JUNE 21, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


“THAT'S WHAT YOU MIGHT WELL CALL A DOUBLE DECEPTION — A LIE ABOUT A LIE.” HEY, WAIT! DIDN’T TRUMP JUST CONFESS THAT HE DID LIE? OF COURSE, HE WILL THINK THAT IT’S UNFAIR OF ME TO TAKE HIM AT HIS VERY WORDS.

THE FOLLOWING IS ALSO QUOTABLE, CONSIDERING THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER. “(BREITBART'S INITIAL HEADLINE: "DONALD TRUMP VOICES COMPASSION AS HE SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO STOP SEPARATING FAMILIES." LATER IT WAS CHANGED TO: "DONALD TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO STOP SEPARATING FAMILIES.") I WONDER WHO CALLED THEM OUT ON BREITBART’S BOOTLICKING STATEMENT?

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/20/621876079/when-the-white-house-cant-be-believed?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=politics&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20180621
ANALYSIS
When The White House Can't Be Believed
3:54 DOWNLOAD
TRANSCRIPT
June 20, 20186:50 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
David Folkenflik - Square
DAVID FOLKENFLIK Twitter

PHOTOGRAPH -- Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen speaks Monday during a White House news briefing about children being separated from their parents who enter the U.S. illegally. Alex Wong/Getty Images

This essay isn't about spin, or splitting hairs, or differing opinions.

This involves a reality check about our expectations of the people who act in our name. About credibility at the highest levels of our government. About people whose words are heard abroad as speaking for our nation. About the public and the media that try, however imperfectly, to serve it.

On Monday, reporters relentlessly confronted Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at a news conference held at the White House. They grilled her on the government's policy of separating young children from parents seeking asylum after crossing the U.S. border with Mexico.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny asked why that did not constitute child abuse. A second reporter questioned where girls were, noting that photos released by the government largely featured boys. A third reporter challenged President Trump's compassion, noting his tweets indicated concern for almost anyone other than the families.

NATIONAL -- Defiant Homeland Security Secretary Defends Family Separations

Nielsen did not back down, though her defense involved claims lacking much factual support.

"Those who criticize the enforcement of our laws have offered only one countermeasure: open borders, the quick release of all illegal alien families and the decision not to enforce our laws," Nielsen said from the White House lectern. "This policy would be disastrous."

To be clear: The claim there's only the Trump way or anarchy doesn't have much currency outside the administration and its allies in conservative media. Nor does the idea Trump couldn't have acted until Congress changed the law.

For days, Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress have said he could erase the practice — one put in place under his presidency — with a wave of the hand. Many of them publicly called upon him to do so.

After signing an executive order Wednesday, the president says he has done just that, inspiring kudos from such outfits as Breitbart News. (Breitbart's initial headline: "Donald Trump Voices Compassion As He Signs Executive Order to Stop Separating Families." Later it was changed to: "Donald Trump Signs Executive Order to Stop Separating Families.")

Back on Monday, Trump's homeland security secretary embarked on a series of insupportable assertions, none more fundamental than this: "It's not a policy."

ANALYSIS -- Family Separation Is Trump's Immigration Policy. Here's Why He Won't Own It

But it was. Nielsen herself had said there needed to be a break in how Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush processed people coming across the border. If an intentional shift in the way the government handles people seeking asylum does not constitute a policy, what meaning does the word "policy" have?

Then there was the affront Nielsen said she took to a reporter's asking whether she intended for parents to be separated from their children, and whether there was an underlying message:

Nielsen: I find that offensive. No. Because why would I ever create a policy that purposely does that?

Reporter: Perhaps as a deterrence?

Nielsen: No.

You could call what she said a deception, an evasion or a technical nicety. NPR will not call what Nielsen said a lie because it cannot gauge her intent.

I report about the media for NPR and in so doing, I periodically cover NPR and its policies. I don't speak for the network. I would say the word "lie" fits here.

Regardless, NPR and other news organizations say Nielsen was dead wrong: There was a policy with a clear underlying rationale.

POLITICS -- Bit By Bit, Trump Is Shredding Credibility Of White House Officials

Back in May, White House chief of staff John Kelly spoke with NPR's John Burnett in an interview that made headlines around the world. Kelly told Burnett that the laws against people entering the country without legal status had to be enforced.

Kelly: The laws are the laws. But a big name of the game is deterrence.

Burnett: So family separation stands as a pretty tough deterrent.

Kelly: It could be a tough deterrent — would be a tough deterrent. A much faster turnaround on asylum-seekers.

Kelly, who is Nielsen's predecessor at Homeland Security and her mentor, said much the same to CNN when considering the policy back in early 2017. So did U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Fox News Monday night.
<i>
So why would Nielsen seek to deceive the public?

Cast your mind back to the first week of Trump's presidency, with spurious claims from the president and his press secretary about record crowds at the inauguration. Trump has issued more than 3,250 false or misleading claims in his first 497 days in office, according to an account by The Washington Post's Fact Checker column in late May. The paper quoted a psychology researcher from the University of California, Santa Barbara who said Trump's repetition of falsehoods gave them greater credence among his core supporters.

That impulse emerged again on Friday. Trump spoke to a clutch of reporters surrounding him on the White House lawn as he strolled to pop on his favorite morning TV news show, Fox & Friends, which was helpfully camped out on the grounds. Trump deflected questions about the false claims his lawyers made last year on his behalf. The attorneys had denied — untruthfully — that Trump had anything to do with his son Don Jr.'s statements about the purpose of his meeting with Russians during the 2016 campaign.

"It's irrelevant," President Trump said. "It's a statement to The New York Times, the phony, failing New York Times."

Don Jr.'s statements turned out to be untrue. So were the denials of the president's involvement, who, it turned out, dictated his son's response to the Times.

Analysis: In Trump's Twitter Feed, A Tale Of Sound And Fury
THE NEW CLASH BETWEEN FREE SPEECH AND PRIVACY

The president made clear he didn't care about the deception.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," he said. "That's not a statement to a high tribunal of judges. That's a statement to the phony New York Times."

It's OK, apparently, to deceive the public as long as it's through the nation's leading newspaper.

That's what you might well call a double deception — a lie about a lie.

I sure would call it that.

But what you call it almost doesn't matter.

More important is that the media and the public register a fundamental fact: Top people speaking for the United States aren't telling us the truth — starting with the president.


THIS ARTICLE EXPLAINS IN DEPTH THE ISSUE OF WHAT THINGS ARE ACTUALLY REQUIRED BY LAW IN THIS BORDERLAND TRAGEDY. I HAVEN’T VERIFIED IT SEPARATELY IN A LAW TEXT, BUT I’M ASSUMING THIS IS CORRECT INFORMATION. SETH ABRAMSON IS A LAWYER AND A PROFESSOR, ACCORDING TO HUFFINGTON POST.

AS FOR WHETHER OR NOT DONALD TRUMP’S CHOSEN POLICY WAS CONCEIVED, AND IS BEING USED PURPOSELY “TO DETER OTHERS FROM COMING,” JEFF SESSIONS DOES SAY THAT THAT IS EXACTLY THE PURPOSE. SO, PRESIDENT TRUMP, EMULATE GEORGE WASHINGTON AND STOP LYING!!! YOU’LL HAVE TO GO TO A PLASTIC SURGEON AND HAVE YOUR NOSE BOBBED IF YOU DON’T! BY THE WAY, "THE LAW" IS Title 8 of U.S. Code 1325 and 1326, AND WAS SIGNED BY GEORGE W BUSH IN 2008. MY PROOF FOR THAT COMES FROM https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/qanda-was-a-breastfeeding-infant-really-taken-from-an-immigrant-mother/ar-AAyOAPJ?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

http://www.thejournal.ie/factcheck-trump-separations-4078446-Jun2018/
FactCheck: Is Trump correct that the Democrats passed laws to separate families at the border?
Trump has pinned the blame for the controversial practice at the US border on Democrats, but is he right?
JUNE 19, 2018 Tue 5:17 PM 32,918 Views

PHOTOGRAPH -- Immigration Holding Facility Those kept in detention at a Texas facility, Source: US CBP Rio Grande Valley Sector via AP

THE SEPARATION OF parents and their children as they try to enter America from the southern border with Mexico is drawing international headlines and condemnation.

This has been largely attributed to a “zero tolerance” policy instigated by President Donald Trump aimed at deterring the thousands of people who cross the border illegally into the US each and every month.

This zero tolerance sees any adult crossing the border illegally subject to arrest and federal prosecution. In cases where these adults are with children, families have been separated.

This at odds with previous Obama and Bush-era policies that were tough on immigration in a number of ways but stopped short of separating children from their parents.

Democrats have been lining up to attack the Republican president for this policy, with former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders calling it “inhumane” and “cruel”, while Senator Jeff Markey said that the “Statue of Liberty under the Trump policy is not carrying a torch, it’s carrying a pair of handcuffs”.

Trump, however, is pinning the blame for family separations on “bad legislation” that was actually passed by the Democrats and that what is happening now is an example of the law being enforced, rather than a policy.

So, is he right?

The claim

trumo [sic] immigration

Here’s what Trump said via his preferred medium of Twitter: “Separating families at the border is the fault of bad legislation passed by the Democrats. Border security laws should be changed but the Dems can’t get their act together. Started the wall.”

He’d gone even further in an earlier tweet last month, saying: “Put pressure on the Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there (sic) parents once they cross the border into the US.”

trump immigration

He’s repeated that on a number of occasions, citing the “bad laws that the Democrats gave us” that meant “we have to break up families”.

It’s also a claim that has been repeated by his spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and House speaker Paul Ryan.

So, the crux of his argument is that the policy of separating children and their families has been caused by laws passed by the Democrats.

The facts

There isn’t actually any federal law in the US that mandates the separation of children and parents at the border.

Over a recent six-week period, however, the number of children separated from their parents after crossing the border illegally stood at almost 2,000, the BBC reported.

The children are put in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services, and can be placed in a foster home or a shelter. Their parents, meanwhile, are prosecuted for illegally entering the US.

The current policy of separating families has come on the back of the “zero tolerance” approach recently announced by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

UPI 20180618 Jeff Sessions announced the policy
Source: AJ Sisco UPI/PA Images

Under the measure, adults who illegally cross the border will be arrested on criminal charges.

For those who come with families, their children are removed from them. Sessions said this policy aimed to deter others from arriving.

He said: “You can’t be giving immunity to people who bring children with them, recklessly, and improperly, and illegally.

If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. If you are smuggling a child, we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law.

Sessions has long taken a hardline – even extreme for some Republicans – stance on immigration, which was flagged when he was announced as Trump’s Attorney General.

But what law?

Entering the US without the proper visa to be granted entry has, of course, always been illegal.

But, as law professor Seth Abramson has explained in this Twitter thread, illegal entry was for many years a “civil – non-criminal – infraction”.

He said: “[This means] even if you were found after a hearing to have illegally entered the country, you wouldn’t be considered a “criminal.” You would have committed a non-violent, non-criminal status offense.

The Trump Administration has decided—they have *chosen*—to treat illegal entry as a “crime.” This means it is now on par with “criminal trespass”—one of the least serious non-violent offenses in the United States, and one for which almost no one would be held on bail pretrial.

Abramson also points out that pretrial detention wouldn’t usually occur in cases such as this, reflecting the “policy” stance of President Trump.


Seth Abramson
✔
@SethAbramson
18 Jun
Replying to @SethAbramson
11/ Moreover, the allegation of illegal entry—*even if* regarded as an allegation of criminal conduct—is an allegation of *non-violent* criminal conduct, and an allegation made against someone with no known criminal record, meaning that normally pretrial detention wouldn't occur.


Seth Abramson
✔
@SethAbramson
12/ Pretrial detention obviously *will* occur in most illegal entry cases, as the nature of the allegation and non-citizen status of the individual accused is such that most judges will fear the defendant will flee pre-hearing. *None of that* militates for separation of families.

8:05 PM - Jun 18, 2018
839
267 people are talking about this
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Source: Seth Abramson/Twitter

Those entering the US come from Mexico, as well as Central American countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Many, including almost all of the families and unaccompanied children arriving, request asylum, claiming a “credible fear” of persecution or torture if they return to their country.

However, there currently is a backlog of 600,000 cases for those seeking asylum.

The policy had previously been to not refer adults directly for prosecution, and instead allow them to submit an asylum application.

In 2005, a policy from George W Bush called Operation Streamline took a hard approach to illegal immigrants which took also prosecuted these people. Exceptions were made for those travelling with children, however, and those who had illnesses.

Responding to an influx of illegal immigrants in 2014, then-President Barack Obama and his administration put whole families in immigration detention but that was short-lived in favour of families being released while their asylum cases were pending.

Critics of Obama said that this “catch and release” policy led to thousands of illegal immigrants gaining access to America – as they would never turn up for their asylum hearings and become lost in the system.

The Trump administration differs from that of Obama, and Bush, in treating all those who’ve crossed the border illegally as subject to criminal prosecution, despite any claims to asylum.

This new policy announced by Sessions recommends those caught for criminal trial and separates them from their children while criminal proceedings follow.

In a statement from the Department of Homeland Security – perhaps pre-empting the policy – in February of this year, it said that due to “legal loopholes and court backlogs” even “apprehended illegal aliens are released and become part of the temporary, illegal population of people that we cannot remove”.

In terms of legal loopholes, it cites two legal precedents – a 1997 legal settlement and a 2008 law passed by the Bush administration.

The first one allows the Department of Homeland Security to detain unaccompanied children crossing the border for 20 days before releasing them to foster families, shelters or sponsors, pending the resolution of their immigration cases.

This was later expanded to also include accompanied children but did not legislate for the separation of families.

The New York Times has reported that the government has three options under this so-called Flores Settlement – release whole families together, pass a law to allow for families to be detained together or break them up.

The 2008 law – which was co-sponsored by three Republicans and three Democrats – required unaccompanied children from Mexico and Canada to be placed in the care of the Office of Refugee Settlement.

In both cases, it does not require for the detainment of parents which is resulting in family separations.

Sarah Pierce, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told FactCheck.org that the laws require the government to release children from custody after a certain period of detainment but don’t require the parents to be held too.

“The government absolutely has the option to release the parents,” as well, Pierce said.

Verdict

Without the “zero tolerance” policy currently being enforced, the current legal precedents do not require children to be separated from their parents.

So, the policy announced by the Trump administration that has resulted in the separation of thousands of families is not required by federal laws, and certainly not ones implemented by the Democrats.

As a result, we rate this claim as FALSE.

Short URL -- http://jrnl.ie/4078446
About the author:

PHOTOGRAPH -- Sean Murray
@SeanMJourno
sean@thejournal.ie


THE FLORES CONSENT DECREE AND MORE

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/06/21/immigrant-children-what-we-know-now/720757002/?csp=chromepush
Pelosi, Trump clash on Twitter over immigration: What we know now
John Bacon, USA TODAY Published 10:33 a.m. ET June 21, 2018 | Updated 12:46 p.m. ET June 21, 2018

The Justice Department on Thursday asked a federal judge to change the rules for detaining undocumented immigrants as the Trump administration presses its effort to halt the separation of children from their parents while continuing the "zero tolerance" policy.

At issue is the Flores consent decree and related court rulings that require release of children within 20 days. The problem is that under zero tolerance the government is criminally charging adults – and their cases generally take far more than 20 days to litigate. The government wants approval to allow the kids to stay with their detained parents.

The consent degree stems from a class-action lawsuit filed in the 1980s challenging procedures for detention, treatment and release of children of undocumented immigrants. Years of court battles resulted in a determination that the government must release the child to relatives or into the “least restrictive” accommodations possible.

In most cases, relatives are not available in the U.S., so kids are placed in temporary youth shelters operated by Health and Human Services.

Trump his Dems, Mexico for immigration morass

President Donald Trump continued his assault on congressional Democrats and Mexico over immigration Thursday, one day after signing his executive order designed to halt the separation of children from undocumented adults under his contentious "zero tolerance" policy.

Trump, speaking from the White House, lamented that he could not lure a sufficient number of Democratic senators to support a sweeping, GOP immigration bill.

"We need 10 Democrats, and we're not going to get them," he said. "They don't care about children ... They don't care about anything. All they are good at is obstructing."

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blasted Trump on Twitter, saying Trump "hasn’t taken care of the problem, not by any stretch of the imagination. But now that he’s finally admitted that his administration does have the power to take action, I urge him to address these serious, unresolved issues."

The Mexican government has condemned what it considers "cruel and inhumane" treatment of children under Trump's zero tolerance. Trump also said Mexico talks about helping stop illegal immigration but has not acted. He said Mexico "does nothing for us except taking our money and sending us drugs."

Melania Trump visits border

First lady Melania Trump traveled to the Texas border town of McAllen on Thursday to take part in briefings and tours at a nonprofit social services center for undocumented immigrant children, her office said.

The first lady also was visiting a customs and border patrol processing center.

"I want to thank you for your hard work, your compassion and your kindness," she told reporters. Her office said she wanted to "lend support and hear more on how the administration can build upon the already existing efforts to reunite children with their families."

Melania Trump had made a public statement Sunday urging "both sides" to come together on a solution to the crisis of children being separated from their undocumented parents at the border.

House delays vote on immigration bill

The House delayed until Friday a vote on the most promising immigration proposal, after a more conservative bill failed Thursday. The compromise would allow an estimated 1.8 million "Dreamers" to apply for “nonimmigrant status” if they meet certain conditions. Those that get the status would, after six years, qualify to apply for a green card and join the path to eventual citizenship. To assuage immigration hardliners, the measure would end a diversity lottery program and limit family-based immigration. The visas from those programs would be used for the "Dreamers" and then dry up.

Pelosi, Trump clash on Twitter

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, on Thursday accused Trump of putting the children of undocumented immigrants in cages and Republicans of being complicit in his atrocities after Trump lit into the California Democrat on Twitter.

"Democrats want open borders, where anyone can come into our country, and stay. This is Nancy Pelosi’s dream," Trump tweeted Thursday. "It won’t happen!"

Minutes later, it was Pelosi firing back: "Democrats want to honor our responsibility to secure our borders but not by putting children in cages."

Images from the border have shown some children living in temporary shelters separated by chain-link fencing.

"Republicans continue to be complicit in @realDonaldTrump’s atrocities," Pelosi tweeted. "Instead of standing up for families, they are pushing bills that serve to advance his shameful ideas. #FamiliesBelongTogether."

RELATED:
More: First lady Melania Trump makes in surprise trip to Texas
More: House Republicans scramble for bill on immigration
More: Trump reversal followed pressure from Melania, Ivanka, GOP lawmakers
More: Young immigrants detained in Virginia center allege abuse
Trump policy draw protests despite order

Hundreds of protesters chanting "I believe we will win" gathered at LaGuardia Airport in New York overnight awaiting flights believed to be carrying immigrant children separated from their families at the Mexican border. The rally was one of several held across the nation protesting Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, hours after Trump signed an executive order aimed at halting the separation of children from their families.

Activists took to social media Wednesday to rally support for the protest after learning that children were being flown from the border to New York for placement in area youth programs. Earlier Wednesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the federal government would not reveal how many children had been sent to the area but added he learned 239 children were at one program alone.

Trump walks back policy under pressure

Trump signed the executive order after days of protests from across the political spectrum, including Republican lawmakers who expressed concerns about their re-election prospects, according to current and former administration officials. Pressure also came from within his own family. Ivanka Trump had been working with top GOP lawmakers — including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — to find a way out, said a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive discussions within the first family.

Children claim abuse in Virginia center

Immigrant children as young as 14 housed at a juvenile detention center in Virginia say they were beaten while handcuffed and locked up for long periods in solitary confinement, left nude and shivering in concrete cells. The abuse claims against the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center near Staunton, Virginia*, are detailed in federal court filings that include a half-dozen sworn statements from Latino teens jailed there for months or years. Multiple detainees say the guards stripped them of their clothes and strapped them to chairs with bags placed over their heads.

Small Texas town a focus of struggle

The Texas border town of McAllen is home to the U.S. Border Patrol’s McAllen Station, the busiest point of entry for apprehending and detaining immigrants suspected of entering the country illegally, and protests have erupted around the area. “It’s about time the whole country wakes up and says ‘This is wrong,’” said Sister Norma Pimentel, who runs a respite center for migrants in this border town of about 130,000 people. “This is their suffering. But I’ve been seeing this suffering for four years, or more.”

Contributing: Trevor Hughes, Eliza Collins, David Jackson and Deidre Shesgreen; The Associated Press



SHENANDOAH VALLEY JUVENILE CENTER IS UNDER THREAT IN AT LEAST TWO LAWSUITS FOR ABUSE OF THE KIDS, MOST OF WHOM ARE FROM MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA, AND RARELY HAVE THEY BEEN CHARGED WITH CRIMES BUT FROM THE IMMIGRATION OFFENSE ONLY; AND THEY ALLEGE THAT THE WHITE KIDS, WHO ARE THERE MAINLY FOR CRIMINAL OFFENSES, ARE NOT TREATED AS POORLY. HUMANKIND BEING THE WAY WE ARE, I DON’T DOUBT THAT, SO I’M RELIEVED TO SEE THAT SOME OF THE KIDS ALONG WITH THEIR LAWYERS, ARE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

http://time.com/5318165/juvenile-immigrants-virginia-detention-abuse-shenandoah/
Young Immigrants Held in a Virginia Detention Center Say They Were Abused By Guards
By MICHAEL BIESECKER, JAKE PEARSON AND GARANCE BURKE / AP 1:47 AM EDT

(WASHINGTON) — Immigrant children as young as 14 housed at a juvenile detention center in Virginia say they were beaten while handcuffed and locked up for long periods in solitary confinement, left nude and shivering in concrete cells.

The abuse claims against the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center near Staunton, Virginia, are detailed in federal court filings that include a half-dozen sworn statements from Latino teens jailed there for months or years. Multiple detainees say the guards stripped them of their clothes and strapped them to chairs with bags placed over their heads.

“Whenever they used to restrain me and put me in the chair, they would handcuff me,” said a Honduran immigrant who was sent to the facility when he was 15 years old. “They also put a bag over your head.”

In addition to the children’s first-hand, translated accounts in court filings, a former child-development specialist who worked inside the facility told The Associated Press she saw kids there with bruises and broken bones they blamed on guards. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to publicly discuss the children’s cases.

In court filings, lawyers for the detention facility have denied all allegations of physical abuse.

Many of the children were sent there after U.S. immigration authorities accused them of belonging to violent gangs, including MS-13. President Donald Trump has repeatedly cited gang activity as justification for his crackdown on illegal immigration.

But Kelsey Wong, a program director at the facility, said during a recent congressional hearing that in many cases the children did not appear to be gang members and were suffering from mental health issues.

The Shenandoah lockup is one of only three juvenile detention facilities in the United States with federal contracts to provide “secure placement” for children who had problems at less-restrictive housing. It was built by a coalition of seven nearby towns and counties to lock up local kids charged with serious crimes.

Since 2007, about half the 58 beds are occupied by both male and female immigrants between the ages of 12 and 17 facing deportation proceedings. Though incarcerated in a facility similar to a prison, the immigrant children have not yet been convicted of any crime.

On average, 92 immigrant children each year cycle through Shenandoah, most of them from Mexico and Central America.

The lawsuit filed against Shenandoah alleges that young Latino immigrants held there “are subjected to unconstitutional conditions that shock the conscience, including violence by staff, abusive and excessive use of seclusion and restraints, and the denial of necessary mental health care.”

The complaint filed by a Washington-based legal advocacy group recounts the story of an unnamed 17-year-old Mexican citizen apprehended at the southern border. The teen fled an abusive father and violence fueled by drug cartels to seek asylum in the United States in 2015.

After stops at facilities in Texas and New York, he was transferred to Shenandoah in April 2016 and diagnosed during an initial screening by a psychologist with three mental disorders, including depression. The lawsuit alleges the teen has received no further significant mental health treatment.

The lawsuit recounts multiple alleged violent incidents between Latino children and staff at the Shenandoah center. It describes the guards as mostly white, non-Spanish speakers who are undertrained in dealing with individuals with mental illness.

In their sworn statements, the teens reported spending the bulk of their days locked in their cells, with a few hours set aside for classroom instruction, recreation and meals. Some said they had never been allowed outdoors.

The lawsuit says poor conditions and verbal abuse by staff often escalated into physical confrontations, as the frustrated children acted out. The staff regularly responded by “applying an excessive amount of force that goes far beyond what is needed to establish or regain control.”

In the case of the Mexican 17-year-old, the lawsuit said a staff member who suspected him of possessing contraband threw him to the ground and forcibly tore off his clothes for an impromptu strip search. Though no forbidden items were found, the teenager was transferred to a unit designated for children who engage in bad behavior.


The lawsuit said Latino children were frequently punished by being restrained for hours in chairs, with handcuffs and cloth shackles on their legs. Often, the lawsuit alleged, the children were beaten by staff while bound.

As a result of such “malicious and sadistic applications of force,” the immigrant youths have “sustained significant injuries, both physical and psychological,” the lawsuit said.

After being subjected to such treatment, the 17-year-old Mexican youth said he tried to kill himself in August, only to be punished with further isolation. On other occasions, he said, he cut his wrists with a piece of glass.

The lawsuit alleges other immigrant youths held at Shenandoah have also engaged in cutting and other self-harming behaviors, including ingesting shampoo and attempting to choke themselves.

A hearing in the case is set for July 3 before a federal judge in the Western District of Virginia.


PUT THESE DATES ON YOUR CALENDAR, TOO. CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST SHENANDOAH VALLEY JUVENILE CENTER COMMISSION: “DISCOVERY IS UNDERWAY AND A JURY TRIAL IS SET FOR DEC. 3-7, 2018. THIS CASE IS ONGOING.”

THE FIRST LAWSUIT, ABOVE, INVOLVES YET ANOTHER SET OF PLAINTIFFS, AND WILL COME BEFORE A JUDGE ON JULY 3 THIS YEAR.

https://www.clearinghouse.net/detail.php?id=16194
CIVIL RIGHT LITIGATION CLEARINGHOUSE

Case Name Doe v. Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center Commission IM-VA-0006
Docket / Court 5:17-cv-00097 ( W.D. Va. )
State/Territory Virginia
Case Type(s) Immigration and/or the Border
Attorney Organization Washington Lawyers' Committee

Case Summary

On Oct. 4, 2017, a minor in immigration detention filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. Represented by the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs as well as private counsel, plaintiff sued the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center Commission, the owner and operator of his detention facility. Plaintiff brought the suit under the federal civil rights statute 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff also sought class action certification for all similarly situated minors who were or would be detained at the same facility.

Plaintiff alleged that he was a 17-year-old Mexican unaccompanied minor, detained at the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center (SVJC) in Staunton, VA, for the sole reason that he had entered the U.S. without authorization. Plaintiff had suffered from domestic abuse and other violence in Mexico, and had fled to the U.S. to seek asylum. However, his prolonged detention at various U.S. facilities had exacerbated his trauma.

Plaintiff alleged that he and other juvenile immigrant detainees at the SVJC were "subjected to unconstitutional conditions that shock the conscience, including violence by staff, abusive and excessive use of seclusion and restraints, and the denial of necessary mental health care." Additionally, plaintiff alleged that SVJC staff treated the Latino immigrant detainees (who were held for civil immigration offenses) more harshly than the mostly white, non-immigrant detainees (who were held for criminal offenses).

Defendant had violated the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, plaintiff asserted, by using excessive force against and displaying deliberate indifference to civil detainees, as well as discriminating against immigrant detainees based on their race and national origin.

Plaintiff sought declaratory and injunctive relief requiring defendants to cease the challenged conditions at SVJC, and to provide class members with the standard of care and conditions of confinement mandated by the Constitution.

Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon was assigned to this case on Oct. 4, 2017. The Court held status conferences on Dec. 4, 2017 and on Jan. 9, 2018.

Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on Jan. 31. The amended complaint stated that in December, plaintiff had been transferred to another Virginia facility but remained in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and could be transferred back to SVJC at any time. The amended complaint also added two more plaintiffs currently detained at SVJC.

Plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunction on Feb. 28, asking the Court to enjoin defendants from imposing improper, excessive, and inherently injurious discipline and punishment upon plaintiffs, in terms of physical force and denial of adequate mental health treatment.

On Mar. 21, defendants opposed the preliminary injunction motion. Defendants maintained that they provided "secure education, housing and other services for Plaintiffs[,]" whom they also claimed exhibited "violent and threatening behavior." According to defendants, plaintiffs had not alleged sufficient details of abuse to counter defendants' assertions that their policies and practices were lawful. Plaintiffs replied on Apr. 4.

Discovery is underway and a jury trial is set for Dec. 3-7, 2018. This case is ongoing.

Ava Morgenstern - 05/05/2018



BERNIE SANDERS, WHILE NOT ABUSIVE, DOES NOT MINCE WORDS, EITHER, AND IN THIS CASE, AS HE USUALLY DOES, HE PUTS HIS FINGER ON THE REAL PROBLEM: TRUMP’S UNCARING AND RUTHLESS ATTITUDE. TRUMP DID SIGN AN ORDER YESTERDAY ENDING THE FAMILY SEPARATIONS FOR THE FUTURE, BUT IT DOESN’T GUARANTEE THE HEALING OF FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY INCARCERATED. THERE IS NO “GRANDFATHER CLAUSE” IN IT, APPARENTLY.

http://biblehub.com/matthew/25-40.htm, I’M NOT SAYING THAT TRUMP IS GOING TO GO STRAIGHT TO “THE BAD PLACE,” BECAUSE I MIGHT MEET HIM DOWN THERE, BUT MERELY FOR INSTRUCTIONAL VALUE, READ THESE SEVERAL VERSES:

41“THEN HE WILL SAY TO THOSE ON HIS LEFT, ‘DEPART FROM ME, YOU CURSED, INTO THE ETERNAL FIRE PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS. 42FOR I WAS HUNGRY AND YOU GAVE ME NO FOOD, I WAS THIRSTY AND YOU GAVE ME NO DRINK, 43 I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU DID NOT WELCOME ME, NAKED AND YOU DID NOT CLOTHE ME, SICK AND IN PRISON AND YOU DID NOT VISIT ME.’ 44THEN THEY ALSO WILL ANSWER, SAYING, ‘LORD, WHEN DID WE SEE YOU HUNGRY OR THIRSTY OR A STRANGER OR NAKED OR SICK OR IN PRISON, AND DID NOT MINISTER TO YOU?’ 45THEN HE WILL ANSWER THEM, SAYING, ‘TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, AS YOU DID NOT DO IT TO ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE, YOU DID NOT DO IT TO ME.’”

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/thats-pretty-pathetic-bernie-sanders-tears-trump-acting-tough-little-children-get
NEWS & POLITICS
'That's Pretty Pathetic': Bernie Sanders Tears into Trump for Acting Tough on 'Little Children' to Get Votes
The Vermont senator said the president's actions echoed the approach of "authoritarian types" in Europe.
By Cody Fenwick / AlterNet June 20, 2018, 4:30 PM GMT

As the White House scrambles to fix a crisis of its own making, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday night lambasted President Donald Trump's policy of breaking apart immigrant families as a "pathetic" attempt to please his voters.

"He created the crisis. He could end the crisis," Sanders said on CNN. "He sees from his political perspective that being anti-immigrant is a winner for him politically. I don't think it is, but that's his logic. And he will continue to mount a very strong anti-immigrant effort."

CNN host Anderson Cooper asked if Trump was trying to use the children to get funding for his border wall.

"Maybe, maybe," Sanders said. "I think more importantly, you have a president who has given tax breaks to billionaires, who wants to cut programs that working people desperately need, and he thinks, as authoritarian types all over Europe believe, that if you can foment anger against immigrants and show how strong and tough you are on those little children that it will get you votes in elections. I think that's pretty pathetic, but I think ultimately that's his strategy."

Sanders also argued that the president's executive order, supposedly signed Wednesday to stop the family separations, doesn't go "far enough," since the families that have already been separated won't necessarily be reunited.

Watch the clip below:


Anderson Cooper 360°
✔
@AC360
Sen. Bernie Sanders: President Trump "thinks as authoritarian types all over Europe believe that if you can ferment anger against immigrants and show how strong and tough you are on those little children that it will get you votes in elections. I think that's pretty pathetic."

8:38 PM - Jun 20, 2018
1,092
525 people are talking about this

NEWS & POLITICS
'That's Pretty Pathetic': Bernie Sanders Tears into Trump for Acting Tough on 'Little Children' to Get Votes
The Vermont senator said the president's actions echoed the approach of "authoritarian types" in Europe.
By Cody Fenwick / AlterNet June 20, 2018, 4:30 PM GMT

Photo Credit: CNN

As the White House scrambles to fix a crisis of its own making, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday night lambasted President Donald Trump's policy of breaking apart immigrant families as a "pathetic" attempt to please his voters.

"He created the crisis. He could end the crisis," Sanders said on CNN. "He sees from his political perspective that being anti-immigrant is a winner for him politically. I don't think it is, but that's his logic. And he will continue to mount a very strong anti-immigrant effort."

CNN host Anderson Cooper asked if Trump was trying to use the children to get funding for his border wall.

"Maybe, maybe," Sanders said. "I think more importantly, you have a president who has given tax breaks to billionaires, who wants to cut programs that working people desperately need, and he thinks, as authoritarian types all over Europe believe, that if you can foment anger against immigrants and show how strong and tough you are on those little children that it will get you votes in elections. I think that's pretty pathetic, but I think ultimately that's his strategy."

Sanders also argued that the president's executive order, supposedly signed Wednesday to stop the family separations, doesn't go "far enough," since the families that have already been separated won't necessarily be reunited.

Watch the clip below:


Anderson Cooper 360°
✔
@AC360
Sen. Bernie Sanders: President Trump "thinks as authoritarian types all over Europe believe that if you can ferment anger against immigrants and show how strong and tough you are on those little children that it will get you votes in elections. I think that's pretty pathetic."

8:38 PM - Jun 20, 2018
1,092
525 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy

Cody Fenwick is a reporter and editor. Follow him on Twitter @codytfenwick.


“UPSTART CHALLENGERS” ARE VERY LIKELY THE YOUNG PROGRESSIVES WHO HAVE SPRUNG UP FROM AMONG THE BERNIE SANDERS FOLLOWERS AT HIS BEHEST, AND THEY ARE OUR BEST HOPE FOR A LIBERALIZED COURT SYSTEM, CONGRESS AND SENATE, WHICH MEANS A MORE LIBERAL AND PROGRESSIVE SET OF LAWS. WHEN I SEE A NEWS REPORT LIKE THIS ONE, I SEE ANOTHER SIGN OF NEEDED CHANGE IN THE PUBLIC MIND. POLITICIANS REFLECT THE VOTERS; AND PROGRESSIVE CHANGE IS WHAT WE MUST HAVE HERE IN THE USA.

THE ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE VOTERS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE, BUT THEY HAVE BECOME AGGRESSIVE AND MORE EXTREME OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS OR SO. YOU CAN BLAME THE KOCH BROTHERS, ULTRA RIGHTIST INTERNET SITES, AND FOX NEWS FOR THAT. THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT THEY ARE DANGEROUS, MUCH MORE DANGEROUS THAN IMMIGRANTS, EVEN IF THEY ARE “ILLEGAL.” MOST OF THEM ARE NOT CRIMINALS IN ANY SENSE OF THE WORD – EXCEPT OF COURSE FOR CROSSING THE BORDER AT NON-SANCTIONED SITES.

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/392907-veteran-new-york-dems-face-upstart-challengers
Veteran New York Dems face upstart challengers
BY LISA HAGEN - 06/19/18 06:00 AM EDT

PHOTOGRAPH – UNNAMED POLITICIAN SPEAKING

Two long-serving New York Democrats are facing upstart primary challenges from liberal millennials who say the state needs fresher faces in Congress.

Rep. Joseph Crowley is the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and seen as a potential future Speaker. This year, though, he is being tested by a 28-year-old organizer for presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) campaign.

Meanwhile his colleague, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a 25-year incumbent, is facing her first contested primary since 2010. Maloney’s challenger is a 34-year-old hotel executive and professor who has been outraising her.

So far, 2018 has been a more favorable year for insurgents but few incumbents have actually lost primaries in safe party seats. In New York, it will similarly be a David vs. Goliath fight to oust the veteran lawmakers.

“I think that in this day and age there’s a new resurgence in activism, in people who are demanding new blood, but the big question is do they turn out? What is the alternative that is being pressed?” said Democratic strategist Jon Reinish, a veteran of New York politics.

“The power of incumbency, the power of long relationships, really matters here,” he added, noting Crowley’s and Maloney’s long roots in their districts.

Strategists say they expect both incumbents to prevail in next Tuesday’s primary, but the veteran lawmakers are taking the challenges seriously.

Political watchers say Maloney, 72, faces the tougher test. She’s been in Congress for 13 terms and represents one of the most affluent districts in the country, covering Manhattan’s East Side and parts of Brooklyn and Queens.

Her challenger, first-time candidate Suraj Patel, is a hotel executive and business professor at New York University.

But he’s no stranger to politics, having worked on both presidential campaigns for former President Obama. And he’s bringing a well-funded and formidable organization to the fight. His digital-driven campaign employs 25 full-time staffers and a network of 69 interns and 200 volunteers.

Patel said his campaign has thrown out the “traditional” playbook to connect with voters. He has coffee carts scattered throughout immigrant communities in the district, so voters can register — and grab a coffee with his face and logo on the cup.

Patel outpaced Maloney for two consecutive fundraising quarters. He raised nearly $1.1 million from October to March, while Maloney raised roughly half as much — $618,000 — during that time. Maloney outraised him in the final two months of the race but was heavily outspent.

Maloney’s last tough primary challenge was in 2010, but that year her opponent ran to the right of her. It was one of the most expensive primaries that cycle, with Maloney eventually romping to victory by 62 points.

Last Tuesday, cable news channel NY1 held the only televised debate in the race, which quickly got heated.

Patel hammered Maloney’s record, highlighting votes for the 1994 crime bill, support for the Iraq War and opposition to the Iran deal.

Maloney has said she regrets her crime bill vote.

“We have evolved as a nation in seeing that it hasn’t worked,” she has said.

On Iran, a Maloney spokesman told The Washington Post she doesn’t support ripping up the deal.

Maloney has also hit back, challenging Patel’s residency. A New York Daily News story from April reported that he cast his 2016 vote in Indiana and claimed a homestead tax exemption there.

“What have you done to help people? Besides talk?” Maloney asked at the debate.

Patel said he’s lived in New York’s East Village for 12 years and called the tax exemption a mistake that he paid back. He said he decided to vote absentee in Indiana because his family lives there.

“I told her at the end of the debate, I’ve done everything but be an elected official,” Patel told The Hill. “There are too many career politicians in Congress. It can use one less.”

Meanwhile, the 56-year-old Crowley is facing his first primary challenge in 14 years.

The fourth highest-ranking official in Democratic House leadership is running for his 11th term. He’s also the chairman of the Queens County Democratic Party and a formidable fundraiser.

Crowley’s seat, however, is markedly different from Maloney’s. The 14th District is one of the most diverse districts in the country, with Hispanics making up half of the population. The district encompasses northwest Queens and the eastern Bronx.

His challenger, Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, is a first-time candidate, with a mother born in Puerto Rico and a father from the Bronx.

Ocasio-Cortez is backed by progressive groups such as Justice Democrats, the Sanders-aligned Our Revolution and the Democratic Socialists of America. She’s running on a progressive platform that includes abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and instituting tuition-free public college.

Crowley, too, has built up a more progressive résumé over the years as a potential successor to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

He’s been a prominent voice for immigration reform and attended a rally last week to protest the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, which separates immigrant parents and children at the border.

Both candidates support “Medicare for all” legislation. Crowley is one of the only House Democratic leaders to back it, co-sponsoring the bill last year.

Ocasio-Cortez, however, has been a much weaker fundraiser. She raised just $312,000 over the past year. Meanwhile, Crowley brought in more than $3.3 million.

Political strategists say Ocasio-Cortez has been able to generate attention because she’s taking on a “big fish.”

“For her it’s not just the money, it’s an uphill battle to get your message out to people who might vote for you in these kinds of elections where there’s low interest and low turnout,” said Ester Fuchs, a political science professor at Columbia University. “It’s still an interesting election because she’s trying to push him to the left, and he has to hear it.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign got traction through a viral video in May.

“This race is about people versus money. We’ve got people, they’ve got money,” she said in the clip, which has been viewed more than 450,000 times.

During Friday’s primary debate, Ocasio-Cortez attacked Crowley for his leadership of the local Democratic Party and slammed him for having a family home outside Washington, D.C.

But Crowley defended his work in leadership, arguing that he has helped minority candidates win elections and is focused on retaking the House.

Crowley has also been showcasing support from his congressional colleagues. One lawmaker endorsement, though, sparked uproar in progressive circles.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a progressive lawmaker who won his own primary challenge against an incumbent in 2016, initially backed Crowley. But after pressure from progressives, Khanna walked it back and issued a dual endorsement.

Khanna claimed he didn’t do much research on the race when he backed Crowley but noted the two had worked on legislation together. He said Ocasio-Cortez has run a “remarkable race.”

The incident highlighted how primary challenges and the party’s divides are putting lawmakers in a difficult spot this season.

For now, Ocasio-Cortez and Patel are generating buzz and putting heat on two veteran lawmakers. But that may not be enough to take down two Democratic veterans.

“Again, the biggest question is do a couple of stories turn into votes?” said Reinish.

TAGS CAROLYN MALONEY BERNIE SANDERS NANCY PELOSI RO KHANNA 2018 MIDTERM ELECTIONS 2018 PRIMARIES NEW YORK



THIS STORY IS SO CLOSE TO THE VERY THINGS THAT HITLER’S REGIME DID THAT IT IS NOT ONLY FRIGHTENING AND INFURIATING, IT IS UNBEARABLY SAD. WHERE’S THE HUMAN FEELING? WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE ARE WE BRINGING UP IN THIS COUNTRY? IS THIS WHAT CHRISTIANITY DOES?

I CONSIDER MYSELF TO BE A SOLDIER NOW. I WON’T CARRY A GUN, BUT I WILL WRITE WHAT I SEE GOING ON, FOLLOW POLITICS CLOSELY, VOTE FOR BERNIE SANDERS AND OTHERS WHO ARE DECENT PEOPLE AND COMPETENT, AND GIVE A LITTLE MONEY AS I CAN. I ALSO JUST WROTE A CONGRATULATIONS NOTE TO GRACE MADDOW ON HER FACEBOOK PAGE FOR BEING FULLY HUMAN – THOUGH NOT IN QUITE THOSE STARK WORDS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGRM73_bGYY
Rachel Maddow Breaks Down Over Immigrant Family Seperation
HuffPost
Published on Jun 20, 2018
The MSNBC anchor couldn’t finish reading a breaking report that the Trump administration has taken babies from their migrant parents. Subscribe to HuffPost today: http://goo.gl/xW6HG

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Category -- News & Politics
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RACHEL MADDOW
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/20/18
DoD agrees to DoJ request for extra lawyers on immigration cases
Rachel Maddow reports exclusive news that the Department of Justice has asked the Pentagon for help processing immigration cases and the DoD has agreed to send active duty JAGs to Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico to serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys. Duration: 6:26


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/20/18
Americans finding ways to work against Trump immigration policy
Rachel Maddow points out the many ways that Americans are working in different capacities to undercut Donald Trump's policy of separating migrant children from their parents, whether by politics, business, protest, leaks to the media, or donations to advocacy groups. Duration: 25:18


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/20/18
Trump detaining babies, toddlers breaks from child welfare policy
Garance Burke, national investigative reporter for the Associated Press, talks with Rachel Maddow about "tender age" facilities where the Trump administration is keeping babies and toddlers taken from parents seeking asylum in the U.S., and why the U.S. hasn't had orphanages for decades. Duration: 6:38


HELP THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/20/18
Nielsen struggles with Trump immigration policy as protests grow
Rachel Maddow notes a number of protests around the U.S. against Donald Trump's family separation policy and notes the difficulty HHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has had defending it to Americans. Duration: 2:56


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/20/18
Trump migrant family policy adjustment faces overburdened system
Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security, talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump's adjustment to his migrant family separation policy and how its application is challenged by an already overcrowded system. Duration: 1:52


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/20/18
Johnson warned Comey on Trump volatility before dossier briefing
Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security, tells Rachel Maddow about concerns he raised with James Comey about how Donald Trump would react to news of the Christopher Steele dossier. Duration: 2:04