Tag Archives: NY

Migrants Flown to Martha's Vineyard, Chicago, DC and New York Were 'Kidnapped'—Immigration Attorney, Governors Agree

Migrants Flown to Martha’s Vineyard, Chicago, DC and New York Were ‘Kidnapped’—Immigration Attorney, Governors Agree

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 The 50 migrants who were flown in to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on Wednesday under a program sponsored by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis should be considered victims of kidnapping according to Rachel Self an immigration lawyer from Boston. Self claims that migrants “were lied to again and again and fraudulently induced to board the planes.”

Self, said accounts from the migrants “make it clear that they were lied to again and again and fraudulently induced to board the planes.”

Most of the migrants, including children, have fled from crisis-torn Venezuela. While migrants from other countries who have crossed the U.S. southern border this year were quickly expelled under a pandemic-related health order, Venezuelans do not fall under that order..

Self stated that the migrants were promised jobs and housing on their arrival, while Martha’s Vineyard barely has the facilities to accommodate them. DeSantis is said to have allocated $12 million of the state’s budget to transport them outside of Florida. Self said Florida authorities also “very intentionally chose not to call ahead to any single office authority on the island so that even the most basic human needs arrangements could be made, ensuring that no help awaited the migrants at all was the entire point. [snip] We believe they are victims of kidnapping, and the perpetrators of this breathtakingly cruel political stunt should know that it may well result in every individual who was induced onto those planes by fraud becoming eligible for a U visa,” Self wrote in a statement she read to reporters.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) to investigate whether the “transporting families, including children, across state lines under false pretenses” was illegal and in particular whether it constituted “kidnapping.”\

“Several of the individuals who were transported to Martha’s Vineyard have alleged that a recruiter induced them to accept the offer of travel based on false representations that they would be transported to Boston and would receive expedited access to work authorization,” Newsom wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland. “I urge US DOJ to investigate whether the alleged fraudulent inducement would support charges of kidnapping under relevant state laws.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said on Wednesday that state authorities were looking into whether there was any “criminal liability” involved in the transport of migrants to Chicago, deeming the transport a political “stunt.”: “I’m not going to mince words here: The governor of Texas is forcing on New York and D.C. and Chicago and potentially other places a needlessly last minute and complex process that is a heartless display of politics over people,” Pritzker said, the Chicago-Tribune reports. “Why not give reasonable notice? Why send these folks only to blue cities or blue states? Why isn’t Abbott sending refugees to Mississippi or Oklahoma or Idaho? This is about politics for him.”

NFL – New York Jet’s Tim Tebow to Address Notorious Texas Anti-Gay Megachurch

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Tim Tebow, the anti-gay Focus on the Family member who is struggling to find an NFL team that is willing to sign him and put up with his extremist Christian antics, will be putting aside his Jets’ backup quarterback job for a day and  is scheduled to address a Texas megachurch whose pastor is notorious for anti-gay extremist statements about gays and lesbians.

Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church Dallas gained national attention during his appearance at Family Research Council hate group sponsored Values Voter Summit and has described gays and lesbians as “perverse,” “miserable” and “abnormal” people who engage in an “unnatural” and “filthy practice” that will lead to the “implosion of our country.” Jeffress argues that the gay community employs Chinese “brainwashing techniques” in order to have homosexuality “crammed down our throats.”

Source: Right Wing Watch

 

Ted Cruz Confronted at Restaurant: “19 Children Died And That’s On Your Hands” - VIDEO

NY Senate Passes Gun Control Bill To Ban Assault Weapons

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Gun Control

Sanity has prevailed, at least in New York State as the New York Senate has passed a landmark gun control bill that will ban assault weapons

The NYT reports:

The state Senate, approved the legislative package just after 11 p.m. by a lopsided vote of 43 to 18. The Assembly, where Democrats who have been strongly supportive of gun control have an overwhelming majority, planned to vote on the measure Tuesday…

The expanded ban on assault weapons would broaden the definition of such weapons, banning semiautomatic pistols and rifles with detachable magazines and one military-style feature, as well as semiautomatic shotguns with one military-style feature. New Yorkers who already own such guns could keep them but would be required to register them with the state.

The legislative package, which Mr. Cuomo said he believed would be “the most comprehensive package in the nation,” would ban any gun magazine that can hold over 7 rounds of ammunition — the current limit is 10 rounds. It would also require background checks of ammunition buyers and automated alerts to law enforcement of high-volume purchases.

The legislation would increase penalties for multiple crimes committed with guns, would require background checks for most private gun sales, and create a statewide gun-registration database.

President Obama is expected to announce 19 separate executive actions he could take via Executive Order without the approval of Congress to limit access to guns and curtail gun violence

These would likely include imposing new limits on guns imported from overseas, compelling federal agencies to improve sharing of mental health records and directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct research on gun violence, according to those briefed on the effort.

Mr. Obama can also ratchet up enforcement of existing laws, including tougher prosecution of people who lie on their background checks.

Cue the crazy tea baggers and  gun nuts: “The Gubberment! Dey tuk ur gunnnz!”

PROTEST HRC’s $650 A Plate Gala Honoring Goldman Sachs Tonight 2/4 @ 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

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Tonight while the the Human Rights Campaign is holding its $650 a plate NYC Gala at the Waldorf Astoria honoring Anna Winitour (why?) and Goldman Sachs, the investment bank who deceived investors and Congress about its bets against the subprime mortgage market and helped plunge this nation into its current financial crisis, QUEER RISING and other LGBT Activist and Advocates sick of HRC’s pretentious bullshit and lackluster rush to LGBT equality will be protesting outside.

Tonight on the sidewalk outside of the prestigious hotel at 50th Street & Park Avenue from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.  Queer/LGBTIQA2Z Occupy Wall Street a caucus of the NYC based Occupy Wall Street movement,, Queer Rising, and other angry LGBT advocates and activists will be protesting and holding a a “Guerrilla Potluck”.

The protest is to condemn HRC’s decision to honor Goldman Sachs in a time of financial collapse caused by their unethical business practices and greed.   “HRC honoring Goldman Sachs at this time reveals all one needs to know about the corporate LGBT lobby, and its disconnect from the LGBT people it purports to represent.” The protest is also aimed at  trying to get HRC to pledge that they will work toward full LGBT equality by 2014, the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. And that HRC demonstrate more internal transparency and work more with grassroots organizations.

The right to be protected from discrimination secures a core liberty interest. And it is the duty of government to protect LGBT Americans from the harm caused by discrimination as a matter of public welfare, law and conscience, as it has for decades for all other oppressed groups.

As HRC restrains the demand for equality, discrimination takes its insidious toll on LGBT Americans

The Queer Caucus demands equal non-discrimination protections under the 1964 Civil Rights Act because equality is the only true antidote to LGBT abuse – like it has proven to be for race, sex, national origin, religion, age and disability – long protected from discrimination by law.

“Equality and non-discrimination are universal values that define basic human dignity” said Todd (Tif) Fernandez, a human rights lawyer and grassroots activist. “It is our civic duty as Americans to protect and respect the LGBT community immediately.”

Join the Guerrilla Potluck (http://on.fb.me/GuerrillaPotluck). Bring flashlights.

Watch Potluck on Live-Stream Saturday:  http://www.livestream.com/occupello

Please Take the Pledge for Full LGBT Equality (by 2014) (http://bit.ly/the2014pledge).

Gay Man Robbed and Sexually Assaulted Over His Cellphone in Brooklyn, NY

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A 24-year-old gay Brooklyn man was robbed of his cellphone at “fake” gunpoint,  beaten, and then sexually assaulted around 3:30 a.m. on September 5th, the victim was approached by a man who pretended to have a gun at Myrtle and Throop Avenues.

Police are seeking a 21-year-old  Julius Wright   (pictured) who after taking the victim’s phone,  asked the victim his sexual orientation,  began berating the man with anti-gay slurs and then sexually assaulting him.

The victim was later taken Woodhull Hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

Meanwhile police are asking anyone with information on the whereabouts of Wright (described as 6’1″, 170 lbs. with the word “Slim” tattooed on his right forearm) to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.

Gay Friends Win Prom King and Queen at NY High School in Landslide Victory

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Ferrusi and Timmy Howard, two gay best friends were crowned King and Queen of prom, respectively, in a landslide victory at Hudson High School in Hudson, NY on Saturday.

It’s a really big step for Hudson but also for the gay community in general,” Howard said Wednesday. “To have this happen in our city is pretty exciting.” Ferrusi said he and Howard started thinking about running about a month ago. While there were some students who were in opposition to their idea many more approved and the boys decided to go for it.

By prom night the overwhelming majority of students cast their votes in the open ballot race. They won by such a wide margin the school didn’t crown any runners up.

In 2008 Augie Abatecola ran and won the race for Hudson prom queen but he was denied the crown by school officials. This time around Ferrusi and Howard decided to run their plan by advisors and Principal
The school officials said they wouldn’t interfere with the student body’s vote and gave the boys their blessing.

“We’re proud of all our students,” said  Hudson principal Stephen Spicer Wednesday. “They know they have the right to pick whoever they want. It was exciting for them and it was exciting for Charlie and Tim.”

One of the hardest parts of the experience, Ferrusi and Howard said, was deciding who would run for king and who would be queen. Both added they had the full support of their families.

While they were pretty sure they would win due to the buzz around school the boys said they still weren’t sure everyone would vote for them.

“First of all it’s Hudson High School,” said Ferrusi. “For me to win king was crazy. For Timmy to win queen was insane. We both researched it online and never found any story of two gay guys winning both king and queen.”

Hudson will hold its first-ever Gay Pride parade on June 20, and Charlie Ferrusi has been helping plan it:

Congrats to Charlie and Timmy and also to the town oif Hudson, NY