Latest news with #CouncilonAmerican-IslamicRelations
San Francisco Chronicle
16 hours ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F. ‘emergency protest' condemns ICE raids, U.S. support for Israel
Hundreds of people protested the prospect of a U.S. war with Iran and voiced support for immigrants in the U.S. and Palestinians in Gaza during a rally Friday evening outside the federal building in San Francisco's South of Market. The protest outside the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building, which drew about 200 people at its peak, was organized by a coalition of activist groups, including Bay Resistance, the Answer Coalition and the Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The escalating tensions between Israel and Iran were a major focus of Friday's protest. President Trump said Thursday he will decide within two weeks whether the U.S. military will strike back at Tehran. Tensions initially soared last Friday with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear and military sites, military leaders and nuclear scientists. 'As the U.S. escalates aggression on Iran — backing Israeli strikes and pushing for war — it exposes its imperialist playbook: defend Zionism, crush resistance. From Gaza to Tehran, the U.S. fuels war and genocide to maintain control,' organizers said in promoting the event, billed as an 'emergency protest.' The protest featured several speakers and closed the block around the federal building at Seventh and Mission streets, with many protesters chanting, 'Free, free Palestine.' Bay Area protests against Israel's war with Hamas have cooled in recent months, though activists have found new energy since Trump retook office in January. Last Saturday's No Kings Day protests drew tens of thousands of people to events in dozens of Bay Area cities decrying Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids nationwide. Weeks earlier, demonstrations against Tesla CEO Elon Musk drew huge crowds to the vehicle's showrooms across the Bay Area condemning the onetime Trump ally, whose relationship with the president has cooled in recent weeks. 'At home, the war continues through ICE raids, family separations, and repression of migrants — all part of the same violent system,' the organizers said. 'We reject this imperialist war machine and stand with all people resisting Zionism and U.S. domination.'
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Daywatch: How Illinois officials are reacting to Trump's travel ban
Good morning, Chicago. Chicago immigration advocates and politicians condemned a looming Trump administration travel ban that would bar or restrict travelers from 19 countries, a reprisal and expansion of a similar policy that was fiercely protested across the country during the president's first term. U.S. Rep. Jesús 'Chuy' García lambasted the ban, which is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, while accusing President Donald Trump of using the restrictions as a political diversion tactic. 'This travel ban won't make America safer or greater — instead it will isolate us and make people believe they have something to fear,' he posted on the social media site X. 'It's a distraction from the corruption of the Trump Administration.' The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations decried the travel ban as 'ideologically motivated, overbroad and unnecessary,' arguing it was signed under a false pretext of protecting national security. Read the full story from the Tribune's Angie Leventis Lourgos. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including what led to a flameout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, which Illinois hospitals may soon offer a lower level of trauma care and the iconic piece from 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' that is up for auction. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History A Chicago police officer was shot and killed during an armed confrontation in a Chatham apartment last night, authorities said. The officer, part of a tactical team in the Gresham (6th) District, was trying to conduct an investigatory stop on a person believed to have a weapon around 9:50 p.m. near the intersection of East 82nd Street and South Drexel Avenue, police Superintendent Larry Snelling said. Maybe it was always going to end this way, with two billionaires angrily posting about each other on social media, fingers flying across pocket-sized screens as their incandescent feud burned hotter by the minute. But even if the finale was predictable, that didn't make it any less shocking. After long months when Donald Trump and Elon Musk appeared united in their chaotic mission to remake Washington, their relationship imploded this week like a star going supernova. A jury found a man guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins as he tried to protect his pregnant mother, ending the trial with a quick verdict after the brutal 2024 attack put a spotlight on protections for domestic violence victims and spurred new legislation. The Chicago Board of Education has narrowed its list for the interim schools' chief down to three candidates in recent days, one of whom faced negligence allegations as a principal, according to documents obtained by the Tribune through the Freedom of Information Act. Prime Healthcare may ask the state for permission to offer lower-level trauma care at three of the eight Illinois hospitals it bought early this year, compared with what those hospitals were providing before the sale, Prime said in a letter sent to U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth this week. A county caseworker accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death and severely wounding two of her sons in February had been placed on desk duty at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center after he allegedly threatened to kill the same woman two months earlier, police records show. Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark said she remains day to day with a left quadriceps strain and will be re-evaluated this weekend after the team's game against the Chicago Sky tomorrow at the United Center. Chicago Sky's Kamilla Cardoso held out of practice with shoulder soreness ahead of United Center game Mr. Hockey has hit 90, but he's still not ready to put his love for the sport on ice. Paul Hruby, whose impact on hockey in Oak Park has been so significant that the ice arena at the Ridgeland Common Recreation Center was named after him in 2007, began his ninth decade of life on May 31. He has worked for the Park District of Oak Park in some capacity for 62 years, teaching and coaching hockey and getting people comfortable in their skates. Few films have done more to cement the city of Chicago's reputation in American culture than 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' the 1986 teen comedy classic that follows Ferris and his two friends as they skip school in the suburbs to explore everything the Windy City has to offer. Now, 40 years after cameras first rolled, an iconic piece of the film's wardrobe is jumping off the screen and into one lucky fan's closet. Revisiting 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' filming locations 40 years later Elizabeth McGovern, the American actress best known for playing Lady Cora in the British TV and movie franchise 'Downton Abbey,' will star in a show headed to Chicago that is based series of real-life interviews given by the Hollywood actress Ava Gardner. Mike Carson made the backdrops for school plays. He also ran the lights. He played football at Plainfield North High School, but at heart, he was a theater kid. As a child, his parents often took him to Chicago theater. That stuck in surprising ways. So much so, you are familiar with Mike Carson's work even if you don't know him by name, or thought of that work as theatrical. Carson, now the creative director at pgLang in Los Angeles, is one of Kendrick Lamar's longtime production designers and creative partners. If you're headed to Solider Field this week to see 'The Grand National Tour' featuring Lamar and SZA, know this: a lot of what you'll see is Mike Carson's ongoing collaboration with Lamar and Dave Free, childhood friends who cofounded pgLang in 2020 as an arts incubator. Also around the area this weekend, a big prize for fastest dinosaur at the Field Museum and a busy weekend at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park.
Chicago Tribune
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: How Illinois officials are reacting to Trump's travel ban
Good morning, Chicago. Chicago immigration advocates and politicians condemned a looming Trump administration travel ban that would bar or restrict travelers from 19 countries, a reprisal and expansion of a similar policy that was fiercely protested across the country during the president's first term. U.S. Rep. Jesús 'Chuy' García lambasted the ban, which is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, while accusing President Donald Trump of using the restrictions as a political diversion tactic. 'This travel ban won't make America safer or greater — instead it will isolate us and make people believe they have something to fear,' he posted on the social media site X. 'It's a distraction from the corruption of the Trump Administration.' The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations decried the travel ban as 'ideologically motivated, overbroad and unnecessary,' arguing it was signed under a false pretext of protecting national security. Read the full story from the Tribune's Angie Leventis Lourgos. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including what led to a flameout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, which Illinois hospitals may soon offer a lower level of trauma care and the iconic piece from 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' that is up for auction. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History A Chicago police officer was shot and killed during an armed confrontation in a Chatham apartment last night, authorities said. The officer, part of a tactical team in the Gresham (6th) District, was trying to conduct an investigatory stop on a person believed to have a weapon around 9:50 p.m. near the intersection of East 82nd Street and South Drexel Avenue, police Superintendent Larry Snelling said. Maybe it was always going to end this way, with two billionaires angrily posting about each other on social media, fingers flying across pocket-sized screens as their incandescent feud burned hotter by the minute. But even if the finale was predictable, that didn't make it any less shocking. After long months when Donald Trump and Elon Musk appeared united in their chaotic mission to remake Washington, their relationship imploded this week like a star going supernova. A jury found a man guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins as he tried to protect his pregnant mother, ending the trial with a quick verdict after the brutal 2024 attack put a spotlight on protections for domestic violence victims and spurred new legislation. The Chicago Board of Education has narrowed its list for the interim schools' chief down to three candidates in recent days, one of whom faced negligence allegations as a principal, according to documents obtained by the Tribune through the Freedom of Information Act. Prime Healthcare may ask the state for permission to offer lower-level trauma care at three of the eight Illinois hospitals it bought early this year, compared with what those hospitals were providing before the sale, Prime said in a letter sent to U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth this week. A county caseworker accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death and severely wounding two of her sons in February had been placed on desk duty at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center after he allegedly threatened to kill the same woman two months earlier, police records show. Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark said she remains day to day with a left quadriceps strain and will be re-evaluated this weekend after the team's game against the Chicago Sky tomorrow at the United Center. Mr. Hockey has hit 90, but he's still not ready to put his love for the sport on ice. Paul Hruby, whose impact on hockey in Oak Park has been so significant that the ice arena at the Ridgeland Common Recreation Center was named after him in 2007, began his ninth decade of life on May 31. He has worked for the Park District of Oak Park in some capacity for 62 years, teaching and coaching hockey and getting people comfortable in their skates. Few films have done more to cement the city of Chicago's reputation in American culture than 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' the 1986 teen comedy classic that follows Ferris and his two friends as they skip school in the suburbs to explore everything the Windy City has to offer. Now, 40 years after cameras first rolled, an iconic piece of the film's wardrobe is jumping off the screen and into one lucky fan's closet. Elizabeth McGovern, the American actress best known for playing Lady Cora in the British TV and movie franchise 'Downton Abbey,' will star in a show headed to Chicago that is based series of real-life interviews given by the Hollywood actress Ava Gardner. Mike Carson made the backdrops for school plays. He also ran the lights. He played football at Plainfield North High School, but at heart, he was a theater kid. As a child, his parents often took him to Chicago theater. That stuck in surprising ways. So much so, you are familiar with Mike Carson's work even if you don't know him by name, or thought of that work as theatrical. Carson, now the creative director at pgLang in Los Angeles, is one of Kendrick Lamar's longtime production designers and creative partners. If you're headed to Solider Field this week to see 'The Grand National Tour' featuring Lamar and SZA, know this: a lot of what you'll see is Mike Carson's ongoing collaboration with Lamar and Dave Free, childhood friends who cofounded pgLang in 2020 as an arts incubator. Also around the area this weekend, a big prize for fastest dinosaur at the Field Museum and a busy weekend at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UMass Amherst designated ‘hostile campus' by Council on American Islamic Relations
AMHERST — The Council on American-Islamic Relations and its Massachusetts chapter has named the University of Massachusetts Amherst a 'hostile campus,' after its response to pro-Palestinian protests last spring and the year before. In a statement from the council on Tuesday, the group said UMass Amherst made discriminatory sanctions against students during their protests of the war in Gaza and demonstrated a 'pattern of neglect in addressing anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian harassment.' The council is the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. In its response, the university said in an email on Thursday that the council's claims are 'riddled with significant inaccuracies.' A spokesperson for the Islamic council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Twenty-two universities were deemed hostile if they created a 'dangerous environment for anti-genocide students,' the council said in its statement. Harvard University in Cambridge is the only other Massachusetts school to get the hostile designation this year. Students, faculty and staff were encouraged to file a 'Report a Hostile Campus' form if they wanted the council to look into complaints reported about a university. Some of the claims against the university stem from an October 2023 protest when 57 demonstrators were arrested for protesting the war in Gaza and the university's investments in Raytheon, a weapons manufacturer. Last April and early May, students continued to protest the war, one of a number of protests around the country. A May 7 protest at UMass Amherst led to the arrests of 130 students and faculty. Participants, including community members, shortly thereafter called for the resignation of Javier Reyes, the university's then-newly minted chancellor, after he invited police to dismantle and disperse the demonstrations. In February, it was revealed that Reyes was interviewing for work elsewhere, with less than two years on the job in Amherst. Throughout the summer and into the fall, students faced academic and legal repercussions for participating in the protests. At the end of the summer, Reyes' Campus Demonstration Policy Task Force released a report on the university's updated policies and practices around student protests. The task force was made up of students, faculty and university leadership. Then in January, an independent review of the university's response to the May 7 protest and arrests found that campus administration 'acted reasonably,' but could have done more to protect its relationship with students. The Islamic council recently said in a civil rights report on unconstitutional crackdowns that Islamophobia 'continues to be at an all-time high across the country,' and 'viewpoint discrimination against those speaking out against genocide and apartheid was a key factor in many cases.' Last April, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights also began investigating the university after a 49-page complaint filed by Palestine Legal, alleging that the university had not been responsive to student reports about anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab discrimination on campus. UMass said in its statement on Thursday that the federal Office of Civil Rights is still investigating the complaint. The Department of Education's press office has not yet responded to a query from The Republican on the state of the inquiry. In its emailed response to the 'Hostile Campus' designation, UMass said many of the Islamic council's claims are 'false,' according to Emily Gest, associate vice chancellor for news and media relations at the university. For example, she said the organization's claims that UMass Amherst created a ban on 'tents, face coverings and essential protest materials' improperly linked users to an article about UMass Boston, a sister school. 'UMass Amherst has no such policies and is an entirely separate campus,' the statement said. Gest clarified that, at UMass Amherst, there is a review process for erecting any structures, including tents. Another erroneous claim made by the organization was that police used Tasers and pepper spray on the protesters, Gest said. The university said, 'No Tasers, pepper spray or any other crowd-dispersal tools were used in any demonstration response." The university also said it did not 'criminalize peaceful demonstrations.' "As the university has stated on multiple occasions over the past year, 'Nobody's right to free speech or right to peacefully assemble was infringed upon. The university's decision to engage law enforcement was based entirely on safety.' The fortified encampments, constructed of 2,000 pounds of wood and fencing installed by demonstrators, were not protected speech," the statement said. A final claim by the Islamic organization said three students were 'banned from studying abroad, leaving them scrambling for housing and alternative academic options' also was partially informed. The International Programs Office revoked eligibility for some students to study abroad for the upcoming winter/spring terms because of the disciplinary actions against them, but those were all dealt with prior to the study abroad period. 'No student received a study abroad ban and (were) fully eligible to apply for study abroad once any disciplinary sanctions were resolved,' the university said. Lawmakers decry FirstLight dam's 300-gallon oil spill into Conn. River Island Spice food truck catches fire, rendered unusable, owner says Religion Notes: June 5, 2025 Springfield first in the state to propose regulations banning 'gas station weed' Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
President Trump bans travel from 12 nations, partially restricts entry from seven others
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump has issued a full travel ban blocking the entry of foreign nationals from 12 countries into the United States, reviving a controversial policy from his first term that is likely to be challenged in court. Trump cited "national security risks" posed by citizens of the targeted nations, which include several Middle Eastern and African countries, in a June 4 proclamation he signed imposing the ban. He also partially restricted the entry of foreign nationals from seven other nations. The restrictions are scheduled to go into effect on June 9. The ban prohibits entry into the U.S. of foreign nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Trump issued partial travel suspensions for foreign nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Trump presidency: Marco Rubio says US will revoke visas from Chinese students, add new restrictions In videotaped remarks from the Oval Office, Trump pointed to last weekend's fiery assault on pro-Jewish demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, carried out by suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a native of Egypt who came to the U.S. on a tourist visa in late 2022 and stayed after the visa expired. "The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstayed their visas," Trump said. "We don't want them." Egypt is not among the countries facing new restrictions despite Trump invoking the attack, which the White House has blamed on the Biden administration's immigration policies. Trump's travel ban: A timeline look throughout his first presidency The move comes after the Trump administration has worked aggressively to deport immigrants who are in the United States unlawfully, halted the government's refugee resettlement program, and last week announced plans to "aggressively" revoke visas of Chinese students. The ban resembles similar actions Trump took during his first term to bar the entry of foreign nationals from several predominantly Muslim countries. The restrictions do not apply to visas that have already been granted, lawful permanent residents, certain athletes, immediate family members of current visa holders, and other classes of individuals for whom the administration granted exceptions. "In the 21st century, we've seen one terror attack after another carried out by foreign-visa overstayers from dangerous places. They should not be in our country," Trump said. "We will not let what happened in Europe happen to America." Council on American-Islamic Relations Executive Director Nihad Awad said the government already vets visa applicants extensively. The new order risks separating families, depriving students of educational opportunities and blocking patients from unique medical treatment, he said. "President Trump's new travel ban targeting mostly Muslim and African nations and raising the specter of more vague free speech restrictions is overbroad, unnecessary and ideologically motivated,' Awad said. "Automatically banning students, workers, tourists, and other citizens of these targeted nations from coming to the United States will not make our nation safer." Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said in a post on social media that the antisemitic attack in Boulder shouldn't be used to justify a ban on travel from primarily Muslim-majority countries. 'We'll keep saying it: the Jewish community's legitimate fears and concerns should not (be) exploited to undermine core democratic norms, or otherwise advance discriminatory & unconstitutional policies,' Spitalnick said. 'Doing so only makes Jews – and all communities – less safe.' Rep. Judy Chu, a California Democrat who introduced legislation in February that sought to prevent the Trump administration from banning travel to the U.S. by people of any religious group, lashed out at Trump on X. "Just now, Trump has re-issued his disgusting, bigoted, and Islamophobic travel ban. This goes against our core American values while doing nothing to make us safer. We can do better, we must do better," she said. What travelers need to know: Trump issues new travel ban affecting nearly 20 countries Trump's first-term travel bans were overturned repeatedly in the courts for apparent religious or racial motivations before being upheld by the Supreme Court. Within hours of the new ban, the International Refugee Assistance Project, a group that sued Trump in 2017, slammed the ban as arbitrary for making exceptions for athletes traveling to the United States for sporting events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, "while closing the door to ordinary people who've gone through extensive legal processes to enter the United States." "It is yet another shameful attempt by the Trump administration to sow division, fear, and chaos," Stephanie Gee, senior director of U.S. Legal Services, said in a statement. Trump's latest ban follows through on a day-one executive order directing his administration to identify countries throughout the world "for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a full or partial suspension on the entry or admission of nationals from those countries." Trump said he evaluated recommendations from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi based on foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism goals and largely accepted their recommendations. Factors included whether a county "has a significant terrorist presence within its territory" or a high rate of people overstaying their visas, Trump's order said. The president said the administration also considered a country's "cooperation with accepting back its removable nationals." At one point, the administration looked at slapping as many as 43 countries with restrictions. Egypt was not on either of the draft lists that circulated in March. The president said in the order that Rubio and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller provided him a list on April 9 of countries to consider. The White House did not immediately explain why it took Trump nearly two months after he received the report to take action. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment. "Very simply," Trump said, "we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States." Contributing: Bart Jansen, USA TODAY Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump signs proclamation banning travel into US from 12 nations
