Mackenzie Walz  //  10/24/18  //  Daily Update

The DOJ is planning to propose a change to immigration proceedings that would allow the Attorney General to rule on cases before they are heard by the Board of Immigration Appeals. TSA’s proposal to use facial recognition surveillance technology at airports “is not good news for privacy and civil liberties” as it could easily spread to other government agencies. Taking its first step to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced that the US will revoke the visas of the men accused of the murder. The Administration’s new practice of asking the partisan affiliation of judicial candidates to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals has some concerned judges are being selected based on partisanship rather than qualifications. The US Cyber Command has begun its first cyber operation against Russian election interference by informing Russian operatives their activities have been identified and are being tracked.

IMMIGRATION

The DOJ is planning to propose a change to immigration proceedings that would allow the Attorney General to rule on cases before they are heard by the Board of Immigration Appeals (The Hill).

DEMOCRACY

Protect Democracy and Yale MFIA brought a lawsuit on behalf of PEN America against the President for First Amendment violations (AP, Politico, WaPo).

CIVIL RIGHTS

TSA’s proposal to use facial recognition surveillance technology at airports “is not good news for privacy and civil liberties” as it could easily spread to other government agencies, argues Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst at the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.

JUSTICE & SAFETY 

Taking its first step to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced that the US will revoke the visas of the men accused of the murder (WaPo).

While it may be important to increase our presence in space, President Trump’s proposed Space Force plan “will be an expensive, rushed intensification of the militarization of space,” argues Charles Tiefer, a professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

President Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the INF Treaty and subsequent threat to build the US nuclear arsenal has generated international conversations and concerns (CNN).

• The Administration’s choice to withdraw rather than first exhaust diplomatic options to ensure compliance is short-sighted, argue John Glaser and Eric Gomez at the Cato Institute.
• Elbridge Colby at the Washington Post claims the US was suffering from unilateral compliance and the Administration was right to withdraw.

RULE OF LAW

The Administration’s new practice of asking the partisan affiliation of judicial candidates to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals has some concerned judges are being selected based on partisanship rather than qualifications (WaPo).

The Trump Administration has bypassed the traditional Appellate procedure by seeking extraordinary relief from the Supreme Court more often than previous administrations (WaPo).

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

The Special Counsel’s recent indictment of a Russian national for her alleged role in Russia’s attempted election interference demonstrates that the Administration is not doing enough to hold Russia accountable and prevent future interference (The Hill). 

The US Cyber Command has begun its first cyber operation against Russian election interference by informing Russian operatives their activities have been identified and are being tracked (NYT).

• Experts are split over whether this will be an effective deterrent (WaPo).

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