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@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto But more seriously: let's talk about what happened at the border in Tijuana (which your video background shows). First: the caravan folks TRIED to apply for asylum at the checkpoint. They didn't come here PLANNING on storming the border: nytimes.com/2018/11/15/wor…
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@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto (And even if they HAD crossed unlawfully, they still would have the legal right, by treaty and US law, to seek asylum. Thread: )
But they DIDN'T.
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But they DIDN'T.
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@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto They DIDN'T cross illegally. They applied at the checkpoint.
Where they were (illegally, manipulatively, SYSTEMATICALLY) stymied + physically harassed, to prevent them from seeking the legal rights US LAW gives them.
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Where they were (illegally, manipulatively, SYSTEMATICALLY) stymied + physically harassed, to prevent them from seeking the legal rights US LAW gives them.
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@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto And the harassment continues, trying to force them not to pursue their legal rights: see this tweet and the one following it. 4/
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto And the harassment is continuing. They're literally being MURDERED as they wait in Tijuana: kpbs.org/news/2018/oct/… and google.com/url?sa=t&sourc…
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@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto So if you had a legal right to apply for asylum no matter how you cross, AND the BP wasn't following its own laws, AND you were being harassed and even murdered where you are, AND returning home meant you'd be tortured, wouldn't YOU make a dash for it at some point? 5/5
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Absolutely incorrect. I'm a lawyer, and that's simply incorrect. Seriously, please read this thread (already cited above): . It's U.S. law.
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto You're half right here. Poverty is not grounds for asylum. Sexual abuse, harassment for political/religious/ethnicity (including indigenous) etc. reasons is. ...
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto The asylum application process includes a "credible fear interview" by an immigration professional, followed by a formal hearing in front of an immigration law judge. ...
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Applicants have the burden of proving their entitlement to asylum. Many fail, and then are deported. Thing is, Trump's doing everything in his power to circumvent that process, incl. by not even letting people apply. That's illegal. They have the right to the process.
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Good question. There are a couple of reasons. One is that the law does not require them to seek asylum in the first country they reach unless that country and the US have what's called a "first safe country" agreement. Mexico and the US do not have one...
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto The other reason many Central American immigrants do not seek asylum in Mexico is that the gangs they are fleeing have a strong presence in Mexico. They are extremely likely to be found and killed if they remain there. Some of the caravan participants already have been.
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto I'm glad we agree they have the right to apply. The problem is that our government is denying them that right. Again, see this thread:
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Further responding to your tweet: NO ONE is claiming they can't be deported if they can't establish their right to asylum via the process that's currently being denied them.
And no, it's not an "invasion." See this:...
And this:
And no, it's not an "invasion." See this:...
And this:
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Then we're in agreement, bec. noncitizens DON'T vote in federal or state elections. Study after study shows it's rarer than sharkbites: amp.timeinc.net/time/4669899/i…
SF DID allow them to vote in a local school board election. No biggie. pressdemocrat.com/news/8870295-1…
SF DID allow them to vote in a local school board election. No biggie. pressdemocrat.com/news/8870295-1…
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Even Trump's own voting fraud commission found... nothing. Undocumented immigrants simply don't vote in our elections, except for a handful of cases (often involving mistake, + not affecting election results):
apnews.com/f5f6a73b2af546…
apnews.com/f5f6a73b2af546…
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Not actually how it works. Only certain crimes render someone subject to deportation (crimes of moral turpitude, drug offenses, etc). If you're convicted of such a crime, even in NY, ICE can do its thing. See reuters.com/article/us-usa… ...
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto So if you're an MS-13 gangbanger who's criminally convicted in NY? Buh-bye!
But NY IS working to protect some people with jobs, families, etc. whom ICE wants to deport for extremely minor crimes long ago: nypost.com/2018/07/23/cuo…
Fine by me.
But NY IS working to protect some people with jobs, families, etc. whom ICE wants to deport for extremely minor crimes long ago: nypost.com/2018/07/23/cuo…
Fine by me.
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto I'm glad to look at any newly-discovered evidence of widespread undocumented immigrant voter fraud you care to offer. Meanwhile, though, I trust the multiple neutral, responsible organizations that have concluded it doesn't exist.
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Sure, if an individual is an accessory before or after the fact to a criminal, then they should be convicted of that crime as well, and deported. The people that did nothing wrong, however, shouldn't be. ...
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Interestingly, if you sincerely wish undocumented immigrants would cooperate with police to turn in gangbangers, then you should support sanctuary cities. That's exactly what sanctuary policy is about: letting victims + witnesses talk with police without fearing deportation. ...
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Right now, if you have knowledge of a crime but are undocumented, and live in a non-sanctuary city, you have good reason NOT to approach the police with what you know, because they can hand you over to ICE even though you're doing the right thing. ...
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto But in a sanctuary city, an undocumented immigrant can freely cooperate with police without fear of being deported. That makes ALL of us safer.
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto That's how it should be, but in reality, crime victims and witnesses ARE getting deported, leaving criminals free to commit more crimes. chicago.suntimes.com/news/chicago-s… and chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/us…
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Another good Q. Responses:
1) It's not $5B. Per Fox News, The Admin already has asked for another $18B: foxnews.com/politics/white…
1) It's not $5B. Per Fox News, The Admin already has asked for another $18B: foxnews.com/politics/white…
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto The Cato Institute, founded + funded by the hyper-conservative Koch family,
estimates the real number is more like $60B: cato.org/blog/cost-bord…
estimates the real number is more like $60B: cato.org/blog/cost-bord…
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto 2) The wall WON'T be effective -- certainly not as effective as spending the same $ on other border protection measures (which Dems ARE willing to do). Cato again: cato.org/blog/border-wa…
3) It's not just the $. The wall ITSELF will be harmful. Thread:
3) It's not just the $. The wall ITSELF will be harmful. Thread:
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto OK, but you don't want to WASTE that money, right? Again, here's the Cato Institute, a conservative think tank funded by the Koch family, calling the wall "impractical, expensive, and ineffective": cato.org/blog/border-wa…
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto And, again, there are other downsides to the wall outlined above, besides the $. You want to use eminent domain to seize American property? Strand Americans in a no man's land betw the wall and the actual border in places where constructing at the border itself isn't possible?
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Ft. Worth Star-Telegram: "Most Texans Along the Border Don't Want Trump's Wall." star-telegram.com/news/state/tex…
"Texas ranchers, landowners join against Trump's border wall": star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-co…
"Texas ranchers, landowners join against Trump's border wall": star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-co…
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto LA Times: "Trump promised a border wall. Now these Texans worry the government will take their land": latimes.com/nation/la-na-t…
The Texas Tribune: "The Taking: How the federal government abused its power to seize property for a border fence."
The Texas Tribune: "The Taking: How the federal government abused its power to seize property for a border fence."
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto Austin American-Statesman: "Living in no man’s land: Border wall has residents caught between the U.S. border and fence that cuts off a chunk of Texas. Will a bigger barrier make it worse?" projects.statesman.com/news/texas-bor…
We need to listen to these border-zone US citizens' voices.
We need to listen to these border-zone US citizens' voices.
@megakardsman @RepJoeKennedy @AlPunto if nothing else, I hope this discussion helps you see that opposition to the wall is not just knee-jerk liberal, open-border bullshit. Conservative think tanks, Texas ranchers, prosecutors, and many other wise non-hippies have looked at it and called BS. It's not a solution.
