March, 19 2021, 12:00am EDT
Congress Must Examine Biden Admin Possibly Trading Vaccines For Anti-Migration Enforcement
WASHINGTON
For attribution to Jeff Hauser, Executive Director of the Revolving Door Project:
The Revolving Door Project is outraged by yesterday's news that the Biden administration has been pressuring the Mexican government into turning away migrants at the Mexico-Guatemala border. While this Trump-style initiative would be appalling on its own, we are additionally concerned about the possibility that President Biden may have bartered millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to achieve his anti-migration goals. The United States has, as we have argued, a moral responsibility and pragmatic necessity to see the rest of the planet vaccinated as urgently as possible. Further, the US also has a duty to ensure the safety of asylum seekers, who will likely be profoundly affected by this policy.
The Biden Administration should not be in the business of trading Mexican lives for those of other Central and South Americans, for whom migration to the US is often life-saving. Moreover, because Mexico currently has the third-highest death toll from Covid-19 and Mexican President Obrador faces reelection in June, it is plausible Mexico's leadership would feel pressured into doing the dirty work of turning away asylum seekers on behalf of the US.
During yesterday's press conference, when asked whether President Biden had offered the vaccines to Mexico under the condition that Mexico would increase its actions to prevent migrants from entering the US, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tried to minimize this as a coincidence, stating that there were "several diplomatic conversations -- parallel conversations -- many layers of conversations" and that she "wouldn't read into it."
Given the high stakes of these issues, and the Biden administration's clumsy-at-best explanation for the relationship between the vaccine distribution and the migrant deterrence conversation, the Revolving Door Project is calling for Congressional oversight. Congress should determine whether the US is living up to its responsibilities to asylum seekers, rebuilding the US-Mexico relationship undermined by Donald Trump, and acting to ensure the most rapid deployment of vaccines possible across the globe.
The Revolving Door Project (RDP) scrutinizes executive branch appointees to ensure they use their office to serve the broad public interest, rather than to entrench corporate power or seek personal advancement.
LATEST NEWS
Alarm as Trump Reportedly Plans to Send Tens of Millions to Israel-Backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
"People have been killed almost daily while trying to get food," said one top U.N. official.
Jun 25, 2025
The anti-poverty group Oxfam America has issued a forceful response to reporting that the Trump administration plans to give tens of millions dollars to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed aid organization which uses private U.S. military firms and whose rollout the United Nations and international aid groups have strongly objected to.
Reuters was first to report on Tuesday that the Trump administration plans to give $30 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). A document reviewed by the outlet shows that the amount was authorized last week under a "priority directive" from the White House and the U.S. Department of State. Per Reuters, $7 million has already been dispersed. Sources told the outlet that the administration may approve separate monthly grants for the entity.
Oxfam America president and CEO Abby Maxman said in a statement on Tuesday that the Trump administration is poised to shell out for an aid organization "formed to distribute food parcels without any grounding in the reality of the crisis in Gaza."
Maxman accused GHF of delivering only a fraction of the number of meals that the population needs and alleged the group is distributing food that families can't prepare without fuel and clean water. She also said the organization has pushed aid further out of reach for the vulnerable populations who can't walk long distances to its distribution sites.
"We urge the Trump administration and Congress to instead put its full support behind funding and ensuring safe access for established humanitarian organizations to do the work that is proven to save lives," added Maxman.
She also highlighted that the distribution sites have been marred by violence.
The U.N.'s human rights office said on Tuesday that at least 410 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces "while trying to fetch from controversial new aid hubs in Gaza—a likely war crime," according to a U.N. News article posted that same day.
Jonathan Whittall, the head of U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told journalists on Monday that since Israel's total blockade was partially lifted in late May, "people have been killed almost daily while trying to get food."
In a statement shared with CBS on Tuesday, GHF pushed back on what it called "false allegations of attacks near aid distributions sites." The group also said that the "Hamas-affiliated Gaza Health Ministry is not a credible source of information, as it fails to report any U.N. convoys or distribution sites that are linked to violent incidents," according to CBS, whose story focused on comments from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East commissioner general decrying GHF.
In that same story, CBSreported that the Gaza Ministry of Health said 79 people had been killed in Gaza over the last day. Fifty-one of those people had died near GHF sites, per CBS, citing the Gaza Ministry of Health.
And on Monday, over a dozen human rights organizations sent a letter to GHF calling for an end to the "privatized, militarized" GHF aid model and urging any parties involved with GHF and the international community in general to press for aid to be distributed through established international relief operations.
"Individuals and corporate entities involved in the planning, financing, or execution of the GHF scheme may incur criminal liability—including under universal jurisdiction statutes—for aiding and abetting war crimes such as the forcible displacement of civilians, starvation as a method of warfare, and denial of humanitarian access," the letter warned.
The groups behind the letter include the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Applied Legal Studies, and others.
Keep ReadingShow Less
GOP Bill Would Strip Healthcare From 19 People for Every Millionaire Getting a Tax Cut: Sanders Report
"The reconciliation bill that Republicans are attempting to ram through the Senate this week would be a death sentence for working-class and low-income Americans," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Jun 25, 2025
The GOP budget legislation currently before the U.S. Senate would strip health coverage from 19 Americans for every millionaire household it gives a tax break, according to a report that Sen. Bernie Sanders released Wednesday as he worked to highlight and build public opposition to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party's draconian assault on the nation's social safety net.
The report integrates alarming testimony from healthcare providers who warn that the Republican legislation would have devastating impacts on their patients and the broader U.S. healthcare system—stripping insurance from millions, raising costs, and shuttering rural hospitals.
"If Medicaid is cut, my patients will die," Louisiana-based doctor Helen Pope told Sanders' team. "I realize I am being dramatic. It is a dramatic situation. They are humans who are doing their best. Please don't allow them to suffer more."
Farhan Malik, a pediatric critical care specialist based in Florida, echoed that warning, saying that "children will die as a result of these cuts."
"Hospitals will cut back on ICU doctors, doctors will leave because of salary cuts, critical ancillary services will be reduced, more medical students will avoid going into pediatric residencies," said Malik.
The report comes as Republican lawmakers continue to debate just how far they want to go with their proposed cuts to Medicaid, which—under both the House and Senate versions of their legislation—would be the largest in U.S. history.
Last week, Senate Republicans called for even more aggressive cuts than those approved by the House GOP, which voted in May for a plan that would kick roughly 11 million Americans off their health insurance—or 16 million when accounting for the party's refusal to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, an estimated 800,000 millionaire households would receive a tax cut under the Republican legislation.
"Children will die as a result of these cuts." —Farhan Malik, Florida-based pediatric critical care specialist
Sanders (I-Vt.), the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has focused closely on the legislation's potentially catastrophic healthcare impacts. Earlier this month, a Sanders-commissioned report estimated that around 51,000 additional Americans would die unnecessarily each year if the Republican budget reconciliation bill becomes law.
In a statement on Wednesday, Sanders said his new report "makes it abundantly clear that the reconciliation bill that Republicans are attempting to ram through the Senate this week would be a death sentence for working-class and low-income Americans throughout the country."
"Not only would this disastrous and deeply immoral bill throw 16 million people off of their healthcare and lead to over 50,000 unnecessary deaths every year, it would create a national healthcare emergency in America," said Sanders. "It would devastate rural hospitals, community health centers, and nursing homes throughout our country and cause a massive spike in uninsured rates in red states and blue states alike."
"That's not Bernie Sanders talking," the senator added. "That is precisely what doctors, healthcare providers, and hospitals have told us."
Sanders' new report was accompanied by a breakdown of how much the uninsured rate would rise over the next decade if the House-passed reconciliation bill becomes law. At least 16 states would see their uninsured rates jump by more than 70% under the Republican bill.
"We cannot allow Republicans to take healthcare away from 16 million Americans in order to pay for more tax breaks to billionaires," Sanders said Wednesday. "As the ranking member of the HELP Committee, I will do everything that I can to see that it is defeated. Healthcare must be a human right for all, not a privilege for the wealthy few."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Zohran Mamdani Delivers Stunning Blow to 'Billionaire-Backed Status Quo' in NYC
"The people of New York City proved that a movement powered by hope, courage, and working people can beat the money of billionaires," said one Mamdani supporter.
Jun 25, 2025
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani prevailed in Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary in New York City after running a grassroots campaign centered on delivering transformative change and lower costs in the expensive metropolis.
Disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was backed by prominent national Democrats and an unprecedentedly deep-pocketed super PAC funded by billionaires and corporations, conceded defeat after it became clear that Mamdani's lead was insurmountable. With 93% of the votes tallied, Mamdani led Cuomo 43.5% to 36.4%.
Mamdani's primary win, a stunning upset, is expected to become official after the ranked-choice tally next week. In his victory speech, Mamdani said that his campaign and its supporters "made history."
"In the words of Nelson Mandela, 'It always seems impossible until it is done,'" he added. "My friends, we have done it."
Affordability was a key focus of Mamdani's policy platform and messaging, with the Democratic state assemblymember calling for an immediate rent freeze for all of the city's rent-stabilized tenants, the creation of a network of city-owned grocery stores focused not on profits but on "keeping prices low," and free childcare.
Mamdani proposed funding those and other priorities with a higher tax rate on corporations and city residents earning more than $1 million per year—fueling the backlash his campaign faced from the ultra-wealthy.
Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement—whose local chapter knocked on over 20,000 doors for the race—said in a statement that "the people of New York City proved that a movement powered by hope, courage, and working people can beat the money of billionaires."
"This is what it looks like to take back power," said Shiney-Ajay. "Pundits, billionaires, and the political establishment said it couldn't be done. But this campaign shattered that belief."
On Friday night, we walked the length of Manhattan, from Inwood Hill to Battery Park.
New Yorkers deserve a Mayor they can see, hear, even yell at. The city is in the streets. pic.twitter.com/gbOLz78Fta
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 23, 2025
Shiney-Ajay, like other progressives, argued that Mamdani's campaign should serve as a model for the rudderless Democratic Party as it tries to recover from its devastating loss to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party in last year's election.
"Zohran Mamdani is the future of the Democratic Party," said Shiney-Ajay. "This kind of campaign and vision is what the party needs to rebuild trust with young voters and working-class voters, so we can defeat Trump and his allies."
Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution—a national progressive advocacy group that endorsed Mamdani—said that the democratic socialist's win "has shaken the political establishment and proven that a united grassroots movement can take down even the most entrenched, powerful forces."
"This race was a showdown between the billionaire-backed status quo—which poured tens of millions into pro-Cuomo super PACs—and a new generation ready to crush corporate greed and deliver real results for working people," said Geevarghese. "The demand for people-powered change is loud, clear, and unstoppable."
While the winner of New York City's Democratic mayoral primary would typically be considered the heavy favorite going into the general election, "this fall's contest promises to be unusually volatile," The New York Timesobserved, noting that it will "include Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent."
Despite conceding defeat in Tuesday's primary, Cuomo left open the possibility of running as an independent in November.
"Mamdani faces an enormous responsibility—not only to his immediate constituency but also to a broader progressive movement."
Following his win, Mamdani supporters pointed to his broad support and successful coalition-building as reasons to be optimistic about his general-election prospects.
"The results make clear that his voting base wasn't limited to young, college-educated voters most engaged by his campaign," Bhaskar Sunkara, the president of The Nation and founding editor of Jacobin, wrote Wednesday. "Notably, Mamdani succeeded in neighborhoods like Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, Sunset Park, and Brighton Beach—all areas that swung rightward in the 2024 presidential election."
"Mamdani has undoubtedly delivered a major victory in America's largest city," Sunkara added. "But we must be sober about the challenges ahead. Electoral wins are meaningful only if they translate into tangible improvements in people's lives, and political momentum can dissipate quickly if governance falls short. Mamdani faces an enormous responsibility—not only to his immediate constituency but also to a broader progressive movement watching closely from across the country and the world."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular