Los Angeles Times:
By Matt Pearce
April 19, 2014
The request: Kick Justin Bieber out of the United States of America.
The White House's response: No.
In
case you hadn't been paying close attention to Bieber's citizenship
status lately -- and really, who is? -- someone launched a petition on
the White House's website
in January asking officials to deport the 20-year-old Canadian pop
megastar after his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence
and resisting arrest in Miami Beach.
"We
would like to see the dangerous, reckless, destructive, and drug
abusing, Justin Bieber deported and his green card revoked," read the
plaintive prompt, which was
mostly grammatical. "He is not only threatening the safety of our
people but he is also a terrible influence on our nations [sic] youth."
The
petition earned more than 273,000 signatures on the White House's
website since January, making it one of the most popular such petitions
and eclipsing other issues,
like calls for cleaner air (14,035 signatures) and tougher regulations
on Wall Street (23,851 signatures).
That
total also easily crossed the 100,000-signature threshold requiring the
White House to respond, at least under its self-imposed rules.
And
respond the White House did this week, rising to meet a mass of
constituents calling for cultural justice by bringing its own, uniquely
eloquent voice to the debate.
"We won’t be commenting on this one," the White House said.
Oh, OK.
The
White House response went on to explain that the terms of its petition
service say "the White House may decline to address certain procurement,
law enforcement, adjudicatory,
or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal
departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government
in its response to a petition."
Unofficial
translation: Yadda yadda yadda, we'll let the courts deal with Bieber
if he ever gets charged with a felony. Which Bieber hasn't been. Which
means he's probably
staying put, at least according to the immigration experts the Los
Angeles Times has interviewed.
So there you have it: Democracy at work.
In
other news, U.S. deportations are down 40% since 2009, though
mistreatment of immigrant detainees remains a serious problem, advocates
say.
Meanwhile,
a petition to stop the deportation of U.S. veterans had 1,066
signatures on the White House's website as of Sunday afternoon.
According to the White House, that request needs 98,934 more signatures by Tuesday to get an official response.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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