#U.S Immigration

[fiercynn]

okay, if you have ever made or reblogged a “hold your nose and vote for biden” post, this is for you.

here’s the fucking thing about these kinds of posts. i've been seeing them since i first returned to tumblr in, I think, late 2022? they've certainly increased in frequency since october 7, but they were there before too, ready to counter any kind of opposition to biden that has cropped up. many of them are not just trying to educate people about what positive things biden has done, which, like, at least I can understand the motivation behind those ones? but so many of them are directly in response to people criticizing biden, and their only real point is “sure you’re upset at this thing biden did, but have you considered the election?” starting YEARS before the next presidential election, mind you.

and october 7 only made that clearer. i don’t think it had been a week before i saw these posts cropping up. can you not see how fucking ghoulish that is? to look at the rightful pain and anger of those whose relatives and communities are being slaughtered with active american support, to respond to one of the few pieces of agency most americans have in influencing what their governments do – their vote – by saying “yes but trump would be worse.” as if the primary people you’re lecturing – palestinians, muslims, arabs, black people, indigenous people, disabled people, other marginalized people – don’t remember exactly how bad it was under trump!

and even if you think not voting is an empty gesture – something i, who studied political science at a mainstream american lib college, who has worked as a field organizer on a previous democratic presidential campaign and for several policy campaigns, who currently works in public policy in america, used to believe, but have absolutely changed my mind on – what is in no way an empty gesture is saying publicly that you will not vote for someone. the arguments people usually have about why simply not voting is bad are that you can’t tell why someone is not voting, so it is as likely to be apathy or disenfranchisement as it is a political statement. but saying publicly that you will not vote for someone, and why you will not vote for them, absolutely is a political statement, and potentially a powerful one! but you choose to negate and/or ignore that by trotting out the “lesser of two evils” bullshit.

and then there’s the whole “yes but people will DIE under trump”. PEOPLE ARE DYING NOW. even if you’re fucking racist and have decided that palestinian lives don’t count, have you forgotten biden’s ongoing covid minimalism and dismantling of the CDC’s covid research and prevention infrastructure? have you forgotten his increase in spending for law enforcement scant years after the murder of george floyd and his administration's surveillance of protesters, including cop city protesters? have you forgotten his recent ramp-up in deportations of undocumented immigrants, including the active continuation of many trump-era policies?

maybe you have forgotten all those things and do purport to care about palestinians, but you just think that biden is doing his best to influence netanyahu and is getting nowhere! but then you must have forgotten all of the things that biden and his administration themselves have done to further this fucking genocide, including:

continuing to send arms to israel

putting together a military task force within days of yemen’s red sea blockade and attacking yemeni ships

bombing yemen

bombing syria

bombing iraq

vetoing three ceasefire resolutions at the united nations

testifying to defend israel and its genocide and occupation at the international court of justice

refusing to rescue palestinian-americans stuck in gaza

halting funding to the united nations relief and works agency for palestinian refugees (UNRWA) based on israeli claims that 12 of UNRWA’s over 30,000 staff were hamas agents, even though u.s. intelligence has not been able to independently verify this

lying that he’s personally seen photos of babies beheaded by hamas when he hadn’t because they didn’t exist (and even when his own staff cautioned him that reports of beheaded babies may not be credible)

questioning the number of palestinian deaths reported by the gaza ministry of health (when even israel has not questioned them, since they are in fact proud of those numbers)

perpetuating lies about hamas having committed the attack on al-aqsa hospital

questioning united nations reports of adults and children raped by israeli soldiers while claiming to have proof (that no one else has seen) of hamas doing the same

honestly so many more things that i can’t remember them all but others feel free to add

or maybe you haven’t forgotten any of that, and think that you’re still justified in lecturing people about why they should vote for biden, because you genuinely believe trump would still be worse. if that is the case, you have still failed to see that by saying you will vote for biden no matter what, you are part of the problem of biden continuing to act like this. because biden is counting on fear of trump to win him this next election no matter what else he does. despite his appalling polling numbers, despite the knowledge that he is losing the palestinian-american vote, the arab-american vote, the muslim-american vote, the black american vote, the youth vote – despite all of that, he is secure in the idea that he will still win because he is better than trump. can you not see how that allows him to act without impunity? how it becomes increasingly impossible for his base to influence what he’s doing if he thinks that they will be with him no matter what? this is how you make yourself complicit to biden’s actions, by not affording anyone even the slightest power to hold him accountable for anything.

and in most cases, the “hold your nose and vote for biden” thing is the response of people who aren’t even being instructed by others not to vote for biden. it is their response to people saying they themselves are choosing not to vote for biden. fucking ghoulish.

[alwaysbewoke]

[gallusneve]

I paid for one of my employee's U.S. citizenship test awhile back and he just got scheduled for next month and wants me to be there for when he swears in ❤️I'm incredibly overjoyed

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says people seeking asylum at the northern border with Canada will have less time to consult a lawyer before making their case. The department says it reviewed the Safe Third Country Agreement with Canada and concluded that it could streamline the process. The agreement states that Canada and the U.S. are considered safe countries for asylum seekers and it requires people to make a refugee claim in the country where they first arrive. [...] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden updated the Safe Third Country agreement last year, closing a loophole that allowed people who skirted official border crossings to make a claim. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @vague-humanoid

[griseldagimpel]

Trump As the Default Choice

Going to start this by saying that a.) There are things the Democratic Party needs to do better on and b.) This post is specifically about Trump voters, not third party voters or voters who stayed home.

There is this framing that I kinda see, that's nagging at me, which is the idea that Trump was the default choice.

Harris has to win votes, didn't win enough voters over, should have been more this or less that.

But Trump, in this framing, doesn't have to do any of those things. He doesn't have to have good policy positions - or policy positions at all, in the case of health care - or reach out to voters or act professional or take questions. He just wins, by default, if Harris doesn't thread the needle well enough.

Tens of millions of voters voted for Trump. And I don't think "Well, Harris was only so-so on [insert issue here], so half of voters just had to do a fascism, don'tcha know?"

Like, I refuse to believe all these Trump supporters compared their policies side by side and decided Trump was better.

And I think what this framing elides is the deeper issues in this country -- that Trump campaigned on racism and ethic cleansing, and tens of millions of Americans said "Hell yeah."

[so-much-for-subtlety]

tomorrow officially starts my 15th year in the “United” States. I’m gonna make a cake. Not to celebrate- I was just gonna make one anyway🥕

[local-lover-boy]

Me: reads anything from U.S. history

Me: I fucking hate white people

[clubhoops]

LSU women’s basketball player Last-Tear Poa has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Louisiana’s Middle District Court after her P-1A Athlete visa application was denied. This legal action, as reported by On3, highlights the challenges international athletes face with NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) opportunities while on F-1 student visas.

Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Poa joined LSU in 2022 after a standout junior college career. Despite having over 200,000 social media followers and potential NIL opportunities, her F-1 visa limits her ability to earn income from these activities. The denial of her P-1A application cited a lack of “internationally recognized” events, adding to the complex restrictions on international student-athletes—who make up about 12% of Division I athletes—wishing to participate in NIL while in the U.S.

[sunshine-and-moonshine]

Soap: We need you to translate this document that’s in Spanish

Sweetie: I can’t read this

Soap: ???? You speak Spanish with your mom on the phone all the time

Sweetie: First of all, that’s my grandma. Second of all, I am HORRIBLE at speaking Spanish and have no idea how to read or write it.

Soap: Are you fucking serious?

[fiercynn]

oh my fucking god can people stop coopting the term "harm reduction". i know language can change but i refuse to let this term change into the literal opposite meaning just so people can justify their decision to vote for a genocidaire.

harm reduction is literally, meaningfully, about reducing existing risk of harm. a person who uses drugs is at risk of disease or illness because they only have access to dirty needles? provide them with a needle exchange program to make it safer for them. a teen who is sexually active is at risk of becoming pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted infection? provide them with sex ed and protective devices like condoms or dental dams to allow them to have safe sex.

and yes, there is a part of harm reduction that is aimed at not moralizing about the behavior that you're trying to reduce harm from. but if you're a progressive - as most of the people lecturing us about "harm reduction" purport to be - you should already understand that these behaviors are not ethically bad in and of themselves. it is not inherently unethical to use drugs or be sexually active as a teen, so the fact that harm reduction efforts could "encourage" that behavior is also not unethical! if you think that it is, then you're actually a conservative!

and, importantly, the people who benefit from harm reduction were only at risk of harming themselves in the first place. so helping someone make those activities safer for themselves is not only reducing the risk of harm to that person, but, in doing so, it is not increasing the risk of harm to anyone else either.

voting is giving your active support to a candidate, and thus to that candidate's platform. so please tell me how giving your vote to a president who is actively driving a genocide, perpetuating a pandemic, funding cop cities and a border wall, and driving up deportations - none of which he has pledged to stop if reelected - is reducing existing risk of harm? because harm reduction also isn't "choosing an option that you believe is better than the hypothetical even worse alternative". and voting for biden is, in fact, increasing the existing risk of the harm that he is currently enacting on other people, and encouraging his despicable behavior!

if coopting the term "harm reduction" is the only thing making you feel okay about your decision to vote for biden despite all the people who are dead, disabled, deported, or destitute because of him, then honestly, that seems like a you problem. STOP COOPTING THE TERM.

(and if you feel the urge to respond with something along the lines of "but biden's just doing his best! i'm just telling people to vote for him because i'm scared of trump!" then please at least read this post as well before you say anything to me about it)

[o-the-mts]

Just say it: Immigration is good. We should consider ourselves lucky to have had so much, and we should strive to have more. This psychopathic and—you can say it—white supremacist fixation on punishment and control of migration is not just a moral stain but a disastrous economic policy. If carried out to its full effect, it would represent one of the greatest acts of national self-immolation in our history. Say it over and over, a coordinated message across the country, a full alternative to what is a terrible but at this point default vision. Some voters will hate it, and centrist commentator types will lose their minds. That’s fine, because staying the course is a losing message—and, not to mention, just plain wrong.

The Democrats’ Shameful, Foolish Surrender on Immigration | The New Republic

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says people seeking asylum at the northern border with Canada will have less time to consult a lawyer before making their case. The department says it reviewed the Safe Third Country Agreement with Canada and concluded that it could streamline the process. The agreement states that Canada and the U.S. are considered safe countries for asylum seekers and it requires people to make a refugee claim in the country where they first arrive. [...] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden updated the Safe Third Country agreement last year, closing a loophole that allowed people who skirted official border crossings to make a claim. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @vague-humanoid

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

And as you know, the asylum courts are so backed up that folks come to the city who I talk to and their court date is for 2029. So that's when we kept telling Biden and the secretary, you know, the biggest issues for us are, can you get us a real path to expanded work authorization, and can you get more federal dollars and federal support? They heard us and fought to put those things into the bipartisan Senate package that was introduced that would have really solved this problem for us and for cities around the country. And that's why it was such a heartbreak to see a candidate for president in Donald Trump coming in and saying: 'I want this bill dead, not because it won't solve the problem but because I know it actually will solve the problem. And if it alleviates Americans' suffering and alleviates a humanitarian crisis, might hurt my chances at reelection'. I just never thought we would have seen that moment, but that's what happened. [...] I understand what the Texas governor is facing. I've reached out to him in efforts to work together. But I think - I was surprised. I expected to see Governor Abbott out making the case for this border bill as well, because it would have provided him the resources and the support to be able to reduce the flow, manage the claims, not be overwhelmed. And so I think if we're looking for a solution, those are out there. And if the governor of Texas and others would work with us on a coordinated strategy, if we could get the Congress to pass the work authorization and federal resources we need, this is an eminently solvable problem that America can figure out. We figured it out here in Denver, we just need the partners to help get into the work with us.

Mike Johnston, Democratic Mayor of Denver, Colorado, speaking in an interview on NPR's "Morning Edition." 16 February, 2024.

Link to the full story/transcript: As Denver struggles to absorb influx of migrants, other services are cut

[latestnews-now]

Donald Trump confirms plans to deploy the military for a mass deportation operation. This bold move includes ending key immigration programs and overcoming logistical challenges. Learn more about his immigration agenda and what it means for the U.S.

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