Molly O'Toole
@mollymotoole
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Journalist. Book on global migration through Americas @crownpublishing Then: Migration & security @latimes 2020 Pulitzer Forever Californian. mollymotoole @gmail
Washington, DC
Joined January 2010
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Pinned Tweet
Still stunned. Had to check again that it's real.
Congratulations to
@thisamericanlife
,
@mollymotoole
,
@emilytgreen
,
@latimes
and
@vicenews
.
#Pulitzer
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says he 'thanked' the president, but told him: "A posture of a force on the ground is unsustainable militarily, it's unsustainable socially because it’s the antitheses of how we live"
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US Border Patrol touted agents 'rescue' of a Honduran woman who just gave birth. Didn't mention that hours later, they separated them, & with newborn still in San Antonio NICU, drove mom hours away to Eagle Pass, where they're detaining her. Read
@latimes
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The president blames Democrats for the deaths of two children in US custody in 3 weeks, though a child hadn’t died in custody in the previous decade, and the GOP controlled both chambers of Congress.
Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally. They can’t. If we had a Wall, they wouldn’t even try! The two.....
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Just crossed Darién Gap w/500 migrants from across world. Saw best & worst of humanity but mostly humanity. 23yo diabetic died—no insulin. Wife,toddler & rest had to bury him in mud & go on. Dehumanizing policies distract from failure to meet challenge of our time: Refugee planet
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THIS IS NOT THE TIME
*U.S. TO SET ADDITIONAL TARIFFS ON IRISH, SCOTCH WHISKIES
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Exclusive: The Marine Corps commandant warned the Pentagon that deployments to the SW border and funding transfers to border security, among other unexpected demands, have posed “unacceptable risk to Marine Corps combat readiness and solvency.”
@latimes
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“Imagine if you were a passenger on the Titanic, then, after the ship hit the iceberg, you handcuffed yourself to the railing and threw the key into the ocean,” Weaver said. “That’s the danger for them; they’ve handcuffed themselves to this man, to Trump.”
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Amanda awoke from surgery, chained to a hospital bed. The 28-year-old immediately asked a nurse: “Do I still have ovaries? Can I still have kids?”| 19 women allege medical abuse in Georgia immigration detention
@latimes
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This is a fact constantly omitted from media coverage: Seeking asylum is a right under U.S. law, regardless of how you arrived at or crossed the border. Asylum is *legal* migration. That’s it. That’s the law.
Asylum seekers in New York City are here LEGALLY.
If migrants are in imminent danger, they have the right under U.S. law to seek asylum here.
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A mother and son separated by the Trump administration meet again — finally
@bgirledukate
@theCindyCarcamo
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HHS Secretary
@XavierBecerra
(former Attorney General of California) says unaccompanied minors now being held in
@CBP
custody for ave. of less than 1 day
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Friend texts: "Are you staying safe during the national emergency?"
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This is a lie.
@josie_huang
published her own cell phone videos in which she is yelling she is a reporter and her affiliation, and law enforcement says back to her “reporter” as she screams in pain. Other videos show credential on neck. Record should be corrected at the least.
(3/3) The female adult, who was later identified as a member of the press, did not identify herself as press and later admitted she did not have proper press credentials on her person. Both individuals have been arrested for 148 P.C.
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Washington, D.C. in front of White House as President-Elect Joe Biden set to take stage in Delaware:
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Dear bookers: There are many immigration experts, lawyers, reporters, & dare I say it, immigrants themselves! who you can ask to come on your show, which, like it or not, shapes public opinion & policy. You have a fundamental obligation to get it right & no excuse to get it wrong
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Biden administration to give temporary protected status to thousands of Venezuelans in U.S. w/
@TracyKWilkinson
@latimes
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Every story written about Title 42 today should include the line: Seeking asylum is a right under US law. (There is no guarantee-legal or otherwise-an asylum seeker will get it.) It is absolutely necessary for accuracy; to exclude is inaccurate, & irresponsible. That is the law
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‘Betrayed’ Black asylum seekers say Trump administration is ramping up deportations by force and fraud with
@andreamcastillo
@latimes
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“To be honest, it’s not a wall.” EXCLUSIVE: John Kelly’s exit interview as Trump’s embattled White House Chief of Staff - Los Angeles Times
@latimes
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Absolutely stunned, immensely proud & eternally grateful to
@latimes
@ThisAmerLife
& all the brave asylum officers for this now Pulitzer-winning collaboration "The Out Crowd"
1st-ever in audio reporting W/
@nadiareiman
@emilytgreen
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The 92% drop in legal immigration to US in 2nd half FY2020 is larger than "during any single year in American history"-Larger than start of WWI, Congress closing legal immigration from Europe in 1925, Great Depression & U.S. entering WWII:
@CatoInstitute
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This is a HUGE deal and something the Pentagon has resisted for years in fight to end military sexual assault: Defense Secretary Austin has recommended to
@POTUS
"removing the prosecution of sexual assaults and related crimes from the military chain of command"
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“There are a lot of cases I’m going to have to deny that I’ll feel sick over.” | Immigration judges are quitting or retiring early -- because of Trump
@mollyhf
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Some personal news: After fronting thousands in reporting costs & long delays in meager pay from major pubs (you know who you are) as a freelance foreign correspondent, I have finally paid off my credit card bill. For other debt-ridden journalists, readers & eds-news isn't free.
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What can even be said? I'm sorry
@latimes
colleagues, & I'm sorry for California & national & international readers. If you want there to be *any* strong journalistic institutions west of the Mississippi, if you want journalism to survive, Pay. For. Your. News. *People* make it.
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NOTE: If you're covering situation at border & not mentioning Title 42, you're leaving out that ~80% of that "surge" is being quickly expelled & that up to 1/3 are repeat crossers-ie, double counted. Not to mention that asylum access is U.S. law.
@latimes
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Will finish the sentence for you: “through ports of entry.”
Heroin alone kills 300 Americans each week. And 90% of that heroin crosses our Southern Border.
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It only took Doug Stephens 2 days & 5 interviews to decide he was done implementing Remain in Mexico, Trump’s most successful policy to restrict asylum. He’s believed to be the 1st asylum officer in the country to refuse.
@latimes
@ThisAmerLife
exclusive:
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“The President has survived one impeachment, twenty-six accusations of sexual misconduct, and an estimated four thousand lawsuits. That run of good luck may well end, perhaps brutally, if Joe Biden wins.” Trump Can’t Afford to Lose
@JaneMayerNYer
of course
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Reminder: Under US law, migrants have right to claim asylum, at border, however they cross. (Ports of entry closed almost exclusively to asylum seekers under “public health” since March ‘20, and effectively long before that-MPP, metering. Some have waited years to do “right way”)
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Reporters should ask senators to define border security (they don’t; they can’t). Reporters & senators should state fact asylum is right under U.S. law (they don’t). Few reporters or lawmakers understand asylum, immigration law, border (they could; they won’t). Public disservice.
Please understand this: Republicans are refusing to accept billions of dollars in *actual border security money,* in part because it doesn't include cuts to *legal* immigration.
No press account should credulously describe what Rs are demanding as "border security."
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Least surprising conclusion, but still shocking: Biden admin expected to release Thursday* declassified US intel report finding that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
@Reuters
citing 4 officials
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Three Minneapolis police at scene of George Floyd’s death will face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder, & charges for former officer Derek Chauvin elevated to second-degree murder, State Atty. Gen. Keith Ellison said. "He should be here."
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This. Story. Is. Wild.
@latimes
O.C. man masquerading for years as federal agent pulled over motorists, obtained guns, feds allege (also underscores how many people don't know what ICE HSI does)
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EXCLUSIVE: In court & 40+ interviews w/current & former US & Mexican officials, judges, lawyers, advocates, & asylum seekers, from San Diego to Juarez,
@latimes
has found that DHS officials implementing "Remain in Mexico" appear to be violating US law. 1/
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A 21-yr-old Guatemalan asylum seeker may lose his hands after suffering severe frostbite in the historic winter storm in Texas. Border Patrol guarding his hospital room told him he’d be removed as soon as he’s discharged, under Trump policy Biden has kept
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Michael Chertoff, 2nd DHS secretary, said long-term effect of mob insurrection is fed investigators will have to approach these radical factions of Trump supporters “like they would any other domestic terrorism group” & focus on intelligence gathering to prevent more attacks 7/
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Incredibly significant: Video appearing to show Guatemala health official saying deportation flight from US had between 50-75% of people test COVID-19+ -given
@ICEgov
packs flights, 100+ people *one flight* would be nearly as many cases as ICE has confirmed in custody *right now*
Según el ministro de Salud, Hugo Monroy, entre el 50 y 75% de deportados ha dado positivo a covid-19. Solicitaron a EE. UU. enviarlos con un certificado médico.
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At the Pentagon renewing my press badge. Guy in badge office loudly insisting to coworker 9/11 attacks never happened. So this is where we are now.
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"Mr. Barr’s authorization prompted the Justice Department official who oversees investigations of voter fraud, Richard Pilger, to step down from the post within hours, according to an email Mr. Pilger sent to colleagues"
@nytimes
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Note how some publications cover the EU or other European borders like this, but not the U.S.-Mexico border, where it “runs contrary to” both international law and U.S. law (pictured:
@washingtonpost
)
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EXCLUSIVE: Border Patrol agents are interviewing families for credible fear instead of asylum officers for 1st time, deploying to US largest immigrant family detention facility & expanding WH push for Border Patrol to take over key asylum step
@latimes
1/
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U.S. officials are fighting in court to take the three children from their father and deport them to El Salvador — to no one. | Family separation returns under cover of coronavirus
@latimes
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House Homeland Security Committee to
@latimes
- DHS did not notify committee on migrant girl's death, as required by law.
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Acting CBP chief Morgan complains media doesn't talk about rescues. Critics say "rescues" aren't at all. Ex: Lawyer tells me Honduran mom who gave birth in field in US *yesterday* is in detention today, separated from sick baby in NICU 2hrs away, at risk of removal. She's in MPP.
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Some news: Many thanks
@latimes
for leave to teach
@Cornell
on immigration politics & policy as a 'Distinguished Visiting Journalist' (following
@marclacey
) I'll also be working on a book! on migration route thru the Americas to border for global refugees
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@HomelandKen
Ken-happy to talk, as many requests attest. (Standing interview invite.) If I may: Why are you using gov account to question objectivity of a (Pulitzer winning) journalist expressing support for one of best reporters informing public (who DHS employees entrust w/whistleblowing)?
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In prepared remarks in 1998, during Clinton impeachment, Turley warned: “Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker; it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto itself” ( h/t
@Susan_Hennessey
)
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@latimes
ALSO: CBP appears to have gotten the date wrong. The Honduran mother could've only given birth on the night of Wednesday, Oct. 7, which would mean CBP also provided the hospital with the incorrect birth date. Waiting for the correction from CBP.
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Your (frequent) reminder: Asylum at the border and refugee status are not same thing; not adjudicated by same officials; US has the strictest refugee vetting program in the world; & as result any change to that program or process can have years-long impacts despite imminent harm.
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Amazing, heartbreaking, and necessary work by
@BuzzFeed
- especially to get these records. Then share them. | Here Are Thousands Of Documents About Immigrants Who Died in ICE Custody
@KendallTTaggart
@Haleaziz
@JasonLeopold
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“No, I am not giving up. I still have hope that I will get some form of justice.” | 19 women allege medical abuse in Georgia immigration detention
@latimes
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“One thing we can know for sure is that Yosemite is enduring,” he added. “It was here before us, and will remain after we leave.” Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park
@latimes
With beautiful photography by
@Carolyn_Cole
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There's a lot going on in the world right now. This is also an important story from
@latimes
tonight: Both Mexican & Guatemalan officials say they weren't consulted & don't agree with US plan to send Mexicans seeking asylum in the US to Guatemala instead:
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Must-read, incredibly unsettling story by the indefatigable
@sarahdwire
-> Jan. 6 rioters exploited little-known Capitol weak spots: A handful of unreinforced windows
@latimes
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Some news: I’ve made the tough decision to leave
@latimes
after 4+yrs, to focus on book
@CrownPublishing
As a Californian, I'm so proud to have worked for this paper. Eternal thanks to my incredible colleagues-esp DC bureau!-& as always, people who share their stories with me 1/
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Don't know who needs to hear this, but, one more time: You can't apply for asylum "from your home country." Outside the country = refugee status. At the border = asylum. Don't like it? Change the law. Maybe restore the refugee program. But barring asylum at the border is illegal.
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“What would this president do over the next days if it happens again — if a domestic or foreign enemy attacks any element of this country? I don’t get the impression he would do a damn thing, and I find that to be alarming.” -Tom Bossert, former Trump homeland security advisor 2/
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Obsessed for years, & now it's a book & it's real - "'The Route,' a narrative of the new migrant underground, a deadly gauntlet for refugees from around the world" running through the Americas, for
@CrownPublishing
@penguinrandom
- Eternal thanks
@kevindoughten
Laurie &
@latimes
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A great journalist and mentor told me once that the best journalists are the ones that care too much, not too little. We are so lucky to do this job, but we don’t talk enough about how hard it is. Relatedly, I’m off through December, and taking a Twitter hiatus. See you in 2021!
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The writing scrawled on the door says "Murder the media."
People were just allowed to leave? After forcing their way into a federal building, damaging federal property, ignoring law enforcement, and jeopardizing the safety of lawmakers, staff and the press?
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Note: Trump heads to Yuma today to tout "200 miles of new wall." After 4yrs & ~$15b in fed funding, he has replaced ~180mi outdated/dilapidated fencing-because of ~657 total mi of barrier on border today, 654 built by predecessors (mostly Obama). Trump has added only 3 new mi.
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ICE blames asylum seeker who died after custody, says "illegally" entered w/"unscreened"condition-but ICE also said she presented at port of entry, a *legal* entry, and passed credible fear interview. Asylum is not illegal. ICE should correct the record.
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As I scramble to do my taxes from my year freelancing abroad, a question: Is there any *legal* reason why I shouldn't publicly call out a major magazine that owes me more than $4k for a cover story that published almost 4 months ago?
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The most basic fact of the matter: You cannot "shut down" the U.S.-Mexico border (Why? Reality. As well as: law, sovereignty, economy, geography, *cost*, foreign policy, humanity, etc etc etc), and anyone who says they can is lying.
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Refugee vetting "is as close to a security scrub as getting a higher-degree, secret-level clearance in the US gov”
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President Trump’s role in inciting a deadly siege on the Capitol has given new urgency to a question that has been building throughout his presidency: Is he a security threat to the very country he was elected to lead? w/
@Noahbierman
@latimes
(Thread)
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As a native Californian, I'm thrilled & honored to join
@latimes
Washington Bureau to cover immigration. I love this beat, & I know how important it is - please reach out, for now, at mollymotoole
@gmail
.com. Educate me. Challenge me. Make me better. I can't wait to get started.
Delighted to announce three great additions to the LA Times Washington Bureau:
@hookjan
who will cover politics (of course),
@mollymotoole
on immigration and
@annamphillips
on the environment. Terrific added talent for our growing staff.
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"Forty-five minutes later, more than four hours after being locked inside, I was permitted to leave. There was only one place for me to go.
I headed upstairs back in the gallery — to chronicle history." My hero
@sarahdwire
@latimes
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WASHINGTON - Just blocks from the White House, Carolyn West said of Kamala Harris’s historic election as the first woman vice president, and the first woman of color, “It means everything.”
“The foundation of this country was built on Black women.”
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Biden picks Alejandro Mayorkas for DHS secretary, 1st Latino to lead one of federal gov's largest depts -Cuban American, main architect of DACA and Cuba thaw, former USCIS chief. Faces DHS embattled by vacancies and politicization under Trump's obsession with punishing migrants
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Initially
@SenFeinstein
says she was against impeaching Trump because "the people should judge" in 2020-"that still is my view" Says hasn't made up mind, serious questions about Trump's "character"-but the fact that she's even a maybe on ultimate acquittal vote pretty interesting
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Thulani Fuhr, 8, said he was in a Zoom Spanish class when he first heard that former Vice President Joe Biden had won.
“I was super excited and I was dancing with my Mom and Dad,” he said from behind his tiger mask. “Because Biden won and I am for Biden - he’s a good person.”
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.
@SecNielsen
is disingenuous. They are separating families after people have claimed asylum at ports of entry. I was just in TJ last week, and others who'd tried to go through port of entry to claim asylum had waited 6+ months, number never being called, starting over, etc. (1/)
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"The first time that an MS-13 member has been charged with terrorism-related offenses" per
@TheJusticeDept
- an interesting case AG Barr is at the WH to tout with Trump today
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Biden WH is bad on access & transparency on immigration & border. But holding up Trump WH as some kind of shining ex is laughable. Officials routinely lied, threatened, bullied, blacklisted-remember when freelancers crossing border harassed & detained? Talk. To. Beat. Reporters.
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For years I've obsessed over this resurrection. But there's a larger, darker truth: Saudi Arabia's modernization push relies on a system akin to modern slavery that reduces South Asian workers to expendable, indistinguishable bodies. PLEASE read
@latimes
!
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.
@SecNielsen
puts out a “Myth vs Fact” sheet that starts with - “The threat is real. The number of terror-watchlisted encountered at our Southern Border has increased over the last two years. The exact number is sensitive and details about these cases are extremely sensitive.” 1/
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Scenes from in front of the White House Saturday afternoon, where Trump hadn’t yet returned after learning while at a golf course that he’d lost his re-election bid to former Vice President Joe Biden.
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*And I could not have done it without the help of many others, most of all the indefatigable
@Villaloncarlos
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Nepal, squeezed between India and China, exports more workers per capita than any other country in Asia, many to the Gulf. In recent years, remittances from wages earned abroad have represented up to a third of Nepal's GDP — the most of any country in the world. 5/
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I respond to a critical reader: "Thanks for reading The Los Angeles Times." I get back: "You contribute to the homeless drug addicted epidemic. You stupid vapid ignorant cunt." I post this so people understand what women journalists face. Meanwhile, I'll just keep doing my job.
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Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Rudy Giuliani thinks now is a very good time to continue his crusade & uncover evidence to refute impeachment: “like a good lawyer, I am gathering evidence to defend my client against the false charges” per
@nytimes
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This is sad news for anyone interested in accountability and hard-hitting investigative journalism, which should be, well, everyone.
@BuzzFeed
investigative team has done amazing work - and to say
@JasonLeopold
is FOIA (unachievable) goals
BuzzFeed News is dismantling our award-winning investigations team. So this is my last investigative project for the newsroom. I hope you'll give it a read and share it. I think our findings are pretty damning and worthy of your time.
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A rare moment of bipartisanship in Washington tonight: Mike Flynn has been fired by two presidents, Democrat and Republican.
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Trump "can sign whatever executive orders he likes. ...We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America."
@SenJohnMcCain
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But many never come home. Of the millions of Nepalis who have gone overseas for work in the last decade, roughly 7,500 have died. More than 2,000 Nepalese laborers have died in Saudi Arabia alone, roughly one every two days. 6/
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Biden picks Los Angeles's own Alejandro Mayorkas for Homeland Security secretary - the Cuban American former federal prosecutor in California and Berkeley grad would be the first Latino and immigrant to serve in the Cabinet post:
@latimes
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Allowing myself one 2020 take, having covered nat'sec & immigration before & since 2016: President Trump is *lying.* We need to examine our hesitance to say so for 5 years+ now, & apparent inability to understand why it doesn't in fact matter to significant swaths of this country
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.
@HillaryClinton
election night event in New York, jumbo screen has stopped showing results.
#2016
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Congrats LA! … Can San Diego have the Chargers back now, please?
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“It’s too bad I wasn’t born here, Papa.” “There’s nothing we can do about that,” he replied. “Don’t give up.” | For more than 65,000 young people, being blocked from DACA has forever changed the trajectory of their lives. W/
@theCindyCarcamo
@latimes
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Pauline can never forget what the doctor told her when she came out of anesthesia: “He cut it out & I wouldn’t have kids naturally any more.” He'd removed one of her fallopian tubes without consent. | Women allege abuse in GA immigration detention
@latimes
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“I certainly was not surprised at what he said — that’s him. I am surprised that American citizens took that to mean we can go to the Capitol and kick in doors and urinate on the House floor.” -John Kelly, ret. 4-star Gen., former Trump chief of staff & 1st Trump DHS secretary 3/
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“I think about these people all the time ... the ones that I sent back,” the asylum officer said. “I hope they’re alive.” | Trump officials appear to violate law in race to remove 37,578 asylum seekers to Mexico - Read
@latimes
exclusive investigation
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Former Trump DHS acting secretary McAleenan speaks: 'The alleged plot in Michigan isn’t an anomaly. The domestic terrorism threat is rising.'
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