Category Archives: Viva!

Syrian girl disfigured by bomb attack refused US visa under Trump travel ban

3293.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

Exclusive: Marwa al-Shekh Ameen, 16, was denied a visa in December after doctors in Germany encouraged her to get treatment in the US

A 16-year-old Syrian refugee who was disfigured in a bomb attack on her home has been refused a visa to get medical treatment in the US because of Donald Trump’s travel ban, the Guardian can reveal.

Related: Thousands more migrant children separated under Trump than previously known

Continue reading…

H.Con.Res. 5: Expressing support for temporary protected status for Haitian nationals currently residing in the United States, and for other purposes.

Introduced: Sponsor: Rep. Alcee Hastings [D-FL20]

This resolution was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and House Committee on the Judiciary which will consider it before sending it to the House floor for consideration.

an optimistic article: Be proud ..you are Palestine!

How can one be optimistic when these people continue to drag us to the hollow levels of a living hell…

نادية حرحش

I have to admit, that I have been cynical. My writings have been harsh, and when humored it is all in black. I am critical to a level that I even cannot bear myself anymore. But what should be done?

I am approached often with a criticism: Nadia, I enjoy reading you, but I am mad at you. Don’t you see anything positive?

The editor in chief criticizes my articles and refuses to publish each time I put a title that blames the people.

I really try my best to be positive, and this is one… after all, I have to see the bright side of this life of being a Palestinian… Is it not enough of a privilege to be part of the holy of the holy spot in this universe?

I would like to thank the photographer of the excellent, spectacular scene of snow taken for the dome of the rock area…

View original post 666 more words

African Union calls on DRC to delay election announcement

3500.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

Bloc has ‘serious doubts’ over vote, for which declared runner up has called a recount

The African Union has issued a surprise last-minute demand for the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s government to suspend the announcement of final results of the deeply disputed presidential election.

DRC’s constitutional court is poised to rule as early as Friday on a challenge filed by the election’s declared runner-up. Martin Fayulu has requested a recount, alleging fraud.

Continue reading…

Immigrants from New Origin Countries in the United States

The national origins of new arrivals to the United States are shifting, in ways not always fully appreciated. Recent newcomers are more likely to come from Asia, Central America, and Africa, and less likely to be from Mexico. This article offers key demographic information about the 15 immigrant groups that have experienced the largest growth since 2010, including Indians, Chinese, Colombians, Nigerians, and Bangladeshis.

NewOriginsSpt-T1.png

The national origins of new arrivals to the United States are shifting, in ways not always fully appreciated. Recent newcomers are more likely to come from Asia, Central America, and Africa, and less likely to be from Mexico. This article offers key demographic information about the 15 immigrant groups that have experienced the largest growth since 2010, including Indians, Chinese, Colombians, Nigerians, and Bangladeshis.

Challengers urge justices to dismiss census case after district court ruling

Challengers urge justices to dismiss census case after district court ruling

On February 19, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in U.S. Department of Commerce v. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, a dispute over evidence in a challenge to the Trump administration’s decision to reinstate a question about citizenship on the 2020 census. The justices agreed in November to review the case, but they also rejected the government’s request to put the trial in the case on hold. The district court went ahead with the trial, and on Tuesday it issued its decision, blocking the government from using the citizenship question on the census. Today the challengers asked the justices to dismiss the case, telling them that the district court’s ruling “has fundamentally altered the circumstances that were present” when the Supreme Court granted review.

The dispute arose in March 2018, when Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the 2020 census would include a question about citizenship. The government explained that including a citizenship question would help the Department of Justice better enforce federal voting-rights laws, but the decision drew a court challenge from a group of states, cities and counties, who argue that the question will discourage undocumented immigrants from responding to the census, skewing the results.

The challengers sought to question Ross and John Gore, the acting head of DOJ’s civil rights division. The Supreme Court blocked the challengers from questioning Ross but allowed them to depose Gore and to seek facts outside the official administrative record.

On Tuesday, the district court issued its ruling, barring the government from including the citizenship question on the 2020 census. Relying only on the official record, the district court concluded that the government’s conduct involved a “smorgasbord of classic, clear-cut” violations of the federal law governing administrative agencies.

In a statement issued later that day, a spokeswoman for DOJ described the government as “disappointed” and “still reviewing the ruling,” but she also argued that the government was “legally entitled to include” the question – suggesting that the government planned to appeal. But as of this afternoon, the government had not yet acted. Instead, the challengers seized the initiative, filing a motion to dismiss the Supreme Court case.

The challengers told the justices that the question in the Supreme Court case centers on whether the district court was “correct to order” the Ross deposition. But, the challengers said, that issue is now moot – that is, no longer a “live” controversy – because the district court made its decision without questioning Ross and vacated the order requiring Ross’ deposition. Any remaining questions about whether the district court should have allowed fact-finding outside the official record can be addressed if the government appeals, the challengers argued.

With a deadline of June 2019 to finalize the census questionnaire looming, the challengers contended that it would be more efficient for all of the issues in the dispute to be considered together, rather than first litigating the dispute over the evidence in the Supreme Court. If the government wants relief from the district court’s ruling barring it from using the citizenship question on the 2020 census, the challengers concluded, it can seek an expedited appeal.

This post was first published at Howe on the Court.

The post Challengers urge justices to dismiss census case after district court ruling appeared first on SCOTUSblog.