James Schwab has stepped down as spokesman for the San Francisco division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying Monday he could no longer defend or "deflect" from "false" and "misleading" statements by top U.S. officials, notably Attorney General Jeff Sessions and ICE acting Director Thomas Homan. "I quit because I didn't want to perpetuate misleading facts," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I asked them to change the information. I told them that the information was wrong, they asked me to deflect, and I didn't agree with that. Then I took some time and I quit."
Specifically, Schwab was talking about Homan's assertion, repeated by Sessions and President Trump, that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf's (D) warning about an ICE raid had left "864 criminal aliens and public safety threats" at large. ICE launched an immigration sweep on Feb. 25, and Schaaf had announced the raid the night before, infuriating the Trump administration. ICE picked up 232 suspected undocumented immigrants, but said it had targeted 1,000, blaming Schaaf for the difference.
"Personally I think her actions were misguided and not responsible," Schwab told CNN. "But to blame her for 800 dangerous people out there is just false." ICE was "never going to pick up that many people," he told the Chronicle, and "to say that 100 percent are dangerous criminals on the street, or that those people weren't picked up because of the misguided actions of the mayor, is just wrong." Schwab said he had "never been in this situation in 16 almost 17 years in government," and "I just couldn't bear the burden — continuing on as a representative of the agency and charged with upholding integrity, knowing that information was false."
An ICE spokesman in Washington, Jennifer Elzea, referred the Chronicle to Homan's statement blaming Schaaf for the "864 criminal aliens and public safety threats" not picked up in the dragnet. Peter Weber
Harris Wofford, a lifelong Democrat who worked alongside the leaders of the party, died Monday. He was 92, and died in Washington, D.C. after suffering a fall on Saturday, The Washington Post reports.
Wofford served in World War II, and soon went on to a life of civil rights activism. He was "one of the first white students to graduate from the historically black Howard University Law School," the Post writes, and later marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama. He worked on former President John F. Kennedy's campaign, compelling him to meet with King. That move was credited with pushing black voters to overwhelmingly elect Kennedy, per Philly.com.
Wofford spent years as Kennedy's special assistant for civil rights, then left to help found the Peace Corps. He was president of Bryn Mawr College for eight years, chaired Pennsylvania's Democratic Party, and went on to serve in former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey Sr.'s cabinet. Casey appointed Wofford to the Senate to replace Republican Sen. John Heinz (Pa.), who was killed in an airplane accident in 1991.
In 2008, Wofford introduced then-Sen. Barack Obama before a noteworthy speech on race. And in 2016, he revealed he'd married Matthew Charlton, a man 50 years younger than his 90. Read more about Wofford's life at The Washington Post. Kathryn Krawczyk
Anonymous FBI agents say the partial government shutdown is preventing them from effectively doing their jobs and impeding some ongoing investigations.
In a report released by the FBI Agents Association Tuesday, unnamed agents speak about how lack of funding due to the shutdown has hindered their work. One agent said the shutdown has "eliminated any ability to operate" and that "the fear is our enemies know they can run freely," while another said they can't "protect and serve the American people" unless the government is "re-opened immediately," Politico reports
Due to issues with funding, some interviews, indictments, and grand jury subpoenas have been delayed, the report details. The report says that the FBI's agents, currently working without pay, are operating with "increasingly limited resources" and that "this situation is not sustainable."
The president of the FBI Agents Association, Tom O'Connor, shared a similar perspective upon the release of the report. "The failure to fund the FBI is making it more difficult for us to do our jobs," he said, per CBS News, "to protect the people of our country from criminals and terrorists."
There is currently no end in sight to the partial government shutdown, which has entered its 32nd day. President Trump is continuing to insist on $5.7 billion in border wall funding, a request that Democrats have consistently refused, and he signaled on Twitter Tuesday he's not backing down, writing, "No cave!" Brendan Morrow
Americans' attitudes toward climate change have changed quite dramatically in just a few years, with almost half now seeing it as an immediate threat.
In a poll released Tuesday, 48 percent of Americans said that people in the U.S. are being harmed by climate change "right now," Axios reports. This is an increase of 16 percentage points since that question was asked in March 2015, and an increase of nine points since it was asked in March 2018. Going back even further, in January 2010, only 24 percent of Americans said climate change was currently causing harm.
Americans, according to this poll, no longer simply see climate change as a problem that their kids or their grandkids will have to deal with. Instead, 49 percent said they believe they will be personally harmed by it. Additionally, 72 percent of Americans said climate change is an important issue for them, up from 63 percent last year and 55 percent in 2013. And 69 percent said they're very or somewhat worried about it, up from 52 percent in March 2015.
Overall, 73 percent said that climate change is occurring, compared to 57 percent in 2010, while just 14 percent said it's not occurring. This shift in attitude correspondents with Americans growing more informed on the issue, as 57 percent now acknowledge that most scientists agree climate change is happening, up from 40 percent in March 2015 and 33 percent in 2010.
The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication conducted this poll by surveying 1,114 U.S. adults online from Nov. 28 through Dec. 11. The margin of error is 3 percentage points. Brendan Morrow
It looks like Apple Pay is making money moves — by announcing several new partnerships on Tuesday.
Soon customers will be able to use the mobile payment system in all 1,850 Target stores, along with Taco Bell, Speedway convenience stores, Hy-Vee supermarkets, and Jack in the Box. Apple says the addition of these national retailers mean 74 of the top 100 merchants and 65 percent of all retail locations in the U.S. will support Apple Pay.
Vice President of Internet Services at Apple, Jennifer Bailey, cites the system as the easiest and fastest way to pay in stores, in addition to being more secure than using debit or credit cards. And clearly Target agrees, with its Chief Information Officer Mike McNamara describing the move as an effort to begin "offering guests more ways to conveniently and quickly pay."
Target originally partnered with Best Buy and Walmart in 2012 to create payment systems for each individual retailer called the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), reports The Verge. Walmart is still holding out by sticking with Walmart Pay, but by the looks of it, Apple Pay might get to the company sooner rather than later. Amari Pollard
School is almost back in session in Los Angeles.
Teachers reached a tentative deal with the L.A. Unified School District on Tuesday to end their weeklong strike, the Los Angeles Times reports. The city's board of education will likely approve the deal soon, and the strike will end once United Teachers Los Angeles members vote to ratify the deal as well.
The city's teachers union had been negotiating for higher pay in the face of tough job demands for the past few months, and walked off the job last Monday. Schools were open last week, lightly staffed by administrators and employees, but two-thirds of students didn't come to class, per the Times. They're open Tuesday under similar circumstances, but this deal means teachers could return to work Wednesday.
Union leaders and the school district brokered the deal at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday after an all-night discussion, and announced it during a morning press conference with Superintendent Austin Beutner, union President Alex Caputo-Pearl and Mayor Eric Garcetti. The deal includes a six percent raise for teachers and the beginnings of a plan to shrink class sizes, though not many other details were revealed, the Times says. Read more about what caused the strike at The Week, and more about the deal at the Los Angeles Times. Kathryn Krawczyk
