January, 30 2020, 11:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Chandra Hayslett, Center for Constitutional Rights, (212) 614-6458, chayslett@ccrjustice.org
Trump's Goal: To End All Non-White Immigration to the U.S., Says Center for Constitutional Rights
Expanded Travel Ban Still a Muslim Ban, Still Xenophobic
WASHINGTON
In response to today's announcement that the Trump administration has expanded its travel ban to six additional countries (Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar Kyrgyzstan for all immigrant visas, and Sudan, Tanzania from the diversity visa lottery program), the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:
Trump is marking the anniversary of his first unlawful, discriminatory act as president - the Muslim Ban - with an expansion of that Ban to even more countries. With that, he's sending a message that the xenophobic platform that he ran on is one that he will continue to deliver on regardless of legal and human consequences. But the Muslim Ban was unlawful then, and it remains unlawful now. CCR will continue to fight alongside communities, as we have been.
This New Muslim Ban makes it clear: separating families and peddling white supremacy are this administration's preferred modes of dividing this country. Once again, most of the countries Trump added today are Muslim or have substantial Muslim populations. They also include Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. From Trump's earliest days in office--from vitriol on the campaign trail, to collective detention at Guantanamo, to mass visa denials for immigrants from specific countries--Muslims have been a consistently targeted group. Coupled with the targeting of immigrants and asylum seekers at the U.S. Southern border, new powers to block pregnant people from visiting that reek of misogyny, and Trump's rapidly spreading immigration wealth test, this administration's key immigration goal is clear: to end all non-white immigration to the United States.
The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.
Follow the Center for Constitutional Rights on social media: Center for Constitutional Rights on Facebook, @theCCR on Twitter, and ccrjustice on Instagram.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
(212) 614-6464LATEST NEWS
'Catastrophe' Averted as Judge Upholds California County's Rejection of Exxon Oil Trucking Plan
"It's time for Exxon to accept that the community won't support drilling and transporting oil in their backyard," said one advocate.
Sep 27, 2023
Public health and environmental advocates in Santa Barbara County, California on Wednesday hailed a district court ruling one advocate said placed "the safety of our communities, climate, and coastlines first," as oil giant ExxonMobil's proposal to drive oil tankers down coastal highways was struck down.
Judge Dolly M. Gee in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California upheld the county's 2022 rejection of the company's proposal. Last year the county cited the harm that a potential oil spill would do to biodiversity, water safety, and cultural resources when it refused to allow Exxon to truck oil.
The company sued the county, and late last year a federal judge granted a motion by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Environmental Defense Center (EDC), which aimed to intervene in the case on behalf of Indigenous tribes and environmental groups.
The outcome of the case on Wednesday, prohibiting the company from transporting millions of gallons of oil per week, will keep Exxon from moving towards resuming operations on offshore platforms and at a former processing facility, said EDC.
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Gee's ruling was handed down two years after another oil spill near Huntington Beach, which caused oil to seep into a marsh area that is home to more than 80 bird species.
"I'm relieved the judge agreed it was reasonable to deny Exxon's dangerous trucking project. Trucking oil through Santa Barbara County is so obviously risky for the people, wildlife, and coastline," said Liz Jones, an attorney at CBD. "It's time for Exxon to accept that the community won't support drilling and transporting oil in their backyard."
Oil truck accidents are already a problem in California, with 258 trucking incidents reported from 2015-21 along Exxon's proposed route. Eight accidents that have taken place since 2007 have been deadly, killing six people and causing numerous injuries, fires, road closures, and oil spills.
"The next accident is a matter of 'when,' not 'if,' based on oil companies' terrible track record in Santa Barbara County," said Jones. "The costs of oil spills are too high to risk, and this decision is a well-deserved win for the community, ocean life, and ecosystems."
In 2021, CBD posted a map on social media showing the critical habitats—supporting steelhead trout, sea otters, salamanders, and other wildlife—that lie close to the company's proposed trucking route.
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Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) told reporters at a media briefing that McCarthy (Calif.) informed members of the House GOP conference during a closed-door meeting that he won't allow a vote on the continuing resolution (CR) senators agreed to on Tuesday evening.
Good said the CR would be "dead on arrival" in the lower chamber and that "there's no way the House would pass that bill." Many Republicans—especially the party's hard-right wing—are vehemently opposed to the measure and have threatened to oust McCarthy from the speakership if he works with Democrats on a deal.
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Criticism of McCarthy's refusal to hold a vote on the CR came from both sides of the aisle and both chambers of Congress.
"Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans agreed yesterday to move forward on a bipartisan CR that will keep the government open," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in response to McCarthy's decision. "In the House, Republicans have tried everything but bipartisanship, and every path they've pursued to date will inevitably lead to a shutdown."
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wrote on social media: "This is insane. The Senate passed a funding bill that would avert a government shutdown and give the House more time to pass appropriations bills, but Speaker McCarthy won't even consider it."
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the chamber floor that "a vote against a standard short-term funding measure is a vote against paying over $1 billion in salary for Border Patrol and [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents working to track down lethal fentanyl and tame our open borders."
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The U.S. is just four days from its 15th government shutdown since 1980. A shutdown would suspend key federal programs, affecting millions of Americans—especially seniors, children, veterans, and working families. Federal employees would be furloughed or, in the case of workers deemed essential like air traffic controllers, forced to work without pay.
Appearing on MSNBC on Tuesday, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) told Joy Reid that "there's not one single senator" who wants a shutdown, but "on their side in the House, this is petty chaos by diminished men."
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The U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday brought major federal marijuana banking legislation closer to becoming law than ever, approving a bipartisan bill that advocates say is essential to the safety of legal recreational and medical marijuana businesses across the United States.
The committee voted 14-9 in favor of passing the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, which would legally protect banks and credit unions that provide services to cannabis operations and prohibit federal regulators from ordering financial institutions to close a business' account based on "reputational risk."
An earlier version of the bill passed in the U.S. House numerous times but was never advanced in the Senate under either Democratic or Republican control.
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Although 39 states have passed laws legalizing the sale of marijuana for recreational or medical use, advocates say dispensaries are put at risk by a lack of federal protections for financial institutions that might otherwise work with them.
Only 12% of all U.S. banks and 5% of credit unions provide banking services to marijuana-related businesses, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury.
As Common Dreams reported, Mastercard announced in July that it would no longer offer services in the cannabis industry because marijuana is still criminalized at the federal level—even though annual national sales in the sector are projected to reach $57 billion by 2030 in states where cannabis is currently legalized.
NORML, which has advocated for marijuana decriminalization since 1970, noted on Wednesday that more than 70% of cannabis businesses report that a "lack of access to banking or investment capital" is their top challenge.
Without access to banking services, businesses are forced to make sales only in cash, which Merkley said is "an open invitation to robberies, muggings, money laundering, and organized crime."
"Forcing legal businesses to operate in all-cash is dangerous for our communities," said the senator.
NORML political director Morgan Fox called the newly advanced legislation "an improved version of the SAFE Banking Act."
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