So… ICE Employees are Saying That Their Job is “Fun Again”

I’m watching TWiBPrime live right now, and they are currently talking about this, from the New York Times…

The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said on Tuesday that the president wanted to “take the shackles off” of agents, an expression the officers themselves used time and again in interviews to describe their newfound freedom.

“Morale amongst our agents and officers has increased exponentially since the signing of the orders,” the unions representing ICE and Border Patrol agents said in a joint statement after President Trump issued the executive orders on immigration late last month.

…

Two officials in Washington said that the shift — and the new enthusiasm that has come with it — seems to have encouraged pro-Trump political comments and banter that struck the officials as brazen or gung-ho, like remarks about their jobs becoming “fun.” Those who take less of a hard line on unauthorized immigrants feel silenced, the officials said.

Yup. Their job is becoming “fun”… because Agent Orange has rolled back President Obama’s regulations on ICE (basically, he wanted them to only focus on the worst criminal offenders, whereas Agent Orange basically wants them to intimidate and arrest anyone who isn’t white).

This is even grosser because one of President Obama’s nicknames was “Deporter in Chief” for a reason (though there is some nuance to be discussed with this one).

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

So… Scott Pruitt is Going to “Aggressively” Cut Back President Obama’s Green-Era Rules and Regulations

From Reuters…

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration will begin rolling back Obama-era environmental regulations in an “aggressive way” as soon as next week, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said on Saturday – adding he understood why some Americans want to see his agency eliminated completely.

“I think there are some regulations that in the near-term need to be rolled back in a very aggressive way. And I think maybe next week you may be hearing about some of those,” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told the Conservative Political Action summit in Washington DC.

Pruitt added the EPA’s focus on combating climate change under former President Barack Obama had cost jobs and prevented economic growth, leading many Americans to want to see the EPA eliminated completely.

“I think its justified,” he said. “I think people across this country look at the EPA much like they look at the IRS. I hope to be able to change that.”

So… we can expect that the United States will be leading the way… in making Climate Change worse.

[Read more…]

White House Censors Media

Looks like a clickbait title, doesn’t it?

But… it’s kinda true…

From The Hill…

The White House blocked a number of news outlets from covering spokesman Sean Spicer’s question-and-answer session on Friday afternoon.

Spicer decided to hold an off-camera “gaggle” with reporters inside his West Wing office instead of the traditional on-camera briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.

Among the outlets not permitted to cover the gaggle were news organizations President Trump has singled out for criticism, including CNN.

The New York Times, The Hill, Politico, BuzzFeed, the Daily Mail, BBC, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News were among the other news organizations not permitted to attend.

Journalists from several right-leaning outlets were allowed into Spicer’s office, including Breitbart, the Washington Times and One America News Network.

A number of major news organizations were also let in to cover the gaggle. That group included ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Reuters, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and McClatchy.

Reporters from The Associated Press and Time magazine were allowed into the gaggle but refused to attend.

I think we now know which news organizations are trustworthy… well… for varying definitions of “trustworthy”…

Okay okay…

At least we know which news outlets are being honest about the Cheeto Fascist Administration, anyways…

From AlterNet: Did the Government Doctor Legal Documents in Order to Illegally Deport a Dreamer?

It actually looks like they did…

As a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Daniel Ramirez-Medina’s status as a legal resident of the U.S. should have been fully ensured. Despite that protection, Ramirez-Medina was arrested by federal agents during a raid of his home near Seattle, Washington, on February 10. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contends Ramirez-Medina is a “self-admitted” gang member who filled out documentation attesting to that fact. But his attorneys say the document upon which the government’s case rests has been doctored to intentionally create a gang affiliation, and grounds for deportation, where none exists.

Ramirez-Medina is currently being held at a facility in Tacoma. Last week, he petitioned to be removed from a unit that houses gang members. In the request, Ramirez-Medina wrote, “I came in and the officers said I have gang affiliation with gangs so I wear an orange uniform. I do not have a criminal history and I’m not affiliated with any gangs.” But according to his lawyers, when the document made its way back to Ramirez-Medina five days later, a key phrase had been deleted.

“I have gang affiliation with gangs so I wear an orange uniform,” the paperwork now read. “I do not have a criminal history and I’m not affiliated with any gangs.”

[Read more…]

ICE Has Detained a Brain Tumor Patient

In case you were wondering how fucking evil they are…

From AlterNet:

Less than a week after reports surfaced that an undocumented immigrant in El Paso, Texas, was detained after claiming to be a victim of domestic abuse and receiving a protective order, yet another undocumented immigrant has been rounded up while at her most vulnerable.

An undocumented Salvadoran immigrant known only as Sara was involuntarily taken to Prairieland Detention Center despite her having a brain tumor, according to a report by The Hill. At the time she was apprehended, Sara was a patient at Huguley Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, and receiving treatment for her illness.

Melissa Zuniga, a member of Sara’s legal team, told The Hill, “She told us they tied her hands and ankles in her condition. She’s complaining of a lot of pain.” Sara has been denied the ability to speak with her family and lawyers despite having received clearance from the hospital and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to The Hill.

[Read more…]

Private Prisons Back in Business…

From The Hill:

The Trump administration is rolling back an Obama-era plan to phase out the federal government’s use of private prisons.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a memo Thursday to the Bureau of Prisons rescinding the Obama administration’s Aug. 16 order advising the bureau not to renew any contracts with private prisons, according to a copy of the letter.

Then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates had instructed officials to either not renew private prison contracts or substantially reduce the scope of such contracts to ultimately end the department’s use of privately operated prisons altogether.

In a brief memo Thursday, Sessions said Yates’s order “changed the long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the Bureau’s ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system.”

“Therefore, I direct the Bureau to return to its previous approach,” he wrote.

I just…

It’s too much… all at once.

But that’s the point, isn’t it? Get us so tired we can do nothing…

The next post will be a self-care post, I promise…

From Politico – Spicer: Expect to see ‘greater enforcement’ of federal marijuana law

I knew this would happen. I knew, the moment Sir Tiny Hands was put into office, all the states that have legalized or decriminalized marijuana would be done. I knew it wouldn’t last under him.

And I was right.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that he expects states to see “greater enforcement” of the federal law against marijuana use, a move that would be at odds with a growing number of states’ decisions to legalize it.

Spicer, taking questions from reporters at the daily briefing, differentiated between the administration’s positions on medical marijuana and recreational marijuana.

President Donald Trump “understands the pain and suffering that many people go through who are facing especially terminal diseases, and the comfort that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana, can bring to them,” he said, also noting previous action by Congress not to fund the Justice Department “go[ing] after those folks.”

As for “recreational marijuana, that’s a very, very different subject,” Spicer said.

Spicer suggested that the administration is opposed to encouraging recreational marijuana use and connected it with the crisis with opioid addiction in some areas.

“When you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so many states around this country, the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people,” he said.

The Department of Justice, Spicer said, will be “further looking into” the marijuana enforcement question, he said, punting questions about the specifics to the department.

“I do believe that you’ll see greater enforcement of it,” he said.

[Read more…]

Agent Orange Wants More Radioactive Toys

From Reuters:

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to ensure the U.S. nuclear arsenal is at the “top of the pack,” saying the United States has fallen behind in its weapons capacity.

…

In his first comments about the U.S. nuclear arsenal since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump was asked about a December tweet in which he said the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capacity “until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”

Trump said in the interview he would like to see a world with no nuclear weapons but expressed concern that the United States has “fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity.”

“I am the first one that would like to see … nobody have nukes, but we’re never going to fall behind any country even if it’s a friendly country, we’re never going to fall behind on nuclear power.

“It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, we’re going to be at the top of the pack,” Trump said.

[Read more…]

Dear Mr. Trump…

You’ve already seen this over on the Resist blog and at Affinity. I’m putting it here, too.

Avaaz has a global letter going, and they’d like to get 6 million signatures. I’ve signed. Please, sign yourself, and boost the signal! We can make our voices heard.

Please make sure you sign it. I did.

Here’s the letter in full…

This is not what greatness looks like.

The world rejects your fear, hate-mongering, and bigotry. We reject your support for torture, your calls for murdering civilians, and your general encouragement of violence. We reject your denigration of women, Muslims, Mexicans, and millions of others who don’t look like you, talk like you, or pray to the same god as you.

Facing your fear we choose compassion. Hearing your despair we choose hope. Seeing your ignorance we choose understanding.

As citizens of the world, we stand united against your brand of division.

Sincerely,
[Add your name!]

Go ahead and add your name. Everyone needs to sign it.