Hasta La Gadget!

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives will soon get another chance to add to its record of voting against measures friendly to Dreamers, the young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children — or to make a rare vote in their favor.

On Wednesday evening, the Rules Committee approved 135 amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act to go for a vote before the full House. One of those amendments, offered by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), would strip a measure in the defense bill that asks the Defense Department to consider allowing certain Dreamers to enlist in the military.

The language in the NDAA that Brooks’ amendment targets came from Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and was already approved by the House Armed Services Committee in a bipartisan vote. Though Gallego’s measure is small in scope, it still caused a furor among immigration hawks, showing how toxic anything perceived as supporting President Barack Obama’s immigration policies remains among certain GOP lawmakers.

For those Republicans, to even consider allowing Dreamers to enlist would be tantamount to an endorsement of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a policy instituted under Obama that many conservatives believe is unconstitutional. The DACA program grants some Dreamers work authorization, which Gallego and other Democrats say should also make them eligible for military service.

Brooks said on Wednesday that Gallego’s measure “betrays Americans by encouraging the Secretary of Defense to hire illegal aliens rather than Americans.”

Republican members pled with the Rules Committee during a seven-hour meeting on Wednesday to take out the Gallego language as part of the committee’s set procedures for sending legislation to the House floor.

The question was whether the Rules Committee would take out the provision on its own or leave it in the bill, thereby forcing the entire House to vote on it. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) urged the committee to remove the Gallego measure so there wouldn’t be a floor debate over the issue, which he said could harm an ongoing lawsuit against Obama’s deportation relief policies.

Taking the measure out of the NDAA would “avoid a national debate that’s going to divide people and pit Americans against each other over something that has no real purpose in the end,” King said.

Republicans on the Rules Committee agreed with King and others that immigration measures didn’t belong in the NDAA. But the committee settled on allowing the full House to vote on Brooks’ amendment.

Democrats argued in favor of allowing Dreamers to enlist, saying it was fully appropriate to include the measure in the defense bill because it was about improving military preparedness. They also noted that the measure wouldn’t even dictate policy to the Pentagon.

“To my surprise, the fringe of the Republican Party is up in arms over an amendment that merely expresses bipartisan support for exploring the possibility of allowing Dreamers to serve,” Gallego said at a press conference earlier on Wednesday. “How low can these fringe Republicans go in order to prove their anti-immigrant stripes?”

One Republican, Rep. Jeff Denham of California, veered from his party by submitting an amendment to the Rules Committee that would allow Dreamers to earn legal status through military service. Denham has attempted to add the measure to previous NDAAs without success. He failed once again on Wednesday — the amendment will not get a floor vote.

Under current policy, Dreamers aren’t entirely banned from military service. Some DACA recipients can join the Army under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program. The program is available to Dreamers who have expertise in certain skills or languages.

So far, 81 DACA recipients have applied to enlist in the Army, all of whom speak a language that would make them eligible for MAVNI, according to an Army spokesman. They have not yet gone through the full approval process.

But Dreamers — even those who might be eligible for the program — say MAVNI isn’t enough. Hina Naveed, 26, came to the U.S. from Dubai in 2001, when she was 10 years old. She was born in Pakistan and speaks Urdu, one of the languages that would make her eligible for MAVNI. Naveed, who is in her final semester of nursing school, says she would like to enlist, but is hesitant because she would likely qualify only for her language skills and thus be unable to use her nursing training.

She said she’s also sympathetic to the other Dreamers who are ineligible to enlist under MAVNI.

“What’s really holding me back in terms of enlisting is I don’t want to enlist into something that I don’t think everyone else has the opportunity to be a part of,” Naveed said.

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A passenger on a Megabus that was heading north from Chicago has been hailed as a hero after he reportedly subdued an armed man who fired at least one shot minutes after the bus started its journey.

Kenneth Smith, 28, told the Chicago Tribune that he had just settled into his seat late Tuesday when a loud noise resounded through the bus. Smith was traveling to Minneapolis to visit his 6-year-old son.

“It was real loud,” Smith told WMAQ-TV. “We didn’t know what it was until we saw the gun.”

Police said the gunman discharged his weapon in the bathroom of the bus. He then approached the driver and allegedly began harassing her. A witness said it appeared the gunman also attempted to grab the steering wheel, per WMAQ-TV.

That’s when Smith intervened, confronting the man and telling him to return to his seat. The suspect reportedly did as he was told, but came back moments later, with a gun.

“He came back downstairs, he was grabbing at his hip, I had already seen that and I told him he was getting too close,” Smith told WMAQ-TV. “As he kept coming that’s when I rushed him, I choked him, he fell to the floor, the clip came out of the gun and that’s when I saw it so I pulled it out, gave it to my cousin and I held him down until the police arrived.”

According to WGN-TV, the bus stopped at the Des Plaines Oasis, where the gunman was taken into police custody. Police said charges are expected to be filed against the suspect.

Passengers on the Megabus praised Smith’s quick action.

“He saved us,” Ken Hasley told WMAQ-TV. “The bus could’ve crashed or anything the way that guy was aggravating the bus driver so that guy right there is a hero.”

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No need to go down memory lane when it comes to Detroit techno pioneer Kevin Saunderson. The story has been told, but even so, those seeds originally planted by the likes of Saunderson continually need care so that the future of electronic music can openly grow through innovation and collective efforts.

Kevin Saunderson is back again at this year’s Movement Festival in Detroit presenting ORIGIN’s, a lineup curated on the Made In Detroit Stage to close out the festival on Monday, May 25th with a line up of artists from Detroit and elsewhere that embody the core spirit coming from Detroit techno. Recently, I was able to chat with Saunderson about the ORIGIN’s stage and how collaboration is important to progress in music.

Tell us about the ORIGIN’s stage at the Movement Festival.
We aim to give people some history of music; people who have been influenced by myself or any of the music from Detroit. It’s about protecting the origins of the music from Detroit where it started and keeping it going. Let’s all feed off each other and just vibe from it. I’m hoping that young producers who will be a part of it will do some collaborations or some other connections happen out of it. Of course, we want to inspire the new kids, the new producers coming out and give them a vision to want to play on an ORIGIN’s one year, one day, somewhere in Detroit or somewhere in the world.

What have you taught your sons about music so they can stand out on their own?
When they first decided, they decided at different times. Like Dantiez, when he decided, he didn’t come to me, it kind of happened by accident. He moved in with some friends, his friends were DJs and producing. That’s how he got his inspiration. He moved back home, and he was like ‘I want to make music, I want to be a DJ’. I told him to go on YouTube, learn this, learn that, and get some background work first, and see if that’s what you want to do. It isn’t as easy as jumping into this. You got to love it. I think what I did is really make him prove that he really wanted it on his own, and in time, as I started to see that dedication, that will, I started taking him around the world with me so he could get a vision on what else is out there. Get a feel for it. I took him to Ibiza. I took to Australia. I took him several places. After a while, I just realized that he was a hard worker, I knew he was serious. His skills started to develop. That’s how he earned his way. The other one Damarii kind of followed his brother but also worked hard in the studio producing music. You got to live it. You got to love it. I think they are both doing that. They don’t need daddy to play with them; they can play on their own. They sure don’t need me to make music with them or for them. We did do some collaboration and actually learned some production tips from them. Now, it’s even better because our relationship is a better relationship. We have a mutual interest. This is what I’ve been doing. This is what they are doing, and I’m still doing it.

Between what you described about with your sons and the purpose of the ORIGIN’s stage, there’s an air of collaboration in all of it. Speak about the importance of collaborating with others.
I think it inspires some of the best creations from collaboration, I don’t know if people really realize that because of the magic that comes through. Also gives opportunity to other artists and it’s fun too. Last year, me and Seth [Troxler] did a back to back and then we started talking about doing a track together, which we’ll get to. For me, being in the game so long doing this so many years it’s an important part of it because of the development to keep you growing.

The element of fun comes into question with me. Do you think too many electronic artists take themselves too seriously?
I think you do the music you love doing, you have to love it, and you have to be inspired. When I make a track, I don’t worry about if people will love it or like it. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done. I love doing it. It’s a bonus if people do like it because it gives you a different kind of inspiration and confidence, especially when you are doing it at a young age early in your career.

With being a black artist in the music industry and with all the hot-button topics centered around race these days, why do you think the music you do is so important for the people?
I think because it brings unity. It takes out race. People unite together in harmony. That’s what it is. You go to our events and people are all on the same level together in harmony.

After all these years, how do you still stay important to this electronic music genre?
In Detroit, we are the roots, the essence, the industry of techno, and the form of electronic music. The soul of the music beats the heart of the city. It’s been like that for years. I’ve been lucky through my life that I’ve touched so many people. I’ve been inspired in return. Think about the roots of it and it must grow, and many have grown from it in different ways. It’s always important to be a part of it as long as I’m healthy. We have reached people all over the world. It’s a great feeling to know we had this impact. When I first started making this music, I was going to Eastern Michigan University and I was DJing and making music on campus. It’s all urban black kids coming to our parties. I kept looking at these fraternity’s parties going on campus saying this music is for everybody. So the black kids are now listening to dance music and the white kids were listening to rock-n-roll and punk, and they had these enormous crowds, and I kept saying ‘You guys need to dance. Everybody needs to dance.’ That was a vision and it has come true.

ORIGIN’s is presented on the Made In Detroit Stage at the Movement Festival at Hart Plaza on Monday, May 25th featuring artists Dink & TK, Greg Gow, DJ Mink, D. Wynn, The Saunderson Brothers, Phuture, Al Ester, Lee Foss, MK (Marc Kinchen), and Kevin Saunderson & Derrick May Presenting Hi-Tech Soul. For more information on Movement Festival, visit movement.us. For more information on Kevin Saunderson, visit deepspaceradio.com.

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