Sen.
Rubio June
5, 2018
We
applaud your statements in your high school commencement address urging graduates
of The King’s Academy to rebel against a culture you described as overly
concerned with wealth, fame, approval and bitter political fighting. We question
why so many of your votes run counter to these values especially your
rubber stamp approval of recent Cabinet and Judicial nominations and your votes
to overturn critical regulations protecting the environment, personal freedoms
and consumer protections.
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We
appreciate the insight into pressures you face from competing interests and
constituencies as reported in your interview with The New Yorker referenced in your June 1 eNewsletter. In it,
you are quoted as saying “When I disagree with what the President’s doing, I’m
going to try to change his mind. And, if I can’t change his mind, then I’m
going to vote against it or stand up against it,”. Unless your values support the greed, lies
and conflicts of interest exhibited by the President (which we don’t think they
do) then we call on you to speak out
like you did in the campaign, follow the examples set by Sen. Flake, Sen.
McCain and Gov. Romney and vote
according to your principles in the spirit of bi-partisanship and respect for
all your constituents.
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We
hope you have been giving serious consideration to our frequently expressed
concerns about the detrimental consequences of the Tax Cut Act and newly
imposed tariffs. Our predictions of
higher consumer prices, higher interest rates, lower disposable incomes and
reservations about the creation of new jobs when the unemployment rate now
stands at 3.8% are now being realized.
Here is a Facebook post from a good friend in Jacksonville who, along
with her husband, own a construction company that builds energy efficient homes
in Jacksonville’s east side neighborhoods.
“We
have always been told the home building industry drives the economy. Well if
that's the case it looks like it is now out of reach for the entry level home
buyer. For the first time in the decades of being in the home building industry
we had a price increase at the beginning, middle and end of May. The increase
in lumber caused an immediate across the board 2% increase on all our homes.
Now today I see a trade war with Europe over steel, this too will have an
impact. I am so disheartened. When we started our company in 2013 the goal way
to bring affordable energy efficient homes to Jacksonville. I'm afraid our
entry level homes are becoming out of reach for the first time home buyer.” I will be happy to supply identifying
information on request.
We ask that you
and your staff support tax and tariff legislation to reverse these damaging
consequences.
Respectfully,
on behalf of Indivisible NE Florida
David
Johnson, Orange Park, FL 32073
Amelia
Postcard Writers
c/o
Pod Yoga™
910
S. 8th St., #130
Fernandina
Beach, FL 32034
May
31, 2018
We,
the Amelia Postcard Writers, are sending this group letter to you, our voices
in Washington, DC, to express our deepest dissatisfaction with the present
mismanaged immigration system in our country today. We implore you to let us know how we might
help you make necessary and immediate changes to what we believe to be a
national crisis.
Even
though Mr. Homan is resigning from his position at U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, we are still very much concerned by the present draconian
immigration policies put forth by the present administration and implemented by
ICE. We believe that Mr. Sessions has
not only retrograde methods of policing but cruel ones as well. We believe the “zero tolerance” strategies he
uses to deter immigrants and refugees are brutal.
We
find nothing positive in the racially slanted stop and frisk policies. We deplore punitive measures against
communities that disagree with these tactics.
We abhor the arbitrary enforcement activities that have occurred at
courthouses, convenience stores, and on buses! ICE itself has categorized 26% of those
arrested for removal in 2017 as non-criminal! Of those convicted, an increasing
proportion involve minor crimes including traffic violations or loitering!
Also,
we call upon Secretary Devos of Education to accept the law of the land that
says students, or their families cannot be reported to ICE and that we have a
constitutional obligation to provide schooling to these students. Have you reminded her of this?
We
do not approve of the dramatic shift in denying parole for an incredibly high
percentage of legal asylum seekers. We
have laws that PERMIT immigrants to seek refuge! We find the “bed quota” formula and use of
for-profit prisons used to house detainees to be highly suspect. It has come to our attention that ICE is the
only law enforcement agency with a detention quota. With ICE detention costing $134 per day per
bed, people who pose no risk to the public can be monitored at much lower
expense to taxpayers outside of these facilities. The bed quota enriches private prison
operators without making us safer.
We
believe the mandate that warehouses legal asylum seekers must end! We are appalled by the policy which demands
the separation of legal, refuge-seeking parents from their children. Placing children on military bases is also
unacceptable. There is no need to turn
bases into detainment centers.
We
are deeply concerned by the executive order to eliminate the presumption of
detention release for pregnant women. We
have deep misgivings regarding the ability of ICE to provide appropriate health
care to pregnant detainees, especially since there has been removal of critical
reporting procedures and oversight mechanisms.
We are horrified by the number of miscarriages that have taken place in
ICE facilities.
We
recently learned that during a Senate oversight hearing last April that Steven
Wagner of the Administration of Children and Families said that the whereabouts
of 1,475 immigrant children are unknown. Our nation has a moral responsibility
to protect children and treat them with basic decency, regardless of
immigration status. This means we
Page
2. Amelia Postcard Writers/Immigration, May 31, 2018
must
do thorough background checks on caretakers to prevent placing kids in unvetted
and potentially dangerous environments.
We
believe the cancellation of Temporary Protected Status to the tens of thousands
of people who have been working here and have been an important fabric of our
communities for decades is ludicrous and unconscionable. We, as Floridians, are
especially shocked. The numbers are
staggering to us - 200,000 Salvadorans, 45,000 Haitians, 2,500 Nicaraguans
9,000 Nepalis, and 57,000 Hondurans!
We
appreciate the contributions TPS residents (and those with DED status) make as
part of the U.S. workforce. We believe
their American-born progeny deserve an American life on American soil. We have learned that 85 percent of Hondurans,
for example, work here and 20 percent have mortgages! They have 53,500 children! The Immigrant
Legal Resource Center states that Hondurans contribute more than $1 billion
dollars a year to the United States’ GDP. They estimate that the cost of
deporting Hondurans TPS recipients at about $700 million. Surely you are aware of these
statistics. From an economic standpoint
alone, this does not make sense!
What
is being done about this situation? What
about the bills sponsored by our south Florida Representatives - Carlos
Curbelo, Frederica Wilson, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen? The RAC Act and the Esperer Act would provide
paths to legal permanent resident status for those presently with Temporary
Protection Status. What other measures
are being taken to resolve this unfortunate situation?
We
are highly frustrated by the Hastert Rule which prohibits true consideration of
any bi-partisanship solutions. We know
how much this is affecting the status of our immigrants including the plight of
our young DREAMERS. What can you do to
rid us of this onerous and undemocratic rule?
What can we do to help you?
We
also want to know what specific measures are now being taken toward
establishing better relationships and understanding towards those countries
from which the immigrants come. What
stances are you taking to exert our positive “soft” power in international
relationships? This is the larger
question that affects immigration long term. We would like to know your role in
this whether it is in your participation in the House Committee on Homeland
Security, the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, or the Committee
on Foreign Relations.
How
frequently do you speak out against the bullying rhetoric the trump
administration frequently displays towards Mexico? While this can be viewed as superficial, we
dislike any means by which our relationship with Mexico is undercut especially
when it comes to immigration and Central American transmigration.
We
are from northeastern Florida and we care.
We encourage you to focus on our immigration issues diligently. What can we do to help you?
Sincerely,
The Amelia Postcard Writers
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