12/21/17 12/21/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> and washington, d.c., fighting against this tax bill because it would mandate enormous cuts to medicare disability. it would like to prevent me from getting medical equipment i need to stay alive. amy: protests continue on capital hill as congress approves a massive rewrite of the u.s. tax code that could mean the largest transfer of

wealth from the bottom to the top, while ending ending a central pillar of president obama's signature healthcare law. as president trump celebrates his major legislative victory, first congress negotiates a stop-gap spending measure that will not include the dream act. we will speak with erika andiola just out of jail, one of seven undocumented immigrants released after six days. she is on hunger strike after a sit in at the offices of democratic lawmakers. >> we're here at senator schumer's office. we have a simple demand. either he chooses to send the we are us to jail, where not going to get our names and st there as long as it takes, where wean stay ere for days everyver day that and day that passes is a day closer for us getting to immigration. amy: exclusive chill house interview with award-winning mexican journalist emilio

gutierrez who is fighting deportation from a texas jail. he can to the us seeking help after reported on mexican military corruption and they threatened his life. >> it would appear that i would need to enter the united states with bullet holes on the front and back of my body were mutilated, which is what the institutional criminal group, the mexican government, generally says. amy: and underreported by the aclu of texas in the intercept. they are taking everybody. videos show texas troopers rippin apart tas famils ring traic stops >> yesterdayoming in thiss really record depoation mhine of troopers fishing for people on the highways and then turning them into federal immigration officials. amy: all of that and more,

coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the republican-controlled congress has approved a massive rewrite of the u.s. tax code that will overwhelmingly benefit corporations and the wealthiest americans, while ending a central pillar of president obama's signature healthcare law. the tax bill cleared the senate early wednesday, then house lawmakers approved it 224 to 201. this is president trump. pres. trump: these are the people right behind me. they work so long, so hard. it has been an amazing experience, i he to tell you. it hasn't been done and 34 years. but actually, really has not been done because we broke every record. it is the largest -- i was say but the massive -- largest tax cut in the history of our country. and reform, but tax cut. really something special.

amy: president trump reportedly may sign the tax bill at his ritzy private florida resort mar-o-lago. experts estimate trump will personally benefit from a tax cut of up to $15 million a year. democratic lawmakers have slammed the measure, which experts say will benefit big corporationsmultimillionaires, private equity managers, and president trump and his family, while hurting the elderly, low-income families, immigrants, people buying health insurance, and the island of puerto rico. this is senate minority leader chuck schumer of new york. >> now we know they're popping champagne down pennsylvania avenue. there are only two places where america is popping champagne -- the white house and the corporate board rooms, including trump tower. otherwise, americans have a lot to regret. amy: the new tax code will slash

the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. president trump has repeatedly claimed the benefits to corporations will trickle down to workers. but a number of corporate giants, including pfizer and coca-cola, have said they'll give the windfall from the tax cuts to their shareholders, not to their workers. the tax bill will also repeal the individual health insurance mandate, which experts say will cause insurance premiums to skyrocket. the congressional budget office estimates 13 million americans are projected to lose their health insurance under the plan. hundreds of dreamers flooded capitol hill wednesday, many negotiates as stopgap measure that will not include a version of the dream act, which would grant legal status to recipients of the deferred action for childhood arrivals, or daca, program. it appears that congress is moving toward approving a one-month stopgap that will fund

the government into january without resolving key political issues such as immigrati. this comes as seven daca recipient and one ally were released from jail wednesday after six days in jail on hunger strike. the eight were aested friday during nonviolt sit-in protests inside the offices of senator chuck schumer and flora republican congressmember carlos curbelo. the activists were demanding the lawmakers commit to voting "no" on a spending bill this month unless it includes a version of the dream act without concessions for funding for the border wall or enhanced border security. we will speak with erika andiola after headlines, one of those daca recipient on hunger strike just released from jail. the top democrat on the senate intelligence committee mark warner of virginia took to the senate floor wednesday to warn the trump administration against firing special counsel robert mueller, who is leading the investigation into whether the

trump campaign colluded with russia during the 2016 presidential election. >> firing mr. mueller or any other of the top brass involved in this investigation would not only call in to question this administration's commitment to the truth, but also to our most basic concept -- rule of law. it also has the potential to provoke a constitutional crisis. in the united states of america, above theno one is law. not even the president. amy: senator warner's comments come as a number of republicans are criticizing the mueller investigation. senator warner's says he is concerned the trump administration might fire mueller during congress' christmas recess. the white house said wednesday it is noplanning to fire mueller. at the united nations general summer, the vast majority of countries are slated to vote

today at a resolution that opposes president trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital as trump has launched a furious lobbying campaign against the vote, even threatening to cut off u.s. funding to countries that vote against his decision. pres. trump: i like the message yesterday at the united nations. for all of these nations that take our money and thevote against us at the security council or they vote against is potentially at the assembly. they take hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars and then they vote against us. we're watching those votes. let them vote does. we will save a lot. we don't care. amy: president trump sparked international condemnation when he announced earlier this month the u.s. would recognize jerusalem as israel's capital and move the u.s. embassy there. control of jerusalem is one of the most contested issues. palestinians see east jerusalem as the capital of their future state. sustained protests continue in the israel-occupied palestinian territories, despite a brutal

israeli military crackdown. on wednesday, dozens of palestinian protesters were wounded after israeli soldiers opened fire with live ammunition and tear gas against thousands of protesters. this is hamas official ismail radwan. >> we call on our arabic and muslim nations to surround the israeli and american embassies in the arab countries and drive the american and is really ambassador's out of the arab countries. we're continuing our way of resistance using all kind of resistance to break this decision. amy: president trump has reportedly raise the issue of the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis in yemen on a phone call with british prime minister theresa may. the u.s.-backed saudi-led bombing campaign and blockade in yemen has killed more than 10,000 people and sparked a cholera epidemic and near famine. the united nations' special rapporteur for freedom of speech says he's concerned the federal communications commission's decision to repeal landmark net

neutrality laws last week could impact t freedomf information worldwide. this is david kaye. american system somehow restricts the ability of information to get out in the u.s., that will obviously also have an impact on the availability of information to the rest of the world about information in the u.s., perhaps about academic and science -- scientific information, health information. amy: in honduras, the brutal crackdown against protesters supporting the opposition party continues with multiple people killed and dozens more wounded in recent days. amidst the ongoing political crisis. on wednesday, the united states signaled support for the incumbent u.s. backed president juan orlando hernandez, who is declared the winner of the november 26 election late sunday night by the government

controlled election board. the opposition party and the dictatorship, as well as the organization of american dates, have called for new elections amidst reports of widespread fraud and vote rigging. a senior state official says the uss no credible evidence to dispute'hernandezs bigotry. across honduras, protests continue against what many are calling the electoral coup. there are reports the military has assassinated and being protesters, including attacking protesters in the hospital, shooting tear gas into people's homes, including where there are children and pregnant women and launching about a crackdown against afro indigenous protesters. in colombia, the united nations says more than 100 human rights activists and community leaders have been murdered this year. the united nations says most of the activists killed were afro-colombian and indigenous, and that the most dangerous regions are places where the

farc has withdrawn from power, following a peace deal reached last year. community groups say land defenders are especially targeted for assassination. in mexico, journalist gumaro perez aguinaldo has been assassinated in the southern state of veracruz, becoming at least the 12th journalist to be killed in mexico so far this year. he was attending a christmas pageant at his son's school in the city of acayucan when armed men burst into thelassroom and murdered him in front of a room filled with schoolchildren. perez covered police for multiple outlets, including the news site he founded -- la voz del sur, or the voice of the south. he is at least the third journalist murdered in the city of acayucan in recent months. texas,mes as in award-winning mexican journalist is fighting against deportation back to mexico. he is currently in immigration detention saying he fears for his life if he is deported. we will go to an exclusive

jailhouse interview with him later in the broadcast. and the european union is threatening to strip poland of its voting rights in brussels, as the right-wing polish government overhauls the judiciary, despite deep public opposition. polish protesters and the european union say a slew of recent legislation, including two new laws signed by polish president andrzej duda on wednesday, undermine the independence of the courts. this is european union official frans timmermans. >> sadly, our concerns have deepened. within a period of two years, a significant number of laws have been adopted -- 13 in total -- which put at serious risk the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers in poland. amy: the trump administration has approved an export license that will allow ukraine to buy weapons and firearms from u.s. arms manufacturers. the approval represents a

lifting of the obama era de facto restrictions on arms exports to ukraine, although there was never a formal ban. the move comes amid an ongoing conflict between ukraine and russia in which 10,000 people have been killed since 2014. in peru, a political crisis is escalating as the congress is slated to vote today whether to impeach president pedro pablo kuczynski. he faces charges of having attempted to conceal his business ties to the brazilian construction firm odebrecht, which is at the center of a massive corruption scandal that has spread across latin america. back in the united states in virginia, judges have now declared the race for a pivotal virginia house of delegates seat tied only one day after a recount showed democrat shelly simonds won by only one vote.

the judges now say simonds is exactly tied with her challenger, republican incumbent david yancey. in the balance hangs control of the virginia house of delegates. under virginia law, the tie will now be broken by lot -- effectively, though not exactly, a coin flip. olympic gold medalist mckayla maroney has sued usa gymnastics, saying officials paid her to keep silent about sexual abuse by team doctor larry nassar. "the wall street journal" reports usa gymnastics paid maroney $1.25 million to sign a non-disclosure agreement. her lawyer says the gold medalist signed the non-disclosure because she needed the money for lifesaving psychological treatment as a result of the trauma from the sexual abuse by the doctor. sary have accused nas thei with hisr

finger and pretending was part of a medical treatment. vaginas and the swedish parliament is slated to approve legislation today that would change its rape laws in order to place the burden of proof onto the accused attacker, not on the alleged victim. under the new sexual consent legislation, people will have to receive affirmative verbal or physical action demonstrating consent before initiating sexual contact. in explaining the legislation, swedish prime minister stefan said -- "it should be obvious. sex should be voluntary. if it is not voluntary, then it is illegal." "if you are unsure, then refrain!" and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. congress has approved a massive re-write of the u.s. tax code that will overwhelmingly benefit corporations and the wealthiest americans, while ending a central pillar of president

obama's signature healthcare law. the tax bill cleared the senate early wednesday, then house lawmakers approved it 224 to 201, clearing the way for president trump to sign it into law. house speaker paul ryan praised trump for "exquisite presidential leadership." this is trump celebrating his first major legislative victory. pres. trump: we broke every record. i always largest -- say the most massive -- but it is the largest tax cut in the history of our country and reform. but tax cut. really something speci. records all er the place. that will continue and then some because of what we did. $3.2 trillion in tax cuts for american families, including doubling the standard eduction and doubling the child tax credit. the typical family of four earning $75,000 will see an

income tax cut of more than $2000. they will have $2000. iny opinion, going to be less than the average. you will have a lot more than that. we are making america great again. nermeen: but the republican's massive tax overhaul faces overwhelming public opposition. an analysis by the tax policy institute found that by 2027, the tax bill would give the wealthiest 1% of americans 83% of the tax cut. experts estimate trump will personally benefit from a tax cut of up to $15 million a year. senate minority leader chuck schumer denounced the measure wednesday. >> now we know they're popping champagne down pennsylvania avenue. whereare only two places america is popping champagne. the white house and the corporate boardrooms am including trump tower.

otherwise, americans have a lot to regret. amy: president trump reportedly may sign the tax bill at his private floor to -- private resort mar-a-lago. it is estimated he will get up to $15 million in the new tax bill. meanwhile, hundreds of dreamers flooded capitol hill wednesday as congress is to go shading a stopgap spending measure that will not include the dream act, which would grant legal status to recipients of the deferred action for childhood arrivals program were daca. this comes as seven young daca and one ally were released wednesday after six days in jail on hunger strike. the eight were arrested friday during nonviolent sit in protest inside the offices of new york senator chuck schumer and florida republican congressmember carlos curbelo. they were demanding the lawmakers commit to voting "no" on a spending bill this month unless it includes a version of the dream act without

concessions for funding for the border wall or enhanced border security president trump rescinded daca ineptember, leang dreamers at risk of losing work permits and deportation protections they received under the program. nearly 700,000 dreamers will eventually be in danger of being deported as their two-year permits expire. beginning early next year, 1000 young people will lose their protection from deportation each day. for more, we go to washington d c, where we are joined by erika andiola, one of the 8 activists just released from jail late wednesday after being arrested friday. andiola is a nationally known immigrant activist who served as a spokesperson for bernie sanders campaign and helped him craft immigration policy. she is the political director for our revolution. she is a daca recipient -- or dreamer -- who grew up in arizona. in 2013, her house was raided and immigration agents picked up her mother and brother.

welcome to democracy now! you have just come off of a hunger strike. you have just been released from jail. can you talk about what you were protesting on friday at what happened, and what you are demanding now? >> yes, of course. good morning, amy. time is now. we have been waiting for too long to pass the dream act. i started organizing in 2000 and for the dream act. been 17l -- it has years and we still have not been able to have a piece of legislation that has been supported by more than that in the percent of americans. this is a bipartisan bill. there's no question as to why it has not passed. for me, my only answer is that it has been played as a political football i both parties will suffer us, it was ant to go to sit it or schumer's office and demand for

them to use his power as the leader of the minority in the senate and the make sure that everybody who he actually is "no" on the spending bill. we went to jail for six days. it was definitely not a place where i wanted to be. we risked all of this because we had the courage to do so. unfortunately, -- fortunately, i just came out of jail last night and heard that senator schumer did not have the courage to meet our demand. we are pushing and there is still time for them to do this. ,ermeen: do you have any idea because of course you protested there at chuck schumer's office, why the democrats did not in the and vote "no" despite initially alleging or giving the impression they would? me, i know that know,ats actually, you

say they support the dream act. every time they go and try to get reelected in their elections, they always use the dream act as a way to get latino voters and other folks to support it. when it comes to actually trying to pass it, there is no will. it has been years. gethsemane democrats didn't vote for the bill in 2010 or voted "no"? five democrats. the party could do this if they wanted to. they don't have a majority right now. but they do have the leverage of how many votes they need to pass a spending bill. we're asking senator schumer to step up and do that, to stop playing with our lives, and the fact that dreamers are already getting deported. iceoon as we got into jail, was called on me. nothing happened to me because there's so much pressure from the outside, but the fact that this will happen to dreamers if

we don't has the dream act and it is on schumer and republicans to make sure that there is a fix now and that we are not waiting for more people to get deported and wait until 2018 does that work because elections are going to start happening -- does not work because elections are going to start happening. amy: a want to turn to senator dick durbin being asked about the democrats' position on daca. durbin was interviewed earlier this week by cbs host john dickerson on "face the nation." >> a number of your democratic supporters, colleagues, would like you, as a democrat, to basically make finding of the government to keep the government running, would like you do make it contingent on doing something about daca. will you? >> i can to you this, we don't want to see the government shutdown we want to move forward and a bipartisan fashion to solve our problems. we believe that daca is central. the president is the one who

made this issue. september 5, he eliminated the daca program and put in doub the future of over 780,000 people in america. we want to get this done and a cop list. amy: that was earlier this week. reporting just as we went to air that house republicans early thursday unveiled a new strip down spending bill to prevent a government shutdown this weekend and allow quarreling lawmakers to punt most of their unfinished business into the new year. it was dave off a government shutdown until january 19 to allow the congress members to go home for the holidays. meanwhile, what is the number, something like 122 young people, daca recipient, every day lose their status and suffer job loss. erika andiola, what now? as congress is in the last throes of this and you're pushing for them to include the tree and act in the spending

, will you? the dream act you want to see past. clarify, we don't want a government shutdown. that is not what we're working for or towards. nobody wants to see the government shutdown. what we want to see is the dream act being included in this real. the reason for that is we are seeing passing the dream act and that bill makes the likelihood -- canassing a lot more actually pass. not only that, we wanted to be clean, meaning we cannot have something in there that is going to push our families and our parents and communities deeper into the shadows, like more enforcement, more funding for le fundingss now, the americans support the dream act.

there is no reason to have something else. this is not a game. we have been waiting for so long. we were fighting for so long and the is the time for both parties to do with a have been saying for so many years that they support this bill, support as dreamers. time to do something right. thatamcoat you said earlier ice called on you. could you explain? how many people are at risk of that happening? >> the fact is, when you are undocumented, you can get out of your house, maybe drive, do anything that any other american thed do and get stopped by police. you end up in their custody. what happens many times, the police call ice on you. know you areeven undocumented. but you are a brown person or person of color.

on you.l call ice i did not get my information. the next thing you know, there was already a call placed from police to ice asking them about me and asking if i was undocumented. something that happens every single day. this is something that is already happening with dreamers and everybody else in our communities. what we're telling chuck schumer -- we are telling him, do you want that to be your future? do you want people like myself to continue to go through that? do you want people who are not even a public figure, who are not activists, to go through this without anybody seeing it? that is going to be the reality of we do not have the dream act. amy: before we go to an exclusive jailhouse interview with a mexican journalist to is fighting deportation back to you are a major spokesperson for the bernie sanders campaign. massive historic legislation was passed yesterday. as you were in jail protesting

around the issue of the dream act. and that is the tax bill, which will be the largest transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top in u.s. history. i am wondering your thoughts on this, also, president trump -- i guess you could say revealing -- with taking what the original mandate on health care, on the signature obamacare, that he has killed obamacare within the tax bill. >> yeah, i mean, it was something that i thought was probably going to happen. it is upsetting to come out of jail and see it did happen. but what gives me hope is before a win inside of the jail, a couple of days before that, i saw that alabama had a huge. also that next year, it is election time. i see people are awake host of people are ready to go out to vote most of i hope that is the

case in 2018 and that we can really turn this around. this is really about stop complaining, even myself, we need to stop complaining and actually take to the streets, go vote, and make sure that we are having people running for office all over the nation, just like bernie sanders told us to do. i can't run for office or vote, but, look, i decided to go to jail to fight for what i believe in. i think this is the moment that everybody should be doing everything you can to turn this around because this is not going to last forever. we can't let it last forever. it is in our hands. nermeen: erika andiola, you're going to be speaking at a press conference later this morning. can you talk about that? what is your message to democrats? >> our message is what i have been saying previously, that we are having dreamers deported now. we're having dreamers losing daca. knownnot -- we don't even

how else to ask democrats not just to speak about us until our stories, but to act and do what needs to be done. use their leverage. we don't want a government shutdown. we want for the dream act to be in the spending bill. and they have the power to do it. that the leverage. this is the time for them to show they care about opportunities. amy: erika andiola, they can for being with us, nationally known immigrant activist who served as a spokesperson for bernie sanders and helped him craft immigration policy. she was released wednesday after being arrested last week with seven other daca recipient's peacefully protesting at the offices of congressmen chuck schumer. we're going to continue to cover this story day by day. when we come back, our exclusive jailhouse interview with a mexican journalist fearful if he is deported, he will die. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "kapital" by the souljazz orchestra. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we turn now to the danger facing journalists in mexico and how the u.s. has responded to one of them. this week, mexican journalist gumaro perez aguinaldo was been -- was assassinated in the southern state of veracruz, becoming at least the 12th journalist to be killed in mexico so far this year. he was attending a christmas pageant at his son's school in the city of acayucan, when armed men burst into the classroom and murdered him in front of a room filled with schoolchildren. perez covered police for multiple outlets, including the news site he founded -- la voz del sur, or the voice of the south. he is at least the third journalist murdered in the city of acayucan in recent months. well in a broadcast exclusive, we spoke by phone on tuesday the national and the killing puts mexico alongside syria as the most murders country for journalists according to our set. amy: well in a broadcast

exclusive today, we conducted by and jailhouse interview with another mexican journalist, emilio gutierrez soto, who is being held in a u.s. detention center in el paso, texas. gutierrez first sought asylum in the united states in 2008 after receiving death threats for reporting on alleged corruption in the mexican military. he was attained and eventually released while his asylum appeal was pending. last week it was denied. he now faces deportation back to mexico, one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. democracy now! one gonzalez and i had a chance to speak with gutierrez directly in detention where he is in jail in el paso. >> look, juan, i wrote some

articles where i described how the military acting in the andhwest of chihuahua, particularly population that is for the border with the state of new mexico. this caused discussed at the ministry of defense, which sent the head of the fifth military generalchihuahua, vigor, to threaten me, saying i had already written three articles noting corruption and assault against the population by members of the military. and he sentenced me. he said, you have written three articles and there's not going to be a fourth one. of course, there was a fourth article.

and i felt a complaint with the human rights commission and also with the office of the attorney general for the state. time, after for a those threats, they sought some sort of reconciliation with me, but the terms never came about. affairs, i wasf somewhat fearful in the face of a serious warning by a general, a high-level commander, from the mexican army. back in 2008, the army forcibly entered my home, knocking down the main door, threatening us with their firearms. they threw me to the floor. they said they were searching for weapons and drugs. they destroyed our home post of of course, they found nothing. nothing at all. again, great fear has

had to stay upi all night while my son was sleeping. i had to look out the window to see who might be coming by. and my sleep -- well, i would catch up on my sleep at the office, while at the same time doing my work as a journalist. night, later, fifth, at -- a month later may fit at night, we took more precautions. on june 16, 2008, we decided to enter the united states seeking political asylum first we said the military were keeping close surveillance over me and that a that aof mine told me relative of hers in the repeat

response you leaked group -- elite group told my friend there was a plan to kill me. obviously, had to quickly take what i need a from my home. i went to a friend of a home where my son was. there was a religious service going on. saturday, a ranch on july 14. on the 16th, we opted to cross at athe united states border post into the state of new mexico, where we placed ourselves at the disposal of u.s. immigration officials seeking political asylum. was it your intention to move to the united states or did you just feel that you had you as a result of the threats to your life? >> no, we did this with the

intention of moving permanently because when there is a threat by the military, it is very serious. alreadyere were antecedents in terms of how the military were acting then. and in some cases, people would again.ear amy: can you talk about what deportation would mean? first, describe where you are in the el paso jail. and what would it mean if you were sent back to mexico? if we are deported, that obviously implies death. why? e, under the department of homeland security of the united states, by law, must give a report to the immigration authorities in

mexico and the consulate. and immigration officials in .exico have no credibility it is impossible to trust in them. to the contrary, many of those officials, many personnel at the consulate or immigration service , are caught up with organized crime. in organized crime is precisely the mexican government. did not givement its consent for criminal groups to work with impunity, certainly, the conditions would be different. but the government of mexico facilitates the work of criminal groups who operate with total impunity. the government of mexico, we all know, is the most corrupt government in the hemisphere. and, obviously, enjoys no credibility. now, the conditions we find ourselves at this ice jail in el

paso are truly denigrating. my son and myself have seen most of the immigrants to taint here are from central and south america, the majority. we are not so many mexicans here at this jail. poverty, the extreme well, of course, that is experienced in mexico but even more so in central and south america, for many of the persons detained it seems the conditions are adequate, are pleasant. but they are denigrating. the food is poor nutritionally. it is not pleasant at all to eat the food here. not at all. plus, the russians, the portions are too small. emilio, the immigration

authorities here in the united states are saying that you have no proof, no documentary proof of your claims or that no backsses have appeared to up your claims. how do you respond to that? >> i believe that the immigration authorities are in institution based on lies. it would appear that i would need to enter the united states with bullet holes on the front and back of my body or mutilated -- which is what the institutional criminal group, the mexican government, generally says. amy: mexican journalist emilio gutierrez soto speaking in an exclusive jailhouse rock cast interview from a u.s. detention center in el paso, where he is fighting his deportation to mexico. one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

amy: he first sought asylum in the united states in 2008 after receiving death threats for reporting on alleged corruption in the mexican military. he was detained last week after his asylum appeal was denied. he lived free in the u.s. for nearly a decade. last week that robert administration denied his asylum appeal. for more, we're joined in el paso, texas, by video stream by .is lawyer eduardo beckett eduardo beckett, could you tell us with the situation is now with your client emilio gutierrez? >> yes, good morning. . edrdo beckettmy client's asylums denied. she filed an appeal with th board of immigration appeals. the appeal was dismissed on a technicality. at that moment, he could be deported anytime so we filed a stay removal, both with original immigration judge with a motion

to reopen, a stay with ice, and both of them were denied by the judge and denied by ice, so he filed an emergency stay with the motion to reopen. the state removal by the board of immigration appeals was granted and the motion to rios -- reopen is pending. what we're doing right now, we're trying to get release on humanitarian parole. as my client has told you, right now ice is operating basically on steroids and i would say that my client is a typical example of someone who should have been granted asylum post up he is a journalist. he has openly criticized the mexican government for years and years nonstop. his life is in great danger upon deportation. he has no criminal history. isentered legally, yet ice treating him as a criminal. this is the criminalization of

asylum seekers. that is the situation right now. amy: eduardo beckett, explain the ground to was denied his claim for political desk's request for political asylum here. we just reported in our headlines today and in the segment about yet another mexican journalist who was gunned down in mexico. as you heard in his interview, emilio gutierrez fears if he is deported that that is what will happen to him, he will be assassinated. he is being detained with his son. can you talk about the denial under the trump administration and what is his recourse now? >> of course. is basically like a 30 page document where the judge makes an analysis of the conditions in mexico. as you stated, the eyewitnesses from mexico did not show up to the court, did not want to cooperate.

because they100% live in mexico, so i believe that the witnesses were scared to come forward or to send an affidavit. nevertheless, my client submitted many, many expert witness documents corroborating evidence, overwhelming evidence, of the conditions of mexico, like you said, 12 journalists have been executed. a couple of days ago, one in front of his children at a christmas party. when i told my client what happened, he was crying. he was shaking and saying he felt bad that he knows it is going to happen to him. got it case, the judge wrong. so his recourse is to file a motion to reopen the case and we are going to hopefully get to redo his whole case again. i think the judge got it wrong. the message the judge is sending is basically saying, we don't

want to protect journalists and we don't think that you corroborated your asylum claim. at the u.s. supreme court only requires a 10% chance that upon deportation to mexico, you will be tortured or executed or persecuted. the real idea act of 2005 does require corroborating evidence it is readily available and within reason. in this case, to force a witness to come forward at the risk that witnessed by the executed is unreasonable. those are the types of things we're going to be asking for them to examine and overrule the judge and hopefully give us a new -- the opportunity to retry his asylum claim. amy: on the role of the local congress member? has he been visited by anyone locally in el paso? >> we are doing a campaign to shed light under the trump administration, as you mention. we feel the erosion of due

process and exaggerated rates. we're acting -- asking our local congressman, clergy, asking the community to support my client and to ask for his release. i did have a conversation with my congressman and washington, d.c., yesterday. his staff. amy: and who is the? overwork.sman beto we had a meeting with him on the phone. i do not just big to him directly, but through his staff. we asked him to support us and to put pressure on ice to get my client released. like i said, no criminal history. he has always complied with the law. he is beingat detained like a criminal. this is a guy that promote democracy, a guy we want in the

united states. so we're reaching out not only to him, but two other senators and congressmen and anyone who wants to help. journalists around the world have called us. so we have a lot of people that are supporting us. that is why we're here today. amy: eduardo beckett, thank you for being with us, lawyer for the detained journalists emilio inierrez who is detained immigration jail in el paso, texas. he applied for political asylum. he was just denied by the trump administration. he is appealing that decision. he is in jail with his son. we will continue to follow this story. if you want to hear the whole interview emilio gutierrez with that i didith juan gonzalez, you can go to democracynow.org. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "all american made" by margo price. nermeen: we end the show in texas were shocking investigation has revealed how state troopers are essentially acting as deportation officers.

publicoring through records of traffic stops by the texas highway patrol, the aclu of texas has uncovered what amounts to a deportation machine operated by the state's department of public sety, or dps. stattrooperstop drivs fo nor trafc infracons. and they arunable t oduce a drer's licens they e taken to custo and rned over border trol. e interct, worki with th ac of texa obtainesevera dpdashcavideos thashow migrantseing dained for trivial affic viations a then card away bthe bord paol. this is clip froa video proded by thintercepof dashm video a traff stop, d feares debb nathan, vestigate report for the aclu otexas.

>>henhe dashcam srted ming on, wothis is rlly a record odeportatn macne, a state trpers fisng for people othe highway and tn tuing themnto fedel imgrationfficials. amy: for more, we're joined by debbie nathan. her report for the intercept is headlined "they're taking everybody: videos show texas troopers ripping apart immigrant families during traffic stops." welcome to democracy now! yorklad you're in new today to explain what is happening in texas and what you live. right where you >> i live in brownsville, texas, which is right on the border at the easternmost part of the border. 1200 mile border that goes all the way to el paso. for the past three years, the state of texas has been funding to the tune of like, right now, $800 million a year, to have a

lot of state troopers down on the border. they are brought in on tours. they are empowered to stop people on the roads, as they traditionally have, and during traffic enforcement. in the course of stopping people on the border for things like broken taillights or failing to signal when they do a lane change, they ask for the driver's licenses. in texas and many other states, for the past twyears, it s be imposble for uncument people to gedrivers censes. theyave to dve. there really no publ tranortationnd peoe have go to wk. they drivand theyon' have licens. itecomes st of le the posite o a sr on you slee, like t to ve sothing. as soons theyay they n't have a dver'license,t trgers a cl from the troer tohe borr patrol. the boer patro -- there e thsands of them on t texas bord, so the aresually jus

a feminutes ay and ty arved quicy. amy: a they inrrogatin them troers are t pposed tdo that, b they start e interration. the bord patrol finishes up. they he the lel right do at one a aivals ofhe inrrogatio oftentart wn thtroopersncounterhe peon. i ve seen there is e peace the iercept were a m tries texerciseis fih amendmt right t to say wh he doe't ve a drir's licee. he ivery mucverbally abud. in a silar manr to t sand blandncounter thesre the se agents but was my nse fr looking at a l of these deos , thesedhcam video i g from thohopers, at, even that bavior isupposed be ally unaeptable d they fired the agent who did it to sandra bland, it is allowed on the border with immigrants. nermeen: presumably, state police and troopers in general

stuff people and asked for driver's licenses for minor traffic violations in the past. when did you know about when they started reporting these violations when people weren't able to produce a driver's license, a document of people weren't able to produce a driver's license and a state trooper started communicating with border patrol? >> it is my impression from looking at data -- and only have data that goes back about two years -- and from hearing anecdotes from people in the community. i have been down there one year. people talk about having had this happen in the last few years, but it was touch and go. many times when i speak with people that say "i used to get stopped" and it would ask me find my drivers license and i didn't, and then we just let me go." that seems to be honest with the custom was until about a year ago. now a year ago, just a couple of days before the presidential election, dps put out a memo to all of its staff saying you have an obligation to call the border

patrol whenou suspe that someone undocumted. u have a obligion. i actual heard fm some o you ke a wstleblowern the departme of publ safety at th had not bee theustom for e obligaon pri to t lett. now it ses like ty have to do . we:ebbie naan, introduc you as e instigativjournali for th aclu, ich isery intesting. kw that mel for micgan with the aclu an investigive repter who inveigated t poisoningf an americanity, flintichigan. explain this mod. you e an iestigati report with e aclu. >> i am invesgative porter. i haveany year o vestigate repoing in moreraditionalontext wh inpendenmedia. whkurt and i he done his workith commity ornizationto really devel ouips, to devel informaon

at we can out andocument. and then publish thain inpenden soues. i am not part communitions. i'm not a resrcher investator, neher ise. we a investitive urnali's. nermeen:ne thayou instigat wasuth ramiz whwas subjecd to a tffic op becau of theint on e wh is oered tru were appantly tooark. she was rned oveto borde patr, and u found hein juez, meco. th clip isrom annterview yohad with h, as youhowe hethe dashcavideo ofer affic st. >> i wou simply scribeas the rst mont of myife. to handcfed. >>o be hanuffed, tbe emrrassed,o be