06/05/19 06/05/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. trump: i did see a small protest, very small. so a lot of it is statement is. amy: in fact, thousands took to the streets of london to protest president trump's state visit, which wraps up today on the eve of the 75th anniversary of d-day. we'll go to england for the latest. then, as trump threatens a five% -- 5% tariff on all mexican imports to go up to 25% by october, senate republicans

appear poised to block him. >> m most of us hope that this mexican delegation that has come up and discussed the challenges of the border and what the mexicans might be up to do to help us more than they have will be fruitful and that these tariffs will not kick in. amy: we will look at the trump administration's deadly treatment of transgender asylum seekers and then turn to dallas, where the third black transgender woman has been killed in less than a year. >> t the dallas s police departt has reached out to the fbfbi because asas we k know, this ise second individual who is transgender r who is deceased in our community. and we are concerned. amy: eight black trans women have been murdered in the u.s. thisis year. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a possible stand-off is brewing between republican senate leaders and president trump as republican senators have come out against trump's tariff threat to mexico over what he climbs is mexico's failure to stem the flow of central and a can migrants to the u.s. on tuesday, he doubled down, saying the 5% tariff on all mexican goods -- which would increase every month until it hits 25% -- would likely take effect monday. negotiations are taking place in washington, d.c., between mexican and u.s. officials including secretary of state mike pompeo and vice president mike pence. mexico has pushed for talks to settle the issue and has not yet indicated if or how they might retaliate with their own tariffs. meanwhile, republican opposition

to the tariff. truck said in response it would be foolish for republicans to block the tariffs. we'll have more on this story later in the broadcast. the house passed the dream and promise act, paving a path to citizenship for 2.5 million undocumented young people, or those with temporary immigration status. and was passed after years of -- the legislation builds on the dream act and was passed after years of grassroots organizing. in a statement celebrating the bill's passage, the immigrant youth-led organization united we dream urged the senate to pass the dream and promise act, adding -- "we refuse to use our safety as bargaining chips to build up the deportation force and put other communities at risk. we will keep fighting for permanent protection and reject any proposals to grow trump's deportation force and anti-immigrant agenda." the white house has indicated it will vo the bi even ifhe republan-contrled sena passest.

reportemerged is week a iled attpt to reite parated grant falies in texas la july, wch saw 3 miant chilen spendp to 39 hoururs waiting in a van to see their parents. the 37 children were between 5 years old and 12 yeyears old. most of them spent at least 23 hours in the van during one of the hottest months of the year. emails obtained by nbc from bcfs health and h human services, the government contractor responsible for transporting the children, reveal a lack of proper planning by immigration and customs enforcement and senior officials at the department of health and human services. in britain, during a joint news conference with prime minister tuesday, president trump laiaid out plans for post brexit trade deal saying the u.s. should have access to all sectors of the british economy, including the national health service -- although he later walked back his comments about the nhs in an interview with piers morgan.

massive anti-trump protests have rocked london since trump's arrival. tow truck told reporters this week he saw great love on the streets and the protesters formed a very small group of people, so it was they news, he said. tens of thousands of people are estimated to have taken to the streets. trump is joining queen elizabeth in portsmouth, england today for a commemoration ceremony on the eve of the 75th anniversary of d-day. other dignitaries joining the ceremony includede german merkel, frenchla president emmanuel macron, and canada's prime and mr. justin trudeau, among others. in sudan, the number of people killed since the deadly raid on a protest camp monday mornrning has risen to 60 according to doctors who have b been takingng part in the onongoing ananti-government upuprising. the u.n.n. has condemned t the e of excxcessive force by militaty and security forces, but a security council bid to condemn the killings was reportedly blocked by china and russia.

the ruling military transitional government said today it was open to new talks with opposition groups after it announced earlier this week it was canceling negotiations and called for elections within nine months. the opposition rejected the plan because it would allow the military to oversee the elections. they are calling instead for three years of a civilian-led transitional authority. in dallas, texas, rescue workers recovered the body of 26-year-old chynal lindsey from a lake saturday. the apparent homicide of lindsey, a black, transgender woman, came just two weeks after the fatal shooting of another trans woman of color in dallas, muhlaysia booker. this is the recorded murder of a third transgender woman of color in dallas since october and the transgender black women to be killed so far this year. we'll have more on this later in the broadcast. in virginia, democratic governor ralph northam said tuesday he will convene a special session in the republican-controlled legislature to implentnt new gun

control measureses in the wake o last friday's mass shooting that saw 12 people die, plus thee gugunman, at a municipalal builg in virginia beach. itit was the deadliestst mass shoongng so fathisis year. northam says he will call for laws including universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons, and greater local authority to regulate firearms. >> t this weekend's tragedy, as well as the tragedies that happen every dayay across virginiaia, must instill in us a new level of urgency to act. votes a andking for laws, not thoughts and prayers. amy: in florida, police arrested the former broward county sheriff's deputy who was responsible for security at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida, at the time of last year's mass shooting. scot peterson was charged with 11 counts, including felony child neglect.

shortly after the february 2018 massacre, in which 17 ststudent, staff, andnd teachers werere ki, pepetersonon came under fifire s apparent inactction as the shooting u unfolded. foototage was releaseded of petn positioneded outside thehe scho, whwhere he remainened for over 5 miminutes as apppproximately 7 5 gunshots went off. the white house has directed former communications director hope hicks and former chief of staff to don mcgahn, annie donaldson, to defy congressional subpoenas for documents and testimony related to their time in the white house. the house judiciary committee is investigating trump's potential obstruction of justice, corruption, and abuse of power. hope hicks has, however, reportedly agreed to hand over documents from trump's 2016 campaign. in the midwest, residents and farmers are grappling with record flooding as torrential rains in recent weeks have led to overflowing of arkansas, mississippi, and missouri rivers. according to nasa earth observatory data, the past year

has been the country's wettest since modern record-keeping began. at least three people have been killed and tens of t thousands have displaced. in albany, new york, public in thee was arrested state capitol after he joined a protest amending the passage of reforms to new york's rent regulations before they expire on june 15. protesters called for universal rent control and reinforced tenant protections against evictions during a housing justice for all protest outside governor andrew cuomo's office. in northern california, police arrested nearly 100 people after animal rights activists staged a rescue mission and protest at the reichardt duck farm, which theyey accusee of engaging in anim t tortu. activists freed dozensf f duck while so l lockethememsees byy the neck oo o the aughghte line activists e e demaingg auththories inveigigate e petalu f facto andnd slaughrhrhouse awarwiwinnininvevestativee

journalist a c co-foder r ofhe intercept enenn grnwalald praised thacactiontweeeeti -- "the real crimiminality is the systemic torture and slaughter of billions of animals in the cruelest, filthiest, most sadistic conditions. it breaks multiple laws. but the police protect the corporate criminals, and instead arrest those saving lives." in oregon, a federal court heard arguments tuesday in juliana v. united states, a historic climate lawsuit against the u.s. government brought by 21 young people who accuse the government of failing to take necessary action to cut fossil fuel emissions and protect youth from the devastating effects of climate change. the suit was originally filed against the obama administration in 2015. the ninth circuit court of appeals will decide whether the youth plaintiffs can go to trial against the trump administration. this is 11-year-old levi, who is the youngest plaintiff in the suit, addressing crowds gathered in support after tuesday's hearing. >> i am still a kid.

my constitutional rights a are being violated even more than older people who won't be around to see the effects of climate change. [cheers] and we only have a little time the, recoveryide plan into place, a plan that will return co2 levels to less than 350 parts per million and limit global warming to one degree celsius before it is too late. amy: in the trump administration announced it is ending the people to people program for people to travel to cuba, the most most popular way for americans to visit cuba in spite of the embargo through organized group trips. private cruises toto the island will also be b banned. according to a statement by treasury secretary steven mnuchin, the ban is in retaliation for cuba "providing a communist foothold in the region and propping up u.s. adversaries in places like venezuela and nicaragua." the president of cuba responded to the news i saying --

"cuba will not be frightened or distracted with new threats and restrictions. toy have not beenen able suffocate us. they won't be able to stop us." 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. we begin today's show in the united kingdom, where president trump met with prime minister theresa may on his second day of a state visit tuesday to discuss brexit and a future trade deal while protests rocked london. in a wide-ranging press conference, president trump laid out plans for a post-brexit deal with the united kingdom, saying that the u.s. should have access to all sectors of the british economy, including the national health service. from:, i think everything with a trade to is on the table. when you're dealing in trade, everything is on the table. so nhs or anything else, or a lot more than that.

juan: trump's comments sparked outrage in the u.k., including from labour leader jeremy corbyn and scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon who tweeted -- "my view is clear -- scotland's national health system is not and must never be 'on the table' in a trade negotiation with president trump, or anyone else for that matter." trump later walked back his comments in an interview with british media personality piers morgan. pres. trurump: i don't t see it beining on the tablele. somebody asked me aa question today andd i say, everytything s upupor negotiation becausese everything i is full. that is something i would not consider part of trade. that is not part of trade. juan: trump also praised theresa may's handling of brexit. may is scheduled to resign her post on friday after repeated failed attempts to strike a brexit deal. this is theresa may addressing reporters tutuesday. >> i think the important thing is we deliver brexit. once we're out of the european union, we will be able to do

what we have been talking about today, and not develop just that free trade agreement, but a broader economic partnership, into the future. amy: among those who may replace theresa may after she leaves office friday is far-right former foreign secretary boris johnson, whom trump has repeatedly praised, telling the sun newspaper before his visit that johnson would be an excellent choice for the next prime minister. labour party leader jeremy corbyn responded to trump's comments saying -- "president trump's attempt to decide who will be britain's next prime minister is an entirely unacceptable interference in our country's democracy." trump said tuesday that he had turned down a request to meet with corbyn during his state visit. instead, corbyn joined thousands of demonstrators in the strerees to protest trump''s state visit. pres >> so i say to our visitors, think about a world that is one of peace and disarmament, is one of recognizing the values of all people, is a world that defeats

racicism, defeats misogyny, defeats the religiouss hatreds that are being fueueled by the r right in politics, in britain, in europe, and the united states. amy:y: trump called the protests fake news. pres. trump: i don't see any protests. i did see a very small protest. a lot of it is fake news. amy: in fact, the protests against the president greatly overwhelmed any well wishers in london this week. anti-trump demonstrators have been flying a 20-foot-long giant baby trump blimp to protest the president. trump joined queen elizabeth in portsmouth, england, today for commememoration ceremony on the eve of the 75th anniversary of d-day, the allied invasion of western europe in 1944 is the other dignitaries at the ceremony include angela merkel, mental macron, and justin trudeau, among others. for more we're going to cambridge, england, where we're joined by priya gopal, a

university lecturer in the faculty of english at the university of cambridge. welcome back to democracy now! can you start off by responding to presidentnt trump saying the protests were very minor, in fact fake news, far outnumbered by the supporters who apparently he said were gathered -- a pallet, thousands and thousands of them to greet him? that is an outright lie. we are not very surprised it iss coming for president trumpmp, bt as you said, in the lead up to werebit, 75,000 protesters out in london alone on the middle of the day on a working day tuesday. it was a rainy day. despite that, the bbc and all of the other outlets here have accepted that there were several thousands protesters. and very committed very few

trump supporters. -- very, very few trump supporters. trump has said is exactly the opposite of the case. remember, there were protests in other cities on a much smaller hade, but london alone 75,000 protesters. so that is simply an untruth. juan: president trump has said britain should refuse to pay the nearly $50 billion brexit bill and just walk away if the country does not get what it once from the e.u. i'm wondering if you could talk, in the u.s., there's not a lot of attention paid to the national divisions within the united kingdom over brexit, both england and wales overwhelmingly supporting leaving brexit whereas scotland and northern ireland are overwhelmingly opposed. what the danger to the actual existence of the united kingdom might be as a result of this continuing division over what to

do with brexit? >> one of the useful things about trump's visit is it has made these divisisions very, vey clear in this country once again. what we have seen is the horrific sights of the current government, senior ministers in the current government, groveling and scraping before trump. and you have the opposition leaders, including nicola sturgeon, making clear trump's abuse on post-brexit britain are unacceptable. the discussion around the nhs is a very good example. we do know that if there is a trade deal with the united states post-brexit, then as trump said, everything is up for negotiation, including the nhs. to becktracking is not taken seriously. what is to be taken seriously is brexit is precisely about breaking up and selling off parts of the united kingdom, particularly public services. now and northern ireland and

scotland, and in parts of island and wales, there going to be tremendous resistance to this. across party lines, people value the national health s service. in the idea it can be broken up and sold off piece mill to u.s. ors itors and privatiz think worries many people. and even tory politicians who have gone out of their way to be welcoming and frankly had tontic to trump have pull back and say, regardless of what he says, the nhs is not up for sale. brexit does pose a very great danger, both to the public services of the united kingdom and to the existence of the united kingdom. we know there is talk off independence reference once again in scotland. scotland is overwhelmingly remaining and there's no reason they should be part of the thatsh nationalist project brexit ultimimately is. trump's visit has maybes divisions very stark once again.

amy: president trump has expressed his support for nigel farage as well as boris johnson. he also criticized labour leader jeremy corbyn recalled a negative force. he said if he were to become prime minister, corba may not share intelligence with him. your resesponse, professor? >> this is clearly unacceptable. on the one hand there is all of this talk of a special relationship and we need to be asking what exactly the special relationship means. if the people who talk the talk of a special relation are sincere and trump is one of those who uses the phrase, then it seems extraordinary too say you will not work with the elected prime minister o of the united kingdom because you don't happen to agree with the choice that the british electorate made. that strikes me as extremely unprofessional and innocence really out of line.

you cannot refuse to work with an elected leader. trump's supporters, including the members of the tory government, have been saying it is wrong to protest trump because he is an elected leader. so by that same token, it is wrong for trump to say he won't work with an elected leader. i should make very clear here that people have not been protesting trump's visiting per se. people have been protesting the ruling out of a state visit to him and the rolling out of the red carpet, including a visit with the monarch. there is a difference between a working visit and a state visit. what a lot of the protesters are saying, what a lot of people are saying is trump does not represent the kind of relationship at british people want to have with the american people and that trump is really, in many ways, the opposite of what good relationship between the two countries ought to stand for. amy: i want to and, before trump arrived in britain, he insulted london's first muslim mayor

sadiq khan after he called out trump's divisive, far-right policies, tweeting-- "kahn reminds me very much of our very dumb and incompetent mayor of nyc, de blasio, who has also done a terrible job -- only half his height." he also called khan a "stone cold loser" after arriving in london. we would like to end with the mayor of london himself, sadiq khan, speaking on sksky news monday. >> i think is import for our allies to be here to commememore ththe 75th a anniversary of the d-day. we have good relations with the usa. i don't think we should be rolling out the red carpet. i don't think this should be a state vivisit. why do i say that? are akin to alieies best friend. the thing about a best friend, of course you stand shoulder to shoulder in times of adversity, but you have to call them out when you think they are wrong. there are so many things about president donald trump's policies that are the antithesis

of allies in london. amy: that was the mayor of london sadiq khan. priya gogopal, thank youou for g withth us, university lecturer n the faculty of english at the university of cambridge. when we come back him as president trump threatens a 5% tariff on all mexican goods, senate republicans appear poised to block him. stay with us.. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to a growing standoff on capitol hill as senate republicans appear poised to block presisident trump's proposed tariffs on all mexican goods. mexican officials are in washington, d.c., this week for talks with the trump administration over trump's plan to impose a 5% tariff on all imported goods which could increase to as much as 25%. trump announced the tariffs over what he claims is mexico's failure to stem the flow of central american migrants into the united states. citing potentially devastating consequences to the u.s. economy, senate republicans defied the president tuesday announcing their opposition to the tariffs.

this is majority l leader mitchh mcconnell speaking in a news conference. >> there is no much support in my conference for tariffs, but we appreciate -- we had an oppoportunity at lunch to talk o a number of representatives from the white house about this particular strategy. i think i can safely say most of us hope that this mexican delegation that has come up here and discussed the challenges at the border and what the mexicans might be able to do to help us more than they have will be fruitful and that these tariffs will not kick in. amy: speaking from london on tuesday, trump responded to the possibility of republilicans blocking the tariffs. pres. trump: know, i don't think it will do that. if they do, it is foolish. i want to see security at our border. we see a lot of things happening , and that is happening, and as you know, mexico called and they want to meet.

they're going to meet on wednesday. secretary pompeo will be at the meeting along with a few others that are very good at this. and we are going to see if we can do something. but i think it is more likely the tariffs go on and we will probably be talking to a time the tariffs are on and they're going to be paid. amy: mexican officials are meeting with vice president mike pence and secretary of state mike pompeo today in washington, d.c. for more, we're joined by by laura carlsen, director of the mexico city-based americas program of the center for international policy. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about what is happening here, the threat of president trump, what he is accusing mexico of, and mexico's response? >> this threat of imposing tariffs of 5% going up to 25% in october i is economic blackmail. essentially, what he is saying is that mexico should do more to alleviate -- and these are h his wordrds -- the crisis of illegal immigration at the border.

in the letter that -- the statement that he put out regarding the tariffs, he says these tariffs will be in place until mexico has taken effective actions that will be determined by our discretion and our judgment. so it is not even clear exactly what mexico is supposed to do and how they are trying to negotiate what exactly happening at the border. we have to remember that this characterization of a border crisis is essentially false. these are not unprecedented numbers. this is not an unmanagegeable situation. it is a manufactured crisis that donald trump is using for electoral purposes in order to createte an image that immigratn is the number one problem that the united states faces, and mobilize in essentially racist, white supremacist base. this, as you can imagine, has not gone well in mexico.

the first response of obrador was to write a very strong letter to donald trump, the stronger's letter that we have seen yet, because he has been very careful about the u.s.-mexico relationship, particularly for the trade and investment aspects involved and he said, i'm not a coward, i am not timid, and our approach to immigration is different. it involves stemming immigration and the countries of origin where people are being forced to flee. this is the situation we have now as they go into meetings. it is a macho move on the part of donald trump to say he will but he isse tariffs, gone out on a limb, as we mentioned, he does not have e te support of the republican party. in fact, he does don't have the support of a specialty economist in his own cabinet. juan: you much alike of support within the republican party. senator ted cruz am a for instance, who has always had a reputation as being extremely hard line on immigration, came

out in opposition because obviously, texas -- the biggest part of the border with mexico -- also has the most benefit from trade with mexico. and you are seeing politicians throughout texas in an uproar over this proposal. we even have talk of the u.s. chamber of commerce suing the trump administration over these tariffs. has there been a surprise in mexico about this enormous response by even the most conservative members of the republican party? >> there hasn't really because the mexicans know apparently what everyone except donald trump knows, which is that consumersstly affect and importers in the united states. that is why the border states are so concerned about this and the industrial and trade associations from the chamber of commerce to the national association of manufacturers and the others that you mentioned are immediately rushing to washington to begin lobbying and saying you've got to be kidding. these are our livelihoods that

you are talking about . vertically integrated supply chains, especially in the automotive industry, that rely on mexican parts, and their costs will automatically increase. shooting himself in the foot, essentially, in order to make the statement that it is somehow mexico's fault that central american migrants are fleeing conditions that were largely created by u.s. policies , coming up their mexico, and arriving at the border -- where, again this is important, they're not entering the m majoritity illegally. their entering and requeuesting asylum, which is a procedure that is sanctioned under peopletional law for fleeing persecution. amy: let's go to the mexican president lopez obrador speaking at a rally friday. >> we will always defend our fellow migrants and not just mexican migrants come all of those who look for a out of necessity. they go walking because they

don't have an opportunity for jobs. in their places of origin, there is much violence. on migrants deserve our fraternal hand. we are human beings. mexicant is the prpresident amlo. laura carlsen, can you talk about the criticism of the president and the treatment of migrants, the violet repression that started before him, but people are criticizing him for contntinuing and especially with the trump pressure?e? >> here we have the contradiction. and that is that we arare gettig this discourse particularly in response to this punitive, criminalizing model that donald trump is trying to impose on mexico. we're getting this discourse we're going to go to the root causes of immigration with respect for human rights and a paradidigm shift in terms of how migratory flows are handled in mexico and in general, in which

would appear mexico would seek to be a leader in creating a new model, a more humane model, to handle what is a phenomenon that is obviously here t tstay -- which is immigration on a global level. especially since january, february, and the threat to close the border by donald trump, we have been seeing something very different on the ground. human rights groups that are reporting from the southern border are talking about increased raids. we assume the deportation rate of central americans from mexico double just since january. january to may. there is increased detention. and these are practices that were not common in mexico before, although we've had a long history, particularly since the southern border plan in 2014 -- again, with pressure from the u.s. governmnment -- of a crackdown. so we have on the one hand a didiscourse of a different approach, but in practice, we are seeing a crackdown. in the hope is that in these

negotitiations, we won't t havey kind, public or behind the scenes, caving in to this punitive model and we will see this other m model that they h e discussesed of more human right, more job visas, more opportunities for asylum, insisting the united states deal with processing legal asylum seekers in its own country, we will see this other model go forward. but it is s not happening soso . societytions of civil are watching closely to see what does happen on the ground. juan: one of the issues that amlo raised shortly after his inauguration of the need for some kind of major initiative for economic development, central america, to deal with the root causes of what is leading to so much -- so many people fleeing the countries of honduras, el salvador, and guatemala.

in expectation this will be part of the discussion, even though the trump administration is going in the opposite direction, cutting off aid to the central american countries as punishment for their failure to keep their citizens from leaving? >> this will definitely be part of the negototiation. how far they will get is another question. but this is the pillar of mexico's immigration policy. they just announced a develop plan for central america that was drawn up along with the u.n. economic commission, and it goes to the root causes -- which is the major advantage that this plan has. and says what needs to be done so that forced migration can stop, that many of these people would prefer to remain in their own communities with their own families in their own country if it were not for circumstances that were pushing them out of the country. this is clearly a long-range plan to reduce immigration, but

almost all experts agree that it is the only plan that could possibly work. now, on the aid issue, we have to look very closely at any aid plan, especially that involves the u.s. government, in terms of where that aid is going. donald trump has for them to cut off aid and yet he has been willing to put more aid and support and training into going to central american countries and bolstering a crackdown on aeir own people -- making more difficult for them to leave their own country, which is characteristic of an authoritarian state, and trying to prevent, again come immigration through this punitive criminalizing model. when we talk about aid, we have to make sure we're talking about the kind the goes to keeping people in communities to recognizing the right to their own resources, to avoiding the kinds of megaprojects that actually displays people, and that would be a real chahange in aid to date.u.s.

we need those programs that will go to the root causes of immigration, but they have to be carefully designed between the u.s. and mexico in order to really give people the option to have healthy and dignified livelihoods in their own country. amy: what do you understand is going on right now in washington, laura? pompeo and pence a meeting with the mexican delegation? just returning from tijuana and the report you're coming out with. >> right now there is a delicate set of negotiations going on because so much has to do with donald trump's ego. and that is not negotiateded unr the normal rules and procedures of international relations. there is a strong possibility that the 5% tariff will go into place as a result of this, which will not end up in cututting off orders to mexico, but will end up in a bump in prices for the most part to u.s. consumers.

mexicans are trying to get a commitment there will be support in the development program central america and in southern mexico, and they're expecting and negotiation, out of that. so what happens is, and the biggest point of concern, is whether mexicans will cave in terms of were punitive measures for asylum seekers when they are in mexico. i was just in tijuana. the situation is reaching a humanitarian crisis there because essentially, there are 8000 people that have been returnrned under what is called the remain in mexico program, a program that the mexican government should nenever have accepted f from the united stat, where people who have already requested d asylum in the u.s. e returned to mexico to await their hearings. that could take up to a year. so those donors are growing. we''re having new migrants comig in andnd we'rere having people g

deported at increasing rates, mostly mexicans, back to tijuana. so there are streams of immigrants coming into border towns across the mexican border, on the mexican side. there is no support -- virtually no support from the governments. and although civil society on both sides of the border is doing a heroic job of taking care of these mostly desperate families from central america, something has got to give. increasing this model, forcing mexico to accept more asylum seekers from the united states will only make that situation worse. and then the humanitarian crisis we are seeing, the deaths of children -- which is happening on both sides of the border -- the detention centers and inhumane conditions will increase. amy: we want to thank you, laura carlsen, for joining us, director of the memexico city-based ameriricas program of the center for international policy.. when we come back, we will look at the violent faced by

transgender woman in u.s. after a trans asylum seeker in texas and a black trans woman in dallas died this weekend. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to look at the trump administration's deadly treatment of transgender asylum seekers in immigration prisons after a transgender woman died after being released from ice custody saturday. johana medina, a transgender asylum seeker from el salvador, died at an el paso hospital this weekend after spending seven weeks in immigration jail according to several lgbt groups and advocates who knew her. medina had sought medical treatment for nearly two months for complications related to hiv/aids before finally being transferred to the hospital last week. she died four days later.

amy: johana medina is believed to be the second transgender migrant to die in or after being released from ice custody since trump became president. the other is roxsana hernandez rodriguez, a 33-year-old honduran transgender woman, who died while in ice custody in may of last year. an autopsy revealed that she was physically assaulted prior to her death. for more, we're going to phoenix, arizona, where we're joined by isa noyola, deputy director at mijente, former deputy director at the transgender law center and a transgsgender and immigrant rigs activist. we welcome you to democracy now! can you describe what you understand were the circumstances of her death? >> the circumstances of johana medina of the senate so many trans women inside immigration detention centers are facing, which is cruel and inhumane treatment and human torture. we understand that immigration customs enforcement has seen

trans women, immigrant trans woman as disposable. we see it through the ways they are placing trans women throughh administrativeve segregation a d alsoso denying them medical care and medical treatment. johana is just another example,, anotother extreme story of so mh loss in so much pain that someone has endured even n after the long and arduous journey of arriving to the border. johana left her hometown was so much hope in el salvador in her country, and she is so much hope for a better life, to live her life fulully come e authenticals a trans latina immigrant woman. a knowledge be met with violence at the border and discrimination -- and only to be met with violence at the border in the facility. juan: i'm wondering if you could talk of your experience with refugees who are trying to get into the united states, the one

a lesbianonduras, feminist organization, has estimated between 2013 and 2017, they found 34 cases of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans people who had been deported back to honduras and them were later killed. and what the situation is for a trans folklks, especially y in hohonduras in central america right now? c climate for transns people globally is alalarming. the level of violence e has alws existed. it has been recently studied and document a by the media. but being in the trans community and doing this work for so many years, during local immigrant rights work for trans people in san francisco, we always understood that the violence surrounds our daily lives. violence surrounds the community. in one of the main push factors and reasons why trans people migrate. --te people are seeking

while there seeking a better place to live their lives and to have a chance them have a possibility of what everyone else has, what everyone else is living in terms of their dreams come in terms of their having access to health care, having access to education, community. -- detention in immigration immigration's and hell-bent on denying basic human rights to our community. the phenomena of violence and murder is not a new thing. there's no uptick. it has always a grace -- existed. now there is the knowledge meant the reality is that central american tradespeople, queer, have faced ins their countries are the same experienced in mexico, asia, and all over the continent of africa. and so we understand the

violence is one of the main fafactors of why trans people ae marginalized, why trans people are placed in vulnerable situations where they have very limited choices. when you understand there is a systemic issue involved, when you get to the border of a right, and then your returned tok, people are still going find possibilities to exist and live. amy: a report released last month by the international consortium of investigative journalist revealed since 2012, ice has used solitary confinement as a routine punishment for thousands of immigrants andnd asylum seseekes locked up inin immigration jaias across the couryry. imimmigration officers r repeaty used isolation cells to punish gay, t transgender and d disabld immigrants for their identities. this is a clip from an nbc interview with two trans women who were held in isolation while in ice custody. in this clip you will hear from dulce rivera, a trans woman from honduras who was kept in

solitary for 11 months while in ice custody and attempted suicide. but joselin mendez, a trans first, woman from nicaragua who was put in solitary confinement twice for a total of nine days. ,> and while the truth is something i don't even wish on my worst enemy. it is horrible. i felt like i really did not know what was going to happen to me. i felt afraid. i felt i could not even breathe. and at the beginning, i began to's grain and scream. i told them, release me. i can't stand up. i am short of breath. >> i asked them for help i told and i need to see a psychologist. i need to see a psychologist. is the guardsned respond with no.

amy: there describing their experience in solitary. as we wrap up, i want to ask you about johana''s death. she was held in an all-male detention facility? if you could describe these facilities you have entered and seen and whahat you are cacallig for. >> i want to clear something up

also. i want to be very, very clear that immigration customs enforcement is responsible for the death of not just johana medina and roxoxana hernandez, t another womoman who was handcdcd to her bed p pleading for r here and was in hiv-positive trans woman. ice has to be held accountable for the deaths of these trans women and all the deaths that happen inside detention facilities and customs border patrol has to be held accountable for the deaths occurring at the border. , heher experience that she had at the otero facility, is one that exists -- and experience set exist in almost the 200 plus facilities that exist around the country. access to medical treatment t and babasic human digngnity, the waysys that trans women are classified by immigration customs informant -- enforcement does not aligngn wih

ouour community, dehumanizing us from thehe very beginning. immigration customs enfnforcemet doesesot make any excuses ababot that.. theyey're very y clear and adamt that trans people inside detention are e not human being and them demonstrated that time and time again. is one e r experience many t trans peoeople placed in- whether it is admininistrative segregation or with other in the mail housing units were sexual assault isis experienced and one of the highest levels for trans people. amy: isa noyola, zinke for being with us deputy director at , mijente, former deputy director at the transgender law center, and transgender and immigrant rights activist. speaking to us from phoenix, arizona. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we continue our conversation about the violence faced by transgender women by looking at the spate of killings of black trans women in the u.s. the body of 26-year-old chynal

lindsey was recovered saturday from a lake in northeast dallas. police said they are investigating her death as a homicide. she is the transgender black third woman killed in dallas since october, including the high-profile death of muhlaysia booker in may. another dallas trans woman was stabbed multiple times in april but survived. the city's police chief, u. renee hall, addressed the spate of violence in a news conference monday. >> > the dallas police departmet has reached out to the fbi becacause as w we know, this ise second individual who is transgenender who is deceased in our commumunity. we a are concerned, we are actively a and aggressivelyy investstigating this casase, ane hahave reacheded out to ouour fl partners t to assist us in these efforts. amy: the dallas police chief. trans rights activists say the violence in dallas is indicative of the larger threat to black transgender women. at least eight black trans women

have been murdered in the u.s. this year. according to the human rights campaign, at least 26 transgender murders were recorded last year although it's likely the actual number is much higher. the majority of those were black transgender women. for more, we are joined by ashlee marie preston, a media personality and civil rights activist. she made history as the first transgender editor in chief of a national publication, as well as the first openly trans person to run for state office in california. welcome to democracy now! thank you for joining us from los angeles. can you talk about this latest death in dallas? can you talk about what happened to chynal? >> i think what we're seeing is an ongoing trend of a lack of access for black trans women. i think there's a larger conversation that should be had around our experiences at the intersrsections ofof race, gend, and socioeconomic disparity..

what often happens is thatat blk trans women have difficult times obtaining employment, housing, legal aid, health care, social support, and anything that would set us up to thrive. so we're left to defend ourselves on the margins of society. dallas,t it appears, in she is just another who had to deal with that disparity by herself. abouti want to ask muhlaysia booker, a 23-year-old black transgender woman, who was fatally shot in dallas last month. the month before she was killed, a cellphone video of a crowd physically attacking booker as she lay on the ground made headlines. police say men in the video were shouting homophobic slurs at booker, who eventually got away with the help of a group of women. authorities say there is nothing connecting the perpetrator of last month's attack, edward thomas, to her shooting as of now. i'm wondering your thoughts?

> that is correct. i think going back to it, thiss is a systemic issue. i think oftentimes law enforcement addresses it as anan isolated incident, but the issue is really a lack of suppoport ad safety for black trans women. i can only speak from a first-person perspective, but i came from contact get 19 years old. i got a job. i transitioned on the job. i was fired because i was being harassed. i ended up becoming hohomeless. i was on the streetsts of hollywywood. i had doing g gauge in survivavl sex work and ended up using drugs as a social lubricant to be of a navigate everything i had to do in the name of survival. what i i noticed when i was on e streetets of holollywood is s tt wheneverer there would be dinh-zarr black women was on the uptick of violence, law enforcement as a means of helping us, what actually would

target us and we wouould be profililed and we face more violence while incarcerated for those of us -- so the issue is enforcement are looking at black trans women as women are breaking the law instead of looking at the laws that are breaking black trans women. opportunity for our federal, state, and local officials to be more intentional about implement policies that are going to serve black trans women. when you're looking at resources, if you are trying to attain employment, that is not going to help you if you have a hard time gaining access to housing. if you're trying to gain access to housing, that does not do anything for you if you're expressing interdepartmental violence. we need programs that are disenfranchisement at the same time. >> you started a campaign called thrive over 35.

can n you talk about what that ? >> it is an opportunity for us to reimagine our lives as blacak trans woman outside of a casket or a jail cell. willl what happens often we're talking about the deaths of black trans w wen, we arere caugught up in this trauma aroud how we die and it whose hands we die at. but it is an opportunity for us to take a look a and examine the bearers that place us in front of the barrel of the gun. the lack, i talk about of access to employment, the lack of f access to education fm the lack of accecess to health care, the lack of access to legal aid. i talk about the fact even in communities that have larger -- whenenin play like we are not seen as women, we don't have access to those movements. african-a-american community s sometimes come lgbtq issues are seen as secondary issues. so we don't have the protection their oftentimes. when we're looking at the

lgbtqia individuals, they use theieir sexual it is a shield to resolve themselves. so thrive over 35 is an opportunity for black trans women and brown trans woman to show up for ourselves and to be a beacon of hope of light for one another. it is an opportunity to engage our would be allies to figure out how they can do the work to help liberate us. amy: last month, the trump administration announced a change in hud policy that would allow homeless shelters and other facilities that receive federal housing money to deny access to transgender people. the rule also lets programs house transgender individuals alongside others of their birth sex, refusing to let them share fafacilities with people of the same gender identity. if you can comment on this and then what you feel is most important needs to happen to protect the trans community?

>> i think when we are looking at human rights, we have to realize that trans people are seen as less than human. that really broke my heart when i heard the story about hud and the trump admdministratation bee ththat is what happened to me wn i became homeless at 19 years old. women shelters were not exactlyy because of my assigned gender of birth. i was so desperate i was willing to be housed with men. i was that far in the gutter. ms. shelters tramiel way because i obviously read female. i think what it is going t to rerequire from our government ad our state and locacal officialss an intentionality to show -- don't just give us the scraps that fall from the table of some of these other programs, but t e intetentional about showing up r black trans women. there is an opportunity for us to create a task force. in california there's a task force ththat addresses homelessness. it looks at the different homelessto accccess the people have.

we need to do that o on the federal level foror black trans women. it is one of the main reasons why endorsed presidential candidate elizabeth warren because she is one of the few candidates who are actually breaking down all of those needs and tackling them head on. we don't need more officials in office who are going to be intellectually lazy. we need officials who are going to do the workrk, lean more into the nuance instead of the noise, and are going to ask the community directly impacted what it is we need to stay alive to grow strong and thrive. amy: ashlee marie preston, thank you for being with us, civil rights activist, media personality. she made history as the first transgender editor in chief of a national publication as well as the first openly trans person to run for state office in california. thank you so much for being with us. that does it for our show. our condolences to our democracy now! cololleague john randolph n ththe death of his father robert randolph. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693

new york, new york 10013.

you're watching nhk "newsline." chrysler automobiles announced it's withdrawing its proposal to merge with french automaker renault. it would create the world's third largest carmaker. chrysler announced it