Brexit
TheBrief Opener
TheBrief
NO WAY OUT
E.U. supporters rally ’round the flag at a London protest on March 23
INSIDE
LIBERIANS LIVING IN THE U.S. FACE A DEPORTATION DEADLINE
THE PENTAGON TAKES A RISK FUNDING A BORDER WALL
MUSEUMS REFUSE FUNDS LINKED TO THE OPIOID CRISIS
PHOTOGRAPH BY KEVIN COOMBS
WORLD
Cornered by Brexit, May promises to go
FROM THE VANTAGE POINT OF A NEWS HELICOPTER, the hundreds of thousands of people who lined the streets of Central London on March 23 looked like a colony of ants. The thick column stretched from Hyde Park in the west past the Ritz Hotel before spilling out in front of the Houses of Parliament. Broadcast on loudspeakers and carried aloft on placards came the marchers’ demand: “Put it to the people.”
What else could “it” be but Brexit? Nearly three years after the June 2016 referendum in which 52% of voters elected to leave the European Union, the country is both divided and paralyzed by the decision. And on March 27, after two defeats from lawmakers who refused to ratify the exit deal she negotiated with the E.U., Prime Minister Theresa May made one last attempt to end that paralysis by promising to resign if Parliament would just push her deal over the line.
As the original March 29 deadline for Britain’s departure approached, patience wore thin on all sides. An online petition calling for Brexit to be canceled altogether drew more than 5.8 million signatures, after causing the government’s official petitions website to crash at least twice. At the same time as the march in London, roughly 100 miles north, Brexit supporters gathered to hear Nigel Farage, a figurehead of the movement to leave the E.U., criticize May’s “Brexit betrayal.” Although a much smaller crowd, the 200 or so marchers claimed to represent the 17.4 million who voted for Brexit.
May staked her reputation on delivering Brexit, but she’s been unable to count on the support of even people who want to leave, let alone those who don’t. According to pollster Opinium, 61% of Brits disapprove of her handling of Brexit. “I know there is a desire for a new approach and new leadership,” she told members of her ruling Conservative Party on March 27. “I won’t stand in the way of that.”
F IRST COMES the still-tricky task of delivering Brexit. On March 14, still with no consensus on moving forward with May’s deal, lawmakers voted to direct her to ask the E.U. for more time. Days later, at a summit in Brussels, leaders of the 27 other E.U. member states agreed to set a new deadline. Now, if lawmakers ratify May’s agreement with the E.U., Brexit will be postponed until May 22—and May will stand down. If they do not agree on a way forward, Britain is set to crash out of the bloc just two weeks after the original date, on April 12.
Assailed by protesters on one side and the E.U. on the other, May had long ago lost the support of many of her colleagues. At least 29 members of her government have resigned to vote against her Brexit policy since June 2017, and her Cabinet, delicately balanced between Remainers and Brexiters, is beset by regular leaks and open disagreement. May narrowly headed off an attempt to topple her premiership on March 24, according to reports, and her authority was torn to shreds two days later when lawmakers proposed 16 possible ways forward for the U.K., in defiance of her deal.
If Britain ends up with a so-called no-deal Brexit on April 12, trade agreements, citizens’ rights and customs arrangements could be nullified overnight. Authorities are preparing for possible food and medicine shortages, and the Bank of England has warned it could do more harm to the U.K. economy than the 2008 financial crisis.
A no-deal Brexit would have repercussions overseas too. Trade with every E.U. country would fall, with Germany and Ireland among the worst hit. The U.S. could also suffer: a recession in Britain, the U.S.’s fifth largest export market, would have knock-on effects for U.S. producers. The potential damage to the global clout of a country once seen as America’s diplomatic bridge to Europe is substantial.
There is, however, a mechanism to avoid a no-deal Brexit: revoking Article 50, the legal device by which Britain is exiting the E.U. “That’s the nuclear option,” says Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London. “It would mean not leaving at all.” Europe’s top court has ruled that the U.K. could cancel Brexit unilaterally, an outcome that would delight the millions who signed the anti-Brexit petition.
But it remains a remote possibility. Responding to the petition in a statement, the government said revoking Article 50 would “break the promises made by government to the British people, disrespect the clear instruction from a democratic vote and, in turn, reduce confidence in our democracy.” And May has repeatedly said she “will not countenance” canceling Brexit.
It may not be her decision for much longer. Waiting in the wings for her job are former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, both of whom would push for a no-deal Brexit over a cancellation, going against the wishes of a majority of lawmakers. “I’m afraid this saga will continue,” David Lammy, a lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party, tells TIME. “There’s a lot of drama ahead on the British political scene.” The passing of May’s deal, after two historic defeats, would be less a sign of her skill negotiating tactics than of her running down the clock. For now, the resignation of this Prime Minister might be the one thing on which a large majority in the U.K. can agree.
POPPYPALOOZA When bright blossoms popped up across Walker Canyon’s hills in early March, the residents of Lake Elsinore, Calif., were excited. Wildflower “superblooms” typically happen once a decade, and drought has made them scarcer. But tourists, spurred by social media, quickly overwhelmed locals and flowers alike. After temporarily blocking access, the town introduced shuttles and limited parking—measures that appear not to have dampened interest, as up to 20,000 people visited on March 23 alone.
THE BULLETIN
Deportation looms for Liberians after decades of protected status in the U.S.
MANY LIBERIANS LIVING IN THE U.S. ARRIVED fleeing civil war and its aftermath. On March 31, the Trump Administration’s decision to end a special program designed to protect them goes into effect. It will send some 4,000 people, many of whom have spent most of their lives in the U.S., back to a country they may no longer know.
SPECIAL STATUS In 1991, with fighting rendering their homeland chaotic, Liberians in the U.S. at the time were granted protected status, giving them the right to stay and work (but no path to citizenship) until it was safe to go back. Eight years later, after one civil war had morphed into another, President Bill Clinton gave Liberians another special status, called Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), which offers similar protection from deportation.
TIME TO GO For two decades, every President renewed the program—until March 2018, when President Donald Trump reconsidered it amid a wider curbing of programs for previously protected immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Nepal and Sudan. Noting that Liberia was no longer experiencing armed conflict and that the threat of another Ebola outbreak had dissipated, he gave Liberians with DED status—everyone from doctoral students to retirees with deep roots in the U.S.—one year “to make necessary arrangements” to return.
BREAKING HOMES Many parents are facing a painful choice: leave their U.S.-born children, or take them from the only home they have ever known to an unfamiliar country where violence is rife and opportunities are few. And those with DED status who might choose to stay and appeal the decision risk losing their jobs and being deported as newly undocumented immigrants. Civil rights advocates have sued the Administration on behalf of the Liberians, calling the program’s termination racially motivated. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats have introduced a law that would allow Liberians in the DED to apply for permanent residency—but even if the law passes, it will likely be too late.
NEWS TICKER
Trump muddles NoKo sanctions
President Donald Trump’s March 22 tweet that he’d withdraw sanctions on North Korea drew confusion, as he seemed to refer to sanctions that had just been announced. Officials said he meant future sanctions, but Bloomberg reported March 26 that this was a cover story to hide that Trump had been persuaded to change his mind after tweeting.
Mexico wants apology for conquest
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said March 25 that he’d sent a letter to Spain’s King Felipe VI demanding an apology for human-rights abuses against indigenous people during Spain’s 16th century conquest of Latin America. Spain said it “firmly rejects” the letter’s argument.
More tragedy for shooting survivors
In just over a week, two survivors of 2018’s shooting in Parkland, Fla., and a father of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting all died by apparent suicide, police said, prompting calls for support and reform. If you or someone you know may be contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
REUTERS; MICHAEL CHOW—USA TODAY NETWORK/SIPA USA; MAY: GETTY IMAGES; SUPERBLOOM: MICHAEL CHOW—USA TODAY NETWORK/SIPA USA