Thursday, March 28, 2024

Day 39: Biden to Reopen A Detention Facility Kamala Harris Protested Against.

On Day 39, Biden attempted to buoy his image with American workers—but other allies’ hopes are sinking.

Biden Backs Amazon Workers Voting On Unionization.

President Joe Biden posted a video to Twitter on Sunday night supporting the right of Amazon workers to unionize, as workers at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, vote on whether to organize a union in their workplace.

“Let me be really clear: It’s not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union,” the president said. “But let me be even more clear: It’s not up to the employer either. The choice to join a union is up to the workers, full stop.”

Biden Considers Reopening Homestead Detention Facility.

Biden is facing major backlash from immigration activists as he weighs reopening a controversial migrant detention center in Florida.

Federal agencies are scrambling to expand capacity at detention facilities for unaccompanied minors who illegally cross the southern border, and one of those facilities may include the defunct Homestead Detention Center in Miami-Dade County, now called Biscayne Influx Care Facility.

In 2019, activist group WeCount published a report indicating that the Homestead detention center sits in close proximity to sites of hazardous chemical waste which are listed in the federal government’s toxic-waste cleanup program, Superfund. Amnesty USA called use of the facility “cruel and unlawful.”

That summer, more than a dozen Democratic presidential hopefuls visited Homestead to register their denunciation of the facility and pose for photos, including Eric Swalwell, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Bill de Blasio, Bernie Sanders, Beto O’Rourke (who shouted in Spanish “We see you! We love you! We are here with you!”), Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, John Hickenlooper, Marianne Williamson, Tulsi Gabbard, and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I will tell you, when elected, the first thing I’m going to do—one of the first things—is to shut down these private detention facilities. Just shut ’em down,” Harris said.

Biden skipped the photo op.

The privately-run Homestead center was shut down in August 2019 following reports that it had no hurricane preparedness plan. It was later revealed as well that staff were not vetted for prior child abuse records.

When asked Friday about Carrizo Springs, the first migrant facility of its kind to reopen under Biden, and whether the individuals staying there can leave, press secretary Jen Psaki said, “I would describe it as a place where we keep kids—who are under the age of 18 and taking a treacherous journey into this country—safe.”

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