICE won’t release detainees to family, sponsors

Congresspeople visiting the detention center in McAllen, Texas were horrified by the cries of babies and toddlers, by the level of filth, and by the refusal of ICE to release detainees, even children, to family members or sponsors–even though the facilities are overwhelmed and overcrowded, according to People magazine. California representative Jackie Speier’s twitter feed has details. RLS

If you wish to speak up about conditions in detention centers, addresses are here.

3. FBI and ICE using drivers’ license photos without permission

In early July, the Washington Post reported that over the past five years the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been making use of state drivers’ license databases, scanning photos into their facial recognition program without consent of state legislators or individual license holders. While law enforcement can have access to data taken from criminal suspects, the vast majority of citizens whose data is now being taken are law-abiding citizens.

As has been repeatedly reported, facial recognition software is still unreliable, particularly in identification of people of color. For instance, in a test of facial recognition software last year by the American Civil Liberties Union, Amazon’s facial recognition software falsely identified thirty-eight members of Congress as people who had been arrested for crimes. California, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have privacy legislation on the books preventing this sort of sharing of Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) databases—and Oregon asserts that it has privacy legislation of a scope that would also prohibit such database use. However, as the Vermont ACLU recently revealed, while the state has privacy legislation that should prevent this sort of data sharing, the state’s DMV has allowed law enforcement full access to license databases on a number of occasions. In fact, the Vermont use of DMV databases disproportionately focused on individuals of color. Blacks were targeted in such database searches at seven times the rate whites were. Hispanics were targeted at rates twelve times higher than were whites. S-HP

If you want to speak up about privacy protection vis a vis drivers’ licenses, the addresses are here.

4. Puerto Rico’s government shaken by chat messages, inaction, corruption

Protestors have rocked Puerto Rico for over a week, demanding an end of corruption and lack of action on long-standing economic and social issues following Hurricane Maria, the Washington Post reports. Igniting the protests was the release of 889 pages of chat messages, in which Governor Ricardo Rosselló and his associates make fun of their opponents, female journalists, and those who lost everything in the hurricane. You can read the messages (in Spanish) here. Though thousands of people have been in the streets and the governor faces impeachment, the mainstream media noticed only yesterday (July 20), as Columbia Journalism Review points out. RLS

5. Opioid epidemic

76 billion opioid pills, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths, were distributed across the US, according to new data obtained following a lawsuit by the Charleston Gazette-Mail and the Washington Post. The chain of responsibility runs from manufacturers–the original producer, Purdue Pharma and the three generic companies who now produce most of the pills–to distributors to unethical pharmacies and doctors to desperate patients and addicts. The DEA had devolved regulatory responsibility to the industry, for the most part, and when it tried to intervene found its hands tied by members of Congress who pushed through legislation favorable to the industry. When companies were fined, the fines were miniscule compared to profits.

Areas where people are suffering from work injuries and from economic stress–such as Appalachia–were flooded with opioids. You can see how many pills (per person per year) went to your county between 2006-2012 at the Post’s site. The truth about Big Pharma’s culpability in oxycontin addiction was first articulated twenty years ago by activists–just four of them–who had lost family members to the disease. As their numbers grew, they became an implacable force, according to the New York Times.

Canada, which also has an opioid crisis, has launched a new initiative to make naloxone, which can reverses overdoses, more readily available, according to the CBC. Already, anyone can get a free naloxone kit at any pharmacy. Canada’s very detailed Pain Task Force Report, released in June, clearly identifies the suffering of people who live with chronic pain and cannot get opioids or who become addicted to them, describes how acute pain becomes chronic pain, and explains options for treatment. RLS

6. Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights

Senator Kamala Harris and Representative Pramila Jayapal have introduced a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights (S.2112 in the Senate; H.R.3760 in the House). This legislation would include domestic workers in basic workplace protections like overtime pay and freedom from harassment and discrimination, from which they are now excluded, according to Elle. It requires written contracts for such workers and access to healthcare and retirement benefits. The legislation also includes enforcement provisions including “know your rights” information and a confidential hotline for reporting violations of the act. S.2112 Is with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. H.R.3760 is with five (!) House committees: Education and Labor; Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means; Judiciary; and Oversight and Government Reform. S-HP

If you want to urge prompt action on these bills, write to these folks.

7. Accounting firms supporting ICE

McKinsey Consulting has ended its contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but several major accounting firms continue to work with ICE, often despite employee objections, according to Newsweek. A quick rundown on some of these:

-Ogilvy and Mather has contracts with Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to recruit new CBP employees. In defending these contracts Chief Executive Officer John Seifert has claimed that Ogilvy and Mather is not doing any work against its values and beliefs.

-Deloitte U.S. has $140 million in ICE contracts. Chief Executive Officer Joe Ucuzoglu has been a strong advocate for workplace diversity and for LGBTQ rights. U.S. Board Chair Janet Foutty worked on behalf of girls, via MakerGirl and Storycatchers, during corporate Impact Day.

-PricewaterhouseCoopers has $5 million in ICE contracts for “detention compliance and removals.” Their corporate human rights statement notes “we depend on each other to be mindful of our ethical responsibilities.” S-HP

If you want to inquire how corporate values are served by child detention camps, here are the relevant addresses.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

8. Humanitarian aid diverted to the opposition in Venezuela

A July 11 memo, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, notified Congress that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is transferring $41.9 million earmarked for humanitarian aid to Juan Guaido and his party, who have been operating in opposition to the country’s President Nicolas Maduro. According to the Los Angeles Times, “All of the money being diverted will go to Guaido and his faction, the memo said, to pay for their salaries, airfare, ‘good governance’ training, propaganda, technical assistance for holding elections and other ‘democracy-building’ projects.” The humanitarian aid was previously earmarked for Guatemala and Honduras and would have been used in anti-poverty and anti-violence projects. The logic of the transfer is questionable, given the administration’s focus on ending the movement of asylum-seekers from these two nations to the U.S. If there is no hope of improving conditions in Guatemala and Honduras, asylum-seekers have all the more reason to begin the journey north. S-HP

If you want to speak up about the re-routing of humaniarian aid, here are the addresses.

9. Syrian refugees may be deported

In less than two weeks, Syrians with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the U.S. will hear whether they’re at risk of deportation to a war zone. There aren’t many options left for Syrians fleeing humanitarian crises created by eight years of war. Syrian families with TPS were already forced to flee nearly a decade of incessant attacks from the Assad regime, Iran, Russia, the Islamic State, and the United States’ bombing campaigns in cities like Raqqa. If TPS is ended, Syrians will be vulnerable to deportation—to a war zone amidst humanitarian crises of mass food insecurity, lack of access to health care, and torture that the U.S. hasn’t meaningfully helped stop. So far, the most effective strategy to pressure the Homeland Security and State Departments to keep TPS for Syria—is for Congress to make noise, issue statements and defend TPS. S-HP

If you’re in favor of TPS status for Syrian refugees, you can speak up here.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

10. Plan to help agriculture sequestered

Politico has reported on a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plan, completed in 2017 in the early part of the Trump administration, for dealing with climate change. Public release of the plan, a follow-up to a 2010 plan that had been publicly released, was blocked by the new administration. The plan was intended to help agriculture anticipate and respond to the effects of climate change. It examined what would be necessary to make agriculture carbon neutral. It outlined essential research that should be conducted to meet the needs of the nation over the next five to eight years. It documented the ways climate change is already affecting U.S. farming and ranching. It specifically considered the impact of climate change on insect populations, crop maturation, and livestock reproductivity. Finally, the plan called on the USDA to “increase public awareness of climate change.” S-HP

If you would like to urge that this (publically funded) research be released, write to the addresses listed here.

11. Another toxic pesticide spared by Trump

In a victory for the chemical industry and agribusiness, the Environmental Protection Agency under Trump appointee Andrew Wheeler has decided not to ban the chemical chlorpyrifos, despite well-researched damage to children’s health. Conceding that the agency would continue to “monitor” the use of the chemical through 2022, the agency concluded that the data presented supporting a ban was not “sufficiently valid, complete or reliable,” according to the New York Times. Sold under the name Lorsban, it has already been banned for household use but remains in use in agriculture on hundreds of thousands of acres in California alone. The EPA had moved to ban the chemical in 2015 under the presidency of Barack Obama, citing research done by the agency itself showing potential harm to brain development in children. However, the ban had not yet come into effect when it was stopped by the Trump EPA in 2017. The move to regulate the use of chlorpyrifos now moves to the states where Hawaii has already banned it, with New York and California considering bans.  

If you would like to recommend stronger action on chlorpyrifos, the people on this list need to hear from you.

12. Popular browser extensions provide user data for sale 

An investigative report by the Washington Post has found that six popular web browser extensions offered for use by both the Firefox and Chrome browsers have been compiling user data and offering it for sale. The extensions are Hover Zoom, SpeakIt!, SuperZoom, SaveFrom.net, Helper, FairShare Unlock and PanelMeasurement, with over four million combined users. Consumers may be under the assumption that browser extensions must abide by the brower’s privacy policies; however, this is not so. Each has their own end-user agreements which explicitly state they collect user data, with two saying they collect browsing data. End-user agreements have long been criticized as insufficient for disclosure purposes as consumers simply do not read them in the vast majority of cases. Upon being informed, both Mozilla (the maker of Firefox) and Google (the maker of Chrome) deactivated the extensions, according to Digital Trends. Cited in the Post’s piece is a massive study revealing organizations that sell your data: scroll 3/4 of the way down and be amazed.

ARTS & CULTURES

Art & Climate Change

What is the role of the artist and our art institutions during the climate emergency?  The keynote address of ART&CLIMATE=CHANGE 2019 features Beka Economopoulos and Jason Jones of the Natural History Museum, a collective that works at the intersection of art, activism, and theory.  You can skip the first 10 minutes of credits and donor thanks. To learn more about the Natural History (pop-up) Museum, take a look at their website.

As biodiversity is depleted, so is linguistic diversity

An interesting look at how we frame the world with our choice of words – and why it matters.  This piece from Jstor daily is one you’ll want to hold on to–and it is packed with useful links. A new word to learn: ecolinguistics.

“A Guide to Essential, Underrated, and Flat-Out Extraordinary Films by Black Women Directors”

The headline says it all: an amazing list of more than 50 films by black women directors, many with links for online viewing.

RESOURCES

• The Americas of Conscience Checklist recommends this list of actions you can take to address issues at the border.
• Sarah-Hope’s recommendations for action are linked to the stories above; to see the whole list–including her brilliant riff on impeachment–look here.
• Martha’s list offers opportunities to comment for the public record on a multitude of issues, including changes to long-term care, natural gas drilling in Alaska, increased plutonium production, and much more.
• Rogan’s list is a weekly repository of news items and ways to respond to them–always responsible and reliable.

There’s a little light even as more information comes to light. The Lights for Liberty protests; the hard work of immigration nonprofits; the work of #AuthorsAgainstBorderAbuse, a group of writers offering consultations in exchange for donating to border organizations; and the many efforts to lobby Congress all suggest that a consensus about the detention of children is building. But see the piece from Reveal on the detention of infants, and see our backrounder on Sanctuary–as well as important science and health news, below.

DOMESTIC NEWS

“Classrooms, not Cages”: Lights for Liberty protests you may have missed

750 events were held around the country–including large ones in
New York, Philadelphia and Milwaukee and Southern California–and in Canada to protest the conditions in which asylum seekers are being detained. You wouldn’t know this unless you were there, however, or unless you read or listened to your local media outlet or saw USA Today. The events were ignored by the Washington Post and the New York Times. Among the participants at the DC event were members of the American Federation of Teachers, with signs reading “Classrooms, not Cages.” At that event, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Services, whose family fled the Sri Lankan civil war when she was a baby, said of immigrants, “We admit them not because they are American, but because we are American.” RLS

More detention centers holding children and infants–without their parents

The U.S. government is opening more shelters housing children and infants–without their parents, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting’s news site, Reveal. One such site in Phoenix has 12 children under 5, the youngest three months old. Another site in Arizona has a newborn, while a center in Modesto, California has a two-week old baby who was born in the U.S. and is therefore a citizen. Reveal  was unable to find out where the children’s mothers are.

Reveal notes that the children are supposed to be provided with legal services–but that the centers had delayed signing contracts with anyone who could provide them. Hundreds of children are being held in the Carrizo Springs shelter near San Antonio; attorneys at the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), said that they intend to provide legal services for children at the center regardless of whether the Office of Refugee Resettlement gives them a contract. RLS

Massive child detention facilities planned

According to Fortune, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is soliciting bids for new, long-term (with initial twenty-year leases) immigration detention facilities for children. Sites in Georgia, Texas, and Arizona are reportedly under consideration. These plans imply that the government intends to make detention of children (and family separation) an ongoing practice, lasting well beyond the twenty-day limit mandated by the Flores Settlement. S-HP

If you have an opinion about child detention centers, you can voice it here.

Sexual assaults, punishments in retaliation against children at the border

Between April 10 and June 12, Health and Human Services (HHS) caseworkers collected almost thirty accounts of sexual assault and retaliation for protests from children being held in a Yuma, Arizona, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) facility, according to NBC News. All of these children had been held at the facility beyond the legal maximum of seventy-two hours. Children claim they’ve had their sleeping mats taken away after complaining about the quality of food and water, have been punished for sitting or standing too near windows, are called “putos” by staffers (an offensive term for male prostitutes that is often used as an insult implying both cowardice and homosexuality), and are kicked awake.

A fifteen-year-old girl described an officer conducting what was supposed to be a standard “pat-down” by grabbing her breasts and pulling down her underwear, all while joking with other staffers who watched the assault. A CBP spokesperson said such incidents did not align with common practices at their facilities and that the sexual assault was under investigation. According to the report from NBC News, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) visited this facility in April and described it as “the worst state of the human condition I have ever seen in my life” and that Homeland security and Border Patrol agents “were dealing with conditions that they had not trained for [and] were not equipped to handle.” S-HP

If you are inclined to speak up about this, the people who need to hear it are at this link.

Immigrants fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for taking sanctuary

The Trump administration has begun levying fines against individuals without documents with final orders of removal that have totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars, including those who have taken refuge in churches and other houses of worship where they have been offered sanctuary, ABC News reports. Edith Espinal-Moreno, originally from Mexico, who has been living in a church in Ohio since 2017 was issued a fine of $497,770 for “willfully” refusing to leave the country to comply with ICE orders, according to NPR. According to ICE, they have the right to impose fines of  up to $500 for each day an individual is in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, although immigration lawyers say they have never heard of the law being used in this way. Pro-immigrant groups argue that imposing these fines is designed to instill fear in both immigrant communities and the churches who offer sanctuary. JML

Sanctuary in houses of worship explained

While it is widely believed that law enforcement is not allowed to enter houses of worship when they have offered sanctuary to those facing injustice, the matter is more complicated. There is a history going back to the middle ages of churches offering protection, although in the United States, there is no legal protection for this practice. Going back to the 1980s, the Sanctuary movement in the United States has been made up of faith communities– Presbyterians, Methodists, Unitarian Universalists, Catholics, Mennonites, Quakers, and others– offering Sanctuary to Central American refugees fleeing civil conflict but denied asylum due to federal immigration policies that made it difficult for Central Amercans to obtain. Starting in the early 2000s, the New Sanctuary movement was made up of faith communities publicly offering sanctuary to individuals facing unjust deportation orders, often housing a single person or family within the walls of the church while lawyers worked with courts or immigration authorities to obtain a more favorable outcome.

Members of the Sanctuary movement have participated in both civil disobedience (defying laws for moral purposes) and civil initiative (upholding laws they thought their own government was violating). While there are no protections in law for houses of worship, there is a 2011 memo issued by ICE stating that certain locations were considered sensitive and enforcement activities at these locations should be limited, CNN explained.. The locations in the 2011 memo were schools, hospitals, houses of worship, the sites of funerals, weddings, or other public religious ceremonies, and during public demonstrations such as rallies, marches, or parades, according to Justice for Immigrants. In January, 2018, ICE published a clarification to the memo stating that courthouses do not qualify as sensitive locations, although enforcement in non-criminal areas of courthouses should be limited or avoided. The Sensitive Locations memo doesn’t entirely prevent actions in these locations, but in many cases it has done so. Official guidance states that the primary reasons for enforcement actions is exigent circumstances, such as national security threats, pursuit of dangerous felons, imminent risk of harm, or risk of destruction of evidence in a criminal case. The policy also doesn’t apply to certain ICE activities such as obtaining records, serving subpoenas, or participating in community meetings. It also doesn’t apply to certain enforcement activities within 100 miles of any land or sea border, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol, in accordance with the 2001 Patriot Act.  Because the Sensitive Locations Memo is not a statute or regulation, it could be disregarded or eliminated at any time. JML

Subpoenas you might have missed

There’s a lot going on in the world of Congressional subpoenas. The House Judiciary Committee has approved subpoenas for twelve individuals who were key witnesses in the Russian Election Interference and Russian-Trump Campaign investigation led by Robert Mueller. These include former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter (that’s a lot of “formers”), as well as Presidential advisor/son-in-law Jared Kushner. Additional subpoenas for unnamed individuals have been issued in relation to the administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that has led to family separations. In a related move, the Judiciary Committee has also voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for refusal to turn over documents related to the attempted addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. S-HP

If you’d like to thank the House Judiciary Committee, here’s how.

More subpoenas needed

Before resigning as head of the Department of Labor due to a potentially illegal plea deal brokered in 2007 for Jeffrey Epstein when he was accused of multiple counts of raping children (let’s skip the euphemisms “engaging in sex acts” and “underage women”), Alexander Acosta proposed an 80% cut to the Department of Labor’s International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB). “International Labor Affairs Bureau” may sound like a relatively boring, box-ticking sort of crew, but it is actually in charge of globally countering human trafficking (including child sex trafficking), child labor, and forced labor (in other words, slavery)—a rather odd move, given the administration’s frequent citing of child trafficking as a justification for its border policies. Last year the ILAB had a budget of $68 million. Acosta’s proposal would have reduced that budget to $18.5 million for next year. On the other hand, the budget passed by the House in June would increase ILAB funding to $122 million for next year. A Congressional inquiry into the process and reasoning by which Acosta decided on this proposed cut seems appropriate and could begin with a subpoena for the new Acting Secretary of Labor (and former Deputy Secretary of Labor) Patrick Pizella. S-HP

Do you want the House Judiciary Committee to look into this? Write the chair of the Committee.

US tries to move asylum-seekers out of the US, deprive them of attorneys

The Trump administration is working on a plan not only to declare Guatemala a “safe third country” but to send asylum seekers to Guatemala to await their hearings, according to the New Yorker. 

Guatemala is plagued by corruption and by violent criminal groups, according to Human Rights Watch, with women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people especially at risk. Hunger is rampant, due to crop failures and drought; 76,000 asylum-seekers from Guatemala attempted to cross into the US in February alone, accordinng to the NY Post.RLS

In January, the administration implemented the inappropriately named Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which require Central American asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico until their asylum cases are heard. The MPPs leave asylum-seekers stranded in dangerous, overstretched, under-resourced communities where contact with attorneys who could help them with the asylum process is very difficult.

The MPPs have been gradually expanded to different regions, and were made policy in El Paso-Cuidad Juárez more than three months ago. The Texas Tribune is now reporting on changes to the implementation of the MPPs in El Paso-Ciudad Juárez that are making the asylum process increasingly difficult and opaque. In late June, the Justice Department ordered an end to “know your rights” workshops that attorneys and immigrant rights groups held for those who would be facing asylum hearings, claiming that because technically the asylum seekers were in federal custody (even if not in the U.S.) only their attorneys were allowed to speak with them—but, as explained above, most asylum seekers don’t have attorneys because they are stranded in Mexico. This week the Justice Department has also ended the participation of “friends of the court,” trained volunteers who were allowed to assist judges and asylum seekers during hearings by explaining court procedures, providing translation, and relaying information to judges. The results have reportedly been an “exponential” increase in the chaos and level of fear in asylum courts. S-HP.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

US Army Corps of Engineers admits to toxic releases of water in Florida

In a meeting of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, US Army Corps of Engineers Major General Scott Spellmon admitted that the agency was responsible for release of toxic waters polluted with massive blooms of blue-green algae into sensitive Floridian estuaries via canals from Lake Okeechobee, according to the Miami New Times. The blooms of blue-green algae are the result of agricultural runoff pollution spilling into the lake, which has had threateningly high water levels necessitating releases so as to preserve the integrity of the levee system. At issue is that the algae wreaks havoc on the environment and that the releases were, while possibly necessary, done without notifying affected communities.  JC

Non-profit hospital chain highlighted for ruthless collection practices

A ProPublica investigation has found that a system of non-profit hospitals in the Memphis area has pursued relentless collections practices despite clearing 86 million dollars in profits for 2018. Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare operates six hospitals serving a city with a poverty rate of 25%, clearing more than two billion dollars in revenue. Nonetheless, it filed suit against 8300 patients between 2014 and 2018 for unpaid medical bills, securing garnishment orders in 46% of those cases, according to Ars Technica. This has happened despite a nationwide easing of collections practices in the non-profit healthcare sector, after bi-partisan criticism of the punishing practices. Said GOP senator Chuck Grassley in a 2017 op-ed “The arrangement is a compact between tax-exempt hospitals and the entities that grant tax exemption. Federal, state, and local governments forgo billions of dollars in taxes to tax-exempt entities that have been deemed to meet a pressing societal need.” In one illustrative example. Carrie Bennett, who was treated in a two-night stay for shortness of breath and chest pain, accumulated a bill of just over $12,000, which has ballooned with interest judgments to $33,000. Ms. Bennett has never made more than $12 an hour and in 2018 earned a total of $13,800.  JC

No stats on bees

Citing fiscal cuts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that it is suspending National Agricultural Statistics Service data collection for and publication of the Honey Bee Colonies Report. This data is normally collected quarterly, but under the suspension, available data will run from January 1, 2018 to April 1, 2019. There will be no data for the May 2019-July 2019 quarter and those following. According to The Hill, this is the bee data-gathering project that has been scaled-back under the Trump administration. Earlier, the Trump administration had ended a 2014 ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that was put in place because of the threat these pesticides represent to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. How will the rollback affect bee populations? That’s going to be hard to find out. S-HP

Want to let someone know what the stakes are of the loss of bees? Here is a list of whom to write.

Get your (drug-resistant) UTIs cultured!

Urinary tract infections are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, according an article in the New York Times. A third of UTIs in Britain are resistant to the antibiotics ordinarily used; because we don’t have a nationwide health care system, we don’t know what the percentage is here. The increase is due in part to antibiotics used in poultry, according to a study published in the
American Society of Microbiology. UTIs are ordinarily caused by e coli, which reside in the colon. When people consume chicken–which may contain antibiotic resistant e coli–the bacteria end up in their gut–and can migrate to their bladders. Resistant UTIs can be dangerous, resulting in kidney infections; at a minimum they mean that the misery is prolonged while different antibiotics are tried. Getting a UTI cultured at the time of diagnosis can reduce how long that misery goes on as well as the consumption of the wrong antibiotic. RLS

RESOURCES

• The Americas of Conscience Checklist recommends this list of actions you can take to address issues at the border.
• Some recommendations from Sarah-Hope’s list follow relevant stories; here are other opportunities to be heard.
•  Martha’s list provides numerous opportunities to comment for the public record–on issues including privacy, the migratory bird hunting on Tribal lands, Alaska drilling, multiple state-by-state changing ozone standards, reducing energy efficiency standards for appliances – heaters and furnaces, and much more.
  Rogan’s list has many useful items, that ActBlue Charities has a fund supporting a group of organizations working at the border; a toolkit from Never Again, the Jews organizing against the detention camps; a locator from United We Dream that indicates how many people are being held where; and ways to take action on nearly any issue that concerns you.

Action is the only solution we know for the paralysis terrible news creates. We regularly recommend the Americans of Conscience checklist; we’re highlighting it today because Jen has a link you might particularly want to know about: Actions Supporting Decency Immigration, which lists many places you can work with or donate to, as well as many actions you can take to restore decency to the immigration and asylum process. See our Resources list below for many more opportunities for action.

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. Border Patrol officers knew for months about conditions in centers

Border patrol higher-ups knew for months about the atrocious conditions at the Clint detention center, a joint investigation by the New York Times and the El Paso Times reveals. “Some children had no beds to sleep on, no way to clean themselves and sometimes went hungry,” the Times reports. Agents apparently told their superiors again and again about the conditions there, but received no response. Agents told reporters that “outbreaks of scabies, shingles and chickenpox were spreading among the hundreds of children who were being held in cramped cells. The stench of the children’s dirty clothing was so strong it spread to the agents’ own clothing — people in town would scrunch their noses when they left work. The children cried constantly.” RLS 

If you have something to say about the conditions in which children are being held, there are people to write.

2. Deportation raids to begin soon

Immigrant families received a two-week reprieve when Trump agreed to hold off on immigration raids in order to force Democrats to compromise on changes to asylum rules. That reprieve ended Saturday, leaving immigrants in dread, staying inside or going into hiding. ICE officials acknowledge that they expect to make “collateral” arrests of others they encounter who are in the country without documents, according to the Washington Post.

The Post quoted Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles as saying, “Even if the numbers are small, the purpose of the raids and the show of force is to scare a larger population. The threat is purposely meant to affect and destabilize a whole group of people. It’s that psychological attack. Maybe they’ll come for me. Maybe they won’t. Maybe it’ll be my neighbor. It’s very mentally draining.”

Various organizations have resources to help individuals and groups respond to immigration raids. There are lists on our June 23 issue (scroll down) as well as at the Americans of Conscience link above. Or click here for information.

3. High stakes of the citizenship question

After the Supreme Court voted 5-4 not to permit the Trump administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, Trump declared that he was considering an executive order to do so, according to The Hill. The ACLU has said it will bring further legal action if he does so.

Drawing on data from Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy , the Washinton Post explains what the stakes are in the citizenship question. By looking at how many Hispanic families declined to answer the question in the
Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, researchers were able to estimate what the consequences would be if it were included in the 2020 census. Hispanics of all backgrounds–including people in the country legally–would be undercounted, leading to seats lost in Congress and massive amounts of funding lost to states and key programs. California, Arizona and Texas would lose Congressional seats while Montana, Minnesota, Alabama and Ohio would gain them. RLS

4. Not enough refugees

The number of refugees admitted to the US has fallen to a historic low, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute. The US accepted only 22,491 refugees in 2019, NPR reported, part of a comprehensive effort to reduce immigration of all kinds into the country. The Trump administration has agreed to accept no more than 30,000 in 2019, according to the International Rescue Committee. That number would increase to a minimum of 95,000 if the GRACE (Guaranteed Refugee Asylum Ceiling) Act is passed. The Grace Act (S.1088; H.R.2146) would also require that the annual number of refugee admissions take into consideration global needs. Co-sponsored by Kamala Harris, this legislation is currently in the Judiciary Committees of both houses of Congress. S-HP, RLS

If you want to speak up about the GRACE Act, here is how to do it.

5. Border Patrol officials have known for years about demeaning Facebook groups

Secret Facebook groups have been used by Customs and Border Patrol Agents to mock and dehumanize migrants, according to ProPublica and CNN. The groups, called “I’m 10-15” and “The Real CBP Nation,” have featured memes that were used to dehumanize migrant families and demean Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. After the existence of “I’m 10-15” was revealed by ProPublica, the group’s name was first changed to “America First,” then archived to prevent future posts or comments on the page. This move–as well as the members who left the group in the wake of the ProPublica article–was decried in “The Real CBP Nation.” Politico points out that as far back as February 2016, Customs and Border Patrol seems to have been aware that officers were participating in closed Facebook groups; in 2018 they issued a memo reminding employees that the CBP code of conduct prohibits employees from certain conduct and communication both in the workplace and while off duty on the grounds of discrimination and harassment. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General is investigating the matter. JM-L

If you are inclined to speak up about these Facebook groups, here are some possibilities for people to write.

6. No interpreters, hearings via video link

Asylum-seekers will no longer have access to in-court interpreters during their first deportation hearings if a Department of Justice (DOJ) plan is put into effect. At these initial hearings, asylum-seekers receive information on their rights and are given a schedule for follow-up hearings. Under the DOJ proposal, asylum-seekers would watch a video in Spanish or an indigenous language that would give an overview of their rights and of the hearing process, but would then attend the initial hearing without an interpreter. Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges points out that this new policy highlights the DOJ’s refusal to see immigration as “real” courts. One immigration judge, speaking on the condition of anonymity to a San Francisco Chronicle reporter warned, “[The policy] is a disaster in the making. What if you have an individual that speaks an indigenous language and has no education and is completely illiterate? You think showing them a video is going to completely inform them of their rights? How are they supposed to ask questions of the judge?” S-HP

An even more extreme proposal to hold immigration hearings via video in huge tents in Mexican border cities was revealed by the Intercept last week . Those asylum seekers who are being required to wait in Mexico would have their cases heard en masse by judges in far-away cities. Reporters, observer and family members would be barred; it’s not clear whether attorneys would be permitted on site. The Intercept quoted Taylor Levy, an immigration lawyer in El Paso, as saying, “I have never seen so much crying in court. People are so afraid to go back to Mexico. Sometimes the proceedings have to stop because the crying is so loud that the recording equipment can’t pick up words.”

You can speak up about these proposals: addresses are here.

7. Undocumented family members of troops no longer protected

Under a practice called “Parole in Place,” undocumented, immediate family members of active-duty troops have been able to apply for temporary residency. This is not a path to citizenship; it is simply permission to remain in the country the family member—parent, child—is serving during the term of that service. The intent of this practice was to prevent situations in which active-duty troops would be disrupted in their work by concerns for family members who might be deported. Now, according to NPR, family members who would have qualified for “Parole in Place” are receiving notices that the program is being terminated. S-HP

If you wish to say something to the Senate Armed Services Committee about the end of this policy, here are their addresses.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

8.Avoiding war with Iran?

Iran and France agreed on Sunday to discuss the conditions for re-opening talks that could save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal which Trump unilaterally renounced while ramping up sanctions, the BBC reported. Iran announced on Saturday that it would be breaching the limit the deal established on enriched uranium unless European countries stepped up to mitigate U.S. sanctions. Sanctions have caused the price of staples, such as meat, vegatables and cheese, to double, and caused shortages of foreign-produced goods, such as baby diapers, according to the Statistical Centre of Iran. RLS

If you want to act against war with Iran, some possibilities are here.

9. Canada pension plan divests from detention camps

The Canada Pension Plan has divested from two companies that run private prisons. As of last year, the CPP had invested millions in The GEO Group and CoreCivic, two of the companies that own many of the detention camps holding asylum seekers and their children in filthy and overcrowded conditions, according to the Toronto Star.

.In response to the divestment, New Democratic Party MP Charlie Angus urged the Canadian government to speak up more strongly about the camps. “When you’re talking about children being denied toothbrushes, migrants being told to drink out of toilets, children getting separated from their families — these are forms of abuse that contravene the basic standards of international law,” he said. “…This offends Canadian values.”

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

10. Tariffs on solar undercuts renewable energy

Donald Trump is once again ensuring that fossil fuels and renewable energy won’t compete on a level playing field in what Time calls “the biggest blow he’s dealt to the renewable energy industry yet.” He is placing tariffs of up to 35% on solar equipment made outside the U.S. The administration claims this move will protect the U.S. solar energy industry from unfair foreign competition, but that claim is undermined by the fact that 80% of the parts used in the U.S. solar energy industry are produced abroad. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, the solar energy industry had created 260,000 jobs in the U.S., but that number is predicted to drop by tens of thousands as a result of Trump’s move. S-HP

If you want to speak up about this effort to undermine solar power, you can write to the people listed here.

11. Drought uncovers ancient palace complex

A drought in northern Iraq has resulted in low water levels in the reservoir contained by the Mosul dam on the Tigris river, revealing a large palace complex built by a little known civilization called the Mittani Empire in the years between 1200 and 1300 BC. Working quickly, a team of German and Iraqi archaeologists managed to uncover eight of ten rooms, finding fired brick floor tiles and ten cuneiform tablets currently being translated. Of particular interest are the remains of vibrant red and blue wall murals, a common feature of elite buildings of the time which rarely survived the centuries. The Mittani are known from period references on tablets and a few scattered archaeology sites but their empire stretched from modern day Turkey, down the Mediterranean coast of Syria and into northeastern Iraq. They were regarded as equals by contemporary Egyptian and Assyrian accounts, known for their skilled horsemen and chariots but believed to have been overcome by invasions by Hittites and Assyrians, according to a report from the Smithsonian Magazine.
JC

12. Gigantic algal blooms here to stay

Researchers at the University of Southern Florida working with satellite imagery supplied by NASA have found the largest algal bloom in the world, stretching entirely across the North Atlantic ocean from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of West Africa. The bloom is composed of the brown algae Sargassum, which grows in clumps in warm open waters and washes up frequently on beaches. Sargassum growth has exploded since 2011, closing beaches and prompting a national emergency for the island of Barbados; scientists now understand why the mega blooms have occurred and how they’re are likely here to stay.

For Sargassum to grow to these proportions, nutrient rich waters must rise from the colder deeper waters off of the cost of Africa and combine with nutrient rich runoff from the Amazon river in South America. It’s the waters of the Amazon that are providing the critical boost, as deforestation and fertilizer use have increased the nutrient content of the river water. This is unlikely to change, particularly under the aggressive deforesting policies of current Brazilian president Bolsonaro, meaning that beaches throughout the tropics can expect to see millions more tons of the algae wash up in coming years. JC

13. Surgery restores lost hand function in tetraplegic patients

Results of a series of surgeries performed by Australian doctors on a small group of 16 spinal injury patients were published in the journal The Lancet, detailing how a novel procedure called nerve transfer surgery was able to restore the use of a hand in 12 of those studied. The patients had all lost use of both their arms, legs and torso due to spinal injury and such patients have reported regaining the use of an arm and hand to be their top priority above walking or sexual function. Doctors were able to painstakingly connect nerves from above the injury site to corresponding nerves below the injury in a series of surgeries and after intense physiotherapy patients who were unable to even register a score on standard pinch and grasp tests are now able to perform most of the tasks of daily living for themselves. While this procedure has been successful before, this is the first standardized study of the procedure with a group of patients undergoing the same treatment and testing. The data derived from studies such as this one will assist surgeons in selecting the most promising candidates for the surgery JC

Arts & Culture

Malian singer kept away from music festival by draconian visa rules

International artists are finding it increasingly difficult to navigate the labyrinthian visa system and visit the United States. Recently, Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté, a distinguished Malian singer, was prevented from coming to the Kronos festival due to new vis complexities.

As the San Francisco Classical Voice puts it, “But the question is whether the system is fair and efficient, as well as transparent and consistent and whether its subjective nature could be used to irrevocably undermine privacy laws, and also be used to reflect, even normalize racial, religious, or, conceivably, cultural biases.”

First-ever retrospective of North American women artists opens in Minneapolis

“This is the first, believe it or not, show devoted to Native women artists,” said Jill Ahlberg Yohe, who co-curated the exhibit with Teri Greeves, told the Guardian. “It’s the first to honor Native women from ancient times to the contemporary moment…90% of Native art is made by women. Native artists know this. It’s just non-Native people who haven’t recognized that.” The show is at the Minneapolis Institute of Art until August 18, with over 115 artists from 50 Native communities represented.

No more Mad Magazine in a mad world

Sad news for anyone who grew up with its satire and snark: Mad Magazine will stop publishing original material, making past issues available only to subscribers, according to Open Content. Mad was an essential force in supporting 12 year olds in questioning the status quo; does the status quo itself serve that function now?

Alaska: the only state without an arts council?

 Alaska’s Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy moved last week to cut 41% from Alaska’s university system.  He also proposes to completely do away with the state’s art council. Democratic legislators do not expect to be able to overturn his veto, according to Hypoallergenic.

Resources

• Some recommendations from Sarah-Hope’s list follow relevant stories; here are others.
• Martha’s list provides numerous opportunities to comment for the public record–on issues ranging from the dangers of diesel exhaust for miners to Trump’s plan to increase surveillance of travellers to the government’s proposal to open 80 new plutonium pits.
• Rogan’s list has many useful items, including a toolkit from Never Again, the Jews organizing against the detention camps; a locator from United We Dream that indicates how many people are being held where; talking points for calling your congressperson about the camps, and much more.

We think readers might be missing the news of children in detention camps not because the headlines aren’t there but because the news is so hard to read. If you read the news here, you’ll also see the ways you can intervene in it–and get a glimpse of the many others who are acting as well.

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. Children kept in detention beyond legal time limits.

Half of the 2,300 children kept in a “temporary” tent shelter in Homestead, Florida have been there longer than the 20 days permitted by law. Many have been in the crowded, chaotic facility for months, according to the New York Times. As the Times explains, because it is temporary, it “is not subject to state regulations and inspections intended to guarantee child welfare — only to a loose set of Department of Health and Human Services guidelines. ” RLS

2. Children returned to troubled detention center

Over the night of June 23-24 some 270 children were removed from the Clint, Texas Border Patrol Station where they had been housed for weeks in inhumane conditions, as we noted last week. On Monday, approximately two hundred and fifty of these children were placed in a shelter network run by the Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter, the AP reported.. The remainder were moved to a Custom and Border Patrol “tent city.” By June 25 over one hundred of those children had been returned to Clint because the “overcrowding situation” had been “relieved.” No information is available on the locations of individual children, the conditions at those sites, how soon they will be shipped to yet another facility and what is being done to re-unite them with their parents. Also on June 25, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Acting Commissioner, John Sanders, tendered his resignation. It is now being reported that Mark Morgan will become Acting Commissioner. Morgan is a favorite of Steve Miller (more or less Trump’s chief-cooking-up-ways-to-abuse-asylum-seekers guy), and had been previously suggested for the acting Commissioner position, but his appointment had been blocked at that time by Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan. S-HP

3. Federal judge gives government two weeks to “remediate” conditions at detention centers

Judge Dolly Gee has directed the monitor she appointed last year to act quickly to address conditions in detention centers, in response to a motion from lawyers who visited the centers. She has also insisted that doctors be permitted in the facility, according to CNN. Monitors from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General also reported significant problems due to overcrowding, according to the New York Times. In May, Reuters ran pictures from above of a make-shift detention camp in McAllen, Texas, where people were sleeping on the ground and the overcrowding is evident.

As the Times reported, “the conditions under which children are being held ‘could be compared to torture facilities,’ Dolly Lucio Sevier, a pediatrician who visited the Clint facility, said in her declaration. ‘That is, extreme cold temperatures, lights on 24 hours a day, no adequate access to medical care, basic sanitation, water, or adequate food.'”

A seven-year-old girl being held in the Clint facility is showing signs of severe trauma; she is allowed to call her parents, who live and work in the U.S., but she can only sob uncontrollably on the telephone, according to an AP story. RLS

Yes magazine has a list of 20 ways to help immigrants. See Rogan’s list for other options.

4. 60,000 asylum-seeking children entered the U.S. in the last 40 days.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan reported that 60,000 refugee children had been detained at the border in the last 40 days, according to the BBC. Some arrived along with their families; others came alone. The BBC did not provide further details. RLS

5. Asylum officers’ union protests “remain in Mexico” policy

The union representing asylum officers, whose job it is to enforce the policy formally called “Migrant Protection Protocols which requires asylym seekers to remain in Mexico until their cases can be heard, says that the policy threatens asylum-seekers’ lives and “creates a conflict between their professional responsibility and the president’s directives,” NPR reported.
“[The Migrant Protection Protocols program] violates our Nation’s longstanding tradition and international treaty and domestic obligation not to return those fleeing persecution to a territory where they will be persecuted,” the union wrote in its filing to the 9th Circuit Court, according to NPR. RLS

6. Advocating for refugees

Two important pieces of legislation that would protect asylum-seekers from unreasonable detention have been languishing in the Senate Judiciary Committee since February. S.397, the Shut Down Child Prison Camps Act, introduced by Jeff Merkley, would prohibit Health and Human Services from operating unlicensed temporary shelters for the detention of asylum-seeking children. S.388, the Families Not Facilities Act, introduced by Kamala Harris, would prohibit civil immigration actions that harm unaccompanied children and set guidelines for ensuring their safety and welfare S-HP

Last week we gave you a list of organizations that are helping asylum-seekers. You can see that list here. This week, we offer you some points to consider when writing legislators.

7. Tillerson testified, Mueller scheduled to testify

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whom Trump fired in 2018, testified before Congress last month that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner left him out of various diplomatic initiatives, according to the Washington Post. In the transcript recently made available, the Post reports that Tillerson testified that “Kushner ‘met often’ with Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.”

Robert Mueller will be testifying before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees in July. In an opinion piece for NBC, Mimi Rocah explains why Mueller’s testimony matters. We should be familiar by now with the way much testimony before Congressional committees is conducted. Each committee member is allotted time for posing her/his questions of the person being interviewed—and quite frequently the Congressmember uses the bulk of that time to pontificate on her/his views, rather than to ask questions that might provide new, important information on the topic of the testimony. The last thing we need when Mueller testifies is for that time to be eaten up by commentary by those hostile to the investigation. S-HP

If you want to speak up about the grandstanding that might prevent Mueller from being heard, write the Judiciary and Intelligence Committee Chairs.

8. Trump withholding information

The Trump administration continues to withhold information regarding five meetings Trump has had with Vladimir Putin. For months, the Chairs of three House committees—Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight and Government Reform—have been trying to obtain documentation from these meetings, which should be preserved under the Presidential Records Act. White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has twice failed to respond to written Congressional inquiries regarding these materials. The Washington Post quotes Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair Elijah E. Cummings as explaining, “The Presidential Records Act is at the core of the Oversight Committee’s legislative and oversight jurisdiction… the White House has disregarded these legitimate congressional inquiries and dissembled about basic facts. These actions do not serve the interests of the American people, and they obstruct and frustrate the Committee’s review.” Now a pair of progressive nonprofits—American Oversight and Democracy Forward—have filed suit against Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in hoped of gaining the release of these materials. The lawsuit argues that under the Federal Records Act, Pompeo is required to preserve any meeting notes prepared by State Department employees. S-HP

If you want to speak up about the withholding of documents, here is where to write.

9. Ensuring Election Security

The House has passed H.R.1946, the Securing American’s Elections Act. H.R.1946 would allocate $600 million for improved state-level election security and would provide an addition $175 million every two years for continued maintenance and improvement of state election systems. It also requires specific cybersecurity measures, including a ban on wireless communication devices in election systems. Republicans are claiming that this legislation is a form of federal overreach and that election security should be a state-level issue, despite the number of failures we’ve seen in state elections over the past few years. Now that this legislation has been passed by the House, it needs to be taken up by the Senate, where Mitch McConnell seems determined to prevent serious consideration of any election security legislation, Salon points out. S-HP

If you would like to tell your senators that election security matters to you, the information you need is here.

10. Avoiding war with Iran

“That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.” This is the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, passed three days after 9/11, which the Trump administration could use to launch an attack on Iran without seeking Congressional approval, the New Yorker points out. RLS

Nonetheless, Congress has some options for trying to end this war before it is launched. Senators can refuse to support the National Defense Authorization Act until it includes the bipartisan Udall-Paul amendment to prohibit unauthorized military operations in or against Iran. Senators can also support S.1039, which explicitly denies the administration authorization to go to war with Iran—Feinstein and Harris have both done this. S.1039 is currently with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Representatives can insist on a similar House amendment to the Defense Authorization Act and co-sponsor H.R.2354, the House companion to S.1039. H.R.2354 is currently with the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees. Both Senators and Representatives can issue public statements making clear that Congress has not authorized the use of any military force against Iran. S-HP

If you want to speak up about a possible war on Iran, you can find the names and addresses of people to write here.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

11. Canada resettled the most refugees–but still not enough

Of the 92,400 refugees who were resettled last year, 28,100 were received by Canada, according to the U.N. The United States resettled 22,900. The UN High Commissioner on refugees attributes Canada’s success in resettling refugees and moving them toward citizenship to the system of private sponsorship, which gives them more opportunities to integrate into Canadian society, according to the CBC.

However, some 70 million people worldwide have been displaced from their homes due to persecution or conflict.. Most of them are hosted in temporary arrangements outside North America,: “Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees worldwide, with 3.7 million people in 2018, while Pakistan hosted 1.4 million and Uganda 1.2 million,” according to the CBC. RLS

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

12. Agriculture

The Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is known globally for the abilities of its scientists and the quality of research it produces. This research is unique in that, while it is peer-reviewed, it is aimed directly at farmers and consumers, instead of being limited to appearing in scientific journals. In a “normal” administration, the Department of Agriculture would be publicizing the findings of government-funded studies by ARS. But at the moment, there are significant gaps in what the Department of Agriculture does and doesn’t choose to bring to public attention—with at least 45 completed studies not receiving the promotion that would usually accompany their release. An investigation by Politico has documented this change in Department of Agriculture practice and has found a common factor among the unpublicized findings: they all address the effects of climate change. These are studies looking at the likely impact of rising temperatures, volatile weather, and increased carbon dioxide levels—which most certainly are occurring, even if the administration insists that scientists remain silent on the causes of these.

The findings of these studies include the following:
–Rice, which is the basis of the diet of over 800 million people, loses vitamins in a carbon-rich environment;
–The quality of grasses used in raising cattle is reduced by climate warming;
–Warm temperatures boost pollen counts, creating longer and worsen allergy seasons;
–Agriculture pollution and nutrient runoff, which are responsible for the growing dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, will increase with warming, but could be avoided with specific conservation practices;
–Coffee is a useful plant for studying interactions among plants, pests, and our changing environment.

Bottom line: these are studies with important implications for farming and public health, but ordinary Americans may miss much of this information because of what the Department of Agriculture now leaves out. S-HP

If you want to speak up about omissions in Department of Agriculture reports, you can write officials at the addresses here.

RESOURCES

• The Americas of Conscience Checklist is focusing on voter empowerment for the month of June. See their site for an explanation and easy actions you can take.
• Some of the items from Sarah-Hope’s list are integrated with the stories above; see the full list for more opportunities to be heard.
• Martha’s list  provides opportunities to comment for the public record. This week she covers natural gas drilling in Alaska, toxins in drinking water, relaxed requirements for transporting nuclear weapons, protections for LGBTQ health, and many other issues–in particular proposals to redefine how the government measures things – poverty rates, pollution.
• Rogan’s list has ways to speak up about the need to investigate Kavanaugh for perjury, multiple options for addressing the crisis of children in detention, the importance of pressing Democratic presidential candidates on climate change–and more.