2/17/17 link roundup

[snickfic]

As always, check the comments for links as well. (I often forget to mention that in the post, sorry.)

Activism / Resources (To Do)
* Report Shows ‘Untapped Power’ of Constituent Advocacy (Roll Call). I wasn't sure how to take this, as it seems to argue against phone calls in addition to arguing for in-person advocacy.

Analysis (To Read)
Here's How Much Betsy DeVos And Her Family Paid To Back GOP Senators Who Will Support Her (MSN)

* Voting Laws Roundup 2017 (Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law)

* The voting rights manifesto: a state-by-state plan to defend democracy (Vox)

* No Limits: How Obamacare made health insurance work for this sick boy — and thousands like him. (Vox)

* The Real Reason Why Andy Puzder Won’t Become Labor Secretary (The Nation). Really interesting how the Betsy DeVos hearings helped kill Puzder's nomination.

* The Resistance Prevented Puzder from Becoming Labor Secretary (The Nation). I feel like this article stopped about 2/3 of the way through, before talking about what the organized labor resistance was actually DOING. But still interesting.

* This Emoluments Thing Isn’t Going Away (Slate)

* E.P.A. Workers Try to Block Pruitt in Show of Defiance (NYT)

"Dreamer" has DACA status stripped after (lawyer alleges) ICE doctored his statement

[tanaqui]

(Following up on the post earlier in the week:)

Lawyers for DACA recipient Daniel Ramirez -- arrested last Friday during a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain his father and placed in deportation proceedings on Tuesday -- are claiming that ICE doctored a statement by Ramirez to justify stripping him of his DACA protections and beginning deportation.

According to Vox:

On Tuesday, lawyers filed a complaint in federal court over Ramirez’s detention, asking a judge to order the Department of Homeland Security to release Ramirez because he hasn’t been charged with anything and shouldn’t, as a DACA recipient, have been detained in the first place.

The federal magistrate judge in the case ordered the government to clarify why Ramirez was detained despite having DACA, and whether DHS had placed him in deportation proceedings.

On Thursday, the federal government filed a brief with the judge indicating that they had, in fact, placed Ramirez in deportation proceedings on Tuesday the 14th. When that happened, Ramirez was stripped of his DACA protections.

In a separate filing on Thursday, Ramirez's lawyers said ICE has launched a public campaign to smear Ramirez. The filing said:

immigration officers removed words from a written statement by Ramirez denying gang involvement to make it sound as if he was admitting gang affiliation.

You can see a copy of the (incredibly badly doctored!) contested statement and details of what Ramirez says he actually wrote in this news story. Nobody is quite sure at this stage whether this is an isolated case, a new ICE policy -- or an isolated case that will turn into an new ICE policy if ICE succeeds.

As well as the actions suggested in our earlier post, such as supporting MALDEF and calling your representatives, the latest Re:Act newsletter offers some more ideas for action:

Support the National Immigration Law Center. The NILC has a mission to defend and advance the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their family members.

View the current causes of Border Angels, an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that advocates for issues related to the US-Mexican border.

Sign up for briefings with the National Immigration Forum.

The Re:Act newsletter has links to other cases where ICE seems to be pushing at the boundaries of policy under the Obama Administration.

Reporting Form for Recess Actions

[executrix]

To report on your Town Hall or other recess action to defend ACA, here's the form for adding your action to the Indivisible/OFA database:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfGn6_ajzcHePI3Au0Nw9mw8PTtbM4h4JxWIEOHHHvw1knyLQ/viewform?c=0&w=1