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Call to Action: Speak Up for Transparency in COVID-19 Data
The Trump administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the publicly funded Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), requiring that, effective immediately, all COVID-19 patient information be sent to a privately operated central database in Washington. Although advocates such as CDC Director Robert Redfield argue the new process will streamline data, this change does not conform to any standard patterns of data collection and puts this data in private hands. An unprecedented and poorly managed shift in critical data processing adds burdens to overstretched medical establishments, could compromise or lose essential data, and increases the level of chaos in our national response to a rising health crisis. To combat the…
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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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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…
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Call to Action: Protect Democracy by Ensuring Government Oversight
On June 20 the president continued his pattern of weekend firings by unexpectedly terminating Geoffery Berman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Berman had been overseeing many high-profile investigations, including one into President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Berman’s firing, while legal, did not follow regular norms and patterns. In conjunction with other recent firings, it raises questions about Trump’s repeated removal of government officials actively investigating claims against his administration and his associates. In April and May, President Trump fired five inspectors general, including those looking into allegations of impropriety at the State Department, Department of Defense, and Department of Health and Human Services. Congress has…
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Call to Action: Investigate Inspectors General Firings
On May 15 President Trump fired the nonpartisan inspector general of the State Department. This is the fifth inspector general Trump has fired in the past two months. Trump’s firing of five inspectors general continues a pattern of behavior intended to shield the presidency from oversight and should be deeply troubling to all Americans. Congress must hold the Trump administration accountable for these unprecedented and unethical firings. To Do: Contact your members of Congress to investigate these firings and ask that the investigations overseen by the terminated inspectors general continue unimpeded. In five minutes or less, submit a letter to all of your elected representatives at once via our website.…
