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For Immediate Release
February, 06 2019, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
Margaret Klein Salamon PhD, Executive Director
margaret@climatemobilization.org (347) 670-3407
Ezra Silk, Policy and Strategy Director
ezra@climatemobilization.org
Green New Deal is a Breakthrough
The Green New Deal resolution sets a new standard for the climate movement and for presidential candidates.
WASHINGTON
The Climate Mobilization (TCM) recognizes the Green New Deal resolution, introduced today by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), as the most realistic and important statement to date by national leaders in the United States regarding the severity of the Climate Emergency and the opportunity to address this crisis through an economic and social mobilization, at a scale and speed not seen since World War II.
This resolution sets a new standard for any presidential candidate who wishes to be taken seriously on climate. Organizations and individuals in the climate movement should now make a commitment to a ten year transition to a zero emissions economy a prerequisite for endorsing any candidate for office.
The Climate Mobilization has been working with congressional staff and advisors to help shape this resolution. Representative Ocasio-Cortez signed our Pledge to Mobilize ahead of her primary contest in 2018 and received our endorsement. She has gone above and beyond to advance the concept of Climate Mobilization and we could not be more appreciative.
"Senator Markey and Representative Ocasio-Cortez are telling the truth about what it will actually take to prevent climate catastrophe--a WWII-scale Climate Mobilization that eliminates greenhouse gas emissions in 10 years and draws down excess GHGs from the atmosphere." Margaret Klein Salamon, The Climate Mobilization Executive Director, said in response.
"This resolution and the monument behind represents a watershed moment, when America began to face up to the reality of the Climate Emergency and what must be done to save our civilization," added Ezra Silk, The Climate Mobilization's Director of Policy and Strategy.
The resolution is not perfect, however. It calls for reaching net zero emissions, but not for drawing down all excess greenhouse gases in order to a restore a safe climate. It relies on the deeply flawed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, and calls for global zero emissions by 2050. This is way too late. In addition, the temperature targets set by the IPCC are irresponsible and could trigger runaway climate catastrophe. The earth is too hot right now and we need to stay well below 1.5C and then reverse global warming down to 0.5C or less to establish a safe climate. We encourage the Green New Deal authors and the climate movement to realize that the IPCC is not the right group to draw the parameters of our emergency climate response. It also does not comprehensively factor in or address the reality of humanity's overshoot of ecological limits in areas beyond greenhouse gases.
The Climate Mobilization calls for the entire world to decarbonize by 2030, and calls on the United States to make global mobilization for zero emissions and drawdown our top foreign policy priority.
In addition, The Climate Mobilization calls for the immediate ban on new fossil fuel infrastructure and the early retirement of coal mining and oil and gas drilling, within ten years. Keeping fossil fuels in the ground is critical to preventing the collapse of civilization and the natural world.
"Today is a good day for the country, for the climate movement, and for all humanity. We will continue to fight to protect humanity and the natural world by telling the truth about the Climate Emergency and addressing it at the speed and scale required," added Salamon.
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Iranian American Group: Congress Must Use 'All Tools' to Probe Trump Assault on Civilians
"Any actions that violate US and international law regarding the conduct of war must be thoroughly investigated and appropriate accountability pursued," said the head of NIAC.
Apr 06, 2026
As President Donald Trump's Tuesday night deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face more war crimes approached, the National Iranian American Council on Monday urged Congress to investigate the Republican leader's remarks as well as the US-Israeli destruction of Iran's civilian infrastructure that has already occurred.
"The US-Israel war on Iran increasingly appears aimed not at defeating a military adversary but instead at breaking the nation of Iran," said NIAC president Jamal Abdi in a statement. "The past days have seen repeated US-Israeli attacks on civilian targets in Iran, including Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, one of the world's preeminent universities; a major petrochemical plant in Asaluyeh; and the B1 bridge in Karaj, Iran."
Since the US and Israel launched the war—which has not been authorized by Congress—on February 28, they have struck at least tens of thousands of civilian sites, including energy infrastructure, homes, hospitals, and schools. While surrounded by children at a White House event on Monday, Trump attempted to defend his threat to consider "blowing everything up" in Iran if the government doesn't reopen the key shipping route by 8:00 pm Eastern time Tuesday.
Abdi argued that "as Americans, we should be outraged that our government and Israel's have so blurred the lines between civilian and military targets and are openly threatening to engage in war crimes that have little to no military value while inflicting disproportionate civilian harm."
"NIAC calls on the US Congress to thoroughly investigate the targeting and threatening of civilian sites in Iran, including by utilizing all tools at Congress' disposal including subpoena power to secure documentary evidence and testimony from relevant officials," he said. "Any actions that violate US and international law regarding the conduct of war must be thoroughly investigated and appropriate accountability pursued. We cannot allow such brazen disregard for civilian life to be normalized."
So far, nearly all congressional Republicans—who have majorities in both chambers—and a short list of Democrats have blocked attempts to end Trump's illegal assault on Iran via war powers resolutions, even though the US Constitution explicitly empowers only Congress to declare war. Similar measures for Trump's military misadventures elsewhere have also failed.
Still, Abdi said that "NIAC also reiterates that Congress must pass a war powers resolution directing the president to remove US forces from Iran as soon as possible, including by ending the congressional recess early. Moreover, NIAC calls on the United Nations and other international institutions to intervene and put a stop to these advertised crimes before they take place."
United Nations figures—including Secretary-General António Guterres, High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, and special rapporteurs—have repeatedly called for an end to the regional war, which critics argue violates the UN Charter. However, as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, the US has veto power, which hamstrings the body's ability to respond.
Iran has responded to the barrage by bombing Israel and various Gulf states, while Israeli forces have renewed attacks on Lebanon and again restricted the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, where they are accused of engaging in genocide. At least 13 US service members and thousands of people across the Middle East have been killed.
"President Trump can and should halt all bombing of Iran immediately, which would do far more to bring the war to a close than his reckless threats to attack more power plants, bridges, and civilian infrastructure," said Abdi. "The United States should pursue a permanent negotiated end to the war and must be prepared to use its leverage by putting sanctions relief on the table."
"While proposed mediations like a reported 45-day ceasefire proposal promulgated by Pakistan would not be without some merit," he continued, "they remain disconnected from the realities of the war and the past experience of Iran being attacked twice by the US and Israel amid negotiations."
"Iran is extremely unlikely to surrender its own leverage just to allow the US and Israel with time and space to attack once again," he added. "This deficit of trust amid war is difficult to overcome, but it must if this war is to end before more civilians are harmed."
Citing a senior Iranian official, Drop Site News reported Monday that "Tehran rejects any agreement for a temporary ceasefire to end the war" and "would only accept an agreement that leads to a permanent end to the fighting."
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'Epically Corrupt': Raskin Demands Answers for $1.25 Million Taxpayer Payout to Trump Crony
"The American people are watching this department squander their tax dollars, handing over giant sums to the president’s friends for claims that multiple federal judges have rejected as having no legal merit."
Apr 06, 2026
Rep. Jamie Raskin is demanding answers in the US Department of Justice's decision to fork over more than $1 million to Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's disgraced former national security adviser.
As CNN reported last month, the DOJ agreed to pay Flynn $1.25 million to settle a malicious prosecution lawsuit related to his 2017 guilty plea for lying to the FBI during its investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
A DOJ spokesperson told CNN that the Flynn settlement was "an important step in redressing that historic injustice," which began when Trump-appointed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein selected Robert Mueller, a longtime Republican who was chosen as FBI director by former President George W. Bush, to serve as special counsel in the Russia probe.
In a letter sent to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Monday, Raskin (D-Md.) demanded documents and information related to the DOJ's decision to give Flynn a payout.
"The American people are watching this department squander their tax dollars, handing over giant sums to the president's friends for claims that multiple federal judges have rejected as having no legal merit," Raskin wrote. "The American people deserve a full accounting of why our tax dollars are being used that way."
Raskin noted that Flynn had affirmed his guilty plea multiple times under oath, and that Flynn's effort to sue the DOJ for $50 million was shot down by a federal judge, who dismissed the case completely. The judge found Flynn had "completely failed to establish the elements of such a claim and stopp[ed] just short of sanctioning him for bringing frivolous arguments before the court."
Raskin said that Flynn rushed to refile his complaint against the DOJ after Trump's victory in the 2024 election, at which point the DOJ "entirely reversed its position" by agreeing to pay the former national security adviser $1.25 million in a case that had already been dismissed.
The Maryland Democrat then warned that Flynn's case could be just the first in a long number of efforts by Trump allies to bilk US taxpayers.
"The Flynn settlement is an ominous test case," he wrote, "as the president and his political allies are all lining up for their free-government-money payouts. The president himself has demanded $230 million from this department... and has sued the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a staggering $10 billion—a figure around two-thirds the size of the IRS’s total annual budget."
Raskin also pointed to lawsuits filed by multiple Trump supporters who violently stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, including five leaders of the Proud Boys who were convicted on seditious conspiracy charges and are now demanding $100 million.
"The Flynn settlement," Raskin contended, "offers a road map for this epically corrupt President to keep paying out his political underlings and private militiamen with taxpayer money."
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'She Got Ripped Away From Me': ICE Raids Military Base, Cages Wife of Newlywed Soldier Preparing to Deploy
"In every previous administration, including Trump's first, this woman would not have been a priority for enforcement," said one immigration expert.
Apr 06, 2026
A US Army staff sergeant saw his young wife taken away by immigration agents at his military base in Louisiana last week.
Matthew Blank, 23, who is set to begin training for deployment next month, was preparing to move into his home at the Fort Polk Army base with his 22-year-old wife, Annie Ramos, whom he married just weeks ago.
According to a report out Monday from The New York Times, Ramos is an undocumented Honduran immigrant who was brought to the United States as a toddler. She works as a Sunday school teacher and is months away from finishing a biochemistry degree. She has no criminal record.
Undocumented immigrants who marry US citizens become eligible for green cards and can apply for full citizenship three years after receiving them. Prior to their marriage, Blank and Ramos had already hired a lawyer to begin the process.
Ramos had also applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2020, but her application was never processed after the Trump administration halted it for new applicants.
Blank said he and his wife were following the procedures to get her legal status: "We were doing everything the right way.”
In the meantime, they were planning to begin their lives as newlyweds. On April 2, the couple headed to the base's visitor center to get Ramos registered for military spouse benefits.
They showed Ramos' birth certificate, Honduran passport, their marriage license, and Blank’s military ID. When asked whether Ramos had a visa or green card, they explained that she did not, but that they had completed the application and planned to file it within days. That's when the trouble began.
After the attendant made a "flurry of calls," they were told Ramos would be detained.
Soon enough, she was led away in shackles and taken more than an hour away to the privately owned South Louisiana Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center in Basile, where she waits with hundreds of other women who have been rounded up as part of President Donald Trump's mass deportation effort.
"She was going to move in after the Easter weekend," Blank said. "Instead, she got ripped away from me.”
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement following initial reports of Ramos' arrest.
“She has no legal status to be in this country and was issued a final order of removal by a judge,” the statement read. “This administration is not going to ignore the rule of law.”
The statement also said that Ramos was arrested "after she attempted to enter a military base," seeming to imply she was in the process of illicit activity rather than there as a military spouse.
Ramos had been issued a deportation order in absentia in 2005, when she was 22 months old, after her family failed to show up for an immigration court hearing.
However, experts told the Times that it is very rare for people who have been issued prior deportation orders to be detained and that it's typically easy for them to adjust their paperwork.
"In every previous administration, including Trump's first, this woman would not have been a priority for enforcement," concurred Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, who wrote about the incident on social media.
While prior deportation orders can affect an undocumented person's ability to receive legal status, he said, "discretion is part of the enforcement of every law."
"She got a deportation order when she was a small child. It's quite possible that, like many people, she didn't even know about it. That's a common situation," he explained. "Immigration law has always involved choices about whether deportation makes sense or not."
Citing a YouGov/Economist poll from February, he noted that just 21% of Americans support deporting undocumented people brought to the US as kids, while just 16% support deporting those married to US citizens.
Contrary to previous administrations, which tended to target immigrants with criminal records and recent arrivals for deportation, around three-quarters of those currently in ICE detention have no criminal convictions, according to data published in February.
While there is no complete data on how long the average ICE detainee has lived in the US, the Deportation Data Project found that during the first nine months of the second Trump administration, the number of arrests away from the border increased by a factor of 4.6, suggesting that it was going after undocumented immigrants who have been in the US for longer periods of time.
According to Blank's parents, who were there as their son's young spouse was taken away, even the ICE agents who enforced the order to arrest Ramos did not appear proud of what they were doing.
“They told us that they didn’t have a choice, they said they had to take Annie,” recalled Blank's mother, who said the agents apologized.
“I begged them not to take her,” she said. “They said the higher-ups made them do it.”
Ramos told the Times that she knows no other home besides the United States.
"I grew up here like any American,” she said over the phone. “My husband and family are here.”
The facility where she is being held, run by GEO Group, a multibillion-dollar private prison company, has been the subject of dozens of complaints from current and former female detainees who have claimed they were denied basic medical treatment, hygiene supplies, and edible food.
Others have said they've faced sexual abuse and harassment and were subject to forced labor. In December, a former guard pleaded guilty in federal court to sexually abusing a Nicaraguan detainee in mid-2025.
Ramos' detention comes as thousands of US service members deploy to fight Trump's war in Iran. ICE has also been deployed to military bases to screen the family members of Marine recruits at their graduation as recently as last week.
Blank, who has previously been deployed to the Middle East and Europe, said he was "going to fight with everything I have" to secure his wife's freedom.
"She is going to move in with me. We will start a family," Blank said. "I am going to be with her and serve my country."
Their lawyer has petitioned the court to reopen her removal order, which could freeze her deportation. Until it is reopened, however, she could be deported at any moment.
They have also continued to push forward with the effort to get Ramos a green card. But the guards at Basile have refused to let them bring the completed forms inside to get Ramos' signature.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus said on social media that Blank "should be focused on training today," but "instead, he was forced into a fight against his own government to free his wife."
A GoFundMe campaign created by Blank's sister to pay for the legal fight has raised more than $20,000 since Saturday.
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