Trump's Fee for Asylum Seekers Could Send Many Back to Their Deaths

Tuesday, May 7, 2019 Truthout covers the movements that are pushing back against racism and tyranny. Support our work today! [Donate Now →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump's Fee for Asylum Seekers Could Send Many Back to Their Deaths]( Sasha Abramsky, Truthout Following family separation and child imprisonment, the Trump administration's latest cruelty toward asylum seekers is to impose a fee on the asylum application process. For people who have fled for their lives with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, this can be an insurmountable burden that forces them to return to the dangers they were fleeing and is tantamount to a death sentence. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [U.N. Report Says Indigenous Sovereignty Could Save the Planet]( Mike Ludwig, Truthout A new U.N. report finds up to 1 million species are at risk of extinction and ecosystems are declining at a faster rate than at any time in human history but notes that these trends have been less severe or avoided altogether in areas held by Indigenous peoples. Now, these traditional lands also face deforestation, mining and development that threatens ecosystems, the people who depend on them and their knowledge of the Earth. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Over 600 Federal Prosecutors Say Trump Should Be Charged With Obstruction]( William Rivers Pitt, Truthout In a searing rebuke to Attorney General William Barr, hundreds of former federal prosecutors, many with service records lasting decades, have signed a letter stating that the Robert Mueller report provided ample ammunition for obstruction of justice charges to be brought against President Trump. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Bernie Sanders Takes on Monsanto, Big Ag Monopolies in Rural Revitalization Plan]( Jake Johnson, Common Dreams During a campaign stop in Iowa on Sunday, Bernie Sanders unveiled an ambitious plan to take on agriculture behemoths like Bayer-Monsanto. Sanders's proposals, collectively titled "Revitalizing Rural America," would break up agribusiness monopolies with "Roosevelt-style trust-busting laws," reform patent laws to protect farmers from the predatory practices of agribusiness corporations, and pass national legislation to allow farmers to repair their own equipment. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Real Monster in "Game of Thrones" Is Its Hidden Reactionary Ideology]( Timothy Malone, Truthout Many progressive analysts have interpreted "Game of Thrones" as a challenge to a politics unwilling to engage the threat of climate change, but the show also re-articulates white supremacist ideology in a reactionary way. In its obsession with the wall and who is on what side of it, the show unconsciously demonstrates the U.S.'s heavy dependence on material and symbolic "otherness" in order to constitute itself. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Let's Not Rewrite History to Defend Joe Biden's Record of Dog-Whistle Politics]( Kevin Gosztola and Brian Sonenstein, Shadowproof An emerging defense of Joe Biden's Democratic presidential campaign is that many of his questionable political acts occurred during a "different time." The invocation of "different times" as a defense of candidates with long careers, who promoted racist or bigoted policies, deserves to be challenged. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [After Florida Re-enfranchises 1.4 Million, Republicans Push New "Poll Tax"]( Amy Goodman and Juan González, Democracy Now! Civil rights groups are decrying what they say is a new poll tax after the Florida Senate passed a bill Friday that would require formerly incarcerated people with felony convictions to repay all fines and fees to courts before their voting rights are restored. This comes six months after voters in Florida approved a measure to restore voting rights to 1.4 million people with nonviolent felonies. [Watch the Video and Read the Transcript →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [North Carolina Seeks to Quadruple Taxpayer Funding for Anti-Choice Clinic Group]( Dennis Carter, Rewire.News North Carolina lawmakers have drafted a state budget for 2019-2021 that awards more than $1.2 million per fiscal year to an organization that operates anti-choice pregnancy centers. The allotment is four times the funding the group received in the previous budget. Pro-choice advocates have called on Gov. Roy Cooper to investigate anti-choice clinics and stop public funding for groups that operate the facilities. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [The U.S. Is Spending $1.25 Trillion Annually on War]( William D. Hartung and Mandy Smithberger, TomDispatch In its latest budget request, the Trump administration is asking for a near-record $750 billion for the Pentagon and related defense activities. Yet a closer look at the annual spending for war, preparations for war and the impact of war comes to more than double the Pentagon's base budget. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Reality Behind the "Surging" U.S. Economy]( Sarah Anderson, Inequality.org Recent economic reports have President Trump crowing. However, while presiding over an economic recovery that started under his predecessor, Trump has done nothing on his own to lift up working people. Most of the gains from our growing economy are still going to those who least need a boost. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Fight for Affordable Housing Rages On]( Dyan Ruiz and Joseph Smooke, [people. power. media] In this episode of "Priced Out," San Francisco residents Curtis and Riley still can't find a place to live. As they're walking the streets, they run into a rally outside City Hall led by a housing activist. Can grassroots activism impact housing prices in places like San Francisco? [Watch the Video →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- In Case You Missed It --------------------------------------------------------------- [Climate Crisis Forces Us to Ask: To What Do We Devote Ourselves?]( Dahr Jamail, Truthout Under the corporate capitalist system which most of us have been raised in and which pervades our lives, we have become terribly disconnected from the very thing that sustains us: our planet. So, before we can decide what to do about the climate catastrophe, we must first decide "how to be," and that requires reconnecting to Earth. We cannot begin to walk until our feet are on the ground. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Capitalism Has Failed Immigrants. Can Worker Cooperatives Do Better?]( Robert R. Raymond, Truthout Historically marginalized and oppressed communities have long utilized the worker cooperative model to emancipate themselves from the shackles of a racist, capitalist economic system designed to exploit and discard them. Now worker-owned co-ops are transforming the economic landscape for immigrants across a wide range of industries -- offering a distinctly anti-capitalist alternative to the traditional "American Dream." [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Like what you're reading? Support Truthout's independent news and analysis by making an automatic monthly donation. [Donate Now →]( Connect With Us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Donate]( Truthout is a reader-supported, nonprofit organization; donations are tax-deductible. Truthout is a proud member of the Newspaper Guild/CWA, Local 36047. Please add messenger@truthout.org to ensure you receive our messages. [Subscribe]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy](