Welcome to Monday, July 8th, socialists and capitalists...

ICE Issues Fines of Up to $500K to Unauthorized Immigrants

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is issuing fines to unauthorized immigrants who have taken sanctuary in churches or elsewhere, ordering them to pay nearly $500,000 for "failing to depart the U.S. as previously agreed.”

"It is the intention of ICE to order you pay a fine in the amount of $497,777," ICE officer Lisa Hoechst wrote to Edith Espinal-Moreno in a letter dated June 25, 2019, which was obtained by NPR. Moreno is seeking sanctuary in the Columbus Mennonite Church.

ICE said the Immigration and Nationality Act gives the agency the right to impose "civil fines on aliens who have been ordered removed or granted voluntary departure and fail to depart the United States."

Attorney Lizbeth Mateo, who represents Espinal-Moreno, told ABC news that she fears ICE is “gearing up toward going after the churches that are providing sanctuary to these people, they're trying to intimidate my client and other people like her and they're trying to intimidate the community.”

Do you support fining unauthorized immigrants who remain in the U.S.?

On the Radar

Ex-Im OK?

A proposed bill to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank for seven years - and rebrand it as the U.S. Export Finance Agency - faces an uncertain future after House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) withdrew the bill amid dissension from Democrats. The bank’s operating charter expires at the end of September.

Critics of the Ex-Im Bank, the ranks of whom include both conservatives and progressives, argue that it’s a form of “corporate welfare” because the companies benefiting the most from its activities are among the largest U.S. corporations. For example, in 2014 about 40% of the Bank’s authorizations went to Boeing alone, as opposed to 25% for small businesses as a group.

Supporters of the Ex-Im Bank argue that it helps U.S. companies and workers compete against heavily-subsidized foreign rivals in the global economy ― supporting more than 1.7 million American jobs over the last decade while operating at a default rate of less than 1%. It also has consistently turned a profit in the course of its business, sending an average annual profit of $293 million back to the U.S. Treasury between 2000 and 2015 per USAFacts.

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Do you support or oppose the Export-Import Bank?

Under the Radar

Deepnudes

Virginia has expanded its nonconsensual pornography ban to include computer-generated videos and photos known as “deepfakes” or “deepnudes.”

Deepfakes are videos that use artificial intelligence to swap faces, add images, and adjust audio, creating false evidence of people saying or doing things that they actually didn’t do. Deepnudes take images of clothed individuals and uses AI to make them appear naked.

Virginia’s law, which went into effect last week, makes it illegal to share nude photos or videos without the subject's permission, regardless of whether the images are real or fake.

Last month, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) introduced legislation to counter the phenomenon on a national level: The Defending Each and Every Person from False Appearances by Keeping Exploitation Subject to Accountability – or DEEPFAKES – Act.

Should the U.S. ban "deepfakes" and "deepnudes"?

Your Gov't At a Glance

The White House: President Trump in D.C.

At 11:30am EDT, the president will participate in a credentialing ceremony for newly appointed ambassadors.
At 12:00pm EDT, the president will receive his intelligence briefing.
At 12:45pm EDT, the president will have lunch with the vice president.
At 3:30pm EDT, the president will deliver remarks on America's environmental leadership.
At 7:20pm EDT, the president will attend a dinner hosted by the secretary of the Treasury in honor of the amir of the state of Qatar.

The House: Out

The House will return Tuesday, July 9th.

The Senate: In

Taking a procedural vote on the nomination of Daniel Bress to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

What You're Saying

Here's how you're answering Should Non-Citizens Who've Been Convicted of a Felony or At Least Two Misdemeanors Be Deported?

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But wait, there's more!

And, in the End...

It's National Ice Cream Sundae Day.

Why does this merit mention in a Daily Countable? If you're actually asking that question, you need more iced cream (or iced almond milk) in your life. And it's mentioned because a former president is credited with recording the first known ice cream recipe in America.

Here's Thomas Jefferson's hand-written recipe for vanilla:

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