Republicans Call for Trump's Impeachment After He Threatens Genocide

The new DHS secretary wants to strand millions of international travelers, CBP blew up a mountain sacred to Indigenous people, and ICE paid $48 million over the asking price for a warehouse

Good afternoon. I’m Ryan Rose, and this is AlterNet America.

The president threatened to wipe out a civilization, and even Republicans have started using the word “impeachment.” The new DHS secretary has floated a plan to strand millions of international travelers. The border wall blew up a mountain sacred to an Indigenous community. And ICE paid $48 million over the asking price for a warehouse in Utah.

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Now let’s go.

Even Republicans Call For Trump’s Impeachment After Iran Genocide Threats

This morning, Trump posted on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” The threat was timed to his 8 p.m. Eastern deadline demanding that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its power plants and bridges.

The post did something that six weeks of war in Iran and months of escalating chaos could not: it got Republicans talking about removing him.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a onetime Trump stalwart, called for invoking the 25th Amendment. “How do we 25th Amendment his ass?” Alex Jones said on his own show. When you have lost Alex Jones and Marjorie Taylor Greene in the same morning, something has shifted.

Bill Kristol, who served as chief of staff to the vice president under George H. W. Bush, simply wrote: “Impeach Trump.” Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s White House communications director for just 10 days in 2017, tagged Senate Majority Leader John Thune in a post on X where he asked: “Are you serious right now? Are you not going to denounce this? Are you not going to seek the removal of this crazy person? This is your responsibility that is what Article I of the Constitution is about.”

The House is on recess and isn’t scheduled back until April 14th. Iran has threatened that if the U.S. and Israel escalate further, their allies will close a second major waterway, the Bab el-Mandeb, in addition to the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump himself admitted last month that his war strategy might lead some to try to invoke the 25th Amendment. “I can’t say what we’re going to do,” he reportedly said, “because if I—” It’s unclear where that sentence was going.

In summary: the 25th Amendment is trending, Alex Jones has become a moderate, and Congress is in recess. Everything is fine.

New DHS Secretary Wants to Break Air Travel For Sanctuary Cities

The new DHS secretary has a bold vision for American air travel: less of it.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin suggested in a Fox News interview Monday that he may remove customs officers from major international airports in sanctuary cities.

The move would be catastrophic for airports in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, causing major disruptions in international travel. It would also be disastrous for this summer’s FIFA World Cup, which is being hosted across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

The airports potentially impacted processed approximately 132 million international passengers in 2024. At JFK alone, international passengers account for around 57 percent of total passenger volume.

So the plan, clarified: strand tens of millions of international travelers — including tourists, business travelers, and World Cup attendees — to punish cities that won’t help ICE arrest people who were already legally going through the airport. Mullin’s stint as DHS Secretary is off to a flying stop.

CBP Blew Up a Sacred Mountain To Build The Border Wall

The U.S. government carried out dynamite detonations that damaged an archaeological and ceremonial site on the U.S.-Mexico border belonging to the binational Kumeyaay people. The destruction was done as part of ongoing work to build the border wall.

Residents reported that the explosions struck the slopes of Cerro Cuchumá, damaging a 35-meter monolith, along with cemeteries, ritual points, and the traditional initiation center for shamans.

Customs and Border Protection later uploaded the blast video to social media. A previous post had boasted the mountain was getting a “face lift” to “secure a historically challenging terrain.”

The site had been designated on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 in recognition of its ancestral cultural and ceremonial value. This year’s Good Friday pilgrimage will take place above an active construction zone.

CBP has not disputed the damage. They noted that environmental monitors were present during the blasting, presumably having an aneurysm.

ICE Spent $48 Million More Than Necessary On a Warehouse and Told No One

The Department of Homeland Security purchased a vacant 833,000-square-foot warehouse in Salt Lake City for $145.4 million on March 11. Tax assessors had valued it at $97 million. Something isn’t adding up.

According to commercial real estate firm CoStar, DHS had already been paying 11 to 13 percent above market value for its first ten warehouse properties. The Utah deal was the costliest yet. A similarly sized Walmart distribution center built the same year, in the same area, sold for $112 million — below its assessed value.

The deal closed six days after Trump removed Kristi Noem as DHS secretary. Utah’s Republican governor and its entirely Republican congressional delegation found out about the sale after it happened.

Federal officials later told Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall in a 30-minute virtual introductory meeting that the facility is planned as a “mega” detention center with capacity for 7,500 to 10,000 people. For reference, 10,000 people is the population of a small city.

Salt Lake City has said it will fight this with every tool available. Unfortunately, the federal government is not bound by local zoning laws, local opinion, or apparently, the concept of a fair price.

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