Washington Post: "Cuba and U.S. quietly restore full diplomatic ties after 5 decades"

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Yesterday marked the official restoration of diplomatic ties, after they were severed fifty-four years ago, between Cold War-foes Cuba and the United States. The historic Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C. (which is quite beautiful) held a small ceremony led by Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez to commemorate the event a few hours after the US State Department added Cuba’s flag to the line of flags for other US diplomatic partners.

The restoration of full diplomatic relations comes after two years of intense, and at times, secret negotiations that involved spies, Pope Francis, and yes, artificial insemination. In a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Rodríguez, Secretary of State John Kerry called it an "historic day; a day for removing barriers." Mr. Rodríguez, in his meetings with Mr. Kerry yesterday, "emphasized that the totally lifting of the blockade, the return of the illegally occupied territory of Guantanamo, as well as the full respect for the Cuban sovereignty and the compensation to our people for human and economic damages are crucial to be able to move towards the normalization of relations."

While some have criticized President Obama's actions regarding Cuba including Marco Rubio who said he would rollback all actions taken by the Obama administration if he were elected president, many others celebrated the restoration of diplomatic ties, the lifting of some travel restrictions and limits on remittances to Cuba, and the removal of Cuba from Washington’s list of state sponsors of terrorism earlier this year. Nonetheless there remain many issues for the two countries to resolve.

The issues, as Mr. Rodríguez stated, include disputes over Guantánamo Bay, the US naval facility used to detain terror suspects, and the ending of the trade embargo, which devastated the Cuban economy. While President Obama supports the lifting of the embargo and closing of the detention center in Guantánamo, both of these require action by the Republican-controlled Congress. As the Senate is expected to oppose the confirmation of any US ambassador to Cuba, President Obama will likely delay the nomination.

Although the US Embassy in Havana is open now, Secretary John Kerry will travel in August to the island and hold an official ceremony. As in Washington D.C. yesterday, there will presumably be a few shouts of “Viva Cuba” and “Viva Fidel.”

The Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon. Looks nice, right?

The Blue Lagoon. Looks nice, right?

The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa in a lava field in Grindavík in southwestern Iceland. Originating at 2,000 meters below the surface where freshwater and seawater combine at extreme temperatures, the geothermal water is then "harnessed via drilling holes at a nearby geothermal power plant, Svartsengi, to create electricity and hot water for nearby communities." The geothermal water is composed of three active ingredients—silica, algae, and minerals—and the blue color comes from the way the silica reflects sunlight (algae in the summer may also produce a hint of green), but if the water is poured into a transparent cup, it will have a milky white color! The water is supposed to be great for your skin, but I wouldn't drink it.

Report: Immigrants Less Likely to Commit Serious Crimes Than the Native-Born

With the recent tragic killing of Californian woman Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco allegedly by an undocumented immigrant with felony convictions who had been deported to Mexico five times, the issue of immigration and crime is being debated on the national level and, in particular, among presidential candidates.

While some are using the tragic death in San Francisco to prove a link between crime and immigrants, according to a new report by the Immigration Policy Center, a non-partisan organization whose mission is to provide research and rational analysis on immigration, immigrants (whether documented or undocumented) are less likely to commit serious crimes or be incarcerated than the native-born and are also less likely to engage in criminal behaviors; moreover; higher rates of immigration are associated with lower rates of violent and property crime.

The report uses a variety of studies and methodologies to provide a comprehensive look at the relationship between immigration and crime going back over a century. Data, for example, from the 2010 American Community Survey conducted by the authors of the report show roughly 1.6 percent of immigrant males age eighteen to thirty-nine are incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of the native-born. "This disparity in incarceration rates has existed for decades, as evidenced by data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000 decennial censuses," the authors state. The report also shows that even with dramatic increases in immigration, there is no corresponding increase in violent crime—in fact, during 1990 to 2013 when the foreign-born population grew over five percent and undocumented immigrants tripled from 3.5 million to 11.2 million, violent crime declined forty-eight percent and property crime fell forty-one percent. This is true even in cities with traditionally large immigrant populations such as Miami, Chicago, San Antonio, and San Diego.

While the report notes that immigrants as a group "tend to be highly motivated, goal-driven individuals who have little to gain by running afoul of the law," the authors state that unfortunately "immigration policy is frequently shaped more by fear and stereotype than by empirical evidence."

Politicians are already discussing changes to immigration policies as a result of the shooting death in San Francisco, but Christina Bejarano, professor of political science at the University of Kansas, cautioned in an interview to the Christian Science Monitor:  “[I]t is not fair to rush to extreme action, since that can endanger people, as well as foster more racist and xenophobic commentary toward immigrants without actually thinking through how to best solve our immigration problems.”

Pumpkin

Pumpkin a.k.a. Lumpy the Mutt

Pumpkin a.k.a. Lumpy the Mutt

Our newest addition to our staff is a quarter-Chihuahua, eighth-Chow Chow, eight-Japanese Chin, and half a mystery. Her name is Pumpkin and she is a surprisingly fast typist even though she has no opposable thumbs. We put her to work right away. Also: she has a super cute Instagram with over one thousand followers.

Why I’m Pro Pro Bono and You Should Be Too

Pro bono refers to work for the public good and in service to low-income clients. As legal professionals, our law licenses symbolize the economic monopoly we have over the provision of legal services. With that monopoly comes an obligation to ensure that those legal services are available to all who need them, and not just the select few that can afford to pay for them. There are few fields where this obligation is more important than in immigration law. Unlike criminal law, where a defendant has a constitutional right to be provided an attorney in the event that they cannot afford one, in immigration law–and most other areas of civil law–there is no right to free counsel. Over the last decade, there has been an increasing recognition of the need for a “civil Gideon” right (Gideon refers to the seminal Supreme Court case, Gideon v. Wainwright, that established the right to counsel in criminal proceedings)–the right to counsel for the poor in civil matters, including housing, family, and immigration law, among other areas of law.

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The Guardian: "Donald Trump backlash: 'I love Mexico' but promises border wall if elected"

After Donald Trump called Mexican immigrants "rapists" and drug dealers and promised to build a wall on the US/Mexico border during his speech announcing his presidential run, the backlash continues. "The US has become a dumping ground for everybody else's problems," he said in the speech. "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best...they're sending people that have lots of problems...They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

Despite Trump later saying, "I love Mexico," in a statement issued yesterday he stood by his original comments and added that “tremendous infectious disease is pouring across the border.”

In response to his remarks, numerous companies have cut business ties with Trump: Macy's decided to stop carrying his men's line of clothing and merchandise (some of which are made in Mexico); Univision, the nation's largest Spanish-language TV network, announced they were dropping plans to broadcast the Miss Universe Pageant, which Trump co-owns, while the scheduled co-hosts and performers also pulled out; NBCUniversal ended its business relationship with Trump and will not air the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants; Televisa, the world’s largest Spanish-language media company, severed commercial ties with Miss Universe and all other Trump-related companies; Ora TV, a production company co-founded by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and TV personality Larry King, cancelled a program it was working on with Trump's companies; and Serta mattresses announced they are cancelling their business relationship (a line of mattresses) with Trump.

In addition, PGA of America said they will not be holding this year’s Grand Slam of Golf on Trump's Los Angeles golf course, ESPN has moved their ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic from Trump National Golf Club, NASCAR is severing business ties and will not host their season-ending awards ceremony at the Trump National Doral Miami, and the City of New York is reviewing its business relationships with Trump-operated venues including Trump's golf course in the Bronx, home to one of the nation’s largest Hispanic communities.

Trump's fellow Republicans running for president have also (mostly) condemned his remarks, and the response in the Latino community has been swift and strong. Lisa Navarrete, a spokeswoman for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights and advocacy group, told the Guardian that Trump’s claims were "absurd" and said: “I’m hoping that the saner, more rational people in the Republican party can put a stop to this kind of thing, and say: ‘No, we’re going to be constructive, we’re not going to needlessly and consciously alienate the fastest-growing group of voters in this country.’” What do Mexicans think of his comments? Well, Donald Trump piñatas are very popular right now.

Full Commitment

“As we celebrate Independence Day, we welcome over 4,000 new Americans who will be able to enjoy all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship…From Los Angeles to New York, Miami to Seattle, Indianapolis to Los Alamos, these individuals are showing their full commitment to the freedoms, values and ideals that have inspired Americans since the Declaration of Independence in 1776.”

- León Rodríguez
  Director of US Citizenship & Immigration Services