Department Of Homeland Security

Trump Presidency Policy Of Separation Of Immigrant Children From Parents At US Border Reprehensible, A Violation Of Basic Human Rights!

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The New York Times has revealed that the Trump Administration has pursued a policy of separation of immigrant children from their parents at the US Border with Mexico, a totally reprehensible act, and a massive violation of human rights.

At least 700 children, with more than 100 under the age of 4, have been taken from adults claiming to be their parents, authorized by the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

There is possibly no action taken by the Trump Administration more outrageous and despicable than this, considering that those immigrants that arrive are primarily women and children, escaping gang violence and poverty, and wishing to find safe haven.

They are not terrorists, not criminals, but the experiences they have gone through and are now going through, due to US government policy, will scar the children for the rest of their lives wherever they end up living.

America is losing its reputation as the land of immigrants, where generation after generation, we have seen people escaping similar horrendous situations in their quest for freedom, security, and safety.

It is hard NOT to cry upon learning of this disgraceful action, which is being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union in federal court, hoping to end this clearly Nazi like, Fascist spurred attack on the humanity of vulnerable children and their parents.

For this, more than just about anything else, Donald Trump and his henchmen will be condemned in history, and it should be another of many reasons to remove Donald Trump from office, and hold him and others in his administration legally accountable in court, including indictment, conviction, and imprisonment for crimes against humanity!

A Doctor In Michigan, A College Professor In Kansas, An Afghanistan Army Veteran From Illinois: All Facing Deportation

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Lukasz Niec (Poland)—-Syed Ahmed Jamal(Bangladesh)—Miguel Perez, Jr. (Mexico)–these are just three victims of Donald Trump’s nativism, accomplished through heartless policies of the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.

Nativists, including White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, White House Counselor Stephen Miller, and ICE’s Director Thomas Homan, are leading a Reign of Terror on all undocumented immigrants of all ages and longevity in America, and having a clean record without any crimes is not enough.

So we are having people here 30-40 years in many cases, who have no memory of the country they were born in, have no family connections, do not know the language of their native country, and in many cases will be endangered and possibly killed by returning to a strange land, facing deportation.

As the three mentioned above, a doctor in Michigan, a college professor in Kansas, and an Afghanistan Army veteran in Illinois–ripped apart from their homes, businesses, jobs, and family members–a despairing situation which will insure these monsters in government and the administration of Donald Trump, will be condemned in history, with Fortune Magazine already lowering the rating of the United States as a democracy which pursues human rights, to a lower category of a flawed democracy, similar to Poland, Mongolia, and Italy among other nations, for the first time in American history.

This violation of civil liberties, and the threats against sanctuary cities by the federal government, are a sign of Fascism and authoritarianism taking over, and it cannot be allowed to stand, by all decent Americans.

We have not learned from past violations of civil liberties and civil rights, and we are living through a dark period of American history.

Barack Obama And Young Immigrants: Justice Finally!

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With the passage of the DREAM Act impossible at this point in Congress, it was up to President Barack Obama to take executive action through the Department of Homeland Security to allow young immigrant children up to the age of 30, who were brought here as young children by their undocumented immigrant parents, to have a future that was more determined and stable.

His argument is that young immigrants who see themselves as Americans and have no real connection to the country of their birth, as long as they have stayed out of legal trouble, gone to school, attended college, or gone into the military, should have the opportunity to advance themselves temporarily over the next two years, and have a measure of security and certainty in their lives.

What Obama did today does not guarantee the long term, but gives a reprieve while the possible passage of the DREAM Act is considered in the next Congress.

This is the humane, moral, and right thing to do in every sense, and the President is to be congratulated for his courage!

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s Loony Budget Proposal: A “Clear And Present Danger”!

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One of the worst results of the midterm Congressional elections of 2010 was the election of Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the son of Texas Congressman and Presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Rand Paul, an optometrist who is not certified by the national organization in the field of optometry, but instead by his own self created association, and who was ranked as the worst Senator in oral discourse in Congress, with an average of only 8.0, eighth grade language, has been seeking to raise his libertarian image within the Republican Party, and is clearly looking to run for President in the future, based on his father’s reputation, and his own,. even more loony, ideas.

Like his father, Rand Paul is an isolationist and a small government man, and he has no concern about the effects of massive cuts in the federal budget.

So last week, he proposed a budget that would totally destroy the whole direction of the nation in an extremist way. absolutely nuts!

What did Paul propose?

A cut in the Social Security payments of 40 percent to all recipients.
End the Medicare program as we know it in two years.
Reduce defense spending by $100 billion below a level considered “devastating” by the Pentagon.
Eliminate the Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Commerce Departments.
Dramatically cut the Homeland Security Department.
Cut programs for the poor in a radical fashion.
Give tax cuts to the wealthy, lowering rates to 17 percent, and eliminate all taxes on capital gains and dividends.

The vote in the Senate was 83-16 against this radical, crazy plan of Rand Paul. The fact that fifteen Senators joined Paul in backing this most reckless plan is scary beyond belief.

It is clear that Rand Paul is a “clear and present danger” to our future, and must be resisted in every way possible to prevent any chance of him being a serious factor in future Congressional leadership battles and Presidential ambitions.

Paul makes other right wing Republicans look sane by comparison, which makes any intelligent person totally terrified of what this crazy libertarian stands for, sadly backed by many who have no concept of how dangerous this Kentucky Senator has the potential to be in the future!

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer: The Most Despicable Woman In Public Life!

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Controversy has surrounded other woman politicians, including Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, but neither, or any other woman, quite matches the level of despicable behavior of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.

Brewer, who never would have been Governor without the move of Janet Napolitano to become Barack Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security, has proved to be the most outrageous in her behavior and policy making.

Brewer re-emerged in the news this week when she confronted President Obama on the tarmac at the Phoenix Airport and pointed her finger at him in an accusatory manner, a terrible moment of disrespect, worse than anything any Republican officeholder has done before. It is an escalation of the total lack of dignity and respect on the part of Republicans toward our President, never matched in American history! If such a lack of respect had been shown toward George W. Bush by a Democratic officeholder, we would never had heard the end of it, but conservatives applauded her rudeness!

Brewer is so concerned about illegal immigration in her state, without any concern for the loss of life of many refugees who die in the Mexican and Arizona desert. She claims that the Obama Administration has done nothing on illegal immigration, when Obama has increased the number of National Guard troops on the Arizona-Mexico border dramatically.

But even worse than her lack of respect for Obama, and her demagoguery on illegal immigration, is Brewer’s lack of concern about the loss of human life of Arizona residents who need life saving transplants, and are being denied those procedures under the Medicaid program, because the governor cannot find funds to cover it, despite the realization that she has the ability to find ways to raise the money if she really cared.

This is a woman who talks the anti abortion viewpoint, but has no concern about the loss of life of people who have life threatening conditions, and should be given what they need no matter what the cost, including if necessary, god forbid, a tax increase on the very wealthy, who would not miss the small amount of extra taxes, but would be able to feel good that they had helped others to survive and prosper after a transplant.

Instead, these wealthy people are only too willing to spend money, as Sheldon Adelson of Nevada is doing, to support their favorite candidate, in this case Newt Gingrich, to promote their own selfish agendas! In fact, if Sheldon Adelson can give Gingrich $10 million for his campaign, why can’t he personally pay for the transplants of these Arizona victims?

What kind of human being could sleep at night, knowing that by her refusal to do what needs to be done for sick people, most of them young or middle age, that she is condemning them to death, as has happened in a couple of cases of a group of what is now 96 survivors who, apparently do not matter, but if they were fetuses, they would matter!

Jan Brewer is a total disgrace in more ways than one, and an embarrassment who should be repudiated by all decent people! And Sheldon Adelson should “cough” up the money for these 96 Arizonans, in what would amount to a “drop of water” in the “ocean” of his wealth! And he could also take a tax deduction for charity if he did so!

The Transportation Security Administration, Elderly Ladies, And Senator Rand Paul Of Kentucky

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One of the most despised federal agencies is the Transportation Security Administration, created after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

A part of the Department of Homeland Security under Janet Napolitano, the TSA has shown total rigidity and a lack of common sense in its mission to prevent any chance of another September 11.

In theory, one cannot complain about the federal government doing everything it can to protect all of us who travel by air. But there is also such a thing as using one’s brains and recognizing preposterous situations.

Even going through a full body scan is seen by many people as dangerous healthwise and an invasion of privacy. But to demand a full body patdown for elderly ladies with equipment to allow them to travel without embarrassment of problems with their bodily functions, or for a United States Senator known to be a public figure, who shows he has no metal on his right leg, to be detained and prevented from flying is totally preposterous and is a policy totally insane.

One does not need to be a libertarian as Rand Paul is, to agree with him that invasion of privacy is out of control when it comes to flying. The TSA should be reformed to be flexible enough as to avoid ridiculous situations such as these examples.

This situation which has occurred with Rand Paul will probably promote his future political career on the national level, and indirectly, assist his father, Presidential candidate and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, to gain notice with the issues he believes in, particularly getting the government out of one’s personal and private life as much as possible!

Obama Successes In Midst Of Difficult Times!

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Barack Obama has had a rough August, what with the battle over the debt ceiling, the lowering of the Triple A credit rating by Standard and Poor’s, the resulting stock market disarray, and the growing discontent in the polls with the unemployment crisis.

And yet, Obama has succeeded in recent days in a number of areas, which should raise his public opinion polls somewhat.

First, he has accomplished in combination with the Arab League, NATO, and UN backing, with the overthrow of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi, although the leader is not yet accounted for.

Second, the number two man in the Al Qaeda terrorist leadership, after the death of Osama Bin Laden, has been murdered in Pakistan, indicating further disruption in Al Qaeda leadership, and making some think Al Qaeda may never be the same. This comes on top of the successful elimination of numerous other Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives over the past couple of years by the Obama Administration!

Finally, it is already evident that Obama’s government has responded far better on Hurricane Irene than George W. Bush did on Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2006. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is doing a superb job, and the same can be said for the Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Janet Napolitano!

So in the midst of much criticism and bad times, there are some developments to applaud, and to prove once again, the ups and the downs of being President of the United States!

Finally, An Important Change On Deportation Of Illegal Immigrants!

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Three months ago, this author wrote of the need for President Obama to stop the mass deportations of illegal immigrants and their children, and work to gain the passage of the DREAM Act, allowing young immigrants to go into the military or attend college, and work toward a path to citizenship.

The point was that the emphasis on deportation of illegal immigrants should be on those who are involved in illegal, criminal activities that undermine the nation, while the vast majority are going about their business, and should not be targeted for deportation.

Finally, the Obama Administration has determined to do what was promoted by many groups and this author, and therefore, this is a time for celebration, as many of these illegal immigrants are contributing daily to this nation, and their youths wish to become American citizens and be assets to this country in a positive way for the long term future!

Obama has promoted more deportations than George W. Bush, angering progressives, but he finally has gotten the message, and it is therefore to be applauded as a major step!

So the Department of Homeland Security will focus on high priority cases, and limit action against children, military families, individuals brought to this nation at a young age, same sex couples, amd sole bread winners. Security risks or criminal elements are the only illegal, undocumented immigrants who should be expelled from the country!

And police officers should not be given the responsibility to deal with illegal immigrants, as that is a federal matter, not a state and local issue, despite what Arizona has attempted to do, now being challenged in the federal courts!

Reality: Bin Laden Won In Goal To Bankrupt America By The War On Terror!

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As we celebrate the demise of Osama Bin Laden, we must remember that his major goal was not to count the number of people killed over time, but rather to divide us, make us paranoid, and cause us to spend trillions in reaction to September 11.

That is precisely what has happened, with our defense budget doubled since 2001, and with a tremendous investment in national security, including a new cabinet agency, the Department of Homeland Security.

This is money that could have been used to improve our infrastructure, our health care, our education, our environment, and so many other domestic needs!

The median income has declined five percent since 2001, and the country is much worse off economically, as we battle over the national debt and the deficit, after such a heavy public investment in reaction to Osama Bin Laden.

So while we may have finally killed Bin Laden, he could enjoy the past ten years of his life knowing that he had bankrupted us, spending ourselves into oblivion!

We must start to plan the future, and that includes a realistic look at our role in the world after Osama Bin Laden!