School children in classroom to be hurt by closing the U. S. Education Department
By Stacy M. Brown, BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent
The Trump administration is preparing to issue an executive order directing newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the Department of Education. While the president lacks the authority to unilaterally shut down the agency—requiring congressional approval—McMahon has been tasked with taking “all necessary steps” to reduce its role “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” The administration justifies the move by claiming the department has spent over $1 trillion since its 1979 founding without improving student achievement. However, data from The Nation’s Report Card shows math scores have improved significantly since the 1990s, though reading levels have remained stagnant. The pandemic further widened achievement gaps, leaving many students behind. The Education Department provides about 10% of public-school funding, primarily targeting low-income students, rural districts, and children with disabilities. A recent Data for Progress poll found that 61% of voters oppose Trump’s efforts to abolish the agency, while just 34% support it. In Washington, D.C., where student proficiency rates remain low—22% in math and 34% in English—federal funding is crucial. Serenity Brooker, an elementary education major, warned that cutting the department would worsen conditions in underfunded schools. “D.C. testing scores aren’t very high right now, so cutting the Department of Education isn’t going to help that at all,” she told Hilltop News. A report from the Education Trust found that low-income schools in D.C. receive $2,200 less per student than wealthier districts, leading to shortages in essential classroom materials. The department oversees programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), serving 7.5 million students. Transferring IDEA oversight to another agency, as Trump’s plan suggests, could jeopardize services and protections for disabled students. Rural educational districts like Greene County, Alabama, will be severely affected by these cuts, said Leo Branch, Chair of the Greene County Board of Education. ”We depend on Title I funds, funds for students with disabilities, school nutrition support, and many other Federal programs,” said Branch. The Office for Civil Rights also plays a key role in enforcing laws that protect students from discrimination. Moving it to the Department of Justice, as proposed in Project 2025, would make it harder for families to file complaints, leaving vulnerable students with fewer protections. Federal student aid programs, including Pell Grants and loan repayment plans, could face disruption if the department is dismantled. Experts warn this could worsen the student debt crisis, pushing more borrowers into default. “With funding cuts, they don’t have the materials they need, like books or things to help with math,” Brooker said. “It makes learning less interesting and enjoyable for them.”
Texas Congressman Al Green points cane at President Trump during speech to Joint Session of Congress
By Lauren Burke, NNPA Newswire
In one of the quickest punishments of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the modern era, Congressman Al Green (D-TX) was censured by a 224-198 vote last week in the House. His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question. Of the last three censures of members of the U.S. House, two have been members of the Congressional Black Caucus under GOP control. In 2023, Rep. Jamal Bowman was censured. On the night of March 4, as President Trump delivered a Joint Address to Congress, Rep. Green interrupted him twice. Rep. Green shouted, “You don’t have a mandate to cut Medicare and Medicaid, and you need to raise the cap on social security,” to President Trump. In another rare event, Rep. Green was escorted off the House floor by security shortly after yelling at the President by order of GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson. Over the last four years, members of Congress have yelled at President Biden during the State of the Union. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor-Greene was joined by Republican Rep. Lauren Bobert (R-CO) in 2022 in yelling at President Biden. In 2023, Rep. Greene, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) yelled at Biden, interrupting his speech. In 2024, wearing a red MAGA hat, a violation of the rules of the U.S. House, Greene interrupted Biden again. She was never censured for her behavior. Rep. Green voted “present” on his censure and was joined by freshman Democrat Congressman Shomari Figures of Alabama who also voted “present”. All other members of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against censuring Green. Republicans hold a four-seat advantage in the U.S. House after the death of Texas Democrat and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner yesterday. Ten Democrats voted along with Republicans to censure Rep. Green, including Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who is in the leadership as the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “I respect them but, I would do it again,” and “it is a matter of conscience,” Rep. Green told Black Press USA’s April Ryan in an exclusive interview on March 5. After the vote, a group of Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome” in the well at the front of the House chamber. Several Republican members attempted to shout down the singing. House Speaker Mike Johnson gaveled the House out of session and into a recess. During the brief recess members moved back to their seats and out of the well of the House. Shortly after the vote to censor Rep. Green, Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee quickly filed legislation to punish members who participated in the singing of “We Shall Overcome.” Earlier this year, Rep. Ogles filed legislation to allow President Donald Trump to serve a third term, which is currently unconstitutional. As the debate started, the stock market Dow Jones average fell by 500 points, 1% of it value by the close.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Senior National Correspondent
On Tuesday, March 11th, by a narrow vote of 217 to 213, the U, S. House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding bill to prevent a government shutdown. This bill now goes to the U. S. Senate, which requires 60 votes to close debate and vote on the measure before the March 14th deadline for a shutdown.
The Republican stopgap bill aims to extend government funding through the end of the 2025 fiscal year, providing critical financial support for federal agencies and essential programs. The legislation, formally titled the “Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025,” is designed to avert a government shutdown, but its broader implications extend across the country. The bill sustains funding for federal agencies that oversee national healthcare, education, housing, and law enforcement programs. Medicaid provisions remain intact, delaying cuts to Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, which assist hospitals serving low-income patients. Republicans said the extension ensures continued care for vulnerable populations in states heavily reliant on federal healthcare dollars.
Housing and urban development programs also remain funded, preserving rental assistance and homelessness prevention initiatives. However, concerns persist that flat funding levels will not account for rising costs, leaving states and local governments to bridge potential gaps in affordable housing efforts. Education funding remains steady, but school districts that depend on federal support may face difficulties maintaining services as costs increase.
The bill also upholds funding for federal law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, and other key institutions responsible for public safety. Grants supporting state and local policing initiatives are maintained, though some lawmakers argue additional resources are needed to address crime prevention and community policing efforts. Beyond immediate fiscal concerns, the bill extends the authority of the U.S. Parole Commission for another year, continuing federal oversight in key areas of criminal justice..
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have weighed in on the bill’s broader implications. Some have criticized the measure for failing to provide increased funding for essential programs, while others argue that maintaining current spending levels is necessary to avoid further fiscal uncertainty. The proposed budget levels are expected to impact public safety, education, and infrastructure spending across multiple states.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the leading Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, sharply criticized the measure, calling it a “blank check” for billionaire Elon Musk. “I strongly oppose this full-year continuing resolution, which is a power grab for the White House and further allows unchecked billionaire Elon Musk and President Trump to steal from the American people,” DeLauro said.
Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, and Pete Aguilar echoed those concerns in a joint statement. “Republicans have used their control of the House, the Senate, and the presidency to destroy the programs taxpayers deserve to fund tax cuts for their billionaire donors and wealthy corporations. They are cutting healthcare access, public schools, and veterans’ benefits while soaring the costs of groceries, housing, and insurance. They are making our communities less safe by cutting law enforcement and threatening our national security.”
The statement continued: “In one week, funding for the government runs out. The top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Rosa DeLauro, remains ready to negotiate a meaningful bipartisan spending agreement that puts working people first. However, Republicans have decided to introduce a partisan continuing resolution that threatens to cut funding for healthcare, nutritional assistance, and veterans benefits through the end of the current fiscal year. That is not acceptable.”
House Democrats said they would enthusiastically support a bill that protects Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ health, and Medicaid, but Republicans have chosen to put them on the chopping block to pay for billionaire tax cuts. “We cannot back a measure that rips away life-sustaining healthcare and retirement benefits from everyday Americans as part of the Republican scheme to pay for massive tax cuts for their wealthy donors like Elon Musk.
Medicaid is our red line,” the Democratic leaders stated. The outcome will determine funding levels for programs millions of Americans rely on daily. “This [measure] means a nearly $945 million cut for critical services, impacting teachers, firefighters, and law enforcement,” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D). “The effect of what they’re trying to do would be to cut back spending by police and other public safety agencies as well as agencies that deal with the cleanliness of the city, public education, and so forth.”
Police officer Derek Chauvin with victim George Floyd
By Zack Linly, Newsone
The moment President Donald Trump was sworn into office for his second term and made one of his first orders of business to pardon or commute the sentences of more than 1,500 Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, we just knew it was only a matter of time before not-remotely-closeted white nationalists started calling for him to pardon George Floyd‘s convicted murderer. On Tuesday, right wing, white supremacist, podcaster Ben Shapiro mused that Trump should pardon ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, and — wouldn’t you know it — the White House’s resident pro-apartheid immigrant, Elon Musk, cosigned Shapiro’s call for a killer cop to be absolved of the murder millions of people watched happen on camera. “If we are issuing pardons, however, there is one person that President Trump should pardon from federal charges forthwith,” Shapiro said in a video he recorded. “President Trump should, in fact, pardon Derek Chauvin. “But when it came to BLM, the inciting event for the BLM riots that caused $2 billion in property damage in the United States and set America’s race relations on their worst footing in my lifetime was, in fact, the railroading of Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd,” he continued. Here’s a question: When in the entire history of America has any court of law felt compelled to throw a white cop in prison for two decades because pro-Black protesters were really passionate about the Black man the cop killed? Shapiro is, per usual, delusional. Anyway, Musk unsurprisingly reposted Shapiro’s video along with the caption, “Something to think about.” Of course, one thing that neither Shapiro nor Chauvin appear to be thinking about is the fact that even if Trump did pardon Chauvin for his federal crimes of depriving Floyd of his civil rights (and that of a 14-year-old Black child he also egregiously brutalized), which Chauvin pleaded guilty to, it still wouldn’t set him free. Chauvin is serving a federal sentence of 21 years, but he was also sentenced to 22 1/2 years on state charges, which the president can not legally pardon. Still, two separate juries found Derek Chauvin guilty, and it would be an absurd miscarriage of justice if Trump disregarded the federal jury’s ruling and pardoned a civil rights-violating murderer. Of course, Trump’s entire administration is arguably a miscarriage of justice, so…
State troopers swing billy clubs to break up a civil rights voting march in Selma, Ala., on Bloody Sunday.AP files
By The Associated Press
SELMA, Ala. — Charles Mauldin was near the front of a line of voting rights marchers walking in pairs across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. The marchers were protesting white officials’ refusal to allow Black Alabamians to register to vote, as well as the killing days earlier of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a minister and voting rights organizer who was shot by a state trooper in nearby Marion. At the apex of the span over the Alabama River, they saw what awaited them: a line of state troopers, deputies and men on horseback. After they approached, law enforcement gave a warning to disperse and then unleashed violence. “Within about a minute or a half, they took their billy clubs, holding it on both ends, began to push us back, back us up, and then they began to beat men, women and children, and tear gas men, women and children, and cattle prod men, women and children viciously,” said Mauldin, who was 17 at the time. Mauldin is the founder of the Saturday morning ‘Footsoldiers Breakfast’ at the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, at which persons who participated in the march tell their stories Selma on Sunday marked the 60th anniversary of the clash that became known as Bloody Sunday. The attack shocked the nation and galvanized support for the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965. The annual commemoration paid homage to those who fought to secure voting rights for Black Americans and brought calls to recommit to the fight for equality. For foot soldiers of the movement, the celebration comes amid concerns about new voting restrictions and the Trump administration’s effort to remake federal agencies they said helped make America a democracy for all. “This country was not a democracy for Black folks until that happened,” Mauldin said of voting rights. “And we’re still constantly fighting to make that a more concrete reality for ourselves.” Speaking at the pulpit of the city’s historic Tabernacle Baptist Church, the site of the first mass meeting of the voting rights movement, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said what happened in Selma changed the nation. But he said the 60th anniversary comes at a time when there is “trouble all around” and some “want to whitewash our history.” But he said like the marchers of Bloody Sunday, they must keep going. “At this moment, faced with trouble on every side, we’ve got to press on,” Jeffries said to the crowd that included the Rev. Jesse Jackson, multiple members of Congress and others gathered for the commemoration. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., said they are gathering in Selma for the 60th anniversary “at a time when the vote is in peril.”
Sewell noted the number of voting restrictions introduced since the U.S. Supreme Court, in Shelby County vs. Holder, effectively abolished a key part of the Voting Rights Act that required jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to pre-clear new voting laws with the Justice Department Sewell this week reintroduced legislation to restore the requirement. The proposal has repeatedly stalled in Congress. The legislation is named for John Lewis, the late Georgia congressman who was at the lead of the Bloody Sunday march. The annual celebration will conclude with a ceremony and march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. At the time, the Bloody Sunday marchers walked in pairs across the Selma bridge. Mauldin was in the third pair of the line led by Lewis and Hosea Williams. “We had steeled our nerves to a point where we were so determined that we were willing to confront. It was past being courageous. We were determined, and we were indignant,” Mauldin recalled in an interview with The Associated Press. Mauldin, who took a blow to the head, said he believes law enforcement officers were trying to incite a riot as they attacked marchers. Kirk Carrington was just 13 on Bloody Sunday. As the violence erupted, a white man on a horse wielding a stick a chased him all the way back to the public housing projects in Selma where his family lived. Carrington said he started marching after witnessing his father get belittled by his white employers when his father returned from service in World War II. Standing in Tabernacle Baptist Church where he was trained in non-violent protest tactics 60 years earlier, he was brought to tears thinking about what the people of his city achieved. “When we started marching, we did not know the impact we would have in America. We knew after we got older and got grown that the impact it not only had in Selma, but the impact it had in the entire world,” Carrington said. Dr. Verdell Lett Dawson, who grew up in Selma, remembers a time when she was expected to lower her gaze if she passed a white person on the street to avoid making eye contact. Dawson and Mauldin said they are concerned about the potential dismantling of the Department of Education and other changes to federal agencies. Trump has pushed to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government. Support from the federal government “is how Black Americans have been able to get justice, to get some semblance of equality, because left to states’ rights, it is going to be the white majority that’s going to rule,” Dawson said.“That that’s a tragedy of 60 years later: what we are looking at now is a return to the 1950s,” Dawson said.
The Eutaw City Council held its bi-monthly meeting on February 25, 2025. All five council members and the mayor were present. The past few meetings, since the first of the year, have involved tensions between the council members and Mayor Latasha Johnson. This meeting was no exception, and in my notes, I wrote ‘this is a very contentious meeting’.
In the Fall of 2024, the Council removed Mayor Johnson, as a signatory on all city accounts, in recent meetings, the Mayor and the Council disagreed over an ordinance raising council members stipend from $300 to $800 a month, beginning the next fiscal year. They also disagreed over travel reimbursements for staff, the repair schedule for streets in the city, raises for city employees, the use of city vehicles, staff work hours and other matters.
Mayor Johnson has asserted that her decisions, were within her purview as “day to day operations of the city” while the Council members assert that they have fiscal control over the budget and expenditures and can correct the Mayor’s actions dealing with city funds.
These arguments began at the February 25 meeting over approval of the agenda before any other actions were taken. Councilman Jonathan Woodruff moved to remove two items from the agenda, because he said they had already been decided or should be considered in a working session. He moved to eliminate a discussion of employee evaluations and raises that was later decided to be shifted to a discussion in the next working session. The Mayor wanted some discussion and decisions on these matters, since the council members had voted themselves a raise without considering the employees.
Woodruff also wanted to cut an agenda item dealing with partial reimbursement of Assistant Police Chief William Smith for travel expenses to attend an FBI training workshop in Rushton, Louisiana on January 12-17, 2025. Woodruff said the Council disapproved the reimbursement in the prior three meetings because it was not a mandatory trip and because it was made in a city vehicle before it was authorized and under the policies this is not permitted.
Mayor Johnson said that she authorized the trip because it was beneficial to the city and put it on the agenda as soon as she could which was after the trip was underway. The Council agreed to reimburse Assistant Chief for $523.49, which was a third of his original request and a compromise realizing the trip had not been properly authorized but that the Mayor and not the Assistant Chief was the responsible party. Woodruff said the Mayor should have polled the Council by phone before authorizing the trip. He also said this was the last unauthorized trip that he would vote to reimburse, since the proper policies were not followed. The Mayor said she felt she did the best she could and felt the city would benefit from the police training that Smith received.
Another issue of contention was raised by Councilwoman Tracey Hunter who wanted to remove Police Chief Tommie Johnson, as a signatory, from the DARE Program checking account. The Mayor argued that the Police Chief is the supervisor of this special account and that he should not be removed from the account since he was not present at the meeting. It was unclear if the Chief had spent funds incorrectly from the DARE Account. The matter was tabled until a meeting where the Chief could be present.
The Council also passed Ordinance 2025-3, granting a non-exclusive franchise agreement to Alabama Fiber Network, to provide middle-mile broadband services in Eutaw. A copy of the full ordinance is printed in this week’s Democrat, as a Legal Notice on Page 7. In the ordinance, when fully operational, Alabama Fiber Network will pay a three per cent of revenues franchise fee to the city.
In other business, the Eutaw City Council:
• Tabled consideration of Zoning Board, Cemetery Committee and Airport Authority Board appointments.
• Referred Ms. Verna Nickson’s request for replacing her mobile home in a district zoned for residential dwellings, because her mobile home was in place before the zoning went into effect, to the Zoning Board for a variance.
• Received financial reports from Ralph Liverman, Financial Adviser.
• Approved services agreement with AVEN Insights and Analytics for collection of sales taxes and business licenses.
• Approved travel, per diem, registration and parking for Mayor, Clerks and Council members to attend the Alabama League of Municipalities Annual Convention in Huntsville on May 13-16, 2025.
• Tabled request from Victoria Harris to rezone area, near Lock Seven, for a Bar and Grill, pending consultation with neighboring residents.
•Approved payment of bills.
Congresswoman Terri Sewell unveils plaque naming the Marion, Alabama U. S. Post Office for Albert Turner Sr.and Dedication Ceremony held at Perry County Courthouse lawn across the street form the Post Office.
Special to the Democrat by John Zippert, Co-Publisher
It is not often that a public building in the Alabama Black Belt is named for a legendary civil rights leader, but it happened last Friday, February 28, 2025, in Marion, Alabama, the county seat of Perry County. This happened because Congresswoman Terri Sewell passed legislation through both houses of Congress and had Public Law 118-245 signed by President Biden in January 2025, before he left office. Friday was a bright sunny day and all 250 chairs on the lawn of the Perry County Courthouse were filled with family members, post office and political officials, and residents of Perry County and other Alabama counties who remembered the work and service of Albert Turner Sr. There were additional people standing at the fringes of the crowd. The ceremony was held across the street from the Marion Post Office which will bare Turner’s name. Albert Turner Sr. was born in 1936, educated in Perry County Schools, including Lincoln Normal High School. He graduated from Alabama A&M University with a degree in history and mechanical arts. Turner founded the Perry County Civic League in 1963, a local organization advocating for civil and human rights. In 1965, Turner joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and became Alabama State Director for Dr. Martin Luther King’s organization. Albert Turner was involved in the Perry County protests in February 1965 which resulted in the shooting death of Jimmie Lee Jackson by a State Trooper. Turner was among Black leaders who wanted to carry Jackson’s body to the steps of the State Capitol in Montgomery, which was Governor George Wallace’s office, to dramatize the need for civil and voting rights in Alabama. Turner was a leader of the Selma to Montgomery March on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, when the marchers were stopped and beaten by State Troopers and local sheriff’s deputies. Turner was a leader of the march that was approved by Federal courts, later in March, which led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Albert Turner worked as the Manager of the Southwest Alabama Farmers Cooperative (SWAFCA) in Selma, in the later 1960’s and 1970’s which helped provide markets for cucumbers, okra, greens and other products grown by Black farmers in the western Alabama Black Belt. He also pioneered the production of ‘gasohol”, an alternative fuel made from agricultural wastes. He drove his pickup truck to Washington, D. C. fueled by gasohol to dramatize the impact of renewable fuel sources. Albert Turner kept registering, educating and mobilizing Black voters in Perry County, through the Perry County Civic League and was elected a County Commissioner in the 1980’s. In 1985, Turner, his wife, Evelyn, and Spencer Hogue were indicted on more than 200 Federal charges for absentee voting by Jeff Sessions, then a U. S. Attorney in the Southern District of Alabama. With support from the community and pro bono lawyers, the “Perry County Three” were acquitted on all charges. This was the beginning of “right-wing” efforts to discourage Black voters in Alabama and across the nation from using the 1965 VRA to advance their rights. Naming a U. S. Post Office for a “freedom fighter” like Albert Turner Sr., in the heart of the Alabama Black Belt, sends a message and keeps a spirit of freedom and justice alive in oppressed people. April M. Williams, Manager of Community Affairs for the regional U. S. Post Office was Mistress of Ceremony. She and the other post officials in attendance, Black and white, said they were delighted and honored to participate in this dedication program. Rev. Robert Turner Jr., a nephew of Albert, Pastor of the Hickory Grove Baptist Church and District Attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit gave the invocation. The Marion Military Institute Color Guard and Band presented the colors and played the National Anthem. Gail Crews, Postmaster of the Marion Post Office, gave an opening welcome and said that Albert Turner, “lived his life well and served the people of Perry County.” Greetings were offered by Barbara Howze, Perry County Commissioner District 4, Senator Bobby Singleton, Minority Leader of the Alabama Senate who said, “ Albert Turner was an awesome leader of the greatest movement for change in our history. He helped and nurtured young Black leaders like myself.” Senator Robert Stewart of District 23 praised Turner for being ”an architect of the Civil Rights Movement and opening a corridor for justice and freedom from Perry County to Selma to Montgomery. He was a drum major and advocate for Black people that has stretched through generations.” Joanna Turner Drury, one of Turner’s younger sisters spoke in a more personal way about Albert’s role in the family and his guidance to her in the right direction in high school and later in college. Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (D-AL7), who introduced and shepparded the naming legislation through Congress was the keynote speaker. She praised Albert Turner Sr. work as a grassroots community leader in the civil and voting rights movement. “ I stand on the shoulders of Albert Turner and many other foot soldiers to celebrate Black history, as a p-art of American history,” she said. Sewell also praised the sacrifices of Turner’s family, who allowed him to serve the community and people of the state of Alabama. The Congresswoman, with help from Turner’s family unveiled the plaque that will be placed at the doors of the Marion Post Office, which reads “ This building is named in honor of Albert Turner Sr. by an Act of Congress, Public Law 118-245, January 4, 2025.” Congresswoman Sewell ended her remarks by saying, “We have all lived through the past five weeks of chaos, under the Trump Administration. It has been a time of whiplash. But we must continue, with God’s will, to strive and thrive through the chaos. Every one of us has a part of Albert Turner in us. We all have a voice and vote. We must continue to work and fight for the future and the coming generations of our people. This is a collective struggle based on the contributions of all of us and we cannot forget or fail to live out that legacy.” Representatives of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, who were dressed in complimentary blue suits presented a proclamation to honor Turner, who was a member of the fraternity. Albert Turner Jr., Perry County Commissioner and Evelyn Turner, wife of Albert Turner Sr. rounded out the program with thank-yous and gratitude to all participants. Mrs. Turner introduced her first great-grand child, Bari Jade Turner, the daughter of Barrette Turner II, grandson of Albert Turner Sr. ”She must continue the legacy,” said Mrs. Turner.
Haitians protesting Trump’s revocation of TPS immigration status
By Curtis Bunn, NBC Black News
Three organizations filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block the Trump administration’s attempt to put an early end to Temporary Protected Status for people from Haiti and Venezuela living in the U.S. Last month, President Donald Trump’s administration rescinded the TPS extension until February 2026 that was granted under President Joe Biden, requiring Haitians to return to their country by Aug. 3 and Venezuelans by April 2. Lawyers for Civil Rights, which is representing the groups and four people who are in the country under TPS, said the suit was the first filed on behalf of Haitians in the U.S. under TPS. Two lawsuits were quickly filed to challenge the administration’s decision on behalf of Venezuelans last month. “TPS is a critical lifeline for immigrants who have fled extreme violence, political upheaval, and natural disasters in their home countries,” LCR senior attorney Mirian Albert said in a statement. The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit. The Boston area is home to almost 50,000 Haitian people, according to The Immigrant Learning Center, making it one of the largest Haitian communities in the U.S. Paul Simon, a Haitian American in Boston, said he voted for Trump three times but did not believe Trump had the power to deport those under TPS before its allotted time. “I think he’s going to fail at this,” Simon, 52, said. “I’m a pro-Trump guy. But I disagree with that. If someone’s TPS is not going to expire till 2026, he shouldn’t be able to boot them out until 2026.” He added, “He can’t pre-emptively end something that has been granted to them.” Three immigrant advocacy organizations — Haitian Americans United Inc., Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts and UndocuBlack Network — and four affected individuals are challenging Trump’s directive through the lawsuit. “The decision to undermine TPS for Haiti and Venezuela is driven by racial bias and has no basis in the realities these communities face,” Albert said in the statement. The complaint refers to an incident during Trump’s first term in which he was reported to have called Haiti and African nations “s—hole countries” during a meeting with senators. Trump denied making such remarks but did say his talk about those countries was “tough.” Last year on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly pushed the unfounded idea that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were “eating the pets of the people that live there.” The lawsuit contends that the administration does not have the authority to “revoke an extension that has already been granted.” Two plaintiffs, who are going by the pseudonyms Sydney and Marlene Doe, made Massachusetts their home in 2018. Sydney Doe is a real estate broker and business owner and Marlene Doe is a nurse, according to LCR. Dieufort J. Fleurissaint, executive director of Haitian Americans United Inc., said in a statement that “the community is anxious about the sudden loss of legal status, the possibility of facing deportation to unstable conditions in Haiti, and potential difficulties in finding alternative legal pathways in the U.S.”
By Stacy M. Brown BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent
Republican lawmakers are facing mounting pressure from angry voters at town hall meetings across the country. Constituents confront them over sweeping federal cuts, the dismantling of government agencies, and attacks on social safety net programs. In response, many Republicans are moving their town halls online, where they can pre-screen questions and avoid direct engagement with the public. Rather than acknowledging the widespread discontent, Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have resorted to false claims, accusing Democrats of organizing and paying protesters to disrupt GOP events. “Paid ‘troublemakers’ are attending Republican Town Hall Meetings,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, insisting without evidence that the outrage was staged. Johnson echoed the claim in an interview with CNN, dismissing the anger at these events as “Democrats who went to the events early and filled up the seats.” When pressed, he admitted, “I don’t know.” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries swiftly pushed back on the allegations. “Just got back to the Capitol. Another day, another lie from these people who are out of control,” Jeffries said in a video statement. “I’m told that Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, and the extreme right Republicans are claiming that Democrats are sending paid protesters into their town hall meetings. “What’s wrong with y’all? We don’t need to send paid protesters into your town hall meetings,” Jeffries continued. “The American people are with us all across the country. People are rising to push back against the assault on the economy, the assault on hardworking families, the assault on our democracy, and the assault on Medicaid. “We don’t need paid protesters, bro. The American people are with us.”
“You are playing cards” and “you’re gambling with World War III” scolded President Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before he kicked Zelenskyy out of the White House today. The Oval Office visit was meant to ease tensions in the Russian war against Ukraine. However, it ended in a shouting match. The verbal sparring pit President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D, Vance, in a tag team of sorts, against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Both Trump and Vance kept telling Zelenskyy he should be working towards a peace agreement and be grateful for the United States equipment to fight against Russia in this war that Trump believes Ukraine would have lost within two years without the United States’ help. A former Senior U.S. National Security official who wished to remain anonymous said, “Zelenskyy has acknowledged his gratitude.” That same former NSC official also said, “This means the United States is aligning itself with Russia that we set him [Volodymyr Zelenskyy] up and this was a play to appeal to Trump’s base and Putin and to blame Zelenskyy which is to throw Ukraine and NATO under the bus.” Ranking Democratic member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Gregory Meeks, who is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, says he is “incensed and ashamed over the actions of the president of the United States.” During the televised contentious public negotiations, President Trump told Zelenskyy, “Your people need to make a deal. If you don’t make a deal you will have to fight it out.”. Meanwhile, the February 2020 Russian invasion of Ukraine continues. Monday was the third anniversary of the war. Meeks says, “Trump has not asked anything of Russia and said nothing about it on the anniversary” as Ukraine saw one of the worst drone attacks that day. After that public disagreement, Zelenskyy was told to leave the White House. He rushed into his waiting van outside of the West Wing where President Trump greeted him with a handshake when he arrived at the door. His departure was minus the presidential escort to the door. Zelenskyy and Trump were also expected today to sign a rare earth mineral deal and conduct a joint press conference. Those two events did not happen after that Oval Office conflict. Meeks adds that our European partners “want us to support Ukraine.” President Trump immediately went on social media with his thoughts. In his tweet, Trump said, “We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want an advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
