Lobbying Day in Richmond & a flurry of Trump EOs: Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, and the Death Penalty.

Episode 51: Lobbying Day in Richmond & a flurry of Trump EOs: Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, and the Death Penalty. This week, the team discussed the recent lobbying day in Richmond – with a focus on ballot access and housing, and then they took a look at a few of President Trump's new executive orders, their implications of and the potential for future presidents to abuse their powers. Focusing on birthright citizenship, refugee resettlement and the death penalty, the guys expressed concern over the current administration's direction, the escalating power of the presidency, expressing concerns about the potential for abuse. The conversation ended with a focus on the need to stay focused on local issues and the significance of state elections in 2025.

Relevant links from this episode include:

• Presidential Actions
• Briefings and Statements
• Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship
• 22 states sue to stop Trump’s order blocking birthright citizenship. “‘Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump,’ White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said.”
• 14th Amendment
• 2024 election results: Donald Trump won 49.8% of the popular vote.
• Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program
• Restoring The Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety
• Amnesty International - Global: Executions soar to highest number in almost a decade (29 May 2024)
• Some have claimed that as many as 39 executions have been carried out in the face of compelling evidence of innocence or serious doubt about guilt in the US from 1992 through 2004. Wikipedia, Capital punishment
• Innocence Project: Since 1973, at least 200 people have been exonerated from death row in the U.S., according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). A 2014 study estimated that at least 4% of those sentenced to death are innocent. These numbers don’t demonstrate the full scope of the impact that the death penalty has on the problem of wrongful conviction as the threat of the death penalty causes innocent people to plead guilty and induces false testimony from witnesses. The vast majority of people exonerated from death row are Black or Latinx, and more than half of de