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7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2018 US, ACLU divide on how to reunify separated families By ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press SAN DIEGO — The Trump administration and the American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday revealed widely divergent plans on how to reunite hundreds of immi- grant children with parents who have been deported since the families were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. President Donald Trump’s administration puts the onus on the ACLU, asking that the organization use its “consid- erable resources” to find par- ents in their home countries, predominantly Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The U.S. Justice Department said in a court filing that the State Department has begun talks with foreign governments on how the administration may be able to aid the effort. The ACLU, which sued on behalf of separated parents, called for the government to take “significant and prompt steps” to find the parents on its own. “Plaintiffs have made clear that they will do whatever they can to help locate the deported parents, but emphasize that the government must bear the ultimate burden of finding the parents,” the ACLU said in a filing, pinning blame for “the crisis” on the administration and arguing it has far more resources. A decision on how to bridge the differences falls to U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, who has ordered that more than 2,500 children be reunited with their families. He was scheduled to speak with both sides in a conference call Friday. As of Wednesday, 410 chil- dren whose parents were out- side the country were in the custody of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. The ACLU said it takes “a degree of detective work” to track down contact infor- mation for deported parents, some of whom may be hiding from persecutors. The group said the govern- ment provided home-coun- try addresses in U.S. immi- gration databases with no useful information for about 120 parents. Other addresses had limited use — for exam- ple, some had “calle sin nom- bre” (“street without a name”) or six addresses connected to one Honduran child, all in the Mexican city of San Luis Potosi. The proposals from both sides come a week after a court-imposed deadline to reunite more than 2,500 chil- dren who were separated from their families at the border. The administration also asks that the ACLU consult each deported parent to deter- mine if they wish to waive their right to be reunified with their child, a scenario that may occur if the parent wants the child to remain in the U.S. The U.S. would work with for- eign governments “to deter- mine how best to complete reunifications.” The ACLU proposes that parents who want their chil- dren sent back home be reunited within a week and that those who want to return to the U.S. to pick up their kids be permitted under humani- tarian parole, with round-trip transportation paid for by the government. There are also differences about how to locate parents who were released in the U.S., but they appear less stark. The administration says it will meet with the ACLU to dis- cuss what information it can provide, while the ACLU requests specific details — ranging from last known phone number and copies of birth certificates — as well as volunteers to help find the parents. The government said last week that it had returned all 1,800-plus children to parents and sponsors who were “eli- gible” for reunification. But it said more than 700 adults were not eligible because they were in their home countries, have been released from immigra- tion custody, had red flags for criminal records or other rea- sons, chose not to be reunited, or were still being reviewed. On Wednesday, it said the number of reunified children neared 2,000 and nearly 600 remained separated, mostly because their parents. Sabraw ordered the gov- ernment to submit written updates every Thursday, indi- cating he plans to keep a close watch on the still-separated families. Each update will be followed by a telephone call the next day with both sides. In late June, Sabraw set deadlines of July 10 to reunify dozens of children under 5 with their families and July 26 to reunify children 5 and older. Grocer: McDaniel took over grocery last summer Continued from Page 1A is important, since the USDA has lost in federal court when it denied an application from a retailer convicted of marijuana possession. Permanent denials for lack of business integrity are rela- tively rare in the sprawling Sup- plemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, or food stamps. In the fiscal year that ended last September, the Food and Nutrition Service permanently denied 66 retailers for business integrity and issued time-lim- ited denials to 31 others. The government approved applica- tions for 23,421 retailers and reauthorized another 44,764. Across the country, more than 263,000 retailers are authorized to participate in the food stamp program. Most food stamps — 82 percent — are redeemed by consumers at supermarkets or superstores, but small grocery stores like the Astoria Down- town Market have a role. “These guys are the gap-fill- ers,” said Andrew Tapp, a Flor- ida attorney who is helping McDaniel. “So if you start lim- iting them, then you’re having huge problems with what the underserved community actu- ally gets for food.” Tapp, who specializes in food stamp-related legal disputes, argues that a past drug convic- tion a decade before McDan- iel owned the grocery is not reasonably related to his busi- ness integrity today. The gov- ernment’s screening of retailers is meant to uncover past fraud in business-related activity, he said, not drug offenses. “This disqualification is tan- tamount to a jail sentence in one state for a speeding ticket incurred in another state,” Tapp wrote to the administrative review officer. McDaniel, who took over the grocery last summer, thinks his lawsuit could help other small grocers who have been denied under similar circumstances. “It should help other people that get into situations like me that are just trying to give up on their past and do good for them- selves and their community,” he said. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Two investigations are underway at the Northwest Oregon Housing Authority, which promotes low-income housing. Email: Investigations are expected to be completed within the next 10 days Zilli: ‘I’m not coming ... with an agenda’ Continued from Page 1A Continued from Page 1A “I’m not coming there specifically with an agenda to change things,” Zilli said. “It’s more that meth- odology of understand- ing complicated issues and knowing who’s affected by them.” Herman has pointed to Astoria’s housing scar- city and riverfront develop- ment as some of her main issues. After hearing mur- murs from a friend, she was not surprised Zilli entered the race. “I would’ve been sur- prised if someone hadn’t,” Herman said. “I wish I could not do campaigning and just walk into the seat, but I knew that wouldn’t be the case.” Both candidates said they don’t know much about each other. Her- man said, however, that she “completely agreed” with Zilli about the Verizon tower. “I’m just going to let folks know who I am and what I stand for, and I’ll rely on that,” Herman said. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Workers at Buoy Beer Co. use refillable bottles in order to lower the company’s carbon footprint. Buoy Beer: ‘Cost ... is going to be worth it’ Continued from Page 1A Bottles recycled locally are usually crushed in the redemp- tion machine, sorted in Port- land by color, crushed further at Owens-Illinois’ plant into cullet, melted at 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit with new material and turned into new containers. The company has estimated that making and shipping a new glass bottle requires more than 0.1 kilograms of carbon dioxide on average. The impact is even lower than the 0.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide per container the company estimates is required to create and ship new cans. “A lot of people are look- ing at cans as an environmen- tal option, but the metal gets shipped to Alabama for smelt- ing,” Schoening said. Owens-Illinois estimates the carbon footprint of each refill- able bottle at .006 kilograms of carbon dioxide after 30 uses. The bottles, made from about 70 percent recycled glass, are taken to the collective’s sort- ing facility and shipped to Mis- soula, Montana-based Bayern Brewing, another participant in the BottleDrop Refill pro- gram and the closest brewery with a suitable bottle-wash- ing machine. The cleaned bot- tles are shipped back to Oregon and sold to breweries at a mar- ket-based rate. “There’s definitely a higher cost to start out, especially being the first ones to put them on the shelves,” Kroening said of buying the new bottles. “The actual cost we think is going to be worth it because of the sus- tainability of the bottle.” Widmer Brothers, Gigan- tic, GoodLife, Double Moun- tain, Wild Ride and Rock Bot- tom breweries are all taking part with Buoy to varying degrees. The hope is that as more brew- eries come online, and as bot- tles are recirculated, the econ- omy of scale will help drive the price down, Schoening said. The collective anticipates opening its own washing sta- tion in the Portland metro area in 2020. DiCianni told Sims, who was on leave at that point, that she forwarded the email to Lee and Johnston. Nearly a month later, Sims sent another email to DiCianni about a story in The Daily Astorian that pub- licized the investigation into the deputy director. In the email, Sims asked what was being done about her com- plaint from May about John- ston and why the agency decided to “publicly attack” her in the story. “I find it very concerning and the timing a bit odd that I am contacted by a news- paper reporter within hours of the July 12th NOHA Board meeting and the very next day my name is being maligned publicly in The Daily Astorian; as well as a news story on the local radio station being played over and over and over again,” Sims wrote. “I am sure the NOHA Board is investigating the serious issues I have brought to their attention. I would appreciate an update as to what is being done in regards to that matter.” DiCianni said she did not reply to Sims after the latest email and forwarded it to Lee and Johnston the next day. She resigned later that week after serving 10 months on the board. “I don’t know why she singled out that commis- sioner,” Johnston said. “That commissioner was the new- est commissioner and the least experienced one. I don’t know why complaints were not sent right to the board chairman.” Sims could not imme- diately be reached for comment. The investigations into Sims and Johnston, which have taken longer than expected, are expected to cost $2,300, Johnston said. The agency offers rental assistance and owns and manages low-income hous- ing in Clatsop, Tillamook and Columbia counties. Sims’ lengthy career with the housing authority has predated that of Johnston. Her purview includes human resources and day-to-day functions of the federal hous- ing choice voucher program staff. Lee said the investiga- tions are expected to be com- pleted within the next 10 days. The board will then discuss the results in an exec- utive session, likely at the next monthly meeting in September. “At the next meeting, we’ll solve this,” Lee said. Since our founding, Craft3 has believed in the people who make our region vibrant and resilient. Over the past 24 years, we’ve partnered with more than 400 businesses and homeowners in the Lower Columbia. So whether you need a business loan to finance start-up, working capital or expansion, or you need a home loan to finance energy upgrades or repair a failing septic system – we hope you get in touch. We look forward to becoming your partner – and investing even more in the Lower Columbia. 24 Years Learn more about Craft3 online or stop by our Astoria office in the Fisher Bros. Building. www.Craft3.org | @Craft3Org | Craft3 is an equal opportunity lender, provider and employer | NMLS ID 390159
