And why Border Agents are increasingly searching the cell phones of visitors and even u. S. Citizens. Then we go to capitol hill to speak with democratic congressman Luis Gutierrez, who was arrested by ice after refusing to leave a meeting immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Plus, we look at a stunning new report from a u. N. Agency calls israel an Apartheid Regime. Results arerts based on a scholarly inquiry and overwhelming evidence that israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid toward the Palestinian People. Amy we will speak to the reports coauthor, richard falk, the former u. N. Special rapporteur on palestinian human rights. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. On wednesday, only hours before the Trump Administrations new travel ban was set to go into effect, a federal judge in hawaii issued a nationwide halt to the executive order, which would have temporarily suspended refugees and people from six majority muslim nations from entering the United States. This morning, a federal judge in maryland also blocked part of the travel ban dealing a second , legal blow to the trumps executive order. On wednesday, Hawaii Attorney general doug chin celebrated the ruling by hawaiian federal judge Derrick Watson. That is a big reason why hawaii brought this case, is because it is really something that hits us to the core. If you have an order that is coming out there that is taking us back half a century to a time when there was discrimination by nations of origin or by religion, that is something we have to speak up against. Amy this is now the second time President Trumps executive orders banning refugees and travelers from majoritymuslim countries have been blocked by the courts. On wednesday, President Trump criticized the ruling in hawaii. Pres. Trump this ruling makes us look weak. Which, by the way, we no longer are. Believe me. Just look at our borders. Were going to fight this terrible ruling. Were going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court. Amy we will have more on trumps blocked travel ban after headlines. President trump is set to send his proposed budget to congress today. The budget calls for an unprecedented 54 billion increase in military spending, as well as a 2. 8 billion increase in funding for the Homeland Security department, largely to pay for trumps expanded border wall and the hiring of 1500 new Border Patrol and ice agents. The budget slashes funding for the Environmental Protection agency by 31 and funding for the state department by 28 . It also proposes cutting billions in funding for the department of housing and urban development and health and human services. The Education Department would see 9 billion cut from its budget, even as socalled School Choice programs would receive 1. 4 billion more in funding. Trumps education secretary betsy devos has been a major backer of such programs, which divert public funding out of the Public School system. Trumps budget also proposes entirely eliminating funding for the corporation for public broadcasting, which supports public radio and television stations nationwide, the National Endowment for the humanities, the National Endowment for the arts and the , Legal Services corporation, which funds free legal aid nationwide. The proposed budget is expected to face fierce opposition in congress. Meanwhile, on wednesday, House Speaker paul ryan admitted the republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care act will have to be changed if its if it is to pass the house. The plan has been losing support since the Congressional Budget Office released a report monday saying 24 million americans would lose their insurance under the plan within 10 years. On capitol hill wednesday, Top Republicans rejected President Trumps unsubstantiated claims that president obama ordered the wiretapping of trumps phones during the 2016 president ial campaign. House Intelligence Committee chair devin nunes said he does tapped trumps phones. Attorney general Jeff Sessions said he has not provided any evidence to trump that would substantiate the president s claims. Senate judiciary chairman Charles Grassley and South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham , both republicans both , threatened to block trumps nomination of Rod Rosenstein for Deputy Attorney general unless the fbi answers lawmakers questions about the wiretap claims. President trump spent part of wednesday in nashville, tennessee, where he honored former president andrew jackson, laying a wreath at jacksons tomb site and comparing himself to the former president during a visit to jacksons mansion. The hermitage. President jackson was a slave holder who signed the order to remove native americans 16,000 from their land in what became known as the trail of tears. Trumps words and visit drew condemnation from many, including members of the cherokee nation, who called jackson a destructive man, to not just cherokee people, but native people in general. The senate has voted to approve the confirmation of former indiana senator dan coats as director of national intelligence. In 20,003, he said as he Us Ambassador to germany where he pressure the government not to oppose president george w. Bush hoss invasion of iraq. He is also a vocal enemy of planned parenthood, saying in 2015, the barbaric practices of planned parenthood should not receive a dime of taxpayer money. Meanwhile, former Goldman Sachs beentive deana powell has promoted to Deputy National security advisor. She is one of more than a halfdozen people tied to Goldman Sachs who have been tapped for top positions in trumps administration. Reporters are expressing outrage over the state departments decision to allow only one reporter to travel with secretary of state Rex Tillerson on his trip to asia. The only reporter who will be allowed to travel with tillerson is erin mcpike of the conservative news outlet the independent journal review. It was founded by two republican litical consultants. Mcpike has only been working for the outlet for a few weeks, and she doesnt typically even cover the state department. The Justice Department has announced the indictments of two russian spies and two hackers over the 2014 hacking of 500 million yahoo accounts. It is the first time u. S. Criminal cyber charges have been brought against russian officials. In the netherlands, the Prime Minister fought off a challenge from the scene of public far right wing politician Geert Wilders in a closely watched election wednesday. Dutch voters turned out in record numbers. Showingruttes party far more than expected by pundits. With 95 of the votes counted, ruttes centreright Peoples Party for freedom and democracy has won 33 parliament seats. Wilders antiimmigrant, antieuropean union party for freedom, whose slogan was make the netherlands ours again won only 20 parliament seats. This is Prime Minister mark rutte. When thes also a night netherlands, after brexit come after the american elections, has said stop to the wrong time cut of populism. Amy the dutch left party, greenleft, also won big in wednesdays elections, increasing its seats in parliament from 4 to 14. The party is headed by 30yearold yessie klahver, whose father is moroccan and his mother is of indonesian descent. After the election, klahver said to all my leftwing friends in europe dont try to fake the populace. Be prorefugee. Be proeuropean. Were gaining momentum in the polls. And i think thats the message we have to send to europe. You can stop populism. In more news on european elections, frances rightwing president ial candidate Francois Fillon has been formally charged with multiple counts of embezzlement over allegations he gave his wife and two of his children fake jobs as parliamentary aides. He is currently polling third in the race, behind farright wing candidate marine le pen, and former economy minister emmanuel macron. Meanwhile, frances left candidate, jean luc melenchon, who has been compared to bernie sanders, says hes received the 500 endorsements from elected officials required to run in the first round of frances president ial elections on april 23. A United Nations agency published a report wednesday accusing israel of imposing an Apartheid Regime of Racial Discrimination on the Palestinian People. The report was commissioned and published by the u. N. Economic and social commission for western asia, which is comprised of 18 arab states. This is the head of agency rima khalaf. The importance of this report is not only because it is the first of its kind, one that is published by one of the United Nations bodies they clearly and frankly concludes that israel is a racist state, that is an established apartheid system, that persecutes the Palestinian People, but also it sheds light on the essence of the palestinian cause and the conditions needed for a conferencing peace. Amy in response, israels u. N. Ambassador danny danon said the attempt to smear and falsely label the only true democracy in the middle east by creating a false analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie. Meanwhile, palestinian novelist Khalida Ghosheh has been released after Israeli Forces raided her home in East Jerusalem and subjected her to hours of detention and questioning on saturday. The acclaimed novelist says her interrogation centered on her upcoming novel the jackals trap, which deals with palestinian informants working for the Israeli Government in the israeloccupied territories. She was released on bail and is awaiting unspecified future charges. Well have more on israel and palestine later in the broadcast. Cambodias Prime Minister says he will resist a demand by the u. S. Government that cambodia repay a 50yearold loan to a government that came to power through a u. S. Backed coup. Prime minister hun sen said this month the u. S. Is pressuring the International Monetary fund to withhold loans to cambodia unless it repays approximately 500 million in u. S. Loans paid to the lon nol dictatorship, which used the money to buy weapons it used to kill its own citizens. The loans came as the u. S. Government dropped 500,000 tons of explosives on cambodia as part of president Richard Nixons escalation of the vietnam war. In syria, more than 30 people were killed in two suicide bomb attacks in the capital damascus wednesday. More than 100 more people were injured in the attacks on the palace of justice and a local restaurant. No group claimed responsibility for the bombings. This comes as the washington post, citing unnamed u. S. Officials, is reporting the pentagon is considering deploying up to 1000 more u. S. Troops to Northern Syria in the coming weeks. In breaking news from france, at least one person has been injured in an explosion after opening an envelope at the headquarters of the International Monetary fund in paris. States, theunited texas Senate Passed an antilgbt bathroom bill tuesday, which would prohibit transgender people from using public bathrooms that match their gender identity. The legislation, sb6, is similar to north carolinas hb2 bathroom bill, which has caused widespread protests and boycotts of the state. The texas bill now heads to the state house of representatives. And the San Francisco board of supervisors has unanimously voted for legislation aimed at divesting up to 1. 2 billion from banks financing the contested 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline. Other u. S. Cities, including seattle, alameda, santa monica , and davis, california and , native american nations, including the muckleshoot tribe in seattle, the nez perce tribe in idaho, and the mille lacs band of ojibwe in minnesota, have approved similar divestment legislation. A 70 billion pension fund owned by norways Public Sector employee unions has also announced it will divest from its shares in the Dakota Access linked Companies Energy transfer partners, phillips 66, enbridge , and marathon, citing an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious or systemic human rights violations. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen and im nermeen shaikh. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Just hours before the Trump Administrations new travel ban was set to go into effect, a federal judge in hawaii issued a nationwide halt to the order. And this morning a judge in , maryland also temporarily blocked the travel ban which would have temporarily suspended entry to all refugees and blocked entry to visitors from six majority muslim nations iran, syria, sudan, somalia, yemen, and libya. This is now the second time President Trumps executive order banning refugees and travelers from majority muslim countries have been blocked by the courts. U. S. District judge Derrick Watson in hawaii said evidence exists to show the executive order was issued with a purpose to disfavor a particular religion. Amy in his ruling judge watson , cited comments made by trump as well as those of white house aide Stephen Miller and former new york mayor rudolph giuliani. Who said trump originally called it a muslim ban. Speaking in memphis on wednesday, trump criticized the judges ruling. Pres. Trump this ruling makes us look weak. Which, by the way, we no longer are, believe me. Just look at our borders. Were going to fight this terrible ruling. Were going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court. Trump speakingas in nashville. Last week hawaii became the first state to sue trump over the travel ban. On wednesday, hawaiian governor david ige praised the court ruling. We felt compelled to assure that we will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of National Origin or religion, because that truly goes against the very essence of what makes hawaii a very special place. And so, certainly, we felt compelled to file the lawsuit and are very happy that the court agreed with our position. And make, were joined right now by lee gelernt, the aclu attorney who presented the first challenge to trumps initial travel ban last month. Lee gelernt, welcome back to democracy now talk about these two stays of the ban. First hawaii, and now in maryland. We are extremely pleased. I think we are not surprised because there is so much evidence out there that the primary purpose of this was religious discrimination. And i think the judges rightly saw that and so a few tweaks here or there would not with a said is, this does not illuminate religious dissemination illumina religious discrimination. Said, do not psychoanalyze covering officials. Theres no need to psychoanalyze here. The president stated we want a muslim ban and that is what happens when you say we what religious dissemination, the courts pushed back. Nermeen how common is it to look at statements made in the past . The judge said we played part of his words, that these plainly worded statements which raid the executive orders stated secular purpose. So is it unusual for courts to reference statements made in the past to infer in the present that the intent is the same . Unusual. Not the Supreme Court has made clear you need to look at full context and you cannot just avoid judicial scrutiny by cleaning up in order. You can look at statements what i think is unusual is the president of the United States may these kinds of discredit for statements, but there were so much evidence and so much direct evidence, that normally, most government officials would try to hide it a little. Amy lets go back to donald last night speaking in nashville. Pres. Trump a judge has just blocked our executive order on travel and refugees coming into our country from certain countries. The order he blocked was a watereddown version of the first order. That one was also blocked by another judge. And should have never been blocked to start with. Many, ande opinion of unprecedented judicial overreach. The law and the constitution gives the president the power to suspend immigration when he. Eems or she fortunately, it will not be hillary she. Amy that was donald trump speaking last night in nashville, tennessee. Lee gelernt, your response . He said this is a watereddown version. He is admitting again were trying to do the same thing. That is telling he is not backing off the fact that they are trying to have a muslim ban. And i think the courts are recognizing that. Nermeen what is the difference between the first and the second travel ban . A the secondban eliminates rec from the countries that are banned. It also takes out a preference for minority religions, which the courts said that is so overtly discriminatory between religions. It takes out lawful permanent residents and some visa holders. So it cures certain problems. We are pleased to president retreated to that extent. That is a victory unto itself. But what it does not do is eliminate the religious discrimination. It is not eliminate the primary purpose into ban muslims. Nermeen what about what trump said at the end of a statement, namely, the president does have the authority to issue an executive order to suspend immigration . I want to be clear as possible. The president has enormous authority in the area of immigration, but what he cannot do is discriminate on the basis of religion. So if there is a genuine National Security threat raised by particular individuals, of course, they can investigate. They need to investigate particular threat to particular individuals, but they cannot base it on groups of religion. Assume particular religion is a threat. Amy in his ruling, judge Derrick Watson cited an appearance by white house senior policy advisor Stephen Miller on fox news talking about the new revised they and. Fundamentally, youre going to have the same basic policy outcome for the country, but you are going to get response to a lot of technical issues brought up by the court and those will be addressed. In terms of protecting the country, those basic policies are still going to be in effect. He said the basic policies will still be in effect and the courts are rightly calling him on it. He sang, were going to try to do the same thing but weve around and see if we can get around what the courts of thought was muslim discrimination. The courts called him on it. Amy what is the difference between the maryland and hawaii stays . With a maryland judge that is, i dont think theres enough evidence in the record to been a refugee to block the refugee part, but the six country been, the critical part, he did blocked. The hawaii went further and said, im going to block even the refugee part. The critical thing about maryland that is stiffer than hawaii, it is a longer injunction, called a preliminary injunction that will last through trial. The hawaiian judge only issued a short injunction that will expire in a few weeks. Nermeen the Trump Administration may still get its way here, right . Because an Appeals Court may decide the honolulu judge made a mistake in its assessment or the Supreme Court could intervene. What do you see we are not under any illusion that the litigation is over. I think the government has made it clear they intend to appeal. We are anticipating a long, hard legal battle that were hopefully going to prevail at the end. Amy lets talk about what happens when this is appealed. To the Supreme Court. Absolutely. Amy this could go to a Supreme Court that has a confirmed judge gorsuch. Absolutely. It is hard to predict where it will end up, when it will end up in the Supreme Court, if it will, or what the court will do. We are hopeful we will prevail if it does go to the Supreme Court, but we are a long way from there because we will have Appeals Court rulings, not just by the ninth circuit, but essentially a Fourth Circuit ruling as well out of the maryland case. That is the circuit that covers maryland. Amy were also joined by commerce men Luis Gutierrez from chicago, in washington, d. C. , right now. I hope you no longer have him caps on, but we will talk about that in a minute, congressman. Dayhandcuffed you the other. We want to ask you about the travel ban, your thoughts on these two stays out of hawaii and maryland. It is a victory for people, a victory for democracy. I guess if you run a campaign and you are on repeated occasions and youre going to discriminate against a population of people, you will have a muslim ban, and then you initiate executive orders, people are going to remember apparently, judges read the papers, listen to the news, and remember. That is all they really had to do yesterday because even Stephen Miller reiterated after the first lawsuit, these are just some small, technical differences that were going to make. Then we have our allstar rudy giuliani, the former mayor of new york who said, dont worry, i advised him how to get a muslim ban without it seeming like a muslim ban or being able to pass judicial muster. Look, they are human beings, too. They receive the news. They get the information. A fairly, the judge remembers. Amy were going to ask you to stay with us after break, congressman Luis Gutierrez. Lee gelernt, thank you for being with us, lawyer with the aclu who brought the original lawsuit against the original ban and a brooklyn court. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. In chicago, federal police handcuffed democratic congressmember Luis Gutierrez along with activists and lawyers after they held a sitin protest monday at a federal immigration office. Gutierrez says the group refused to leave the Chicago Office of immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ice, after the agencys regional director refused to answer his questions about the Trump Administrations plans for immigration sweeps and mass deportation. The tears spoke out monday after he was handcuffed. Weve a contest our goals today. We stood up to the department of Homeland Security and to donald todays hatred bigotry against refugees, against muslims, against our immigrant community. And we stood up and said, your policies are morally bankrupt. Amy mondays meeting was gutierrezs first with ice officials since President Trumps inauguration. Last month, gutierrez and fellow Congressional Hispanic Caucus member norma torres of california said republican lawmakers had them thrown out of a meeting with a top ice official. For more, we are staying with congressmember Luis Gutierrez, who is now back in washington, d. C. , member of the Judiciary Committee and is the cochair of the Immigration Task force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Congressman, describe what happened on monday. We had a meeting with ice officials, as you reported. There were Many Community organizations, Legal Defense funds there, a group of us insisted that we receive answers to specific questions. Much has been recorded reported on the case on a mexican national. For 12 years, she has reported dutifully to ice and helen security, and each year they said, come back next her. She is the mother of four american citizens, an american citizen husband. They have been showing [indiscernible] until this last meeting. They will not reverse their decision. They reversed the decision. They keep saying to us in a very , and this contradiction of terms, they keep saying to the American Public, we are going after the criminals. We are going after the bad people out there that do harm. Well, they are not. For instance, this woman is a mom. She has reported for 12 consecutive years. What changed . Donald trump got sworn in as president of the United States and you have bannon and miller in the new attorney general of the United States sessions who have all been talking they did not all come together during this administration. They have been cooperating with one another for many years, waiting to institute this kind of xenophobic, antiimmigrant policies. Second, and i think this is very, very crucial, last friday through a series of tweets imagine the department of Homeland Security through a series of tweets said, a, all of those dreamers, those who have 1500 ofe have picked up them, theyre criminals and ban gamers. They went on to say in another tweet, oh, we are them if they violate the law. Them s not give wonderful young people. They are doctors and lawyers, in the School Teachers chicago Public School system. They are workers, students, criminalizing them once again. And they no longer have the protection against deportation. I thought it was important that we ask phenomenal question, are you going after Daca Recipients . We know you have done it in washington state, mississippi, and we have other cases in which you have done it. Look, 70 has to stand up. If i tell people it is right to give your government information , to give your information over to the government, go through a background check, that you will be right with the law and you are right with the law and you have done absolutely nothing wrong other than another president got elected, you have got to stand up for those people who have stood up for themselves. That is what we were doing that day. We said to them, until we have access, we will not leave. Look, it shows you what happens with a system which is run by bullies. And what do they do . They handcuffed us. As soon as they did and so we did not have any fear, they released us. I have never seen such a situation before. But the most important thing is, we raised the issue to the American Public. We are going to continue to do that. I am really excited about the fact that come may 1 across this country, were going to fill dozens of cities in International Day of workers in which immigrants are going to be the primary showcase of american workers. Nermeen i want to ask about army veteran, a mexican born legal permanent resident of the u. S. And army veteran who served two tours of duty in afghanistan, miguel perez, junior. He arrived in the u. S. At the age of 8 and now faces deportation. This is his father, miguel perez, sr. , speaking through a translator to the chicago tribune. He was in special forces in the army. And they sent him to afghanistan. Ande was there from 2001 2003. I was very proud of him to get the defendant the constitution, he defended the system am a defendant this land, defended the flag. I like my son says, i was there, i was in front of the battle. Opportunity. I dont know why i have to be deported. Bigger perez,was sr. ,. He is a legal, permanent resident of the u. S. How is it possible to deport him . Because the Trump Administration can and will. And years under an order of deportation. He is recently lost his case. Im so happy you are highlighting. He is not the only veteran. There are literally hundreds of veterans that have served in the armed forces of the United States, unlike mr. Perez, are decorated veterans. As to perez has never been a u. S. Citizen. He is a green card holder. His mom and dad are citizens. All of his family are citizens with his exception. Under the bush administration, he was supposed to be facilitated the process of american citizenship when he joined the armed forces. That did not happen. But he went on to serve not one tour of duty, but two. And i find it so reprehensible that an administration led by president of the United States that on multiple occasions for theto bear arms station when he was called upon, said he had a bone spur a bone spur that has not stopped him from playing on every golf course in every continent of the world would deport someone who did take up arms and was not even a citizen of the United States. Not one tour, but two tours. We will continue to fight for mr. Perez. To look atg senators this case and to file a private bill. What is that . Here is mytor says, bill because of these extra ordinary circumstances, i want to file this bill to make this individual is citizen of the United States because that seems to be the 1 you are going to be hearing more and more about them. They are along the border, by the hundreds now, i with the American Public to know what thing. Mr. Perez gets to come back after he is deported. You know when he gets to come back . When he is dead. He gets to come back in a coffin and buried in a Military Cemetery for his service to this country. But while he is alive, he cannot live here. Nermeen could you explain what the argument is that the Trump Administration is using to justify his deportation . Well, that he committed a crime. And he did. He was convicted of a felony. Look, i think you need to take everything into account. Yes, he is suffering greatly from ptsd. Wounds thatds, head have caused him great debilitation. That has an impact on a lot of our men and women who return and have a great difficulty. But look, you have to take that and balance that out with what . The fact this is the only country he knows. His should have facilitated american citizenship. Because had he been an american citizenship, he would have paid his time and be reintegrated into society. This is an exceptional case in which the government should i called the prosecutor and i said, this begs for you to show discretion. You do not have to deport mr. Perez. You can show discretion and withdraw the charges. He has already paid is he went to jail for five years. He fulfilled his sentence completely. Do not add an additional, how would i say, burden to this man. Let him reintegrate. He needs his family more than ever before. We have hundreds of veterans like this that are on the other side of the border has served in the armed forces of the United States faithfully and dutifully. Amy last month, President Trump called his deportation plans a military operation during his meeting with ceos. Pres. Trump you see what is happening at the border. For the first time, we are getting gang members out, getting really bad dudes out of this country. And at a rate that nobody is ever seen before. And they are the bad ones. It is a military operation because what has been allowed to come into our country, when you see Gang Violence that you read about like never before come all of the things, much of that is people here illegally. Their rough and theyre tough, but they are not tough like our people. We are getting them out. Amy if you could respond to that, congressman, what he is saying come also the fact that budget has just been released and massively upping the pentagon budget, home executed budget including paying for the wall that President Trump said he would never do. Look, again, what theyre doing is this new act of criminalizing all immigrants, right . And they only talk about one border. They dont talk about the border at jfk or the one at lax or miami or the one in ohare were literally hundreds of thousands of immigrants come on a monthly basis and millions of immigrants that have overstayed their visa arrived in the United States. They want to focus on brown people. They want to focus on that border with mexico. And they want to make it appear that you have everything to fear s becausee bad hombre the criminal cartel that impacts your life is the only one that comes through that border. Nonsense. The fact is border injuries through the border or at a record low and continue to be reduced. You know who is showing up that border . Refugees. Yes, refugees from guatemala, el salvador that are coming from honduras will stop why . Because there are criminal cartels that are there. Let me just suggest to the american people, this criminal cartels are there because of the insatiable demand that exists in the United States for the drugs that they run into the United States. It is an american dollars, american guns that are fortifying this cartels. Nermeen i would to turn to another issue, congressman steve king sparked outrage after publishing a racist tweet in support of farright dutch politician Geert Wilders. Representative king was retweeting a cartoon by the antiimmigrant group voice of europe depicting wilders with a finger plugging a leak in a dike labeled western civilization holding back a toxic wave of islam. The cartoon also depicts muslim men with a sword and a suicide bomb vest. Representative kings retweet of the cartoon read wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We cant restore our civilization with somebody elses babies. Representative gutierrez, could you respond to that . Number one, lets understand something will stop i was born in the United States of america in 1953. I was not born equal to everyone else because separate but equal was still the law the land when i was born here. I think he wants to go back to those times. It is really about the color of your skin, right . It is really about your country of origin. Are is really he feels all an attack on civilization because of who we are. Am as american as mr. King is. Them, heon, if you ask is 13 years old and will graduate from eighth grade. He will tell you, i feel real puerto rican and this one, rome exit can in this one, but i am 100 american right here in my heart. That is what he needs to understand, we all are americans regardless of the color of our skin or our countries of origin, and that is the tradition of america. They keep talking about assimilation. Do i sound assimilated to you . Had a problemuy growing up in my house in which my parents did not encourage and instill in me the necessity to learn english . It is foolishness. Is complete idiocy. The United States of america is the largest cemetery in the world of foreign languages. It is where the germans buried their language, the polls buried their language, where people come and integrate into american society. What is wrong with people continuing to speak a second or even a third language . In most industrialized nations, that is a sign that you are a smart person and an educated person. We should continue to do that in the United States of america. And coke congressman Luis Gutierrez, they can for joining congressman Luis Gutierrez, democrat of illinois. Member of the Judiciary Committee and is the cochair of the Immigration Task force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. As we turn right now to look at another change in our nations borders, Border Agents are increasingly seizing cell phones and amending passwords of travelers including u. S. Citizens. A number of searches skyrocketed under president obama, reaching 25,000 last year. The number is expected to be far higher this year. According to nbc news, more than 5000 devices were searched in february alone. That is more than all searched in 2015. Nermeen joining us now is esha bhandari, staff attorney, aclu speech, privacy, and technology project. She recently wrote an article titled, can Border Agents search your Electronic Devices . Its complicated. Welcome. Could you explain, why is a complicated . What exactly can Border Agents do . This is an area were customs and Border Protection has policies and asserts wide authority to search and seize devices at the border. And where courts have really not had the opportunity to fully test the limits of that authority. The legal question is unsettled. At the moment, they do claim the authority to search devices without any suspicion. Essentially, for no reason tied to that individual at all. Potentially to seize the device, keep your smart phone for days or weeks on and. And at that stage, has the ability to Forensic Research the device. Again, without a war and, without probable cause. A forensic search is very invasive. Any second gather not only the metadata on your device, but even files that have been deleted. This has huge privacy impacts that only for travelers and immigrants to the United States, but every citizen who crosses our borders. Nermeen how different is this from what is happening under the Obama Administration . Very interesting, but the last of the Obama Administration saw fivefold increase in device searches. 400015, there were around to 5000 searches. In 2016, nearly 24,000. We have not gotten clear answers as to why. Has her been a shift in policy . What is the reason cbp is doing this at an ever greater number . What is interesting is some of the court to have looked at this and have not required a higher standard under the Fourth Amendment for search have said one of the practical protections is cpb does that halftime to go through the mouse and files. Honestly, the huge increase we honestly, the huge increase we saw in 2016 calls that into question. Amy what are your rights . I will your password, do you have to give it to them . Or rights depends on your immigration status, which i know is n a comforting response, but for citizens, citizens can thoroughly refuse to give their password. They have a right to reach of the country. If they do, they face the risk they will be detained for longer, maybe up to several hours, and or device is seized and they may not see it for days or weeks. That is a decision in u. S. Citizen at the border has to take with a rather just with a rather hand over the password or refuse and face the risk they lose their device. Amy what about cloud data . I think the justification for cloud data is even more attenuated from the sort of customs and immigration the justification they give. Theres no importation of contraband, right . Is just that your device connects to the internet and you can connect your social media account. This is untested by the courts, but i hope the courts will see demand passwords to cloud it has no connections to customs and border. It is an end run that requires Law Enforcement to go through certain steps before they can get the contents of your enough for your cloud data. Amy have you found it is religious or racial profiling . We certainly have seen anecdotal accounts that it seems to be targeted on the basis of religion. We have heard a lot about Muslim Americans having their devices searched. Without further detail on why these 24,000 devices were searched and who was searched, what nationality they had, it is hard to know what the systematic issue is. Hopefully, there will be more transference about that. , thank youhandari for being with us staff , attorney, aclu speech, privacy, and technology project. We will link to your article can Border Agents search your Electronic Devices . Its complicated. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. And we come back, we had to the hague. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. The first time, a United Nations agency has directly accused israel of imposing an Apartheid Regime on the Palestinian People. The report was commissioned and published by the u. N. Economic and social commission for western asia. The findings, and a new report published by the human economic and social commission for western asia, which is comprised of 18 arab states. This is the head of the u. N. Agency. The importance of the support is that only because it is the first of its kind, one that is published by one of the United Nations bodies the clearly and frankly concludes that israel is a racist state, that it is an established apartheid system that persecutes that ousted him people, but also sheds light on the essence of the palestinian cause and the conditions needed for a coalition amy report met with immediate condemnation from israel and the United States. The u. N. Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in new york that the report was published without any prior consultation with the u. N. Secretariat. If we just saw the report today, which you say was published by esquire, it was done without any prior consultations with the secretariat and the report as it stands does not reflect the views of the secretarygeneral. Amy to talk more about the report, we go to edinburgh , scotland, to talk to richard falk coauthor of the report , titled israeli practices towards the Palestinian People and the question of apartheid. He has written a number of books, including palestine the legitimacy of hope. He is Professor Emeritus of International Law at princeton university. He previously served as the u. N. Special rapporteur on palestinian human rights. Professor, welcome to democracy now can you talk about the Main Findings of your report and how unusual this report is within the United Nations . Yes. Commission of the indicated, this is the first time that a comprehensive and systematic inquiry has been carried out into the allegation that israel is responsible for regimening an apartheid in relation to the Palestinian People. One of the distinctive features of the report is to treat the palestinians as a whole, and that is quite innovative as far of thediscussions applicability of apartheid to the palestinian circumstances is concerned. And that means distinguishing between palestinians that live under occupation in the west bank and gaza or as permanent residents in jerusalem or as a palestinian minority in the state of israel. And finally, as refugees or involuntary exiles. What the report argues is that israel has pursued a policy of fragmenting the palestinian thele in order to maintain domination of a jewish state over these different categories of palestinians, and has done so in a way that is systematically discriminatory and is responsible for deep suffering over a very long period of time with no end in sight unlike other forms of international criminality, this is an ongoing crime, according to the analysis in the report, and there is no end in sight, nor no political process that can adequately challenge this set of policies and structures that have been applied to the Palestinian People. Nermeen professor, i would like you to Say Something about the agency that commissioned and published the report, the u. N. Economic and social commission for western asia. The membership of this agency there 18 arab numbers, a number of whom do not recognize israel. So do you think that might raise questions about the legitimacy of the report . All these arab members sk thatire did was to a such a report be prepared. And a professor at university of Southern Illinois and myself were asked to prepare this report on a contract basis. It does not represent a u. N. Finding as such. It is a report commissioned by the u. N. That has been received with approval, but there is been no formal endorsement of it. It is possible that it will be endorsed or efforts will be made to obtain an endorsement at the General Assembly or other parts of the u. N. System. But as of now, it is a scholarly report undertaken by independent scholars. And there is a kind of disclaimer that the this u. N. Commission made that the report does not necessarily represent esquires views. It is the views of the two of us who prepared the report. Amy so israels u. N. Invested are issued a statement saying the attempt to smear and falsely label the only true democracy in the middle east by creating a false analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie. The u. S. Ambassador nikki haley said that such antiisrael propaganda would come from a body whose membership nearly universally does not recognize israel is unsurprising. That it was drafted by richard falk, a man who has repeatedly made biased and deeply offensive comments about israel and espoused ridiculous conspiracy theories, including about the 9 11 terrorist attacks, is equally unsurprising. Can you respond to this . She said the u. N. Should withdraw it altogether. This is nothing new in the way in which israel and the United States respond to any kind of criticism, no matter how well grounded in fact and careful, reasoned analysis. I would ask that people look at the report, look at the evidence, and then come to a conclusion. Whatever else it is, it isnt an in anyto smear israel or to give aid and comfort antisemitism. In fact, the report makes it the authorsent that are unconditionally opposed to antisemitism as a form of racism. And it tries to draw distinction between criticizing israel as a state or zionism as a movement from any kind of hostility to the jewish people. But unfortunately, american diplomacy, including under the obama during the obama period do notership and israel want to deal with the substantive issues. Amy talk about those issues that you raised in this report, professor falk. Well, the essence of the substantive issues are policies and practices that impose discriminatory a discriminatory pattern of behavior that has greatly contributed to palestinians suffering over the years on a daily basis. It is a situation that appalls most of the governments in the world, and is not something that is in any way dealt with in this report in an emotional way. It looks at the policies and practices, it looks at the structures by which israel has justified the way in which it addresses the palestinian presence in these four domains. Maket generally tries to an objective appraisal of how these policies and practices stand up against the International Definition of apartheid that is in the 1973 international convention. Amy and what did you conclude . Is anconcluded that there integrated regime of apartheid that is victimizing the Palestinian People in a collective manner. And that it should be acted upon by the United Nations and by mechanismstutional to bring this crime to an end. Nermeen very quickly, before we conclude, can you say what you expect to happen yet the what is the effect of this report given the u. N. Has already distanced itself from it . Amy we have 10 seconds. The secretariat has distanced itself. Other organs of the u. N. Have not responded so far as i know. Our hope is that this report will lead to a careful inquiry by appropriate organs of the u. N. , and that if our analysis is persuasive, that it will have some political consequences. Amy richard falk, thank you for being with us, coauthor of the report israeli practices towards the Palestinian People and the question of apartheid. On this episode of eat drink italy well make a brasato al barbera. Well learn the basics about brunello di montalcino. Ill make a simple, timehonored party starter. We visit mother natures version of an organic vineyard. And ill make a quick tuscan soup. My name is vic rallo, and i love to eat and drink italy. Follow me and ill prove it. Eat drink italy is brought to you by wine enthusiast, magazine and catalog, for wine storage, glassware, and accessories. The asaro line of sicilian extravirgin and organic extravirgin olive oils, tomatoes, olives, and more. Fromhe aro fily to you. Martscott wines,