There were a couple of pieces of good news during the past week, first and foremost the ceasefire between Israel and Iran. In addition, there were a couple of improvements in the terrible budget bill, including the preservation of the Consumer Finance Protection Board, the prevention of the selling off of public lands and the elimination of vouchers for religious schools. That said, the bill will be a catastrophe for our children and grandchildren, as well as the millions of people who will be affected almost immediately.
And the past week was deeply discouraging to those of us fighting to preserve American democracy, equal rights and the rule of law. The Republican Congress refused to require Trump to get its approval before launching any attacks on Iran. And three Supreme Court decisions gave Trump and his enablers and allies victories: Trump v. CASA; Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D; and Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
In CASA, a case challenging Trump’s Executive Order ending birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, the Court held that the lower federal courts cannot issue broad injunctions against the enforcement of executive orders that they find are unconstitutional; instead, their rulings will apply only to the litigants in the case before them. It is obvious what this means. And the Court did not bother to rule on the merits of the challenge to the order, which the Justice Department had not appealed.
In D.V.D., the Court ruled that the Administration can deport people to countries with which they have no connection, including places like South Sudan.
In Medina, the Court ruled that Medicaid enrollees cannot seek relief in federal court to enforce Medicaid’s “free-choice of provider provision.” The end result is that states can disallow people from using Medicaid benefits at Planned Parenthood on the grounds that PP provides abortion services in states where abortion is still legal. Medicaid is a major source of revenue for Planned Parenthood clinics.
There were other bad developments in the past week, among them the termination of Temporary Protected Status for nearly 500,000 Haitians.
It is disheartening to see things getting worse and to see the Trump people garnering so many victories at the Supreme Court level. All I can say, as so many others far more knowledgeable than I have said, is that we must not give up and let Trump’s version of America become normalized. We must keep calling to let our representatives and others know that we do not accept what is happening. Silence from the public will be interpreted as acceptance or defeat. So please make a few calls in the course of the week, if only to let our representatives know that we are still outraged and worried.
There are many things to call about. Perhaps because this is Trump’s big focus right now, we should highlight the terrible aspects of the budget bill. But we might also condemn the cowardice of the vote on military attacks; the cruelty towards immigrants - this week Haitians in particular; the enabling of Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship to go into effect in many places; and the enabling of the deportation of detained people (some of whom may well be U.S. citizens and many of whom have a legal right to be here claiming asylum) to war zones and countries run by brutal dictators. Once again, if you need ideas or language, check 5calls.org.
Thanks for hanging in,
Jean
P.S. If anyone is interested in signing up for the court accompaniment program for immigrants mentioned in last week's action letter, here is the corrected link: https://airtable.com/appOtYRoh3ZYJKlZH/shrfxBqno03N1C98a
Check out these web sites for information on demonstrations and other actions you can take in your area this week.
5calls.org
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