"Trump’s comparison of his immigration actions to Obama’s policy in 2011 is a faulty one. The fact is that the Obama administration was responding to a known and specific threat from one country and limited its response to refugees from that country, while Trump’s order temporarily bans refugees from all countries — indefinitely in the case of those from Syria — and temporarily bars all other visitors from seven predominately Muslim countries."

Today Trump closed America’s borders to refugees, ordering that families fleeing the slaughter in Syria be indefinitely blocked from entering the United States.

And he temporarily suspended immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries -- Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

These are not countries from which terrorists have attacked the U.S. (the 9/11 attackers were from Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates).

But Trump's order excludes several predominantly Muslim nations in which Trump now has or has had business interests. (See http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/inside-trumps-global-business-interests/story?id=44416694) In the United Arab Emirates, Trump has licensing deals in place for two golf-courses in Dubai (after Trump’s election, his partners in the deal told ABC News that the Trump brand had become "stronger, more global". In Turkey, Trump struck a deal in 2008 with the Dogan Group to license his brand to Trump Towers Istanbul, one with residential and the other with commercial office space. Trump also has had extensive deals in Saudi Arabia.

Trump also ordered that Christians and others from minority religions be granted priority over Muslims.

Trump signed the executive order shortly after issuing a statement noting that today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, citing the “depravity and horror inflicted on innocent people by Nazi terror.”

The irony is tragic.

Let’s not mince words. Trump is engaged in religious persecution. Nazi Germany did far worse, of course. But Trump is setting America on a dangerous and disgraceful course.

He is violating two fundamental moral precepts of this nation: that we provide refuge to those fleeing repression and slaughter, and we do not discriminate based on religion. And he’s playing directly into the hands of extremists who want the Muslim world to believe the United States is deeply anti-Muslim.

What do you think?

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1453396138006311&id=142474049098533

California police see dangers in Trump's illegal immigration crackdown

President Trump’s plan to enlist local police and sheriff’s departments in immigration enforcement has set the stage for a pitched battle with California officials who have long prioritized building ties with immigrant communities.

Trump’s plan, which was issued Wednesday as part of a pair of executive orders, seeks to broaden the reach of federal immigration authorities into county jails.


http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-california-jails-20170126-story.html

"Essentially, the revised budget rules deny that federal land has any value at all, allowing the new Congress to sidestep requirements that a bill giving away a piece of federal land does not decrease federal revenue or contribute to the federal debt.

Republican eagerness to cede federal land to local governments for possible sale, mining or development is already moving states to act. Western states, where most federal land is concentrated, are already introducing legislation that pave the way for land transfers."