The Keller Administration is proposing to spend $88 million dollars, over a four-year period, with 32 million dollars of recurring expenditures, to hire 322 sworn officers and expand APD from 878 sworn police officers to 1,200 officers.

For the first fiscal year of the four-year plan, the 2018-2019 approved budget provides for increasing funding from 1,000 sworn police to 1,040, which is not much of an increase.

Notwithstanding the existing funding for 1,000 sworn police, APD at the beginning of 2018 had only 878 sworn police.

The biggest danger in hiring retired APD officers is the danger of bringing back officers that created, contributed or did not stop the culture of aggression found by the Department of Justice and that contributed to the $62 million dollars in settlements for police use of excessive force and deadly force.

Sources have said the Keller Administration is processing 30 “lateral hires” from other agencies, which could prove to be problematic if the Keller Administration is not extremely careful.

Lateral hires could result in hiring personnel from other departments that have a history of disciplinary problems and individuals not fully trained in constitutional policing practices.

A major problem with hiring “laterals” is that in a real sense, lateral hires are who contributed to the “culture of aggression” with that very argument made in a civil lawsuit against APD that resulted in a large judgment against the city.

One cadet class in particular had an inordinate number of police officer involved shootings that were part of the original 18 deadly use of force cases that brought the Department of Justice here in the first place.

A new cadet class of 45 has been seated that will graduate in December, with the likelihood 30 candidates making it through all the training and on to graduation.

APPROVED PAY AND LONGEVITY PAY INCREASES

The Keller Administration and the APD Union negotiated and agreed to a 2-year contract.

The approved contract provides that the pay rate for officers with zero to four years of experience will go from $28 to $29 an hour.

Under the contract, officers with 4 to 14 years of experience will be paid $30 an hour.

The new contract will also raise the pay of more senior officers to between $30 to $31.50 an hour.

Officers with 15 years of more will be paid $31.50 an hour.

The rate for sergeants will go from $32 to $35 an hour, and lieutenants pay will go up from $36.70 to $40.00 an hour.

The approved longevity pay scale effective August 1, 2018 for the 2018-2019 fiscal year is as follows:

For 5 to 9 years of experience: $100 will be paid bi-weekly, or $2,600 yearly
For 10 to 14 years of experience: $150 will be paid bi-weekly, or $3,900 yearly
For 15 to 17 years of experience: $200 will be paid bi-weekly, or $5,200 yearly
For 1 to 19 years of experience: $300 will be paid bi-weekly, or $7,800 yearly
For 10 to 20 years or more: $500 will be paid bi-weekly, or $13,000 yearly

DAN KLEIN ARTICLE ON RETIRED OFFICERS RETURNING

Dan Klein is a retired APD Sergeant who has authored numerous blog articles.

With Dan Klein’s permission, following is a recent article of his:

It Makes Cents, and Dollars, For retired Cops to Return to APD
June 25, 2018

By: Dan Klein

“Since the Albuquerque Police Officers Association agreed to the large pay raise that Mayor Keller offered last month, I have had several retired officers ask me if it’s worth it for them to suspend their pension and go back to APD. With input from the good people at PERA and Shaun Willoughby, of the APOA, I have tried to crunch some numbers, dispel some rumors and provide some hard facts.

This new labor agreement is open to everyone: new cadets, current officers who wish to lateral to APD, and retired police officers. This column only discusses the financial impact of suspending their pensions to go work at APD, for retired New Mexico police officers.

The way the new contract with APD was written, APD can extend this new pay rate and longevity to any retired officer. An officer who is already New Mexico state certified is more attractive to APD (as they can bring them on board quickly). All retired officers qualify for these benefits.

The APD website shows that retired / lateral officers will be hired back at $29 hour for their first year (probation). Immediately upon being hired they will receive longevity based upon the number of years they have served as a police officer anywhere. Longevity is not based upon APD time, but upon all the years served with any department as a sworn police officer. In 2019 the longevity for a 20-year veteran officer becomes a whopping $15,600 per year.

For PERA purposes, officers get their pensions calculated on their hourly rate, longevity and specialty pay. For this column I am only going to concern myself with hour rate and longevity pay. Retired officers returning to APD in 2018 will start at $29 hour plus $500 bi-weekly in longevity. They will go to $31.50 hour and start receiving the $15,600 in longevity after they serve their one-year probation.

If a retired police officer who is receiving a pension from PERA decides to suspend his pension and join APD they will do so under Tier 1 rules. The most important of these rules is that PERA will calculate a new pension on the highest three years.

Retired officers who come back, build a new pension calculation and then retire again will have to wait seven years before they will start receiving their COLA. This is waived when the retired officer turns 65 years old. In that case the COLA begins the year after the officer turns 65.

I am basing calculations on an officer who retired after 20 years, making an hourly wage of $28 and a yearly longevity of $2,400. The reason I am using these figures is the APOA stated this is what APD officers were earning, the last few years, when Albuquerque had hundreds of officers retire.

Here are the comparisons. A current officer who retired at the $28 rate plus $2,400 in longevity, at 70% would get a pension of approximately $42,448 per year. If that retired officer started receiving COLA’s in 2018 their pension would increase to $45,947 in 2022 and $52,778 in 2029 and $57,129 in 2033.

Compare this with a retired officer who suspends his pension to join APD in 2018. I won’t count 2018 because that is the probation year and the officer will make $29 per hour. The officer will not have the $31,50 and $15,600 calculation for three years until 2022. This is 83% and the officer could retire at $67,329. Seven years later when the officer will start receiving the first COLA the difference between the officer who didn’t suspend the pension and the one who did and recalculated at 83% is approximately $14,551! The officer who suspended would increase his pension by $1,212 per month!

If the officer stayed for the maximum retirement of 90%, with no further pay raises, the pension would recalculate at $73,008. In the year 2033, when the 90% officer would start receiving a COLA, the difference would be almost $15,879! A monthly increase of $1,323!

Let me strongly point out though that this new pay level is open to ALL police officers who retired while working for a New Mexico agency. This is important because, for example, an officer retired after 20 years (70%) based upon $20 per hour, they could suspend their pension, get hired by APD and in just a few years greatly increase their pension. They would get a new pension calculation based upon 83% at $31.50 per hour plus $15,600 in longevity. This would be a huge increase.

There are a lot of issues a retired officer will need to consider before suspending retirement to build a new pension calculation. I have only looked at the financial incentive. Retired officers and their families will need to consider if physically, mentally and emotionally they are ready to come back into police work in a large metro area. We aren’t as young as we used to be, money isn’t everything.

What about the current double dippers at APD? There are about 70 APD officers that fall into this category. Suspending their pensions would mean building a new calculation. They would stay in the positions they currently hold, but would it be smart to stop double dipping to recalculate their pension? That will depend upon their current financial outlook. If they have bills based upon double dipping, then they might not be able to stop their pension check. Talking to a financial planner would be the appropriate course of action for them.

The worse thing they can do is to get advice from other officers, as many times the information is wrong and not based upon all the facts of their unique situation. Get your advice from a financial professional before you make this decision.

Hopefully, Chief Geier has directed APD Recruiting to send letters to ALL officers throughout New Mexico who have retired in the last couple years. A retired officer certification stays current for two years after retirement. Tapping into retired NMSP, BCSO, Santa Fe PD, Las Cruces PD, etc could quickly increase the number of veteran officers at APD, while continuing to hire new officers.

APD has a real opportunity to grow the department with good, seasoned police officers. APD must take advantage of this with a recruiting campaign to reach out to the hundreds of officers, statewide, who have retired in the last couple years. That campaign needs to start NOW!

If APD grows the force over 900 by the end of 2018, Geier and Keller deserve all the praise. If APD continues to languish below 900 officers, well, somebody probably needs to be fired. If I were Chief Geier I would be getting my best people on this recruiting campaign immediately. Don’t wait for these officers to come you, go out and get them! Put an ad in the PERA La Voz newsletter. Get a list of retired officers! The opportunity is now, don’t waste it.

Would I come back? The answer is no. I retired in 2003 and even though I think I am still in good shape, my eyes and ears tell me I am not as sharp as I once was. I have substantial hearing loss and I don’t think younger officers would appreciate me always asking, “What did they say?”

Officers who suspend their pensions to come to APD will start with high pay, but low seniority. That means graveyard shift and like sleeping at night. As I get older, I need all the beauty sleep I can get.

Mayor Keller and Chief Geier must use a private headhunter / PR firm to go after the hundreds of recently retired police officers in New Mexico. I would not leave this in the hands of APD Recruiting. This is not a slam on APD Recruiting, it is just being honest that professional job companies / PR firms will do a better job of finding these retirees and convincing them to join APD. APD manning is such an important issue that Keller and Geier need to toss everything at it. Do this right and APD manning issues could be a thing of the past very quickly. Do it wrong and Keller and Geier will be viewed as failures. Mayor Keller and Chief Geier, let’s do this right!

DINELLI COMMENTARY

Over the last three years and since the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree, APD has had a difficult time keeping up with retirements.

APD has gone from 1,100 fully staffed APD sworn officers in December, 2009 to 878 at the beginning of June, 2018.

Things got so bad with recruiting qualified people that the previous administration sought to allow double dipping where a retired officer could retire and then immediately return to work and collect their salary and pension.

The increases in hourly wages and longevity pay are in no way a panacea for APD recruiting a new generation of police officers fully trained in constitutional policing practices.

It may make financial sense for a retired APD cop to return to work, but you cannot rebuild a “new APD” by recruiting the “old APD”.

A public relations recruitment program definitely needs to be implemented in conjunction with the city’s Human Resources Department, but an emphasis should first be placed upon hiring a new generation of police officer, not retired police nor lateral hires.

If the past 8-year history with the APD Academy is any reflection of what will happen, the APD Academy will be lucky to hire and train enough cadets just to keep up with retirements.

In order to increase APD from the current 878 sworn police to 1,040 sworn by this time next year, the APD Police Academy will need to keep up with expected retirements and will have to hire at least 162 new officers either as new recruits or as lateral hires.

I agree with Dan Klein that if APD grows the force over 900 by the end of 2018, Geier and Keller deserve kudos for a job well done.

However, if APD does not meet the budgeted goal of 1,040 officers by July 1, 2019, somebody probably needs to be fired because this will signal nothing has changed with APD recruitment practices with millions spent for recruitment to no avail and no results.

According to the city Office of Inspector General report, a combined $96.7 million in federal grants have not been be released to the City of Albuquerque by the Federal Transportation Administration.

http://www.koat.com/article/art-project-still-waiting-for-more-than-90m-in-federal-grants/21940595

$75 million of the $96.7 million is the federal grant money needed to pay for the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project.

After a full seven months in office, Mayor Tim Keller is still “cautiously optimistic” that the Federal Transportation Administration will approve the federal grant that has been pending approval for over 3 three years since the application was made.

The truth has always been that all the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) has done is send the city a “letter of no prejudice” during the grant process.

The FTA “letter of no prejudice” contained language that said “the authority to incur cost provided in this letter does not constitute an FTA commitment that future dollars will be approved for the project”.

Notwithstanding the no commitment of federal funding, the Berry Administration consistently lied to the city council that the money would be forthcoming.

The Office of Inspector General report found that ART spending carried on despite no advance guarantees on funding.

The Albuquerque City Council bought into the lies and approved the project refusing to put it on the ballot for voter approval.

For all the ART lies see:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/06/27/another-lie-from-the-city-hall-liars-club/

For over a full week, Channel 7 tried to get an interview with former Mayor Berry regarding his “legacy project”.

Berry’s public relations firm (yes, he now has a PR firm) finally responded with a comment that said in part “As Mayor, I was an advocate for a world class transit system for Albuquerque. … I believed then and still believe that ART holds great potential for our city.”

Mayor Tim Keller disclosed the “great potential” is the disaster ART really means for the City if the federal grant money is not forthcoming.

Mayor Keller put into perspective what the $96 million means for the city when he said:

“That number is the equivalent of all the capital projects we do over the course of two entire years. … It basically means we have to go on a public works diet for a long time.”

In other words, if the money is not forthcoming from the FTA, projects that are truly needed such as road projects, community centers, parks and repairs to city public facilities will not happen.

Berry’s insistence that ART is a “world class project” shows how out of touch this former Mayor has always been.

A world class transportation project costs billions of dollars like Denver and Phoenix light rail systems.

ART has always been nothing but is a cheesy nine-mile, $129 million bus route that has destroyed historic Route 66 not to mention putting many firms along central out of business.

Mayor Keller tries to give a status report each month regarding the ART Bus project which amounts to nothing more than “pulling the scab” off an infected and festering wound each time.

Rather than keep hoping and praying that the FTA will be forthcoming, Mayor Keller should tell the City Council this is their project they approved it and financed it and they need to come up with a solution and take responsibility for the disaster they funded without any guarantee of a funding source.

One likely scenario is for the city counsel to pass “revenue bonds”.

Over the last 3 years, the City Council borrowed over $65 million dollars to build pickleball courts, baseball fields and the ART bus project down central by bypassing the voters.

(For full story see January 2, 2017 Albuquerque Journal “BYPASSING the Voters” page A-1).

Revenue bonds are repaid with gross receipts tax revenues.

Following are further blog articles on the ART Bus project:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/06/11/give-art-work-to-city-attorney-nm-attorney-general-and-district-attorney/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/06/04/want-a-divorce-hire-a-lawyer/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/03/07/to-be-clear-funds-were-never-guaranteed-that-was-simply-never-the-case/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/01/15/vowing-to-fix-problems-required-to-fix-by-law/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/01/10/this-project-is-a-bit-of-a-lemon/

https://www.petedinelli.com/?s=Special+Grand+Jury&submit=Search

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/01/22/mayor-keller-should-scrap-art-bus-project-and-find-alternatives/

” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/01/10/the-lemons-and-lies-of-berrys-art/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/12/14/leaking-new-civic-plaza-fountain-symbolizes-berry-administration/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/06/27/another-lie-from-the-city-hall-liars-club/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/03/16/biggest-lie-the-check-is-in-the-mail/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/02/22/remember-election-time-who-carried-the-mayors-water-on-art/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/02/17/hidden-costs-of-berrys-white-elephant/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/02/12/art-bus-project-funding-still-in-doubt/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/01/03/sneaks-we-is-when-funding-art-bus-project-and-capital-projects/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2016/11/18/art-bus-project-destroys-historic-route-66/

The Albuquerque Fire and Rescue Department (AFR), formerly known as the Albuquerque Fire Department, responded to 7,000 mental health calls last year.

Upwards of 80% to 85% of all AFR emergency calls are for emergency medical care as oppose to “firefighting” which was the major reason for changing the name of the department.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/afr-responded-to-7000-mental-health-calls-in-2017-alone/4961287/#.Wy5afT3YIDY.facebook

All Albuquerque Fire and Rescue firefighters are not only firefighters but are also fully licensed emergency medical technicians (EMTs) or paramedics.

More than one out of 10 emergency calls to 911 for AFR are mental health-related.

In 75 percent of those calls, an ambulance had to take a patient to the hospital.

The AFR provided data that revealed most mental health calls happen Downtown or in the International District, which is not at all surprising.

Downtown Albuquerque has a number of “homeless” shelters and charitable organizations to help feed and house the homeless all within a 5-mile radius of each other.

The shelters provide help and assistance to the approximate 3,500 homeless in Albuquerque, many who suffer from mental illness.

The International District is located in the SE heights and has a chronic narcotics problem which contributes to drug overdose calls.

Albuquerque Fire Rescue is working collaboratively with Albuquerque Police and the Bernalillo County Behavioral Health Initiative to help those who need it the most.

As part of the city’s efforts, families who have loved ones with mental health conditions are actually teaching AFR first responders on how to respond more empathetic with people who suffer from mental illness.

AFR Paramedics are also being trained to respond to autistic patients.

AFR has also been working with APD to better deescalate mental health situations.

The increase emphasis and change in tactics when dealing with mental health calls is directly related to the Keller Administration implementing the AFD Mobile Health Care Outreach Program.

Last year, AFR had a total of 174,426 calls with 110,000 resulting in a dispatch.

The number medical first responder calls last year for basic life support was 65,000 with the number of advanced life support calls being 45,000.

Further the number of other non-emergency calls was 60,000.

The 2018-2019 AFR approved budget is $82.9 with an overall increase of 8.5% or 6.5 million above last year’s budget.

AFR’s 2018-2019 adopted budget funds 730 full time-positions.

Reference: City of Albuquerque Budget, page 106, Fire Department Budget:

http://documents.cabq.gov/budget/fy-19-proposed-budget.pdf.

AFR MOBILE HEALTH CARE OUTREACH PROGRAM

During the 2018-2019 budget process, the Keller Administration secured $3.2 million dollars to develop and establish the “AFR Mobile Health Care and Community Outreach Program”.

The AFR Mobile Health Care and Community Outreach Program consists of six positions and three rescue vehicles.

The mobile AFR unit has a paramedic and a person on board who can do community outreach and respond to indigent or homeless people or people in crisis.

The goal is to free up time for police officers and firefighters to respond to more pressing calls for service.

The programs goal is to shift resources from high cost reactive strategies, including a full crew responding to a 911 call from someone who does not actually need an ambulance.

The program intends to shift those calls to less resource-intensive approaches like home or site visits to common callers and community risk reduction efforts for private residences and public places.

The program will also include a robust and visible Basic Life Support Unit presence in the Southeast Heights and other high needs area.

This new program will allow the Albuquerque Fire Department to provide additional services as a partner to the city-wide effort to interrupt the cycle of crime and lead to a safer city.

COMMENTARY

The AFR Mobile Health Care Outreach Program was a concept proposed by Mayoral candidate Gus Pedrotty.

The program makes perfect sense and will be fully funded July 1, 2018 when the new budget takes effect.

The program is a clear and dramatic reflection of the change in attitudes and priorities from the previous administrations attitude of favoring a reduction in social services.

Mayor Tim Keller is to be commended for adopting the program which is already beginning to have an impact.

DATELINE SANTA FE NEWS FLASH: GOVERNOR SUSANA MARTINEZ HAS BEEN OFFERED A JOB TO PLAY ROSEANNE BARR’S LONG LOST TWIN SISTER IN THE ANNOUNCED SPIN OFF WITHOUT BARR TO REVIVE THE SERIES. The Governor issued a statement saying she is honored to accept the job so she will have gainful employment come January 1, 2019. Roseanne Barr for her part said the Governor is more than qualified but is concerned that the Trump FCC just may ask her for a “green card” to make sure she is in the United States legally. Rumor has it the Governor is desperately looking for her original birth certificate but may have left it at the NM MVD to renew her driver’s license for real ID.

DATE LINE LAS CRUCES NEWS FLASH: Confidential sources are saying political consultants are trying to get Congressman Steve Pearce to change his political slogan from “Steve Pearce. Working For New Mexico. Everyday” to “Steve Pearce. Curb Your Enthusiasm. Everyday”. The argument being made is that the new campaign utilizing “Curb Your Enthusiasm” will better reflect how Pearce’s candidacy for Governor is being received by the voters of New Mexico. The Congressman is resisting it believing that Larry David would probably sue to get a restraining order to protect his tly image and the brand of the TV show. Pearce is confident that his feel good ad he ran in the primary that said “I was born a poor white guy and I struggled as an infant of tender months to overcome obstacles to live in Texas as my family became millionaires” has helped increased his poll numbers. Pearce is also concerned if he goes forward with the slogan change it will ruin his chances of going to work full time for the sic com come January 1, 2019 as a fill in for Larry David. For his part, it is said Larry David believes the change in the slogan will result in the TV ratings going down for his show in New Mexico. Stay tuned for more on this developing story.

DISCLAIMER: THE ABOVE NEWS RELEASES ARE NOT TO BE CONSIDERED ANYTHING RELATED TO THE TRUTH FOR THOSE WHO TEND TO BELIEVE ANYTHING ON FACEBOOK AND THE INTERNET.

Yet another week of sure turbulence in this country as a result of the actions of our “Racist In Chief” sitting in the White House.

A few weeks ago, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy that arrested and prosecuted people coming into the United States illegally and forcibly separated children from their parents at the Mexican border.

Cage like “chain link” enclosures and tents were erected to house the children.

Initially, President Trump dug in his heels over his controversial “zero-tolerance” policy.

Mr. Trump pointed to Europe, which he said had become a “migrant camp,” and said that would not happen to the United States under his leadership.

Speaking at the White House Trump said:

“The United States will not be a migrant camp, and it will not be a refugee holding facility. You look at what’s happening in Europe, and in other places, we cannot allow that to happen. Not on my watch.”

At the Nevada GOP state party convention, Trump reiterated some of his most vile rhetoric about immigrants from Central and South America when he said:

“The word is ‘overrun.’ We will have millions and millions of people pouring through our country and all the problems that would cause with crime and schools. … If they see any weakness, they will come by the millions.”

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/06/23/in-rambling-speech-trump-renews-attacks-on-immigrants-they-will-come-by-the-millions/23466476/

Trump elaborated on his plans for cracking down on people fleeing their home countries to enter the United States relying on fear mongering about gang violence from groups like MS-13 when he said:.

“These are sick evil people. … I called them animals and people said ‘that’s a terrible thing to say.’ Nancy Pelosi said that’s a terrible thing to say. She was defending MS-13.”

Apparently in Trump’s sick and warped mind, over 2,500 children separated from their parents are sick and evil people who are all MS-13 gang members.

After immense bipartisan pressure and public outcry, Trump abruptly reversed himself and signed an executive order halting his disgraceful policy of separating children from their parents when they are detained illegally crossing the U.S. border.

Just four days after reversing himself and issuing an executive order, Trump again took to bashing immigrant and children on twitter:

“We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came. Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and Law and Order. Most children come without parents. Cannot accept all of the people trying to break into our Country. Strong Borders, No Crime!”

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/06/24/trump-calls-for-deporting-illegal-immigrants-with-no-judges-or-court-cases/23466729/

Trump has never differentiated between people who entered the United States to seek asylum and illegal immigrants.

U.S. immigration law provides certain rights for undocumented immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Under US Immigration laws, in most cases, they are allowed a full hearing before an immigration judge before being deported.

The first conviction for entering the United States illegally is a misdemeanor and a second offense is a felony.

TRUMP’S HISTORY OF RACISM

Trump’s “no tolerance policy” and his treatment of children is nothing more than a continuation of Trump’s racists ways in conflict with a country that is a nation of immigrants.

President Trump’s racism dates back to 1973 when his housing management company was the target of a Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division civil lawsuit over allegations that he and father as real estate developers were keeping black and Puerto Rican people out of their apartments.

It was in 1989 that Donald Trump purchased ads calling for the death penalty for the “Central Park Five,” four black men and one Latino man accused of rape who were later exonerated by DNA evidence.

During the 2016 presidential election, Trump still insisted the “Central Park Five” were guilty.

For at least eight (8) years, Donald Trump was front an center of the “birther movement” and questioned former President Barack Obama’s American citizenship thereby questioning Obama’s legitimacy as President of the United States.

In 2011, Trump called on President Obama to release his birth certificate and went as far as to offer to give $5 million to one of Obama’s charity of choice if he released his college records and passport.

In 2015 when Donald Trump announced his bid for the presidency, he said “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bring crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.”

During the Presidential election, Trump said “I will build a great wall – and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me – and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”

In May 2016 during the presidential campaign, Trump suggested United States Federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who oversaw the class action lawsuit against Trump University, was biased against Trump due to his “Mexican” heritage claiming American born Curiel was from Mexico.

During a campaign stop, Trump looked over a crowd and ask out loud to the crowd of supporters “where’s my African American” as if to show he had support of African Americans.

On January 27, 2017, just seven days after being sworn in as President, January Donald Trump signed an executive order halting all refugee admissions and temporarily barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries arguing it was needed to combat terrorism. The move sparked numerous protests and legal challenges.

In August 2017, after a 20-year-old white man drove his car into a crowd at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one anti-racist protester and injuring 19 others, President Trump said that there was “blame on both sides” regarding the deadly violence that was instigated by white supremacists.

President Trump during a ceremony in the White House to honor the World War II Navajo Code talkers, one from New Mexico, he took the opportunity to call Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas”.

During the football season, Trump proclaimed that professional football players, who were predominantly African American and who “took a knee” during the national anthem to protest the treatment of African Americans should be fired.

The New York Times reported in December, 2017 that President Trump said in a June meeting about immigration that Haitians “all have AIDS”, a statement denied by the White House.

On December 24, 2017, The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump described Nigerians as people living in huts and that they would not want to return to them. He reportedly said 40,000 had come from Nigeria and would never “go back to their huts” once they had seen America.

https://www.vanguardngr.com › News

COMMENTARY

Trump’s “no tolerance policy” will remain an open wound of racism for all to see, including his most fervent defenders who no doubt have no problem with it.

Trump also stands for what the Republican Party has become.

Our President is a racist and the Republicans in Congress need to admit it.

Trump needs to be dumped in the garbage of history as the United States first duly elected dictator, the sooner the better, either by impeachment or resignation before we have another two more years of his racist version of “Making America Great Again”.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ used a Bible verses to justify the Trump administration’s immigration policies to split up families that arrive at U.S. borders seeking asylum and separate children from their parents.

The Trump Administration was putting children in a tent city which was an empty Walmart building in a Texas border town with tents erected outside.

Cage like “chain link” enclosures were also erected to house children.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was quoted as saying: “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order.”

During a daily press briefing, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked the question:

“Where in the Bible does it say that it’s moral to take children away from their mothers?”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded by saying:

“I’m not aware of the attorney general’s comments or what he would be referencing. … I can say that it is very “Biblical” to enforce the law.”

It has been reported that at least 2,700 children have been separated from their parents since the “no tolerance policy” was announced.

It is estimated that an average of 45 to 50 children were being taken from their parents each day.

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17443198/children-immigrant-families-separated-parents

Initially, President Trump dug in his heels over his controversial “zero-tolerance” immigration policy that forcibly separated children from their parents at the Mexican border.

Mr. Trump pointed to Europe, which he said had become a “migrant camp,” and said that would not happen to the United States under his leadership.

Speaking at the White House Trump said:

“The United States will not be a migrant camp, and it will not be a refugee holding facility. You look at what’s happening in Europe, and in other places, we cannot allow that to happen. Not on my watch.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/18/trump-attacks-germany-migration-policies-criticism-child-detention/

Trump then went on the offensive trying to say it was all the Democrats fault and he could not issue an executive order or do anything until the immigration laws were changed.

On June 21, 2018, the “Time” magazine on its cover featured a viral image of a two-year-old Honduran girl crying at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The crying child isn’t alone on the cover.

Time Magazine illustrators placed an image of President Donald Trump right beside the child looking down as the child looked up in tears and wailing.

The caption is “WELOME TO AMERICA”.

The Time Magazine cover image is so indicative of what President Trump really stands for and what the Republican Party has become under Trump.

On June 21, 2018, bowing to immense bi partisan pressure and public outcry, including former First Ladies Lara Bush and Michell Obama, President Donald Trump abruptly reversed himself and signed an executive order halting his administration’s policy of separating children from their parents when they are detained illegally crossing the U.S. border.

President Richard Cohen with the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center said Trump’s executive order still does not go nearly far enough when he said:

“The administration still plans to criminalize families — including children — by holding them in prison-like detention facilities. There are workable alternatives” [but none has been offered].

https://www.abqjournal.com/1186956/homeland-security-drafts-plan-to-end-family-separation.html

Perhaps the Republican Congress out of sure desperation to hold on to their majorities in congress will finally enact comprehensive immigration reforms.

COMMENTARY

I wonder if Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President Donald Trump have ever read the bible verse:

“Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Mark 10:14)

Trump’s America Kingdom only belongs to him, as is a special place in hell.

The “no tolerance policy” and his treatment of children is nothing more than a continuation of Trump’s racists ways.

For more commentary see:

See “Steve Pearce Breaks Back Bending Over Backwards to Racist Defend Racist Trump:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/01/13/congressman-steve-pearce-breaks-back-bending-over-to-defend-racist-trump/

See “The Book of Trump Ten Commandments”

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/06/18/the-book-of-trump-ten-commandments/