truthout--2020-07-17--The GOP’s “Southern Strategy” Shows How White Supremacy Fuels Class Exploitation

Starting in the early 1970s , the Republican Party began to draw voters away from the Democrats by appealing to racism and racial anxiety in the electorate ; Republicans called it their “ Southern Strategy.
” By 2000 , with the presidency of George W. Bush , the Republican Party ( and the U.S. ) had been taken over by people who celebrate and emulate the Old South plantation system of social control — a rigid hierarchy featuring dominance of whites over people of color , of men over women , of humans over the natural world , and of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with rich white men asserting unquestioned authority .
Republicans then drove moderates out of the party .
Sara Robinson , who documented this history in 2012 , concluded , “ We ’ re now living in an America where rampant inequality is accepted , even celebrated .
Torture and extrajudicial killing have been reinstated , with no due process required .
The wealthy and powerful are free to abuse employees , break laws , destroy the commons , and crash the economy — without ever being held to account.
” Under this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the poor poorer , while the middle class grows steadily more insecure , demoralized , angry and often resentful .
The rich feed white working-class and middle-class resentment by arguing that the government is taking white people ’ s “ hard-earned money ” and handing it to “ undeserving ” people of color .
By this means , the rich convince many working-class whites to oppose social welfare programs and thus harm their own economic interests .
Why would white working-class and small-business people ( some Tea Partiers , for example ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billionaires in charge ?
It ’ s a fair question because the difference is stark between what the U.S. population wants and what Republicans in Congress aim to deliver .
About two-thirds ( 64 percent ) of the public favor a wealth tax on the superrich .
Republicans oppose it .
More than 80 percent of the public favors more federal aid for states , localities and workers , which Republicans in Congress oppose .
Sixty percent of the people support stricter controls on guns ; Republicans in Congress say “ No way.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent $ 3 trillion “ Heroes Act ” economic stimulus passed by the House — but Republicans in the Senate have , so far , promised to “ cast it aside.
” The 2017 Republican proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act ( Obamacare ) was supported by only 17 percent of the electorate .
The Republican 2017 tax cut was supported by only 30 percent of the people .
“ If there ’ s an idea popular among conservative billionaires and nobody else , Republicans are probably pushing for it now , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pierson wrote recently .
How can a major political party , facing a general election on November 3 , simply disregard the preferences of large majorities of voters ?
Republicans are relying on two techniques — both honed to perfection in the Jim Crow South between 1877 and 1965 .
The most basic technique is wealthy white overlords taking advantage of everyone else , particularly Black and Native people and other people of color , while providing “ psychological income ” to exploited white people .
The second technique is clever vote suppression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allows white people to feel superior to people of color .
In modern times , this “ psychic income ” has proven sufficient to retain the loyalty of many white people who are enduring job loss , stagnant wages and frozen prospects for advancement .
Racism has been used to divide and conquer the working class since colonial times .
During Bacon ’ s Rebellion in Virginia in 1676 , white servants and Black slaves joined together to overthrow their local British overlords ; they burned Jamestown to the ground .
As historian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Slavery , American Freedom , the wealthy white Englishmen who then held all political power “ had always felt threatened by the danger of a servile insurrection ” but now their nightmare came alive .
From then on , the white overclass did what it could to foster white supremacist thinking .
They emphasized the concept of “ race ” in ways no one had before , passing a series of laws that gave special privileges to all whites , including the poorest servant .
Soon , whites could carry guns ; Blacks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to read ; teaching Blacks to read was declared a crime .
Whites could testify in court ; Blacks could not .
Any Black could suffer 30 lashes if he “ shall presume to lift up his hand against any Christian .
This was a particularly effective provision , ” Morgan tells us , “ in that it allowed servants to bully slaves without fear of retribution , thus placing them psychologically on a par with masters.
” Racism was then used for the next 340 years to “ divide and conquer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people from making common cause against their exploitation by the white overclass .
As psychologists would say , rich white people created an “ in group ” alliance with not-rich white people , in opposition to an “ out group ” comprising people of color .
Till today , the rich can exploit not-rich whites and still retain their loyalty by playing up whites ’ sense of superiority to the out-group .
Thus not-rich whites get “ psychological income ” from being told ( and telling themselves ) they are superior to people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defend the system that is exploiting them .
In his book , Dying of Whiteness , physician Jonathan Metzl describes white people voting against not only their own financial well-being , but also their biological wellbeing .
Early in the book he quotes a 41-year-old white man named Trevor , who drove a cab for 20 years until the Hepatitis-C virus and an inflamed liver forced him into retirement and poverty .
Because Tennessee had refused to expand Medicaid coverage under Obamacare , Trevor could not afford the medical attention that could save @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a slow , painful death .
Yet he still said there was “ no way ” he would ever support or sign up for Obamacare .
The status supposedly conferred by whiteness convinces many whites to harm themselves even unto painful death .
They see themselves as “ taking one for the team.
” And so , to confront this tangled web of oppression , only an agenda that focuses on uprooting white supremacy entirely will suffice .
The “ benefits ” of whiteness — both mythological and institutional — exist because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entrenched in the very foundations of this country .
Acknowledging that reality is step one .
We can no longer try to appeal to Republican working-class white people by assuming they will get on board with a class-based agenda unless we confront the structural racism that prevents them from aligning themselves with their own well-being .
Black youth organizers are currently leading a movement to defund the police and take on the very roots of anti-Black violence .
We all must listen .
We can wonder endlessly why some white people are voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can turn our attention to the core of the solution : dismantling the institutions of white supremacy .

Starting in the early 1970s, the Republican Party began to draw voters away from the Democrats by appealing to racism and racial anxiety in the electorate; Republicans called it their “Southern Strategy.” By 2000, with the presidency of George W. Bush, the Republican Party (and the U.S.) had been taken over by people who celebrate and emulate the Old South plantation system of social control — a rigid hierarchy featuring dominance of whites over people of color, of men over women, of humans over the natural world, and of violence and militarism over relationship-building and negotiation, with rich white men asserting unquestioned authority. Republicans then drove moderates out of the party.
Sara Robinson, who documented this history in 2012, concluded, “We’re now living in an America where rampant inequality is accepted, even celebrated. Torture and extrajudicial killing have been reinstated, with no due process required. The wealthy and powerful are free to abuse employees, break laws, destroy the commons, and crash the economy — without ever being held to account.” Under this regime, the rich continually grow richer and the poor poorer, while the middle class grows steadily more insecure, demoralized, angry and often resentful. The rich feed white working-class and middle-class resentment by arguing that the government is taking white people’s “hard-earned money” and handing it to “undeserving” people of color. By this means, the rich convince many working-class whites to oppose social welfare programs and thus harm their own economic interests.
Why would white working-class and small-business people (some Tea Partiers, for example) vote against their own interests to keep billionaires in charge? It’s a fair question because the difference is stark between what the U.S. population wants and what Republicans in Congress aim to deliver.
About two-thirds (64 percent) of the public favor a wealth tax on the superrich. Republicans oppose it. More than 80 percent of the public favors more federal aid for states, localities and workers, which Republicans in Congress oppose.
Sixty percent of the people support stricter controls on guns; Republicans in Congress say “No way.” Two-thirds of voters favor the most recent $3 trillion “Heroes Act” economic stimulus passed by the House — but Republicans in the Senate have, so far, promised to “cast it aside.”
The 2017 Republican proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was supported by only 17 percent of the electorate. The Republican 2017 tax cut was supported by only 30 percent of the people.
“If there’s an idea popular among conservative billionaires and nobody else, Republicans are probably pushing for it now,” political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson wrote recently.
Rich white people created an “in group” alliance with not-rich white people, in opposition to an “out group” comprising people of color.
How can a major political party, facing a general election on November 3, simply disregard the preferences of large majorities of voters?
Republicans are relying on two techniques — both honed to perfection in the Jim Crow South between 1877 and 1965. The most basic technique is wealthy white overlords taking advantage of everyone else, particularly Black and Native people and other people of color, while providing “psychological income” to exploited white people. The second technique is clever vote suppression.
“Psychological Income” Is a Substitute for Real Income
Psychological income is social status that allows white people to feel superior to people of color. In modern times, this “psychic income” has proven sufficient to retain the loyalty of many white people who are enduring job loss, stagnant wages and frozen prospects for advancement.
Racism has been used to divide and conquer the working class since colonial times. During Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia in 1676, white servants and Black slaves joined together to overthrow their local British overlords; they burned Jamestown to the ground. As historian Edmund S. Morgan tells us in American Slavery, American Freedom, the wealthy white Englishmen who then held all political power “had always felt threatened by the danger of a servile insurrection” but now their nightmare came alive.
From then on, the white overclass did what it could to foster white supremacist thinking. They emphasized the concept of “race” in ways no one had before, passing a series of laws that gave special privileges to all whites, including the poorest servant. Soon, whites could carry guns; Blacks could not. Whites could be taught to read; teaching Blacks to read was declared a crime. Whites could testify in court; Blacks could not. Any Black could suffer 30 lashes if he “shall presume to lift up his hand against any Christian. This was a particularly effective provision,” Morgan tells us, “in that it allowed servants to bully slaves without fear of retribution, thus placing them psychologically on a par with masters.”
Racism was then used for the next 340 years to “divide and conquer,” successfully preventing white and Black working-class people from making common cause against their exploitation by the white overclass.
As psychologists would say, rich white people created an “in group” alliance with not-rich white people, in opposition to an “out group” comprising people of color. Till today, the rich can exploit not-rich whites and still retain their loyalty by playing up whites’ sense of superiority to the out-group. Thus not-rich whites get “psychological income” from being told (and telling themselves) they are superior to people of color. Exploited white people even defend the system that is exploiting them.
The status supposedly conferred by whiteness convinces many whites to harm themselves even unto painful death. They see themselves as “taking one for the team.”
In his book, Dying of Whiteness, physician Jonathan Metzl describes white people voting against not only their own financial well-being, but also their biological wellbeing. Early in the book he quotes a 41-year-old white man named Trevor, who drove a cab for 20 years until the Hepatitis-C virus and an inflamed liver forced him into retirement and poverty. Because Tennessee had refused to expand Medicaid coverage under Obamacare, Trevor could not afford the medical attention that could save his life, so he was dying a slow, painful death. Yet he still said there was “no way” he would ever support or sign up for Obamacare. The status supposedly conferred by whiteness convinces many whites to harm themselves even unto painful death. They see themselves as “taking one for the team.”
And so, to confront this tangled web of oppression, only an agenda that focuses on uprooting white supremacy entirely will suffice. The “benefits” of whiteness — both mythological and institutional — exist because of a deliberately constructed racial hierarchy that is entrenched in the very foundations of this country. Acknowledging that reality is step one. We can no longer try to appeal to Republican working-class white people by assuming they will get on board with a class-based agenda unless we confront the structural racism that prevents them from aligning themselves with their own well-being.
Black youth organizers are currently leading a movement to defund the police and take on the very roots of anti-Black violence. We all must listen.
We can wonder endlessly why some white people are voting against their own interests — or we can turn our attention to the core of the solution: dismantling the institutions of white supremacy.
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.
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truthout--2020-07-17--US-Backed Saudi Bombing in Yemen Continues as COVID-19 Spreads

As the coronavirus spreads in Yemen , where the population already devastated by the world ’ s worst humanitarian crisis faces growing hunger and aid shortages , the Saudi-led , U.S.-backed coalition continues to drop bombs in the country .
We speak to Yemeni scholar Shireen Al-Adeimi , who calls the ongoing crisis “ Trump ’ s war.
” “ We ’ re seeing death rates that are just astronomical , ” Al-Adeimi says .
“ The war continues , the bombing continues , the blockade is still enforced.
” This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : We begin today ’ s show in Yemen , where UNICEF is warning children face deadly hunger and shortages as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads through a country that already faces the world ’ s worst humanitarian crisis .
This comes as medical workers say a U.S.-backed , Saudi-led bombing raid on a residential neighborhood in northern Yemen Wednesday killed 25 civilians and critically injured nine others .
A local doctor treated several injured children .
AMY GOODMAN : The Yemen Data Project estimates the Saudi-led coalition has carried out more than 21,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killing more than 8,700 civilians .
Most of the raids were carried out with weapons sold by the United States , and they haven ’ t stopped even amidst the global pandemic .
Meanwhile , the United Nations is warning of a looming environmental disaster in the Red Sea , where a stricken oil tanker has been abandoned off Yemen ’ s coast since the war began five years ago , the vessel loaded with more than a million barrels of crude oil — four times as much oil as spilled from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.N. Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said Wednesday a spill would directly affect 1.6 million Yemenis .
AMY GOODMAN : All of this is happening as the U.S.-backed Saudi bombing campaign in — Yemen has been devastated by conflict , leaving millions of people without access to proper healthcare , clean water or sanitation .
For more , we ’ re joined by Shireen Al-Adeimi , Yemeni scholar , activist and assistant professor at Michigan State University .
Welcome back to Democracy Now !
It ’ s great to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Can you start off by talking about the situation of the coronavirus and Yemen right now , a country devastated by the U.S.-backed Saudi bombing ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : Thank you for having me back .
The situation , as you said , is dire .
I know I ’ ve said this before , but every time I come on the show , it just seems to be getting worse .
And the reason is because the war continues , the bombing continues , the blockade is still enforced .
And so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t a lot of cases .
There weren ’ t any recorded cases until April .
But ever since then , it ’ s starting to wreak havoc , and we ’ re seeing death rates that are just astronomical .
We ’ re seeing 30 % — nearly 30 % death rates from coronavirus in the cases that have been documented in Yemen , which is , of course , very difficult to do , given the healthcare crisis and the ongoing blockade and the shortage of medicine and fuel and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep hospitals functioning .
AMY GOODMAN : I want to turn to the Yemeni epidemiologist Ehab Alsaqqaf , who was speaking to the BBC .
AMY GOODMAN : Professor Shireen Al-Adeimi , you are here , in Michigan , where you teach .
Your family remains in Yemen .
How are they doing in the midst of this pandemic ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : I mean , there ’ s not much that they can do , given that their livelihoods depend on — you know , those of them who are still able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and work .
If you ’ re talking about , for example , protecting themselves with masks , they try to do what they can , but , you know , it ’ s not easy to purchase these things .
There ’ s a lot of misinformation .
People are just not sure : Should they be taking precautions ?
Is this really happening ?
You know , as the interviewee just said , they were certain that this was happening , but they weren ’ t being announced .
So people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happening , but they ’ re also not able to kind of take the precautions that we ’ re able to take — many of us are able to take here .
For example , there ’ s 17 million people in Yemen .
That ’ s about 56 % of the population doesn ’ t have access to clean water .
This is drinking water .
So , how are they going to use soap and water to wash their hands frequently ?
We have 3 , 4 million people who are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
How are they going to social distance ?
Where are they going to get water ?
Where are they going to get food ?
You have 80 % of the population that ’ s immunocompromised because they ’ re hungry .
And so , you know , this isn ’ t a country that ’ s able to take any kind of precautions .
So , people are confused .
They know that a lot of people are dying around them .
We ’ ve heard of many people and , you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professors at Aden University.
, and we received a list of all of these people who died .
Many of them were their former colleagues .
We don ’ t know for sure if it was because of coronavirus or not , but chances are , you know , it ’ s either coronavirus or one of the many outbreaks that are currently plaguing the Yemeni healthcare system .
AMY GOODMAN : Are your family members — are any sick with COVID ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : We did have a few family members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t tested , because they can ’ t really get tested .
But the symptoms seem to be coronavirus symptoms .
So far , they ’ ve recovered , but , you know , we ’ re still keeping in touch with them .
And there ’ s very little anybody can do .
AMY GOODMAN : Can you talk about the U.S.-backed Saudi bombing campaign ?
Is it still going on through the pandemic ?
And what have been the U.S. measures that have been taken or not taken ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing , Amy .
All of this is happening , and the U.S. is still helping the Saudis and the Emiratis drop bombs in Yemen .
Two days ago , you know , 16 people were killed in an airstrike , and mostly women and children .
Two days before that , 11 people were killed in an airstrike .
And so , the airstrikes are still ongoing .
The blockade is still ongoing .
And this is in the middle of a pandemic .
And , you know , I can ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worse than Yemen currently .
It was the world ’ s worst humanitarian crisis before COVID , and because of the U.S. ’ s intervention , and now it ’ s even worse than that .
And so , there is a fuel crisis , where people aren ’ t — you know , they ’ re queuing for fuel from sunrise to sunset , and often they ’ re still not able to get any fuel .
The fuel , of course , is needed to run the generators , the water @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few hundred ventilators that remain in the country .
And so , this will be absolutely catastrophic .
And it ’ s all because of the root cause , which is this ongoing bombardment of Yemen and the ongoing blockade that ’ s enforced by the Saudi-led coalition .
AMY GOODMAN : So , President Trump vetoed legislation last year , bipartisan legislation , that sought to bring U.S. complicity in the war to an end .
What do you think Congress should be doing right now ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : It took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is , frankly , unacceptable , given that they all agree that this was an unconstitutional war .
This started , of course , by Obama — with Obama and continued into the Trump presidency .
And four years later , it was great that we had this bipartisan bill .
It was vetoed , but , you know , the role of Congress shouldn ’ t end right there .
It was predicted that Trump was going to veto this , of course .
He had spoken publicly about his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the contracts for the weapon — you know , for the defense industry here .
But , you know , Congress still has the authority to declare war .
And I don ’ t think that they should be giving up .
We haven ’ t had any kind of debate on Yemen for a year and a half , since this bill was passed .
And so , I would urge them to introduce legislation that continues to challenge this .
There are ways to introduce legislation that is veto-proof .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to keep going .
This can ’ t be an issue that is discussed for a very short period of time and then forgotten about , because the suffering is just unbelievable .
And we ’ re going to have millions of people dead before , I think , anybody wants to do anything about it , and then it ’ s going to be too late .
AMY GOODMAN : There ’ s been a lot of blame on migrants passing through Yemen , that they ’ re bringing COVID-19 in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bombing , the constant bombing , of Yemen has caused , such a destruction of the infrastructure .
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : Absolutely .
I mean , there is no infrastructure to speak of .
Half the hospitals have been bombed .
The other half are barely functioning , at 10 % capacity .
The blockade is preventing important medicine from entering the country .
There ’ s a shortage of personnel .
The Health Ministry hasn ’ t been able to pay people for two years , and so people are volunteering in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , like , migrants , of course , they ’ re the most vulnerable situation , the most vulnerable situation , because if you have to cross into Yemen to get to your destination , that ’ s a very awful thing to have to do .
And before the war , of course , Yemen was home to many migrants , hundreds of thousands of migrants from East Africa , and vice versa .
But the situation right now is dire for everybody .
And , you know , we can ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The root cause here is that Yemen is under occupation , it ’ s under bombardment , it ’ s under a blockade that ’ s killing a child every 10 minutes , at least , for the last five years from preventable illnesses , like cholera , diphtheria , dengue fever .
A child could die from a simple fever because there ’ s no medicine to relieve that fever .
Children are starving to death because there ’ s no food , there ’ s no water .
And so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the root causes , and not think about all of these as isolated incidents .
AMY GOODMAN : And the problem of people already grappling with diphtheria , dengue , cholera in Yemen ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : Absolutely , and H1N1 .
And so there are four outbreaks that are currently stressing the whatever remaining healthcare system is in Yemen .
And now add on top of that cholera — or , sorry , coronavirus , and there ’ s really no way to track it , to treat it , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they need .
There ’ s only 300 ventilators in the entire country of 30 million people .
And so , what are people going to do ?
They just expect that they ’ re going to die from whatever disease is going to come at them next .
AMY GOODMAN : So , your message to lawmakers here in the United States and to the world , Professor Al-Adeimi ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : It ’ s really time to take back responsibility and for people to be held accountable for this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And this is Congress ’ s doing , if they continue to stay silent while he is perpetuating this violence against Yemenis .
And the countries like Canada or France or the U.K. or Germany , all of these countries are benefiting still from the sale of weapons to the Saudis and Emiratis .
You know , you can ’ t go and say , “ Well , we want peace in Yemen , ” when you are actively profiting from the war in Yemen or participating in the killing of civilians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think Yemenis feel like the international community has let them down , absolutely let them down .
But it ’ s really time to stop blaming people who are occupied , and think about the people who are occupying them and bombing them and starving them to death .
And it ’ s time to put an end to all of that .
AMY GOODMAN : Shireen Al-Adeimi , I want to thank you for being with us , Yemeni scholar , activist , assistant professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Time to Tell a New Story About Coronavirus — Our Lives Depend on It.
” That ’ s the headline of a new piece by science investigative journalist Sonia Shah .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : Yemeni artists singing at home as part of the social media campaign # RemoteYeminiArt .

As the coronavirus spreads in Yemen, where the population already devastated by the world’s worst humanitarian crisis faces growing hunger and aid shortages, the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition continues to drop bombs in the country. We speak to Yemeni scholar Shireen Al-Adeimi, who calls the ongoing crisis “Trump’s war.” “We’re seeing death rates that are just astronomical,” Al-Adeimi says. “The war continues, the bombing continues, the blockade is still enforced.”
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Yemen, where UNICEF is warning children face deadly hunger and shortages as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads through a country that already faces the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. This comes as medical workers say a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led bombing raid on a residential neighborhood in northern Yemen Wednesday killed 25 civilians and critically injured nine others. A local doctor treated several injured children.
DOCTOR: [translated] The only injured victims are all children. We received three or four people and eight martyred women and children. And today is a painful and sad day for the free Yemeni people.
AMY GOODMAN: The Yemen Data Project estimates the Saudi-led coalition has carried out more than 21,000 airstrikes in five years of war, killing more than 8,700 civilians. Most of the raids were carried out with weapons sold by the United States, and they haven’t stopped even amidst the global pandemic.
Meanwhile, the United Nations is warning of a looming environmental disaster in the Red Sea, where a stricken oil tanker has been abandoned off Yemen’s coast since the war began five years ago, the vessel loaded with more than a million barrels of crude oil — four times as much oil as spilled from the Exxon Valdez off Alaska in 1989. U.N. Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said Wednesday a spill would directly affect 1.6 million Yemenis.
MARK LOWCOCK: Essentially every fishing community along Yemen’s west coast would see their livelihoods collapse and would suffer substantial economic losses. About 90% of people in these communities already need humanitarian assistance.
AMY GOODMAN: All of this is happening as the U.S.-backed Saudi bombing campaign in — Yemen has been devastated by conflict, leaving millions of people without access to proper healthcare, clean water or sanitation.
For more, we’re joined by Shireen Al-Adeimi, Yemeni scholar, activist and assistant professor at Michigan State University.
Welcome back to Democracy Now! It’s great to have you with us, Professor Al-Adeimi. Can you start off by talking about the situation of the coronavirus and Yemen right now, a country devastated by the U.S.-backed Saudi bombing?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Thank you for having me back.
The situation, as you said, is dire. I know I’ve said this before, but every time I come on the show, it just seems to be getting worse. And the reason is because the war continues, the bombing continues, the blockade is still enforced.
And so, with coronavirus, initially there weren’t a lot of cases. There weren’t any recorded cases until April. But ever since then, it’s starting to wreak havoc, and we’re seeing death rates that are just astronomical. We’re seeing 30% — nearly 30% death rates from coronavirus in the cases that have been documented in Yemen, which is, of course, very difficult to do, given the healthcare crisis and the ongoing blockade and the shortage of medicine and fuel and all the things that are needed to keep hospitals functioning.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to the Yemeni epidemiologist Ehab Alsaqqaf, who was speaking to the BBC.
EHAB ALSAQQAF: [translated] The medical team knew this was COVID-19, but the authorities didn’t announce it. But then the cases started to increase rapidly. The next day, there were 17 confirmed cases; the day after, another 22. Then we started hearing that people were dying in their homes.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Shireen Al-Adeimi, you are here, in Michigan, where you teach. Your family remains in Yemen. How are they doing in the midst of this pandemic?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: I mean, there’s not much that they can do, given that their livelihoods depend on — you know, those of them who are still able to work still have to go out and work. If you’re talking about, for example, protecting themselves with masks, they try to do what they can, but, you know, it’s not easy to purchase these things.
There’s a lot of misinformation. People are just not sure: Should they be taking precautions? Is this really happening? You know, as the interviewee just said, they were certain that this was happening, but they weren’t being announced. So people are still unsure about what’s happening, but they’re also not able to kind of take the precautions that we’re able to take — many of us are able to take here.
For example, there’s 17 million people in Yemen. That’s about 56% of the population doesn’t have access to clean water. This is drinking water. So, how are they going to use soap and water to wash their hands frequently? We have 3, 4 million people who are internally displaced, that are in camps. How are they going to social distance? Where are they going to get water? Where are they going to get food? You have 80% of the population that’s immunocompromised because they’re hungry. And so, you know, this isn’t a country that’s able to take any kind of precautions.
So, people are confused. They know that a lot of people are dying around them. We’ve heard of many people and, you know, friends — my parents were professors at Aden University., and we received a list of all of these people who died. Many of them were their former colleagues. We don’t know for sure if it was because of coronavirus or not, but chances are, you know, it’s either coronavirus or one of the many outbreaks that are currently plaguing the Yemeni healthcare system.
AMY GOODMAN: Are your family members — are any sick with COVID?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: We did have a few family members who — again, they weren’t tested, because they can’t really get tested. But the symptoms seem to be coronavirus symptoms. So far, they’ve recovered, but, you know, we’re still keeping in touch with them. And there’s very little anybody can do.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the U.S.-backed Saudi bombing campaign? Is it still going on through the pandemic? And what have been the U.S. measures that have been taken or not taken?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Here’s the really frustrating thing, Amy. All of this is happening, and the U.S. is still helping the Saudis and the Emiratis drop bombs in Yemen. Two days ago, you know, 16 people were killed in an airstrike, and mostly women and children. Two days before that, 11 people were killed in an airstrike. And so, the airstrikes are still ongoing. The blockade is still ongoing. And this is in the middle of a pandemic. And, you know, I can’t imagine a country that has it worse than Yemen currently. It was the world’s worst humanitarian crisis before COVID, and because of the U.S.’s intervention, and now it’s even worse than that.
And so, there is a fuel crisis, where people aren’t — you know, they’re queuing for fuel from sunrise to sunset, and often they’re still not able to get any fuel. The fuel, of course, is needed to run the generators, the water pumps, the ventilators, the very few hundred ventilators that remain in the country. And so, this will be absolutely catastrophic. And it’s all because of the root cause, which is this ongoing bombardment of Yemen and the ongoing blockade that’s enforced by the Saudi-led coalition.
AMY GOODMAN: So, President Trump vetoed legislation last year, bipartisan legislation, that sought to bring U.S. complicity in the war to an end. What do you think Congress should be doing right now?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: It took Congress four years to pass that legislation, which is, frankly, unacceptable, given that they all agree that this was an unconstitutional war. This started, of course, by Obama — with Obama and continued into the Trump presidency. And four years later, it was great that we had this bipartisan bill. It was vetoed, but, you know, the role of Congress shouldn’t end right there. It was predicted that Trump was going to veto this, of course. He had spoken publicly about his support for the Saudi-led coalition because of all the contracts for the weapon — you know, for the defense industry here.
But, you know, Congress still has the authority to declare war. And I don’t think that they should be giving up. We haven’t had any kind of debate on Yemen for a year and a half, since this bill was passed. And so, I would urge them to introduce legislation that continues to challenge this. There are ways to introduce legislation that is veto-proof. And that’s what — they have to keep going. This can’t be an issue that is discussed for a very short period of time and then forgotten about, because the suffering is just unbelievable. And we’re going to have millions of people dead before, I think, anybody wants to do anything about it, and then it’s going to be too late.
AMY GOODMAN: There’s been a lot of blame on migrants passing through Yemen, that they’re bringing COVID-19 in, without discussing the devastation that the bombing, the constant bombing, of Yemen has caused, such a destruction of the infrastructure.
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Absolutely. I mean, there is no infrastructure to speak of. Half the hospitals have been bombed. The other half are barely functioning, at 10% capacity. The blockade is preventing important medicine from entering the country. There’s a shortage of personnel. The Health Ministry hasn’t been able to pay people for two years, and so people are volunteering in these hospitals.
And, you know, like, migrants, of course, they’re the most vulnerable situation, the most vulnerable situation, because if you have to cross into Yemen to get to your destination, that’s a very awful thing to have to do. And before the war, of course, Yemen was home to many migrants, hundreds of thousands of migrants from East Africa, and vice versa.
But the situation right now is dire for everybody. And, you know, we can’t talk about these things in isolation. The root cause here is that Yemen is under occupation, it’s under bombardment, it’s under a blockade that’s killing a child every 10 minutes, at least, for the last five years from preventable illnesses, like cholera, diphtheria, dengue fever. A child could die from a simple fever because there’s no medicine to relieve that fever. Children are starving to death because there’s no food, there’s no water. And so, we really have to be talking about the root causes, and not think about all of these as isolated incidents.
AMY GOODMAN: And the problem of people already grappling with diphtheria, dengue, cholera in Yemen?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Absolutely, and H1N1. And so there are four outbreaks that are currently stressing the whatever remaining healthcare system is in Yemen. And now add on top of that cholera — or, sorry, coronavirus, and there’s really no way to track it, to treat it, to supply people with the kinds of medicines that they need. There’s only 300 ventilators in the entire country of 30 million people. And so, what are people going to do? They just expect that they’re going to die from whatever disease is going to come at them next.
AMY GOODMAN: So, your message to lawmakers here in the United States and to the world, Professor Al-Adeimi?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: It’s really time to take back responsibility and for people to be held accountable for this. This is Trump’s war. And this is Congress’s doing, if they continue to stay silent while he is perpetuating this violence against Yemenis. And the countries like Canada or France or the U.K. or Germany, all of these countries are benefiting still from the sale of weapons to the Saudis and Emiratis. You know, you can’t go and say, “Well, we want peace in Yemen,” when you are actively profiting from the war in Yemen or participating in the killing of civilians in Yemen. And so, I think Yemenis feel like the international community has let them down, absolutely let them down. But it’s really time to stop blaming people who are occupied, and think about the people who are occupying them and bombing them and starving them to death. And it’s time to put an end to all of that.
AMY GOODMAN: Shireen Al-Adeimi, I want to thank you for being with us, Yemeni scholar, activist, assistant professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Next up, “It’s Time to Tell a New Story About Coronavirus — Our Lives Depend on It.” That’s the headline of a new piece by science investigative journalist Sonia Shah. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: Yemeni artists singing at home as part of the social media campaign #RemoteYeminiArt.


truthout--2020-07-17--Trump Finally Talks to Fauci After Trying and Failing to Publicly Discredit Him

Perhaps recognizing that his administration ’ s efforts to discredit Anthony Fauci have failed , President Donald Trump engaged in a phone conversation with the infectious disease expert on Wednesday , the first time the two have spoken with one another since June 2 .
The drama between the two figures hit its apex earlier this week after the White House leaked a memo to media detailing a plan from the administration showcasing how they planned to discredit the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases .
The memo itself , however , was riddled with dubious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic , and omitted the context behind some statements he had made that the White House claimed demonstrated he had provided inaccurate assessments about coronavirus early on .
In an interview with The Atlantic published this week , Fauci expressed confusion over why Trump and his advisers were trying to disparage him .
“ I can not figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that , ” Fauci said .
“ I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do , because it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” On Thursday it was announced that Fauci and Trump had patched things up , at least enough to have a direct conversation with one another .
The two spoke on the phone on Wednesday , and according to individuals familiar with the content of the call , it went well , with Trump recognizing that he and Fauci were on the same team , according to reporting from CNN .
Yet the call itself may demonstrate just how out-of-touch Trump is when it comes to utilizing experts he has at his disposal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the White House ’ s coronavirus task force and considered one of the top experts in his field , hadn ’ t briefed Trump in several months prior to their conversation earlier this week .
Additionally , Trump also did not signal , after the call , that he was considering taking more cautious steps when it came to dealing with COVID-19 , continuing instead to insist that businesses and schools across the country reopen , with less stringent requirements for doing so than what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump himself has taken a confrontational tone toward doctors in general and the CDC specifically , sharing a tweet on Monday that said the agency was “ lying ” about the pandemic .
Trump has also suggested that testing should be slowed down as a means to stop showing that cases are going up , a move that runs counter to what most health experts say should happen .
“ If we did half the testing we would have half the cases , ” Trump said in the Rose Garden on Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House , Trump has complained that he ’ s no longer seen as a trusted voice on how to deal with coronavirus .
Indeed , between Trump and Fauci , more Americans appear to trust what the latter has to say on COVID-19 , with 65 percent saying they trust Fauci versus 26 percent saying they don ’ t , according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll .
Conversely , just 30 percent of Americans say they trust Trump ’ s words on the pandemic , while more than two-thirds ( 67 percent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him .

Polling shows Fauci is trusted much more than Trump is by Americans when it comes to coronavirus.
Perhaps recognizing that his administration’s efforts to discredit Anthony Fauci have failed, President Donald Trump engaged in a phone conversation with the infectious disease expert on Wednesday, the first time the two have spoken with one another since June 2.
The drama between the two figures hit its apex earlier this week after the White House leaked a memo to media detailing a plan from the administration showcasing how they planned to discredit the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The memo itself, however, was riddled with dubious claims of Fauci being wrong during the pandemic, and omitted the context behind some statements he had made that the White House claimed demonstrated he had provided inaccurate assessments about coronavirus early on.
In an interview with The Atlantic published this week, Fauci expressed confusion over why Trump and his advisers were trying to disparage him.
“I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that,” Fauci said. “I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do, because it’s only reflecting negatively on them.”
On Thursday it was announced that Fauci and Trump had patched things up, at least enough to have a direct conversation with one another. The two spoke on the phone on Wednesday, and according to individuals familiar with the content of the call, it went well, with Trump recognizing that he and Fauci were on the same team, according to reporting from CNN.
Yet the call itself may demonstrate just how out-of-touch Trump is when it comes to utilizing experts he has at his disposal. Fauci, who is a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force and considered one of the top experts in his field, hadn’t briefed Trump in several months prior to their conversation earlier this week.
Additionally, Trump also did not signal, after the call, that he was considering taking more cautious steps when it came to dealing with COVID-19, continuing instead to insist that businesses and schools across the country reopen, with less stringent requirements for doing so than what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended. Indeed, Trump himself has taken a confrontational tone toward doctors in general and the CDC specifically, sharing a tweet on Monday that said the agency was “lying” about the pandemic.
Trump has also suggested that testing should be slowed down as a means to stop showing that cases are going up, a move that runs counter to what most health experts say should happen.
“If we did half the testing we would have half the cases,” Trump said in the Rose Garden on Tuesday.
In private meetings at the White House, Trump has complained that he’s no longer seen as a trusted voice on how to deal with coronavirus. Indeed, between Trump and Fauci, more Americans appear to trust what the latter has to say on COVID-19, with 65 percent saying they trust Fauci versus 26 percent saying they don’t, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. Conversely, just 30 percent of Americans say they trust Trump’s words on the pandemic, while more than two-thirds (67 percent) say they don’t trust him.
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.
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truthout--2020-07-17--Hospitals Are Suddenly Short of Young Doctors — Because of Trump’s Visa Ban

As hospitals across the United States brace for a difficult six months — with the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic still raging and concerns about a second wave in the fall — some are acutely short-staffed because of an ill-timed change to immigration policy and its inconsistent implementation .
A proclamation issued by President Donald Trump on June 22 , barring the entry of most immigrants on work visas , came right as hospitals were expecting a new class of medical residents .
Hundreds of young doctors were unable to start their residencies on time .
Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skilled workers , which is used by some practicing doctors abroad who get U.S. residency slots .
The proclamation stated that doctors “ involved with the provision of medical care to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized ” should be exempt from the ban , but it delegated the issuing of guidance to the departments of State and Homeland Security .
That guidance has been slow and inconsistent .
Many consulates started approving doctors ’ visas on Thursday , after ProPublica asked the State Department about the delay .
Others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At hospitals where many incoming residents are visa holders , even a delay of a few weeks in arriving in the U.S. creates a staffing crisis .
Doctors and administrators are afraid that the repercussions will last for the rest of the year — leaving them overworked and ill-prepared even before a second wave of the virus hits .
ProPublica has heard from 10 would-be medical residents stuck abroad because of H1-B visa issues .
Six of them had gotten emergency consulate appointments for visa approval , but when they arrived for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be approved .
Three were still waiting on DHS approval for their visas , a necessary step before a visa gets a consulate stamp .
One resident had application approval but was denied an emergency consulate interview appointment because of the ban .
All were destined for hospital positions treating COVID-19 patients .
The State Department told ProPublica on Tuesday that it , “ in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security and interagency partners , is establishing and implementing procedures ” for the visa ban , and that it “ has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ procedures ” to consulates abroad .
On Thursday , the State Department ’ s website posted guidance , spelling out that doctors treating COVID-19 patients were exempt from the ban .
On that day , many of the residents ProPublica spoke to said they had suddenly received visa approvals .
“ A quite remarkable turnaround , given that I received a rejection email three days ago , ” one said .
In at least five countries , however , consulates were still not processing doctors ’ visas .
The Committee of Interns and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Employees International Union , has heard from over 250 interns stuck abroad .
Over 150 of them are on H-1B visas.. ( The others are on visas that weren ’ t covered in Trump ’ s ban , but can ’ t get approval because their consulates are still closed due to the pandemic . )
Union president Jessica Edwards pointed out to ProPublica that while that number may sound small , each intern is responsible for the care of thousands of patients .
As of 2017 , there were 2,532 medical residents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Journal of the American Medical Association — though the Trump administration ’ s continued restrictions to legal immigration may have made it less appealing for hospitals to sponsor visas in the last few years .
But the impact on hospitals is highly concentrated in the less-prestigious hospitals that tend to rely on residents from overseas .
At one New York City hospital serving low-income residents , nearly half the incoming class is still stuck abroad , multiple sources confirmed to ProPublica .
One hospital in a large Midwestern city told ProPublica that “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started on time .
In the Deep South , a region now overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases , a doctor who was set to start told ProPublica he was among 10 residents still awaiting visa approval as of early July .
All hospitals and doctors spoke to ProPublica on the condition of anonymity because they worried about jeopardizing their visa applications .
ProPublica has also spoken to more-experienced doctors facing the same issue — including an infectious-disease specialist blocked from starting a job in an area of the Western U.S. where COVID-19 cases are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough incoming residents to replace departing third-year residents , staffing crunches result .
At the New York City hospital , a doctor told ProPublica that after only 10 days of short-staffing , one resident had called in sick from exhaustion .
The doctor recounted a recent shift in which there had only been two junior residents on call , compared with the typical six .
Even by having residents work individually instead of in teams of two , they couldn ’ t keep up with new patient admissions .
“ The patients had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( emergency department ) for the residents to finish their first admission , in order to see them , ” the doctor said .
“ When the shift was over , I logged into the computer and I would see notes written at 10 p.m. , 11 p.m. And these residents are expected to go home and then come back again at 6:30 a.m. ” Even at hospitals with decreasing COVID-19 caseloads , short-staffing is a bigger problem than it was in pre-pandemic times .
Some hospitals are seeing a “ surge of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get care for chronic conditions like heart disease during lockdown and are now deteriorating , a doctor at a short-staffed hospital told ProPublica .
And because protocols prevent doctors from switching back and forth between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients , the hospital needs to keep more doctors on-call to maintain staffing levels in both wards .
“ If someone is getting acutely ill , who will see them ?
” a hospital administrator told ProPublica .
“ I ’ ve got my poor residents running around trying to make sure everyone is seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are great , but they can only be in one place at one time.
” Some of these problems will be fixed as residents receive delayed visa approvals and are able to come .
But it will take weeks , if not months , to successfully onboard them .
The Midwestern hospital anticipates that arriving residents may not be able to start until mid-August .
In the meantime , they ’ re understaffing services and using fourth-year medical students in place of residents .
Hospitals are used to a summertime efficiency gap , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This year , it could persist into fall — when a second wave of coronavirus infections is expected .
“ I ’ m really worried that in three months , ” said the medical administrator , “ we ’ re going to have a bunch of residents who are just exhausted and just getting into the worst part of the fall , flu and COVID season.
” These doctors already had to push themselves through the first wave of COVID-19 this spring .
Furthermore , at hospitals hardest hit by the visa ban @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are often themselves H1-B visa holders whose futures are now uncertain .
Trump ’ s ban didn ’ t revoke visas for anyone currently in the U.S. , but if they leave the country — which they will have to do if they change jobs — their ability to return is unclear .
Some of the doctors interviewed by ProPublica were living in the U.S. before the pandemic and returned home partly to get visa approval for their new jobs .
One doctor ended up stuck in India while her husband was unable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doctor from India , now working in the U.S. , told ProPublica : “ My parents , they ’ re ( in India ) by themselves , and both of them are about 70 .
At some point , probably , they will catch the infection.
” If that happens , the doctor plans to leave the U.S. to care for them — “ and if I don ’ t come back , I don ’ t come back .
At this point , I really don ’ t care.
” The feeling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them is compounded among residents who ’ ve already lived through the first wave of COVID-19 and who are now facing overwork and visa uncertainty .
Some said other countries are making it easier for doctors to immigrate , while the U.S. leaves them in limbo .
“ We feel underappreciated for what we ’ re doing , ” the New York City resident said .
“ And what else can you do , more than sacrificing your life ?
” Tightly regimented residency schedules can be tricky for H1-B visa holders even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out in mid-March if they are “ matched ” with a U.S. hospital , where they ’ ll be expected to start at the beginning of July .
DHS often takes longer than that to approve H1-B applications .
Employers can pay for expedited processing to guarantee a decision within five days — but DHS shut down its expedited processing on March 22 because of COVID-19 and didn ’ t reopen it until June 8 .
Shortly afterward , Trump issued his proclamation banning entries on many visa types , including the H1-B @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for residencies arrive on a different kind of visa , the J-1 , and aren ’ t covered by Trump ’ s ban , though some have had issues getting consulate appointments because of the COVID-19 pandemic .
But doctors do identical work regardless of their visa types .
If anything , doctors with H1-Bs are more qualified than those with J-1s , since they ’ re required to have completed all three phases of the taxing U.S. Medical Licensing Exam before starting residencies .
Residents with H1-B visas were practicing doctors in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical-school grads from the U.S. An earlier immigration ban targeting permanent immigrants , which passed in March , contained a broad medical worker exemption .
When rumors of a work-visa ban started swirling in late spring , immigration lawyers and hospitals expected it would include the same language .
Instead , the June proclamation mentioned only doctors working with hospitalized COVID-19 patients .
Every resident who spoke with ProPublica had provided evidence to the U.S. government that they met that description .
Some were told by consular officers that they were probably exempt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guidance , they had to place their visas in “ administrative processing ” — an indefinite holding pattern .
ProPublica saw an image of a form given to one visa applicant informing them of a hold .
The form is typically used to request more information from the applicant .
In this case , though , a consular officer had modified the form to say that processing would not begin until “ implementation procedures ” for the visa-ban exemption had been provided .
Doctors in limbo have formed WhatsApp groups to share information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shown inconsistencies in the ban ’ s implementation .
Some consulates , such as those in Serbia , Russia and the United Arab Emirates , have approved doctors ’ H1-B visas as exempt .
Asked about the discrepancy , the State Department told ProPublica : “ Applicants who believe they qualify for an exemption from Presidential Proclamation 10052 should check the website of the closest U.S. Embassy or Consulate regarding the current status of services .
How appointment systems are managed can vary depending on the consular section.
” One applicant who reached @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received an email reply from an employee on July 10 .
The employee said that as far as they knew , the Office for Consular Affairs had given guidance to consulates and embassies to process visas that were exempt from the ban .
( The agency declined to comment on that email . )
On Thursday , that applicant received a second email from the same employee .
Guidance had been slow in coming , the employee admitted , but it had finally come through .
But some countries still haven ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abroad told ProPublica they ’ d sent a follow-up email to the consulate on Thursday morning .
“ He gave me the same reply , ” the doctor said , “ that they are still waiting for guidance from Department of State .
”

Doctors treating COVID-19 patients were supposed to be allowed into the U.S, but hundreds have had visas put on hold.
As hospitals across the United States brace for a difficult six months — with the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic still raging and concerns about a second wave in the fall — some are acutely short-staffed because of an ill-timed change to immigration policy and its inconsistent implementation.
A proclamation issued by President Donald Trump on June 22, barring the entry of most immigrants on work visas, came right as hospitals were expecting a new class of medical residents. Hundreds of young doctors were unable to start their residencies on time.
Trump’s order included the H1-B visa for highly skilled workers, which is used by some practicing doctors abroad who get U.S. residency slots. The proclamation stated that doctors “involved with the provision of medical care to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized” should be exempt from the ban, but it delegated the issuing of guidance to the departments of State and Homeland Security. That guidance has been slow and inconsistent.
Many consulates started approving doctors’ visas on Thursday, after ProPublica asked the State Department about the delay. Others say they’re still awaiting guidance.
At hospitals where many incoming residents are visa holders, even a delay of a few weeks in arriving in the U.S. creates a staffing crisis. Doctors and administrators are afraid that the repercussions will last for the rest of the year — leaving them overworked and ill-prepared even before a second wave of the virus hits.
ProPublica has heard from 10 would-be medical residents stuck abroad because of H1-B visa issues. Six of them had gotten emergency consulate appointments for visa approval, but when they arrived for meetings they were told their visas could not be approved. Three were still waiting on DHS approval for their visas, a necessary step before a visa gets a consulate stamp. One resident had application approval but was denied an emergency consulate interview appointment because of the ban. All were destined for hospital positions treating COVID-19 patients.
The State Department told ProPublica on Tuesday that it, “in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security and interagency partners, is establishing and implementing procedures” for the visa ban, and that it “has communicated and will continue to communicate implementation procedures” to consulates abroad.
On Thursday, the State Department’s website posted guidance, spelling out that doctors treating COVID-19 patients were exempt from the ban. On that day, many of the residents ProPublica spoke to said they had suddenly received visa approvals. “A quite remarkable turnaround, given that I received a rejection email three days ago,” one said. In at least five countries, however, consulates were still not processing doctors’ visas.
The Committee of Interns and Residents, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, has heard from over 250 interns stuck abroad. Over 150 of them are on H-1B visas.. (The others are on visas that weren’t covered in Trump’s ban, but can’t get approval because their consulates are still closed due to the pandemic.) Union president Jessica Edwards pointed out to ProPublica that while that number may sound small, each intern is responsible for the care of thousands of patients.
As of 2017, there were 2,532 medical residents on H1-B visas, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association — though the Trump administration’s continued restrictions to legal immigration may have made it less appealing for hospitals to sponsor visas in the last few years. But the impact on hospitals is highly concentrated in the less-prestigious hospitals that tend to rely on residents from overseas.
At one New York City hospital serving low-income residents, nearly half the incoming class is still stuck abroad, multiple sources confirmed to ProPublica. One hospital in a large Midwestern city told ProPublica that “roughly half” of its first-year doctors started on time. In the Deep South, a region now overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, a doctor who was set to start told ProPublica he was among 10 residents still awaiting visa approval as of early July. All hospitals and doctors spoke to ProPublica on the condition of anonymity because they worried about jeopardizing their visa applications.
ProPublica has also spoken to more-experienced doctors facing the same issue — including an infectious-disease specialist blocked from starting a job in an area of the Western U.S. where COVID-19 cases are rising.
When there aren’t enough incoming residents to replace departing third-year residents, staffing crunches result.
At the New York City hospital, a doctor told ProPublica that after only 10 days of short-staffing, one resident had called in sick from exhaustion. The doctor recounted a recent shift in which there had only been two junior residents on call, compared with the typical six. Even by having residents work individually instead of in teams of two, they couldn’t keep up with new patient admissions.
“The patients had to just stay there waiting in the (emergency department) for the residents to finish their first admission, in order to see them,” the doctor said. “When the shift was over, I logged into the computer and I would see notes written at 10 p.m., 11 p.m. And these residents are expected to go home and then come back again at 6:30 a.m.”
Even at hospitals with decreasing COVID-19 caseloads, short-staffing is a bigger problem than it was in pre-pandemic times. Some hospitals are seeing a “surge of non-COVID patients” who were unable to get care for chronic conditions like heart disease during lockdown and are now deteriorating, a doctor at a short-staffed hospital told ProPublica. And because protocols prevent doctors from switching back and forth between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients, the hospital needs to keep more doctors on-call to maintain staffing levels in both wards.
“If someone is getting acutely ill, who will see them?” a hospital administrator told ProPublica. “I’ve got my poor residents running around trying to make sure everyone is seen in a timely manner. And residents are great, but they can only be in one place at one time.”
Some of these problems will be fixed as residents receive delayed visa approvals and are able to come. But it will take weeks, if not months, to successfully onboard them. The Midwestern hospital anticipates that arriving residents may not be able to start until mid-August. In the meantime, they’re understaffing services and using fourth-year medical students in place of residents.
Hospitals are used to a summertime efficiency gap, as new interns learn the ropes. This year, it could persist into fall — when a second wave of coronavirus infections is expected.
“I’m really worried that in three months,” said the medical administrator, “we’re going to have a bunch of residents who are just exhausted and just getting into the worst part of the fall, flu and COVID season.”
These doctors already had to push themselves through the first wave of COVID-19 this spring. Furthermore, at hospitals hardest hit by the visa ban, the residents picking up the slack are often themselves H1-B visa holders whose futures are now uncertain. Trump’s ban didn’t revoke visas for anyone currently in the U.S., but if they leave the country — which they will have to do if they change jobs — their ability to return is unclear. Some of the doctors interviewed by ProPublica were living in the U.S. before the pandemic and returned home partly to get visa approval for their new jobs. One doctor ended up stuck in India while her husband was unable to travel there from the U.S.
Another doctor from India, now working in the U.S., told ProPublica: “My parents, they’re (in India) by themselves, and both of them are about 70. At some point, probably, they will catch the infection.” If that happens, the doctor plans to leave the U.S. to care for them — “and if I don’t come back, I don’t come back. At this point, I really don’t care.”
The feeling that the U.S. doesn’t value them is compounded among residents who’ve already lived through the first wave of COVID-19 and who are now facing overwork and visa uncertainty. Some said other countries are making it easier for doctors to immigrate, while the U.S. leaves them in limbo.
“We feel underappreciated for what we’re doing,” the New York City resident said. “And what else can you do, more than sacrificing your life?”
Tightly regimented residency schedules can be tricky for H1-B visa holders even in the best cases. Doctors find out in mid-March if they are “matched” with a U.S. hospital, where they’ll be expected to start at the beginning of July. DHS often takes longer than that to approve H1-B applications. Employers can pay for expedited processing to guarantee a decision within five days — but DHS shut down its expedited processing on March 22 because of COVID-19 and didn’t reopen it until June 8.
Shortly afterward, Trump issued his proclamation banning entries on many visa types, including the H1-B.
Most people coming to the U.S. for residencies arrive on a different kind of visa, the J-1, and aren’t covered by Trump’s ban, though some have had issues getting consulate appointments because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But doctors do identical work regardless of their visa types. If anything, doctors with H1-Bs are more qualified than those with J-1s, since they’re required to have completed all three phases of the taxing U.S. Medical Licensing Exam before starting residencies. Residents with H1-B visas were practicing doctors in their home countries, working alongside new medical-school grads from the U.S.
An earlier immigration ban targeting permanent immigrants, which passed in March, contained a broad medical worker exemption. When rumors of a work-visa ban started swirling in late spring, immigration lawyers and hospitals expected it would include the same language. Instead, the June proclamation mentioned only doctors working with hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Every resident who spoke with ProPublica had provided evidence to the U.S. government that they met that description. Some were told by consular officers that they were probably exempt. But until they received State Department guidance, they had to place their visas in “administrative processing” — an indefinite holding pattern.
ProPublica saw an image of a form given to one visa applicant informing them of a hold. The form is typically used to request more information from the applicant. In this case, though, a consular officer had modified the form to say that processing would not begin until “implementation procedures” for the visa-ban exemption had been provided.
Doctors in limbo have formed WhatsApp groups to share information and support, but the dialogue has shown inconsistencies in the ban’s implementation. Some consulates, such as those in Serbia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, have approved doctors’ H1-B visas as exempt. Asked about the discrepancy, the State Department told ProPublica: “Applicants who believe they qualify for an exemption from Presidential Proclamation 10052 should check the website of the closest U.S. Embassy or Consulate regarding the current status of services. How appointment systems are managed can vary depending on the consular section.”
One applicant who reached out to the State Department for assistance received an email reply from an employee on July 10. The employee said that as far as they knew, the Office for Consular Affairs had given guidance to consulates and embassies to process visas that were exempt from the ban. (The agency declined to comment on that email.)
On Thursday, that applicant received a second email from the same employee. Guidance had been slow in coming, the employee admitted, but it had finally come through.
But some countries still haven’t changed their practices. One doctor stuck abroad told ProPublica they’d sent a follow-up email to the consulate on Thursday morning. “He gave me the same reply,” the doctor said, “that they are still waiting for guidance from Department of State.”
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truthout--2020-07-17--Secret Federal Police Deployed by Trump Snatch Protesters Off Portland Streets

Oregon ’ s Democratic governor and other state lawmakers are demanding that President Donald Trump immediately remove all federal law enforcement officials from the streets of Portland after alarming video footage posted online late Thursday showed unidentified officers dressed in combat fatigues arresting Black Lives Matter protesters without explanation and throwing them into unmarked vehicles .
“ This political theater from President Trump has nothing to do with public safety , ” Oregon Gov .
Kate Brown said in a statement .
“ The president is failing to lead this nation .
Now he is deploying federal officers to patrol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abuse of power by the federal government.
” “ Trump is looking for a confrontation in Oregon in the hopes of winning political points in Ohio or Iowa.
” Brown said she told Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to “ remove all federal officers from our streets ” but he refused , claiming that Portland “ has been under siege for 47 straight days by a violent mob.
” Wolf ’ s response , said Brown , shows “ he is on a mission to provoke confrontation for political purposes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local law enforcement officers in harm ’ s way.
” “ This , coming from the same President who used tear gas to clear out peaceful protesters in Washington , D.C. to engineer a photo opportunity , ” she added .
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported Thursday that “ federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14.
” “ Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people , detaining individuals with no explanation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ driving off , ” OPB reported .
In response to one such video , Sen. Jeff Merkley ( D-Ore. ) tweeted that “ authoritarian governments , not democratic republics , send unmarked authorities after protesters.
” “ These Trump/Barr tactics designed to eliminate any accountability are absolutely unacceptable in America , and must end , ” Merkley added .
During protests over the weekend , a federal agent shot a 26-year-old peaceful demonstrator in the head with a munition , fracturing his skull .
“ Federal forces shot an unarmed protester in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ These shadowy forces have been escalating , not preventing , violence .
If Wolf is coming here to inflame the situation so Donald Trump can look like a tough guy , he should turn around and leave our city now.
” In response to the incident , Oregon Sens .
Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined Oregon Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici in demanding an full investigation and accountability for the officer who fired the munition .
“ In recent weeks , the federal government has deployed to Portland a number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lawmakers wrote .
“ This politically driven federal response is intolerable .
”

The Department of Homeland Security has refused demands from the state government to “remove all federal officers.”
Oregon’s Democratic governor and other state lawmakers are demanding that President Donald Trump immediately remove all federal law enforcement officials from the streets of Portland after alarming video footage posted online late Thursday showed unidentified officers dressed in combat fatigues arresting Black Lives Matter protesters without explanation and throwing them into unmarked vehicles.
“This political theater from President Trump has nothing to do with public safety,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said in a statement. “The president is failing to lead this nation. Now he is deploying federal officers to patrol the streets of Portland in a blatant abuse of power by the federal government.”
“Trump is looking for a confrontation in Oregon in the hopes of winning political points in Ohio or Iowa.”
Brown said she told Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to “remove all federal officers from our streets” but he refused, claiming that Portland “has been under siege for 47 straight days by a violent mob.”
Wolf’s response, said Brown, shows “he is on a mission to provoke confrontation for political purposes. He is putting both Oregonians and local law enforcement officers in harm’s way.”
“This, coming from the same President who used tear gas to clear out peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C. to engineer a photo opportunity,” she added.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported Thursday that “federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14.”
“Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off,” OPB reported.
In response to one such video, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) tweeted that “authoritarian governments, not democratic republics, send unmarked authorities after protesters.”
“These Trump/Barr tactics designed to eliminate any accountability are absolutely unacceptable in America, and must end,” Merkley added.
Authoritarian governments, not democratic republics, send unmarked authorities after protesters. These Trump/Barr tactics designed to eliminate any accountability are absolutely unacceptable in America, and must end. pic.twitter.com/PE4YfZ9Vqd — Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) July 16, 2020
Federal use Tear gas and impact munitions on protestors, one impact round his me in the ankle. I’m fine pic.twitter.com/AnrSRzkBT1 — Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) July 17, 2020
During protests over the weekend, a federal agent shot a 26-year-old peaceful demonstrator in the head with a munition, fracturing his skull.
“Federal forces shot an unarmed protester in the face,” Merkley tweeted Thursday. “These shadowy forces have been escalating, not preventing, violence. If Wolf is coming here to inflame the situation so Donald Trump can look like a tough guy, he should turn around and leave our city now.”
In response to the incident, Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined Oregon Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici in demanding an full investigation and accountability for the officer who fired the munition.
“In recent weeks, the federal government has deployed to Portland a number of DOJ and DHS officers,” the lawmakers wrote. “This politically driven federal response is intolerable.”
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.
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truthout--2020-07-17--White House Document Shows 18 States in Coronavirus “Red Zone”

A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states should revert to more stringent protective measures , limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer , closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times .
The document , dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity , says 18 states are in the “ red zone ” for COVID-19 cases , meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week .
Eleven states are in the “ red @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive .
It includes county-level data and reflects the insistence of the Trump administration that states and counties should take the lead in responding to the coronavirus .
The document has been shared within the federal government but does not appear to be posted publicly .
Dr. Ashish Jha , director of the Harvard Global Health Institute , said he thought the information and recommendations were mostly good .
“ The fact that it ’ s not public makes no sense to me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Why are we hiding this information from the American people ?
This should be published and updated every day.
” Dr. Deborah Birx , a leader of the task force , referenced an earlier version of what appears to be the same report — which she said was updated weekly and sent to governors — in a press conference July 8 in which Vice President Mike Pence urged local leaders to open schools in the fall .
She said Arizona , California , Florida and Texas were among the states the task force @ @ @ @ @ @ @ series of other states ” were also in the red zone and should consider limiting gatherings .
It ’ s clear some states are not following the task force ’ s advice .
For instance , the document recommends that Georgia , in the red zone for both cases and test positivity , “ mandate statewide wearing of cloth face coverings outside the home.
” But Gov .
Brian Kemp signed an order Wednesday banning localities from requiring masks .
The 18 states that are included in the red zone for cases in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Arizona , California , Florida , Georgia , Idaho , Iowa , Kansas , Louisiana , Mississippi , North Carolina , Nevada , Oklahoma , South Carolina , Tennessee , Texas and Utah .
The 11 states that are in the red zone for test positivity are Alabama , Arizona , Florida , Georgia , Idaho , Louisiana , Mississippi , Nevada , South Carolina , Texas and Washington .
In May , the World Health Organization recommended that governments make sure test positivity rates were at 5 percent or lower for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tracker from Johns Hopkins University shows that 33 states were above that recommended positivity as of July 16 .
“ If the test positivity rate is above 10 percent , that means we ’ re not doing a good job mitigating the outbreak , ” said Jessica Malaty Rivera , science communication lead at the COVID Tracking Project , a volunteer organization launched by journalists from The Atlantic .
“ Ideally we want the test positivity rate to be below 3 percent , because that shows that we ’ re suppressing COVID-19.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respond to requests for comment Thursday .

This article about the coronavirus red zone was originally published by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit newsroom based in Washington, D.C.
A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times.
The document, dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, says 18 states are in the “red zone” for COVID-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week. Eleven states are in the “red zone” for test positivity, meaning more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive.
It includes county-level data and reflects the insistence of the Trump administration that states and counties should take the lead in responding to the coronavirus. The document has been shared within the federal government but does not appear to be posted publicly.
Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said he thought the information and recommendations were mostly good.
“The fact that it’s not public makes no sense to me,” Jha said Thursday. “Why are we hiding this information from the American people? This should be published and updated every day.”
Dr. Deborah Birx, a leader of the task force, referenced an earlier version of what appears to be the same report — which she said was updated weekly and sent to governors — in a press conference July 8 in which Vice President Mike Pence urged local leaders to open schools in the fall. She said Arizona, California, Florida and Texas were among the states the task force was monitoring carefully and that “a series of other states” were also in the red zone and should consider limiting gatherings.
It’s clear some states are not following the task force’s advice. For instance, the document recommends that Georgia, in the red zone for both cases and test positivity, “mandate statewide wearing of cloth face coverings outside the home.” But Gov. Brian Kemp signed an order Wednesday banning localities from requiring masks.
The 18 states that are included in the red zone for cases in the document are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
The 11 states that are in the red zone for test positivity are Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.
In May, the World Health Organization recommended that governments make sure test positivity rates were at 5 percent or lower for 14 days before reopening. A COVID-19 tracker from Johns Hopkins University shows that 33 states were above that recommended positivity as of July 16.
“If the test positivity rate is above 10 percent, that means we’re not doing a good job mitigating the outbreak,” said Jessica Malaty Rivera, science communication lead at the COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer organization launched by journalists from The Atlantic. “Ideally we want the test positivity rate to be below 3 percent, because that shows that we’re suppressing COVID-19.”
The White House and Kemp did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
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.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.