Palestinian Americans decry Biden support for both sides in Israel conflict


Palestinians shop in the Old City of Bethlehem, West Bank, on January 27 after U.S. President Joe Biden's administration announced it would 
restore relations and aid to the Palestinians. File Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Prior to the 2020 election, some Palestinian Americans said that although Joe Biden was a better choice than President Donald Trump, he was still "the lesser of two evils."

Six days after taking office, the Biden administration announced the United States would restore relations with Palestine, renew aid to Palestinian refugees, reopen the Palestine Liberation Organization's mission office in Washington and rejoin the U.N. Human Rights Council.

But the administration will also continue supporting Israel, a commitment some Palestinian Americans say outweighs the commitment to Palestine.

Mohamad Habehh, national development coordinator for American Muslims for Palestine, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing Palestinian rights through advocacy and education in the United States, said the Biden administration has not shown that it is willing to change harmful policies and actions of the Trump administration, most notably by not rescinding the decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"Biden has claimed to want to be a neutral party," Habehh said. "But the truth is, I don't feel that any announcement he's made as of yet has shown that he is willing to do more than return to the status quo of the pre-Trump era" under former President Barack Obama.

Habehh said the United States is the biggest supporter of Israel, diplomatically and financially.

Lamese Ballout, a Palestinian American living in suburban Chicago, said she's glad Biden seems to be taking steps to support Palestinians, but his commitment to Israel is contradictory, although not surprising.
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"I don't think you can expect an American president to not be pro-Israel," Ballout said. "That's always been America's agenda."

The relationship with Israel dates back to 1948 when the United States was the first country to recognize it as a state when it declared independence.

But Israel's independence coincides with its occupation of Palestine, which University of California law professor and Middle East scholar George Bisharat calls a "modern incarnation of settler colonialism."

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"Israel is a settler colonial state that was founded in an era of decolonization as the rest of the world's colonizing powers were withdrawing from Africa, from the Middle East and other regions of the world," Bisharat said.

Conflicting data on the total Arab American population makes it difficult to accurately estimate the population of Palestinian Americans, but the largest estimate is only around 180,000. Because of this, Bisharat said Palestinian Americans are "not capable of exerting the kind of political pressure that is exerted on the other side."

Nevertheless, Habehh said, some members of Congress have supported the Palestinian cause, such as Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., who introduced two bills between 2017 and 2019 bringing attention to the Palestinian struggle by focusing on the conflict's impact on children.

Bisharat acknowledged that, while Biden's actions are less "crude" and "abrasive" than the Trump administration's, there is no significant change in American policies toward Palestine or Israel. In fact, Bisharat said, Biden's steps are potentially more injurious than the previous administration's policies.

Palestinian American Ismail Abu Hayyeh, whose family fled from their village in 1948 because of the Israeli occupation, said while Biden's attempts to restore relations with Palestine look good on the surface, there is no true way to support both Israel and Palestine.

Abu Hayyeh said the support to both sides "makes absolutely no sense because you're funding an ally" that is actively oppressing another population.

To Abu Hayyeh and Bisharat, "meaningful action" by the Biden administration would be instructing Israel to stop settling the West Bank and withdrawing all military and other support.

Habehh said that to show dedication to the Palestinian cause, the Biden administration "should be willing to hold Israel accountable" for its occupation.

Biden supports a two-state solution as the way to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The solution would divide Palestine and Israel into two countries: Palestine for the Arab population and Israel for the Jewish population. But for many Palestinian Americans, this solution is unacceptable.

Ballout, however, said the two-state solution could offer something to both sides of the conflict and shows Biden is trying to do something to resolve it. But to her family in Palestine, a two-state solution would be an offering of "crumbs."

"I know my family back home would be like, 'We're never gonna settle,'" Ballout said.

Abu Hayyeh ardently opposes the two-state solution, saying it would legitimize Israel's right to land that belonged to Palestinians, including his family. He said he supports a one-state solution but only under certain circumstances.

"I wouldn't want that government to be a primarily Israeli government because we know where that would lead," Abu Hayyeh said. "If we are to have a one-state solution, it has to be a Palestinian state, under a Palestinian Authority."

Bisharat said that after discussing the idea for nearly 25 years, the time has passed for the two-state solution, noting that the number of settlers in the West Bank tripled during those years to more than 460,000 Israelis living in the occupied West Bank.

"There's no way those settlers are ever going to be moved," Bisharat said. "Likewise, there is no way to establish a truly sovereign Palestinian state in the remaining territories that are discontiguous."

Bisharat said the solution is one-state with both sides as equal partners.

"People have to muster the political courage to reach for it, including politicians in the United States," he said.


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Bible fragments, 10,500-year-old basket discovered in Jerusalem

(13 images)

The Israel Antiquities Authority recently made exciting discoveries on an excavation in the Muraba'at Cove in the Judean Desert near Jerusalem. Here's a look at some of their findings and behind the scenes from the caves.

Archeologist Dr. Naama Sukenik shows a 10,500-year old basket discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Muraba'at Cove in the Judean Desert at the IAA laboratories in Jerusalem, on Tuesday. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI 

The 10,500-year-old basket is seen as it was found in the Muraba'at Cave. The excavation operations have been undertaken since 2017. Photo courtesy of Yoli Schwartz/Israel Antiquities Authority

The moment preparatory program students discovered the 10,500-year-old basket in the Muraba'at Cave. The basket is likely the oldest complete basket in the world. Photo courtesy of Yaniv Berman/Israel Antiquities Authority

 
Scroll conservationist Tanya Bitler points to a parchment section of a scroll that was part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Scroll conservationist Tanya Bitler displays parchment biblical fragments and a scroll section discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority. This is the first time in approximately 60 years that bible fragments were uncovered. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Phot

Additional finds from the Jewish rebels who fled to the caves in the Judea Desert at the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt were discovered, such as this ancient lice comb. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

An archeologist holds coins from the Bar Kokhba period. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Archeologist Dr. Naama Sukenik shows woven fabric discovered in the Muraba'at Cove. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Roman arrowheads from the Roman period are on display from the operation. Photo courtesy of Dafna Gazit/Israel Antiquities Authority

Archeologist Chaim Cohen shows a 2,000-year-old sandal. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Archeologist Dr. Naama Sukenik (R) shows ancient rope pieces discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Excavations were made in challenging conditions in Muraba‘at Cave. Photo courtesy of Yoli Schwartz/Israel Antiquities Authority

Archaeologists Hagay Hamer (L) and Oriah Amichai sieve finds at the entrance to the Cave of Horror in the caves of the Judean Desert. Photo courtesy of Eitan Klein/Israel Antiquities Authority

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American, United Airlines cancel furloughs for 30K workers after new COVID-19 aid


A masked United Airlines ticket agent is seen at St. Louis-Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Mo., on March 28, 2020. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

March 11 (UPI) -- American Airlines and United Airlines have canceled furloughs for almost 30,000 workers who would have lost their jobs next month if Congress hadn't passed President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan.

The carriers are recalling about 27,000 combined furlough notices that they'd previously announced. They said in their notices that the furloughs would occur in April if key federal payroll funding wasn't renewed by Congress.

The House passed the $1.9 trillion relief package on Wednesday, which extended the payroll aid for airlines.

"Congress has saved thousands of airline jobs, preserved the livelihoods of our hard-working team members and helped position the industry to play a central role in the nation's recovery," American CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom said in a joint statement.

"We are forever grateful."

United had sent notices to about 14,000 workers and American about 13,000.

"Our teams will be able to remain current in their training and ready to match expected future demand," United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement.

"Thousands of front-line workers will now receive paychecks and healthcare through September, which is especially critical while vaccine distribution continues to ramp up."

Under the renewed aid, U.S. carriers cannot furlough any workers until at least October. The CARES Act last year, which offered similar aid, had the same requirement.

US Labor Dept. moves to rescind two Trump-era rules on worker classification

March 11 (UPI) -- The Biden administration on Thursday announced it is working to rescind two Trump-era rules it says weakened worker protections.

In the latest move by the administration of President Joe Biden to roll back the policies of his predecessor, the Labor Department said in a statement it has proposed to withdraw two rules that concern the classifications of workers and contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The first rule called the Independent Contractor Final Rule, which was issued in the final weeks of the Donald Trump presidency, sought to clarify the standard for employee versus independent contractor while the second rule updated guidance for determining joint employer status, which was mostly vacated by the court last year deeming it violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

"Rescinding these rules would strengthen protections for workers, including the essential front-line workers who have done so much during these challenging times," Jessica Looman, the Wage and Hour Division's principal deputy administrator, said. "While legitimate independent contractors are an important part of our economy, the misclassification of employees as independent contractors denies workers access to critical benefits and protections that law provides."
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The department said the comment period on the rules is open until April 12.

The announcement came a day after the department said it would stop enforcing two other Trump-era rules concerning retirement plans as it reviews them.

The department said it came to this decision after hearing from a wide variety of stakeholders including labor organizations and consumer groups about the impacts of the Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments and Fiduciary Duties Regarding Proxy Voting and Shareholder Rights.

said the interested parties had raised issues over whether they were rushed unnecessarily and implemented without considering evidence submitted by public commenters.

"The department has also heard from stakeholders that the rules, and investor confusion about the rules, and investor confusion about them, have already had a chilling effect on appropriate integration of ESG factors in investment decisions, including in circumstances that the rules may in fact allow," it said.

Ali Khawar, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, said the department will continue to conduct stakeholder outreach over the rules to see how they can be better crafted.

"These rules have created a perception that fiduciaries are at risk if they include any environmental, social and governance factors in the financial evaluation of plan investments, and that they may need to have special justifications for even ordinary exercises of shareholder rights," Khawar said.

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Canadian firm builds satellites to track space trash

By Paul Brinkmann
3/11/2021


An illustration shows a space debris-tracking satellite that is under construction by Canadian firm NorthStar. Image courtesy of NorthStar

An illustration depicts orbital debris, or space trash, above the Earth. Image courtesy of European Space Agency

March 11 (UPI) -- A Canadian startup plans to launch the first-ever commercial fleet of satellites designed to track dangerous space trash in 2022.

Montreal-based NorthStar Earth & Space has three of its Skylark satellites under construction for the new network, which eventually will number about 52 spacecraft.

The fleet would be the first of its kind to track space trash from space, rather than from ground-based radar or other technology.

The satellites would address an orbital debris problem that NASA says is growing and "poses a safety risk to people and property in space and on Earth." Most space trash travels at about 18,000 mph, almost seven times faster than a bullet.

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"We looked at the way [debris tracking] was being done on the ground, and we said it would be better to do it from space," said Stewart Bain, NorthStar co-founder and CEO.

"Our goal is to make it much easier to navigate your satellite in space so you don't have to have a Ph.D. in imagery or $100 million worth of equipment to be able to process the information," Bain said.

The satellites, being built by France-based Thales Alenia Space, will be relatively small at 220 pounds, with a telescope and small thrusters. NorthStar has raised $65 million for the first stages of the satellite program, some of it from the Canadian government.

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The company is talking to launch providers and plans to choose one soon, Bain said. He declined to say which providers he's considering, but said it would be one with a proven track record.

NorthStar's satellites would image known space objects about six times per day when fully operational, Bain said. That compares with only sporadic observations available for certain objects today, especially if they are owned by a nation that doesn't publish details about their space operations, such as China or Russia.

NorthStar's tracking would provide about 80% to 90% more accurate distance predictions for two space objects, according to the company.
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For example, ground-based tracking systems predicted two satellites that collided in 2009 would be almost 2,000 feet away from each other at the closest point. NorthStar said its system would have sounded an alarm with a "miss distance" of only around 200 feet apart.

In that instance, one of the satellites -- Iridium 33 -- could have moved away from the other, a defunct Russian craft named Kosmos-2251. The collision produced 2,000 pieces of debris, one of which passed fewer than 400 feet away from the International Space Station in 2012.

"We can't afford to have significant accidents in space as we are watching companies like SpaceX and OneWeb launch thousands of new satellites," Bain said. "We just can't afford to delay this anymore."

Once NorthStar launches 12 of its Skylark satellites to monitor space debris, it plans to launch dozens more that also have Earth-imaging capability to attract more customers, he said.

NorthStar's plans are a significant step toward better space debris tracking, also known as situational awareness, said Moriba Jah, associate professor of aerospace at the University of Texas at Austin.

Jah, who has provided technical advice to NorthStar, said the company's spacecraft are only a good first step toward better management of space traffic.

That's because even a space-based observation system like NorthStar's must still send data to and from the Earth for processing, and that causes delays, Jah said.

"The goal should be that each space-based platform or spacecraft has the computational framework onboard, to be able to process data and actually extract information from the data without having to send it to the ground," he said.

Most current U.S.-based satellite networks only have data about where their own satellites are, and they rely on data from the U.S. military to make any automatic adjustments to flight paths for collision avoidance, Jah said. Such reliance on third-party data also produces delays.

NASA and other space agencies around the world have knowledge gaps regarding space debris that could be filled with better data and space-based systems, Jah said.

There may be orbital planes where "you shouldn't put anything else up there because, basically, it's just going to lead to more debris," he said.

'Big brood' of cicadas set to emerge for first time since 2004

By Mark Puleo, Accuweather.com
MARCH 10, 2021 


"The big cicada-palooza is about to begin!"

Those are the words of entomologist and bug enthusiast Michael Raupp from the University of Maryland. In a couple of months, he said, billions if not trillions of singing cicadas will emerge from the ground across a large swath of the eastern United States. It will be a party that has been 17 years in the making.

Since 2004, if you're a Brood X cicada, you've likely been counting down the days until May 2021.

As May's warmer weather approaches, large swaths of Brood X cicadas will emerge from their 17-year underground hiatus and cover much of the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes regions, spreading over 15 states with their loud buzzing and egg laying.

Raupp told AccuWeather that it remains a general mystery as to how cicadas know when 17 years has passed or what triggers their re-emergence. However, he did say that soil temperature likely plays a crucial role.

"What we know is that when soil temperatures reach roughly 64 degrees Fahrenheit at a depth of about a foot or 18 inches, that is the signal -- that's Mother Nature's clue -- that the world is now warm enough for cicadas to get up and out of the ground," Raupp said. That temperature is crucial for cicadas because by that point, leaves will have sprouted on tree branches -- something needed for egg laying, he added. "That's basically their environmental cue that the world is now warm enough to get out of the ground and do the business that cicadas are gonna do."

While Brood X, or Brood 10, is not the largest group of periodical cicadas, the brood has tremendous reach across the eastern United States and puts them on a lot of peoples' radar.

There are 15 periodical broods of cicadas and two appear to have gone extinct. As opposed to annual broods, which emerge every year from July to September, periodical broods stay underground for either 13 or 17 years, depending on the brood.

According to Raupp, this one is unique because it is known as "the big brood" and has the largest geographic distribution, with cicada populations ranging from Georgia up to New York. With cicadas emerging across an area that widespread, and with so many stuck in their homes due to the pandemic, it will make for a wonderful learning opportunity for millions of people, Raupp said.

"There are simply going to be billions if not trillions of periodical cicadas emerging from the ground," Raupp said. On "bright, sunny days in May," he advises, "get outside, enjoy those songs, go watch some cicadas. It's gonna be spectacular."

Once outside, the sunniest days of the midsummer will also be the noisiest, he said. The three distinct species of cicadas in Brood X all have distinct calls, he said, and the combination is sure to make for a boisterous chorus.

Raupp said that on bright, sunny days when the greatest number of cicadas are active, "It's really gonna be loud." How loud? The noise created by Brood X "can be as loud as 80 to 100 decibels," Raupp added. "That's the sound equivalent of a lawnmower or a jet aircraft going overhead. So they're gonna be having fun, it's gonna be noisy."

During their 17-year stay underground, the cicadas aren't exactly napping. John Cooley, a researcher with the University of Connecticut, told AccuWeather last year that in the years between emergences, cicadas are busy eating tree roots and digging tunnels.

This coming spring, AccuWeather meteorologists say temperatures should be ripe for their midspring emergence.

"This May should be 1-2 degrees above normal, which means many days with highs in the upper 70s and low 80s and nighttime lows in the 50s and low 60s," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dale Mohler said.

Conditions in Washington, D.C., in early May may be perfect for the Brood X cicadas to make their return.

Mohler also said that there is a small risk of a late frost the first week of May, especially in northwestern Maryland and northern Virginia, but the risk of a late frost after May 8 is very low.

"Rainfall this May should be a little above normal," he said. "Normal rainfall for the month of May is 4-5 inches. I would expect rainfall this May to be 5 to 5.50 inches. There may be slightly lower amounts of sunshine this May, compared to normal, while humidity levels may be a little above normal."

Farther west, historical averages in Illinois and Michigan also suggest that May should make for an ideal time for arrivals.

In 2017, Brood X cicadas prematurely showed up in the Baltimore area and experts such as Raupp believe those early risers may have been "accelerators" of this year's brood, a group that appears abnormally early.

"Brood X is the 17-year group living in the capital region and will be emerging next spring. Of course, leaving the fate of your brood up to one year is very risky, so periodical cicadas also have some individuals that emerge a little early or a little late," Raupp previously wrote. "These "stragglers" hedge against less productive years. Stragglers that start broods of their own are called 'accelerations.' The cicadas that emerged in this region in 2017 may have been an 'acceleration' of Brood X."

Should the 2021 crew show up as expected, it would mark the 18th documented appearance of the Brood X cicadas, dating back to their first chronicling in 1715. According to The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, the brood was first noted by the Rev. Andreas Sandel in Philadelphia and then again by botanist John Bartram in 1732.

After their third emergence in 1746, Swedish explorer Pehr Kalm wrote about his amazement at the brood's vast spread and how constant their buzzing was.

"The general opinion is that these insects appear in these fantastic numbers in every 17th year. Meanwhile, except for an occasional one which may appear in the summer, they remain underground," he wrote in 1756 paper for a Swedish academic journal.

In popular culture, this particular brood has worked its way into books, poems and even in Bob Dylan's song, "Day of the Locusts". Dylan's 1970 album New Morning came out the same year Brood X cicadas swarmed Princeton, N.J., where he went on to receive an honorary degree that summer.

While Dylan referred to them as locusts in his song, thinking they were other noisy insects from the summer, historical appearances of the Brood X show they were likely this exact brood of cicadas descending on his area.

"And the locusts sang off in the distance Yeah, the locusts sang such a sweet melody Oh, the locusts sang off in the distance Yeah, the locusts sang and they were singin' for me."


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CONSIDER IT SECULAR PHYSICAL EXCERCISE

Alabama House votes to end ban on yoga in public schools


People participate in yoga classes in Times Square to celebrate the Summer Solstice on the first day of Summer in New York City on June 21, 2019. The Alabama House voted to end its ban on yoga in public schools Thursday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

March 12 (UPI) -- The Alabama House of Representatives voted Thursday to end its prohibition on teaching yoga in public schools, a step that could end a nearly 30-year ban.

Rep. Jeremy Gray, who has been trying to lift the ban for the past three years, said he was introduced to yoga while playing college football at North Carolina State and said it can benefit young people.

The state banned yoga from K-12 public schools in 1993 because some conservative groups were concerned about its connection to eastern religions.

The new bill would allow local school boards to offer yoga as an elective and set rules on how it is presented. It will allow students to learn and practice poses, exercises and stretching techniques, but forbids chanting, mantras, mudras, use of mandalas and namaste greetings.

"I think that a lot of people are just miseducated," Gray told AL.com. "A lot of my colleagues just got a lot of emails about it being a part of Hinduism. If you can do it at the local YMCA, you can do it at churches, why is it a problem when it comes to K through 12 public schools? Some people, you can never change their minds. If you have to vote your district, I understand that."

Joe Godfrey, executive director of Alabama Citizens Action Program, a Christian advocacy group, said offering yoga would set a double standard.

"It's the Hindu religion," Godfrey told NBC News last year. "It's an issue of separation of church and state. You'll hear people invoke that when it comes to Christianity because they don't want prayer in school. Yet they want to teach yoga?"

In the group's legislative update earlier this month, it claimed Gray's bill would allow "the Hindu religious practice of yoga" to be taught.

"ALCAP is opposed to this bill and urges legislators to vote NO on HB246," the update said.

The bill still has to pass the Alabama Senate and then has to be signed by Gov. Kay Ivey

Mississippi Is Banning Trans Girls And Women From School Sports

Supporters say they're "defending women's sports," but opponents — including hundreds of college athletes — say it's simply discrimination.

THEY NEVER MENTION TRANSMEN IN THEIR LAWS

SO I GUESS THEY ARE OK SHARING A BATHROOM 

OR SHOWEROOM WITH THEM

Stephanie K. Baer BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on March 11, 2021


Stephen Groves / AP
People march from the South Dakota governor's mansion to the state capitol in Pierre Capitol to protest a bill that would ban trans athletes from playing in girls and women sports.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law Thursday a ban on transgender student-athletes playing girls' and women's sports, part of a wave of Republican-led efforts to exclude trans people from athletics.

Similar bills have been introduced in more than 20 states since last year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, with a purported goal of "saving women's sports." But the NCAA has had policies to allow trans athletes to participate in sports for years, and opponents of the legislation say it's simply about discrimination.


Mississippi's law comes after President Joe Biden signed an executive order Jan. 20 underlining protections for LGBTQ people. It explicitly referenced school sports as an area where discrimination should not be tolerated as it directed federal agencies to enforce the US Supreme Court's 2020 ruling that the federal ban on sex discrimination in workplaces also protects employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

After signing the bill on Thursday, Reeves, a Republican, specifically mentioned Biden's order in a statement on Twitter, saying, "POTUS left us no choice."

"One of his first acts was to sign an EO encouraging transgenderism in children. So today, I proudly signed the Mississippi Fairness Act to ensure young girls are not forced to compete against biological males," the governor tweeted.

Barring any legal challenges, the law is set to take effect July 1 and will apply to interscholastic teams from elementary school all the way up to the collegiate level.


Other states could follow within the coming days. On Monday, after South Dakota's legislature passed their version of the bill, Gov. Kristi Noem tweeted that she was "excited" to sign it into law, describing its passage as a celebration of International Women's Day "by defending women's sports."

Proponents of the measures have argued that trans athletes have unfair physical advantages over their cis counterparts but have offered little evidence to back that up. (A 2016 review of literature about transgender sports participation found "no direct or consistent research" to suggest that's the case.)

"There's really no evidence that there is this categorical advantage that trans athletes have some specific type of advantage by virtue of being trans," Jett Jonelis, advocacy manager for the ACLU of South Dakota, told BuzzFeed News, saying that those arguments are based on inaccurate stereotypes about biology, athleticism, and gender.

Jonelis argued legislation that prevents trans girls and women from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity actually hurts all women, "particularly girls of color whose bodies are so often subject to heavier scrutiny."

"There's nothing about this bill that is a celebration," they said.

Sasha Buchert, senior attorney and codirector of Lambda Legal’s Transgender Rights Project, said in a statement that the Mississippi law and the bill on the governor's desk in South Dakota will only "exacerbate the bullying and discrimination" that trans young people already face "simply because of who they are."

“Supporters of this legislation cannot point to a single case in their states to justify the rank discrimination they seek to enshrine," Buchert said. The Associated Press last week asked two dozen lawmakers if there had been problems with trans girls competing in high school sports in their states; almost none could provide an example.


In August, a federal judge blocked a similar ban in Idaho after determining that the state failed to provide proof that allowing trans athletes to compete in sports that align with their gender identity would "hinder sex equality" in sports.



Pat Eaton-Robb / AP
Trans athletes Andraya Yearwood, far left, and Terry Miller, second from left, compete in the 55-meter dash at a 2019 track meet in Connecticut.


"The State has not identified a legitimate interest served by the Act that the preexisting rules in Idaho did not already address, other than an invalid interest of excluding transgender women and girls from women's sports entirely, regardless of their physiological characteristics," Judge David Nye wrote in an order granting the ACLU's motion for a preliminary injunction.

In a statement Thursday, the ACLU of Mississippi accused state lawmakers of using students and children as "political pawns" to discriminate against trans people, saying the bill was not really about protecting fairness in women's sports.

"It’s about erasing and excluding trans people from participation in all aspects of public life," the ACLU affiliate said. "Not once have the supporters of this bill cited an actual dispute over this issue in Mississippi."

On Wednesday, a group of more than 500 collegiate athletes sent a letter to the NCAA, demanding the association stop holding championships and events in states that have adopted or are considering bills that would prohibit trans athletes from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

The athletes said even with the court's injunction, the Idaho law "sets a dangerous precedent of subjecting all women athletes to potential invasive gender verification tests while also effectively banning transgender women athletes from competition." Mississippi's law states that if a student's gender is disputed, they could provide a physician's statement to prove their sex, which must only be based on their reproductive anatomy, "normal endogenously produced" testosterone levels, and an analysis of their genetic makeup.





"It is imperative that we know we are safe and supported in the NCAA no matter where we travel to compete," the letter reads. "The NCAA claims to prioritize the safety, excellence, and physical and emotional well being of its student athletes and asserts that all athletes deserve a fair shot. However, it is impossible for women athletes to feel safe and supported in environments where their personal identity and integrity is questioned."

In a statement provided to the Associated Press, the NCAA, which has had policies in place that allow trans athletes to participate in sports since 2011, said it was monitoring the legislation.


“The NCAA believes in fair and respectful student-athlete participation at all levels of sport,” the statement says. “The NCAA believes diversity and inclusion improve the learning environment and it encourages its member colleges and universities to support the well-being of all student-athletes.”


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Senators Are Calling On Biden To Issue New Protections For Haitian Immigrants Already In The US

The letter puts more pressure on President Joe Biden at a time when Haiti faces increased political instability and higher rates of kidnapping and violent crime.

BUZZFEED Posted on March 12, 2021,

Dave Mcfadden / AP
A boy plays with a discarded tire at a borderland encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-à-Pitres, Haiti.


Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez and his Republican colleague, Marco Rubio, called on the Biden administration Friday to issue a new round of deportation protections for Haitian immigrants in the US due to the deteriorating situation in their home country, according to a letter obtained by BuzzFeed News.

The senators want a new round of Temporary Protected Status protections for Haitians in the US. The letter puts more pressure on President Joe Biden at a time when Haiti faces increased political instability and higher rates of kidnapping and violent crime.


“We write to express our deep concern about the complicated economic, security, and humanitarian challenges in Haiti and respectfully request that you consider redesignating Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Haiti’s protracted political crisis exacerbates the severe and prolonged humanitarian needs sparked by the 2010 earthquake,” the senators wrote in a letter intended for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “While the Government of Haiti has been able to receive limited numbers of Haitian nationals removed from the United States, it lacks the capacity to provide the needed reception and care for tens of thousands of returnees.”


Ramon Espinosa / AP
A Haitian immigrant sits on the remains of what was used to be a house in a 

neighborhood destroyed by Hurricane Dorian, in Abaco, Bahamas, in September 2019.

Such a redesignation would expand the pool of Haitians in the US eligible for the TPS program.

BuzzFeed News previously reported that DHS officials acknowledged in an internal report that “based on a recent analysis of conditions in Haiti, USCIS believes that Haitians removed to Haiti may face harm upon return to Haiti as follows.”

The DHS document goes on to explain the conditions in the country and relies exclusively on publicly available information, including a State Department travel advisory from August that recommended not traveling to Haiti due to “crime, civil unrest, kidnapping, and COVID-19.”

The travel advisory explained that kidnapping and violent crime, including armed robbery, was widespread, and that local police may lack the resources to help. The DHS document cited an InSight Crime report from July that the Haitian government was using gangs to “repress the opposition.”

Voice of America also reported that a UN official said this week that half the Haitian population needed humanitarian assistance.

The situation in Haiti has further deteriorated in recent months, according to the DHS report, which documents how Haitian President Jovenel Moïse has been ruling without a legislative body since January 2020 and that there are concerns he is becoming “increasingly authoritarian as he relies on executive decrees to accomplish his agenda.” Meanwhile, protests have rocked the country, and the government has “employed violence” against demonstrators, according to the report.

The Obama administration previously provided temporary protected status for Haitians who had been in the US continuously since 2010 after an earthquake hit near the capital of Port-au-Prince and more than 200,000 people were estimated to have been killed. Those who are granted TPS are also given work permits.

The Trump administration sought to undo the temporary protected status — an administration official even pressed colleagues for research documenting criminal activity of Haitians in the US — as part of its efforts to restrict immigration. The plans, however, were later scuttled after federal court decisions.


Last year, a federal appeals court finally allowed the Trump administration to move forward with their plans to cut the protections, but in December, DHS extended the TPS status for roughly 50,000 people who already had it until October.

“As the United States engages with the Haitian government to help chart a way forward, a TPS redesignation would provide a much-needed reprieve for upwards of 55,000 Haitians in the United States, including current Haitian TPS beneficiaries,” Rubio and Menendez wrote. “It would also lessen the burden on the Haitian people, government, and aid organizations, and mitigate risks of further destabilization.”

DHS officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Immigrant advocates have increasingly called on the Biden administration to scale back deportations and turn-backs of Haitians at the border.

“Increasing political and societal violence in Haiti is placing the lives of thousands of Haitians at risk. It is no surprise that many are fleeing for their lives. Rather, what is surprising is that the United States has ramped up deportations at the same time that conditions have become more dangerous,” said Sunil Varghese, policy director at the International Refugee Assistance Project. “Redesignation of TPS for Haiti is an immediate and important step the administration needs to take to protect lives now.”

Hamed AleazizBuzzFeed News Reporter