The Critical Hour

Are Changes in Puerto Rico a Light at the End of the Tunnel or an Oncoming Train?

On this episode of The Critical Hour, Dr. Wilmer Leon is joined by Dr. Mayra Vélez Serrano, professor of political science and comparative politics at the University of Puerto Rico.
Sputnik

Puerto Rico Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez was sworn in as governor after Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Pedro Pierluisi’s swearing-in last week was unconstitutional. Last week, there was jubilation over the success of the popular movement to force former Governor Ricardo Rosselló out of office. What was the problem with Pierluisi’s swearing-in?

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents swept through seven work sites in six cities across Mississippi on Wednesday, arresting approximately 680 people the agency said were undocumented immigrants in what officials said is the largest single-state workplace enforcement action in US history. Workers suspected of being undocumented were rounded up, placed on buses and sent to an ICE facility in Louisiana. In spite of all of the public outcry, the Trump administration continues to attack immigrants in this country.

A coalition of 11 health and labor organizations represented by Earthjustice filed a petition on Wednesday in the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, suing the Trump administration over the Environmental Protection Agency's refusal last month to ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide tied to brain damage in children. What is chlorpyrifos, and how significant and widespread of a problem is this?

GUESTS:

Dr. Mayra Vélez Serrano — Professor of political science/comparative politics at the University of Puerto Rico.

Abel Nunez — Executive director of the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN).

Carlos Casteneda — Attorney with The Law Offices of Thomas Esparza Jr. 

Patti Goldman — Managing attorney of the Earthjustice Northwest Regional Office in Seattle, Washington.

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