News & Commentary

A federal judge in Hawaii stepped in on Thursday night to stop the Trump administration from enforcing its irrational interpretation of the Supreme Court’s order that allowed a limited part of the ban on individuals from six Muslim-majority countries to go into effect.Judge Derrick Watson rejected the government’s effort to prevent grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, and other close relatives of people in the United States from entering the country, describing the administration’s cramped view as the “antithesis of common sense.” He also directed the government to honor what has been clear from the day the Supreme Court issued its order: that thousands of refugees already have a bona fide relationship with U.S.-based resettlement organizations. This ruling will make an enormous practical difference for tens of thousands of families. Two federal appeals courts have found that large portions of the current ban on refugees and n

In 1991, I fled my home in Somalia to escape the civil war there. After nine years of living in uncertainty as a refugee in Yemen, I won a lottery to immigrate to America. I couldn’t believe my luck. I couldn’t stop smiling. It was confusing in the beginning. I didn’t understand English or basic customs

Despite requesting a staggering amount of sensitive data from every registered voter in the country, Donald Trump’s Election Integrity Commission intends to hold its next meeting behind closed doors, where the same registered voters will not be able to participate. That’s illegal, so yesterday the ACLU sued the president’s election commission under a federal law designed to ensure public accountability of advisory committees. Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the commission is required to make all meetings open t

Lieutenant Commander Joshua Corney, an active duty naval officer who lives in rural Pennsylvania, returned from combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan with a promise. As he settled back into life stateside, he wanted to offer a meaningful tribute to his fellow service members — especially those who never had the chance to come home. So, in 2015, he started playing a recording of taps — a military bugle call most often heard at su

This piece originally appeared online at The New York Times. Last Wednesday, Kris Kobach, the secretary of state of Kansas and the vice chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, wrote a letter to all 50 states, requesting that they send the commission the personal information of all registered voters. This includes full names, birth dates, addresses, poli

This piece originally appeared on The Houston Chronicle.  A year ago, as the Republican Party was preparing to head to its convention in Cleveland to officially nominate Donald T

Shortly after the Supreme Court decided that the government could proceed with a very limited part of President Trump’s Muslim ban, the Department of Homeland Security announced that its implementation would “be done professionally, with clear and sufficient public notice, particularly to potentially affected travelers.” Unfortunately, clarity is a far cry from what has unfolded. The Supreme Court on Monday decided it would review the executive order thi

For more than a year after 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times in 14 seconds on a Chicago street by Officer Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago Police Department claimed that McDonald had been assaulting officers Van Dyke, Joseph Walsh, and Thomas Gaffney, forcing Van Dyke to step in and kill him. The police report stated that McDonald was lunging toward Van Dyke with a knife when Van Dyke shot him, and that Van Dyke, Walsh, and Gaffney were “victims” of McDonald. Detective David March, who was assigned to investigate the shooting immediately after it occurred, ultimately deemed it justified. I would say it was the ultimate betrayal of the trust between the police and the communities they are supposed to protect, but that betrayal happens every day in this nation when police kill unarmed Black men. “Do you actually think the police got together and made this up?” This is the rhetorical question p

For more than a year after 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times in 14 seconds on a Chicago street by Officer Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago Police Department claimed that McDonald had been assaulting officers Van Dyke, Joseph Walsh, and Thomas Gaffney, forcing Van Dyke to step in and kill him. The police report stated that McDonald was lunging toward Van Dyke with a knife when Van Dyke shot him, and that Van Dyke, Walsh, and Gaffney were “victims” of McDonald. Detective David March, who was assigned to investigate the shooting immediately after it occurred, ultimately deemed it justified. I would say it was the ultimate betrayal of the trust between the police and the communities they are supposed to protect, but that betrayal happens every day in this nation when police kill unarmed Black men. “Do you actually think the police got together and made this up?” This is the