Federal judge asks whether Trump's 'America First' agenda is being used to camouflage racial animus

[babylonsister]

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/408447-federal-judge-asks-whether-trumps-america-first-agenda-is-being

Federal judge asks whether Trump's ‘America First’ agenda is being used to camouflage racial animus
By Aris Folley - 09/26/18 07:53 AM EDT


A federal judge in San Francisco is asking whether President Trump’s “America first” agenda is camouflage for racial hostility.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen on Tuesday heard arguments over whether the Trump administration should be blocked from rolling back parts of George H.W. Bush-era humanitarian policy that offers foreign nationals U.S. residency from dangerous countries, Bloomberg reported.

Roughly 300,000 people from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Sudan could be deported if the Trump administration is successful in overturning sections of the policy, the news outlet noted.

Chen noted a memo authored by former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Secretary Elaine Duke that stated the Temporary Protected Status policy “must end for these countries soon” in order for the country's immigration policies to be compliant the president’s “America first” agenda, according to Bloomberg.

The federal judge then pressed a Justice Department attorney, Adam Kirschner, about whether the president’s slogan phrase was being used to camouflage immigration policies some perceive to be discriminatory, it added.

He also reportedly referred to Trump’s alleged past references to countries like Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as “shithole countries.”

“The inference plaintiffs make is that this is code for ending immigration status for those who are non-white. What do you make of that?” Chen asked.

In response, Kirschner pointed out that the policy in question came from Duke and John Kelly, the former DHS secretary and current White House chief of staff, who have not been accused racial discrimination.

[HopeAgain]

1. Translation

Judge states the obvious.

[babylonsister]

2. At least someone finally does. nt

[Princess Turandot]

3. Judge Chen worked for the ACLU for 15+ years...

...then he became a US District Magistrate, which is a position that isn't appointed via POTUS/Congress.

Beginning in 2009, President Obama nominated him for U.S. District Judge several times, because the R's were obstructionists about it getting to a vote. The ACLU connection had them foaming at the mouth. But in 2011, he was finally approved.