truthout--2020-07-14--Missouri School District Wants Impunity for COVID Damage From Extracurriculars

A suburban school district just north of St. Louis , Missouri , has updated one of its waivers to parents of students involved in extracurricular activities , requiring them to relieve the district of any liability if their children contract coronavirus during school-sanctioned activities .
Hazelwood School District maintains that the waiver only applies to activities or sports that students are involved in outside of normal school hours , describing it as a standard release that parents have been asked to sign in the past .
“ HSD doesn ’ t have a COVID-19 waiver for students to attend school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a sports waiver that we issue to parents who want their kids to play sports , ” the district said to Raw Story , which originally reported on the matter .
Yet in reading the actual copy of the waiver , the document goes beyond a typical release in one glaring way : it relieves the district of culpability if participants contract coronavirus .
Parents must recognize that government officials have declared a public health crisis , and that children will not be allowed to participate if they show symptoms of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activities for two weeks , or demonstrate proof of a negative test result , before being allowed to participate again .
In two separate places , parents must also either initial or sign a statement stating that the district isn ’ t responsible for keeping their children free from coronavirus .
“ I understand that the Hazelwood School District can not prevent the possible transmission or contraction of COVID-19 for my child , ” one portion of the document reads .
In another part , parents are forced , in a more direct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they could hold the school accountable for being neglectful .
By signing the document , parents acknowledge that they “ release , discharge , hold harmless and indemnify ” the school district and the board of education of any injuries from the program , including health matters that result in contracting or dying from COVID-19 , “ even if the cause , damages or injuries are alleged to be the fault of or alleged to be caused by the negligence or carelessness of the Releasees [ the District ] , ” the waiver @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hazelwood School District , if in the fall it becomes clear that schools can not operate at full capacity due to spread of the disease , is to have students attend in-person on an alternating daily basis .
Half the student body would go to classes on Mondays and Wednesdays , while the other half would go on Tuesdays and Thursdays .
Days when students aren ’ t at school , including Fridays when no students would attend , would be virtual learning days .
Schools across the country are scrambling to decide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including how to manage day-to-day learning as well as extracurricular activities .
They are , in part , oftentimes being pressured by political forces to come up with plans for how to reopen , including from President Donald Trump , who last week blasted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ’ s recommendations for how schools can safely reopen as being too burdensome , in his personal opinion .
Earlier this summer , Trump ’ s presidential campaign itself also had rally goers planning to attend a campaign event in Tulsa , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to agree not to hold accountable the campaign or the arena where the event occurred if they contracted coronavirus .
“ By attending the Rally , you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to Covid-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President , Inc. ; BOK Center ; ASM Global ; or any of their affiliates , directors , officers , employees , agents , contractors , or volunteers liable for any illness or injury , ” the online waiver read .

The waiver removes responsibility if a student gets sick, even from “negligence or carelessness” of the district.
A suburban school district just north of St. Louis, Missouri, has updated one of its waivers to parents of students involved in extracurricular activities, requiring them to relieve the district of any liability if their children contract coronavirus during school-sanctioned activities.
Hazelwood School District maintains that the waiver only applies to activities or sports that students are involved in outside of normal school hours, describing it as a standard release that parents have been asked to sign in the past.
“HSD doesn’t have a COVID-19 waiver for students to attend school in-person. Like all districts, we have a sports waiver that we issue to parents who want their kids to play sports,” the district said to Raw Story, which originally reported on the matter.
Yet in reading the actual copy of the waiver, the document goes beyond a typical release in one glaring way: it relieves the district of culpability if participants contract coronavirus.
Parents must recognize that government officials have declared a public health crisis, and that children will not be allowed to participate if they show symptoms of the disease. Students must refrain from the activities for two weeks, or demonstrate proof of a negative test result, before being allowed to participate again.
In two separate places, parents must also either initial or sign a statement stating that the district isn’t responsible for keeping their children free from coronavirus.
“I understand that the Hazelwood School District cannot prevent the possible transmission or contraction of COVID-19 for my child,” one portion of the document reads.
In another part, parents are forced, in a more direct manner, to sign-away any possibility that they could hold the school accountable for being neglectful.
By signing the document, parents acknowledge that they “release, discharge, hold harmless and indemnify” the school district and the board of education of any injuries from the program, including health matters that result in contracting or dying from COVID-19, “even if the cause, damages or injuries are alleged to be the fault of or alleged to be caused by the negligence or carelessness of the Releasees [the District],” the waiver states.
The current recommended plan for Hazelwood School District, if in the fall it becomes clear that schools cannot operate at full capacity due to spread of the disease, is to have students attend in-person on an alternating daily basis. Half the student body would go to classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, while the other half would go on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Days when students aren’t at school, including Fridays when no students would attend, would be virtual learning days.
Schools across the country are scrambling to decide what to do on myriad topics, including how to manage day-to-day learning as well as extracurricular activities. They are, in part, oftentimes being pressured by political forces to come up with plans for how to reopen, including from President Donald Trump, who last week blasted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for how schools can safely reopen as being too burdensome, in his personal opinion.
Earlier this summer, Trump’s presidential campaign itself also had rally goers planning to attend a campaign event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, sign a waiver requiring participants to agree not to hold accountable the campaign or the arena where the event occurred if they contracted coronavirus.
“By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to Covid-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury,” the online waiver read.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-07-14--4 Former CDC Heads Blast Trump for Sharing Tweet Accusing CDC of Being “Liars”

Four former heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) published an op-ed in The Washington Post on Tuesday decrying President Donald Trump and members of his administration for pushing politics ahead of public health when dealing with the coronavirus pandemic .
Specifically , the four former CDC directors — Tom Frieden , Jeffrey Koplan , David Satcher and Richard Besser — denounced actions by White House officials to obfuscate recommendations for schools and parents when classes across the country resume this fall .
In their opening paragraph , the former directors noted that “ public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it comes to trying to determine whether schools should reopen or not , and how to safely do so : “ COVID-19 , but also political leaders and others attempting to undermine the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , ” they said .
They added that there have been “ repeated efforts ” from the Trump administration “ to subvert sound public health guidelines , ” which “ introduce chaos and uncertainty while unnecessarily putting lives at risk.
” Last week , after Trump blasted guidelines from the CDC on how schools @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being too burdensome , Vice President Mike Pence announced that new guidelines would be authored .
Current CDC Director Robert Redfield , who was not among those in The Washington Post op-ed , later corrected Pence , saying that the guidelines wouldn ’ t be changed but rather supplemented by new material .
The former directors commented on that situation .
“ It is not unusual for CDC guidelines to be changed or amended during a clearance process that moves through multiple agencies and the White House .
But it is extraordinary for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” they wrote .
“ The only valid reason to change released guidelines is new information and new science — not politics , ” the former CDC directors added .
The former heads of the agency stated that they could not remember “ a single time ” when they were in charge , collectively , “ when political pressure led to a change in the interpretation of scientific evidence.
” The former directors also blasted Trump ’ s leadership during this time in a general sense .
The U.S. ’ s failure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries around the world have successfully done is a “ tragic indictment ” of efforts from the healthcare community and the CDC , they said .
They also noted that reopening schools would hurt some students more than it would others .
“ Black , Latino and Native American communities have suffered disproportionately during the first six months of the pandemic .
We can not let this same tragedy unfold this fall in our schools , ” the former CDC heads said .
The administration ’ s efforts to hinder scientific recommendations in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools was the wrong way to go , the former directors concluded .
“ Trying to fight this pandemic while subverting scientific expertise is like fighting blindfolded , ” they wrote .
It ’ s unlikely that Trump will be swayed by the op-ed from previous CDC directors .
On Monday , the president shared a tweet that derided “ most ” doctors and the CDC itself for purportedly “ lying ” about aspects of the pandemic , without providing examples of what exactly they had lied about .
In spite of Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his own health agency , Americans overall do not view him in a positive light for how he has handled the health crisis .
An ABC News/Ipsos poll published on Friday found that 67 percent of Americans said they disapprove of how Trump has ( or hasn ’ t ) managed controlling the spread of COVID-19 .
As of 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time , more than 3.37 million Americans have been diagnosed with the disease , accounting for a quarter of all documented cases worldwide , according to Johns Hopkins University .
More @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a result of contracting COVID-19 .

The former directors criticized Trump for “efforts to subvert” current CDC guidelines on reopening schools.
Four former heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published an op-ed in The Washington Post on Tuesday decrying President Donald Trump and members of his administration for pushing politics ahead of public health when dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
Specifically, the four former CDC directors — Tom Frieden, Jeffrey Koplan, David Satcher and Richard Besser — denounced actions by White House officials to obfuscate recommendations for schools and parents when classes across the country resume this fall.
In their opening paragraph, the former directors noted that “public health experts face two opponents” when it comes to trying to determine whether schools should reopen or not, and how to safely do so: “COVID-19, but also political leaders and others attempting to undermine the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” they said.
They added that there have been “repeated efforts” from the Trump administration “to subvert sound public health guidelines,” which “introduce chaos and uncertainty while unnecessarily putting lives at risk.”
Last week, after Trump blasted guidelines from the CDC on how schools can safely reopen during the pandemic for being too burdensome, Vice President Mike Pence announced that new guidelines would be authored. Current CDC Director Robert Redfield, who was not among those in The Washington Post op-ed, later corrected Pence, saying that the guidelines wouldn’t be changed but rather supplemented by new material.
The former directors commented on that situation.
“It is not unusual for CDC guidelines to be changed or amended during a clearance process that moves through multiple agencies and the White House. But it is extraordinary for guidelines to be undermined after their release,” they wrote.
“The only valid reason to change released guidelines is new information and new science — not politics,” the former CDC directors added.
The former heads of the agency stated that they could not remember “a single time” when they were in charge, collectively, “when political pressure led to a change in the interpretation of scientific evidence.”
The former directors also blasted Trump’s leadership during this time in a general sense. The U.S.’s failure to address the disease the way other countries around the world have successfully done is a “tragic indictment” of efforts from the healthcare community and the CDC, they said.
They also noted that reopening schools would hurt some students more than it would others.
“Black, Latino and Native American communities have suffered disproportionately during the first six months of the pandemic. We cannot let this same tragedy unfold this fall in our schools,” the former CDC heads said.
The administration’s efforts to hinder scientific recommendations in favor of their preferred way of reopening schools was the wrong way to go, the former directors concluded. “Trying to fight this pandemic while subverting scientific expertise is like fighting blindfolded,” they wrote.
It’s unlikely that Trump will be swayed by the op-ed from previous CDC directors. On Monday, the president shared a tweet that derided “most” doctors and the CDC itself for purportedly “lying” about aspects of the pandemic, without providing examples of what exactly they had lied about.
In spite of Trump’s apparent skepticism of doctors and his own health agency, Americans overall do not view him in a positive light for how he has handled the health crisis. An ABC News/Ipsos poll published on Friday found that 67 percent of Americans said they disapprove of how Trump has (or hasn’t) managed controlling the spread of COVID-19.
As of 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, more than 3.37 million Americans have been diagnosed with the disease, accounting for a quarter of all documented cases worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 135,000 in the U.S. have died as a result of contracting COVID-19.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-07-14--Republicans Are Afraid to Attend Their Convention But Want Your Kids in School

The Republican National Convention , like the first day of school , is only weeks away .
The GOP ’ s quadrennial confab , lustily anticipated by Donald Trump , may not quite be the top-shelf shindig he was hoping for , however .
A whole slew of big-name Republicans are saying “ Nope ” to the invite .
“ Everybody just assumes no one is going , ” says GOP Rep. Darin LaHood .
Why that assumption ?
Because COVID-19 is raging out of control in the South and West , and still lurks virtually everywhere else .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GOP convention , is among the hottest COVID hotspots on the face of the Earth at the moment , with tens of thousands of new infections piling up over the last week .
Spending four days in close quarters under these circumstances would be perilous in the extreme .
They are afraid to attend their own nominating convention , but they want to send your kids back to 180 days of close quarters in school buildings all across the country .
They want to do this without having provided funds to school districts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ undertaking , and with no national testing or tracing regimen in place .
They want to do this in the middle of the current COVID firestorm , one that threatens to get worse .
They want to do it to help Donald Trump win in November , period , end of file .
“ In remarks Sunday , Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged schools to provide full-time , in-person learning in the fall even with community transmission of COVID-19 rising in many parts of the U.S. , suggesting that there is no danger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are in school , ” reported the Associated Press on Monday .
“ Her statement is unsupported .
Some children have become seriously ill from the virus , and one of Trump ’ s top health experts stresses that data remain incomplete about potential risks they could spread COVID-19 to adults.
” ( Emphasis added . )
The hypocrisy is breathtaking , perhaps literally so if you ’ re a teacher who catches COVID in homeroom .
Fortunately , the Trump administration ’ s permanent policy of brazen shamelessness is not having the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ begun vigorously rolling back their reopening plans as COVID hammers those states .
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner wants to shut the city down for two weeks to try and contain the exploding infection rate there .
Philadelphia has canceled all large public events until the end of February 2021 .
In state after state and city after city , COVID has laid waste to the best-laid plans of mice and money , a trend that will only accelerate as the still-unreached pinnacle of this entirely avoidable infection spike goes right off the chart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Unified school districts , which collectively educate more than 700,000 students , announced yesterday that the year would begin with remote learning at home .
Students will return to the classrooms “ as soon as public health conditions allow , ” which under present circumstances could mean the entire year will be spent away from the classroom experience .
That decision may ultimately motivate the massive New York City school district to follow suit .
New York remains on the far side of a brutal springtime outbreak that nearly brought the city to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cuomo ’ s administration is overseeing various plans to reopen schools with a wary eye on the rising national infection rate .
“ We ’ re not going to use our children as guinea pigs , ” said Cuomo during a Monday press briefing .
The known risk to children sent back to school remains scientifically uncertain , but ominous facts abound : This past Thursday , Texas announced that more than 550 children under the age of nine had been infected .
The potential for schools becoming a vector puts teachers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , older siblings and basically every school district in the country directly in the line of COVID fire .
The public at large is aware of this , and a supermajority fear what may come : A new Axios/Ipsos poll on coronavirus and schools has 71 percent believing there is “ either a large or moderate risk to their own health ” if the kids , teachers and staff go back under the current circumstances .
As New York and California go , so may go the nation entire .
Dozens of states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lid on an infection spike that came because many of those states opened too early at the behest of Trump and his Republican allies .
Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle dropped some pointed COVID wisdom last week .
He was talking about the near-frantic push to reopen professional sports , but he may as well have been talking about reopening schools , and indeed the entire country , with matters as they stand .
“ We haven ’ t done any of the things that other countries have done to bring sports back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tribune .
“ We ’ re trying to just bring it back , even though we ’ ve taken none of the steps to flatten the curve , whatever you want to say.
” From the mouths of babes and lefties .
We as a nation have done little to bring schools back , to bring business back , to bring the country back .
Trump and his people have made it harder to do these things with their lethal ineptitude , thoroughgoing disinterest and political cowardice .
Nothing about the current situation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steps are taken to bring COVID to some semblance of heel .
They won ’ t go to their convention , but your kid has to go to school… unless you ’ re in southern California , for openers .
I suspect the wave of closures and restrictions will grow in the coming weeks , but until then , note the extremity of this most recent hypocrisy .
GOP Senators Roy Blount and Pat Roberts are too precious to expose themselves to the virus .
The children ?
Not so much .

Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
The Republican National Convention, like the first day of school, is only weeks away. The GOP’s quadrennial confab, lustily anticipated by Donald Trump, may not quite be the top-shelf shindig he was hoping for, however. A whole slew of big-name Republicans are saying “Nope” to the invite. “Everybody just assumes no one is going,” says GOP Rep. Darin LaHood.
Why that assumption? Because COVID-19 is raging out of control in the South and West, and still lurks virtually everywhere else. The state of Florida, site of the GOP convention, is among the hottest COVID hotspots on the face of the Earth at the moment, with tens of thousands of new infections piling up over the last week. Spending four days in close quarters under these circumstances would be perilous in the extreme.
They are afraid to attend their own nominating convention, but they want to send your kids back to 180 days of close quarters in school buildings all across the country. They want to do this without having provided funds to school districts to prepare for this massive and dangerous undertaking, and with no national testing or tracing regimen in place. They want to do this in the middle of the current COVID firestorm, one that threatens to get worse. They want to do it to help Donald Trump win in November, period, end of file.
“In remarks Sunday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged schools to provide full-time, in-person learning in the fall even with community transmission of COVID-19 rising in many parts of the U.S., suggesting that there is no danger ‘in any way’ if kids are in school,” reported the Associated Press on Monday. “Her statement is unsupported. Some children have become seriously ill from the virus, and one of Trump’s top health experts stresses that data remain incomplete about potential risks they could spread COVID-19 to adults.” (Emphasis added.)
The hypocrisy is breathtaking, perhaps literally so if you’re a teacher who catches COVID in homeroom. Fortunately, the Trump administration’s permanent policy of brazen shamelessness is not having the desired effect.
California and Oregon have begun vigorously rolling back their reopening plans as COVID hammers those states. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner wants to shut the city down for two weeks to try and contain the exploding infection rate there. Philadelphia has canceled all large public events until the end of February 2021. In state after state and city after city, COVID has laid waste to the best-laid plans of mice and money, a trend that will only accelerate as the still-unreached pinnacle of this entirely avoidable infection spike goes right off the chart.
The Los Angeles and San Diego Unified school districts, which collectively educate more than 700,000 students, announced yesterday that the year would begin with remote learning at home. Students will return to the classrooms “as soon as public health conditions allow,” which under present circumstances could mean the entire year will be spent away from the classroom experience.
They are afraid to attend their own nominating convention, but they want to send your kids back to school.
That decision may ultimately motivate the massive New York City school district to follow suit. New York remains on the far side of a brutal springtime outbreak that nearly brought the city to its knees, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration is overseeing various plans to reopen schools with a wary eye on the rising national infection rate. “We’re not going to use our children as guinea pigs,” said Cuomo during a Monday press briefing.
The known risk to children sent back to school remains scientifically uncertain, but ominous facts abound: This past Thursday, Texas announced that more than 550 children under the age of nine had been infected.
The potential for schools becoming a vector puts teachers and other school employees, parents, grandparents, older siblings and basically every school district in the country directly in the line of COVID fire. The public at large is aware of this, and a supermajority fear what may come: A new Axios/Ipsos poll on coronavirus and schools has 71 percent believing there is “either a large or moderate risk to their own health” if the kids, teachers and staff go back under the current circumstances.
As New York and California go, so may go the nation entire. Dozens of states are scrambling and failing to put the lid on an infection spike that came because many of those states opened too early at the behest of Trump and his Republican allies.
We as a nation have done little to bring schools back, to bring business back, to bring the country back.
Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle dropped some pointed COVID wisdom last week. He was talking about the near-frantic push to reopen professional sports, but he may as well have been talking about reopening schools, and indeed the entire country, with matters as they stand.
“We haven’t done any of the things that other countries have done to bring sports back,” Doolittle told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “We’re trying to just bring it back, even though we’ve taken none of the steps to flatten the curve, whatever you want to say.”
From the mouths of babes and lefties. We as a nation have done little to bring schools back, to bring business back, to bring the country back. Trump and his people have made it harder to do these things with their lethal ineptitude, thoroughgoing disinterest and political cowardice. Nothing about the current situation will change unless and until various well-known steps are taken to bring COVID to some semblance of heel.
They won’t go to their convention, but your kid has to go to school… unless you’re in southern California, for openers. I suspect the wave of closures and restrictions will grow in the coming weeks, but until then, note the extremity of this most recent hypocrisy. GOP Senators Roy Blount and Pat Roberts are too precious to expose themselves to the virus. The children? Not so much.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-07-14--DOJ Conducts First Execution Since 2003 Just Hours After Supreme Court Ruling

Early on Tuesday , the United States Department of Justice carried out the execution of a person on death row just hours after the United States Supreme Court issued a narrow ruling refusing to consider a delay .
Daniel Lewis Lee is the first person executed by the federal government since 2003 .
Lee , who was convicted of killing an Arkansas family in the 1990s , maintained his innocence to the end of his life .
“ I didn ’ t do it , ” Lee said in the moments before he was executed .
“ I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life , but I ’ m not a murderer .
[ … ] You ’ re killing an innocent man.
” The 5-4 decision from the Supreme Court fell along partisan lines , with conservative bloc members voting to allow the execution to move forward and liberal justices arguing against doing so .
A dissent from Justice Stephen Breyer questioned the legality of the death penalty itself .
“ The resumption of federal executions promises to provide examples that illustrate the difficulties of administering the death penalty consistent with the Constitution , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted the finality of the death penalty , and how hasty executions made it impossible for those who were convicted to appeal or prove their innocence , or even argue against the specific practice of lethal injection as a means to carry out their sentences .
“ Today ’ s decision illustrates just how grave the consequences of such accelerated decision making can be , ” Sotomayor wrote in her early morning dissent .
“ The court forever deprives respondents of their ability to press a constitutional challenge to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ courts from reviewing that challenge.
” Since the Supreme Court ruled in 1976 to allow the resumption of federal executions , only three individuals have been put to death .
Still , some studies have noted that , statistically speaking , 4.1 percent of those put to death are likely innocent .
Additionally , more than 2,600 death row inmates have been exonerated since 1989 , demonstrating serious problems involved with adjudicating , which showcases the possibility that an errant conviction can lead to an execution .
Among those who opposed the speedy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of his alleged victims .
They sued on Monday to delay the process , arguing that the coronavirus pandemic curtailed their right to witness the execution firsthand , and asked for it to be delayed until after the health crisis had ended .
In fact , the alleged victims ’ family members had expressed that they hoped there would never be an execution .
Several anti-death penalty activists spoke out on Tuesday morning after Lee was executed , arguing against the practice on social media .
Vanita Gupta , president and CEO of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rights , and a former head of the Department of Justice ’ s Civil Rights division , derided the “ middle of the night , middle of a pandemic decision.
” “ The death penalty is always wrong but right now a priority apparently for USDOJ , ” she added .
“ Anyone who still supports the death penalty hasn ’ t been paying attention for the past 30 years , ” he said in a tweet , noting that the “ criminal justice system is riddled with errors and discrimination.
” Adding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s constitutional , it ’ s wrong.
” Sister Helen Prejean , a longtime advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty in the United States , criticized the practice in a tweet on Monday night , prior to the Supreme Court ’ s decision and Lee ’ s execution .
“ The government can not be trusted with the power to kill our fellow citizens .
The death penalty is a failed public policy rife with racism , abuse , and errors , ” she said .
“ Abolish this immoral practice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tuesday morning the several problems associated with the death penalty as well .
“ We must repeat it again and again , ” he wrote .
“ The death penalty is immoral .
It is ineffective .
It is expensive .
It is cruel .
It is laden with racism .
It is full of mistakes .
It is wrong.
” “ Nothing is made better by the government injecting someone with poison in our name , ” he added .
“ That is not justice.
” The DOJ has scheduled at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this week .

More than 2,600 individuals on death row have been exonerated since 1989.
Early on Tuesday, the United States Department of Justice carried out the execution of a person on death row just hours after the United States Supreme Court issued a narrow ruling refusing to consider a delay.
Daniel Lewis Lee is the first person executed by the federal government since 2003. Lee, who was convicted of killing an Arkansas family in the 1990s, maintained his innocence to the end of his life.
“I didn’t do it,” Lee said in the moments before he was executed. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’m not a murderer. […] You’re killing an innocent man.”
The 5-4 decision from the Supreme Court fell along partisan lines, with conservative bloc members voting to allow the execution to move forward and liberal justices arguing against doing so.
A dissent from Justice Stephen Breyer questioned the legality of the death penalty itself.
“The resumption of federal executions promises to provide examples that illustrate the difficulties of administering the death penalty consistent with the Constitution,” Breyer wrote.
In a separate dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted the finality of the death penalty, and how hasty executions made it impossible for those who were convicted to appeal or prove their innocence, or even argue against the specific practice of lethal injection as a means to carry out their sentences.
“Today’s decision illustrates just how grave the consequences of such accelerated decision making can be,” Sotomayor wrote in her early morning dissent. “The court forever deprives respondents of their ability to press a constitutional challenge to their lethal injections, and prevents lower courts from reviewing that challenge.”
Since the Supreme Court ruled in 1976 to allow the resumption of federal executions, only three individuals have been put to death. Still, some studies have noted that, statistically speaking, 4.1 percent of those put to death are likely innocent. Additionally, more than 2,600 death row inmates have been exonerated since 1989, demonstrating serious problems involved with adjudicating, which showcases the possibility that an errant conviction can lead to an execution.
Among those who opposed the speedy execution of Lee were the family members of his alleged victims. They sued on Monday to delay the process, arguing that the coronavirus pandemic curtailed their right to witness the execution firsthand, and asked for it to be delayed until after the health crisis had ended. In fact, the alleged victims’ family members had expressed that they hoped there would never be an execution.
Several anti-death penalty activists spoke out on Tuesday morning after Lee was executed, arguing against the practice on social media.
Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and a former head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division, derided the “middle of the night, middle of a pandemic decision.”
“The death penalty is always wrong but right now a priority apparently for USDOJ,” she added.
A middle of the night, middle of a pandemic decision. The last execution of a person in federal custody was 2003. The death penalty is always wrong but right now a priority apparently for USDOJ. https://t.co/MzeWrEMzbS — Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) July 14, 2020
Michael Bromwich, a former DOJ Inspector General, agreed.
“Anyone who still supports the death penalty hasn’t been paying attention for the past 30 years,” he said in a tweet, noting that the “criminal justice system is riddled with errors and discrimination.” Adding, “Whether or not it’s constitutional, it’s wrong.”
Sister Helen Prejean, a longtime advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty in the United States, criticized the practice in a tweet on Monday night, prior to the Supreme Court’s decision and Lee’s execution.
“The government cannot be trusted with the power to kill our fellow citizens. The death penalty is a failed public policy rife with racism, abuse, and errors,” she said. “Abolish this immoral practice now.”
Author Clint Smith noted on Tuesday morning the several problems associated with the death penalty as well.
We must repeat it again and again. The death penalty is immoral. It is ineffective. It is expensive. It is cruel. It is laden with racism. It is full of mistakes. It is wrong. Nothing is made better by the government injecting someone with poison in our name. That is not justice. — Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) July 14, 2020
“We must repeat it again and again,” he wrote. “The death penalty is immoral. It is ineffective. It is expensive. It is cruel. It is laden with racism. It is full of mistakes. It is wrong.”
“Nothing is made better by the government injecting someone with poison in our name,” he added. “That is not justice.”
The DOJ has scheduled at least two more federal executions to happen later this week.
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truthout--2020-07-14--Thousands More Families May Face Separation as COVID Spreads in ICE Jails

As the United States leads the world in coronavirus infections , we go behind the walls of immigrant jails , where infection rates are also soaring , and also look at how thousands more jailed migrant parents may be separated from their children starting Friday .
“ Release is the only way to save the lives of people in custody , ” says reporter Jacob Soboroff , who went inside these ICE jails and first witnessed kids in cages in 2018 , which he writes about in his new book , Separated : Inside an American Tragedy .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : We ’ re going to begin today with the coronavirus in the United States , particularly in ICE jails .
As the U.S. leads the world in COVID-19 infections , today we go behind the walls of immigrant jails , where infection rates are also soaring .
Nearly a thousand employees of the private companies that run the jails for ICE — that ’ s Immigration and Customs Enforcement — have now tested positive .
That ’ s according to congressional testimony given Monday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ four leading for-profit jail companies : CoreCivic , The GEO Group , MTC — Management & Training Corp. — and LaSalle Corrections .
This comes as ICE reports more than 3,000 immigrants in ICE custody have tested positive , and at least three have died , including a 51-year-old Mexican man who died Sunday named Onoval Perez-Montufa .
A third of the prisoners who tested positive remain detained , while other have been deported , some while still infected .
Also Monday , a federal judge said he ’ ll wait until next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detained by ICE in family detention centers should be released in order to mitigate their exposure to COVID-19 .
The decision means ICE could begin to separate more than 300 more children and parents starting Friday , the deadline set by a federal judge in California for ICE to release children from its three family detention centers , but not necessarily their parents .
Meanwhile , experts are set to testify today before — Wednesday before the House on children in Customs and Border [ Protection ] custody .
For more , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who ’ s gone inside these ICE jails , witnessed kids in cages at the border when the Trump administration began carrying out its child separation policy in 2018 .
More than 5,400 children were separated as a direct result of the Trump policy .
Jacob Soboroff writes about this in his new book , Separated : Inside an American Tragedy .
This is Jacob reporting from an ICE detention facility in McAllen , Texas , in 2018 for NBC as Trump administration officials denied children were being held in cages .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Soboroff in 2018 .
He joins us now from Los Angeles for more .
He ’ s a correspondent for NBC and MSNBC , received the 2019 Walter Cronkite Award and the 2019 Hillman Prize for his reporting on child separations .
Jacob , welcome to Democracy Now !
Congratulations on your book .
If you can start off by telling us exactly how many children and parents you believe are still separated ?
And then comment on this latest news of a federal judge and what he ’ s doing about separations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Juan , I wanted to say to you both , it ’ s an honor , truly , to be on with you .
The honest answer is I don ’ t know .
The U.S. government doesn ’ t know .
And the ACLU , which won the reunification of the children separated by President Trump and the Trump administration under “ zero tolerance , ” doesn ’ t know , either .
The only thing we do know is that 5,400 children were systematically taken away — tortured , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization — by the Trump administration , for no other reason than to deter families from coming to this country .
And while there were 2,800 kids in that first initial group separated under “ zero tolerance , ” there were about a thousand-plus separated before record-keeping began officially , and a thousand separated since .
And so , there are still attempts to locate and reunify families that were both deported to their home country without their children — parents , I should say — and then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the interior of the United States , but the government just simply can ’ t track them because of shoddy record-keeping .
And that ’ s one of the things that I write about in the book .
There were attempts , time after time , by career officials in the government , that did have the best interests of the children at heart , to keep track of them , but the Trump administration , at multiple key inflection points , stymied those efforts , including Scott Lloyd , the former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who considered destroying a list of separated children and parents when it leaked to The New York Times .
And then , as far as the children , 335 parents and children who are at risk of separation today , you talked about it earlier in the broadcast , but the simple version of that story is that the Trump administration could release parents and children together from ICE detention right now , as we ’ re all talking to each other .
They simply refuse to do that , despite the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for their lives because of coronavirus , which is spreading rapidly through not just adult ICE detention centers , but is now in family detention centers , as well .
And so , while coronavirus threatens their lives , the government has chosen to let this July 17th Friday deadline approach , where Judge Gee here in California has told the administration to release the children , but the administration will not commit to releasing them with their parents .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Well , Jake , specifically on the coronavirus situation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detention system into further chaos ?
President Trump has been using it as a justification — further justification for his wall and for keeping out asylum seekers , as well as undocumented immigrants .
You would think that the officers of ICE themselves would begin to lobby for release because of the threats to their own health .
JACOB SOBOROFF : As a matter of fact , Juan , I spoke to one current employee at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona , one of the detention centers with the worst instances of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it to me inside was a “ war zone , ” in our reporting for NBC News .
And what he meant by that was that he alleged that they were sharing PPE , personal protective equipment .
The first word is “ personal , ” yet he alleges that CoreCivic , the private prison company that owns the facility , is not giving them adequate personal protective equipment .
Detainees are being housed together , both infected and noninfected — at least they were — he alleges .
The bottom line is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ save the lives of people in custody , absent very stringent quarantine and health measures .
And when you talk to at least this employee — and we talked to multiple employees at that particular detention center — when you talk to lawyers who represent children in ICE detention — jails , basically , for families — there are some families in these detention centers who have been there nearly a year , when the Flores settlement agreement stipulates they can only be in there for 20 days — they say the only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people out at this point .
And again , that ’ s sort of what I wanted to — I mean , frankly , I didn ’ t understand at the time — and that ’ s just the simple truth — when I was in the middle of covering family separations , how bad this was , how we got to this point , but how much worse that it could get .
And people said to me at the time , “ It ’ s going to get worse than this.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ June 20th , 2018 , signed that executive order , I was warned it was going to get worse .
I didn ’ t understand what that meant .
Yet here we are , where you have children at risk of dying inside detention simply because the government continues to dangle family separations over these parents .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And what about these companies , these private companies , like GEO , CoreCivic , MTC , that testified Monday before the Homeland Security Committee ?
How big of a portion of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could you talk about the amount — what kind of oversight there is over them , and what their profit levels are like in this situation ?
JACOB SOBOROFF : The majority is the answer .
And yesterday , before the House Homeland Security Committee , which we were watching closely , you know , they were asked some of these key pieces of information that have been emerging , in not just in our reporting but amazing reporting from other journalists over the course of the last couple weeks and months during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used — I mean , things that have been documented in the press .
And we heard , from several of these leaders , statements that directly contradicted reporting that was out there .
And frankly , I wasn ’ t surprised .
These sites have been described as black sites .
I ’ ve been inside the Adelanto ICE detention center in the High Desert here in Southern California , where the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security observed nooses in cells of detainees .
I personally observed detainees clearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and isolation .
And this was on a tour provided to me by Immigration and Customs Enforcement , after I went to visit with a separated parent .
That was two years ago .
Imagine those conditions now combined with the coronavirus .
One of the key things that I continue to be astonished by is that the guards inside these ICE detention facilities are expected to test themselves for the coronavirus .
These facilities — and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not made it a policy that these private prison companies are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s basically a honor system — an honor system .
And so , if an infected employee doesn ’ t test , is asymptomatic , or is symptomatic and comes to work , the problem is very obvious .
So , the appeals are to have more stringent — the big appeal is to release everyone now .
And then , more limited appeals are to have more stringent testing requirements , to have more supervision of medical care — things that you would think are commonsense , but across the board @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not happening in these facilities .
AMY GOODMAN : Jacob Soboroff , can you tell us about your dinner with Katie Waldman ?
She is now Katie Miller , Vice President Mike Pence ’ s press secretary , just recently married to Trump ’ s senior adviser , Stephen Miller , known for his fierce anti-immigrant sentiments .
But before that , Katie Miller was Kirstjen Nielsen ’ s spokesperson at Homeland Security , vehemently defending the administration ’ s family separation policy .
Talk about that day .
JACOB SOBOROFF : Sure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out to dinner with Katie , then Katie Waldman , now Katie Miller , and my colleague , Katy Tur , the MSNBC anchor , and we were having what ’ s known as a source dinner , not off the record , just discussing the topics of the day and what Katie Miller was currently working on .
And Katy Tur and I were asking Katie Miller about the experience — and this is after the family separation policy had ended — about defending the family separation policy .
And I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in the book — but Katie Miller said that DHS , her colleagues , had sent her to the border because they believed she lacked compassion during the separation crisis , and they wanted to make her more compassionate , to which I asked , “ Did it work ?
” And she said — and I said to her , “ Did it work ?
You know , I ’ ll never forget what I saw.
” And she said , “ No , it didn ’ t work .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” And I asked her point-blank , “ Are you a white nationalist ?
” And Katy Tur sort of sat up in her chair when I asked Katie Waldman , Katie Miller , that .
And she said , “ No .
But I believe if you come to America , you should assimilate .
Why should we Little Havanas ?
” And in that moment , I was taken aback .
I mean , I didn ’ t know what to say .
What do you say to someone at that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this in the book is it shows the underlying thought process , sort of the intentionality , of the people involved in the separation policy , despite the fact that they were warned on multiple occasions and people continually pressed back in them .
And when Kayleigh McEnany , the White House press secretary , was asked about this last week , she said that Katie Miller denied that she said this as written .
If that ’ s the case , ask Katy Tur .
Ask the other sources who have come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ came out and subsequent to the book coming out , sharing with me that she said similar versions of that exact story to them .
And again , if you don ’ t believe me , you ’ re believing someone who stood up for Kirstjen Nielsen denying that a family separation policy ever existed , when not only I saw it with my own eyes , but we as a nation saw it with our own eyes .
I find it preposterous that Katie Miller would deny that she said that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for everybody to see .
AMY GOODMAN : Jacob , interwoven throughout your book is the story of Juan and José , a father and son from Guatemala , who said they were fleeing narcoterrorists .
Tell us their story and what happened to them in the United States .
JACOB SOBOROFF : Yeah , the reason I wanted to include Juan and José — and those are names that they picked to protect their privacy and the lives , frankly , of their family , whom they left behind in Guatemala — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perfect .
Juan had come to the United States several times before as an economic migrant , worked and returned .
And he told me that openly .
He wasn ’ t ashamed of that .
But he did return to the United States with his son once they faced threats from narcos in Petén , Guatemala , in the north of Guatemala .
And so he decided to flee .
And when they did flee and they made it to the United States , after , as everyone knows , one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make — and you don ’ t make that decision to take that journey lightly — they were separated .
When they got to the border , they saw the Border Patrol , who they intended to turn themselves in to in order to seek asylum .
They were brought to Yuma Border Patrol station , where , incidentally , President Trump visited for a press conference just a couple weeks ago , and were almost immediately separated — Juan led to one cell , José led into another cell .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again for nearly five months , Juan being brought to Adelanto , to the ICE detention center I mentioned to you in the High Desert of California , and José being brought to a shelter in South Texas .
And José and Juan were almost never reunited , to be honest with you .
Juan was coerced into signing away his rights to be reunified with his son , almost joined the group of 400 parents deported without their children by the Trump administration .
And were it not for an immigration lawyer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Law Center here in Los Angeles , they may never have been reunited .
And that ’ s one of the things from their story I wanted to include in this book , as well , that immigration attorneys , the work they do is so extraordinary , to me — and I learned about this during this process — as important as any first responder on any frontline .
And the courage and the determination of this one father and son , the willingness to share their story so that this doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s why , they told me , they shared their story — is why I wanted to put them in the book .
And just one other thing , quickly , if I may .
When I was down on the border with President Trump a couple weeks ago , Juan said to me , “ If you see President Trump , do me a favor and ask him a question : Why did he separate us ?
Why did he traumatize us psychologically ?
” And the fact that he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that ’ s a story that plays out 5,400 times , each one its own individual story .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Jake , I wanted to ask you — one of the amazing revelations in your book is of a memo that a top homeland security lawyer sent to Secretary Kristjen Nielsen — at the time , she was the head of Homeland Security — specifically saying that the family separation policy could break numerous laws and violate constitutional rights of families , yet Nielsen went ahead and signed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on that ?
JACOB SOBOROFF : Yeah .
John Mitnick was the general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security .
He had worked at Raytheon and was brought in by the Trump administration to come back to DHS , where he had worked during the Bush administration .
And in this legal memo , attached to a secretarial decision memo , they ’ re called , which was sent to Nielsen by her deputies , including Kevin McAleenan , Thomas Homan and Francis Cissna from USCIS , Mitnick ’ s legal analysis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it hasn ’ t been previously disclosed , at least the language in the memo itself , and I published it for the first time in the book .
You said it , Juan : She was warned that family separations would be violative of multiple U.S. laws and , not only that , potentially violate the U.S. Constitution and the due process rights of the migrants coming to this country , their human rights .
Yet Nielsen decided , after a period of time where she sat on the memo and deliberated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Option 3 ” in this decision memo : to separate families from their children .
And to me , it makes the denial that this policy ever existed by her — and she sent out this famous tweet , “ We do not have a family separation policy , period.
” And she also stepped up to the podium in the White House briefing room for that disastrous press conference , I think a lot of us remember , to deny the policy .
It just — it makes it almost unbelievable , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who , after receiving legal advice that the policy may violate the constitutional rights of migrants coming to the United States , she signed it herself and then proceeded to deny that the policy even existed .
And that is why I wanted to include the language from the memo specifically , so everyone can see what she had in front of her , she considered herself , and yet she decided to put it into place nevertheless .
AMY GOODMAN : Can you describe , Jacob Soboroff , your first visit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the children that you saw , and how this changed your life ?
JACOB SOBOROFF : I ’ ll never forget it , Amy , for the rest of my life .
June 13th , 2018 , Brownsville , Texas .
I walked into a former Walmart , now called Casa Padre , ostensibly a shelter , and it was 250,000 square feet .
There were approximately 1,500 migrant boys detained inside for approximately 22 hours a day .
And hundreds of them , maybe as many as 400 , had been there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their parents by the Trump administration .
The facility was literally on the verge of overflowing .
It had a variance from the state of Texas to have five beds per room instead of four beds per room .
I walked around this facility on a tour with other journalists and officials from the government and from the shelter system itself .
We saw children watching films , Moana , the Disney movie , in the loading dock of the former Walmart in line for chow .
You know , I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve been inside several county jails .
And I said at the time , and I maintain today , that the place was called a shelter , but , effectively , they were incarcerated .
And one of the things that was startling to me is that one of the officials — and I write about this in the book , the portion where we take the tour of this facility — said to me , “ You know , smile at the children .
They feel like they ’ re animals in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that wasn ’ t the facility where I saw the cages .
It was just days later , on Father ’ s Day 2018 , at the McAllen Border Patrol processing station — Ursula , it ’ s known as — that I saw what Katie Waldman , Katie Miller , at the time told me was the epicenter of the policy : children in cages , sitting on concrete floors , under Mylar blankets , supervised by security contractors in a watchtower .
And every time I recall this , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Border Patrol agents , who admitted to me they were stressed and strained and struggling , they were not licensed social workers .
They could not touch the children .
There were only four social workers in the facility for all of the children that were separated by the Trump administration .
It was a disaster .
It was a — you know , we said this at the time ; it ’ s still true today .
It was a man-made disaster by the Trump administration , that was , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ the greatest human rights catastrophe of my lifetime , ” were the words that that government official used .
They called Scott Lloyd — this same official — “ the most prolific child abuser in American history ” for allowing this to happen to the thousands of children in his custody .
He was the custodian of all of these children , the unaccompanied children within the federal government .
And again , despite warnings — JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Jake , I ’ d like to ask you — I wanted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your book .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : You write that after President Trump had ended the family separations by executive order , that there was a federal health official who was pressured to lie under oath about the effects of that policy on children .
And this was — he was being pressured as he was being prepped for a congressional hearing .
Could you talk about that and who was involved ?
JACOB SOBOROFF : Yeah .
You ’ re talking about Commander Jonathan White , who was the federal health coordinating official @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that had warned politicals within the government of the horrible effects that the separation policy would have on children .
Commander White was a career official from the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps , which , incidentally , is now being dispatched to deal with the coronavirus , and had warned the government that family separations would have horrific effects on children .
And so , when they were in what ’ s known as a murder board , a practice session , Commander White and several other officials , including Scott Lloyd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , for the first congressional hearings into the separation policy , there was a huge argument over whether or not those who would testify would say that family separations were harmful to children , scientifically harmful .
And yet again , Katie Waldman , Katie Miller , was in that room .
And Commander White , according to several people who were in the room , got into a big argument with Katie Miller .
She said to him , “ You ’ re a bleeding-heart liberal , ” and essentially pressured him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harmful to the interests of children , despite the facts he knew they were .
And ultimately , when Commander White appeared before this committee , he said exactly what he believed , despite the best efforts of officials within the Trump administration , including Miller and another spokesperson for homeland security who were in that room , who were pressuring him not to do so .
AMY GOODMAN : As we wrap up , Jacob Soboroff , again , ICE reporting more than 3,000 immigrants in ICE detention have tested positive , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about what has to happen right now .
JACOB SOBOROFF : Well , one thing I should say is that Chad Wolf , who was an architect of the family separation policy , which you ’ ll read in the book , and is today the acting secretary of homeland security , has said he doesn ’ t want to do a , quote-unquote , “ jailbreak ” of the 25,000 people in ICE custody .
And I think that every activist and lawyer for migrants would tell you , that is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration currently .
They ’ re being asked to release medically vulnerable , medically sensitive people who are at risk in the facilities with the greatest incidences and occurrences of coronavirus , which has already killed employees of these facilities , including a sergeant at Eloy .
And in the absence of this order yesterday by a judge in the D.C. District Court , this sets up this huge moment on Friday , where you could have 335 parents and children separated by the Trump administration , because the children have been ordered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration , refuses to release the parents .
So , in the midst of a global pandemic , a pandemic which rages through our immigration detention system , the Trump administration is not focused on releasing families who are vulnerable — at least that ’ s what the lawyers and the activists say .
They ’ re focused on dangling this family separation , two years after this horrific policy , over families yet again .
And , I ’ m sorry to say , that ’ s where we are today @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I want to thank you so much for being with us , correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC .
His new book , Separated : Inside an American Tragedy .
And this breaking news : The U.S. has just carried out its first federal execution in 17 years .
Daniel Lewis Lee was executed this morning .
Up next , the Washington NFL team , whose name is a slur against Native Americans , says it ’ s dropping that name .
We ’ ll speak with one of the Navajo activists who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the team ’ s name .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : New York City ’ s All-City High School Latin Ensemble singing and playing at home together alone .

As the United States leads the world in coronavirus infections, we go behind the walls of immigrant jails, where infection rates are also soaring, and also look at how thousands more jailed migrant parents may be separated from their children starting Friday. “Release is the only way to save the lives of people in custody,” says reporter Jacob Soboroff, who went inside these ICE jails and first witnessed kids in cages in 2018, which he writes about in his new book, Separated: Inside an American Tragedy.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to begin today with the coronavirus in the United States, particularly in ICE jails. As the U.S. leads the world in COVID-19 infections, today we go behind the walls of immigrant jails, where infection rates are also soaring.
Nearly a thousand employees of the private companies that run the jails for ICE — that’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement — have now tested positive. That’s according to congressional testimony given Monday by the rarely seen heads of the four leading for-profit jail companies: CoreCivic, The GEO Group, MTC — Management & Training Corp. — and LaSalle Corrections.
This comes as ICE reports more than 3,000 immigrants in ICE custody have tested positive, and at least three have died, including a 51-year-old Mexican man who died Sunday named Onoval Perez-Montufa. A third of the prisoners who tested positive remain detained, while other have been deported, some while still infected.
Also Monday, a federal judge said he’ll wait until next week to rule on whether migrant parents detained by ICE in family detention centers should be released in order to mitigate their exposure to COVID-19. The decision means ICE could begin to separate more than 300 more children and parents starting Friday, the deadline set by a federal judge in California for ICE to release children from its three family detention centers, but not necessarily their parents. Meanwhile, experts are set to testify today before — Wednesday before the House on children in Customs and Border [Protection] custody.
For more, we’re joined by reporter Jacob Soboroff, who’s gone inside these ICE jails, witnessed kids in cages at the border when the Trump administration began carrying out its child separation policy in 2018. More than 5,400 children were separated as a direct result of the Trump policy. Jacob Soboroff writes about this in his new book, Separated: Inside an American Tragedy. This is Jacob reporting from an ICE detention facility in McAllen, Texas, in 2018 for NBC as Trump administration officials denied children were being held in cages.
JACOB SOBOROFF: This is the first time since — this is the first time ever that children have been separated on a systematic basis — look at those photos right there — from their parents. And that is because of the Trump administration. People in here are locked up in cages, essentially what look like animal kennels. I don’t know any other way to describe it. And strangely, The Washington Post gave Senator Jeff Merkley what they call three Pinocchios for saying that kids are locked up in cages in here. That’s exactly what I saw today. What’s different than what was going on in this building during the Obama administration is the systematic separation of children from their parents under this “zero-tolerance” policy.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Jacob Soboroff in 2018. He joins us now from Los Angeles for more. He’s a correspondent for NBC and MSNBC, received the 2019 Walter Cronkite Award and the 2019 Hillman Prize for his reporting on child separations.
Jacob, welcome to Democracy Now! Congratulations on your book. If you can start off by telling us exactly how many children and parents you believe are still separated? And then comment on this latest news of a federal judge and what he’s doing about separations.
JACOB SOBOROFF: First, Amy and Juan, I wanted to say to you both, it’s an honor, truly, to be on with you.
The honest answer is I don’t know. The U.S. government doesn’t know. And the ACLU, which won the reunification of the children separated by President Trump and the Trump administration under “zero tolerance,” doesn’t know, either. The only thing we do know is that 5,400 children were systematically taken away — tortured, in the words of Physicians for Human Rights, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization — by the Trump administration, for no other reason than to deter families from coming to this country. And while there were 2,800 kids in that first initial group separated under “zero tolerance,” there were about a thousand-plus separated before record-keeping began officially, and a thousand separated since.
And so, there are still attempts to locate and reunify families that were both deported to their home country without their children — parents, I should say — and then families that were separated and may be in the interior of the United States, but the government just simply can’t track them because of shoddy record-keeping. And that’s one of the things that I write about in the book. There were attempts, time after time, by career officials in the government, that did have the best interests of the children at heart, to keep track of them, but the Trump administration, at multiple key inflection points, stymied those efforts, including Scott Lloyd, the former director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, who considered destroying a list of separated children and parents when it leaked to The New York Times.
And then, as far as the children, 335 parents and children who are at risk of separation today, you talked about it earlier in the broadcast, but the simple version of that story is that the Trump administration could release parents and children together from ICE detention right now, as we’re all talking to each other. They simply refuse to do that, despite the fact that their lawyers are literally pleading for their lives because of coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly through not just adult ICE detention centers, but is now in family detention centers, as well. And so, while coronavirus threatens their lives, the government has chosen to let this July 17th Friday deadline approach, where Judge Gee here in California has told the administration to release the children, but the administration will not commit to releasing them with their parents.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, Jake, specifically on the coronavirus situation, how has that thrown the current immigration detention system into further chaos? President Trump has been using it as a justification — further justification for his wall and for keeping out asylum seekers, as well as undocumented immigrants. You would think that the officers of ICE themselves would begin to lobby for release because of the threats to their own health.
JACOB SOBOROFF: As a matter of fact, Juan, I spoke to one current employee at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, one of the detention centers with the worst instances of coronavirus, and the way he described it to me inside was a “war zone,” in our reporting for NBC News. And what he meant by that was that he alleged that they were sharing PPE, personal protective equipment. The first word is “personal,” yet he alleges that CoreCivic, the private prison company that owns the facility, is not giving them adequate personal protective equipment. Detainees are being housed together, both infected and noninfected — at least they were — he alleges.
The bottom line is, release is the only way to save the lives of people in custody, absent very stringent quarantine and health measures. And when you talk to at least this employee — and we talked to multiple employees at that particular detention center — when you talk to lawyers who represent children in ICE detention — jails, basically, for families — there are some families in these detention centers who have been there nearly a year, when the Flores settlement agreement stipulates they can only be in there for 20 days — they say the only way to save lives is to let people out at this point.
And again, that’s sort of what I wanted to — I mean, frankly, I didn’t understand at the time — and that’s just the simple truth — when I was in the middle of covering family separations, how bad this was, how we got to this point, but how much worse that it could get. And people said to me at the time, “It’s going to get worse than this.” Even though President Trump, on June 20th, 2018, signed that executive order, I was warned it was going to get worse. I didn’t understand what that meant. Yet here we are, where you have children at risk of dying inside detention simply because the government continues to dangle family separations over these parents.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And what about these companies, these private companies, like GEO, CoreCivic, MTC, that testified Monday before the Homeland Security Committee? How big of a portion of the detention business do they have? And could you talk about the amount — what kind of oversight there is over them, and what their profit levels are like in this situation?
JACOB SOBOROFF: The majority is the answer. And yesterday, before the House Homeland Security Committee, which we were watching closely, you know, they were asked some of these key pieces of information that have been emerging, in not just in our reporting but amazing reporting from other journalists over the course of the last couple weeks and months during the virus, including chemical agents being used — I mean, things that have been documented in the press. And we heard, from several of these leaders, statements that directly contradicted reporting that was out there.
And frankly, I wasn’t surprised. These sites have been described as black sites. I’ve been inside the Adelanto ICE detention center in the High Desert here in Southern California, where the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security observed nooses in cells of detainees. I personally observed detainees clearly in mental distress put into solitary confinement and isolation. And this was on a tour provided to me by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, after I went to visit with a separated parent. That was two years ago. Imagine those conditions now combined with the coronavirus.
One of the key things that I continue to be astonished by is that the guards inside these ICE detention facilities are expected to test themselves for the coronavirus. These facilities — and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not made it a policy that these private prison companies are to test the employees. So it’s basically a honor system — an honor system. And so, if an infected employee doesn’t test, is asymptomatic, or is symptomatic and comes to work, the problem is very obvious.
So, the appeals are to have more stringent — the big appeal is to release everyone now. And then, more limited appeals are to have more stringent testing requirements, to have more supervision of medical care — things that you would think are commonsense, but across the board, you’re hearing, are not happening in these facilities.
AMY GOODMAN: Jacob Soboroff, can you tell us about your dinner with Katie Waldman? She is now Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, just recently married to Trump’s senior adviser, Stephen Miller, known for his fierce anti-immigrant sentiments. But before that, Katie Miller was Kirstjen Nielsen’s spokesperson at Homeland Security, vehemently defending the administration’s family separation policy. Talk about that day.
JACOB SOBOROFF: Sure. Well, Amy, I went out to dinner with Katie, then Katie Waldman, now Katie Miller, and my colleague, Katy Tur, the MSNBC anchor, and we were having what’s known as a source dinner, not off the record, just discussing the topics of the day and what Katie Miller was currently working on. And Katy Tur and I were asking Katie Miller about the experience — and this is after the family separation policy had ended — about defending the family separation policy.
And I’m paraphrasing here — the exact language is in the book — but Katie Miller said that DHS, her colleagues, had sent her to the border because they believed she lacked compassion during the separation crisis, and they wanted to make her more compassionate, to which I asked, “Did it work?” And she said — and I said to her, “Did it work? You know, I’ll never forget what I saw.” And she said, “No, it didn’t work. It didn’t make me more compassionate.” And I asked her point-blank, “Are you a white nationalist?” And Katy Tur sort of sat up in her chair when I asked Katie Waldman, Katie Miller, that. And she said, “No. But I believe if you come to America, you should assimilate. Why should we Little Havanas?” And in that moment, I was taken aback. I mean, I didn’t know what to say. What do you say to someone at that point?
But the reason I included this in the book is it shows the underlying thought process, sort of the intentionality, of the people involved in the separation policy, despite the fact that they were warned on multiple occasions and people continually pressed back in them.
And when Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, was asked about this last week, she said that Katie Miller denied that she said this as written. If that’s the case, ask Katy Tur. Ask the other sources who have come forward to me, before this book came out and subsequent to the book coming out, sharing with me that she said similar versions of that exact story to them. And again, if you don’t believe me, you’re believing someone who stood up for Kirstjen Nielsen denying that a family separation policy ever existed, when not only I saw it with my own eyes, but we as a nation saw it with our own eyes. I find it preposterous that Katie Miller would deny that she said that, when it’s all out there for everybody to see.
AMY GOODMAN: Jacob, interwoven throughout your book is the story of Juan and José, a father and son from Guatemala, who said they were fleeing narcoterrorists. Tell us their story and what happened to them in the United States.
JACOB SOBOROFF: Yeah, the reason I wanted to include Juan and José — and those are names that they picked to protect their privacy and the lives, frankly, of their family, whom they left behind in Guatemala — is because their story isn’t perfect.
Juan had come to the United States several times before as an economic migrant, worked and returned. And he told me that openly. He wasn’t ashamed of that. But he did return to the United States with his son once they faced threats from narcos in Petén, Guatemala, in the north of Guatemala. And so he decided to flee.
And when they did flee and they made it to the United States, after, as everyone knows, one of the most dangerous journeys anyone can choose to make — and you don’t make that decision to take that journey lightly — they were separated. When they got to the border, they saw the Border Patrol, who they intended to turn themselves in to in order to seek asylum. They were brought to Yuma Border Patrol station, where, incidentally, President Trump visited for a press conference just a couple weeks ago, and were almost immediately separated — Juan led to one cell, José led into another cell. And they didn’t see each other again for nearly five months, Juan being brought to Adelanto, to the ICE detention center I mentioned to you in the High Desert of California, and José being brought to a shelter in South Texas.
And José and Juan were almost never reunited, to be honest with you. Juan was coerced into signing away his rights to be reunified with his son, almost joined the group of 400 parents deported without their children by the Trump administration. And were it not for an immigration lawyer named Lindsay Toczylowski at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center here in Los Angeles, they may never have been reunited. And that’s one of the things from their story I wanted to include in this book, as well, that immigration attorneys, the work they do is so extraordinary, to me — and I learned about this during this process — as important as any first responder on any frontline. And the courage and the determination of this one father and son, the willingness to share their story so that this doesn’t happen again — and that’s why, they told me, they shared their story — is why I wanted to put them in the book.
And just one other thing, quickly, if I may. When I was down on the border with President Trump a couple weeks ago, Juan said to me, “If you see President Trump, do me a favor and ask him a question: Why did he separate us? Why did he traumatize us psychologically?” And the fact that he is articulating that to me, you know, that’s a story that plays out 5,400 times, each one its own individual story.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Jake, I wanted to ask you — one of the amazing revelations in your book is of a memo that a top homeland security lawyer sent to Secretary Kristjen Nielsen — at the time, she was the head of Homeland Security — specifically saying that the family separation policy could break numerous laws and violate constitutional rights of families, yet Nielsen went ahead and signed the policy into existence. Could you elaborate on that?
JACOB SOBOROFF: Yeah. John Mitnick was the general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security. He had worked at Raytheon and was brought in by the Trump administration to come back to DHS, where he had worked during the Bush administration. And in this legal memo, attached to a secretarial decision memo, they’re called, which was sent to Nielsen by her deputies, including Kevin McAleenan, Thomas Homan and Francis Cissna from USCIS, Mitnick’s legal analysis was attached to the memo. And it hasn’t been previously disclosed, at least the language in the memo itself, and I published it for the first time in the book.
You said it, Juan: She was warned that family separations would be violative of multiple U.S. laws and, not only that, potentially violate the U.S. Constitution and the due process rights of the migrants coming to this country, their human rights. Yet Nielsen decided, after a period of time where she sat on the memo and deliberated, to sign what was called “Option 3” in this decision memo: to separate families from their children.
And to me, it makes the denial that this policy ever existed by her — and she sent out this famous tweet, “We do not have a family separation policy, period.” And she also stepped up to the podium in the White House briefing room for that disastrous press conference, I think a lot of us remember, to deny the policy. It just — it makes it almost unbelievable, because it was her, Secretary Nielsen, who, after receiving legal advice that the policy may violate the constitutional rights of migrants coming to the United States, she signed it herself and then proceeded to deny that the policy even existed. And that is why I wanted to include the language from the memo specifically, so everyone can see what she had in front of her, she considered herself, and yet she decided to put it into place nevertheless.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you describe, Jacob Soboroff, your first visit inside one of these detention jails, the children that you saw, and how this changed your life?
JACOB SOBOROFF: I’ll never forget it, Amy, for the rest of my life. June 13th, 2018, Brownsville, Texas. I walked into a former Walmart, now called Casa Padre, ostensibly a shelter, and it was 250,000 square feet. There were approximately 1,500 migrant boys detained inside for approximately 22 hours a day. And hundreds of them, maybe as many as 400, had been there only because they were systematically separated from their parents by the Trump administration. The facility was literally on the verge of overflowing. It had a variance from the state of Texas to have five beds per room instead of four beds per room.
I walked around this facility on a tour with other journalists and officials from the government and from the shelter system itself. We saw children watching films, Moana, the Disney movie, in the loading dock of the former Walmart in line for chow. You know, I’ve been inside a prison. I’ve been inside several county jails. And I said at the time, and I maintain today, that the place was called a shelter, but, effectively, they were incarcerated.
And one of the things that was startling to me is that one of the officials — and I write about this in the book, the portion where we take the tour of this facility — said to me, “You know, smile at the children. They feel like they’re animals in cages being looked at.” And ironically, that wasn’t the facility where I saw the cages. It was just days later, on Father’s Day 2018, at the McAllen Border Patrol processing station — Ursula, it’s known as — that I saw what Katie Waldman, Katie Miller, at the time told me was the epicenter of the policy: children in cages, sitting on concrete floors, under Mylar blankets, supervised by security contractors in a watchtower. And every time I recall this, it makes me sick, what I saw.
Border Patrol agents, who admitted to me they were stressed and strained and struggling, they were not licensed social workers. They could not touch the children. There were only four social workers in the facility for all of the children that were separated by the Trump administration.
It was a disaster. It was a — you know, we said this at the time; it’s still true today. It was a man-made disaster by the Trump administration, that was, according to one official from the government, “the greatest human rights catastrophe of my lifetime,” were the words that that government official used. They called Scott Lloyd — this same official — “the most prolific child abuser in American history” for allowing this to happen to the thousands of children in his custody. He was the custodian of all of these children, the unaccompanied children within the federal government. And again, despite warnings —
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Jake?
JACOB SOBOROFF: Go ahead, Juan.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Jake, I’d like to ask you — I wanted to ask you about another startling revelation in your book.
JACOB SOBOROFF: Sure.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: You write that after President Trump had ended the family separations by executive order, that there was a federal health official who was pressured to lie under oath about the effects of that policy on children. And this was — he was being pressured as he was being prepped for a congressional hearing. Could you talk about that and who was involved?
JACOB SOBOROFF: Yeah. You’re talking about Commander Jonathan White, who was the federal health coordinating official, who was one of the officials that had warned politicals within the government of the horrible effects that the separation policy would have on children. Commander White was a career official from the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which, incidentally, is now being dispatched to deal with the coronavirus, and had warned the government that family separations would have horrific effects on children.
And so, when they were in what’s known as a murder board, a practice session, Commander White and several other officials, including Scott Lloyd, if I’m not mistaken, for the first congressional hearings into the separation policy, there was a huge argument over whether or not those who would testify would say that family separations were harmful to children, scientifically harmful. And yet again, Katie Waldman, Katie Miller, was in that room. And Commander White, according to several people who were in the room, got into a big argument with Katie Miller. She said to him, “You’re a bleeding-heart liberal,” and essentially pressured him to say that family separations were not harmful to the interests of children, despite the facts he knew they were.
And ultimately, when Commander White appeared before this committee, he said exactly what he believed, despite the best efforts of officials within the Trump administration, including Miller and another spokesperson for homeland security who were in that room, who were pressuring him not to do so.
AMY GOODMAN: As we wrap up, Jacob Soboroff, again, ICE reporting more than 3,000 immigrants in ICE detention have tested positive, at least three have died. Talk about what has to happen right now.
JACOB SOBOROFF: Well, one thing I should say is that Chad Wolf, who was an architect of the family separation policy, which you’ll read in the book, and is today the acting secretary of homeland security, has said he doesn’t want to do a, quote-unquote, “jailbreak” of the 25,000 people in ICE custody. And I think that every activist and lawyer for migrants would tell you, that is not what’s being asked of the administration currently. They’re being asked to release medically vulnerable, medically sensitive people who are at risk in the facilities with the greatest incidences and occurrences of coronavirus, which has already killed employees of these facilities, including a sergeant at Eloy.
And in the absence of this order yesterday by a judge in the D.C. District Court, this sets up this huge moment on Friday, where you could have 335 parents and children separated by the Trump administration, because the children have been ordered released, but the government, the Trump administration, refuses to release the parents.
So, in the midst of a global pandemic, a pandemic which rages through our immigration detention system, the Trump administration is not focused on releasing families who are vulnerable — at least that’s what the lawyers and the activists say. They’re focused on dangling this family separation, two years after this horrific policy, over families yet again. And, I’m sorry to say, that’s where we are today.
AMY GOODMAN: Jacob Soboroff, I want to thank you so much for being with us, correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. His new book, Separated: Inside an American Tragedy.
And this breaking news: The U.S. has just carried out its first federal execution in 17 years. Daniel Lewis Lee was executed this morning.
Up next, the Washington NFL team, whose name is a slur against Native Americans, says it’s dropping that name. We’ll speak with one of the Navajo activists who led the charge to remove the R-word from the team’s name. Stay with us.
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AMY GOODMAN: New York City’s All-City High School Latin Ensemble singing and playing at home together alone.