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LWV Demands Immediate Action to Resolve the Inhumane Treatment for Asylum Seekers
WASHINGTON
Today the League of Women Voters of the United States CEO, Virginia Kase, issued the following statement on the situation at the U.S. southern border:
"For nearly a year now, Americans have watched in horror as children have been ripped from their parents' arms and detained in inhumane conditions along our southern border. The trauma of family separations and children in cages will have a lasting impact for generations to come.
"This administration is responsible for creating these conditions and has the duty to rectify this crisis. The U.S. government must expedite asylum processing, improve housing conditions, provide humane care, and reunite families at the border.
"Seeking asylum is not a crime. Refugees from Central America are fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries, risking everything to survive. They must be greeted with dignity and respect.
"The administration's 'no tolerance' policy for asylum seekers has created constant fear and chaos for immigrant families while doing nothing to strengthen our national security. We call on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes a long-term plan for asylum seekers and a commitment to all refugees seeking freedom in our great nation.
"America must do better than this."
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has fought since 1920 to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. The League's enduring vitality and resonance comes from its unique decentralized structure. The League is a grassroots organization, working at the national, state and local levels.
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'I'll Be a Vote for Medicare for All': Troy Jackson Makes His Case After Platner Exit
"We may both be from Aroostook County, but we’re not the same," Jackson said of Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Jul 09, 2026
Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from northern Maine who previously served as the state's Senate president, is making the case that he has the best shot at unseating Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November following Graham Platner's exit from the race on Wednesday.
"There is a powerful movement of working class people in the state of Maine, and millions more across America who are ready to send a progressive fighter to the Senate," Jackson wrote in a social media post on Wednesday, formally announcing his Senate run. "I’ve been fighting for that movement my whole life—and I’m sure as hell not backing down now, when this fight is needed most."
"I’m in," he added. "And we're going to defeat Susan Collins. Maine deserves a senator that will fight for working families."
Jackson, who filed federal paperwork earlier this week to explore a US Senate bid as the Maine Democratic Party scrambled to construct a process to choose Platner's replacement ahead of the July 27 deadline, recently fell short in a highly competitive race for the Maine Democratic Party's gubernatorial nomination.
But those who are rallying behind Jackson argue his economic populist messaging, union backing, support for Medicare for All, and appeal across broad swaths of Maine—including rural counties—make him the most sensible choice to take on Collins, who is running for a sixth term in the US Senate.
"Troy has spent his life fighting for working people," said the national progressive advocacy group Our Revolution, which rescinded its endorsement of Platner following the sexual assault allegation against him, which he denied.
Our Revolution noted that Jackson led Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) presidential campaigns in Maine in both 2016 and 2020. Jackson also appeared alongside Sanders and Platner at "Fighting Oligarchy" rallies during his gubernatorial bid.
"Long before this Senate seat became available, Troy had built a record of standing with workers, unions, and rural communities across Maine," said Our Revolution, which announced Wednesday that it is mobilizing volunteers across Maine to "ensure voters are represented by a candidate who reflects the agenda they overwhelmingly supported" during the Democratic primary process—a contest that Platner won handily.
I’ll be a vote for Medicare For All in the U.S. Senate.
Susan Collins, on the other hand, recently helped advance $990 billion in Medicaid cuts so the richest Americans could get another tax break.
We may both be from Aroostook County, but we’re not the same.
— Troy Jackson (@TroyJackson207) July 9, 2026
Jackson is one of several Democrats jumping at the opportunity to challenge Collins, who has enabled President Donald Trump's destructive legislative agenda and helped pave the way for the gutting of reproductive rights nationwide.
Nirav Shah, former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, formally announced on Thursday that he is launching a bid to replace Platner. Shenna Bellows, Maine's secretary of state, said Tuesday that she is "seriously considering" entering the Senate race. (Like Jackson, both Shah and Bellows unsuccessfully ran for Maine's Democratic gubernatorial nomination.)
A flash poll commissioned by the Platner campaign earlier this week found that Jackson performed better than Shah and Bellows in hypothetical match-ups against Collins.
Christine Kirby, a spokeswoman for Jackson, told Drop Site on Tuesday that since the sexual assault allegation against Platner was made public, Jackson's team has received a torrent of calls and messages urging him to run for the Senate nomination.
“He is clearly the strongest option to replace Graham Platner and take on Susan Collins in the general election,” said Kirby. “This movement is greater than any one person, it’s about a coalition of Maine people fighting for a future that doesn’t have to belong only to the wealthy and powerful. And Troy is up for the fight.”
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Amnesty Calls for War Crimes Probe After Israel 'Obliterated Entire Families' in Lebanon
"How many more families will have to pull the body parts of their children from the rubble before this devastating cycle of war crimes ends?"
Jul 09, 2026
Amnesty International on Thursday demanded a war crimes investigation into Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, which the human rights watchdog described as "wiping out families."
The strikes in question took place in March and killed 24 civilians, including 12 children, in neighborhoods in the cities of Tyre, Saida, and Nabatieh.
Amnesty said it has gathered enough evidence to reasonably conclude that Israeli forces violated international law by failing to distinguish between civilian and military targets when conducting the campaign.
The human rights group said it reached these conclusions after conducting more than a dozen on-the-ground interviews with survivors, relatives of victims, and paramedics who were called to the scene after the strikes. Additionally, the group analyzed satellite photos along with videos of the strikes posted on social media.
One survivor, a retired Lebanese man named Hussein Saleh, said that the strike in his neighborhood in Tyre killed his wife, their two children, his sister-in-law and her five-year-old daughter, and two other relatives.
Moussa Chaalan, a paramedic who arrived on the scene after the attack, told Amnesty "there was nothing left of the house" when they got there.
"The body parts were scattered as far as 200 meters away from the impact site," Chaalan added.
Mohamad Taqi, 54, told Amnesty that Israel's strike in the Saida district killed seven family members, including his 78-year-old mother, Zeinab Nasser, and his 12-year-old daughter Zahraa.
"In the bedroom where the missile hit, I couldn’t find a trace of Zeinab and Zahraa," Taqi said. "The paramedics later found their body parts and they gathered them. When I lost hope of finding them alive, I went to the hospital. I was injured in my head, eye, and face."
Kristine Beckerle, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said the international community needed to impose consequences on Israel for what she described as "a callous disregard for civilian lives."
"Within the space of just a week, the Israeli military obliterated entire families, including a dozen children, in Lebanon," said Beckerle. "How many more families will have to pull the body parts of their children from the rubble before this devastating cycle of war crimes ends? The international community must act now: states must impose an immediate comprehensive arms embargo on Israel and use universal and extraterritorial jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute those responsible."
Beckerle added that the three attacks investigated by Amnesty "are part of a well-documented pattern of unlawful Israeli attacks carried out in Lebanon, amidst a total vacuum of accountability."
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'Now the Ball Is in the Court of the Democratic Establishment,' Platner Says as He Suspends Campaign
Graham Platner said the process to replace him "needs to be reflecting the will and the values of the people that built this movement."
Jul 09, 2026
Graham Platner suspended his US Senate campaign in Maine late Wednesday in the wake of a sexual assault allegation, saying in a defiant video statement that the Democratic establishment used the accusation to force him from the race against five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Platner, who won last month's Democratic Senate primary in Maine following Gov. Janet Mills' exit from the race, said the sexual assault allegation was "very serious" and "false." But, he said, the "structural pressure" imposed by the "political establishment" and "corporate media system" made it impossible for him to continue campaigning in any serious way.
"We are going to lose our ability to fundraise," said Platner, whose campaign reportedly had under $100,000 in cash available to spend when he decided to halt his Senate bid. "We are going to lose our ability to access voter data. We are going to lose all of the things that any campaign needs on the basic level simply to function. Larger organizations, the national party, the bigger donor networks, they have all committed to spending no money in this race if I'm in it."
Platner said that "now the ball is in the court of the Democratic establishment," which he pushed to implement an "open, transparent, and democratic" process to choose his replacement. He said he would not try to "dictate to anyone" who the replacement should be.
"It needs to be reflecting the will and the values of the people that built this movement, the people that showed up on June 9th. People in DC need to stay in DC," said Platner. "Decisions should not be made in back rooms by people in places of political power. Party apparatchiks are not the ones to make these decisions. These decisions need to be made in the open by the people of this state."
Watch Platner's full remarks:
My name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine. pic.twitter.com/RKVyLU76tm
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 9, 2026
Shortly before Platner released his video message, the top officials at the Maine Democratic Party issued a statement announcing that the party on Wednesday had hosted "a meeting with over 100 state committee members who voted to hold a nominating convention to choose a new nominee."
"We will announce the full timeline, details for how the nomination process will move forward, information about how to participate, and requirements for candidates soon. We will keep the public informed throughout the process—transparency is of the utmost importance," said Maine Democrats' chair, vice chair, and executive director. "There is an unprecedented amount of energy and enthusiasm among Maine Democrats, driven in part by many of the dedicated volunteers and supporters who were inspired by Graham Platner’s campaign. We look forward to coming together and harnessing that energy around our new nominee as we work to defeat Susan Collins in November."
Bangor Daily News reported that the convention approved by the Maine Democratic Party's state committee "would include 500 delegates elected proportionally by county committees, along with the entire state committee." Some reports indicated that county caucuses would be held to elect delegates to attend the convention, but Maine Democratic officials have not yet disclosed full details.
Progressive strategist Andrew Feldman warned that it would be "extremely challenging to pick a new nominee through a convention, not an open caucus, and create the energy needed to win."
"Let's not kid ourselves," he added.
Several prominent Maine Democrats—including former state Senate President Troy Jackson, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, and former Maine CDC director Nirav Shah—have expressed interest in replacing Platner.
Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the national progressive advocacy group Our Revolution, said Platner "made the right decision to step aside" but added that "this is not the Democratic establishment's opening to hand-pick a replacement." The group, which rescinded its endorsement of Platner following the sexual assault allegation, is now backing Jackson—who performed best against Collins in new polling commissioned by Platner's campaign.
"Maine's progressives won the primary by a historic margin, on Medicare for All, on ending corporate money in politics, on ending forever wars. That result doesn't disappear because one candidate is gone," said Geevarghese. "That is why we are rallying behind Troy Jackson. He is a logger, a union leader, and former President of the Maine State Senate. He led Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns in Maine twice."
"Maine Democrats have days, not weeks, to decide whether the convention reflects what voters already said on June 9, or whether the party hands this seat to an insider pick after just watching that lane lose," he added. "To the establishment: This is not your opening. The people who won this primary get to decide what comes next, not the party insiders who already lost it."
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