DOJ drops policy of ‘zero tolerance’ in border enforcement
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations.
Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued the new memo to federal prosecutors across the nation Tuesday, saying the department would return to its previous policy and instructing prosecutors to act on the merits of individual cases.
“Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding — effective immediately — the policy directive,” Wilkinson wrote.
Wilkinson said the department’s principles have “long emphasized that decisions about bringing criminal charges should involve not only a determination that a federal offense has been committed and that the admissible evidence will probably be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction, but should also take into account other individualized factors, including personal circumstances and criminal history, the seriousness of the offense, and the probable sentence or other consequences that would result from a conviction.”
The zero tolerance policy meant that any adult caught crossing the border illegally would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Because children cannot be jailed with their family members, families were separated and children were taken into custody by Health and Human Services, which manages unaccompanied children at the border.
While the rescinding of zero tolerance is in part symbolic, it undoes the Trump administration’s unpopular policy responsible for the separation of more than 5,500 children from their parents at the U.S-Mexico border.
Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale.
New census data goals: The U.S. Census Bureau is aiming to deliver the long-delayed numbers used for divvying up congressional seats by the end of April, but a holdup on redistricting data could disrupt several states’ abilities to redraw their own legislative maps ahead of upcoming elections, an agency official said Wednesday.
The new goal for finishing data processing for the apportionment numbers used for congressional seats is now April 30. But a separate set of data used for redrawing districts for states and local governments won’t be ready until after July in the most likely scenario, Kathleen Styles, a top bureau official, said during a presentation for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The delay in the release of redistricting data could be problematic for states that have deadlines this year for redrawing their districts. New Jersey and Virginia also have elections this year.
San Francisco school names: The San Francisco school board has voted to remove the names of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln from public schools after officials deemed them and other prominent figures, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, unworthy of the honor.
The board voted 6-1 Tuesday in favor of renaming 44 San Francisco school sites with new names with no connection to slavery, oppression, racism or similar criteria, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Feinstein’s name was added to the list because as mayor she replaced a vandalized Confederate flag that was part of a long-standing flag display in front of City Hall.
Critics called the process slapdash, with little to no input from historians and a lack of information on the basis for each recommendation.
In one instance, the committee didn’t know whether Roosevelt Middle School was named after Theodore or Franklin Delano.
Russia OKs treaty extension: Russian lawmakers on Wednesday approved the extension of the last remaining nuclear RussiaU.S. arms control treaty, a fast-track action that comes days before it’s due to expire.
Both houses of parliament voted unanimously to extend the New START treaty for five years, a day after a phone call between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin said they agreed to complete the necessary extension procedures in the next few days.
Speaking via video link to the World Economic Forum’s virtual meeting, Putin hailed the decision to extend the treaty as “a step in the right direction,” but warned of rising global rivalries and threats of new conflicts.
The pact’s extension doesn’t require congressional approval in the U.S., but Russian lawmakers must ratify the move and Putin has to sign the relevant bill into law.
Navalny brother arrested:
Moscow police launched a series of raids Wednesday on apartments and offices of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s family and associates, arresting his brother.
The searched locations included Navalny’s apartment, where police detained his brother, Oleg, and a rented apartment where Navalny’s wife, Yulia, has been living.
Video on the internet TV station Dozhd showed Yulia Navalny telling journalists from the window that police had not allowed her lawyer to enter the apartment.
The raids came four days before protests that Navalny’s supporters have called for Sunday.
Demonstrations calling for his release took place in more than 100 cities across the nation Saturday, a strong show of rising anger toward the Kremlin. Nearly 4,000 people were reported arrested at those protests.
Sanders memes help charity:
About those mittens that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wore to the presidential inauguration, sparking endless quirky memes across social media?
They’ve helped to raise $1.8 million in the last five days for charitable organizations in Sanders’ home state of Vermont, he announced Wednesday.
The sum comes from the sale of merchandise with the Jan. 20 image of him sitting with his arms and legs crossed, clad in his brown parka and recycled wool mittens.
Sanders put the first of the so-called Chairman Sanders merchandise, including T-shirts, sweatshirts and stickers, on his website last week, and the first run sold out in less than 30 minutes, he said.
More merchandise was added over the weekend and sold out by Monday morning, he said.
Sanders’ mittens were made by Jen Ellis, a Vermont elementary school teacher who has a side business making mittens out of recycled wool.