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WASHINGTON Republican Congressman Will Hurd - whose district spans 800 miles (1,290 km) of the Texas-Mexico border - on Friday criticized plans under consideration by the Trump administration to build walls and fences costing an estimated $21.6 billion to deter illegal immigration.

Reuters on Thursday revealed details of an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that estimated the cost of covering the entire border. It called for the first phase of construction to begin in San Diego, California; El Paso, Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.

"Building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border," Hurd, whose district includes El Paso, said in an email. He said his district includes rough terrain where "it is impossible to build a physical wall."

The estimated price tag in the report is much higher than a $12 billion figure cited by Republican President Donald Trump in his campaign and estimates as high as $15 billion from Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The border wall was one of Trump's main campaign promises. Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, has vowed to make Mexico pay for it, but the United States' southern neighbor has repeatedly said it will not fund its construction.

Many congressional Democrats reacted strongly to the news of plans for the wall and its estimated price.

Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a telephone interview that he welcomed the debate in his committee over funding the wall.

"Instead of funding this costly and ineffective proxy for real action on immigration reform, we should be directing our resources toward finding cures for cancer, building schools for our children, feeding the hungry and rebuilding our bridges and our roads," Leahy said.

Five Democratic senators on Friday wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly claiming that the money would be misspent.

The letter was signed by Senators Kamala Harris of California, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Warren, a star of the political left, was silenced in the Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday evening for speaking out against Trump's attorney general nominee, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions. Sessions was confirmed on Wednesday.

The senators wrote, "We are extraordinarily concerned that President Trump's executive order appears to require that you divert DHS funds meant for critical security priorities to instead fund the border wall."

They asked that Kelly respond to a series of questions, including how much funding will be diverted to cover costs for building the wall.

Hurd said he had seen estimates as high as $40 billion for the barrier's construction, citing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study released in October.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump is considering issuing a new executive order banning citizens of certain countries traveling to the United States after his initial attempt to clamp down on immigration and refugees snarled to a halt amid political and judicial chaos.

NEW YORK Anti-abortion groups have called demonstrations at more than 200 Planned Parenthood locations throughout the United States on Saturday to urge Congress and President Donald Trump to strip the women's health provider of federal funding.

BEIJING Combining public bluster with behind-the-scenes diplomacy, China wrested a concession from the United States as the two presidents spoke for the first time this week, but Beijing may not be able to derive much comfort from the win on U.S. policy toward Taiwan.

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Skepticism over Trump's 'wall' cost simmers among Democrats, border Republican - Reuters

WASHINGTON (JTA) President Donald Trump reportedly decided against nominating Elliott Abrams as deputy secretary of state because of Abrams opposition last year to Trumps nomination.

CNN cited three anonymous Republican sources on Friday as saying Abrams, known for his closeness to the Israeli establishment and the pro-Israel community, was out of the running.

Abrams, a veteran of several Republican administrations in senior State Department and National Security Council positions, reportedly was a favorite for the job because Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, formerly the CEO of Exxon, wanted someone with extensive diplomatic experience advising him.

Trump interviewed Abrams on Tuesday and was favorably impressed. According to CNN, also lobbying for Abrams was Jared Kushner, Trumps Jewish son-in-law. Trump wants Kushner, who is serving as a top non-paid aide to the president,to spearhead Israeli-Arab peacemaking.

Abrams is close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is meeting with Trump at the White House next week.

However, it came to Trumps attention after the interview, CNN reported, that Abrams had criticized Trump during the campaign although he had never joined the Never Trump movement among disaffected Republicans and had not forsworn serving in a Trump administration.

In May Abrams wrote a column in The Weekly Standard that likened Trump to the failed Democratic nominee in 1972, George McGovern. It was titled When You Cant Stand Your Candidate.

As a prominent member of the neoconservative movement, whose followers favor aninterventionist foreign policy, Abrams would have been a counter to many in Trumps circle who favor pulling back from American involvement overseas.

Trump would have made the third Republican administration for which Abrams worked. He was assistant secretary of state in the Reagan administration, as a result ofwhich he agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of withholding evidence related to the Iran-Contra arms sale scandal, and was deputy assistant to George W. Bush and his deputy national security adviser.

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CNN Reports Trump Nixed Senior Jewish Republican for State Department Job - Forward

In 2017, the rule of law and democracy itself are under attack by President Trump and his administration. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

There is much to celebrate in the court decision against President Trumps immigration ban. It was a stirring victory for the rule of law and reaffirmation of the independence of the judiciary. Yet America faces a serious problem which that decision did not address: the erosion of public faith in the rule of law and democratic governance.

While we have been focused on partisan divides over government policy and personnel, an almost invisible erosion of the foundations of our political system has been taking place. Public support for the rule of law and democracy can no longer be taken for granted.

In 2017, the rule of law and democracy itself are under attack by President Trump and his administration. This is as much a symptom as a cause of our current crisis. Public Policy Polling has released the startling results of a national survey taken this week. Those results show significant fissures in the publics embrace of the rule of law and democracy.

Only 53% of those surveyed said that they trust judges more than President Trump to make the right decisions for the United States. In this cross-section of Americans, 38% said they trusted Donald Trump more than our countrys judges. 9% were undecided. Support for the rule of law seemed higher when respondents were asked whether they thought that President Trump should be able to overturn decisions by judges when he disagrees with those decisions. Here only 25% agreed, with 11% saying they were unsure.

But, the result changed when the data were narrowed to those who identified themselves as Trump supporters: 51% agreed that Trump should be able to overturn court decisions. 33% disagreed. 16% were not sure.

It is tempting to attribute this difference between Trump supporters and others simply to the fact that the presidents supporters prefer a more authoritarian style of government, prioritize social order, like strong rulers, and worry about maintaining control in a world they perceive to be filled with threats and on the verge of chaos.

As the PPPs survey reveals, Trump is appealing to a remarkably receptive audience in his attempts to rule by decree and many are no longer attached to the rule of law and/or democracy. Other studies confirm these findings. One such study found a dramatic decline in the percentage of people who say it is essential to live in a democracy.

When asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how essential it is for them to live in a democracy, 72% of Americans born before World War II check 10, the highest value. But, the millennial generation (those born since 1980) has grown much more indifferent. Less than 1 in 3 hold a similar belief about the importance of democracy.

And, the New York Times reports that while 43% of older Americans thought it would be illegitimate for the military to take power if civilian government was incompetent, only 19% of millennials agreed.

While millennials may be politically liberal in their policy preferences, they have come of age in a time of political paralysis in democratic institutions, declining civility in democratic dialogue, and dramatically increased anxiety about economic security.

These findings suggest that we can no longer take for granted that our fellow citizens will stand up for the rule of law and democracy. Thats why, while President Trumps behavior has riveted the media and the public, our eyes should not only be focused on him but on this larger and troubling - trend.

If the rule of law and democracy are to survive in America we will need to address the decline in the publics understanding of, and support for both. While we celebrate the Ninth Circuits decision on Trumps ban, we also must initiate a national conversation about democracy and the rule of law. Civics education, long derided, needs to be revived.

Schools, civic groups, and the media must to go back to fundamentals and explain what basic American political values entail and why they are desirable. Defenders of democracy and the rule of law must take their case to the American people and remind them of the Founders admonition that: If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

We need to remember that our freedom from an arbitrary or intrusive government depends on the rule of law and a functioning democracy. We need to rehabilitate both before this crisis of faith worsens.

Austin Sarat is a professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College

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Americans aren't as attached to democracy as you might think ... - The Guardian

I watched President Trumps inauguration from an airport TV in Guatemala. Id just finished leading 22 people on a pilgrimage to live, study, and participate in ceremonies with Mayan shamans at sacred sites. For me, it was the first leg of a two-month working journey. I am still in Latin America, teaching and speaking at a variety of venues. In the days since that inauguration, I, like so many, have felt the horror of the emerging Trump policies.

Latin Americans cannot understand why so few of us voted in the last election and why so many who did voted for Trump. A larger percentage of people vote in most Latin American countries than in the U.S.; in several countries, voter turnout exceeds 90 percent. Many of these countries have a history of brutal dictatorships. Once free of these dictatorships, their citizens revel in their rights to hold democratic elections; they see their ability to vote for their leaders as both a responsibility and a privilege. They wonder why a relatively small percentage of voters would elect a potential dictator. And moreover, why those nonvoters did not vote against him.

The participants on the Guatemala trip ranged from successful business executives to community organizers and healerswith lots of other professions in between. They came from Canada, Ecuador, England, France, Indonesia, Italy, the United States, and Guatemala. Many, especially those from the U.S., arrived in Guatemala feeling disenfranchised, disempowered, depressed, and, yes, horrified by the election.

However, as we moved through the shamanic ceremonies, the participants grew increasingly convinced that the election is a wake-up call for Americans. We have been lethargic and allowed our country to continue with policies that hurt so many people and destroy environments around the world (including Washingtons involvement in the genocidal Guatemalan Civil War against the Mayas, which raged for more than three decades). This election exposed a shadow side. It stepped us out of the closet.

Many participants expressed the realization that Americans had failed to demand that President Obama fight harder to end the wars in the Middle East, vacate Guantnamo, rein in Wall Street, confront a global economic system where eight men have as much wealth as half the worlds population, and honor so many of the other promises he had made. They recognized that he was up against strong Republican opposition and yet it was he who continued to send more troops and mercenaries to the Middle East and Africa, brought Wall Street insiders into his inner circle, and failed to inspire his party to rally voters to defeat Trump and what is now a Republican majority in both houses.

We talked about how throughout the world, the U.S. is seen as historys first truly global empire. Scholars point out that it meets the basic definition of empire: a nation 1. whose currency reigns supreme; 2. whose language is the language of diplomacy and commerce everywhere; 3. whose economic expansions and values are enforced through military actions or threats of action; and 4. whose armies are stationed in many nations.

The message became clear: We must end this radical form of global feudalism and imperialism. Those who had arrived in Guatemala disillusioned and depressed now found themselves committed to transforming their sense of disempowerment into actions.

At the end of World War II, Prime Minister Winston Churchill told his people that England could choose the course of empire or democracy, but not both. We in the U.S. are at such a crossroads today. For far too long we have allowed our leaders to take us down the path of empire.

President Franklin Roosevelt ended a meeting with union leaders by telling them that now they knew he agreed with them, it was their job to get their members to force him to do the right thing. FDR understood that democracy depends on We the People insisting that our leaders do what they promise to do.

We failed with our last president. Lets not repeat that mistake with the new one.

It is extremely important that We the People force Trump and his band of corporatocratic henchmen to keep the promises we heard in his inaugural address. Let us hear making America great as making America a true democracy. Let us hear we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the American People as we do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to followan echo of Churchills contention that a country cannot be both a democracy and an empire.

It is up to us to insist upon democracy. It is essential that we continue to demonstrate and march, to bombard Donald Trump and our other elected officials with tweets, posts, phone calls, and emails; to rally, clamor, and shout; and in every way to get out the word that we must end the wars, feudalism, economic and social inequality, and environmental destruction; we must become the model democracy the world expects us to be.

When General George Washington was hunkered down with extremely depressed troops at Valley Forge in the bleak winter of 1777, he ordered that an essay by Thomas Paine be read to all his men. Some of the most famous lines are as applicable today as they were then:

These are the times that try mens souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he who stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. A generous parent should say, If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace I love the man who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious future.

We have arrived at such a time again. We must each do our part. Lets here and now commit to taking positive actions. I commit to writing and speaking out at a wide variety of venues. I commit to supporting the Love Summit business conference, a powerful event committed to bringing love and compassion into business and politics, to transforming a Death Economy into a Life (Love) Economy. What are your commitments?

We have arrived at a time that tries our souls. We must gather strength from distress, grow brave by reflection, and know that by perseverance and fortitude we can achieve a glorious future. Lets make sure that the combined legacies of Presidents Obama and Trump will create the opportunityindeed the mandateto show the world how a country can be a true democracy. These are the times

This article was originally published atjohnperkins.org.It has been edited for YES! Magazine.

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This Is a Wake-up Call to Take Back Our Democracy - YES! Magazine

In 1776, our founders gave birth to a new country, the United States of America.

While there are various narratives about how America was birthed colonialism, slavery, segregation, sexism, etc. our country has become synonymous with structuring a belief system based on equality for all and exercising our rights to freedom of speech.

Our nation was built on the tenets of democracy: rule of law, freedom of press, respect of human rights and active political processes. It is the foundation for which our country stands.

However, since the rise of the tea party in January 2009, America appears to have moved backward instead of forward. Over the past few years, we have seen our nation return to a very dark place.

This movement was fully manifested with the election and inauguration of Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States.

Per the FBI figures as of November 2016, we are witnessing an uptick in hate crimes like we have never seen before.

There was a 7 percent increase in hate crimes overall in the United States and a 67 percent spike targeted toward Muslims. These statistics are not representative of the America that I know and love.

While many have applauded Trumps disruptive leadership style, others argue that his management style and tactics have become and are destructive for our great nation.

During Trumps first two weeks in office, he issued eight executive orders to bypass the United States Congress to advance his own policy agenda.

He signed executive orders to repeal the Affordable Care Act, construct a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, halt federal government hiring and institute a travel ban that prohibits seven countries with strong Muslim ties from entering the United States.

Although it is within his presidential prerogative to issue executive orders, many of these orders executed are reminiscent of a dictatorship.

Trump seems to ignore that America is built upon three branches of government executive, legislative and judiciary and wants to rule with absolute, dictatorial power.

This form of leadership does not catapult democracy, but rather erodes it.

For example, last week, after a controversial and bruising confirmation hearing, Betsy DeVos became the countrys Secretary of Education.

Due to a 50-50 tie on the senate floor whether to approve her nomination, the senate was split. On Feb. 1, Vice President Mike Pence broke the tie and voted in favor of DeVos becoming the Secretary of Education.

Pences vote signaled that there is no longer a checks and balances system with the Trump administration. And this is dangerous for democracy.

The arguments against DeVos nomination were legitimate. She is not a proponent of public schools and once suggested that guns may have a place in schools. For many, DeVos is gravely unqualified to be the nations educational chief.

In addition to DeVos nomination, Trump nominated Senator Jeff Sessions to become attorney general, despite his controversial past.

Sessions has a well-documented history of making disparaging statements against African Americans and equal rights.

During an unsuccessful bid to become a federal district court judge under the Reagan administration, the late Coretta Scott King drafted a letter on March 19, 1986 to oppose his nomination because of Sessions questionable support for voting rights of African Americans.

George Orwell once stated that Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.

America must return to its principles and decorum of democracy.

Belittling federally appointed judges, using power and influence to bully retailers and the media, and lashing out at every critical commentary is a form of tyranny.

We all enjoy the right to freedom of speech. But, there is a responsibility that comes with having that freedom..

In January, President Obama addressed a crowd in his hometown of Chicago during his farewell speech and stated: The work of democracy has always been hard, contentious and sometimes bloody. For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back.

But the long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all, and not just some.

Democracy is our birthright as citizens of the United States of America.

Weve come too far to undo all the advances our forefathers and mothers fought for and cannot allow others to dictate our future.

As always, keep the faith.

Kevin R. Johnson, Ed.D. is a frequent columnist and the lead pastor of Dare to Imagine Church, 3801 Market St., Philadelphia, Pa. Follow him on Twitter @drkrj.

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We've gone from Democracy to dictatorship - The Philadelphia Tribune