Democrats Call to Abolish ICE

“Abolish ICE” was inspired by conservative calls to get rid of the Internal Revenue Service and various other agencies they dislike. The phrase does not mean an end to all of the functions ICE has been tasked with since it was created post-9/11. 

In an interview with the Intercept last month, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described what a post-ICE world would look like, “abolishing ICE doesn’t mean get rid of our immigration policy, but what it does mean is to get rid of the draconian enforcement that has happened since 2003 that routinely violates our civil rights, because, frankly, it was designed with that structure in mind.” 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration. ICE was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative interior enforcement elements of the former U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. ICE has 20,000 employees, more than 400 offices in the United States and 46 foreign countries.  The agency has an annual budget of $6 billion – primarily devoted to three operational directorates:

President Trump said he hopes that the Democrats who are calling to abolish ICE “keep thinking about it.” Trump continued, “You know ICE, these are the guys that go in and take MS-13, and they take them out. Because they're much tougher than MS-13, like by a factor of 10. And these are the ones – you get rid of ICE you're going to have a country that you're going to be afraid to walk out of your house. I love that issue if they're going to actually do that.”

Thousands Protest Immigration Policy

On Saturday June 30, there were marches in cities across the United States to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies. There were hundreds of thousands of protesters and 700 marches in cities from Los Angeles and Washington D.C. and New York City.

The “Families Belong Together” march originated in Washington D.C., in Lafayette Square across from the White House. According to organizers there were around 30,000 attendees at the Washington D.C. march. Dozens of progressive groups planned the “Families Belong Together” protests on Saturday including the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Move On and the Women's March. Various Hollywood stars were involved with the protests, including John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Alicia Keys, America Ferrera, Kerry Washington, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Protestors were demanding the Trump administration end family separations, end family detentions and reverse its “zero tolerance” policy. They demanded the Trump administration reunite families and end family separation and detention at the border.

Former President Obama’s Immigration Policies

In 2014 Obama used the wide-scale detention of immigrant families for as long as it took to complete their immigration cases and deport them. 

This is the policy that President Trump signed into action when he signed the executive order on June 20. 

Obama currently holds the record for deporting more immigrants than any president, with more than 2 million deportations over eight years. The last two years he was in office he scaled back immigration enforcement, so most deportations were during prior years. Former Obama administration officials specify that families were separated only in particular circumstances, for instance, if a father was carrying drugs that went above and beyond a typical case of illegal entry.

Comedian John Melendez Prank Calls Donald Trump

Comedian John Melendez is claiming that he prank-called President Trump by posing as Democratic senator, Bob Menendez. 

John Melendez has since hired Stormy Daniels’s attorney Michael Avenatti to represent him. “I have just spoken to my new attorney @MichaelAvenatti who has agreed to represent me on this. Stay tuned,” Melendez tweeted. 

Melendez asked Avenatti for his help on Sunday after saying he had been contacted by Secret Service agents. The interview with the Secret Service was set for Monday morning at Melendez’s home in California. But now Michael Avenatti wants to review the facts before the interview takes place.  

A former Secret Service agent told CBS News that the agency likely wouldn't be investigating how the call happened, it would potentially be investigating if Melendez posed a threat. 

How did Melendez get connected to President Trump?

Melendez said that he and his producer were doing his "Stuttering John" podcast when they decided to call the White House. 

At first, according to Melendez's account, he called in as himself. He said he thought he could get through, given that he has known Trump for many years, but the White House didn't patch him through.   

Melendez said he then called back again, claiming to be the Senator Bob Menendez’s assistant, using what he described as a bad British accent. That apparently worked. The White House, Melendez said, took the call, and called him back on his cell. Melendez said that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner then called him from Air Force One. 

Kushner asked what he wanted to discuss with the president. According to Melendez, he told Kushner he had an extensive conversation with Trump on immigration, and wanted to continue the conversation.

The Democratic Strategy to Oppose Trump's Supreme Court Pick

President Donald Trump said he plans to announce his nominee for a new Supreme Court judge on July 9. Trump told reporters on board the presidential aircraft Air Force One that he had narrowed the choice down to "about five" candidates. The top contenders seem to be Amy Coney Barrett, Thomas Hardiman, Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge and Amul Thapar, all of whom are well-respected conservative judges. 

The vacancy arose when Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement earlier this week. 

It gives President Trump the opportunity to solidify a conservative majority on the top court. His nominee will need to be confirmed by the Senate where the president's Republican Party holds a narrow majority (51-49).

I'll surround the U.S. Capitol to stop Trump's SCOTUS pick: Michael Moore

Michael Moore on Friday said he would rally on Capitol Hill with a million others to keep lawmakers from confirming President Trump’s pick to succeed outgoing Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. 

Appearing on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the liberal filmmaker and activist said he’d participate in a wide-scale protest to prevent the Senate from approving the president’s second Supreme Court nominee, assuming Republican leadership schedules a vote before the November midterm elections when Democrats risk gaining control.

Nearly four months until midterms, Moore said Democrats “have to find ways” in the interim to stop the Senate from voting on whoever Mr. Trump picks to replace Justice Kennedy, who announced his retirement earlier this week.

Jennifer Rubin: Threaten Maine’s L.L. Bean If Susan Collins Doesn’t Vote Against Trump’s SCOTUS Pick

Friday on HBO’s “Real Time,” Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin responded to liberal documentary filmmaker Michael Moore’s call to take a million people to the U.S. Capitol to oppose President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court vacancy. 

According to Rubin, it would be better to apply economic pressure to Maine’s L.L. Bean and Alaska’s Alaskan Cruises to convince Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to oppose Trump’s picks.

“Instead of circling the capitol with a million people, take the million people to Maine and go to L.L. Bean and tell them in Maine, ‘You need to leave Maine,’ unless Susan Collins votes the right way. That’s how you play hardball. You do it smart. You go to Alaska, you say, ‘You know what, we’re going to start boycotting Alaskan Cruises until your senator votes Trump’s way.’” 

As to the other half of Rubin's strategy, which, as seen in the HBO interview, involves boycotting Alaska's cruise lines if Lisa Murkowski supports Trump's nominee.

Mail Time!

• You said that illegal immigrants are entitled to "due process", as a citizen would be. The first paragraph of the constitution reads "We the People" and continues on to state, "to ourselves and our Posterity". The articles use the words citizen and persons interchangeably. Where and when did non-citizens acquire rights under the constitution?

• Hello, Bill, I was upset listening to the Rod Rosenstein and Andrew Wray's testimony in front of Congress. Your analysis was right on. But what's going to happen now? Rosenstein & Wray ride off together into the sunset? I'm an average American, old school, have been working since I was 15. I'm 66 now and retired. I love my country. What can I do? 

• Hi Bill, are there any Democrats in Congress who aren't afraid to be independent thinkers, and independently vote their conscience? 

Word of the Day:Picayune