Arch-white nationalist @StephenM announced yesterday a new legal organization to mount challenges to anything the Biden administration does that he deems illegal.
"America First Legal," is an all white male gang of ideologues includes former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, one of Trump's acting Attorneys General Matthew Whitaker, former OMB director Russ Vought, former DOJ counselor Gene Hamilton, and...
Conservative Partnership Institute executives Ed Corrigan and Wesley Denton. (CPI was founded by Jim DeMint, former S. Carolina congressman, who left the Senate to head the Heritage Foundation, only to be ousted in 2017 for-get this-being too cozy with the Trump administration)
AFL is an anti-ACLU. It plans to use the courts to obstruct anything it deems pro-immigration, anti-gun, pro-abortion, etc.
Miller's been a regular on the conservative circuit since Jan, loudly waging a shadow war against the Biden administration.
But AFL is something bigger.
Legal nonprofits like AFL aren't a new thing, of course, be they conservative or liberal. But it would be a mistake to lump AFL as just another legal nonprofit. Let me explain.
Miller framed AFL's mission as "return fire" for the way 'progressives' utilized the courts to stop Trump admin policies. It became a cycle: Trump signed an order, it was swiftly enjoined, reworded, enjoined again, rinse, repeat, until finally it passed constitutional muster.
But with Miller is now heading a group of ideologues who a) have a unified mission, b) have an axe to grind, c) have the still-extant govt connections to make things happen, and d) have significant fundraising ability, I think it would be a serious mistake to underestimate AFL.
I'm not sure if I can think of any other legal nonprofit better poised to be the anti-ACLU.
Justice Breyer might disagree that the Supreme Court is conservative, but there are three main risks with a group like AFL:
First, some of our biggest wins for inclusivity, compassion, common sense and acceptance are at risk. Think Roe v. Wade, Obergefell v. Hodges.
Second, the risk of bad decisions being expanded. Think D.C. v. Heller.
Third, the risk of new bad decisions on unruled issues. Think birthright citizenship for children of the undocumented.
It's not just SCOTUS. AFL will tee up cases for a judiciary where Trump appointed 223 other judges in only 4 years.
Many appointments were in jurisdictions where the balance flipped from Dem to GOP-appointed majorities (notably, the 2nd, 3rd, and 11th Circuit Cts of Appeal).
These courts are frequently courts of last resort, since most cases don't make it up to SCOTUS. reuters.com/article/us-usa…
In short: Miller plowed and seeded the field while he was in the White House, and now he's going to grow it. Again - I'm not sure I can think of a more fertile setup for far-right judicial activism.
Miller has a lot of enablers to get him where he is now (including the #TantonNetwork, from whom I'm sure we'll see a lot of framing, policy, and amicus briefs).
White nationalism is metastasizing. Ignoring it will cost dearly in the midterms and in 2024.
Lies like the majority of asylum cases are fraudulent, that MPP was for protection, that there will otherwise be an 'invasion,' that no one shows up for their hearings, that they're diseased, unskilled, and will steal jobs and drain our economy.
Ignoring facts that it's due to policies pushed by those groups that the border is so horribly mismanaged, that asylum seekers still contribute despite the law disempowering them, that COVID rates are negligible, that they create jobs or fulfill a needed sector.
Yes, I know the odds. But I'm not letting up the pressure and NEITHER SHOULD YOU.
We can make this happen.
Here's a summary of a detailed letter drafted by some of us working on exposing the white nationalism in our immigration policy - the so-called #TantonNetwork.
See my pinned tweet for more. Yes, it's that bad.
Yes, this will make it to the Hill.
In Sept 2019, alone with @Alyssa_Milano and @morethanmySLE we met with 17+ members of Congress, to let them know about the Tanton Network and explain how they had the immigration debate on lockdown.
Something about this win made me tear up today. Our client could barely breathe when he tried to relate the campaign of terror MS-13 unleashed on him and his family. Today, he also lost breath.
He just kept repeating "no tengo palabras, no tengo palabras..." (I don't have words)
We got this case right before the interview. A loss here would mean years stuck in immigration court and likely a deportation order.
What made this case unusual was he filed his case after being here for almost 20 years. The law says you have 1 year to file.
Exceptional circumstances can excuse this, but they have to be exceptional. We had <10 days to rescue this case.
When he started testifying, there trauma was undeniable.
So we live-researched trauma as an exceptional circumstance.
Just finished reading the 66-page summary of the Biden #ImmigrationBill. It's not the law yet! But here are some highlights:
1. New "Lawful Prospective Immigrant" status, or LPI. Good for 6 years, and can file for green card after 5.
Eligibility: In US since 1/1/2021.
If you were here for 3y and departed/deported during Trump presidency, you can qualify for LPI status.
Receipt notice of LPI status serves as a work permit.
LPI status cannot be used by ICE. Many crimes disqualify you.
Those who had certain statuses on 1/1/21 are ineligible.
2. Dreamers can skip LPI and go straight to green card. A Dreamer is anyone who entered the US under age 18 and before 1/1/2021. Dramatically more than DACA!
Current DACA recipients will enjoy an easier, streamlined green card process.
Four years ago, I filed a request to unseal the papers of white supremacist John Tanton. Sealed away at @UMich until 2035, the #TantonPapers will shed light on the anti-immigrant organizations he built that are largely responsible for the horrors of the last 4 years.
The University has fought me tooth and nail for 4 years to keep these papers secret. Supposedly honoring a mysterious "gift agreement" with Tanton - which they've NEVER produced a copy of.