06/27/18 06/27/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is dedemocracy now! >> the fact that today's supreme court ruling is coming outut a tremendodous success, tremendous victory for the american people, and for our cononstitution. thisis is a great victory for or constitution. amy: in a major victory for president trump, the supreme court has upheld his so-called muslim travel ban. but hours later, federal judge

ruimmigrion officials must stop separating immigrant children from their parents at the border and must reunite all parents and children within 30 days. we will get the latest. at first, 28-year-old democratic socialist alexandria ocasio-cortez pulls off the biggest upset of the year by defeating new york democratic congress member, 10 term, joe crowley in tuesday's primary here in new york. >> belongs to every single grassroots organizer, every working parent, every mom, every member of the lgbtq community, everything a person is responsible for this. amy: then we go to mexico where left-leaning presidential candidate manuel lopez obrador leading in the pos aheaof sunday's election. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

in a series of extraordinary legal decisions tuesday, the supreme court has upheld president trump's so-called muslim travel ban, while a federal judgdge in california hs ruled immigration offificials mt stop separating immigrant children from their parents at the border must reunite all parents and children within 30 days. on tuesday, the supreme court ruled 5-4 to uphold trump's travel ban, which prohibits people from entering the united states from five majority-muslim countries -- iran, libya, yemen, syria, and somalia -- as well as people from koreh and some government officials from venezuela. in a scathing dissent, justice sonia sotomayor condemned the ban as harrowing and said it was "motivated by hostility and animus toward the muslim faith." sotomayor also said the decision to uphold the ban involved "ignoring the facts, misconstruing our legal precedent and turning a blind eye to the pain and suffering

the proclamation inflicts upon countless families and individuals, many of whom are united states citizens." after the ruling was announced, protesters gathered outside the supreme court toto condemn the decision. this is darakshan raja, founder of the justice for muslims collective. >> no c decides the parameters of our community's humanity. we will continue to fight. for the american people and for our allies and accomplices, it is also your goal to help us overturn the legality of these decisions. we know they are inhumane. we know they are racist. we know they are discriminatory. we cannot allow for these decisions to be of help. we are asking for your solidarity to stand with us in this particulalar moment. amy: that was darakshan raja, founder of the justice for muslims collective. issuedhe e supreme court its ruling, pulling the muslim travel ban will stop a federal

judge in san diego ruled immigration officials must stop separating immigrant children from their parents at the border and that migrant children already separated must be reunited with their parents. the rulings has all children under the age ofof five must be reunified with their parents within 14 days and all children five and older must be reunited with their parents within 30 days. the ruling does not require the trump administration to stop prosecuting people for crossing the border. more than 2000 children remain separated from their parents, jailed in detention centers across the country. immigration advocates are warning the trump administration has no clear plan for how to reunite them with their parents, some of whom have already been deported. on tuesday, hundreds protested attorney general jeffs ssi' visit to los angeles. 25 protesters, including clergy, were arrested outside a federal courthouse. sessions was visiting.

young mothers and children also protested sessions' speech to the criminal justice foundation annual luncheon. i have an 18-month-old. and i mentioning -- imagining these kids separated from their familiese is ju than anything i can fathom. terrorism. it is torture. i can't do that much, but i can show up is all that i can do as a mother of a toddler. amy: we will have more on these rulings r broadcast. in another important decision on tuesday, the supreme court has rule4 that california cannot require so-called crisis pregnancy centers to supply women with information about how to end their pregnancies. the court ruled on behalf of the anti-abortion pregnancy centers on free speechch grounds. there are over 2500 so-called crisis pregnancy centers across the country, including many tha.

in response to the ruling naral pro-choice america said -- "fake women's health centers, with the rest of the well-funded and wellnectednti-ch movement, have been working towards this moment for decades. they have carefully put the pieces together -- passing radical and unconstitutional abortion bans, stacking the lower courts -- because they are counting on trump's supreme court to overturn roe v wade. roe is at greater risk than ever before." in syria, ns of thousands of civilians are fleeing a syryrian government offensive on the southern province of daraa. the united nations says 45,000 peoplele he been disisplaced ovr the last week. dozens of civilians have also reportedly been killed. in yemen new report says the , a u.s.-backed saudi-led coalition was responsible for more than halflf of all childd deaths last year. the children and armed conflict report says the saudi-led coalition was responsible for the deaths of at least 370 children last year. the e report comeses as the u.u.s.-backed saudi-led coalalin continues its offensive on

yeyemen's key y port city ofof hodedeidah, which h the unit nations has warned will rsrsen thonongoinhuhumanitarian catatastrophe in yemen. back in the unitited statetes, voters w went to the polls for primary elections in seven states tuesday -- new york, maryland, utah, colorado, oklahoma, mississippi, and south carolina. in the most stunning surprise of the primary election so far this ar, 28-year-old democratic socialist alexandria ocasio-cortez beat out 10-term incumbent congressman joe crowley in new york. mocrley is the fourth-ranking who have been regularly floated as a potential speaker of the democratic house. he had out-raised ocasio-cortez by at least 10 to one. yet ocasio-cortez defeated crowley in a stunning upset, after running a progressive grassroots campaign advocating for medicare for all and the abolition of ice, the immigration and customs enforcement agency.

we will hear from alexandria ocasio-cortez after the headlines. meanwhile, in maryland, former naacp president ben jealous won the democratic primary for governor on a progressive platform that includes free college, the legalization of marijuana, and a $15-an-hour statewide minimum wage. jealous will now face maryland republican governor larry hogan in november's general election. and in other primary results, republican mitt romney won his senate primary in utah. and accused nsa whistleblower reality winner has plead guilty to retaining and transmitting a document to a news organization after reaching a deal with the u.s. government to serve a five-year prison sentence. reality winner had faced up to 10 years in prison on charges she violated the espionage act by leaking a top-secret document to the intercept about russian inteence ithe 2016 election. she's been imprisoned for the last year at the lincoln county jail in georgia, where the intercept reports winner has

been struggling with depression, and an eating disorder. to see all our coverage of reality winner's casese, go to democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. upset in the biggest surprise of the primary season this year, 28-year-old democratic socialist alexandria out a 10rtez has beat term in, representative joe crowley in new york. crowley is the fourth-ranking democrat in the house, and he'd out-raised ocasio-cortez by a 10-to-1 margin. crowley was widely abused as a dish viewed as house speaker. ocasio-cortez defeated crowley after running a progressive grassroots campaign advocating for "medicare for all" and the abolition of ice, the immigration and customss enforcement agency.

am jt days be t primary, she lef go to texas to protest family separation at the border. nearly 70% of her campaign funds came from individual contributions under $200. this is alexandria ocasio-cortez reacting to the news of her when -- win live on new york one when she looked up at the t screen tuesday night. she is looking at herself on television right now. how are yoeling? can you put it into words? >> note. i cannot put this into words. campaign -- can you believe the numbers you are seeing right now? >> i cannot believe these numbers, but i do know everything a person here has t off to changet the future. that is what i know. that is whnow.at i k and this victory once to

every grassroots organizer, every parent, every mom, every member of the lgbtq community, every single person is responsible for this. juan: that was alexandria ocasio-cortez celebrating her stunningng win against democratc incumbent representative joe crowley. she is the daughter of a puerto rican mother and a bronx born father. the intercept reports she worked as a waitress and bartender after graduation to supplement her mother's income as a house cleaner and bus driver. a viral campaign ad of alexandria o ocasio-cortez featured her sayg women like me aren't supposed trurun fo ofce. >> it isime to fight for a new york that working mimiliesan afford. that is why i amununningor coressss. rsus race is about people ve money. we've got peopl they've got mone its timemehat we acknowledge not l l demoats s arthe sasa. but a democrat w t takes cocorpate money, profits off

rereclose, d doenot lili here, does not send h kids to our schos,s, doenot t drk ourr water or breathe our air cannot possib r reprent us. iser bronx and queenss it andderal jobs guarantee criminal jtice refm.m. canan dit nowow youth to dota 100 this it takes political kurds a new yo for the many as possible. it is time for one of us. amy: if alexandria ocasio-cortez to be anthony poppa's in november, she will be the youngest person in congress. we spoke to alexandria ocasio-cortez j just before the broadcast. here she is talking about her historic when earlier this morning. >> thank you and thank you so much for having talk about your

response last night? the picture has become ic when you looked up at the tv screen and so you were not only ahead, but far ahead. talk about your reaction. tform?s your pla >> well, you know, i had not checked the results in that moment. toas not even following them that room. honestly, i was so nervous. the ground had felt so great but i did not want to underestimate the power of the machine. i just saw all of these people celebrating. carefully,e and, a iran right into a camera set. i looked up at the screen and saw not only were we ahead, but we were -- with a double-digit victory. it was astounding. it was unbelievable. juan: can you tell us, for many of the viewers and listeners who have not heard of you, did not know about your campaign, tell us about the main planks you campaigned on across the districts. unapologetically

aggressive campaign that included improved and expanded medicaid for all, a federal job guarantee, justice for puerto rico, the abolishment ofce, and h mouc. i think at the end of the day in our community in the bronx and queens, we have been waiting and watching for a long time. amy: joe crowley, the democratic congress member you beat, 10 term congressman for, outspent you buy, what, 10 to one? >> something like that. amy: and yet you won. even on the day before the election, you were down at the border. you are not in your district. talk about the decision you made , why you feel that is so important what is happening there. >> right now the moral character of the united states is on the line. we do not have the option or the forry of time to wait

response for when it is convenient. i think we all really need to be occupying every border every protest, and every passageway and bearing witness to what is happening and also fighting for the reunification of every single child separated from thei. i wanted to ask you, joe crowley has been a powerful figure in new york city politics now for years. but many political observers were well aware his district was an overwhelmingly latino population distrtrict and were wondering when it would result in a change in terms of leadership. talk about not only the importance of your race for progressives, but also for the latina community now because you would become, if elected in november, the fourth latino congressperson from new york city? >> yeah. it is profoundly important. all communities in thenited states deserve represeatation

congress. aas not jt about havin representaveve, and at negra presteted ofbut t al havinina policy repsentativ that is y i was proud tounun a campmpai that t s, i think, one of t strong campaigns for advocacy for pueo rico asell as immigration reform. i thk the voices in those popositis arare dly neneed in congressoday. look forwardo kind of ushering ianan era ogreater represtation and divsity, t just iidentitybutlso poli in congss. y: you a him a a demratic socialis member the mocratic soclist of erica. what doethat meato you? kenney ao talk aut hing work for bere sander what his campgn has mnt an ample yoare using? >> fore, one othe thin thatemocratisocialismeans ociety a aodern

we he the reurces anthe pacity t eure thatvery rson can be duly educated, can have access to health care, and that we can afford and have the ability to house people in our economy, that a moral society guarantees a basic level of united for people in the states of america. and that is what that means to me. that i is what my values are. as far as this did -- sanders campaign, i think with the sanders campaign and working on the sanders campaign did for me was that it showed that aa grassroots movement is still possible in the united states. i i organized on the sanders campaign in the bronx. knocking on those doors two years ago, i knew that our community was ready for this change. toelieved we really needed have that representation, that dignity, and representation that

was not compromised by corporate interest some fitfully advocate for working families. a stunner victory is ross tountry, butlso another fell organizer in the sanders campaign, ben jealous as you note, also won the primary democratic primary in maryland and the race for governor. but he heard at all from ben jealous in the last 12, 13 hours? >> i have not. that is not to say they have not reached out. honestly, i have 500 text messages in my phone. but i greatly, greatly look forward to a governor jealous because it is so badly w what we needed for our future. amy: alexandndria ocasio-cortez, if you are elected to congress, you will b be the younungest won everer elected. talk a about mother's day. talk aboutut the moment you wald

into your opponent's headquarters and challenged him to a debate and what that meant. >> yeah, well, we were being ignored. our campaign was being ignored. moreover, i felt like the ad wanted aas -- debate. the community badly wanted to have the experience of a full democracy and a full primary, which included robust conversation between both candidates. i had not even -- it was it in the plan, but we were knocking on doors in the area and i turned the corner and my opponent's office was there so i just decided to walk in and ask for a debate. to his credit, he did agree to one on new york1. we were able to provide that experience in that conversation, not just on television, but ultimately we had a community

debate in queens. it was so lively. the people here in new york that have not had a primary in 14 years, i think really cherished the opportunity to speak and see their leadership debate right in front of them. ,my: alexandria ocasasio-cortez you talked about ice fo at doeat loolike? >> i think first and foremost we have to support the marshall plan in front of congress right now for puerto rico. we need to ensure we not just have a sustainable recovery, but a community-led recovery in which all of our resources are not necessarily just being privatized to the same corporations and wall street funders that manufactured the crisis to begin with. i think that what we need to do is re-examine that talk about lifting the merchant grain -- bring tax, ending the clonal state of puerto rico that has subjugationconomic

of the people there and the second-class citizenship puerto ricans and the united states. juan: you grew up in the bronx, but when you left after finishing college, you went to work back in your community in early childhood education. could you talk about your experiences there and how that shaped your view of what federal policiesd beulhen it comes >> coming from an educational background, we know that early childhood is so formative and critical to the destinies of young children in the south bronx and any community that is dealing with intergenerational veverty. whet we know is not just we invest in childn,n, buthenn we invnvt in the prosperity of aren't families, parts workg two jo in n orr to pport t r children and they e e ableo rereal provide for their filies in one dignified

form of employnt, they spend ththat te -- th spend me of that time with their kids, more of tir time investing notot just in her o familie but also in eieir own schools. ife are going really transform the destinieofof childrenn placesike the bronx, we need to make sure th eir parents artaking ce of d their scols are lly nded. amy:lexandri your victorys beg cled the ggest upt ofheemoctic par eltion sean. wh do you y to thentry. democric leadehip a to esident ump, whoweeted " big trk hader ngressmajoe owley whmany expt was going toake nanc posi' plays st lost s primar elecon. at is a g one th no one w haening. perhaps should been cer more reectful to his prident." ctainly, t what y were. >> no, n i try t to enge in esident eet talk, but what i will say

is he is probably in more trouble now. that is as far as that goes. as far as the party, i think this is a really profound an amazing opportunity for us to really refocus on the needs of workg g clas americans and thehe most vnenerabl in the united states. because when we stand up for them, then they will stand up for themselves and we willll -- you know,e willllll have collecve power amy:ust to clafy, you id th crowleyarticipad in a debate wh yo ross theorporateetworks, he did noshow at a dete. wathat a sond deba? >> yh,e hd not show up to thinitialebate. ther we three local comommunity debates. he skipped t first t. after an edirial fro"the new york times" kind of speaking to at, he d show upo theery

last one may a c coue of day beforehe electn. amy: we nt to thk y very much for beingith u we kw you aron a verbusy hedule rht now. what messageo you have o caidates aund the untry country,le in this democrat, republican, socialist, green, independent as you come out of this primary victory? >> i think our democracy is opening right now and that the possibility for any candidate, especially those that are not accepting corporate funds -- frankly, many different parties but there's a great moment in our country right now and to keep pushing even when things seem like such a long shot to at least stick it through and see it through election day because truly, honestly, anything can happen. amy: alexandria ocasio-cortez, 28 year old democratitic socialist, who beaeat out 10 tem incumbent congress member joe crowley in new york. this is an upset that has been

rocking the country, the biggest upset in this election season. in a moment, we e will talk abot the travel ban. linda sarsour is with us, director of the first muslim online organizing platform and power change. you supported alexandria. this is a remarkable moment. >> in light of such horrible news yesterday with the travel ban and the muslim ban, alexandria is the hope we have been waiting for. she is a young woman of color. she's puerto rican, socialist just like me. she is pro-palestine and unapologetic post of the movement right now is elated because this is what you're going to see, amy, in this elecection season. it is a new day, new generation. alexandria is what represents us and our values. juan: as you're saying before we went on air, even so-o-called progogressiveses did not give hr much of a chance at all of winning against crowley. >> absolutely.

everybody puts everything into money. she was out raised almost 10 to one. it is about the grassroots organizing, building power on the ground, getting voters who have been ignored and mamarginalizized to the s. that is exactly what alexandria did. she is charismatic and young and also very progressive. tuition free college, medicare for all, pro-palestine. even in the recent great return march, putting her voice out while campaigning, not afraid of any opposition that was coming her way. no democrat is going to hold their seat for too long. a lot of alexandrias are coming in 2018 and 2020. amy: it is truly a remarkable moment. joe crowley in conceding last dedicated "born to run" tond alexandria. >> that was classy. i will give crowley some props for that. but at the end of the day, you lost in you did not think you're going to lose. your coffee you're going to win. the democratic party in queens

anand the country y thought was going to win, but he did not. never underestimate the power of the grassroots movement or the resistance. amy: if she wins and resist -- in november, alexandria ocasio-cortez will be the youngest ever woman elected to congress. linda sarsour, stay with us as we talk about the travel ban. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: "immigrants" from the hamilton mixtape. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: in a series of extraordinary legal decisions tuesday, the supreme court has upheld president from so-called muslim travel ban and a federal judge in san diego has ruled immigration officials must stop operating immigrant children from their parents at the border. and must reunite all parents and chil within 30 days.

on tuesday, the supreme court ruled five to four to uphold trump's travel ban, which prohibits people from entering the united states from five majority muslimountries as well as people from north korea d some government officials from venezuela. amy: in a scscathing dissent, justice sonia sotomayor condemned the van as harrowing and said it was "motivated by hostility and animus towards the muslim faith." she also said the decision to uphold the event involved " ignoring the mistruin her legal president, and turning a blind eye to the pain and suffering the proclamation conflicts a chronic callison was and individuals, many of whom are united states citizens." after the ruling, p protesters gathered outside the supreme court to condemn the decision. this is the founder of justice for muslims collective. no court decides the parameters of our communities humanity. we will ctinue to resist. andill continue to fight

for the american people, and for our allies and a conferences, it is also your vote to help us overturn the legality of these decisions. we know that the are inhumane. we know they are racist. we know w they are discriminato. we cannot allow for these decisions to be upheld. we're asking for your solidarity to stand with us in this particular moment. amy: that was the founder of justice for muslims collecectiv. for more, we're joined by three guests. linda sarsour is the director of the first muslim online organizing platform, mpower change. co-authored a new report titled "window dressing." that report actually was by ccr and yale university, by our next guest as well diala shamas. and lee e gelernt, deputy direcr of the aclu immigrants' rights project. he argued the first challenge to

president trump's travel ban order. what does this supreme court ruling mea >> it is disappointing. it is not completely unexpected when the court issued the stay of the lord court's ruling a while back i think people were expecting it, but it is still a really bad day. the disconnect between the judicial opinion and what most people understand as a matter of common sense that president trump trying to keep muslims out country. i think years from now, people will look back and say i'm a wow , i don't know how this decision came. it is a bad day. juan: i want to ask about the dissenting opinion of justice sotomayoyor whose carving out a niche for herself as the passionate and eloquent defender of a liberal perspective on the court. she spent minutes reciting all of the quotations of president actually clearly said, this is a muslim ban, and

yet asked why would the court want to ignore this post of a want to read a part of what she said, taking all of the relevant evidence together, a reasonable observer would conclude that the proclamation was driven primarily by anti-muslim animus, rather than by the government's asserted national-security justifications. even before being sworn into ofthen, andidate trump stated that "islam hates us," warned that "we're having problems with the muslims, and we're having problems with muslims coming into the country," promised to enact a "total and complete shut down of muslims entering the united states," and instructed one of his advisers to find a "legal" way to enact a muslim ban. the president continued to make similar statements well after his inauguration, as detailed above. moreover, several -- despite several opportunities to do so, president trump has never disavowed any of his prior statements about islam. instead, he has continued to make remarks that a reasonable observer would view as an

unrelenting attack on the muslim religion and its followers." >> very strong. i think there's no other way to look at what the president was saying. that is what is so artificial about the opinion does that we're not going to give that any rate and we're just going to sort of have. deference to the administration. the administration hid behind this multiagency task force they set up, but the outcome was preordained. president trump set it up to give him the conclusion he wanted. i don't see any other way as just a soda some mayor said, result person can look at it from his campaign statements through the trouble than a conclude anything other than he was trying to keep muslims out of the country. amy: the sarsour, your response? >> i was expecting more of a partial ban, something like a half which would have still been a muslim ban, so i was pretty devastated to see the supreme court upheld the entire band.

but i think what gives me solace is the supreme court could decide what is legal but they can decide what is justice and moral. slavery was legal. japanese interment was legal. segregation was legal. for me, i don't put my eggs in the supreme court basket. we're going to continue to organize and resist, particularly this year around electoral college asked -- which i don't think t auto deliberation, , but does solve some of the bleeding and hemorrhagingng. this a policy of administration to separate black and brown families, whether it be at the border or through a travel ban or a muslim refugee band. people need to make those connections that this is part of a large white supremacist agenda that is being implemented point after point. he is literally winning almost every single issue putting forth. took health care from us, gave us a tax scam, separating mothers and children at the border, banning muslims. these are things he was promising. right now he is using children as a leverage point to get t his

$25 5 billion for the wall. people have to wake up. we may have a momentum and the resistance, but is a administration is winning at the highest courts of this land. even on the border from san order from san- diego to stop the s separation f families and to reunite fafamilies, how is that going to happen w with what tracking sysm do they have? this is a a administration care about court orders? do we believe they're going to follow court orders? we still have to be vigilant in this moment. amy: i want to bring into this discussion diala shamas, staff attorney at the center for constitutional rights. she is co-author of a new report titled "window dressing the muslim ban: reports of waivers and mass denials from yemeni-american families stuck in limbo." justice stephen breyer cited the report in his dissent writing -- "another report similarly indicates that the u.s. embassy in djibouti, which processes visa applications for citizens of yemen, received instructions

to grant waivers 'only in rare cases of imminent danger,' with one consular officer reportedly telling an applicant that 'even for infants, we would need to see some evidence of a congenital heart defect or another medical issue of that degree of difficulty that would likely lead to the child's developmental harm or death.'" talk about this report that ccr did with yale. the majority said, in severe cases, people will be taking care of and let and. washat the majority did even worse, actually. unfortunately, what we're seeing is the way the majority handled our report as well as the litany of other evidence that was before it, whether it was evidence of the trump administration's animus, anti-muslim bias leading up to the issuance of ththe proclamation, or the litany of evidence that it had s since the proclamation went into effect in

that we were all able to prove, those of us observing it, how it was unfolding on the ground, completely ignored thahat evidee , significant body of evidence,, and relied and differed entirely to the executive. ultimately, that means as long as the president can articulate a national security justification, however thin it might be, it will be able to get away with whatever it wants. seeing the highest court of our country essentially fall for this administrations gas lighting is exactly why our team and a team of yale law students travel to djibouti in order to be able to call them out in a ondied wayay based on fact their statements and mistress of an tatian's of waiver process -- misrepresentation of wave of process. waiver process is to justify what is essentially a muslim ban. we were able to show, as many doess have since shown and

the consular office it on record that wave of process is only there in paper, only something the administration has put in the proclamation but in practice the way it has been rolled out on the ground in places like djibouti, it is not actually a process. everybody receiving pro forma mass denials and the result is after yesterday's decision of families in djibouti that we met with, they were holdining their breath waiting f for a decision from the supreme court to reunite with each other after havingng been separated, in many cacases, for years. the arare now left w with the difficult decicision of goiningk country, orar-torn being separated indefinitely. amy: can you give us an example of a family? >> i've been texting with a gentleman who is in alabama and his wife is in djiboutiti with r two youngest children -- all four of her children are u.s. citizens, my dear. she's the wife of a u.s. citizen and the mother of your citizens.

she is pregnant. she is waiting for what she was hoping was a positive supreme court decision to be able to rejoin her husband i in alabama. her two oldedest children have d to come to the u.s. because she could not care for all four in djibouti. right now she does not know what to do. she has returned to yemen because she could not ststay in djibouti. -- isti is very extreme very expensive and the conditions are extremely harsh. put yourself in a position when someone is seeking advice of what to do next and you are talking them through what are extremely painful personal decisions that they have to now make. all of this is a situation that although was predictable, is one be faced shocking to with now, especially in light of the indefinite nature of this decision. juan: linda, you mentioned japanese internment as an example of something that was legal but was not just.

i wanto go back to sonia sotomayor where she referenced this. she said " "by blindly a acceptg ththe governmement's misguided invitation to sanction a discriminatory policy motivated by animosity toward a disfavored grououp, all in the naname of a superficial claim of national sesecurity, the coururt redeplos the same dangerous logic underlying korematsu and merely replaces one 'gravely wrong' decision with another." >> absolutely. we're going to look back and be ashamed to live in 2018 and to allow this to happen on our watch. even right now, this administration i is doing one of the biggest investments in building basically children prison camps on military bases in the united states. i don't know what else has to happen. what else does this administration have to do for people to really wake up and understand we're literally living under fascism? we have in a administration who believes there above the law.

that in fact, they have pushed policy after policy outside the bounds of the constitution. i don't know -- i mean, i am worried that something more terrible could happen and has happened historically in our country, and the american people are sitting back and waiting for that horrible thing to happen. we are not waiting. we're resisting. in fact, i will be joining hundreds of women on thursday engaging in the largest women mass civil disobedience this country's ever seen. we're not going to sit back. rallying and marching under fascism is not wor. we have to find ways to up the ante with their activism and make some sacrifices. amy: democracy now! will be covering protests on the border tomorrow as part of this national action. is fredrnt, who korematsu? that's when the significance of what is happening. use acknowledged they were wrong with japanese internment and turning more than 100,000 japanese. this casase went to the supreme

court. >> as everyone knows, the japanese were interned during world war ii. the case which of the supreme court. the administration then put forward national ristification. the court accepted them wholesale and allow the internment. we now know ose justifications were a sham. chief justice roberts said, well, the court of history has shown that that opinion was wrong. but i think the really hard thing is to recognize it in real time. the chief justice should have recognized in real time now that this was just as that. i don't think we need to make a comparison, but just as bad but the was bad and wrong and national security justifications were a sham and not wait for the court of history 30 years from now. but i think that is what will happen.

the same thing will happen, we will look back on this decision the same way we look back on korematsu is wrong. juan: what happens now in terms of the van --ban? review orsibility for changing of the policy at all? >> honestly, the administration can always pull back and congress could do something right now, but that does not look likely. the court cases will continue. we are evaluating our options. i don't want to sugarcoat it dish sugarcoat it. the decision was bad. amy: hours after the decision, federal judge dennis several in san diego ruled immigration officials must stop separating immigrant children from their parents at the border that migrant children already separated must be reunited with her parents. the ruling says all children under the age of five must be reunited with her cats within 14 days and all children five and older must be reunited with their parents within 30 days. the ruling does not require the trump administration to stop

processing those crossing the border. immigration advocates warning the trump administration has no clear plan on how to reunite t childritthr parents, some of whom who have already been deported. what about this? what do understand this means? say the family separation issue is one that is the same does cover and's the way this administration has been governing. separatedre being intervention not be held hostage. amy: what does this practically mean? >> we brought this c case a whie agoo back in march, even before it became a major issue because we are seeing hundreds of children being separated before the administration formally announced the policy.

what we said bthwe needed prompt reunification of these children. that was on may 4 when i argued the case. what i said to the judge this past friday in an emergency telephone hearing, prompt reunification is no longer good enough. we need a concrete deadline. fortunately, last i, the judge ed that. as you said, 30 days role children. kids under 5, 14 days. the administration does not have a plan. that is why the judge put them under a deadline. we don't really care about the way they do it, they just need to get it done. my basic feeling is the united states government has all c sorts of resources. they can get these 2000 kids back with her parents at that is a priority, and that is with the judge said. i don't care how you do it, but get it done. if the government needs nonprofits to help, there's so many nonprofit the people involved here that will help. they can get it done. they need to do it.

these little kids i'm meeting with our suffering so badly. four-year-old kids i just met with asking every night that were ftute up to be rereunified, "mommy, a am i goio be taken away?" juan: is her chance this will be appealed and d delay it further? >> i generally don't know. we hope they wilill say, look, e recognize these little kids are being permanently traumatized and not appeal. but from this a administration, i just don't know. amy: the four-year-old that you were talking about, the four-year-old child that you had interviewed? explain ththe circumstances. >> thihis is a mother who fled violence. came here past her initial asylum screening, was still detained. or four-year-old and 10-year-old were taken from her for months. because of the lawsuit, we finally got them reunited. the four-year-old kept asking his mother, "is this a bad man?"

to explained, no, he's your help us. finally at the end, he came over and gave me a big can k. the mother told me e every night he a me, are they going to come and take me away again? that is what we're heari. that is what the medical community predicted would happen. amy: what about what is still happening? the stories of people saying they're being threatened if they , ift say they are guiuilty they don't say this, that their children be put up for adoption? their children will be taken fromom them?m? andhere is enormous course going on. the mothers and fathers are willing to do almost anything to see their children again. that is what the administration's plan was. stop people from coming over here because the word would get out your leisure children. legitimate asylum claim, they want you to give it up so you can see your children again. it is as bad as anythingng i hae seen. >> administration live. trump anannounced we're going to stop separating families. i have more witness at laguardia

, the day before yesterday, united airlines flight that came in with dren who were unaccompanied minors under the age of 10, disoriented, worrying all of the same color woody, likett to each other. e woman with them spoke to them in spanish and said, don't talk to anyone, keep on walking. we were holding up signs in spanish saying we love them. i recorded them in a very subtle way because i did not want to scare them, but this is still happening. juan: this is united who claimed they were not going to do this. >> exactly. who is the watchdog? who holds these people accountable? i don't trust this administration. amy: the government said 500 children have been reunited with their parents. >> how we know that is even true? >> the jududge ruled last night not only to say rina five the kids, but stop separations going forward. we now have that base from which

to work with. if we find out they're not complying, we will go back to him immediately. amy: we will leave it therere bt we will contininue to cocover ts democracacy now! and will be on the border in texas tomorrow broadcasting live on thursday and friday. we want to thank manuel lopez obrador with -- we want to thank linda sarsour with mpower change diala shamas is staff attorney at the center for constitutional rights. lee gelernt brought these cases to court. when we come back, we had self. there's another election taking place. it is sunday in mexico. . ♪ [music break]

amy: "changui pa ayotzinapa" by changui majadero. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we and today show in mexico, where left-leaning presidential candidate andres manuel lopez obrador appears poised to win sunday's presidential election. lopez obrador,aso emerged as the clearinitials, front-runner since jumping into the race. this is the third presidential run for lopez obrador, who was the mayor of mexico city from 2000 to 2005. he has vowed to wean mexico off u.s. agricultural imports, increase aid for students and the elderly and consider amnesty for drug war criminals. he visited the los angeles in february of last year, holding a rally where he spoke out against donald trump's policies.

>> today's anti-immigrant campaign is not only an economic , but fundamentally, a political one. is taking group advantage of the rise of nationalistic sentiments that permeates here and t throughout the world. by: for more, we're joined laura carlson, director of the mexico city-based amicus policy program for the center for international policy. talk about the significance of this election, laura. >> this election is without precedent. first of all, it is the largest election in modern mexican history because there are over 18,000 positions from all of congress, as well as eight governorships in the presidency.

but all eyes are on the presidency. what is happening is mexico is poised for a major shift. it is not a hard-core left and it is the firebrand that the u.s. press likes to portray. it's a relatively moderate leftist, but a significant departure from the neoliberal om model that has been in place in mexico and had disastrous results. and for many of the policies that people are simply fed up with. so right now lopez obrador has a lead of between 20 points and 30 points in the polls. he has given up to 50% of the vote despite there being a field candidates. this is unprecedented. it would be the biggest landslide since at least 1994. there is a feeling of excitement in the air and there's a lot of people who are depositing their hopes for a change in the media future ois campaign, but there are a lot of major concerns as well. their concerns about fraud. given monitoring a number of the

forms of fraud with -- through a network that was formed and are getting ready to deploy observers because there is a core part of the establishment, both in the conservative national action partynd the ruling institutional revolutionary party, that are unwilling to let go of power. especially with a left-leaning candidate. juan: laura, one of the unusualf his race is that z obrar who has run twice for president is running out with a party that he ran previously. that party is allied with the conservative -- the prd. in es deceloped a new party or new alle, marina -- morena. can you talk about the prd entering an alliance with the pan?

>> that is another and president aspect that a new party that does unprecedented as a veteran new party could take such a significantly. is a sadry of the prd one. essentially what happened is a beginner make a number of decisions that were much more opportunistic and pragmatic than principled as far as the left-leaning supporters were concerned. and that is how it eventually alliancemaking this on with the conservativive party in order to survive politically. it is -- the process has been going on for a while. there has been an to this of moren from the prd toward sincnce ita was formed. it was formed out of prd leaders. to the point there is very thise left of the prd at point. in the left t of mexico is cleay much more aligned with ormorena.

this reflects sentiment that all of the parties that have been ruling, particularly the two conservative parties them created this huge degree o dissolution inmong t people and yet there is a sense now since this is the new party and it is called a movement for national regeneration rather than athatt could be something different. the biggest part of this movement for lopez obrador is people being sick of the way things are. they were able to use fear against him as uncertainty and it worked to a certain degree, but now people are more afraid of the reality that they are facing, of 200,000 dead in the drug war, of insecurity of the levels of corruption that are totally unsustainable, then they are of what might be a certain amount of uncertainty with a new party and a new person, and that

is part of the reason we're seeing - -- the laura, let's talk about string of assassinations of political candidates in the lead up to sunday's presidential election. two mayoral candidates work killed. at least 1 121 politicians have been murdered since september, making this election cycle the bloodiest in recent mexican history. and then if you could address what will this mean for the border, for the immigrants cocoming over the bord i if lopz obdor wins? >> first of all, in the violence, it is the highest level of violence that we have candidate wasl killed in the paper today. this is the wildcard election. is clear r they take out a candidate,e,nd it is ususually orgaganized crime involved, oftentimes complicit with local authorities, if they take out a candidate, it is destroying your right to vote for thahat person. but there's also the chihilling

efeffect where there's high levs of violence and people may be afraid that the electoral process will be surrounded by not go out tohen vote. thicould have an impact in certais aneademocratic paipn by keeping people awm thropolls, perhaps especially in areas where there could be an opposition vote. that is hard to quantify, but very -- amy: we just have 20 seconds. close as far as the border, lopez obrador is proposing a much stronger stance toward the truck principles. doeses not want the trump the policies coming out, he doesn't want to confront him directly. but people are very hopeful that there will be a mexican president who will stand up for mexicans after this election because they felt the pre-government has taken a very weak position in order to renegotiate nafta and defend mexican interests what it views as the elite interests in the

economic sphere. amy: laura carlson, thanks for being with us. happy birthday, john. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]