Trump only hires the best, right? Not a chance. Andrew Veprek is an example of the worst possible person being selected to lead a division charged with making humanitarian decisions and saving lives.
Veprek, who has been working in the White House closely with waste-of-life Stephen Miller, holds very strong anti-immigration views and has now been selected for a top State Department post overseeing refugee admissions.
BE SMART ABOUT is an important series highlighting examples of those in power (or in danger of acquiring power) who you need to stay informed about so you can share this knowledge and together we can Be Smart and Actively Dissent.
Today we discuss Ken Isaacs, head of international relief for Samaritan's Purse, who is the Trump administration’s nominee to lead the UN International Organization for Migration.
Trump and Republicans have taken direct action to deport as many undocuments U.S. residents as possible, prevent Muslims from entering the country, and ran an entire campaign based on building a wall on our border. Add this to the list of despicable actions -- lowering the amount of refugees admitted to the United States, harming those already here, and preventing families from reunification. America Last.
In our August 15th post included below, we provided a primer that explained what DACA is and why it exists after President Obama's 2010 DREAM legislation was filibustered by Republicans in Senate to prevent a vote. We said that by September 5th, DACA was at grave risk of being shut down and nearly a million individuals brought here as children would be deported to countries of birth that have no memory of or connection to.
The latest developments in the Trump Muslim "Travel" Ban saga played out on Friday, December 8, 2017 at oral arguments before the U.S. 4th District Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. Some of the Tweeter in Chief's xenophobic tweets from the previous week played a part in the discussion of the third version of the travel ban:
In lively, aggressive questions, several judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit pointed to the president’s tweets last week sharing inflammatory anti-Muslim videos posted by a far-right British activist.
In recent weeks, Trump's new "leadership" in the Department of Homeland Security has announced the end of Temporary Protected Status ("TPS") for Haitians and Nicaraguans.
In reality, Trump and his xenophobic friends want to end TPS entirely, deporting as many non-Americans as possible back to war-torn, impoverished nations despite most living here for decades and contributing greatly to this nation.
On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 earthquake hit the island nation of Haiti near its capital Port-au-Prince. An estimated 220,000 lives were ended and at least 300,000 more injured. A reported 105,000 houses were destroyed and another 200,000 houses were badly damaged. The nation was essentially in ruins and has struggled to recover over the past nearly 8 years.
You are excused if you missed this headline among the endless deluge of terrible things. What should sound alarm and prompt marches, now barely receives mention on television, print, or internet media.
The United States has a family reunification program. It seeks to offer humanitarian aid to those in need of being reunited with their family in the U.S.
The Trump Administraiton's third xenophobic attempt at a Muslim Ban came on September 24th via a proclamation banning travel to the U.S. from seven countries. It sought to ban citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea from entering the United States beginning this week on October 19th.
On Monday, a federal judge stepped in yet again:
In mid-August, we provided a primer that explained what DACA is and why it exists and that it was in grave danger of being ended. On Tuesday, September 5th, Attorney General Jeff Sessions did just that on behalf of Trump.