| Donald Trump campaigned on the promise of putting "America first". But with the series of executive orders targeting immigrants and refugees that he is signing this week, the President is doing the exact opposite. Taken together, the new administration's actions amount to an all-out assault on refugees and immigrants that both betrays the moral fabric of our nation and makes America less safe. | | In addition to ordering the immediate construction of an unnecessary $25 billion dollar wall paid by U.S. taxpayers (not Mexico, regardless of what the President might tell you), the immigration orders he signed yesterday essentially declare open season against immigrants already living in the U.S. How? For starters, the orders create a mass deportation force, made up of thousands of new border patrol and ICE hires. They expand the priorities for who will be targeted for deportation away from the Obama Administration's emphasis on serious threats, to cover the vast majority of undocumented immigrants- even those who have been living here for decades. The President's actions also threaten to cut off federal funding from so-called 'sanctuary cities' –cities that chose to discretionarily enforce federal immigration actions- in an attempt to turn local police officers into de-facto deportation agents. This move would only make communities less safe-in fact counties with sanctuary policies see less crime and stronger economies than those without the policies. Here's the kicker: Trump's immigration actions could cost American taxpayers at least $117 billion dollars over the next 10 years. | | Unfortunately, there's more. Trump's executive orders also target immigrants and refugees fleeing persecution, treating them not as asylum seekers but as a "significant threat to national security and public safety". The President is expected to sign another order later this week that temporarily suspends all U.S. refugee admissions (reminder about the huge refugee crisis facing the Middle East and Europe right now) and bans all immigration from several Muslim countries (conspicuously omitted: those Middle Eastern countries in which Trump does business). We've said it before and we'll say it again: this type of extreme assault on refugees and immigrants not only contradicts core American values, but undermines the safety and security of our country. | | Democracy. The United States apparently isn't a full one anymore. Instead, the US was downgraded to a "flawed democracy" in the 2016 Democracy Index due to lack of trust in government. Given that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and little has been done to address it, it's no wonder trust in government has gone down. | | Two State Solution. Trump has quadrupled down on his false voter fraud claims this week. Last night, in an interview with ABC's John Muir, Trump said, "You have people registered in two states. They're registered in a New York and a New Jersey. They vote twice. There are millions of votes, in my opinion." First, Trump doesn't get to decide based on his opinion whether or not widespread voter fraud exists (it *still* doesn't). And second, being registered in two states is not voter fraud. Millions of people—including Trump's daughter Tiffany, his advisor Steve Bannon, and his Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin—are registered in two states. Voter fraud would only occur if a person registered in two states tried to cast a vote in both states in the same election. The greater problem for our democracy is when registered voters are improperly removed from the rolls (called purging, which is often targeted at communities of color) causing eligible Americans not to be able to vote at all. | | #ScienceNotSilence. After days of the Trump Administration taking steps to silence federal agencies like the EPA, the scientists are striking back. Hoping to build off the success of the Women's March on Washington, a group of scientists are planning the Scientists' March on Washington, which will aims to be "a starting point to take a stand for science in politics." You can start now by urging Trump to stop silencing science using #ScienceNotSilence on Twitter. | | Pipeline burst. North-central Iowa was hit with 140,000 gallons of a diesel mix after a pipeline burst. Luckily the Environmental Protection Agency was on the scene, though they probably can't talk about it thanks to Trump banning them from communicating. Reminder: President Trump signed executive orders to advance the Dakota Access pipeline, which threatens the Standing Rock tribe's land, and the Keystone pipeline, so there might be more pipeline troubles in the future. | | New DC residents. At least one of them is cute! A new gray seal pup was born at the National Zoo over the weekend. | |
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