theintercept--2020-05-18--Defense Workers, Deemed "Essential," Protest Conditions as Overseas Weapons Sales Continue

With most of the United States on lockdown in late April , the State Department approved billions of dollars in possible weapons sales .
Workers at the manufacturing plants that would supply those sales , deemed “ essential workers ” toward the end of March thanks to the defense industry ’ s sprawling lobbying apparatus , have been forced to show up to work — even as a number of workers at those factories have tested positive for coronavirus .
The transactions approved by the State Department include $ 2.2 billion in possible weapons sales to India , Morocco , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million in blanket funds to the United Arab Emirates for order requisitions to repair and support aircraft fleets and do other related work .
The facilities in question belong to some of the world ’ s largest defense contractors , like Lockheed Martin and Boeing .
At Lockheed Martin ’ s plant in Forth Worth , Texas , workers have protested the reopening of their facility , saying they were concerned about exposing family members to the virus , and that the company wasn ’ t properly cleaning facilities .
Other workers have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risk don ’ t go far enough .
Asked about the spread or potential spread of Covid-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus , at their plants , the contractors generally demurred and declined to answer questions , instead referring The Intercept to company websites , many of which have stopped publicly reporting Covid-19 cases .
It ’ s important to keep in mind , said Mandy Smithberger at the Project on Government Oversight , that workers are being put at risk because trade groups lobbied for an overly broad designation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is worth asking them why that guidance shouldn ’ t be targeted , ” said Smithberger .
“ I think the answer for why it ’ s so broad is because the companies want it to be broad .
They want it to be up to them .
But how do you appropriately target that so that you ’ re not unnecessarily jeopardizing workers ?
” Many weapons factories ceased in-person operations at certain facilities at the onset of the pandemic , but have since resumed in some large cities .
Several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early April closed plants in major cities like Seattle and Philadelphia , while others , like Lockheed ’ s in Fort Worth , stayed open .
The prime contractor for the proposed missile sales to Morocco and India is a Boeing plant in St. Louis that had confirmed 15 coronavirus cases in late April .
Another Boeing plant in Mesa , Arizona , is a prime contractor on one of two recent sales of Apache helicopters to the Philippines .
Boeing last month resumed some operations in Philadelphia ; Puget Sound , Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Communications Director Todd Blecher referred questions on specific Covid-19 cases at Boeing plants to their website , which does not list that information , and then to another Boeing official tracking the status of company facilities .
The company did not provide information on positive cases or remaining facility closures by the time of publication .
Lockheed Martin , the world ’ s largest weapons manufacturer , is the biggest tech company in Florida , with 8,000 workers across two major facilities in Orlando .
The Orlando plant is a principal contractor on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ along with Boeing ’ s Mesa plant .
Just last year , the company had to back pay more than $ 320,000 to its employees for labor violations , including misclassifying workers and robbing them of pay for hours of overtime worked .
Now , Lockheed executives are part of Republican Gov .
Ron DeSantis ’ s task force to reopen the state economy .
While the company is not publicly reporting updated numbers on confirmed or potential cases among workers , some details have emerged .
Several Lockheed workers have been diagnosed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worker in Fort Worth , Texas , died on April 11 after being exposed to Covid-19 outside of work .
A fundraising page for the family of the employee who died , run by military veteran Jennifer Escobar , whose husband works at Lockheed , blames the company for the worker ’ s death .
“ Due to the companies [ sic ] negligence Mr. Daniels is no longer with us .
Both this gentleman and his wife have worked for Lockheed Martin for many years , ” the page reads .
Escobar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down the company ’ s F-35 factory in Fort Worth .
Lockheed last month said people who had been exposed to Daniels were directed to quarantine , and that his workspace was sanitized .
Lockheed spokesperson Dana Casey referred questions on how the facility was addressing concerns about the coronavirus to their website and a list of FAQs , which list their priorities as protecting workers , and performing and delivering for customers .
The company started a $ 6.5 million disaster relief fund for impacted employees and retirees , implemented new cleaning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access .
Paul Black , president of the machinists union that represents workers at Lockheed ’ s Fort Worth plant , blamed the federal government for putting workers at risk in a March interview with the Washington Post .
Workers at the General Electric plant in Lynn , Massachusetts , which is a prime contractor on the second Apache sale to the Philippines , have been fighting for additional protections and support since the pandemic started .
They ’ ve held numerous demonstrations , including a strike on April 8 , and have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fix appalling safety conditions at the facility and allow workers to manufacture the life-saving ventilators the whole country so desperately needs.
” GE did not respond to requests for comment .
After a demonstration on March 30 , the Nation reported , GE made some major changes to improve safety at the Lynn plant .
The IUE-CWA Local 201 , which represents workers at the plant , wrote in a March 28 statement that they had informed GE of their position that the company had “ failed so far to ensure that work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that such failure has created an identifiable , presently existing threat to the safety of the employees who are assigned to work there.
” The Bell Textron plant in Forth Worth is also a prime contractor on the sale of attack helicopters to the Philippines .
Two workers at the Bell plant tested positive for Covid-19 in mid-April , as did two workers at other locations , one nearby in Grand Prairie , and the other in Canada .
A spokesperson for the company said they have had four confirmed cases at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people have fully recovered and returned to work .
Lindsey Hughes , Bell ’ s manager of global communications , said the company was “ taking significant steps ” to keep workers safe , including arrangements for remote work , staggered schedules where possible , temperature screenings , no-touch trash cans , and regular disinfections .
“ We will continue to adhere to the guidance of the CDC , WHO and local governing health authorities to implement any required changes to our business , ” Hughes said .
The weapons industry has so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Congress and the Department of Defense in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic , on issues like getting exemptions from stay-at-home orders and relief under the CARES Act .
The push to get 2.5 million defense workers classified as essential came as the United States ’ s undeclared wars continue , with airstrikes reaching an all-time high in Somalia as the coronavirus spread , and the U.S.-backed , Saudi-led coalition continuing to drop bombs on Yemen .
“ As states across the country issued orders requiring businesses to close in a drastic attempt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the federal government issued instructions to defense contractors that directly contradicted those local efforts , ” the Washington Post wrote in late March , just two weeks after the coronavirus outbreak was deemed a pandemic .
After the first major coronavirus stimulus , a $ 2 trillion relief package , was passed , major defense contractors were largely disappointed with what they were allocated .
Congress gave Boeing , which lobbied on the measure , $ 17 million in the form of support for its commercial flight business .
Boeing had originally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refusing to accept the funds .
The company ’ s push to get more federal aid comes while facing significant financial trouble even before the pandemic .
Other defense industry contractors have had similar financial woes .
Before it became Remington Arms , Remington , one of the country ’ s oldest gunmakers , filed for bankruptcy in 2018 .
In arguments to keep facilities operating , industry groups have cited preserving their own competition , as well as national security .
In a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper on March 20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ limiting large gatherings and initiating shelter-in-place orders , the Aerospace Industries Association urged the federal government to let them stay open , and to provide additional funds .
They asked the Pentagon to legally establish national security programs and their workforces as essential .
The same day , the Defense Department ’ s top acquisitions official , Undersecretary Ellen Lord — the former CEO of Textron — issued a memo saying industry companies would be expected to maintain normal work schedules .
“ Our industry is inextricably linked to our nation ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ AIA wrote .
“ Our people , products , and common supply chain help to power our economy and provide our warfighters capabilities and tools they need to defend our nation ’ s security.
” Boeing said it would support any U.S. decision that would keep essential businesses and supply chains open .
Trade groups representing the defense industry were given daily phone calls with undersecretary Lord , beginning in March .
The calls included the Chamber of Commerce , the Aerospace Industries Association , the National Defense Industrial Association , the Professional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Manufacturers .
According to DOD , the calls were intended to ensure continuity and reliability of the defense-industrial base , and to provide agency officials with information on the pandemic ’ s impact on the industry , Defense News reported .
Plants focused on domestic arms production also remained active amid the pandemic , even as workers became sick from coronavirus .
After gun manufacturers were declared an essential business at the end of March , some employees returned to work at the Remington Arms plant in Ilion , New York , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gov .
Andrew Cuomo ’ s March order that workers at nonessential businesses stay home .
Less than two weeks later , one employee was diagnosed with coronavirus .
Phil Smith , who directs governmental affairs for the labor union United Mine Workers , which represents workers at the Ilion plant , acknowledged that the Ilion plant had not “ been difficult with respect to implementing ” additional protections , including social distancing .
But he said his union was still concerned about many of their 10,000 members across the country who have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coal miners .
Asked if he would prefer that they hadn ’ t reopened the facility , Smith said , “ What we prefer is that they be as safe as they can possibly be at work , ” he said .
An employee at a SIG Sauer gun manufacturing plant in New Hampshire tested positive for the virus last month .
SIG Sauer operates two manufacturing plants and a training facility in New Hampshire , the site of its U.S. headquarters .
A memo from SIG Sauer ’ s CEO reporting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they worked at .
Workers in the Machinists Local S6 union at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works facility in Maine called on their president to shut down the facility in March , slamming the company for putting them at risk .
BIW was willing to use them as “ sacrificial lambs to meet the needs of our customer , ” they wrote to President Dirk Lesko .
Workers asked that the facility temporarily shut down until it was safe to return in large groups .
BIW kept the factory open , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One worker posted to Facebook in April , writing that he was possibly positive for Covid-19 .
“ I ’ m an essential worker , who works at a company that is a part of America ’ s Defense Critical Infrastructure , ” he wrote .
“ Said company has had two ( 2 ) employees with CONFIRMED cases of Covid-19 .
?
?
?
there ’ s roughly 6800 employees between the 4 locations and training facility.
” ( He declined an interview , citing the rules of his employment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to The Intercept that no other BIW employees had reported positive tested results since April 2 , the date the second case was reported .
The company referred questions on health and safety precautions to their website , and said attendance at BIW , “ which had been down 25-30 percent from normal levels because of COVID-19 , is at pre-COVID levels today , Monday , May 11.
” Maine Democratic State Rep. Seth Berry , who led a large state delegation in writing two letters to BIW raising concerns for worker safety @ @ @ @ @ @ @ primary motivation for continuing in-person work at the Maine plant was to maintain profits at the expense of workers .
“ BIW has spoken often about its need to be competitive with the Navy ’ s other principal shipbuilder , Huntington Ingalls , ” Berry said , adding that BIW “ used this argument recently to convince legislators to provide them with a $ 45 million tax break specifically for their operation and for no other Maine business.
” Smithberger at the Project on Government Oversight said companies were leveraging “ threat inflation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increase ” defense budgets .
“ You ’ re seeing some pretty ludicrous op-eds saying that the department can ’ t afford to lose a single dollar .
”

With most of the United States on lockdown in late April, the State Department approved billions of dollars in possible weapons sales. Workers at the manufacturing plants that would supply those sales, deemed “essential workers” toward the end of March thanks to the defense industry’s sprawling lobbying apparatus, have been forced to show up to work — even as a number of workers at those factories have tested positive for coronavirus.
The transactions approved by the State Department include $2.2 billion in possible weapons sales to India, Morocco, and the Philippines, and $150 million in blanket funds to the United Arab Emirates for order requisitions to repair and support aircraft fleets and do other related work.
The facilities in question belong to some of the world’s largest defense contractors, like Lockheed Martin and Boeing. At Lockheed Martin’s plant in Forth Worth, Texas, workers have protested the reopening of their facility, saying they were concerned about exposing family members to the virus, and that the company wasn’t properly cleaning facilities. Other workers have said that steps being taken to mitigate risk don’t go far enough. Asked about the spread or potential spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, at their plants, the contractors generally demurred and declined to answer questions, instead referring The Intercept to company websites, many of which have stopped publicly reporting Covid-19 cases.
It’s important to keep in mind, said Mandy Smithberger at the Project on Government Oversight, that workers are being put at risk because trade groups lobbied for an overly broad designation for essential workers.
“I think it is worth asking them why that guidance shouldn’t be targeted,” said Smithberger. “I think the answer for why it’s so broad is because the companies want it to be broad. They want it to be up to them. But how do you appropriately target that so that you’re not unnecessarily jeopardizing workers?”
Many weapons factories ceased in-person operations at certain facilities at the onset of the pandemic, but have since resumed in some large cities. Several big contractors, like Boeing, in early April closed plants in major cities like Seattle and Philadelphia, while others, like Lockheed’s in Fort Worth, stayed open.
The prime contractor for the proposed missile sales to Morocco and India is a Boeing plant in St. Louis that had confirmed 15 coronavirus cases in late April. Another Boeing plant in Mesa, Arizona, is a prime contractor on one of two recent sales of Apache helicopters to the Philippines. Boeing last month resumed some operations in Philadelphia; Puget Sound, Washington; and Charleston, South Carolina. Communications Director Todd Blecher referred questions on specific Covid-19 cases at Boeing plants to their website, which does not list that information, and then to another Boeing official tracking the status of company facilities. The company did not provide information on positive cases or remaining facility closures by the time of publication.
Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons manufacturer, is the biggest tech company in Florida, with 8,000 workers across two major facilities in Orlando. The Orlando plant is a principal contractor on one of the Philippines Apache sales, along with Boeing’s Mesa plant. Just last year, the company had to back pay more than $320,000 to its employees for labor violations, including misclassifying workers and robbing them of pay for hours of overtime worked. Now, Lockheed executives are part of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s task force to reopen the state economy.
While the company is not publicly reporting updated numbers on confirmed or potential cases among workers, some details have emerged. Several Lockheed workers have been diagnosed with coronavirus, and at least one worker in Fort Worth, Texas, died on April 11 after being exposed to Covid-19 outside of work. A fundraising page for the family of the employee who died, run by military veteran Jennifer Escobar, whose husband works at Lockheed, blames the company for the worker’s death. “Due to the companies [sic] negligence Mr. Daniels is no longer with us. Both this gentleman and his wife have worked for Lockheed Martin for many years,” the page reads. Escobar has also begun a petition to shut down the company’s F-35 factory in Fort Worth. Lockheed last month said people who had been exposed to Daniels were directed to quarantine, and that his workspace was sanitized.
Lockheed spokesperson Dana Casey referred questions on how the facility was addressing concerns about the coronavirus to their website and a list of FAQs, which list their priorities as protecting workers, and performing and delivering for customers. The company started a $6.5 million disaster relief fund for impacted employees and retirees, implemented new cleaning procedures, and restricted travel and facility access.
Paul Black, president of the machinists union that represents workers at Lockheed’s Fort Worth plant, blamed the federal government for putting workers at risk in a March interview with the Washington Post.
Read Our Complete Coverage The Coronavirus Crisis
Workers at the General Electric plant in Lynn, Massachusetts, which is a prime contractor on the second Apache sale to the Philippines, have been fighting for additional protections and support since the pandemic started. They’ve held numerous demonstrations, including a strike on April 8, and have a standing petition demanding that GE “fix appalling safety conditions at the facility and allow workers to manufacture the life-saving ventilators the whole country so desperately needs.” GE did not respond to requests for comment.
After a demonstration on March 30, the Nation reported, GE made some major changes to improve safety at the Lynn plant. The IUE-CWA Local 201, which represents workers at the plant, wrote in a March 28 statement that they had informed GE of their position that the company had “failed so far to ensure that work buildings are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and that such failure has created an identifiable, presently existing threat to the safety of the employees who are assigned to work there.”
The Bell Textron plant in Forth Worth is also a prime contractor on the sale of attack helicopters to the Philippines. Two workers at the Bell plant tested positive for Covid-19 in mid-April, as did two workers at other locations, one nearby in Grand Prairie, and the other in Canada. A spokesperson for the company said they have had four confirmed cases at facilities in North Texas and that those people have fully recovered and returned to work. Lindsey Hughes, Bell’s manager of global communications, said the company was “taking significant steps” to keep workers safe, including arrangements for remote work, staggered schedules where possible, temperature screenings, no-touch trash cans, and regular disinfections.
“We will continue to adhere to the guidance of the CDC, WHO and local governing health authorities to implement any required changes to our business,” Hughes said.
The War Industry
The weapons industry has so far spent millions of dollars on lobbying Congress and the Department of Defense in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, on issues like getting exemptions from stay-at-home orders and relief under the CARES Act. The push to get 2.5 million defense workers classified as essential came as the United States’s undeclared wars continue, with airstrikes reaching an all-time high in Somalia as the coronavirus spread, and the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition continuing to drop bombs on Yemen.
“As states across the country issued orders requiring businesses to close in a drastic attempt to prevent the spread of the virus, the federal government issued instructions to defense contractors that directly contradicted those local efforts,” the Washington Post wrote in late March, just two weeks after the coronavirus outbreak was deemed a pandemic.
Workers stand outside the Boeing manufacturing facility in North Charleston, S.C., on May 4, 2020. Photo: Sam Wolfe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
After the first major coronavirus stimulus, a $2 trillion relief package, was passed, major defense contractors were largely disappointed with what they were allocated. Congress gave Boeing, which lobbied on the measure, $17 million in the form of support for its commercial flight business. Boeing had originally requested $60 million, and is refusing to accept the funds. The company’s push to get more federal aid comes while facing significant financial trouble even before the pandemic. Other defense industry contractors have had similar financial woes. Before it became Remington Arms, Remington, one of the country’s oldest gunmakers, filed for bankruptcy in 2018.
In arguments to keep facilities operating, industry groups have cited preserving their own competition, as well as national security. In a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper on March 20, after several states had already started limiting large gatherings and initiating shelter-in-place orders, the Aerospace Industries Association urged the federal government to let them stay open, and to provide additional funds. They asked the Pentagon to legally establish national security programs and their workforces as essential. The same day, the Defense Department’s top acquisitions official, Undersecretary Ellen Lord — the former CEO of Textron — issued a memo saying industry companies would be expected to maintain normal work schedules.
“Our industry is inextricably linked to our nation’s continued success and global competitiveness,” AIA wrote. “Our people, products, and common supply chain help to power our economy and provide our warfighters capabilities and tools they need to defend our nation’s security.”
Boeing said it would support any U.S. decision that would keep essential businesses and supply chains open. Trade groups representing the defense industry were given daily phone calls with undersecretary Lord, beginning in March. The calls included the Chamber of Commerce, the Aerospace Industries Association, the National Defense Industrial Association, the Professional Services Council, and the National Association of Manufacturers. According to DOD, the calls were intended to ensure continuity and reliability of the defense-industrial base, and to provide agency officials with information on the pandemic’s impact on the industry, Defense News reported.
Domestic Arms Production
Plants focused on domestic arms production also remained active amid the pandemic, even as workers became sick from coronavirus. After gun manufacturers were declared an essential business at the end of March, some employees returned to work at the Remington Arms plant in Ilion, New York, which had been closed in accordance with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s March order that workers at nonessential businesses stay home. Less than two weeks later, one employee was diagnosed with coronavirus.
Phil Smith, who directs governmental affairs for the labor union United Mine Workers, which represents workers at the Ilion plant, acknowledged that the Ilion plant had not “been difficult with respect to implementing” additional protections, including social distancing. But he said his union was still concerned about many of their 10,000 members across the country who have also been deemed essential, including many coal miners. Asked if he would prefer that they hadn’t reopened the facility, Smith said, “What we prefer is that they be as safe as they can possibly be at work,” he said.
An employee at a SIG Sauer gun manufacturing plant in New Hampshire tested positive for the virus last month. SIG Sauer operates two manufacturing plants and a training facility in New Hampshire, the site of its U.S. headquarters. A memo from SIG Sauer’s CEO reporting the employee case did not specify which facility they worked at.
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Workers in the Machinists Local S6 union at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works facility in Maine called on their president to shut down the facility in March, slamming the company for putting them at risk. BIW was willing to use them as “sacrificial lambs to meet the needs of our customer,” they wrote to President Dirk Lesko. Workers asked that the facility temporarily shut down until it was safe to return in large groups. BIW kept the factory open, and two workers eventually tested positive for coronavirus.
One worker posted to Facebook in April, writing that he was possibly positive for Covid-19. “I’m an essential worker, who works at a company that is a part of America’s Defense Critical Infrastructure,” he wrote. “Said company has had two (2) employees with CONFIRMED cases of Covid-19. ??? there’s roughly 6800 employees between the 4 locations and training facility.” (He declined an interview, citing the rules of his employment.)
General Dynamics said in a statement to The Intercept that no other BIW employees had reported positive tested results since April 2, the date the second case was reported. The company referred questions on health and safety precautions to their website, and said attendance at BIW, “which had been down 25-30 percent from normal levels because of COVID-19, is at pre-COVID levels today, Monday, May 11.”
Maine Democratic State Rep. Seth Berry, who led a large state delegation in writing two letters to BIW raising concerns for worker safety, suggested that the company’s primary motivation for continuing in-person work at the Maine plant was to maintain profits at the expense of workers. “BIW has spoken often about its need to be competitive with the Navy’s other principal shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls,” Berry said, adding that BIW “used this argument recently to convince legislators to provide them with a $45 million tax break specifically for their operation and for no other Maine business.”
Smithberger at the Project on Government Oversight said companies were leveraging “threat inflation around China to try and stabilize and increase” defense budgets. “You’re seeing some pretty ludicrous op-eds saying that the department can’t afford to lose a single dollar.”


theintercept--2020-05-17--Long Island Protest Praised by Trump Featured Anti-Vaxxer Call to "Hang Fauci"

the United States voiced his support on Saturday for a protest against New York state ’ s public health orders that was backed by an anti-government militia and anti-vaccine activists who called for the execution of Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation ’ s senior immunologist .
The “ Re-Open NY ” rally on Thursday in Commack , New York was organized by a group of Trump supporters who call themselves the Setauket Patriots , but also endorsed by anti-vaccination activists and the Long Island branch of the Oath Keepers , a national organization of current and former law enforcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are defending the nation from a range of imaginary threats posed by the federal government .
Amid a sea of American flags and Trump banners , several of the signs waved by the protesters referenced conspiracy theories promoted by radical anti-vaccine activists that demonize Fauci and the philanthropist Bill Gates .
In addition to placards calling for New York to open businesses , others displayed at the rally channeled conspiracy theories from anti-vaccine activists who believe that Bill Gates is somehow behind the crisis .
“ Just Say NO to Bill Gates , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with idiosyncratic punctuation , read : “ My Son ’ s Are Not Lab Rats For Bill Gates Vaccine.
” The protest outside a shuttered department store was attended by just a few hundred people , but it drew national attention after a local news reporter , Kevin Vesey , posted video of himself being harassed by demonstrators .
The protesters echoed the president ’ s anti-media harangues by complaining to Vesey that his channel , News 12 Long Island , had “ stopped airing the Trump briefings , ” and taunted him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not essential.
” One woman told the reporter , “ You ’ re the virus.
” Another accused him of “ destroying Suffolk and Long Island ” through his reporting on the coronavirus crisis .
Suffolk County , where the protest took place , has been among the worst hit in the United States , with 37,942 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 1,733 deaths as of Saturday .
That means the suburban New York county of just under 1.5 million people has a mortality rate more than 4 times the national average @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 12 ’ s Vesey , who tested positive last month and recently recovered from a relatively mild case of the illness .
During a longer Facebook Live report from the demonstration , Vesey was menaced at close range by a man in a Trump hat and shirt who was not wearing a mask but said that he did not need to keep his distance because , “ I got hydroxychloroquine ; I ’ ll be fine , bro.
” The man held a sign that called on one side for New York ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be deposed , and on the other accused his brother , Chris Cuomo , of lying about his bout with Covid-19 .
The television report Vesey filed on Thursday evening included video of one of the demonstrators displaying a sign for the camera that read : “ Hang Fauci , Hang Gates , Open Up All Our States.
” On Saturday morning , in a tweet that echoed his infamous praise for white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville in 2017 , Trump described the protesters who had harassed the reporter as “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a leader of the pro-Trump Setauket Patriots group that organized the protest , confirmed in a Facebook message on Saturday that his call for opponents of the lockdown to rally had been supported by the local chapter of the anti-government Oath Keepers militia .
“ They copied my post and made up their own for their group , ” Robitsek said of the Oath Keepers .
“ They come to our events and vice versa .
We all share events , our group is only 40-50 members.
” Thursday ’ s gathering , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from other groups , or who just saw the post and wanted to come down.
” The Oath Keepers ’ s name is a reference to the belief of its members that they are bound by their pledge to “ defend the Constitution against all enemies , foreign and domestic , ” even if that means defying the government .
As Justine Sharrock reported for Mother Jones in 2010 , a year after the group was founded , some of the group ’ s first members were convinced then that it would not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some pretext — a pandemic , a natural disaster , a terror attack — to impose martial law , ban interstate travel , and begin detaining citizens en masse.
” In an open letter posted online last month , the Long Island branch of the militia group echoed that belief , by declaring that the state ’ s orders to shut down businesses , churches and public gatherings were the acts of “ an overbearing government acting under the guise of benevolence ” and had created “ an untenable situation ” that justified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ governing representative which acts in such a manner , attempts to act outside of the Constitution , and must be put on notice as doing such , ” the group wrote .
The national group ’ s founder , Stewart Rhodes , a libertarian trial lawyer and former Ron Paul staffer , mocked Trump earlier this week for tweeting in support of protesters in Pennsylvania who want to re-open businesses .
“ Uh , they are using YOUR Admin ’ s guidelines , including the Orwellian ‘ essential/non-essential ’ paradigm , which is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Rhodes tweeted back at the president .
On Twitter , Rhodes has also shared anti-vaccine conspiracy theories related to the Covid-19 pandemic , including one meme that described Gates as a “ vaccine pushing globalist eugenicist ” and urged readers “ to REFUSE to take ANY vaccine he funds , ‘ mandatory ’ or not.
” He also encouraged his followers to listen to a podcast in which Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attacked Gates and boosted a conspiracy theory about Fauci .
The baseless smear on Fauci was first made by a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director buried her research about how vaccines can damage people ’ s immune systems .
Those false claims about Fauci and Gates have been spread widely by the pro-Trump conspiracy group QAnon and by prominent anti-vaccine activists who have taken a leading role in recent protests demanding an end to the emergency public health orders in California , Texas and New York .
Robitsek , the Setauket Patriots ’ leader , insisted that three of the people seen in Vesey ’ s video @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with our group ” and suggested that at least one of them — the man who had refused stay away from the reporter — might have been “ a plant by left leaning groups in the area who were against our rally coming to Commack.
” If so , the man has been under deep cover for some time , since a photograph on the Setauket Patriots Facebook page shows that he was also at a previous protest at the same spot two weeks ago .
On that occasion , which was also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Island , the man made no attempt to harass the reporter and did nothing to tarnish the reputation of the protesters .
As for the woman who told Vesey he was the virus , Robitsek called her “ a wacko , ” and noted that she travels to protests all across the tri-state area of New York , New Jersey and Connecticut provoking confrontations and filming them for her group ’ s Facebook page .
Robitsek , who said that he has been unemployed for almost nine weeks and is yet to receive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rally as a non-partisan attempt to push New York to let people earn a living .
“ We all need to work , ” he said .
“ Give me my unemployment , and I ’ ll stay home then but I need to pay my bills and eat .
People are getting desperate.
” Anxious to counter the negative publicity generated by Vesey ’ s video , Robitsek also suggested that a “ local moms group ” that was opposed to the rally had been “ in cahoots with the media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only evidence he could cite for that was a screenshot of a Facebook post from a member of the group Commack Parents Network , in which she had simply passed on an interview request from Vesey , saying that he would like one or more of them to explain why they were opposed to the re-opening protest taking place in their town .
Robitsek also said that his group had agreed not to wave Trump flags , in a bid to be bipartisan , but many members of other groups who came to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part , Robitsek wore what appeared to be one of Trump ’ s red caps , albeit a more understated one — with “ USA ” stitched on the front and “ 45 ” on the side — and a mask , while carrying an American flag .
In addition to his group and the Oath Keepers , Robitsek said , members of the Conservative Society for Action also attended the rally , as did , “ a bunch of anti-vaccine people.
” Updated : Monday , May 18 1:12 a.m. PDT This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

The president of the United States voiced his support on Saturday for a protest against New York state’s public health orders that was backed by an anti-government militia and anti-vaccine activists who called for the execution of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s senior immunologist.
The “Re-Open NY” rally on Thursday in Commack, New York was organized by a group of Trump supporters who call themselves the Setauket Patriots, but also endorsed by anti-vaccination activists and the Long Island branch of the Oath Keepers, a national organization of current and former law enforcement officers and military veterans who think they are defending the nation from a range of imaginary threats posed by the federal government.
Amid a sea of American flags and Trump banners, several of the signs waved by the protesters referenced conspiracy theories promoted by radical anti-vaccine activists that demonize Fauci and the philanthropist Bill Gates.
Photo: News 12 Long Island
In addition to placards calling for New York to open businesses, others displayed at the rally channeled conspiracy theories from anti-vaccine activists who believe that Bill Gates is somehow behind the crisis. “Just Say NO to Bill Gates,” read one sign. Another, with idiosyncratic punctuation, read: “My Son’s Are Not Lab Rats For Bill Gates Vaccine.”
The protest outside a shuttered department store was attended by just a few hundred people, but it drew national attention after a local news reporter, Kevin Vesey, posted video of himself being harassed by demonstrators.
The level of anger directed at the media from these protestors was alarming. As always, I will tell a fair and unbiased story today. pic.twitter.com/5jCR0YY9VH — Kevin Vesey (@KevinVesey) May 14, 2020
The protesters echoed the president’s anti-media harangues by complaining to Vesey that his channel, News 12 Long Island, had “stopped airing the Trump briefings,” and taunted him with the chant, “Fake news is not essential.” One woman told the reporter, “You’re the virus.” Another accused him of “destroying Suffolk and Long Island” through his reporting on the coronavirus crisis.
Suffolk County, where the protest took place, has been among the worst hit in the United States, with 37,942 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 1,733 deaths as of Saturday. That means the suburban New York county of just under 1.5 million people has a mortality rate more than 4 times the national average. One of those cases was News 12’s Vesey, who tested positive last month and recently recovered from a relatively mild case of the illness.
During a longer Facebook Live report from the demonstration, Vesey was menaced at close range by a man in a Trump hat and shirt who was not wearing a mask but said that he did not need to keep his distance because, “I got hydroxychloroquine; I’ll be fine, bro.”
The man held a sign that called on one side for New York’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, to be deposed, and on the other accused his brother, Chris Cuomo, of lying about his bout with Covid-19.
Another protester held up a sign saying Fauci “has to go” and falsely asserted that he “works for” for the World Health Organization.
The television report Vesey filed on Thursday evening included video of one of the demonstrators displaying a sign for the camera that read: “Hang Fauci, Hang Gates, Open Up All Our States.”
I'll probably never forget what happened today.
I was insulted. I was berated. I was practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic.
All the while, I was there to tell THEIR story. Here's the finished product. pic.twitter.com/HV2Hrcs7gi — Kevin Vesey (@KevinVesey) May 14, 2020
On Saturday morning, in a tweet that echoed his infamous praise for white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville in 2017, Trump described the protesters who had harassed the reporter as “Great people!”
James Robitsek, a leader of the pro-Trump Setauket Patriots group that organized the protest, confirmed in a Facebook message on Saturday that his call for opponents of the lockdown to rally had been supported by the local chapter of the anti-government Oath Keepers militia. “They copied my post and made up their own for their group,” Robitsek said of the Oath Keepers. “They come to our events and vice versa. We all share events, our group is only 40-50 members.” Thursday’s gathering, he said, included “many people from other groups, or who just saw the post and wanted to come down.”
The Oath Keepers’s name is a reference to the belief of its members that they are bound by their pledge to “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” even if that means defying the government. As Justine Sharrock reported for Mother Jones in 2010, a year after the group was founded, some of the group’s first members were convinced then that it would not be long “before President Obama finds some pretext — a pandemic, a natural disaster, a terror attack — to impose martial law, ban interstate travel, and begin detaining citizens en masse.”
In an open letter posted online last month, the Long Island branch of the militia group echoed that belief, by declaring that the state’s orders to shut down businesses, churches and public gatherings were the acts of “an overbearing government acting under the guise of benevolence” and had created “an untenable situation” that justified resistance. “Any government, or governing representative which acts in such a manner, attempts to act outside of the Constitution, and must be put on notice as doing such,” the group wrote.
The national group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, a libertarian trial lawyer and former Ron Paul staffer, mocked Trump earlier this week for tweeting in support of protesters in Pennsylvania who want to re-open businesses. “Uh, they are using YOUR Admin’s guidelines, including the Orwellian ‘essential/non-essential’ paradigm, which is like something out of the USSR,” Rhodes tweeted back at the president.
On Twitter, Rhodes has also shared anti-vaccine conspiracy theories related to the Covid-19 pandemic, including one meme that described Gates as a “vaccine pushing globalist eugenicist” and urged readers “to REFUSE to take ANY vaccine he funds, ‘mandatory’ or not.”
He also encouraged his followers to listen to a podcast in which Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attacked Gates and boosted a conspiracy theory about Fauci. The baseless smear on Fauci was first made by a discredited scientist who claims, without evidence, that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director buried her research about how vaccines can damage people’s immune systems. Those false claims about Fauci and Gates have been spread widely by the pro-Trump conspiracy group QAnon and by prominent anti-vaccine activists who have taken a leading role in recent protests demanding an end to the emergency public health orders in California, Texas and New York.
Robitsek, the Setauket Patriots’ leader, insisted that three of the people seen in Vesey’s video harassing the reporter were “not associated with our group” and suggested that at least one of them — the man who had refused stay away from the reporter — might have been “a plant by left leaning groups in the area who were against our rally coming to Commack.” If so, the man has been under deep cover for some time, since a photograph on the Setauket Patriots Facebook page shows that he was also at a previous protest at the same spot two weeks ago. On that occasion, which was also covered by Vesey for News 12 Long Island, the man made no attempt to harass the reporter and did nothing to tarnish the reputation of the protesters.
As for the woman who told Vesey he was the virus, Robitsek called her “a wacko,” and noted that she travels to protests all across the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut provoking confrontations and filming them for her group’s Facebook page.
Robitsek, who said that he has been unemployed for almost nine weeks and is yet to receive any payment from the state, cast the rally as a non-partisan attempt to push New York to let people earn a living. “We all need to work,” he said. “Give me my unemployment, and I’ll stay home then but I need to pay my bills and eat. People are getting desperate.”
Anxious to counter the negative publicity generated by Vesey’s video, Robitsek also suggested that a “local moms group” that was opposed to the rally had been “in cahoots with the media before it even started.” But the only evidence he could cite for that was a screenshot of a Facebook post from a member of the group Commack Parents Network, in which she had simply passed on an interview request from Vesey, saying that he would like one or more of them to explain why they were opposed to the re-opening protest taking place in their town.
Robitsek also said that his group had agreed not to wave Trump flags, in a bid to be bipartisan, but many members of other groups who came to the rally did so. For his part, Robitsek wore what appeared to be one of Trump’s red caps, albeit a more understated one — with “USA” stitched on the front and “45” on the side — and a mask, while carrying an American flag. In addition to his group and the Oath Keepers, Robitsek said, members of the Conservative Society for Action also attended the rally, as did, “a bunch of anti-vaccine people.”
Updated: Monday, May 18 1:12 a.m. PDT
This article was updated with a new headline.


theintercept--2020-05-19--Redirecting Asylum-Seekers from U.S. to Guatemala Was a Cruel Farce, Report Finds

the United States began sending Salvadoran and Honduran asylum-seekers to Guatemala , telling them , in effect , to try their luck there .
The transfers were conducted under an agreement with Guatemala , one of a series of deals with Central American countries , and one which promoted the idea that Guatemala is a “ safe third country ” for people fleeing violence — even though its asylum program barely functions and many Guatemalans are themselves heading north to escape violence , corruption , and persecution .
The asylum agreement faced protests and legal challenges , but the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidency of Alejandro Giammattei , eventually acquiesced .
Nearly 1,000 Honduran and Salvadoran asylum-seekers were sent to Guatemala before the program was suspended in mid-March because of the coronavirus outbreak .
A new report from Refugees International and Human Rights Watch finds that those asylum-seekers were poorly treated by U.S. border officials , misinformed about the program and their prospects of getting into the U.S. , and left without resources when they reached Guatemala .
According to the Guatemalan government , only 20 of the 939 people sent to Guatemala under the so-called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have actually applied for asylum there .
The report also argues that U.S. is violating domestic and international law by sending people to dangerous conditions in Guatemala without first hearing their asylum claims .
Hustled to Guatemala With Little Explanation Interviews conducted by the report ’ s authors with 30 asylum-seekers who were sent to Guatemala revealed confusion and anguish .
Interviewees related familiar stories of harsh conditions in U.S. detention : held for days without showers , served inedible frozen food , denied access to medical care , and verbally abused by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Many said they did not understand the process by which they were sent to Guatemala .
One Salvadoran man said that a Homeland Security official told him , “ There is no asylum , ” and “ There are no Central Americans allowed into the United States.
” A Honduran woman was also told the U.S. “ wasn ’ t giving asylum anymore.
” Unlike the normal process for asylum-seekers , many people subjected to the ACA weren ’ t asked if they were afraid to return home or go to Guatemala .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ report said that they had no chance to meet with an attorney .
They were given various forms explaining the ACA , many only in English , but none properly understood that they had to ask for asylum in Guatemala — rather , they believed they ’ d have the chance to continue their U.S. asylum case from Guatemala .
Some people didn ’ t even understand that they were being sent to Guatemala until they arrived there .
A spokesperson for CBP , Matthew Dyman , said that under the agreement , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and that individuals are “ referred for an interview with a [ U.S .
Citizenship and Immigration Services ] Asylum Officer , which will determine whether the individual has a reasonable fear of being transferred to Guatemala.
” He added that following their transfer , “ Guatemalan migration officials interview each individual and refer them to partner non-governmental organizations for services.
” Yet interviewees told Refugees International and Human Rights Watch that registration at the airport “ took a cursory two-to-three minutes , during which transferees were not provided any information regarding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Asylum-seekers had “ 72 hours to make the decision about whether they would remain in Guatemala , return to the countries they fled , or try to find refuge elsewhere.
” A psychologist who works in the only shelter receiving the asylum-seekers in Guatemala City said the rapid transfer of asylum-seekers compounded the trauma of their initial flight .
“ Those who arrive under the ACA are often suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic stress , as well as physical illnesses — respiratory infections , headaches , palpitations , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Many of the asylum-seekers interviewed for the report were between 18 and 20 years old .
“ We are destroying a generation , ” the psychologist said .
For most of the people transferred , staying in Guatemala was untenable .
Guatemala ’ s capacity to take in asylum-seekers is limited for legal and practical reasons .
First off , the gangs that operate in El Salvador and Honduras also have a presence in Guatemala , and many people fleeing the region say they do not feel they will be safe anywhere within @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rates of violence against women , with perpetrators enjoying relative impunity for those crimes , and today ’ s report notes that 75 percent of the asylum-seekers sent to Guatemala under the ACA were women and children .
Asylum law in Guatemala is “ clunky and very politicized , ” said Refugees International ’ s Yael Schacher , and there is little bureaucratic infrastructure .
The report notes that Guatemala “ received fewer than 50 new asylum claims per year from 2002-2014 , ” and that a June 2019 State Department cable claimed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claim in over a year .
And Guatemala is a very poor country , dealing with high levels of poverty and food insecurity that force thousands of its own citizens to emigrate each year .
There are few shelters available to migrants in Guatemala .
The ACA came without funding from the U.S. to care for asylum-seekers , and Guatemalan law was clear that money could not be spent implementing the agreement .
Just One Part of a Blockade That lack of capacity is probably why more people weren ’ t sent , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. had for this was to be much bigger , they wanted to send hundreds of people each week , ” she said .
“ But I think as more families began to be sent , the situation became untenable in Guatemala .
There was no place for those people to go .
It ’ s also clear that UNHCR ” — the U.N. refugee agency — “ was not going to sanction this , not going to facilitate .
So lack of UNHCR support for it , criticism from the Guatemala @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put some brakes on it.
” Dyman , the CBP spokesperson , said that “ a core part of the bilateral agreement is that the United States will transfer only the number of individuals that Guatemala has the capacity to accept and process.
” But the need to transfer large numbers of people to Guatemala was also reduced by the success of the administration ’ s other efforts to severely restrict the options for asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border .
Tens of thousands of people have been thrown into the Remain in Mexico @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — often in camps or on the street — in Mexican border cities while their case proceeded in the U.S. A transit bar blocked asylum for anyone who did not first ask for protection in the countries they passed through en route to the U.S. , and other programs sped up the review and rejection of asylum claims at the border .
Now , the coronavirus pandemic has brought asylum almost to a halt .
Last week , the Washington Post reported that just two people have been granted humanitarian protection at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health , the U.S. has expelled over 20,000 unauthorized border crossers , most of them directly to Mexico , where , as The Intercept has reported , they face a chaotic situation and few resources .
Even children ’ s asylum requests are being blocked .
The pandemic has created the perfect pretext for White House immigration adviser Stephen Miller and other anti-immigrant hard-liners to enact the election-year border blockade of their dreams .
Still , advocates such as Schacher worry that the U.S. will press on with implementing asylum cooperative agreements with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ less equipped to offer protection than Guatemala .
Honduras , for one , has been a willing partner for the Trump administration , and Guatemala has pushed back against deportation flights from the U.S. during the pandemic , which have helped spread Covid-19 from U.S. immigration detention centers to Latin America .
Schacher said if that continues and “ if that gets annoying enough for the U.S. , I can see the U.S. beginning to send Guatemalans to Honduras.
” She added that lawsuits against the ACAs , including one brought by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ They may want to start quickly sending people to Honduras before they get stopped by the courts , ” she said .
“ The goal of the Trump administration is to deport as many people as possible.
” Dyman said that “ there are no imminent plans to begin ACA transfers to Honduras ; when international travel conditions improve we will resume discussions about implementing these agreements.
” The program has been promoted by the administration as “ burden sharing ” to “ control the flow of aliens into the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the cross-border ubiquity of violence in Central America , not to mention the disparate resources of a rich country like the United States and its historical role in generating instability in the region .
“ From the U.S. perspective , this is just a burden shifting exercise , not a burden sharing exercise , ” Schacher said .
“ This is a border enforcement policy rather than anything else .
”

Last November, the United States began sending Salvadoran and Honduran asylum-seekers to Guatemala, telling them, in effect, to try their luck there. The transfers were conducted under an agreement with Guatemala, one of a series of deals with Central American countries, and one which promoted the idea that Guatemala is a “safe third country” for people fleeing violence — even though its asylum program barely functions and many Guatemalans are themselves heading north to escape violence, corruption, and persecution.
The asylum agreement faced protests and legal challenges, but the U.S. persisted and Guatemala, under the new presidency of Alejandro Giammattei, eventually acquiesced. Nearly 1,000 Honduran and Salvadoran asylum-seekers were sent to Guatemala before the program was suspended in mid-March because of the coronavirus outbreak.
A new report from Refugees International and Human Rights Watch finds that those asylum-seekers were poorly treated by U.S. border officials, misinformed about the program and their prospects of getting into the U.S., and left without resources when they reached Guatemala. According to the Guatemalan government, only 20 of the 939 people sent to Guatemala under the so-called Asylum Cooperative Agreement, or ACA, have actually applied for asylum there.
The report also argues that U.S. is violating domestic and international law by sending people to dangerous conditions in Guatemala without first hearing their asylum claims.
Hustled to Guatemala With Little Explanation
Interviews conducted by the report’s authors with 30 asylum-seekers who were sent to Guatemala revealed confusion and anguish. Interviewees related familiar stories of harsh conditions in U.S. detention: held for days without showers, served inedible frozen food, denied access to medical care, and verbally abused by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. Many said they did not understand the process by which they were sent to Guatemala.
Homeland Security told him, “There are no Central Americans allowed into the United States.”
One Salvadoran man said that a Homeland Security official told him, “There is no asylum,” and “There are no Central Americans allowed into the United States.” A Honduran woman was also told the U.S. “wasn’t giving asylum anymore.” Unlike the normal process for asylum-seekers, many people subjected to the ACA weren’t asked if they were afraid to return home or go to Guatemala. All of the people interviewed for the report said that they had no chance to meet with an attorney. They were given various forms explaining the ACA, many only in English, but none properly understood that they had to ask for asylum in Guatemala — rather, they believed they’d have the chance to continue their U.S. asylum case from Guatemala. Some people didn’t even understand that they were being sent to Guatemala until they arrived there.
A spokesperson for CBP, Matthew Dyman, said that under the agreement, information is provided in English and Spanish, and that individuals are “referred for an interview with a [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] Asylum Officer, which will determine whether the individual has a reasonable fear of being transferred to Guatemala.” He added that following their transfer, “Guatemalan migration officials interview each individual and refer them to partner non-governmental organizations for services.”
Yet interviewees told Refugees International and Human Rights Watch that registration at the airport “took a cursory two-to-three minutes, during which transferees were not provided any information regarding what would happen to them in Guatemala.” Asylum-seekers had “72 hours to make the decision about whether they would remain in Guatemala, return to the countries they fled, or try to find refuge elsewhere.”
A psychologist who works in the only shelter receiving the asylum-seekers in Guatemala City said the rapid transfer of asylum-seekers compounded the trauma of their initial flight. “Those who arrive under the ACA are often suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic stress, as well as physical illnesses — respiratory infections, headaches, palpitations,” she told the report’s authors. Many of the asylum-seekers interviewed for the report were between 18 and 20 years old. “We are destroying a generation,” the psychologist said.
Read Our Complete Coverage The War on Immigrants
For most of the people transferred, staying in Guatemala was untenable. Guatemala’s capacity to take in asylum-seekers is limited for legal and practical reasons. First off, the gangs that operate in El Salvador and Honduras also have a presence in Guatemala, and many people fleeing the region say they do not feel they will be safe anywhere within it. Also, Guatemala has high rates of violence against women, with perpetrators enjoying relative impunity for those crimes, and today’s report notes that 75 percent of the asylum-seekers sent to Guatemala under the ACA were women and children.
Asylum law in Guatemala is “clunky and very politicized,” said Refugees International’s Yael Schacher, and there is little bureaucratic infrastructure. The report notes that Guatemala “received fewer than 50 new asylum claims per year from 2002-2014,” and that a June 2019 State Department cable claimed that Guatemala had not processed one asylum claim in over a year. And Guatemala is a very poor country, dealing with high levels of poverty and food insecurity that force thousands of its own citizens to emigrate each year. There are few shelters available to migrants in Guatemala. The ACA came without funding from the U.S. to care for asylum-seekers, and Guatemalan law was clear that money could not be spent implementing the agreement.
Just One Part of a Blockade
That lack of capacity is probably why more people weren’t sent, Schacher says. “The plan that the U.S. had for this was to be much bigger, they wanted to send hundreds of people each week,” she said. “But I think as more families began to be sent, the situation became untenable in Guatemala. There was no place for those people to go. It’s also clear that UNHCR” — the U.N. refugee agency — “was not going to sanction this, not going to facilitate. So lack of UNHCR support for it, criticism from the Guatemala side and from the press may have put some brakes on it.”
Dyman, the CBP spokesperson, said that “a core part of the bilateral agreement is that the United States will transfer only the number of individuals that Guatemala has the capacity to accept and process.”
But the need to transfer large numbers of people to Guatemala was also reduced by the success of the administration’s other efforts to severely restrict the options for asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Tens of thousands of people have been thrown into the Remain in Mexico program, which forced them to wait — often in camps or on the street — in Mexican border cities while their case proceeded in the U.S. A transit bar blocked asylum for anyone who did not first ask for protection in the countries they passed through en route to the U.S., and other programs sped up the review and rejection of asylum claims at the border.
“The situation became untenable in Guatemala. There was no place for those people to go.”
Now, the coronavirus pandemic has brought asylum almost to a halt. Last week, the Washington Post reported that just two people have been granted humanitarian protection at the border since late March. Citing public health, the U.S. has expelled over 20,000 unauthorized border crossers, most of them directly to Mexico, where, as The Intercept has reported, they face a chaotic situation and few resources. Even children’s asylum requests are being blocked. The pandemic has created the perfect pretext for White House immigration adviser Stephen Miller and other anti-immigrant hard-liners to enact the election-year border blockade of their dreams.
Still, advocates such as Schacher worry that the U.S. will press on with implementing asylum cooperative agreements with El Salvador and Honduras — countries even less equipped to offer protection than Guatemala. Honduras, for one, has been a willing partner for the Trump administration, and Guatemala has pushed back against deportation flights from the U.S. during the pandemic, which have helped spread Covid-19 from U.S. immigration detention centers to Latin America. Schacher said if that continues and “if that gets annoying enough for the U.S., I can see the U.S. beginning to send Guatemalans to Honduras.”
She added that lawsuits against the ACAs, including one brought by the asylum officers’ union, are proceeding. “They may want to start quickly sending people to Honduras before they get stopped by the courts,” she said. “The goal of the Trump administration is to deport as many people as possible.”
Dyman said that “there are no imminent plans to begin ACA transfers to Honduras; when international travel conditions improve we will resume discussions about implementing these agreements.”
“They may want to start quickly sending people to Honduras before they get stopped by the courts.”
The program has been promoted by the administration as “burden sharing” to “control the flow of aliens into the United States” — a framing that ignores the cross-border ubiquity of violence in Central America, not to mention the disparate resources of a rich country like the United States and its historical role in generating instability in the region.
“From the U.S. perspective, this is just a burden shifting exercise, not a burden sharing exercise,” Schacher said. “This is a border enforcement policy rather than anything else.”


theintercept--2020-05-19--Alarm and Confusion at Fox News as Trump Says He Takes Hydroxychloroquine

were warned on Monday not to take medical advice from the president , following Donald Trump ’ s surprise announcement that he takes the drug hydroxychloroquine , based on his belief that it could prevent him from becoming infected with Covid-19 — a belief unsupported by scientific evidence .
Moments after the president told reporters that he began taking the medication about a week and a half ago — which is when the vice president ’ s press secretary , Katie Miller , tested positive for the coronavirus — Fox News host Neil Cavuto issued an urgent warning , telling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that there is no evidence the drug can ward off Covid-19 but it can cause potentially fatal irregular heartbeats .
After defending a recent Veterans Administration analysis of the drug ’ s lack of efficacy , which Trump had baselessly described as politically motivated , Cavuto told viewers to be careful , since people predisposed to irregular heartbeats could die as a result of taking hydroxychloroquine .
What ’ s more , as a cardiologist told The Intercept last month , many people don ’ t know that they have the underlying heart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rhythms .
“ If you are in a risky population here and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus , or in a worst case scenario , you are dealing with the virus , and you are in this vulnerable population , it will kill you , ” Cavuto said .
“ I can not stress enough : this will kill you.
” That urgent warning was echoed by Dr. Bob Lahita , who told Cavuto that doctors at St. Joseph University Hospital , where he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ absolutely no effect ” on Covid-19 from hydroxychloroquine .
Lahita also explained that the drug needs to be used only under close medical supervision , since it can cause “ a fatal arrhythmia , which means an irregular heart rhythm , which will cause your death — your death will be instantaneous.
” Less than 30 minutes after the president made the remarks that prompted Cavuto ’ s alarm , regular service was resumed on the pro-Trump network when the pundit Greg Gutfeld appeared and downplayed concerns about the potentially fatal side effects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s available to you and you can take it , you do it , ” Gutfeld said .
The pundit also insisted that Trump was right to dismiss research from the department of veterans affairs that showed no benefit from hydroxychloroquine , claiming that “ the media glommed onto ” that study “ because they want the drug to be a failure because they want Trump to fail.
” In the following hour ’ s programming block , however , Dr. Manny Alvarez , the senior managing editor for health news at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , telling the anchor Bret Baier that the president ’ s promotion of the drug was “ highly irresponsible.
” In his defense of the drug on Monday , Trump had referred to an observational , retrospective analysis of the records of 368 Veterans Affairs Covid-19 patients as , “ that phony report that was put in.
” The study displeased the president because it found “ no evidence ” that the drug he has repeatedly promoted , hydroxychloroquine , kept those infected with Covid-19 from needing ventilators , and suggested that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death .
Ignoring a larger study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association , of 1,438 patients hospitalized in metropolitan New York , that also found the drug to be ineffective at treating Covid-19 , Trump falsely claimed that the survey of veterans was the only one that undercut his claims for the drug , and implied that it had somehow been skewed by his political enemies .
“ The only negative I ’ ve heard was the study where they gave it — was it the VA ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that aren ’ t big Trump fans gave it , ” the president claimed .
He then accused Veterans Affairs staff of abusing patients — “ we had thousands of people that were sadists , that were stealing , that were robbers , that were horrible people , they beat up our veterans… ” — in an apparent effort to suggest that the scientists who conducted the study , who were mostly not VA employees , had somehow rigged the results to make him look bad .
The report , he claimed , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Somewhat lost in the reaction to Trump ’ s announcement that he was taking the drug on his own initiative , after a White House doctor agreed to his request to prescribe it , was the fact that the president brought up the subject of hydroxychloroquine without being asked about it , in the course of a rambling attack on whistleblowers .
After disparaging the intelligence community whistleblower who had revealed his own corrupt effort to coerce the president of Ukraine into smearing Joe Biden last year , Trump sought to tarnish Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergency preparedness official who filed a whistleblower complaint this month .
Bright said that he was forced out of his position in the department of health and human services in part because , “ contrary to misguided directives , I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine , promoted by the Administration as a panacea , but which clearly lack scientific merit.
” The doctor also said that he had “ resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public , ” and instead “ insisted that these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with confirmed COVID-19 while under the supervision of a physician.
” Bright said that he had only approved the use of the two drugs in clinical settings because they “ have potentially serious risks associated with them , including increased mortality observed in some recent studies in patients with COVID-19.
” Bright reiterated those objections in an interview with “ 60 Minutes ” which prompted a series of outraged tweets from Trump after it aired on Sunday night .
Rather than engage with the substance of any of those objections to how his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump reacted as he does to any criticism , by claiming that the only possible explanation for it is that the person who leveled it has invented a false charge to undermine him politically .
This is why Trump so frequently connects criticism of his handling of the pandemic to objections to his conduct regarding Ukraine , which he also frames as purely partisan .
During his visit to the CDC in March , for instance , when Trump claimed that there was no problem with testing and said , “ anybody that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” he added , “ and the tests are all perfect , like the letter was perfect , the transcription was perfect.
” For Trump , who often refers to the partial transcript of his call with Ukraine ’ s president as “ the letter , ” the document that alarmed almost everyone else who read it revealed that he had done nothing wrong .
That ’ s also why , when asked on Monday about one of his tweets in response to Bright ’ s “ 60 Minutes ” interview , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the “ whole Whistleblower racket , ” Trump began his response with a three minute diatribe about the Ukraine whistleblower .
When Trump finally arrived at the subject of Bright , he referred to him not by name but as “ this other guy , with the hydroxychloroquine.
” Clearly not grasping that Bright had explained in his formal complaint that he had signed a letter approving only limited use of the drug , under supervision , and had rejected a White House request to make hydroxychloroquine “ available to the public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ physician supervision , ” Trump falsely claimed that the ousted official had signed off on the drug before saying later that “ he doesn ’ t believe in it.
” “ A lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy , ” Trump said next .
“ You ’ d be surprised at how many people are taking it , especially the frontline workers — before you catch it .
The frontline workers — many , many are taking it , ” he claimed .
“ I happen to be taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And then we have this crazy whistleblower , this fake whistleblower , get out and try and , you know , knock it , ” he said a short time later .
Trump also explained that he was inspired to take the drug by “ a very well-crafted letter by a man who ’ s a respected doctor up in Westchester , maybe a little beyond Westchester… a little up higher and , in New York.
” That appeared to be a reference to Dr. Vladimir Zelenko , a pro-Trump physician in Kiryas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jews that is on across the Hudson River from Westchester .
Zelenko ’ s claims for the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine , in combination with azithromycin and zinc sulfate , against Covid-19 were relentlessly promoted by Trump allies like Sean Hannity and Rudy Giuliani .
An analysis by Media Matters for America last month suggested that repeated claims on Fox News programs that hydroxychloroquine was a miracle cure for Covid-19 might have implanted that belief in Trump ’ s mind .
The network has since responded to research that suggests the drug is both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when used without proper medical supervision by claiming , like Trump , that Democrats are using the issue to attack the president .
“ I think we are making a little too big deal out of this , like we always do when it comes to hydroxychloroquine , ” the Fox News pundit Jesse Watters said on Monday evening .
“ I don ’ t understand why it ’ s been politicized like it has.
” Better clinical data on the efficacy of the drug could be available later this year .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is directed by Dr. Anthony Fauci , announced last week that it had started a clinical trial , with 2,000 patients , “ to evaluate whether the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine , given together with the antibiotic azithromycin , can prevent hospitalization and death ” from Covid-19.
” The research is expected to conclude in October , although the study completion date is next March , more than a month after the presidential inauguration .
“ Although there is anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin may benefit people with COVID-19 , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the study , “ we need solid data from a large randomized , controlled clinical trial to determine whether this experimental treatment is safe and can improve clinical outcomes.
” In the meantime , there is also anecdotal that promotion of the drug as a Covid-19 cure by the cable news network and the president who is its biggest fan has convinced some die-hard Trump supporters to embrace it .
At a protest on Long Island last week , a Trump supporter calling for an immediate end to the state ’ s public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did not need to maintain social distance from anyone because , “ I got hydroxychloroquine ; I ’ ll be fine , bro .
”

Fox News viewers were warned on Monday not to take medical advice from the president, following Donald Trump’s surprise announcement that he takes the drug hydroxychloroquine, based on his belief that it could prevent him from becoming infected with Covid-19 — a belief unsupported by scientific evidence.
Moments after the president told reporters that he began taking the medication about a week and a half ago — which is when the vice president’s press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the coronavirus — Fox News host Neil Cavuto issued an urgent warning, telling the channel’s largely elderly audience that there is no evidence the drug can ward off Covid-19 but it can cause potentially fatal irregular heartbeats.
Fox News's Neil Cavuto is stunned by Trump's announcement that he's taking hydroxychloroquine: "If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment … it will kill you. I cannot stress enough. This will kill you." pic.twitter.com/e6D5alfAgc — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2020
After defending a recent study that suggested the drug did not help veterans with Covid-19, which Trump had baselessly described as politically motivated, Cavuto told viewers to be careful, since people predisposed to irregular heartbeats could die as a result of taking hydroxychloroquine. What’s more, as a cardiologist told The Intercept last month, many people don’t know that they have the underlying heart issue that predisposes them to dangerous heart rhythms.
“If you are in a risky population here and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus, or in a worst case scenario, you are dealing with the virus, and you are in this vulnerable population, it will kill you,” Cavuto said. “I cannot stress enough: this will kill you.”
That urgent warning was echoed by Dr. Bob Lahita, who told Cavuto that doctors at St. Joseph University Hospital, where he is chairman of medicine, had seen “absolutely no effect” on Covid-19 from hydroxychloroquine. Lahita also explained that the drug needs to be used only under close medical supervision, since it can cause “a fatal arrhythmia, which means an irregular heart rhythm, which will cause your death — your death will be instantaneous.”
Neil Cavuto: It sounds like what you are saying, you have a risk of losing your life if you do what the president just recommended? Dr. Bob Lahita: That is correct. pic.twitter.com/NLySclX9tU — John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) May 18, 2020
Within minutes, however, those dire warnings were undercut by Cavuto’s next guest, a Fox News medical contributor, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, who called in to say that she believed that hydroxychloroquine had helped some Covid-19 patients she treated and that she thought the president’s decision to try the drug as a preventive measure was “very smart.”
Less than 30 minutes after the president made the remarks that prompted Cavuto’s alarm, regular service was resumed on the pro-Trump network when the pundit Greg Gutfeld appeared and downplayed concerns about the potentially fatal side effects of the drug. “If it’s available to you and you can take it, you do it,” Gutfeld said.
The pundit also insisted that Trump was right to dismiss research from the department of veterans affairs that showed no benefit from hydroxychloroquine, claiming that “the media glommed onto” that study “because they want the drug to be a failure because they want Trump to fail.”
In the following hour’s programming block, however, Dr. Manny Alvarez, the senior managing editor for health news at Fox, seemed to reject that take, telling the anchor Bret Baier that the president’s promotion of the drug was “highly irresponsible.”
Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing editor of Fox News' health news, says that it is "highly irresponsible" for Trump to claim that he's now taking hydroxychloroquine. He also wants the White House physician to explain what's changed since studies have shown no benefits. pic.twitter.com/QAxYVTM1kG — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) May 18, 2020
In his defense of the drug on Monday, Trump had referred to an observational, retrospective analysis of the records of 368 Covid-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine at Veterans Affairs hospitals, which was done by independent researchers at two universities with VA approval, as “that phony report that was put in.” The study displeased the president because it found “no evidence” that the drug he has repeatedly promoted, hydroxychloroquine, kept those infected with Covid-19 from needing ventilators, and suggested that the drug might have increased the likelihood of death.
Ignoring a larger study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, of 1,438 patients hospitalized in metropolitan New York, that also found the drug to be ineffective at treating Covid-19, Trump falsely claimed that the survey of veterans was the only one that undercut his claims for the drug, and implied that it had somehow been skewed by his political enemies.
“The only negative I’ve heard was the study where they gave it — was it the VA? — with, you know, people that aren’t big Trump fans gave it,” the president claimed. He then accused Veterans Affairs staff of abusing patients — “we had thousands of people that were sadists, that were stealing, that were robbers, that were horrible people, they beat up our veterans…” — in an apparent effort to suggest that the scientists who conducted the study, who were mostly not affiliated with VA hospitals, had somehow rigged the results to make him look bad. The report, he claimed, “was a very unscientific report.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Trump repeated his false claim that the study of veterans was “the only bad survey,” again ignoring a series of other studies that have also cast doubt on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine, and maintained, without evidence, that “it was a Trump enemy statement.”
Question: Why is it ok for you to promote the use of this drug when you’re not a doctor?
Trump: Well, I’ve worked with doctors and if you look at the one survey, the only bad survey… It was a Trump enemy statement pic.twitter.com/FGdEHhJsKC — Acyn (@Acyn) May 19, 2020
As the Associated Press reported last week, the Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledged that VA Secretary Robert Wilkie “had wrongly asserted publicly without evidence that the drug had been shown to benefit younger veterans,” after the study was released.
Somewhat lost in the reaction to Trump’s announcement that he was taking the drug on his own initiative, after a White House doctor agreed to his request to prescribe it, was the fact that the president brought up the subject of hydroxychloroquine without being asked about it, in the course of a rambling attack on whistleblowers.
After disparaging the intelligence community whistleblower who had revealed his own corrupt effort to coerce the president of Ukraine into smearing Joe Biden last year, Trump sought to tarnish Dr. Rick Bright, the ousted vaccine and emergency preparedness official who filed a whistleblower complaint this month.
Bright said that he was forced out of his position in the department of health and human services in part because, “contrary to misguided directives, I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the Administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit.”
The doctor also said that he had “resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public,” and instead “insisted that these drugs be provided only to hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 while under the supervision of a physician.” Bright said that he had only approved the use of the two drugs in clinical settings because they “have potentially serious risks associated with them, including increased mortality observed in some recent studies in patients with COVID-19.”
Bright reiterated those objections in an interview with “60 Minutes” which prompted a series of outraged tweets from Trump after it aired on Sunday night.
“I believe my last-ditch effort to protect Americans from that drug was the final straw that they used.” Government scientist Rick Bright says he believes he was retaliated against for raising concerns about hydroxychloroquine. https://t.co/pbZFkHyNN8 pic.twitter.com/KnHoFZgwvU — 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) May 17, 2020
Rather than engage with the substance of any of those objections to how his government responded to the global pandemic, Trump reacted as he does to any criticism, by claiming that the only possible explanation for it is that the person who leveled it has invented a false charge to undermine him politically.
This is why Trump so frequently connects criticism of his handling of the pandemic to objections to his conduct regarding Ukraine, which he also frames as purely partisan. During his visit to the CDC in March, for instance, when Trump claimed that there was no problem with testing and said, “anybody that needs a test can have a test,” he added, “and the tests are all perfect, like the letter was perfect, the transcription was perfect.” For Trump, who often refers to the partial transcript of his call with Ukraine’s president as “the letter,” the document that alarmed almost everyone else who read it revealed that he had done nothing wrong.
That’s also why, when asked on Monday about one of his tweets in response to Bright’s “60 Minutes” interview, in which he called for a review of the “whole Whistleblower racket,” Trump began his response with a three minute diatribe about the Ukraine whistleblower.
When Trump finally arrived at the subject of Bright, he referred to him not by name but as “this other guy, with the hydroxychloroquine.”
Clearly not grasping that Bright had explained in his formal complaint that he had signed a letter approving only limited use of the drug, under supervision, and had rejected a White House request to make hydroxychloroquine “available to the public outside of a hospital setting and without physician supervision,” Trump falsely claimed that the ousted official had signed off on the drug before saying later that “he doesn’t believe in it.”
“A lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy,” Trump said next. “You’d be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers — before you catch it. The frontline workers — many, many are taking it,” he claimed. “I happen to be taking it,” he added. “And then we have this crazy whistleblower, this fake whistleblower, get out and try and, you know, knock it,” he said a short time later.
“I was just waiting to see your eyes light up when I said this,” Trump told reporters moments after saying he was taking hydroxychloroquine – as ever, speaking the quiet part out loud. By saying this, Trump seemed to admit that part of his motivation was to toss out another shiny object for reporters to chase — a way of distracting attention from the United States passing the grim milestone of at least 90,000 Covid-19 deaths. As I reported earlier this month, tens of thousands of those Americans would still be alive had Trump’s government been even half as successful at managing the crisis as Angela Merkel’s in Germany.
Trump also explained that he was inspired to take the drug by “a very well-crafted letter by a man who’s a respected doctor up in Westchester, maybe a little beyond Westchester… a little up higher and, in New York.” That appeared to be a reference to Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a pro-Trump physician in Kiryas Joel, a town of 35,000 Hasidic Jews that is on across the Hudson River from Westchester. Zelenko’s claims for the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine, in combination with azithromycin and zinc sulfate, against Covid-19 were relentlessly promoted by Trump allies like Sean Hannity and Rudy Giuliani.
An analysis by Media Matters for America last month suggested that repeated claims on Fox News programs that hydroxychloroquine was a miracle cure for Covid-19 might have implanted that belief in Trump’s mind.
How Fox News convinced Trump that it found a miracle cure for coronavirushttps://t.co/4Iqvrvoejehttps://t.co/obKNc5kHQv — Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 6, 2020
The network has since responded to research that suggests the drug is both ineffective against the coronavirus and potentially dangerous when used without proper medical supervision by claiming, like Trump, that Democrats are using the issue to attack the president.
“I think we are making a little too big deal out of this, like we always do when it comes to hydroxychloroquine,” the Fox News pundit Jesse Watters said on Monday evening. “I don’t understand why it’s been politicized like it has.”
Better clinical data on the efficacy of the drug could be available later this year. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is directed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, announced last week that it had started a clinical trial, with 2,000 patients, “to evaluate whether the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, given together with the antibiotic azithromycin, can prevent hospitalization and death” from Covid-19.” The research is expected to conclude in October, although the study completion date is next March, more than a month after the presidential inauguration.
“Although there is anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin may benefit people with COVID-19,” Fauci said in a news release announcing the study, “we need solid data from a large randomized, controlled clinical trial to determine whether this experimental treatment is safe and can improve clinical outcomes.”
In the meantime, there is also anecdotal that promotion of the drug as a Covid-19 cure by the cable news network and the president who is its biggest fan has convinced some die-hard Trump supporters to embrace it. At a protest on Long Island last week, a Trump supporter calling for an immediate end to the state’s public health orders told a reporter that he did not need to maintain social distance from anyone because, “I got hydroxychloroquine; I’ll be fine, bro.”
Updated: Tuesday, May 19, 11:30 a.m. PDT
This article was updated to add new comments on Tuesday from the president of the United States, who repeated his bizarre claim that one scientific study that contradicted with his belief that hydroxychloroquine wards off Covid-19 was “a Trump enemy statement.”