Bernie Sanders's newly released immigration platform could be called the anti-Trump plan. The Vermont senator and 2020 hopeful announced plans that seem to be an overhaul of the Trump administration's immigration policies and include decriminalizing the border, breaking up ICE and CBP, and providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for five years.
In the plan called "A Welcoming and Safe America for All," Sanders said he will use executive action if Congress does not enact the "commonsense immigration reforms supported by the vast majority of Americans."
"The whole point is to make immigration easier not harder, so people aren't put in a situation where people have to come here without legal status," Sanders' Latino Press Secretary Belén Sisa said.
If Sanders wins the White House, he plans to issue an immediate moratorium on deportations "until a thorough audit of current and past practices and policies is complete," according to the plan.
The senator said he will expand Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and a related measure for parents and guardians. DACA still protects about 650,000 individuals brought to the United States as children, and allows DREAMers, as DACA recipients are called, the ability to work legally. The Trump administration has said it considers DACA illegal.
Sisa, a DACA recipient herself, helped draft the policy plan. She said the team doesn't "want [immigration] to be a criminal issue. We want it to be humane issue."
"He's the only candidate that has proposed such a progressive plan for immigration," she said.
While candidates often make policy proposals on the campaign trail, many would actually need more legislative approval to enact, Jessica Bolter, a policy analyst at Migration Policy Institute said.
"Looking at the substance of the plan, it seemed like a missed opportunity to put forward a forward-thinking plan. A lot of this is focused on undoing policies," she continued.
Bolter said the plan Sanders laid out to "break up" ICE and CBP, which Sisa said involve putting those organizations under the Department of Justice, would require more legislation.
"The Department of Homeland Security was created through legislation. It would need new legislation to restructure the agencies in the ways that [Sanders] has proposed," Bolter said.
Elizabeth Warren, who like Sanders has also been holding strong near the top of 2020 Democratic presidential polls, said in her immigration policy plan that she would "reshape" ICE and CBP.
If Sanders does try to use executive action to accomplish his policy proposals, it could open up opportunities for those who disagree to bring lawsuits against the government, Senior Policy Analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center Cristobal Ramón said said.
Sanders's plan to use executive action differs from most 2020 candidates in that it is "more straightforward in terms of how he plans to implement it," Ramón said. "But policy plan through executive action may not survive the onslaught of litigation from conservative organizations," he continued.
"If Sanders were to become President, there's no doubt in my mind that conservative groups, conservative governors, and a whole host of different organizations would try to sue the implementation of these policies," he added.
A Gallup poll finds that now 7.1% of American adults identify as LGBTQ, jumping from 3.5% in 2012. The increase is driven by Generation-Z – those born between 1997 and 2003 – of whom one out of five identify as LGBTQ. Cheddar News speaks with Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson about the significant shift.
As the Biden administration continues to see the potential for an imminent invasion of Ukraine after contradictory reports of a Russian troop pullback or buildup, Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif. 7th District), a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, joined Cheddar News to give his insight into the tense situation. "When I was in Ukraine a couple of weeks ago and we were talking with the Ukrainian leadership with President Zelensky, they said we ought to approach Vladimir Putin as though he was a poker player," he said. "So this could be one of those head fakes where he's saying one thing and doing another thing."
The Biden Administration has now issued new guidelines when it comes to carbon capture. The new guidelines handed down this week encouraged the widespread use of climate attacks that traps and stores carbon emissions. The goal here is the process would help keep carbon out of the atmosphere without requiring a whole lot of change by big companies and manufacturing plants. Several scientists say that this method would be crucial to help us decrease the use of carbon emissions by the year 2050. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, Mark Jacobson, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter for Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss the latest in marijuana legalization in the United States.
The Biden administration is launching a new task force to promote the use of 'cleaner' construction materials with lower life cycle emissions. This comes as the White House works to speed up government purchases of greener products. Sweta Chakraborty, climate change expert and U.S. president of "We Don't Have Time," joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Due to the staffing shortages of teachers in New Mexico, the state has been encouraging its National Guard members to fill in as licensed substitutes to keep schools open. Kurt Steinhaus, New Mexico secretary of education, joined Cheddar News to explain the state's stopgap measure amid its lack of teaching professionals. "The first thing they have to go through a fingerprint background check, just like any other substitute new Mexico. The second thing they have to do is go through some online training, and then we provided some in-person professional development about classroom management," Steinhaus explained about the qualifications process.
With contradictory reports about Russian troops pulling back or being added to the border with Ukraine and the expulsion of a U.S. diplomat from Russia, tensions in the region appear to be escalating. Jack Detsch, a Pentagon and national security reporter for Foreign Policy, joined Cheddar News to break down the situation. "Certainly a different tone out of Moscow today and a different tone out of the West. Even as the Kremlin has made the case that troops are moving back, the U.S. is saying that is certainly not the case with the satellite imagery that we have pouring in," he said.
New York City's famous subway system is currently facing scrutiny after several recent attacks on platforms. Now, local leaders in the Big Apple are calling on the MTA. To step in and take action.
