June Updates
June/July Calendar
Want to march with The Justice Groups in Claremont’s 4th of July parade? Email Sid Mohn at contact.tjgpp.org
Mondays: Save Medicaid Postcard Writing: Napier Common Room, 10:15 am to noon
Wednesdays: Ceasefire Vigil - corner of Foothill and Indian Hill - 4 to 4:30 pm
Fridays: Peace Vigil - corner of Arrow Highway and Indian Hill - 3:30 to 4:30 pm
Saturday, June 14, 2 to 4 pm, corner of Foothill and Indian Hill: No Kings! We’re taking to the streets nationwide. We’re not gathering to feed FOTUS’ ego. We’re showing up everywhere he isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings. The flag doesn’t belong to Donald Trump. It belongs to us. We’re not watching history happen. We’re making it. Register here.
Tuesday, June 24, 7 pm, Napier Center at Pilgrim Place, 660 Avery Rd: "Know Your Rights" Workshop, sponsored jointly by Justice for Immigrants Seeking Asylum and Indivisible. Learn more about the many ways we can support immigrants as they protect themselves from threat of deportation.
Friday, July 4, 1 pm: Pilgrim Place Contingent in Claremont Independence Day Parade; Justice Groups featured with the float.
New Justice Groups Banner Reveal
With many thanks to Debbie Gara and Maura Corley, our new banner will bring color and identity to future events where members of The Justice Groups at Pilgrim Place wish to make their presence better known. Actual size is six feet wide by 3 feet tall. Roll on, TJGPP!
In Brief
From Earth Justice: Trump Administration proposes eliminating habitat protections
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is one of the most popular and effective environmental laws ever enacted.
Since it was signed into law by President Nixon 50 years ago, the Endangered Species Act has had a 99% success rate, saving numerous animal and plant species that would have otherwise disappeared forever.
The Trump administration is proposing to eliminate habitat protections for vulnerable species. The destruction of habitat is the main cause for species decline and in the United States, over one-third of species at risk of extinction. The Trump administration is trying to rewrite a regulation to pave the way for timber, oil, mining and other extractive industries to destroy habitat where endangered species live, even if the damage to habitat harms those species.
From Earth Justice: CA Spotted Owls in Danger
In 2023, the Biden administration determined the California spotted owl should receive protection under the ESA. However, the decision was never finalized, and the owls remain unprotected. California Spotted Owls have seen their numbers dwindle because of logging and climate change, among other threats. For more than 20 years, Earthjustice and other environmental groups have advocated for protections for the owl to address its rapidly declining population.
From CAL MATTERS: California State Budget
When Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out his revised state budget proposal last week, he emphasized how President Donald Trump and his administration made forecasting California’s economic future even harder. To plug California’s $12 billion budget hole, Newsom wants to use $1.6 billion from Proposition 35 — which voters approved in November to increase the pay of doctors who treat Medi-Cal patients — toward the deficit. He also wants to move $500 million initially earmarked to support family planning and women’s health care to the state’s general fund. Both proposals are getting pushback from doctors, hospitals and clinics, which argue that it is wrong to reroute money voters set aside for specific health costs
In addition to extending California’s cap and trade program through 2045, Newsom wants to commit more than half of the money it generates this year, or roughly $4.8 billion, to Cal Fire operations and the High-Speed Rail Project. The cap and trade program has provided billions of dollars for projects aimed at combating climate change. Critics of Newsom’s proposal say moving the money would mean limiting resources for the state’s other environmental efforts, such as reducing emissions from gas-powered cars
From the Public Religion Research Institute: 20,000 National Guard Troops Requested for Deportation Actions
Tara Copp and Rebecca Santana at the Associated Press report that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has requested 20,000 National Guard troops to carry out President Donald Trump’s “mandate from the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens.” These National Guard units would come from the states, and their ability to assist in deportation operations may depend on whether they remain under state governors’ control. Meanwhile, The Hill writes that DHS is also in the early stages of exploring a potential reality show in which immigrants would compete in challenges across the U.S. for a fast-track to citizenship. PRRI data finds that a majority of Americans (64%) reject the idea that immigrants are “invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background,” while 33% agree.
Stories You May Have Missed
From Church World Service: What's Happening With Refugees?
Breaking developments in the Pacito v. Trump case, in which CWS and others have challenged the Trump administration’s ongoing refugee ban and funding freeze. On May 22, plaintiffs and the administration filed recommendations for how to proceed with the processing of “injunction protected refugees” – and how to determine which refugees might fall into that category.
A federal judge had ordered the administration to immediately process, admit, and provide resettlement support to 160 refugees (a group whose travel to the U.S. was scheduled within two weeks of January 20). The court then noted its intention to appoint a “special neutral” to conduct a case-by-case review of other stranded refugees whose circumstances indicate a “strong reliance interest…comparable to plaintiff Pacito.” Parties filed suggested nominations for the special neutral position and recommended qualifications to meet the “strong reliance interest” threshold.
In their filing, plaintiffs recommended the court nominate a special neutral who has substantial capacity and time to review cases, who has some adjudicatory or mediation experience, and who has “some demonstrated familiarity or experience with issues affecting displaced people.” Plaintiffs further argued that refugees with “strong reliance interests” who are to be processed and resettled should include:
a) Minor children traveling without an accompanying adult;
b) Cases authorized for expedited processing for medical or protection concerns;
c) Cases of Afghan refugees required by the U.S. government to relocate to a third location for processing of their application, and;
d) Cases that overseas Resettlement Support Centers identify as having strong reliance interests following a review.
Plaintiffs also argued for the resumption of Reception and Placement benefits to already-resettled refugees who had been cut off from support by the refugee ban and funding freeze.
In their filing, the government argued that there should be no special neutral and the decision should be entirely up to the administration about who to process and admit. They did recommend a series of retired judges as possible special neutrals if one was to be nominated, and noted their recommended qualifications would be to focus on cases in which individuals terminated their leases, voluntarily ended employment, sold or donated possessions, or disenrolled children from school like Plaintiff Pacito did in anticipation of traveling to the U.S. The filing notes that “other reliance interests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
State Department office responsible for refugee resettlement given new disaster relief responsibilities. According to a May 21 report, an internal department cable has indicated that the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) will be the lead department coordinating the United States’ response to overseas disasters. The move comes after the administration has taken significant steps to dismantle USAID, which was previously largely responsible for disaster response.
The cable noted that overseas missions should consult with PRM on foreign disaster declarations and that PRM could approve disaster assistance monies to be used to support an initial response.
Jeremy Konyndyk, former director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Relief and current president of Refugees International called the move “ridiculous,” stating of PRM: “They do important stuff but this is not what they do.”
Senate turns to budget reconciliation bill. The House has passed a budget reconciliation bill that, if signed into law, could cut off millions of people from Medicaid, cut off refugees and other humanitarian entrants from SNAP and Medicare, and substantially increase ICE’s budget and authority to detain and deport immigrant families. The bill now is in the hands of the Senate, where Senate Republicans intend to make significant changes. Just how far they go before the stated July 4 deadline remains to be seen.
Use this CWS Action Alert to urge your members of Congress to push back against the harmful provisions in the reconciliation bill.