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Top Stories 1.30.14
Category: The News From Around The World
Deporting Justin Bieber
Miami police arrested Justin Bieber on January 24, 2014 for drunk driving, resisting arrest, and not having a valid driver’s license. Meanwhile 100,000 Americans have signed a petition asking President Obama to deport the Canadian citizen. For more on this we are joined by Michael Kaufman who’s an attorney with the ACLU, and he talks to us from Los Angeles.
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David Feldman: Michael, if you live long enough, eventually you’ll get to see Florida police actually do something right. Is Justin Bieber an American citizen?
Michael Kaufman: Justin Bieber was born in Canada. He’s a Canadian citizen and he’s here in the United States on a temporary visa.
Justin Bieber is not an American citizen.
David: Michael, in 2011 the Obama administration deported 33,927 immigrants convicted of driving under the influence. Now Justin Bieber is not a citizen. What normally happens to a non-citizen after he’s been arrested for drunk driving, and in Bieber’s case, resisting arrest and not having a valid driver’s license?
Michael: For somebody picked up on driving without a license, if you’re in the country unlawfully, when you’re booked into custody at a local police station, your fingerprints are run against the ICE database, and they may automatically request that the police department hold you so you can be transferred to ICE and put into deportation proceedings. This is part of a new program that’s been implemented under President Obama known as ‘Secure Communities’. And that’s had extraordinary draconian consequences.
It means anyone picked up for even minor violations, some of them as minor as driving without a license or even driving with a broken taillight, if they’re picked up and booked into custody, they potentially risk being deported from their home here in the United States and from their families.
Now that did not happen in Justin Bieber’s case. I’m not sure why. It may be because ICE doesn’t believe he is currently deportable based on the charges that were brought against him. But if he were, like those thousands of people that you mentioned, he would be put into ICE custody. He may be put in detention.
More than 100,000 Americans have signed a petition asking President Obama to deport Bieber.
We have a sprawling network of immigration jails and prisons across the United States that hold, on any given day, about 34,000 people while their cases are being processed through the immigration courts and federal courts. And you can potentially remain in detention for months and years while your case winds through that complicated process.
David: Justin Bieber’s in this country legally.
Michael: That’s correct.
David: And when the Obama administration deports 33,927 immigrants in 2011 for driving under the influence, is it safe to assume most of them are in the country illegally?
Michael: As a general matter, driving under the influence is not a deportable offense. So if you are here lawfully, you can only be deported if you’re convicted of certain enumerated offenses. So DUI generally does not qualify as one of those, so it may be the case in those statistics that you reported that those were individuals that were in the country without legal status at that time.
However, there are certain circumstance, if you’re convicted of certain forms of aggravated driving under the influence, where that may qualify as what’s known as a crime of moral turpitude, which in certain circumstances can constitute a deportable offense.
Also there are many other minor offenses that Justin Bieber here could be charged with that would undoubtedly risk his deportation. So virtually any type of controlled substance violation.
David: And I did notice that they arrested the black rapper at his home for possession of cocaine, but they didn’t arrest Justin Bieber even though the black rapper was in his house at the time with the cocaine.
Michael: That’s right. That’s right. And that kind of charge, if he was charged with possession of cocaine, that would almost certainly render him deportable, and it would also subject him to what’s known as mandatory detention.
The government takes the position that if you’re convicted of any type of controlled substance violation, even something as simple as possession, and it’s your first time offense, they’re going to hold you in detention for the entire period of time it takes to process your case through the immigration courts. And that can be years in some cases. Simply because of that one violation that you have. They won’t allow you to ask for bond and they won’t allow you to be released under any circumstances.
President Obama has deported more immigrants than any other US president.
David: I guess the elephant in the room is he’s an English-speaking white Canadian.
Michael: Absolutely. I mean, I think this is an important moment for us to reflect on what would happen to the thousands of other people who get picked up on minor charges, turned over to the police, and referred to the immigration system every single day. People who have been accused of far lesser crimes or maybe none at all, those people, because they do not have a raving fan base, access to high-priced attorneys, they routinely are processed through the immigration system, don’t know how to fight for their rights, and may end up getting deported and torn away from their families.
Justin Bieber of course is going to have excellent attorneys. They’ll know how to fight in the criminal process for charges that will not result in his deportation. Not everyone is so lucky. In fact, the vast majority of people don’t have access to attorneys to help them through that process, and get deported simply because they’re not like Justin Bieber. They don’t have access to attorneys. They don’t have money to afford one. And they see deportation as a result.
David: According to the ACLU, 84% of people held in America’s immigration detention system don’t have lawyers. Michael Kaufman is an attorney with the ACLU. Thank you for joining us, and thank you for your work.
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Rep. Grimm One of Washington’s Most Corrupt Congressmen
Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington filed yet another ethics complaint against Congressman Michael Grimm calling him “one of the most corrupt members of Congress.”
We talk with Melanie Sloan, the executive director of CREW. Originally broadcast on the David Feldman Show. Subscribe to our program as a free podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.
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Top Stories 1.29.14
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Pete Aguilar is A “Phony Democrat” Says Howie Klein
- Republican Congressman Gary Miller is easy pickings
- Represents San Bernadino
- Is a “lunatic” says our guest Down With Tyranny’s Howie Klein
- DCCC hopes to challenge Miller by running “a phony Democrat” says Howie Klein
- Elois Reyes should get the Democratic Party’s nomination say Klein.
Howie Klein is the founder and Treasurer of the Blue America PAC, which raises money for progressive candidates throughout America. He also writes the Down With Tyranny blog.
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David: Howie Klein, the mid-terms are this year. You write that the single most vulnerable, Republican Congressional seat in America is California 31, located right here in San Bernardino, California. Republican Congressman Gary Miller holds that seat.
Congressman Steve Israel runs the DCCC. Howie Klein says Israel is way too conservative and has no idea how to help the Democratic Party win back the House.
Howie: Gary Miller is a very, very wealthy realtor from Arkansas, and he came to California to take part in Civil War reenactments. He plays a Confederate general in Civil War reenactments. He’s become very, very rich. He’s a really corrupt guy. He’s been a Congressman for a long time, although not in that district. He got redistricted out of his own district and thrown into this district. It’s a minority-majority district. So most of the people in the district are either Latinos, Asians, or African Americans. So you would think that a Democrat would win there.
David: You write on your Down With Tyranny blog that he’s a lunatic. Is he a lunatic because he reenacts Civil War battles as a Confederate soldier? Why is he a lunatic?
Howie: He’s in one of the most heavily Latino districts in America and is vehemently anti-immigration reform. He’s against Social Security. He wants to repeal Medicare. This guy is from another generation, from another decade, from another century. He’s very, very, very not California. I mean, I don’t even know that he belongs in a backwood district in Arkansas.
Congressman Gary Miller is a “lunatic” according to our guest Howie Klein
David: The DCCC, the more centrist Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, run by your good friend Congressman Steve Israel, is once again running Pete, is it Aguilar? How do you pronounce it?
Howie: Don’t worry. He wouldn’t be able to pronounce it anyway. He doesn’t speak a word of Spanish.
David: Your Blue America PAC is running Eloise Reyes in the upcoming primary. Who is Eloise Reyes?
Howie: She’s from Colton, California. She’s a community activist and the first woman Latina to start her own law firm in the inland empire. She comes from a large family. She and her brothers and sisters were literally picking onions with her family to go through school. And she put herself through law school as well and then started a firm in Colton. And now she’s running for Congress. She is a Progressive. That is in great contrast to Pete Aguilar. He would call himself a Moderate. I would say he’s a Conservative.
David: The DCCC in the primary will be running Pete Aguilar. I read the Cook Political Report, Howie. It’s the most trusted name in government. Pete Aguilar also, according to the Cook Political Report, he pulled himself up by his bootstraps. He’s Hispanic. He worked in the City of Redlands cafeteria and Redlands youngest elected councilman ever. So he obviously comes from poverty, according to the Cook Political Report, the most trusted name in government. He has a deep connection to working families. Sounds to me he’s a Democrat who can win. What’s your problem with Pete Aguilar?
The DCCC hopes to run Pete Aguilar even though Aguilar is a phony Democrat according to Howie Klein.
Howie: So the Cook Report is really only good for one thing, and that’s for telling you what’s going to happen in an election that took place the day before. They really got the story wrong about Aguilar. I don’t even know where to start. You ask so many questions, and you are wrong, they are wrong about every one of them.
David: Okay. First of all, he’s the youngest councilman ever elected in the city of Redlands.
Howie: Well, let’s start with the fact that he wasn’t elected. He was appointed. The City Council of Redlands, which is all Republicans, needed a fake Democrat who would go along with all their crazy ideas, so that they could claim to be bipartisan. So they picked a bank lobbyist, Pete Aguilar. As a bank lobbyist, was giving money to Republicans and wound up helping to drive that bank, the Arrowhead Bank, into bankruptcy. So he was appointed to the City Council. And he also says that he is the mayor. Well, he is the mayor, but he was appointed as well. He is the frontman for these Republican real estate interests, who control the city council.
David: He must come from poverty.
Howie: His father is a somewhat wealthy, gas industry executive. So he does not come from poverty. And then you had also said something about him being Hispanic. Meanwhile, the DCCC is looking desperately to find a tutor to teach him Spanish, since he can’t speak Spanish and has been challenged to debate in Spanish and can’t do that.
David: DCCC ran him two years ago, correct?
Howie: That’s right, and he lost because he can’t relate to the people there.
Howie Klein’s Blue Americas PAC wants Eloise Reyes to get the Democratic Party’s nomination instead of Aguilar.
David: You know, you’re being a little rough on the guy. According to the Cook Political Report, the reason he lost two years ago was he was mourning the death of his father.
Howie: Yes, he did tell that to the Cook Report, and it was confirmed to them by Steve Israel, the head of the DCCC. But guess what? There’s a guy named Herman Aguilar, who happens to be Pete Aguilar’s father, and is campaigning for him right now. He isn’t dead. He was never dead. You know what? Maybe he was dead. But if he was dead, he came back to life, because he’s alive now, and he’s doing fine.
David: So the Cook Report did correct that, right?
Howie: They did not correct it. Of course they didn’t correct it. Go to the Cook Report, and they report that he lost his election because his father died and he was too distraught to campaign. But his father is alive and campaigning for him right now.
David: Howie Klein, the most trusted name in government and politics. He is the founder and Treasurer of the Blue America PAC, and his Down With Tyranny blog is a must-read. Thank you, Howie Klein.
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What do you think? I would like to hear your comments. Please offer them up down below:
2 Docs on 2 Inspirational Women
- Michael Snyder reviews two docs.
- “Mercedes Sosa.”
- “Maiden Trip.”
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David: Michael Snyder is our resident film critic. Every now and then he stops by with documentaries that all of us should be catching. He has two for us today — “Maiden Trip” and “Mercedes Sosa.” So tell me about “Mercedes Sosa, was it so-so?
Michael: It was so good. She is, in fact, the most influential Argentine singer and songwriter. Unfortunately, she passed away back in 2009, but over a 50 year plus career she had an amazing impact. The subtitle of this documentary is “The Voice of Latin America.” She was terribly influential. She was known as “La Negra,” popular throughout Latin America, won some Latin Grammys, also reached outside the continent and became a very important figure in a movement that was known as “Nueva Cancion,” I guess the “new song.”
Michael recommends this new doc on singer Mercedes Sosa.
These people were like very, very hip to folk-trad in Latin America, but they also had a real sense of populist importance supporting the disenfranchised. This woman was very, very outspoken against a lot of the dictatorships in Latin America, and she was known and beloved throughout the continent. She got in trouble because of her refusal to back down in a lot of situations like that. She sung her songs, stated what she wanted to state, and was, again, incredibly beloved.
This movie, in addition to featuring her in her own voice on camera throughout parts of her life, also has interviews with the likes of David Byrne and Milton Nascimento and other performers that may not be as well-known in the U.S.
David: David Byrne from the Talking Heads?
Michael: David Byrne from the Talking Heads, who was a great exponent of Latin American music and has made a couple albums, one of which is absolutely off-the-hook great. One of his solo records is devoted purely and utterly to a series of different styles of Latin music that he interprets beautifully, I may add. This movie is worth seeing, and if you’ve never heard of Mercedes Sosa, by all means get a chance to watch this movie and learn about someone who was brave and courageous and incredibly talented and was a wonderful singer and songwriter.
David: “Maiden Trip”?
Michael: “Maiden Trip” is another movie about a very brave woman, but a very young woman. At 14 years old, a young Dutch girl named Laura Dekker decides, after learning how to sail with her father since childhood, she decides that she’s going to take a solo trip in a boat around the world. A sailboat circumnavigating the globe and the only person on board is 14-year-old Laura Dekker. It’s an amazing tale of determination and bravery and pluck. This girl also had to fight the authorities with her parents in order to get the approval to do this. There are scenes set in the court. You have a little backstory here and there told through some footage from her younger years, and she had cameras on the boat by herself and she did all these video selfies during her trip.
Michael also raved about Maiden Trip.
David: It was controversial?
Michael: She’s controversial insofar as the government did not want her to make this trip. They thought it was child endangerment on some level.
David: Sending a 14-year-old girl in a boat around the world by herself?
Michael: They didn’t send her. She wanted to go.
David: I won’t even let my daughter go to the 7-Eleven after 7:00 in the evening.
Michael: Well, this movie “Maiden Trip” is basically a collaboration between Jillian Schlesinger, the director, and little Laura Dekker, who does all this video on the boat. One thing that should be clear here that Laura Dekker, in addition to doing this, comes from a broken home. Her mother and father divorced, and at one point her mother and sibling meet up with her in one country. She would stop in various ports of call. She was in the Galapagos Islands. She went to a lot of really different, cool places, French Polynesia, South Africa, and of course Australia.
David: She’s 14 though!
Michael: Well, I think she maybe even turned 15 at one point. This was a couple years ago. She’s no longer 14. But the idea of a 14-year-old girl traveling the world, traveling the globe in a sailboat by herself is a little daunting, but her assurance on a boat, her comfort zone, her capabilities as a sailor are way beyond her years.
David: Well, I’m appalled that you would recommend this movie.
Michael: No, you’re always looking for a way to kind of undermine something inspiring. I think it’s something internal. I think it’s just something you really don’t like the idea of people doing something when it’s easier for you to just sit and criticize in your sound booth.
David: A 14-year-old girl, that’s child endangerment.
Michael: No, not when you’re this adept. It’s inspiring. She’s confident. She’s talented. She did it.
David: She can’t wait till she’s 18?
Michael: Well, you know what? If you were her dad, I think she might have asked for emancipation at 14. What I don’t like, there’s something called “bull-crit” when people start talking about something after they haven’t seen it.
David: Well, a 14-year-old girl should not be sent around the world on a boat by herself, unless it’s a Disney cruise.
Michael: You know, you’re just making a great mistake because this is not what happens here.
David: Well, if any kids are listening, it’s my responsibility. If you’re a child, do not go sailing around the world in a boat by yourself.
Michael: It’s very, very exciting and very inspiring. It’s called “Maiden Trip,” and it’s available right now.
David: Thank you, Michael Snyder.
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