Progressive Breakfast: Trump's Bid to Pit Black and Brown Workers Against Each Other

MORNING MESSAGE

Isaiah Poole

Trump’s Bid to Pit Black and Brown Workers Against Each Other

President Trump is resurrecting an old lie about immigration to feign concern about black unemployment, even as his administration actively assaults the very dignity of African-American people.

Trump Wants to Cut Legal Immigration by Half

Trump, GOP senators introduce bill to slash legal immigration levels. WaPo:“President Trump on Wednesday endorsed a new bill in the Senate aimed at slashing legal immigration levels in half over a decade… a ‘merit-based’ immigration system that would put a greater emphasis on the job skills of foreigners over their ties to family in the United States. The legislation seeks to reduce the annual distribution of green cards awarding permanent legal residence to just over 500,000 from more than 1 million.”

White House aide battles reporters over Trump immigration plan. The Hill:“During a combative briefing at the White House, Miller accused a CNN reporter of showing ‘cosmopolitan bias for questioning whether the policy upholds American values and cast doubt on the Statue of Liberty’s historical significance as a beacon for immigrants. That all came after Miller got into a heated exchange with a New York Times reporter over whether there is statistical evidence to back up the administration’s claim that cutting the number of green cards would help American workers.”

NAACP Issues First-Ever Travel Advisory

NAACP issues first-ever warning on travel through Missouri. CNN:“The NAACP is sending a strong message to people of color traveling through Missouri: Go at your own risk. The organization is circulating a travel advisory after the state passed a law that Missouri’s NAACP conference says allows for legal discrimination. The warning cites several discriminatory incidents in Missouri, included as examples of ‘looming danger’ in the state. The NAACP says this is the first travel advisory ever issued by the organization, at the state or national level.”

Trump Urged Mexican Leader to Lie About Border Wall

Trump urged Mexican president to end his public defiance on border wall, transcript reveals. WaPo:“In his first White House call with Mexico’s president, Trump described his vow to charge Mexico as a growing political problem, pressuring the Mexican leader to stop saying publicly that his government would never pay. ‘You cannot say that to the press,’ Trump said repeatedly, according to a transcript of the Jan. 27 call obtained by The Washington Post. Trump made clear that he realized the funding would have to come from other sources but threatened to cut off contact if Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto continued to make defiant statements. The funding ‘will work out in the formula somehow,’ Trump said, adding later that ‘it will come out in the wash, and that is okay.’ But ‘if you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that.'”

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People's Action. more »