Latest news with #People'sActionInstitute
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WATCH: Leftist protesters flood Capitol Hill office building as ‘big, beautiful' budget bill vote looms
Protesters affiliated with several leftist groups, including the People's Action Institute, flooded a Capitol Hill office building in Washington on Wednesday as the House prepared to vote on the "big, beautiful" budget bill backed by President Donald Trump. Capitol Police have responded to several protests over Medicaid cuts that disrupted activities in Capitol office buildings over the last several weeks. On Wednesday, protesters affiliated with the People's Action Institute shut down a hallway in the Longworth House Office Building as part of a protest against cuts to Medicaid in the budget bill. In a video obtained by Fox News Digital, protesters could be seen blocking a hallway and shouting, "We got the power," while raising their fists. Many protesters held signs reading "Medicaid Cuts Kill." Trump Says Gop Is Unified As He Delivers 'Pep Talk' For 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Capitol Police quickly cleared the protesters from the building; there appeared to be no arrests. Read On The Fox News App Democrats have been shining a spotlight on portions of the budget bill that restructure Medicaid, the nearly 60-year-old federal government program that provides health insurance for roughly 71 million adults and children with limited income. The cuts to Medicaid, being drafted in part as an offset to pay for extending Trump's 2017 tax cut law that is set to expire this year, include a slew of new rules and regulatory requirements for those seeking coverage. Among them are a new set of work requirements for many of those seeking coverage. Wednesday's protest was not the only one that has disrupted activity in the Capitol office buildings this month. Fox News Digital reported on Medicaid protesters disrupting a budget markup by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on May 13. Video taken by Fox News Digital of the protests showed Capitol Police attempting to gain control of the situation, shouting repeatedly, "If you're not getting arrested, then go!" House Gop Unveils Medicaid Work Requirements In Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' The video also shows a woman in a wheelchair being removed from the committee chamber while screaming, "They want to kill the disabled, they want to kill the sick, they want to kill the veterans who have fought for us." Amid the chaos, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., spurred on the crowds, saying, "Keep fighting, stay strong, we're not going to let them take away healthcare. You are leading the way. Thank you very much." In response to criticism about disrupting activity in the congressional office buildings, Unai Montes-Irueste, a spokesperson for the People's Action Institute, told Fox News Digital that "Medicaid cuts kill. Nothing is more disruptive than death." Montes-Irueste said "there is no congressional district in the country that supports ripping healthcare coverage away from Medicaid recipients so that Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg can buy new yachts." Capitol Police Arrest Protesters Disrupting Budget Markup As Cory Booker Thanks Them For Defending Medicaid Despite the accusations that Republicans want to cut Medicaid, Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told Fox News Digital this month that "Republicans are ending waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid so the most vulnerable get the care they need." Hudson said that "Democrats are lying to protect a broken status quo that lets illegal immigrants siphon off billions meant for American families. We're strengthening Medicaid for future generations by protecting taxpayers and restoring integrity." The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the budget bill sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the timing dependent on passage of a rules resolution from the House Rules article source: WATCH: Leftist protesters flood Capitol Hill office building as 'big, beautiful' budget bill vote looms
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Self-deportation poses legal risks for immigrants who accept offer of cash, airfare
May 7—Immigrants who take up the Trump administration's offer of cash and free airfare for people who self-deport could make legal reentry to the U.S. lengthy and difficult, if not impossible, advocates warned this week. They recommended that immigrants speak with an attorney before taking up the government's inducement of $1,000 and airfare to their countries of origin. "Anyone who is finding themselves in a moment of uncertainty should always speak with a qualified immigration attorney," said Unai Montes-Irueste, a spokesman for People's Action Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group. But Montes-Ireste and others also said they anticipate that many immigrants facing President Donald Trump's harsh deportation crackdown may find the self-deportation offer tempting. The Trump administration offered the financial incentive on Monday and described self-deportation as a way for migrants to preserve their ability to legally return to the U.S. Sophia Genovese, an attorney for the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, warned that immigrants who self-deport could face high barriers to legal reentry to the U.S. "If people have an active case with the immigration court and they leave, that will result in an in absentia removal order," Genovese said. The order "is a deportation order that would be entered because they failed to appear at their next immigration court hearing," she said. A deportation order carries a 10-year bar of return to the U.S. "and it will create barriers for people seeking to return through some other lawful pathway," she said. The U.S. Department of Justice public affairs office did not respond this week to requests for comment sent to the agency's media inquiry site. Trump told reporters Monday that immigrants who self-deport and leave the U.S. might have a chance to return legally "if they're good people" and "love our country." Trump made immigration enforcement and mass deportation a centerpiece of his campaign but so far has struggled to fulfill his promise of deporting at least 1 million people in the first year of his current term. The Department of Homeland Security has repurposed a U.S. Border Patrol app, CBP Home, that allows immigrants to obtain the $1,000 stipend and a flight to their home countries. The app was created by the Biden administration to allow people to track their immigration cases. DHS said in a news release that people who use the app will be "deprioritized" for detention and removal by immigration officials. "If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. Genovese said flyers promoting the CBP Home app have turned up at immigration courts around the U.S., including the El Paso Immigration Court, which hears all New Mexico immigration cases. The flyers have created the appearance that immigration courts and judges support the self-deportation program, she said. "This is leading a lot of community members, a lot of immigrants, to believe that the odds are stacked against them," she said. "If a judge is encouraging the ability to self-deport, why would an immigrant believe that they have a fair shot at winning asylum or some other permanent status?" Genovese urged immigrants considering the offer to consult with an immigration attorney or a qualified immigration representative, a non-attorney who has credentials to argue cases in immigration courts.
