November 13, 2024

Wednesday, November 13, 2024. Annette’s News Roundup.

Kamala greeted her staff at the White House.

and Vice Versa.

One more thing.

more love from the Vice President.

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A Reaction to Trump’s immoral behaviors.

A New Type of Operation Warp Speed

by Andrew Egger

Here’s the bedrock question that dictates how the early days of Donald Trump’s second term will go: Did voters go in with clear eyes about what he was promising? Or did they simply vote out the party holding the bag on inflation, pushing a big button with “CHANGE” printed on it with only a gauzy idea of what would come next?

It won’t take long to find out.

On the campaign trail, Trump routinely pledged to begin “the biggest mass deportation in history” on his first day in office. His earliest personnel announcements make clear he plans to be as good as his word.

Stephen Miller, perhaps the most rabidly anti-immigration (legal and illegal) voice in Trump’s first term, will quarterback Trump’s policy agenda as deputy chief of staff. The New York Times reports that Miller’s portfolio “is expected to be vast and to far exceed what the eventual title will convey.”

Miller will be aided by Tom Homan, Trump’s former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whom Trump has now tapped as his “border czar.”

During Trump’s first term, Homan was most notable as the intellectual father of Trump’s most controversial
immigration move: the “zero tolerance” policy that separated thousands of migrant parents and children in 2017 and 2018. Ripping families apart, Homan told the Atlantic in 2022, would help discourage other families from making the trek: “Most parents don’t want to be separated.”

Today, he’s setting his sights higher. Last month, a CBS reporter asked Homan whether it would be possible to carry out mass deportations without separating families. “Of course there is,” Homan replied. “Families can be deported together.”

The subtext here, of course, is that many illegal immigrants have U.S.-born children who are American citizens under the 14th Amendment. But Trump has also promised a day one executive order “ending” the constitutional doctrine of birthright citizenship, daring the courts to stop him.

Last night, Homan appeared on Fox News for an interview with Sean Hannity, who floated a possible way Trump could make his deportations at least appear more humane: Why not encourage illegal immigrants to self-report for deportation in exchange for some cash to help them restart their lives, and the possibility of a pathway to return legally within a year or two? Homan didn’t bite. “The ones that want to go home on their own—they found their way across the world to come to the greatest nation on earth. They can find their way home.”

Polling regularly suggested throughout the year that a majority of the public supports mass deportations: a Scripps/Ipsos poll in September put the proposal at 54 percent support, 42 percent opposition. But there’s also reason to believe that public support is a mile wide and an inch deep—that people believe unchecked immigration is out of control but lack a concrete sense of what a mass-deportation operation would look like in practice.

One poll taken by Data for Progress last month presented respondents with a number of hypothetical border-crossers, then asked them simply: Should this person be deported? In two of these hypothetical cases—a person who recently crossed the border without legal status, and a person who crossed the border with a criminal record for a non-violent offense—strong majorities favored deportation. But strong majorities opposed deportation for each of the other hypothetical immigrants: an educated person who had overstayed a visa, a longtime illegal resident with U.S.-born children, a person currently in the United States under Temporary Protected Status, a person awaiting an asylum decision, and a person brought to the United States as a child who has lived here for 20 years.

If 65 percent of Americans oppose deporting non-citizens who have lived here since childhood, with only 19 percent supporting such deportations, how many would cheer the far more berserk policy of deporting U.S. citizens to countries they’ve never even seen?

Voters’ opinions are always in flux. Joe Biden spent the first six months of his presidency enjoying respectable approval ratings—but they cratered in the wake of his first serious policy embarrassment, the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, and never recovered. Voters who liked a hypothetical Trump return may find themselves repulsed when they see it in action. We’ll soon find out. ( The Bulwark).

Some plan how to stop Trump.

One of them is Chuck Schumer.

Senate Democrats stress about Dick Durbin stopping Trump on judges

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y). is plotting extraordinary measures to stop President-elect Trump's agenda on confirming judges and appointing his administration. But he'll have to decide fast if his No. 2 is up for the job.

Why it matters: Democrats tell Axios they're nervous about whether Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), 79, has the fire to fight Trump nominees as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Schumer's options include jamming up GOP attempts to adjourn the chamber for Trump to make recess appointments, sources tell us.

But they can only delay the process as long as Senate Democrats have the energy to keep it up.

Durbin, who is also the Senate Democratic whip, has publicly mused about his future in the Senate. He's up for reelection in 2026.

The intrigue: A number of Democrats pointed to Durbin's age as a major factor.

Of course, Trump himself is 78 and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who is set to chair the Judiciary Committee, is 91.

Durbin was on Judiciary during the first Trump administration, and impressed with his efforts to fight against GOP nominations.

But Senate Democrats are more prone to remember the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) as the top Democrat on the panel. She came under intense fire for not fighting harder against Trump Supreme Court nominees.

The big picture: Trump has demanded that the next Senate GOP leader allow him to make recess appointments for his administration.

This would allow Trump to make temporary appointments while the Senate is out of session, and those appointments can stay in the position for up to two years.

Senate Democrats are compiling ways they could prevent that. One method being floated is filing a string of amendments to any Republican attempt to adjourn the chamber and allow Trump to make appointments.

As for Durbin, his position as both the Senate's No. 2-ranking Democrat and the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee has caused angst.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who in the past has raised questions about leadership members serving in top posts on committees, told Axios he doesn't know if he will raise those concerns again.

But Whitehouse said "the valuable positions are concentrated among a very small number of people ... other talented people don't get a shot."

What they're saying: Durbin's deputy chief of staff for communications, Emily Hampsten, told Axios that Durbin "stands ready to continue to lead his colleagues as Ranking Member in the 119th Congress."

"Sen. Durbin has successfully led the Judiciary Committee for the past four years as Chair — leading to 214, and counting, lifetime judges confirmed during the Biden administration," Hampsten said.

Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the committee, told Axios that "There's nobody better than Chair Durbin to lead the charge against Donald Trump."

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said Durbin "did a remarkable job opposing Trump's judicial nominees during his first administration and I know Dick can do it again."
Despite losing his majority last week, Schumer is not expected to face any challenge to his leadership of Senate Democrats.

Some intrigue: Sources around Schumer believe Democrats were sunk by a problem at the top of the ticket, evidenced by the party's Senate candidates out-performing Vice President Harris in every swing state.

That keeps a Senate majority on the table for Democrats in 2026. (Axios)

A guide to Gavin Newsom’s Trump-proofing efforts by POLITICO’s California bureau.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is pleading with his Democratic friends in Washington to help the Golden State prepare its defenses for Trump 2.0.

The governor is in D.C. today to lobby the outgoing Biden-Harris administration over a series of last-minute funding decisions and federal waiver extensions before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

Trump has already lashed out at Newsom and California officials over the effort to “Trump-proof” the state, and the former president has a history of using the Oval Office to punish California by withholding or threatening to claw back funding.

Now, Newsom has two months to build a firewall.

The governor landed in the Beltway on Monday afternoon and was set to spend the next 36 hours meeting with White House officials and California’s congressional delegation. Izzy Gardon, a Newsom spokesperson who’s traveling with the governor in Washington, said focus areas include “disaster funding, the approval of state healthcare initiatives aimed at improving access to health and mental healthcare for Californians and crucial climate and clean-air efforts.”

Newsom has vowed to make California a leader of the resistance against Trump’s second term — especially when it comes to disagreements over the state’s voter-ID and climate laws, as well as protections for patients seeking abortions and LGBTQ+ rights.

POLITICO’s California team is tracking the policy areas where the outgoing administration could aid Newsom and state Democrats. Here are our reporters’ insights:

Disaster aid: It’s tough to parse which threats Trump may follow through on, but Newsom appears to be taking Trump’s promise to withhold disaster relief funding from California seriously. The governor is pressing the Biden administration and its Federal Emergency Management Agency to fulfill several outstanding funding requests. They include reimbursements for $5.2 billion in emergency coronavirus relief spending by state and local governments that could be in jeopardy. That’s on top of the untold amount of California’s budget that Newsom wants to set aside to backfill any lost disaster aid — a proposal he floated first to POLITICO last month. — Blake Jones, education and budget reporter,

Electric cars: Newsom will advocate for the eight waivers that California still hasn’t received from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to let it phase out fossil fuel-burning cars, trucks and trains. EPA has until President Joe Biden’s last day in office, Jan. 19, to approve the waivers, which give California authority to enforce stronger-than-federal air standards. Trump — who’s consistently attacked California’s electric vehicle policies — has promised to revoke California’s zero-emission rules once in office. Any waivers that haven’t already been approved, however, can simply be denied. — Alex Nieves, climate reporter

Land preservation: Newsom has thrown his weight behind campaigns led by environmental and tribal groups asking Biden to designate three new national monuments: the Kw’tsán National Monument and the Chuckwalla National Monument in the Southern California desert, and the Sáttítla National Monument in the Shasta-Trinity highlands in Northern California. The designations would forbid development, including renewable energy projects, from nearly 1 million acres total and further California’s efforts to conserve 30 percent of its land and coast by 2030. Biden earlier this year expanded the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Northern California’s Coast Range and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument near Los Angeles. — Camille von Kaenel, environment reporter

Federal health waivers: California has several big health care programs pending federal approval, including efforts related to reproductive health, behavioral health and funding for Medicaid. The two programs Newsom is focusing on most for this trip are getting approval on a behavioral health program that uses Medicaid dollars to strengthen the broader system for mental health care so people have treatment options outside of institutional settings. He’s also gunning for approval of the state’s MCO tax, which could bring in billions at almost no cost. Voters just overwhelmingly said they wanted this tax to be renewed by approving the statewide ballot measure Proposition 35. — Rachel Bluth, health care reporter

High-speed rail: Another big pot of money with a target on its back is California’s embattled high-speed rail project, which is relying on billions of dollars in federal funding to complete the Central Valley leg of the route that could eventually connect Los Angeles to San Francisco. Congressional Republicans have introduced multiple bills in recent years to block funding. But former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was instrumental in persuading the Biden administration to award California $6 billion for rail projects last year, including $3.1 billion for the Central Valley portion of the bullet train. Newsom and Democrats on the Hill will surely be looking for ways to get that funding out the door sooner than later. — Alex and Dustin. (Politico).

Immigration policy: Donald Trump has promised a closed border and mass deportations. Those affected are taking action

(CNN) — Immigrants, their employers and groups that work with them are already taking action ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, in which he has promised to deport millions of people.

Some fear how the new administration could impact their families, while others are hopeful the plans — if they materialize — will make things better.

Trump allies are discussing deportation and detention options, with tackling the US-Mexico border seen as a priority from Day 1. And removing undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes is likely to be an early focus, a source familiar with the team’s preliminary plans told CNN.

But advocates fear deportation plans will soon reach deeper into American communities, targeting people who they say have a right to live here.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the United States, is securing money and lawyers to fight what it is already calling potential “vicious, malevolent, cruel and ruthless” immigration policies.

“Make no mistake: Mass deportations will harm the millions targeted by Donald Trump, the families and communities they are part of — and every person in our country. They will rip parents from their children, destroy businesses and livelihoods, and devastate the fabric of our nation and our economy,” said Juan Proaño, CEO of LULAC.

A lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union says its planning for legal challenges is already well advanced.

“We have been preparing for a second Trump term for nearly a year, with a focus on the most draconian possible policies, including the threat to use the military for deportation, which is flatly illegal,” said Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney who argued many of the most high-profile cases during Trump’s first term.

The National Immigrant Justice Center said its lawyers were ready, too.

“We will continue our work of providing critical legal representation to immigrants and refugees, fighting to keep families together, defending access to asylum, and advocating for the end of arbitrary detention and unjust deportation,” Mary Meg McCarthy, the center’s executive director, said in a statement.

‘What happens now?’

Cesar Espinosa, a leader in Houston’s Hispanic community, said he’s had many calls and messages from worried people since Trump won reelection early Wednesday.

“We can feel the sense of uncertainty from a lot of people. A lot of people are asking, ‘What happens now? What do we do?’” he said.

Some are in so-called mixed status families made up of US citizens and undocumented immigrants. And the fear is that non citizens will be targeted immediately, said Espinosa, who is a legal permanent resident, or “green card” holder.

He says he tries to calm fears by saying that mass deportations, particularly of non-criminals, will take time. Meanwhile, he keeps count of the time when he can apply for US naturalization, still more than two years away.

Espinosa said machismo among Latino men may have contributed to support for Trump.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people in the Latino community have bought into the rhetoric of being anti-immigrant, even the immigrants themselves,” he said.

Jorge Rivas’ support for Trump is obvious. He features a MAGA burger on the menu at Sammy’s Mexican Grill, in Catalina, Arizona, north of Tucson, the restaurant he runs with his wife, Betty.

Rivas, born in El Salvador, was granted asylum at age 17, he says, and sees little connection between his life as an immigrant and those at the top of Trump’s potential deportation list.

“If they let in hundreds or thousands of people who already have criminal records, if deporting them creates a mass deportation, I’m all for it,” he said.

He does not think the action will extend to law-abiding workers.

“That wouldn’t be fair,” he said. “They need to make sure that they don’t throw away, they don’t kick out, they don’t deport people that are family oriented.”

Advocates mobilize

In California, where farmers are reliant on migrant labor, there is a renewed call for immigration reform to allow people into the US for temporary agricultural work. There are also calls for legal status for the current workforce.

“We must focus on easing the chronic employee shortages on California farms and ranches and reducing the barriers to employment,” California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass said in a statement to CNN.

In the urban heart of New York City, where thousands of migrants and asylum seekers have stretched local resources, some houses of worship are preparing to shift their missions.

“The faith community has been mobilized for more than two and a half years in kind of an emergency capacity,” said the Rev. Chloe Breyer, executive director of the Interfaith Center of New York, a religiously diverse non-profit agency. “The challenge was not specifically deportation, as it is now, the challenge was the feeding, the housing and the welcome of enormous numbers of people.”

She said there was a biweekly call of about 60 churches, mosques and synagogues involved in welcoming migrants that could be pivoted. “That’s the network that will be mobilized when it comes to fighting any sort of more extreme measures such as deportation.”

A day after the election, New York City officials said fear was premature when they addressed immigration and how they would work with the incoming Trump administration.

The city has sanctuary laws that prevent local authorities from contacting federal immigration officers if they come across a migrant without permission to be in the US. Some in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration have said they want the laws amended to not include those who commit violent crimes, but for now any city-federal cooperation is limited.

“We’re working with all of the agencies that interact with immigrant communities to make sure that they understand what our sanctuary laws are and what they are expected to follow,” said Manuel Castro, the mayor’s commissioner for immigrant affairs. While the laws are in place, he said, anxiety and fear for immigrant communities is rooted in misinformation and even hate crimes.

But Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, warned that sanctuary laws won’t stop federal immigration agencies from doing what they want.

“Sanctuary laws don’t stop federal agencies. They just don’t allow the city and state to participate,” Awawdeh said. “They’ve never been a firewall.”

Federal enforcement Officials in US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, two agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, are not commenting on any potential new policies or preparations. Both would be central to any deportation plan, but top leadership will not change until the second Trump administration begins its work on January 20.

At both the northern and southern borders, apprehensions of those who have crossed illegally continue to be low in 2024, with a seven-day average of 1,700 a day, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the government data. The busiest sector was San Diego, with 350 people detained on Tuesday.

At some points in December 2023, migrant apprehensions exceeded 10,000 per day on the US southern border.

The day after the election, Jim Desmond, a member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, posted a picture of himself and Vice President-elect JD Vance at the border wall, saying he was looking forward to securing it. Earlier this year, Desmond testified before Congress that federal policies had meant “our Border Patrol has been reduced to processing agents, standing by, watching people break our laws.”

Kenia Zamarripa, of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, said many local businesses had ties across the border with companies, operations and workers and that an efficient and secure border should still facilitate trade and travel.

“It’s not just manufacturing, it’s not just tourism or retail, these are high-paying jobs and skilled workers that our businesses need to thrive,” she told CNN.

The tone was more defiant in Los Angeles, where the University of Southern California estimated last year there were more than 800,000 undocumented immigrants in LA county. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told CNN: “The immigrant community is the heart of our city and in the face of threats and fear, Los Angeles will stand together. No one should live in fear due to their immigration status. We will continue to support local and state policies that protect immigrants and provide vital resources.”

She added: “My message is simple: No matter where you were born, how you came to this country, Los Angeles will stand with you and this will not change.”

The Los Angeles Unified School District — the second largest in the nation behind New York City — said it was bracing for a potential threat of legal action against students and their families that could lead to separation or deportation. It added that it would not enter into agreements with government agencies for the enforcement of federal immigration law unless required by law.

“Immigration enforcement activities around schools create hardships and barriers to health and educational attainment and cultivate a pervasive climate of fear, conflict, and stress that affects all students in our district, regardless of their background or immigration status,” a spokesperson for the district said in a statement sent to CNN.

Across the border from San Diego in Tijuana, Mexico, about 3,400 people are waiting in migrant shelters, according to Jose Luis Perez Canchola, the city’s migration affairs director.

Many are hoping to enter the US legally using the CBP ONE app run by DHS to get an immigration appointment, but there are fears that the app could be impacted, he said.

“In the event of a mass cancellation of appointments and closing CBP ONE, what may happen is that many will decide to illegally cross the border before January 2025,” Perez Canchola said.

There is also concern in Piedras Negras, the Mexican city across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass, Texas. “There’s fear and trepidation,” said Sister Isabel Turcios, director of the Frontera Digna shelter, where migrants were also using CBP ONE to get an appointment with an immigration officer.

“I try to calm them because the anxiety they’re feeling is very great,” she said. (CNN).

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Your Daily Reminder

Trump is a convicted felon.

On May 30th, he was found guilty on 34 felony counts by the unanimous vote of 12 ordinary citizens.

The Convicted Felon Donald J. Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on July 11th and September 18th. He will now be sentenced on November 26.

Judge grants request to pause Trump's hush money case.

The New York judge overseeing President-elect Trump's criminal hush money case on Tuesday granted a request by the defense and prosecution to pause the case in light of Trump's recent election win.

Why it matters: The ruling is a win for Trump — the only president to be convicted of a crime — and the latest instance in which his electoral victory has ground the legal cases against him to a halt.

Trump faces an unprecedented scenario in which he could be sentenced less than two months before his inauguration. However, Merchan's ruling could change that.

Driving the news: Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo requested Sunday that Merchan pause the case to allow the prosecution time to consider the "impact on this proceeding from the results of the Presidential election," per court documents.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove wrote the same day that the defense also sought a stay the case's scheduled dates for the immunity motion decision and sentencing.

In a decision issued Tuesday, Merchan granted the stay until Nov. 19. He gave the prosecution until then to file an outline of appropriate next steps.

Catch up quick: In early July, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines that presidents have immunity for "official acts." That decision undercut the federal Jan. 6 case against the former president brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Trump soon after moved to get his criminal conviction in the hush money case dismissed. He made also similar attempts to lean on the immunity ruling in his other legal cases.
The hush money case represents an early test of how expansive the Supreme Court's immunity decision can be interpreted.

The judge in each case must determine whether the allegations against Trump constitute "officials acts."
State of play: Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts in New York for falsifying business records in connection with a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels over an alleged sexual encounter.

The verdict made him the first-ever former U.S. president to be a convicted felon.

Trump tried a number of unsuccessful tactics to fight the case, from attempting to get Merchan to recuse himself to moving the case to federal court.
Zoom out: Trump's electoral victory has already had ramifications for his other legal cases.

Days after the election, Smith began winding down both his federal Jan. 6 case and classified documents case against Trump.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan granted Smith's motion to pause proceedings in the Jan. 6 case.
What to watch: In early September, Merchan agreed to delay sentencing in the case to Nov. 26 in a bid to avoid an appearance of seeking to influence the results of the election.

Trump was initially set to be sentenced in the case in July. It was then delayed to September. (Axios).

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Something to cheer your soul.

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