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I don't want to disappoint anyone, but they are stating "we stand ready to do this" but the tacit follow up is "when we are asked to". The president has stated

I don't want to disappoint anyone, but they are stating "we stand ready to do this" but the tacit follow up is "when we are asked to". The president has stated he is not ready to ask them "He's casting doubt over whether he will actually implement a move to invoke the Defense Production Act -- that he signed on Wednesday and that gives him authority to order industry to work towards homeland defense and national goals. In this case, it could speed the production of badly needed ventilators, masks and other supplies for hospital workers" - https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/politics/donald-trump-leadership-coronavirus/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/politics/donald-trump-leaders... FEMA and the Army Corp of Engineers have said the same thing. For some reason they are not being mobilized while CA, WA, NY/CT/NJ are dealing with a crisis and have asked for that help, formally and officially. Meanwhile, ICE is fully deployed and arresting people in hospitals, then concentrating them together without adequate separation. GM and Tesla (and Ford, and all other domestic manufacturers that have done so) should be saluted for volunteering to help. But there is a slow-walking of the response and something very, very rotten is going on in some areas at a coordination level in the US.

ruffrey 7y ago
Can you point us to some current sources about ICE arresting people at hospitals?
- HEHENE 7y ago
  As a counter point; ICE has recently said they will only be arresting illegal immigrants who pose a public safety risk and will be delaying enforcement actions until after the crisis for others. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-says-it-will-not-detain-most-undocumented-immigrants-coronavirus-pandemic/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-says-it-will-not-detain-mos...
  - throwaway5752 7y ago
    Not a counterpoint. I just hadn't heard that, yet. That would be most welcome news. There are other steps (releasing nonviolent offenders from prison and other confinement) that might be politically unpopular but urgently need to be done.
- omgwtfbyobbq 7y ago
  https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/mc-nws-pa-ice-immigrant-arrest-hospital-scranton-coronavirus-20200316-3itqa24pdfau3kjnkm62jcdsai-story.html https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/mc-nws-pa-ice-immigr...
- kemayo 7y ago
  There was a viral photo a few days ago. There a lot of context around it: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/the-right-and-wrong-lessons-to-take-from-that-viral-photo-of-an-ice-arrest-at-a-hospital/ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/the-right-and-w... It basically boils down to "ICE has a policy of not arresting anyone at hospitals; this was a special case where someone they were in the middle of arresting had to be taken to a hospital, and they continued as soon as he was discharged".
  - SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
    > this was a special case where someone they were in the middle of arresting had to be taken to a hospital, and they continued as soon as he was discharged" So no issue at all and the law was being enforced in a completely rational and logical way. Ok, a little different from the claim that ICE is rounding up people at hospitals. Thanks for the context.
whatshisface 7y ago
Since the beginning of the crisis it has been clear to the people who know how to do stuff like curve fits that the universal global response policy of every government has been to wait for a need before asking that the need be filled. The closest any country came to a proactive response was the SARS countries who had some pandemic plans. I expect that, in line with history, Trump will wait for a ventilator shortage before doing anything to help increase ventilator production. That's not a criticism of Trump, that's a criticism of the way leaders around the world work. (Note: the New York ventilator shortage doesn't necessarily count because there are still ventilators available elsewhere.)
jimkleiber 7y ago
For me, it's obvious that a virus that starts on the other side of the world and could kill millions of Americans is an urgent national security problem and the defense department should be involved. And if we don't currently have a need for extra ventilators (which I'm sure we do) there are other countries who do have that need and this virus doesn't care which human defined borders it is within. If it were me, I'd ramp up production across the US, so that WHEN we have the need, we will be operating at high capacity and if we have excess, we distribute them to the world to save human lives and protect future American lives.
- capableweb 7y ago
  > For me, it's obvious that a virus that starts on the other side of the world and could kill millions of Americans is an urgent national security problem and the defense department should be involved. Well, as I understand it, Defense Production Act would mean for-profit companies who are earning lots of money on the current event would earn less money. If any of these people who earn money on the current event is sitting in the current administration, it makes sense that they don't see any huge issues with not using the Defense Production Act. I guess that's what you get when a country solely focuses on capitalism since it's inception. The following quote, while not exactly for this situation, comes to mind: > It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It
  - jimkleiber 7y ago
    I agree that they may have to stop short-term money making, however I think the opportunity is to convince them that the more damage this virus does to the world, the more damage it does to their market, and therefore to their long-term financial interests. Plus, there could be tremendous goodwill gained by deciding to join the efforts to save people's lives—that alone could guarantee them customers for life. Lastly, I understand that the big 3 automotive companies are shutting down their production of cars right now anyway, so the factories will likely sit idle.
unethical_ban 7y ago
ICE has announced it will not be detaining people other than those deemed a threat to public safety. https://www.tpr.org/post/ice-halts-most-arrests-amid-coronavirus-crisis https://www.tpr.org/post/ice-halts-most-arrests-amid-coronav...

ruffrey 7y ago

Can you point us to some current sources about ICE arresting people at hospitals?

HEHENE 7y ago
As a counter point; ICE has recently said they will only be arresting illegal immigrants who pose a public safety risk and will be delaying enforcement actions until after the crisis for others. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-says-it-will-not-detain-most-undocumented-immigrants-coronavirus-pandemic/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-says-it-will-not-detain-mos...
- throwaway5752 7y ago
  Not a counterpoint. I just hadn't heard that, yet. That would be most welcome news. There are other steps (releasing nonviolent offenders from prison and other confinement) that might be politically unpopular but urgently need to be done.
omgwtfbyobbq 7y ago
https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/mc-nws-pa-ice-immigrant-arrest-hospital-scranton-coronavirus-20200316-3itqa24pdfau3kjnkm62jcdsai-story.html https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/mc-nws-pa-ice-immigr...
kemayo 7y ago
There was a viral photo a few days ago. There a lot of context around it: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/the-right-and-wrong-lessons-to-take-from-that-viral-photo-of-an-ice-arrest-at-a-hospital/ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/the-right-and-w... It basically boils down to "ICE has a policy of not arresting anyone at hospitals; this was a special case where someone they were in the middle of arresting had to be taken to a hospital, and they continued as soon as he was discharged".
- SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
  > this was a special case where someone they were in the middle of arresting had to be taken to a hospital, and they continued as soon as he was discharged" So no issue at all and the law was being enforced in a completely rational and logical way. Ok, a little different from the claim that ICE is rounding up people at hospitals. Thanks for the context.

whatshisface 7y ago

Since the beginning of the crisis it has been clear to the people who know how to do stuff like curve fits that the universal global response policy of every government has been to wait for a need before asking that the need be filled. The closest any country came to a proactive response was the SARS countries who had some pandemic plans. I expect that, in line with history, Trump will wait for a ventilator shortage before doing anything to help increase ventilator production. That's not a criticism of Trump, that's a criticism of the way leaders around the world work. (Note: the New York ventilator shortage doesn't necessarily count because there are still ventilators available elsewhere.)

jimkleiber 7y ago

For me, it's obvious that a virus that starts on the other side of the world and could kill millions of Americans is an urgent national security problem and the defense department should be involved. And if we don't currently have a need for extra ventilators (which I'm sure we do) there are other countries who do have that need and this virus doesn't care which human defined borders it is within. If it were me, I'd ramp up production across the US, so that WHEN we have the need, we will be operating at high capacity and if we have excess, we distribute them to the world to save human lives and protect future American lives.

capableweb 7y ago
> For me, it's obvious that a virus that starts on the other side of the world and could kill millions of Americans is an urgent national security problem and the defense department should be involved. Well, as I understand it, Defense Production Act would mean for-profit companies who are earning lots of money on the current event would earn less money. If any of these people who earn money on the current event is sitting in the current administration, it makes sense that they don't see any huge issues with not using the Defense Production Act. I guess that's what you get when a country solely focuses on capitalism since it's inception. The following quote, while not exactly for this situation, comes to mind: > It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It
- jimkleiber 7y ago
  I agree that they may have to stop short-term money making, however I think the opportunity is to convince them that the more damage this virus does to the world, the more damage it does to their market, and therefore to their long-term financial interests. Plus, there could be tremendous goodwill gained by deciding to join the efforts to save people's lives—that alone could guarantee them customers for life. Lastly, I understand that the big 3 automotive companies are shutting down their production of cars right now anyway, so the factories will likely sit idle.

unethical_ban 7y ago

ICE has announced it will not be detaining people other than those deemed a threat to public safety. https://www.tpr.org/post/ice-halts-most-arrests-amid-coronavirus-crisis https://www.tpr.org/post/ice-halts-most-arrests-amid-coronav...