Judge won’t block U.S. asylum restrictions at southern border
A federal judge said Wednesday that the Trump administration can enforce its new restrictions on asylum for people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border while lawsuits challenging the policy play out. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly denied a request for a temporary restraining order, saying the immigrant advocate groups behind the suit did not show that their work would be irreparably harmed if the policy moved forward. Kelly is an appointee of President Donald Trump. The groups sued on behalf of themselves as nonprofit groups that offer services to immigrants who would be unable to seek asylum under the new restrictions. A ruling on a similar request from a second lawsuit was expected later Wednesday in San Francisco. U.S. District Jon Tigar, overseeing that case, has already barred less restrictive policies on asylum from taking effect and could act to block the new asylum policy. Tigar was appointed by President Barack Obama. It was an unusual victory for the administration, even if a temporary one. Federal courts have repeatedly stopped the administration from enforcing many of its proposals cracking down on people crossing the border. The White House said the ruling was a victory “for Americans concerned about the crisis at our southern border.” In a statement, it said the court in the nation’s capital “properly rejected the attempt of a few special interest groups to block a rule that discourages abuse of our asylum system.” The latest proposal prevents most migrants at the southern border from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they passed through another country first. It targets the tens of thousands of Central American adults and children who cross Mexico every month to try to enter the U.S. It also would affect asylum-seekers from Africa, Asia, and South America. Legal groups argued the administration’s proposal was barred by federal law establishing how people can seek asylum. “We are disappointed in the court’s decision today,” said Claudia Cubas, litigation direction for the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. U.S. law allows refugees to request asylum when they arrive, regardless of how they did so. There is an exception for those who have come through a country considered to be “safe.” At the northern border, the U.S. and Canada have a “safe third country” agreement that limits people who arrive in one country from seeking asylum in the other. The U.S. has sought to reach the same agreement with Mexico and Guatemala, but Guatemala’s high court blocked a possibly agreement. Mexico has said no agreement has been decided. Top U.S. officials say their latest plan would discourage migrants from leaving their countries, which is necessary to reduce the numbers of people that U.S. border agents are detaining. Reports of squalid conditions at some U.S. border detention facilities have sparked mass outrage, and advocates accuse the administration of unnecessarily detaining people seeking asylum and mistreating people in custody. The plan has exceptions. If someone has been trafficked, if the country the migrant passed through did not sign one of the major international treaties that govern how refugees are managed (though most Western countries have signed them) or if an asylum-seeker sought protection in a country but was denied, then a migrant could still apply for U.S. asylum. The policy went into effect Tuesday, one day after it was announced, though some officials said it was only being put in place in one location. Hundreds of immigrants still showed up at U.S. border crossings trying to request asylum but with their prospects uncertain. By Ashraf Khalil Associated Press. Associated Press writers Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, Colleen Long in Washington and Nomaan Merchant in Houston contributed to this report. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump calls Robert Mueller hearings ‘all nonsense’
The Latest on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony on the Russia probe (all times local): 4:40 p.m. President Donald Trump says the Russia probe created a “phony cloud” over his administration and says House committee hearings featuring testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller were “all nonsense.” He says Mueller’s performance was “obviously not very good” and is accusing him of not knowing about certain details of his investigation. Trump is calling it a “devastating day” for the Democrats. After the congressional hearings ended, Trump spoke to reporters at the White House before leaving for Wheeling, West Virginia, where he’s attending a private fundraiser for his re-election campaign. The Trump campaign sent out a personal plea to donors Wednesday to tell Democrats to end the “WITCH HUNT” by raising $2 million in 24 hours. 3:30 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller has finished testifying before Congress.Mueller testified before two committees on Wednesday for more than six hours on his 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mueller said the interference was not a hoax, and it was not an isolated episode. He warned that there should be a more robust effort to guard against future interference. House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff said the Democratic investigations will continue. Mueller answered most questions in short sentences, referring Congress members to his report and choosing not to read his report aloud. Mueller had made clear in his report that he could not exonerate President Donald Trump on obstruction of justice in the probe. But investigators didn’t find sufficient evidence to establish charges of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. 2:50 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller says election interference by Russia in 2016 was not an isolated attempt. He told a congressional committee: “They’re doing it as we sit here.” Mueller is testifying Wednesday before the House intelligence committee on his 448-page report on Russian interference. Mueller had made clear in his report that he could not exonerate President Donald Trump on obstruction of justice in the probe. The report also said investigators didn’t find sufficient evidence to establish charges of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. 2:45 p.m. Robert Mueller is refusing to say whether his team subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. The former special counsel is testifying Wednesday afternoon before the House intelligence committee about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties with the Trump campaign. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, asked Mueller if he subpoenaed the president’s eldest son or if he wanted to interview him. Mueller responded: “I’m not going to discuss that.” Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation, which was released in April, said Trump Jr. had “declined to be voluntarily interviewed” by the special counsel’s office. There are two lines in the report, following that statement, that are redacted because they contain grand jury information. Trump Jr. was a key figure in a 2016 campaign meeting with a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower in New York that captured Mueller’s attention. 2:15 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller is condemning President Donald Trump’s praise for WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign. Testifying before the House intelligence committee, Mueller says calling it “problematic is an understatement.” During that campaign, WikiLeaks released troves of hacked emails from the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. U.S. intelligence agencies and Mueller’s investigation determined Russian government entities were responsible for the hack and furnished the embarrassing correspondence to WikiLeaks in order to support Trump’s bid for the presidency. 2:10 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller says he hoped to send a message with his Russia probe report “to those who come after us.” Mueller is testifying before the House intelligence committee Wednesday afternoon. He spent hours earlier Wednesday answering questions from the House Judiciary Committee.Mueller said he wanted the report to be “a signal, a flag … don’t let this problem continue to linger.” He also said that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was not a hoax. He said: “The indictments we returned against the Russians were substantial.” Trump had said the allegations were a hoax perpetrated by Democrats. 1:45 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller has clarified that he did not consider bringing criminal charges against President Donald Trump as part of his Russia investigation. Mueller in his congressional testimony Wednesday morning seemed to agree that he did not charge Trump with obstruction of justice because of Justice Department guidance saying a sitting president can’t be indicted. Democrats seized on that answer, but when testimony resumed in the afternoon, Mueller clarified. He said “that is not the correct way to say it.” Mueller said his team “did not reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime.” Mueller had made clear in his report that he could not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice. His 448-page report also said investigators didn’t find sufficient evidence to establish charges of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. 1:25 p.m. Former special counsel Robert Mueller says his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election was “not a witch hunt.” Mueller is testifying Wednesday afternoon before the House intelligence committee on his 448-page report. He spent hours testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to the Russia investigation as a witch hunt, including Wednesday morning when he tweeted the hearings were part of the “Greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. history.” Mueller was responding to a question from intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat. Mueller is not expected to go beyond the report during questioning. In the earlier hearing, he replied to questions with short phrases, often saying he will refer to the report. Mueller stated Wednesday that his investigation did not “exonerate” Trump. 1:20 p.m. The top Republican on the House intelligence committee says a hearing with former special counsel Robert Mueller is “political theater” and a “Hail Mary” attempt by Democrats to convince Americans that President
Viola Liuzzo, Detroit civil right activist killed in Alabama memorialized with a
A statue of a civil rights activist who was slain in Alabama during a 1965 voting rights march has been dedicated at the Detroit park that bears her name. The statue unveiled Tuesday shows Viola Liuzzo walking barefoot — with shoes in one hand — and a Ku Klux Klan hood on the ground behind her. Sculptor Austen Brantley, who memorialized the white activist from Detroit, says Liuzzo’s life “tells us … to take action in our community and our nation.” Liuzzo, a 39-year-old mother of five, drove from Detroit to Alabama to join 25,000 others in support of a march led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She was driving fellow activists between Montgomery and Selma when she was fatally shot by Ku Klux Klan members in another car. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Parker Snider: Why everyone, including
It’s September 5th, 2020. You, like most of Alabama, have been waiting months for this day. As summer slowly faded into autumn, the cool evenings punctuating the still-stifling afternoons, you took heart knowing the long months of faint interest in the NBA and baseball were almost gone. Today, after all this time, the drought is finally over: the first Saturday of college football season has arrived. Just as you’ve settled in, the doorbell rings. Wholeheartedly intending to ignore the unscheduled visitor, your heart sinks when one of your guests (a Tennessee fan) opens the door and calls for you. Confident you will not be inviting this particular friend over again next weekend, you begrudgingly make your way to the door to see a man with a clipboard and a bag with the words “United States Census Bureau” on both sides. You politely ask if you could respond later, perhaps online or via the mail. He kindly answers that, yes, that was an option, and then points to a stack of unopened mail on your front table that also reads “Census Bureau”. Point taken. Being the gracious Southerner you are, you answer his questions and are back watching the game in less than ten minutes. The truth is that this scenario will likely occur repeatedly during the 2020 Census. While most will comply with the requests of the Census Bureau, there are always those who successfully skirt the eye of the federal government. For limited-government conservatives, slamming your door on the person who says, “I’m with the federal government and I’d like to ask you a few questions” may indeed be a natural response. It is not, however, considerably helpful, especially to the conservative cause. In fact, Alabamians failing to be counted in the 2020 Census could fuel debilitating blows to the conservative movement, both in Alabama and across the nation. That’s because the Census is more than an arbitrary headcount. The Census totals, in fact, shape how billions of federal dollars every year are allocated to states for Medicare, SNAP (food stamps), highway construction, and more. In addition, businesses rely heavily on Census data to determine where to build factories, restaurants, and stores. Inaccurate data here could cost jobs and create unnecessary economic hardship. Perhaps most importantly, however, is that the Census determines how many seats in the U.S. House of Representatives each state gets and, with that number, how votes are allocated in the Electoral College. Unfortunately, most projections suggest that Alabama will lose a seat in the U.S. House as a result of the 2020 Census. That’s because, although Alabama is growing, it is not growing as fast as other states. The 435 seats in the House, as directed in the Constitution, must be allocated to each state so that each member of Congress represents roughly the same number of people. Since the population is increasing quickly in places like Texas, Oregon, and Florida, the reapportionment of congressional seats will likely benefit their interests over ours. Since states are given votes in the Electoral College by their number of Congressmen (Senate and House), losing a House district would also mean Alabama loses power to determine the U.S. President. This would be, perhaps, the most discouraging byproduct of a low Census count. Overall, the results of the 2020 Census could reduce Alabama to a state that has fewer voices in Congress, a lower rate of federal funding, and less power to choose the President. This version of Alabama is not good for the conservative cause. As one of the most conservative states in the nation, the conservative movement needs a healthy Alabama that has strong, multilayered representation and power in the Electoral College to push a conservative candidate to 270. The truth is that Alabama just might keep all seven of our congressional districts and all nine electoral college votes. To do so, however, we need a full count of everyone living in the state. Conservatives (really everyone for that matter), therefore, should make sure they and every person they know are counted in the 2020 Census. Complete it online, mail it in, or risk a Census worker interrupting your football Saturday. If that happens, you’d best respond. You (probably) won’t miss another Kick Six. Parker Snider is the Director of Policy Analysis at the Alabama Policy Institute.
Pentagon names new commander of Air University in Alabama
The Pentagon is naming a new commander and president of Air University in Montgomery, Alabama. A statement from Defense Secretary Mark Esper says Air Force Maj. Gen. James B. Hecker is being promoted and will oversee the military school, which is located at Maxwell Air Force Base. Hecker is currently serving on the Pentagon staff in Washington. Hecker is a pilot who graduated from the Air Force Academy about 30 years ago. Air University is the nation’s main site for the professional education of Air Force officers. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
