DACA – R&R – Reachout and Rebuild

Dreamer Rally at Zeldin’s office

David Posnett — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 05:19:28 +0000

About 100 people rallied in front of Zeldin’s office in Patchogue in support of Dreamers and a clean DACA bill on Feb 6. The rally was organized by Bend The Arc and co-sponsored by many local groups including R&R. Six Dem. candidates vying to run against Lee Zeldin were all present at the rally in support of the Dreamers and the activists (see pictures below).

Brendon Henry on the left (candidate)

Kate Browning (candidate)

Perry Gershon wearing the blue baseball cap (candidate)

David Pechefsky (candidate)

Vivian Viloria Fisher (candidate)

Also present was Bruce Miller (candidate) – no photo taken.

Check out the video on Facebook !

And these videos too:

https://longislandwins.com/news/video-advocates-rally-dreamers-congressman-zeldins-office/

Strongman Trump

David Posnett — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 05:21:06 +0000

Webster: “Strongman: a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way”

On Sep. 6, 2017, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, was rescinded by Pres. Donald Trump. Congress was given 6 months to fix DACA. Now Trump is asking for measures to curtail legal immigration, specially from countries where the population is not white and for funding for his wall, in exchange for a DACA fix.

At the top of his demands are 2 euphemisms: “the lottery” and “chain migration”.

“The Lottery” (the green-card lottery) issues up to 50,000 visas a year to people from dozens of countries: 5% of the roughly 1 million green cards issued annually. The aim is to mix up the nation’s melting pot. The 95% other green cards are given out based on an employer or a family sponsor. There is a long and tedious background check system in place for all green card applicants.

US immigration quotas have been around for over 100 years and we need not be proud of this. The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the USA through an origins quota. It completely excluded immigrants from Asia.

Even when you have your green card, there is another long waiting period for naturalization. I waited 26 years while working as a doctor in the US for naturalization.

In the context of Trump’s ‘shithole countries’ comment, one has to interpret his rescinding of “the lottery” system as an attempt to favor white versus non-white immigration, a blatant racial move applauded by the likes of David Duke and documented by his tweet that “Americans are Dreamers too”. Lee Zeldin approves!

“Chain Migration” – U.S. citizens and green card holders can petition for a spouse and unmarried children to join them in the USA. But no one can petition for an aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, in-law relative or grandparent, according to USCIS. There is a long queue for certain relatives seeking to come through family sponsorship. For brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens, the average waiting period for a visa is over 13 years.

The term ‘chain migration’ is used in the history books to describe the phenomenon of one family migrating to a new country (usually because of persecution or economic disaster), and then, when they find the new location to be safe and conducive to prosperity, they signal their extended family, or even their entire community, to join them. All immigrants to the US have followed this pattern, the Italians, the Irish, the Germans, including the Trump family!

So why all the hoopla? Because Trump wants to stir up emotion among his base. To this end he uses stories of individuals who entered this country via the lottery program and that committed atrocities, like the Uzbek terrorist’s attack in Lower Manhattan on Oct. 31, 2017.

This brings me back to DACA. Just like rescinding the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), rescinding DACA is quite unpopular, regardless of your politics. In the case of CHIP, the democrats prevailed and the program was saved. In both cases, Trump is/was trying to hold Democrats hostage: either you vote for funds for my wall, and my changes to legal immigration or you lose DACA. And for good measure Republicans (and that includes FOX news of course) will tar Dems with the responsibility of having doomed DACA!

Yes, these are strongman tactics and they are “cruel, unjust, and harmful”.

Zeldin has this to say: “My priority will always unapologetically remain with fighting for the people following the laws, rather than the ones breaking them.”

Uhm? A 5 year old child brought to this country (and now many years later a DACA recipient) was breaking the law? What does Zeldin expect? Is the 5 year old from Ecuador supposed to tell his/her parents “I am not going with you because you are breaking the US laws”. I say “Lee Zeldin, take a moment and think about your own kids.” This is a tragedy and we, as a nation, are complicit: these families were not prevented from coming and this has been occuring over many years and many administrations both Republican and Democratic. For 8 years that Obama was president the Republicans fought tooth and nail to prevent comprehensive immigration reform. Now they have inherited the mess. And their proposed solution: strongman tactics that are “cruel, unjust, and harmful”.

Sources:

Here’s what you need to know about the diversity visa lottery program

Jeff Sessions announces DACA program to be rescinded

How the United States Immigration System Works

Donald Trump’s misleading claim about chain migration, unlimited sponsorship of distant relatives

Trump’s DACA decision could strip thousands in New York of Medicaid coverage

David Posnett — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 14:57:01 +0000

When President Barack Obama created the DACA program in 2012, thousands of New Yorkers who were brought to the United States at a young age were suddenly eligible for Medicaid. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Trump administration’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program could strip thousands of New Yorkers of their health insurance, a consequence unique to New York that could focus the debate in Albany when the Legislature returns in January.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday that the Obama-era program, which granted legal status to approximately 800,000 children brought to the United States by their parents, would begin to unwind in six months.

That provides Congress a brief window to solve one of the nation’s most divisive issues. Should Congress fail, New York could face its own difficult choice: whether to continue providing Medicaid to the DACA population.

There are approximately 42,000 DACA recipients in New York. The vast majority are at risk for losing their job-based health insurance if they lose their legal right to work. The Department of Health could not say how many DACA recipients currently rely on Medicaid but estimates are between 5,000 and 10,000.

New York is one of the few states that provides health insurance to non-citizens, or people residing under the color of law (PRUCOL). That’s because of a 2001 Court of Appeals ruling that said denying Medicaid to any legal resident violated the equal protection clauses of the New York and U.S. constitutions. As a result, immigrants in New York who are not citizens, but are living in the state lawfully, are entitled to Medicaid.

When President Barack Obama created the DACA program in 2012, thousands of New Yorkers who were brought to the United States at a young age were suddenly eligible for Medicaid. It also allowed them to pay taxes.

Because the federal government does not recognize the state court’s decision, New York, which usually receives a 50 percent match for Medicaid expenses, pays the full cost for insuring these immigrants.

If they lose their DACA status and revert to being undocumented immigrants in the eyes of the law, they may also lose their right to Medicaid.

Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives for the Community Service Society and a co-founder of Health Care For All New York, said the status of these immigrants is unclear.

She pointed to Trump’s statement, which said these DACA recipients would not be a priority for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That may mean they are still residing under the color of law because they are not under immediate threat of deportation.

It’s a bit of a legal stretch, but even if the law isn’t on her side, she said, Gov. Andrew Cuomo should continue to have the state Medicaid program cover DACA recipients.

“I would advocate they be covered under state-only Medicaid,” she said.

Will they?

“That’s the $64,000 question,” she said.

Cuomo’s office did not immediately say whether the state would extend coverage to DACA recipients who lost their protected status. The Department of Health did release a statement, saying Trump’s decision “not only displaces roughly 42,000 innocent New Yorkers whose young lives are intertwined in the very fabric of our communities, it jeopardizes access to affordable health care for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who call America home. New York State believes it has a legal and moral obligation to exhaust every available avenue to protect immigrants and their families by providing comprehensive access to health care, regardless of circumstance.”

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, a Democrat from Manhattan and chair of the health committee, said the Assembly “will do whatever is necessary to fill gaps caused by federal action.”

“New York has for years provided health coverage for many undocumented immigrants using State-only dollars, including Child Health Plus coverage for children regardless of immigration status,” Gottfried said in an email. “We will not change this regardless of Federal policy.”

Presumably, this would mean helping to insure those who lose their employer-sponsored coverage and need Medicaid. In New York that would mean the state could potentially fund Medicaid for all 42,000 DACA-status immigrants.

Rep. Tom Reed, a Republican from western New York, said Trump was “very wise” to recognize that DACA is not something that can be done by executive order.

“That which is done by the pen can be undone by the pen,” said Reed, who favors a legislative solution that protects children brought here by their parents.

But if that effort fails, Reed had reservations about the state picking up the Medicaid tab, given its already sizable Medicaid budget, which Reed called “mind boggling.”

The problem, he said, is how to draw the line. How can the state award Medicaid to some undocumented immigrants but not all? And if it is offered to all, then how can the state afford to cover them?

“From my perspective, if Albany wants to do that, I’ll defer to the state,” Reed said. “But they really should let folks know what they are doing in terms of expanding the program.”

While the state might have to cover more people, Benjamin drew a distinction between the DACA population and other undocumented immigrants. The DACA group, she said, has already made themselves known to ICE, further bolstering the argument the state could make that they are residing under color of law, while other undocumented immigrants are not.

“It is the state who decides who is PRUCOL and who is not,” she said.