Resisting the Immigration Ban and Federal Workers in the Age of Trump

Hello again Runners,

(For those of you new or new-ish, don’t forget the local-to-DC event links alllll the way at the bottom of the newsletter. Don’t want it to get lost in the shuffle. Lots of good political events this week.)

Welp. I have returned from my sunny vacation to a dumpster fire. I should’ve known the excess heat was a bad sign…But we soldier on. I mean we will knot

be silenced, am I right?? As always and forever, let’s get to work. This week I have added something right here at the top that I will hopefully keep doing, which are small, immediate calls to action that you can do in less than five minutes. More often than not, I will be picking things that DC Residents can do (in other words, I will NOT usually tell you to call Congress, unless there is a call for general feedback rather than constituent feedback), but EVERYONE can do these things. So this week, I’ve got three for you:

Small Acts of Immediate Resistance

1. Get DC Statehood on the DNC Future Forum questions list. The Democratic National Committee is hosting several “future forums” around the country to have candidates for top DNC positions answer questions. The next one is in Baltimore on February 11th, and the public can submit questions. I am asking all Forerunner readers to submit some version of the following question: “Where to you stand on the issue of DC statehood, and if elected, what do you plan to do, specifically, to advamce the cause of statehood for the District?”. Because all of these candidates are Democrats, they will almost certainly say they view statehood favorably, which is why the second half of the question is important. For my non-DC people, it would mean a lot to us disenfranchised Dems here in DC if you would support us on this. If people from other states are on board with this, it helps us. Ask your friends to do it too. Let’s flood the questions with this one.
2. Call the Senate Committee on Homeland Security to oppose Steve Bannon. Donald signed an Executive Order last week rearranging the makeup of the National Security COuncil (NSC) so that Steve Bannon, non-elected official and white supremacist, would be on it. The Homeland Security Committee is taking a general tally from the public to get their opinions on this. Call 202–224–4751, and if the mailbox is full keep calling, keep trying until you get through, and leave a message opposing his appointment to the NSC. If you need reasons or a script or you want to call individual members of the Committee, click the link in this paragraph.
3. Give Jason Chaffetz’s opponent feedback. (Thanks Laura!) Jason Chaffetz, of the UT-03 Congressional District, has been messing with DC for a long time. A Republican (yes a Republican, but it is Utah so we’ll take what we can get) who is planning to challenge Chaffetz in the next primary, is asking for feedback specifically from DC residents, particularly with regards to Chaffetz’s overreach of Federal power (this is a good thing to keep in mind when trying to persuade Republicans on DC’s rights: they [supposedly] don’t like Federal overreach, and are the party of states’ rights, so that can be an angle in). The request was via Twitter, so tweet @damianwkidd and give him your thoughts.

And that’s it! A phone call, a tweet, and a question. Bring down this administration in your spare time! Let me know if you did one of these things and/or if you like this column by replying to the newsletter. You can also submit actions for future issues.

Topic 1: Resisting the Immigration Ban

I think at this point, the actual events of the Immigration Ban are known to all of you, hopefully up to and including both a judge’s overturn of the ban, and the 9th circuit court’s denial of an appeal to the Trump administration. This doesn’t mean that the ban is dead, of course, but things are moving in the right direction. Despite our current President’s utter lack of understanding of checks and balances, the system itself seems to be working fine for now. So instead of going over the entire history of the ban so far, I’m going to jump right into what you can do to support immigrants and refugees. If you ARE looking for a comprehensive look at the ban, covering everything from the reasoning behind it to Trump’s business interests in some of the countries whose residents were not banned, to the current legal situation, I suggest the following:

• The full text of the EO, annotated by NPR
• “What Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration Does — and Doesn’t Do” from The Atlantic
• A piece on the judge who blocked the immigration ban nationwide and why he did it
• The Washington Posts’s fact check as to how many people were affected by the ban
• CNN on how the seven countries included in the travel ban were chosen
• Your definitive guide/my top recommendation: Listen to the podcast See Something, Say Something, the three part episode “Banned Together”. Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 are here or on all your favorite podcast providers. LISTEN! The podcast has a Muslim host and predominantly Muslim guests and is very thorough and informative.

There are protests and general displays of support going on all over the country even now to support immigrants and refugees. This ban has not been fully killed, and we can’t let up on it. Keep going to the protests, or start your own! Attendance at these rallies is not small thing. Don’t let up. Find one near you and go. Tell an immigrant or refugee friend or family that you love them. Share your story of immigration within your own family. I had a friend tell me this week that one side of his family are very anti-immigrant despite that fact that his own grandmother on that side immigrated here with falsified paperwork. Sometimes, hearing these things does not give people any pause; but sometimes it does. Making people you know feel welcome on a personal level will not get the ban lifted, but it will mean the world to them. Commit to making an immigrant friend or changing someone’s mind. And please, PLEASE read this op-ed from the LA Times on standing up for immigrants:

“Everyone knows an ACLU lawyer isn’t going to parachute down from the heavens every time a local thug eggs a car or screams at a woman in a hijab. For newcomers, the difference between dignity and humiliation, impotence and security is often an American who’s willing to get involved.”

I’m also going to re-plug this handy illustration on bystander intervention when witnessing Islamophobia. Do keep your own personal safety in mind, but sometimes our physical safety does have to take a backseat. Make good choices.

As for more activism-specific steps, if you are a lawyer or translator, your services are needed right now and will continue to be needed. If you speak, in particular, Farsi, Arabic, or Urdu, or again, if you are a lawyer, consider just heading to your local airport the next time something like this happens (that’s right; the next time) and offering your services pro bono to anyone who is around. You can also do this ALL the time! Human Rights First has information on their website, including a DC contact person, about offering pro bono legal and translation services to assist with their clients. Immigration Equality is a group that works specifically with LGBTQ+ immigrants, and has a form to fill out for lawyers wanting to work with them pro bono. Many Languages One Voice -DC has a volunteer form in which they are specifically looking for people who speak another language to translate documents. Look around in your area for similar groups and opportunities.

If you live near an international airport, consider if you would be able to open your home in the future to either immigrants or refugees (or green card holders, in this case) who have been detained. Lawyers and translators may also be grateful for a place to stay that is near the airport. Post on social media, or find a website like Air BnB that might be able to advertise a free room to a wide audience.

Is your city a Sanctuary City? If not, call your local officials and ask why not. If you live in DC, you will either become proud or continue being proud to know that we are indeed a Sanctuary City, and that the DC Council unanimously signed a resolution not to cooperate with any attempts to infringe on the rights of immigrants in the District. Thank them. We are usually so caught up in telling our elected officials what makes us unhappy that we forget that kind words can have more of an impact. Thank the Council in a letter or email for standing up for immigrants and urge them to keep doing it.

Donate to causes that are opposing the immigration ban or helping immigrants in other ways. The ACLU is the most large and obvious candidate, but do some google research and find a local organization, or one that appeals specifically to your interests. CARE, IRAP (the International Refugee Assistance Project), and CLEAR (the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility project) are other good choices.

I would also like to link some articles that have their own lists of advice on how to help. I particularly liked this one from Bustle, and this one from Yes magazine. The one from Yes includes as advice helping immigrants to make safety and backup plans, and has a link to a document from the Legal Counsel for Youth and Children for teaching parents how to “establish who would pick a child up from school if parents are picked up and who would be given legal authority to make decisions on the child’s behalf”. A scary thought, but useful information.

Finally, a brief note on what the next steps are, legally speaking, for the ban. This NY Magazine piece is excellent, though a little dated on some things since things are moving so fast. The short answer on what’s next is the Supreme Court:

“Will the case go all the way to the Supreme Court?
Most likely. Legal experts seem to agree that whichever side loses the appeal will almost certainly ask the Supreme Court to review the judgment, and depending on how fast the appeals court rules, the SCOTUS Justices might be weighing in on that within days.

Just keep in mind, the Court is currently short handed and ideologically split thanks to the GOP’s nomination blockade on Obama, so if the court either opts against reviewing the case, or becomes deadlocked, that means the lower-court ruling would stand.”

Topic 2: Federal Workers in the Age of Trump

Federal workers have HAD it.

I, like perhaps many of you living here in DC, am an employee of the Federal Government. If you’re not a direct employee, maybe you’re a contractor (side note for contractors specifically: several Federal protection statutes, such as the No FEAR Act, don’t apply to you; check your rules), or you know someone who is a Federal employee. I’ve been seeing some anxiety over our status in the coming years, sometimes in terms of job security and agency budget cuts, but also in terms of protesting and participating in civil disobedience and other forms of standing up to the current administration. So I’m here to try to give you some advice. Keep in mind that I am not an ethics lawyer or anything of the sort, so my first piece of advice would be to talk to your ethics lawyer at your agency. Make an appointment with your legal representatives and/or your HR department and ask them what your rights are. Ask them to hold a training for your entire office. That should be step one: educate yourself and those around you. Spread the word on what they tell you.

I do want to reassure you, in case it was in any doubt, that while Federal employees are subject to certain restrictions — which I will get to in a moment — we are still protected by the First Amendment, and it would be literally illegal in the highest degree for an agency to deny us our Constitutional right to peaceably assemble or to speak freely. Now, as many of you know, the right to free speech is not completely unfettered, and, even more than that, people are illegally and wrongfully fired all the time. So a Constitutional protection many seem abstract if you have a bigoted boss and you don’t have the means to mount a legal challenge in court to a wrongful firing. But, still, take comfort in the fact that no one can legally take away your right to protest entirely. Maybe that didn’t need to be said, but I did it anyway.

Now as for limitations, there are certain things Federal employees cannot do. You cannot lobby or make political statements on Government time or using Government property. So, during working hours it’s hands off politics. However, you are allowed to take annual leave to, for example, lobby on a work day, as long as you make clear you are not representing your agency. For those comforted by legal-esque language, here is a summary of the Anti-Lobbying Act (which covers lobbying by Federal agencies and workers) from the ethics office of the National Institute of Health:

“The Anti-Lobbying Act does not prohibit government employees from participating in lobbying activities while they are on personal time. Federal employees retain a constitutional right (as recognized by 5 USC Section 7211) to petition Congress, provided they act in a personal capacity or in a representative capacity on behalf of outside persons or organizations. The so-called anti-representation statutes (18 USC Sections 203 and 205) do not apply in relation to these personal capacity communications directed to legislative officials. Employees communicating with Congress on behalf of themselves or some other group or cause should, however, provide a disclaimer which indicates that the views expressed are those of the employee or others and do not necessarily reflect the position of the individual’s employing agency.” (all emphasis added)

As for the Hatch Act, the other major piece of legislation that prohibits government employees from participating in partisan political activities, the Office of Special Counsel has an excellent document summarizing what it allows you to do and prohibits you from doing. The first page has a list of Federal agencies that have heavier restrictions on voter-related activities than others (examples include the CIA, the FBI, and the Federal Elections Commission — if you are in one of the agencies on that list I encourage you even more to talk to one of your legal or ethics reps), BUT the list of things Feds are allowed to do, even those in these extra restricted agencies, is still quite long:

If you are not in one of those extra-restricted agencies, the list of what you are allowed to do is even longer.

Moving on from basic protections and rights for Feds, I also want to highlight your rights if you are actually working on something you believe is immoral, illegal, or otherwise wrong. Again, I am not a lawyer, and I encourage you to talk to one if you find yourselves in these situations. In a case like this, a private lawyer may be more advisable. An obvious topic you should educate yourself about if you are thinking of reporting legal or ethical violations is the legal framework put in place to protect whistleblowers. OSHA has an informative factsheet on the topic. Again, whistleblower protections are not guaranteed. Though it is illegal to fire, dock the pay, or otherwise discriminate against whistleblowers in the Federal government, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t or won’t happen. Laws have to be enforced, and enforcing them can be costly and time consuming for an individual. I don’t expect many of you to come to the point of grand scale whistleblowing, so I’ll leave the advice here for now, but it’s something to think about.

Finally, I’d like to move on from the legal protections offered to Federal workers and talk about not just the laws that allow us to resist but our duty to do so. Trump’s immigration ban was carried out by ordinary civil servants like myself. Even after two Federal judges had issued rulings that the ban be stayed temporarily, border patrol agents right here at Dulles Airport chose to continue barring immigrants at the airport from being released or from meeting with lawyers for hours longer, despite the fact that one of those two judge’s rulings specifically allowed access to legal counsel. Without the cooperation of these low-level workers, Trump’s ban would never have gained any traction. And while following the initial order is understandable, and not everyone can afford to lose their job to defy such orders, continuing to enforce it after the stay was clearly wrong. And that wasn’t Trump. That was them. That could be us if we’re not careful.

When Sally Yates, acting Attorney General until a week or so ago and an Obama-era appointee, defied the Trump administration’s immigration ban, she was doing her duty as a lawyer and a citizen. Just ask Jeff Sessions!

Thanks for the sound advice, Jeff!
(*washes mind with soap for even writing that*)

In a Jezebel piece called “Disobey Orders”, they layout not only the imperative of disobeying, but also offer advice on how to do so. Many lawyers have offered to represent, for free, any civil servant looking to defy an illegal executive order. And Federal workers have many layers of legal protections from firing, much more than our private counterparts, as detailed in this excellent, must read piece from Slate called “The Nervous Civil Servant’s Guide to Defying an Illegal Order”.

I would also encourage you to look into local and agency-specific groups and support for this. There have been several meetings already of Federal worker support groups in the DC area. Some agencies have specific avenues for dissent, including the State Department, which offers “ an official dissent channel where Foreign Service employees can register opposition without fear of reprisals. The channel, formed in 1971, has been used to raise policy objections to the Vietnam War and other conflicts. Several hundred employees signed the dissent cable objecting to Trump’s refugee policy.” This channel and the Federal support groups were mentioned in the Washington Post; read the piece for some good ideas on what to do for low level bureaucratic resistance as well.

So, as always, set your own limits, but do resist. You can. You should.

Good Night and Good Luck

This is my weekly news roundup — all the news that’s fit to make you really really mad.

-Donald named his first Supreme Court pick this week: Neil Gorsuch from the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals. There’s a lot of information floating around about Gorsuch, not all of it negative (CNN polls showed he is viewed generally favorably by voters), but I in particular have concerns about the future of reproductive freedom in the Court. And furthermore, I think there is a strong case to be made for Senate Democrats filibustering his nomination just on principle because of the Republicans’ treatment of Merrick Garland. Both the Washington Post and the New York Times make that case.

“The presumption should be that Gorsuch does not deserve confirmation, because the process that led to his nomination was illegitimate.” — NY Times

-In a 50–50 vote, with the tie broken by VP Pence, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as Secretary of Education on Tuesday. NPR and The Atlantic both point out that, though it doesn’t make her nomination TOO much more palatable, she has less power over American education than many people think. The Atlantic further points to the remarkable citizen engagement around her nomination and hopes that this will cause Americans to pay more attention to education policy in general in the future. If your Senator opposed DeVos, thank them.

-Senator Elizabeth Warren was censured on the Senate floor, and barred in a partisan vote from speaking for the remainder of the hearings on Jeff Sessions when she tried to read a letter from Coretta Scott King opposing his 1986 appointment. Since then, however four male Senators have read the exact same letter and were allowed to do so without comment (??). (“Nevertheless, she persisted.”)

Wednesday Addams has rage about sexism.

-As a result of the botched raid in Yemen last month which killed several Yemeni civilians, the country has “withdrawn permission for the United States to run Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups in the country”; the White House continues to insist the operation was a success.

-In his first speech to US Service members, Trump falsely accused the media of covering up terrorist attacks. The White House later released a list of terrorist “attaks” (as the list frequently spelled it) it alleged had not been covered by “the media”, which included San Bernadino and the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting….maybe I should’ve saved that Wednesday Addams gif.

-Cosmopolitan magazine (that’s right, that Cosmopolitan magazine; women’s magazines have been kicking ass for years!) revealed that Kellyanne Conway — who had tried to walk back her comments about the Bowling Green massacare (a terrorist attack she referenced that never happened) by saying she meant to say “Bowling Green terrorists” — had actually used the phrase “Bowling Green massacre” in a phone interview with them prior to using it on MSNBC, indicating it likely was not a slip of the tongue.

-Jeff Sessions was confirmed as Attorney General on Wednesday night and I legitimately can’t think of a single thing that troubles me more about all of this so far. Not a single GOP candidate for or spoke out against him. Remember that.

Today, and EVERY day, you, yes YOU, can reply to this newsletter to send me feedback; check out my Pinterest board for links to the many articles linked here, and my Medium page if you’d prefer a blogged version of this newsletter; follow me on Twitter at @speaknojessica; and/or subscribe to The ForeRunner at http://tinyletter.com/theforerunner. Invite people to subscribe. Do it. Or I’ll come at you Spicer style:

This seems more reasonable than some of his actual actions, TBH.

​In solidarity,
JM

My dog, Maple, is too sleepy to resist.

Event link round up (local to DC unless otherwise noted):
February 9: Tackling Islamophobia at Home, hosted by DC Public Library
February 9 (Herndon, VA): Night of Action, hosted by Fairfax Young Democrats
February 9: Trayvon Martin’s Parents discuss their book, hosted by Politics and Prose, costs $
February 11: Dulles Refugee Rally, hosted by The Universe
February 11 (Baltimore, MD): DNC Regional Future Forum in Baltimore, hosted by the Democratic National Committee, RSVP does not guarantee a seat, it is first come first serve
February 12 (Oakton, VA): Teach-In on Racist Policing in Fairfax County, hosted by Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Northern Virginia
February 13: Hands Off DC Organizing Event, hosted by Councilmember Charles Allen of Ward 6, RSVP required (I will be there)
February 14: Resilience Event: Transformative Love, hosted by SURJ-DC; this is a healing event, so highly recommended for those of you who need it
February 14: No Sanctuary for Hate rally, hosted by SURJ Northern Virginia
February 15: Statehood Coalition Lobby Day, hostead by DC Vote, RSVP required
February 16 (or 21): The Resistance is Local, hosted by Jews United for Justice, RSVP required (I will be there on the 16th)