The Lev Tahor sect (really, closer to a cult) of Haredi Orthodox Judaism -- notorious for facing kidnapping and child abuse allegations -- has apparently requested asylum in Iran.
You may remember the Lev Tahor from their time in Guatemala, when Students for Justice in Palestine -- noting that Lev Tahor was (a) Jewish and (b) bad -- concluded that they therefore must be "Zionists". Lev Tahor is in fact extremely aggressively anti-Zionist, which may explain why they think Iran might be a hospitable site for an asylum claim. (As best I can tell, SJP's response to the fact that Lev Tahor is anti-Zionist, not Zionist, was to define the problem out of existence: anti-Zionism is good, Lev Tahor is not good, therefore, Lev Tahor cannot be anti-Zionist).
Showing posts with label asylum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asylum. Show all posts
Monday, September 23, 2019
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Loving the Children To Death
Right now, the Republican Party is trying to square a very nettlesome circle. On the one hand, they want to communicate that they care about the immigrant children the Trump administration is ripping away from their families. On the other hand, they want to do as little as possible to actually challenge Trump's policies or effectuate any meaningful change -- especially if it might mean (heaven forbid) some of these kids actually get to stay in the United States and build a safe and productive life here.
Anyway, first thing to say about the trafficking talking point is that it's basically bogus: DHS statistics indicate that 0.61% of family apprehensions at the border are even alleged to be cases where smugglers have falsely presented a trafficking victim as a family member.
But let's take the tiny minority of trafficking cases at face value. Those kids whom Collins and Cotton and Sasse are so concerned about? They're the ones the Trump administration is putting in cages. One might forget that the immigrant children are supposedly the victims in the GOP story, given how every Republican solution centers around keeping them incarcerated until they can be sent back to their countries of origin (where, remember, they were by stipulation abducted and smuggled across international borders -- so not a great place for them). Much like Syrian children, immigrant children (whether victims of traffickers or not) are good enough for Republicans to imprison, but not good enough to rescue.
It's no accident that the more honest voices of the Trump movement -- the Ann Coulters of the world -- are perfectly explicit in stating that the children are just as much of the enemy as their supposed "traffickers". Nothing the Republican Party has done over the past several years has been remotely consistent with the idea that they actual view immigrant children as valuable human beings whom we have an obligation to treat with respect. The priority is ensuring -- at any cost -- that they do not have the opportunity to build a dignified life for themselves in America. If that means ripping them from their parent's arms, so be it. If they means permanently destroying families, so be it. If that means sending them back to countries where they'll be executed by paramilitary gangs, so be it.
Republicans care a lot about immigrant children. It's a shame that all that care and concern goes mostly into destroying their lives.
The latest bit of rhetoric emerging out of this impossible dynamic is the claim that it is for the children's own good that they are being ripped from their families and locked into cages. Moderate Republican(tm) Susan Collins kicked this off, wailing about how "dangerous" it is for parents try and cross the American border as cover for refusing to join Democratic efforts to end family separation.
More recently, that gambit has been extended to allege that the children in question are actually trafficking victims and that therefore efforts to prevent family separation are the real acts of child abuse. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, for example, tweeted the following today:
More recently, that gambit has been extended to allege that the children in question are actually trafficking victims and that therefore efforts to prevent family separation are the real acts of child abuse. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, for example, tweeted the following today:
Meanwhile, his Nebraska colleague Ben Sasse took a more circuitous route -- sprinkled with many rhetorical condemnations of the family separation policy -- to arrive mostly at the same place:Dems' Keep Families Together Act is better called the Child Trafficking Encouragement Act. Show up at border with a minor & call him your child, then you get released into the US! Children will be abducted & sold to drug cartels & slave-traders as a free ticket into US.— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) June 19, 2018
This bad new policy is a reaction against a bad old policy. The old policy was “catch-and-release.” Under catch-and-release, if someone made it to the border and claimed asylum (whether true or not, and most of the time it wasn’t true), they were released into the U.S. until a future hearing date....
Catch-and-release – combined with inefficient deportation and other ineffective policies – created a magnet whereby lots of people came to the border who were not actually asylum-seekers. This magnet not only attracted illegal immigrants generally, but also produced an uptick in human trafficking across our border....
Human trafficking organizations are not just evil; they’re also often smart. Many quickly learned the “magic words” they needed to say under catch-and-release to guarantee admission into the U.S. Because of this, some of the folks showing up at the border claiming to be families are not actually families. Some are a trafficker with one or more trafficked children. Sometimes border agents can identify this, but many times they aren’t sure.
Any policy that incentivizes illegal immigration is terrible governance. But even more troubling is that catch-and-release rewarded traffickers, who knew they could easily get their victims to market in the U.S.Incidentally, "Ben Sasse takes a more circuitous route to arrive at the same place as Tom Cotton" basically describes the Republican Party dynamic on every noteworthy case of Trump administration extremism.
Anyway, first thing to say about the trafficking talking point is that it's basically bogus: DHS statistics indicate that 0.61% of family apprehensions at the border are even alleged to be cases where smugglers have falsely presented a trafficking victim as a family member.
But let's take the tiny minority of trafficking cases at face value. Those kids whom Collins and Cotton and Sasse are so concerned about? They're the ones the Trump administration is putting in cages. One might forget that the immigrant children are supposedly the victims in the GOP story, given how every Republican solution centers around keeping them incarcerated until they can be sent back to their countries of origin (where, remember, they were by stipulation abducted and smuggled across international borders -- so not a great place for them). Much like Syrian children, immigrant children (whether victims of traffickers or not) are good enough for Republicans to imprison, but not good enough to rescue.
It's no accident that the more honest voices of the Trump movement -- the Ann Coulters of the world -- are perfectly explicit in stating that the children are just as much of the enemy as their supposed "traffickers". Nothing the Republican Party has done over the past several years has been remotely consistent with the idea that they actual view immigrant children as valuable human beings whom we have an obligation to treat with respect. The priority is ensuring -- at any cost -- that they do not have the opportunity to build a dignified life for themselves in America. If that means ripping them from their parent's arms, so be it. If they means permanently destroying families, so be it. If that means sending them back to countries where they'll be executed by paramilitary gangs, so be it.
Republicans care a lot about immigrant children. It's a shame that all that care and concern goes mostly into destroying their lives.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Premature SCOTUS Roundup
I thought I was taking a SCOTUS tour tomorrow, but it's next week. Sorry for forcing folks to rearrange their schedules because I can't successfully read outlook.
* * *
The top rate of the original income tax, established in 1913, was 7 percent. Four years later, it was 67%. Cynics might suggest that, given the timing, and the fact that the bill which hiked it was called the "War Revenue Act", this increase probably was attributable to the US entering into, you know, a war. Silly liberals.
Neat-o story about an Israeli law school with a program focused on providing legal education to religious leaders (Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and otherwise). Israel (regrettably, in my view) maintains a system of religious courts (each religion controls its own members' affairs), but many of the religious leaders who serve on these courts have no legal background.
The big polling news is not a poll at all, but reports that Daily Kos will be suing its former pollster, Research 2000, for fraud.
Without commenting on the underlying case itself -- you can be charged with being an "unruly child" in Ohio? Really?
The Vatican is angry at one of its Cardinals who helped expose sex abuse inside the Church. Perhaps it come steer some of that ire towards the abusers (and their enablers) instead?
"The Green Prince" -- the son of a top Hamas leader who became a spy for Israel -- has been granted asylum in the US.
* * *
The top rate of the original income tax, established in 1913, was 7 percent. Four years later, it was 67%. Cynics might suggest that, given the timing, and the fact that the bill which hiked it was called the "War Revenue Act", this increase probably was attributable to the US entering into, you know, a war. Silly liberals.
Neat-o story about an Israeli law school with a program focused on providing legal education to religious leaders (Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and otherwise). Israel (regrettably, in my view) maintains a system of religious courts (each religion controls its own members' affairs), but many of the religious leaders who serve on these courts have no legal background.
The big polling news is not a poll at all, but reports that Daily Kos will be suing its former pollster, Research 2000, for fraud.
Without commenting on the underlying case itself -- you can be charged with being an "unruly child" in Ohio? Really?
The Vatican is angry at one of its Cardinals who helped expose sex abuse inside the Church. Perhaps it come steer some of that ire towards the abusers (and their enablers) instead?
"The Green Prince" -- the son of a top Hamas leader who became a spy for Israel -- has been granted asylum in the US.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Civil Rights Roundup: 08/26/08
Your daily dose of civil rights and related news
Ms. Magazine gives its quick take on the appointment of Hans von Spakovsky to a staff position on the US civil rights commission.
Inside Higher Ed has the scoop on the higher education elements of the Democratic Platform, including (among other things) a restatement of their support for affirmative action.
.... And here's McCain's plan, courtesy of the Chronicle on Higher Education, which notes McCain's apparent reversal on that issue from the days in which he called attempted bans "divisive."
A restaurant was forced to pay damages to a woman they fired because she was pregnant.
While the US Senate dawdles, California may take fixing Ledbetter into its own hands.
Oddly, Colorado Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to support a measure banning affirmative action, leading observers to wonder if both sides are misunderstanding what the initiative would do.
Two DNC protesters were arrested for not giving their names to the police upon request. The case (and any civil rights complaint) will hinge on whether the cops had "reasonable suspicion" that the pair was committing or was about to commit a crime.
A column in the Detroit Free Press urges Michigan to expand coverage in its bias crimes law.
Two NYPD cops are being charged with civil rights violation after assaulting a motorist in an apparent road rage incident while off duty.
Shocking news: Immigration judges subjected to political vetting by the Bush administration are disproportionately likely to reject asylum claims.
Jesse Jackson in the Chicago Sun-Times: "Obama can inspire but we must lead."
Jacob Weisberg says that only racism can explain an Obama loss. A Wall St. Journal column ridicules that notion. I'm not going to buy into Weisberg's thesis wholesale, but I think legitimate questions will be raised if either Obama runs way behind the generic Democratic wave in a year with such good fundamentals for his party, or if we see a major showing of the Wilder effect.
Experts say that the Canadian police must diversify if they want to remain effective in their ever-more multicultural society.
Connecticut courts have recognized that transgender discrimination is in violation of law prohibiting sex stereotyping.
Ms. Magazine gives its quick take on the appointment of Hans von Spakovsky to a staff position on the US civil rights commission.
Inside Higher Ed has the scoop on the higher education elements of the Democratic Platform, including (among other things) a restatement of their support for affirmative action.
.... And here's McCain's plan, courtesy of the Chronicle on Higher Education, which notes McCain's apparent reversal on that issue from the days in which he called attempted bans "divisive."
A restaurant was forced to pay damages to a woman they fired because she was pregnant.
While the US Senate dawdles, California may take fixing Ledbetter into its own hands.
Oddly, Colorado Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to support a measure banning affirmative action, leading observers to wonder if both sides are misunderstanding what the initiative would do.
Two DNC protesters were arrested for not giving their names to the police upon request. The case (and any civil rights complaint) will hinge on whether the cops had "reasonable suspicion" that the pair was committing or was about to commit a crime.
A column in the Detroit Free Press urges Michigan to expand coverage in its bias crimes law.
Two NYPD cops are being charged with civil rights violation after assaulting a motorist in an apparent road rage incident while off duty.
Shocking news: Immigration judges subjected to political vetting by the Bush administration are disproportionately likely to reject asylum claims.
Jesse Jackson in the Chicago Sun-Times: "Obama can inspire but we must lead."
Jacob Weisberg says that only racism can explain an Obama loss. A Wall St. Journal column ridicules that notion. I'm not going to buy into Weisberg's thesis wholesale, but I think legitimate questions will be raised if either Obama runs way behind the generic Democratic wave in a year with such good fundamentals for his party, or if we see a major showing of the Wilder effect.
Experts say that the Canadian police must diversify if they want to remain effective in their ever-more multicultural society.
Connecticut courts have recognized that transgender discrimination is in violation of law prohibiting sex stereotyping.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Civil Rights Roundup: 08/18/08
Your daily dose of civil rights and related news
I'm not sure I agree with this reading of Frederick Douglass' career, but the comparison to Obama is interesting nonetheless.
Virginia's new project to use DNA evidence to help exonerate falsely convicted prisoners continues.
The business community is throwing everything it has against the Ledbetter Fair Pay act.
The Kosher plant that was targeted in the Postville raid is having trouble getting itself back up and running.
How can we make it easier for our men and women in uniform to vote while overseas?
ACORN is looking to register Houston's poorest residents as voters.
An CAR native who came to the US legally for military training may be deported back to Africa, where he will likely face execution for being a deserter.
As we get ready to go back to school (or at least some of us do), the AP has a set of interesting educational stats to look at.
An author is suing PETA for their campaign which attempts to analogize animal suffering to slavery. PETA is a tremendously obnoxious organization, but I can't believe this suit has any merit.
The other LCCR (Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) is setting up a South Carolina hot line to which voters can report in election day problems, such as glitchy machines or intimidation.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who voted against Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court on the grounds that he was insufficiently committed to safeguarding equal opportunity, now thinks that vote was a mistake.
A growing number of students Florida and nationwide are receiving food stamps.
I'm not sure I agree with this reading of Frederick Douglass' career, but the comparison to Obama is interesting nonetheless.
Virginia's new project to use DNA evidence to help exonerate falsely convicted prisoners continues.
The business community is throwing everything it has against the Ledbetter Fair Pay act.
The Kosher plant that was targeted in the Postville raid is having trouble getting itself back up and running.
How can we make it easier for our men and women in uniform to vote while overseas?
ACORN is looking to register Houston's poorest residents as voters.
An CAR native who came to the US legally for military training may be deported back to Africa, where he will likely face execution for being a deserter.
As we get ready to go back to school (or at least some of us do), the AP has a set of interesting educational stats to look at.
An author is suing PETA for their campaign which attempts to analogize animal suffering to slavery. PETA is a tremendously obnoxious organization, but I can't believe this suit has any merit.
The other LCCR (Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) is setting up a South Carolina hot line to which voters can report in election day problems, such as glitchy machines or intimidation.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who voted against Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court on the grounds that he was insufficiently committed to safeguarding equal opportunity, now thinks that vote was a mistake.
A growing number of students Florida and nationwide are receiving food stamps.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Civil Rights Roundup: 08/13/08
Your daily dose of civil rights and related news
Gay and lesbian Latina/os are finding it more difficult to claim asylum due to improving tolerance in their home nations.
A Virginia court has given the state's first "writ of innocence" after new evidence cleared a man incarcerated on a gun charge. Virginia has until recently been perhaps the most aggressive state at seeking to suppress the admission of exculpatory evidence after conviction.
The NAACP is frustrated with the pace over an investigation about an inmate's death in a PG County jail.
Peter Beinart thinks that Obama can and should neutralize the race issue by calling for a replacement of race-based affirmative action with class-based systems.
The WaPo wants to enhance privacy protections for laptops crossing the border.
The Houston Chronicle reports on immigrants who prepare for immigration raids like the rest of us might prepare for a natural disaster. Ironically enough, ICE supports these preparations.
The Orthodox Jewish community has rightfully come under fire for its tepid response to the massive abuses of worker's rights reported at the Postville Kosher meatpacking plant.
One of the Jena Six defendants will not be returning there for school, instead attending a Connecticut boarding school.
Yet another study dispells the link between abortion and mental illness. I wonder how many copies Justice Kennedy has received in the mail?
The US government is working to reduce the time it takes for citizenship applications to be processed.
Riots are brewing in Malyasia over a proposal to curb advantages for the majority (but poorer) Malay ethnic group.
Real Clear Politics interviews a large swath of America's experts on race and asks them how they think the Obama campaign will affect their field of study. It's a really great article.
I've got a better deal for Ramesh Ponnuru: Americans stop being racist, and the Republican Party might legitimately be able to appeal to more than just White folks.
Prop. 209 may have banned efforts by California universities to reach out to minority students. But it can't stop student volunteers from taking matters into their own hands.
Gay tourism is on the rise in Israel, which does not thrill some of its more conservative, religious elements.
Denver voters have passed a law which would target suspected illegal immigrant drivers.
The Seattle Times asks: Are White Voters Telling the Truth when they say they'll vote for a Black candidate?
Gay and lesbian Latina/os are finding it more difficult to claim asylum due to improving tolerance in their home nations.
A Virginia court has given the state's first "writ of innocence" after new evidence cleared a man incarcerated on a gun charge. Virginia has until recently been perhaps the most aggressive state at seeking to suppress the admission of exculpatory evidence after conviction.
The NAACP is frustrated with the pace over an investigation about an inmate's death in a PG County jail.
Peter Beinart thinks that Obama can and should neutralize the race issue by calling for a replacement of race-based affirmative action with class-based systems.
The WaPo wants to enhance privacy protections for laptops crossing the border.
The Houston Chronicle reports on immigrants who prepare for immigration raids like the rest of us might prepare for a natural disaster. Ironically enough, ICE supports these preparations.
The Orthodox Jewish community has rightfully come under fire for its tepid response to the massive abuses of worker's rights reported at the Postville Kosher meatpacking plant.
One of the Jena Six defendants will not be returning there for school, instead attending a Connecticut boarding school.
Yet another study dispells the link between abortion and mental illness. I wonder how many copies Justice Kennedy has received in the mail?
The US government is working to reduce the time it takes for citizenship applications to be processed.
Riots are brewing in Malyasia over a proposal to curb advantages for the majority (but poorer) Malay ethnic group.
Real Clear Politics interviews a large swath of America's experts on race and asks them how they think the Obama campaign will affect their field of study. It's a really great article.
I've got a better deal for Ramesh Ponnuru: Americans stop being racist, and the Republican Party might legitimately be able to appeal to more than just White folks.
Prop. 209 may have banned efforts by California universities to reach out to minority students. But it can't stop student volunteers from taking matters into their own hands.
Gay tourism is on the rise in Israel, which does not thrill some of its more conservative, religious elements.
Denver voters have passed a law which would target suspected illegal immigrant drivers.
The Seattle Times asks: Are White Voters Telling the Truth when they say they'll vote for a Black candidate?
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Civil Rights Roundup: 07/23/08
Your daily dose of civil rights and related news
The HIV/AIDS infection rate for American Latinos is skyrocketing. In some urban cities, the proportion of gay Latinos who are HIV positive rivals that of sub-Saharan Africa.
Being handicapped in one's ability to have sexual relations constitutes a major life impairment under the ADA. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruling is here.
New York City will officially begin offering services in six foreign languages: Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Italian and French Creole.
I couldn't resist linking to this Houston Chronicle letter to the editor, where a Texan says of Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), "How dare he even set foot here." Conyers was in town for a panel on abuse by local law enforcement officials.
The Chronicle also has an editorial up urging the state not to execute Jose Ernesto Medellin until the review ordered by the World Court can be completed. Legally, it's Texas' call whether to comply, but failing to do so could seriously undermine the protections of the Vienna Convention.
Did Chicago police engage in acts of torture to secure confessions during the 20 year period between 1972-1992?
Obama helps introduce bill to allow voter registration drives on VA campuses.
A group of progressive media watchdogs is handing over a petition to Fox News demanding they stop their racist attacks on Michelle Obama. Particularly egregious cases include calling her "Obama's baby mama" and Bill O'Reilly saying that a "lynching party" was the way to deal with her.
Four Yonkers residents are suing the local police for civil rights violations stemming out of a warrantless search.
A Honduras man is urging immigration authorities create a new justification for asylum: sexual abuse. His three children were sexually abused by a relative. My knowledge of immigration law is slight, but based on what I do know I'm very skeptical his claim will succeed.
Latino groups are launching a huge new voter registration effort.
Latino transit workers in Boston are pissed about anti-Latino comments made by, of all people, the transit authority's anti-discrimination chief.
The city of Minneapolis has approved a settlement regarding its city police force that would require it to more closely oversee diversity and race issues. The lawsuit had been filed by five Black police officers alleging a long history of discrimination.
The HIV/AIDS infection rate for American Latinos is skyrocketing. In some urban cities, the proportion of gay Latinos who are HIV positive rivals that of sub-Saharan Africa.
Being handicapped in one's ability to have sexual relations constitutes a major life impairment under the ADA. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruling is here.
New York City will officially begin offering services in six foreign languages: Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Italian and French Creole.
I couldn't resist linking to this Houston Chronicle letter to the editor, where a Texan says of Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), "How dare he even set foot here." Conyers was in town for a panel on abuse by local law enforcement officials.
The Chronicle also has an editorial up urging the state not to execute Jose Ernesto Medellin until the review ordered by the World Court can be completed. Legally, it's Texas' call whether to comply, but failing to do so could seriously undermine the protections of the Vienna Convention.
Did Chicago police engage in acts of torture to secure confessions during the 20 year period between 1972-1992?
Obama helps introduce bill to allow voter registration drives on VA campuses.
A group of progressive media watchdogs is handing over a petition to Fox News demanding they stop their racist attacks on Michelle Obama. Particularly egregious cases include calling her "Obama's baby mama" and Bill O'Reilly saying that a "lynching party" was the way to deal with her.
Four Yonkers residents are suing the local police for civil rights violations stemming out of a warrantless search.
A Honduras man is urging immigration authorities create a new justification for asylum: sexual abuse. His three children were sexually abused by a relative. My knowledge of immigration law is slight, but based on what I do know I'm very skeptical his claim will succeed.
Latino groups are launching a huge new voter registration effort.
Latino transit workers in Boston are pissed about anti-Latino comments made by, of all people, the transit authority's anti-discrimination chief.
The city of Minneapolis has approved a settlement regarding its city police force that would require it to more closely oversee diversity and race issues. The lawsuit had been filed by five Black police officers alleging a long history of discrimination.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
