Podcast appearances and mentions of maria sacchetti

Alan's Soaps https://www.AlansArtisanSoaps.comUse coupon code TODD to save an additional 10% off the bundle price.Bioptimizers https://Bioptimizers.com/toddEnter promo code TODD to get 10% off your order of MassZymes today.Bizable https://GoBizable.comUntie your business exposure from your personal exposure with BiZABLE.  Schedule your FREE consultation at GoBizAble.com today.  Bonefrog https://BonefrogCoffee.com/toddThe new GOLDEN AGE is here!  Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions.Bulwark Capital Bulwark Capital Management (bulwarkcapitalmgmt.com)Do you know how tariffs can affect your retirement?  Join Zach Abraham's FREE Webinar “Tariff Edition” Thursday May 22 at 3:30 Pacific. Sign up at KnowYourRiskRadio.com today.Renue Healthcare https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddYour journey to a better life starts at Renue Healthcare. Visit https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddThe Todd Herman Show - Podcast - Apple PodcastsThe Todd Herman Show | Podcast on SpotifyTodd Herman - The Todd Herman Show - YouTubeThere is, without a doubt, a spiritual crisis at the US border. Let's examine the Godliness in border security, and the Godlessness of Democrat hubris…Episode Links:Rep. AOC sends a new message to Border Czar Tom Homan. "[He] said he was gonna threaten to refer me to DOJ because I used free speech to advise [illegal aliens] of their constitutional protections. Maria Sacchetti is  “reporter” covering immigration for the Washington PostThis is textbook INDOCTRINATION in our school systems. Kids in a classroom perform a politically charged rap saying "F*ck ICE," giving the middle finger, and fearmongering about law enforcement. What is going on in our schools???BREAKING: Three Virginia Dept. of Corrections officers were stabbed in a state prison today in what the state says was a premeditated attack involving 5 MS-13 gang members, all of whom are Salvadoran illegal aliens who have been convicted of violent crimes, such as murder & rape.NEW: HSI has arrested a lawful permanent resident from MX for allegedly trying to smuggle a drugged/sedated child into the US who she falsely claimed was her own. HSI says on Wednesday, Gloria Lopez-Corona tried to enter the US w/ a child via the San Luis port of entry in AZ, and presented a birth certificate that was determined to be for another child based on the ageDrugged Children. This is the work I do and this video was the reason I was cancelled on PayPal, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Buy Me A Coffee and Cash App.Rep. AOC sends a new message to Border Czar Tom Homan. "[He] said he was gonna threaten to refer me to DOJ because I used free speech to advise [illegal aliens] of their constitutional protections.

For the past few weeks, one man has become a focal point for President Donald Trump's war on immigration. Kilmar Abrego García was mistakenly deported and sent to a Salvadoran prison last month. Abrego García's deportation has become a legal battle over the rights of immigrants and the boundaries of executive power.Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti about how Abrego García became collateral damage in Trump's immigration fight.Today's show was produced by Ariel Plotnick with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sam Bair. Thanks also to Lucas Trevor and Lucy Perkins.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

On this episode, Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin, James Hohmann, and immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti discuss the deportation of hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador without due process under the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely invoked law from the 18th century.In response to a court placing a restraining order on the deportations, the President called for the judge to be impeached, Trump and his allies' defiant tone against the judiciary drew the ire of Chief Justice John G. Roberts in a rare public rebuke.Plus, reaction to President Donald Trump's high-stakes call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they negotiated the terms of a potential cease-fire in Ukraine.

Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil helped organize protests at the university against the Israel-Gaza war last spring. Khalil, who is a legal permanent resident of the United States, according to his lawyers, was detained over the weekend by immigration officers was detained by immigration officers and accused by the Trump administration of sympathizing with Hamas terrorists. So far no evidence of this has been reported.Immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti speaks with host Colby Itkowitz about Khalil's arrest and what it could signal about how this administration will treat activists and immigrants. Today's show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy, with help from Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sam Bair. Thanks also to Jenna Johnson.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.Where's Martine?

Today on “Post Reports,” how President-elect Donald Trump plans to make good on his campaign promise of mass deportations. Read more: President-elect Donald Trump has taken steps to fulfill his pledge to deport undocumented immigrants on a massive scale by naming top officials to lead the effort: Stephen Miller and Tom Homan. Miller — who helped shape policies during Trump's first administration, including the ban on travel from many Muslim-majority countries and family separations at the border — is expected to become a deputy chief of staff.Tom Homan, a former acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will serve as “border czar,” in charge of border security and deportations. On today's “Post Reports,” reporter Nick Miroff walks host Elahe Izadi through what those picks could mean for the incoming administration's approach to immigration enforcement and why they might have an easier time this term to turn Trump's rhetoric into reality. We also hear from an immigration lawyer and advocate about how he's advising his clients to prepare for another Trump presidency. Today's episode was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy and Laura Benshoff, with help from Ariel Plotnick. It was mixed by Sam Bair and edited by Monica Campbell with help from Maggie Penman and Lucy Perkins. Thanks to Maria Sacchetti and Efrain Hernandez Jr. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss federal immigration policy and laws in the United States and any impacts on the upcoming 2024 election.Research/Resources: “Immigration.” Department of Homeland Security Statistics, February 7, 2024, https://www.dhs.gov/ohss/topics/immigration“How Texas is challenging the Biden administration on border policy” by Arelis R. Hernández, Nick Miroff, Maria Sacchetti and Ann E. Marimow. Published in The Washington Post website March 12, 2024 and available on  https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2024/03/12/texas-border-battles-immigration-migrants-biden/“U.S. Border Patrol Encounters at the Southwest Border: Fact Sheet.” Prepared by Members and Committees of Congress. Published in Congressional Research Service website and available on  https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47556#:~:text=The%20definition%20includes%20persons%20both,present%20in%20the%20United%20States.&text=Border%20Protection%20(CBP).,%2Fstats%2Fnationwide%2Dencounters.“CBP Releases January 2024 Monthly Update.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection, February 13, 2024, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-releases-january-2024-monthly-updateCheck out our website at http://artofdiscussing.buzzsprout.com, on Facebook at Art of Discussing and on Instagram @artofdiscussing.Got a topic that you'd like to see discussed? Interested in being a guest on our show? Just want to reach out to share an opinion, experience, or resource? Leave us a comment below or contact us at info@artofdiscussing.com!! We'd love to hear from you! Keep Discussing!Music found on Pixabay. Song name: "Clear Your Mind" by Caffeine Creek Band"

Last week, President Biden announced an executive action that could change everything for DACA recipient Javier Quiroz. But it could all be undone in November. Today, we discuss Biden's and former president Donald Trump's takes on immigration.Read more: Once again, immigration is a big focus on the presidential campaign trail. President Biden's recent policies restricting asylum aim to decrease migration at the southern border. He also recently issued an executive action that assists undocumented spouses who want to apply for U.S. residency. Former president Donald Trump proposes employing the military to deport migrants en masse, among other hard-line measures. Among those watching how this will all play out is Javier Quiroz, an undocumented immigrant who has lived most of his life in the United States. His wife and high school sweetheart, Haleigh, is a U.S. citizen. They found it difficult to plan ahead in their life together –– until last week, when Biden announced the executive action that would change everything for them.Martine Powers speaks with immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti about Javier and Haleigh Quiroz and their love story. They are among the more than 500,000 couples whose lives could change under Biden's new policy. But come November, their lives could change back depending on who becomes the next president. Today's show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy, with help from Ali Bianco and Trinity Webster-Bass. It was mixed by Sean Carter, and edited by Monica Campbell. Thanks to Dominic Anthony Walsh. Subscribe to The Washington Post here and check out the newest season of the “Try This” audio course.

Interview with Washington Post's Maria Sacchetti on President Biden shielding undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens from deportation while they apply for permanent residence and citizenship (2); Boeing CEO David Calhoun at Senate hearing on airplane safety whistleblowers; Senate Republican block Democrats' attempt to pass bill to ban firearm bump stocks; Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says Secretary of State Blinken assured him held-up weapons shipments will go forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown chats with three exceptional national and local immigration reporters to understand what it's like to cover immigration at a time of rising migration, increased humanitarian challenges, and a polarized political climate. Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News, Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post and Uriel Garcia of the Texas Tribune take us through their experiences covering national and local immigration developments over the past year, both on the ground and from a distance. Listen to hear all about the policy, politics, and humanity of covering immigration in the United States. 

In Texas on Wednesday, a courtroom of lawyers listened to three women share heart-wrenching testimony about the impact the state's abortion ban had on their pregnancies. The Texas Tribune's Eleanor Klibanoff shares the latest. And, Washington Post national immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti explains how new asylum rules have created a 'fragile calm' at the southern border. Then, Wesleyan University will no longer consider an applicant's relationship to previous graduates in its admissions process. The practice of legacy admissions has been under scrutiny since the Supreme Court ruled to ban consideration of race in admissions when it struck down affirmative action. POLITICO's Bianca Quilantan tells us more.

With Title 42 expulsions at the southern border set to expire, an influx of migrants in search of asylum has arrived in El Paso. Uriel García, immigration reporter at The Texas Tribune, brings the latest from the western corner of Texas, and Maria Sacchetti, reporter covering immigrant communities and Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Washington Post, shares the latest on Title 42.

An influx of asylum seekers have made their way to El Paso to seek entry into the United States, as a federal border regulation is set to expire next week.  On Today's Show:Uriel García, immigration reporter at The Texas Tribune, brings the latest from the western corner of Texas, and Maria Sacchetti, reporter covering immigrant communities and Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Washington Post, shares the latest on Title 42.

NBC News projects Republicans have flipped the House with a narrow majority. Meantime in the Senate, Mitch McConnell survives a challenge for GOP leader. It comes as 12 Republicans joined Democrats to advance the Respect for Marriage Act. Plus, former Vice President Mike Pence says he's “closing the door” on testifying to the Jan. 6th committee. Eli Stokols, Joyce Vance, Jonathan Capehart, Michael McFaul, Fmr. Sen. Al Franken, David Jolly, and Maria Sacchetti join. 

This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss the surprise deal for climate legislation, new January 6th revelations, and the deadliest road in America.  Here are some notes and references from this week's show: Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey and Spencer S. Hsu for The Washington Post: “Justice Dept. Investigating Trump's Actions In Jan. 6 Criminal Probe” Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti for The Washington Post: “Secret Service Watchdog Knew in February That Texts Had Been Purged” Forbidden City, by Vanessa Hua Dan Kaufman for The New Yorker: “Will Wisconsin's Republicans Make Voting Meaningless, or Just Difficult?” Richard L. Hasen for Slate: “What the Critics Get Incredibly Wrong about the Collins-Manchin Election Bill” Marin Cogan for Vox: “The Deadliest Road In America” Robert James Schneider, Rebecca Sanders, Frank Proulx, Hamideh Moayyed for the Journal of Transport and Land Use: “United States Fatal Pedestrian Crash Hot Spot Locations And Characteristics” Unsafe At Any Speed, by Ralph Nader Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity, by Charles L. Marohn Jr.  Allison Russell's Outside Child John Dickerson for Slate: “Getting Naked Every Night: Girlyman and the Pursuit of Creative Risk.” Here are this week's chatters: Emily: Jonathan Bernstein for Rolling Stone: “‘She Schooled Us All': Inside Joni Mitchell's Stunning Return to Newport Folk Festival”; David McCabe and Mike Isaac for The New York Times: “F.T.C. Sues to Block Meta's Virtual Reality Deal as It Confronts Big Tech” John: Oliver Whang for The New York Times: “‘Parentese' Is Truly a Lingua Franca, Global Study Finds” David: April Rubin and Jesus Jiménez for The New York Times: “4,000 Mistreated Beagles Need Homes. These Folks Stepped Up.” Listener chatter from Mark Allender: The Dollop #283: “James Clark McReynolds, the Worst Supreme Court Justice Ever” Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Research by Bridgette Dunlap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss the surprise deal for climate legislation, new January 6th revelations, and the deadliest road in America.  Here are some notes and references from this week's show: Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey and Spencer S. Hsu for The Washington Post: “Justice Dept. Investigating Trump's Actions In Jan. 6 Criminal Probe” Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti for The Washington Post: “Secret Service Watchdog Knew in February That Texts Had Been Purged” Forbidden City, by Vanessa Hua Dan Kaufman for The New Yorker: “Will Wisconsin's Republicans Make Voting Meaningless, or Just Difficult?” Richard L. Hasen for Slate: “What the Critics Get Incredibly Wrong about the Collins-Manchin Election Bill” Marin Cogan for Vox: “The Deadliest Road In America” Robert James Schneider, Rebecca Sanders, Frank Proulx, Hamideh Moayyed for the Journal of Transport and Land Use: “United States Fatal Pedestrian Crash Hot Spot Locations And Characteristics” Unsafe At Any Speed, by Ralph Nader Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity, by Charles L. Marohn Jr.  Allison Russell's Outside Child John Dickerson for Slate: “Getting Naked Every Night: Girlyman and the Pursuit of Creative Risk.” Here are this week's chatters: Emily: Jonathan Bernstein for Rolling Stone: “‘She Schooled Us All': Inside Joni Mitchell's Stunning Return to Newport Folk Festival”; David McCabe and Mike Isaac for The New York Times: “F.T.C. Sues to Block Meta's Virtual Reality Deal as It Confronts Big Tech” John: Oliver Whang for The New York Times: “‘Parentese' Is Truly a Lingua Franca, Global Study Finds” David: April Rubin and Jesus Jiménez for The New York Times: “4,000 Mistreated Beagles Need Homes. These Folks Stepped Up.” Listener chatter from Mark Allender: The Dollop #283: “James Clark McReynolds, the Worst Supreme Court Justice Ever” Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Research by Bridgette Dunlap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss the surprise deal for climate legislation, new January 6th revelations, and the deadliest road in America.  Here are some notes and references from this week's show: Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey and Spencer S. Hsu for The Washington Post: “Justice Dept. Investigating Trump's Actions In Jan. 6 Criminal Probe” Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti for The Washington Post: “Secret Service Watchdog Knew in February That Texts Had Been Purged” Forbidden City, by Vanessa Hua Dan Kaufman for The New Yorker: “Will Wisconsin's Republicans Make Voting Meaningless, or Just Difficult?” Richard L. Hasen for Slate: “What the Critics Get Incredibly Wrong about the Collins-Manchin Election Bill” Marin Cogan for Vox: “The Deadliest Road In America” Robert James Schneider, Rebecca Sanders, Frank Proulx, Hamideh Moayyed for the Journal of Transport and Land Use: “United States Fatal Pedestrian Crash Hot Spot Locations And Characteristics” Unsafe At Any Speed, by Ralph Nader Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity, by Charles L. Marohn Jr.  Allison Russell's Outside Child John Dickerson for Slate: “Getting Naked Every Night: Girlyman and the Pursuit of Creative Risk.” Here are this week's chatters: Emily: Jonathan Bernstein for Rolling Stone: “‘She Schooled Us All': Inside Joni Mitchell's Stunning Return to Newport Folk Festival”; David McCabe and Mike Isaac for The New York Times: “F.T.C. Sues to Block Meta's Virtual Reality Deal as It Confronts Big Tech” John: Oliver Whang for The New York Times: “‘Parentese' Is Truly a Lingua Franca, Global Study Finds” David: April Rubin and Jesus Jiménez for The New York Times: “4,000 Mistreated Beagles Need Homes. These Folks Stepped Up.” Listener chatter from Mark Allender: The Dollop #283: “James Clark McReynolds, the Worst Supreme Court Justice Ever” Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Research by Bridgette Dunlap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Josie Duffy Rice discuss Europe's deadly heat wave, Joe Manchin's balk at climate legislation, and the inevitable tragedies already happening post-Roe. Here are some notes and references from this week's show: Lindsay Whitehurst, Camille Fassett, and Jasen Lo for the Associated Press: “Social Programs Weak in Many States With Tough Abortion Laws” The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson  The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness, by Meghan O'Rourke Forbidden City, by Vanessa Hua Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow, by Michael Thompson  John Dickerson for Slate: “My Daughter Went Away to Camp and Changed” Here are this week's chatters: John: Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti for The Washington Post: “Secret Service Watchdog Knew in February That Texts Had Been Purged” Josie: Zak Cheney-Rice for New York Magazine: “Larry Wilmore Knows No Bounds”;  David: Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps; Elias Esquivel for World Athletics: “Patterson Takes Surprise High Jump Gold In Oregon” Listener chatter from Mark Wegener: Gamaliel Bradford for the January 1930 issue of The Atlantic: “The Genius of the Average: Calvin Coolidge”   Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Research by Bridgette Dunlap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Josie Duffy Rice discuss Europe's deadly heat wave, Joe Manchin's balk at climate legislation, and the inevitable tragedies already happening post-Roe. Here are some notes and references from this week's show: Lindsay Whitehurst, Camille Fassett, and Jasen Lo for the Associated Press: “Social Programs Weak in Many States With Tough Abortion Laws” The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson  The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness, by Meghan O'Rourke Forbidden City, by Vanessa Hua Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow, by Michael Thompson  John Dickerson for Slate: “My Daughter Went Away to Camp and Changed” Here are this week's chatters: John: Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti for The Washington Post: “Secret Service Watchdog Knew in February That Texts Had Been Purged” Josie: Zak Cheney-Rice for New York Magazine: “Larry Wilmore Knows No Bounds”;  David: Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps; Elias Esquivel for World Athletics: “Patterson Takes Surprise High Jump Gold In Oregon” Listener chatter from Mark Wegener: Gamaliel Bradford for the January 1930 issue of The Atlantic: “The Genius of the Average: Calvin Coolidge”   Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Research by Bridgette Dunlap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Josie Duffy Rice discuss Europe's deadly heat wave, Joe Manchin's balk at climate legislation, and the inevitable tragedies already happening post-Roe. Here are some notes and references from this week's show: Lindsay Whitehurst, Camille Fassett, and Jasen Lo for the Associated Press: “Social Programs Weak in Many States With Tough Abortion Laws” The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson  The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness, by Meghan O'Rourke Forbidden City, by Vanessa Hua Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow, by Michael Thompson  John Dickerson for Slate: “My Daughter Went Away to Camp and Changed” Here are this week's chatters: John: Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti for The Washington Post: “Secret Service Watchdog Knew in February That Texts Had Been Purged” Josie: Zak Cheney-Rice for New York Magazine: “Larry Wilmore Knows No Bounds”;  David: Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps; Elias Esquivel for World Athletics: “Patterson Takes Surprise High Jump Gold In Oregon” Listener chatter from Mark Wegener: Gamaliel Bradford for the January 1930 issue of The Atlantic: “The Genius of the Average: Calvin Coolidge”   Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Research by Bridgette Dunlap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on “Post Reports,” the Biden administration announces a plan to welcome Ukrainian refugees. Plus, just in time for Earth Day, our corporate accountability reporter helps you decipher what it means when a company claims to be “green.”Read more:The Biden administration announced plans Thursday to expedite the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, creating a new system that will allow citizens and organizations such as churches to sponsor them and warning that Ukrainians attempting to cross via Mexico will be denied entry starting next week. Maria Sacchetti reports.Plus, it's almost Earth Day, and corporations are eager to tout their environmental progress. Our corporate accountability reporter, Doug MacMillan, has some tips for how to decipher these promises, which sound good but could be “greenwashed.”

Hoy en Día a Día, comenzamos conversando con Luis Fleischman, internacionalista y profesor de sociología en Palm Beach State College, sobre el ataque ruso cerca de Polonia: “Deben seguir proveyendo armas y dejar de lado esa retórica que expresa temor, porque cuanto más expresen temor más envalentona a Putin”, opinó. “Pienso que el temor es que Rusia pueda atacar a Polonia por enviar armas o jets. Y si ataca a Polonia, la OTAN se verá obligada a responder”, dijo, y destacó: “Si Ucrania solicita membresía en la OTAN y es aceptada, significa que pasa a ser parte de ese acuerdo defensivo mutuo”. El periodista y jefe de redacción de Caracol Radio, Orlando Villar Forero, conversó con nosotros sobre las elecciones en Colombia: “La izquierda se consolidó de manera importante con la votación por Gustavo Petro… El partido de gobierno, que es la derecha colombiana, perdió casi la mitad de los curules que tenía. Y el Pacto Histórico, la coalición que respalda a Petro, se consolidó como una fuerza importante”, dijo, pero puntualizó: “Si bien se estima que Petro tiene un cupo asegurado para la segunda vuelta, todavía no tiene la victoria consolidada”. Ronna Rísquez, periodista especializada en temas de violencia, crimen organizado, seguridad ciudadana y DD.HH, con conversó con nosotros sobre la orden de la jueza María Alejandra Giménez de capturar a Diosdado Cabello si llega a Argentina: “Diosdado Cabello, Nicolás Maduro, Tareck El Aissami, Padrino López y todos ellos, tienen el mismo riesgo de ser detenidos en caso de que vayan a un país en el que decidan ejecutar el requerimiento del gobierno de EE.UU”, dijo, y destacó: “Cabello no sólo puede ser detenido en Argentina. Puede ser detenido en cualquier país que pise”. Desde Washington nos atendió Maria Sacchetti, reportera de inmigración del Washington Post, quien nos habló sobre la caída en deportaciones de inmigrantes bajo el mandato de Biden: “Bajo Biden, se están enfocando en la gente que tiene antecedentes criminales serios… Si una persona es arrestada por un crimen serio, puede ir a la Corte y un juez de migración le puede quitar su Green Card”, explicó. Con el analista político mexicano, Álvaro Ramírez, conversamos sobre las críticas del presidente López Obrador a la Unión Europea: “Nadie se esperaría que un gobierno legítimo y democrático responda de esta manera… El presidente López Obrador actúa por sí solo. No tiene a una persona fuerte que le pueda aconsejar adecuadamente”, explicó. Ramírez agregó: “Hay un problema de comunicación y entendimiento donde si uno critica al gobierno, automáticamente se toma como una crítica al presidente”. Y para cerrar, el periodista y director de ‘Esta Semana' y ‘Confidencial', Carlos Fernando Chamorro, nos habló sobre los juicios a presos políticos en Nicaragua: “Estas son simulaciones de juicios que se llevan a cabo en la cárcel. Todos estos procesos deberían ser nulos ante una autoridad judicial autónoma… Se están ejecutando órdenes políticas que son actos de venganza del régimen Ortega-Murillo contra más de 40 líderes políticos y cívicos, entre ellos 7 precandidatos presidenciales”, expuso.

Welcome to the IndependentLeft.News Daily Headlines podcast for Friday, March 5th, 2021 Early Edition - https://independentleft.news/?edition_id=e56ae9b0-7daf-11eb-8e7a-fa163edbd376&utm_source=anchor&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=top-headlines-podcast&utm_content=ILN-Anchor-top-headlines-podcast-early-ed-03-05-21 Top Headlines:

Looking back at four years of Trump’s immigration policies. Plus, setting egg-spectations for Britain’s pubs under covid.Read more:In 2015, Donald Trump ran on the promise to overhaul immigration — a vow he made good on as soon as he was sworn in. Immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti takes us through all the steps President Trump took to change the U.S. immigration system, from banning travel from some Muslim-majority countries to separating families, and the potentially lasting change in tone and rhetoric around immigration.Adam Taylor explains the debate over coronavirus rules that is entangling Britain’s politics: Is a scotch egg a substantial meal?Black country music star Charley Pride died Saturday at the age of 86. Listen to a past episode of Post Reports about the Black roots of country music.Subscribe to The Washington Post: postreports.com/offer

Resources: "Biden picks Alejandro Mayorkas, a son of Jewish Cuban refugees, to lead the Department of Homeland Security" by Nick Miroff and  Maria Sacchetti, Washington Post "How an Obama appointee helped influential Democrats get visas for rich immigrants" by Dara Lind, Vox White paper Hosts: Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica Credits: Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and Producer The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production Want to support The Weeds? Please make a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts About Vox Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Follow Us: Vox.com Facebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there's anything that makes this a strange country, it's a pandemic. Strange Country co-hosts discuss the one topic that is affecting all of us--improper use of toilet paper. Oh and COVID-19. Beth rails against the Trump Administration's incompetent response (SHOCKER!) and Kelly puts her optimistic spin on things. We are all in this together, dash hounds. Stay safe and stay in. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Achenbach, Joel, et al. “Trump Budget Cuts Funding for Health, Science, Environment Agencies.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 10 Feb. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/science/trump-budget-cuts-funding-for-health-science-environment-agencies/2020/02/10/9c8dd784-4c2d-11ea-b721-9f4cdc90bc1c_story.html Baker, Peter. “For Trump, Coronavirus Proves to Be an Enemy He Can't Tweet Away.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/08/us/politics/trump-coronavirus.html. Baker, Sam. “The Problems with Our Coronavirus Testing Are Worse than You Think.” Axios, 16 Mar. 2020, www.axios.com/coronavirus-outbreak-testing-delays-60a25ce6-f08d-438f-b294-358e0c300d95.html. Bump, Philip. “Analysis | Which Is Trump More Worried about: Coronavirus Numbers or Coronavirus Patients?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 7 Mar. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/07/which-is-trump-more-worried-about-coronavirus-numbers-or-coronavirus-patients/. Chait, Jonathan. “Donald Trump Turns to Always-Wrong Pseudo-Economist Lawrence Kudlow.” Intelligencer, Intelligencer, 19 Dec. 2016, nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/12/trump-turns-to-always-wrong-pseudo-economist-lawrence-kudlow.html. Chen, Caroline, et al. “Key Missteps at the CDC Have Set Back Its Ability to Detect the Potential Spread of Coronavirus.” ProPublica, 4 Mar. 2020, www.propublica.org/article/cdc-coronavirus-covid-19-test. Choi, Mattew. “Trump Puts Pence in Charge of Coronavirus Response.” POLITICO, 26 Feb. 2020, www.politico.com/news/2020/02/26/trump-puts-pence-in-charge-of-coronavirus-response-117790. Coppins, McKay. “Trump's Dangerously Effective Coronavirus Propaganda.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 16 Mar. 2020, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/trump-coronavirus-threat/607825/. “Coronavirus Live Updates: Trump Says to Limit Gatherings to 10 People.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/world/live-coronavirus-news-updates.html. Cuomo, Andrew. “Andrew Cuomo to President Trump: Mobilize the Military to Help Fight Coronavirus.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/opinion/andrew-cuomo-coronavirus-trump.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage. Derek Hawkins, Hannah Natanson. “Coronavirus Screening Causes Massive Bottlenecks at O'Hare and Other U.S. Airports.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 15 Mar. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2020/03/14/europe-travel-ban-airport-delays/. Diamond, Dan. “Trump's Mismanagement Helped Fuel Coronavirus Crisis.” POLITICO, www.politico.com/news/2020/03/07/trump-coronavirus-management-style-123465. “'Don't Believe the Numbers You See': Johns Hopkins Professor Says up to 500,000 Americans Have Coronavirus.” Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo!, 13 Mar. 2020, finance.yahoo.com/news/marty-makary-on-coronavirus-in-the-us-183558545.html. Drucker, Jesse, and Jessica Silver-greenberg. “Trump Administration Is Relaxing Oversight of Nursing Homes.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/business/trump-administration-nursing-homes.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage. Engelberg, Stephen, et al. “How South Korea Scaled Coronavirus Testing While the U.S. Fell Dangerously Behind.” ProPublica, 15 Mar. 2020, www.propublica.org/article/how-south-korea-scaled-coronavirus-testing-while-the-us-fell-dangerously-behind. “Fact Check: A List of 28 Ways President Trump and His Team Have Been Dishonest about the Coronavirus.” The Mercury News, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2020, www.mercurynews.com/2020/03/11/fact-check-a-list-of-28-ways-trump-and-his-team-have-been-dishonest-about-the-coronavirus/. Glenn Kessler, Meg Kelly. “Analysis | Tracking Trump's False or Misleading Coronavirus Claims.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Mar. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/14/tracking-trumps-false-or-misleading-coronavirus-claims/. Holshue, Michelle L., et al. “First Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the United States: NEJM.” New England Journal of Medicine, 5 Mar. 2020, www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001191. Johnson, Carolyn Y., and Laura McGinley. “What Went Wrong with the Coronavirus Tests in the U.S.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 7 Mar. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/health/what-went-wrong-with-the-coronavirus-tests/2020/03/07/915f5dea-5d82-11ea-b29b-9db42f7803a7_story.html. Jon Swaine, Maria Sacchetti. “As Washington Nursing Home Assumed It Faced Influenza Outbreak, Opportunities to Control Coronavirus Exposure Passed.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 16 Mar. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/nursing-home-with-the-biggest-cluster-of-covid-19-deaths-to-date-in-the-us-thought-it-was-facing-an-influenza-outbreak-a-spokesman-says/2020/03/16/c256b0ee-6460-11ea-845d-e35b0234b136_story.html. Lutz, Eric. “Trump Reportedly Afraid Coronavirus Testing Could Hurt Reelection Chances.” Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair, 13 Mar. 2020, www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/trump-reportedly-afraid-coronavirus-testing-could-hurt-reelection-chances. Mindock, Clark. “Coronavirus Death Toll Could Reach up to 1.7million in US.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 15 Mar. 2020, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-death-toll-worst-case-scenario-millions-dead-in-us-a9402276.html?fbclid=IwAR32r0_urkE9HK7Z57aiJzVtMxaKK4f71XW-dQ870xxUw3DWalKAowxl8g4. Scarr, Simon, et al. “2019 Coronavirus: The Korean Clusters.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 3 Mar. 2020, graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-SOUTHKOREA-CLUSTERS/0100B5G33SB/index.html. Sorkin, Amy Davidson. “Mike Pence and the Farce of Trusting Donald Trump on the Coronavirus.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2020, www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/mike-pence-and-the-farce-of-trusting-donald-trump-on-the-coronavirus. Stevens, Harry. “These Simulations Show How to Flatten the Coronavirus Growth Curve.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Mar. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/?fbclid=IwAR0W8W20H5tjuBnIIeIUuOQNrPbe52YwzrvmRF5HK0y0wUzeD9JbkXCpvZc.

Karoun Demirjian on what we’ve learned from the impeachment inquiry transcripts released this week. Maria Sacchetti on the role U.S. citizens play in immigration smuggling. And Rebecca Tan explains part of the new generation’s enthusiasm for cricket.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is out and will withdraw from the nomination process to be permanent Defense Secretary after it was reported by USA Today that the FBI is examining a 2010 domestic fight between Shanahan and his former wife, where accounts differ as to who the aggressor was. Army Secretary Mark Esper will take over for Shanahan.  Tom Vanden Brook, Pentagon correspondent for USA Today joins us for all the details. Next, President Trump in a tweet signaled that mass immigration arrests are starting next week.  It was a plan that was being formulated, but the operation was not imminent.  The arrests will target individuals who have final deportation orders and will include families. Maria Sacchetti, immigration reporter for the Washington Post, details what we know about the plan. Finally, the future of food delivery may be starting this summer and Uber wants your next Big Mac to be delivered by drone.  The food delivery business is expected to be $76 billion in 2022 and Uber is betting that drone deliveries will be a big part of that, which could even change the way kitchens operate.  Kate Krader, food editor at Bloomberg News, was at the first test flight and will tell us how it all works. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Aaron Davis on conversations with Trump’s former acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan about domestic violence incidents in his family. Maria Sacchetti on planned mass deportations of migrant families. And Ashley Parker on Trump’s reelection bid.Get unlimited access to The Washington Post’s website and apps for less than $1 a week. Go to PostReports.com/offer to access a special offer for podcast listeners.

Devlin Barrett on Attorney General William P. Barr’s testimony. Maria Sacchetti on the Trump administration saying it may charge asylum seekers looking for refuge. Plus, Rick Maese on what happened when a female runner’s hormones came under scrutiny.

As President Trump continues to press his case for a wall, Maria Sacchetti dispels misinformation about the U.S.-Mexico border. Plus, Nicolás Maduro begins his second term as president of Venezuela.

The full broadcast of Boston Public Radio from Wednesday, September 12th, 2018. We opened up the lines to hear what listeners thought of yesterday’s tense meeting between President Trump, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Vice President Mike Pence. Washington Post reporter Maria Sacchetti discussed what happens to asylum seekers after they have been deported by the U.S. government. We discussed the latest developments in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation with national security expert Juliette Kayyem. Historian Nancy Koehn discussed a new study that found Americans value gender equality in the workplace more than they do in the home. Journalist Anthony Flint joined us to give us a glimpse into several urban design projects throughout the Greater Boston area that never came to fruition, including an effort by President John F. Kennedy to put NASA’s headquarters in Kendall Square. Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam joined us to provide his legendary weekly explainer.

A new policy change by the Trump administration on May 7th has resulted in thousands of children being separated from their want-to-be-immigrant parents who crossed the U.S. southern border in the wrong location. In this episode, hear from officials in every branch of government involved to learn why this is happening, why it's proving to be so difficult to return the children to their parents, and what we can do to help this situation. Please Support Congressional Dish - Quick Links Click here to contribute a lump sum or set up a monthly contribution via PayPal Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North Number 4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Letter to Representative/Senators Jen's letter that she sent to her members of Congress. You are welcome to use this as you wish!  Additional Reading Report: Trump administration: Migrant families can be detained for more than 20 days by Tanya Ballard Brown, NPR, June 29, 2018. Article: Federal judge enjoins separation of migrant children, orders family reunification by Devlin Barrett, Mike DeBonis, Nick Miroff and Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Washington Post, June 27, 2018. Article: Trump aims to dismantle protections for immigrant kids and radically expand the family detention system by Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept, June 26, 2018. Article: With prosecutions of parents suspended the status quo returns at the border, The Washington Post, June 25, 2018. Article: Separated immigrant children are all over the U.S. now, far from parents who don't know where they are by Maria Sacchetti, Kevin Sieff and Marc Fisher, The Washington Post, June 24, 2018. Article: U.S. officials separated him from his child then he was deported to El Salvador, The Washington Post, June 23, 2018. Article: Yes, Obama separated families at the border, too by Franco Ordonez and Anita Kumar, McClatchy, Jue 21, 2018. Report: Governor orders probe of abuse claims by immigrant children by Michael Bisecker, Jake Pearson and Garance Burke, AP News, June 21, 2018. Report: Migrant children at the border - the facts by Graham Kates, CBS News, June 20, 2018. Report: The facilities that are housing children separated from their parents by Andy Uhler and David Brancaccio, Marketplace, June 20, 2018. Article: How private contractors enable Trump's cruelties at the border by David Dayen, The Nation, June 20, 2018. Article: Separating migrant families is barbaric. It's also what the U.S. has been doing to people of color for hundreds of years. by Shaun King, The Intercept, June 20, 2018. Report: Trump's executive order on family separation: What it does and doesn't do by Richard Gonzales, NPR, June 20, 2018. Report: U.S. announces its withdrawal from U.N. Human Rights Council by Colin Dwyer, NPR, June 19, 2018. Article: Detainees in Oregon say they followed asylum process and were arrested by Conrad Wilson, OPB, June 19, 2018. Report: Fact-checking family separation by Amrit Cheng, ACLU, June 19, 2018. Article: The U.S. has taken more than 3,700 children from their parents - and has no plan for returning them by Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept, June 19, 2018. Article: Exclusive: US officials lost track of nearly 6,000 unaccompanied migrant kids by Franco Ordonez and Anita Kumar, McClatchy, June 19, 2018. Article: The government has no plan for reuniting the immigrant families it is tearing apart by Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, June 18, 2018. Report: U.N. rights chief tells U.S. to stop taking migrant children from parents by Nick Cumming-Bruce, The New York Times, June 18, 2018. Article: Taking migrant children from parents is illegal, U.N. tells U.S. by Nick Cumming-Bruce, The New York Times, June 5, 2018. Article: Parents, children ensnared in 'zero-tolerance' border prosecutions by Curt Prendergast and Perla Trevizo, Arizona Daily Star, May 28, 2018. Statement: By HHS Deputy Secretary on unaccompanied alien children program, HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan, HHS, May 28, 2018. Report: Trump administration using contractors accused of abuse to detain undocumented children by TYT Investigates, TYT Network, May 28, 2018. Testimony: Ronald D. Vitiello on Stopping the daily border caravan: Time to build a policy wall, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, May 22, 2018. Report: ICE has already missed two detention reporting deadlines set by Congress in March, National Immigrant Justice Center, May 17, 2018. Article: As Gaza death toll rises, Israeli tactics face scrutiny by Josef Federman, The Seattle Times, May 15, 2018. News Report: Attorney General Sessions delivers remarks discussing the immigration enforcement actions of the Trump administration, Department of Justice, May 7, 2018. Statement: Steven Wagner of Administration for Children and Families U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, April 26, 2018. Article: Hundreds of immigrant children have been taken from parents at U.S. border by Caitlin Dickerson, The New York Times, April 20, 2018. Article: Trump's first year has been the private prison industry's best by Lauren-Brooke "L.B" Eisen, Brennan Center for Justice, January 15, 2018. Article: Private-prison giant, resurgent in Trump era, gathers at president's resort by Amy Brittain and Drew Harwell, The Washington Post, October 25, 2017. Report: Trump administration warns that U.S. may pull out of U.N. Human Rights Council by Merrit Kennedy, NPR, June 6, 2017. Article: Private prisons were thriving even before Trump was elected by Alice Speri, The Intercept, November 28, 2016. Article: Mexican migrant kids swiftly sent back by Sandra Dibble, San Diego Union Tribune, July 12, 2014. Article: Immigrant surge rooted in law to curb child trafficking by Carl Hulse, The New York Times, July 7, 2014. Resources Agency Details: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services GovTrack: H.R. 4760: Securing America's Future Act of 2018 GovTrack: H.R. 7311 (110th): William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 Human Rights First: The Flores Settlement Publication: Betraying Family Values: How Immigration Policy at the United States Border is Separating Families Snopes.com: Did the U.S. government lose track of 1,475 migrant children? U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Organizational Chart U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Southwest Border Migration FY2018 Sound Clip Sources Hearing: Prescription Drug Supply and Cost, Senate Finance Committee, C-SPAN, June 26, 2018. Witness: - Alex Azar - Health and Human Services Secretary 27:50 Senator Ron Wyden (OR): How many kids who were in your custody because of the zero-tolerance policy have been reunified with a parent or a relative? Alex Azar: So, I believe we have had a high of over 2,300 children that were separated from their parents as a result of the enforcement policy. We now have 2,047. Sen. Wyden: How many have been reunified? Azar: So, they would be unified with either parents or other relatives under our policy, so, of course if the parent remains in detention, unfortunately under rules that are set by Congress and the courts, they can’t be reunified while they’re in detention. Sen. Wyden: So is the answer zero? I mean, you have— Azar: No, no. No, we’ve had hundreds of children who had been separated who are now with—for instance, if there was a parent— Sen. Wyden: I want an— Azar: —parent who’s here in the country, they’d be with that parent. Sen. Wyden: I want to know about the children in your department’s custody. Azar: Yeah. Sen. Wyden: How many of them have been reunified? Azar: Well, that’s exactly what I’m saying. They had been placed with a parent or other relative who’s— Sen. Wyden: How many? Azar: —here in the United States. Sen. Wyden: How many? Azar: Several hundred. Sen. Wyden: Of the 2— Azar: Of the 2,300-plus that— Sen. Wyden: Okay. Azar: —came into our care. Sen. Wyden: How many— Azar: Probably of 2,047. 49:20 Senator Ben Nelson (FL): So, what is the plan to reunite 2,300 children? Alex Azar: Absolutely. So, the first thing we need to do is, for any of the parents, we have to confirm parentage. So that’s part of the process. With any child in our care, we have to ensure—there are traffickers; there are smugglers; there’re, frankly, just some bad people occasionally—we have to ensure that the parentage is confirmed. We have to vet those parents to ensure there’s no criminality or violent history on them. That’s part of the regular process for any placement with an individual. At that point, they’ll be ready to be reconnected to their parents. This is where our very broken immigration laws come into play. We’re not allowed to have a child be with the parent who is in custody of the Department of Homeland Security for more than 20 days, and so until we can get Congress to change that law to—the forcible separation there of the family units—we’ll hold them or place them with another family relative in the United States. But we are working to get all these kids ready to be placed back with their parents, get that all cleared up, as soon as—if Congress passes a change or if those parents complete their immigration proceedings, we can then reunify. 1:11:52 Alex Azar: If Congress doesn’t change the 20-day limit on family unification, then it depends on—the process for any individual parent going through their immigration proceedings, as long as they’re in detention, they can’t be together for more than 20 days—absurdly, but it is the case. 2:03:31 Senator Ron Wyden (OR): You told me a little bit ago that the Department has 2,047 kids in its custody, so— Alex Azar: That are separated. We’ve got about 12,000 unaccompanied minors in our program. Hearing: EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program, C-SPAN, June 19, 2018. Witnesses: Lee Francis Cissna - Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security   17:17 Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA): Citizenship should not be for sale like a commodity on the stock exchange. There are millions—in fact, 4 million—of individuals who are waiting in line to immigrate lawfully to the United States. They have paid their required fees, they are in line, they wait patiently for a day that a visa becomes available, so they can be reunited with their families here in this country. However, because they don’t have a half a million dollars to buy their way in, they will continue to wait, some as long as 24 years. Yet, under the EB-5 system, the wealthy can cut to the front of the line. 49:45 Lee Francis Cissna: I did not play any role in deciding whether there was going to be a zero-tolerance initiative. What I recommended was, since there is one, what we need to do is decide which cases to refer in fulfillment of the zero-tolerance initiative directed by the attorney general, and I suggested that—I and the other officials who were involved in these discussions suggested that we refer all cases. Senator Dick Durbin: All cases. Cissna: Yes. Anybody who violates 8 U.S.C. 1325(a) will be prosecuted. Sen. Durbin: Which is—simply presenting themselves illegally at the border, without legal authorization at our border. Is that what you’re saying? Cissna: Between ports of entry, yes. Sen. Durbin: And you’re not just limiting this to those who may have committed some other crime, involved in some activity dangerous to the United States, but merely presenting themselves at these places is enough for you to believe this administration should treat them as criminals and remove their children. Cissna: I believe anyone crossing the border illegally who is apprehended doing so, whether they’re presenting themselves or not presenting themselves or trying to evade capture, if they are apprehended, they’re violating the law and should be prosecuted. Sen. Durbin: But if a person came to this border, seeking asylum— Cissna: Mm-hmm. Sen. Durbin: —is that person per se a criminal? Cissna: If they cross illegally, yes. Sen. Durbin: The premise was they presented themselves. Cissna: If they present themselves at the port of entry, no. 57:58 Senator Mazie Hirono (HI): So there are two ways that 1325 violations can proceed: either as a civil matter, which is what was happening with the Obama administration, that did not require separating children from their parents; or you can go the criminal route, and this administration have chosen the criminal route. Isn’t that correct? Lee Francis Cissna: Well, I would have to defer to DOJ on the appropriate interpretation of 1325, but as I read it, it looks like a misdemeanor to me, and, therefore, would be a criminal— Sen. Hirono: Well, I’m reading the statute right here, and it says that it can be considered as a civil penalty’s provision; under civil, not criminal. That’s what the plain meaning of that section says to me that I’m reading right now. So, this administration has chosen to follow the criminal route, and that is the excuse, or that is the rationale, being given for why children have to be separated at the border. Now, you did not have to go that route, and in fact, from your testimony, you sound really proud that this administration has a zero-tolerance policy that is resulting in children being separated from their parents. Am I reading you wrong? You think that this is a perfectly—humane route to go to implement Section 1325? Cissna: It’s the law. I’m proud of it, yeah. Sen. Hirono: No, the law, this law allows for a civil process, and you are attributing _____(01:27). Cissna: I’m not sure that interpretation is correct, and I would, again, defer to DOJ for the final answer. 1:10:30 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: So, asylum seekers. They’re often refugees, correct? Lee Francis Cissna: Asylum seekers fall into the same definition of refugee at 101(a) (42), yeah. Sen. Whitehouse: Yep. And they often have very little in the way of resources, they’re often frightened, correct? Cissna: Yes. Sen. Whitehouse: Very few have legal degrees or are familiar with the United States’ immigration law, correct? Cissna: Yes. Sen. Whitehouse: And so if you’re a lost and frightened refugee and you see the U.S. border and you think, ah, this is my chance to get across to safety—which has long been something that our country’s been associated with—there could be a perfectly innocent reason for crossing the border in that location. And in that circumstance, would it not be perfectly reasonable for immigration officials who intercept them to say, “Ah, you seem to be a legitimate asylum seeker; you’re just in the wrong place. We’ll take you to the port of entry, and you can join the other asylum seekers at the port of entry”? But to arrest them and separate them from their children is a different choice, correct? Cissna: Well, I think if the person is already at that point where they’re apprehended and making their asylum case known, they’ve already crossed into the country illegally. If they’ve already crossed the border and made their asylum claim, they’ve already violated the law. They violated 1325. They’re here illegally. Sen. Whitehouse: Because they crossed in the wrong place. Cissna: Correct. Sen. Whitehouse: And they may not know that it’s illegal to cross in the wrong place, correct? They may simply be coming here because they’re poor and frightened and seeking safety, and for a long time, that’s what the United States has been a symbol of, has it not? Cissna: I cannot get into the minds of the people that are crossing the border illegally, but it seems to be— Sen. Whitehouse: But it is a clear possibility that there could be an innocent explanation for crossing the border as an asylum seeker at a place other than an established port of entry. Cissna: There might be. *Sen. Whitehouse: Okay. There you go. Cissna: Maybe. 1:36:13 Senator Chuck Grassley (IA): Do you think the administration would support repeal of Flores? Lee Francis Cissna: That is indeed one of the things that Secretary Nielsen spoke about yesterday, repeal Flores, but also you need to give ICE enough funds to be able to hold the family units once you’ve repealed Flores. Briefing: White House Daily Briefing, Immigration Official on Border Security and Migrant Family Separation, C-SPAN, June 18, 2018. Hearing: Central American Immigrants and Border Security, House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, C-SPAN, May 22, 2018. Witnesses: Ronald Vitiello - Acting Deputy Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection Lee Francis Cissna - Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services Thomas Homan - Acting Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement   15:10 Ronald Vitiello: In accordance with the Department of Justice zero-tolerance policy, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen has directed CBP to refer all illegal border crossers for criminal prosecution. CBP will enforce immigration laws set forth by Congress. No classes or categories of aliens are exempt from enforcement. 15:48 Ronald Vitiello: The effort and hours used to detain, process, care for, hold UACs and family units distracts our law-enforcement-officer deployments, shrinks our capability to control the border, and make the arrest of smugglers and drug traffickers and criminals much more difficult. 37:40 Ronald Vitiello: Between the ports, we’re now referring anybody that crosses the border illegally—so, Border Patrol’s referring 100% of the people that cross the border illegally—to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. At the ports, that’s not an illegal act if they come under the same conditions, but the verification of family relationships is essentially the same in both instances. Representative Filemon Vela (TX): So, with this new policy in place, at the point that you’re in a situation where you decide to separate the families, where do the minors go? Vitiello: The decision is to prosecute 100%. If that happens to be a family member, then HHS would then take care of the minor as an unaccompanied child. 39:58 Thomas Homan: As far as the detention capacity, we’re well aware of that. We’re working with U.S. marshals and DOJ on identifying available detention space. I got my staff working on that, along with the department and DOJ, so I think it’ll be addressed. We want to make sure we don’t get back to catch and release, so we’re identifying available beds throughout the country that we can use. As far as the question on HHS, under the Homeland Security Act 2002, we’re required, both the Border Patrol and ICE, to release unaccompanied children to HHS within 72 hours. So, we simply—once they identify within that 72 hours a bed someplace in the country, our job is to get that child to that bed. Then HHS, their responsibility is to reunite that child sometime with a parent and make sure that child gets released to a sponsor that’s being vetted. 41:33 Thomas Homan: If they show up at a port of entry made through asylum claims, they won’t be prosecuted, and they won’t be separated. The department has no policy just to separate families for a deterrence issue. I mean, they’re separating families for two reasons. Number one, they can’t prove the relationship—and we’ve had many cases where children had been trafficked by people that weren’t their parents, and we’re concerned about the child. The other issues are when they’re prosecuted, then they’re separated. 1:39:44 Representative Martha McSally (AZ): To summarize, some of those loopholes that we have been working together with you to close, the first is to raise the standard of the initial asylum interview that happens at the border, which is so low that nearly everybody can make it through. The second is to hold individuals as long as it takes for them to have due process in order to process their claim. The third is to make it inadmissible in our country if you are a serious criminal or gang or a gang member or a terrorist, which I cannot believe isn’t a part of the law, but we actually have to change that law. The fourth is to have a swift removal of you if you are denied in your claim. The fifth is to terminate your asylum, if you were to get it, if you return back to your country without any material change in the conditions there. Clearly, if you’re afraid for your life but you go back to visit, then something’s not right there, so your asylum should be considered for termination. The sixth is that there could be an expeditious return of unaccompanied minors to non-contiguous countries so that we can swiftly return them just like we can to Mexico. And the last is to increase the penalties for false asylum claims in order to deter and hold people accountable if they file for those. Is that a good summary of many of the loopholes we’re talking about today? Ronald Vitiello: Agree. Yes. Rep. McSally: Thank you. These all are in our bill, the Secure America’s Future Act. These are common-sense reforms that will keep our country safe and keep our communities safe, and I just want to encourage—don’t have any members left here—all members on both sides of the aisle, look at our bill, read our bill, study our bill. Hearing: Stopping the Daily Border Caravan: Time to Build a Policy Wall, Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee, Homeland Security Committee, May 22, 2018. Hearing: Homeland Security and Immigration, C-SPAN, May 15, 2018. Witness: Kirstjen Nielsen - Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security   14:00 Kirstjen Nielsen: If you try to enter our country without authorization, you’ve broken the law. The attorney general has declared that we will have zero tolerance for all illegal border crossings, and I stand by that. Anyone crossing the border illegally or filing a fraudulent asylum claim will be detained, referred for criminal prosecution, and removed from the United States, as appropriate. 36:45 Senator John Hoeven (ND): You know, when you do detain, apprehend, unaccompanied children coming across the border, as well as others, what are you doing to try to address the adjudication process, which is such a bottleneck in terms of trying to address this issue? You know, I know you’re short there. What can you do and what are you doing to try to adjudicate these individuals? Kirstjen Nielsen: So, as I continue to find out every day, our immigration process is very complex, as you well know, and involves many, many departments. What we’ve tried to do is look at it from an end-to-end approach. So in the example you just gave, there’s actually about three or four different processes that those groups would undertake. So in some cases we need additional immigration judges—DOJ’s working on that. In some cases we need additional processes and agreements with other parts of the interagency family—we’ve done that, for example, with HHS to make sure that we’re appropriately taking care of UACs in their custody. And then there’s other parts who, depending on if they’re referred for prosecution, we hand them over to the marshals—we want to make sure that that’s a process that works. And then in some cases we use alternates to detention. As you know, rather than detaining them, we will have check-ins; in some cases, ankle bracelets; but other ways to make sure that we have them detained while they’re awaiting their removal proceedings. Sen. Hoeven: Is that working? Nielsen: It does work. It does work. It’s a good combination. We do it on a case-by-case basis. There’s lots of criteria that we look at to determine when that’s appropriate and when that’s not appropriate. But, again, I think it’s some of the opening remarks perhaps the chairman made, if you look at UACs, 66% of those who receive final orders, receive the final orders purely because they never showed up for court. And we find that we’re only able to remove 3.5% of those who should be removed, who a judge has said has a final. So, if we can track them, it’s a much more efficient process while we wait for the final adjudication. 55:58 Senator Kamala Harris (CA): I also asked that I be provided with what training and procedures are being given to CBP officers as it relates to how they are instructed to carry out family separation. I’ve not received that information. Do you have that today? Kirstjen Nielsen: No. You have not asked me for it, so I do not have it, but— Sen. Harris: No, I asked you for it. Nielsen: —I’m happy to give it to you. Sen. Harris: Okay. So, again, by the end of next week, please. Nielsen: Can you explain a little more what you’re looking for? Sen. Harris: Sure. So, your agency will be separating children from their parents, and I would assume— Nielsen: No. What we’ll be doing is prosecuting parents who’ve broken the law, just as we do every day in the United States of America. Sen. Harris: I can appreciate that, but if that parent has a four-year-old child, what do you plan on doing with that child? Nielsen: The child, under law, goes to HHS for care and custody. Sen. Harris: They will be separated from their parent. Answer my question. Nielsen: Just like we do in the United States every day. Sen. Harris: So, they will be separated from their parent. And my question, then, is, when you are separating children from their parents, do you have a protocol in place about how that should be done? And are you training the people who will actually remove a child from their parent on how to do that in the least-traumatic way? I would hope you do train on how to do that. And so the question is, and the request has been, to give us the information about how you are training and what the protocols are for separating a child from their parent. Nielsen: I’m happy to provide you with the training information. Sen. Harris: Thank you. 57:25 Senator Kamala Harris (CA): And what steps are being taken, if you can tell me, to ensure that once separated, parent and child, that there will be an opportunity to at least sustain communication between the parent and their child? Kirstjen Nielsen: The children are at HHS, but I’m happy to work with HHS to get you an answer for that. 1:57:50 Senator Kamala Harris (CA): Regarding detention conditions. Secretary, are you aware that multiple federal oversight bodies, such as the OIG and the GAO, have documented medical negligence of immigrants in the detention system, in particular that ICE has reported 170 deaths in their custody since 2003? Are you familiar with that? Kirstjen Nielsen: No, ma’am. Sen. Harris: Are you aware that they also found that pregnant women in particular receive insufficient medical attention while in custody, resulting in dehydration and even miscarriages? Nielsen: I do not believe that is a current assessment of our detention facilities. Sen. Harris: Okay. Can you please submit to this committee a current assessment? Nielsen: Yeah, I’m happy to. Sen. Harris: On that point? Nielsen: So, we provide neonatal care. We do pregnancy screening from ages 15 to 56. We provide outside specialists should you seek it. We do not detain any women past their third trimester. Once they enter their third trimester, we provide them separate housing. So, yes, we’re happy to detail all of the things we do to take good care of them. Sen. Harris: And did you submit that to the OIG in response to their findings? Nielsen: We have been in—yes, of course—working in conjunction with the OIG. I’m not sure exactly what the date is of the OIG report that you’re referencing, but I will look into it after this. Sen. Harris: Okay. And then also, between fiscal year ’12 and March of 2018, it’s our understanding—before I go on—the OIG report is from December of this past year, 2017. So it’s very recent. Five months ago? Also between FY ’12 and March 2018, ICE received, according to these reports, 1,448 allegations of sexual abuse in detention facilities, and only a small percent of these claims have been investigated by DHS, OIG. Are you familiar with that? Nielsen: I’m not familiar with that number, no. News Report: Raw Video: Sessions Says 'Zero Tolerance' for Illegal Border Crossings, CBS Local San Francisco, May 7, 2018. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Today we are here to send a message to the world: we are not going to let this country be overwhelmed. People are not going to caravan or otherwise stampede our border. We need legality and integrity in the system. That’s why the Department of Homeland Security is now referring 100 percent of illegal Southwest Border crossings to the Department of Justice for prosecution. And the Department of Justice will take up those cases. I have put in place a “zero tolerance” policy for illegal entry on our Southwest border. If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It’s that simple. Attorney General Jeff Sessions - In order to carry out these important new enforcement policies, I have sent 35 prosecutors to the Southwest and moved 18 immigration judges to the border. These are supervisory judges that don’t have existing caseloads and will be able to function full time on moving these cases. That will be about a 50 percent increase in the number of immigration judges who will be handling the asylum claims." Hearing: Oversight of HHS and DHS Efforts to Protect Unaccompanied Alien Children from Human Trafficking and Abuse, U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, April 26, 2018. Witnesses:  James McCament - Deputy Under Secretary of the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans at the Dept. of Homeland Security Steven Wagner - Acting Assistant Secratary for Administration for Children and Facilities at the Dept. of Health and Human Services Kathryn Larin - Director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security Team at the U.S. Government Accountability Office   15:47 Senator Rob Portman (OH): In 2015, I learned the story of eight unaccompanied minors from Guatemala who crossed our southern border. A ring of human traffickers had lured them to the United States. They’d actually gone to Guatemala and told their parents that they would provide them education in America and to pay for the children’s smuggling debt. The parents actually gave the traffickers the deeds to their homes. And the traffickers retained those until the children could work off that debt, because they weren’t interested in giving them education, it turned out; they were interested in trafficking them. When the children crossed our border, their status, as defined by federal immigration law, was that of an unaccompanied alien child, or a UAC, so you hear the term UAC used today. The Department of Homeland Security picked them up, and following protocol, transferred them to Department of Health and Human Services. HHS was then supposed to place these children with sponsors who would keep them safe until they could go through the appropriate immigration legal proceedings. That’s practice. That didn’t happen. What did happen is that HHS released these children back into the custody of those human traffickers without vetting them. Let me repeat. HHS actually placed these children back in the hands the traffickers. The traffickers then took them to an egg farm in Marion, Ohio, where these children lived in squalid conditions and were forced to work 12 hours a day, six, seven days a week, for more than a year. The traffickers threatened the children and their families with physical harm and even death if the children didn’t perform these long hours. This subcommittee investigated. We found HHS didn’t do background checks on the sponsors. HHS didn’t respond to red flags that should have alerted them to problems with the sponsors. For example, HHS missed that a group of sponsors were collecting multiple UACs, not just one child but multiple children. HHS didn’t do anything when a social worker provided help for one of those children, or tried to at least, and the sponsor turned the social worker away. During the investigation, we held a hearing in January 2016—so this goes back a couple years—where HHS committed to do better, understanding that this was a major problem. 2016, of course that was during the Obama administration, so this has gone on through two administrations now. HHS committed to clarifying the Department of Homeland Security and HHS responsibilities for protecting these children. HHS and DHS entered into a three-page memorandum of agreement, which said that the agencies recognized they should ensure that these unaccompanied alien children weren’t abused or trafficked. The agreement said the agencies would enter into a detailed joint concept of operations—so an agreement that’d actually lay out their responsibilities—that would spell out what the agencies would do to fix the problems. HHS and DHS gave themselves a deadline of February 2017 to have this joint concept of operations pulled together. That seemed like plenty of time to do it, but it wasn’t done, and that was over a year ago, February 2017. It’s now April 2018. We don’t have that joint concept of operations—so-called JCO—and despite repeated questions from Senator Carper and from me as well as our staffs over the past year, we don’t have any answers about why we don’t have the joint concept of operations. In fact, at a recent meeting a DHS official asked our investigators why we even cared about a JCO, why. And let me be clear: we care about the JCO because we care that we have a plan in place to protect these kids when they are in government custody. We care because the Government Accountability Office has said that DHS has sent children to the wrong facility because of miscommunications with HHS, and because of other concerns. We care because the agencies themselves thought it was important enough to set a deadline for the JCO but then blew past that date. We care because these kids, regardless of immigration status, deserve to be properly treated, not abused or trafficked. We learned at 4 p.m. yesterday that 13 days ago there was an additional memorandum of agreement reached between the two agencies. We requested and finally received a copy of that new agreement at midnight last night. It’s not the JCO that we’ve been waiting for, but it is a more general statement of how information will be shared between the two agencies. Frankly, we had assumed this information was already being shared and maybe it was, and it’s positive that we have this additional memorandum—that’s great. It’s nice that this hearing motivated that to happen, but it’s not the JCO we’ve all been waiting for. 45:05 Kathryn Larin: In 2015, we reported that the interagency process to refer unaccompanied children from DHS to ORR shelters was inefficient and vulnerable to error. We recommended that DHS and HHS develop a joint collaborative process for the referral and placement of unaccompanied children. In response, the agencies recently developed a memorandum of agreement that provides a framework for coordinating responsibilities. However, it is still under review and has not yet been implemented. 1:27:34 Senator Heidi Heitkamp (ND): It’s HHS. This is not a new problem. We’ve been at this a long time. Where are these kids, why don’t we know where they are, and how come after months of investigation by this committee we don’t seem to be getting any better answers, Mr. Wagner? Steven Wagner: The answer to your question depends on what sort of timeframe you’re talking about. If you’re talking about the 30 days after release to a sponsor that we have determined to be qualified to provide for the care and safety and wellbeing of the kid, I think in the vast majority, I think we’re getting pretty close to 100% of those cases we know where they are. When you’re talking about as time goes on, things change. Yes, kids run away. No, we do not have a capacity for tracking down runaway UACs who leave their sponsors. Sen. Heitkamp: What do you think would happen in the IV-E program—the IV-E program is a federally sponsored funding for foster care that the states access to pay for foster-care kids. That’s IV-E. In order to get that money, you have to be a responsible state and know. What would happen, do you think, with IV-E dollars in a state that said, you know, we know where they are. We turned them over to a foster parent. We didn’t do any—I mean, as we know, not a lot of home visits, not a lot of followup. And if they ran away, we don’t know. What do you think you guys would do with the IV-E program in a state that had that kind of response? Wagner: Senator, you’re constructing an additional legal responsibility, which, in our view, does not currently exist with the UAC program. Our legal responsibility is to place these children in suitable households. In the IV-E program— Sen. Heitkamp: And then forget about. Wagner: —it would be a crisis. And there is—every state has a child-protective service agency to deal with those situations. We don’t have that apparatus. Sen. Heitkamp: And so if they—and you have no intention of creating that apparatus. You have no intention of having a database—I do need to understand where you think your lines of jurisdiction are. So you have no intention of ever trying to solve the problem of, here we gave the kid to the guy who said he was her uncle. We gave them to the uncle, and we found that was okay. And now we told the state maybe, or we didn’t tell the state, and good luck to that 15-year-old who went to her uncle. Wagner: I don’t agree with your characterization of the decision-making process. However, you know, this is an expensive program. Our duty is to execute the will of Congress and the president, which we will do faithfully. Sen. Heitkamp: Well, I think our duty is— Wagner: If you tell us you want us to track down— Sen. Heitkamp: I think our duty is a little more humanitarian than that, but can you tell me that in every case you notify the state agency that you have placed a minor in the custody of a suitable sponsor? Wagner: No, Senator. Sen. Heitkamp: Yeah. Wagner: It’s not our procedure to place state— Sen. Heitkamp: But you’re telling me that the backdrop—you’re telling me that the backdrop, the protection for that kid now falls on the state, even though you don’t even give the state the courtesy of telling them where they are. 1:51:28 Senator Rob Portman (OH): Let me back up for a second if I could and talk about what I said at the outset which is this hearing is an opportunity for us to try to get more accountability in the system and to tighten up the loose ends, and we’ve heard so many today, the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. And, of course, the focus has been on this joint concept of operations. Because of that, we’ve been working on this with you all for 26 months, over two years. And, again, you promised in your own memorandum of agreement that you would have that completed over a year ago, and still, as of today, it’s not completed. I appreciate that Mr. Wagner said that—and true, at midnight last night we received this additional memorandum of agreement, and I do think information sharing is a good thing, but what we’re looking for is what I thought you were looking for, which is an understanding of how this is actually going to operate and who’s accountable. Because we don’t know who’s responsible and accountable and what the plans are, it’s impossible for us to do our oversight and for us in the end of the day to be sure that this system is working properly for the kids but also for immigration system. So I would ask you today, it’s been 14 months since you promised it, do you have it with you today? Yes or no. Mr. McCament? James McCament: I do not have it with me, ______(01:11). Sen. Portman: Mr. Wagner. Steven Wagner: No, sir. Sen. Portman: Okay. What’s your commitment to getting this done now? So we’re 26 months into it. We’ve over a year past your previous commitment. What’s your commitment you’re going to make to us today as to when this joint concept of operations agreement will be completed? Mr. McCament. McCament: Mr. Chairman, when—being apprised and learning about the significant amount of time, we will be ready as partnership with HHS. As soon as we look at, receive the draft back, we’ll work as expeditiously as possible. I know that that is not to the extent of a time line, but I will tell you that we are ready, and we want to partner actively. You are correct that the MOA is part of that commitment—it is not all. The JCO memorializes our procedures that we already do, but it does not have them collated in one place. Work as expeditiously as possible _____(02:07). Sen. Portman: You make it sound so simple, and you’re also pointing the finger at your colleague here, which has been our problem. McCament: _____(02:15) Sen. Portman: Mr. Wagner, give me a timeframe. Wagner: Sir, we have to incorporate the new MOA in the draft JCO. Honestly, we are months away, but I promise to work diligently to bring it to a conclusion. 1:57:15 Senator Rob Portman (OH): Okay, we learned this morning that about half, maybe up to 58%, of these kids who are being placed with sponsors don’t show up at the immigration hearings. I mean, they just aren’t showing up. So when a sponsor signs the sponsorship agreement, my understanding is they commit to getting these children to their court proceedings. Is that accurate, Mr. Wagner? Steven Wagner: That is accurate. And in addition, they go through the orientation on responsibilities of custodians. Sen. Portman: So, when a child does not show up, HHS has an agreement with the sponsor that has been violated, and HHS, my understanding, is not even notified if the child fails to show up to the proceedings. Is that accurate? Wagner: That is accurate, Senator. Sen. Portman: So you have an agreement with the sponsor. They have to provide this agreement with you, HHS. The child doesn’t show up, and you’re not even notified. So I would ask you, how could you possibly enforce the commitment that you have, the agreement that you have, with the sponsor if you don’t have that information? Wagner: I think you’re right. We have no mechanism for enforcing the agreement if they fail to show up for the hearing. Hearing: Immigration Court System, Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security, C-SPAN, April 18, 2018. Hearing: Strengthening and Reforming America's Immigration Court System, Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration, April 18, 2018. Witnesses: James McHenry - Director of the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review   2:42 Senator John Cornyn (TX): Earlier administrations, both Republican and Democrat, have struggled with how to reduce the case backlogs in the immigration courts. And, unfortunately, Congress has never provided the full extent of immigration judges and support staff truly needed to eliminate the backlogs. As a result, backlogs continue to grow, from 129,000 cases in fiscal 1998 to a staggering 684,000 as of February 2018. 3:27 Senator John Cornyn (TX): Aliens in removal proceedings sometimes wait for years before they ever appear before an immigration judge. For example, as of February 2018 courts in Colorado have the longest time for cases sitting on their docket more than 1,000 days—almost three years. In my home state of Texas, the current wait is 884 days—almost two and a half years. 7:06 Senator Dick Durbin (IL): The Fifth Amendment to the Bill of Rights contains the Constitution’s due-process clause. Let me quote it. “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” This language about due process actually dates its lineage to the Magna Carta. Please note: the due-process clause extends these critical protections to a “person,” not to a citizen. And the Supreme Court has consistently held that its protection—due-process protection—extends to all persons in the United States. The Court said expressly in Plyler v. Doe, “Aliens, even aliens whose presence in this country is unlawful, have long been recognized as ‘persons’ guaranteed due process of law by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.” 9:23 Senator Dick Durbin (IL): Today, 334 immigration judges face 680,000 pending cases. This backlog has grown by 145,000 cases just since President Trump was sworn into office. 28:45 James McHenry: A typical immigration court proceeding has two stages, or two parts. The first is the determination of removability. The Department of Homeland Security brings charges and allegations that an alien has violated the immigration laws. The judge—the immigration judge—first has to determine whether that charge is sustained, and that will be based on the factual allegations that are brought, so the judge will make determinations on that. If there is a finding that the alien is removable, then the case proceeds to a second phase. If the judge finds the alien is not removable, then the case is terminated. At the second phase, the immigration judge gives the alien an opportunity to apply for any protection or relief from removal that he or she may be eligible for under the Immigration and Nationality Act. This will involve the setting of a separate hearing at which the respondent may present evidence, they may present witnesses, they have the right to cross-examine witnesses brought by the department, and they will bring up whatever factual bases there is for their claim of relief or protection. At the end of that hearing, the immigration judge will assess the evidence, will asses the testimony, will look at the law, and will render a decision. The judge may either grant the application, in which case the respondent will get to remain in the United States. The judge may deny the application but give the respondent an opportunity to voluntarily depart at their own expense and sometimes after paying a bond, or the immigration judge may order the alien removed. 41:50 Senator Mike Lee (UT): I believe you recently testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee that it would take about 700 immigration judges in order to be able to address the backlog and address the current case load. Is that correct? James McHenry: Yeah, last fall the president proposed adding additional immigration judges, up to a number of 700. If we can get 700 on board, especially with our performance measures, we could complete over 450,000 cases a year. That would eviscerate the backlog. Sen. Lee: So, 700 would do it. McHenry: Based on the current numbers, it would certainly go a very long way toward eliminating it, yes. Sen. Lee: How many do you have right now? McHenry: We have 334 on board. Currently, we’re authorized, based on the recent omnibus spending bill, for up to 484. Even getting to that number would allow us to begin completing more cases than new receipts that we have in. Sen. Lee: How long does that normally take? My understanding is that between 2011 and 2016 it was taking about two years to hire a typical immigration judge. Is that still the case? McHenry: No. We have reduced that average. The attorney general issued a new hiring process memo to streamline the process last April. In using that process, we’ve put out five advertisements since the end of June for up to 84 positions in total. The first of those advertisements closed at the end of June last year. We expect to bring on the first judges from that advertisement in May, which will be right at approximately 10 months, and we anticipate bringing on the rest of them in July, which will be right at one year. And we think we can get to a stage where we are bringing on judges in eight months, 10 months, 12 months—a year at the most. Community Suggestions See more Community Suggestions HERE. Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)  

Maria Sacchetti, immigration reporter for the Washington Post, joins Rick Ungar and Rick Tyler to discuss the recent case of a deported DREAMer and Miami's suspension of its Sanctuary City status. The two Ricks also talk about Rep. Jason Chaffetz's (R-UT 3) announcement that he won't seek re-election, which leads to a debate about the current state of the Democratic Party under Chairman Tom Perez.

Miguel Alcudia was picked up earlier this year by immigration authorities for residing in the state on an expired visa. Despite federal guidelines prioritizing criminals, there are still cases where authorities detain individuals with no record. Photo by Ryan Caron King for NENC Federal policy changes were supposed to end random deportations of people who aren't criminals, but in parts of New England, it's still happening. We continue our series “Facing Change” and talk to Vermont farm workers. We also hear how Boston police are enforcing that city's pro-immigrant “Trust” act. We also explore the history of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s formative time in the tobacco fields of Connecticut, and the story of how New England's biggest mountain — home to some of the worst weather in the world — became a tourist haven. Facing Change Vermont Public Radio reporter Kathleen Masterson has been listening to the stories of immigrant farm workers for the New England News Collaborative series, “Facing Change.” Many of these dairy workers are in the country without documentation, and they've been increasingly worried about what would happen to them if President-elect Donald Trump makes good on his pledge to increase the number of deportations. One man from Mexico, who works on a dairy farm in Bristol, Vermont, told Masterson through a translator that he’s been living in a climate of fear. He worries about even driving to the store for fear of being pulled over. These farm workers are just a few of about 400,000 immigrants without legal status living and working in New England. In a mostly white state like Vermont, many of them fear they'd be easily targeted because they stand out. In Boston, that's not the case. In fact, the city passed the Trust Act in 2014 to reassure immigrants that police wouldn't turn them over to immigration officials. But, as Boston Globe reporter Maria Sacchetti reports, there's a loophole in that law that allowed police to turn over nine men to federal authorities. Vermont Utility Hack: False Alarm Burlington Electric in Vermont. Photo by Emily Alfin Johnson for VPR We hear about a story of Russian hacking, aimed at a small target — Burlington Electric — a small, city-owned utility in Vermont. The Washington Post story over New Year's weekend was scary: Russian hackers penetrated the U.S. electricity grid through a utility in Vermont. But that story turned out to be… well, not true. And it caused a mess for the utility. Also, on January 16, we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. He’s a figure we don’t usually associate with New England. But two summers King spent in Connecticut as a young man likely stoked his passion for achieving equality for African Americans. King was 15 when he first traveled to Simsbury, Connecticut — now a suburb, then a small farming town outside of Hartford — to spend the summer working on a tobacco farm. On the podcast, we speak with Simsbury historian Elaine Lange. Below: a short documentary about King’s summers in Connecticut produced by students at Simsbury High School. The Second-Greatest Show on Earth There's a new, controversial plan to build a hotel in an unlikely place — near the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The 35-room hotel is still in the planning stages. New Hampshire Public Radio reports that the developer has met with the local planning board, but that more than 6,000 people have signed a petition against it. Stereoscopic view of tourists at the Tip Top House on Mount Washington. Photo by Franklin White, accessed via Wikimedia Commons. Famously home of “the world's worst weather,” Mount Washington is the tallest mountain in the Northeastern United States, and it already hosts a huge amount of tourist infrastructure. In fact, PT Barnum once stood on the summit and called the mountaintop “the second greatest show on earth.” From the podcast Outside/In, Host Sam Evans Brown and Producer Taylor Quimby bring us the tale of how the mountain was conquered, and how that process became the template for mountain tourism worldwide. About NEXT NEXT is produced at WNPR. Host: John Dankosky Producer: Andrea Muraskin Executive Producer: Catie Talarski Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon Contributors to this episode: Kathleen Masterson, Maria Sacchetti, Taylor Dobbs, Sam Evans-Brown and the producers of Outside/In. Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon Get all the NEXT episodes. We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and old-timey photos to next@wnpr.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maria Sacchetti, who covers immigration for The Boston Globe, shared her experience reporting on the international refugee crisis in Europe, and discussed the importance of local coverage of international stories. Sacchetti traveled to the Greek island of Lesbos to report on the refugees as they arrived onshore. She gives an account of her travels north to Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, and Germany, following the path of refugees and telling their stories in a recent Boston Globe series. This Shorenstein Center Speaker Series event was recorded on November 3, 2015, at Harvard Kennedy School.  

What happens to immigrants convicted of sex crimes? The answer, Maria Sacchetti found out, is often unsettling. Her investigation for the Boston Globe revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was quietly releasing violent offenders back into the U.S. when their home countries wouldn’t take them. On this episode, Sacchetti talks about the reporting process – including a lawsuit that forced ICE to give up the names of released criminals. EPISODE NOTES: http://bit.ly/1QAIXxA