I.C.E. Apparently ICE are as cold-hearted as their name; they have just deported a man who has been in this country for 20 years, is married to an American woman, has four children, and is a respected and successful Indiana business owner. Whatever happened to “We’re only going after the criminals”? The man’s name is Roberto Beristain, and today we’re going to stand beside him and take action on his behalf. You can read the details of the case in this New York Times article. Action: 1. Call or write to the ICE Community Relations Officer for the area which includes Indiana and protest this cruel deportation. ALSO: if you call and speak to someone, ask if ICE has deportation quotas it’s trying to fulfil. Manda Walters Chicago - Community Relations Officer 101 W. Congress Parkway Chicago, IL 60605 (312) 347-2454 2. Register your complaint to the Department of Homeland Security. This page has a link to send an email. 3. If your MoC is one of those who claims that ICE are “only going after criminals,” write or call to draw his/her attention to this case and say you are shocked and disappointed and ask what is he/she going to do to prevent such a terrible thing happening in your district. Links to Senate and House contact info, and link to Fax Zero on Speak Out page of this site.
0 Comments
Syria So many questions about Syria, Russia, Tillerson etc. Did Assad and Putin play Trump? Did Trump collude with any of it? Do Tillerson’s business interests in Russia preclude his having honest and ethical dealings with Putin? Did Obama’s inaction and Trump’s indifference cause Putin to get cocky? But putting these questions aside, there still remains the thorny issue of U.S. military involvement and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria. Action: Call, email, or fax your Member of Congress:
House contact info: www.house.gov .Sunday is a day to rest (or maybe go to the Solidarity Rally/March to Support the Muslim Community in Harrisburg, 2 pm at the State Capitol) and enjoy this, because really you can never see it too many times:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVu4Me_n91Y Syria The rightness or wrongness of the missile strikes on Syria and the legality of acting without Congressional approval are matters for debate. But no matter what, we want our Members of Congress to be vigilant, and we want them to be accountable to us. Action: Today is Saturday, and you may not be able to get through to your representative by phone. Find them at www.house.gov. Some Members of Congress have put statements about Syria on their home page. Read the statement and be ready to call their office on Monday. Aid for Refugees Congress will soon be allocating the 2018 funds for foreign aid. Non-military funding for foreign assistance programs is allocated to the International Affairs Function 150 Account. Various relief organizations are asking that the Function 150 Account be funded in the amount of no less than $60 billion for the 2018 Financial Year. Action: Send a postcard or email to your Member of Congress asking them to protect vital humanitarian programs by funding the International Affairs Function 150 account at no less than $60 billion in the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Resolution. House contact info: www.house.gov Progress and Action Some good news:
This is in no small measure due to public pressure - so good job, y’all! Putting the Gorsuch debacle behind us for now, let’s turn to some other business: 1. DHS has authorized ICE agents to arrest witnesses at courthouses. Action: Call DHS at 202-282-8495 to state your opposition to ICE making arrests at courthouses of people who are there as witnesses or crime victims. 2. Jeff Sessions and his department are bullying sanctuary cities, trying to intimidate them into being agents of enforcement for ICE. Action: Email the Attorney General via this form to state your opposition to the DoJ‘s policy. Cities have a right and a duty to determine for themselves the optimal use of law enforcement resources in protecting and serving their residents. 3. Jeff Sessions may be trying to stymie police reform. A judge recently rejected and rebuked the DoJ’s request to delay implementation of a consent decree in Baltimore between the DoJ and the police department. Action: Email the Attorney General again via another of those forms. 4. Trump”care” isn’t dead. Pence and others have met with the Freedom Caucus to propose changes which might make it more palatable to them. Anything palatable to the Freedom Caucus is probably bad for the rest of us. Action: Call or write to your Member of Congress and ask for Medicare expansion to cover everyone; demand that your MoC doesn’t allow the Freedom Caucus, which represents a minority of Americans, to hold the country hostage. Gorsuch, Be Gone! Some of Judge Gorsuch’s past decisions are troubling. He seems to favor the letter of the law over the spirit of the law and has a history of siding with corporate and business interests over labor. Here are a couple of examples …
Moreover, it would be highly inappropriate at this time for the GOP to use the foolhardy and precedent-breaking “nuclear option” to force through a lifetime appointment when the nominee has been put forward by a President currently under suspicion of colluding with a foreign power. Actions:
Russia It’s clear from the Senate Intelligence Committee Hearings testimony last week that Russia played a huge part in the result of our last election and continues to interfere in our internal affairs, manipulating not only public opinion but the President himself. Devin Nunes, the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, is incapable of investigating these matters impartially and has proven himself to be in the President’s pocket. Enough already. Nunes must step down as Chair of the Committee and recuse himself from any continuing investigations. Action: Call the House Intelligence Committee - (202) 225-4121 (or (202) 225-7690 if the first voicemail box is full) - and demand that Devin Nunes step down from his chairmanship. His choice of loyalty to the White House over impartial investigation is standing in the way of finding out the truth. If you leave a voicemail, please leave your name and street address in order for your opinion to be tallied. Also: All Week: Call this number to be put through to your Senators to oppose Gorsuch: 1-888-877-2040. Electoral College Reform Continued
Yesterday we talked about the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Ten states (and the District of Columbia), with EC votes totalling 165, have already pledged their Electoral College votes to the winner of the popular vote (if and only if enough other states, whose EC votes total at least 270, pass similar legislation). Twelve additional states, whose EC votes total 96, have passed a National Popular Vote bill in one of their two legislative chambers. Some additional states have introduced legislation. Action:
All Week: Call this number to be put through to your Senators to oppose Gorsuch: 1-888-877-2040. Electoral College Reform Reforming the Electoral College requires a constitutional amendment, right? Wrong! Washington Monthly recently ran an article describing a path around the discouraging, uphill slog of getting an amendment passed - a way forward that looks like it might succeed. You can read the article yourself, but we’ll attempt to summarize ... Today’s action: 1. Read and get a handle on this information, and tomorrow’s action will be to follow up.
2. All Week: Call this number to be put through to your Senators to oppose Gorsuch: 1-888-877-2040. Today is a day of rest! Enjoy this video! If you're new to the group, you can catch up by doing the actions on the "Get Started" page of this site - tab above. |
Archives
November 2019
|