Immigration

[O Really]

Good analysis of the legal steps and alternatives here...
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ ... &ocid=iehp

[Vrede too]

(U.S. Court of Appeals) Denies DOJ Request For Stay; Trump Immigration Order Remains Suspended

Strike 2, though it'll take more than 3 strikes for an out.

[O Really]

President*Trump will undoubtedly keep at it until he gets to ban at least a few Muslims from somewhere, but he's certainly not helping himself in the courts to (a) serve up such sloppy legalish mish-mash; (b) claim "immediate danger" with no evidence; and (c) calling federal judges "so-called" who make "outrageous" decisions. Homey don't play dat.

[rstrong]

Has Trump put judges "on notice?"

[Vrede too]

Vice versa, so far.

[Vrede too]

[Vrede too]

Here’s the full list of 97 companies that just filed against Trump’s immigration ban

Trump is bad for business.

[Boatrocker]

Here’s the full list of 97 companies that just filed against Trump’s immigration ban

Trump is bad for business.

Business won't let him build a wall, either. They rely too heavily on all them "messicans." That grass won't cut itself. That drywall won't hang itself.

[Vrede too]

(U.S. Court of Appeals) Denies DOJ Request For Stay; Trump Immigration Order Remains Suspended

Strike 2, though it'll take more than 3 strikes for an out.

Appeals Court Deals New Blow to Donald Trump’s Travel Ban Targeting Muslims
The president’s beleaguered executive order will remain stuck in the courts for a while.

Strike 3, unanimous. New record for fastest POTUS court battle loss?

Richard Clifton - was a lawyer for the Hawaii Republican Party, Shrub appointee.
William Canby - Air Force vet, Carter appointee.
Michelle Friedland - served as a law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Obama appointee.

Supporters in Arizona rally behind woman deported in Trump immigration crackdown

Spent 22 peaceful, contributory years in the country, arriving in the U.S. when she was 14. The Phoenix mother who was deported from her annual check-in with immigration authorities shows exactly why radically increased immigration enforcement won't reinforce the rule of law, help the tax base, or catch those "bad hombres." She self-reported, and her offense was using a false social security number (i.e. paying taxes for benefits she'll never receive), and she hadn't committed any other crimes.

"First he attacked the Mexicans and I did not speak out
because I was not Mexican.
Then he attacked the disabled and I did not speak out
because I was not disabled.
Then he attacked the Muslims and I did not speak out,
because I was not Muslim.
Then he attacked the women and I did not speak out,
because I was not a woman.
Then he attacked you and there was no one left to defend you."

[Vrede too]

Congress: Overturn the refugee and immigration ban now (petition)

Stop wasting our money.

[O Really]

It doesn't make up for sending us Beiber, but it looks like Canada can have Manziel..
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/manzi ... 29294.html

[Vrede too]

Bad link.

Anyhow, Canada can have Manziel IF he's doesn't get booted out before he even plays.

Manziel's reported Roughriders workout in violation of CFL rules

[Vrede too]

Hillary Clinton
@HillaryClinton

3-0

7:17 PM - 9 Feb 2017

ACLU National Verified account
‏@ACLU

ACLU National Retweeted Donald J. Trump

We have been saying this for a while.

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!

4:14 PM - 9 Feb 2017

ACLU National Verified account
‏@ACLU

Should President-elect Donald Trump attempt to implement his unconstitutional campaign promises, we'll see him in court.

8:29 AM - 9 Nov 2016

[rstrong]

It doesn't make up for sending us Beiber, but it looks like Canada can have Manziel.

We didn't send you Beiber; you took him. An American talent scout for an American label "discovered" him and made him a star.

[rstrong]

Added irony:

The federal judge who issued a nationwide injunction against President Donald Trump's executive order blocking immigration from seven primarily Muslim nations had a strong precedent to rely upon: The 2015 decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that halted President Barack Obama's order to grant semi-permanent residency status to millions of illegal immigrants.

More added irony:

That decision is still in place thanks to a 4-4 deadlock at the U.S. Supreme Court last year.

Had Obama been allowed nominate his Supreme Court judge pick, the deadlock would have been broken. Had the court then ruled for Obama, Trump might have been victorious.

[Mr.B]

WATCH – Travel Ban Protesters Asked Why They Oppose Vetting, Watch Their Response!

[Vrede too]

(U.S. Court of Appeals) Denies DOJ Request For Stay; Trump Immigration Order Remains Suspended

Strike 2, though it'll take more than 3 strikes for an out.

Appeals Court Deals New Blow to Donald Trump’s Travel Ban Targeting Muslims
The president’s beleaguered executive order will remain stuck in the courts for a while.

Strike 3, unanimous. New record for fastest POTUS court battle loss? ...

Court blocks Trump's immigration order indefinitely

Strike 4, not counting the 4+ more limited rulings against Trump prior to this case.

[Vrede too]

... the 4+ more limited rulings against Trump prior to this case.

Update on one of them:

Federal judge blocks travel ban for Virginia residents

As the Trump administration grapples with the Ninth Circuit's refusal to reinstate the President's travel ban, a federal judge across the country dealt another significant blow to the executive order in Virginia late Monday, writing in her opinion: "Maximum power does not mean absolute power."

US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia granted a modified version of the state's request for a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the travel ban, finding the state had the ability to sue, "is likely to prevail on the merits" of at least one of its constitutional arguments and the Justice Department would not suffer any harm from imposing the injunction....

Brinkema's order specifically prevents the Justice Department from now enforcing section 3(c) of the President's executive order -- barring foreign nationals from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days -- against Virginia residents or those who work at, or attend, Virginia's public universities.

And unlike the temporary restraining order preventing deportation of such individuals (which expired last week), this new preliminary injunction will last through a trial on the constitutionality of the executive order in this case (unless later modified by the judge).
At a court hearing last Friday, Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni said that "all options are being considered" on how to proceed in the wake of the Ninth Circuit's decision -- a sentiment reiterated multiple times on Sunday by White House policy director Stephen Miller -- but that didn't stop the Virginia attorney general's office from pressing forward with its motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of the travel ban.

Brinkema pressed Reuveni at length at Friday's hearing to explain what evidence the Trump administration had to justify such a sweeping ban of foreign nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries, remarking that the executive order has "all kinds of weaknesses" and "defects."
"The defendants have responded with no evidence other than the (executive order)," Brinkema wrote in her decision.

At the hearing the judge also said that she was moved by a declaration signed by several former senior US officials, including former Secretaries of State John Kerry and Madeleine Albright, in support of a brief filed by the attorneys general of Washington state and Minnesota in the Ninth Circuit appeal.

"We view the (executive) order as one that ultimately undermines the national security of the United States, rather than making us safer," officials wrote.

"It could do long-term damage to our national security and foreign policy interest, endangering US troops in the field and disrupting counterterrorism and national security partnerships."

Brinkema said at last Friday's hearing that the officials' declaration was "clear as a bell."

"This is coming from people with first-hand direct knowledge" of national security issues, Brinkema added -- whereas the government had failed to offer even a "scintilla of evidence" that counters it.

Brinkema's written decision on Monday further recounted the public comments made by then-Republican presidential candidate Trump, calling for a "complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States," and more recent statements from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani that Trump wanted to find a way to implement the ban "legally."

Giuliani helped Trump screw Trump.

"Defendants have not denied any of these statements or produced any evidence beyond the text of the (executive order) itself, to support their contention that the (executive order) was primarily motivated by national security concerns," Brinkema explained.

"Defendants have argued that the court may not go beyond the text of the (executive order) in assessing its purpose, or look behind its proffered national security rationale, but the Supreme Court has rejected that position," she added.

"The evidence in this record focuses on the president's statements about a 'Muslim ban' and the link Giuliani established between those statements and the (executive order)," Brinkema wrote. "Based on that evidence, at this preliminary (stage) of the litigation, the Court finds that the Commonwealth has established a likelihood of success on the merits."

"I saw this unlawful, unconstitutional, and un-American ban for exactly what it is and I'm glad the Court has, too," Virginia attorney general Mark Herring said in a statement following Brinkema's ruling....

"The clearest command of the Establishment Clause is that one religious denomination cannot be officially preferred over another."
-- The Hon. Leonie M. Brinkema, United States District Judge, Alexandria, Feb. 13, 2017

Hero, as is the state of Virginia - Virginia! - for bringing the case. Lest anyone think that she's soft on terrorism:

Leonie Brinkema: Federal judicial career

... On October 28, 2003, she sentenced al-Qaeda operative Iyman Faris to twenty years imprisonment for providing material support to the group.

Brinkema presided over the case of 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. When she asked about the videotapes showing the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, the government denied their existence. As she sentenced Moussaoui to life in a supermax prison, she told him he would "die with a whimper." She told him: “You came here to be a martyr and to die in a great big bang of glory, but to paraphrase the poet T. S. Eliot, instead, you will die with a whimper. The rest of your life you will spend in prison." Mr. Moussaoui began to respond, but Judge Brinkema continued. “You will never again get a chance to speak,” she said, “and that is an appropriate and fair ending.” ...

[Vrede too]

Detroit Restaurants Join “Day Without Immigrants” Strike
It’s happening on Thursday, February 16

[Vrede too]

Trump's deportation force arrested a domestic abuse survivor

Ervin Gonzalez, an undocumented El Paso woman and domestic abuse survivor, was ambushed and arrested inside a courthouse just as the judge was granting her a protective order from her abuser.

It gets worse: her attorneys believe that it was her abuser who tipped federal immigration agents about her undocumented status.

This is horrifying and should not have happened. Undocumented survivors already avoid reporting their abusers for fear of deportation or being separated from their children. This likely violates provisions in the Violence Against Women Act.

This is not who we are. It's up to us to stand together to protect each other.

The good news is that this story has gotten widespread attention overnight. Immigration officials have discretionary authority--that means they can choose to release Gonzalez and stop targeting immigrant survivors. If thousands of us generate enough outrage while this story is still in the headlines, immigration officials will be pressured to release Gonzalez and stop targeting survivors of violence for deportation.

Tell U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan:
Release Ervin Gonzalez. Stop targeting survivors of domestic abuse!