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Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. Today, we will look at the controversy in Massapequa, one of the school districts that's resisting calls to change indigenous, or Native American mascot names that many consider demeaning and discriminatory, and now maybe you've heard President Trump has weighed in, in support of that Long Island school district, and his Justice Department has just opened an investigation of whether the state of New York is the one guilty of discrimination for threatening to withhold state funding, if the school doesn't drop the name The Chiefs.

We'll have 100 Years of a 100 Things history segment, a 100 years of immigrant detention in the United States today. Trump may be unique in many ways, but he's also continuing history in this respect, not just breaking from it, and we'll have a special guest who's written a book on that topic, a book-length treatment of the history of immigrant detention in the United States, and what led up to what Trump is doing.

We start here. It's our monthly Call Your Senator segment. My questions and yours for New Jersey Senator Andy Kim, the freshman Democrat who got elected last fall to move up from the House of Representatives. If you have a question for Senator Kim, especially, if you're from New Jersey, 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, call or text, and Senator, we always appreciate that you do these. Welcome back to WNYC.

Senator Andy Kim: -be back. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: In addition to whatever our callers and texters bring up, I want to touch on a few issues, time permitting. I'll let you know, and you know, and the listeners know what I have in mind, including whether democracy is at risk for the 2026 midterm elections. Senator Murphy from Connecticut has been talking about this. I think you have too. Also, tariffs, and also the Ukraine ceasefire talks on the precipice of success, and the precipice of failure.

For our listeners, knowledge relevant to those respectively. I know you were on the Foreign affairs and Small Business committees in the House, and previously held executive branch positions with State Department, the Pentagon and USAID. Let's start with a surprise visit that I see you paid to the Immigrant Detention Center in Elizabeth. Why did you go there, and what did you see?

Senator Andy Kim: Well, I wanted to see with my own eyes the conditions, and talk to some of the people being detained there. I showed up unannounced, because I wanted to really get a sense of what it's actually like, and have a chance to be able to talk to some of the people, including, someone named Karim Daoud, a man from Hunterdon County, 21 years that he's been in the United States.

He has a US citizen wife, two US citizen little kids. He's been held there over 40 days. ICE themselves tell me that he has no criminal history, and so, he was asked to go to an ICE office to clear up a mistake, and was detained there. I just wanted to go and talk to him, see how he's doing. I tell you, it was heartbreaking hear him feel like he's losing hope that he will be able to be here in this country as a free man again with his two kids, with his wife, with his family.

This is what I want the American people to see, that when the Trump administration says that they're going after violent criminals, and the worst that are out there, which I think a lot of us would agree, shouldn't be staying here in the United States. In fact, they're going after people like Karim. People who owns a business, owns a restaurant, has been paying taxes, has a lovely family here, and that is something I hope the vast majority Americans understand is not right.

Brian Lehrer: This is a model case, it sounds like, to me. This is sending a message, even if they may not do this to everybody in his position. He is the type of immigrant, from the way you describe him, who the Trump campaign seemed to say they would not prioritize, and even the Border Czar Tom Homan, seemed to say they would not prioritize.

People who've been in this country for a long time, maybe they're undocumented, but they don't have a criminal record. They've been working in the economy. Maybe they have a US Citizen spouse or kids. Those are the people who were supposed to be the lowest priority for deportation. Is that the category into which Karim fits?

Senator Andy Kim: Well, certainly, in my mind, I thank, someone like him for the idea that even in the first few weeks of this administration that they are going after someone like Karim, just shows how they're not-- This administration is not telling the truth about what they're trying to do. They're trying to sow a level of fear in the American people. Make it seem like we have all these criminals amongst us that could do violence.

If that's the case, show us the evidence, go after those people, but when they go after someone like Karim, especially, within the first few days and weeks, it really shows the underlying agenda that they're trying to push. That is, again, what I hope the American people understand that, yes, we need to make sure we're tackling the issue of immigration, about security, and that's exactly what we want our law enforcement, others to focus on, rather than wasting resources going after someone like Karim, who again has been a fixture in his community, and to you be breaking up a family like this, including a family of American citizens, is not right.

Holding them there in those kinds of conditions, talking to some of the others, they deserve better, and we have to make sure. This is happening right here in our home state in New Jersey. We as a population here, as a community here, have to understand what's happening on our ground, and in our name, and I think that, that's something we need to speak out against.

Brian Lehrer: When I say a model case from their point of view, this is exactly what they want, right? They want somebody like you to come on the show, and otherwise go public, and make a big deal out of this, because it will help send the message to other people in Karim's relatively-- Similar circumstances to Karim. It'll make them be afraid, it'll make some of them self-deport as the term goes. That's what they're after here, isn't it?

Senator Andy Kim: Well, look, I think what they want is, they want the American people to think that they are going after the violent criminals, and taking that type of action, and trying to equate the word "immigrant" with criminal. I think that, that's something we have to speak out against. I think when we see what happened with Mr. Garcia down in El Salvador, that's an example of the public learning about a self-described mistake by the administration.

Then, seeing the President and his administrative administration defying court orders, including the Supreme Court, to be able to bring him back, and continuing their lawless, and frankly, flaunting their lawlessness, and their willingness to not engage and abide by the separation of powers, and the checks and balances of our constitution. That is something that the vast majority of Americans-- I saw a poll, the vast majority Americans oppose what Trump is doing.

I think that it is showing that he's going way too far from compared to what Americans thought he would be doing. I do think that, that's important to speak out against. To put a face to this issue, so it's not just that we're talking about nameless people in this country undocumented, faceless, nameless people, but humans, people who have families, and we should be able to give due process. We should be able to make sure that we are abiding by our own set of laws, and our own constitution.

Brian Lehrer: I know you want to talk about the Abrego Garcia case. You just brought it up, and we will, but just to stay on the Karim Salem case for just a second, you said in your first answer that they called him for a meeting about his immigration status, and then they detained him, and put him in the detention center in Elizabeth for deportation. Are you suggesting that they arranged a meeting with him on false pretenses?

Senator Andy Kim: Oh, well, that's certainly what it appeared to be. I mean, they said that he needed to come in, and clear up some type of mistake. He showed up in good faith to try to address what they were raising, and he was immediately detained. We've seen this not just with him, I mean, there was another case where someone was told to go in for a citizenship interview, and was then detained there. We're seeing a number of these different types of tactics.

Sure, yes, it is meant to sow fear into people, and to have them looking over their shoulders, and the idea that in the year 2025, we have so many families in America in hiding, worried about bringing their kids to doctor's appointments, worried about letting their kids go to school. There are ways in which we can address the concerns that we have with immigration, that doesn't take these types of tactics that, frankly, remind me of the years that I spent in diplomacy and national security, living and working in areas with authoritarianism. That's not the path we should be going down.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, and this seems to be part of a pattern that's emerging. Again, not really what they campaigned on. Arresting immigrants for deportation as they show up for scheduled appointments regarding their immigration status. In addition to this case, that happened with Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi, right? I believe, also, with one of the mothers now in the news who was deported, and had to decide what to do with their US Citizen children. Do you see that as part of a pattern?

Senator Andy Kim: Yes, look, I mean, a pattern is light in the word that it is. It's how they are operating. It's not just a pattern. It is their actual tactics that they are engaged in, and that's sense of, of deception. Again, the people that they said that they were going to go after, are the ones that wouldn't be showing up to these appointments, because they're flaunting their undocumented status as criminals and whatnot.

Again, where is the prioritization? Again, that's what I hope that the American people see, is that they are weaponizing this issue of immigration, using this sense of fear to make it seem like everyone around us could very well be doing harm, but then really tainting the idea of what those that come to this country to build a better future, and to be able to contribute to this society, that is very much being brought into, not just question, but attack.

I hate to see that. I'm a son of immigrants. My parents came here 50 years ago. My wife is an immigrant. There is value in that. When they're doing that, and then also Trump is saying, well, look, he'd love to be able to send homegrown criminals to a prison in El Salvador. You see, it's not just about immigrants either. This is about a President who thinks he has absolute power.

Someone who, even the idea that it's in his mind that he thinks that he has the ability to send a homegrown American citizen, even if they're criminals to have the due process, and then he thinks he can send them to another country. It shows just how out there, and far out and extreme this is, and again, I think that the vast majority Americans understand, he has gone way too far.

Brian Lehrer: Listener in Somerville asks, "If you can't help people like Karim, what can we as citizens do to this, and any of the extreme abuses of power?" I'll add, what should New Jersey constituents of yours or anyone else do, in your opinion, if they are currently not permanent residents, but have scheduled appointments with immigration officials in what they see as good faith cooperation with the system?

Senator Andy Kim: Yes, look, I can't give advice on something so widespread. Case-by-case, they will have to determine whether, and if they have legal help, and support the lots of different organizations that can provide legal support, including pro bono immigration legal support, other things of that nature. Certainly, families have issues directly, they can contact my Congressional office, as well as any of the Congressional offices of the federal delegation to be able to try to get any additional information, and sort this out.

With the broader people, I really do hope that they give voice, because many of the immigrant families I talk to, they're scared to speak out right now, scared to post anything on social media. No, I hope that the rest of us, we recognize that this does affect us, too. What kind of society that we're in, what values, and that we speak out, that we lift up the case of Mr. Garcia, or Mr. Daoud, and others that have been treated in ways that are just not in line with how our country should be operating here. Constitution affords these rights to everybody, not just the citizens.

Brian Lehrer: On the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, the Supreme Court may, or may not order his return more explicitly than they have so far, but here's border czar Tom Homan on that case last week, rejecting the idea that here was a man who had not been adjudicated deportable by the courts, and that his deportation to El Salvador was a mistake. Let me get your reaction to this.

Tom Homan: He's a citizen of El Salvador, a native El Salvador who had due process, despite what you're hearing, been ordered removed by two separate immigration judges. The best that could happen for him, if he actually came back to the United States, he would be detained and removed again, because he has an order of deportation. What people don't talk about the withholding order they keep saying was the mistake, or oversight was issued years ago under different circumstances. The gang he was afraid would attack him, no longer exists.

Brian Lehrer: That's Tom Holman, the border czar, speaking to reporters on Wednesday. Your reaction?

Senator Andy Kim: Yes, well, look, first and foremost, I've been hearing him say that left and right. "Show us the evidence. Show us what you have then on Mr. Garcia." What we've seen so clearly, it's not just about his case. Homan would love for this to just be about immigration. It's also about just the Trump administration overstepping, and not abiding by judge orders.

What we saw with Judge Boasberg and others, and just what they're doing in defiance, regardless of how they feel about what the Supreme Court said, they have to abide by these court rulings. When Trump is in the Oval Office with the head of El Salvador after that, and not taking the actions. Trump loves tariffs. He uses that as a tool for so many different types.

If he really wanted El Salvador to be able to bring back Mr. Garcia, he could apply tariffs, he could apply pressure. One of my colleagues from the Senate went to El Salvador, talked to the vice president there, and said that the United States is funding people to be-- A state to be held in captivity there. We need to get answers to these types of questions about what exactly is happening, what are the circumstances by which people are being held, and whether or not we are continuing to fund their incarceration, and if so, yes, it is still very much facilitated by the United States.

Again, this is not just about immigration. This is a situation where it's about our rule of law, and when Trump is talking about homegrown criminals going down, the same action that he'd love to be able to do that, it just shows just how widespread this lawlessness is.

Brian Lehrer: Listener asks in a text, "I wonder if one facet of why Trump administration is seeking to deport so many lawful immigrants, is that they overstated how many, 'Criminal aliens' there were in the US, and over promised their show of mass deportations, and because of that political promise, now they're going shopping for anyone they can find to feed the narrative of promises made, promises kept." Do you have a response to that? Do you have a thought about that?

Senator Andy Kim: Yes, I don't know what the right number, I mean, what the accurate number is in terms of those that are violent criminals, criminals committed felonies, et cetera, but what I would just say, I have not seen indications that this President really understands that there's a distinction. He has gone after just the core principles of plurality in this nation so fundamentally.

I mean, we see this with the divisiveness with which he's approaching our own nation. We see this in terms of his own attacks, in terms of cutting out, cutting off international visas for students. I just wrote a piece talking about-- I come from a foreign policy background. I wrote a piece talking about how this principle of America first, when you look at, on the global level, it really means America alone, he wants to cut us off from the rest of the world.

This is a neo isolationism policy that he is trying to emplace upon us at a time, when that will only make our economy weaker, only make our opportunities less and fewer, only make us less safe as well. That is something where it's, I don't think it's just about that particular issue of deportation. We see it in the tariffs, and how he's building up, literally, economic walls around our nation, and raising prices for the rest of us. He doesn't care about that. He's just trying to push through a very extreme agenda that is trying to isolate the United States.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners, if you're just joining us, it's our monthly Call Your Senator segment. It's really call or text your senator segment with New Jersey Senator Andy Kim. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. I want to change topics, and the next thing that I was going to bring up, which I mentioned at the beginning of the segment, a caller also wants to bring up, so let me let Ron in Hartsdale do that. Ron, you're on WNYC with Senator Kim. Hello.

Ron: Good morning, and thank you for taking my call. I'm very concerned about the Budget Reconciliation Act, which is likely to cut off an enormous amount of money for people who are on Medicaid, and there's a bill that's coming up before the Senate this week that I believe could affect that. It's H.R.22, the SAVE Act. If the Senate allows the budget to be cut by trillions dollars or so, and these people who are on Medicaid now, will have it taken away, they're going to be angry, and they're going to--

Brian Lehrer: Ron, let me jump in and separate for Senator Kim and the rest of our listeners, the two questions that I think you're raising. One is about the big budget bill coming down the pike with potentially big Medicaid cuts and other things. The other that he mentioned, Senator, that I want to take first is the SAVE Act, which, as he said, passed the House, is coming to the Senate. That's the one where if you don't have a birth certificate, you can't register to vote. Correct? Or other proof of citizenship?

Senator Andy Kim: Yes, you need proof of citizenship. Basically, it would make it easier to buy a gun in America than to vote, and it's just something that imposes upon us this type of level of documentation that just is not something that the vast majority Americans have on hand easily accessible in that type of way. It just, again, what problems they're trying to solve. We are yet to see any evidence of widespread voter fraud abuse.

The Republican Party certainly didn't complain about the results, and how things happened in any significant way this past election when Donald Trump was elected, and so, yes, I do have concerns about something that would require not just proof, not just the birth certificate, but, for instance, for women who change their names later on in life, especially, after marriage, that the birth certificate is not even enough then.

If they're going to require passports or whatnot, then make passports free, give it to everybody. Try to do something in that way, rather than making people have to pay for a passport in order to be able to vote. It's just not right. There are other ways in which we can try to secure our election, so that is certainly not legislation that I support.

Brian Lehrer: Well, the Republicans argue that, that is the basic criterion for eligibility to vote. You have to be a US citizen, and so why shouldn't proof of citizenship be the explicit requirement the first time you register to vote to put yourself in the system?

Senator Andy Kim: We have all sorts of means by which to know who is a US Citizen or not. We should be to be able to handle that through other types of efforts that are out there in terms of the voter roll, and again, we just haven't seen this type of evidence of widespread fraud to make it, such that we would impose this potential burden upon people all over this country, especially women, so, please, show us the evidence on that front.

Again, are they proposing to make a national ID like a passport, free for everybody, to make it accessible in that type of way? Otherwise, again, they're not actually trying to help people be able to remedy this problem. They're just putting up barriers, rather than thinking about how we can encourage people to vote in this country. We've seen this as part of a broader ecosystem, not just this bill.

When I've been in Congress, it's over and over and over again, legislation that is trying to make it harder for people to vote. That's what I hope people see, the intentionality. This is not legislation that is coming to the US Senate in good faith.

Brian Lehrer: The caller also brought up another piece of legislation that will eventually be coming to the US Senate. That's I think going to be a subject of debate in earnest now in both Houses, and that is the budget for the next fiscal year, where the House Republican majority wants to make certain very deep cuts. My understanding is, that the Senate Republican majority doesn't want to cut as deeply, but Medicaid benefits and lots of other things are on the table. Where do you think that stands now as the Senate goes into this debate explicitly?

Senator Andy Kim: Yes, look, people are going to continue to hear this phrase, "Budget reconciliation," and it's not just about our budget for the next year. This is a bill that is trying to shape things really for years to come, and essentially, proposing $880 billion in cuts that we expect directed towards Medicaid. Now, Medicaid is health care for two million people out of nine million in New Jersey, one out of every three kids.

It's about people with disabilities, seniors in long term care, nursing homes. Just please do not think, no, do not buy into this information that we hear from some of my Republican colleagues that Medicaid is for lazy people who don't want to work. These are people like the person I brought to, his name's Kevin to this joint address, cerebral palsy, needs a wheelchair. Medicaid is what he needs to be able to live.

It's not just about those on Medicaid. I had a hospital head in New Jersey tell me that, if Medicaid gets cut in a substantial way, they don't know if their hospital can survive. They don't know if they're going to be able to keep their doors open, so the idea that hospitals could close in New Jersey, in rural areas around the country, in all sorts of places, this is something that will very much affect all of us, and whether we have the care that we need and deserve, regardless of whether or not we have Medicaid, and that is going to raise prices, it's going to weaken our care.

I hope everybody understands and sees this for what it is, and why are they trying to do this? Follow the money. It's not just-- It's not about reducing the deficit. In fact, they want to increase the deficit significantly by giving $4.5 trillion in tax cuts to Elon Musk, the billionaires, to the wealthiest Americans, rather than to middle class families, so that's what I hope people see as this unfolds.

Brian Lehrer: Listener writes a follow-up question on the SAVE Act explicitly just asks, "What's the SAVE Act status in the Senate? Is it going to pass requiring that proof of citizenship to register to vote?"

Senator Andy Kim: It's coming before us. I don't know exactly when. I will not vote for it. I have not had a chance to talk to all my colleagues yet. I do think that there is a chance to be able to stop it, but I don't want to make a promise. I don't know for certain.

Brian Lehrer: It would need 60, right? It would need 60 votes. This can be filibustered?

Senator Andy Kim: It is something that can be blocked through those types of means. The budget reconciliation process, that is only a simple majority, so the Republicans have 53 seats in the Senate, they would only need 50 plus 1, 51 votes, so that is something that, again, they could very well pass. Cut Medicaid, cut SNAP benefits, so that's something that, again, I hope people really see with their eyes wide open.

Brian Lehrer: We'll continue with our Call Your Senator segment with Senator Andy Kim, 212-433-9692. Stay with us.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC with our monthly Call Your Senator segment. My question and yours for Senator Andy Kim, newly elected as a Democratic senator from New Jersey in November. He previously served in the House of Representatives. We're going to turn now to some foreign affairs issues. You were on the Foreign Relations Committee in the House, I know. Are you in the Senate, by the way? I don't know your committees in the Senate.

Senator Andy Kim: No, I'm not currently on the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate. I'm doing a lot on innovation, on commerce, on our economy, and healthcare and education, so that's where so some of that focus is, but as someone who used to work at the State Department and informed policy, I stay very much engaged in these issues.

Brian Lehrer: Helga in Clifton, you're on WNYC with Senator Kim. Hello, Helga.

Helga: Oh, hello. Thank you for taking my call. Senator Kim, I want to thank you very much for voting against a proposed weapons transfer to Israel. That's $8.8 billion of more weapons, and the kinds of weapons that have responsible for up to 50,000 deaths in Gaza now, and besides, this weapons proposal would be in violation of our own law, the Foreign Assistance Act, which forbids sending weapons to countries that are liable to commit human rights violations.

Israel is right now before the International Court of Justice on that score, so I want to thank you very much, and for sticking out your neck. It wasn't the majority of the Democrats who voted against it, so I congratulate you for being an independent, and voting your conscience on that. There is another bill regarding Gaza, which is the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act in the Senate. It's Senate Bill S.898, and it's to restore US funding for UNRWA. Right now, everyone knows that Israel is withholding all aid to-- Israel has completely stopped any kind of aid going through to Gaza. I'm sorry, sometimes I [chuckles] confuse Gaza and Israel. I shouldn't just because I'm talking so fast and nervous.

Brian Lehrer: It's okay. You're doing great, and Helga, let me leave it there. Your two questions are very clear. Senator Kim, do you want to expand on, and say why you voted the way you did? Did you get it right? First of all, on your vote against sending more arms to Israel.

Senator Andy Kim: Look, what I would say here. I know this is very divisive and controversial issue, just writ large. I do believe that the vast majority of Americans, they understand that, yes, we want to get the hostages out of there. Edan Alexander from New Jersey, I talked to his parents almost every single day. Yes, we want to get him home to his family. We want this violence to end.

I think there are a lot of people that will say, "Yes, we want to make sure that Israel's right to exist can be defended, but we also don't want to see this war continue," especially in a way that is unfolded, where Netanyahu has chosen to leave the agreement we had earlier this year. Did not pursue diplomacy to be able to push that forward, instead resumed violence here.

We also are now approaching nearly two months in which Netanyahu has blocked off all humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and so even those, myself included, that believe that Israel has a right to defend themselves, that Israel has a right to exist, but this is wrong. This is wrong in terms of blocking off aid to non-combatants, and I say that as someone who worked at USAID before, I know this very, very well.

I've engaged with people on the ground who can very well say that Hamas is not siphoning all this aid away. This is something that is going to the people to help through very difficult times, so I understand how binary this issue has become, but there is a very clear sense in the middle still of people that want to make sure that we pursue a sense of security and peace through difficult times.

That we can say that Hamas is a terrorist organization, but that doesn't mean that it allows us to be able to pursue actions that go against core values that hurt non-combatants in extraordinary ways, so that is the approach that I've been trying to push forward on, as someone who's lived and worked in war zones before, especially in the Middle east, and want to make sure that we can get Edan Alexander home, and these are the types of problems that we're facing writ large in our country right now.

When it comes to global politics, we see this as well, with Donald Trump serving up on a platter, just a ability for Vladimir Putin to take large chunks of Ukraine, and the devastating role that we're playing in that situation. This is the kind of problem that we have to step up against, and show what American global leadership means at this important time.

Brian Lehrer: Let's talk about Ukraine. Here's President Trump yesterday objecting publicly, at least, to the latest attacks on Ukraine by Vladimir Putin's Russia.

President Trump: We're going to see what happens. I want to see what happens with respect to Russia, because Russia had been surprised and disappointed. Well, I want him to stop shooting. Sit down and sign a deal, and we have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it, and be done with it.

Brian Lehrer: We usually hear about Trump pressuring Zelenskyy. Is Trump now being an honest broker, in your opinion, to any degree pressuring both sides?

Senator Andy Kim: Well, look, what we've seen already is just, as someone who's worked in diplomacy before, I cannot have seen a better scenario for Putin than what we've seen over the last 100 days since Trump's come into office. He has really set the stage for that by alienating our transatlantic alliance, questioning NATO in terms of humiliating Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, so if Trump is going to start taking some actions to push back on Putin, I welcome that, but honestly, so much damage has been done already.

If he's going to go in a different tact, that is something that will require significant efforts by Trump to try to rebuild a level of distrust that he has created in our alliance with our European partners. I was in Munich at the security conference when Vice President Vance gave one of the most shameful speeches I've seen a US leader give in front of European allies. There has been a tremendous amount of fracturing and self-sabotage, frankly, in terms of how our leadership, so we'll see where things go, but I can tell you, I talk to the Ukrainian American community in New Jersey a lot. They are furious at Trump for what he has done to abandon so many people in their time of great need.

Brian Lehrer: Is total victory by Ukraine to expel Russia from all occupied territory militarily feasible, never mind politically feasible? Could a territorial compromise, if it seems to guarantee no further attempts to take more of Ukraine, potentially, acceptable to you?

Senator Andy Kim: Look, I am a diplomat by trade. I certainly think that that option is something we should always pursue, but the question is, what does success look like? what role can and should the United States play when it comes to the issue we just talked about Israel, Gaza? When Trump goes out and says, he wants a Gaza Riviera, or when it comes to Ukraine and Russia, when you see him talking about Putin's position, and how Trump's negotiators talking about how well Putin's handled this all, it shows that there is no real vision that we're pushing for from the United States side, in terms of where things should be going in a way that is in line with our values, and in line with reality.

I don't discount that diplomacy can, and likely needs to be part of this, but then let's put Ukraine in the strongest possible situation to be able to negotiate, to be able to preserve their country. Instead, by starting off the negotiations, by humiliating Zelenskyy, by distancing it, by creating all these fractures and fissures between the United States and our European allies and partners, he has really set this up from the outset for failure.

Now, he's recognizing that maybe Putin doesn't have the best interest in wanting peace. Of course, he hasn't. He is the one that invaded Ukraine, so this is something where, yes, I hoped for a way forward, and I know that there's was likely no military-only solution to this, but if we're going to seek diplomacy, you got to set up Ukraine for the best possible hand, and we have done-- Trump has done everything possible to really leave them with nothing.

Brian Lehrer: One more call, Christopher, on Long Beach Island. You're on WNYC. Hi, Christopher.

Christopher: Hi. Thanks, Brian. Thank you, Senator Kim. My question, as a longtime supporter, and hopeful that we're going to get the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project, I heard it recently suffered another roadblock. The EPA permit is pulled or something. Is it dead, or is it still a chance of going forward?

Brian Lehrer: Since his line was breaking up, I'll just repeat for our listeners, this is about the Atlantic Offshore Wind Project. Has its permit been pulled by the Trump EPA?

Senator Andy Kim: I don't know exactly the latest, but I do know that the Trump administration has not just gone after New Jersey, but gone after just in general, offshore wind, renewable energies writ large, and he's continuing to double down on fossil fuels. I mean, look, this is the approach that he has been explicit about pushing forward on. At a time when the United States is actually producing more energy and electricity than ever an American history.

In fact, actually, also with fossil fuels as well, so for the Trump administration to call this a national energy crisis when we are producing more energy than ever, and he is weakening our ability to diversify our fossil fuels, build up renewable energy.

Brian Lehrer: You're not sure of the status of?

Senator Andy Kim: I don't know about the status when it comes to New Jersey. I know that it's been very much under attack, and I think that there's been a lot of efforts to really shut it down, but I can't say for certain exactly where that stands right now.

Brian Lehrer: I know. You got to go. Real quick, follow-up. Listener writes, "Back to the SAVE Act. What are Democrats going to do to help the tens of millions of women whose names do not align with what's on their birth certificate?" This is their married names. The listener writes, "Women tend to vote more Democratic than Republican, and I see this as a sexist attack to strip women of more of their rights."

Senator Andy Kim: Yes, look, I mean, I'm certainly going to oppose the SAVE Act when it comes before us in the Senate. I'll certainly try to rally, and mobilize all of my colleagues including-- Especially-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: The listener is asking, "If it passes, what can you do to help the women get registered?"

Senator Andy Kim: Yes, well, look, first and foremost, I hope it doesn't pass, and I think there still is a chance to stop it, but regardless, we see attacks upon our ability to vote. I would say, look, this is exactly why we need to mobilize with voter registration. Be able to have an absolute campaign. Right now, we're seeing voter registration problems in New Jersey already in terms of not having the numbers that we want to see moving forward.

That is something already that we need to push on, and we should absolutely take steps to be able to help get more women to register to vote, even with that-- Regardless of what happens with the SAVE Act, but especially if it passes, but like I said, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to stop it in the Senate.

Brian Lehrer: Senator Kim, we always appreciate this. Thank you for doing a monthly Call Your Senator segment.

Senator Andy Kim: Thanks for having me again.

 

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