ICE Ambushed a U.S. Army Veteran—Demand His Release Now

Late last week, ICE agents ambushed and detained U.S. Army veteran Marlon Parris as he was leaving for work. Marlon, who served three tours in Iraq, has lived in the U.S. as a permanent resident for over 20 years—yet he was targeted in an unjust arrest that ripped him from his community and family. This is outrageous and unacceptable. Common Defense, led by our veteran members on the ground in Arizona, is demanding his immediate release and a thorough investigation into the ICE protocols that led to the unjust detainment of a U.S. Army veteran. We have been raising the alarm that Trump's inhumane agenda of mass deportations would mean that far too many people — including veterans — would be unfairly caught up in our already broken immigration enforcement system. If veterans who served our country are not safe from Trump's unjust deportations, then no one is safe. We must fight back and ensure that our brother-in-arms, Marlon, is immediately released and back home safely with his family. Add your name now to stand with Marlon and call for justice. We cannot allow ICE to continue these reckless and targeted attacks. If it can happen to a combat veteran who served this country, it can happen to anyone. Take action now. Thank you for standing up. In solidarity, Common Defense 251 West 30th New York, NY 10001 United States

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ALERT: Our financial watchdog shut down!

 

Our consumer financial watchdog was just shut down by the White House – leaving no one to stand up for you against the big banks, credit card companies, and scammers who are using every trick in the book to steal your money. Over the weekend, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protect Bureau ordered the agency to cease “all supervision and examination activity,” closed its headquarters, and told staff to go home. This action leaves every one of us vulnerable, since no one is fielding complaints from Americans about fraud or financial abuse, or holding the financial industry accountable. Send a message to your members of Congress right now to protect our financial watchdog. Your elected officials have the power to stand up and do the right thing for consumers – make sure they know you’re holding them to account! Send a Message After you act, please share this with friends and family so they join you in standing up for our consumer financial watchdog. Chuck Bell Consumer Reports _________________________________________________________________ After the bank-fueled economic crash in 2008, consumers like you helped push Congress to create an independent watchdog to protect your money – and stand up to financial institutions and scammers looking to separate you from your hard-earned cash. Since then, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has returned $21 billion to consumers who were taken advantage of by the big banks, credit card companies, debt collectors and others, and held corporations accountable for violating the law. But our financial watchdog is under attack right now in Congress. Not only are some trying to completely defund the CFPB, efforts are underway right now that would block reforms that put money back into your pocket, and protect your sensitive data like Social Security numbers from being sold to the highest bidder. It’s critical your members of Congress hear from consumers who want a strong financial watchdog – not a big bank lapdog. Send a message to your Senators and Representative that you want them to stand up for you and your family, not the banks! Send a Message Efforts are underway in Congress and the Administration to block or repeal many of the pro-consumer rules we recently fought together for, including: Ending outrageous fees on credit cards and bank acounts. These new rules would cap credit card late fees at $8, and bank overdraft fees at around $5, which would save those that pay these fees more than $400 a year. The House is moving to kill the overdraft rule, and the Administration just stopped defending the credit card cap in a court case brought by the big banks, who filed suit to kill it. Rein in data brokers who share and sell your Social Security number and other sensitive information. A proposed rule was just put on hold that would have stopped data brokers from selling your data – including your income and your Social Security number. We just exposed this practice in our investigation of exercise equipment companies that give themselves permission to share your most private data with these brokers. Holding banks and payment apps accountable for fraud that cost consumers $10 billion a year. The CFPB was digging into how to combat fraudsters that trick people into draining their bank accounts, as well as make banks and payment apps reimburse customers for these losses. That work appears to be shut down. Stopped medical debt from being listed on credit reports, since a lot of medical debt is disputed or inaccurate, and isn’t a good indicator of a person’s creditworthiness. This rule, which the House is moving to kill, is expected to help more people get mortgages and raise the average credit score 20 points by those with this kind of debt. Make sure your members of Congress know that you want these and other important pro-consumer rules protected, and the CFPB’s work to continue. Your voice matters, so send an email directly to your members' inbox now. Send a Message And please, share this message with friends and family so they can join you in standing up for our consumer financial watchdog. Thank you, Chuck Bell Consumer Reports
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DEADLINE: Act by Feb. 19 to protect giraffes from extinction!

 

Take action now to protect giraffes from extinction! DEADLINE: Feb. 19 TAKE ACTION

We have an urgent update in the fight to protect giraffes from extinction. The good news is that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed a new rule listing all four species of giraffes under the Endangered Species Act. The bad news is that this lifesaving rule hasn’t been finalized yet so we need to put pressure on USFWS now to quickly finalize it. Thankfully, we have an opportunity to weigh in through a public comment period, and we’re counting on animal advocates like you to take action before the comment period expires on February 19.   Please act to help protect giraffes from the many threats they face, like habitat loss and poaching: Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to quickly finalize their proposed rule to provide giraffes with Endangered Species Act protections before the February 19 deadline! TAKE ACTION Right now, many of these majestic and gentle animals are being hunted solely for body parts, like their skin and bone, and the United States is a top importer of these trophies, which has played a role in their population decline. But the proposed rule from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could help giraffes survive by curbing poaching and reducing the United States’ outsized role in the market for giraffe products through a ban on giraffe imports without a federal permit.   This proposed rule is a critical step in ensuring the survival of giraffes, but it is only a proposed rule, which is why we need a strong show of support to push the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make it final. Giraffes are running out of time, so please take action NOW!   Thank you for taking action on this important rule, Sara Amundson President Humane Society Legislative Fund

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Judge orders White House to unblock funding for NIH, others

 

Monday, February 10 Elon Musk wasn’t elected, yet he’s using DOGE to take control of parts of our democracy. Over 20% of the lawsuits Democracy Docket is tracking are challenging DOGE — upgrade to our premium membership for $120/year to get crucial updates and analysis on these cases sent straight to your inbox. Federal judges hold Trump administration accountable A Rhode Island federal judge ruled that the White House violated a previous court order blocking a funding freeze. He ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to restore federal program payments, warning that further non-compliance could be a crime. The Trump administration appealed today’s order and the original temporary restraining order blocking the freeze. A third federal judge in New Hampshire blocked Trump’s birthright citizenship order, aiming to strip citizenship of some children born in the United States to non-Americans. A federal court blocked the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to the Department of the Treasury’s payment systems. So far there have been three lawsuits to block DOGE from accessing sensitive Treasury information. Trump picks Jan. 6 defender to lead agency that investigated insurrection Ed Martin was part of the mob at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Now, he’s one of the top attorneys in the country, running the agency that successfully prosecuted over 1,500 insurrectionists. As the head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington, D.C., Martin has championed a pro-Trump agenda that includes investigating Jan. 6 prosecutions, firing attorneys who worked on those cases and threatening anyone who targets Musks and his DOGE employees. Jefferson Griffin appealed ruling rejecting his North Carolina ballot challenges North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin (R) appealed the Wake County Superior Court's decision Friday rejecting his challenges to over 60,000 ballots. The case will now go up to the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Georgia court rejects GOP candidate’s attempt to overturn election results A Georgia judge upheld state Rep. Mack Jackson's (D) victory, rejecting his Republican rival's attempt to overturn the election for a General Assembly seat. SCOTUS will hear Louisiana redistricting case next month The U.S. Supreme Court scheduled oral argument in the case over Louisiana's congressional map for March 24. White voters are claiming that the state's court-ordered plan with two majority-Black congressional districts is racially gerrymandered and should be struck down. Oral argument coming up tomorrow New York's highest court will hear oral argument over a law that allows some noncitizens living in New York City to vote in local elections. Lower courts struck down the law for violating the state constitution.

Another Plane Crash In Arizona As Trump Imposes Massive Tariffs | Evening News Rundown There has been yet another plane crash, now in Arizona, Trump has imposed massive tariffs on aluminum and steel, and Trump suffers a big loss in court today. Aaron Parnas Feb 10 Today was an extremely busy news update. I am currently in the airport, so this will be a text-based news update, but I still wanted you all to know what happened around the world today. If you want to support my work, and help me continue doing this work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber today. We will be having our first paid subscriber live tomorrow at 9 PM EST. With that, here is a long rundown of all the news you missed from today: Donald Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on all aluminum and steel products coming into the United States with no exemptions. These tariffs will raise costs on American families, but the timeline for implementation is unknown. There has been yet another plane crash in the United States, this time in Arizona, where, according to the FAA, “A Learjet 35A veered off the runway after landing and crashed into a Gulfstream 200 business jet on the ramp” at the Scottsdale airport, it is unclear whether there are any injuries. Donald Trump has now said that if all hostages are not released out of the Gaza strip by 12 PM on Saturday of this week, then the ceasefire should be cancelled and “all hell to break loose.” The Trump Administration suffered a major loss in Massachusetts where a federal judge blocked their plan to cut funding for critical NIH and other medical research. This block is temporary. Elon Musk offered more than $97 billion to purchase OpenAi and the technology associated with the company. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAi rejected the offer. The 19 year old kid that Elon Musk has dubbed “big balls” is now a Senior Advisor at the State Department and has access to highly sensitive information. This same kid was previously fired from an internship for sharing highly sensitive information with a competing company. Donald Trump made clear that while JD Vance is doing a great job in his opinion, he is not ready to label Vance his successor in 2028 and won’t make an endorsement of Vance yet. There was a bomb threat at a Walmart in Fresno, California. Authorities are currently conducting an investigation. The Trump Administration was smacked down by a federal judge in Rhode Island who said that the Administration is willfully violating a previous order that blocked the federal funding freeze issued two weeks ago. An ethics official, the former leader of the Office of Special Counsel, was terminated by the Trump Administration. He has now filed a lawsuit against the government for unlawful termination. Donald Trump pardoned ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Google has now updated its Calendar application, and has removed Pride Month and the start of Black History Month from its application. Nevada has reported its first ever human case of bird flu. Donald Trump set to sign an executive order that pauses enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, allowing businesses to once again bribe foreign officials overseas. Yes, that’s a lot of news, but I promised to keep you updated. See you in the morning for my news update (on camera)! The Parnas Perspective is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.