President Trump has decided to turn his words into action by announcing that he will indeed rescind the controversial policy of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA. While this was one of his campaign promises from the start, many people from his own party were uncertain he would actually go through with it.
It came as a lesser of a surprise to his core electorate on the far right, who have strongly opposed this policy from the start.
Trump made lots of promises during his campaign, number of which he had no plans to implement once he came to power. So why is the rescission happening now? It would be fair to say that both, the threat from 11 chief law officers to sue the administration in June 2017, as well as, his dwindling popularity (his approval rating stood at just below 40 percent at the time), are to blame. When the Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in early September that the program is being repealed, he made no secret about his stance on this matter. According to Sessions, all the DACA recipients were “lawbreakers and a threat to hard working native-born US citizens.”
He did fail to address any of the issues regarding the possible negative impact this move would have on the US economy. Several reports have since come out estimating the cost of the mass deportation at more than $8 billion. Furthermore, some analysts say that the overall burden for the American economy in the coming decade would be immense.Some figures show it to be as high as $480 billion.
Sessions did specify that the implementation of this act would be suspended for at least half a year until Congress takes a clear stance on this matter. This, however, offers little or no hope for the 800,000 DACA-eligible individuals who face deportation after those six months.
Trumps decision to end DACA was received by many Democrats and some Republicans by lots of criticism and protests. To many of them, it makes no sense to deport people who have come to the United States not of their own free will, but because of their parents’ decision to break the law. The Dreamers have grown up here and know no other country as their home. Should they pay the price for their parents’ mistakes?
Ending DACA matters and not only to the countless families that are directly impacted. The whole economy would suffer. While it may send a strong signal to those seeking to come to the US illegally in the future, it certainly tarnishes the country’s reputation as the defender of human rights.
Meredith Rogers is a blogger, and a health writer based in USA.
Image copyrightReutersImage caption Passengers arrive at Washington’s international airport in July after the Supreme Court
US President Donald Trump has expanded his controversial travel ban to include people from North Korea, Venezuela and Chad, citing security concerns.
The new, open-ended restrictions follow a review of information sharing by other countries, the White House said.
Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia remain under the travel ban. Sanctions previously placed on Sudan were lifted.
In a presidential proclamation, Mr Trump said the countries in the list had “inadequate” security protocols.
“I must act to protect the security and interests of the United States and its people,” he said in the document, issued late on Sunday.
According to data available from the US State Department, 109 visas were issued to North Korean citizens in 2016, however, it is unclear how many actually travelled to the United States.
Mr Trump’s original ban in March was highly controversial, as it affected six majority-Muslim countries, and was widely labelled a “Muslim ban”.
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Media captionMuslim students on Trump ban: ‘I don’t belong here’
It was subject to a range of legal challenges and several large-scale protests, and was due to be considered by the US Supreme Court on 10 October, having been partly reinstated in July.
But on Monday the Supreme Court postponed the October oral arguments, and instead called upon all parties challenging the White House to resubmit briefs to the court on whether the case should be dismissed.
The American Civil Liberties Union rights group said the addition of the new countries did not “obfuscate the real fact that the administration’s order is still a Muslim ban”.
The addition of North Korea and Venezuela now means not all nations on the list are majority-Muslim. The restrictions on Venezuelans apply only to government officials and their family members.
The Venezuelan foreign ministry on Monday described the new restriction as “a form of psychological and political terrorism”.
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Media captionVenezuelan Vice-President Tareck El Aissami calls US travel ban “a trophy” for a “subversive people”
The criteria for the new ban list are now based on vetting procedures and co-operation, and the restrictions have been “tailored” on a country-by-country basis:
The White House said North Korea did not co-operate with the US government “in any respect” and failed all requirements – and so all travel to the US by its citizens had been banned. However, officials acknowledged to US media that numbers of visitors were very low and the measure might have a limited impact
Chad, while an important counter-terrorism partner, did not share terrorism-related and other public information the US required – business and tourist visas for its nationals have been suspended
Only “certain Venezuelan government officials and their immediate family members” have been banned – its government has recently been hit with economic sanctions by the US, who now say it does not co-operate “in verifying whether its citizens pose national security or public-safety threats” and does not receive deported nationals willingly
Most of the restrictions come in the form of suspension of B-1 and B-2 business and tourist visas, and are not time-limited in the way that Mr Trump’s former executive order was.
In a fact sheet accompanying Mr Trump’s proclamation, the White House said that while Iraq also fell short of the required criteria, the country was not included in the new restrictions “because of the close co-operative relationship between the United States” and their part in fighting so-called Islamic State.
The restrictions come into effect on 18 October, but will not apply to those already in possession of a valid visa, the White House said.
This story is auto-generated from ‘BBC News’ syndicated feed and has not been edited by Africa Prime News staff.
Image copyrightTwitter @NOAASatellitesImage caption Satellite images show nighttime in Puerto Rico before the storm (above) and on 25 September (below), four days after the storm struck
Millions of people in Puerto Rico remain without electricity in the wake of Hurricane Maria, a new image taken by a US government satellite shows.
Outside the capital city San Juan, residents are still isolated without power or communications, and it may take months to restore, officials warn.
Clean water and medicine are also scarce, locals residents report.
The island’s governor warned on Monday of a “humanitarian crisis occurring in America”, and called for more aid.
“Puerto Rico is part of the United States, and we need to take swift action,” Governor Ricardo Rossello told CNN.
“This is a major disaster,” he added, calling on the US Congress to produce “something tangible, a bill that actually answers to our need right now”.
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Media captionHeavy rainfall from Hurricane Maria put stress on the Guajataca Dam
The island, which is more than $72 billion in debt, is facing the largest bankruptcy case in US history.
Gov Rossello warned that lawmakers’ failure to address the lack of funding would produce an “exodus” of Puerto Ricans fleeing to the United States.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Hundreds have been sleeping at the airport, hoping for a flight out of San Juan
Republican Speaker of the House, the highest ranking member of his party in Congress, tweeted on Monday: “The stories and images coming out of Puerto Rico are devastating.
“Congress is working with the administration to ensure necessary resources get to our fellow citizens in #PuertoRico.”
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption At least 10 people were killed on the island
A curfew from 19:00 to 05:00 is in place to discourage looting and vandalism, and 25 people were arrested on Sunday night for violating the order.
More than 95% of mobile phones are without service on the island, where National Guardsman have been prioritising the reopening of ports and airports, to allow more aid to arrive.
Adding to the difficulty, some roads are inaccessible and bridges around the island have collapsed, making it nearly impossible to verify the full extent of the damage.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Residents have flocked to working mobile phone towers to call family members overseas
The Guajataca Dam in northwest Puerto Rico is in “imminent” danger of rupturing, causing “life-threatening flash flooding” to at least 8,000 people, emergency crews said on Friday.
Residents below the dam have been instructed by the National Guard to evacuate.
On Sunday, US Marine and Navy teams arrived in to Roosevelt Rhoades, Puerto Rico – three days after the storm made landfall as a category 4 hurricane, killing at least 13 people.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption A couple washes their clothing in a stream on Sunday
The newly arriving teams will “conduct route reconnaissance, clearance of main roads and clearance of the airfield and associated taxiways”, the Pentagon said in a statement on Monday, amid public criticism that the US had not done enough to respond to the widespread destruction.
The Pentagon added that the top priority is to “provide life-saving and life sustaining resources” – such as generators and fuel – to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The White House defended the government response on Monday. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said “we’ve done unprecedented movement in terms of federal funding to provide for the people of Puerto Rico”.
“The federal response has been anything but slow,” Ms Sanders added.
The heads of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) and the Department of Homeland Security are visiting both island territories on Monday, and US President Donald Trump has vowed to visit at a later date.
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Media captionHurricane Maria: Puerto Rico faces long road to recovery
Note: This story is auto-generated from BBC syndicated feed and has not been edited by AFRICA PRIME NEWS
Gombe (Nigeria) — The President, Gombe State chapter of the (PSN), Dahiru Bakari, has tasked members on carrying out projects that touch the lives of people, regarding drugs and medicine intake.
Bakari made the call at the celebrations of the 2017 World Pharmacists’ Day in Gombe Monday, calling on members to abide by the tenets of the profession.
He advised people to always consult a medical doctor whenever a symptom exceeded headache, so that drugs would be prescribed for them obtainable in hospital pharmacies, adding that drugs in hospitals are procured through controlled process.
“Because a committee, which comprises doctors, Pharmacists and nurses, which purchase the drugs for the hospital
“When it is out of stock in the hospital pharmacy, patients would be urged to go to a certified Pharmacy store to buy their medicine, because there, a pharmacist would guide as to what to do.
Bakari said the Pharmacists Society had encouraged drug companies to label authentication numbers on their products for confirmation, which a patient can through his GSM phone confirm whether the product is genuine or not.
The President said the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Society instructed the observance of the Pharmacists Day every September 25, educate the public on issues related to drugs and medicine, as well as embark on visit some medical facilities.
He enjoined the Gombe State Head of Service to upgrade the Grade Levels of pharmacists working with the state government.
The Society requested that, while it is obtainable in some states that pharmacists ascend to grade level 17, the case was different in Gombe State, where they stagnate at grade level 16, adding that those on lower levels do spend up to 11 years without promotion.
Media captionLife and death on the lost streets of Chicago
Chicago led the nation in murders in 2016, with 765 people killed – more than double New York’s homicide rate – though the Illinois city has a much smaller population.
Despite the surge, the rate of violence is still considerably lower than the 1980s or 1990s.
The murder rate in 2016 was 5.3 per 100,000 people, whereas in 1991 it was 9.8 per 100,000.
Both those arrested on suspicion of homicides as well as the victims tend to be young African-American males, according to the report.
The typical weapon of choice was a gun, used in four out of five crimes.
Some experts are already predicting a drop in 2017, due to preliminary data showing a slowing murder rate in major cities including Chicago.
Some have found cause for consolation this year because Chicago did not reach its 500th murder mark until early September, two weeks later than in 2016.
In a recent speech, Mr Sessions liked the Chicago crime rate to a sense of “undermined” respect for police officers, as well as the city’s policies on undocumented immigrants.
Chicago’s police strongly rejected this claim.
Note: This story is auto-generated from BBC syndicated feed and has not been edited by AFRICA PRIME NEWS
Gombe (Nigeria) — The Chief Registrar of Gombe State Judiciary in northeast Nigeria, Auwal Haruna has warned court registrars and their assistants on the need to remit of all revenues raised by their courts to the state coffers.
The Chief Register issued the warning in a chat with newsmen in Gombe over the weekend, saying those found guilty of not remitting same will face the consequences of failure to do so.
Mr. Haruna, emphasised that the system will not tolerate negligence on the part of any court that failed to adhere strictly to the order, tasking them to their responsibility of collecting fines charged at the courts, and ensuring that people are not over charged in the court process.
He said the court leadership will soon go round courts in all the 11 LGAs of the state to monitor activities.
In the same vein, Chairman of the State Board of Internal Revenue Service, Adamu Damji, while visiting some Area Courts in the state capital asked them to wake up in remitting what belonged to the government in terms of Revenue generated in their Courts
He said the Board will soon introduce new ways of remitting all the fines collected at the Court directly to the government coffers, saying, POS and other online payment system will be introduced in all the Area and Upper Courts across the state to ease payment of all charges.
He revealed that some courts in the state are not remitting revenues collected, warning that it is now mandatory for them to remit such collections.
The chairman also said the Chief Registrar of the State Judiciary would be granted real time online access to monitor all payment made by the courts, adding that Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo would also monitor real time what is transferred into the state government coffers from all government agencies and ministries.
The president’s latest foray into the US culture wars comes after he was widely criticised for appearing to say anti-racism demonstrators were just as bad as far-right activists, after clashes at a deadly white supremacist rally in Virginia in August.
Why did the protests start?
National Football League (NFL) player Colin Kaepernick first sat down during the anthem in preseason in 2016.
Image copyrightReutersImage caption A number of players have joined Colin Kaepernick (center) since his demonstrations began
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour,” he said.
“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.”
Kaepernick continued to demonstrate amid fierce criticism but this season remains a free agent.
Some commentators suggest he may have been “blackballed” from the sport as clubs fear a backlash for signing him.
What did Trump say?
The US president waded into the argument on Friday when he asked a crowd of supporters: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now… he is fired’?”
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Media captionMr Trump attacked protesting players at a rally in Alabama
He has also tweeted multiple times on the issue, suggesting the NFL should change its laws to stop players demonstrating.
But sports players responded with widespread protest action during the weekend’s sports games.
Are players allowed to do it?
A US law called the Flag Code covers the etiquette around the National Anthem.
It says persons present around the national anthem are expected to stand with their hand on their heart and face a flag if there is one present.
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Media captionRavens and Jaguars defied President Trump at Wembley after his comments
However, the code is never enforced and there is no official punishment for breaching it.
In any case, players’ flouting of tradition has angered many sports fans.
Some national anthem singers and high-profile artists have joined in by falling to their knees.
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Media captionStevie Wonder: “Tonight I’m taking a knee for America”
During Sunday’s NFL games:
Neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the Tennessee Titans turned out for the national anthem before kick-off at their game, hours after the Pittsburgh Steelers did the same in Chicago (except Alejandro Villanueva, a veteran who served in Afghanistan)
The Chicago Bears stood on the sidelines with their arms locked, as did New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady and teammates at another game. Some Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals players also linked arms
The anthem singer at the Seahawks-Titans game kneeled at the end of the performance, as did singer at the Lions-Falcons game, who also raised his fist
Philadelphia Eagles fans clashed with protesters ahead of a game in their home city against the New York Giants
The NFL itself has criticised Mr Trump’s remarks, with commissioner Roger Goodell saying “divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect”
What about Trump’s NFL allies?
Three NFL owners who donated $1m apiece to the president’s inauguration either joined the protests or criticised him.
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan locked arms with his players, in an unusual scene, as owners rarely join players on the pitch.
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder also linked arms with cornerbacks as the national anthem played before Sunday night’s game.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a personal friend of Mr Trump, said he was “deeply disappointed” by his “tone”.
Meanwhile Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, a golf buddy of Mr Trump, told a Boston radio show on Monday the president’s comments were “just divisive”.
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Media captionWarriors head coach Steve Kerr: Trump comments ‘awful’
Have protests spread to other sports?
Yes.
On Saturday night, the Oakland Athletics’ Bruce Maxwell became the first Major League Baseball player to kneel in protest during the anthem.
NBA legend Michael Jordan, owner of the Charlotte Hornets, also weighed in, telling the Charlotte Observer newspaper: “Those who exercise the right to peacefully express themselves should not be demonized or ostracized.”
Mr Trump is also facing criticism for withdrawing a White House invitation to basketball champions the Golden State Warriors after one player, Stephen Curry, said he did not want to attend.
Curry – NBA’s top performer in 2015 – said he wanted to show that he and other players did not stand for “the things that he’s said and the things that he hasn’t said in the right times”.
However, the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team confirmed they would attend the White House, despite the controversy.
NBA superstar LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers said anthem kneeling is not disrespectful and anyone who suggests otherwise is trying to divide.
A number of Nascar bosses have come out and said they will not tolerate any kind of demonstrations in their sport.
Note: This story is auto-generated from BBC syndicated feed and has not been edited by AFRICA PRIME NEWS
President Trump has decided to turn his words into action by announcing that he will indeed rescind the controversial policy of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA. While this was one of his campaign promises from the start, many people from his own party were uncertain he would actually go through with it.
