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Nonsensical: Withdrawing from WHO in the Middle of COVID-19
The World Health Organization (WHO), the leading global health agency, declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020, and within weeks the world had seen more than half a million people infected and nearly 30,000 dead. Infections in the U.S. continue to rise. Yet President Trump has formally notified the United Nations that the U.S. will withdraw from the WHO, bringing its U.S. funding to a halt. The U.S. is, by far, the largest contributor to the WHO’s budget. Trump had initially demanded some changes after accusing the WHO of being both China-centric and slow in its coronavirus response — somewhat validly. However, he didn’t get the response he wanted, so…
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Who’s WHO — and Why You Should Care
As we near 3.5 million cases of the coronavirus and surpass 135,000 deaths, President Donald J. Trump has formally withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO). The withdrawal comes on the heels of the president freezing funding to the WHO in April 2020. The U.S. contributes upwards of $400 million annually to the WHO and is the group’s largest contributor (though even before the freeze the U.S. was close to $200 million in arrears to the organization). The claims Trump has made to justify the withdrawal — including that the WHO failed to share information in a timely and transparent manner, gave faulty information, and is too…
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Call to Action: Contact Your Elected Representatives About the Commutation of Roger Stone’s Sentence
On Friday, July 10, 2020, President Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime friend and advisor Roger Stone, who was convicted of federal crimes (seven felony counts, including obstructing a congressional investigation, tampering with a witness, and five counts of lying to Congress) and then sentenced to 40 months in prison. While this is within the legal bounds of the president’s powers, it is unethical and corrupt to abuse those powers to commute the sentence of someone convicted in an investigation into that president’s own campaign. To do: Contact your members of Congress and ask them to call out this latest action for the self-serving corruption it is. In less…
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Miranda v. Barr — and What It May Mean for Future Immigration Hearings
Picture a courtroom TV drama where a judge decides if a person accused of committing a crime is going to have bail set and for how much. The government lawyer argues for a million dollars or some other outrageous amount and offers reasons in support of the high amount; the defense attorney assures the judge the person is an upstanding member of society and would never flee. The government’s burden is to convince the court the bail is necessary, and if the reason is not convincing enough, the government’s request fails. The court’s job is to consider the person’s ability to pay and whether requiring money is necessary to reduce…
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MWEG Town Hall Recap: Immigration Updates on DACA and Asylum Proposals
Mormon Women for Ethical Government hosted a Town Hall on July 7 to update members on asylum and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) changes in U.S. immigration law. Panelist Nefi Oliva, president of the Immigration Law Forum at Brigham Young University, explained that recently proposed changes to immigration regulations are a codification of the recent practices of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security, and the immigration courts. The purpose of the regulations and policies under President Trump seems to be cruelty and to make it harder and harder to get into the U.S., said Kif Augustine-Adams, professor of law…
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Call to Action: Oppose ICE Changes to Student and Exchange Visitor Program
July 14 Update: Federal immigration officials rescinded the new guidelines for the Student Exchange Visitor Program, reverting back to guidance from March 2020 that allows exceptions to in-person class requirements due to the pandemic. On July 6, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced they will be modifying the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which allows international students to study in the United States on F-1 and M-1 visas. As a result of the changes, students who have these visas will be required to leave the U.S. if their college or university is not offering in-person classes. In-person classwork has always been a requirement for these visas, but in…
