Statue of Liberty No More

Tired and Poor:  So much for those huddled masses yearning to be free.  Yesterday, the Trump administration made it clear that they’re not just against illegal immigration, they’re against all immigration, or at least immigration by people who aren’t rich and white.  None of this should be all that surprising to anyone who has paid any attention to Trump immigration guru Stephen Miller or to Trump himself who previously stated that he would prefer that most if not all immigrants come from Norway.  Under the new rule, which will almost certainly be immediately litigated, poor immigrants will be denied permanent status and green cards if they are deemed likely to use government benefit programs such as food stamps and subsidized housing. Wealthier immigrants, who are designated as less likely to require public assistance, will be able to obtain a green card.  The rule would not apply to people who already have their green cards, to certain members of the military, to refugees and asylum-seekers, to pregnant women and children, or to beneficiaries of CHIP, the children’s health program used by the “working poor.”  The CHIP exemption was a last minute add-in, part of an attempt to make the new rule more palatable. The bottom line, is that if you are hoping to ever become a citizen but run into hard times while you’re climbing out of poverty, you’d better stay away from using most of the safety net programs because if you do, you’ll jeopardize your chances of ever getting a green card, and if that involves you or your kids going hungry or staying sick, so be it.  When asked by a CBS reporter if Emma Lazarus’ poem would be removed from the base of the Statue of Liberty, a stone faced Ken Cuccinelli, the hard line Acting Director of US Citizenship and Immigration, responded  “I do not think by any means we are ready to take anything off the Statue of Liberty,” but that didn’t stop a very gleeful Stephen Miller from running off in search of a really big eraser. Proving that rich people are still welcome, despite pushback from some members of congress from both parties, the administration is likely to advocate for the renewal of the EB-5 visa program, which allows rich foreigners, largely investors from China, Taiwan and South Korea,  to get a permanent visa in exchange for making an investment of at least $500,000 in an American business. Yesterday, Vanity Fair reported that Stephen Ross’ Related Companies businesses are among the largest users of the EB-5 program,  a cheap source of capital for his large real estate projects, which may well explain how he justified throwing that big Hamptons fund raiser for Trump last week despite his assertion that he isn’t always in agreement with Trump and his policies.  The Trump administration didn’t just go after undesirable immigrants yesterday, it also decided that the time was right to change how it implements the Endangered Species Act, making it easier for oil companies, real estate interests and the agriculture industry to develop land inhabited by vulnerable wildlife.  The revisions which were the brainchild of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who previously lobbied on behalf of oil and agriculture sectors, are intended to prevent the Fish and Wildlife Service from automatically offering endangered species protections to wildlife classified as “threatened” and minimizing its consideration of climate change when analyzing a species. Because who cares about extinction anyway and climate change is just one of those socialist/liberal myths, right?

The Epstein Saga:  Despite Q Anon conspiracy theorists claims that Jeffrey Epstein is now hiding out with Elvis and JFK Jr, however he got there, he’s still very much dead.  That said the investigation into all things Epstein remains very much alive.  Though he failed to mention that as Attorney General he is actually in charge of the Bureau of Prisons,  William Barr told a law enforcement group in New Orleans that he was “appalled and frankly angry to learn of the Metropolitan Correctional Center’s failure to adequately secure” Epstein.  Moving to the royal we, he went on to say that “we are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation."  It turns out that due to a Trump administration imposed hiring freeze and funding cuts the facility was woefully underfunded and lacked adequate staffing. That could explain why one of the people who was supposed to, but didn’t, regularly check in on Epstein wasn’t even a prison guard but had been detailed from his regular job to work a mandated extra shift and the other was a guard who had worked five double shifts in a row. Referring to the Epstein case, Barr also said that "this sex trafficking case was very important to DOJ and me personally, the FBI and office of DOJ Inspector General will get to the bottom of what happened and there will be accountability," and we know how reliable Barr can be, right?  Anyway, to that end, yesterday a team of FBI agents were seen landing at Epstein’s Virgin Island hideaway, it’s anyone’s guess what they’ll find there but James Stewart, the investigative journalist, not the long dead “It’s a Wonderful Life” actor, thinks they’ll find “dirt on powerful people,” at least that’s what Epstein told him during a meeting the two had at Epstein’s NY mansion last year.  During that meeting, in a room covered with pictures of him with such notables as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Bill Clinton, Epstein refused to talk about whether or not he was advising Tesla’s Elon Musk, which was the purported reason for the meeting, but instead the unrepentant Epstein defended his behavior saying that “criminalizing sex with teenage girls was a cultural aberration and that at times in history it was perfectly acceptable. He pointed out that homosexuality had long been considered a crime and was still punishable by death in some parts of the world.”  With Epstein out of the picture, the focus will now shift to his posse, the women, most notably Ghislaine Maxwell, who helped him recruit young girls into his lair, and his finances. Due to his death, the non-disclosure agreements signed by Epstein’s employees and some of his victims are no longer valid so more details regarding his seedy life and his compatriots are likely to come out.  Additionally, some more victims are expected to come forward, helped by a new law due to go into effect in New York this week.  That law provides a one year window allowing adults who were sexually abused as children to file lawsuits against their abusers even if the statue of limitations for their cases had previously expired.  Anyone and everyone with a case against Epstein is expected to try to get a share of his substantial assets.  A number of people who hung with Epstein appear to be very concerned, it’s reported that L Brands billionaire Leslie Wexner has hired prominent criminal defense attorney Mary Jo White, once the chair of the SEC and now at Debevoise & Plimpton, and that two of Epstein’s long term lawyers, Darren Indyke and Jeffrey Schantz who were responsible for setting up his complicated financial arrangements have recently hired criminal defense lawyers of their own.  Epstein is dead but he is most certainly not forgotten.