Immigration Reform

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Migrant kids were tortured by detention staffers at a juvenile hall in Virginia. John Iadarola breaks it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/01/district-attorneys-raise-concerns-about-treatment-of-migrant-teens-at-a-virginia-juvenile-hall/ "Antonio was tired of people calling him names. Staff members at the Virginia juvenile hall where he was held would call him pendejo and “onion head,” he said. After fleeing violence in Mexico at age 15 and arriving alone at the US border, he’d been sent to Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center in 2016 and held alongside American teens while he awaited immigration proceedings. Shenandoah is one of two juvenile halls nationally that the Office of Refugee Resettlement uses to hold unaccompanied minors who are deemed threatening. Now a group of district attorneys from around the country—including reformers Larry Krasner, Chesa Boudin, and Kim Foxx—have filed a brief citing concerns about the immigrant teens’ treatment there. Antonio hadn’t broken the law, but his detention in Virginia felt like a punishment: Once, when he got in a fight with an American kid who taunted him, he says staffers restrained him by tying him to a chair for four hours, allegedly hitting him while he sat there. Over a year and a half at Shenandoah, Antonio (not his real name) says he was tied to the chair about five times. In court documents, he recounted that staffers who restrained him would sometimes put a bag over his head, meant to deter biting or spitting. “It had small holes that I could see out of, but only a little,” he said." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksJanuary 23

Trump administration brutally targets pregnant women. John Iadarola breaks it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/1/22/21077547/state-department-pregnant-women-birth-tourism-policy "The State Department has told US embassies across the world to deny visas to people they suspect are coming to the US to give birth, according to diplomatic cables obtained by Vox — guidance that gives broad discretion to consular officers and could prove dangerous to pregnant people seeking medical care. The cable, sent Wednesday afternoon and marked “sensitive but unclassified,” turns a suspicion among immigration restrictionists that people are trying to game America’s visa system into official US policy, starting on Friday, January 24. The apparent goal is to clamp down on foreigners giving birth to children in the US who become, by birth, American citizens. A draft of the State Department guidance was first reported on by BuzzFeed on Tuesday. The guidance would create new barriers for pregnant people at consulates abroad applying for B visas, which are offered to short-term visitors, including tourists, business travelers, and people seeking urgent medical care. The government does not track how many pregnant travelers come to the US on B visas, but 2017 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that the new guidance would likely affect roughly 10,000 people annually. According to one State Department official, pregnant people applying for these kinds of visas may not receive the kind of care they need in their home country or have the money to get better care in the US." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksJanuary 23

Trump breaks more laws over his stupid obsession. John Iadarola and Emma Vigeland break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-72-billion-border-wall_n_5e1d0f6ec5b6da971d1b47d9?guccounter=1 "President Donald Trump is planning to divert an additional $7.2 billion from the Department of Defense in order to fund his wall along the southern border with Mexico, The Washington Post reported Monday. The Post obtained internal figures showing the White House plans. If they go forward, it would be the second time the president has ordered that funds allocated to the Pentagon by Congress be diverted for wall construction, effectively bypassing lawmakers in an attempt to unilaterally deliver on a campaign promise. Trump has vowed to build 450 miles of new wall by the end of 2020 in hopes of galvanizing his political base before the next election. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump declared a national emergency last February in order to build his much-touted border wall, saying the White House planned to divert $3.6 billion in funds from Pentagon construction projects to help pay for it. The proposal drew widespread fury from Congress and a spate of lawsuits. The Supreme Court, however, said in July that Trump had the authority to use the money for the wall, and subsequent challenges have been knocked back by the courts. Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit lifted an injunction from a lower court and said the diversion of Pentagon funds could go forward. The Pentagon said in September the initial funding diversion would delay or suspend 127 military construction projects both in the U.S. and overseas." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksJanuary 14

GOP to lose Texas in 2020? John Iadarola and Antonio Arellano break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://jolttx.org/en/about-us/ "Jolt is the largest Latino progressive organization in Texas, focused on building the political power and influence of young Latinos. Jolt gives Latinos the power to make change, so we can have a say in how Texas is run. There are almost 11 million Latinos in Texas. Together, we have the power to transform our state. Join us! Jolt brings together Latinos from across Texas to win on the issues that matter. Jolt doesn’t stand for any one party or politician — it stands for the Latino community, families, and parents who worked hard to give their children everything they didn’t have. Here’s how we do it Jolt organizes our community to determine what happens on school boards, at the Governor’s mansion and all the way to Congress to make sure our government works best for ordinary people." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksJanuary 13

Tucker Carlson is facing backlash for his racist comments. December 17

Trump’s border wall is being built with corruption. December 3

A recent report uncovered a fake university for sting operation set up by ICE.November 27

Pentagon laughs at Trump over absurd border procedure. John Iadarola and Ken Klippenstein break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://tyt.com/stories/4vZLCHuQrYE4uKagy0oyMA/5P53ekkx1pnuQ5fvUTRANG "U.S. military forces deployed to the southern border are monitoring domestic protesters, including anti-border wall groups, according to an internal Pentagon document obtained exclusively by The Young Turks and The Intercept. The military, the document reveals, has focused particular attention on an interfaith group peacefully protesting the Trump administration’s child separation policy. The document includes what’s called a “threat estimate” — an assessment detailing the risk of perceived border threats. Among those threats are protests by members of religious groups against “the detention of families and children,” as well as anti-ICE protests and protests by “anti border-wall extremists.” Asked why they were monitoring an interfaith group, Defense Department spokesman John Cornelio replied, "DoD works closely to support Federal law enforcement agencies along the Southwest border. Law enforcement agencies share information regarding migrant caravans and protestors with DoD consistent with applicable laws and policies for DoD force protection purposes." Jake Laperruque, Senior Counsel for the Constitution Project at the Project on Government Oversight, said of the document: “The ‘threat estimates’ focused on protesters are highly disturbing. Cataloging individuals protesting government policy creates serious risk of abuse, and even without misconduct, monitoring protesters is likely to chill the exercise of First Amendment rights.”" #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksNovember 12

Trump is lowering the refugee limit. November 4

Trump’s border wall is failing.November 4

ICE Beefs Up Security With ‘Operation Frozen Shield’: Leaked MemoOctober 22

Article

A city is claiming a migrant shot by accident by Police gets NO constitutional protections. October 4

Donald Trump loses it over his new evil border fantasy. John Iadarola and Jayar Jackson break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/politics/trump-border-wars.html "WASHINGTON — The Oval Office meeting this past March began, as so many had, with President Trump fuming about migrants. But this time he had a solution. As White House advisers listened astonished, he ordered them to shut down the entire 2,000-mile border with Mexico — by noon the next day. The advisers feared the president’s edict would trap American tourists in Mexico, strand children at schools on both sides of the border and create an economic meltdown in two countries. Yet they also knew how much the president’s zeal to stop immigration had sent him lurching for solutions, one more extreme than the next." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksOctober 2

Trump is slashing the US refugee cap to the lowest it's ever been. John Iadarola and Jose Caballero Johnston discuss Trump's reaction to the Ukraine story on The Damage Report. http://tyt.com/john Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TYTSeptember 27

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez makes major migrant center CEO cry according to leaked emails. John Iadarola and Ken Klippenstein break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://tyt.com/stories/4vZLCHuQrYE4uKagy0oyMA/1RXd1xIdEpfl51xtVC1nmq "The CEO of GEO Group, the largest private prison operator in the U.S., decried protests against the firm’s migrant detention facilities as well as a range of other subjects including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the Jewish activist group Never Again Action, and “misguided individuals” who “defamed the American flag,” in an internal email obtained exclusively by The Young Turks. The email, sent on August 19 by George Zoley, GEO’s founder and CEO, comes on the heels of a series of high-profile demonstrations at numerous migrant detention facilities operated by the company. Asked about Zoley including Ocasio-Cortez in his email, a spokesperson for GEO told TYT, “Organizations that have threatened our employees or taken violent action against our company have also directly used the same terminology as Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, including ‘concentration camp.’” According to Zoley’s email, GEO employees have been eager for the company to address the criticisms. “Many of you are hungry for information to help set the record straight, not only for you, but in some circumstances for your family and friends,” Zoley’s email states. The GEO Group spokesperson said of Zoley’s email, “We communicate with our 23,000 employees to ensure they have the latest updates and information, which may include steps being taken to address recent events that have occurred at our facilities, such as the shooting that targeted our regional office in San Antonio this month.” But the email goes beyond logistics, condemning what it calls “false and baseless claims in the media against our company.”" #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksAugust 30

Helpless migrant children die from horrible conditions at US detention facilities. John Iadarola and Jayar Jackson break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/20/the-us-wont-vaccinate-migrant-children-against-the-flu-at-border-camps.html "The U.S. won’t be vaccinating migrant families in holding centers ahead of this year’s flu season, despite calls from doctors to boost efforts to fight the infection that’s killed at least three children at detention facilities in the past year. “In general, due to the short-term nature of CBP holding and the complexities of operating vaccination programs, neither CBP nor its medical contractors administer vaccinations to those in our custody,” a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. At least three children who were held in detention centers after crossing into the U.S. from Mexico have died in recent months, in part, from the flu, according to a letter to Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., from several doctors urging Congress to investigate health conditions at the centers. The United States had previously gone almost a decade without any children dying while under U.S. immigration custody." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksAugust 21

An ICE official runs over civilians, who are peacefully protesting. John Iadarola breaks it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.neveragainaction.com/ "JEWS ARE SOUNDING THE ALARM: NEVER AGAIN IS NOW." Read more here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-pick-truck-drives-group-ice-protesters-rhode-island-n1042716 "A man wearing a guard uniform in a pick up truck drove into a group of ICE demonstrators on Wednesday night outside the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island. The protesters, picketing outside the facility that has contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, were organized by Never Again Action, a Jewish group formed in the past two months calling for the end of ICE detention, and Amor, a Rhode Island-based immigrant rights group. Amy Anthony, a spokesperson for Never Again Action, told NBC News that earlier in the evening, a group of around 400 people had gathered outside the facility to protest, the second time the group has planned an action outside the detention center. As the protest died down, about 30 demonstrators linked arms and sat in the facility’s parking lot entrances to block staff from leaving or entering, Anthony said. The group was peacefully protesting when seemingly out of nowhere a man in a pick-up truck drove towards them, slowing down just before hitting the crowd, footage of the incident shows. The video then shows the driver continuing to drive through the crowd, as protesters scream and try to get away from the car." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksAugust 15

Republicans are lying about the facts on immigration. August 9

An American teen was wrongfully held in a border detention facility for 3 weeks. Brooke Thomas and Jayar Jackson break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://psmag.com/news/ice-releases-a-dallas-born-teenager-after-wrongful-detention "One evening in late June, Francisco Erwin Galicia, his brother, and a group of friends were on their way to a soccer event in Texas when they came across a Border Patrol checkpoint. The officers asked them for their papers. Galicia's brother, Marlon, who was born in Mexico and didn't have legal status, was detained for two days before signing his own deportation, as first reported by the Dallas Morning News. Galicia, an 18-year-old from Dallas, remained in immigration custody for almost a month despite being a United States citizen. That night, Galicia didn't have his American passport with him, so he showed the Customs and Border Protection officers a Texas ID and a social security card. But the officers were suspicious that the documents were fraudulent. After fingerprinting Galicia, they had found a tourist visa under his name stating Mexico as his birthplace. According to Galicia's attorney, his undocumented mother had gotten the visa with the false information, thinking that her son wouldn't be able to cross the border to see his family otherwise. As a result of the ordeal, Galicia remained in CBP custody for three weeks, after which he was transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. He was released on Tuesday." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksJuly 24

Perpetrators from the Trump era will face punishment under her presidency.July 12

Trump: “I don’t call them raids”July 11

AOC broke down when visiting one of the concentration camps the Trump Administration is holding migrant children in. John Iadarola breaks it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.gq.com/story/ice-children-van-parking-lot?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=gq&utm_social-type=earned "In July of 2018, 37 detained migrant children boarded vans in Texas so they could be reunited with their parents at the Port Isobel Detention Center. But when they reached the Immigration and Customs Enforcement–run detention facility, they had to wait. And wait. It took 39 hours and two nights spent sleeping in vans for the last child to be processed and reunited with their family, with most of the 5- to 12-year-olds waiting at least 23 hours in the center's parking lot. All of this is according to a story from NBC News, which obtained e-mails from BCFS Heath and Human Services, a nonprofit and government contractor that was responsible for transporting the children. Per NBC News: At 10:30 p.m. local time Sunday, July 15, 2018, Andrew Carter, the BCFS regional director responsible for the children, e-mailed Kevin Dinnin, the company's president and CEO, to alert him to the fact that the 37 children had been waiting for eight hours and not a single one had been processed for reunification. "The children were initially taken into the facility, but were then returned to the van as the facility was still working on paperwork," explained Carter. "The children were brought back in later in the evening, but returned to the vans because it was too cold in the facility and they were still not ready to be processed in." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksJune 25

The Trump Administration is arguing that the cruel conditions they keep migrant children are perfectly fine. John Iadarola and Brett Erlich break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.newsweek.com/migrant-children-border-trump-administration-1445090 "The Trump administration went to court this week to argue that migrant children detained at the United States-Mexico border do not require basic hygiene products like soap and toothbrushes in order to be in held in "safe and sanitary" conditions. Trump's team also argued that requiring minors to sleep on cold concrete floors in crowded cells with low temperatures similarly fulfilled that requirement. Arguing in a 9th district San Francisco court about the conditions that they must hold migrant children in, the administration said that they did not violate a precedent set by a landmark 1985 class action lawsuit which established guidelines for the way minors held in federal immigration detention must be treated. The case, Jenny Lisette Flores v. Edwin Meese, created rules around the timely release of migrant minors to their parents, and said that those not released must be kept in facilities that are "safe and sanitary." But on Tuesday, the Justice Department's Sarah Fabian claimed that the ruling did not list specific requirements like "toothbrushes" or "towels," to establish a sanitary condition. "One has to assume it was left that way and not enumerated by the parties because either the parties couldn't reach agreement on how to enumerate that or it was left to the agencies to determine," Fabian said to the three Clinton-appointed federal judges on the court." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksJune 21

Even Republican politicians are calling out the inhuman practices of ICE. Brett Erlich and Jayar Jackson break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/botched-family-reunifications-left-migrant-children-waiting-vans-overnight-n1013336 "LOS ANGELES — Under the blistering Texas sun last July, 37 migrant children boarded vans for what was supposed to be a 30-minute ride. At the end of the road from Harlingen to Los Fresnos lay the promise of hugs, kisses and long overdue reunification with their parents, from whom they were taken when the Trump administration began systematically separating migrant families who crossed the border illegally. But when the children, all between 5 and 12 years old, arrived at Immigration and Customs Enforcement's adults-only Port Isabel Detention Center, rather than seeing their parents, they saw a parking lot full of vans just like theirs, with children from other facilities who, just like them, were waiting to be processed and reunified with their parents. It was 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 15, 2018. Not until 39 hours later — after two nights in a van — did the last child step out of a van to be reunited. Most spent at least 23 hours in the vehicles. After NBC News published its report on the children Monday night, Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued a statement calling the children's situation "completely unacceptable" and said he expected a "prompt explanation" from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksJune 5

The House of Representatives has passed the DREAM Act! Brett Erlich and Jayar Jackson break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.vox.com/2019/6/4/18650672/house-democrats-dream-and-promise-act "The US House of Representatives passed a bill that would give permanent citizenship to 2.5 million undocumented immigrants on Tuesday, on a final vote of 237-187. Like most of the rest of the Democratic agenda, it’s likely headed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s dustbin. House Democrats’ Dream and Promise Act, introduced in March, is an attempt to give a pathway to citizenship to two major groups of immigrants whose legal status President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened: unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the US as children (known as DREAMers) and immigrants with temporary humanitarians protections. “Dreamers and those with TPS (Temporary Protected Status) and DED (Deferred Enforced Departure) status are contributing to our country and to our economy, and deserve to have certainty that they will be able to stay with their families in the place they call home,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer wrote in a Dear Colleague letter to the Democratic caucus this week. Even though a number of Republicans support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects DREAMers currently, the broad nature of this bill will make it a tough sell in the US Senate, especially with the 2020 election looming. Immigration has been the basis of many of the worst fights between Trump and Congress, giving McConnell little incentive to bring a bill up in the Senate. And even though Democrats have made creating a pathway to citizenship for DACA and TPS recipients one of their top priorities, the much harder work of comprehensive immigration reform is yet to come. Opposing Trump is the easy part, and the president’s hardline policies have had a uniting effect on Democrats. But drafting a plan that also tackles border security and could get the Senate — not to mention the president — on board will prove far more challenging." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurksJune 5

Trump has caused chaos at the border with his supporters. May 7

The Trump Administration plans on holding migrants INDEFINITELY. April 17

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