Women Host Vigil to Expose the Real Legacy of Ronald Reagan
Every year at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, there is a celebration of Ronald Reagan on or around his birthday. Reagan supporters and champions have long had an unfettered ability to celebrate his presidency and his ”legacy” — ignoring the countless lives lost to his violent legacy. On Feb. 6 a vigil was held reminding America that American Imperialism is nothing to be celebrated!
We say that the legacy of his presidency is chaos in Central America and the emergence of the great economic inequality between the 99 percent and the one percent in the United States.
The current situation at the border, and the caravans of refugees coming up through Mexico are a result of the violence and chaos that the Reagan Wars against poor Central American farmers created.
We will host a vigil outside of the ceremony with signs to Renounce Reagan, calling for reparations for U.S. war victims in Central America, and reminding all that the United State’s foreign policy agenda in Central America for the past fifty years has caused a mass exodus from the region.Re: Negotiating a funding resolution that does not endanger the lives of immigrant children
Carley Towne, CODEPINK Los Angeles Coordinator
Secure Border Act
Excerpts from letter sent by the President of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, Peter Schey.
Dueling bills to end the government shutdown failed in the Senate and on Jan. 25 Democrats and Republicans reached agreement on a temporary end of the shutdown until Feb. 15. Congress and the White House committed to negotiate over the next three weeks border security, relief for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status recipients, and the treatment of immigrant children from Central America. The issue of Central American minors was injected into the shutdown discussion by President Trump in a Jan. 4, 2019, letter to Congress, and again last week in the Senate’s End the Shutdown and Secure Border Act of 2019 (“2019 Secure Border Act”), that received fifty votes in the Senate.
This memorandum briefly reviews key provisions in the 2019 Secure Border Act that dramatically impact the rights of migrant children and explains why these provisions should not be part of any budget resolution negotiated by Congress and the White House. Adopting the Secure Border Act’s provisions on immigrant children would lead to the persecution, torture, and possibly the death of Central American minors who seek asylum in the United States. It would also violate the law of the land.
A long-term spending bill should prohibit funds being used to (1) forcibly separate children and their parents, (2) terminate the rights children now possess under the Flores settlement, and (3) deny asylum to children who possess valid claims under U.S. and binding international laws.
Minors fleeing persecution usually flee their countries rapidly. They cannot safely wait for several months or years to process applications while their lives are at risk. Nor do most minors facing persecution have the funds that will be needed for fees the U.S. will impose to “deter frivolous applications.” Nor do most minors facing persecution have a “qualified parent or guardian [living] in the United States.” These draconian restrictions will encourage minors to attempt entry into the United States without inspection. If successful, these restrictions will result in the abuse, torture, and death of innocent children.
We urge the House and Senate negotiators concerned with the humane treatment of children to insure that the spending bill negotiated in the coming weeks prohibits funds being used to (1) forcibly separate children from their parents, (2) terminate the Flores settlement, or (3) deny asylum to any child who possesses a valid claim under U.S. law and the United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Peter Schey, President, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law