Give us your questions! Patron QnA in ~2hrs
Added 2025-01-27 05:39:04 +0000 UTCCalling all patrons! While the live hangout is reserved for folks at $3 and up tiers, we wanted to open up the ability to ask questions for all you fine folks!
Post your questions here for the hangout on Tuesday, January 28th at 3pm Pacific/6pm Eastern, and if you want to join us LIVE, be sure to update your patron level!
Lastly, so we give the people what they want, be sure to upvote by hearting the questions you want to hear answered!
Comments
I wanted to leave the latest update on this situation here because there needs to be a record of the consequences of this administrations policies. The mother I was talking about has been deported, just two weeks after being taken by ICE. She was taken from her cell in Georgia to Louisiana. In Louisiana, "not one finger print was taken, not a photo, not one signature was taken, no questions were asked. People were filed onto a plane and were not informed where they were going. She only realized she arrived in Mexico when she got there". This was according to her daughter whom she called from Mexico last night. She was here seeking asylum because her life is in very real danger in Mexico. I can't get into details, but I am not optimistic that she will survive. And now, there are six siblings who are trying to survive here without their mother. This administration needs to be held accountable.
The Rev Lloyd with Special Guests James, Tom, and Alex
2025-02-12 00:07:41 +0000 UTCMatt, I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to this. We do understand that ICE (supposedly) won't be conducting raids in schools, and we have tried to make it clear to our students that our classrooms are safe spaces. And we do have our response to ICE presence on our campus in place, but I have never experienced this kind of feeling before. I have been in education for more than twenty years, and I have always helped students who were dealing with the legal and documentary issues surrounding immigration and naturalization. I helped them find lawyers and organizations to help them navigate the process, and just generally offered support when they needed it. I have had my own experiences with immigration, as my wife, then my fiancee, was once denied entry to the US. Once we married, it took seven years to receive a green card, and finally, this past year, she naturalized. Through all of these experiences with my students and my wife, immigration services merely seemed sometimes impersonal and slow, but it never seemed malicious. This morning, another student came to me and said that ICE came to their house yesterday. In this home, they refused to open the door, and the agents left empty-handed. Another student came to me to voice his fears that ICE was going to come for his family. Before Monday, I had never heard of any of my students having direct contact with ICE. Now, two have had direct contact in four days. They feel hunted, and no matter how I try to reassure them, I think their feelings may be justified. The student who came to me this morning is not going home tonight, instead staying with friends to try to avoid the possibility of detention. If you can, do you mind sharing how you are advising clients to deal with ICE agents showing up at their homes? Our students are passing around the Red Cards from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Do you know about these, and are they good information? Again, thank you and Thomas for all you are doing to help us understand what is going on with the legal system.
The Rev Lloyd with Special Guests James, Tom, and Alex
2025-01-31 00:00:40 +0000 UTCWhere’s the best place to get Chicago style pizza in Chicago?
Chonkcat in Chicago
2025-01-29 20:17:58 +0000 UTCIt didnt feel right to "heart," that one, but I appreciate the response!
Katie Herrmann
2025-01-29 03:38:44 +0000 UTCAlso, ice is extremely unlikely to come for children and i'd gently suggest that teachers and administrators shape that message up better. As discussed on friday's show, the revocation of the sensitive locations policy was to allow ice to go onto school property to arrest a suspect, not to do random "raids." the much more likely scenario is the beloved janitor with an old deportation order or a parent who has been tracked from their home picking a kid up (although i still can't think that they would want to make a scene). I am very concerned for the mental health of immigrant families right now and it is deeply unhealthy to allow the message to get out there that ice could be randomly bursting into schools and rounding up students. Kids just should not have to think about any of this
Matt Cameron
2025-01-29 02:05:34 +0000 UTCThank you sharing this. I am certainly familiar with isap but this is the first i have heard of it being used as an enforcement tool. I have to think that she must have missed a court date or something, there is just no reason to take someone into custody while they have a pending application if they are complying with the terms of their release. But they are also feeling the pressure of the quotas, so who knows
Matt Cameron
2025-01-29 02:03:09 +0000 UTCI am a teacher in Athens, Georgia. Last night, I took diapers, fruit, and a few other staples to my former student’s house. This student and her family have been a part of a program called ISAP for the past six years. They are part of this program, the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, as asylum seekers. Yesterday, at 11:20 AM, six ICE agents showed up at her house and covered all the exits. They showed no arrest or bench warrant. They told the mother that they would deport her children if she didn’t come out and go with them willingly. People in this program must wear GPS devices so that they are constantly monitored. Apparently, this mother was not the only person in this program who was picked up. It seems that they are scooping people in this program up because they are easy prey. My student graduated last May. She is 18 years old. Her older brother, who is 19 and also my former student, graduated a year and a half ago. They are now caring for four younger siblings, a 17-year-old brother, 2 sisters in elementary school, and a 2-year-old brother. While I was there, her mother called from prison. She has no court date, no idea of how to proceed. I can barely write these words about how heartbreaking it is to watch this poor young lady sob talking to her mother on the phone about how to deal with interrogations, and pass along the information we’ve been able to gather about her situation, and the name of the lawyer we’ve found for her. I need people to understand what is now happening. I need people to be as angry as I am that our government is attacking helpless families who have tried to do things ‘the right way’. I spent today terrified about what this means for my other students who are not natural born citizens. I even worry about my wife, who received her citizenship less than a year ago. This administration is attacking anyone they consider to be an ‘other’. It feels like the time for peaceful resistance is coming to a close. We had a meeting today about what to do when ICE comes to our school. That discussion was eye-opening. All I know now is that if ICE attempts to take a child under my care, the time for peaceful resistance will definitely be over. I would appreciate some sort of dive into the ISAP program and if anyone should trust this program.
The Rev Lloyd with Special Guests James, Tom, and Alex
2025-01-29 00:39:54 +0000 UTCas of the "influx" memo (we'll get to it) I am much more concerned than I was. I need to take some time and consult with smarter people about the litigation potential but the initial take was that it may not be easy to stop
Matt Cameron
2025-01-29 00:18:43 +0000 UTCOn last night's episode of Rachel Maddow, she said previous administrations charted regular private planes for about $8500/hour, compared to the much more expensive C-17 and C-130E flights Trump is doing. 12-hour flight cost is ~105k, 250k, and 800k, respectively, IIRC.
jdub047
2025-01-28 22:16:34 +0000 UTCLess than two weeks in and we are facing the possibility of all federally-funded grant and loan programs being shut down for Trump to review them. The lawsuits are already flying and people are hoping for an injunction. It's pretty clear that Congress has the power of the purse, but in his first term Trump literally got away with withholding aid to Ukraine illegally. While the impeachment didn't focus on this, it was against the law for him to block that funding for personal reasons beyond some kind of executive agency review. This current "pause" is being written in terms of it being part of a formal executive review, with actual (nonsensical) review documents being distributed across the government. Do you think the Supreme Court could okay this? Do you think they could give him a hint as to how to do this more properly in the future? Are we moving towards Unitary Executive Theory being put in place by the Republican party with a GOP Congress effectively ceding this power of Congress away? I'm torn between the idea that this all is obviously illegal and will be short-lived and the idea that the Republicans want Trump to have this power to challenge literally all government spending.
Alex Dunn
2025-01-28 21:28:29 +0000 UTCCan you do an annual Wokie Awards wrap show where you recap all the big hits for the year?
Vehicular Man's Laughter doesn't always play his podcasts with others in the car, but when he does, he prefers the Lydia edit
2025-01-28 21:19:03 +0000 UTCIt's clear from the EOs that the federal government will not accept or acknowledge trans and nonbinary people. Given this and the lengths to which they are willing to come after us, is it realistic to expect HRT medications to be scheduled as controlled substances with limited uses (similar to anabolic steroids) that exclude gender affirming care? If so, what would that process look like, what can state governments to to combat it, and what would that imply for people who legally obtained those meds abroad and continued taking them stateside?
Melody Woodward
2025-01-28 21:15:30 +0000 UTCQuestion for Matt: What is a good web resource I can point people to for solid information about US immigration stats, law, and policy? I'm not looking for something to give legal advice, just something I can link on social media to help combat misinformation. A website with solid info organized by US state would be perfect, if such a thing exists!
Maytree
2025-01-28 21:05:41 +0000 UTCHow likely will SCOTUS rule against the executive withholding congressionally designated funds? Would a lawsuit from Congress require a majority vote to even mount a legal challenge?
Sean
2025-01-28 21:05:30 +0000 UTCThe federal grant and loan freeze. I'm out of bandwith so the best I can do is ask: you guys have thoughts?
Katie Herrmann
2025-01-28 04:41:25 +0000 UTCI haven't yet heard y'all mention one of Trump's first actions, if not the first action, which has enormous consequences for migrants: he shut down the CBP One app, which for all of its many faults was basically the only way for immigrants to request a hearing at the border. Now we'll supposedly go back to "remain in Mexico," which ironically undoes all of the vetting that the CBP One app currently does, along with undoing any success of discouraging the accumulation of crowds at the border. MPP still required migrants to present at the border to request an appointment, whereas the CBP One app allowed them to request the appointment from anywhere in central Mexico. Again, I am NOT defending the app-- I've written about it in scorching terms, and actually have a FOIA request in about claims made by the House Homeland Security committee on how it works. But Trump turned that terrible request system off, including to refugees, so now they don't even have that.
Gretchen Koch
2025-01-27 21:31:21 +0000 UTCAnother question I would like to see addressed. We are very much upset with Trump rescinding the EO to enforce the civil rights act from a moral perspective. From a pure legal perspective, how different would that be from signing an EO to not enforce marijuana laws?
YakkoWarner
2025-01-27 19:23:01 +0000 UTCCan you record and upload the event to Patreon afterwards for being that can't attend live?
YakkoWarner
2025-01-27 15:47:32 +0000 UTC(Different question than the first, I promise) What is a realistic assessment of the risk posed by the use of the military for immigration enforcement efforts? Are there limitations on the actions troops would be permitted to carry out, and is there any need to worry about loopholes circumventing those limitations?
Katie Herrmann
2025-01-27 14:39:50 +0000 UTCWhat is a realistic assessment of the risk posed by the recruitment of local and state law enforcement for immigration enforcement purposes? What legal safeguards, if any, serve to limit the scope of power afforded to state and local agencies for this purpose?
Katie Herrmann
2025-01-27 14:33:25 +0000 UTCNow that we have an active Dungeons and dragons player on the podcast; what's the best class andare you guys willing to revisit the topic of your most controversial episode ;) ? Joking aside, thank you guys for for everything and enjoy the hang
KaryllTheWarlock
2025-01-27 10:07:06 +0000 UTCIn contrast to the way the Trump deportation flights are being covered, how were deportations handled under Biden and earlier? Were the people being deported put on a normal commercial flight? If so, were they accompanied by a government employee?
Drew Vogel
2025-01-27 06:11:54 +0000 UTCSo we know they lie and create distractions, (ncaa and ice numbers) how can we see what is the thing they are trying to hide and how can we best thwart their efforts? Q2. If we do leave the country is there any chance they could go after our social security, property, assets…?
Jensie Jaye Hudson
2025-01-27 06:02:54 +0000 UTCThe GOP has been working on unitary executive theory. Is Trump's overreach going to lead to rulings that set them back?
Clayton Johnson
2025-01-27 05:56:08 +0000 UTC
