Judge expands travel ban's "family' to include grandparents, aunts and more

Judge Derrick Kahala Watson

THE DEFINITION of family was expanded by a federal judge as it applies to the slimmed down version of a travel ban ordered by Donald Trump.

Grandparents, aunts and uncles and other relatives of people living in the U.S. can no longer be barred from entering the U.S., ruled Judge Derrick Kahala Watson in Hawaii.

It is another blow to Trump's already truncated order that attempts to limit travel from six predominantly Muslim countries.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that he would bring Watson's ruling to the Supreme Court.

When the High Court ruled last month that parts of Trump's travel ban could be implemented, it left the definition of "bona fide" family ties to the administration. Watson said Thursday that the State Department had interpreted the Supreme Court ruling too narrowly.

The State of Hawaii challenged the administration's definition of what was a close relative.

Watson condemned the government's definition of a close relative as "unduly restrictive" especially for Asian families who consider grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins part of the immediate family, not the extended family.

"Common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents. Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members", he wrote.

In yet another rebuke to the Trump administration, Watson also said that refugees who have “formal assurance” from U.S. resettlement agencies for relocation to the country — even if the refugees do not have relatives in the U.S. — cannot be prevented from entering.

Watson added that a refugee with a commitment from a resettlement agency met the standard for the “bona fide” relationship referred to in the Supreme Court order.

“It is formal, it is a documented contract, it is binding, it triggers responsibilities and obligations, including compensation, it is issued specific to an individual refugee only when that refugee has been approved for entry by the Department of Homeland Security, and it is issued in the ordinary course, and historically has been for decades,” he wrote.

“Bona fide does not get any more bona fide than that,” he said.

"By this decision, the district court has improperly substituted its policy preferences for the national security judgments of the Executive branch in a time of grave threats, defying both the lawful prerogatives of the Executive Branch and the directive of the Supreme Court," Sessions said.

The Supreme Court is not currently in session but the justices can handle emergency requests. The administration's application could be directed either to Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has responsibility for emergency requests from western states, or to the nine justices as a whole.

"The truth here is that the government’s interpretation of the Supreme Court’s stay order defies common sense," said Omar Jadwat, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. "That’s what the district court correctly found and the attorney general’s misleading attacks on its decision can’t change that fact."

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ACLU seeks government documents about Trump's Muslim bans

Spontaneous protests broke out at airports across the country when Donald Trump issued his Muslim ban orders.

THE ACLU filed 13 Freedom of Information Act lawsuits across the country yesterday (April 12) demanding government documents about the on-the-ground implementation of President Trump’s Muslim bans.

The American Civil Liberties Union lawsuits seeks records from local offices of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security and specifically covers their operations in 14 cities across the country.

The suits cover CBP operations in Portland, Maine, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego San Francisco, Seattle, Tucson, Miami and Tampa. One suit filed in Florida covers the two cities in that state.

The suits are an attempt to enforce requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) just days after Trump signed the first Muslim ban last January.

That first order, intended to fulfill a campaign promise to take a tough stance on immigration, first temporarily barred travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The order, which also temporarily barred refugees, led to a weekend of confusion by airport and federal agents on how to enforce those orders at U.S. airports with travelers barred from entering the country upon landing while thousands of people turned out to protest the measures.

A federal judge ordered a halt to enforcement of that ban and Trump followed up in March with a less-sweeping order that did not limit travelers from Iraq, but which was also challenged in courts resulting in a nationwide stay of that order.

Opponents said the orders violated the U.S. constitution’s prohibitions on religious discrimination, citing Trump’s campaign promises to impose a “Muslim ban.”

The Trump administration said the restrictions are legal and are necessary to protect U.S. national security.

The ACLU first sought this information through FOIA requests submitted to CBP on February 2. Since the government has failed to substantively respond, the ACLU is now suing.

“CBP has a long history of ignoring its obligations under the federal Freedom of Information Act — a law that was enacted to ensure that Americans have timely access to information of pressing public concern. The public has a right to know how federal immigration officials have handled the implementation of the Muslim bans, especially after multiple federal courts have blocked various aspects of these executive orders,” said Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Project Staff Attorney with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

Each lawsuit seeks unique and local information regarding how CBP implemented the executive orders at specific airports and ports of entry in the midst of rapidly developing and sometimes conflicting government guidance.

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Sen. Kamala Harris' first bill: legal counsel to those detained by Muslim ban

Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) introduces her first bill that would provide legal counsel to those detained by a President Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban.

ASAM NEWS
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, D-Calif., introduced her first bill on Thursday that would provide legal counsel to those held or detained while trying to enter the U.S, reports USA Today.

The Access to Counsel Act would allow lawyers to provide legal counsel by phone or video if they cannot physically be present. It would also invalidate any documents abandoning legal resident status or applications for admission if detainees have signed them after being denied legal services.

“Detention without access to representation goes against the basic values of our judicial system,” said Sen. Harris, as volunteer lawyers are struggling to gain access to refugees and travelers detained at U.S. airports.

Harris’s Access to Counsel Act is not without congressional support; there are five co-sponsors in the Senate, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., introduced the House companion measure, which has 10 co-sponsors. The measures introduced by Indian American congresswomen Harris and Jaypal have also received support from multiple organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, and the National Immigrant Justice Center.

“As the Trump administration is attempting to close it borders to refugees and asylum seekers, prompt access to lawyers for people who come fleeing persecution is a critical safeguard to ensure they receive the protections guaranteed under U.S. and international law,” said Mary Meg McCarthy, executive director of the National Immigrant Justice Center.

This is one more battle in a series of fights against President Trump’s executive-order travel ban that blocks entrance into the U.S. for 90 days by any citizens coming from Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Syria, or Yemen. The order also blocks green-card holders from these countries from re-entering the U.S. and placed a 120-day ban on refugees, with an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria.

U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order last week halting the ban on immigration and travel from seven predominantly Muslim nations after Washington state and Minnesota sued. 

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco unanimously upheld the lower court's ruling Thursday that temporarily blocked further implementation of the Donald Trump's executive order for a Muslim-ban. The appeals court decision will most likely be sent to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Harris' bill has also been met with opposition. “Immigration is a civil matter and people who are challenging denials of admission to the United States have no guarantee of publicly funded representation,” said Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). “Everyone, including Americans who are involved in civil cases of all sorts, must provide their own legal representation, or seek pro bono counsel.”

While Mehlman claims that the bill would introduce additional tax dollars being funneled into services for undocumented immigrants and their families, Harris’s press secretary Tyrone Gayle pointed to the bill’s statement that lawyers would gain access to arrivals “at no expense to the government.”

The Access to Counsel Act of 2017:

• Affirms that the right to access to counsel attaches at the time of holding or detention;
• Provides a redress option if counsel cannot personally meet with those detained at the border or ports of entry for the provision of legal advice remotely (e.g., phone or Video Teleconference);
• Invalidates any effort by immigration enforcement officials to persuade someone to relinquish their legal status (by executing a Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status or Withdrawal of Application for Admission) if that person has been denied access to counsel;
• Directs that immigration enforcement officials shall limit detention to the briefest term possible and least restrictive conditions practicable, and will include access to food, water, and restroom facilities.

(Views from the Edge contributed to this report.)

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Analysis of Trump's temporary restrictions on refugees

WHEN PRESIDENT TRUMP signed an Executive Order placing restrictions on refugees and immigration from entering the U.S., it went into effect immediately.

However, it appears that detailed instructions were not given to the government employees at the airports on how to enforce the EO. According to the NYTimes, Trump’s plan received little or no legal review. The secretary of homeland security was not asked for guidance, and Customs and Border Protection officers were unaware.

The treatment of refugees or other people coming from the seven countries cited in the EO - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen - was uneven depending on which airport you landed in. Some homeland security staff were harsh and others were more lenient. Some airports were lax and released the immigrants/refugees/permanent residents; others placed arriving passengers who were impacted by the EO back on planes and returned them from their countries they came from. Still others, unsure about the court decision in New York, released the detained passengers to their families and communities and there are reports that some of those who were detained are still under guard at the airports. Attorneys who tried to provide legal assistance were denied access and were not even given names of those affected.

Meanwhile, here is the National Immigration Law Center's final analysis on the immediate consequences of Trump’s order, which gives insight to the impact the travel ban will have on people from different countries.

If you are an Iranian national outside of the U.S. with a valid U.S. visa, you will not be able to enter the United States.

• Iranian nationals who are also citizens of a 3rd country (e.g. Canada) will still be barred from entering the United States, according to the State Department.
• U.S. permanent resident aliens (green card holders) from Iran who are outside of the United States will be barred from reentry, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.
• Green card holders must apply for a case-by-case exemption from the Department of Homeland Security to be allowed reentry to the United States.
• U.S. citizens will not be directly affected by the ban.
• There is nothing to indicate that persons on valid visas inside the United States will be expelled so long as they do not leave the country and have a legal basis for remaining in the U.S.

The best bet is to remain cautious. If you are uncertain what your status is, consult an immigration attorney. If you don't need to travel out of the country - don't. Carry the phone number of your local ACLU office with you and exercise caution.

The possibility of the Trump administration adding more countries to the list is very likely. The stay issued by the New York judge and other courts around the country are only temporary. A final ruling is yet to come.

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Kim Kardasian and Pope Francis agree: Trump's Muslim policy is senseless & sinful

It is not often you mention Pope Francis and Kim Kardashian in the same sentence.

UH, OH! Now Donald Trump is in deep doo-doo. Not only did his executive order for a temporary ban from seven countries that are predominantly Muslim get panned by Pope Francis, he's also incurred the wrath of social media queen Kim Kardashian.

Kardashian, an Armenian/American, who is a, uh ... I'm not sure what she does for a living ... is wildly popular. Nevertheless, she is known for promoting restaurants and nightclubs, setting fashion trends and posting her selfies which are sought by her eager fans. She is not known for political commentary but she posted this to her millions of followers:

I think the pop culture trend-setter made her point.

On the other end of the cultural spectrum, Pope Francis weighed in when responding to a question from a German youth group. Although he didn't mention Trump by name, it is pretty clear who he was referring to.

“The sickness or, you can say the sin, that Jesus condemns most is hypocrisy, which is precisely what is happening when someone claims to be a Christian but does not live according to the teaching of Christ. You cannot be a Christian without living like a Christian,” he said.

“You cannot be a Christian without practicing the Beatitudes. You cannot be a Christian without doing what Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25,” a reference to what is known as the Parable of the Judgment or the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

“It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help,” said the spiritual leader of world's billion Roman Catholics. Trump won 51% of the Catholic vote last November.

1984? Week One of the Trump presidency

IT'S 2017 but it feels a helluva like George Orwell's "1984."

Executive Orders and government policies based on fear and hate are coming out of the White House in a seemingly unending avalanche of Orwellian doublespeak and playground taunts.

Trump's first week in office, he has ordered or opened the door the following:

• Trump's inauguration crowd is bigger than Obama's, "period! No ifs, ands or buts, declared Trump media spokesman Sean Spicer
• Millions of votes were cast in favor of Hillary Clinton by dead people according to Trump although there is no evidence to support his assertion. He has ordered an investigation.
• Lies are just "alternative facts," says senior advisor Kelly Ann Conway. The phrase went viral.
• Government agencies are being ordered to muzzle their communications to the public.
• Torture is an effective method of interrogation (I thought we were the good guys.)
• Deport millions of tax-paying immigrants and their families
• Build that damn wall! Threaten a 20% tax that we consumers will end up paying.
• Removed the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Pact (TPP). Advantage: China.
• Revived the "black sites" where the U.S. imprisoned, interrogated enemy agents without any oversight.
• Stopped funding health agencies in countries (mostly Africa) that advocated birth control to get a handle on its economic and social problems caused by overpopulation.
• Make the free press the enemy. Senior Strategist told the media to "shut up."
• 
  
• Seeks to punish 'sanctuary' cities by stopping federal dollars going to those cities and counties.

• *Stop any release to the public of information about scientific research, strides or anything that goes against Trump's Breitbart-inspired beliefs, ie. climate change.
• Order new restrictions on immigrants and refugees from countries that are predominantly Muslim. (But only those countries where the President doesn't have business interests.)

• Oh, yes. One more: Trump had a nice phone conversation with his buddy, Russian President Putin.

In front of seven men, in the first few days of his administration, President Donald Trump signs an order to defund international agencies advocating birth control for women.

It's breathtaking. Trump seems to have taken a statement made famous by former First Lady Michelle Obama and twisted it to suit his message: "When they go low ... we go lower!" 

“There is no doubt that this a direct attack on the majority of the country. Trump’s unabashed advancement of right-wing policies reflects his gross neglect of what is profoundly American: to value diversity no matter faith, nationality, skin color—or any self or perceived identity,” declared Johanna Puno Hester, National President of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) and Assistant Executive Director of the United Domestic Workers, AFSCME Local 3930.

RELATED:

• Judge stays Trump's executive order
• Final analysis of executive order's impact

The stock market went up over 20,000 for the first time in history. That profit generated by money manipulators is not going to the hard-working people of America. It is going to shareholders, investment bankers and the Wall Street wolves who do nothing but move money from one account to another.

These are the very same people who brought us criminal loans, massive foreclosures and the Great Recession.  

Judge stays part of Trump's refugee ban; AAPI clap back at Executive Order

Canada will welcome refugees denied entry by the U.S.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has stirred up a hornets nest with his executive order banning refugees and people coming from seven countries from coming into the U.S.

As his order went into effect, thousands of people began amassing at the country's airports protesting the presidential decree.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) along with other humanitarian organizations filed a lawsuit Saturday morning on behalf of two Iraqi men who were detained at JFK International Airport in New York. 

By the evening, in an emergency hearing, Federal Judge Ann Donnelly of the Eastern District of New York granted a stay that would prevent the government from deporting immigrants who are already in U.S. airports but are being detained. 

The decision does not overturn the executive order so it leaves in place the ban on people who are currently abroad. What it does is “preserve the status quo” for people who came to the US in the immediate aftermath of the executive order, after having been granted visas allowing them to legally come to the US (before the order was signed).

UPDATE includes number of people impacted and statement from AAAJ

“It was an illegal detention, this was a discriminatory order from President Trump, and we will continue to fight for all of the refugees, immigrants and non-immigrants,” said Mark Doss, the supervising attorney for the International Refugee Assistance Project.

One of the detained men, Hameed Khalid Darweesh, worked as an interpreter for the U.S. Army when it invaded Iraq in 2003 and later as a contract engineer for the U.S.

For his safety, he was granted permission to come to the U.S. Upon his arrival at JFK Friday night, he was detained along with another traveler from Iraq named Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi. Darkish was released first Saturday afternoon and then later in the day, Alshawi was also freed. An unknown number of people are detained at U.S. airports.

When Judge Donnelly asked U.S. lawyers for a list of all those being detained, the attorneys said they didn't have the list and that it would take time. "Work it out," she responded.

Besides the two men at JFK, there were reports of 11 more people detained at the airport.

RELATED:

• Trump issues executive order banning refugees from Muslim countries
• 100 AAPI organizations sign Letter of Resistance
• No to Trump 

According to the Department of Homeland Security, hundreds of international travelers were impacted by Trump's executive order: 109 were in transit and denied entry; 173 were prevented from boarding flights to he U.S. All in all, 375 travelers were impacted.

Trump's executive order signed Friday afternoon is supposed to make America safer from terrorists who come into the country as refugees.

“We have an obligation as Asian Americans to speak up when the most shameful parts of our history stand to be repeated," said Karin Wang, vice president of programs and communications at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles.

"The unfair targeting of Muslim immigrants is a haunting reminder of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: during a period of intense anti-Chinese violence and persecution, it was the only U.S. law ever to ban immigration of a specific ethnic group,” she stated in a press release.

“The language in this executive order demonizing Muslims is reminiscent of the rhetoric that led to the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, which was one of the most flagrant violations of civil liberties in American history," said Megan Essaheb, assistant director of immigration and immigrants’ rights at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC. 

“We cannot forget the fear mongering and hysteria which lead to the incarceration during World War II where more than 110,000 innocent people, mostly U.S. citizens, were incarcerated solely on the basis of their national origin.”

Since 9/11, the U.S. has admitted 784,000 refugees into the country. According to the Migration Policy Institute, during that time, exactly three refugees were found to have links to terrorism — so, approximately .00038 percent of refugees in the U.S. have had ties to terrorism. Two of these refugees were caught while trying to leave the country to join extremist groups abroad. All three are currently in prison.

What's puzzling about Trump's ban is that the countries named in his ban, none were involved in the terrorist attack on 9/11. Most of those involved in that attack were from Saudi Arabia.

The perpetrators of other recent attacks in the US that have been linked to Islamic extremism were also not from the seven countries:

• The killer of 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando in June 2016 was a US citizen whose parents were Afghans
• The two people who shot 14 dead in San Bernardino, California, in December 2015, were a U.S. and a Pakistani citizen
• The Boston marathon bombers who killed three and injured many more were ethnic Chechens.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his country will welcome the refugees turned away by the U.S. He also intends to talk to Trump about the success of Canada’s refugee policy.

Trudeau reacted to Trump’s ban of Muslims from certain countries by tweeting Saturday: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”

Meanwhile, the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has scheduled a press conference Monday, 1 p.m. in Washington D.C. to file their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Trump's ban.

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Trump says he would limit immigration from the Philippines

Thousands of Filipino/Americans celebrate Philippine Independence Day in San Francisco.

UNBELIEVABLE! Donald Trump said he would limit immigration from the Philippines.

The Philippines - a former U.S. colony, the U.S.-created "model of democracy" in Asia, whose people fought alongside Americans in WWII, one of the U.S.'s most loyal allies, the Philippines where the lure to America is so great that would-be immigrants have to wait more than 23 years before they can move to this country.

Yes, he did.

At a rally in Portland, Maine last Thursday (Aug. 4) said the United States should be wary of immigrants from a whole host of countries -- including the Philippines -- even if they come into this country legally. 

"We're letting people come in from terrorist nations that shouldn't be allowed because you can't vet them," Trump said. "There's no way of vetting them. You have no idea who they are. This could be the great Trojan horse of all time."

RELATED: #IAmNotAnAnimal takes hold of Filipino/American community

As an example, Trump cited, “An immigrant from Afghanistan who later applied for and received US citizenship (and) an illegal permanent resident from the Philippines were convicted for plotting to join Al-Quaida and the Taliban in order to kill as many Americans as possible.”

It was one of several examples he gave of immigrants coming into the country, border problems and extremists entering the US as refugees.

"We're dealing with animals," he seethed.

Without mentioning the word “Muslim,” Trump said: “We must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place,” Trump said. “We don’t want them in our country.”

“Donald Trump’s latest rant suggesting we ban immigration from countries like the Philippines that are helping us fight terrorism is another example of his reckless rhetoric that’s based on fear and division and further proves he is unfit to lead our country,” said Hawaii's U.S. Senator Brian Schatz.

“For generations, Filipinos have made the United States their home,” Schatz said. “It is their vibrant culture, hard work, and strong values that have enriched our communities and made this country great, not the ignorant, racist bigotry of Donald Trump.”

“Filipinos on our island and across the country serve in uniform, in our hospitals, in our schools and across every private and public sector," said Sen. Nerissa Underwood of Guam. "Filipinos are also beloved members of our families and communities.

"As a proud daughter from Iloilo in the Philippines, I am a grateful adopted daughter of Guam and horrified by Mr. Trump’s statement and the leaders who have chosen to support him. I have worked my entire life to give back to our island that we all call home. Hate, fear and division are not qualities we need in the U.S. President and should give Americans across the country concern on whether a Trump administration is fit to lead our country.”

If Trump is elected President and his immigration policy was implemented, those Filipinos  at the back of the line waiting to immigrate to the U.S. might as well forget it.

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