The law can be used for good or bad. And when it’s used for good, I have no greater feeling as a lawyer. Today was one of those good days. The District of Columbia joined 15 states to sue the federal government, Donald Trump as President, Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Trump’s decision on ending DACA. Litigation is my life and one that I’m proud of. And I am so proud today that lawyers in New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia took a stand for DACA in fighting for the lives of those young undocumented “Americans” who came here as children before the age of 16 and know no other country except the U.S. The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York alleges that Donald Trump’s decision to end DACA is motivated by ill will; will cause a loss of revenue for these states, lower employment, split up families and … [Read more...] about Lawyers Sue Heartless Trump on DACA
Trump
DACA and The Devil Living Inside the White House
Donald Trump proclaimed Sunday, September 3, 2017 as National Day of Prayer. And on that same day, he announced that he intends to end DACA with a 6-month delay period of time. DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It is the executive order that President Obama signed in June, 2012 which protected and allowed undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children to be granted work permits. It does not cover all young undocumented immigrants brought here, as it has a cut-off age and other requirements. 800,000 undocumented young persons are believed to be covered under DACA. Trump had earlier stated that he had a “great heart” in terms of DACA and those young persons covered under it. On Sunday’s National Day of Prayer, he showed where his real great heart lay. He announced ending DACA on the same day he asked people to pray. Over 91% of individuals under DACA are employed or attending school. They are mostly law-abiding individuals. They are our … [Read more...] about DACA and The Devil Living Inside the White House
Trump Travel Ban 2.0 is Dead on Arrival
On Monday, March 6, Donald Trump signed another executive travel ban. Instead of pursuing a likely dead end in lengthy litigation on the first ban which affected seven primarily Muslim countries--- and also banned those person holding visas and green cards, the Trump Administration decided to start anew. The second round ban exempted Iraq—still including the same six other Muslim countries. It further made provisions for those with Green cards and visas to be exempted. However, not much else changed in the real sense of showing a need for a travel ban to Muslim countries. And before the ban took effect, it was shut down by federal courts in Hawaii and Maryland. Nothing had really changed from the first ban. The first one was shut down in federal court in the State of Washington placing a hold on the ban. One day after announcing the new travel ban, Hawaii wasted no time at all in filing a lawsuit in federal court in Hawaii—much like the earlier one filed in the State of … [Read more...] about Trump Travel Ban 2.0 is Dead on Arrival
Appeals Court Trumps Mr. Trump on his Travel Ban
On Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Mr. Trump and the Government’s request to lift the travel ban stay, pending an appeal. In upholding the lower court’s decision, which ended the ban, the federal appeals court gave an elementary school civics lesson to the President and the Department of Justice lawyers arguing the case. The Department of Justice lawyers argued that the judiciary branch of the government had no authority to end the executive order. It argued as if the President has full authority over the courts, our judicial branch of government. The appellate court made it clear that there was no precedent for that part of the Government’s argument--ever, even if based on national security. The appeals court gave Mr. Trump a nice civics lesson. There are three branches of government under the U. S. Constitution—executive, judiciary and legislative. No one branch of government is superior to the other. For Mr. Trump to misunderstand the checks … [Read more...] about Appeals Court Trumps Mr. Trump on his Travel Ban
I Marched the DC Women’s March in Honor of My Mother
I was one of the more than 500,000 persons attending the DC Women’s March. For me, the March was personal in honor of my mother, Naomi. My mom was born in Mt. Gilead, NC, a small town of less than 1500 persons in rural North Carolina. Growing up in the Jim Crow South, she longed for a better life as discrimination was rampant and the way of life there. Like so many Blacks living in the south during that era, she, as a young woman, migrated north, first to Buffalo, NY and later to Baltimore. During her lifetime, she experienced various forms of discrimination such as not being able to shop in stores due to the color of her skin, sit and eat in at many restaurants, live in many areas of Baltimore City, purchase homes in certain areas due to restrictive covenants preventing Blacks from living and buying homes in some areas. And this was after she moved to Baltimore. My mother fought for many health care reforms as an employee and later as a retiree of the … [Read more...] about I Marched the DC Women’s March in Honor of My Mother
Remembering Barack Obama’s First Inauguration
On this Inauguration day, I choose to reflect on President Obama’s first inauguration on January 20, 2009 and what it meant to me. It was a blistering cold day with temperature in the 20’s. I attended with a college friend and sorority sister. We were so excited that we could hardly sleep the night before. My friend wanted to get there very early to make sure we had a good spot. We were not fortunate to have tickets with seats. We settled on arriving at 7:25 am.—a little later than the original 5:00 am time my friend suggested. The actual swearing in was not until 12 noon. The time passed by effortlessly. We talked to those in the crowd as though they were old friends. As I looked around the crowd, I saw faces of all races, ethnicities and ages. I recall an older black woman who came from Florida. Her son brought her a ticket and paid for hotel room in November. When she had to have back surgery, her son assumed she would not be able to attend. She was determined to make … [Read more...] about Remembering Barack Obama’s First Inauguration