US immigration: Why Indians are fleeing halfway around the world

Bernd Debusmann Jr - BBC News
Mon, October 10, 2022 

An Indian family seeking asylum in the US at the Arizona-Mexico border on 20 May

As an openly gay man living in a deeply conservative part of India's Punjab, life had long been hard for Jashan Preet Singh.

Over the years, Mr Singh, 24, had grown accustomed to daily discrimination in his hometown of Jalandhar - harassment and beatings doled out by his neighbours, and a family that had largely turned its back on him.

But what happened late last year was different.

"There were 15 or 20 people who tried to kill me," he told the BBC from Fresno, California. "I ran away from there and saved my life. But they cut various parts of my body." The attack left him with a mutilated arm and a severed thumb.


Mr Singh's escape set him on a journey that took him through Turkey and France. Eventually, it led him to the US-Mexico border, nearly 8,000 miles (12,800km) away, where he crossed into California to begin a new life in the US.

He is not alone - for years, the arrival of Indian migrants in the US has been slow but steady, amounting to dozens or hundreds each month.

This year, however, the figures have spiked.

Since the beginning of the 2022 fiscal year that started last October, a record 16,290 Indian citizens have been taken into US custody at the Mexican border. The previous high of 8,997 was recorded in 2018.

Experts point to a number of reasons for the increase, including a climate of discrimination in India, an end to pandemic-era restrictions, a perception that the current US administration is welcoming to asylum seekers and the ramping-up of previously established smuggling networks.

Indian migrant detentions at US-Mexico border . . The number of Indian migrants detained at the border has risen steadily since 2014. .

While some migrants are coming to the US for economic reasons, many are fleeing persecution back home, said Deepak Ahluwalia, an immigration lawyer who has represented Indian nationals in Texas and California.

The latter group range from Muslims, Christians and "low-caste" Hindus to members of India's LGBT community who fear violence at the hands of extreme Hindu nationalists, or supporters of secessionist movements and farmers from the Punjab region, which has been shaken by protests since 2020.

Conditions for many of these groups have deteriorated in recent years, international observers say.

Tough decisions

For Mr Singh, the decision to leave his country wasn't an easy one. He first considered moving to another Indian city, but feared that he would be treated just as badly.

"The culture is not open-minded for gay people," he said. "Being gay over there is a big issue."

India only decriminalised gay sex in 2018 and same-sex marriage remains illegal.

His brother soon put him in touch with an India-based "travel agency" - part of a sophisticated and expensive smuggling network that took him first to Turkey - where "life was very tough" - and then to France, where he briefly considered staying but was unable to find work. The entire trip took him just over six months.

Indian nationals being processed by US immigration officials after crossing the border on 26 September

Eventually, his "travel agent" arranged for him to join a small group of Indians headed to the US, where many - Mr Singh included - had family members.

"He charged us a lot of money," Mr Singh said. "[But] from France he got me to Cancun, and from there to Mexico City and north."
A difficult journey

Immigrants such as Mr Singh often see the US as "the ultimate gateway" to a better life, said Mr Ahluwalia, the lawyer.

The enormous distances involved, however, make the trip to the US extremely challenging.

Traditionally, Indian migrants who arrive at the US-Mexican border use "door-to-door" smuggling services, with journeys arranged from India to South America. They are often guided the entire way and travel in small groups with their fellow countrymen who speak the same language, rather than individually or with only family members.

These networks often begin with India-based "travel agents" which outsource parts of the journey to partner criminal groups in Latin America.

Jessica Bolter, an analyst at the Washington DC-based Migration Policy Institute, said that the number of Indian migrants is also rising as a result of a "ripple effect" that takes place when those who have used these services successfully recommend them to friends or family back in India.

Armed guards provided for threatened lesbian couple

'I was jailed because I'm gay'

"It naturally expands and draws more migrants," she said. "Of course, that doesn't happen without migrants wanting to leave originally."

The experiences of Manpreet - a 20-year-old from Punjab who asked that only his first name be used - are typical of those who have taken the southern route in the past. A vocal critic of India's ruling BJP (Bharatiya Jannata Party), he fled the country after being persecuted for his political beliefs.

"From Ecuador I took a bus to Colombia, and from Colombia I took a bus to Panama," Manpreet recalled in an interview with the BBC from California. "From there, via a boat, I [went to] Nicaragua and Guatemala, and then Mexico and entered the US."

Even guided by seasoned smugglers, the trip to the border is often one that is fraught with dangers, including robberies and extortion at the hands of local gangs or corrupt authorities or extreme weather, injuries and illness.

These dangers were highlighted in 2019, when a 6-year-old Indian girl from Punjab was found dead in the scorching desert near the border town of Lukeville, Arizona - a case that made headlines in India. It was later reported that she died in temperatures of over 42 C (108 F) after her mother left her with a group of other Indians to search for water.

Indian migrants at a humanitarian camp in Panama in 2019

An uncertain fresh start

Once in the US, migrants such as Mr Singh begin a long legal process to apply for asylum. Most often, it begins with what US officials term a "credible fear interview," in which they must convince authorities they face persecution if returned home.

"This first step is the most important," Mr Ahluwalia explained. "If he [the officer] deems there is no credible fear, your case is never going to move forward. That is very catastrophic."

If an asylum officer believes these fears are credible, would-be asylum seekers are likely to be issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge who will consider their request.

The process is lengthy - with wait times of several years now the norm across the US - with no promise of a positive outcome.

Mr Singh, for his part, has been in the US since late June. At the moment, he is saving up money to hire a lawyer.

While his long-term future in the US is by no means guaranteed, and his journey was long, it was better than the alternative, he said.

"I would always fear for my life," he added. "Since I have been here, I have never felt such a thing."

An unprecedented number of Indians are trying to enter the US via Mexico



Ananya Bhattacharya
Mon, October 10, 2022 

For decades, Indians migrating to the US chase the American dream of socio-economic upliftment—a better job, a dollar salary, education for kids, and more—come as students or working professionals. But new data show a spike in brushes with the Customs and Border Patrol, suggesting new factors add urgency to Indians’ journeys.

A record number of Indian migrants have been trying to make their way into the US illegally from the nearly 2,000-mile long land border the country shares with Mexico. More than 16,290 people were taken into custody by the CBP between October 2021 and August this year. The previous high recorded in 2018 was a far lower 9,000.

Indians’ border transgressions, charted

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Why are so many Indians coming to the US now?

These Indians are not simply migrating, but rather fleeing. There’s a number of reasons why:

🙅🏾‍♂️ Growing discrimination and persecution in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled India—often on the basis of religion, sexuality, or political allegiance—is forcing people to seek refuge in the US, Deepak Ahluwalia, an immigration lawyer who has represented Indian nationals in Texas and California, tells the BBC

🗺️ In April this year, president Joe Biden lifted pandemic-era restrictions along the US-Mexico land border, making the route seemingly easier

🤗 In a contrast to the Trump era, the current US administration seems to be a lot more asylum seeker-friendly, giving people hope

✈️ Ramping-up of previously established smuggling networks
An expensive undertaking

Indians typically pay human traffickers between $20,000 and $75,000 for a door-to-door service that takes them from India to America.

Those attempting the journey risk robbery, rape, and even death to walk through dangerous terrain at excruciating temperatures. In 2019, a six-year-old Indian girl who had just crossed the border died in the Arizona desert when her mother went looking for water.

Once in the US, asylum seekers have to file a form and wait to appear before a judge. It can take multiple hearings and years for a decision. Typically, the share of Indians whose asylum applications are accepted rank in the low single-digits.
Taking “donkey flights”

With sought-after legal routes to enter the US in short supply, those fleeing their countries are easy prey for smugglers, who operate “donkey flights”—a term derived from a Punjabi proverb that means “to hop from one area to another”—to give migrants backdoor entry to a foreign country. It’s a way to exploit immigration loopholes by entering a foreign country via multiple stops in other countries.

For example, Indians can get a tourist visa for a Schengen-zone country in order to enter the United Kingdom. For the US, they can fly to South American countries.

A YouTube search for “USA Donkey” returns how-to videos in Hindi or Punjabi about illegal border crossing. One vlog even shows a group passing through a Panama jungle to reach the border. But others simply learn about the process through friends and family. Jessica Bolter, an analyst at the Washington DC-based Migration Policy Institute, told the BBC about the “ripple effect” amplifying these services.

Bollywood calling

Superstar Shahrukh Khan’s upcoming movie “Dunki,” directed by Rajkumar Hirani, is expected to tell the story of a Punjabi youth entering Canada via one such donkey flight.

Dunki | Title Announcement | Shah Rukh Khan | Taapsee Pannu | Rajkumar Hirani | 22 Dec 23

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📷 These photos show a decade of the immigration debate from every angle

🎗 US border officers die by suicide 30% more often than other cops

🎬 An Indian tech worker’s movie shows the anxiety of being an H-1B immigrant in Silicon Valley

Amazon workers in Albany prepare for pivotal union vote

Alexandra Garfinkle

·Senior Reporter

Tue, October 11, 2022 

Amazon (AMZN) workers at an Albany warehouse are set to start voting tomorrow in a pivotal union election that sets up another clash between the company and the independent Amazon Labor Union (ALU).

"[This vote is] vitally important for the ALU," John Logan, director of labor studies at San Francisco State University, told Yahoo Finance. "They need to show they can replicate the remarkable success they had at JFK8. ... Albany will be a test... but if they win, it will give a huge boost to organizing nationwide at Amazon and beyond."

The stakes are high for Amazon as the ALU's first victory at a Staten Island warehouse in April has proven to be a thorn in the e-commerce giant's side. The company failed to overturn the vote and increasingly has faced pressures coming out of Washington, including a labor investigation by OSHA, scrutiny by the FTC, and a boosted tax bill put in place by President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

The union election is also taking place as macroeconomic challenges ripple through the economy. Inflation is squeezing consumers, workers, and companies, and the Federal Reserve shows no sign of backing down from aggressively hiking interest rates. Meanwhile, a choppy stock market has rattled Big Tech stocks including Amazon, which is down more than 32% year-to-date.

Amazon has sought to rehab its image as an employer recently by announcing plans to spend $1 billion to raise pay for its warehouse and delivery workers.

However, the labor fight at Amazon is likely to be protracted. Even if the ALU comes up short in Albany, the independent union isn't likely to throw in the towel anytime soon, according to Rutgers University labor expert Rebecca Givan.

"In all union elections, the odds are against the workers trying to unionize," Givan said. "So this is an important vote, but even if the workers don’t successfully unionize, we can still expect more organizing from the Amazon Labor Union."

An Amazon Labour Union (ALU) organizer greets workers outside Amazon’s LDJ5 sortation center, as employees begin voting to unionize a second warehouse in the Staten Island borough of New York City, U.S. April 25, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid.

Why the ALU just might win in Albany

Despite the odds, experts believe there's still a path to victory in place for the independent union.

"Organizing at Albany has also been organic," Patricia Campos-Medina, activist and executive director at the Worker Institute at Cornell University, told Yahoo Finance. "Workers inspired by what ALU did in NYC at the first facility took it upon themselves to demand a union vote. They are energized, but we will have to see if the millions of dollars spent in anti-union intimidating tactics worked in favor of Amazon."

Logan agreed, though he cautioned that any victory would be hard-won.

“What I’ve been told is that the ALU believes that they will win in Albany,” he said. “But every time it’s David versus Goliath. If they were to win, that would be amazing.”

Timing is another factor that could affect the outcome of the vote. Amazon is currently in the midst of its second Prime Day event of the year, called Prime Early Access.

In this Dec. 20, 2017, file photo, a clerk reaches to a shelf to pick an item for a customer order at the Amazon Prime warehouse in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

According to Daniel Olayiwola, who works as a picker in an Amazon warehouse in Texas, these deal events are famously difficult for workers.

“There are so many incidents where stuff is overhanging from bins,” Olayiwola said. “You can just be driving by and crash into it, and then your cage explodes. So with the next person coming up behind you, you can either wait, try to fix it, call for help, or just hope that that next person doesn’t get hurt. So that’s what people are dealing with, and there are already accidents already. [On Prime Days] those injuries go up a lot.”

Amazon warehouses, even outside of the busiest times of the year, have been shown to have high rates of injury. Serious injuries at Amazon warehouses are 40% more likely than at non-Amazon warehouses, according to a study by the National Employment Law Project.

Recently, the tech giant faced outrage and a subsequent OSHA investigation following the death of a worker in New Jersey during July's Prime Day, the company's most successful ever.

“The amount of people crashing into each other is a continuous thing, and when people are rushing, it’s even worse," Olayiwola said.

Christian Smalls, President of the ALU, leads Pro-union protestors on a march on 11th Street on September 05, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

A long road ahead

The ALU is hitting the road, hoping to recapture the magic it had in Staten Island.

"This is the first vote for ALU outside of NYC, and support for the union could signal a new winning formula to organizing Amazon that goes beyond the personality power of Chris Smalls," Campos-Medina said. "Remember, Chris has always said that he wants workers to be the ones organizing themselves, that ALU would support them, but that he is focused on getting a contract for its first facility."

Still, should the ALU emerge with a victory in hand, a contract likely remains far off.

"Amazon will do everything it can to slow down the negotiation process," Givan said. "Their goal will be delaying and trying to win a war of attrition. Most employers try to avoid reaching a first contract at all."

An Amazon worker delivers boxes in Los Angeles on Oct. 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Amazon has continued to face criticism for how it has been managing the union push at its fulfillment centers. Campos-Medina, for one, didn't mince words, calling Amazon's strategy one of "union-busting."

"Rather than using all those resources to negotiate a contract and settled their labor relations problems, they are using [them] to create fear and division with the rest of the workforce in the hope of curtailing more union elections in other facilities," she said. "In the long run, that strategy will make anti-union lawyers rich, but it will only continue to create disruptions for Amazon on the supply chain and will damage its brand with American consumers."

In Logan's view, though elections have winners and losers, if the ALU can keep inspiring workers, it will keep it — and this wave of unionization efforts – alive and well.

"The real significance of these elections is their ability to inspire and energize and give optimism to young workers," he said. "That was what meant this had the potential to spread rapidly."

'Watershed Moment for Humanity' as NASA DART Spacecraft Crash Deflects Asteroid

Eric Mack - CNET-TODAY

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson confirmed Tuesday that the space agency succeeded in its mission to change the orbit of small asteroid Dimorphos. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft, aka DART, was crashed into Dimorphos a few weeks ago to test one possible method of protecting Earth from a dangerous body on a collision course with our planet.


Didymos and Dimorphos as bright white lights after impact.

 ASA/NASA© Provided by CNET

"This is a watershed moment for planetary defense and a watershed moment for humanity," Nelson said during a press conference.

To be clear, this was only a test of one potential defense method, called "deflection by kinetic impactor," that doesn't require any nuclear weapons or celebrities on a suicide mission a la popular Hollywood movies like 1998's Armageddon. Dimorphos, which is actually a moonlet orbiting the larger asteroid Didymos, doesn't pose an actual threat to Earth. In fact, no known asteroids or near-Earth objects are considered to be a threat to humanity, but there are still plenty of space rocks and comets out there yet to be discovered or tracked by astronomers.

DART Explained: First Asteroid Crash Images

DART's impact with Dimorphos on Sept. 26 appears to have reduced the time it takes the moonlet to orbit Didymos by 32 minutes, from 11 hours and 55 minutes to 11 hours and 23 minutes, with a margin of uncertainty of about two minutes. NASA had hoped DART would alter the orbital period by at least 73 seconds but expected it could alter the orbit by at least a few minutes and perhaps tens of minutes. So the result is on the high side of the expected possibilities.

"It looks like the recoil from the ejecta blasted off the surface was a substantial contributor to the overall push given to the asteroid, in addition to the push of the spacecraft directly impacting," said Tom Statler, DART program scientist at NASA headquarters.

Ejecta is a technical term for the dust and debris thrown off into space as a result of the impact. Numerous images taken in the days that followed the impact by telescopes in space and on Earth showed that the ejecta was forming a tail trailing Dimorphos similar to what we see with comets orbiting the sun.

Nancy Chabot, the DART coordination lead from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, noted that although the result is considered a resounding success, it still represents only a 4 percent change in the asteroid's orbital period.

"It just gave it a small nudge, but if you wanted to do this in the future, it could potentially work but you'd want to do it years in advance. Warning time is really key."

Chabot added that the physical location of Dimorphos also changed ever so slightly and the space stone now orbits Didymos a little more tightly than before the impact.

Scientists on the DART team are continuing to acquire more data from observatories around the world to better understand the dynamics of the impact and its effects.

Later in the decade, the European Space Agency's Hera project aims to send another spacecraft to conduct detailed surveys of Dimorphos and Didymos, including studying the impact crater left by DART.

‘Like a slap in the face’: Native Women’s Association of Canada shut out of justice ministers meetings

Yesterday 

When federal, provincial and territorial justice ministers meet next week, the key national organization representing Indigenous women and girls in Canada will not be at the table.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) expected to attend the meetings alongside politicians and representatives from other Indigenous organizations. NWAC has been invited to attend other meetings with ministers as recently as August.

However, NWAC was not invited to the meetings between federal Justice Minister David Lametti and his provincial and territorial counterparts. For Carol McBride, NWAC president, the timing feels like a “slap in the face.”

The insult came just one week after hundreds of vigils were held across the country for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited people.

“In keeping with our government’s practice of working with Indigenous Peoples on a distinctions basis, the agenda for the Justice-Public Safety Federal, Provincial, Territorial, Indigenous meeting was co-developed with the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Métis National Council,” said David Taylor, a spokesperson for Lametti.

“This allows elected officials to exchange views with their Indigenous counterparts on a host of mutually relevant issues,” he added.

“It’s very disappointing because we hold a lot of knowledge,” McBride said in an interview.

“We represent women, girls, and gender-diverse [Indigenous] people in Canada, and they’re not calling upon us to participate at this very powerful table,” she said. “And this is where changes are going to be made; it would only be right if we’re called upon.”

In June 2022, NWAC released its report card of the federal government’s National Action Plan. The report found very little progress, citing a “lack of critical, actionable, measurable, and costed steps in the National Action Plan.”

The report also found a “lack of transparency on the development of initiatives, actions and funding distribution,” which made it challenging for NWAC to evaluate the federal government’s response.

The NWAC report gave the government a failing grade.

And for Canadian prisons, Indigenous women make up 50 per cent of the population in maximum security prisons, according to the Office of the Correctional Investigator. Indigenous women make up only four per cent of the total female population in Canada, according to Statistics Canada.

NWAC heard the news that it had been shut out of the meetings through the grapevine, McBride said.

“We’re trying to get at least a telephone call with the minister to discuss this, how important this is, and what we’ll bring to the table,” she said.

“What I’m hoping for is Minister Lametti has enough respect for NWAC and what we do to call me directly,” she added.

No phone call had taken place by the end of the day on Friday, according to McBride’s office.

“Minister Lametti looks forward to working productively with the new president of NWAC, Carol McBride,” Taylor said.

MY MP

Blake Desjarlais an Indigenous MP who represents Edmonton-Griesbach for the NDP, thinks not having NWAC at the table is in line with the government’s ongoing response following the national inquiry.

“It speaks volumes of the government’s interest in addressing this crisis,” he said in an interview. “They don’t even have the courage to invite one of the largest women's organizations in Canada to talk about it.

“That’s a message all by itself,” he added.

Matteo Cimellaro / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer

Matteo Cimellaro, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

Biden's popular pardons: Americans by 2-to-1 back forgiving convictions for possession of pot

Susan Page, USA TODAY - 

Americans by more than 2-to-1 support pardoning those convicted of violating federal laws prohibiting possession of pot, a USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds, demonstrating broad public support for the step President Joe Biden unexpectedly took last week.


A demonstrator waves a flag with marijuana leaves depicted on it during a protest calling for the legalization of marijuana, outside of the White House on April 2, 2016, in Washington.© Jose Luis Magana, AP

By an equally lopsided margin, 68%-30%, those surveyed support the governor of their state pardoning those convicted of marijuana possession in state courts, where most prosecutions occur.

The findings reflect how much attitudes toward marijuana have changed in recent decades. Twenty-seven states have fully or partially decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and 37 states permit marijuana for medical use.

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

Alabama to Wyoming: Here's where marijuana laws stand in each state

By 3-to-1, 72%-26%, Americans support changing federal law so marijuana is no longer classified as a Schedule 1 drug, a category meant for the most dangerous drugs.

By 67%-31%, they support federal pardons for marijuana possession.

Related video: Political analyst describes Biden’s marijuana pardon as 'monumental'

Support for pardons is particularly strong among Democrats and those 18 to 34 years old – two groups Democrats would like to energize before next month's midterms.

"A month before Election Day, President Biden is looking for ways to remind his base he's making good on his campaign promises," said Ipsos President Cliff Young. "But for some Democratic candidates in swing states, they may now have to walk the fine line between being touch on crime and cool with cannabis."

More: Many Americans arrested for marijuana won't find relief under Biden's pardon plan

The survey of 1,028 adults was conducted Friday through Sunday using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel, an online probability-based panel. The findings have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

In the poll, Americans by 62%-33% agree with the statement that decriminalizing marijuana is an important step in correcting past racial injustices in the judicial system. Democrats hold that view by nearly 5-to-1.

Opinion: Federal ban on marijuana use causes more harm than good

Most Republicans disagree. By 63%-32%, they say decriminalizing marijuana would lead to more crime, drug trafficking, and underage use.

Biden's pardons have become an issue in some midterm campaigns.

In Pennsylvania's crucial Senate election, Democratic nominee John Fetterman called it "a massive step toward justice." But his GOP opponent, Mehmet Oz, has cited it as an example of Fetterman being soft on crime.

More than 7 in 10 of those surveyed said they had at least heard of Biden's announcement, which was made Thursday, a high level of awareness in a short period of time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's popular pardons: Americans by 2-to-1 back forgiving convictions for possession of pot

Gay lawmaker sums up what everyone is thinking about Tulsi Gabbard in just 6 words

LGBTQNation - 

When conservative congresswoman from Hawaii and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced on Tuesday that she’s leaving the Democratic Party, gay Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D) said what everyone was thinking in a six-word tweet.


With Democrats like Gabbard, who needs Republicans?© Provided by LGBTQNation

“Wait, Tulsi Gabbard was a Democrat?” Kenyatta wrote.

In a video announcement, Gabbard – who has a history of anti-LGBTQ actions and rhetoric – said she could no longer remain in the Democratic Party, citing perennial rightwing complaints like “wokeness” and “anti-white racism” as well as more recent conservative issues like the FBI investigating the Trump administration for its alleged crimes.

“[The Democratic Party is] under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers who are driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoking anti-white racism, who actively worked to undermine our God-given freedoms that are enshrined in our Constitution, who are hostile to people of faith and spirituality, who demonize the police but protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, who believe in open borders, who weaponize the national security state to go after their political opponents, and above all, who are dragging us ever closer to nuclear war,” she ranted.

Gabbard continued by saying that the Democratic Party is no longer “of, by, and for the people” but is instead “of, by, and for the powerful elite.” She called on other “common sense, independent-minded Democrats” to join her in leaving the party if they can “no longer stomach the direction that the so-called ‘woke’ Democratic Party ideologues are taking our country.”

Related video: Tulsi Gabbard ditches 'woke' Dems and launches podcast

Duration 0:54   View on Watch

It makes sense that Kenyatta would criticize Gabbard’s politics. Gabbard is probably the most right-leaning Democrat in the party and she has frequently attacked fellow Democrats, transgender people, and U.S. allies while aligning herself with right-wing media figures.

Gabbard served as a House Democrat representing Hawaii from 2013 to 2020. As a young politician, she railed against pro-marriage advocates as “homosexual extremists” and once worked for a religious-right hate group that promoted conversion therapy. She apologized for these offenses when she unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020, but she also accused Democrats of “fomenting religious bigotry” for wanting Christian judges not to impose their religious beliefs on others.

During her campaign, Gabbard refused to respond to an HRC questionnaire on LGBTQ issues, unlike every other major Democratic candidate. She also repeated right-wing attacks against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and now-Vice President Kamala Harris.

After her campaign crashed and burned, she spent her final days in Congress introducing legislation to ban trans women from sports that could have required genital examinations for young girls. She has said that gender-neutral language denies the “existence of women.” She has also long been a fixture on Fox News — especially on the show of transphobic, pro-Russian, white supremacist Tucker Carlson, which she has guest-hosted.

After Russia first invaded Ukraine, Gabbard repeated a conspiracy theory about U.S. biological labs in Ukraine, a lie that Russian authorities could use as a pretext to use of biological or nuclear weapons against Ukrainian civilians.

This year, she also spoke at the far-right Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) alongside anti-LGBTQ politicians like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

SEE 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/10/kult-watch-tulsi-gabbards-ties-to.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/10/tulsi-gabbard-quits-democratic-party.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/08/iran-loves-fox-tucker-ex-democrat.html

 

Washington State GOP Pays a White Nationalist, Pro-Nazi Blogger

Zachary Petrizzo -  The Daily Beast

It’s no secret that Washington state has a white nationalist problem. Among the rugged mountains and towering pines are neo-Nazi groups and one of the largest chapters of a violent white supremacist organization. But there’s one group that has been increasingly and alarmingly connected to these extremists: Washington state’s GOP.


Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty/YouTube

The latest example is a pro-Nazi blogger Greyson Arnold’s affiliation with the state party. According to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by The Daily Beast, the Washington State GOP paid Arnold $821.87 on July 15 for “payroll.”

Arnold runs the far-right Telegram account “Pure Politics,” which traffics in Jan. 6 conspiracy theories, praise of controversial lawmakers, and anti-COVID-containment sentiments. It also has more than 12,000 followers who frequently comment with racist and antisemitic language.

But Arnold himself has said plenty of distressing things. As CNN reported last year, Arnold has advocated shooting refugees, killing undocumented immigrants, and has posted praise for Nazi Germany. He actually once said Adolf Hitler was “a complicated historical figure which many people misunderstand.”

In a statement shared last week with The Daily Beast, the communications director for the Washington Republican Party, Ben Gonzalez, didn’t deny Arnold’s employment but claimed his tenure was short-lived.

“When the Washington State Republican Party became aware of this individual staffer’s conduct and views expressed on social media, we terminated the employee,” Gonzalez wrote.

“He no longer works for the party,” Gonzalez added. “The stated viewpoints in question do not reflect the values of the Republican Party.”

Arnold didn’t return The Daily Beast’s request for comment.

Still, Arnold’s ties to Washington’s Republican Party extend beyond a one-time payment.

As the Associated Press reported in April, Joe Kent—the GOP congressional candidate who beat Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in a Republican primary earlier this year—was photographed alongside Arnold, a move praised by his followers as they work to gain traction with GOP political figures.


Arnold has strong ties to infamous white nationalist Nicholas Fuentes, who leads a group of college-aged, far-right activists that refer to themselves as “groypers”—a rebranding of the racist alt-right movement.

Within the far-right “America First” movement, Arnold is a lieutenant in Fuentes’ extremist, “America First” political group. (Greyson actually refers to himself as “American Greyson.”)

Kent’s campaign spokesperson Matt Braynard—who recently spoke at a disastrous Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C.—told The Associated Press that the Kent campaign “does not do background checks on the thousands of people who’ve asked to take selfies with Joe.”

After denying ever knowing who Arnold was, an unearthed interview, discovered by CNN’s KFile, showed the neo-Nazi blogger interviewing Kent.

This isn't the first time the Kent campaign has found itself in hot water over white nationalism.

Back in March 2022, after Fuentes endorsed Kent, the campaign had to denounce the alt-right leaders' glowing praise. Subsequently, a 2021 tweet from Kent surfaced showing the candidate was previously aware of that particular white nationalist leader.

“I stand by this. No one be should [sic] de-platformed or put on a no-fly list for their political ideas,” Kent tweeted in response to an April 2021 tweet that defended Fuentes by name.

Kent added that he didn’t want Fuentes’s endorsement due to his focus on race and religion. “The fights he’s picking are counter productive, this is not my message of inclusive populism,” Kent said.

After Kent denounced Fuentes, the groyper leader and his followers actually campaigned against Kent in the Republican primary. They amplified messages from a group that identified itself as “JoeKentisCIA.” The mysterious group’s website claimed the former Green Beret was “A DEEP STATE PUPPET, A MARXIST DEMOCRAT RINO, AN OPPORTUNIST AND AN IMMORAL CHEATER.”

Likewise, Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander, another Fuentes ally, attacked Kent.

“Former CIA operative Joe Kent lost because his ‘inclusive’ politics was exclusionary; at the expense of the margins, he needed to put him in the top two. Bannon’s War Room lost to Fuentes’ America First. Denounce no one,” Alexander wrote on Telegram, with the message later amplified by Fuentes. “Do not aid your opponents by playing the politics of subtraction.”

Despite those efforts, Kent defeated Herrera Beutler in the GOP primary in August, after she voted to impeach Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 riots. Kent now faces Democratic nominee Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez in the general election. The Cook Political Report, which handicaps congressional races, rates the race as “Lean Republican.”

Animal Rebellion protester 'may have caused £100k in damage' after 'pouring milk on Fortnum & Mason carpet'

Callum Cuddeford -

Animal Rebellion protesters might have cost Fortnum & Mason £100,000 after pouring milk onto the carpet of the luxury department store, a court has heard. Steve Bone, 40, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, is accused of targeting Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges on Friday along with Sofia Fernandes Pontes, 26.


Jobless Steve Bone, 40, is accused of dumping £38 worth of milk on the carpet of Fortnum & Mason© PA

He pleaded not guilty to a charge of criminal damage in relation to the alleged Fortnum & Mason incident at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Monday afternoon (October 10). Prosecutors told the court the alleged incident took place at 11.30am.

The court heard they each allegedly took a basket with 20 bottles of milk to a value of £38 and emptied their contents on to goods and the carpet at the store. The cost of the damage to the carpet, which was laid a year ago, was said to be unknown at this stage but would exceed £5,000, while the estimated total cost should the entire carpet need replacing was £100,000, the court heard.

Bone also indicated a not guilty plea for a charge of theft at the store as well as one count of theft and one count of criminal damage in relation to the alleged incident a Selfridges. He is accused of causing £273 of damage in that incident.

Bone, who is unemployed, was granted conditional bail with conditions including not to visit the two stores and will appear at Southwark Crown Court on November 7. Fernandes Pontes, 26, of Copenhagen Street, Islington, North London, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on November 7.

‘My Last Skirt,’ About Irish Woman Who Enlisted in Civil War as Male Soldier, Headed to Screen (EXCLUSIVE)

Matt Donnelly - 

The remarkable true story of Irish immigrant Jennie Hodgers — who posed as a man to fight for the Union Army during the American Civil War — will be adapted for screen.

Arny Granat, a veteran concert promoter turned Tony-winning musical producer, has hired Stephanie Sanditz to pen a feature film script from Lynda Durrant’s book “My Last Skirt: The Story of Jennie Hodgers, Union Soldier.” Granat — whose stage credits include “In The Heights,” “The Color Purple,” “Spamalot,” “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “History Boys” — has been chasing an adaptation of the story for nearly a decade.

Set in the 1800s, “My Last Skirt” tells the story of Hodgers, who went by the name Albert Cashier to enlist and serve her country. Following the war, Hodgers would live as Cashier for much of her life after observing the disparity in opportunity for women of the age. She is also believed to be the first person assigned female at birth to cast a vote for president before Women’s Suffrage.

“A decade ago, I saw this unheralded story and knew it was incredibly important to be told. Ten years later, I think everyone can agree, it’s more important than ever. I’m incredibly excited about bringing the story of Jennie Hodgers and Albert Cashier to life,” said Granat.

Sanditz has made a name for herself in crating stories about women called to battle, most recently with the project “Perfect Addiction.” The story of a female MMA fighter is set up at Fifth Season (formerly Endeavor Content) and Constantin Films, and just wrapped production. She also scripted the queer woman Viking epic “Heathen,” adapted from the Value Comics title, which Catherine Hardwicke is attached to direct. Sanditz previously won the Tribeca Film Festival New Voices in Screenwriting award for her film “Get Your Heart On.” She is repped by Mark Ross at Paradigm, Richard Arlook at The Arlook Group, and Jenn Grega at Myman/Greenspan Legal.

Valerie Gobos will produce “My Last Skirt.” Her slate includes the buzzy upcoming Esther Williams biopic “The Million Dollar Mermaid,” and a film about adult film star Marilyn Chambers titled “Pure.”

OBSTRUCTIONIST PARTY OF NO

Freedom Caucus wants defense bill delayed if vaccine mandate not repealed

Emily Brooks - 

Members of the hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus are calling on Republican leaders to delay passage of the annual defense authorization bill until after the new year if its demands, like repealing the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, are not met.


Freedom Caucus wants defense bill delayed if vaccine mandate not repealed© Provided by The Hill

In January, a new Congress may include GOP majorities in either the House or Senate that can “rework” the legislation, the group said.

“Congressional Republicans still have the opportunity to stand in defense of our Nation’s military – if we stand united,” the group wrote in a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday.

“Just as they did in July, Democrats will need Republican votes to pass the NDAA, and the House Freedom Caucus urges all Republicans to hold the line to force Democrats to reverse the policies of President Biden undermining our Nation’s military and its combat readiness, starting with the vaccine mandate,” the letter said.

The Senate started debate on its National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Tuesday, and a final vote is expected after the midterm elections. It would then be reconciled in conference with the House version of the NDAA, which passed in June in a 329-101 vote, with 39 Democrats and 62 Republicans voting against the legislation.

The Freedom Caucus opposed that bill over similar concerns over the vaccine mandate and “prioritization of ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ over combat readiness.”

Now, the group is also calling for the establishment of a special inspector general to scrutinize U.S. involvement in Ukraine as part of a list of four core demands for the NDAA.

“Republicans must demand that the NDAA: (1) fully repeals the vaccine mandate and allows service members involuntarily discharged to be reinstated without penalty; (2) ends the contamination of our military by radical Leftist ‘woke’ ideologies and the prioritization of politics over combat readiness; (3) halts wasteful spending on ‘Green New Deal’ pet climate projects; and (4) establishes a Special Inspector General on U.S. involvement in Ukraine,” the letter said.

If those are not met, the Freedom Caucus said, Republicans should delay passage until after the start of the next Congress and have “a new Republican Majority to comprehensively rework the NDAA to serve America’s service members instead of Leftist political agendas.”