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President Trump’s national emergency continues as Congress  failed to override his first veto yesterday, allowing him to pursue funds for his long-promised border wall.

Opponents  believe  Trump is abusing presidential emergency powers  and that he is not acting in the interests of border security, but working to further his own interests. Multiple lawsuits have been filed against funding the border wall.

“National emergencies were designed for use in a democracy and didn’t foresee someone like Trump of authoritarian tendencies,” said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, NYU professor of Italian and History.

She is also a political commentator on authoritarian leadership, fascism, propaganda, and threats to democracy. “The broad frame of this is that there just isn’t a national emergency provision for the highest leader and it can open itself up to abuse.”

When a president declares a national emergency, they can access a range of emergency powers, which can over cover almost every imaginable subject area. After the Watergate scandal, Congress wanted to limit these powers and enacted the National Emergency Act of 1976. This act was meant to give lawmakers a way to check presidential powers. However, Anthony Boyle, Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, thinks that the act isn’t enough.

“You’ve seen that even with the passing of a resolution to terminate the national emergency by both the Senate and the House, the emergency is able to continue because the president can veto it,” said Boyle. “So, there aren’t enough checks on the president’s ability to use emergency powers right now.”

License by Creative Commons President Donald Trump declare a national emergency to get funding for a wall at the US/Mexico border.

The Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan public policy and law institute, is pushing lawmakers to reform the National Emergency Act to prevent what they believe is the abuse of emergency powers by the  Presiden.t Trump.

Some of these reforms include only having the emergency last 30 or 60 days under the president’s declaration, instead of a year, and then having Congress determine whether or not to renew it. They would also like to have more of a description of what constitutes a “true” national emergency so presidents can’t just say anything is an emergency. The hope is that these reforms would prevent those in office from circumventing the checks and balances of the American government.

“The way that he’s using emergency powers to circumvent Congress. The way that he essentially admits that he didn’t have to use emergency powers. All of these things are norms that haven’t been transgressed in the past,” Boyle said. “I’m not going to say that emergency powers haven’t been misused ever in the past. It’s just President Trump is misusing them to a far greater degree than prior presidents.”

President Trump warned the public in January that he was considering using his emergency powers to build a wall along the southern border. He also admitted in February that he “didn’t need to do this.”

Ben-Ghiat also believes that President Trump is trying to bypass Congress by his declaration of a national emergency. She sees this as a sign of authoritarian tendencies.

“The issue is that so many authoritarians in the past have used the concept of a national emergency to consolidate their power,” she said. “He has made it very clear that he’s frustrated with having to obey norms in democracy.”

Although President Trump stated that he is concerned about national security and the “invasion” that he says is occurring at the border, Ben-Ghait believes this national emergency is not about security, but power.

“He wants to stop people of color from coming in. He once said he’d like to have immigration from Norway,” Ben-Ghiat said.“That border stuff is about racism and about his power. What it’s not about is national security.”

Protestors in front of the Trump Tower on February 5th to denounce President Trump threat of a national emergency to secure border funding. Photo by Caroline Aguirre

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of an environmental organization, the Sierra Club, against Trump’s emergency powers declaration.

“The main crux of our lawsuit is national emergencies should only be declared when there truly is some sort of threat to national security, to public health – some true emergency,” said Gloria Smith, Managing Attorney for the Sierra Club. “This is not a national emergency.”

For decades the Sierra Club has worked with communities along the border to protect parks and land.

“Many of our members are part of these communities and without any kind of planning and frankly no notice to these communities, this wall would literally cut people off from their land,” Smith said.

She said this wall would also prohibit wildlife like birds, mountain lions, and other species from crossing back and forth along the border.

The Sierra Club and California have raised the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 as part of their case. NEPA requires federal agencies to analyze the environmental effects of their proposed projects.

“They need to prepare a report and provide alternatives to this project and come up with mitigation measures – ways to make it have less environmental impact,” Smith said. “Are there alternatives? Maybe we could just have drones instead of building a wall or cameras.”

Smith believes it’s a very important statute to consider it Trump wants to build a wall along the southern border.

“This administration is not interested in intelligent, informed decision-making and policies and programs that would actually help people,” she said. “This goes back to a campaign slogan from three years ago – ‘Build a wall’ that just makes no sense. So is this in the name of national security? Of course not.”

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Without a pathway to citizenship and ICE arrests still rising, some undocumented students are seeking help from their schools amid their fear of deportation.

New York University’s Immigration Defense Initiative, provides free legal support and advice for immigrant students, faculty, and their family members. Frances Dàvila, Staff Attorney of IDI, has been focusing on outreach within the NYU community.

She wants the NYU immigrant community to know that these services are available.

“I just worked with the LGBTQ student center and let them know my office is here to create some partnership – so if they come across any student that is not a US citizen, they can refer them to me,” said Dàvila.  

She has noticed more DACA students reaching out to her office and asking if they can travel abroad. Dàvila is also alarmed by the denial of DACA renewals.

“What I’ve seen more of is an increase in DACA renewals being denied. They’re being more of a stickler in what are the grounds for denial,” she said. “In one situation we had so much proof that the student was still eligible but US immigration services denied their request.”  

Dàvila said that immigration court gives anyone that is denied an application a notice to appear, which places them in removal proceedings. This new policy forces individuals to fight their case in immigration court. She believes this puts students at risk of deportation.

“You will forever be separated from your community if you’re deported. For so many it’s like the ultimate punishment because they can never come back to their community, let alone finish their education,” she said.

Dàvila is now highly encouraging students to apply for their green cards instead of renewing their DACA applications. Although the student must ask their parents to petition for them and pay an application fee of around $1,225 – the lengthy process appears to be more reliable than  DACA renewals. DACA renewals can cost up to $500.

CUNY’s John Jay College recently opened up their own Immigrant Student Success Center in October. It’s the only CUNY college to house a center dedicated to helping DACA, TPS, and immigrant students.

“It’s one of a kind. It was created so students wouldn’t fall through the cracks,” said Cynthia Carvajal, Immigrant Student Success Manager at John Jay College. “Students are coming in and asking more questions because the center exists.”

Carvajal hasn’t seen an increase in DACA renewals being denied but she has seen more complications and errors with the applications.

“I’ve seen them asking students for a piece of information then saying they don’t need it,” she said.

Carvajal believes that immigrant students are dealing with a lot of mental trauma.

“Every student I meet with, the conversation is almost always about stress and them crying. They’re scared of ICE targeting their communities or they’re guilty that they have DACA and a sibling doesn’t and on top of that their grades,” she said.

Growing up, Carvajal was undocumented and can relate to the students she helps today. She believes President Trump has spewed anti-immigrant and anti-black body rhetoric. Although it’s painful for her to see, she wants to focus on the positive.

“But there’s still places of empowerment – that students have cultivated for themselves through groups and to me it’s rejuvenating,” she said.

Arturo Lopez Rosas, 25, was approved for DACA when it was first introduced under the Obama administration. He lived in California at the time.

“It was really exciting for me. I felt like my life had been turned around right before starting college. I remember crying and getting really excited of the possibility of a pathway,” said Rosas.

He found the application process to be straightforward and applied on his own. It took him around four weeks to get a response.

Rosas became fearful of deportation when President Trump got elected in 2016 and made the decision to leave America. He booked a one way flight to Iceland and began to travel.

“It really freaked me out that, that was something I could go through. I didn’t want the PTSD of someone throwing me out,” he said.

Rosas said that traveling allowed him to stay away from the cultural insensitivity that he believes was ignited under the Trump administration. He also didn’t want to pay $500 to renew DACA.

Rosas now lives in Mexico and decided to return to rediscover his heritage. He wishes that there was an easier pathway to citizenship and fears that he won’t be able to return to America if something happens to his parents.

“I wanted a choice to create my own reality instead of going to work one day and having ICE officials in full police outfit trying to take me away,” he said.

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Last Thursday, the MTA board postponed their vote to increase Metrocard fares to $3. The board will cast their vote in February, leaving some New Yorkers irritated by the impending hike.

“They’ve been increasing the fare at a steady pace, which is ridiculous to begin with,” said Vanessa Sooknanan, 31 of Brooklyn.

Sooknanan, an elementary school teacher, said that she hasn’t seen any improvements in the MTA.

“They’re not improving their services. So why are you asking for more money?” she asked.

The MTA is considering two fare hike proposals. One would include increasing the base Metrocard fare from $2.75 to $3. The other option would keep the base fare at $2.75 and eliminate the purchasing bonus.

If approved, the changes could be implemented in April 2019.

The MTA board and Gov. Andrew Cuomo decided to delay the vote to explore more options.  

Although the MTA is proposing a higher fare, they’re also considering service cuts like reducing transit service or the number of cleanings of subway cars.

Martin Caceres, 39 , also an elementary school teacher, said that he understands the need for the increase in fares. He lives by the 2/3 line and finds it reliable to get to work. “NYC happens to have one of the oldest train systems in the world – going back to like early 1904,” Caceres said.

“We have so many different train lines. So, as much as I don’t want them to hike up the price, it’s a very expensive system to maintain. I see both sides. ”

He believes that riders often cause the delays and it’s less of a mechanical issue.

Yovanna Ramirez, 22, of Inwood said that the hike will only waste her money and time.

“I’d prefer to have my own car, instead of buying unlimited metrocards every month,” Ramirez said. “I’m dying to get my permit because I can’t take it anymore.”

She said that the 1 train constantly has delays, which she takes to the Upper West Side for work.

“It gets me so stressed out – thinking I should have left my house earlier,” she said.

Other New Yorkers have opted to relieve themselves of the mental stress by paying a hefty price tag.

“I completely stopped using the MTA a year ago because it’s so horrible,” said Rene Fagundo, 37, of the Bronx.

“Ubers are more expensive than metrocards, but it’s worth it.”

Fagundo said that he pays an average of $60 a day to get to work in Manhattan from the Bronx.

“You get to talk to your cabbie, play music, and it’s cleaner,” he said. “You get door-to-door service.”

Fagundo doesn’t see the MTA fixing their delays in the near future. He believes that riders have no choice but to pay for bad service – even if it means 25 more cents.

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As the rain poured on Bryant Park yesterday, the holiday shops remained brightly lit. Pedestrians hopped over large puddles, navigating through the Winter Village which was filled with gift shops and food kiosks.

Lucia Guzman, 29, sat in her small shop, surrounded by her handmade wire sculptures. Her illuminated shop revealed colorful figurines playing instruments and sports.

In front of her counter, sat pink and purple handmade wire roses – the inspiration for her business called One Million Roses.

“We wanted to save money for our wedding, so we started making wire roses and it eventually turned into a business,” said Guzman, who began her business with her husband in 2012.

She has been selling her sculptures at the Winter Village for two years.

“I love it. It’s one of the best places to be in during Christmas,” she said. “You get to meet a lot of people.”

Lucia Guzman owner of One Million Roses, in Bryant Park’s Winter Village, shows one of her handmade wire sculptures,  a man playing the piano. Photo by Caroline Aguirre.

Around 170 vendors fill up the Winter Village at Bryant Park during the holiday season. The holiday shops are open through January 2nd.

As the park workers swept the wet puddles aside, Guzman sat in her cozy shop waiting for customers.

“I’ve seen similar things like this but not in such detail,” said customer, Irina Cherny, 35, of Brooklyn. “She’s just brilliant. I was just telling her that.”

Cherny purchased a keychain, but was also dazzled by a sculpture of a bride and groom.

Patti Richards, 58, from Oklahoma, was looking for Christmas ornaments. She purchased a Santa Claus ornament from Guzman.

“It was different than anything I’ve seen before,” she said.

Guzman is constantly inspired by the diversity of the city, which she said is reflected in her wire sculptures.

Customers can request any figure and Guzman brings it to life with her hands.

“They’re all made by hand – sometimes using tools but mainly our hands,” she said.

Creating one of these pieces can take an hour or more.

Guzman said that one of her most challenging pieces to create was a large angel and a scene of a couple window shopping in New York during Christmas.

As a mother to a toddler, she enjoys working from home when the Winter Village is closed. She is starting to see her son take interest in wire sculpting.

“He’s very interested,” she said. “It’s funny because he sees me working all the time and he already wants to touch the wires. He wraps them up.”

Guzman is originally from Bolivia and has lived in America for eight years. She began her business when she arrived in America.

“It’s been a process of adapting, but New York feels like home,” she said.

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Protestors held a brief vigil for Mariee Juarez in front of JPMorgan’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. She died after being released from an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. Photo by Caroline Aguirre

A group of about 30 protesters stood in front of JPMorgan Chase headquarters yesterday in Midtown Manhattan, mourning the death of a Guatemalan toddler that got sick in an immigration detention center. They protested the bank’s role in funding these facilities.

“Standing here as a mother and being in front of a picture of a young girl that just passed away – I feel very affected by this,” said Edith Calderon, of National Domestic Workers Alliance. “You can’t find the words.”

The protesters joined together to speak out against JPMorgan Chase’s involvement in funding detention centers, which they believe is fueling the separation of families. They delivered signed petitions, urging the bank to stop lending money to CoreCivic and Geo Group – two of America’s largest for-profit prison corporations.

A report by the Center for Popular Democracy shows that JPMorgan is the single largest lender of these corporations. They loaned a total of $167.5 million as of March 2018.

The Guatemalan toddler Mariee Juarez and her mother , Yazmin, 20, stayed in a Dilley, Texas detention center run by CoreCivic and funded by JPMorgan Chase. Her mother has filed multiple lawsuits seeking $40 million in damages.

“This is the human face of the crisis that this bank is financing,” said protestor Marilyn Mendoza.

Three months ago the group protested in front of the home of JP Morgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon.

“Now we stand outside his office because one of those children has died,” said Yaritza Mendez.

Ironically, Dimon has spoken out against Trump’s policy of separating children from their families.

A CNBC article states that Dimon referred employees to a statement by Business Roundtable which called separating children from their parents a “cruel” practice that’s “contrary to American values.”

But JP Morgan Chase still funds these prisons.

Ricardo Aca, a DACA recipient, said Dimon is not hearing them.

“We were putting our bodies on the line – organizers and community leaders,” Aca said. “We want to send this message and want him to listen to us.”

JPMorgan Chase had no comment regarding the protest at its headquarters.

Protester Timothy Lunceford said he is looking for other banks that do not support the separation of children.

“Now that I know banks support separation of children, I’m looking,” Lunceford said. “The U.S. government supports this as a punishment, and children shouldn’t be punished.”

Protester and mother Khadija Gurnah said children are placed in unsafe conditions when moved to detention centers.

“I get the privilege of tucking my children into bed every single night,” said Gurnah.

“The 13,000 children being held right now in detention should have that opportunity to be home and safe.”

Ann Toback believes that the Trump administration has supported bigoted policies.  

“As Jews, we are horrified to watch terrible history repeating itself,” Toback said. “The past two years we have witnessed Trump and his administration motivate and encourage bigoted people across the country.”

She believes America is closing its borders to helpless people, and JPMorgan is only forwarding Trump’s agenda.

“There are institutional backbones to these policies of hate,” she said. “The JPMorgan’s of the world – a civilized public face, even as they finance CoreCivic and Geo Groups without a care for the human misery resulting from their actions.”

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Protesters marched from Flatbush to Sunset Park yesterday to denounce gentrification and the rising cost of living in Brooklyn.

“Luxury equals displacement,” the protestors shouted. “Housing is a human right.”

The march was led by Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network (BAN), which demands universal rent stabilization in the city. BAN demands the protection of public housing and believes the city is being remade for the wealthy. Most of the marchers were from a variety of grassroots organizations that fight gentrification. They were also protesting ICE and police brutality.

Monica Underwood, who has lived in Boerum Hill for 35 years, is the steering Committee Chair of Families United for Racial & Economic Equality. She said a new neighborhood proposal would take away walkways and playgrounds for youth. Two large parking lots on her residence would be replaced by buildings that could be 16 stories high and unaffordable.

“I don’t want people to be displaced because the neighborhood is changing,” Underwood said.

Brooklyn is changing. According to a gentrification report by the NYU Furman Center, between 2000 and 2010-2014, Williamsburg and Greenpoint experienced a rent growth of 57.7 percent, Bushwick 44.5 percent and Bedford Stuyvesant 39.9 percent. Meanwhile the black and brown population decreased.

Michael Bailey, of gentrifying Crown Heights, lived in the now gentrified Bedford–Stuyvesant.

Bailey wants the state legislature and state senate to be more active in making sure there are protections for rent stabilized tenants.

He believes that gentrification is altering the core fabric of these neighborhoods. .

“Neighborhoods are losing the flavor they had when I was younger,” he said.  “It was community. It was neighbors looking out for each other, neighbors becoming part of your family.”

As a representative of tenants in housing court and a practitioner of landlord tenant law, Bailey said black and brown women are at a disadvantage.

“I see it wholesale, mainly black and brown women being evicted from their homes,” he said. “When you go outside the (housing) court on 141 Livingston Street, you’re going to see nothing but confusion and people of color. You’ll see about 100 people outside everyday.”

Marcela Mitaynes, a long-time resident of Sunset Park and organizer of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, believes that immigrant communities have specifically been targeted and driven out of their homes.

“The Latino and Asian side are being targeted,” she said. “They have substandard housing conditions and are being overcharged for the units their renting out.”

Neighbors Helping Neighbors helps empower middle and low income residents in Brooklyn.

“I want the tenants to know they are not suffering by themselves,” Mitaynes said. “The harassment is not something they caused. It’s landlord greed that’s pushing this. They need to be educated.”

Mitaynes moved to Sunset Park in 1979. In 2006, her landlord forced half of her neighbors out of the residence. When Mitaynes was subjected to the same fate, she attempted to fight in housing court, but she came to realize the inefficiency of it. Neighbors Helping Neighbors provided her with the support she lacked.

“We will use our voices to tell our stories,” she told the protesters in Spanish through a microphone.

The protesters and grassroots organizations ended their march in Sunset Park.

“Sunset Park no se vende!” they shouted in Spanish.

“Sunset Park is not for sale.”

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