Tuesday, December 23rd, 2025 Today, Canadians leaked the 60 Minutes CECOT segment killed by Bari Weiss at CBS and you can now watch it in its entirety; Chuck Schumer has filed a resolution for the Senate to sue the DOJ over violations of the Epstein Files Transparency Act; new Gallup polling shows Trump has lost the majority of white people and men; Judge Crenshaw orders the government to reply to Abrego’s motion for sanctions and to dismiss the criminal case against him; Epstein survivors have signed a letter expressing their frustration with DOJ’s December 19th release of the files; Kash Patel is being driven around in a luxury BMW paid for by the taxpayers; and Allison delivers your Good News.
Tuesday,, December 23rd, 2025
Today, Canadians leaked the 60 Minutes CECOT segment killed by Bari Weiss at CBS and you can now watch it in its entirety; Chuck Schumer has filed a resolution for the Senate to sue the DOJ over violations of the Epstein Files Transparency Act; new Gallup polling shows Trump has lost the majority of white people and men; Judge Crenshaw orders the government to reply to Abrego’s motion for sanctions and to dismiss the criminal case against him; Epstein survivors have signed a letter expressing their frustration with DOJ’s December 19th release of the files; Kash Patel is being driven around in a luxury BMW paid for by the taxpayers; and Allison delivers your Good News.
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Msw media. Hello, and welcome to the Daily beans for Tuesday, December 23, 2025. Today, Canadians leaked the 60 Minutes CECOT segment killed by Bari Weiss at CBS. And you can watch it in its entirety. Chuck Schumer has filed a resolution for the Senate to sue the Department of Justice over violations of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. New Gallup polling shows Trump has lost the majority of white people and men. Judge Crenshaw orders the government to reply to Abrego's motion for sanctions and his motion to dismiss the criminal case against him. Epstein survivors have signed a letter expressing their frustration with DOJ's December 19th release of the Epstein files. And Kash Patel is being driven around in a luxury BMW paid for by us. I'm your host, Alison Gill. Hey, everybody. Happy Tuesday. and the, days are going to start getting longer from here on out, so that's nice. Later in the show, I'm going to be joined by, by Alyssa Weeks from Pathways to Citizenship. That's a nonprofit that provides legal services and bond money and green card assistance for immigrants and their families, especially those wrongfully targeted by ICE and Customs and Border Protection. This is one of the nonprofits that I'm donating to. so we'll have a link in the show notes where you can match my donations if you'd like. Also, in the Abrego case, after Kilmar Abrego's lawyers filed. Filed for sanctions over Todd Blanche's months and months of lies to the court under penalty of perjury over him not having any role, he claimed he'd had no role in charging Mr. Abrego. only to find out later that through discovery, there actually is evidence that he played a role. they have filed the Abrego's lawyers filed that motion for sanctions. And now Judge Crenshaw is giving Donald Trump the Department of justice until see December 29th to reply to these accusations and then giving Mr. Abrego's lawyers until December 31st to respond to that. So we could have sanctions, in the new year for Mr. Todd Blanch, up to and including a referral to the Bar association for up to and including disbarment.
We'll see.
We'll see. I'm not going to get my hopes up too high, but, this case is moving forward. Also, there is some more polling out. Yesterday on the Beans Talk, I went over some bad polling numbers from an Atlas poll for Donald Trump. Now there's a new Gallup poll out. They put his approval rating, Donald Trump's approval rating at 36%. And with 59% disapproving, 23 points underwater, Democrats, are there. He's underwater by 90 points. 3% of Democrats approve of his job. 89% of Republicans approve of his job. And independence, only 25% approval rating, he's a negative 43. With independent voters, that's going to not go well for them in the midterms. In the age ranges we have the 18 to 34 age range, they have a 25% approval rating of Trump, he's in 43 points underwater, 35 to 54, that's me and my friends. 36% approval rating, he's negative 23. And ages 55 and up, he has a 43% approval rating with, with that age group. Now among those people with no college, he has a 37% approval rating. And with those with a college degree, same 37% approval rating, just more people with a college graduate degree disapprove of Donald Trump's job. The do the job that he's doing. 59%, disapprove, whereas 55% disapprove that have no college. Now here's the part that kind of shocked me. he has a 42% approval rating. With men, a 30% approval rating. With women he has a 46 approval. A 46% approval rating with white people, that's way down. I don't think I've ever seen him have a negative share of white people. he only has a 21% approval rating with non whites. So you can check out this poll. It's the new Gallup poll. and that's also an A plus poll. So just wanted to get that information out there to you before we get into the news. So let's do that now. Let's hit the hot notes. Notes. All right, first up, from the Wall Street Journal, CBS News pulled a planned 60 minute segment on El Salvador maximum security prison CECODE, where the Trump administration sent hundreds of Venezuelan migrants. A last minute decision that drew rebuke from one of its high profile correspondents. That's Sharon Alphonsi. She said in a Sunday email to fellow correspondents including Leslie Stahl, Scott Pelley and Anderson Cooper, that she learned Saturday that new CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss spiked our story. That's what, that's the quote from her email. She said the last minute change was in her view, a political decision rather than an editorial call. That's according to that email which was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Now Harry Dunn and I are going to go over the entire story on tomorrow's episode of Clean up on aisle 45. And also her email. I'll also read the email in its entirety on today's episode of the Beans Talk over at MSW Media YouTube channel. But what happened? Like, I'm recording a little bit late today because somebody sent me a link anonymously. They said, hey, check this out. I generally don't check out links sent to me by anonymous people without explanation. But then they explained where they got it and what it was, and I clicked on it. And it's the entire 60 minute segment that Bari Weiss tried to keep from us. The story that she spiked. It's a 14 minute segment, with Sharon Alfonsi, who's the anchor of 60 Minutes, the person who sent out the email, the scathing email to her colleagues on Saturday about the story being killed by Bari Weiss and saying that she believes it was killed for political reasons. So apparently what happened was I just immediately uploaded it, put it out on my. Put it out on my sub stack so it could be there, so it could be preserved, from wherever it came from without really knowing where it came from. But then after some pretty easy sleuthing over on social media, found out that it aired on the global TV app in Canada. And someone in Canada named Jason Paris sat down and recorded the whole thing, you know, from the app that was playing on his TV in its entirety. And so he, he was sharing that around the Internet. And it's been making the rounds and now is available for everyone to watch. This is going to be what we refer to as the Streisand Effect. More people are going to watch it now, because of the media attention that it's gotten. Same with the, you know, with Jimmy Kimmel, when he came back and did his opening monologue after having been removed from the air. What, 26 million people watched it. That's Bananas Pants. So you can watch it in its entirety if you want, pretty much anywhere on the Internet now. But you can find it@mellershiro.com, it's free to watch. That's my substack. All right, next up, you recall I said that if the Department of Justice failed to follow the letter of the law in releasing the Epstein files, it would trigger a lawsuit? Well, Chuck Schumer has filed that resolution, to initiate the lawsuit, and it says, providing for authority to initiate litigation for actions by the president and the Department of Justice officials inconsistent with their duties under the laws of the United States. Whereas Public Law 11938, the Epstein files Transparency act, referred to in this resolution as the act, was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. And with their vote, every United States Senator and 427 bipartisan House members sent a clear and simple message Release all the Epstein files. Whereas the act required the release of all records, documents, communications and investigation materials in a searchable and downloadable format by December 19th. Whereas the act provided for limited, narrowly tailored grounds for withholding or redacting information made public in compliance with the law. Whereas on December 19, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch said the Justice Department would release an initial but not complete portion of the Epstein files, which would include several hundred thousand documents from its Epstein investigative files. Whereas the act provides no exception to meeting the December 19, 2025 release deadline. Whereas only 4,101 records made up of 9,675 pages were released by the Department of Justice on December 19, not several hundred thousand. Whereas the Department of Justice sought to inflate the total of number of documents released. So I'm going to break in here in the middle of reading this resolution, Todd Blanche went on and said hundreds of thousands of documents were released. Multiple news outlets said huge tranche of documents released. Washington Post Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of documents released. It was 9,675 pages, 4,101 documents. That's it. We know there's over 300,000 pages. If if there are only 300,000 pages, this accounts for about 3% of the total Epstein files. All right back to the resolution. Whereas on the Department of Justice website, the Department of Justice has also collected other Epstein material which has largely already been made public, including records previously produced under the Freedom of Information act. The July Maxwell interview, the Bureau of Prison footage of Epstein's jail cell on the night of his death, prior Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility and Office of Inspector General reports and statements and a link to the website of the Committee on Oversight of the House of Representatives. Whereas the released files were extensively redacted, not in compliance with the limited scope of the redactions under the actual whereas, according to initial analysis, approximately half of the total release pages Featured redactions, including 20% completely or heavily redacted and a series of three consecutive documents totaling 255 pages entirely redacted without any explanation and whereas the release material erroneously released Epstein survivor information while in other instances protecting Epstein co conspirators and enablers from disclosure now, therefore, be it resolved that one, the majority leader of the Senate, that's John Thune, Republican, shall initiate or intervene in one or more civil actions in the name of the Senate in a federal court of competent jurisdiction to seek appropriate relief regarding the failure of the Department of Justice to act in a manner consistent with public law. Number two, the majority leader of the Senate, John Thune, shall notify the Senate when the body initiates or intervenes in any civil action. So you got to sue them in federal court, and you got to tell us when you do it. And three, the Office of Senate Legal Counsel or any other counsel designated at the direction of the majority Leader of the Senate shall represent the Senate in any civil action initiated or in which the Senate intervenes pursuant to this resolution. And any counsel so designated is authorized to designate funds for such representation approved by the majority leader of the Senate. Out of the miscellaneous line item, appropriations. So it's paid for. You gotta represent. We have to have Senate legal counsel or someone that you, John Thune, appoint. You gotta sue them. You gotta do it in federal court in the proper jurisdiction, and you gotta tell us when. So this is a, pretty. I mean, this is what was going to happen pursuant to the law if the Department of Justice failed to follow it, which they evidently did, clearly. and to have that official number that there were only 4,100 documents released is just. Blows my mind. and by the way, the Epstein survivors have written and signed a statement about this, about the release that reads, statement from survivors. The Epstein Files Transparency act imposed a Dec. 19 deadline for the U.S. department of justice to release its full records of the investigation on Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplices and enablers, with specific narrow exceptions such as survivor identities. This law, enacted by a, nearly unanimous vote in the House and unanimously in the Senate and signed by the President, was clear. It afforded no permission for delayed disclosure. Instead, the public received a fraction of the files. And what we received was riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation. At the same time, numerous victim identities were left unredacted, causing real and immediate harm. No financial documents were released. Grand jury minutes, though approved by a federal judge for release, were fully blacked out. Not the scattered redactions that might be expected to protect victim names, but 119 full pages blacked out. We are told that there are hundreds of thousands of pages of documents still unreleased. These are clear cut violations of an unambiguous law. Moreover, the partial release was done in a manner that made it difficult to or impossible for survivors to find materials that would be most relevant to our search for accountability. There's been no guidance for survivors on how to locate materials pertaining to our own cases, nor have we been provided with copies of our own files. Despite repeated requests, there's been no communication with survivors or our representatives as to what was withheld from the release, or why hundreds of thousands of documents have not been disclosed by the legal deadline, or how DOJ will ensure that no more victim names are wrongly disclosed. While clearer communication would not change the fact that the law was broken, its absence suggests an ongoing intent to keep survivors and the public in the dark as much as possible and as long as possible. It is alarming that the United States doj, the very agency tasked with upholding the law, has violated the law, both by withholding massive quantities of documents and. And by failing to redact survivor identities as women who survived the crimes perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. We call upon DOJ to explain to the public why they have missed a legal deadline and to explain to us or our representatives how we can privately obtain copies of all documents in DOJ possession that identify us by name. For documents that are publicly released, careful, lawful redaction is essential. Transparency must focus on institutional failures, enablers, financial records, and government conduct, not on further endangering survivors. Moreover, we call on Congress to stand up for the rule of law. We urge immediate congressional oversight, including hearings, formal demands for compliance, and legal action to ensure the Department of Justice fulfills its legal obligations. This is not a partisan issue. Just as the Epstein Files Transparency act was supported across party lines, we now ask elected officials from both parties to take decisive action to enforce the law, compel full compliance, and ensure meaningful transparency without further delay. Survivors deserve truth. Survivors whose identities are private deserve protection. The public deserves accountability, and the law must be enforced. And it's signed by multiple survivors, including Annie and Maria Farmer. Annie was the survivor, that I interviewed on Midas Touch on Sunday. All right, we're going to shift gears and talk really quick about Kash Patel. This is from Ms. Now, apparently, he's being driven around in a specially armored BMW that the FBI bought at his request. Patel had pressed the FBI for this high end vehicle for the purpose of being less conspicuous on his outings. According to four sources familiar with his transportation who requested anonymity. FBI directors protected by a security detail have traditionally been driven around in a suburban, whether it's for meetings, evening events, or their daily commute. FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson confirmed the FBI purchased the BMW X5s, I think is what it's called for the director's use saying the bureau planned to acquire updated vehicles and this choice was less expensive than others it considered. Were you looking for a Bentley? He declined to provide documents showing the cost of the new vehicle or buttressing his contention that it would save money compared with the existing government fleet already available for FBI use. Quote, Government agencies, including the FBI, routinely evaluate, replace and update vehicle fleets based on usage, security needs, or budgetary decisions. The specific decisions referenced in this article were evaluated partly as a way to save taxpayer money, partly by picking cheaper selections or making cost structures more efficient. Wow. Okay. The government has a contract with BMW for the armored luxury SUVs. Specifically, the state Department uses them to protect diplomats and other officials in high risk environments around the world. Mississippi now has also learned, according to four people, that Patel earlier this year pressed the FBI to purchase a new, more modern FBI jet for him and his use. His. But the proposal was abandoned over cost estimates that were between 90 and $115 million. The BMW is the latest example of what many current and former officials see as the FBI director's questionable use of the public's dollars. Patel has also come under fire for taking personal trips, as we know, on the FBI's Gulfstream jet, which he says he is required to do pursuant to government policy. Stacy Young, former DOJ official who founded Justice Connection, a network of former DOJ employees, says the BMW request is another example of Patel putting his public image ahead of concern for taxpayer resources. Calling it an embarrassment, she referred to a complaint from a recent report based on anonymous accounts from more than 20 former and current FBI and law enforcement personnel arriving on the scene in Utah after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Patel, would not get off the plane until agents brought him a medium sized FBI raid jacket to wear for the cameras outside. Quote, he needs a field jacket that fits just right, a Punisher inspired challenge coin, and a new fleet of foreign cars to drive around in. Patel has disputed this criticism that he's squandering resources. He says it's nonsense. Defending the use of the jet and calling himself a steward of the taxpayer dollars. Wow. I remember when I bought a customer service award for call center employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs. I had a $20 maximum, so I ended up spending $19 on a trophy from an estate sale, like a bowling trophy that I turned into a customer service award. Anyway, Patel is the first director to have used this specialized foreign branded vehicle. Law enforcement personnel told Ms. Now the government has a contract with GM to provide a fleet of Suburbans, a type of large sport utility vehicle which can be upgraded as needed to include security features such as armored plating or run flat tires and ballistic glass. Patel's security details still occasionally transports him in a Suburban, often during workday hours, they said. Patel has argued that he needs to move around in a more covert manner, which the BMW allows. A person close to Patel, speaking on the condition of anonymity to provide details, said it would have cost the government $480,000 to purchase a new armored Suburban, part of an upgrade Patel was considering. And that was more than twice the cost of the BMW. But the person didn't explain why a new vehicle was needed at all. Asked about the alleged cost savings, Democratic congressional aide said, they don't go out and buy a new one for, a fleet refresh. They contract with General Motors for 20 of them at a discount. FBI spokesman Williamson disputed this, but didn't provide specifics. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee recently opened an investigation into Patel's use of government resources. I'm sure they'll add this. According to the company's website, BMW markets its specially armored X5 as uniquely equipped to shield passengers from a range of threats. It offers protection not just against attacks with blunt instruments and handguns, but also against the world's most widely used firearm, the AK47. It also says that it reinforces the car's compartment with steel armor to prevent gunfire from piercing vulnerable areas, including where body panels join. Critics and former FBI officials say Patel's use of FBI resources and his request for a new jet are inappropriate. Previous directors often traveled in Suburbans without armor reinforcements, according to former FBI officials, because agents considered the risk of them being gunned down in Washington and its suburbs very low. As for Patel's failed request for a more modern jet, accounts differ on his reasoning. Two people familiar with the matter said he wanted a more modern airplane and found the existing director's jet to be dated. The person close to Patel said the director was trying to save money, save money by buying this new stuff, quote, because the existing leasing structure of the plane was expensive. And the thought was that getting out of the lease and purchasing a different one would save millions in the long haul. Okay, but, quote, when the numbers came back, the plan was scrapped, the person said, adding that the cost was around $60 million. That's not. It was 90 to 115. Okay. Patel then ordered the communications equipment in the existing Gulfstream jet to be upgraded, according to two sources familiar the two Sources said Patel argued he needed more reliable Internet on his plane so multiple people could post simultaneously on social media. Oh, my God. But a person close to the director said he ordered the upgrade for a different reason. It wasn't for social media. He rarely, if ever post on social media. It was because we had multiple secure comms calls, both scheduled and unscheduled, that were dropping on official travel and we needed to fix it. Sure, sure. The person gave an example of one of those drop calls. Quote, there was one with the attorney General in the spring during an active shooter situation where we couldn't connect on a flight back from a field office visit. The former FBI officials who traveled with previous directors told Ms. Now that this explanation does not square with their experience on the director's jet. They said the jet is equipped with a communication station directly behind the cockpit specifically for potential national security crises or emergencies. The director asked to confer with the White House or other senior administration officials. The officials said that a technical aid was positioned there to connect such emergency secure calls. But those calls are exceedingly rare, as few as a handful in the course over a year. And they never experienced connection problems that weren't quickly resolved. They said the Internet connection on the jet, however, could be bulky and unreliable on occasion. just such a waste of money. And he was complaining about Chris Ray using a, the FBI jet just like once or twice. Unbelievable. He used it 18 times so far and he's only been there for not even a year. All right, everybody, stay with us for my interview with Alyssa Weeks. From Pathways to Citizenship. This is one of the non profits I'm donating my veterans disability benefits to. 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Hey, everybody. Welcome back. as many of you know, I recently donated my annual video veterans benefits, for my disability to multiple, organizations, that help immigrants and the LGBTQ community. And today we're going to talk to a Department of justice accredited representative, one of two legal representatives at a nonprofit called Pathways to Citizenship here in California that helps with immigration, family based, and, humanitarian citizenship, all sorts of different cases. and, we're going to discuss not only how they are funded, generally what this money can do for them, and how you, the listeners, can help match my donation. So please welcome Alyssa Weeks. Hi, Alyssa. How are you? Hi.
I'm good. Thank you for having me.
Yeah, thanks for being here. I remember when I was searching for. It was around Thanksgiving, between Thanksgiving and Giving Tuesday, because I was motivated by, our president's, super nice Thanksgiving holiday message that, I didn't want to take money from this government if I didn't have to. And how cool would it be if I could turn that money into a lifeline for people that this administration puts in harm's way. So I started looking for charities to donate to. And lo and behold, my. My very best friend sent me a story that was shown here locally on CBS News Channel 8, which is a scripts channel, not a Sinclair channel. and, it was about Pathways to Citizenship helping specifically Victoria, Coral. and, the detention, of, I believe, her husband. Do I have that right?
So it's Victoria Bulavina. She never officially took her husband's name, but. And it was her detention, so she was trying to get her green card through her US Citizen husband when all of this unfolded.
Right. And I saw that story, and I was like, oh, I want to check out Pathways to Citizenship. And when I looked more into it, I found out you guys are a nonprofit. you work mainly on local grants, but private donations and not federal money. And I was like, this sounds like something, that I really could get behind. Because of the work that you do. Could you describe a little bit about the work that you and your. The person you work alongside is the supervising attorney. Her name is Caroline Matthews. Talk about what the two of you do here, in San Diego for helping our immigrant community.
So, though Caroline and I are the only legal representatives on the team, our team is a group of five extremely dedicated and passionate women. We're the only ones authorized to practice, immigration law. But we could not do what we do without our three other colleagues, for sure, who organize everything else outside of it. But our main focus is to help immigrants navigate the complicated legal and cultural pathways to citizenship. It's a really intense process on all sides. It's emotionally draining, it's financially draining. It always has been, now more so than ever. But the idea of Pathways was always to be kind of a helping hand. we started off, we've always only been a group of five as well. So we've started off just very small, close knit family feels. And the idea is to just help with the paperwork. But we're not just preparing it and submitting it and never seeing these people ever again. We're serving as their legal representatives through the entire duration of the case until they get their immigration benefit, which in some cases could be up to 10 years for some asylum seekers.
Yeah, let's talk about that up to 10 years thing because, so many people, particularly during campaigns and elections, say, oh, you should just do it the legal way, without realizing the complexities and the obstacles and the paperwork and what the legal way looks like. Can you talk a little bit about what the immigration process looks like for someone going through it today and how it's changed dramatically. Right. In the past few months.
It is so incredibly hard to do it the legal way or the right way. It's something we say often in our office is there is real, there's really no right way to do this, especially now, but prior to this administration, there's so many different requirements that you have to abide by. It all takes so long. And different things happen in a person's life that can change the process. Like getting married, having a child, needing to move. Like, just so many different personal things about your life can derail the pathway to citizenship if you're not careful. Everything costs money. They cost $760 to file for citizenship. Sometimes that's harder or easier for some people. There's just so many different factors involved. Right now, Currently, it costs $2,375 for one US petitioner to help their spouse to get their green card, their permanent residency. Because that's the other thing about all of this, is the pathway to citizenship is actually really long. for the case of our asylum clients, that we assist with, it could take them anywhere between three to ten years just to get asylum. So they're just waiting and processing and hoping and working as somebody with a pending asylum case. That could be anywhere between three to 10 years. Once you get asylum, you have to stay as an asylee for one year before you can apply for a green card. Once you get your green card, you have to be a green card holder for at least five years before you can apply for citizenship. So we're looking at the pathway to citizenship being about 20 plus years. For some people, it's not longer. So it's always been super frustrating to hear people talk about doing it the right way or doing it the legal way, because the legal way is so backlogged and difficult. And any wrong move or just life change of getting married, of having a kid, of just something that we don't think about as born US Citizens, that can greatly impact your immigration case and for the rest of your life. It's incredibly difficult. And now more than ever, does it feel nearly impossible with all the added enforcement policies we're seeing today?
Yeah. Let's talk about what's occurred in the last couple of months. Last couple few months, that's made it even harder.
The biggest change that we've been seeing is blatantly, it's not even about people who are undocumented or don't have status. They're the target. That's not what we're seeing. People that have status, people that have done everything the right way are having their status taken away from them. Like, it's, it's so incredibly frustrating. The black and white terms we've been seeing in the news and the media in order to describe all of this because people that we had thought were safe when they were first talking about these immigration policies, they're not. Right now we're having to have super real conversations with all of our clients. Maybe they're just renewing a green card that's a seven page application that we used to not think anything about being difficult. They've had their green card for this many years. It's kind of just filing the paperwork and it doesn't usually take that long. And it's a lower cost form to keep your immigration benefit and status. Even that, even that simple thing is we're kind of just having to tell everybody, I can't guarantee anything because the people that we all thought were okay and safe and in status, they're being detained as well. Even just the termination of all of this temporary protected status designations for countries that have been designated for so long. These people have lives here. They're just terminating stuff overnight. The latest being the reunification programs for parolees, which is actually coincidentally how Victoria Bolivino was able to legally enter the US Was for a family reunification program for Ukrainians affected by the war. That program is still currently there, but they are terminating very similar programs like that. And we're on the edge of our seat to see what they're going to do for Ukraine.
But they still detained her. Can you tell, talk a little bit more about her story.
So her relationship with us actually begins in 2022. Her daughter was a member of the national Ukraine Gymnastics team and they were traveling through Mexico when it became very clear that they weren't going to be able to go home. It wasn't safe enough for them to travel back home. So they were able to find a sponsor in the US who was also a gymnastics coach. And the entire team of, I want to say about 10, 10 to 12 young women, came to the US and we helped them get temporary protected status so that they could find refuge here while they figured everything else out. And later that year, her daughter, who was 16 at the time when she first entered, was able through the Unite for Ukraine program, to apply for her mom and her brother to join her. And they did. And that's when we first met her. And we ended up. So she had humanitarian parole when she first entered entered. And that was about a two year status at the time. And in 2023 is when we first filed for temporary protected status for her, changing her status from a, parolee to someone with temporary protected status, which is still kind of like a temporary fix to a more complex problem. But it was a more stable status than what she had had previously. And at the beginning of this year, they redesignated Ukraine, so you only get about two months to renew your T time they redesignate a country, you're not sure if you're going to be able to renew just because they have to make the decision to redesignate a country. So they redesignated Ukraine, thankfully, and we helped all of our clients refile their TPS. And the window was from January 17th to, like, March 3rd or something. And she filed right on January 26th. It's not like she waited. It's like she did it as soon as she could. And it was pending for a long time. And in our world, a, pending status has never been seen as an expired status because the backlog on processing all this stuff is just taking so long. There's always been this understanding of you have to timely file, there's nothing outstanding. And in the meantime, you kind of have authorized stay until a decision is made on your case. And we had thought that this would all be treated differently than a visa overstay case, which immediate relatives of US Citizens, which is a spouse, parent and child under the age of 21, they are allowed to get their green cards, even if they've overstayed. They have always been allowed to do that. They are an exception to that rule, and that's always been known. So she had her pending TPS case. But what we were seeing with people getting detained at the San Diego field office for overstaying their visa, even as immediate relatives, we did have a talk with her beforehand of, this isn't you, this isn't your category, but this pattern is alarming, and we all have to prepare for the possibility that you could be detained at your interview. So, thankfully, we were at least having that conversation with our clients at this time. a lot of the attorneys in the area, in San Diego and across the country have all been really good at just staying in touch with each other about what we're seeing, because we've never seen stuff like this before. So that's the only way we've been able to understand what's going on in the field offices and across the nation is just everyone getting online and telling each other immediately, this is what I saw, this is what, the facts of my client and my case. And this is what happened. So thankfully, she was at least aware of the possibility and she attended her green card interview. They completed the entire interview, and at.
The very end of it, this is green card for spouse, right? This is a Separate green card interviewed, separate from the TPS temporary status that was pending, with which she filed for on time.
Yes.
And she was going to green card a series of green card interviews for a spouse visa.
Yes.
Got it.
So she had so many different pathways of tax in the last little bit of time here. And they came in, they did not deny her green card case. That's what's so frustrating about all of this, is that the protocol has always been if you're out of status when you go in for your green card case, actually, it's not even always been. They used to be way more lenient, about this type of stuff. But once this administration took office, if you went to your green card application and you were out of status, if they denied your case, they would give you a notice to appear, and that's the charging document that places you in removal proceedings. So if they denied the case, they have the right, per current policy at the time, to start the process of putting you in removal proceedings. They're not denying these cases. They did not deny Victoria Bulovina's case when she was detained at her interview. It's put in this weird, like, limbo stage while they're only detaining her because she's out of status. So they have no authority to deny the case or else I feel like they would have because that would have been proper procedure to start her removal proceedings. But they came in and they said that she was being taken for being out of status. And mind you, what was also making us reassured that she was going to be able to walk in and out of that interview was that In February of 2024, we received an automatic extension of employment documents, documentation for all of our Ukrainian clients at the time. And so what they did is they auto extended her work permit. Even her TPS was inactive at this time. But when she renewed it, we had documents that her work permit never expired. Even while her TPS was pending. She had a valid work permit. And through 2026, the only way to have a work permit is to have some type of underlying status. You can't just have a standalone work permit. So she was in the building with valid work authorization even if her TPS was pending. It's just even further proof that, like, she has some type of status here. And yes, they took her from there. They take them to the Department of Homeland Security building down the street, which this is our second client to be detained. Thankfully, they're both now out. But we've gotten feedback from our clients and from other people that that is the worst part, when you're at DHS waiting to be processed, because the holding facility there, the cell there in the basement, is not intended to be used by people for this long. Like, there's supposed to be a faster turnover. You go there, you get processed, and then you go to your detention facility. But she was there for about three or four days just waiting to be processed, which is the most frustrating part, because in that time, like, your family can't call you. Any type of interaction you have, like, any phone call that you get is completely up to officer's discretion. So there was definitely a panic of a couple of days of just everybody not being able to contact her, to talk to her, and trying to figure out how she was doing. So that's the worst part, is this limbo stage before they get processed at dhs, because it's not meant to. To be used the way it's being used now. And.
Yeah.
Ah, so that was really frustrating. That was the worst part. And by the time we finally got the charging document, the nta, because they did not give us this when they first took her, which was the same way that they did with our previous client who has detained. They're not showing us any type of paperwork. They're just kind of act now and figure it out later. And when we did get that document, finally, it said that her humanitarian parole had expired and that she had overstayed her humanitarian parole. Mind you, she hasn't had humanitarian parole since 2023. She's been on temporary protected status, a completely different status. So once we received the charging document, that was completely bogus. our supervising attorney acted really fast, and we were able to get Victoria out. I think she only spent one day at Ah Otay Detention Facility, but she went through this whole process. And as someone who was detained, who was wrongfully taken from her interview with inaccurate documents, she still spent five days in detention.
My gosh.
And she'll have to deal with the consequences, of that forever. Just mentally and emotionally.
Yeah. I mean. And how did you guys get her out? Did you file, like, a habeas or petition or. Or what was it?
We acted. That's what's crazy is we filed. I. I'm not even sure if Caroline was able to file a habeas right away, because we had already been in talks with the U.S. attorney. And it was this weird thing. Even the way Victoria got out. There's usually a whole process in which you're kind of stuck back in limbo. And there's this Weird, like, drop off hour. Like, they do a really weird process typically. And hers didn't follow that. They just released her from Otai. There was no, like, further processing. They didn't give her any documents. It definitely feels like they realized this whole thing was that they were wrong and that they didn't have the charging documents to detain her. Because the way that she was released, we actually didn't even really. I can't remember if we ended up filing the habeas. We were working on it right away to try to do it, but they had released her quicker than what our next move was going to be because they realized that they had false information. And that's really what Caroline argued.
It sounds like they took her on an expired humanitarian and then totally failed to realize that she had reapplied within the renewal period for. For temporary protected status, and then found that and. Or maybe ran it, ran across her. Her work permit and were like, oops. And. And, you know, meanwhile, she has to go through all of this for simply following the rules. She was showing up to a hearing for her spouse visa, which is totally separate from temporary protective status, totally separate from the humanitarian situation for 2023, completely separate from the work permit, authorization for Ukrainians back in 2020. Like, she was. She had status like, a million ways. And. And they still didn't care. They have this lock them up now, release them later. And I thought, you know, I think that that's why it's so important to help fund programs like what you guys do at Pathways to Citizenship to help these folks get out as soon as they can. and then as an aside, also to help people with the very expensive, very long process. And now very difficult. It's always been difficult, more difficult process of, of obtaining a green card. So, I want to thank you, for what you guys do, for all the immigrants here in Southern California. I've been a resident here for, oh, gosh, 30 years. 30 years. And, this is my home and these are my neighbors. So I really appreciate what you're doing and everybody listening. we're gonna have a link in the show notes. I am donating $10,000 to Pathways to Citizenship. It is a 501C3. They rely on private donations. They don't take federal public funding, which, Alyssa, you were talking about earlier. Like, it's kind of a good thing that we never did, because otherwise we would be in very dire straits. But you can match my, donation, using the link in the show notes and before I let you go, Alyssa, what kind of things? Tell. Tell everyone what kind of things their money goes toward.
So right now, all of our funds will go towards making sure that our clients can post bond and pay bond. We had a client who actually was. The baseline bond for these types of clients is usually about $1,500. But we ended up paying extra for this client because we wanted it on the conditions that she wouldn't get an ankle monitor around her ankle and that she wouldn't have ice check ins. And they still released her. Even though we paid $3,000 bond for her, they still released her with both of those things. And that was a huge hiccup to try to fix. There's so much money that goes into this. And we operate. We basically match the federal poverty guidelines, that matches medical and CalFresh. If people make under 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, they do not have to pay us a dime. And most of the time there's fee waivers for the United States government fees that you have to pay for any of these things. But that's usually why people come to us, is because we're very flexible, we understand what people are going through, and it's incredibly nice to be able to assist in that way because the money is a huge part of it. All of these forms cost a bunch of money. And for us to be able to help our clients pay for these things, for our payroll and our staff to continue doing what they're doing. The. The reality is, is that all of the organizations that do what we do are. Are getting incredibly overwhelmed. One of the first things they did was slash all the federal funding. So we're taking a lot of overflow from these massive organizations that can no longer serve to the degree that they were. And there's just two legal representatives at our office. And we don't want to tell people that we can't help them, but we want to make sure that they have the quality care that they deserve. And, that's why I've always loved Pathways and always believed in it, because it's always been just kind of like the mighty engine that could. And we are lucky to be surrounded by the community members we are because so much of our support has come very locally and it's making a national impact now with what we're able to do. So any donations will go towards kind of just sustaining our staff. Because a lot of this is just human driven. Like, people need to file the motions, they need to do the work, they need to stay on the phone 247 and fight with the, immigration ICE officers who are just following orders, apparently. But, yeah, so that's definitely the bulk of everything that we receive is just how can we save as many people as we can? We say that these are war times right now, and they are. Our community members are being under attack, and we need to support them and be resilient with them in any way we can. I have never, like, as the daughters of an immigrant myself, but also as the daughter of two Marines, I've always believed in this country and the values that it could have. But the way that immigrants are one of the most American people to be in America, they fight tooth and nail for every single thing that they have. And even right now, they show such grace despite just this blatant persecution. The racist and classist bullshit that we're seeing right now. They are the Americans. They are the American dream. And Pathways is just about assisting them in any way we can.
Well, thank you so much. I, hope the, money goes to good use, everybody. Again, there's a link in the show notes if you want to help match my $10,000 donation. Y' all have matched every single donation that I have made to all of these organizations. You are incredible. so, help. Help us, you know, throw a lifeline of, deserve dignity to these folks. These are our neighbors, and these are the people that this administration is putting in harm's way. I appreciate your time today, and I, hope we'll catch up again after the new year, to see how much we were able to help Pathways to Citizenship. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you, everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news after these messages. We'll be right back, everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news? Everyone? Then, good news, everyone. Good news. Good news. And if you have any good news, no matter how big or how small or how recent, it could be yesterday or 20 years ago, or a great story you'd like to share. The kind of story that you share when you're sitting around with friends sharing stories. Maybe a joke, something funny that happened to you or, some. Some weird thing that happened to your pet. My. My cat ran head first into the bathtub the other day and, didn't. Didn't get hurt, but it cracked me up anyway. anything like that, really. Puns. I like puns. Misheard song lyrics, shout outs to loved ones or yourself or a small business or a nonprofit or a government program that's helped you or a loved one. Seriously, anything at all, send it to us. We need to microdose hope, and we would love to see and know what you're doing for the holidays and how you're celebrating or if you aren't. We would love to know about that, too, and that, you know, our heart goes out to you sometimes. These aren't the best times of year, for the best time of year for. For a lot of us. So let us know. We, we want to share. we want to share with you. So send it in to us. And all you got to do to get your submission read on the air is pay your POD pet tariff, which means attach a photo of your pet. If you don't have that, attach an adoptable pet in your area. We'll see if we can find him a home. If you don't have that, grab a random photo of an animal on the Internet. We also like bird watching photos, which can be an actual bird or you flipping the bird to a Trump building. We've got a lot of great ones in the bird watching category. You can send photos of your happy place or a great rally that you've been to recently. Some of your favorite no king signs, overpass protests that you see when you're driving. Be careful, make sure that you're not driving and taking pictures at the same time. you can also send us photos of your family, what you're doing for the holidays. kids, awkward family photos are always fun. What you dressed up for is Halloween. what you're making and creating. Maybe you're painting or crocheting or knitting. Maybe you got some chickens that are laying out in your backyard. We'd love to see that. I know we've got some listeners who have goats, and it's time for you to send in more goat photos. Send them all to us dailybeanspod.com click on Contact. All right, first up is your good trouble. And your good trouble today is if you can swing it. Please donate to Pathways to Citizenship. See if you can match my $10,000 donation. There is a link in the show notes. All right, first up in the good news from Anonymous. Hello, Beans, Queens. Greetings from the screwy state of North Carolina. I'm writing in to shout out sound rivers and Ellerby Creek watershed association. That's ellerby creek.org two North Carolina nonprofits that collectively protect about 25% of the state's river basins are drinking water. While the state and federal governments have abdicated their duties to do so. The blatant attempts to quash the woke nonprofits have been ongoing statewide and federally, so just surviving this year counts as a success. Both are raising funds to keep up the good work in 2026 and would welcome the Leguminati to join them during their next year's programming. For my POD Pet tariff. Oh, my God, this cat photo. I offer a picture of our late great elder states cat, Archie, who transformed from scared feral to the biggest marshmallow man who just wanted to snuggle. I've also included a picture of our resident bean queen, Celine, AKA Celine Bean. Her picture was taken after one of the presidential debates and perfectly captures the what the ever loving vibe that has permeated this country since the Mad King came down that gold plated escalator. Keep up the good work and take care of yourselves. Let's make 2026 a better year than whatever this one was. Okay? These babies are fantastic and beautiful. Thank you for sharing them. Oh, my goodness. I want to pet the belly. Is it a trap? You'll have to let us know. Next up, from Marty. No pronouns. Shout out to all teachers currently in recovery mode. And to the teachers who decades ago helped my daughters create my most treasured Christmas decorations. Also shout out to my congressman, who alerted me to Democracy Forward and the friend who invited me to join the League of Women Voters. Okay, look at these Christmas decorations. Oh, my goodness. Decades ago and you still put them up every year. I love this. So you got the Santa with the cotton balls glued onto his face for his beard. Love that one. You've got the. Remember when you took the brown paper bag and made a reindeer puppet out of it and you traced your hands for the antlers? Love it. these are incredible. And I love that you still have them and put them up every evening year. That's so cool. Thank you, Marty. Next up, from mini Jenny Pronoun. She and her hello, Beans Queens. I love your podcast. I've been listening to you for several years. It seems like a lifetime, though, as we live through this hellscape provided by the current administration. My husband and I recently made a trip to New York City to watch our son run in the New York Marathon. Oh, very cool. It's hard to get in. We'd been planning the trip for a full year. The goal was to see Kyle compete, complete the marathon first and foremost. And he did. We were so excited for him and he was so proud to accomplish his goal. But also we wanted to see and do as Much as we could while we were there, I told my son one thing that was a must was for me to be able to go to Trump Tower and take a picture of me shooting the bird. We were so busy that we got to the morning we were supposed to fly out, and I still hadn't gotten my picture. As we were sitting in the lobby of our hotel, I mentioned that I had gotten to do all that was on the list except one of the most important things, which was to take that picture. My son immediately said, mom, we're only a couple blocks away. Let's go now before it's time to leave. So we did. It made my trip complete. Thank you both for keeping me sane during these years. It's easy to become depressed and feel hopeless. Like so many, like so many. I will continue to fight alongside all of you out there trying to bring down this regime. There you did. You got it. You got one of those good coats. You got one of those good coats. Mini Jenny. When I was in New York, I was so cold because I live in California. Why would I have a mid calf length down coat? But you got one. And I'm jealous because, like, you know, we don't think about how cold our legs get in California because there's no wind chill. It doesn't get cold. But when you're walking and you've got your top, you got your coat on, but it only goes down to, like, your waist, your legs get so cold. So they make these super long, big, puffy jackets. And look at that beautiful picture of the marathon finisher. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Jenny. Next up, from Diane. This dog is giving me the side eye. I love it. This is pronounced she and her. Hi, beans. queens of all beans and my fellow loyal Leguminati. The winter solstice has arrived, and now every day brings just a little more light. I just wanted to offer that as a little bit of hope in these difficult times. Aztax, my not at all spoiled pup. He's a mixed breed, but no idea what mixed with that blank. And he's awfully spoiled. and a kitty, too. Oh, the kitty is adorable. looks like a Chihuahua mix. Let's see what you got under the redaction bar. Yep. Chihuahua mix. I don't know, but he's really adorable and very skeptical of me right now. Thanks, Diane. Next up, from Roy P. Pronouns, he and him. I love your show. Here's my payment. This is Chico. He was a dog I rescued and cared for for about six months before finding him. A good home with a loving family. Roy, you're an angel. I'm a Vietnam veteran. I recently, recently, with the help of my son, completed my memoir, Hump and Grunts. It's available on Amazon and Kindle. Writing it didn't help me with the nightmares, but I thought it was important to get it out there. Especially the final note. To be united, support peace and discouraging war. A thing I do to fight my ptsd. I embroider attached as a quilt I have titled Years of Trump, where I recorded his asinine policies and general stupidity. Oh, my God, that's fantastic. First of all, Roy, thanks for your service. it's especially tough because for decades, when Vietnam veterans returned, they were treated so poorly. look at that beautiful pupper, though. And that quilt's pretty amazing, too, my friend. Thank you so much, Roy. Next up, Leslie P. Pronoun. She and her hello, Queens of the beans and the entire Leguminati family, AG and dg. I have so much gratitude for both of you in this community, which has helped me keep. Helped keep me informed and relatively sane over this past year. I've been a patron for several years, and you're my first source of news, and I'm proud of all that you've accomplished. And I love the video podcast and the collaboration with other independent media outlets. And of course, I most love the laughter and the swearing regarding the release of the Epstein files. I've been expecting Pamela Joe to release this note quote. Jeffrey and Donnie are good boys and have done nothing wrong. Signed Epstein's mother. Gen Xers should get the reference. That's. That's nice. I love that you will buy multiple copies of a book and give away them. Give them away as gifts for the holidays. Because growing up, my late grandmother used the term WIC WAB or what is Christmas without a book? W I C W.W. a B WIC WAB. Every year, it was a holiday tradition to give and receive books as gifts from my grandmother and other family members. And I've enclosed a couple pics of my very old WIC WAB books I received as a little girl from my sisters and parents. A while back, you asked if there are any red cities with a population of 250,000 or more. I happen to live in one. Colorado Springs, population 500,000. Greater metro area 700,000. A military hub and evangelical stronghold. Think Focus on the Family. Colorado Springs is a red city in an otherwise blue purple state. Other than its political leanings, Colorado Springs is gorgeous and one of the best places to live and the good news is we're moving to the left. In 2023, we elected as Mayor Yemi Mobilotti, an independent who defeated the right wing Republican candidate. In October, my husband and I attended the no Kings rally here with estimates of 12,000 to 15,000 participants. However, our current rep in Colorado 5 is Jeff Crank, a useless Trump mouthpiece who provided zero pushback when the regime announced moving space command from Colorado Springs to Alabama and refused to meet with Virginia Giuffre's brother and sister in law who live in the area. A few weeks ago, Bennett Midas featured a story on Crank and one of several Democrats running to defeat him. Next year I look forward to choosing the best candidate in the June primaries and defeating crank in 2026. Enclosed is my bird watching photo. Any other Colorado Springs Leguminati, please put a note in the comments. Thanks again for all you do and here's to a 2026 full of resistance and joy wherever we can find it. Okay, look at the books. Look at the WIC WAB books. These are amazing. And then okay, a Jeff Crank double barrel middle finger at the television Fantastico. Leslie P. Thank you so much for sharing. And thanks to all of you for sharing your good news. Share it with us. DailyBeansPod.com click on contact I will be back in your ears tomorrow. Dana will be back in your ears the day after that. Thanks for hanging in with me solo. Until then, please take care of your yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health and take care of your family. I've been AG and them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joel Reeder with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to to news, politics and justice. For more information Please visit msw media.com msw media.