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Immigrants as Hostages: The GOP’s Midterm Election Strategy

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Plus: Listings of ways you can help in San Diego

I laughed when late-night host Steven Colbert said the President folded like an origami Trump Casino on the child separation issue. The joke, however, is on us. The immigration policies of the administration remain fundamentally unchanged. And it has nothing to do with comprehensive reforms or building the great wall of Donald.

The motivation for those policies, exploiting a fear of the “other” manifested as racism remains. Donald Trump has overruled GOP strategists who thought campaigning on the strength of the economy and tax cuts was the ticket to victory (defined as not losing too many seats) in November 2018.

The specter of immigrant “gangsters, drug deals, rapists and welfare cheats” ‘infecting’ America will be the core GOP strategy this fall, whether the (few) remaining rational people in the party like it or not.   [Read more…]

San Diego Protests Are Still On: Trump’s Immigration Action Just Makes Things Worse

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This article has three parts, a simple explanation of what’s coming up from the government, a listing of San Diego responses to Trump’s immigration policies over the next 10 days, and an analysis of what’s likely going to happen on the legal and political fronts in the coming days.

I cobbled these sections together from other people’s work to make the situation more understandable for our readers.

You need to know the only things changed today were the details. Your voice is needed more than ever to stop these abominations.   [Read more…]

San Diego’s June Primary: Winners, Losers, Winners Who Lost, and a Flip Flopping DA

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We’re a couple of weeks past the June primary. While there has been no change in those claiming victory, there are bits and pieces of data emerging worthy of further analysis.

First up: Voter turnout. The depressing numbers bandied about (I saw one guesstimate as low as 19%) in the days following the election just weren’t correct.

In the 2014 primary election, 27% of voters cast ballots. This time around, the number is 39%, according to the County Registrar of Voters. Not great, but I’ll take it for now. There are 15,000 ballots still to be counted.   [Read more…]

Student, Farmworker Visas to Be Targeted as Administration Looks to Double Down on Immigration

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Officials with the Trump administration have been quietly meeting for several months, according to an article in Politico, planning additional crackdowns on immigration prior to the mid-term elections.

While the details are still being worked out, proposals include tightening rules on student visas and exchange programs; limiting visas for temporary agricultural workers; creating obstacles making it harder for legal immigrants to obtain residency; and collecting biometric data from visitors from suspect countries.

The H-2A program for agricultural workers is uncapped, meaning there’s no annual limit on visas. Limiting the number of visas flies in the face of immigration bills proposed by Congressional Republicans, which typically try to make it easier for farmers to bring in guest workers.   [Read more…]

Trump’s Cruel Immigration Policies Provoke Protests on the Left, Misinformation on the Right

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The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” – George Orwell, “1984”

On Fox and Friends this morning, host Steve Doocy told America what the Dear Leader wanted them to hear: No, these aren’t cages, the authorities simply “built walls out of chain-link fences.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s Sunday tweets denying the obvious– “We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period” –hasn’t worked.

Over the past few days, the American public has been told the practice of separating families is an “effective deterrent, biblically compliant and/or the Democrats’ fault,” depending on who was talking.

(Local Protests listed inside…)   [Read more…]

Who Needs the Constitution? The Bible Tells Them So | Progressive Activist Calendar June 15-25, 2018

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“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart. O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!” – The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene 3

The last time I checked, the ultimate authority on the law in the United States is the Constitution. In their quest for rationalizing cruel and unusual treatment of migrants, Trump’s officials have decided to bypass this document, claiming the moral high ground by using biblical verses.

There is a larger point besides the inappropriateness and sordid history of this particular verse, namely that the Attorney General has chosen to make a theocratic argument. I said it before, and I’ll say it again, creating a theocratic state is the ultimate goal of a majority of conservative Republicans in government.

  [Read more…]

Rich People Follies: A Refund for Issa, the Billionaire Ballot Measure, and a Badass Convention Center

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When Congressman Darrell Issa announced his retirement on January 10, speculation began over what would become of his million-plus dollar campaign war chest.

In early March, nearly $180,000 in refunds were made to donors–including the Koch Brothers–who earmarked contributions for his 2018 general election campaign. Republican party organizations in San Diego and Orange counties received $5,000 each, and $2000 went to his endorsed candidate in the 49th Congressional District, Diane Harkey.

Now we know what recipient Issa has in mind for the rest of the money: himself.   [Read more…]

Pelosi to Visit San Diego as DC Ratchets Up the Racism

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As the administration’s war on immigrants and brown people reached new lows, it was announced that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will visit San Diego next week, with a delegation of 15 Democrats organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Things are looking bad, really bad, right now. Just about every part of the government is actively working hard to inflict cruel and unusual punishment on human beings who happen to lack identity papers.

We can only hope Pelosi’s trip to the border region will generate enough awareness to stimulate opposition to government actions that should be seen as violating international law and basic moral conduct.   [Read more…]

Third Time’s the Charm for Cheesecake Factory Janitors’ Wage Claims

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Also: Dead Men Don’t Talk in National City, the Dotard and the Billionaire Class, and the Democratic Party’s New Free Speech Zone

Remember the days when corporations in California avoided responsibility for breaking labor laws by blaming contractors, who all-to-often disappeared when investigations were complete?

An investigation initiated by San Diego’s Employee Rights Center, a nonprofit that assists low-wage workers without union representation, led to a ruling by the  Labor Commissioner’s Office holding the Cheesecake Factory restaurants in Southern California and its janitorial subcontractors liable for $4.57 million in minimum wages, overtime, liquidated damages, waiting time penalties, and meal and rest period premiums.   [Read more…]

America, the UnBeautiful: Otay Mesa Protest, Border Patrol Harassment, & Children in Cages

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Border Patrol Targets Demonstrators

In what is likely the first in a series of immigration-related protests, several hundred people came to a rally outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center on Sunday demanding the release of asylum seekers fleeing gang violence and state repression.

They were taking up the cause of asylum seekers who –for the most part–have voluntarily turned themselves at the border. Little did the protesters know their own participation in the event would lead to harassment by border authorities.

Protests are spreading nationwide in the wake of horrific reports of abuse and mistreatment by immigration agencies. People are speaking out against a President who refers to immigrants as ‘animals’ and implements policies inflicting punishment on people whose rights to due process are rapidly vanishing.   [Read more…]

Elections Are Just One Small Part of Activism | Progressive Activist Calendar June 8-18, 2018

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Advocates for traditional political parties all-too-often have a vested interest in convincing the public the next election is going to change the way things are. It’s understandable, I suppose, for them to want to keep the attention and donor dollars focused on their mission.

The reality is that elections don’t mean squat without other forms of political expression. Rallies, protests, educational events, letter writing, and plain ol’ organizing are what drive the electoral process. Voting –especially in the primaries– ultimately amounts to a bargaining session, where we’re asked to make choices somewhere between what’s desired and what’s doable.

I’ve noticed over the years the choices get better as the political noise gets louder.   [Read more…]

Think the Primaries Were Tough? Get Ready for the General Election.

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Whew! The primary season is over. There are some ballots to be counted, some celebrating to be done, and some wounds to be healed.

Let’s take a peek at some of what’s coming and a few things needing to be taken care of as we move on. 

The media narratives attempting to squeeze the voting results into a sound bite are all over the place.

Fox news thinks it sees the makings of a Republican resurgence in California, translating the over-participation of GOP voters in early contests into a scenario where the citizenry will rise up against overtaxed and overregulated government come November.     [Read more…]

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