Immigration

[Vrede too]

To: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen

Tell Trudeau: Welcome Those Fleeing Violence and Deportation Under Trump

I signed.

Urgent: Tomorrow federal cabinet ministers are meeting to discuss asylum seekers from the US and whether or not Canada should scrap the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) -- an unjust law that turns many asylum seekers away at the Canadian land border if they entered via the US, because it assumes the US is a safe country.

But Trump’s America is anything but safe. Today, Trump’s new executive order on immigration was announced, effectively barring migrants from six Muslim majority countries and shutting down the entire US refugee system for 120 days. Trump also continues to order immigration raids across the country, sweeping up undocumented people and asylum seekers who could be persecuted or killed if they’re deported. The US is not safe, and Canada must #LetThemIn and #LetThemStay.

Over 40,000 of you signed the petition calling on Trudeau to scrap the STCA. Your pressure helped force this issue onto the government’s agenda. Now we need to turn up the heat before tomorrow’s cabinet meeting.

Leadnow created a simple phone calling tool that will connect you with the office of one of the Ministers who will be deciding tomorrow on Canada’s response to asylum seekers from the US and whether or not to scrap the STCA. They’re already under massive pressure, and if we flood them with calls, we could be the tipping point needed.

Click here to tell a cabinet ministers to protect asylum seekers from US and to scrap the Safe Third Country agreement at the meeting tomorrow. It’s less than 24 hours away so we have to act fast.

The STCA is forcing asylum seekers to avoid regular immigration channels and instead risk their lives as they cross the border through more dangerous routes.

At least a 1000 people have made the harrowing journey to Canada just this year. Seidu Mohammed lost all of his fingers after getting frostbite on the trek across the border to Manitoba. A child who recently made it across told his mom he “wants to die”.

Once people arrive in Canada, many are jailed and denied adequate access to health and legal services. Canada must let in migrants and refugees from the United States and let them stay. This means scrapping the STCA, no longer jailing asylum seekers, giving them full access to social services, and allowing them to stay here permanently.

Finally recognizing how violent and unjust this system is, more and more people across the country and around the world are calling on Canada to act.

Amnesty International, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, the Canadian Council for Refugees, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Harvard Law School, Council of Canadians, LEAP and over 200 law professors have demanded that Trudeau to scrap the agreement.

The Liberals are really feeling the heat. Flooding every cabinet minister with hundreds of phone calls before going into their meeting could be the tipping point we need to force the government to ditch the STCA, and to #LetThemIn and #LetThemStay. Click here to make the call now.

Time is running out. Will you make your call now?

In solidarity,
No One Is Illegal - Toronto
http://www.leadnow.ca/

P.S. How is this different than the phone calls we already made? Last time, we made calls to our individual MPs to put upwards pressure on Trudeau. Those calls, along with the petition and other allied actions on this issue, have forced scrapping the STCA onto the government’s agenda. Trudeau has summoned his Cabinet to discuss whether or not to scrap the agreement and to create policies regarding asylum seekers. Trump’s Homeland Security czar John Kelly will be in Ottawa on March 10th. This is a moment we can’t pass up, and want to put the pressure on all ministers who will have a say in Canada’s decision.

I did not call, just really interesting to me.

[Vrede too]

Tell Congress: No racist and xenophobic Muslim ban 2.0

The petition to Congress reads:

"Stop Donald Trump’s unconstitutional and anti-Muslim attack on refugees and immigrants from Muslim-majority countries."

[Mr.B]

One good thing can be said about this CREDO et al outfits that Vrede rabidly follows; they're ensuring job security for many, many industries ....

Immodium manufacturers (to combat the rabid diarrhea so frequently associated with protesting)
The toilet paper manufacturers (Opps! wait-- them trees !)
The paper/logging industries (paper signs and sign holders -- trees again!)
The diaper manufacturers (more trees!)
The tissue manufacturers (again)
Water treatment facilities (to neutralize the soap discharges into the waste system caused by washing soiled undergarments;
also the massive influx of human waste from the sheer numbers who even bothered to use a restroom)
Bullhorn manufacturers
Chemical industries (batteries for bullhorns)
The oil industries (plastic signs or plastic sign holders, gasoline for automobiles to transport to the squalling sites, oil for the engines)
Street/sanitation workers (to clean up the filth and litter left behind by the squallers)
Fast food establishments (selling all the cups of Frappuccino and other weird drinks )
Deodorant Manufacturers (you know where this is going)
Plenty more ... you get the picture.

[Vrede too]

Hawaii files 1st challenge to President Trump’s revised travel ban

[Vrede too]

‘Uh, no’: McConnell says Mexico won’t pay for Trump’s border wall

[Vrede too]

Legal challenges to Trump's travel ban mount from US states (Washington, Hawaii, Oregon and New York)

[Vrede too]

Thousands of ICE detainees claim they were forced into labor, a violation of anti-slavery laws

Tens of thousands of immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were forced to work for $1 day, or for nothing at all — a violation of federal anti-slavery laws — a lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit, filed in 2014 against one of the largest private prison companies in the country, reached class-action status this week after a federal judge’s ruling. That means the case could involve as many as 60,000 immigrants who have been detained.

It’s the first time a class-action lawsuit accusing a private U.S. prison company of forced labor has been allowed to move forward.

“That’s obviously a big deal; it’s recognizing the possibility that a government contractor could be engaging in forced labor,” said Nina DiSalvo, executive director of Towards Justice, a Colorado-based nonprofit group that represents low-wage workers, including undocumented immigrants. “Certification of the class is perhaps the only mechanism by which these vulnerable individuals who were dispersed across the country and across the world would ever be able to vindicate their rights.” ...

Notably, the stocks of the two biggest private prison operators, Geo Group and CoreCivic (formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America), have surged since Trump’s election. The companies donated a total of $500,000 to Trump’s inaugural festivities, USA Today reported. Since Trump took office, his administration has reversed the Obama administration’s policy to end the country’s reliance on private prisons....

[rstrong]

CBC: Families who sheltered Edward Snowden in Hong Kong ask Canada for asylum

[O Really]

Maybe they should try Russia, instead.

[Vrede too]

Unlikely, since there's now a Putin puppet in the WH.

These articles give some more detail as to the alleged nature of the harassment:

Refugees who sheltered Snowden now live in fear in Hong Kong

Refugees who sheltered Edward Snowden seek Canada asylum

I don't know if it meets the threshold for asylum, but Snowden left Hong Kong less than 2 days after he was charged. We don't know how much these families knew at the time and they weren't harboring a fugitive.

[Vrede too]

March 8, 2017 - U.S. Voters Say Sessions Lied And Should Resign, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Support For Immigrant 'path To Citizenship' At New High

Immigration

Illegal immigrants should be allowed to remain in the U.S. and eventually become citizens, 63 percent of American voters say, the highest level of support for this option since Quinnipiac University began asking the question in 2012.

Another 11 percent say illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay, but not become citizens, and 23 percent say they should not be allowed to stay.

Only illegal immigrants who have committed a serious crime should be deported, 55 percent of voters say, while 21 percent say deport illegal immigrants who have committed any crime. All illegal immigrants should be deported, 19 percent say, while 3 percent say no immigrants should be deported.

There are wide gender, racial and party divisions as American voters oppose 51 - 42 percent suspending immigration from "terror prone" regions. Men are divided 48 - 47 percent, as women oppose the suspension 55 - 36 percent. White voters are divided 47 - 47 percent, with non-white voters opposed 61 - 29 percent. Republicans back the suspension 80 - 14 percent, with Democrats opposed 79 - 13 percent and independent voters opposed 53 - 41 percent.

Trump's failing on his signature issue.

[Vrede too]

Legal challenges to Trump's travel ban mount from US states (Washington, Hawaii, Oregon and New York)

And Minnesota and Massachusetts.


New inning.

Judge: Revised Trump ban cannot be enforced on Syrian family

Strike 1.

[O Really]

I don't know if it meets the threshold for asylum, but Snowden left Hong Kong less than 2 days after he was charged. We don't know how much these families knew at the time and they weren't harboring a fugitive.

According to the article, the families hid him "for weeks," passing him around. Nothing "fugitive" about that...just typical tourist/exhange student type stuff. But it seemed unclear why Sri Lanka was looking for them - who are Sri Lankians. Maybe didn't have anything to do directly with Snowden anyway?

[Vrede too]

According to the article, the families hid him "for weeks," passing him around. Nothing "fugitive" about that...just typical tourist/exhange student type stuff.

Yes, it was hiding, but not of a fugitive. Perhaps not that unusual in a semi-repressive society. I'd like to think that I would do it under some circumstances, and maybe even for certain fugitives.

But it seemed unclear why Sri Lanka was looking for them - who are Sri Lankians. Maybe didn't have anything to do directly with Snowden anyway?

That's why I posted, "alleged nature of the harassment." Some details are still missing, about what both the Sri Lankan and Hong Kong authorities are possibly doing and why. Also, does the US care enough about these folks to pressure anyone to go after them?

[O Really]

Maybe you can't charge someone with "harboring a fugitive" unless the fugitive is charged with a crime, but no charge is necessary for someone to be a "fugitive." First generic definition is "running away or intending flight." Sounds appropriate.

It seems possible some of the "Big Brothers" might like to know something about the people who hid Snowden at the first of the flight, and why, and what might he have told them. But it doesn't seem likely they would round up cooperation of two other governments just to harass them after the fact.

Edit Addendum: So I was thinking - maybe those people would be of interest to the Big Brothers. Consider how would the whole hiding situation there occur. I'm thinking this guy knocks on a random door, says "Hi, my name is Snowden. You may or may not have heard of me, but I stole a bunch of data from the NSA and the CIA is looking for me. Could I stay with you for a while?" Or not.

[Vrede too]

My guess would be that the hosts were found directly or indirectly by the journalists, and we still don't know what the hosts knew or didn't know at the time. Maybe they said, "Hi, this is Snowden. You may or may not have heard of him, but he revealed massive international snooping and 4th Amendment violations by the NSA. He has not been charged with a crime. Could he stay with you for a while?"

Runaway slaves were and undocumented immigrants are also "fugitives".

The petition to Senate Democrats reads:

"Block funding for Trump’s attacks on immigrants, including his deportation force and his border wall."

[Vrede too]

It Takes Something Seismic to Get This Group Protesting
The Mennonites are out in the street.

Give the current administration credit. It's managed to energize American politics in the most unlikely places. And as I know from personal experience, and from a campaign a long time ago in an election far, far away, one of the hardest places to energize secular politics is in among the Mennonite communities in Pennsylvania. That takes a master's hand, as we can see from this report from McClatchy, courtesy of The Wichita Eagle.

... "300 years ago our Mennonite family took sanctuary in PA, just like yours did. "Lancaster values immigrants." ... That Martin and Corbo were protesters was – by their own admission – a remarkable development. Both are members of the Mennonite Church, a religion that encourages its members to stay away from politics just as it asks them to shun the wider culture.... "I've never been politically active . . . because we have a really strong belief in separation of church and state," Martin said. "Mennonites have always felt our allegiance is to Christ, and not to our state."

... So, while it's unusual to see Mennonites as active as they are today, it's hardly inconsistent with their history.

And maybe the most unexpected members of that movement are Mennonites such as Martin and Corbo. Interviews with on-the-ground liberal activists and leaders of Mennonite churches reveal that many in the community have seen Trump's inauguration as a call to action, in some cases reversing a lifetime of political reclusiveness to oppose the president's policies. Two of the four organizers, in fact, of the morning's protest were Mennonites. Organizations connected to the church have written in opposition to the immigration ban, decrying it as contrary to the church's values. Maybe most famously, it was a Mennonite pastor from Harrisonburg, Virginia, who conceived of a sign with the words, "No matter where you are from, we're glad you're our neighbor," written in English, Spanish and Arabic. The signs have become a nationwide phenomenon, sold even on Amazon. "For Mennonites, a lot of times the standard is you're supposed to turn the other cheek," Corbo said. "But it also is not meaning to turn a blind eye, you know?"

The Mennonites are in the street. Something's building out there.

[k9nanny]

This is both scary and depressing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pl ... e#comments

[Vrede too]

This is both scary and depressing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pl ... e#comments

Not quite crickets from the GOP, but it could do better.
http://www.blueridgedebate.com/viewtopi ... &start=440
Still crickets from the White Supremacist House, though.

[k9nanny]

Opps. Already posted I see.
The responses have been, in my mind's eyes, obligatory murmurings.

To tell the truth, my first thought upon seeing the headline was foreign adoptions.
Guess that's OK, because the adoptive parents are bringing kids here to swell the Jesus army.