As  you go about Memorial Day today, take a moment to remember all those that have served in the military, especially those who gave their lives so we can be free today. 
                                And don’t forget all those in the military currently on the front lines combatting the pandemic in nursing homes, setting up field hospitals, and administering tests.

TASK FORCE MATTERS OF INTEREST:
        >       Our next meeting will be held on ZOOM at 7:00pm on June 9th.  Town Meeting is scheduled for June 8th and many of our members are Town Meeting Members.
                We will hold an election of officers for the next fiscal year.  A quorum of at least 10 members is required per our ByLaws, so please make every effort to attend.
                An “invitation” will be emailed a couple of days prior to the meeting.  THANK YOU, Karen Price for all the work in setting up and running our ZOOM meetings.

        >       Brief report from the May meeting:  We had a lengthy discussion concerning several organizations that members have interacted with over the years.  A list and some notes appear on our website, thanks to Will Rico. 
                The Task Force has had a long relationship with Metrowest Immigrant Solidarity Network and thus it was the consensus of the meeting that the Task Force would donate $500.00 to MISN  for its food bank program.


IN THE COMMUNITY
>       Karen Price sent along a notice about a June 4th program sponsored by the Center forWomen in Politics and Public Policy.  SEE ATTACHED

>       An important notice from MIRA concerning the pending Safe Communities Bill is attached.

>       Val has sent the following (see above brief report)”.… you get so many emails that it’s easy to put some off to respond to later, only to have them slide right off your screen — and then “Out of sight, out of mind” takes over.  Thinking this may happen to you, I’m sending this friendly reminder about the opportunity to double any donation you may be able to make to NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala).  This non-profit relies entirely on the generosity of people like you to continue its crucial work supporting indigenous defenders of human rights and environmental justice in Guatemala.  With just 10 days left in this match campaign to double any donations, Team Kistler is one third of the way toward meeting our goal of raising $5,000.  Won’t you pitch in (even a small amount) to help this organization continue its vital work?   Here’s the link: https://nisgua.networkforgood.com/projects/99901-team-kistler-s-fundraiser “.


CURRENT NEWS

>       AILA alerts its members that ICE officials communicated to congressional staff on May 4, 2020, that it had committed to providing 520 free minutes per month for each person in ICE detention. On May 19, 2020, members of Congress sent a letter urging the agency to quickly implement its commitment.(Comment:  Telephone access has long been a problem, especially since ICE contracted out the telephone service, which in turn charged exorbitant rates that made such calls basically unaffordable.)

>       On May 19, 2020, The Congressional Research Service has published an 8 page article entitled “Immigration Laws Regulating the Admission and Exclusion of Aliens at the Border”.  SEE: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/LSB10150.pdf


>       Roll Call reports that in a document filed as part of a lawsuit challenging last year’s move by the Trump administration to end the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement establishing standards of treatment for migrant children, ICE has suggested that around 180 detained migrant children remain in family detention centers beyond the legally permitted period because their parents did not want to be separated from them. According to lawyers representing clients at three family detention centers, ICE agents had approached detained parents, presenting them with a “binary choice”: either authorize the child’s release, resulting in their separation, or remain together in prolonged detention.  For the full story see: https://www.rollcall.com/2020/05/18/ice-migrant-parents-chose-detention-over-childrens-release/?utm.

>       American authorities have deported hundreds of migrant children and teenagers, without giving them the opportunity to speak to  a social worker or to plead for asylum, The New York Times’s Caitlin Dickerson reports. Some children are being deported in the middle of night, without their families being notified.  In expelling the children, the Trump administration is abandoning protections that both Democratic and Republican presidents have granted to young migrants for decades. Federal officials are justifying the practices under a 1944 law that grants the president broad power to prevent the “serious threat” of a dangerous disease.

>       The Washington Post Editorial Board writes that USCIS is preventing thousands of would-be citizens from taking their citizenship oath and thus being able to vote in the November elections. While the pandemic is to blame for the suspension of public citizenship ceremonies, the agency has offered no convincing explanation for why it cannot conduct these ceremonies online, by mail, or telephonically.  SEE:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/would-be-americans-are-being-kept-from-becoming-citizens–and-voting-in-the-fall/2020/05/21/136dba44-99ff-11ea-a282-386f56d579e6_story.html?utm_.

>       Roll Call reports that the latest extension of a Trump administration order barring entry of unauthorized migrants at the southern and northern border will remain in place indefinitely and includes an expansion that also bans entry from coastal ports. This indefinite extension of travel restrictions could also extend the months-long wait that most asylum seekers affected by the Trump administration’s Remain in Mexico program face for a court hearing into one that lasts for years, according to another Roll Call article. SEE:  https://www.rollcall.com/2020/05/20/dhs-indefinitely-extends-expands-border-asylum-ban/?utm_

Please stay well

Gerry Rovner
Gerry80059@Comcast.net