Day 99.

There are people out there standing up. I want to lend some support.

First, the people of Prestonsburg, Kentucky for standing up against white nationalists. I want to say thank you. It means a lot when good people reject hatred.

Second, Jon Ossoff. He’s a progressive candidate running for former Congressman (current HHS Secretary) Tom Price’s seat. That district only went 1.5% for Trump in 2016, so it’s winnable. But the DCCC isn’t throwing its back into helping progressive candidates there, incorrectly saying the seat’s been Republican for a long time.

If we believe in electing progressive candidates across the country, we have to start here. The DCCC’s literal entire job is electing Democrats to Congress. And they’re not even trying for this winnable seat.

If they won’t do the job, we should back Ossoff ourselves. If they won’t go to bat for progressive interests, we must. I’m going to sign up to help Ossoff’s campaign.

Day 98.

I’m not really having an easy time concentrating. We’ve basically hit “What did the President know, and when did he know it?” territory.

Time to investigate. I guess I’ll be back on the phones tomorrow, asking my reps for an independent investigation.

Day 97.

Do undocumented immigrants have the right to an attorney if they are detained by ICE?

The answer is essentially no. Undocumented immigrants have many of the constitutional rights that citizens of the United States enjoy. (I made reference to a few of these yesterday – the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, which prohibit search and seizure without a warrant, and protect people against incriminating themselves, apply fully to immigrants.) However, they do not have a right to counsel. This means that, while they have the right to be represented by an attorney, they do not have a right to be provided with counsel at no cost.

What do you do then, if you’re detained by ICE? The process is seriously complex. It’s not something people can easily manage.

The ACLU has won class action settlement with ICE in which it promises to allow detainees  in four Northern California facilities reliable access to phones. And even if you do have regular communication, there is the issue of cost.

I wish I had better news on this front.

The Department of Justice has a program specifically geared toward helping people in immigration detention get pro bono representation. Given the new Attorney General’s track record, I am not confident this will be as helpful as it once was. There is also a guide to finding a reputable immigration attorney run by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

These are the best resources I have found. I would welcome links to others.

Day 96.

I’m a bit wiped out. in light of the recent raids, including some in my own city, I wanted to put together a post about how the deportation process works. It is, of course, extremely complicated. From being detained to being deported can take years. And the system is currently extremely backlogged. Without either more immigration judges or less action on enforcement, that’s going to get worse. There’s not enough beds for people currently in detention as it is.

I think like a lot of the problems we’re currently facing, it may be best to take this one step at a time. I hope you’ll bear with me. I want to keep moving forward, but at a sustainable pace. That’s frustrating when things are moving so fast. But I think this will be a more effective approach. So I’m going to spend a few days discussing this, because it’s what’s going on in immigrant communities in our country right now.

First: what happens before detention. One of the organizations I’ve begun supporting is the National Immigration Law Center. They collect resources on immigration raids. They share information from the National Lawyers’ Guild about how to prepare for a raid, and what to do if a raid is happening.

Here are my important takeaways from this reading:

• Don’t open the door; you don’t have to let ICE in without a signed warrant. They can come in if you give them permission to do so. You do not have to give them permission.
• You don’t have to say anything. You can say you plead the Fifth Amendment (right against self-incrimination), or you can simply remain silent.
• Remain calm and do not run away. Record the activity with your phone or take notes.
• You have a right to speak to your attorney; ask to speak to your attorney, and don’t sign anything without your attorney reviewing it.
• Report the raid to United We Dream, 844-363-1423, or text to 877877, or tweet #Not1More.

Day 94.

I’m heartbroken because the deportation raids have begun. I don’t want to go along with ICE’s term, “targeted enforcement actions.” These are raids. These are ICE going door to door, in predominantly Latino neighborhoods, and asking people to show their papers. These are not all violent criminals. People who’ve committed misdemeanors are being taken. Some people who are being taken haven’t committed any crimes at all. From The Washington Post:

That undocumented immigrants with no criminal records were arrested and could potentially be deported sent a shock through immigrant communities nationwide amid concerns that the U.S. government could start going after law-abiding people.

Further, the government – the administration and ICE – have not been forthcoming about what is happening.

Here is a story about Guadalupe García de Rayos. This mother of two, who came here as a child, who has been a law-abiding citizen for ten years, was deported to Mexico yesterday.

Her daughter Jackie, who is an American citizen, spoke to Teen Vogue about what her life is like right now.

Get ready to hit the street. Get ready to start the calls again on Monday.

Day 88.

I’ve been listening to the Axe files since the fall. David Axelrod just released an episode with Carl Bernstein. Though it’s a bit long and rambling, I recommend it highly. The main reason is the reminder of what a threat to the republic Nixon was.

A friend also reminded me today of the Kent State shootings, and the story of photographer John Filo, who took the enduring image of Mary Ann Vecchio screaming over the body of Jeffrey Miller. NOTE: at the link are a series of images from that day which are graphic.

There are two quotes that made me stop in my tracks. They reminded me that what is happening now is not so new in this particular way: sometimes, people don’t believe what they don’t want to believe.

Protesters screamed in his ears, asking him why he was taking pictures. Though he originally didn’t want to respond, Filo said one girl pushed him over the edge.

“I finally said to her, ‘No one is going to believe this happened.’ I remember just yelling back at her and continuing.”

Also this.

Filo said he received hate mail from people across the country who suggested it was staged.

“You come to a realization that no matter how truthful you try to be people are not going to believe it.”

So the challenge is to stay faithful to the truth, despite its horror. The only way to make it better, the only way to change reality, is to face it. Some people won’t join in, but most will see.

Day 84.

There’s a meditation exercise that I do called Blue Sky. In the exercise you imagine your feelings as clouds obscuring a blue sky. Even if you can’t see the sky, it’s always there. It’s a very steadying exercise, and one I’ve turned to often.

Today it snowed, so I couldn’t see the sky. The snow brings its own kind of peace. But when I went out for my lunchtime walk, I thought about the sky I couldn’t see.

It’s important to remember this now. Right now we can’t see the sky, but it is always there. And the current situation is impermanent. Sooner or later the clouds will go.

The other thing that’s keeping me going today is focus on the fact that we’re making headway. (Just because I know the sky will be blue again someday doesn’t mean I’m just going to sit on my duff and wait for it.) Democrats delayed votes in committees on Sessions, Mnuchin, and Price today. Minority Leader (and my Senator) Chuck Schumer has announced he will be voting “no” on eight of Trump’s nominees. The President is not traveling to Wisconsin, which he barely won, because he is afraid of protests.

He is afraid of us. And he should be. We’re like the blue sky. We’ll always be there.

Remind your reps tomorrow that you’ll always be there, calling them about what matters.

Day 83.

Please read up on the Saturday Night Massacre.

It’s not exactly what’s happening now, but it’s close. (Yates was not directly investigating the President. Also Nixon was quite a bit further along in his presidency by this point.)

So the American Carnage continues. Between this and the 100 members of the State Department who have signed onto an opposition cable, it’s clear that there’s a lot of, well, opposition.

The tally? 16 Republican members of the House and 8 Republican Senators currently oppose the immigration-related Executive Orders that were issued this weekend. Follow along here. Don’t let up on the calls. The minority party in the Senate is uniquely situated to slow down the workings of government. McConnell did this for years. This is important enough.

Day 79.

Here’s something I know a little about. Congressional budget reconciliation. Wait, don’t go!

This is important. This speaks to what’s going on right now. It’s been a scary couple of days, and it’s important to know what is and isn’t happening. The information below will help you stay clear going forward. I’ll do my best to explain clearly. If I’ve failed, let me know and ask me questions!

Reconciliation is a part of how Congress decides to spend money. The House has 435 voting members, and a simple majority rules. The Senate is more complex. Under the general rules of the Senate, most matters require 60 votes to end open debate by way of a Cloture motion.* Without an end to open debate, Senators can go on forever. It’s called a filibuster. Since you need 60 votes to end it, you’re going to need a bipartisan coalition to do so.

However, some items concerning spending, revenue, or debt limit bills, or any combination of those requires a simple majority. Since there are 100 Senators (and 1 Vice President who presides over the Senate, and acts as a tie-breaker), a majority is 50 for Republicans right now (there are 51 of them). What qualifies for the simple majority rule? Any of these items without a negative budget impact, or with a negative budget effect of 10 years or less.** That’s why the Bush tax cuts were only in effect for 10 years – they were passed under the reconciliation process.

Applying this to the Affordable Care Act, this infographic makes more sense. Everything that requires 50 votes is a budget matter: medicaid expansion; the employer and individual mandates (which are taxes); premium subsidies; and new taxes to pay for any changes. Without these elements, though, the remaining portions of the act become less stable, because everything that pays for them is a budget matter, especially the ban on denial for pre-existing conditions; limits on age rating; and the ban on setting rates based on health status.

That was A LOT. And it only really related to healthcare. But there’s one more point I want to make. We saw a lot of executive orders for a lot of things these past couple of days. Know this. In the vast majority of cases, anything in these orders that required spending will need approval from both the House and the Senate. That includes a wall, and three times the border officers. Tariffs on Mexican trade.

We don’t know what we don’t know, but we know what we know.

How strange is it that I just felt a bit nostalgic for Donald Rumsfield?

___________________________________

*Not addressing nominations, which are simple majority approved, with the exception of Supreme Court nominations. Stay tuned!

**Another exception here for the Social Security Act.

Day 77.

I want to be sure we don’t lose the plot here. What we should focus on and what we should let pass.

This is a guide to how to fight a populist, from Venezuela. It took the country years to figure this out.

See number 2, “Show no contempt”? Let’s talk about this for a while.

Today in hearings for the nomination for head of the OMB, Senator Jeff Merkley got sucked in. He said he was pushing in service of facts, but it smelled like contempt.

Don’t get sucked in. Stick to the issues. I’m going to do my best to do that here. I was lucky enough to learn today about the budget reconciliation process in the Senate. If you want to understand the bills we’re going to see about healthcare, and about tax reform, and about how they will work and whether they will pass with or without bipartisan support, you need to understand this.

I’m devoting tomorrow’s post to this issue. I’ll then explain how that applies to ACA.

I know there’s a lot getting thrown at us right now. And it’s easier to commiserate about how crazy someone is than to face the fact that some of the policy being made right now is something that scares you. But you have to face that and push through your fear. The only way this will succeed is if we stick to the issues.