[captioning made possib by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now. >> let's see e what he does with guam. if he doeses something in guam,t will be an event the e likes of which nobody has seen before, what will happen in north korea. amy: as tensions rise between president trump and north korea, we'll go to the small pacific island of guam, home to 163,000 people, and a sprawling complex of u.s. military bases. it's now

-- is it now and the crosshairs of a potential nuclear war? we'll look at "fortress guam: resistance to u.s. military mega-buildup" with lisalinda natividad, president of thee guahan coalition for peace and justice and a member of the guam commission on decolonization. we'll also speak with david vine, author of "base nation: how u.s. military bases abroad harm america and the world." then, "sphere of influence: how american libertarians called the atlas network are remaking latin american politics.s." whilele pololiticians operate within t the confines ofof whaty consider possible, atlas and our global partners think it is more cost-effective to change what is considered politically possible. venezuela as well asas those that ousted the presidident, we will speak to te intercrcept investigative reporr lee fong, whwho just publilishea , major expose on the group. then we talked to a yemeni

student who among thousands, one a visa from the diversity lottery. we'll also talk with a veteran state department official who says taking visas away from lottery winners is "the cruelest possible thing this administration could do." all that and more coming up. welcome to d democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump ramped up his threats of hitting north korea with fire and fury. letter, 62 house democrats called on the secretary of state rex tillerson to de-escalate tensions, calling trump's words the legitimate and reckless. a group of korean american elected officials sent president trump a letter calling for diplomacy and dialogue. among those signing the letter was philadelphia councilperson

helen again who said -- as we observe the anniversary of the atomic bombs that destroyed musthima and nagasaki, we learn the lessons of history which is never again. president donald trump intensifies attacks on mitch mcconnell on thursday, implying the republican leader should step down if he fails to pass trump's legislslative prioritie. this is president trump, speaking to repoporters at his private golf resort in bedminster, new jersey. >> if he does s not get repeal d replace done and taxes done and infrastructure, he does not get them done then you can ask me that question. amy: trump's criticism of senator mcconnell came after congress headed to its summer recess without passing any of president trump's major legislative goals, including a

plan to repeal and replace the affordable care act. trump's -- affordable care act. meanwhile, a new study finds the republican effort to overturn the affordable care act will likely lead to double-digit insurance premium hikes for millions of americans next year. thursday's report by kaiser family foundation also predicts that uncertainty over the fate of the affordable care act will lead insurers to offer fewer products, with many likely to exit the health insurance exchanges altogether. after his efforts to repeal obamacare failed last month, president trump tweeted "let obamacare implode, then deal." in minnesota, democratic congressmember keith ellison on thursday condemned president trump for not speaking out about an attack on a mosque in minnesota. speaking to the ap, congressman says -- "itison suggests that his oath to protect and defend the constitution of the united

states, including the right to equal protection under the law, only extends to people who meet certain racial and religious criteria." ellison's comments came after deputy assistant to president sebastian gorka suggested the minnesota mosque bombing was a "false flag" attack. this was him speaking on msnbc. >> initial reports are false. you have to check them, have to find out who the perpetrators are. we have a series of a legend hate crimes -- alleged hate crimes that actually were propagated by the left so let's wait and see and allow authorities to provide their assessment, and then the white house will make its comments. amy: the jewish newspaper the forward reports gorka has links to a hungarian far-right, nazi-allied group, and supported an anti-semitic and racist paramilitary militia in hungary while he served as a hungarian politician. our top story, president trump thursday ramped up his threats of hitting north korea with fire and fury, saying

if they were to carry out an attack on guam the military would retaliate. this is president trumump speakg toto reporters from insiside his private golflf resort in new jersey. >> as i think the first time they heard it like they heard it, and frankly thehe people who were questioning that statement was it too tough, maybe it was not tough enough. they have been doing this to our country for very long, many years, and it is about time somebody stuck up for this country and the people of other countries. north korea responded, calling trump "a senile man who cannot think rationally." a detailed their threat to guam. after headlines, we will go to guam to speak with a peace activist. in cuba, the u.s. state department says the growth o of

its diplomats and have anna suffered severe hearing lost they believe was caused by a sonic device. the incidents began last fall when workers at the u.s. embassy and have anna began complaining of dust in havana began complaining of headaches and hearing loss. it was concluded the hearing loss was due to a sonic range outside of the house -- outside one of the diplomats was treated for hearing loss. cuban officials deny any involvement and say they are cooperating with u.s. officials to investigate incident. some arere talking about a possible thirdrd country involvement. in russia, a court sentenced investigative journalist alexander sokolov to a three and a half year prison term thursday, after he called for a referendum to make politicians more accccountable. prosecutors

accused the 29-year-old of running an extremist organization aimed at overthrowing elected officiaial. this is alexander sokolov, speaking to reporters from inside a courthouse cage, after his sentencing. the idea of a referendum is considered to be extremism in russia and a great crime has been committed against us, which is hindering a referendum. it is obvivious the people from russia are prohibited am assessing the actions of those in power. the thought of evaluating a president and lawmakers is thought to be extremimism. amy: sokolov's conviction and harsh sentence drew condemnation from several human fights and presess freedom groups, includig repoporters without borders, who called it disgraceful. in arizona, u.s. immigration officials took 16 lgbtq activists into custody thursday, after they crossed into arizona from nogales, mexico seeking political asylum.

the activists, four gay men and 12 transgender women traveled , from central america in an lgbtq migrant caravan aimed at combating transphobia and homophobia in latin america. this is kimberly, a transgender woman from honduras, speaking wednesday at the u.s.-mexico border. have fled from our countries of origin because most do not affect us. they run us from our homes, they take us out of our homes because we are trans. any of us have been abused by gang members, security forces, and even the police have beat us. amy: members of the lgbtq migrant caravan called on supporters to call ice to ask immigration officials to release the activists on humanitarian parole while their claims fofor asylum are processed. sea, the u.n.'s migration agency says scores of migrants are missing and feared

drowned, after a pair of incidents in which human smugglers ordered migrants off their boats and into the roiling ocean off the coast of yemen. on thursday, the international organization for migration said at least 19 migrants were presumed dead after smugglers pushed them into the sea away from the coast in an effort to avoid saudi-led patrols off the coast of yemen. thursday's incident came a day after another smuggler ordered 120 passengers off his boat, many of whom drowned. this is laurent de boeck of the international organization for migration. there were five police today but there are 50 others we still do not know where they are. some are still in ththe sea. we doubt they would be alive. amy: most of the migrants were from somalia and ethiopia, and were seeking to travel through yemen to gulf states. in ethiopia, the charity oxfam warns an intense drought has pushed another 700,000 people to the verge ofof starvation.

oxfam's warning adds to the u.n.'s earlier estimate that at least t 8.5 millionon ethiopiane in need of i immediate fooood a. the u.n. warns that climate chanange has made e droughts ine horn o of africa far more commo, leading to food shtageges like a 2011 famine that killed d many as 260,000 people. in more climate news, the national oceanic and atmospheric noaa confirmed in a new report thursday that 202016 was thehe hottest y yearn record. noaa''s report fouound record heaeat for both land and ocean temperatures; record high sea levels; an above-averarage tropical cyclone season; and arctic sea ice coverage at or near r record lows. noaa alslso measurured record high levels of cacarbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reaching nearly 403 parts per million. meanwhile, in greenland, a massive and unprecedented wildfire continues to burn nearly two weeks after dried peat first caught fire on the island's southwest. scientists

say climate change has led to less surface water in those parts of greenland not covered in ice. in lincoln, nebraska, activists delivered over 460,000 public comments thursday to the state's public service commissioners, urging them to reject a permit for the proposed keystone xl pipeline to cross the state. the pipeline, which was resurrected in march by president trump, has faced years of resistance from native americans, farmers, ranchers and environmentalists. and in new york city's financial district, five activists were arrested thursday as they nonviolently blocked the entrance of the investment giant goldman sachs. the arrests came as about 200 protesters gathered to denounce a conference between goldman sachs and pipeline and fossil fuel corporations. >> i am with new york communities for change in front of goldman sachs' headquarters to send a message they shohould not be funding oil and gas

pipelines and collaborating with the trump administration. it shows native american people under attack by goldman sachs and the trump administration, but trying to build projects like this. and am from putnam valley we just want to show up to tell them that there is cleaner alternatives. there is solar, wind, geothermal . there is all kinds of energy. they should invest in that. >> i am from the caldwell confederate chimes for any advance. there are pipelines underneath us right now, the inbuilt right now. the nature is being harmed by pipelines right now and i am here as proof that native people will always be standing here, whether it is facing colonization through war or throrough pipelines. amy: five people were arrested at the civil nonviolent

disobedience. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today in guam where the front page of the country's pacific daily newspaper reads "14 minutes." that's how long it would take missiles fired from north korea to reach the u.s. territory in the western pacific if there is an escalation of the threat of nuclear war between the u.s. and north korea. in the last hour, president trump tweeted -- was solutions are fully in place, locked and loaded, shshould north koreaea t unwisely. hopefully kim jong on will find another past. -- pass. on thursday, president trump again threatened north korea, saying if it were to carry out an attack on guam, the u.s. would retaliate with military action "the likes of which nonody has seenn before." this is trump sparringng with a reporter w while speaking inside hihis golf r resort in bedminst,

new jejersey. > let's see what he does with guam. if he does something in guam, the likekes of which h hhas nevr seen beforore. >> what do you mean?? >> you will see and he will see. >> is that i dare? >> it is not a dare, it is a statement. amy: on thursday, trump alsoso said that maybe his threats earlier ththis week to attacack north h korea with "fire a and " were not tough enough. this is trump being questioned by a reporter at a news conference at his golf resort. statement o on tuesday was nonsensese, that is the word thy used. do you have any response? > i do not think they may not and it is the first time they herded like they heard it.t. frankly, the people who were questioning that statement, maybe it was not tough enough. amy: trump's threats of nuclear

war jew condemnation from a number of u.s. lawmakers. more than 60 house democrats urged secretary of state rex tillerson to de-escalate tensions, calling trump's words belligerent and reckless. a group of korean-american elected officials sent trump a letter calling for diplomacy and dialog. on thursday, north korea responded to trurump's latest threats, in a statement aired on state media. >> the u.s. commander in chief was at a golf course again and let out a load of nonsense about fire and theory, failing to realize the ongoing g grave situation. we cannot have a sound didialoge wiwith a senilee man who cannot think rationally. amy: north korea also detailed its threat to strike guam, saying it would launch four intermediate range missiles in the e waters o off the u.s. territory. launched bys to be the korean people's army will cross the sky above hiroshima,

frying 3356.7 kilometers before hitting the waters 30 to 40 kilometers away from guam. amy: the pentagon controls about a third of all the land on guam, which is home to 163,000 people, and a sprawling complex of u.s. military bases, including the air force base where many of the united states'-2 bombersrs take off from before flying over the korean peninsula. for decades residents of guam , have resisted the militarization and colonization of their homeland by the united states, which has now put them in the crosshairs of a possible nuclear war betwtween the u.s. d north korea. viamore, we go to guam democracynow video stream to speak with lisalinda natividad, president of the guahan coalitioion for peace and justs, and a membmber of the guam commission on decolonization. she is also a professor at the university of guam. in 20155, she visited north kora as part of an international women's delegation called women

cross dmz. and in chicopee, massachusetts, we're joined by david vine, author of "base nation: how u.s. military bases abroad harm america and the world." he is an associate professor of anthropology at american university. welcome. what is the atmosphere on guam right now? how are people responding to this escalation between president trump and north korea? because ofne hand ,ur hyper militarized existence there is sort of desensitization and buying into in terms of what they are being told about the island being safe , our governor saying there is no imminent thrhreat. there's just an equal amount of people who are growing increasingly angry as to how we are being used as pawns in this

situation. what most people do not understand is that guam durining world wawar ii was an actitive r zonene for three years occupiedy the japanese army. that is something ththat is vevy much a part of our being. the second half of our abouttion is very angry the great ririsk. , you are author "basece nation." -- nation." can youou talk about hw ththe u. . bases on n guam were established? was initially colonized by the spanish empire in the united states acquired the islands and occupy the islands in the spanish-american war of 1898 and oh must immediately began to build up the islands as a military base.

the island was treated as a single military base. the presence was relatively small until world war ii. as lisa linda mentioned, guam was one of the few parts of the united states to suffer japanese occupation for three long and painful years, and the violence of a u.s. attack to evict the japanese, which led to widespread displacement. what we saw after the war was the massive buildup of guam into a major u.s. military force deplployment center in the westn pacific. a base from which the united states could deploy forces from throughout east asia and many in the u.s. military consider guam to be the most important base in the world, certainly one of t te mostst iortantntilitary bases in

theorlrld the mind of u. miliryersonnnn. amy: c you tk aboutow many ses the are inheegion east aaand overl around the world? >>ure. thunited stes today possessesomewhe aroun 800 s. mility bas outde the 50tates anwashingt,.c., and at is a mber thacomes fr a lt the peagon put togeth periodilly. thr totaruns to arod 700 but i have beeable to detail scores obases th are simpl left off, secrete base the tol is somewre around 80bases wodwide in 8 untries, and unpredented collecti of miliry bases o othepeople's soil. it iincrediblymportanto poinout th of cour guam is s. soil, however the u.s.

military and others treated as effectively a foreign country. one major general speaking to reporters said, we can do what we want here, and essentially the military has treated guam and the people of guam that way for decades. guam is a colony. pepeople were not embarrassed in washington and the 50 states, were not embarrassed in past decades to call guam a colony. it is called a territory, but it is a colony. the people effectively have a kind of third class citizenship. they cannot vote for president, they do not have meaningful representation in congress. people in d.c. where i live have a kind of second class citizenship that at least we can vote for president. beeneople of guam have left and maintained inn the

statatus of cocolonial relationp with the resest of the united states, and not t given independence at ththe same time, or incorporated into the united states as a state that would grant them the full democratic rights that other u.s. citizens enjoy. , canoe you talk about hohow widespread the resistance is among people on guam? many are involved in the u.s. military, in the bases that are ththere. the andersen air force base, etc. >> the widespread resistance on the island has been growing exponentially in the past decade. we have a long history of resistance against the military presence on the island. in 2006, the u.s. entered into an accord with the government of japan agreeing to transfer 8000 marines from open our tower i --

.kinawa to our island it led to a groundswell of resistance, largely because our is alreadyuation militarized, one third of our island occupied by dod and they looked to expand by 45%. the expansion continues to today. with the acquisition of a lot of our see space and notches contained to guam but to to be used islands for these live firing range complexes. amy: so right now as your newspaper headlines sayays "14 minutes," how are people responding in the peace community on guam, those who are a part of militaryry bases, and

how many who work at these bases? the economy is so intertwined with the u.s. economy, also feel very critical of the u.s. military presence, and how does it compare to the resistance in japan and okinawa and places like that, or the philippines where people actually threw out the u.s. military bases? >> j japan and okinawa are the gold standard in terms of the distance to u.s. militarism, the frontline of the peace movement largely because of the population basis. the department of defense released was called the draft environmental impact statement of the planned military buildup for the island, and it is an expansion of their footprint. response, the collections of testimonies and what have you from our community, we responded with 10,000 t testimonies in a

population base of 160,000 peoplele. that was unprecedented in u.s. dod history and they actually reported that number and reported that it was unprecedented. ist is very disheartening that regardless of this kind of mobilization which ultimately resulted in our suing the department of defense on their plan to take a sacred village of hours, so as a result of that, delayed the buildup because we were able to win the lawsuit. unfortunately since then they have released new plans and in the last few weeksks have gotten the green light to o clear an additional 1 1000 acres of land for purposes of this military expansion. atrocities, it is one assault after the other. in terms of our ocean space, let a give you an example. in 2014, the mariana islands training and testing range was

out floored, we did resist, and the consequence has been the establishment of training range and notion in the season skies of nearly one million square nautical miles. that is lalarger than the states of washingtoton, california,a, nevada, arizona, and a few others. last month they announced an expansion. i insane magnanimous feature of this expansionism evokes a lot of heavy responses of anger in terms of r resurgence of the knowledge of our colonization, and hasas this has been the prie we are paying because of our colonization by the u.s. government. amy: the difference between the u.s. bases in japan and on guam ,here you are is that guam

whether you likeke it or not, ia part of ththe united statess although you do not get to vote for president. your political representation in washington and what kind of voice you have as a u.s. territory. >> as a u.s. territory, we have one elected delegate locally who is a representative in the u.s. congress in the house of representatives. however, she has very limited participation in terms of the voting process. is a tiebreaker it becomes no and void. -- null and void. it is an illusion of inclusion into the process of democracy. as much as there is that one bang it does not have much in terms of representing us and our interests. amy: you went to north korea, you crossed the demilitarized zone, is that right? can you explain the significance

of that given what you are in the midst of right now? >> it was very significant. the whole process of the women crossing the dmz really was a large statement and was intended to be a large statement to the global community that we need to engage north korea with a different approach. the different approach is exactly what the korean group you were talking about earlier is talking about, deploying the use of diplomacy and discussion to stop the misunderstanding at a global scale. the delegation was comprised of 30 women, two nobel peace prize laureates. it was led by gloria steinem, who you know is legendary. it was a stand we were trying to make in terms of looking at the u.s.' engagement with north as with the whole entire asia-pacific region where the announcement of the strategy to pivot was with the attention -- has caused so much, not only

in terms of money but in terms of lives and resources, and we want to take a stand against that. amy: how are people preparing -- well, on guam for what your newspaper has across the front page, 14 minutes? >> you know, it is a very mixed kind of response to these latest claims because on the one hand we are being told we are safe, we have a maximum amount of military preparation. it is not going to be an issue. anything that comes flying our way will be taken down, but we know the realities of militarism and that the technology has not evolved enough, and more importantly, it creates an example of our colonization and how our native people are caught earlier, you described

in the crossfire's of these geopolitical games. amy: let me go to david. japan said thursday, it is ready to evacuate its citizens in the event of an attack by north korea. achieve cabinet secretary yoshihide suga also said his cocountry supports trump's position. allresidedent trump has said options are on the table and we welcome the stance. it is important the japan-u.s. alliance stresses its power and ability to respond. amy: meanwhile south korea's , joint chiefs of staff spokesman said north korea would face a "firm response" if it launched an attack. this is roh jae-cheon speaking thursday. >> if north korea conducts provocations, it will confront the strong and firm reresponse f our military and the u.s.-south korean alliance.

amy: you heard from people in japan and in south korea. talk about the role of these, of u.s. bases in both of these places and overall, your point, the subtitle of your book, how u.s. military bases abroad harm america and the world. >> sure, i think the words ul and tokyo, seo like the words coming out of washington and north korea are a lot of macho posturing. i think gender is one of the under analyzed dimensions of this as colliding -- escalating and profound moment. of a constellation of u.s. military bases in the pacific region. there are more than 200 bases between south korea and japan alone hosting u.s. forces.

there are yet more in thailand, the philippines, and elsewhere in the region. i think it is worth listeners and others considering how the united states would feel if there was a single chinese or north korean or russian base anywhere near u.s. borders. these u.s. bases are clearly meant to threaten. the claim about u.s. bases overseas for years, and the convenentional wisdom in mainstream foreign policy discourse is these are absolutely necessary to the defense and security of the united states and the world. rarely has a anyone provided evidence to show that these bases are keeping the peace and deterring allies. quite to the contrary, i think this scary moment is an example of how bases can increase military tension. if the united states was faced with a foreign enemy, with a

base anywhere near u.s. borders you would see citizens, members of the government calling for a massive buildup of military force in response. a serious moment of the cold war was the cuban missile crisis when the soviet union install a missile base in cuba, only 90 miles from florida. i think this is sadly a good example of the folly of what is effectively a cold war era strategy to build up mayor terry bases -- military bases and forces around the world, a strategy that has not been questioned since the end of the cold war. these bases have been in place in decades, 70 or more years bases that were built up and occupied during world war ii. haveurse the bases in guam been occupied for more than 100 years and we have not questioned the damage that these bases are

near to people who live the bases, environmental damage, cultural damage, the displacement that is taken place, as well as the damage suffered by the rest of the united states as a result of this massive overspending on bases abroad. this is money running into the tens of billions of dollars we are spending to maintain bases and troops abroad every year. we spend more money on bases and troops abroad than the entire budget of the state department. this is money that could be used to betteter defend the united states in a variety of ways, better used by the military, better used to defend military personnel. it could be better used to improve the security of u.s. citizens, education, health care, housing, a whole range of ways in which we could far better protect the security of the united states and not ramp

up military tensions with other nations. comment, lisaad linda, that it is because of guam and the bomb that people in the u.s., maybe are some -- may be some are just learning there is this u u.s. territory in the pacific c that is so central. yours thoughts about how -- your thoughts about how guam is viewed and how you would like to see your island represent. asi often referred to guam america's best-kept secret. while america's military justification for its massive military presence is all over the world, and david has described, a claims to do so and democracy. whereas on guahan, democracy does not exist.

as a u.s. colony, it does not exist. we have limited representation in u.s. congress. we have a whole host of other sloughs of fedor territorial policies that inhibit our abilility to becomee seself-sufficient. do not have standard u.s.s. programs l le unememoyment insurarae oror tcurere the didibility i insance, and we only g a about/7 of th fuing afafrded t tstates. the is ndemocrcry that exists othese islas and th titive pplee here are kind of cacaughtn ththis reality. just athere is growing sistanceovement t milita presenc theralso is addressgissue of r colozation a politic status iues. y: tha you very most -- thk you thth vermuch for ing wi us.

lisa lda is eaking witus fromuam, the s. occupd guam in 1898. she is a professor at the university of guam, president of of peace. coalition article.ink to her thank you so much to david joining us for massachusetts, a professor at american university in washington, d.c., his book. this is democracy now, democracynow.org. stay with us. [music break]

amy: a musician from guam. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. thousands of yemenis and other nationals from countries covered by trump's travel ban are currently stranded in different parts of the world. as the state department refuses to honor the fact that they want a -- one at a u.s. government lottery. for aousands who applied green card have already sold their homes and cars, left their jobs and even relocated to

places like malaysia and other countries in anticipation of their move to the united states. their eligibility to receive green cards under the program will end only three days after the travel ban is slated to expire on september 22 -- 27th, meaning their applicatioions wil likely not be processed in time. stephen patterson will join us in a moment. taking this away from people who have won it is the cruelest possible thing this administration can do. it makes us look petty and cruel as a society. the international red cross issued a rare statement saying it is extremely alarmed by the recent wave of airstrikes in yemen which have killed dozens of civilians and hit homes in public spaces such as the market. crisis in yemen is deepening with more than 400,000 people reportedly

suffering from cholera, looming famine with the united nations , warning 19 million of yemen's 28 million people are in need of some form of aid. . well, for more, we're joined now by several guests. in chennai, india, we're joined on democraracy now! video skypyy hamed sufyan almaqram, a 29-year-old yemeni phd student in applied linguistics who is at university in tamil nadu, india. he was awarded a diversity visa in 2016 but, due to trump's travel ban, is now stranded in india. and, in washington, d.c. we're joined by his attorney, yolanda rondon of the american-arab anti-discrimination committee, or adc. her group is suing the state department over diversity visa winner denials andndelays. we welcome you both h to democracynow. let's begin with you in india.

how did you apply to be in this lottery, and tell us your reaction when youu wananand what you did d about it. wouldld who looks to enter the land of divinity, i was one of them and i applied to this program. 2016, i was notifified and at that time i was in india doing the first chair of my phd so i had to go back to yemen, to my country in order to get some communications. ,t that time, that situation l l airpts w werlolocked so o

was very difcultlt f me to move t yen. the price icketsts wld uble.. i got ticict, i borrowed an amount of money from friends and went to yemen. was s thinng i w the o oy one who went there i yemen, bu the e tuation gets worse. i triried to get all my communicatio, , birt certificate, maragage certificate. wawas tryi t to geouout fr yemen to indiaia and t sitituaon gets worse althe e airpts nowowre closed w what if wanant go back to dia haha to go toough otherr papa of yemen's self. ---- s sth. there is a problem betenen sou and north y yemen life, i risked m

life in der toetet out from yemeto i iia f for minterrew. in 2016. m month outre seven of muniviverty, , ouof myy classes, a i came he i in dian desk in india -- in india. onmorore nth added to my abnce,e,ow they are eight mont. was iters dege [indiscernib]] enen i g my y inrview apinintment t the 2h o of may i in orr toto bable t t movovei d to be ab to get ch a maive amou of mey. my fher is iyemen d he is

a public servant. almost oneear until isis ment. ried tcall my friendsnd myncle whoas worng in sai arabi to sende money supporin orderero be ablto move one ofofheonditions ich was for enteri kualaumpur s to get $2000 in cash. otheise you re sent ck to ur country fntered militit at the d y -- malaysi at the endf may d i i wa shappy y d i was thkingng ias aboututo get my visa. i d my exanation tre as we as, pparing fory inrview at t time ofy intervie i was appy. of mycolcted all commendaons fromhe early

stages omy lifuntil this time. theyere all colete and enteremy intervi, it was very nice intview a andhe cons was vy kind wh me. she ld me, y have tonswer eseuestionsegarding your perienceor the previous 15 years and rk. i answered and st themack to thembassy e next d. ter waitg there r four week i did nt gett any inrmatioion. then got a cl from iia th i have tcome bacbecause i have arossssxamination. at ttime e i me bacac here in india and entered exam, i was t prepad. , the th o ju, i get msage fm the americanmbassy in alaumpur

at if yodo notave a clos familyelation th an arican you arin eligiblto gethe diversy visa. jus applfrom the beginng. it is a diicult situati. have alady sririfice our -- ourives. we cannot herfor moreime. ,e are n permitt toork not to gback to r country. very dficult. , fferingmaysia a lot. amy: iant toring in yo attorne w is inashingto c., ataff aorney r the ti-arab dcriminatn commite. hammed iselling aainful story.

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immiation and nionality attackecause it arbitra and caiciouso adderms and conditio not proded unde la the on threeequiremes are that you a a natnal of a beneficiar count, you ha the reisite educion tainment level othe alified rk expernce. tadd arnot aowed qualicatio that coness di not authori. frany as wl, whawe are is this iaolicy beg ed to essentiay run outhe time. ey knoindividualhave t compte their visa by septemr 30r they willose it so ty arenforcing banven thou these exutive oers shou not appltohemnd the sueme courhas rud it shld not aly. is is thpurposof the dirsity virogram wn it was acted to law, to diversify d immiation base e muslim b is to bng us

ck into e isolatn te wherwe only alw in the europeananglo-san imgrants. its very dturbing out what is hpening, t only t violatthema but ao there is alausegainst discriminationprohibitg scscrimition basedn natiality th is wh is ocrring he. -hatwhat ki ofeese kindf recour do you he, and plain thlawsuit? >> the rourse ware seeking through damag-- madame suit. asks th court torder th coulate to press thei applations sthat thelass ofersons wch rresent beyond yemeni iraninians, but al nationals ofof the six countries is essentially any person who won the 2017 lottery and has not

received a visa and has been told they need to have a bona fide relationship. this lawsuit seeks for the court to say, you must do your job, consulate. you must process these applications before september 30. do not allow them to wait out the system to de facto or pretext discriminate against these nationals who are otherwise eligible for a visa. to yolanda talking rondon, staff attorney for the adc. is it something like 50,000 people who have come in on the diversity lottery? >> the way the diversity visa lottery works, certain countries are elected and eligible based upon the low immigrant the set entrance level. these are generally countries from africa, the middle east, and south america, and largely

these nationals do not have any other way to enter the country due to economic means that because they do not have family ties. otherwise they would use family immigration system. people apply each year and last year alone there was roughly 150 million people who applied. out of that, the state department selects about 125,000, 150,000 to a random selection process. from there, there are over -- only 50,000 slots allowed to be filled. thousands and thousands of people hope they are selected and they go through all this to get their documents verified. it comes with the requisite medical examination but at the end of the day, only 50,000 are allowed. breake are going to go to and bring in stephen patterson, spent three decades in the state department. [music break]

amy: "what a shame." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are talking about the diversity lottery for visas for people to come into this country, when they win, what

happens when the trump travel ban stands in the way. we are joined by stephen patterson, u.s. immigration attorney. he spent nearly three decades with the state department, serving as a consular officer and manager in postings in asia, the middle east, and europe, and in washington, d.c. he is dealing with a catastrophe, the u.s. backed saudi bombing of yemen. his father stopped being paid nine months ago. he risked his life to get out of yemen come ultimately won this lottery but now waits in india and cannot come into this country. explain the significance and why you have called this one of the cruelest acts a government could engage in. >> what is happening is you have someone who is qualified to receive a visa under the visa lottery.

process thatal allows 50,000 people who do not otherwise have a family or employment-based thai to emigrate to the united states. the visa numbers available in this category expire at the end of every fiscal year so someone wins the lottery and is ununable to receive a visa beforere septembeber 30 of that year, tht opportunity expires and they are back with a s started. the crcruel thing about the tral people who won the visa diversity lottery, right now ththe suprememe court is teg us they y are going too d detere whether the ban as promulgated by the administration is constitutional, but they will not reach this s decision until after september 30. even if they decided that point the travel band should not be applied to the diversity visa lottery winners, the people who

impacted by it will lose that opportunity because they will not be able to get that visa before the end of the fiscal year because they will be stopped until the supreme court rules. this is cruel because people who win the lottery do not get that chance each year thereafter. the odds are really small but someone who wins one year will be able to use a number the next year. effectively, that is their chance and it has been taken away from them from a process -- by a process that may be overturned by the court. i find that to be cruel. amy: what recourse do you think they have, who have risked everything and cannot come in? >> under our current law, he has no recoursee. if someone wins the lottery and is unable to get a visa, that is it. the only thing he can do is apply again next year and see what happened. amy: under president trump's

proposed raise act which would have legal migration, with this lottery be done away with entirely? >> the lottery was set up by congress and congress can decide to take it away. i understand one of the aspects of the proposal from the administration is to half the amount of immigration that can come in each year. diversity has always been controversial right from the beginnnning. in its early days it was reestablished each y year and there were some years it look like it might not be reestablished. there have always been people who felt that the lottery as it was operated, was not the best way to bring people into the united states. we havefive -- amy: five seconds to wrap up. >> it could well be that the

lottery will be removed. amy: stephen patterson, we want to thank you for being with us. goodman

announcer: this is a production of china central television americica. may: whahat does the future of space exploration look like? and will mars one day be able to support human life? well, scientists think so. this week on "full frame," we take a look at how both the public and private sectors are using science and technology to find out if the people of planet earth can someday be part of the red planet. i'm may lee in los angeles. let's take it "full frame."