Today in Disgusting People (Updated)

That would be anyone associated with the Trump regime.

First, another attack on migrants:

It’s a puzzle of public health that we don’t take flu seriously. Every year, only about half of American adults get the vaccine that prevents it. And yet, every year, at least 37 million Americans catch the flu, more than 500,000 become sick enough to be hospitalized, and somewhere between 36,000 and 61,000 die. Let’s pause for a second: That’s tens of thousands of deaths, many of which could have been prevented with a simple shot. Meanwhile, international health planners tensely monitor the unpredictable evolution of the flu virus, watching for the emergence of a pandemic strain that could kill many millions.

Yet perhaps because only a small percentage of cases ends catastrophically—or conversely, because many of us have experienced recovering from flu—we chronically underestimate the toll taken by the virus. Which might be the kindest explanation for the decision by US Customs and Border Protection, uncovered last week by CNBC, not to give the flu shot to any of the adults or children the agency is holding in crammed border camps.

We've already come to understand that this regime, and the would-be dictator that heads it, are inhumane. But there's probably also another purpose here -- aside from killing more children. Just think of the propaganda value:

The saddest part of the danger being created by this policy is that, accidentally or cynically, it revives a trope that a globalized world ought to have discarded: that immigrants are dirty and dangerous and inherently embody risk. As Alan Kraut of American University has written, that charge has been leveled at new arrivals throughout US history, against the Irish (cholera), Jews (tuberculosis), Italians (polio), and Chinese workers (plague). In almost every case, the diseases were an accident not of migration, but of close urban living—but, prefiguring the current situation, the immigrants had been forced into legal or actual ghettos that facilitated the spread of illness.

And once diseases took hold in an immigrant group, that could be used against them, as is happening again now. “It’s a crude political ploy,” says T. Katherine Hirschfeld, a University of Oklahoma anthropologist who studies health conditions after political collapse. “Denying people bathing and encouraging the spread of disease increases their dehumanization. It is part of a propaganda campaign.”

This one is worth reading. Hat tip to commenter Lazycrocket at Joe.My.God.

And then, there's the troops. Support our military, indeed:

Some children born to U.S. service members and government employees overseas will no longer be automatically considered citizens of the United States, according to policy alert issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Wednesday.

Previously, all children born to U.S. citizen parents were considered to be "residing in the United States," and therefore would be automatically granted citizenship under Immigration and Nationality Act 320. Now, children born to U.S. service members and government employees who are not yet themselves U.S. citizens, while abroad, will not be considered as residing in the U.S., changing the way that they potentially receive citizenship. Children who are not U.S. citizens and are adopted by U.S. service members while living abroad will also no longer receive automatic citizenship by living with the U.S. citizen adopted parents.

This one's on really shaky legal ground. Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment reads:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Traditionally, children have automatically been considered citizens if at least one parent was a citizen. Now, if your parents are overseas when you are born, you have to apply for citizenship.

Previously, all children born to U.S. citizen parents were considered to be "residing in the United States," and therefore would be automatically granted citizenship under Immigration and Nationality Act 320. Now, children born to U.S. service members and government employees who are not yet themselves U.S. citizens, while abroad, will not be considered as residing in the U.S., changing the way that they potentially receive citizenship. Children who are not U.S. citizens and are adopted by U.S. service members while living abroad will also no longer receive automatic citizenship by living with the U.S. citizen adopted parents.

A nice thank-you for those serving their country abroad.

There's been a lot of speculation that this is another attack on birthright citizenship, which is part of the Fourteenth Amendment -- gotta stop those "anchor babies", after all -- something that gives Ken Cuccinelli a woody -- not to mention the rest of the GOP. (Cuccinelli, you will remember, aside from being an openly racist politician in Virginia, is now the "acting" director of Citizenship and Immigration Services.) And that's probably true. But one other thing occurred to me: a significant proportion of U.S. service members belong to racial or ethnic minorities and/or are women.

Two birds with one stone, so to speak.

This one's via Joe.My.God.

Update: The Hill has published an article that clarifies the new policy:

USCIS issued a clarification to the rule later Wednesday, explaining that the new rule would only affect three categories of people: Children of non-U.S. citizens adopted by U.S. citizen government employees or service members; children of non-U.S. citizen government employees or service members who were naturalized after the child's birth; and children of U.S. citizens who do not meet residency requirements.

From the statements by representatives of USCIS and the Pentagon, this is just a matter of bringing the current policy in line with the Immigration and Naturalization Act and existing State Department guidance.

And if I trusted anyone in this regime, that might be enough.

Update: And the war on the environment continues:

The Trump administration is set to announce on Thursday that it intends to sharply curtail the regulation of methane emissions, a major contributor to climate change, according to an industry official with knowledge of the plan.

The Environmental Protection Agency, in a proposed rule, will aim to eliminate federal government requirements that the oil and gas industry put in place technology to inspect for and repair methane leaks from wells, pipelines and storage facilities.

The proposed rollback is particularly notable because major oil and gas companies have, in fact, opposed it, just as some other industries have opposed the Trump administration’s other major moves to dismantle climate change and other environmental rules put in place by President Barack Obama.

Some of the world’s largest auto companies have opposed Mr. Trump’s plans to let vehicles pollute more, while some electric utilities have opposed the relaxation of restrictions on toxic mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Via Joe.My.God.

Trump's attitude toward our air and water reminds me of a Tom Lehrer song:

Back to the Fifties!