Citizen Tribune

WASHINGTON (AP) —

The large building at the

corner of 22nd and R streets

in downtown Washington,

D.C., sticks out like a wart

in the otherwise upscale

neighborhood.

Plywood

covers the windows, sleep-

ing bags and empty bottles

litter the shuttered door-

ways and head-high weeds

sprout through the asphalt

of the empty fenced-off

parking lot.

For a solid decade, neigh-

bors and local political

leaders complained bitterly

about the condition of the

former Pakistani consul-

ate. But the city remained

powerless to do anything

as long as the building was

classified by the State De-

partment as a diplomatic

property.

That diplomatic desig-

nation has since been re-

voked, according to the

State Department, but the

building still stands as per-

haps the most egregious

example of an only-in-D.C.

phenomenon, where dip-

lomatic protocol allows a

string of abandoned build-

ings to fester, untouchable

and tax-free.

"Residents, who them-

selves are under obligation

to keep their properties in

order, are complaining to

me," said City Council-

woman Mary Cheh, whose

Ward 3 contains several

such problematic prop-

erties. "Unless the State

Department is really com-

mitted to the issue, these

countries can really string

you along."

Cheh's office has com-

piled a partial list of vacant

and neglected diplomatic

buildings and she co-au-

thored a bill calling for

creating a comprehensive

citywide list. Violators on

Cheh's list include proper-

ties owned by the govern-

ments of Serbia, Sri Lanka,

Cameroon and Argentina.

Many of these eyesores

are in some of the District's

most high-end neighbor-

hoods. The Sheridan-Kal-

orama area, where sev-

eral are located, is home

to former President Barack

Obama, as well as President

Donald Trump's daughter,

Ivanka Trump and son-in-

law Jared Kushner. Jeff

Bezos, owner of Amazon

and The Washington Post,

recently bought a massive

house there. The area's most

recent prominent resident is

Secretary Of State Rex Til-

lerson, whose department is

responsible for making sure

these diplomatic properties

are maintained.

The issue is particularly

frustrating for members of

the city council, who find

themselves unable to use

the many instruments at

their disposal for dealing

with neglected buildings.

For example, the city has

a three-tiered tax struc-

ture designed to compel

landlords to maintain their

properties. Ordinary build-

ings are taxed at 85 cents

per $100 in assessed val-

ue; for a vacant property,

that rate increases to $5

per $100 and if a property

is judged by the city to be

neglected or "blighted" the

tax rate jumps to $10 per

$100 in assessed value.

But that isn't applicable

for a diplomatic building.

"If I have a vacant house

in the Shaw neighborhood

that's becoming a problem,

I can call in the cops, clean

it up, throw a fence around

it and if necessary seize it

for unpaid taxes," said City

Councilman Jack Evans. "I

have a lot of tools in my tool

box. But I don't have those

tools available to me if it's a

diplomatic property."

The State Department

doesn't have a lot of options

either. Cliff Seagroves, act-

ing head of the Office of

Foreign Missions, said he's

largely bound by the 1961

Vienna Convention on Dip-

lomatic Relations. Revok-

ing a property's diplomatic

status is an extreme step

that could provoke a diplo-

matic crisis and retaliatory

action against U.S. proper-

ties abroad.

"We have to balance (lo-

cal residents' concerns)

with making sure we're not

making things harder for

ourselves overseas," Sea-

groves said.

With limited options,

Seagroves admitted that his

office is often pleased to

see negative press coverage

of the issue that he hopes

will embarrass intransigent

nations into action.

"The shame factor is of-

ten our most effective tool

in getting these matters re-

solved," he said.

The case of the former

Pakistani consulate on R

Street stands as a rare re-

cent success. But it's also

an example of how bad a

situation has to get before

the State Department will

act. Seagroves said the

Pakistani Foreign Ministry

built a new embassy, moved

its consular staff there and

"in effect, walked away"

from the old building.

After years of nagging,

and with the building be-

coming a magnet for squat-

ters, Seagroves' office final-

ly delivered an ultimatum

and a deadline. When that

passed, State revoked the

diplomatic status in Feb-

ruary 2016 and let the city

move in and treat the prop-

erty like any other blighted

building. By June 2017, the

property had accumulated

more than $70,000 in tax

debt. That debt was pur-

chased by an investment

group at a tax auction in

July 2017, giving the Paki-

stani government about six

months to settle the debt or

risk losing the property.

The Pakistani govern-

ment, in a statement to The

Associated Press, said that

"a plan is being worked

out" for the building's reno-

vation and it was working

with the State Department

and District of Columbia

government "to amicably

resolve the issue."

However the Pakistani

statement also pointed out

that all diplomatic prop-

erties are exempt from

taxation, a contention that

seemingly ignores the re-

vocation of the property's

diplomatic status.

Repeated queries as to

the why the building fell

into such an extreme state

of disrepair went unan-

swered.

While residents can

claim victory there, the

fight continues. One block

away, down R Street, the

former Serbian embassy

sits in similar disrepair with

its diplomatic status intact.

Some of these unused

buildings are unused for

an understandable reason.

The former Iranian Em-

bassy has been empty since

the two countries severed

ties in 1979 and is now

maintained by Seagroves'

office. But in other cases,

there seems to be multiple

reasons why these nations

would allow such valuable

real estate to sit vacant and

neglected.

David Bender, head of

the local Advisory Neigh-

borhood Commission, said

an ambassador once told

him that he couldn't afford

to fix up a property, but

didn't want to sell it be-

cause he didn't want to be

responsible for downsizing

his country's presence in

the U.S. capital.

Seagroves said one for-

eign ministry official told

him "the cost to renovate a

particular property in D.C.

was equivalent to their en-

tire annual budget for main-

taining diplomatic proper-

ties around the world."

WASHINGTON (AP) —

President Donald Trump's

four-month worldwide ban

on refugees ended Tuesday,

officials said, as his admin-

istration prepared to unveil

tougher new screening pro-

cedures.

Under an executive order

Trump signed earlier this

year, the United States had

temporarily halted admis-

sions for refugees from all

countries, with some excep-

tions. The end-date written

into the order came and

went Tuesday with no new

order from Trump to ex-

tend it, according to a State

Department official, who

wasn't authorized to com-

ment by name and request-

ed anonymity.

Refugees seeking en-

try to the U.S. will face

what officials described as

more stringent and thor-

ough examination of their

backgrounds, in line with

Trump's "extreme vetting"

policy for immigrants. The

Homeland Security Depart-

ment, the State Department

and other U.S. agencies

have been reviewing the

screening process during

the temporary ban.

The new screening proce-

dures were to be announced

later Tuesday. It was un-

clear exactly what measures

would be added, but in the

past, officials have spoken

about examining applicants'

social media posts and oth-

er investigative measures

to identify those who may

sympathize with extremists

or pose a national security

risk to the United States.

Refugees already face

an extensive backlog and

waiting periods that can

take years. Any additional

screening would likely ex-

tend the timeline.

Even with the ban lifted,

refugee admissions are ex-

pected to be far lower than

in recent years. Last month,

Trump capped refugee ad-

missions at 45,000 for the

fiscal year that started Oct.

1, a cut of more than half

from the 110,000 limit put

in place the year earlier by

President Barack Obama.

And the actual number ad-

mitted this year could be far

lower than Trump's 45,000

cap, which sets a maximum

but not a minimum.

The refugee restrictions

were in addition to Trump's

broader "travel ban" on

people from several coun-

tries. Courts have repeat-

edly blocked that policy, but

largely left the temporary

refugee policy in place.

Trump has made limit-

ing immigration the center-

piece of his policy agenda.

In addition to the travel ban,

which initially targeted a

handful of Muslim-major-

ity nations, the president

rescinded an Obama-era

executive action protect-

ing young immigrants from

deportation and vowed to

build a wall along the south-

ern border with Mexico.

During his presidential

campaign, Trump pledged

to "stop the massive inflow

of refugees" and warned

that terrorists were smug-

gling themselves into naive

countries by posing as refu-

gees fleeing war-torn Syria.

"Thousands of refugees

are being admitted with no

way to screen them and are

instantly made eligible for

welfare and free health care,

even as our own veterans,

our great, great veterans, die

while they're waiting online

for medical care that they

desperately need," Trump

said last October.

Instead, Trump has ad-

vocated keeping refugees

closer to their homes.

The end of the ban

comes amid an alarming

refugee crisis in Myanmar,

where security forces in

August began what human

rights groups have called a

scorched-earth campaign

against villages inhabited

by Rohingya Muslims.

More than 600,000 Rohing-

ya from northern Rakhine

State have fled to Bangla-

desh.

CITIZEN TRIBUNE

Politics

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

EEE-3

In this May 15, 2017, file photo, protesters hold signs during a dem-

onstration against President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban,

Monday, May 15, 2017, outside a federal courthouse in Seattle.

In this Oct. 19, 2017 photo, the vacant Pakistani embassy is seen in Washington.

Trump's refugee ban ends, new screening rules coming

What can be done about the abandoned embassy next door?

Neighbors no more?