January, 08 2018, 04:00pm EDT
Ellison on Trump's Decision to End Protected Status For 200,000 Salvadorans
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) issued the following statement after it was announced that President Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen would end Temporary Protected Status for approximately 200,000 Salvadorans seeking refuge in the United States:
WASHINGTON
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) issued the following statement after it was announced that President Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen would end Temporary Protected Status for approximately 200,000 Salvadorans seeking refuge in the United States:
"President Trump's heartless decision to upend the lives of nearly 200,000 Salvadorans has no rational justification. Deporting these Salvadorans, who have lived here for a minimum of 17 years, is a choice driven by Trump's compulsion to turn us against our neighbors. As with his decisions to end protections for Nicaraguan and Haitian immigrants last year, today the president has chosen anti-immigrant bigotry over sensible and humane policy.
It tears at the conscience of our nation to send these families back to El Salvador, a country widely regarded as one of the most violent in the world. Those of us devastated by today's decision must now join together against this administration's attacks. I will continue to stand with immigrant communities and our allies to ensure Congress does the right thing and provides legal status for these countless families."
Rep. Keith Ellison has represented the Fifth Congressional District of Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives since taking office on January 4, 2007. The Fifth Congressional District is the most vibrant and diverse district in Minnesota with a rich history and traditions. The Fifth District includes the City of Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs.
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Wyden Says Spying Bill Would Force Americans to Become an 'Agent for Big Brother'
"If you have access to any communications, the government can force you to help it spy," said Sen. Ron Wyden.
Apr 17, 2024
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden took to the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to speak out against a chilling mass surveillance bill that lawmakers are working to rush through the upper chamber and send to President Joe Biden's desk by the end of the week.
The measure in question would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for two years and massively expand the federal government's warrantless surveillance power by requiring a wide range of businesses and individuals to cooperate with spying efforts.
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Wyden's remarks came after the Senate narrowly approved a motion Tuesday to proceed to the FISA reauthorization bill ahead of Section 702's expiration at the end of the week. The Oregon senator, an outspoken privacy advocate, was among the seven members of the Democratic caucus who voted against the procedural motion.
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Titled Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), the legislation passed the Republican-controlled House last week after lawmakers voted down an amendment that would have added a search warrant requirement to Section 702.
The authority allows U.S. agencies to spy on non-citizens located outside of the country, but it has been abused extensively by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency to collect the communications of American lawmakers, activists, journalists, and others without a warrant.
Privacy advocates warn RISAA would dramatically expand the scope of Section 702 by broadening the kinds of individuals and businesses required to participate in government spying. A key provision of the bill would mandate cooperation from "electronic communications service providers" such as Google, Verizon, and AT&T as well as "any other service provider who has access to equipment that is being or may be used" to transmit or store electronic communications.
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More than two dozen House Democrats on Tuesday challenged the Biden administration's claim that Israel is using U.S.-supplied weapons in compliance with domestic and international law—an assertion made amid an ongoing World Court probe of "plausibly" genocidal Israeli policies and practices in Gaza.
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The wife of jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sharply criticized "assurances" the U.S. government made as the U.K. High Court considers allowing the 52-year-old Australian's extradition to the United States, where he faces 175 years in prison.
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Responding on social media, his wife, Stella Assange—who is an attorney—blasted the U.S. assurances as "weasel words."
"The United States has issued a nonassurance in relation to the First Amendment, and a standard assurance in relation to the death penalty," she said. "It makes no undertaking to withdraw the prosecution's previous assertion that Julian has no First Amendment rights because he is not a U.S citizen."
"The Biden administration must drop this dangerous prosecution before it is too late."
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