From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
The board of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, made the unanimous decision to remove the name of author Laura Ingalls Wilder from a major children’s book award at a meeting in New Orleans on Saturday.
The name of the prize has been changed from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award to the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, the Guardian reports. Continue reading “Laura Ingalls Wilder’s name removed from award over racism concerns”
El Paso (United States) (AFP) – For volunteer activists working with immigrants, those who profit from the migrants’ plight are “sick.”
But illegal migration is big business in the border state of Texas, generating jobs for private prison operators, money lenders and storefront lawyers. Continue reading “In Texas border towns, illegal immigration is big business”
Harley-Davidson will move the production of motorcycles bound for European countries out of the United States, citing rising costs from European Union (EU) tariffs on their products.
The company said in a filing Monday that the EU tariffs on motorcycles exported from the U.S. rose from 6 percent to 31 percent, the Associated Press reported. Motorcycles bound for European countries will now be produced in overseas factories. Continue reading “Harley-Davidson to move production for some motorcycles out of US after EU tariffs”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Friday that police generally need a search warrant if they want to track criminal suspects’ movements by collecting information about where they’ve used their cellphones, bolstering privacy interests in the digital age.
The justices’ 5-4 decision marks a big change in how police may obtain cellphone tower records, an important tool in criminal investigations. Continue reading “Justices adopt digital-age privacy rules to track cellphones”
Washington Post – by Michael Anton
As Capitol Hill Republicans attempt for — what, the eighth? ninth? — time in the past two decades to jam through an amnesty that their voters have explicitly, loudly and repeatedly said they do not want, it’s worth asking a question that is rarely raised:
Does the United States — population 320 million and rising — need more people? If so, why? Continue reading “Why do we need more people in this country, anyway?”
Immigrant children are being forced to take drugs to manage the trauma after being detained and separated from parents, it has been claimed.
According to a lawsuit, youngsters are being routinely and forcibly given a range of psychotropic drugs at US government-funded youth shelters. Continue reading “Immigrant children ‘forcibly given drugs’”
Hundreds of migrant children forcibly separated from their parents were transferred thousands of miles away from the border and some already have been placed in foster care, officials said.
After crossing the southern border, some children were taken to facilities along the southern border, including a new temporary shelter in Tornillo, Texas, while others were sent to facilities as far away as New York City. Continue reading “These are the distant states where migrant children are being sent”
The Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy for illegal immigration is shining a spotlight on U.S. detention efforts.
Recent government handout images show children lying on the ground with Mylar blankets in kennel-like wire cages. Audio obtained by ProPublica captures children crying after being separated from their migrant parents. Continue reading “This is how much it costs to detain an immigrant in the US”
First Lady Melania Trump has arrived at a detention center in Texas housing immigrant children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“First Lady Melania Trump has arrived in Texas to take part in briefings and tours at a nonprofit social services center for children who have entered the United States illegally and a customs and border patrol processing center,” the White House’s Office of the First Lady said in a statement. “Her goals are to thank law enforcement and social services providers for their hard work, lend support and hear more on how the administration can build upon the already existing efforts to reunite children with their families.” Continue reading “Melania Trump visits detention center in Texas”
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a South Dakota law requiring certain out-of-state retailers, including those that operate remotely online, to collect its sales tax.
In a 5-4 ruling, the court overturned a 1992 court precedent barring states from requiring businesses that have no physical presence in the state to collect their sales taxes.
Delivering the opinion of the court, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the physical presence rule in that former case, known as Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, is unsound and incorrect. Continue reading “Supreme Court rules states can require online sellers to collect sales tax”
Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit charged the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, for fraud with aggravated circumstances and breach of public trust in the “Prepared Food Affair,” in an explosive development which shook the country on Thursday.
When Leah Rabin was about to be indicted in 1977, then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin resigned from office due to his wife’s scandal. Continue reading “Sara Netanyahu Indicted For Falsely Charging State $100k For Meals”
Firefighters responding to a blaze in a San Antonio, Texas, apartment found the burned remains of a 20-year-old man who had been missing for three days, authorities said Monday.
A medical examiner’s office identified the body as that of Jared Vargas, the San Antonio Express News reported. Continue reading “Missing man’s burned body found by firefighters; suspect may be illegal immigrant, ICE says”
The shooting massacre in February at a Florida high school has unleashed a plethora of what experts say are questionable statistics that stoke confusion regarding gun violence in America.
One recent story by CNN, for example, states that there have been 23 school shootings so far this year where someone has been hurt or killed, and 288 since 2009. Continue reading “Experts shoot holes in CNN’s report on school gun violence”
TOPEKA A federal judge has struck down a Kansas voter citizenship law that Secretary of State Kris Kobach had personally defended.
Judge Julie Robinson also ordered Kobach, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, to take more hours of continuing legal education after he was found in contempt and was frequently chided during the trial over missteps. Continue reading “Judge strikes down Kansas voter law, orders Kobach to take classes”
For the first time in over 20 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the constitutionality of civil forfeiture laws, which allow the government to confiscate cash, cars, and even homes. On Monday, the court granted a cert petition from Tyson Timbs, who was forced to forfeit his $40,000 Land Rover in civil court to the State of Indiana, after he pled guilty to selling less than $200 worth of drugs.
Like too many Americans, Tyson was addicted to opioids, at first taking prescription painkillers before switching to heroin. When Tyson tried to sell undercover officers four grams of heroin, he was arrested in 2013. As punishment, Tyson agreed to serve one year of house arrest and pay $1,200 in court fees. But the state also wanted his Land Rover, which Tyson had bought with life-insurance proceeds after his father died. Continue reading “Supreme Court Will Decide If Civil Forfeiture Is Unconstitutional, Violates The Eighth Amendment”
A drunk teenager who stole a golf buggy and then drove through a McDonald’s drive-thru has been banned from the roads for a year.
Jamie Elliot, 18, took the buggy from Catterick Golf Club, in Catterick Garrison, U.K., and drove it for 3.5miles with a pal on the hunt for takeaway food. Continue reading “Drunk teen stole golf cart for 3.5-mile McDonald’s run”
TOLEDO, Ohio — The FBI says a former Ohio sheriff accused of taking nearly $100,000 in bribes from drug dealers and others while in office has been indicted on federal charges.
Authorities say 54-year-old Samuel Crish, of Delphos, was charged Monday in U.S. District Court in Toledo with bribery, extortion and making false statements. Continue reading “FBI: Ex-sheriff extorted nearly $100K from dealers, others”
Nearly 60,000 immigrants with arrest records — including 10 accused of murder — have been allowed to stay in the United States under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed Monday.
According to DHS, 59,786 DACA recipients have been arrested while in the U.S. — approximately 7.8 percent of all who have been approved to remain in this country under the program since it was created in 2012. Of those, 53,792 were arrested before their most recent request for a so-called “grant of deferred action” was approved. Another 7,814 were arrested after their request was approved. Continue reading “Thousands of DACA recipients with arrest records, including 10 accused murderers, allowed to stay in US”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen pulled no punches on Monday when defending the Trump administration’s highly controversial immigration policies during a speech at a meeting of the National Sheriffs’ Association.
“We will not apologize for the job we do or for the job law enforcement does for doing the job that the American people expect us to do,” Nielsen said during her speech in New Orleans. “Illegal actions have and must have consequences. No more free passes, no more get out of jail free cards.” Continue reading “DHS Secretary Nielsen says ‘we will not apologize ‘ for controversial immigration policy”
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A bill sponsored by Wyoming U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney would impose fees on protests against oil and gas projects on federal land.
The Republican introduced the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, saying it aims to deter intentional burdens to Wyoming’s energy development. Continue reading “Cheney bill proposes fee for fed land oil and gas protests”