Tom Steyer distorts the issues on immigration and children (updated)

   Candidate Tom Steyer should end his negative, inaccurate, destructive media campaign distorting the reality of Becerra’s work on immigration. It is unfortunate that this campaign has selected this route. Instead, if he hopes to be governor, Steyer should campaign on what he is in favor of.  

The anti Becerra  ads funded by Tom Steyer are endless and deceptive. Becerra is being blamed for Trump  era immigration failures.  The failures  were created by the overcrowding of immigrants detention facilities during the Trump era.  Becerra organized and sued the Trump administration as California Attorney General.  Then, we went to Washington with the Biden Administration. 

 

The truth is Xavier Becerra inherited the failures at HHS caused by the Trump era assault on immigrants and immigrant children.  And Becerra resolved many of the problems.  Now, Trump has done it all again- even more.

See Here. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SntyYRugBgY&t=1224s

Trump and company have filled the jails and detention centers. Steyer responds with  campaign ads and distortions. 

Update. 

 I am adding to a prior post in response to the  overwhelming domination of the media market by political ads by Tom Seyer. 

What did Becerra do about the immigration crisis ? During the 2016- 2020 Trump Administration, Becerra, as California Attorney General sued Trump 120 times. He won over 80% of the cases that went to court. 

In 2021, when Trump lost and Biden became President, he appointed Becerra to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.  In this position, Becerra had responsibility for many of the children incarcerated by  Trump. In response to Trump budget cuts,  It took some months for the Becerra office to work through the back log of cases of children in custody. 

Becerra received criticism for not acting quickly enough.  See the video of the House Select Committee on this. 

Since 2024 and the second Trump administration, the separation of children and the division of families, the jailing of hundreds of thousands has returned. 

Now, Steyer is spending millions on ads attacking Becerra for his actions in H & HS. I recommend that he do something  to rescue or release detained immigrants. He is not doing a single thing to rescue those jailed and deported and removal operations.  If we defeat Trump in 2028, a new government will have to do the releases again.  Becerra has experience and a record on this. Steyer does not.  We will not be able to defeat Trump if we are diverted by misrepresentations of the actions of other members of the needed coalition. 

Becerra had years of work on these issues.  If we can defeat Trump in 2028, the next head of H H S will have to do it all again. Instead of misrepresenting what happened Steyers burries the issues in endless campaign ads.  

Steyer has gained substantive progressive support in recent weeks including from major unions and political organizations.  He should campaign positively and accept the voters solutions whichever way the votes come in.  If he refuses, progressive groups should reconsider their endorsements which endanger this elections. 

We need a governor who is honest rather than deceptive. We need a governor with experience in running major government functions. 

Steyer  has continued to misrepresent the issues.  Here is Voting  alternative for those of us who do not want a November election where we are faced with a choice between two bad Republicans.  ( Proposal Reprinted from another source. )

A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR IN CALIFORNIA?

 NO WAY!

***VOTE STRATEGICALLY IN JUNE 2 PRIMARY*** 

HERE’S THE SITUATION:

California has a “jungle primary,” meaning the two candidates with the highest votes will be on the ballot in November, regardless of party. 

Democrats have at least six candidates competing, while the Republicans have two. Democrats are diluting the vote so much that NONE of them are frontrunners. Tom Steyer, Xavier Becerra and Katie Porter are at 14-10% in polls. 

Both Republicans are MAGA Trump supporters. Steve Hilton is a Fox News commentator. Chad Bianco is a Republican sheriff. Both are round 14 %  in polling.

If we don’t organize and strategize RIGHT NOW, the two Republicans could end up being our only two choices on the ballot in November!

 In spite of Steyers flooding the airways  and our mail boxes with inaccurate campaign ads,,,

We should be strategic to get a candidate on the November that we would be willing to vote for.  

 

WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO DELAY CASTING YOUR VOTE UNTIL 7-10 DAYS BEFORE THE  June 2 primary.  

THEN VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRAT (OPPONENT OF DONALD TRUMP )  WITH THE HIGHEST POLLING NUMBERS. 

Despite what you may feel about some of the candidates, ANY of these Democrats would be much, much better than either of the two Republicans!!! 

A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR IN CALIFORNIA COULD MEAN:

 - more ICE agents in the streets, deportations, detention facilities

 - subverting, disrupting, hijacking the election in 2028

 - appointing Republican judges and other officials hostile to democratic rule of law

 - dismantling environmental regulations

 - reducing social services and safety net programs 

 - reducing protections for LGBTQ people, racial minorities, immigrants

Further actions to help get an opponent of Trump on the November ballot.

 

SEND THIS INFORMATION TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW, so that people understand why they need to hold off voting until a week before the primary.

Post this on your social media.  Spread the word. 

VOTE IN THE PRIMARY! Check to see if your neighbors will vote. 

Lessons from Minneapolis : Sanders

Sisters and brothers - 

The national TV cameras are largely gone from Minneapolis now. 

If the Department of Homeland Security keeps its word (maybe they will, maybe they won’t) the ICE army will soon be withdrawn from the city. 

But one thing remains certain. The pain and psychic trauma for that community continues.

Earlier this week, I met with a number of Minnesotans from different immigration activist groups in the state including teachers, union members and faith leaders.

They told me about the fear instilled in the children. Car windows being smashed by lawless ICE agents. Helicopters flying above creating a war zone environment. Hard-working parents being dragged off. Two innocent people murdered in cold blood.

I heard stories about masked federal agents kicking down doors without court orders and sending 5-year-old children to detention centers. 

I heard stories about people being picked out of their homes, their workplaces and their schools while people who tried to help were being stalked and threatened. 

I heard stories about children afraid to leave their houses and a school teacher who told me that kids are not showing up at school for fear of being detained. In fact, there are countless kids who went hungry as a result of missing school lunch programs. 

I learned that more than 3,000 people have been detained in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and many of their own families do not even know where they are.

That’s the very bad news created by Trump’s so-called “immigration policy” and implemented by his domestic ICE army.

The good news is that grassroots organizations in Minnesota came together with an extraordinary sense of solidarity, fought back and inspired the nation. They created a political reality which forced Trump (for the moment at least) to tone down his policies and his rhetoric.

Now, the brave people in the Minneapolis area are beginning to rebuild their lives and their communities. And these grassroots organizations, who have been on the front line fighting against Trump’s authoritarianism and brutality, need our help. 

So I am asking you to make a contribution to Friends of Bernie Sanders today. Every single dollar we raise from this fundraiser will be distributed to grassroots organizations in Minnesota who are fighting for justice and are helping the families impacted by Trump's raids - the hungry kids, the scared parents, and all those who are struggling at this difficult time.

If you've stored your info with ActBlue, we'll process your split contribution instantly:

CONTRIBUTE $27   CONTRIBUTE OTHER

What Trump has done in Minnesota is repellent to the American people in every single way. People in this country want democracy and justice, not authoritarianism.

People want investments in schools, education, and affordable housing -- not a domestic army invading and occupying cities across our nation. 

Now is the time to stand together with those in need and provide a helping hand. 

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

 

Trump Administration Returns to Family Separation Policies

 

Federal agents at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, N.J., in June. Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

‘Interior separation is approved’

	by Jess Bidgood and Hamed Aleaziz

It was one of the most explosive policies of President Trump’s first term: the systematic separation of migrant children from their parents as the families crossed into the United States from Mexico.

Now, a more targeted version of that practice is back, far from the border.

My colleague Hamed Aleaziz, who covers immigration, found at least nine casesin which migrant parents already in the country were separated from their children after they refused to comply with deportation orders. “Interior separation is approved,” officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote in one case.

Officials denied that there was any new policy on family separations. They told Hamed that parents had the option of staying with their children by leaving the country with them.

Today, I called Hamed, who told me the effort represented a new front in the administration’s effort to persuade as many people as it could to leave the country.

JB: You spoke with several parents who have been separated from their children in recent months, all of whom were in ICE custody. What did they tell you?

HA: They expressed anguish, first and foremost, at being separated from their kids. They were still coming to grips with this idea that they were not with their children — and that there weren’t any prospects of being with their children anytime soon.

One thing that stuck with me was a father who told me he blamed himself for being separated from his child. He said that he’d had a nice life in Russia, and that he’d ruined it by being a dissident. He said that he had brought his family to the United States, and that, ultimately, the reason he wasn’t with his child was because of his decisions.

SCUSD is a Safe Haven district to protect immigrant children

March 7, 2017 or Alex Barrios: 916-752-3705

Sacramento City schools launch ‘Safe Haven’

campaign to protect undocumented students

Community leaders pledge support for the district’s efforts to inform every student

and their families of the legal rights of the undocumented by distributing tens of

thousands of ‘know your rights’ fliers at all schools, coordinating with community

organizations to provide legal resources in classrooms, and covering all campuses

with banners and lawn signs promoting inclusion and welcoming all students.

SACRAMENTO, CA—The Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) today announced the launch

of a campaign to protect its undocumented students and staff amid growing fears of deportation in

immigrant communities. The campaign is the first of its kind in California and is the next step in

SCUSD’s national leadership on protecting and standing up for undocumented students and their

families. District leaders were joined today by State Assemblymember Jim Cooper, County Supervisor

Patrick Kennedy, City Councilmember Eric Guerra and dozens of students, teachers and community

members.

“Our Safe Haven policy was the first step we took to protect our kids,” said SCUSD Vice President

Jessie Ryan. “Today, we are taking an even bigger step by launching a full campaign to make sure

every undocumented student and parent in our school district knows their rights if approached by

immigration officials.”

In December, SCUSD approved Resolution 2915 which directed Superintendent José Banda to support

the creation of a Safe Haven district that included compliance with a 2011 federal policy that

immigration enforcement officials could not enter district campuses or facilities without prior written

approval from the Superintendent. The resolution also restricts the sharing of student files that can

be used to determine a student’s immigration status.

The district became one of the first districts in the state to adopt a Safe Haven policy, which has since

been described by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson as a model for the rest

of California. “This resolution sent a strong message up and down the state that if federal

immigration officials try to come on to our schools or use our data to target undocumented students

and their families, we will take proactive measures to protect them,” said Ryan.With today’s announcement, SCUSD is taking further steps to ensure that undocumented students,

staff and families are aware of their rights and feel welcome and included. The district announced it

will distribute tens of thousands of “know your rights” cards in multiple languages to all students and

will assist in coordinating immigration attorneys and providers of other resources to help these

individuals at school sites. District officials also want to reinforce a message that all students are

welcome. The district will begin hanging up multi-colored banners and lawn signs at every school site

with the message: “Safe Haven: ALL students are welcome”. It will also be running a series of ads and

promotional videos on social media to underscore the contributions of undocumented students and

families in the community. Parents, teachers and community members will be encouraged to join the

campaign by signing pledge cards in support of the Safe Haven effort.

“Our campaign is going to reinforce one common theme—that ALL students are welcome at our

schools and that undocumented students play a valuable role in the everyday life of our campuses,

and that they are a part of the fabric of our district,” said SCUSD Superintendent José Banda.

According to Banda, the district will leverage all of its resources and community connections to help

and protect its students.

For SCUSD Board Member Mai Vang, the Safe Haven campaign is very personal. “My parents came to

this country decades ago as refugees,” said Vang, whose parents attended SCUSD schools. “Like

many of the immigrant families that we are seeking to protect today, my parents came here fleeing

an unsafe environment, in need of opportunities that were not possible in their home land. They did

not let hateful rhetoric or people push them out.”

SCUSD is one of the most diverse school districts in the country. As many as one in five of its students

and families could be affected by federal immigration policies. The district has:

• More than 43,000 students

• 48 different spoken languages that include Spanish, Hmong, Armenian, Korean, Tagalog,

Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese and Russian

• 64% qualify for free or reduced lunch

• 17,104 are of Latino descent

• 34,896 are students of color

• In 2015-16, nearly one-third of students were English language learners or non-native

speakers

For more information visit www.scusd.edu/safe-haven-district.

# # #

Separated: Documentary.

 Separated: Documentary

 

Showing Dec. 7, on MSNBC.

 

https://watch.montanapbs.org/video/separated-1733435602/

Trump Adminstration:Taking migrant children from their families.

Their Future

Children as victims of War

 

We have Seen Nothing Like the Siege of Gaza

 

We Are No Strangers to Human Suffering, but We’ve Seen Nothing Like the Siege of Gaza

https://portside.org/2023-12-12/we-are-no-strangers-human-suffering-weve-seen-nothing-siege-gaza

Portside Date: December 12, 2023

Author: Michelle Nunn, Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Jan Egeland, Abby Maxman, Jeremy Konyndyk and Janti Soeripto

We are no strangers to human suffering — to conflict, to natural disasters, to some of the world’s largest and gravest catastrophes. We were there when fighting erupted in Khartoum, Sudan. As bombs rained down on Ukraine. When earthquakes leveled southern Turkey and northern Syria. As the Horn of Africa faced its worst drought in years. The list goes on.

But as the leaders of some of the world’s largest global humanitarian organizations, we have seen nothing like the siege of Gaza. In the more than two months since the horrifying attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people and resulted in some 240 abductions, about 18,000 Gazans — including more than 7,500 children — have been killed, according to the Gazan health ministry. More children have been reported killed in this conflict than in all major global conflicts combined last year.

The atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7 were unconscionable and depraved, and the taking and holding of hostages is abhorrent. The calls for their release are urgent and justified. But the right to self-defense does not and cannot require unleashing this humanitarian nightmare on millions of civilians. It is not a path to accountability, healing or peace. In no other war we can think of in this century have civilians been so trapped, without any avenue or option to escape to save themselves and their children.

Most of our organizations have been operating in Gaza for decades. But we can do nothing remotely adequate to address the level of suffering there without an immediate and complete cease-fire and an end to the siege. The aerial bombardments have rendered our jobs impossible. The withholding of water, fuel, food and other basic goods has created an enormous scale of need that aid alone cannot offset.

Global leaders — and especially the United States government — must understand that we cannot save lives under these conditions. A significant change in approach from the U.S. government is needed today to pull Gaza back from this abyss.

For a start, the Biden administration must stop its diplomatic interference at the United Nations, blocking calls for a cease-fire.

Since the pause in fighting ended, we are again witnessing an exceptionally high level of bombardment, and at increasing ferocity. The few areas left in Gaza that are untouched by bombardment are shrinking by the hour, forcing more and more civilians to seek safety that does not exist. Over 80 percent of 2.3 million Gazans are now displaced. The newest Israeli offensive is now forcing them to cluster on a tiny sliver of land.

The bombardment is not the only thing brutally cutting lives short. The siege of — and blockades surrounding — Gaza have led to a critical food scarcity, cutoffs of medical supplies and electricity, and a lack of clean water. There is barely any medical care to be found in the enclave and few medications. Surgeons are working by the light of their mobile phones, without anesthetics. They are using dishcloths as bandages. The risk of waves of waterborne and infectious disease will only grow in the increasingly overcrowded living conditions of the displaced.

One of our colleagues in Gaza recently described their struggle to feed an orphaned infant who had been rescued from the rubble of an airstrike. The baby had not eaten for days after her mother’s death. Colleagues could only scrounge up powdered milk — not formula, not breast milk, and not a nutritionally suitable infant food — to help stave off her starvation.

Before the war, hundreds of truckloads of aid were needed each day to support Gazans’ daily existence. Only a trickle of that required aid has made it into Gaza in the two months since the war began. But even if more were allowed in, our work in Gaza is dependent on ensuring our teams can move safely to set up warehouses, shelters, health clinics, schools, and water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure.

Today our staff members are not safe. They tell us they’re making the daily choice of staying with their families in one place so that they can die together or go out to seek water and food.

Among leaders in Washington, there is constant talk about preparing for the “day after.” But if this relentless bombardment and siege continue, there will be no “day after” for Gaza. It will be too late. Hundreds of thousands of lives hang in the balance today.

Uvalde Cops Failed _ Children Died

Uvalde Cops Failed.

Parents prevented from rescuing kids.

To the layman, it might seem strange to read an Associated Press story about how, when a mass shooter invaded an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the local police refused to attack him for about 40 minutes despite the urging of nearby parents. “Go in there! Go in there!” one said. The police instead waited for a tactical unit from the Border Patrol (which reportedly got another student killed by instructing them to call out for help before the shooter had been apprehended).

During the delay, parents even tried to rush in themselves. “Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to,” Javier Cazares said. The parents didn’t, but it seems only because the police stopped them. According to a cellphone video apparently taken at the scene, the cops threatened to tase desperate, screaming parents to stop them going in. Cazares’s child Jacklyn was killed in the attack.

Angeli Rose Gomez told The Wall Street Journal that she drove 40 miles to the school, which her two children attended, and begged police on the scene to intervene. Instead, federal marshals arrested her for “intervening in an active investigation.” After talking some local cops into letting her out of the cuffs, watching a second parent get tackled by police, and a third get pepper-sprayed, she snuck around the crowd, sprinted into the school, and brought out her kids.

But this horrifying story should come as no surprise. What it illustrates is simply the cowardly culture of American police in action. Contrary to the chest-thumping rhetoric of police unions, they are neither trained nor legally expected to protect citizens in danger. In the pinch, they frequently put their own safety above those they are charged with protecting—even elementary school kids.

As an initial matter, it should be emphasized that this school had done everything that conservatives and experts from the school safety consulting industry recommend. To comply with a 2018 Texas law passed in response to a different school shooting, the “district adopted an array of security measures that included its own police force, threat assessment teams at each school, a threat reporting system, social media monitoring software, fences around schools and a requirement that teachers lock their classroom doors,” report Suzy Khimm and Jon Schuppe at NBC News.

It didn’t work, and neither did police on the scene rush in to stop the killer. Now, of course this is the polar opposite of approved police tactics these days. After the Columbine shooting, where police waited outside for hours while a teacher bled to death, police are supposed to dash into the scene as fast as possible. They just didn’t do it. The reason is the powerful fear instilled by other parts of police training, as well as the overall police culture. Consider David Grossman, one of the most famous and influential police trainers in the country. Justin Peters took one of his “warrior cop” classes for a Slate article, and found a message that was equal parts hysterical exaggeration of the ambient risk in American society and creepy obsession with killing people. “Increasingly the police must face organized opponents armed with assault rifles and bombs,” says Grossman; cops face an “explosion in violent crime” and an “extraordinary rise in violence.”

Texas Governor Seeks to Ban Immigrant Children from School Plyler V Doe

 Texas Governor Ready to Challenge Schooling of Migrant Children

Gov. Greg Abbott may target a 1982 Supreme Court ruling that requires schools to educate undocumented children. Some conservatives see an opening for a fresh look at old precedent.

 

 

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has taken a hard stance on immigration, using the issue to beat back challengers in the Republican primary.Credit...Brandon Bell/Getty Images

 

By J. David Goodman

May 5, 2022

Sign Up for the Education Briefing  From preschool to grad school, get the latest U.S. education news. Get it sent to your inbox.

HOUSTON — With the Supreme Court signaling a willingness to reverse decades-old precedents like the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said on Thursday that he would seek to overturn a 1982 court decision that obligated public schools to educate all children, including undocumented immigrants.

Mr. Abbott’s comments opened a new front in his campaign to use his powers as governor to harden Texas against unauthorized migration. And they demonstrated just how expansively some conservatives are thinking when it comes to the kinds of changes to American life that the court’s emboldened conservative majority may be willing to allow.

The latest proposal for closing public schools to undocumented children significantly widens the range of precedents up for debate. After a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade leaked this week, focus had been primarily on other rights that could be legally linked to the 1973 decision, such as access to contraception and same-sex marriage.

Little has changed in the legal landscape surrounding the education of undocumented children since 1982, when the court issued a 5-to-4 decision to strike down a Texas law allowing schools to refuse admission to unauthorized migrant children, legal experts said. Several attempts over the years to chip away at the decision in the case known as Plyler v. Doe have been unsuccessful, including an effort by Alabama more than a decade ago and in California in the 1990s.

Teachers and students dealing with emotions

 

If you’re an educator in the State of California, you can receive an incentive of up to $100 for watching a sample of these videos and providing critical feedback.

(Total time required roughly 30 minutes.)

Click here to participate

Elementary School Teachers 

The elementary-age videos feature hedgehog characters in imaginative stories to teach key skills in a way that kids will enjoy watching and remember longer. Each video comes with Skill Sheets that summarize and reinforce key ideas.

06:291. Understanding FeelingsVideo and Skill Sheets

05:462. Relaxation SkillsVideo and Skill Sheets

05:383. Understanding ThoughtsVideo and Skill Sheets

07:154. Managing Intense EmotionsVideo and Skill Sheets

Middle School Teachers

The middle school-age videos feature an engaging host and interviews with a diverse group of real kids to teach key skills while normalizing the challenges kids face and sparking productive conversations. Each video comes with Skill Sheets that summarize and reinforce key ideas.

05:031. Understanding FeelingsVideo and Skill Sheets

04:192. Relaxation SkillsVideo and Skill Sheets

05:273. Understanding ThoughtsVideo and Skill Sheets

05:204. Managing Intense EmotionsVideo and Skill Sheets

High School Teachers

The high school-age videos feature an engaging host and interviews with a diverse group of teens to teach key skills while normalizing the challenges they face and sparking productive conversations. Each video comes with Skill Sheets that summarize and reinforce key ideas.

04:541. Understanding FeelingsVideo and Skill Sheets

04:492. Relaxation SkillsVideo and Skill Sheets

05:083. Understanding ThoughtsVideo and Skill Sheets

05:554. Managing Intense EmotionsVideo and Skill Sheets

Better introduction and graphics

https://childmind.org/healthyminds/