Category: Latinos

Illegal Immigrant Demands Change to the Pledge of Allegiance in Hill Op-Ed

By Richard Moorhead

“I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America- one nation, invisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

American kids accustomed to beginning their days at school with a recitation of the timeless Pledge of Allegiance may soon have to adapt to some changes, if an illegal immigrant dissatisfied with its content get his way.

Cesar Vargas, an illegal immigrant who has become a practicing attorney in spite of his legal status, authored an op-ed in The Hill on Tuesday calling for the nearly 150-year old pledge to be altered, as apparently it failed to suit his political preferences.

The original pledge was a creation of former Union Army officer George Thatcher Balch, who created it as a means to popularize American patriotism in New York City schools, which were at the time tasked with educating and assimilating the children of many recent Irish and Italian immigrants.

Trending: Native Activist Who Harassed Catholic Teens Identified As Actor From 2012 Skrillex Video About Attacking Police

According to Vargas, the pledge is a product of “the fear of a white native-born Protestant culture,” and must “updated” so that it “takes pride in our immigrant heritage and the equality of all Americans.”

The central contraction of the pledge of allegiance to the United States being something that belonged to Americans- not foreign nationals like Vargas- seemed to escape the author throughout the op-ed, treating a venerated tradition of the United States as something which he had the right to impose upon.

An “upgraded” version of the pledge was floated later in the piece:

“I pledge allegiance and love to our indigenous and immigrant heritage, rooted in the United States of America, to our civil rights for which we strive, one voice, one nation, for equality and justice for all.”

Truly touching. Now, instead of pledging allegiance to their country, Americans have the chance to make a daily affirmation in support of immigration, should Vargas get his way.

Vargas is also a leading pro-amnesty and illegal immigration advocate, serving as the leader of the Dream Action Coalition.

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Trump to Pelosi: Ready or not, State of the Union is happening ‘on time & on location’

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US President Donald Trump has informed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that he will show up on January 29 to deliver the State of the Union. She replied that it cannot happen until the government shutdown ends.

In a letter sent to Pelosi (D-California) on Day 33 of the shutdown, Trump said that he had already accepted her “kind invitation” when he got another letter about security concerns, on January 16. However, both the Secret Service and Homeland Security assured him  “there would be absolutely no problem regarding security” and even said so publicly.

“Therefore, I will be honoring your invitation, and fulfilling my Constitutional duty, to deliver important information to the people and Congress the United States of America regarding the State of our Union,” the president wrote on Wednesday.

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“It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!” he added at the end, in a typical Trumpian flourish.

Pelosi responded within a couple hours, telling Trump that the House will “not consider a concurrent resolution” authorizing the president’s speech in the House chamber until the government has reopened, in effect rescinding her invitation.

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The letter exchange is just the latest twist in the war of words between Trump, a Republican, and the congressional Democrats. At the end of last year, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) blocked the approval of a bill passed by the Republican-majority House giving $5.6 billion to Trump’s proposed border wall, triggering a government shutdown. Pelosi, who became Speaker on January 3, after a new Democrat-majority House was sworn in, has flat-out refused any funding for the wall, ever, calling it “immoral.”

About a quarter of the government has been shuttered as a result, with some 800,000 federal workers either sent home or made to work without pay until the impasse is resolved.

Attempting to leverage Trump into surrendering, Pelosi sent the January 16 letter about security concerns, bringing up the fact that Trump’s Secret Service security detail and indeed the entire Department of Homeland Security are among the furloughed feds.

Both DHS and the Secret Service immediately chimed in to say that this mission was critical and would not be affected. Trump also fired back the following day, denying Pelosi the use of US military assets for congressional travel – including a trip she and a delegation of House Democrats have already embarked on, to Belgium and and Afghanistan. Pelosi fumed, but did not take the final step of dis-inviting the president at the time.

Under Article II, Section 3 of the US Constitution, the president “shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” It was traditionally delivered in writing until President Woodrow Wilson appeared in person before the joint session of Congress in 1913.

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REPORT: Pelosi Signals State of Union Shutdown, Tells Democratic Caucus Members Not to Invite Family to D.C.

By Peter D’Abrosca

A Wednesday morning report from a CNN correspondent said that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told Democratic caucus members not to invite their families to Washington D.C. next week, signaling that the State of the Union speech will not happen as planned.

“Speaker Pelosi advised members not to bring family to Washington next week, an implication that the State of the Union is not going to happen, per source in a morning caucus meeting. Members often invite spouses and other family to attend the SOTU,” explained Manu Raju on Twitter.

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If true (this is a CNN report, remember) Pelosi’s actions would represent an escalation in the border wall funding feud between Democrats and President Donald J. Trump.

Saturday, Trump offered the Democrats an extension of President Barack H. Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in exchange for wall funding. Pelosi and company swiftly declined the deal, shifting the burden of the shutdown onto the Democrats.

Before that, Pelosi surprised the Trump administration by saying that she would disinvite him from the State of the Union speech – not that he needs her permission to convene Congress.

Trump responded by cancelling Pelosi’s taxpayer-funded trip abroad, just one hour before she and a Congressional delegation were set to go wheels up from Andrews Air Force Base, an epic power move.

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New caravan enters Mexico — legally or not…

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Ciudad Hidalgo (Mexico) (AFP)

Hundreds of Central Americans entered Mexico illegally as the latest migrant caravan to set its sights on the United States began crossing the Mexican-Guatemalan border en masse Friday.

Not content to wait five days for the humanitarian visas Mexico is offering them, several hundred migrants took to make-shift rafts to cross the Suchiate River, which forms the frontier, or snuck across the loosely guarded border bridge overnight, AFP correspondents said.

That could trigger a new Twitter firestorm from US President Donald Trump, who has urged Mexico to halt such caravans, and who tweeted early Friday: “Another big Caravan heading our way. Very hard to stop without a Wall!”

Caravans of migrants hoping to find safety in numbers have taken center stage in the raging US debate over Trump’s proposed border wall, which has led to a government shutdown that is now the longest in history.

Around 2,000 migrants are traveling in the latest caravan — smaller than the one that swelled to 7,000 migrants late last year, leading Trump to warn of an “invasion” by “criminals” and “thugs” and send thousands of troops to the US-Mexican border.

Mexican authorities are urging the migrants to cross the border legally and offering expedited “visitor cards” that let them work and access basic health care in Mexico.

So far, 969 migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua have been registered under the program and given bracelets that they can exchange for visitor cards in five days.

But hundreds more migrants ignored the offer and crossed illegally, not content to wait in the park where the caravan has camped out in the border city of Tecun Uman, Guatemala.

“A lot of us aren’t interested in waiting five days. Our goal is to reach the United States,” said Alma Mendoza, a nurse and single mother making the trip with her three children.

“We don’t have food, much less money. We want to reach our destination,” she told AFP.

Other migrants said they would consider staying in Mexico.

“My goal is to reach the United States, but if I can’t I’ll stay in Mexico and work. They’re giving us an opportunity,” said Christian Medrano, 33, an industrial technician.

– ‘AMLO’ walking fine line –

The caravan set out Tuesday from San Pedro Sula, in northwestern Honduras, and has grown along the way.

The migrants are mostly fleeing poverty and crime in Central America’s “Northern Triangle” of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Brutal street gangs have made the three countries among the most violent in the world.

Another caravan of about 200 migrants set out Wednesday from El Salvador and is now in southern Mexico, possibly poised to join up with the first.

Many of the migrants are traveling in families, often with small children.

Those who reached Mexico’s southern border have covered about 700 kilometers (435 miles) so far. They have roughly 4,000 kilometers to go if they take the same route as the last caravan, to Tijuana, across from San Diego, California.

When that caravan reached Mexico in October, the authorities tried to stop it with riot police. But the migrants stormed in anyway, tearing down border fences then crossing the river illegally when police refused to let them through.

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Since then, Mexico has got a new government, led by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, an anti-establishment leftist.

“AMLO,” as the new president is widely known, has promised to treat migrants more humanely than previous governments. But he has also sought to stay on Trump’s good side with talk of reducing migrant flows.

The October caravan largely dispersed after reaching Tijuana.

US Border Patrol agents fought back two attempts by the migrants to rush the border, firing tear gas to disperse them.

Some have since found work in Mexico, some crossed the border and filed asylum claims, and many returned home. About 400 remain in a shelter set up for them in Tijuana that is slated to be closed on Wednesday.

See the source image

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Rapper Cardi B Melts Down: Slams Government Shutdown, Calls Trump Supporters ‘F**king Racist Rednecks’

INDIO, CA - APRIL 22: Cardi B performs onstage during the 2018 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 22, 2018 in Indio, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella)

By Justin Caruso

Rapper Cardi B lashed out at President Trump again Wednesday, criticizing the government shutdown and calling supporters of the president “f**king racist rednecks.”

In a series of videos posted to Instagram, Cardi B attacked the president and his supporters in vulgar terms.

“I don’t want to hear any of y’all motherfuckers talkin’ ’bout, ‘Oh, but Obama shut down the government for 17 days.’ Yeah, bitch, for healthcare!” she said. “So your grandma could check her blood pressure and you bitches could go check y’all pussy at the gynecologist with no mother fuckin’ problem!”

“This shit is really fucking serious bro. This shit is crazy. Our country is in a hellhole right now. All for a fucking wall.”

In a previous video, the “Bodak Yellow” rapper said, “You promised these fucking racist rednecks that you was gonna build the wall, but you know that was impossible.”

“But they voted for you and you promised them this shit so now you have to do it,” she said.

In another video posted to her social media this week, the 26-year-old fantasized about beating up the president.

“Like I swear to God, if I was there, I would have punched the motherfuckin’–I would have motherfuckin’ punched the wig out of Trump, bro,” the New York rapper said in response to Trump serving McDonald’s to Clemson football players.

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PELOSI TAUNTS TRUMP: YOUR STATE OF UNION POSTPONED! SHUTDOWN TURNS WEAPON

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By CATHERINE LUCEY, JILL COLVIN and LISA MASCARO18 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The partial government shutdown threw a prime Washington ritual into question Wednesday as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked President Donald Trump to forgo his Jan. 29 State of the Union speech, expressing doubts that the hobbled government can provide adequate security. Republicans saw her move as a ploy to deny Trump the stage.

In a letter to Trump, Pelosi said that with both the Secret Service and the Homeland Security Department entangled in the shutdown, the president should speak to Congress another time or he should deliver the address in writing. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen denied anyone’s safety is compromised, saying both agencies “are fully prepared to support and secure the State of the Union.”

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Inviting the president to give the speech is usually pro forma, and Pelosi issued the invitation in routine fashion, in consultation with the White House, several weeks ago. But with the shutdown in its fourth week, the White House and Democrats in a stalemate and the impasse draining the finances of hundreds of thousands of federal employees, little routine is left in the capital.

Pelosi left unclear what would happen if Trump insisted on coming despite the welcome mat being pulled away. It takes a joint resolution of the House and Congress to extend the official invitation and set the stage.

“We’ll have to have a security evaluation, but that would mean diverting resources,” she told reporters when asked how she would respond if Trump still intended to come. “I don’t know how that could happen.”

She added: “This is a continuation of government issue that we have the proper security for such an event.” She was referring to an occasion that brings all three branches of government together in the same room — the president, members of Congress and the Supreme Court justices who attend.

To Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the matter was less about security than about Pelosi feeling she has the upper hand in the budget standoff.

“She’s talking about canceling the State of the Union — this is not somebody who’s feeling any pressure,” Johnson said. “I think Republicans are getting the lion’s share of the pressure.”

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said he hopes Trump will proceed with his speech. Pelosi is “censoring this vital message for transparent political purposes,” he said.

The White House hosted a bipartisan group of lawmakers, followed by a group of Republican senators, on the 26th day of the shutdown, with no sign of breaking through the impasse over Trump’s demands for $5.7 billion to build a wall along the Mexican border. Democratic leaders are refusing to bargain over a border wall they oppose as long as the government remains partially closed.

On Wednesday, Trump signed legislation into law affirming that the roughly 800,000 federal workers who have been going without pay will ultimately be compensated for their lost wages. That was the practice in the past.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware are leading a renewed effort to persuade Trump to let the government reopen for three weeks in return for a commitment from lawmakers to try to address his concerns about border security in that period. They are seeking signatures on a letter spelling out the plan.

Trump rejected that approach earlier and the initiative was having trouble getting many Republicans on board.

“Does that help the president or does that hurt the president?” asked Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., among those who went to the White House. He has not signed the letter. “If the president saw it as a way to be conciliatory, if he thought it would help, then perhaps it’s a good idea,” he said. “If it’s just seen as a weakening of his position, then he probably wouldn’t do it.”

While Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she has signed, others said GOP support was lacking. “They’re a little short on the R side,” said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., another leader of the effort.

Other lawmakers are floating additional plans, but Graham was skeptical any would break through.

“I am running out of ideas,” he said.

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“The Democrats are not going to negotiate with the government shut down,” he said. “People in the White House don’t like hearing that. I don’t know what to tell them other than what I actually think.”

Even as administration officials projected confidence in their course, Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said Tuesday the shutdown is slowing growth more than predicted.

An economic shift could rattle Trump, who has tied his political fortunes to the stock market and repeatedly stressed economic gains as evidence that his tax-cut package and deregulation efforts are succeeding. Economic optimism had already cooled somewhat as Trump’s trade fight with China shook the markets.

Hassett told reporters the White House is doubling its estimate of the strain on the economy of the shutdown, and now calculates that it is slowing growth by about 0.1 percentage points a week.

With the shutdown in its fourth week, that suggests the economy has lost nearly a half-percentage point of growth so far, though some of that occurred at the end of last year and some in the first quarter of this year. Hassett said the economy should get a boost when the government re-opens.

Previous White House estimates of the impact did not fully take into account the effect on people who work for private companies that contract with the government to provide services, Hassett said.

 

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