One of the nation’s biggest outdoor holiday events, the parade makes its way through 2 miles of Manhattan with marching bands, performers from Broadway hits, elaborate floats and signature giant balloons. Olaf from the Disney movie “Frozen” and Chase from the TV cartoon “Paw Patrol” will be among the new balloons Thursday, along with a new version of the Grinch of Dr. Seuss fame.

The parade also will feature heavy security, including officers with assault weapons and portable radiation detectors among the crowds, sharpshooters on rooftops and sand-filled city sanitation trucks poised as imposing barriers to traffic at every cross street. 

“Every year the NYPD has done more to keep this event tonight and the parade itself safer,” Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio told crowds gathered to watch the balloons being inflated Wednesday. “Because we understand we are dealing with a very challenging world. And so the amount of resources and personnel we put in has increased each year to make us safer.” 

Authorities say there is no confirmation of a credible threat to the parade, but it comes after a truck attack on a bike path near the World Trade Center killed eight people in October. Weeks earlier, a gunman in a 32nd-floor Las Vegas hotel room rained bullets on a crowd at a country music festival, killing 58 and injuring hundreds.

 New York City’s mayor and police brass have repeatedly stressed that layers of security, along with hundreds of officers, will be in place for the Thanksgiving parade and that visitors shouldn’t be deterred. But they’re asking spectators to be alert for anything suspicious. 

Police officers will escort each of the giant balloons to help monitor wind speeds and ensure the wafting characters don’t go off course, but winds weren’t expected to climb above 17 mph.

 In 2005, a balloon caught an unexpected gust of wind and struck a lamppost in Times Square, injuring two people. Since then, the parade has been accident-free. 

The 91st annual parade begins at 9 a.m. and will be broadcast live on NBC. Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Flo Rida and Wyclef Jean will be among the stars celebrating, along with performances from the casts of Broadway’s “Anastasia,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “SpongeBob SquarePants,” plus a dozen marching bands. 
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Search and rescue operations continued Thursday for three sailors still missing after a U.S. Navy transport plane crashed Wednesday into the western Pacific Ocean.

The Navy said the twin-propeller C2-A Greyhound aircraft plummeted into the sea about 925 kilometers (575 miles) southeast of Okinawa while it was on a routine mission taking passengers and cargo from a U.S. base in Japan to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.

It said eight of the 11 people aboard were rescued about 40 minutes later and taken to the Reagan where they were reported in good condition.

The Navy said several U.S. and Japanese naval ships and aircraft have, so far, covered more than 320 nautical miles in their search for the missing.

There was no immediate explanation for the crash, and the Navy said the incident is being investigated.

Military exercises

U.S. President Donald Trump, at his oceanfront Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for the Thanksgiving weekend holiday, said via Twitter that he is monitoring the situation.

“Prayers for all involved,” he said.

The Reagan was operating in the Philippine Sea as part of joint exercises with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, part of 10 days of training designed to increase defensive readiness and interoperability in air and sea maneuvers between the two countries.

More than 14,000 U.S. personnel are participating in the drills, which also include the guided-missile destroyers USS Stethem, USS Chafee and USS Mustin, and a maritime patrol and reconnaissance squadron.

Fifth Navy incident this year

Wednesday’s crash was the fifth major Navy incident in Asian waters this year.

Two fatal accidents left 17 sailors dead and prompted the Defense Department to remove of eight top Navy officers from their posts, including the 7th Fleet commander.

The destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker in August off Singapore, leaving 10 U.S. sailors dead and five injured. The USS Fitzgerald, another destroyer, collided with a container ship in waters off Japan in June, killing seven sailors.

After investigations, the Navy concluded the collisions were avoidable, resulting from widespread failures by commanders and crew members, who did not recognize and respond quickly to the emergencies as they unfolded. The Navy has called for improved training, and increasing sleep and stress management for sailors. 

Separately, in January, the USS Antietam ran aground near Yosuka, Japan, and the USS Lake Champlain collided with a South Korean fishing vessel in May.

Carla Babb contributed to this report.
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Lys Isma was brought to the U.S. illegally as a 9-month-old baby when her parents moved from Haiti. But she says she never felt undocumented.

“I didn’t have memories about living anywhere else,” Isma said.

Isma has been receiving protection under the security program known as TPS, or Temporary Protected Status, since she was 15. TPS has allowed Haitians, who were in the U.S., to legally live and work after the 2010 earthquake that devastated the island nation. Almost 60,000 Haitians are TPS holders.

Trump administration ends TPS

But on Monday, the administration of Donald Trump announced that TPS will be ending for Haitians because the U.S. government says Haiti has recovered enough to welcome its citizens back. The government gave Haitian TPS holders until July 2019 to return to Haiti or apply for another kind of legal status.

Isma says she has been “thinking a lot” what would it mean to live in a place she has no memories of.

“I’ve never had to navigate the world as an undocumented adult,” Isma said. “Every time I went to that job interview and they asked for work permit, I’ve had it. Every time I drove, I drove legally with a license. Every time I went past a law enforcement officer, I knew that I had the ability to be here legally present and that’s going to change in a year and a half,” she said.

Isma at 22 is no longer a child, but her story is representative of thousands of children who have Haitian parents in the TPS program. Many, like Isma, were brought to the U.S. from Haiti by their parents. In addition, the Center for Migration Studies estimates that Haitian TPS holders have 27,000 children who were born on U.S. soil.

​Toll on children

Stress, fear of losing parents or being forcibly relocated to Haiti while experiencing elevated levels of anxiety can leave long-term impacts, said Lawrence Palinkas, professor of social policy and health at the University of Southern California.

“You will likely see instances of anxiety, depressed aspects, disruption in behavior, and [low] performance in school. There will be a period of stress in terms of the relocation itself. The quality of life Haiti is going to be very different than it has been in the United States,” Palinkas told VOA.

After many years in the U.S., Palinkas said moving away from school, recreation activities, and friends would be a major disruption.

“The separation of those networks and sources of support will undoubtedly be stressful. … That in turn will require a new set of adjustments in addition to an elevated level of stress and strain on the family as they try to cope with both the relocation and residence in Haiti from a very different Haiti than the one which they left,” he said.

When ending TPS, government officials said conditions in Haiti had “significantly improved such that they no longer prevent nationals of Haiti from returning safely.”

But Archange Antoine, executive director of Faith in New Jersey, a faith-based community organization, says the community is nervous and “in total shock” after the announcement.

“You’re talking about a country that’s been through back-to-back natural disasters over the last five to six years, and has been devastated with flooding as well as hurricanes. And a government that is still trying to mobilize and deal with people — still from the earthquake,” Antoine said.

“Right now, we are not taking consideration the real reason of why they were given protection. And we’re making political decisions that are hurting families, and it’s just terrible,” he added.

US born children

For Haitian parents who may be thinking of taking their U.S. citizen children back to Haiti when TPS ends in 18 months, the State Department offers some advice.

A State Department official said in an email to VOA that American embassies and consulates overseas “stand ready to provide appropriate consular services for U.S. citizens.”

The official, speaking on background, said they encourage parents to apply for a passport for their U.S.-born children, before leaving the United States, to document citizenship and identity.

“U.S. citizen children in Haiti will need to have sufficient documentation to meet local authorities’ requirements for access to education and social services. A child’s Haitian citizenship should be documented in order to facilitate such integration,” the official wrote.

State said to refer to the government of Haiti for “more details on what is required to enter school and access health care and other services.”

But Isma, a student who works in a biology genetics lab at her university in Florida, says her community is willing to fight to keep its children in the U.S.

“In my community, we are not the kind of people to break up our families and leave our children behind. … And I know that that is going to be very hard. … [but] they are going to fight to stay here for their kids. And they are not going to have their families separated,” Isma said.
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With control of the U.S. Congress up for grabs next year, the Senate is days away from an expected vote on a major tax bill that Republicans say will make American corporations more competitive globally but that Democrats say will force the United States to borrow even more from China and other foreign creditors.

“For too long, we have been losing jobs to overseas competitors, in part because our businesses pay some of the highest taxes in the industrialized world,” said Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota in a statement. “This plan would make U.S. businesses more competitive, which would create jobs and increase wages for American workers.”

The Republican plan would cut the tax rates Americans pay on their income and increase deductions for children, while eliminating deductions for state and local taxes. Corporate taxes would be slashed from a maximum rate of 35 percent to 20 percent. The Senate version would also repeal an Obamacare requirement that Americans purchase health care insurance. Obamacare was the signature legislative achievement of former U.S. president Barack Obama.

Democrats point out that, while corporate tax cuts would be permanent, income tax reductions would be temporary.

“In 2021, families earning $30,000 [a year] and under are going to get clobbered by a tax hike of nearly $6 billion to pay for this handout to multinational corporations,” Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said. “By 2027, the news is even worse. Meanwhile, the big corporations are guaranteed a tax cut across the board.”

“We should be working together to cut taxes for the middle class, not taking health care away from millions just to give tax cuts to large corporations,” said Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson.

House Republicans passed a tax bill last week with votes to spare, despite receiving no backing from Democrats. With a slim Senate majority, Republicans can afford just two ‘no’ votes from their caucus if U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to overhaul the federal tax system is to survive.

“I’m fairly optimistic,” said Chris Edwards, director of tax policy at the Washington-based Cato Institute. “I think it [the odds of a tax bill becoming law] is 60-40 (percent), maybe even 70-30 (percent).”

Senate Republicans want to pass their tax bill next week. The House and Senate versions would then be merged into one bill the party hopes will reach President Trump’s desk by the end of the year.

“The chances of getting something done by the end of this year are no better than 50-50 (percent),” said Stan Collender, a former House and Senate Budget Committee staffer. “Yes, the House has already passed something, but what it passed is not acceptable to the Senate. It’s not clear whether the Senate will be able to pass anything, and if it does, it’s not at all clear that what it passes will be acceptable to the House.”

“If you look at the polls, Republicans aren’t doing so well,” said Jeremy Slevin of the progressive-leaning Center for American Progress. “The tax plan is polling at 25 percent [support], which is below almost every recent piece of major legislation. Regressive tax cuts are a really tough political sell.”

While taxpayers try to make sense of the legislation, Republicans and Democrats are making contradictory claims about its impact.

“They are both talking past each other,” Edwards said. “Republicans are talking about economic growth, which will benefit everybody. It’s of benefit to everyone if the GDP grows stronger, because in the long run wages will rise and incomes will rise. The Democrats are focusing more on specific mechanics – which particular group is getting the tax cut.”

Both the House and Senate versions would boost America’s $20 trillion national debt by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Some Republicans who have long favored cutting taxes are voicing concerns about America’s fiscal trajectory.

Arizona Senator Jeff Flake tweeted that America “must lower [the] corporate tax rate” – but has also said, “With the national debt exceeding $20 trillion, we cannot simply rely on rosy economic assumptions [to boost revenue].”

Other Republicans see tax cuts as the key to the higher economic growth rates needed to improve America’s long-term finances.

“When people have more money, that helps grow the economy,” said Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming.

The United States enacted major tax cuts during the Reagan administration and twice during the George W. Bush administration, and tax cut proposals have generally been popular with the American people.

“Nobody wants to pay more in taxes,” Collender noted.

Even so, polls do not show a groundswell of support for current Republican tax plans.

“This package does not appear to be popular in polling,” said Justin King of the Washington-based New America Foundation, adding he wonders “whether that says something about anything put forward by President Trump and the Republicans at this point, or whether the broad appeal of [the message that] ‘we’re going to cut your taxes’ is waning.”

Passing a tax bill would fulfill a major pledge by President Donald Trump and give Republican lawmakers an accomplishment to tout going into next year’s mid-term elections.

“This bill may make all the difference, whether it passes or fails, whether there is a Democratic or a Republican House of Representatives in 2019,” Collender said.

Edwards notes that U.S. tax policy can have a ripple effect around the world.

“When the United States slashed its corporate tax rate in 1986, it launched a global revolution in slashing corporate tax rates,” he said. “Big trading partners with the United States like Canada and Britain went ahead [and cut] their corporate tax rates, as well. What the United States does will have a big effect [internationally].”
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Thanksgiving is an American holiday centered around a big meal. It’s a day to give thanks and enjoy great food and time with family. VOA’s Korean Service visited a grocery store just outside Washington to explain how people prepare for the big day. Brian Allen narrates.
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Sand-filled sanitation trucks and police sharpshooters will mix with glittering floats and giant balloons at a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that comes in a year of terrible mass shootings and not even a month after a deadly truck attack in lower Manhattan.

New York City’s mayor and police brass have repeatedly stressed that layers of security, along with hundreds of officers, will be in place for one of the nation’s biggest outdoor holiday gatherings, and that visitors should not be deterred.

“We had a couple of tough months as a nation,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said. “We won’t ever accept such acts of hate and cowardice as inevitable in our society.”

A posting last year in an English-language magazine of the Islamic State group, which took credit for the Oct. 31 truck attack that killed eight people, mentioned the Thanksgiving parade as “an excellent target.” Authorities say there is no confirmation of a credible threat.

“I want to assure the people that we swore to protect that anytime something happens anywhere in the world, the NYPD works with our law enforcement partners and studies it and we learn from it and it informs our decision making going forward,” O’Neill said.

This year’s security plan includes dozens of city sanitation trucks, which weigh about 16 tons empty and up to twice that with sand, that will be lined up as imposing barriers to traffic at every cross street along the parade route stretching from Central Park to Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street.

In addition, officers with assault weapons and portable radiation detectors will walk among the crowds, and sharpshooters on rooftops will scan building windows and balconies for anything unusual.

New York officials are also asking the tens of thousands of spectators to be alert for anything suspicious.

“There will be a cop on every block,” said NYPD Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan. “Go to that cop and say something.”

The 91st annual parade begins at 9 a.m. and will be broadcast live on NBC. Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Flo Rida and Wyclef Jean will be among the stars celebrating, along with performances from the casts of Broadway’s “Anastasia,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

New balloons added this year include Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, Olaf from the smash movie Frozen, and a puppy called Chase from Nickelodeon’s Paw Patrol.
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