Author: Reporter

Americans seek to block Trump from 2024 ballots using the Constitution’s “Insurrection Clause”

As former President Donald Trump continues to dominate the Republican presidential primary, some liberal groups and a growing number of legal experts contend that a rarely used clause of the Constitution prevents him from being president after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The 14th Amendment bars anyone from holding office who once took an oath to uphold the Constitution but then “engaged” in “insurrection or rebellion” against it. A growing number of legal scholars say the post-Civil War clause applies to Trump after his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and encouraging...

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A MAGA idol: Why Trump’s un-Christian behavior makes him a hero to Conservative Christians

For eight years, Donald Trump has managed to secure the support of many evangelical and conservative Christians despite behavior that often seemed at odds with teachings espoused by Christ in the Gospels. If some observers initially viewed this as an unsustainable alliance, it is different now. Certain achievements during Trump’s presidency – notably appointments that shifted the Supreme Court to the right – have solidified that support. He’s now the clear front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, even after he recently was found liable for sexually abusing a New York woman in 1996 and was indicted in a...

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Popular immigration policy used by thousands to enter the U.S. under threat from Republican lawsuit

Valerie Laveus remembers when she first heard about an immigration program designed to allow people to come to the U.S. from four countries, including her native Haiti. “I said, ‘Whoa! This seems like it would work well for bringing my nephew and my brother into the country,'” said the Florida teacher, who received a WhatsApp message in January and verified with an immigration lawyer that the program was real. After years of trying to get a green card, her brother arrived with her nephew in early August, ready to start a new life. They are two of the roughly...

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Disenfranchised by design: New laws aim to deter voters too young to recall hard-won fight for voting

Sylvia Ann Miller-Scarborough remembers when people of color had to pay a poll tax to vote in Houston. She recalls her grandmother, undeterred by such obstacles, reminding her how important it was to be heard at the ballot box. Miller-Scarborough worries that much of the hard-won progress she hass seen in more than a half-century of voting in the largest county in Texas could be erased by Republican lawmakers. And she said it has gotten harder to convince her own grandchildren that it matters. “They don’t believe in voting,” she said. “They are all in their thirties, but they...

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Why format changes to U.S. citizenship tests are concerning for applicants with low English skills

The U.S. citizenship test is being updated, and some immigrants and advocates worry the changes will hurt test-takers with lower levels of English proficiency. The naturalization test is one of the final steps toward citizenship, a months-long process that requires legal permanent residency for years before applying. Many are still shaken after former Republican President Donald Trump’s administration changed the test in 2020, making it longer and more difficult to pass. Within months, Democratic President Joe Biden took office and signed an executive order aimed at eliminating barriers to citizenship. In that spirit, the citizenship test was changed back...

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Wisconsin Recount: Why Trump’s drumbeat of lies about the 2020 election keeps getting louder

With Donald Trump facing felony charges over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, the former president is flooding the airwaves and his social media platform with distortions, misinformation, and unfounded conspiracy theories about his defeat. It is part of a multiyear effort to undermine public confidence in the American electoral process as he seeks to chart a return to the White House in 2024. There is evidence that his lies are resonating. New polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 57% of Republicans believe Democrat Joe Biden was not legitimately elected as president....

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