Gotta say I'm surprised and gratified at the same time.
US Muslims raise more than $150,000 for families of Pittsburgh shooting victims
Groups say drive to raise funds sends ‘united message … that there is no place for this type of hate and violence’
American Muslims have raised more than $150,000 since Saturday for the families of those killed and injured in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, in a demonstration of interfaith solidarity.
CelebrateMercy and MPowerChange, non-profit Muslim organizations, launched an online drive to raise funds for the synagogue within hours of the shooting, in which 11 people were killed and six were injured. It reached its target of $25,000 in six hours.
“We wish to respond to evil with good, as our Islamic faith teaches us, and send a powerful message of compassion to the Jewish community – our Abrahamic cousins,” said Tarek El-Messidi, director of CelebrateMercy.
“Through this campaign, we hope to send a united message from the Jewish and Muslim communities that there is no place for this type of hate and violence in America or anywhere worldwide.”'We'll be there': Muslim community raises $70,000 for Pittsburgh synagogue attack victims – video
The Islamic Center of Pittsburgh will distribute funds to affected families in consultation with the Tree of Life synagogue, where the attack took place. The aim is to help with immediate needs such as funeral expenses and medical bills, said El-Messidi.
The first funerals, for brothers David and Cecil Rosenthal, were planned for Tuesday, relatives said.
In a statement posted on its website, the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh said: “The Pittsburgh Muslim community extends our deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims, their families, and all of our Jewish brothers and sisters. We condemn this hate crime unequivocally and denounce all forms of hatred and bigotry.
“The Pittsburgh community is our family; what happens to one of us, is felt by us all. May peace and blessings be upon all of us during this tragic time.”
Muslims also expressed solidarity with the synagogue on social media using the hashtag #Muslims4Pittsburgh.
Another online drive, launched by Shay Khatiri, a student from Iran attending Arizona State University, has raised more than $600,000 in donations.
Several interfaith vigils took place in Pittsburgh over the weekend.
Exclusive: Trump to terminate birthright citizenship
(I hope he can pull it off)
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President Trump plans to sign an executive order that would remove the right to citizenship for babies of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born on U.S. soil, he said yesterday in an exclusive interview for "Axios on HBO," a new four-part documentary news series debuting on HBO this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Why it matters: This would be the most dramatic move yet in Trump's hardline immigration campaign, this time targeting "anchor babies" and "chain migration." And it will set off another stand-off with the courts, as Trump’s power to do this through executive action is debatable, to say the least.
Trump told "Axios on HBO" that he has run the idea of ending birthright citizenship by his counsel and plans to proceed with the highly controversial move, which certainly will face legal challenges.
"It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don't," Trump said, declaring he can do it by executive order.
When told that's very much in dispute, Trump replied: "You can definitely do it with an Act of Congress. But now they're saying I can do it just with an executive order."
"We're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States ... with all of those benefits," Trump continued. "It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And it has to end."
"It's in the process. It'll happen ... with an executive order."
The president expressed surprise that "Axios on HBO" knew about his secret plan: "I didn't think anybody knew that but me. I thought I was the only one. "
Behind the scenes: "Axios on HBO" had been working for weeks on a story on Trump’s plans for birthright citizenship, based on conversations with several sources, including one close to the White House Counsel’s office.
The legal challenges would force the courts to decide on a constitutional debate over the 14th Amendment(aka anchor baby loophole), which says:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
It should read:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States of legal parents, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
This is just common sense! Think about it. Juan and Maria come here illegally have a kid and we reward them by making their offspring an American citizen? How stupid is that? Two wrongs make a right?
The reason for the 14th Amendment was to protect citizenship rights for the former slaves after the Civil War. We are long past that now. Of course, Democrats will be up in arms...after all, we're talking about their constituency.
Be smart: Few immigration and constitutional scholars believe it is within the president's power to change birthright citizenship, former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services chief counsel Lynden Melmed tells Axios.
But some conservatives have argued that the 14th Amendment was only intended to provide citizenship to children born in the U.S. to lawful permanent residents — not to unauthorized immigrants or those on temporary visas.
John Eastman, a constitutional scholar, and director of Chapman University's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence told "Axios on HBO" that the Constitution has been misapplied over the past 40 or so years. He says the line "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" originally referred to people with full, political allegiance to the U.S. — green card holders and citizens.
Michael Anton, a former national security official in the Trump administration, recently took up this argument in the Washington Post.
Anton said that Trump could, via executive order, "specify to federal agencies that the children of noncitizens are not citizens" simply because they were born on U.S. soil. (It’s not yet clear whether Trump will take this maximalist argument, though his previous rhetoric suggests there’s a good chance.)
But others — such as Judge James C. Ho, who was appointed by Trump to Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in New Orleans — say the line in the amendment refers to the legal obligation to follow U.S. laws, which applies to all foreign visitors (except diplomats) and immigrants. He has written that changing how the 14th Amendment is applied would be "unconstitutional."
Between the lines: Until the 1960s, the 14th Amendment was never applied to undocumented or temporary immigrants, Eastman said.
Between 1980 and 2006, the number of births to unauthorized immigrants — which opponents of birthright citizenship call "anchor babies" — skyrocketed to a peak of 370,000, according to a 2016 study by Pew Research. It then declined slightly during and following the Great Recession.
I guarantee you the number is much higher than that.
The Supreme Court has already ruled that children born to immigrants who are legal permanent residents have citizenship. But those who claim the 14th Amendment should not apply to everyone point to the fact that there has been no ruling on a case specifically involving undocumented immigrants or those with temporary legal status.
The bottom line: If Trump follows through on the executive order, "the courts would have to weigh in in a way they haven't," Eastman said.
Meghan McCain does some soul searching and admits her past rhetoric on “The View” was polarizing.
McCain said “she’s done so much soul-searching” and conceded she’s engaged in angry rhetoric
Example:
Very hateful indeed!!!
Think I'll send her a Hillary 2020 button.
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The news that a series of suspicious packages containing explosive devices were addressed to top Democratic figures and CNN inspired panic across the country this week – and ignited a conversation about political discourse in America, which has become increasingly polarized.
As the topic was discussed Thursday by the panel on "The View," co-host Meghan McCain admitted to her colleagues that "she's done so much soul-searching" recently, and was willing to admit that she had contributed to the angry rhetoric that is polarizing America. McCain specifically recalled a time when she adopted President Donald Trump's "Crooked Hillary" controversial nickname for his Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"I said I hate Hillary Clinton, and I called her 'Crooked Hillary.' And it's one of the things I regret doing because I contributed on television," "The View" co-host said. "Now, this is not saying that I agree with her. I have many vast differences of opinion on philosophy and ideology, and I didn't think she was a great candidate. But hate is not a word that should be coming out of my mouth on television about someone of a different political persuasion."
McCain like the rest of the Crew/ View is on bath salts. Crooked Hillary in this video lies about lying. She "doesn't believe" she ever lied. The plethora of lies she's told over the years is incalculable! For one that would make the Bosnian sniper a figment of our imagination.
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Unfortunately for McCain working with snakes became communicable.
McCain then called on her peers in the media to hold themselves accountable to "the same standard that I would like to hold the president."
"I implore everyone else in media because I think we should cop to our mistakes. And I'm damn sure going to continue doing what my father did," McCain added. "I thought, 'What have I done to contribute to the polarization in this country?' And that is one thing that I can own that I did, and I regret."
McCain's Thursday comments stood in sharp contrast to the remarks she made just one day earlier when she compared the bomb threats encountering Democrats to the heckling faced by Republican lawmakers and Trump administration officials in public eateries. "He's getting harassed and heckled when he goes out in public to have dinner," McCain said about Mitch McConnell.
Her statement came after co-host Joy Behar said that the Republican Party needs to more actively oppose the president's violent rhetoric before someone would get killed or injured. "Every time he says things like, 'The press is the enemy of the people,' his entire party needs to stand up against him and say something," Behar said. "Mitch McConnell, where is he? He's the leader of this party."
One migrant caravan member admits he's been deported and convicted of attempted murder in the U.S. - he's planning to reenter and request a pardon for his felony | @GriffJenkinspic.twitter.com/V2dpdu1nUX
