Lawful Assembly

We talk about pardons for immigrants in detention and then discuss a few Trump cases as he settles in to take office next month.    Show Notes    Part II of Craig’s article that discusses all the biblical protagonists who would have been unlawful under U.S. immigration law, “You Were Told to Love the Immigrant, But What If the Story Never Happened? Hospitality and United States Immigration Law,” Vincentian Heritage Journal: Vol. 33: Iss. 1, Article 8, can be found at:  https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2784951    Craig has previously challenged the interpretation of biblical passages by former Senator and Attorney General Jeff Sessions in “The Bible: the Perfect Primer on Immigration Law for Senator Sessions,” at: file:///Users/cmousin/Downloads/Challenge%20Response%20Blog%20-%20Chicago%20Theological%20Seminary_stamped-2.pdf  which was then followed by   “Faith Resisting Authority in the Name of Justice and Love: Immigration Law and the Bible” which can be found at: https://soundcloud.com/bcicirel/faith-resisting-authority-in-the-name-of-justice-and-love-immigration-law-and-the-bible?in=bcicirel/sets/vincentian-heritage-podcast    Law professors Peter L. Markowitz and Lindsay Nash raised the issue of pardons in their law review article, “Pardoning Immigrants,” 93 N.Y.U. Law Rev. 58 (2018).  They cite the pardon of Sheriff Joe on page 77.  They also mention the case of Biddle v. Perovich, 274 US 480,486 (1927), where the Supreme Court found that the pardon permits the President to decide “that the public welfare will be better served by inflicting less than the judgment fixed.”     The Human Rights Watch report written by Michael Garcia Bochenek, “We Need to Take Away Children, Zero Accountability Six Years After 'Zero Tolerance,'” December 16, 2024' contains the quote that we cited at p. 10 of the report:    https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/12/16/we-need-take-away-children/zero-accountability-six-years-after-zero-tolerance    We apologize for mistakenly claiming President Biden pardoned the former Treasurer of Dixon, Illinois and that she embezzled 62 million dollars.  President Biden commuted her sentence.  She was convicted of embezzling 53.7 million dollars. See: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-dixon-comptroller-rita-crundwell-sentenced-nearly-20-years-federal-prison-537  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/us/politics/ann-selzer-iowa-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/nyregion/trump-immunity-criminal-case.html    

Mr. Homan makes a false claim that nine out of ten people who claim asylum never get relief.  (“Chicago to be ground zero for mass deportations, Trump border czar tells Illinois Republicans,” Tina Sfondeles, December 9, 2024, Chicago Sun Times:   https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/donald-trump/2024/12/09/border-czar-tom-homan-donald-trump-chicago-pritzker-brandon-johnson-immigration?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12102024%20Morning%20Edition&utm_content=12102024%20Morning%20Edition+CID_9e386f999f41eb3cc9b8411a2058045c&utm_source=cst_campaign_monitor&utm_term=Chicago%20will%20be%20ground%20zero%20for%20mass%20deportations%20Trump%20border%20czar%20tells%20Illinois%20Republicans&tpcc=cst_cm    First, it is unclear what asylum seekers he is discussing.  Many who claim asylum at the border have their cases heard in immigration courts around the nation.  The TRAC report on “Asylum Decision” which is calculated through October 2024 demonstrates that at many courts, those asylum seekers with representation obtain relief.  If the case remains at the border, the number obtaining relief even with representation falls.  This, however, proves the point that those seeking mass deportation seek to deny the bona fide asylum seekers a fair chance to present their cases when pressure to move cases through the system are expedited at the border.  Compare, for example, Chicago immigration courts with the court in El Paso:   TRAC: “Asylum Decisions” (through October 2024): https://trac.syr.edu/phptools/immigration/asylum/    TRAC also reveals the ongoing difficulties to obtain representation: “Too Few Immigration Attorneys: Average Representation Rates Fall from 65% To 30%,” https://trac.syr.edu/reports/736/    The National Immigrant Justice Center’s “Snapshot of ICE Detention: Inhumane Conditions and Alarming Expansion, IMMIGRATION DETENTION AT A GLANCE, September 2024” can be found at:    https://immigrantjustice.org/sites/default/files/content-type/research-item/documents/2024-09/ICE-Detention-Snapshot_September-2024.pdf    Information on the numbers of undocumented workers in the national workforce can be found at:  April Rubin, “The industries that could be hardest hit by Trump's immigration crackdown,”  https://www.axios.com/2024/11/19/undocumented-workers-immigration-deportation-trump    For a discussion of Harold Washington and his Executive Order and the Chicago history of rebutting the Fugitive Slave Act requirements, see, Craig B. Mousin, “A Clear View from the Prairie: Harold Washington and the People of Illinois Respond to Federal Encroachment of Human Rights”:  https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2997657      ACTION STEP    Join the 198 advocacy organizations that called on the Biden Administration to close immigration detention facilities and reduce detention.  (See: Billal Rahman, November 19, 2024, “Biden Urged To Close Detention Centers Before Trump's Mass Deportations,”   https://www.newsweek.com/biden-detention-centers-trump-mass-deportation-1988212?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=7337d344-cc24-43c8-8239-5deddae494dd )    You can send an email to your elected members of Congress through the American Immigration Council’s Immigration Justice Campaign:  https://immigrationjustice.quorum.us/campaign/biden-last-requests/    Please share this podcast and this link with others to join in this advocacy.   

We talk about several news stories on this week's show. Check out our show notes below:   For more information on the disproportionate toll on Palestinians lives since 1917, see Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017, (N.Y., Henry Holt & Co., 2020).    The Haaretz podcast quoted in this episode can be found at: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/podcasts/2024-11-30/ty-article-podcast/.premium/netanyahus-war-on-the-israeli-media-and-how-it-is-already-affecting-press-freedom/00000193-7e85-d7fe-a393-7f8d17600000    For a general summary of anti-BDS laws in the United States, see:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws    The story about Mr. Moshe Yaalon, “Former Defense Minister Accuses Israel of Committing War Crimes in Gaza,” by Adam Rasgon, Liam Stock, and Natan Odenheimer,  N.Y. Times, December 1, 2024, can be found at:  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-yaalon.html?searchResultPosition=1    Consider subscribing to Haaretz for current information:  https://promotion.haaretz.com/offers?htm_source=site&htm_medium=button&htm_campaign=subscription&htm_campaign_type=subscription&htm_content=hello_default    For Robert Reich’s discussion of the Hunter Biden pardon, see:  https://mail.proton.me/u/9/almost-all-mail/Am-6ux8A5oEB0nmcKi31CF20XS8OhqQudOuS2jZXVuhKuHqY_ow6xCSLufsK90KwVBhZVxHA9cEUmIEBpjPjKw==#keyword=Reich

You can find the op-ed by Thomas Friedman, “Mr. Trump, Do You Realize How Much the World Has Changed Since You Were President?” Nov. 26, 202 at:    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/opinion/trump-israel-iran.html  Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 3, 1863,  can be found at:  https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/transcript_for_abraham_lincoln_thanksgiving_proclamation_1863.pdf  A colleague on the same Solidarity Pilgrimage with me posted the following statement about our trip: https://substack.com/home/post/p-152180354 For more information on how Palestinians have had their human rights violated for over a century, see Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017, (N.Y., Henry Holt & Co., 2020).  Visit the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center at https://sabeel.org  and the Community Renewal Society at:  https://www.communityrenewalsociety.org/  You can find Ethan Avriel's  Haaretz article that  we discussed about the Palestinian economy, "On the Road to Annexation, Israel Is Intentionally Causing Economic Collapse in the West Bank," at:  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-11-19/ty-article-magazine/.premium/on-the-road-to-annexation-israel-is-intentionally-causing-a-palestinian-economic-collapse/00000193-3f53-d8aa-a3b3-3fdf3a6a0000  

A short solo podcast this week. Talking about what we talked about last week and clarifying for some listeners.

Today Craig and Cecil discuss the differences in how groups use Christianity to shape their ideas on immigration.    The chapter contrasting the Migrant 4 Life from MAGA Jesus and the immigration consequences of the Tower of Babel story, “A Migrant 4 Life Journeys to the New Tower of Babel: Christianity and Immigration,” can be found at:   https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4769482   The chapter that discusses Ruth and the daily trial of innocence, “Nonrefoulement: Responding to Asylum-seekers Through the Prism of Subversive Stories: A Study of Three Trials of Innocence,” can be found at:  https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4901648      Abrahm Lustgarten discusses the impact of climate on migration in “Refugees from the Earth,” July, 26, 2020 NY Times Magazine:   https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/23/magazine/climate-migration.html?searchResultPosition=1  

Craig and Cecil talk about the election results, what to do next and how to move forward.    Notes for this episode:   Marcela Valdes, "What a Crackdown on Immigration Could Mean for Cheap Milk," NY Times Magazine, October 15, 2024: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/15/magazine/milk-industry-undocumented-immigrants.html?searchResultPosition=1   Harriet Tubman's quote came from Tiya Miles book, Night Flyer, Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People, (New York, Penguin Press, 2024), pp. 234-5.

We spend much of this week's show talking about and playing clips from the Madison Square Garden Rally. We also cover some news stories about Elon Musk and a new defamation lawsuit filed against Donald Trump   Trump at the Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism There’s a Big New Defamation Lawsuit Against Trump. It’s a Slam Dunk. Elon Musk, enemy of ‘open borders,’ launched his career working illegally Philadelphia DA sues Elon Musk over $1 million giveaway to registered voters : NPR  For one example of biblical humor, see Elton Trueblood, The Humor of  Christ (San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1964).  

Our guest Today is Dr. Jennifer McCoy, Ph.D. She is  a Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University. We discussed Pernicious Polarization, what causes it, and how to combat it. Overcoming Polarization Journal of Democracy, Volume 32, Number 1, January 2021, Johns Hopkins University Press Peter Marty's quote is from “Playing to the Crowds” in The Christian Century that  can be found at:  https://www.christiancentury.org/first-words/playing-crowds  Craig has discussed the Abraham Lincoln statement in his op-ed,  "Rescinding DACA: More than Just the Dreamers,"   Update, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (Fall 2017): file:///Users/cmousin/Downloads/Rescinding%20Daca--Update-Fall2017_stamped-3.pdf .    Immigrants' List Civic Action has produced a video, "We Are America" which corroborates some of the economic information regarding how immigrants have contributed to the United States which can be found at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Gman2TwHE   Lincoln's speech can be found  in his “July 10, 1858, speech at Chicago.” The Speeches of Abraham Lincoln, Including Inaugurals and Proclamations (Lincoln Centenary Association, NY: 1908). Jennifer McCoy is professor of political science at Georgia State University and nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She was a senior core fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Budapest, Hungary in spring 2019.  McCoy was chosen for the inaugural class of Distinguished University Professorships at Georgia State University in 2013. Specializing in international and comparative politics, Dr. McCoy's areas of expertise include democratic resilience, democratic erosion, and partisan polarization; crisis prevention and conflict resolution; democracy promotion and collective defense of democracy; election processes and international election observation; and Latin American Politics. McCoy’s research program on polarized politics aims to identify the causes, consequences for democracy, and solutions to polarized societies around the world, including the United States. She coined the term “pernicious polarization” to refer to the political polarization that divides societies into mutually distrustful “Us vs. Them” camps, and undermines the capacity of democracies to address critical policy problems.  

This week we talk about several news stories. All the stories are linked below. Megachurch pastor tells congregation to "vote like Jesus" by supporting Trump 'Trump Bible' one of few that meet Walters' criteria for Oklahoma classrooms FBI Kavanaugh probe tightly controlled by Trump White House, congressional report finds - The Washington Post DeSantis Threatening Jail Time for Running Abortion Rights Ads in Florida - TPM – Talking Points Memo  Trump wages campaign against real-time fact checks - The Washington Post Dr. Bourbaine's quote can be found in Donald W. Shriver, Jr.'s book, Honest Patriots, Loving A Country Enough to Remember Its Misdeeds, (NY, Oxford Press, 2005), p. 284.   Walter Brueggeman's quotes are from, The Land: Place as Gift, Promise and Challenge in Biblical Faith, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), pp. 10 and 61.  Further discussion of his ideas can be found in Craig's chapter on "Constantine’s Legacy: Preserving Empire While Undermining International Law" which can be found at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3960335    Our theme song, "Don't Fade Away" was co-written by Matt Yaney Tillar and Chris Inserra.  We apologize to Chris Inserra for leaving her name out of the recording.  "Don't Fade Away" can be found on the CD recorded by Voices, Dare the Untried.  If you would like more information on this song or other Voices music, email us at lawfulpod.com.   It appears the Oklahoma Superintendent is being sued for the Bibles: https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/oklahomas-ryan-walters-sued-over?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=95153&post_id=150357512&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3en6fu&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email  

This week we talk about the newest legal filing by Jack Smith in the DC Trump Case. We talk about what is in it and some commentary on the filing itself and the timing of the filing.  https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/73357920e3c8d739/8fc8bfd0-full.pdf How Jack Smith Outsmarted the Supreme Court Opinion | Jack Smith Owes Us an Explanation

Sweeping bill to overhaul Supreme Court would add six justices   Rudy Giuliani disbarred in D.C. over 2020 election scheme   Trump turns to darker rhetoric as voting begins : NPR   How Trump distorts immigration and crime data in new attacks on Harris - The Washington Post   Biden Administration Cements Harmful Asylum Restrictions   Two NIJC reports on the new Biden Asylum Rule   "NIJC Condemns Decision to Finalize Anti-Asylum Rule Amid Rampant Rights Violations" which can be found at:   https://immigrantjustice.org/press-releases/nijc-condemns-decision-finalize-anti-asylum-rule-amid-rampant-rights-violations?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=7edf6b09-2975-49d7-a000-832758604c04   NIJC's report: "Six-Week Report: Implementation of the Biden Administration’s June 2024 “Securing the Border” Asylum Ban" which can be found at:  https://immigrantjustice.org/research-items/Biden-June-2024-asylum-ban-six-week-report

We talk about several stories on this week's show and field a voicemail from a listener.   Judge Aileen Cannon Failed to Disclose a Right-Wing Junket — ProPublica Marcellus Williams is executed despite prosecutors and the victim’s family asking that he be spared | CNN Haitian group in Springfield, Ohio, files citizen criminal charges against Trump and Vance - ABC7 Chicago Opinion | GOP lies about illegal immigrant voting will be the basis for election denial - The Washington Post Don Kerwin’s article,  “The Trials and Consolations of Migrant-Serving Faith-Based Organizations,”  August 27, 2024,  can be found at:   https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-law-and-religion/article/trials-and-consolations-of-migrantserving-faithbased-organizations/8AA0BC304F1CCFCF94BDDA9A332284F7#metrics    Jennifer Rubin’s article, “The big lie of 2024: illegal immigrant voting,” September 24, 2024 can be found at: https://css.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/24/illegal-immigrants-voting/ 

We talk about several news stories this last week. We start by discussing the debates and then move on to talking about Ginni Thomas and the recent story in ProPublica enlisting help opposing SCOTUS reform.    Judge Sets Deadlines in Trump Election Case, Saying Campaign Is 'Not Relevant' Ginni Thomas Email Praised Group Opposing SCOTUS Reform — ProPublica Justice Amy Coney Barrett describes coming home with bulletproof vest Steve Vladek's comments on the interaction between all three branches of government, "Bonus 98: The "Least Dangerous" Branch—Court Reform and Federalist 78," can be found at:  https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-98-the-least-dangerous-branchcourt?utm_campaign=email-post&r=lv15c&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email  

TRAC at Syracuse University's report on legal representation, "Too Few Immigration Attorneys: Average representation Rates Fall from 65% to 30%,  can be found at: https://trac.syr.edu/reports/736/   Dorothee Soelle's quote can be found in The Window of Vulnerability, A Political Spirituality, (Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 1990),  p.7.   2025: https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

We cover several stories in the news this week:   The information regarding Georgia Governor Eugene Talmadge removing more that one million voters from his state's voter registration came from political scientist Rober Mickey in "American Needs Georgia Republicans to Defend Democracy Again," Mary Gay, The New York Times, August 29, 2024:  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/29/opinion/georgia-election-board-certification.html "Top Military officer says he was wrong to accompany Trump on church walk through Lafayette Square," June 11, 2020:  https://m.abc3340.com/news/nation-world/milley-says-he-was-wrong-to-accompany-trump-on-church-walk The photo with the words "All Are Welcome" at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, can be found at:  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/trump-st-johns-church-protests.html Stephen Carter was quoted from "Trump Isn't Going to Like the Supreme Couirt's Immunity Decision," (Bloomberg News, July 1, 2024:  https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-07-01/supreme-court-immunity-ruling-is-not-a-gift-to-trump Eric Foner's quote is from Reconstruction, America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1870, (N.Y., Harper & Row, 1988) at p. 423. Trump special counsel files new election interference indictment A new rule in Georgia could allow local election boards to refuse to certify results Conservative Republican Luttig endorses Harris, calls Trump a threat to democracy | CNN Politics Others Have Politicized Arlington, but Trump’s Approach Has No Precedent - The New York Times  

Today we read the section of Project 2025 on the restructuring of the Department of Homeland Security and what that has to do with the future of immigration in possible Trump presidency.    Show notes: Current USCIS Mission Statement:  https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/mission-and-core-values  Project 2025: https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf  (Mission Statement is on page 134). Hannah Arendt  discusses Germany's enhanced power of police (p. 287) and the impact of denaturalization (p. 296)  in,  The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt, 1976).     I compare her discussion with the contemporary impunity of the Border Patrol and ICE in "Constantine’s Legacy: Preserving Empire While Undermining International Law," in Slotte, P., & Haskell, J. (Eds.). (2021). Christianity and International Law: An Introduction (Law and Christianity). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3960335   Information on Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ: https://www.pilgrimoakpark.org/ Democracy Now podcast for August 28, 2024 regarding the Central Park 5 and Yusef Salaam:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/democracy-now-2024-08-29-thursday/id73802554?i=1000667140197     Here is the original podcast on Haiti: https://works.bepress.com/craig_mousin/107/

Today I ask Craig about the year 1968 and the Democratic National Convention. He gives me a history lesson on the year leading up to the riots in Chicago.   References:  Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 2024 DNC speech.    Senator Raphael Warnock’s 2024 DNC speech.    The Executive Summary of the “Rights in Conflict” report regarding indiscriminate police violence at the 1968 DNC.    The dates discussed in 1968 came from “1968” from Wikipedia.  The Catonsville 9 issued a report on their actions.  Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed both the civil rights movement and his opposition to the Vietnam War in his April 4, 1967 speech at Riverside Church in New York City.    Robert Reich describes the Social Security cap on payroll taxes which corrects Craig's statement about the cap in our previous podcast. 

Craig took a week off recording to head to the woods of Maine to enjoy this summer. I have a short message for our listeners to help the show grow. Full show next week!

Today we talk about immigration myths and debunk the most common ones that will crop up this election season.   The Refugee Convention and Protocoal Relating to the Status of Refugees (quote from page 5): https://www.unhcr.org/media/convention-and-protocol-relating-status-refugees For information on non-citizens voting and how few cases have been found, see:  https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/four-things-to-know-about-noncitizen-voting/ NBC Chicago produced a documentary on the issues related to finding housing for newly arrived asylum-seekers in Chicago when the state of Texas refused to coordinate with the City of Chicago:  "Desde Cero: The Migrant Journey in Chicago," at: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/so-many-people-in-tents-new-documentary-follows-migrant-families-struggles-triumphs-in-chicago/3446095/ Correcting the Record: False or Misleading Statements on Immigration - The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) Law Abiding Immigrants - Stanford Law School Paul Krugman:  “Immigration is Great for Jobs, Actually,” July 23, 2024:  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/23/opinion/immigration-unemployment-inflation.html