East Oregonian : E.O., July 04, 2017, Page Page 8A, Image 8

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NATION/WORLD
East Oregonian
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Mixed feelings for some minorities on Fourth
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As
many in the United States celebrate
the Fourth of July holiday, some
minorities have mixed feelings
about the revelry of fireworks and
parades in an atmosphere of tension
on several fronts.
How do you celebrate during
what some people of color consider
troubling times?
Blacks, Latinos and immigrant
rights advocates say the aftermath of
the 2016 presidential election, recent
non-convictions of police officers
charged in the shootings of black
men, and the stepped-up detentions
of immigrants and refugees for
deportation have them questioning
equality and the promise of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness
in the United States.
Filmmaker Chris Phillips of
Ferguson, Missouri, says he likely
will attend a family barbecue just
like every Fourth of July. But the
36-year-old black man says he
can’t help but feel perplexed about
honoring the birth of the nation
after three officers were recently
cleared in police shootings.
Police shootings
Since the 2014 police shooting
of unarmed 18-year-old Michael
Brown in Ferguson, Missouri,
officer shootings — of black males
in particular — have drawn scru-
tiny, sparking protests nationwide.
Few officers ever face charges, and
convictions are rare. Despite video,
suburban St. Paul, Minnesota,
police officer Jeronimo Yanez was
acquitted last month in the shooting
of Philando Castile, a black man.
The 32-year-old school cafeteria
worker was killed during a traffic
stop July 6, almost a year ago.
“Justice apparently doesn’t
apply to all people,” said Phillips,
who saw the protests that roiled his
town for weeks following Brown’s
death. His yet-unreleased documen-
tary “Ferguson 365” focuses on the
Brown shooting and its aftermath.
“A lot of people have lost hope.”
Unlike Phillips, Janette McClel-
land, 55, a black musician in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, said
she has no intention of celebrating
July Fourth.
“It’s a white man’s holiday to
me. It’s just another day,” McClel-
land said. “I’m not going to even
watch the fireworks. Not feeling it.”
McClelland, who grew up in Los
Angeles before the urban unrest of
the 1960s, said she fears cities may
see more violence amid a feeling
of helplessness. “I’m praying and
trying to keep positive,” she said.
Immigration
Immigration was a key issue
during the presidential campaign
for both parties. Since then, Presi-
dent Donald Trump’s administra-
tion has stepped up enforcement
and instituted a scaled-back partial
travel ban that places new limits
AP Photo/John Minchillo, File
In this June 28 photo, protesters holds signs as they gather for a
demonstration on the University of Cincinnati campus demand-
ing that a white former police officer be tried a third time in the
fatal shooting of an unarmed black motorist in Cincinnati.
AP Photo/Russell Contreras, File
In this June 26 photo, Kadhim Al-bumohammed, kneeling right, a
64-year-old Iraqi refugee in the U.S., listens to speakers at an Albu-
querque rally in his honor.
on entry to the U.S. for citizens of
six Muslim-majority countries. The
temporary ban requires people to
prove a close family relationship in
the U.S. or an existing relationship
with an entity like a school or
business. On Friday, the adminis-
tration announced that Immigration
and Customs Enforcement would
arrest people — including relatives
— who hire smugglers to bring
children into the U.S. illegally.
Patricia Montes, a Boston resi-
dent and immigrant from Honduras,
said she’s grateful for the opportu-
nities and security the United States
has given her. Yet this year, she
doesn’t know how to approach the
Fourth of July holiday.
“I fell very conflicted,” said
Montes, an immigrant advocate. “I
mean, what are we celebrating? Are
we celebrating democracy?”
Montes said it pains her to see
children fleeing violence get turned
away and deported back to Central
America without due process. She
also is disturbed by recent immi-
gration raids in Latino and Muslim
communities that spark more fear
and uncertainty.
In Texas, Latino activists have
been protesting a state law that
forces cities and towns to cooperate
with federal immigration authori-
ties. In New Mexico and Michigan,
immigrant advocates have been
rallying on behalf of Iraqi refugees
facing deportation.
“There’s a lot not to be proud
about when celebrating the Fourth of
July,” said Janelle Astorga Ramos, a
University of New Mexico student
and daughter of a Mexican immi-
grant. “Even though it’s a time to
celebrate as a country and (for) our
unity, it’s definitely going to be on
the back of our minds.”
Despite those problems and
concerns, Ramos said her family
will recognize the holiday and visit
Elephant Butte, New Mexico, a
popular summer destination. “This
is our home,” Ramos said.
Isabella Baker, a 17-year-old
Latina from Bosque Farms, New
Mexico, said she’ll celebrate the
holiday based on her own views of
patriotism.
“More people are standing up
because of the political climate,”
Baker said. “That makes me proud.”
Protest against pipeline
For months, members of the
Standing Rock Sioux were at the
center of a protest against an oil pipe-
AP Photo/David Goldman, File
In this Dec. 4, 2016 photo, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, a spiritual lead-
er of the Great Sioux Nation puts on his headdress for an interfaith
ceremony at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered
to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D.
line in North Dakota. A protest camp
was set up. The tribe said the Dakota
Access oil pipeline plan could pose a
threat to water sources if there was a
leak and cause cultural harm. Police
made more than 700 arrests between
August 2016 and February 2017. The
Trump administration approved the
final permit for the $3.8 billion pipe-
line, which began operating June 1.
The pipeline moves oil from western
North Dakota to a distribution point
in Illinois. Four Sioux tribes are still
fighting in federal court to get the line
shut down.
Ruth Hopkins, a member of
South Dakota’s Sisseton Wahpeton
Oyate tribe, said Native Americans
have always viewed the Fourth of
July with ambivalence, and this
year will be no different.
However, there will be celebra-
tions.
Her Lake Traverse Indian Reser-
vation holds an annual powwow on
July 4 to honor veterans as a way to
take the holiday back, she said.
“Also, a lot of people up here
use fireworks and the holiday
to celebrate victory over Custer
for Victory Day,” said Hopkins,
referring to Sitting Bull and Crazy
Horse defeating George Custer and
his 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the
Little Big Horn.
Still, the holiday comes after
tribes and others gathered in North
Dakota to support the Standing
Rock Sioux tribe and its fight
against the pipeline, Hopkins said.
Because of that, water and land
rights remain on peoples’ mind,
Hopkins said.
Gyasi Ross, a member of
Montana’s Blackfeet Nation and a
writer who lives on the Port Madison
Indian Reservation near Seattle,
said all the tensions this Fourth of
July are a blessing because it has
awakened a consciousness among
people of color.
“The gloves are off,” Ross
said. “We can’t ignore these things
anymore.”
However, Ross said he wants his
young son to be hopeful about the
future. They will likely go fishing
on the Fourth of July.
“I still worry about getting shot
or something like that,” Ross said.
“All this stuff is so heavy to be
carrying around.”
WORLD BRIEFLY
AP Exclusive: U.S. nuclear
inspection results now concealed
The judges also said Pruitt lacked the legal authority to delay
the rule from taking effect.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has thrown a cloak
of secrecy over assessments of the safety and security of its
nuclear weapons operations, a part of the military with a history
of periodic inspection failures and bouts of low morale.
Overall results of routine inspections at nuclear weapons
bases, such as a “pass-fail” grade, had previously been
publicly available. They are now off-limits. The change
goes beyond the standard practice of withholding detailed
information on the inspections.
The stated reason for the change is to prevent adversaries
from learning too much about U.S. nuclear weapons
vulnerabilities. Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, spokesman for the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the added layer of secrecy was
deemed necessary.
“We are comfortable with the secrecy,” Hicks said
Monday, adding that it helps ensure that “as long as nuclear
weapons exist, the U.S. will maintain a safe, secure, and
effective nuclear stockpile.” Critics question the lockdown of
information.
In Europe, Trump may discover
if first impressions stick
FBI, groups at odds over efforts
to ID immigrant remains
HOUSTON (AP) — Rolando Arriaza has visited
hospitals, morgues and even the harsh, mesquite-covered
terrain in South Texas that his brother trekked nearly two
years ago after illegally crossing into the U.S. — all as part
of an ongoing effort to find his sibling’s remains and bring
his family closure.
“You want to know if he died and you want to find
the body,” said Arriaza, whose 50-year-old brother Hugo
Arriaza, from Guatemala, disappeared in August 2015 after
being abandoned by a smuggler when he became ill.
Like many family members of missing immigrants,
Arriaza, 45, has submitted DNA so it can be compared to
remains found along the Texas-Mexico border. But while
Arriaza, who lives in Philadelphia, submitted DNA to
U.S. authorities, many others choose a different path that
complicates potential identification of their loved ones’
remains. Many missing immigrant family members living
outside the U.S., or who live in the country but fear going to
authorities due to concerns about their immigration status,
instead give their DNA to non-governmental organizations
working on this issue.
But advocacy groups say these families’ DNA samples
are being denied access to an FBI database used to make
matches in missing persons cases because law enforcement
didn’t collect the sample. The groups say this issue has gone
unresolved for years, leaving unused a valuable source of
genetic data that could bring closure to hundreds of cases.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File
In this June 24, 2014 file photo, a gate is closed at an
ICBM launch control facility in the countryside outside
Minot, N.D., on the Minot Air Force Base.
More than 2,900 immigrants have died while crossing
the Texas-Mexico border alone since 1998, according to
the U.S. Border Patrol. But it’s unclear how many remain
unidentified.
Appeals court orders EPA to
move ahead with methane rule
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court
in Washington ruled Monday that the head of the
Environmental Protection Agency overstepped his
authority in trying to delay implementation of an Obama
administration rule requiring oil and gas companies to
monitor and reduce methane leaks.
In a split decision, the three-judge panel from the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered the EPA
to move forward with the new requirement that aims to reduce
planet-warming emissions from oil and gas operations.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced in April that
he would delay by 90 days the deadline for oil and gas
companies to follow the new rule, so that the agency could
reconsider the measure. The American Petroleum Institute,
the Texas Oil and Gas Association and other industry groups
had petitioned Pruitt to scrap the requirement, which had
been set to take effect in June.
Last month, Pruitt announced he intended to extend the
90-day stay for two years. A coalition of six environmental
groups opposed the delay in court, urging the appeals judges
to block Pruitt’s decision.
In a detailed 31-page ruling, the court disagreed with
Pruitt’s contention that industry groups had not had sufficient
opportunity to comment before the 2016 rule was enacted.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will
learn this week whether he gets a second chance to make
a first impression as he returns to Europe and has his first
encounter with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s first visit to the continent in May stirred anxieties
among his European allies when he declined to endorse
NATO’s common defense treaty explicitly and scolded world
leaders for not spending more on their armed forces. This
time, Trump will use stops in Poland and Germany to try
to pull off the tricky balancing act of improving ties with
Moscow at a time of particularly fraught relations while also
presenting the U.S. as a check against Russian aggression.
Trump is leaving Washington for Europe on Wednesday.
In what may be the most-watched event of the four-day
trip, the president will meet Putin on the sidelines of an
international summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany. Every
aspect of the meeting between the two unpredictable leaders
is sure to be closely scrutinized as investigations press on
into alleged Moscow meddling in the 2016 election and
potential Trump campaign collusion.
With those investigations hanging heavy in the air, there
is little expectation the meeting will produce significant
progress on difficult issues such as the crisis in Ukraine or
the conflict in Syria.
“I can’t imagine any issue they can actually make
major headway on, given the poison that surrounds the
relationship,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow in
foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, who suggested it
might lay the groundwork for future cooperation.
Damascus rocked by suicide blast,
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Security forces chased
three explosive-laden vehicles through Damascus Sunday,
intercepting two of them at checkpoints but failing to stop
the third before it exploded in the city center, killing at least
eight people, state media and others reported.
The rare attack in the heart of Syria’s capital unfolded
ahead of the morning commute on the first work day after a
major Muslim holiday.
The Interior Ministry said security forces tracked all
three cars and intercepted two of them at checkpoints on the
airport road. The third made it into the city center, where the
driver blew himself up near Tahreer Square.
The Syrian Minister of Local Administration, Hussein
Makhlouf, said the response marked a “major success in
foiling a plot” to cause mass casualties.
There were conflicting casualty reports.