kpete
kpete's JournalFormer ICE lawyer switches sides: I want to protect immigrant children, not prosecute them
Laura Peña, Opinion contributor Published 5:00 a.m. ET June 27, 2018 | Updated 8:03 a.m. ET June 27, 2018I used to be an ICE lawyer but now I'm going to defend immigrant parents and children. I didn't become an attorney to prosecute and deport babies.
Obama handled families differently
.........
As children continued to travel north in mass numbers without their parents, the administration made the tough decision to create what former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson described as “crude” converted day care facilities intended for adults. The Obama administration distinguished between unaccompanied children and family units, supported asylum for victims of domestic violence, and worked within established case law. In stark contrast to putting families first, the Trump administration ignored decades of legal standards and made family separation the rule for all.
Now, “tender age” facilities are imprisoning infants and toddlers far away from their parents. Trump's executive order last week halted his family separation policy, but reiterated the commitment to criminally prosecute asylum seekers and failed to mandate that children and parents be reunited. The government recently said approximately 500 families had been reunited, but there remains no clear process in place for the rest — and existing laws for unaccompanied minors create onerous hurdles for parents if they are released and try to get their children back. Moreover, Trump has reiterated his desire to deport unlawful entrants without a court hearing or due process.
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I became a lawyer because I believe in the rule of law and fundamental fairness, not to prosecute babies and send them traveling in planes alone. As our government cracks down on asylum-seeking families, we are witnessing mass violations of constitutional and international laws that uphold the right to family unity, the protection of asylum seekers from criminal prosecution, and the rights of children to live free from harm.
As a former ICE attorney, I am laying down the prosecution sword and picking up the shield to defend those most vulnerable in our society. Our integrity as a democracy relies upon it.
Laura Peña is a former assistant chief counsel at ICE and served as a senior adviser in the State Department during the Obama administration. A Harlingen, Texas native, she starts next month as a visiting attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project.
MORE:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/06/27/former-ice-lawyer-defend-immigrant-children-parents-family-separation-column/730859002/
A Federal Judge Just Ordered An End To Most Family Separations Within The Next Month
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to end separations for most migrant families at the border, and to reunify parents and children who were already separated within the next month, with limited exceptions.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/a-federal-judge-just-ordered-an-end-to-most-family?utm_term=.daaldea9a#.ux0LQyPKP
https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/1011812531436998656
?1530035451
Norman Rockwell's painting "Golden Rule."
https://twitter.com/NPRinskeep/status/1011776290091880450
David Corn: Trump invited this man to the White House. Please, no GOP lectures on civility
https://twitter.com/DavidCornDC/status/1011778425969893376
?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale
By Elizabeth Goodman
August 24, 2007
Renegade right-winger Ted Nugent recently went on a vicious onstage rant in which he threatened the lives of Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Decked out in full-on camouflage hunting gear, Nugent wielded two machine guns while raging, "Obama, he's a piece of shit. I told him to suck on my machine gun. Hey Hillary," he continued. "You might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch." Nugent summed up his eloquent speech by screaming "freedom!"
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ted-nugent-threatens-to-kill-barack-obama-and-hillary-clinton-during-vicious-onstage-rant-20070824
Rocket Man, 1 Trump, 0.
@DavidCornDC
Rocket Man, 1
Trump, 0.
@JChengWSJ
Just FYI, satellite imagery suggests N. Korea is continuing to upgrade its nuclear enrichment facility.
https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1011678619033272321/LgVQL2Dh?format=jpg&name=600x314
Commercial satellite imagery from June 21 indicates that improvements to the infrastructure at North Korea’s Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center are continuing at a rapid pace.
A 38 North exclusive with analysis by Frank V. Pabian, Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Jack Liu.
Continued work at the Yongbyon facility should not be seen as having any relationship to North Korea’s pledge to denuclearize. The North’s nuclear cadre can be expected to proceed with business as usual until specific orders are issued from Pyongyang.
LOTS OF DETAILS:
https://www.38north.org/2018/06/yongbyon062618/
@38NorthNKhttp://bit.ly/2MrQIcK
https://twitter.com/DavidCornDC/status/1011782930841178112
https://twitter.com/38NorthNK/status/1011684220434046977
Attorney General Jeff Sessions making a joke today about separating families (to laughter and applau
Just after 40 seconds in
VIDEO:
https://twitter.com/RobertMaguire_/status/1011728557062721536
https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1011768837413326849
"Her daughter to be sent to live w-American family if she didn't agree for them both to be deported"
HOUSTON—Maria and her 12-year-old daughter surrendered to Customs and Border Protection agents immediately after crossing the Rio Grande on a raft near McAllen, Texas, in the first week of June. It was the final step of their journey from Guatemala, where both of them had been subjected to years of physical abuse by Maria’s husband. They wanted asylum in the United States.
Because Maria had committed a misdemeanor offense by crossing the border, she and her daughter were sent to a processing center where a CBP officer allegedly gave Maria a stark choice. (Maria is a pseudonym to protect her identity.) If she gave up her asylum claim and returned to Guatemala, she and her daughter would remain together. If she applied for asylum, on the other hand, Maria would be thrown in jail for a year and her daughter would be put up for adoption. Maria would never see her daughter again.
“We’ve heard of the history of CBP officers using lies and misinformation to pressure people into signing voluntary departures. But in this specific context, where they’re threatening to take a child away and adopting them out to an American family, that was something I had not heard before.”
— Edgar Saldivar, ACLU of Texas
the rest:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/border-agent-threatened-to-put-immigrants-daughter-up-for-adoption-aclu-says
I got yer civility right here.
RED HEN PROTEST: Opponents of the Red Hen owner's decision to ask Sarah Sanders to leave the restaurant over the weekend were outside today.
These signs say 'Homos are full of demons' and 'Unless they repent Let God Burn Them (LGBT) 2 Peter 2:6'
https://twitter.com/ABC13News/status/1011712331699642368
We gave them civility and they stole a Supreme Court seat.
We gave them civility and they passed a racist travel ban.
We gave them civility and they appointed a corrupt administration.
We gave them civility and they politicized the DOJ.
MAYBE CIVILITY DOESN’T FUCKING WORK?!
https://twitter.com/treasonstickers/status/1011696403511312387
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