| In an administration where words don't seem to mean what we think they do, Trump has shown an unexpected desire to stick to his. Unfortunately, sticking to his word means Trump is now following through on some of the most extreme and harmful of his promises. In the next few days, Trump is expected to issue a series of executive orders on immigration. He kicked off that series today with an executive action directing federal resources to build the long-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall. | | This executive action directs the Department of Homeland Security to use existing funds to start building the wall. But notably, Trump will still have to go to Congress to secure more funding for the wall—which has been slapped with a $32 billion price tag—meaning the cost still will fall on taxpayers. What's more, a U.S.-Mexico border wall is as impractical as it is unpopular. More than half of Americans oppose the wall and border security experts know the wall won't increase our security. There is currently 652 miles worth of fencing along our southern border. And in the past two decades border security spending has skyrocketed while the number of people apprehended at the border has decreased dramatically. | | Trump signed another executive order today to stand up the mass deportation force that he promised during his campaign and interfere with the ability of local law enforcement officials to adopt policies designed to ensure public safety and comply with constitutional requirements. This order also strips funding from sanctuary cities—cities and counties that adopt policies to avoid entanglement with federal immigration enforcement efforts—including policies limiting when people will be held in custody beyond the time when should be released. Stripping federal funding away from these jurisdictions could limit law enforcement agencies' ability to provide assistance and respond to crimes. And like the wall, this policy is unpopular, particularly among local officials like mayors and law enforcement who recognize the value of strong community-police relationships. And unfortunately, this is just the beginning. Later this week Trump is expected to make moves toward his promised Muslim ban by suspending refugee admission and visas from majority-Muslim nations. | #SolidaritySelfie. Trump's vision of America excludes a huge number of Americans and his executive actions on immigration show his commitment to a hateful and exclusionary agenda. Today, immigrant groups along with allies and advocates are posting selfies showing we stand in solidarity with the immigrant community. Here's what you can do: - Write a short note on a piece of paper—something like "Refugees Welcome," "Here to Stay," or "I stand with immigrants"
- Take a picture of yourself with the paper
- Tweet the photo of yourself including the hashtag #SolidaritySelfie
- Urge your friends and family to do it too
| | Voter Fraud. IS. NOT. REAL. Donald Trump once again spewed lies or "alternative facts" about voter fraud in the 2016 election, even though many sources agree (even Trump sources) that voter fraud is not real. While everyone was distracted by voter fraud, Trump approved the Dakota Access and Keystone pipelines and froze EPA contracts and grants, among other things. | | Hyde And Seek. The attack on reproductive health and rights continues. On Monday, Trump reinstated the global gag rule and yesterday the House passed HR 7, which would restrict health insurance coverage of abortion for nearly all women in this country and essentially make permanent the damaging Hyde Amendment. More here. | Badass Badlands. President Trump is trying to keep his employees from talking. After tweeting real photos about the crowd size at Trump's inauguration, the National Parks Service's Twitter was suspended by Trump. Trump is also trying to ban employees at the Environmental Protection Agency from talking to the press. Yesterday, the Badlands National Park appeared to resist by tweeting about climate change—though these tweets were later deleted. In response to all the gag orders, anonymous employees (probably Leslie Knope) at the National Parks Service have started Twitter accounts (@AltNatParkSer and @BadHombreNPS) to keep people informed. | | Speaking of tweets... In the face of President Trump's possible refugee ban, the Department of Defense tweets positively about a refugee soldier. | | Mulvaney. President Trump's pick for Office of Management and Budget Director, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, made it very clear where the Administration's loyalties lie (hint: not with everyday Americans or seniors) in his hearing yesterday. Mulvaney said he'd advise Trump to renege on his campaign promises to not cut Social Security or Medicare. He also said he'd support raising the retirement age for Social Security. And the cherry on top? Mulvaney attacked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, aka the agency that protects everyday Americans. | | Price is Wrong. In his second hearing, Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Rep. Tom Price once again proved he's the wrong man for the job. Highlight of yesterday: Price was surprised to know that, before the Affordable Care Act, women had to pay more for insurance coverage (up to 50 percent more than men). | | More crime lies. President Trump seems to love to blow crime statistics out of proportion and he's doing it again on his website. On whitehouse.gov, Trump claims that killings were up 50 percent in Washington, D.C., over the last 4 years—but in reality, from 2015 to 2016, they went down 17 percent. This further shows that everything Trump says needs to be fact checked. | |
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