Chris Hedges's Blog, page 646

Democrat Claims Victory in Pa. Election; Republican Isn’t Conceding

MT. LEBANON, Pa.—A razor’s edge separated Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone early Wednesday in their closely watched special election in Pennsylvania, where a surprisingly strong bid by first-time candidate Lamb severely tested Donald Trump’s sway in a GOP stronghold.

Lamb claimed victory before exuberant supporters after midnight, though many absentee ballots were still to be counted in the contest that has drawn national attention as a bellwether for the midterm elections in November when the Republican Party’s House and Senate majorities are at risk.

Lamb, a Marine veteran, told his crowd that voters had directed him to “do your job” in Washington. “Mission accepted,” he declared. Earlier, Saccone told his own supporters, “It’s not over yet, we’re going to fight all the way, all the way to the end, we’ll never give up.”

Regardless of the outcome — and a recount was possible — Lamb’s showing in a district Trump won by 20 points in the presidential race was sure to stoke anxiety among Republicans nationwide and renewed enthusiasm among Democrats.

After midnight with all precincts reporting, unofficial results had Lamb leading Republican state Rep. Saccone by fewer than 600 votes. More than 1,000 absentee ballots were still being tabulated as the count carried into Wednesday.

The stakes in the high-profile special election were more political than practical.

The ultimate winner will face re-election in just eight months, and the congressional district as currently shaped will likely vanish next year. Yet President Trump and his chief allies invested tremendous time and resources in keeping the seat in Republican hands.

The White House had scrambled to rally voters behind Saccone, who cast himself as the president’s “wingman,” but he struggled at times to connect with the blue-collar coalition that fueled Trump’s victory little more than a year ago.

In a race this close, either candidate’s supporters can ask for a recount. However there are stiff requirements, including requiring three voters in the same precinct who can attest that error or fraud was committed.

Lamb, a 33-year old Marine veteran and former federal prosecutor, downplayed his opposition to the Republican president on Tuesday and insisted instead that the race hinged on local issues.

“This didn’t have much to do with President Trump,” Lamb said after casting his vote in suburban Pittsburgh.

Because of a state court decision redrawing Pennsylvania’s congressional boundaries, the winner will have to start campaigning for re-election almost immediately in a different district. Still, the election has far greater political consequences as each party prepares for the November midterm elections.

For the White House and its Republican allies, a loss would represent both a profound embarrassment and a major cause for concern in the broader push to defend majorities in the U.S. House and Senate.

The president has campaigned in the district twice and sent several tweets on Saccone’s behalf. Other recent visitors include the vice president, the president’s eldest son, the president’s daughter and the president’s chief counselor. Outside groups aligned with Republicans have also poured millions of dollars into the contest.

For Democrats, a win would reverberate nationwide, while even a narrow loss would be viewed as a sign of increased Democratic enthusiasm just as the midterm season begins.

Lamb’s excited supporters included his middle school football and basketball coach, Joe DelSardo, who recalled him as “a leader from the beginning.”

The former coach described the district as having “a lot of suit-and-tie people and people who dig in the dirt.” Lamb, he said, “can talk to all of them, and that’s why he can win.”

Registered Republican Brett Gelb said he voted for Saccone, largely because the Republican candidate promised to support the president.

“Saccone backs a lot of President Trump’s plans for the country,” said Gelb, a 48-year-old fire technician who lives in Mt. Lebanon. He added, “I do think Trump is doing a good job. I think he needs backup.”

Democrats must flip 24 GOP-held seats this fall to seize control of the House, and months ago few had counted on this Pittsburgh-area district to be in play. The seat has been in Republican hands for the past 15 years.

It was open now only because longtime Republican congressman Tim Murphy, who espoused strong anti-abortion views, resigned last fall amid revelations of an extramarital affair in which he urged his mistress to get an abortion.

After voting Tuesday in Allegheny County, Republican Saccone said, “The Democrats … they’re throwing everything they can at this race. There hasn’t been an open seat for a long time.”

Besides bruising the president, a Lamb defeat also could shake Republican self-assurance that their new tax law can shield them from other political woes.

With polls showing a tight race for months, Saccone tried to persuade the GOP-leaning electorate that their choice was about “making America great again,” as the president repeatedly says.

Saccone, a 60-year-old Air Force veteran turned state lawmaker and college instructor, enjoyed enthusiastic backing from the social conservatives who’ve anchored his state career. He’s been perhaps at his most animated when emphasizing his opposition to abortion rights.

Yet Saccone struggled to raise money and stir the same passions that helped Trump on his way to the White House. The consistent fundraising deficit left him with limited resources to air the message he delivered one-on-one: His four decades of experience in the private sector, international business and now the Legislature should make voters’ choice a no-brainer.

Lamb, meanwhile, excited core Democrats and aimed for independents and moderate Republicans.

“We worked really hard for it,” Lamb said after voting.

National Republican groups filled airwaves and social media with depictions of the first-time candidate as little more than a lemming for Nancy Pelosi — the Democratic House leader that Republicans love to hate.

Lamb answered the criticism by saying he wouldn’t support Pelosi as floor leader, much less as speaker if the Democrats should retake control of the House. He also said he opposes major new gun restrictions — though he backs expanded background checks — and declared himself personally opposed to abortion, despite his support for its legality.

Lamb largely avoided mentioning Trump, who remains generally popular in the district even if slightly diminished from his 2016 dominance.

Lamb embraced Democratic orthodoxy on the new GOP tax law, hammering it as a giveaway to corporations at the future expense of Social Security, Medicare and the nation’s fiscal security. And he embraces unions, highlighting Saccone’s anti-labor record at the statehouse, which was a notable deviation from the retiring Murphy’s status as a union-friendly Republican.

The AFL-CIO counts 87,000 voters from union households — around a fifth of the electorate.

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Peoples reported from New York.

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Follow Barrow and Levy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BillBarowAP and https://twitter.com/timelywriter .

ACLU Tells Student Protesters: Know Your Rights

The first large-scale, coordinated national student walkout since the deadly shooting in Parkland, Fla., is planned for Wednesday.

Women’s March organizers have called for a 17-minute walkout, one minute for each of the 17 students and staff killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School a month earlier. American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in more than a dozen states have advised school administrators to honor the students’ free speech rights and are pushing back against school districts that have threatened to punish those who walk out.

Dozens of colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale, MIT, the University of Connecticut and UCLA, have assured high school students that participation in walkouts will not affect their chances of being admitted to those institutions. However, many middle school and high school administrators have come under fire for threatening students with suspension or other punishment for participating, even with parental permission.

Some schools have been receptive to the ACLU’s efforts to support student protesters. After the ACLU of Virginia confronted him over a threatening message he had sent to students, Steve Walts, superintendent of public schools in Prince William County, Va., sent out a letter saying he will help “develop a plan to enable students to exercise their constitutionally protected rights to free speech and demonstration, in safe and non-disruptive ways, without fear of disciplinary consequences.

The ACLU has been proactive in helping students know their rights when it comes to walkouts. It warned that schools can discipline students for missing class, but that those who miss class for political reasons cannot be punished more harshly than they would be for being absent for other reasons.

The exact punishment you could face will vary by your state, school district, and school. Find out more by reading the policies of your school and school district. If you’re planning to miss a class or two, look at the policy for unexcused absences. If you’re considering missing several days, read about truancy. And either way, take a look at the policy for suspensions. In some states and districts, suspension is not an available punishment for unexcused absences. And nationwide, if you are facing a suspension of 10 days or more, you have a right to a formal process and can be represented by a lawyer. Some states and school districts require a formal process for fewer days, too. Also, you should be given the same right to make up work just as any other student who missed classes.

Sarah Hinger, a staff attorney with the ACLU Racial Justice Program, writes:

School administrators owe it to their students to examine their reaction to young peoples’ self-expression and to ask how they can help build on this moment of protest as an educational experience. As the Supreme Court observed in Brown v. Board of Education, education is “the very foundation of good citizenship.” Public school is the place where students experience and interact with government, learn through discussion and debate with other students from differing backgrounds, and build the foundation for participation in a democratic society. Rather than seeking to silence students’ political engagement and quashing their desire for conversation, schools can approach this moment as an opportunity for learning about civic action.

Florida Seeks Death Penalty in School Massacre

MIAMI—Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for the former student charged with killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month even though attorneys for Nikolas Cruz indicated he would plead guilty if his life was spared.

Cruz, 19, is scheduled for formal arraignment Wednesday on a 34-count indictment, including 17 first-degree murder charges. The office of Broward County State Attorney Michael Satz filed the formal notice of its intentions Tuesday, though the action does not necessarily mean a plea deal will not be reached.

The only other penalty option for Cruz, if convicted, is life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Ira Jaffe, whose son and daughter survived the shooting, said he respects the wishes of the 17 families whose children were killed and that time is better spent finding solutions to the problem of mass school shootings.

“Live forever in jail or die—I don’t care,” Jaffe said in an email. “Cruz will rot in hell no matter when it is that he arrives there.”

Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jamie Guttenberg died in the shooting, was angry the state decided to pursue the death penalty, noting how tortuously long capital punishment cases last.

“My reaction is as a parent of a deceased student, I expected that the state would have pulled the parents together to ask what we wanted and they didn’t,” he said.

“This guy’s willing to plea and spend the rest of his life in the general population. Let him do that and let them do what they want with him,” Guttenberg added. “Why not take the plea and let the guy rot in hell?”

Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, whose office is representing Cruz, has said there were so many warning signs that Cruz was mentally unstable and potentially violent, and that the death penalty might be going too far.

In an email Tuesday, Finkelstein said Cruz is “immediately ready” to plead guilty in return for 34 consecutive life sentences.

“If not allowed to do that tomorrow (at the hearing), out of respect for the victims’ families we will stand mute to the charges at the arraignment. We are not saying he is not guilty but we can’t plead guilty while death is still on the table,” Finkelstein said.

If Cruz does not enter a plea, a not guilty plea will likely be entered on his behalf by Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer to keep the legal process moving along, his attorneys have said.

In other developments, a student who is credited with saving the lives of 20 students by attempting to close and lock a classroom door during the attack was improving at a hospital. Anthony Borges, 15, was shot five times. Weeks after being shot, he fell critically ill of an intestinal infection. After surgeries, his condition was upgraded to fair.

Meanwhile, Florida voters may get a chance to decide whether or not they want to approve new gun control restrictions.

While Gov. Rick Scott just signed a new school safety and gun bill into law, the state’s Constitution Revision Commission may vote to place gun restrictions on this year’s ballot. The commission, a special panel that meets every 20 years, has the power to ask voters to approve changes to the state’s constitution.

Tony Montalto, whose daughter was one of the 17 killed at Stoneman Douglas, asked commissioners at a public hearing Tuesday to put the proposals before voters. He said they need to act because the National Rifle Association has filed a lawsuit against the new law approved by the Legislature.

“You can help defeat this challenge,” Montalto told commissioners.

Shortly before the commission hearing in St. Petersburg, students from Tampa Bay area schools spoke passionately in favor of additional gun regulations, as did the father of a student who attends Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

“Our kids are not asking to do away with the 2nd Amendment. They’re not asking to take away people’s guns or their ability to hunt,” said John Willis. “What they’re saying is, that these weapons of mass destruction that do nothing but tear human beings apart in an unbelievable way, do not belong in civilian hands.”

Sorry, Students. Trump Has Surrendered to the NRA.

Once again, President Trump has made a cowardly, cynical and monumentally stupid retreat on the issue of guns. No one should have expected otherwise.

Forget everything he said in the wake of the Parkland shooting about the urgent need for meaningful action. Trump now takes a position that will almost surely guarantee more gun violence in schools, not less. It must take a lot of hard work and concentration to be so utterly wrong.

The president—I can’t believe I’m writing this, but it’s true—wants to arm “highly trained expert teachers” with concealed weapons. Anyone who thinks this is not one of the worst ideas in history should conduct a brief thought experiment. Imagine any one of your elementary, middle school or high school classrooms. Imagine a loaded gun in there somewhere. Now imagine what could go tragically wrong.

Trump’s support for arming teachers and his refusal to back sensible gun-control measures represent a craven surrender to the National Rifle Association. In his made-for-television meeting with members of Congress to discuss gun violence, Trump accused Republicans of being “afraid of the NRA.” But he’s the one cringing and cowering to keep the gun lobby’s favor.

Trump tried to defend his meek surrender Monday on Twitter: “If schools are mandated to be gun free zones, violence and danger are given an open invitation to enter. Almost all school shootings are in gun free zones. Cowards will only go where there is no deterrent!”

Can he really be that obtuse, or is he just pretending?

One thing that should be clear by now is that most of the perpetrators of mass shootings, in schools and elsewhere, do not launch their obscene attacks with the expectation of getting away after the vile deed is done. A few do survive, such as the Parkland shooter, but there is almost never any indication that escape was part of the assailant’s plan. These are not rational acts by rational people.

It is ridiculous to think that the fear of getting shot by a teacher would serve as any kind of deterrent. The most obvious foreseeable consequence is that would-be shooter will probably decide to aim at the teachers first.

Trump is slavishly following the NRA’s party line that “a good guy with a gun” is the solution to mass shootings. Clearly, however, it is not. An armed security officer was on site at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland while the shooter went on his rampage. The officer never went into the building; he later said he believed the shooter was outside the school, not inside. Additional officers who arrived quickly also did not enter.

Where are the shots coming from? How many shooters are there? Is that an assailant pounding on the classroom door, or a potential victim in imminent peril? The idea that teachers are going to be able to answer these questions more quickly and accurately than well-trained security personnel is ludicrous.

In gunfights, even big-city police officers who are regularly tested on their firearms proficiency miss their targets more often than they hit them. Picture the chaos of an active-shooter situation. Hear the shots, the shouts, the screams. Are teachers going to be able to focus in on an assailant despite the sensory overload? Or are they more likely to fire at innocent students? Or perhaps at each other?

Consider another predictable scenario: A high school class gets out of control, to the point where the overwhelmed teacher feels physically threatened. Will the teacher perhaps be tempted to display a loaded weapon to restore order? If so, what happens next?

The tragedy of this awful idea—and the intent—is that it diverts the gun violence debate away from measures that could actually have an impact. Chief among them would be a ban on the military-style assault rifles that have become the mass shooter’s weapon of choice. Trump is too scared of the NRA’s wrath to dare mention this common-sense, life-saving step.

Incredibly, the president has even backed away from the no-brainer idea—newly enacted by the state of Florida—of raising the minimum age for at least some gun purchases from 18 to 21. He supported such a move until the NRA slapped his little hand.

Forming a school safety commission under hapless Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is like consigning the issue to a gaggle of geese. Slightly toughening background checks and banning bump stocks hardly amount to incremental progress. Sorry, students. Trump has wimped out.

Trump’s CIA Pick Oversaw Waterboarding at Secret Prison

WASHINGTON—Gina Haspel’s colleagues describe her as a seasoned veteran who would lead the CIA with integrity. Human rights advocates see her as someone who supervised torture at a secret prison.

President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next—and first female—director of the clandestine agency has conflicting public reputations. If confirmed, the 61-year-old career spymaster will succeed Mike Pompeo, who is replacing ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“I am grateful to President Trump for the opportunity, and humbled by his confidence in me,” Haspel said in a statement.

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Haspel didn’t have to face a Senate confirmation hearing when she became deputy director of the agency in February 2017. To be director, she’ll have to be confirmed by the Senate intelligence committee. That will likely mean questions about one of the darkest periods in the CIA’s history.

Trump said Haspel is an “outstanding person.” She’s well respected by intelligence professionals, who have called her a patriot and an exceptional leader who brings creativity, savvy and grit to her job every day.

Yet Haspel also had a front-row seat to the CIA’s use of harsh interrogation techniques against terror suspects. Between 2003 and 2005, she oversaw a secret CIA prison in Thailand where terror suspects Abu Zubayadah and Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri were waterboarded, current and former U.S. intelligence officials said. Waterboarding is a process that simulates drowning and is widely considered to be a form of torture.

Haspel, who joined the CIA in 1985, also helped carry out an order to destroy waterboarding videos. The order prompted a lengthy Justice Department investigation that ended without charges.

Sen. Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate committee that will vote whether to confirm Haspel, said she has the “right skill set, experience and judgment” to lead the CIA.

But one fellow Republican, Sen. John McCain, said Haspel must explain the nature and extent of her involvement in the CIA’s interrogation program.

“Current U.S. law is clear in banning enhanced interrogation techniques,” said McCain, who was beaten as a prisoner during the Vietnam War. “Any nominee for director of the CIA must pledge without reservation to uphold this prohibition.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, the House intelligence committee’s top Democrat, cited Haspel’s “impressive record,” but also said she must outline if she would comply with any presidential order bringing back waterboarding and other such techniques.

Trump has spoken about reintroducing waterboarding and “a lot worse,” but would face steep legal and legislative hurdles to do so. The harsh interrogation techniques have been roundly denounced by human rights groups worldwide.

“No one who had a hand in torturing individuals deserves to ever hold public office again, let alone lead an agency,” Human Rights First’s Raha Wala said Tuesday. “To allow someone who had a direct hand in this illegal, immoral and counterproductive program is to willingly forget our nation’s dark history with torture.”

Haspel may have to overcome some challenges with key U.S. allies.

After Haspel was named deputy CIA director, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights asked German prosecutors to issue a warrant for her arrest over her role in the interrogations. Federal prosecutors never issued the warrant because the case lacked a connection to Germany. But the rights group’s allegations against Haspel remain part of a preliminary investigation that German authorities could revive at a later date if they receive evidence that any of the parties have links to Germany.

Haspel has been chief of station at CIA outposts abroad. In Washington, she has held several senior leadership positions, including deputy director of the National Clandestine Service.

In her current post, she worked with Pompeo to manage intelligence collection, analysis, covert action, counterintelligence and cooperation with the CIA’s foreign counterparts.

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Associated Press writer Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.

New Banking Bill Presents Choose-Your-Side Moment

A new banking bill shows the division of the United States. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, sponsored by Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho and co-sponsored by a dozen Democratic senators, would weaken financial regulations and expand loopholes, actions that could hurt many Americans.

“This is a bad bill,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told The Huffington Post. “No Democrat and no Republican should support it.”

The bill’s Democratic co-sponsors are Tim Kaine and Mark Warner (both from Virginia), Michael Bennet (Colorado), Gary Peters (Michigan), Doug Jones (Alabama), Joe Donnelly (Indiana), Jon Tester (Montana), Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota), Joe Manchin (West Virginia), Claire McCaskill (Missouri), and Christopher Coons and Thomas Carper (both from Delaware).

Backers say the bipartisan reform legislation would ease some of the tough rules of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, thereby helping small community banks and credit unions, while still protecting against unfair lending practices and strengthening consumer protections.

Opponents disagree and are concerned about rolling back anti-discrimination enforcement, HuffPost reports.

“[The bill] deliberately undermines the government’s ability to enforce laws against racial discrimination in the housing market,” Zach Carter writes. “The legislation would block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from collecting key data showing when and where families of color are being overcharged for home loans or steered into predatory products … just one small provision in a broad financial deregulation package.”

Carter provides more of the backstory:

The federal government has been collecting basic data on mortgage discrimination since 1975, tallying by race which families receive loans and which are denied. Banks have always made a habit of turning down mortgages in black neighborhoods—a practice known as redlining that is still very much alive and well. But the housing bubble and subsequent foreclosure bust laid bare another ugly trend. Lenders had also been targeting minority families with subprime mortgages and other predatory loans, instead of simply denying mortgages outright.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law sought to address this by setting tougher predatory lending rules and by requiring banks to turn over a broader swath of information to the newly created CFPB. In addition to basic facts about loan approval or denial, lenders had to report a borrower’s age and credit score as well as the property value of the home being purchased, the interest rate, loan terms, and other pricing features of each mortgage. All of this information can be used to help determine if families of color are being ripped off or disproportionately pushed into predatory loans. The CFPB looks through the data for violations or red flags, and publishes it online so consumer groups can do their own research.

Under the legislation, banks that make 500 or fewer mortgages a year would not have to report any of the additional data, Carter adds. That’s about 85 percent of banks and credit unions, according to CFPB estimates. In other words, the new system could impact hundreds of thousands of borrowers a year.

The bill is expected to pass through Congress and be signed by President Donald Trump. Critics hold out hope that supporters on Capitol Hill will wake up before another financial crisis occurs.

“It’s a whose-side-are-you-on moment,” explained Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee. “Are you with the big banks and the Wall Street operators who wrecked the economy and got big bailouts, or are you with families and workers?”

Not so long ago, Trump campaigned for a new America and vowed to govern for the people.

So much for breaking up the oligarchy.

Palestinian Prime Minister Escapes Injury in Gaza Bombing

JABALIYA, Gaza Strip — A roadside bomb on Tuesday struck the convoy of the Palestinian prime minister during a rare visit to the Gaza Strip, causing no serious injuries but throwing an already troubled reconciliation process between rival factions into deeper turmoil.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah had just arrived from his West Bank headquarters to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new water-treatment plant when the bomb went off. Although there was no claim of responsibility, Palestinian officials accused Gaza militants of trying to assassinate Hamdallah. Gaza’s ruling Hamas group denied involvement.

The blast took place at a time of deadlock in reconciliation efforts between Hamdallah’s Fatah party and Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since ousting Fatah forces in 2007. It also cast a shadow over a special White House meeting where international donor nations were set to discuss the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Hamdallah, a soft-spoken former university dean appointed by President Mahmoud Abbas five years ago, went on to inaugurate the long-awaited sewage plant project. But he quickly returned to the West Bank, where he vowed to press ahead with reconciliation efforts.

“This will not deter from seeking to end the bitter split. We will still come to Gaza,” he said.

He said the attack underscored the need for the Palestinians to unify under a single authority. Hamas has ceded some government functions and control of Gaza’s borders, but it has refused calls to disarm and let Palestinian Authority security forces take over.

“How can a government overtake Gaza without maintaining security? We ask Hamas one more time to empower the government,” he said. “Without security, there won’t be a government or an authority.”

Hamas condemned the attack, calling it a crime and an attempt to “hurt efforts to achieve unity and reconciliation.” It promised an “urgent” investigation.

Witnesses said the bomb was planted under an electric pole on Gaza’s main north-south road and went off shortly after Hamdallah’s 20-vehicle convoy had entered through the Israeli-controlled crossing.

“I could not see anything because smoke and dust filled the air. When the smoke cleared, the explosion was followed by heavy gunfire, apparently from police securing the convoy,” said a witness, who declined to be identified because of security concerns. “When the dust cleared, I saw people running everywhere, and police were running around.”

Two vehicles were disabled by the blast, while at least four others were damaged, with windows or sunroofs blown out. One had streaks of blood on the door. Hamdallah said six bodyguards required medical attention.

In the West Bank, Abbas blamed Hamas for the blast. But his security chief, Majed Farraj, who was in the convoy and was another potential target of the blast, said it was “too early” to say who was responsible.

There is a long list of potential attackers. While Hamas officials strenuously denied involvement, there are elements within the group that do not want to cede power and oppose the reconciliation process. More radical militants, inspired by the Islamic State group, also operate in Gaza. Some even suggested that the Palestinian Authority had staged the incident to shore up Hamdallah’s calls for Hamas to disarm.

The 2007 Hamas takeover left the Palestinians with two rival governments, Hamas in Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority governing autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Repeated attempts at reconciliation have failed or stalled.

In November, Hamas handed over control of Gaza’s border crossings to the Palestinian Authority. It was the first tangible concession in years of Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks. But negotiations have bogged down since then.

Hamdallah’s visit came at a time of crisis in Gaza. The economy has been devastated by three wars between Hamas and Israel and a decade-long blockade by Israel and Egypt meant to weaken the militant group.

Amid warnings of a looming humanitarian catastrophe, the White House was hosting a gathering of international representatives Tuesday to discuss economic development projects and the dire situation.

The U.S., Israel and other Western allies consider Hamas a terrorist group and want assurances that any development aid does not bolster Hamas or get diverted for military purposes.

White House envoy Jason Greenblatt has blamed Hamas for wreaking devastation on the territory. In a Twitter post, Greenblatt condemned the bombing and said that Hamas and other militant groups have brought Gaza “to the brink of collapse.”

“Attack on PA delegation opening water treatment plant is an attack on the welfare of the people of Gaza. Wishing a speedy recovery to the injured,” Greenblatt said.

The United Nations Mideast envoy also condemned the attack. Nickolay Mladenov said until the “legitimate” Palestinian Authority takes power in Gaza, Hamas is responsible for enabling the internationally backed government to work without fear of intimidation, harassment and violence.

The sewage plant in question was envisioned in 2007 after overburdened sewage reservoirs collapsed, causing a flood that drowned five villagers.

The World Bank, European Union and other European governments have provided nearly $75 million in funding for the project. The Hamas takeover, the ensuing Israeli-Egyptian blockade, power shortages and conflicts delayed the opening for four years.

Besides the old reservoirs, the plant will receive wastewater from four towns and villages. After treatment, the water will be transferred for irrigation and the remainder will be safely dumped into the sea.

U.K. and U.S.: Russia Must ‘Come Clean’ on Chemical Weapons

LONDON — The Latest on the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain (all times local):

6:15 p.m.

Britain says U.S. President Donald Trump has assured Prime Minister Theresa May that the U.S. is “with the U.K. all the way” and said Russia must provide clear answers about the nerve-agent poisoning of a former spy.

May’s office says Trump and the British leader spoke by phone on Tuesday afternoon.

Downing Street says May reiterated Britain’s view that “it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack against Sergei and Yulia Skripal.”

It says Trump “said the U.S. was with the U.K. all the way, agreeing that the Russian government must provide unambiguous answers as to how this nerve agent came to be used.”

Russia says it will not meet a British deadline of midnight Tuesday to provide answers unless the U.K. shares samples of the nerve agent

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6:00 p.m.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has sternly warned Britain against shutting the office of Russian state-funded RT television, saying it will lead to the closure of British media’s bureaus in Moscow.

The ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said in televised remarks Tuesday that “not a single British media outlet will be able to work in our country if they close RT.”

Zakharova’s statement came in response to a warning by British media regulator Ofcom that RT could be stripped of its broadcasting license in the U.K. in the wake of the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal.

Britain has given Russia until midnight Tuesday to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent came to be used in an English city, or face retaliatory measures.

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5:40 p.m.

The Russian Embassy in London says Moscow won’t respond to a British ultimatum unless it gets samples of the nerve agent used in the attack on a former spy and his daughter.

The embassy posted the comment Tuesday on Twitter after Russia suggested that Britain has a duty under the chemical weapons treaty to jointly investigate the nerve agent. Britain has rejected such a notion.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said Russia’s involvement in the March 4 poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a Russian who spied for Britain, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, is “highly likely.”

May gave the country a deadline of midnight Tuesday to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent came to be used in an English city, or face retaliatory measures.

The embassy tweeted: “Moscow will not respond to London’s ultimatum until it receives samples of the chemical substance to which the UK investigators are referring.”

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5:15 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Russia must provide “quick answers to the legitimate questions posed by the British government” about the poisoning of an ex-spy and his daughter.

Merkel’s office said the German leader spoke by phone on Tuesday with British Prime Minister Theresa May and condemned the nerve agent attack “in the sharpest manner.”

The chancellor assured May that she took Britain’s assessment about Russia’s likely responsibility for the attack “extraordinarily seriously.”

Merkel urged Russia to “comprehensively and immediately” reveal its chemical weapons program to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

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4:30 p.m.

A lawyer says a Russian businessman who had associated with a prominent critic of the Kremlin who died in London in 2013 also has been found dead in the British capital.

Andrei Borovkov told Russian media outlets on Tuesday that his client, Nikolai Glushkov, has died, but said he was unaware of the time and circumstances.

Reports in British and Russian media say Glushkov, who was in his late 60s, was found dead at his home in southwest London.

London’s Metropolitan Police force says officers are investigating the “unexplained” death of a man found at a house in the New Malden area late Monday. It did not identify him by name.

Glushkov was a friend of Boris Berezovsky, a Russian oligarch who died in London in 2013. An inquest failed to determine whether he had killed himself or died from foul play.

London police say counterterrorism detectives are leading the investigation “as a precaution because of associations that the man is believed to have had.”

Police say there is no evidence to suggest a link to the March 4 poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

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3:50 p.m.

Britain’s representative to the global chemical weapons watchdog says Russia has “failed for many years to declare chemical weapons development programs which date from the 1970s” and London has demanded that Moscow now “come clean.”

Ambassador Peter Wilson told reporters Tuesday that London wants “Russia to declare these programs now.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Monday that a military-grade nerve agent was used in the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia, and that Russia was “highly likely” to blame.

Wilson also refuted a claim by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Britain would be breaching the treaty that outlaws chemical weapons if it refuses to share with Moscow samples of the nerve agent.

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3:35 p.m.

Britain’s media regulator says Kremlin-backed news channel RT could lose its license to broadcast in the U.K. in the wake of the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal.

The channel has repeatedly been criticized by regulator Ofcom for breaching impartiality standards, and some British lawmakers have called for it to be shut down.

The regulator said Tuesday that it has a duty “to be satisfied that broadcast licensees remain fit and proper to hold their licenses.”

Ofcom said it had written to ANO TV Novosti, which holds RT’s U.K. broadcast licenses, saying that if Russia is found to be behind the attack, “we would consider this relevant to our ongoing duty to be satisfied that RT is fit and proper.”

Britain has given Russia until midnight Tuesday to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent came to be used in an English city, or face retaliatory measures.

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3:10 p.m.

Denmark’s prime minister has said “the use of chemical weapons in a peaceful English town … brings back memories of the Cold War.”

Lars Loekke Rasmussen was commenting Tuesday on the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in southern England.

Loekke Rasmussen told Denmark’s TV2 that his country would consult “with our allies what countermeasures it can lead to.”

The Danish government leader also expressed “sympathy with the people affected and solidarity with Britain.”

May told Britain’s Parliament it is “highly likely” Russia was to blame for the March 4 attack. British police and intelligence reports say that Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripals were poisoned by a military grade nerve agent produced in Russia.

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2:50 p.m.

The Russian Foreign Ministry says it has handed the British ambassador a note of protest regarding the accusations leveled against Moscow over last week’s poisoning of an ex-Russian spy.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain hospitalized in critical condition after being exposed to a military-grade nerve agent.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed retaliatory measures if Russia offers no explanation for how the nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union came to poison the former spy and his daughter in a British city.

The Russian Foreign Ministry says it has summoned British Ambassador Laurie Bristow and handed him a protest note over the “baseless accusations” leveled against Russia. The ministry dismissed the reaction of British authorities to the attack as “provocative” and said it suspects the poisoning is “another unscrupulous attempt of the British authorities to discredit Russia.”

___

2:30 p.m.

British police say the investigation into the chemical agent attack on a former Russian spy will last many weeks, and that they are not declaring a person of interest yet in the probe.

In a brief statement outside police headquarters, new counter-terror chief Neil Basu offered more details on the movements of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia before they were attacked in the English town of Salisbury on March 4. He appealed to the public to come forward if they saw the pair that day.

Basu says the public will see much police activity in and around the city over the coming days and that they should not be alarmed.

Basu also revealed for the first time that Skripal was a British citizen — a fact that might color the government’s response to the incident.

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2:15 p.m.

Germany’s foreign minister says Berlin is “very concerned” about the poisoning of the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England and is voicing solidarity with Britain.

Sigmar Gabriel said in a statement that he spoke by phone Tuesday with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. He said that “we condemn this attack with a banned chemical weapon in the strongest terms.”

Gabriel said that the perpetrators must be brought to justice and added: “If it is confirmed that Russia is behind this, that would be a very serious matter.”

Gabriel is to be replaced as foreign minister by Heiko Maas, who is a member of the same party, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s new government takes office on Wednesday.

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1:45 p.m.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said “it sounds” like Russia was responsible for the poisoning of an ex-spy and his daughter in England.

Trump told reporters he will discuss the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in southern England with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday.

“It sounds to me that they believe it was Russia and I would certainly take that finding as fact,” Trump said. He added the U.S. will condemn Russia if it agrees with Britain’s findings.

His comments came after May told Parliament it is “highly likely” Russia was to blame for the attack.

British police and intelligence reports say that the Skripals were poisoned by a military grade nerve agent produced in Russia.

___

12:40 p.m.

British police have cordoned off a parking lot ticketing machine in the southwestern city of Salisbury as authorities retraced the steps of a former Russian spy and his daughter targeted in a chemical weapons attack.

The ticketing machine near a shopping center in Salisbury, 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of London, was covered by a tent similar to those at other sites where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were seen during a March 4 excursion into the city.

A bench where the pair were found and markers for Skripal’s son and wife in a nearby graveyard are also beneath tents.

Authorities say the pair were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent and that Russia is “highly likely” to be behind it. Prime Minister Theresa May is demanding an explanation.

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12:25 p.m.

The French Foreign Ministry says the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain is “a totally unacceptable attack.”

Without mentioning Russia, the ministry said in a statement that France repeatedly expressed “its refusal of impunity for those who use or develop toxic agents.”

According to the statement, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke with his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, to express France’s solidarity to “a top and strategic ally.”

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12:20 p.m.

A senior European Union official is calling for an EU-wide response to the poisoning of a former spy amid questions over whether Russia is to blame.

European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said Tuesday that “we cannot have nerve gas being used in our societies. This should be addressed by all of us.”

He told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, that “it is of the utmost importance that those who are responsible for what has happened see very clearly that there is European solidarity, unequivocal, unwavering and very strong.”

Timmerman’s appeal is a show of solidarity amid tense negotiations on Britain’s departure from the EU next year.

Ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent in England last week and remain in critical condition.

___

Noon

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd says police and the domestic security service will look into a number of deaths in Britain that may be linked to Russia.

In a letter made public Tuesday, Rudd says the government takes seriously allegations that some 14 deaths may have some links to Russia.

“In the weeks to come, I will want to satisfy myself that the allegations are nothing more than that,” Rudd said. “The police and MI5 agree and will assist in that endeavor.”

BuzzFeed News reported in 2017 that some 14 deaths in Britain and the United States dating back to 2006 may have been linked to Russia. The cases include some prominent critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin including oligarch Boris Berezovsky and whistle-blower Alexander Perepilichny.

The list also includes former spy Alexander Litvinenko, killed by radioactive tea in 2006, a killing that British officials have linked to the Russian government.

___

11:50 a.m.

The British representative to the world’s chemical weapons watchdog says it is highly likely that Russia is implicated in the nerve agent attack on a former spy and his daughter “by failure to control its own materials or by design.”

Ambassador Peter Wilson told the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Tuesday that “I did not expect to have to brief this council on the first offensive use of a nerve agent of any sort on European territory since World War II.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter had been poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed in the Soviet Union.

Wilson has called the attack “not just a crime against the Skripals. It was an indiscriminate and reckless act against the U.K., which put the lives of innocent civilians at risk.” His comments to the closed-door meeting were tweeted by his delegation.

___

11:30 a.m.

The chairwoman of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament says Britain is trying to influence this weekend’s Russian presidential election by accusing Moscow of poisoning an ex-spy.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent in an English city last week and are in the hospital in critical condition.

Valentina Matviyenko, who is the third most senior official in Russia, said on Tuesday the British prime minister’s statement aims to “exert influence and pressure” on the March 18 vote.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday Russia is “highly likely” to be responsible for the attack.

___

11:20 a.m.

A former chief of Russia’s main domestic intelligence agency says another post-Soviet nation could be the source of a rare nerve agent that Britain said was responsible for poisoning a Russian ex-spy in an English city last week.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday that Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter had been poisoned with Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed in the Soviet Union near the end of the Cold War.

Nikolai Kovalyov, former chief of the FSB, told the Russian news agency on Tuesday that Novichok used to be stored in different parts of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine, which have since become independent nations, and that Ukraine or another post-Soviet nation could be the source of it.

Britain has asked the Russian ambassador in London to explain how the nerve agent turned up in the English city of Salisbury, leaving Skripal and his adult daughter in critical condition.

___

11:15 a.m.

Russian news agencies say the Foreign Ministry has summoned the British ambassador in Moscow over the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy.

The foreign ministry was quoted by Russian wires as saying that the ambassador must visit the ministry later on Tuesday.

Britain says a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union was used in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. It has demanded a response from Moscow.

___

10:40 a.m.

The chief of the world’s chemical weapons watchdog says that those responsible for the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter “must be held accountable.”

In a speech Tuesday to the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu said British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called him Monday evening to inform him of the results of investigations into the attack on 66-year-old Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia.

British Prime Minister Theresa May told Parliament that Russia is “highly likely” to blame for poisoning Skripal and his daughter with a military-grade nerve agent.

Uzumcu says that, “It is extremely worrying that chemical agents are still being used to harm people. Those found responsible for this use must be held accountable for their actions.”

Uzumcu’s comments to the closed-door meeting were released by the OPCW.

___

10:30 a.m.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Russia will only cooperate with Britain on the investigation into last week’s poisoning of an ex-Russian spy if it receives samples of the nerve agent that is believed to have sickened the ex-spy and his daughter.

Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday Moscow’s requests to see samples of the nerve agent have been turned down, which he called a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which outlaws the production of chemical weapons. He insisted that Russia is “not to blame” for the poisoning.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter had been poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed in the Soviet Union. May said Russia has until the end of Tuesday to explain how the substance ended up in Britain.

Lavrov said on Tuesday Moscow is willing to cooperate with the probe but suggested that London would be “better off” complying with its international obligations “before putting forward ultimatums.”

___

9:35 a.m.

Britain’s government is considering how to deal with the poisoning of an ex-spy as it awaits a Russian government response to its claim that Russian was involved.

Officials said Tuesday Prime Minister Theresa May is reviewing a range of economic and diplomatic measures.

May has said it is “highly likely” Russia was involved in the nerve agent poisoning of 66-year-old Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia. Both remain in critical condition.

The prime minister says Russia has until the end of Tuesday to explain its actions in the case, which focuses on a former Russian military intelligence officer who was convicted of spying for Britain and then released in a spy swap.

Former foreign minister David Miliband has urged May to seek support from Europe and the United States.

Who Will Protect the Dreamers?

As members of Congress worked against the March 5 deadline Donald Trump had imposed to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), two federal district courts ruled that DACA would continue — for now. On March 6, a third district court judge found Trump’s termination of DACA to be lawful. The conflict among the courts of appeals increases the likelihood that the Supreme Court will review the case. It remains to be seen whether Congress or the courts will ultimately take action to protect the Dreamers.

“Anguish and Anxiety” for Dreamers

When she was three years old, Maria, a now 32-year-old Dreamer, came to the United States from Mexico. She eventually put herself through San Diego State University and is now working her way through graduate school. She helped raise her developmentally disabled, sight-impaired US citizen sister while their mother, who has a green card, worked seven days a week.

Maria told Truthout that being sent back to Mexico is “unimaginable;” it would be “heartbreaking” to be forced to leave her family. “All the work, all the efforts, all the time and dedication I’ve put in would go to waste,” she said. Maria, who hopes to become a marriage and family counselor, is working full time at a children’s mental health program as she pursues her graduate studies. “I work providing hope to others,” she said. “My whole life is here. The uncertainty causes anguish and anxiety.”

Other Dreamers are anxious as well. “If there’s no permanent solution, I lose everything,” Eden N’Guessan stated at an event organized by the Staten Island Immigrants’ Council in New York. “I have to drop out [of school] and basically can’t work. I want to do social work and help the homeless, that’s my passion,” added N’Guessan, who arrived in the United States from West Africa at the age of eight, and whose comments were reported by the Staten Island Media Group.

“If I lose [DACA], I go back into the shadows again. I could [not] face going back to my native country, where it’s not home to me. [US] is home; this is where I was raised, this is my country,” said Jose Mejia, who was brought to the US when he was two years old. “If it expires, I lose everything. I lose my health care, my job, my schooling, and I’m not protected if I get deported,” he stated at the council meeting. “I pay taxes and work as a nursing assistant at Eggers; I take care of American senior citizens, I contribute just as much as any other American.”

The Obama administration established DACA in 2012 to grant people brought to the US before age 16 a reprieve from deportation if they continuously lived here, were enrolled in school and didn’t pose a threat to national security. DACA applicants were assured that the personal information they submitted would not be used to deport them.

Nearly 1 million undocumented immigrants came out of the shadows and applied for DACA. Successful applicants received work authorizations in renewable two-year increments. As of September 2017, approximately 700,000 people were actively enrolled in DACA.

On September 5, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that DACA would expire on March 5, 2018. Sessions claimed that Obama had violated the Constitution when he created DACA.

Constrained by Trump’s Demands, Congress Comes Up Short

Trump has vacillated on DACA — ordering a March 5 termination of the program, issuing statements supporting the Dreamers, appealing federal court decisions that keep DACA temporarily in place, and erecting insurmountable obstacles to a congressional solution.

After Sessions’s September 5 announcement, Trump tweeted, “Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama administration was unable to do). If they can’t, I will revisit this issue!” Promising a presidential revisiting of DACA flies in the face of his administration’s position that Obama had illegally bypassed Congress by establishing DACA. Two days later, in another tweet, Trump wrote, “For all those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the six month period, you have nothing to worry about — No action!”

Trump called the Dreamers “absolutely incredible kids” and “good, educated and accomplished young people.” He pledged, “We’re going to deal with DACA with heart … because, you know, I love these kids.” He later told reporters, “We love the Dreamers. We think the Dreamers are terrific.” Trump said he wanted “a bill of love.”

Yet when Congress members tried to hammer out a compromise bill to shield the Dreamers, Trump showed no love, opposing a standalone bill that would protect them. He indicated he would not sign any legislation that did not include $25 billion for his border wall, and an end to family migration and the diversity visa lottery program. When legislators could not agree on his terms, Trump accused Democrats of “doing nothing” to protect the Dreamers.

Trump is holding the Dreamers hostage to his rabid anti-immigrant base.

Two Federal Judges Temporarily Continue DACA

Meanwhile, two federal district court judges disagreed with Sessions and granted nationwide injunctions against the March 5 termination of DACA. Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ruled on January 9, 2018, and Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in New York ruled on February 13, 2018, that the plaintiffs challenging the termination of DACA were likely to prevail on the legal merits and would likely suffer irreparable harm if DACA were allowed to expire on March 5. The plaintiffs include individuals and several States as well. DACA recipients would lose their work authorizations and employer-sponsored health care coverage, and State plaintiffs would lose $215 billion in GDP over the next decade.

Both judges concluded the Trump administration’s decision to end DACA was “arbitrary and capricious.”

In his 55-page opinion, Judge Garaufis wrote the administration “acted arbitrarily and capriciously by ending that program without taking any account of reliance interests that program has engendered.” He cited DACA recipients who “raised families, invested in their education, purchased homes and cars, and started careers” and employers who hired, trained and invested time in DACA-recipient employees. “Former DACA recipients will be separated from their families and communities,” Judge Garaufis noted. “It is impossible to understand the full consequences of a decision of this magnitude.”

Judge Alsup likewise argued in his 49-page opinion that the termination of DACA “would tear authorized workers from our nation’s economy and would prejudice their being able to support themselves and their families, not to mention paying taxes to support our nation.” Moreover, “authorized workers will lose the benefit of their employer-provided healthcare plans and thus place a greater burden on emergency healthcare services,” he added.

“DACA is not unconstitutional simply because it was implemented by unilateral, executive action without express congressional authorization,” Judge Garaufis stated. “The Executive Branch has wide discretion not to initiate or pursue specific [immigration] enforcement actions.” His examples of “deferred action” included victims of trafficking and violence against women, foreign students affected by Hurricane Katrina, and some widows and widowers of US citizens.

In a footnote, Judge Garaufis said, “It is not clear how the President would ‘revisit’ the decision to rescind the DACA program if the DACA program were, as the Attorney General has stated, ‘an unconstitutional exercise of authority of the Executive Branch.'”

Both judges ruled that the administration must continue to accept renewal applications from current DACA enrollees but need not accept new applications.

But on March 6, 2018, Maryland federal district judge Roger W. Titus held that the Trump administration did not act arbitrarily and capriciously in ending DACA because its rationale was “based on recent court decisions and the advice of the Attorney General, that DACA was unlawful.” Judge Titus added, “Assuming that a reasonable basis for that belief exists in the Administrative Record, how could trying to avoid unlawful action possibly be arbitrary and capricious? Quite simply, it cannot.”

Judge Titus stated, however, “This Court does not like the outcome of the case, but is constrained by its constitutionally limited role to the result that it has reached. Hopefully, the Congress and the President will finally get the job done.”

The Courts’ Next Steps for DACA

In the ordinary course, these district court rulings would be appealed and reviewed by the circuit courts of appeals. The Supreme Court would then take up the cases after the appellate courts had ruled on them.

However, Trump asked the Supreme Court to bypass the circuit courts and conduct an expedited appeal of the district court injunctions. The high court circumvents intermediate appellate review only when a case is of “such imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal appellate practice.” This unusual procedure occurred when the nation’s steel production was threatened by a 1952 strike, and when Richard Nixon refused to relinquish White House tapes in 1974.

The Dreamers’ case does not satisfy that standard of urgency. Thus, the Supreme Court, without dissent, declined to review Trump’s appeals of the injunctions until after the circuit courts have issued their decisions. The high court stated that it expects the appeals courts to proceed expeditiously. A final determination could take a year and will probably not come before 2019.

Meanwhile, a September Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 86 percent of those polled support allowing the Dreamers to remain in the United States.

But until Congress or the courts take lasting action to protect them, the Dreamers remain in legal limbo.

Copyright, Truthout.org. Reprinted with permission.

National Geographic Owns Up to Its Years of Racist Coverage

WASHINGTON—National Geographic acknowledged on Monday that it covered the world through a racist lens for generations, with its magazine portrayals of bare-breasted women and naive brown-skinned tribesmen as savage, unsophisticated and unintelligent.

“We had to own our story to move beyond it,” editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg told The Associated Press in an interview about the yellow-bordered magazine’s April issue, which is devoted to race.

National Geographic first published its magazine in 1888. An investigation conducted last fall by University of Virginia photography historian John Edwin Mason showed that until the 1970s, it virtually ignored people of color in the United States who were not domestics or laborers, and it reinforced repeatedly the idea that people of color from foreign lands were “exotics, famously and frequently unclothed, happy hunters, noble savages_every type of cliché.”

For example, in a 1916 article about Australia, the caption on a photo of two Aboriginal people read: “South Australian Blackfellows: These savages rank lowest in intelligence of all human beings.”

In addition, National Geographic perpetuated the cliche of native people fascinated by technology and overloaded the magazine with pictures of beautiful Pacific island women.

This examination comes as other media organizations are also casting a critical eye on their past. The New York Times recently admitted that most of its obituaries chronicled the lives of white men, and began publishing obituaries of famous women in its “Overlooked” section.

In National Geographic’s April issue, Goldberg, who identified herself as National Geographic’s first woman and first Jewish editor, wrote a letter titled “For Decades, Our Coverage Was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past, We Must Acknowledge It.”

“I knew when we looked back there would be some storytelling that we obviously would never do today, that we don’t do and we’re not proud of,” she told AP. “But it seemed to me if we want to credibly talk about race, we better look and see how we talked about race.”

Mason said he found an intentional pattern in his review.

“People of color were often scantily clothed, people of color were usually not seen in cities, people of color were not often surrounded by technologies of automobiles, airplanes or trains or factories,” he said. “People of color were often pictured as living as if their ancestors might have lived several hundreds of years ago and that’s in contrast to westerners who are always fully clothed and often carrying technology.”

White teenage boys “could count on every issue or two of National Geographic having some brown skin bare breasts for them to look at, and I think editors at National Geographic knew that was one of the appeals of their magazine, because women, especially Asian women from the pacific islands, were photographed in ways that were almost glamour shots.”

National Geographic, which now reaches 30 million people around the world, was the way that many Americans first learned about the rest of the world, said professor Samir Husni, who heads the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi’s journalism school.

Making sure that kind of coverage never happens again should be paramount, Husni said. “Trying to integrate the magazine media with more hiring of diverse writers and minorities in the magazine field is how we apologize for the past,” Husni said.

Goldberg said she is doing just that, adding that in the past, the magazine has done a better job at gender diversity than racial and ethnic diversity.

“The coverage wasn’t right before because it was told from an elite, white American point of view, and I think it speaks to exactly why we needed a diversity of storytellers,” Goldberg said. “So we need photographers who are African-American and Native American because they are going to capture a different truth and maybe a more accurate story.”

National Geographic was one of the first advocates of using color photography in its pages, and is well known for its coverage of history, science, environmentalism and the far corners of the world. It currently can be found in 172 countries and in 43 languages every month.