thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-21--Congress Finally Passes Bill To Address Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women

WASHINGTON ― After years of unnecessary delays , the House passed legislation on Monday to help law enforcement respond to a horrifying and largely invisible crisis : Hundreds of Native American women are mysteriously disappearing or being murdered .
The measure , authored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski ( R-Alaska ) , responds to a devastating situation in which nobody can say , exactly , what is going on .
At least 506 indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been murdered in 71 U.S. cities , including more than 330 since 2010 , according to a November 2018 report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s likely a gross undercount given the limited or complete lack of data being collected by law enforcement agencies .
Ninety-five percent of these cases were never covered by the national media , and the circumstances surrounding many of these deaths and disappearances remain unknown .
Murkowski ’ s bill is as much an attempt to put attention on the issue as it is to understand the severity of it .
It boosts coordination and data collection between tribal , local , state and federal law enforcement in cases involving missing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal agencies to get recommendations from tribes on how to enhance the safety of Native women , and requires new guidelines for responding to these cases , in consultation with tribes .
“ The issue of missing or murdered Indigenous women has been a crisis for such a painfully long time .
Many tribal advocates and family members of those affected worked so tirelessly on this issue , and I am proud to have worked alongside them to elevate this crisis at the local , state , and national level , ″ Murkowski @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Today is a big victory in our fight to provide justice for victims , healing for their families , and protection for women and children across the nation.
” Lots of these disappearances and murders stem from domestic violence , sexual assault and sex trafficking .
Eighty-four percent of Native women experience violence in their lifetime , and in some tribal communities , Native women are murdered at 10 times the national average .
The bill is named for Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind , a 22-year-old indigenous woman who was abducted and killed in North @ @ @ @ @ @ @ months pregnant and her baby was cut from her womb .
Savanna ’ s Act was this close to becoming law in 2018 .
It unanimously passed the Senate and was ready for a quick vote in the House .
But former Rep. Bob Goodlatte ( R-Va. ) , then the chairman of the Judiciary Committee , single-handedly prevented the bill from getting a House vote .
Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp ( D-N.D. ) , who was the original author of the bill but lost reelection that year , spent her final weeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sinking the legislation .
Murkowski took the lead on the bill in early 2019 and promised Heitkamp she would see it through to passage .
She told HuffPost at the time that she could only speculate on why so many Indigenous women have been going missing or turning up dead .
But one of the “ brutal realities ” is that Native women command more money from traffickers , she said .
“ Native women , because of their looks , can be viewed as more exotic , more Asian , and apparently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that are of Asian descent , ” Murkowski said .
“ When I heard that , it just ...
It just sickens me.
” The House also passed the Not Invisible Act on Monday , a related bill that would make the federal government step up its response to indigenous women going missing , being murdered or forced into sex trafficking .
That bill now heads to the president ’ s desk , too .

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WASHINGTON ― After years of unnecessary delays, the House passed legislation on Monday to help law enforcement respond to a horrifying and largely invisible crisis: Hundreds of Native American women are mysteriously disappearing or being murdered.
The bill, Savanna’s Act, passed on a voice vote with little fanfare. It now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law.
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The measure, authored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and passed by the Senate in March, responds to a devastating situation in which nobody can say, exactly, what is going on. At least 506 Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been murdered in 71 U.S. cities, including more than 330 since 2010, according to a November 2018 report by Urban Indian Health Institute. And that’s likely a gross undercount given the limited or complete lack of data being collected by law enforcement agencies.
Ninety-five percent of these cases were never covered by the national media, and the circumstances surrounding many of these deaths and disappearances remain unknown.
Murkowski’s bill is as much an attempt to put attention on the issue as it is to understand the severity of it. It boosts coordination and data collection between tribal, local, state and federal law enforcement in cases involving missing and murdered Native women. It requires federal agencies to get recommendations from tribes on how to enhance the safety of Native women, and requires new guidelines for responding to these cases, in consultation with tribes.
“The issue of missing or murdered Indigenous women has been a crisis for such a painfully long time. Many tribal advocates and family members of those affected worked so tirelessly on this issue, and I am proud to have worked alongside them to elevate this crisis at the local, state, and national level,″ Murkowski told HuffPost in a statement. “Today is a big victory in our fight to provide justice for victims, healing for their families, and protection for women and children across the nation.”
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Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) just pushed Savanna's Act across the finish line after a single Republican congressman blocked it from becoming law in 2018. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lots of these disappearances and murders stem from domestic violence, sexual assault and sex trafficking. Eighty-four percent of Native women experience violence in their lifetime, and in some tribal communities, Native women are murdered at 10 times the national average.
The bill is named for Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a 22-year-old Indigenous woman who was abducted and killed in North Dakota in 2017. She was eight months pregnant and her baby was cut from her womb.
Savanna’s Act was this close to becoming law in 2018. It had unanimously passed the Senate and was ready for a quick vote in the House. But former Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), then the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, single-handedly prevented the bill from getting a House vote. Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), who was the original author of the bill but lost reelection that year, spent her final weeks in the Senate publicly shaming Goodlatte for sinking the legislation.
Murkowski took the lead on the bill in early 2019 and promised Heitkamp she would see it through to passage. She told HuffPost at the time that she could only speculate on why so many Indigenous women have been going missing or turning up dead. But one of the “brutal realities” is that Native women command more money from traffickers, she said.
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“Native women, because of their looks, can be viewed as more exotic, more Asian, and apparently there is a higher market for women that are of Asian descent,” Murkowski said. “When I heard that, it just ... It just sickens me.”
In a Tuesday statement, Heitkamp said it “means the world” that Savanna’s Act will become law.
“Missing and murdered indigenous women are no longer invisible,” she said. “When I first introduced this bill last Congress, I couldn’t have imagined the groundswell of support we would receive ― and I’m encouraged that even during these partisan times, Congress came together and passed this important and needed bill.”
Heitkamp added that “our work isn’t done” and said people need to “hold your members of Congress accountable and urge them to build on this work.”
The House also passed the Not Invisible Act on Monday, a related bill OKed by the Senate in March that would make the federal government step up its response to Indigenous women going missing, being murdered or forced into sex trafficking. That bill now heads to the president’s desk, too.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-21--They Work Full Time. They Attend School. They're Only Teenagers.

Sarahbeth Maney for HuffPost Daniela , 18 , is a California high school senior and also works at a restaurant to provide for her family during the coronavirus pandemic .
`` I want to study forensic pathology at San Jose State , '' Daniela said .
`` Applications are due in November . ''
“ I got really stressed .
I ’ m , like , ‘ What am I gon na do ?
Who am I gon na ask for some help ?
’ ” 18-year-old Daniela said via Zoom in August , sitting in her bedroom in Northern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had to ask her supervisor for an early paycheck to pay the bills on time .
“ I feel good knowing I ’ m helping my mom out , but it ’ s also pressure.
” As most schools started the year either online or using a hybrid model , it ’ s also become easier for students to disengage from the classroom now that they don ’ t have to show up every day in person .
The situation for families without immigration documentation , who so far lack access to federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Daniela , staying on top of both school and work has required Herculean effort .
For about four weeks in March and April , no one in Daniela ’ s family had work , and they relied on a patchwork of resources for help .
Both her school and a hospital where she previously interned sent gift cards that helped pay for a month of groceries .
Her restaurant set up a GoFundMe for employees after temporarily shutting down .
One of her teachers , Ms. Carey , alerted her to a California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families without immigration documents .
( We are using only the teacher ’ s last name to protect Daniela ’ s identity . )
Over the sticky summer , the days got longer and so did Daniela ’ s hours .
She occasionally worked seven days a week .
Her mom had a baby girl and spent two weeks in the hospital .
When they got home , Daniela would cuddle her new sister , savoring her smile and memorizing the feel of her tiny hands in between shifts .
She got a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ butterflies for each of her sisters , with their initials — and another on her chest with her mom ’ s name .

The beginning of the pandemic hit Daniela, a junior in high school, with overwhelming force.
At the same time her high school shut down, her mom, who was six months pregnant, lost her job, and as a person who entered the country without documentation, she was excluded from federal assistance. Her stepdad, a construction worker, had his hours sharply reduced. Daniela would hear her mom crying about not having enough money and reluctantly asking friends for loans.
Daniela needed to help.
The teen previously spent her weekends working at a Mexican restaurant, using the extra cash to pitch in here and there. By the end of the school year, she was working nearly full time, participating in Zoom classes on her computer in between ringing up customers and submitting homework while anxiously asking patrons to wear masks.
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Daniela — who shares her mother’s immigration status and asked us not to use her last name to protect her identity — started paying for her family’s phone, internet, water and electricity bills. Sometimes she’d buy their groceries, too. Her stepdad paid the rent, but she was the only person in her family with regular work.
“I got really stressed. I’m, like, ‘What am I gonna do? Who am I gonna ask for some help?’” 18-year-old Daniela said via Zoom in August, sitting in her bedroom in Northern California. She described the times she had to ask her supervisor for an early paycheck to pay the bills on time. “I feel good knowing I’m helping my mom out, but it’s also pressure.”
Daniela is one of many teens caught in the double crisis of an economic downturn and an education system in upheaval. Teens are being forced to become breadwinners, helping to fill in the gaps in their families’ income.
As most schools started the year either online or using a hybrid model, it’s also become easier for students to disengage from the classroom now that they don’t have to show up every day in person. The situation for families without immigration documentation, who so far lack access to federal assistance, appears especially dire. For Daniela, staying on top of both school and work has required Herculean effort.
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Teachers around the country said they have had difficulty tracking down legions of students and getting them to sign on for remote learning. Some suspect many of these students are at their jobs instead of participating in class.
“Some of the older kids are out working with their parents. They have parents who are painters and construction workers and housekeepers,” Theresa Wagner, who teaches middle school physical education in Nashville, Tennessee, told HuffPost in August.
Experts fear a coming dropout crisis may be on the horizon for struggling students and that working kids could be especially vulnerable. Without an in-person school community and facing pressing family concerns, some kids have prioritized jobs over grades.
“I think there’s worry there’s some kids who have already dropped out,” said Robert Balfanz, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and director of the Everyone Graduates Center. “The challenge is, the way our system is set up, it’s hard to step out and step back in. We’re not currently set up for that very well.”
Sarahbeth Maney for HuffPost
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For about four weeks in March and April, no one in Daniela’s family had work, and they relied on a patchwork of resources for help. Both her school and a hospital where she previously interned sent gift cards that helped pay for a month of groceries. Her restaurant set up a GoFundMe for employees after temporarily shutting down. One of her teachers, Ms. Carey, alerted her to a California agency that provided $500 checks to families without immigration documents. (We are using only the teacher’s last name to protect Daniela’s identity.)
In mid-April, Daniela got the call that her restaurant reopened. Her employers prioritized giving her hours, even though they couldn’t bring most of their workers back.
Daniela started working 11 a.m. to 9 p.m four days a week. Her stepdad dropped her off and picked her up. She was often the only person at the restaurant besides one cook in the back. She staffed the cash register behind a screen of plexiglass and dealt single-handedly with customers decades her senior.
Daniela got an hour off during the day here or there to video chat with teachers. But she struggled to retain new material from school, thrown off by the confusion of remote learning and distracted by the pressure of her carefully choreographed routine ― the one that kept her parents, her two sisters and soon-to-be baby sibling afloat.
She carried the weight of the responsibility on her back. New aches and pains appeared. Her mom rubbed her shoulders until she could fall asleep at night. Headaches grew more frequent, and during moments of panic, when uncertainties over the future felt big and overwhelming, she guzzled water, relaxed by the repetitive sipping motions.
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Fears over the pandemic became secondary to the immediacy of her family’s needs.
“I’m not really concerned about the virus. I’m mostly concerned about me being able to help my family out,” said Daniela, who wears thick false eyelashes that accentuate her manicured eyebrows and a thick ponytail tied tightly behind her neck. Besides, she said, “I don’t do anything. I’m just home or at work.”
By that time, Carey, who taught Daniela English and history throughout high school, was acquainted with the virtual view of the inside of Daniela’s restaurant from Zoom. Daniela did homework on the days she wasn’t working, texting Carey for help if she needed it. She passed all her classes.
“She’s just shown such resilience and drive,” said Carey, who also serves as Daniela’s academic advisor.
“She’s able to do it. I don’t know at what expense.”
Over the sticky summer, the days got longer and so did Daniela’s hours. She occasionally worked seven days a week. Her mom had a baby girl and spent two weeks in the hospital. When they got home, Daniela would cuddle her new sister, savoring her smile and memorizing the feel of her tiny hands in between shifts. She got a tattoo on her lower arm — three butterflies for each of her sisters, with their initials — and another on her chest with her mom’s name.
She never saw friends. She texted only with two girlfriends, one of whom was also working full time, earning money to help her similarly desperate family. Work and sleep were the only activities Daniela had time for. On days off she would help her mom around the house.
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“I just wish I had some rest,” Daniela said. “I’m tired most of the time.”
Sarahbeth Maney for HuffPost
Teachers around the country said they are watching as their students work long hours outside the home, far longer than they did before COVID-19.
Even in a relatively affluent Arizona suburb, high school chemistry and coding teacher Jacob Frantz suspected some of his students didn’t sign on during the first few weeks of the school year in August in favor of working. “I’m sure some of them are having to work minimum wage jobs to support their family,” he said.
In the Southern California city of Pasadena, high school history teacher Manuel Rustin can think of one student in particular who worked at a grocery store a few hours a week before the pandemic and then promptly ramped his hours up to 35 a week. His family needed the help.
“I do think for my students, most of them will try to stay in school, but I think as the semester progresses I won’t be surprised at all if a lot of them disappear,” Rustin said.
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At Daniela’s California public high school, about 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Since the pandemic started, about a fourth of Carey’s students started working 20 hours a week or more, she said. They’re no longer just kids or students; they’re breadwinners, jaded about the challenges of work-life balance and the difficulties of navigating workplace drama.
“I have one student who works at a Michael’s in the suburbs, and she talked about ‘all the Karens’ she has to deal with. One works at a restaurant and is constantly getting yelled at for telling people to put on masks,” Carey said. “It’s not like they just have this responsibility. … There’s bad bosses and annoying co-workers.”
Carey was never concerned that Daniela would allow her schoolwork to suffer. Before the pandemic, Daniela got credits at a local college and interned at a hospital, laser-focused on getting into her dream college of San Jose State University, where she hopes to study forensics.
Several weeks ago, after driving to the restaurant to drop off gift cards for groceries, Carey helped Daniela speak with one of her supervisors about reducing her hours. The teen wanted to focus more on school and also get some breathing room. Daniela’s stepdad had been getting more work. Her mom was having some success buying wholesale items and reselling them for a profit.
Daniela now works three full days a week instead of four. Her mom also started helping more with the bills. Daniela still pays for the household’s phone and internet.
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“I just like helping out my mom whenever I can. I don’t complain. I prefer for her to use that money she’s earning right now from the resale for her to find more stuff. I just prefer for her to keep that money and invest in something,” she said, sitting on her bed where her baby sister is curled up sleeping beside her.
Daniela’s classes take place in the morning before she goes to work. She’s hoping to graduate early and maybe take an EMT class. She’s gotten used to a solitary lifestyle. Shuttling solely between home and work is the new normal.
Her friend, the one also working long hours, is now looking to leave her job and has been inquiring about roles at Daniela’s restaurant. But sales have been going down. “It’s hard to pay the staff when we’re not getting enough money,” let alone bring on another employee, Daniela said.
For now, she’s reached a delicate homeostasis. She tries to avoid thinking about the elements that could throw it off balance.
“Before school ended a few months ago, when I was doing this, I was feeling overwhelmed. I didn’t have time to do my schoolwork. Hopefully this time I find some way to make it work,” she said sitting in front of a bright blue bedroom wall decorated with a photo collage. “I just don’t have time for myself a lot.”
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-21--More Than 3 Million People Have Registered To Vote On Social Media

More than 3 million Americans have registered to vote via social media ahead of this year ’ s presidential election , thanks in large part to a push by Facebook across its vast digital ecosystem .
Facebook announced Monday the company has registered an estimated 2.5 million people this year after sending out the bat signal on its Facebook , Instagram and Messenger platforms .
The company aims to register 4 million eligible U.S. voters before the Nov. 3 election .
That ’ s in addition to the 39 million people who have visited the company ’ s “ Voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on how to register and vote .
Beginning next week , the center will include information on early voting locations , dates and hours .
Facebook also will add information on how to volunteer as a poll worker , Emily Dalton Smith , the company ’ s director of social impact product , told Cheddar .
Election officials fear a historic nationwide shortage of poll workers this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic could impede the voting process .
It ’ s unclear how many of these newly registered voters will go on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ More than half of the Snapchat users who registered via the app in 2018 actually did so .
That number will likely skew higher in 2020 , as voter participation in presidential elections typically far exceeds the midterms .
Twitter is planning a similar voter outreach campaign on Tuesday to coincide with National Voter Registration Day .
A spokesperson told HuffPost that nine out of 10 American users of the site say they ’ re already registered to vote ; as a result , Twitter ’ s campaign will emphasize how to vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ portals .
Unlike Twitter , Facebook and Snapchat track users ’ location data , Twitter pointed out .
While that ’ s important in making sure users register to vote in the correct location , most of the time that data is used for the less virtuous purpose of informing advertising placement .

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More than 3 million Americans have registered to vote via social media ahead of this year’s presidential election, thanks in large part to a push by Facebook across its vast digital ecosystem.
Facebook announced Monday the company has registered an estimated 2.5 million people this year after sending out the bat signal on its Facebook, Instagram and Messenger platforms. The company aims to register 4 million eligible U.S. voters before the Nov. 3 election.
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That’s in addition to the 39 million people who have visited the company’s “Voting Information Center,” which provides information on how to register and vote. Beginning next week, the center will include information on early voting locations, dates and hours.
An additional 740,000 people have registered to vote via Snapchat, the company told HuffPost.
Facebook also will add information on how to volunteer as a poll worker, Emily Dalton Smith, the company’s director of social impact product, told Cheddar. Election officials fear a historic nationwide shortage of poll workers this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic could impede the voting process.
It’s unclear how many of these newly registered voters will go on to actually vote in the election. More than half of the Snapchat users who registered via the app in 2018 actually did so. That number will likely skew higher in 2020, as voter participation in presidential elections typically far exceeds the midterms.
Twitter is planning a similar voter outreach campaign on Tuesday to coincide with National Voter Registration Day. A spokesperson told HuffPost that nine out of 10 American users of the site say they’re already registered to vote; as a result, Twitter’s campaign will emphasize how to vote instead of pointing users to state registration portals.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-21--Gloria Steinem Reveals The Personal Way She And Meghan Markle Encouraged People To Vote

Gloria Steinem over the weekend praised Meghan Markle ’ s efforts to get out the vote , nearly a month after they met for a backyard conversation that focused on voter suppression .
The feminist activist and icon extolled the Duchess of Sussex as “ smart , authentic , funny , political ” during a Sunday conversation with Access Hollywood about Steinem ’ s forthcoming biographical film , “ The Glorias.
” “ She came home to vote , ” the activist said of Meghan ’ s move earlier this year back to California , where the duchess grew up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a meeting the two had earlier this summer , saying they contacted potential U.S. voters together at Steinem ’ s home .
Photo by Matt Sayles ; Copyright the Duke and Duchess of Sussex In a conversation with Access Hollywood , Gloria Steinem said she and Meghan Markle met earlier this summer and contacted potential American voters together .
“ The first thing we did ― and why she came to see me ― we sat at the dining room table where I am right now and we cold-called voters , ” Steinem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m Meg ’ and ‘ Hello I ’ m Gloria ’ and ‘ Are you going to vote ?
’ That was her initiative.
” Steinem also shot down a stereotype that Meghan has faced since marrying Prince Harry , and thereby marrying into the British royal family .
“ She has a kind of stereotype hanging over her head ― which is ‘ princess , ’ ” the activist told Access Hollywood .
“ The whole idea of ‘ princess , ’ you know , is a problem .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get rid of royalty.
” Since Harry and Meghan ’ s historic step back as working members of the royal family and their subsequent move to California , the duchess has repeatedly encouraged people to show up for the U.S. presidential election in November .
“ We all know what ’ s at stake this year , ” she said in a virtual hangout organized by the nonprofits the United State of Women and When We All Vote in August .
“ When I think about voting and why this is so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I would frame it as , ‘ We vote to honor those who came before us and to protect who will come after us , ’ ” the duchess said at the time .
“ Because that ’ s what community is all about .
And that is specifically what this election is all about .
”

Gloria Steinem over the weekend praised Meghan Markle’s efforts to get out the vote, nearly a month after they met for a backyard conversation that focused on voter suppression.
The feminist activist and icon extolled the Duchess of Sussex as “smart, authentic, funny, political” during a Sunday conversation with Access Hollywood about Steinem’s forthcoming biographical film, “The Glorias.”
“She came home to vote,” the activist said of Meghan’s move earlier this year back to California, where the duchess grew up.
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Steinem then went into detail about a meeting the two had earlier this summer, saying they contacted potential U.S. voters together at Steinem’s home.
In a conversation with Access Hollywood, Gloria Steinem said she and Meghan Markle met earlier this summer and contacted potential American voters together. Photo by Matt Sayles; Copyright the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
“The first thing we did ― and why she came to see me ― we sat at the dining room table where I am right now and we cold-called voters,” Steinem said. “Said, ‘Hello I’m Meg’ and ‘Hello I’m Gloria’ and ‘Are you going to vote?’ That was her initiative.”
Steinem also shot down a stereotype that Meghan has faced since marrying Prince Harry, and thereby marrying into the British royal family.
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“She has a kind of stereotype hanging over her head ― which is ‘princess,’” the activist told Access Hollywood. “The whole idea of ‘princess,’ you know, is a problem. I mean, we had a whole revolution to get rid of royalty.”
Since Harry and Meghan’s historic step back as working members of the royal family and their subsequent move to California, the duchess has repeatedly encouraged people to show up for the U.S. presidential election in November.
“When I think about voting and why this is so exceptionally important for all of us, I would frame it as, ‘We vote to honor those who came before us and to protect who will come after us,’” the duchess said at the time. “Because that’s what community is all about. And that is specifically what this election is all about.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-21--Trump Boasted Open Federal Judgeships Were ‘Golden Nuggets’ In Woodward Interviews

President Donald Trump described open federal judgeships as “ golden nuggets ” and said in interviews with journalist Bob Woodward that he expects to have appointed more than half of U.S. judges by the time he leaves office .
CNN obtained transcripts of several new interviews Woodward conducted with the president for his new book “ Rage ” over the last year , including excerpts that were not previously published .
Trump regularly boasted of his ability to reshape America ’ s judiciary , including the appointment of more than 200 federal judges with lifetime terms , and two Supreme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mitch ’ s biggest thing in the whole world is : Judges , ” Trump told Woodward during a January call .
“ If I have 10 ambassadors , and a judge can take long to get approved … he will absolutely ask me , ‘ Please , let ’ s get the judge approved instead of 10 ambassadors.
’ ” Journalist Bob Woodward reveals new tapes in which President Trump touts his record on seating federal judges , saying he expects to have appointed “ more than 50 % of the federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time he leaves office .
https : //t.co/dMy9Fn355S pic.twitter.com/3cXWch0lJd — Anderson Cooper 360° ( @ AC360 ) September 21 , 2020 The assertions will only add fuel to the rising brinksmanship following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday .
Ginsburg , 87 , was the second woman to serve on the nation ’ s high court and was a crusader of women ’ s rights and a Democratic icon .
“ My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before her death .
Trump , however , has said he will move to replace Ginsburg “ without delay ” and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed a nominee would get a vote as soon as possible .
McConnell blocked former President Barack Obama ’ s judicial picks and failed to give Obama ’ s Supreme Court nominee , Merrick Garland , a Senate hearing .
The White House has released a list of 20 possible choices to fill Ginsburg ’ s seat , although Trump said he expects his pick to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his ability to fill the federal judiciary in his interviews with Woodward , likening his efforts to transform the bench as unprecedented in modern times .
“ You know what I did ?
You have the judges a lot of them are older and they go on senior leave , and we convinced many of them to go on senior leave , and more importantly Obama gave us 142 judges when I came here , ” Trump said in a May interview , without noting that McConnell and fellow Senate Republicans blocked Obama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He described the vacancies as “ golden nuggets.
” “ When I get out , I ’ ll probably have more than 50 % of the federal judges in the country appointed under Trump , ” he added in another interview .

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President Donald Trump described open federal judgeships as “golden nuggets” and said in interviews with journalist Bob Woodward that he expects to have appointed more than half of U.S. judges by the time he leaves office.
CNN obtained transcripts of several new interviews Woodward conducted with the president for his new book “Rage” over the last year, including excerpts that were not previously published. Trump regularly boasted of his ability to reshape America’s judiciary, including the appointment of more than 200 federal judges with lifetime terms, and two Supreme Court justices.
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“You know what Mitch’s biggest thing in the whole world is: Judges,” Trump told Woodward during a January call. “If I have 10 ambassadors, and a judge can take long to get approved … he will absolutely ask me, ‘Please, let’s get the judge approved instead of 10 ambassadors.’”
“Mitch’s big thing is judges, biggest thing,” Trump continued.
Journalist Bob Woodward reveals new tapes in which President Trump touts his record on seating federal judges, saying he expects to have appointed “more than 50% of the federal judges in the country” by the time he leaves office. https://t.co/dMy9Fn355S pic.twitter.com/3cXWch0lJd — Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) September 21, 2020
The assertions will only add fuel to the rising brinksmanship following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday. Ginsburg, 87, was the second woman to serve on the nation’s high court and was a crusader of women’s rights and a Democratic icon.
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” she told her granddaughter in the days before her death.
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Trump, however, has said he will move to replace Ginsburg “without delay” and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed a nominee would get a vote as soon as possible. McConnell blocked former President Barack Obama’s judicial picks and failed to give Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, a Senate hearing.
The White House has released a list of 20 possible choices to fill Ginsburg’s seat, although Trump said he expects his pick to be a woman.
The president touted his ability to fill the federal judiciary in his interviews with Woodward, likening his efforts to transform the bench as unprecedented in modern times.
“You know what I did? You have the judges a lot of them are older and they go on senior leave, and we convinced many of them to go on senior leave, and more importantly Obama gave us 142 judges when I came here,” Trump said in a May interview, without noting that McConnell and fellow Senate Republicans blocked Obama’s efforts to fill those seats. He described the vacancies as “golden nuggets.”
“When I get out, I’ll probably have more than 50% of the federal judges in the country appointed under Trump,” he added in another interview.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-21--Trump Says He'll Announce Supreme Court Nominee Friday Or Saturday

WASHINGTON , Sept 21 ( Reuters ) - President Donald Trump said on Monday he is looking at four or five jurists to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court and he will announce his nominee on Friday or Saturday .
Trump pushed ahead with plans for his third U.S. Supreme Court nomination , which would cement a 6-3 conservative majority , as some Republicans wavered on whether to support the move weeks before an election .
The Republican president said in an interview with Fox News that he wanted to wait out of respect for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Friday at age 87 .
“ We should wait until the services are over for Justice Ginsburg , ” he said .
The death of liberal icon Ginsburg upended the campaign season , giving Trump and his party an opportunity to strengthen its grip on the court whose decisions influence most spheres of American life , from healthcare to gun rights to voting access .
Trump said a vote on his Supreme Court nominee should come before the Nov. 3 election .
“ We won the election and we have the right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time , a lot of time , ” Trump told Fox .
“ The final vote should be taken frankly before the election .
We have plenty of time for that .
”

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WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday he is looking at four or five jurists to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court and he will announce his nominee on Friday or Saturday.
Trump pushed ahead with plans for his third U.S. Supreme Court nomination, which would cement a 6-3 conservative majority, as some Republicans wavered on whether to support the move weeks before an election.
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The Republican president said in an interview with Fox News that he wanted to wait out of respect for Ginsburg, a liberal justice who died on Friday at age 87. “We should wait until the services are over for Justice Ginsburg,” he said.
The death of liberal icon Ginsburg upended the campaign season, giving Trump and his party an opportunity to strengthen its grip on the court whose decisions influence most spheres of American life, from healthcare to gun rights to voting access.
Trump said a vote on his Supreme Court nominee should come before the Nov. 3 election.
“We won the election and we have the right to do so we have plenty of time, a lot of time,” Trump told Fox. “The final vote should be taken frankly before the election. We have plenty of time for that.”
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-21--NYC Police Officer Accused Of Spying On Tibetan Immigrants For Chinese Govt.

NEW YORK ( AP ) — A New York City police officer was charged Monday with spying on Tibetan immigrants in the United States as an “ intelligence asset ” for the Chinese government .
A criminal complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court accuses Baimadajie Angwang of working as an agent for the People ’ s Republic of China .
It says he was secretly supervised by handlers from the Chinese consulate in New York .
Angwang ’ s job was to “ locate potential intelligence sources ” and “ identify potential threats to the PRC in the New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He also was expected to provide consulate officials “ access to senior NYPD officials through invitations to official NYPD events , ” they add .
The papers described Angwang as a 33-year-old Tibetan and naturalized U.S. citizen who worked at a police precinct in Queens as a community liaison .
Before becoming a citizen , he had “ sought asylum in the United States on the basis that he had allegedly been arrested and tortured in the PRC due partly to this Tibetan ethnicity , ” they said .
He was to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ name of a lawyer who could speak for him wasn ’ t immediately available .

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NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer was charged Monday with spying on Tibetan immigrants in the United States as an “intelligence asset” for the Chinese government.
A criminal complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court accuses Baimadajie Angwang of working as an agent for the People’s Republic of China. It says he was secretly supervised by handlers from the Chinese consulate in New York.
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Angwang’s job was to “locate potential intelligence sources” and “identify potential threats to the PRC in the New York metropolitan area,” court papers say. He also was expected to provide consulate officials “access to senior NYPD officials through invitations to official NYPD events,” they add.
The papers described Angwang as a 33-year-old Tibetan and naturalized U.S. citizen who worked at a police precinct in Queens as a community liaison. Before becoming a citizen, he had “sought asylum in the United States on the basis that he had allegedly been arrested and tortured in the PRC due partly to this Tibetan ethnicity,” they said.
He was to appear in court later Monday. The name of a lawyer who could speak for him wasn’t immediately available.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-20--Chris Wallace Grills Sen. Tom Cotton Over His Supreme Court Hypocrisy

Sen. Tom Cotton ( R-Ark . )
intended to make a reasoned case for quickly replacing late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — but Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace threw his own words back in his face .
Wallace played a clip of Cotton after then-President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia 11 months before the president left office .
Cotton , along with other GOP senators , passionately argued that the Senate should wait to confirm Garland until after the presidential election .
“ In a few short months we will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... Why would we squelch the voice of the people ?
” an incredulous Cotton asked then on the floor of the Senate .
“ Why would we deny the voters a chance to weigh in on the makeup of the Supreme Court ?
” Wallace fired : “ If it was wrong then nine months before the election , why is it okay now six weeks before the election ?
You don ’ t see any hypocrisy between that position then and this position now ?
” Cotton , who was on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that President Donald Trump released earlier this month , claimed the GOP-led Senate has a “ mandate ” to fill the vacancy because more Republican senators were chosen in the 2018 midterms ( when just over a third of the Senate was up for reelection ) .
“ You can parse the 2016 , the 2018 election any way you want , ” Wallace responded .
“ But you stated a pretty firm principle ” in 2016 that “ it ’ s wrong to deny voters a chance to weigh in ” close @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would reverse himself yet again if the same situation arises in a Democratic administration in the future , Cotton dodged : “ Chris , as I said , we are going to move forward without delay.
” Check out the interview above .
Wallace holds Cotton ’ s feet to the fire beginning at 2:25 .

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) intended to make a reasoned case for quickly replacing late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — but Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace threw his own words back in his face.
Wallace played a clip of Cotton after then-President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia 11 months before the president left office. Cotton, along with other GOP senators, passionately argued that the Senate should wait to confirm Garland until after the presidential election.
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“In a few short months we will have a new president and news senators ... Why would we squelch the voice of the people?” an incredulous Cotton asked then on the floor of the Senate. “Why would we deny the voters a chance to weigh in on the makeup of the Supreme Court?”
Wallace fired: “If it was wrong then nine months before the election, why is it okay now six weeks before the election? You don’t see any hypocrisy between that position then and this position now?”
Cotton, who was on a shortlist of possible Supreme Court nominees that President Donald Trump released earlier this month, claimed the GOP-led Senate has a “mandate” to fill the vacancy because more Republican senators were chosen in the 2018 midterms (when just over a third of the Senate was up for reelection).
“You can parse the 2016, the 2018 election any way you want,” Wallace responded. “But you stated a pretty firm principle” in 2016 that “it’s wrong to deny voters a chance to weigh in” close to an election.
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Asked if he would reverse himself yet again if the same situation arises in a Democratic administration in the future, Cotton dodged: “Chris, as I said, we are going to move forward without delay.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-20--HHS Official Now On Leave Says He And Trump 'Stand By' His Disturbing Comments

The day that Michael Caputo took a leave of absence from the Department of Health and Human Services after a series of disturbing comments , he told a local radio station that he and the president “ stand by ” what he said .
The assistant secretary for public affairs announced his leave last week after a wild 26-minute Facebook Live address in which he accused scientists with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of “ sedition ” for allegedly plotting against Donald Trump .
He also urged people following him to “ buy ammunition ” and prepare for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ armed insurrection , according to a complete tape of the comments obtained by The New York Times .
He said Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would lose the election and then refuse to accept the results , which would trigger violence .
Caputo apologized for his comments this past Tuesday and said in a statement on Wednesday that he was taking a two-month medical leave .
He said in a Wednesday interview with WBEN radio in Buffalo , New York , that it was inappropriate for him to make the “ political comments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ jobs “ harder.
” But he also insisted : “ I believe everything I said and I will stand by it , and the president stands by what I said.
” “ I ’ m not going to resign , ” he said .
“ The fact of the matter is , there are people out there , especially people who hate the president , who are trying to paint a picture that I am mentally ill because I did this Facebook Live .
I do those Facebook Lives fairly often and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explained that he had “ just gotten a health scare ” before his comments on Facebook .
“ I didn ’ t know , but I ’ ve had it for a while , ” Caputo added .
He didn ’ t reveal any details about the health scare on WBEN , but in his written statement announcing his leave , Caputo said he was going to take the time for tests and treatment of a “ lymphatic issue.
” The Buffalo News reported on Thursday that he underwent surgery last week to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on his neck .
Caputo ’ s blow-up on Facebook followed an earlier report by Politico that he and his communications team had pressured CDC officials and scientists to alter COVID-19 reports to fit Trump ’ s optimistic statements about the coronavirus .
The president himself has admitted that he lied when he presented a sunnier view of the pandemic .

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The day that Michael Caputo took a leave of absence from the Department of Health and Human Services after a series of disturbing comments, he told a local radio station that he and the president “stand by” what he said.
The assistant secretary for public affairs announced his leave last week after a wild 26-minute Facebook Live address in which he accused scientists with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of “sedition” for allegedly plotting against Donald Trump.
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He also urged people following him to “buy ammunition” and prepare for leftist “hit squads” planning an armed insurrection, according to a complete tape of the comments obtained by The New York Times. He said Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would lose the election and then refuse to accept the results, which would trigger violence.
Caputo apologized for his comments this past Tuesday and said in a statement on Wednesday that he was taking a two-month medical leave.
He said in a Wednesday interview with WBEN radio in Buffalo, New York, that it was inappropriate for him to make the “political comments” and that it made his staffers’ jobs “harder.”
But he also insisted: “I believe everything I said and I will stand by it, and the president stands by what I said.”
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NEW: We have the Michael Caputo video from Facebook Live.
It’s...uncomfortable watching.
More, and story, below.https://t.co/pfZX744Trl pic.twitter.com/QLBJEqNOxN — Alexander Nazaryan (@alexnazaryan) September 16, 2020
Caputo also told WBEN’s conservative talk show host David Bellavia that he has no intention of resigning as spokesman at HHS.
“I’m not going to resign,” he said. “The fact of the matter is, there are people out there, especially people who hate the president, who are trying to paint a picture that I am mentally ill because I did this Facebook Live. I do those Facebook Lives fairly often and usually take questions about COVID.”
He explained that he had “just gotten a health scare” before his comments on Facebook. “I didn’t know, but I’ve had it for a while,” Caputo added.
He didn’t reveal any details about the health scare on WBEN, but in his written statement announcing his leave, Caputo said he was going to take the time for tests and treatment of a “lymphatic issue.” The Buffalo News reported on Thursday that he underwent surgery last week to remove a “swollen lymph node” on his neck.
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Caputo’s entire WBEN interview can be heard here:
Caputo’s blow-up on Facebook followed an earlier report by Politico that he and his communications team had pressured CDC officials and scientists to alter COVID-19 reports to fit Trump’s optimistic statements about the coronavirus. The president himself has admitted that he lied when he presented a sunnier view of the pandemic.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-20--How Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Spent The Final Weeks Of Her Life

WASHINGTON ( AP ) — She was seeing family .
She was exercising .
She was listening to opera .
She was doing the work of the court .
She even officiated at a wedding .
That ’ s how Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent the weeks before her death Friday at 87 .
Those who had been in touch with Ginsburg or her staff recently said she seemed to be coping with treatment for cancer and also making plans for events months away .
So the announcement of her death came as something of a surprise , even to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of her two authorized biographers , visited Ginsburg in mid-August at her longtime home in the Watergate apartment complex next to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington .
She said Ginsburg was “ plowing ahead ” despite a cancer recurrence .
Hartnett , who wore a mask and tested negative for the coronavirus before visiting , said the justice was continuing to do court work .
She also exercised , working out on a treadmill or using a tape made by her longtime trainer , Bryant Johnson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d watch “ Live at the Met ” operas , Hartnett said .
“ I have often said I would remain a member of the Court as long as I can do the job full steam .
I remain fully able to do that , ” Ginsburg said at the time .
But it was hard for the public to gauge how sick Ginsburg was .
She started receiving chemotherapy in May , four months before she revealed it publicly and at a time of year when the justices typically take the bench @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decisions .
But because of the coronavirus , the justices were hearing arguments by telephone and out of the public ’ s eye .
Also this summer Ginsburg would have been engaged in the work of the court .
The justices handle some emergency matters over the summer , and Ginsburg would also have been preparing for an extended private conference the justices hold at the end of September and before the start of the term in October .
But on Friday , longtime friend Nina Appel got a call from Ginsburg ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that his mother had died just before sundown .
He didn ’ t want her to hear the news first on television , she said , adding that she was grateful for the call .
The court said she died surrounded by family at her home in Washington .
She said she would remember her friend not only as a brilliant jurist but also as someone who connected with young people .
“ She was always herself .
She didn ’ t pretend to be anything other than who she was , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ruth Bader Ginsburg is aided by a member of her security detail , as she walks up a set of stairs to the stage , to speak at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington , Saturday , Aug. 31 , 2019 .
( AP Photo/Cliff Owen ) “ As recently as , say , two months ago she was looking ahead to next year , so even though we knew she was ill we didn ’ t expect it to come to an end at this point , ” Williams @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Ginsburg was honored by the National Constitution Center with its Liberty Medal .
The center ’ s president , Jeffrey Rosen , said in the opening to the video ceremony that Ginsburg was “ watching at home.
” The nearly hour-long video included some of Ginsburg ’ s favorite opera singers and celebrity friends who addressed her directly .
Ginsburg sent a note the center made public .

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WASHINGTON (AP) — She was seeing family. She was exercising. She was listening to opera. She was doing the work of the court. She even officiated at a wedding.
That’s how Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent the weeks before her death Friday at 87. Those who had been in touch with Ginsburg or her staff recently said she seemed to be coping with treatment for cancer and also making plans for events months away. So the announcement of her death came as something of a surprise, even to some close friends.
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Mary Hartnett, one of her two authorized biographers, visited Ginsburg in mid-August at her longtime home in the Watergate apartment complex next to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. She said Ginsburg was “plowing ahead” despite a cancer recurrence.
“She was trying very hard to treat this, and essentially her body just gave out,” Hartnett said.
Hartnett, who wore a mask and tested negative for the coronavirus before visiting, said the justice was continuing to do court work. She also exercised, working out on a treadmill or using a tape made by her longtime trainer, Bryant Johnson. In the evenings, she’d watch “Live at the Met” operas, Hartnett said.
Hartnett said she’d asked the justice whether there were any silver linings to her illness and to the coronavirus pandemic.
“She immediately lit up and said ‘Yes, I’ve had so much time with my family, and they have been wonderful,’” Hartnett said.
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U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks during a discussion on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ginsburg announced in mid-July that she was receiving chemotherapy treatments, the fifth time she had dealt with cancer since 1999.
“I have often said I would remain a member of the Court as long as I can do the job full steam. I remain fully able to do that,” Ginsburg said at the time.
But it was hard for the public to gauge how sick Ginsburg was. She started receiving chemotherapy in May, four months before she revealed it publicly and at a time of year when the justices typically take the bench at least once a week to announce decisions. But because of the coronavirus, the justices were hearing arguments by telephone and out of the public’s eye.
In late August, however, one photo of her became public. It was a joyous image, Ginsburg wearing a black-and-white embroidered collar and black judicial robes as she presided over an outdoor wedding in the Washington area.
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The picture from Aug. 30, which was posted on bride Barb Solish’s Twitter account, suggested that Ginsburg was soldiering on. Solish didn’t respond to emails from The Associated Press requesting comment.
Also this summer Ginsburg would have been engaged in the work of the court. The justices handle some emergency matters over the summer, and Ginsburg would also have been preparing for an extended private conference the justices hold at the end of September and before the start of the term in October.
Betsy West and Julie Cohen, who co-directed the 2018 documentary “RBG” about Ginsburg’s life, said they got an email from her in mid-August signed in her typical fashion: RBG.
But on Friday, longtime friend Nina Appel got a call from Ginsburg’s son James. He told her that his mother had died just before sundown. He didn’t want her to hear the news first on television, she said, adding that she was grateful for the call. The court said she died surrounded by family at her home in Washington.
Appel, the former dean of Loyola University Chicago’s law school who was friends with Ginsburg for over 60 years, said the news was a “terrible shock” and caught her off guard.
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She said she would remember her friend not only as a brilliant jurist but also as someone who connected with young people. “She was always herself. She didn’t pretend to be anything other than who she was,” she said.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is aided by a member of her security detail, as she walks up a set of stairs to the stage, to speak at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ann Claire Williams, a former federal appeals court judge and Ginsburg’s friend, said she’d been in touch with Ginsburg’s office over the summer to reschedule a public talk they’d planned for the fall and then pushed off to 2021.
“As recently as, say, two months ago she was looking ahead to next year, so even though we knew she was ill we didn’t expect it to come to an end at this point,” Williams said.
A day before she died, Ginsburg was honored by the National Constitution Center with its Liberty Medal. The center’s president, Jeffrey Rosen, said in the opening to the video ceremony that Ginsburg was “watching at home.” The nearly hour-long video included some of Ginsburg’s favorite opera singers and celebrity friends who addressed her directly. Ginsburg sent a note the center made public.
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It closed by sending “bravissimos” to the “participants in this event, and all in attendance for lifting my spirits sky high.”
___


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-20--Trump: 'We're Counting' On Federal Courts To Declare Election Night Winner

President Donald Trump said he is “ counting on the federal court system ” to ensure that the winner of the November presidential election is called just hours after the polls close , despite current rules across the country allowing ballots to be counted several days to weeks after the election .
“ Now we ’ re counting on the federal court system to make it so that we can actually have an evening where we know who wins .
Not where the votes are going to be counted a week later or two weeks later , ” he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
On the topic of the judicial system , Trump also shared his plans to nominate a new Supreme Court associate justice “ next week ” to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’ s seat following her death on Friday .
There are fewer than 45 days until the Nov. 3 election , and it has taken about 68 days historically for a Supreme Court nominee to win confirmation in a vote on the Senate floor .
`` We 're gon na have a victory on November 3rd the likes of which you 've @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the federal court system to make it so we can actually have an evening where we know who wins '' -- Trump 😳 pic.twitter.com/q5bfsJQb76 — Aaron Rupar ( @ atrupar ) September 19 , 2020 Rep. Don Beyer ( D-Va. ) called out Trump ’ s comments on Twitter , arguing that the president wants to “ use the federal courts to cheat in November by denying Americans ’ lawfully cast mail-in ballots.
” “ This is an open admission that Trump hopes to use the Supreme Court to steal the election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s comments came after several states extended the deadline to count mailed absentee ballots so long as they are postmarked either on or before Nov. 3 .
Pennsylvania ’ s Supreme Court similarly ruled Thursday that mailed ballots postmarked by 8 p.m. Election Day can be counted up to three days after the election .
California has one of the longest windows for ballot counting .
Democratic Gov .
Gavin Newsom in June signed a law to allow ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to 17 days after the election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ record 72 % of California voters cast a ballot by mail in the state ’ s March primary , according to state data .
Many of the state extensions apply only to the 2020 election .
Legislators acted out of concern that changes at the U.S .
Postal Service could affect delivery times .
They also expected that more people will vote by mail this year because they worry about the safety of in-person voting during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic , and that could overwhelm the Postal Service .
The campaign also recently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Navajo Nation in Arizona after they sued the state to extend the state ’ s mail-in-ballot deadline .
A federal judge last week rejected the Trump campaign ’ s request to join Arizona in its arguments against the tribal members ’ lawsuit .

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President Donald Trump said he is “counting on the federal court system” to ensure that the winner of the November presidential election is called just hours after the polls close, despite current rules across the country allowing ballots to be counted several days to weeks after the election.
“Now we’re counting on the federal court system to make it so that we can actually have an evening where we know who wins. Not where the votes are going to be counted a week later or two weeks later,” he said at a rally in North Carolina Saturday.
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On the topic of the judicial system, Trump also shared his plans to nominate a new Supreme Court associate justice “next week” to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat following her death on Friday.
There are fewer than 45 days until the Nov. 3 election, and it has taken about 68 days historically for a Supreme Court nominee to win confirmation in a vote on the Senate floor.
"We're gonna have a victory on November 3rd the likes of which you've never seen. Now we're counting on the federal court system to make it so we can actually have an evening where we know who wins" -- Trump 😳 pic.twitter.com/q5bfsJQb76 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 19, 2020
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) called out Trump’s comments on Twitter, arguing that the president wants to “use the federal courts to cheat in November by denying Americans’ lawfully cast mail-in ballots.”
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“This is an open admission that Trump hopes to use the Supreme Court to steal the election,” he added.
Trump’s comments came after several states extended the deadline to count mailed absentee ballots so long as they are postmarked either on or before Nov. 3.
A Michigan state judge ruled Friday that absentee ballots postmarked before Election Day can be counted up to 14 days after the election.
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court similarly ruled Thursday that mailed ballots postmarked by 8 p.m. Election Day can be counted up to three days after the election.
President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Saturday. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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California has one of the longest windows for ballot counting. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in June signed a law to allow ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to 17 days after the election. The extension was enacted after a record 72% of California voters cast a ballot by mail in the state’s March primary, according to state data.
Many of the state extensions apply only to the 2020 election. Legislators acted out of concern that changes at the U.S. Postal Service could affect delivery times. They also expected that more people will vote by mail this year because they worry about the safety of in-person voting during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and that could overwhelm the Postal Service.
Trump has long claimed, without supporting evidence, that mail-in voting will lead to widespread voter fraud.
The Trump campaign filed lawsuits against vote-by-mail deadline changes in Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Jersey and Montana.
The campaign also recently filed a motion against members of the Navajo Nation in Arizona after they sued the state to extend the state’s mail-in-ballot deadline. A federal judge last week rejected the Trump campaign’s request to join Arizona in its arguments against the tribal members’ lawsuit.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-20--Biden Blasts Conservatives Pushing To Fill SCOTUS Vacancy Before Election

“ To jam this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power , and I don ’ t believe the people of this nation will stand for it , ” Biden said .
“ President Trump has already made it clear : This is about power .
Pure and simple .
Power .
“ Well , the voters should make it clear on this issue and so many others : The power in this nation resides with them ― the people , ” he added .
“ And even if President Trump wants to put forward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not act on it until after the American people select their next president and the next Congress.
” Ginsburg , 87 , died of complications from cancer .
She was a political , legal and cultural icon known for championing civil rights and women ’ s liberation and for writing ground-shifting dissenting opinions .
Ginsburg was one of the court ’ s more liberal justices , and conservatives are eager to fill her seat with one of their own , which would give the court a 6-3 conservative majority among the justices .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland , whom then-President Barack Obama chose to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia ’ s seat .
McConnell said at the time that a vote to confirm a nominee would come too close to an election and that the winner of the 2016 election should pick the nominee .
In his remarks Sunday , Biden quoted a 2016 speech by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham ( R-S.C. ) in which he said , “ Use my words against me , and you ’ d be absolutely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Supreme Court justice in an election year .
“ Having made this their standard when it served their interest , they can not , just four years later , change course when it doesn ’ t serve their ends .
And I ’ m not being naive , ” Biden said .
“ I ’ m not speaking to President Trump , who will do whatever he wants .
I ’ m not speaking to Mitch McConnell , who will do what he does .
I ’ m speaking to those Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what is right for the country ― not just for their party.
” Biden laid out what ’ s at stake with this Supreme Court vacancy : the availability of health care , the right to vote , the right to choose an abortion , the right to collective bargaining and protection against being deported .
Biden reaffirmed an earlier promise that he would nominate a Black woman to the high court but said he would not release a list of potential associate justices because he did not want to influence a potential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden added that putting anyone on such a list would subject them to nonstop political attacks for months before any Senate hearing .
He said he preferred first to consult with both Democratic and Republican senators before making any decisions .
“ Supreme Court decisions touch every part of these crises ― every part of our lives and our future .
The last thing we need is to add a constitutional crisis that plunges us deeper into the abyss ― deeper into the darkness , ” he said .
“ If we go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ irreversible damage .
The infection this president has unleashed on our democracy can be fatal .
Enough .
”

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Former Vice President Joe Biden blasted Republicans Sunday for pushing to fill the Supreme Court seat of late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the 2020 election and urged the GOP-controlled Senate not to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee before then.
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“To jam this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power, and I don’t believe the people of this nation will stand for it,” Biden said. “President Trump has already made it clear: This is about power. Pure and simple. Power.
“Well, the voters should make it clear on this issue and so many others: The power in this nation resides with them ― the people,” he added. “And even if President Trump wants to put forward a name now, the Senate should not act on it until after the American people select their next president and the next Congress.”
Joe Biden in Philadelphia: "To jam this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power, and I don’t believe the people of this nation will stand for it. President Trump has already made it clear: This is about power. Pure and simple. Power." — James Hohmann (@jameshohmann) September 20, 2020
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Democrats pointed to what they consider Republican hypocrisy in the effort to fast-track a Supreme Court confirmation weeks before Election Day.
In 2016, McConnell blocked a vote on Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, whom then-President Barack Obama chose to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat. McConnell said at the time that a vote to confirm a nominee would come too close to an election and that the winner of the 2016 election should pick the nominee.
In his remarks Sunday, Biden quoted a 2016 speech by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in which he said, “Use my words against me, and you’d be absolutely right” should Republicans try to confirm a Supreme Court justice in an election year.
Biden also quoted 2016 comments by McConnell and GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
“Having made this their standard when it served their interest, they cannot, just four years later, change course when it doesn’t serve their ends. And I’m not being naive,” Biden said. “I’m not speaking to President Trump, who will do whatever he wants. I’m not speaking to Mitch McConnell, who will do what he does. I’m speaking to those Senate Republicans out there who know deep down what is right for the country ― not just for their party.”
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Republicans hold a 53-seat majority in the Senate, meaning that it would take four GOP senators to defect for Trump’s nominee to fail.
Two GOP senators have already said they would oppose a vote on a nominee ahead of the election: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), who faces a tough reelection battle.
Biden laid out what’s at stake with this Supreme Court vacancy: the availability of health care, the right to vote, the right to choose an abortion, the right to collective bargaining and protection against being deported.
Trump and the Senate have named two Supreme Court associate justices so far: Justice Neil Gorsuch, who replaced Scalia, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who replaced the retired Anthony Kennedy.
The president released a list of potential nominees for Ginsburg’s seat and egged Biden on to release his own list. Biden declined to do so.
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Biden reaffirmed an earlier promise that he would nominate a Black woman to the high court but said he would not release a list of potential associate justices because he did not want to influence a potential nominee’s decision-making in court.
Biden added that putting anyone on such a list would subject them to nonstop political attacks for months before any Senate hearing. He said he preferred first to consult with both Democratic and Republican senators before making any decisions.
Biden says he WON'T release a Supreme Court short list as Trump has done, citing three reasons: He doesn't want to unduly influence judges' current lower court decisions; predicts his prospects would face "unrelenting" political attacks; doesn't want picks based on partisanship. — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 20, 2020
“We face four historic crises: A once-in-a-generation pandemic; a devastating economic recession; the rise of white supremacy unseen since the 1960s and a reckoning on race long overdue; and a changing climate that is ravaging our nation as we speak,” Biden said.
“Supreme Court decisions touch every part of these crises ― every part of our lives and our future. The last thing we need is to add a constitutional crisis that plunges us deeper into the abyss ― deeper into the darkness,” he said. “If we go down this path, it would cause irreversible damage. The infection this president has unleashed on our democracy can be fatal. Enough.”
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Ginsburg’s death leaves the Supreme Court with just eight justices: five conservatives and three liberals. A tie vote among them could result in a potential deadlock should a challenge to the upcoming presidential election reach the high court.
In the event of a tie, the court usually issues a single-line collective decision saying it affirms a lower court’s decision. In an election challenge, that could mean the outcome is decided by an appellate court.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-21--Students Back In India Struggle To Keep Up With Classes At U.S. Colleges

Akshay , a second-year Operations Research graduate student at Northeastern University , sleeps for 6-7 hours during the day on Mondays and Wednesdays so that he can stay up for his classes which often start at midnight and go on till 7 AM in the morning .
Like many Indian students enrolled in American universities , he left the US earlier this year as campuses started to close down abruptly and the Covid-19 situation worsened in Boston , Massachusetts .
Many Indian students such as Akshay and Saachi decided to take online classes instead of going back to the US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Covid-19 cases continue to escalate in both India and the US .
International flights are limited and expensive , and classes remain virtual for most universities and colleges .
For some students , lack of campus jobs and summer internships falling through because of the pandemic was also a major consideration in moving back for the summer .
“ I wanted to go back even before July because the job situation was not great , my lease was ending in August and if I left I would get to stay with my family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at this time , ” said Akshay .
Online classes for foreign students have their own drawbacks though—limited access to resources like high-speed internet and textbooks , large time differences for classes , and limited social interaction with teachers and peers .
Aditi Parashar , 20 , a Psychology major at Mount Holyoke College , decided to leave for New Delhi as cases started rising in the US , the campus housing she was staying in closed down and her parents started worrying .
“ By the time you have your 12 AM @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
My classes are really interesting and I shouldn ’ t be holding my head in my hands , ” she said .
“ But this only gets exacerbated the longer the class .
You are yawning , rubbing your eyes , and everyone can see you.
” “ My internet connection is great but your electricity goes out at random times in the summer in India .
There is also a lot of construction happening in my neighborhood.
” said Aditi .
“ It has already happened once in class , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I email the professor .
My professors understand but it is difficult to grasp the theories if you miss the class.
” Randy Albelda , Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts for over two decades , has noticed that her class looks very different this year : “ Some students are more affected by Covid-19 than the other .
I think we are getting students who are better able to do these classes , so ones who are more financially stable and have a better living situation .
There will be more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are trying their best to accommodate students by recording classes and following a variation of synchronous and asynchronous classes .
A foreign student in Albelda ’ s class is struggling with time zones and online censorship in China and the professor has been recording videos and voice threads to send to the student .
With virtual teaching , instructors are also struggling with ways to keep students engaged .
“ A third don ’ t show their face , so how do I know that they are there ?
Even if they have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see 3-4 faces when I am presenting , so I don ’ t know if they are understanding , ” said Professor Albelda .
“ Not having visual cues is hard , particularly because as a teacher you want to connect.
” “ I have a visual problem and teaching online really stresses my eyes .
Like students , the impact of Covid-19 has also been disproportionate on some teachers , like those who had to suddenly adjust to this new technology or female academics who were already doing a disproportionate amount of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Many students like Sakshi have also lost their on-campus jobs because of being away from college .
The college told her that they couldn ’ t keep her on because it would be difficult to comply with both Indian and American occupational laws while she was in India .
“ I am on hefty financial aid .
This is stressful for me because I will have expenses the minute I land in the US , ” she said .
“ I have some savings but I am worried that might not be enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get back on campus.
” Aditi and Sakshi ’ s university have divided their semester system into two modules where students take two classes in the first half and two classes in the later half , rather than taking all four classes in one go .
While this means that they have to stay up late for fewer classes , their current classes feel rushed .
Class material that was once spread out over 14 weeks is now compressed into 7.5 weeks .
Coordinating group projects is another major hurdle .

A masked student walks through the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Akshay, a second-year Operations Research graduate student at Northeastern University, sleeps for 6-7 hours during the day on Mondays and Wednesdays so that he can stay up for his classes which often start at midnight and go on till 7 AM in the morning. Like many Indian students enrolled in American universities, he left the US earlier this year as campuses started to close down abruptly and the Covid-19 situation worsened in Boston, Massachusetts.
“Last week, I attended a 3 AM lecture and I was half asleep,” said Akshay, who’s currently in Mumbai. “It is very difficult, of course.”
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Saachi Khandpur, a third-year politics and psychology major at Mount Holyoke College, has classes five days a week that she attends from New Delhi—three of them go past midnight. For three weeks, she tried sleeping during the day and attending classes at night but had to stop after she started getting sick.
“Now I am choosing between whether I want to follow a normal schedule, not feeling sick and getting some quality time with my family or if I want to be able to participate at my optimal potential in class, and it is a hard choice,” she added.
Many Indian students such as Akshay and Saachi decided to take online classes instead of going back to the US for the Fall 2020 semester, as Covid-19 cases continue to escalate in both India and the US. International flights are limited and expensive, and classes remain virtual for most universities and colleges. For some students, lack of campus jobs and summer internships falling through because of the pandemic was also a major consideration in moving back for the summer.
“I wanted to go back even before July because the job situation was not great, my lease was ending in August and if I left I would get to stay with my family for 4-5 months rather than being alone at this time,” said Akshay.
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The New York Times reports that there have been more than 88,000 coronavirus cases in US colleges and universities since the outbreak—over 150 colleges have reported at least 100 cases each. For the new semester in Fall 2020, most colleges decided to offer online classes to students.
Lisa Wymore, a professor of dance, theater and performances studies at University of California, Berkeley leads warm-ups for an online course in Berkeley, California, U.S., March 12, 2020. Nathan Frandino / reuters
Some universities and colleges decided to reopen with in-person classes and make safety protocols such as masks, social distancing and frequent testing mandatory. However, after being unable to stem the rapid spread of coronavirus on campuses, universities like James Madison University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Notre Dame and a few others, have already moved their classes back online.
Online classes for foreign students have their own drawbacks though—limited access to resources like high-speed internet and textbooks, large time differences for classes, and limited social interaction with teachers and peers. Aditi Parashar, 20, a Psychology major at Mount Holyoke College, decided to leave for New Delhi as cases started rising in the US, the campus housing she was staying in closed down and her parents started worrying.
“It is an adjustment. You are very conscious because you can see yourself also while you can see everyone else,” Aditi said about her experience after taking virtual classes on video conferencing apps like Zoom for nearly a month.
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“By the time you have your 12 AM class, your brain has checked out. My classes are really interesting and I shouldn’t be holding my head in my hands,” she said. “But this only gets exacerbated the longer the class. You are yawning, rubbing your eyes, and everyone can see you.”
Similarly, Jaskirath Panjrath, a second-year Communications Design major at the Parsons School of Design, finds that things are very busy, especially when confined in a four-walled space with classes till 3 AM.
“It is difficult if you are bad at concentrating. The classroom experience is very collective but remote learning is very individualistic, ” said Panjrath about his experience. “It is very uncomfortable, like a chair that you would not want to sit on.”
Aneesa, a peer academic advisor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, has observed that students, particularly foreign students, are having trouble accessing resources such as textbooks and technology, both software and hardware. Some students cannot access university resources due to firewall and privacy restrictions in their home country. Others are struggling with access to virtual learning due to shaky internet connections and power cuts.
“My internet connection is great but your electricity goes out at random times in the summer in India. There is also a lot of construction happening in my neighborhood.” said Aditi. “It has already happened once in class, where I started panicking and my parents suggested I email the professor. My professors understand but it is difficult to grasp the theories if you miss the class.”
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Randy Albelda, Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts for over two decades, has noticed that her class looks very different this year: “Some students are more affected by Covid-19 than the other. I think we are getting students who are better able to do these classes, so ones who are more financially stable and have a better living situation. There will be more inequality after this is over.”
Professors are trying their best to accommodate students by recording classes and following a variation of synchronous and asynchronous classes. A foreign student in Albelda’s class is struggling with time zones and online censorship in China and the professor has been recording videos and voice threads to send to the student. With virtual teaching, instructors are also struggling with ways to keep students engaged.
“A third don’t show their face, so how do I know that they are there? Even if they have their cameras on, I can only see 3-4 faces when I am presenting, so I don’t know if they are understanding,” said Professor Albelda. “Not having visual cues is hard, particularly because as a teacher you want to connect.”
It has also led to additional workload for professors. Like Professor Albelda, Professor Sripad Motiram, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at UMB, also finds that his time spent teaching and preparing for classes has increased greatly with virtual classes.
“I enjoy teaching and I like meeting students and interacting with them, something not very easy to do virtually. You end up doing more work but you are getting less fulfilment from it,” he added.
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“I have a visual problem and teaching online really stresses my eyes. Like students, the impact of Covid-19 has also been disproportionate on some teachers, like those who had to suddenly adjust to this new technology or female academics who were already doing a disproportionate amount of household work,” he said.
Many students like Sakshi have also lost their on-campus jobs because of being away from college. The college told her that they couldn’t keep her on because it would be difficult to comply with both Indian and American occupational laws while she was in India.
“I am on hefty financial aid. This is stressful for me because I will have expenses the minute I land in the US,” she said. “I have some savings but I am worried that might not be enough unless I start earning the minute I get back on campus.”
Aditi and Sakshi’s university have divided their semester system into two modules where students take two classes in the first half and two classes in the later half, rather than taking all four classes in one go. While this means that they have to stay up late for fewer classes, their current classes feel rushed. Class material that was once spread out over 14 weeks is now compressed into 7.5 weeks. Coordinating group projects is another major hurdle.
“Group work is becoming an issue. For one of my classes, most of my group is in the US while I am in a different time zone so I did end up missing one of our meetings.” said Aditi. “It is hard to sync timings when everyone is in a different time zone.”
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Covid-19 and the ensuing shift to virtual schooling, has also limited social interaction amongst students and the communities they built around their colleges.
Saachi Khandpur said she was unable to take part in campus organisations due to the time difference.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-21--The Last Months Of A Canadian Who Died Of COVID-19 In ICE Custody

Verity Hill/Supplied James Hill , in an updated photo , died of COVID-19 in August in an American immigration detention @ @ @ @ @ without masks or gloves clean up vomit and feces of those who were sick , @ @ @ @ @ said .
Hill tried to sleep during the day to avoid interacting with others .
@ @ @ @ @ possible , not wanting to go to the mess hall because detainees with COVID-19 symptoms @ @ @ @ @ expired , undercooked or infested with bugs .

Months after James Hill was supposed to be released from U.S. prison and reunited with his family in Canada, he died alone of COVID-19 in American immigration custody, hooked up to a ventilator and unable to speak.
The former doctor from Newmarket, Ont. was caught in a torrent of events outside his control — immigration delays, the coronavirus pandemic and irresponsible actions on the part of American officials.
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“He thought he was going to be free,” Hill’s daughter Verity told HuffPost Canada from her Toronto home.
“I can’t stop thinking that he was ultimately given a death sentence. It’s injustice on top of injustice.”
Hill was released from prison in April after serving 14 years for illegally distributing Oxycontin to patients at his Louisiana family practice, but was immediately detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
With an expired American green card and Canadian passport, Hill, 72, was sent to the for-profit Farmville Detention Center in Virginia to await deportation, scheduled to fly home July 9 — three months after the transfer. HuffPost has pieced together his final months at the facility through interviews, a lawsuit, news stories and public statements.
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The Farmville Detention Center on Aug. 12, 2020 in Farmville, Va. It has seen the worst coronavirus outbreak of any such facility in the United States. Steve Helber/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Verity described her father as gentle and understanding, a man who was made an example of by the American justice system during former president George W. Bush’s war on drugs.
The judge and federal prosecutor in the case both said Hill liberally handed out prescriptions for addictive painkillers to his patients, the National Post reported during Hill’s sentencing in 2007.
His criminal defence lawyer, Randal Fish, argued many of Hill’s patients didn’t have health insurance or access to pain specialists and needed help. He was “stunned” at the length of Hill’s sentence.
“I’ve specialized in criminal defence law for close to 27 years now and this has to be, bar none, the most horrible, egregious miscarriage of justice I’ve seen in my life,” he said at the time.
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Hill tried to make the most of federal prison, running self-help groups and a horticultural program for other inmates, writing 11 books of poetry, a novel and countless letters to Verity.
But Farmville was like nothing he had experienced before.
A detainee lays on a dormitory bunk at a detention centre in Lumpkin, Ga. on Nov. 15, 2019. ASSOCIATED PRESS
“My father had lived in four different U.S. prisons. He said Farmville was the worst of any of them,” Verity said, adding Hill called his family regularly from the detention centre to keep them up to date.
“There was no sunlight, no privacy,” she said. “There was a bank of phones against one wall and always a lineup and nobody ever cleaned the phones. It just seems ridiculous.”
This spring, the hundreds of immigrants at Farmville were beginning to panic about the possible spread of COVID-19 — and the lack of resources to protect themselves from it. Hill was no exception. He lived alongside dozens of other men in a poorly ventilated dormitory, sleeping head-to-head in bunk beds and sharing bathrooms, showers and a cafeteria, without consistent access to cleaning supplies or masks.
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Detainees talk on the phones at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, Calif. on Aug. 28, 2019. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Meanwhile, protests were erupting across the country as Americans reacted to police killings of Black people, including George Floyd, and demanded an end to systemic racism and discrimination.
In an effort to crack down on largely peaceful demonstrators in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump’s administration went to dangerous lengths to quickly mobilize tactical teams, including ICE officers, the Washington Post reported last week. ICE arranged charter flights for their officers, under the pretense the agency was transferring 74 detainees from half-empty facilities in Florida and Arizona to Farmville — 270 km south of the capital — according to the Post.
“Immigration used people as plane tickets, while disregarding the health and safety of the people on those planes,” said Adina Appelbaum, a program director at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. “It’s really upsetting to hear this behaviour led to so many people getting sick.”
Watch: Police drive back protests outside the White House. Story continues below.
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Local ICE officials pushed back on the transfers, said Farmville director Jeff Crawford to the town’s council last month, while addressing officials’ concerns about a reported outbreak at the facility.
Farmville had only experienced a handful of COVID-19 cases that spring and staff worried they wouldn’t have enough space for social distancing if more people arrived.
But headquarters assured them the facilities the detainees were coming from “had no instances of COVID-19,” Crawford said.
“In hindsight, we believe we’ve discovered information that this was not accurate, but that is what we were told at the time.”
More than 5,000 people have contracted the coronavirus while in immigration detention centers, including more than 800 in the last week. https://t.co/6Sg07xT0En — HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) September 17, 2020
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Of the new detainees that arrived, 51 tested positive for COVID-19, alleges a lawsuit launched by four men against ICE and Farmville for their “woefully inadequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Two of the plaintiffs are being held in custody until their immigration hearings. The other two were granted permission by judges to stay in the U.S., but ICE is appealing those decisions.
The virus spread like “wildfire” throughout the facility, says the lawsuit. By mid-July, at least 315 detainees had tested positive — more than 80 per cent of Farmville’s population — and seven were hospitalized.
In total, more than 5,000 people in ICE custody across the U.S. have come into contact with COVID-19. About 20, including Hill, have died so far in 2020.
The disturbing, chaotic conditions Hill described to his family are similar to those alleged in the lawsuit, which has not yet been proven in court.
Hill saw detainees without masks or gloves clean up vomit and feces of those who were sick, but not isolated, Verity said. Hill tried to sleep during the day to avoid interacting with others. He ate as little as possible, not wanting to go to the mess hall because detainees with COVID-19 symptoms were serving food that was expired, undercooked or infested with bugs.
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“The way my dad put it, it was not a matter of if he gets COVID, but when,” Verity said.
Detainees gather in a common area at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, Calif., on Aug. 28, 2019, during a media tour. ASSOCIATED PRESS
The immigrants who filed the lawsuit allege they never saw a doctor and were only ever given Tylenol to treat fevers, body pains, headaches and any difficulty breathing. They were not tested for days after first showing symptoms and three continued to live in the dorms.
One of the detainees, 27-year-old Gerson Amilcar Perez Garcia from Honduras, experienced severe COVID-19 symptoms, including diarrhea, a high fever and shortness of breath, and lost a total of 40 pounds, the lawsuit alleges. He was put in isolation with another sick detainee after six days of symptoms and given limited amounts of Tylenol and Gatorade. Guards checked on him once a day.
One night, Perez Garcia felt like he couldn’t breathe for an hour, the lawsuit says.
“He panicked, and he screamed to the guards for help while banging on the window of his cell. He did this for about 10 minutes when he became so exhausted he had to stop.”
No one responded to his cries.
A detainee sits in a cell at an immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Wash., on Sept. 10, 2019. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Crawford, Farmville’s director, denied the lawsuit’s allegations while speaking to town councillors in August.
“The notion we did not adequately respond to the COVID-19 situation at the facility is false. The notion that our staff and detainees are ill is false,” Crawford said.
“The assertion that our detainees are not receiving medical care is false. The notion we are not conducting COVID-19 testing or that testing is inadequate is false. The notion our detainees don’t have access to (personal protective equipment) or soap is false.”
Detainees leave the cafeteria under the watch of guards at the Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, La., on Sept. 26, 2019. ASSOCIATED PRESS
On July 1, guards shot pepper spray into Hill’s dorm when inmates were too ill to stand up for the daily count, Verity said. Hill told his family he was exposed to the gas and began experiencing shortness of breath two days later.
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He was taken to the hospital overnight, then returned to his dorm, Crawford told councillors, denying Hill was ever exposed to pepper spray.
Hill’s breathing issues continued, though, so he was sent to the medical unit for observation.
By July 9, Hill’s symptoms had only worsened, to the point he wasn’t allowed to board his flight home, Verity said. The day after he was supposed to be settling back in Canada, he was finally diagnosed with COVID-19 — his oxygen saturation levels were so low he was transferred to a hospital.
“He didn’t want to go on a ventilator because he wanted to remain cognizant,” said Verity. “But at a certain point he was too breathless to speak and didn’t have a choice.”
Verity and James Hill in 1986 in Richmond Hill, Ont. Verity Hill/Supplied
For the next four weeks, she and her family spoke to Hill over the phone, hoping he was listening to their words of encouragement. Verity suffered from extreme anxiety, grinding her teeth until they crumbled, fearful she’d lose not only her father, but the chance to reunite.
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In a poem about that time, titled “That Contentious Border,” Verity wrote:
“those days
where I was waiting remain
a tense eternity
“I expected
news of your recovery
you had to prevail
or I’d know nothing certainly
“adrift since
between no fixed points of now and then
you were supposed
to share a quality of light, a shade of green with me
on the stage of our reunion
“why how where is that resolved
into a box that transports the remainders
across that contentious border.”
On the night of Aug. 5, hospital staff told Hill’s family they were going to take him off life support. Verity had one last chance to say goodbye.
“I told him that he’d given me his gift and I would use it to write him a life,” Verity said.
Four months after entering ICE custody, Hill died.
“There is tragic news, which is the death of a detainee,” Crawford said at the town council meeting. “But there’s a lot of good news as well.”
Since July 10, he said they’ve administered more than 700 tests and documented no other detainees or staff with symptoms.
“Yes, we’ve had many positive (tests), but there’s a great difference between testing positive and being sick.”
Watch: A public health crisis in unfolding in ICE detention facilities during the pandemic. Story continues below.
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However, a recent inspection done for the lawsuit’s plaintiffs found health care staff at Farmville were not monitoring detainees for ongoing symptoms nor properly screening them for COVID-19. Less than a quarter of the detainees were wearing masks.
ICE said in a statement it is conducting a review into Hill’s death.
Canadian officials are aware of Hill’s death and are in contact with local authorities to gather information, said Global Affairs spokesperson Jason Kung. They are providing assistance to Hill’s family, but can provide no further information citing privacy reasons.
Verity has dealt with her grief by sharing Hill’s story with advocacy groups and media, in the hopes it will create change for the people still detained in Farmville — taking the same stance as her father would.
“He had this attitude that humanity is a collective and we’re all responsible for each other. One person’s difficulties we share,” she said. “He didn’t see a divide between people.”
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Shortly after Hill was sentenced in 2007, Verity wrote to him, expressing her anguish.
“How do you manage, now that the things you counted on are fantasies?” Verity asked.
Hill’s response then rings true for Verity now.