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IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVE
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30 June, 2023
'I don’t want to leave': Migrants whom DeSantis sent to Martha's Vineyard love their new life on the luxury island
Democrats accused Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) of kidnapping migrants when he sent two planes of migrants to Martha's Vineyard last year.
But the New York Times recently spoke to some of those migrants who say they're happy about coming to the luxury island, don't want to leave, and now call it "home."
What is the background?
Last September, Florida sent 49 migrants to Martha's Vineyard, triggering liberal weeping and gnashing of teeth. Democrats claimed the migrants were "tricked" or "deceived" and accused DeSantis of kidnapping them.
Lawsuits were filed, the Massachusetts U.S. attorney (who resigned in May over allegations of ethics violation and misconduct) promised to investigate to the fullest extent of the law, and the flights ultimately resulted in criminal charges being filed in Bexar County, Texas (though law enforcement refuses to say who was officially charged).
The allegations, of course, were more bark than bite. DeSantis later released proof that the migrants traveled willingly.
Most of the migrants sent to Martha's Vineyard later left. But some stayed — and they're happy with their new life.
The New York Times chatted with several of those migrants, who acquired jobs and their own housing and transportation on the island.
Deici Cauro, from Venezuela, told the Times she doesn't want to leave. "I did not even know where Martha's Vineyard was. And now I feel welcomed by everybody here. I'm working, making friends and this is home for me now," Cauro said. "This is home now. I don’t want to leave."
Cauro's brother, Daniel, and cousin, Eliud Aguilar, remain on the island with her. She found a job in landscaping, while her cousin and brother work in painting and roofing.
"We came here to work in any job, no matter how hard," she told the newspaper. "We are just happy to be living here."
While reporter Edgar Sandoval was meeting with the migrants, Daniel's 2-year-old son called from Venezuela. During that call, the son asked his father when he would return home.
"I'm already home," Daniel replied, promising his family they would soon be reunited.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/migrants-whom-desantis-sent-to-marthas-vineyard-love-their-new-life-on-the-luxury-island
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29 June, 2023
New York City’s budget hit by migrant costs
City Hall and the City Council focus on Mayor Eric Adams’ decision to make multiple rounds of cuts to city agencies to help fund the growing migrant crisis.
“We’re getting there. Still a few items on the table. Budget will be on time as the council promised,” Finance Committee Chairman Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn) told The Post via text.
Fiscal hawks predict a deal will be finalized by the midnight Friday deadline, while lawmakers involved in negotiations complain that growing costs of the multibillion-dollar migrant crisis are putting the squeeze on funding for existing agency programs.
Sources familiar with negotiations told The Post on Wednesday that Adams and the city Council have struck a deal to restore roughly $36 million in predicted cuts to the city’s public library system.
The individuals, who wished to remain anonymous, said a deal on the final spending package could be announced as early as Thursday.
“The fight is really to restore basic services and not fund new, exciting programming — because the migrant crisis is costing us way too much money,” Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) told The Post.
The city Office of Management and Budget estimates it’ll cost over $4.3 billion to house, feed and provide other services to over 50,000 migrants living in 176 taxpayer-funded homeless shelters and hotels in the Big Apple.
The Biden administration has greenlit less than $150 million in grant funding for New York to help — as the city spends roughly $8 million daily on the crisis. Gov. Kathy Hochul allocated roughly $1 billion to the Big Apple over the next two years.
“With no plan to end the crisis after July 1st and with 50,000 people in shelters, there’s no sign of this ending in the next fiscal year or anything to prevent it from expanding,” Borelli said.
“Basic costs to the city are at risk — and the mayor has been open about it,” he added.
Adams previously ordered all agencies to make across-the-board cuts, even warning that more could come, sparking outrage that basic services delivered by agencies like the Department of Sanitation, FDNY and NYPD could be negatively impacted.
Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala (D-East Harlem) told The Post that the council is fighting to fund several agency priorities and programs that are still on the negotiating table including:
“It’s just been a very difficult year because we are facing multiple crises that are happening simultaneously, while at the same time dealing with the fiscal consequences of the COVID pandemic.
“Those fiscal implications will be with us for a number of years,” she told The Post.
Andrew Rein, president of the fiscal watchdog group Citizens Budget Commission, said the city needs to think about concerning outyear gaps — projected to rise to over $10 billion by fiscal year 2027.
“I believe it will be done by the deadline. But, the budget is going to be wrapped up and people aren’t going to be thinking about what’s really going on here,” he warned.
Adams already ordered agencies to eliminate thousands of vacant positions, rounding out to roughly $1 billion in savings.
“There is money in the short term in our pockets, but the budget should make the future budget gaps smaller, not bigger … We should be reducing fiscal cliffs,” said Rein.
https://nypost.com/2023/06/28/city-hall-council-still-deciding-how-to-fund-migrant-crisis-with-nycs-107b-budget-due-date-looming/***********************************
27 June, 2023
Hundreds of migrants rescued off Canary Islands
At least 227 migrants were rescued off Spain's Canary Islands on Thursday, officials say, a day after reported deaths of more than 30 migrants there.
Emergency services say the Coast Guard the migrants were travelling on inflatable boats near the Lanzarote and Gran Canaria islands in the Atlantic.
A number of them were taken to hospital to be treated for a "mild condition".
On Wednesday, two charities said more than 30 migrants may have drowned after their dinghy sank off Gran Canaria.
Spanish authorities said rescue workers found the bodies of a minor and a man, and rescued 24 other people.
However, the charities - Walking Borders and Alarm Phone - said about 60 people had been on board.
Helena Maleno Garzon, from Walking Borders, said 39 people had drowned, including four women and a baby, while Alarm Phone said 35 people were missing.
Both organisations monitor migrant boats and receive calls from people on board or their relatives.
A Spanish rescue service ship, the Guardamar Caliope, was only about an hour's sail from the dinghy on Tuesday evening, according to Spanish news agency Efe.
But the ship did not aid the dinghy because the operation had been taken over by Moroccan officials, which dispatched a patrol boat that arrived on Wednesday morning, 10 hours after it had been spotted by a Spanish rescue plane, according to Reuters.
The BBC has sent a request for comment to Morocco's interior ministry.
Angel Victor Torres, leader of the Canary Islands region, described the incident as a "tragedy" and called on the European Union to establish a migration policy that "offers coordinated and supportive responses" to the issue of migration.
Although off Africa's western coast, the Canary Islands are part of Spain, and many migrants travel from Africa to the archipelago in the hope of reaching mainland Europe.
The Western Africa-Atlantic migration route is considered one of the world's deadliest, and at least 543 migrants died or went missing on that journey in 2022, according to the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
IOM says there were 45 shipwrecks on the route during that period, but acknowledges that the figure is "probably underestimated" because data is scarce and incomplete.
Most of those making the journey are from Morocco, Mali, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, it says.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/hundreds-of-migrants-rescued-off-canary-islands/ar-AA1cVeOs?cvid=9c9de90b39c94951aba67be1ee22e3e7&ocid=winp2fptaskbar&ei=17
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26 June, 2023
1 Step Forward and 1 Step Back in Immigration Enforcement
When it comes to our immigration laws, the Supreme Court issued two important decisions on Friday, one that benefits the enforcement of the law and one that, unfortunately, does not but instead will allow the Biden administration to continue to endanger public safety due to, as Justice Samuel Alito said in his dissent, its “federal policy of releasing illegal aliens with criminal convictions for serious crimes.”
In U.S. v. Texas, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion, which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, holding that Texas and Louisiana do not have standing to challenge guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2021 that outlined the deportation priorities of the Biden administration.
The guidelines prioritize the arrest and removal of suspected terrorists and criminals that, in its discretion, DHS determines to be “dangerous.” The states argued these guidelines violate two federal statutes that contain a long list of specific crimes that require the arrest and removal of aliens convicted of those crimes, as well as aliens for whom a final order of deportation has been issued.
A federal district court agreed and vacated the guidelines based on a finding that the states would incur the costs of the executive branch’s failure to comply with these statutory mandates. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit agreed.
But on Friday, the Supreme Court disagreed, providing a detailed explanation of why Texas and Louisiana did not have standing to make such a claim against the federal government. Kavanaugh relied on precedent that says a plaintiff lacks standing to sue when he is not himself being prosecuted or threatened with prosecution.
Here, the states were actually suing over the Biden administration’s failure to arrest and prosecute. Such a claim, said Kavanaugh, runs up against the executive’s constitutional authority to prioritize and determine how aggressively to enforce the law, and the majority declined to wade into that issue.
Kavanaugh made it clear, though, that claims involving the executive branch’s failure to enforce the law were not completely barred. Courts can intervene in selective prosecution claims under the equal protection clause; when Congress elevates de facto injuries to the status of legally cognizable injuries redressable by a federal court; if the executive branch wholly abandons its statutory responsibility to make arrests and prosecutions; in a challenge that involves both arrest or prosecution priorities and the executive branch providing legal benefits or legal status; and policies governing the continued detention of aliens who have already been arrested.
Kavanaugh also noted that this was a procedural opinion, and the court was not expressing a view on whether the executive branch is complying with its statutory obligations. Although the opinion doesn’t say so, the Biden administration is clearly not fulfilling those obligations.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett, concurred in the judgment, but concluded that the problem isn’t standing, because, in his view, Texas and Louisiana have incurred costs and suffered injuries due to the administration’s policy. The problem, Gorsuch concluded, is a lack of redressability or the ability to remedy the problem.
This traces back to a federal immigration law that specifically bars any court other than the Supreme Court from enjoining or restraining the operation of certain immigration laws, including the ones at issue in this case. Thus, the district court had no authority to issue an injunction. The Constitution gives federal courts considerable power, but it does not, he stated, establish “government by lawsuit.”
Alito dissented, recognizing the “substantial harm” being inflicted on the states and their residents by a federal policy of releasing illegal aliens with criminal convictions for serious crimes. In his view, the majority brushed aside a major precedent that directly controls the standing question, refused to apply the court’s established test for standing, disregarded factual findings made by the district court, and held that the only limit on the power of a president to disobey a law is Congress’ power to employ the weapons of inter-branch warfare—withholding funds, impeachment, and removal. Alito stated that he “would not blaze this unfortunate path” but “would simply apply settled law, which leads ineluctably to the conclusion that Texas has standing.”
The bottom line is that the effort by Texas and Louisiana to force the Biden administration to comply with federal immigration law requirements to remove criminal aliens has struck out based on a procedural rule, not because their claim lacks merit. This is a very serious issue with profound public safety consequences, and this decision means that it is now up to Congress to use the “weapons of inter-branch warfare” to try to remedy it.
In the Supreme Court’s other immigration decision, U.S. v. Hansen, a man ran a very profitable scam, charging foreigners thousands of dollars by promising they would “inherit” U.S. citizenship by getting adopted. He was convicted under a federal statute that prohibits “encourag[ing] or induc[ing]” foreigners to enter or stay in the country illegally. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said that the terms “encourage” and “induce” include lots of speech protected by the First Amendment, so the statute was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court disagreed in a 7-2 decision written by Barrett.
Cases that require picking apart individual words and splitting textual hairs can seem overly technical and even tedious, but they can also be very important. This case is one of them. The difference between Barrett’s majority opinion and Jackson’s dissent, which was joined by Sotomayor, boiled down to whether the key terms should be read in the specific context of this criminal statute or read in isolation as we would use them in everyday conversation. It’s the difference between giving those words a narrow or a broad meaning, which means the difference between upholding or striking down the statute.
Barrett focused on these terms in their criminal law context, explaining how “encourage” and “induce” are related to other technical terms such as “facilitation” or “solicitation.” She concluded that, with that narrower focus, the statute “reaches no further than the purposeful solicitation and facilitation of specific acts known to violate federal law” and, therefore, is not overbroad.
Jackson accused the majority of narrowing “this statute in order to save it.” Read “literally,” Jackson wrote, the provision would be overbroad. But that is because Jackson was looking at “encourage” and “induce” in isolation, as used “in ordinary parlance.”
Barrett’s approach avoided striking down a duly enacted statute by employing a limited and focused judicial approach. When judges are asked to invalidate statutes, they do not have free reign to make statutes mean whatever they want. Their job is to discern what Congress intended by what Congress enacted.
Jackson’s “ordinary parlance” approach has virtually no limits at all. When Thomas and Kagan agree on something, as they did in supporting Barrett’s opinion, it is tough to argue that they’re wrong. With all due respect, Jackson’s dissent would have given free rein to cartel members, smugglers, scam artists, and human traffickers to encourage and induce aliens to break our immigration laws and illegally enter the country.
With the current crisis at the border, that is the last thing we need.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/06/23/one-step-forward-one-step-back-immigration-enforcement/
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22 June, 2023
NYC recruiting private lawyers to help tens of thousands of migrants with asylum applications, while data shows massive backlog, high denial rate
New York City is recruiting private lawyers to help tens of thousands of migrants flooding the Big Apple fill out asylum applications, while data shows there’s a massive backlog and most asylum claims are denied.
City Hall officials said Wednesday that since last spring, 78,700 “asylum seekers” have arrived and upward of 48,700 migrants are currently living in taxpayer-funded shelters and emergency hotels.
Although Mayor Adams announced a new program aimed at helping migrants file paperwork, “many” have failed to submit official claims with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Manuel Castro, Adams’ Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, admitted Wednesday that the Big Apple collects “limited information” about how many migrants have filed for asylum and where they are in the process — even though the city just announced they’re opening a new program to help people with applications.
“New York City collects very limited information. There are rules around this, as to the individual’s immigration status and application process, or statuses,” he said.
NYC is recruiting private lawyers to help tens of thousands of migrants flooding the Big Apple fill out asylum applications, while data shows there’s a massive backlog and most asylum claims are denied.
Seth Gottfried
“So we are not collecting information about how many people have applied, when they’ve applied and how many more people need to apply.”
Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom previously said the city is aware of “very few” individuals submitting claims.
There’s a one-year window upon entry to the US to register claims before their eligibility runs out.
Although Mayor Adams announced a new program aimed at helping migrants file paperwork, “many” have failed to submit official claims with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Matthew McDermott
Right now, over 2 million cases are waiting to be heard by a judge.
Meanwhile, an analysis released by Syracuse University shows 63% of asylum claims nationwide were denied in 2021 and 71% were rejected the year before.
Migrants in the Big Apple could wait up to a decade before appearing in front of a judge, as The Post exclusively reported that the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement office is “fully booked” through 2033 for pending appointments to process new arrivals from the southern border.
A case heard in the city could take up to four years before it’s completed.
The city has struggled to find additional locations to house immigrants and is now contracting with 10 hotels outside the five boroughs, including Westchester, Albany and Poughkeepsie.
City Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol told members of the City Council that 2,800 migrants were processed over the past week during a Wednesday hearing. Wednesday.
More than 13,000 migrants thus far have registered at the welcoming center, the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown, he added.
Iscol said the city does not want to use school gyms or respite centers for more permanent shelter.
“In the future, I hope not,” he said, but added that “everything has to be on the table” in an emergency.
He also railed against legislation passed by the Council that he claims will handcuff the city’s ability to manage the migrant crisis.
Sources have said that Adams is considering vetoing the package.
“I wish there was legislation that could waive a magic wand” to have better facilities that abide by space requirements per migrant.
“That’s not where we are today.”
https://nypost.com/2023/06/21/nyc-recruiting-private-lawyers-to-help-tens-of-thousands-of-migrants-with-asylum-applications-data-shows-backlog-high-denial-rate/
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21 June, 2023
Chicago Approved $51 Million for Migrant Spending. Here's Where It Went
New information has come out to show how little of the $51 million the city of Chicago approved to spend on the thousands of migrants who have been processed and released from Border Patrol arriving to the city.
The Chicago Tribune reports $47 million went to pay for "contractual staff," leaving only $4 million to go towards other expenses related to housing and providing care for the new arrivals. The city wants to spend at least $25 million on rental assistance.
Alderman Raymond Lopez (D) said the majority of the money is going towards "the pockets of grifters [and] usual poverty pimps."
Chicago, much like other self-proclaimed sanctuary cities, is struggling to find space for the near daily arrivals as hundreds of illegal immigrants continue to cross the southern border. Some of the city's police stations have turned into shelters, where stays have lasted for weeks.
Los Angeles recently received their first state-sponsored bus from Texas. Mayor Karen Bass (D) said Texas Govenor Greg Abbott (R) should not use people for a political stunt and that she is concerned what could happen if the busing of migrants continues, according to KABC.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/juliorosas/2023/06/20/chicago-approved-51-million-for-migrant-spending-heres-how-much-they-actually-got-n2624725
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20 June, 2023
Police arrest 28-year-old immigrant who allegedly posed as teenager to attend high school for entire year
Police arrested a 28-year-old immigrant they claim fraudulently attended a Louisiana high school.
Last month, school administrators at Hahnville High School received a tip that a woman in her mid-20s was attending the school by posing as a 17-year-old teenager. The school began an investigation and notified the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office on May 29.
The investigation led police to arrest 28-year-old Martha Jessenia Gutierrez-Serrano and her mother, 46-year-old Marta Elizeth Serrano-Alvarado. Police allege Serrano-Alvarado successfully enrolled her adult daughter in the school "using a fraudulent passport and birth certificate" from Honduras.
While it's not clear how school officials were tipped off, police said that Gutierrez-Serrano attended Hahnville High School as a freshman for the entirety of the 2022-2023 school year.
"Gutierrez-Serrano was not involved in any extracurricular activities, and we are not aware of any disciplinary issues while attending school. She utilized school transportation to and from school. There is no current evidence of any other criminal activity or inappropriate conduct by either Serrano-Alvarado or Gutierrez-Serrano," police explained in a statement.
At a news conference on Wednesday, St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne revealed Gutierrez-Serrano attended the school because she "wanted to learn English. She wanted to become proficient in the English language."
https://www.theblaze.com/news/immigrant-adult-high-school-louisiana?
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19 June, 2023
Biden Hides the Scale of Illegal Immigration Post–Title 42
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Since President Joe Biden took office, the number of illegal aliens encountered at the U.S. border has exceeded all historical records. Despite the legal requirement for mandatory detention of those caught entering illegally, the Administration’s strategy has been to admit as many as possible on the pretext that they are seeking asylum. The seemingly lower numbers now being claimed for encounters at the border post–Title 42 are an illusion created by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) deliberate channeling of those seeking to enter the U.S. illegally to ports of entry (POEs) using Custom and Border Protection’s CBP One mobile-phone application and through rampant abuse of parole.
Neither Congress nor the American people should be fooled by this charade: Illegal immigration remains at unprecedented, dangerous levels and will never be under control without an end to open borders and a change in policy.
The Biden Administration claims that its “historic expansion of lawful pathways” has reduced “unlawful entries between ports of entry…70 percent since May 11,” the day when Title 42 authority ended. But there has been no significant reduction of illegal entrants—they have simply been renamed and re-directed. Tens of thousands of illegal aliens whom the Border Patrol would have “encountered”—that is, administratively arrested—are now allowed to enter the country by the CBP Office of Field Operations inspectors at air and land POEs. The crucial number for tracking the Biden surge in illegal immigration is how many total foreign nationals are allowed into the U.S. nationwide despite having no visa. That number remains exceptionally high, and April 2023 was the fourth-highest month on record. The Biden Administration is attempting to obscure this reality through unlawful action, botched accounting, manipulation of statistics, and taking advantage of a pliant and incurious press corps.
DHS’s DECEPTIVE SPIN ON NUMBERS
In a June 6 press release, the DHS boasted that border encounters were lower as a result of its supposedly tougher “Comprehensive Plan to Manage the Border After Title 42.” In fact, the plan is a smokescreen for the underlying strategic objective: to let in as many illegal aliens as possible and punt them into a backlogged asylum and court system, in most cases without tracking their locations or court appearances.
Encounters with the Border Patrol have averaged 3,400 per day since May 11. Another 1,070 inadmissible aliens presented themselves at a POE each day, using Secretary Mayorkas’ erroneously named “lawful pathway,” and the CBP has expanded daily appointments to 1,250. That is 37,500 inadmissible aliens each month. This number does not include an additional 23,000 supposedly vetted and sponsored Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals who entered in May through a special parole “pathway” that started in January. These two mass-parole port programs add up to 60,500 inadmissible aliens per month. If this number were shifted back to the Border Patrol encounter data on the southwest land border, encounters would be back at, or above, the record 200,000 a month.
PRESIDENT BIDEN'S "LAWFUL PATHWAYS" ARE FICTIONAL—AND ILLEGAL
Since President Biden took office, the number of illegal aliens allowed into the U.S. has exceeded every historical record. In May, the Administration put into effect its new Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule. The intent of this rule was not to bring illegal immigration under control, much less to a halt. It was to channel as many illegal arrivals as possible toward POEs, away from the open border in between.
President Biden’s DHS invented these “lawful pathways” by abusing limited immigration-parole power under current law, which Congress explicitly stated is to be approved “only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” In clear violation of the law, the DHS has granted parole in blanket fashion to entire nations. The DHS also expanded its mobile-phone application, CBP One, to aid the legal fiction and allow foreigners outside the U.S. to get advanced permission to apply for parole at a land port or interior airport. Successful applicants are allowed to enter the U.S.—without a visa, proven identity, or any evidence of persecution. They then receive parole from the CBP upon arrival.
The “[un]lawful pathways” programs so far include Afghanistan (evacuees), Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, with 30,000 monthly appointments reserved for the latter four countries alone. The DHS is clearly intending to expand this abuse of parole to additional countries. The migrant processing centers that the State Department has just negotiated to build in Guatemala and Colombia are not intended to screen refugees under the long-established U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, but to identify yet more customers for the unconstitutional and unlawful parole programs.
ILLEGAL ENTRIES SKYROCKETING, REMOVALS CRATERING
The “stiffer consequences for unlawful entry” that the DHS threatens are simply not credible, given its fiscal years 2023 and 2024 budget targets to deport only 29,389 criminal illegal aliens, and no apparent target for the millions of others in the U.S. illegally, including those with final orders of removal. The Administration is neither using all the detention beds that Congress provided nor adequately using GPS tracking in its alternatives-to-detention program.
CONCLUSION
The cartels and coyotes are well aware of the Administration’s true agenda, and they will continue to make billions from trafficking people to the U.S.
Congress must defund these open-border operations, increase U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resources to find and remove the Biden-released masses, and pass H.R. 2 through the Senate to bring true and lasting border security to America.
https://www.heritage.org/immigration/report/deceptive-numbers-and-word-games-are-hiding-continued-mass-illegal-immigration
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18 June, 2023
Medicaid emergency spending for illegal migrants doubles in one year to $7 billion
Medicaid emergency spending for illegal immigrants more than doubled from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green.
During a congressional hearing Wednesday on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ job performance, Green said more people have entered the U.S. illegally under his roughly two-year tenure "than in the 12 years of the Obama and Trump administrations combined."
He repeated the largely well-known fact that most migrants coming to the southern U.S. border are there because of hard-to-fix economic problems in their countries, but argued that “they’re coming in record numbers because Mayorkas has left the doors of our country unlocked and wide open."
"These individuals typically possess no legitimate claim to asylum and under prior administrations – both Democrat and Republican – most would have been quickly deported. The difference now? Mayorkas and his policies," he also said at the hearing, titled “Open Borders, Closed Case: Secretary Mayorkas’ Dereliction of Duty on the Border Crisis.”
The Tennessee Republican said that Medicaid spending on emergency medical services for illegal immigrants went from roughly $3 billion in fiscal year 2020 to over $7 billion in fiscal year 2021.
Green's office did not respond to a request by the time this story was published for the Medicaid spending amount in fiscal year 2022.
Green also said Wednesday that Mayorkas has "surrendered control" of the southwest border to the Mexican drug cartels.
"Today, nothing comes in or out without the cartels’ knowledge and tacit approval," he said. "They have seized full control, pushing not just historic numbers of illegal aliens across, but record amounts of drugs like fentanyl, which killed more than 71,000 Americans in 2021 – a horrific new record."
He said fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans age 18-49 and that a recent study shows four times more Americans under 20 died from fentanyl poisonings in 2021 compared to 2018.
Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee's top Democrat, argued that calls for Mayorkas and other top officials in the Biden administration, including President Biden, to be removed from office "is about House Republican leadership catering to its most extreme MAGA members, who want to impeach someone – anyone at all."
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/medicaid-spending-illegal-immigrants-more-doubled-fy2021-7b-house-homeland
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16 June, 2023
Democrat bill gives immigrants instant access to federal benefits, ends 'xenophobic' 5-year wait
Democrats in the House and Senate on Thursday introduced a bill that would give immigrants immediate access to a range of federal benefits instead of making them wait five years.
Congress passed legislation in 1996 requiring most immigrants to wait five years after obtaining their official immigration status before they can access Medicaid, food stamps and other federal programs. That requirement was passed as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which the House and Senate passed by 3-to-1 margins and President Bill Clinton signed into law.
But under the bill from Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Tony Cardenas, D-Calif., and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, that five-year waiting period would no longer apply. Democrats said the "arbitrary" five-year waiting period makes it harder for immigrants to obtain "critical benefits and services."
"As an immigrant who came to this country alone at the age of 16, I’m proud to be leading this legislation to finally eliminate cruel, xenophobic, and unreasonable barriers to health care, nutrition assistance, and other life-changing public benefits," Jayapal said in a statement about her bill, the LIFT the BAR Act. "Immigrants and families should not have to wait to access these basic services."
"For more than 25 years, unjust policies have prevented millions of lawfully present immigrants from accessing critical services and programs, including quality health care, food and housing assistance, economic support, and more," added Hirono.
Democrats said that by next year, non-elderly immigrants will be about 8% of the total U.S. population, but will make up nearly a third of the non-elderly uninsured population. Cardenas said immigrant families need immediate access to federal benefits in order to "survive and thrive."
The bill was proposed in the midst of what Republicans say is an immigration crisis, as millions of migrants continue to cross into the U.S. illegally. Many Republicans have said these unchecked migrants are leading not only to a drain on federal resources but are a means of drug trafficking and other problems, and say President Biden’s non-enforcement of U.S. immigration laws is attracting more.
Groups that support the Democrat bill, however, say ending the five-year wait for federal benefits is needed to ensure these migrants succeed in America.
"Removing arbitrary barriers to health, nutritional support, housing assistance and other important public programs would bring us closer to a society in which all of us have the freedom to thrive," said Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center.
"Passing the LIFT the BAR Act is an essential step toward race equity, and a quarter-century is more than long enough to wait for justice," added Adriana Cadena, director of Protecting Immigrant Families. "House Democrats must make this bill a priority in 2023."
15 June, 2023
Hostility to migrants in Ireland
The Irish don't understand why Ireland needs Africans
‘Cead Mile Failte’, which means ‘a hundred thousand welcomes’, is a sentiment the Irish have long held dear.
We pride ourselves on our welcoming nature, our music, our famous pub culture and the fact that the average tourist will be almost overwhelmingly love-bombed by locals who are happy to see a new face and will want to regale them with tales of local lore.
But recently it seems that Ireland may have used up its welcomes and is, instead, retreating back into the dark terrain of nativism and suspicion of foreigners.
For a country that liked to boast about its welcoming nature, the last few weeks have seen the rise of a brand of anti-immigrant sentiment that has verged on the murderous.
When the number of indigenous homeless people is roughly similar to the number of migrants requiring assistance, it’s a recipe for disaster
The most shocking example occurred in inner city Dublin during a stand-off between pro-migrant and anti-migrant protesters. With an estimated 65,000 people having arrived on Irish shores in the last few years, these flashpoints have become increasingly frequent, but the events at the clash on Dublin’s Sandwith street shocked the nation. In what must surely rank as one of Ireland’s lowest moments, the tents belonging to a makeshift encampment of migrants were completely torched.
It was a genuinely shameful moment, and one which has deeply upset many people.
It is the kind of openly racist violence that has never been a part of Irish life, yet it is becoming more common and, in some circles, more acceptable.
Similar attitudes have been displayed across the country. Recently, asylum seekers had to be removed from a shelter in county Clare because of threats to their safety. Various parties had placed bollards and blockades across the roads to prevent any more migrants arriving, and there were menacing threats of burning down any hotel which dared to accommodate asylum seekers.
That’s not to say that all the locals who were involved in these protests are intrinsically racist or bigots. Many of them were happy to appear on Irish news channels and openly give their name as they explained the reasons for their objections. Just like we’re seeing in the UK, they are usually concerned about government policy and the lack of communication from officials.
There are many reasons to explain the lurch towards anti-immigrant sentiment but the only true constant is Ireland’s record-breaking housing crisis. Never in the history of the state have so many people been homeless and it’s a crisis which has been either ignored or terribly mismanaged by successive Irish governments.
Unfortunately, it’s also the main reason why Sinn Fein will probably win the next general election, ushering in what will undoubtedly be a period of economic chaos and a super sized version of tax and spend.
And when the number of indigenous homeless people is roughly similar to the number of migrants requiring assistance, it’s a recipe for disaster and cause for serious concern.
Yet incredibly, many on the Irish left refuse to look at the genuine concerns of ordinary citizens and instead focus on their two favourite topics – Trump and, inevitably, Brexit.
It has been virtually impossible in Ireland to have a rational discussion about Brexit. Yes, there were concerns of national interest and the farce of the Northern Ireland Protocol which managed to be both baffling and incredibly boring.
But the largest democratic vote in the UK’s history also unleashed a wave of anti-English hared that hasn’t been seen since the darkest days of the Troubles in the 1970s.
According to many well-respected Irish commentators, who really should know better, the 17 million people who voted Leave were simple-minded Little Englanders, racists and bigots.
There is no nuance, and no willingness to understand the various reasons why so many people voted for Brexit.
No, instead, we are still fed the narrative that Britain thanks to Brexit is either becoming, or has already become, a fascist state.
In Ireland, it almost felt as if the long dormant hatred of the English had been given permission to rear its ugly head. And this time rather than complaining about Perfidious Albion from a position of weakness and servitude, the insults are delivered with a sense of smug moral superiority.
Irish politicians have long prided themselves with being the ‘best boys in the class’ in the school that is the EU and they were happy to look at our closest and most important neighbours with utter disdain, something our European masters enjoyed enormously.
Yet far from the UK descending into some sort of fascist hellscape, it’s in Ireland where the tents of homeless asylum seekers are being set on fire. It’s in Ireland where migrants are rescued from shelters because of credible threats to their life. And, for once, the chin stroking bien pensants of the Irish Times can’t blame Brexit for that.
https://www.spectator.com.au/2023/06/irelands-migrant-hypocrisy
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13 June, 2023
US Border Agents ‘Providing Care, Welfare Services’ to Illegal Immigrants: Official
The Biden administration’s agents working along the U.S.–Mexico border are primarily providing illegal immigrants with “care and welfare” services, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official.
DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari made the claims during a hearing before a House Oversight subcommittee on June 6 to discuss the ongoing law enforcement staffing challenges relating to the southern border.
During the hearing, Cuffari cited a report (pdf) published in May detailing how Border Patrol agents were suffering from low morale owing to widespread staffing shortages and improper management of resources and planning during a surge in immigrant crossings.
The report also noted issues with recruitment and hiring. These issues combined, according to the report, had led to many officers having to take on responsibilities outside their typical roles, which has affected their own operations.
“It’s concerning that agents are not performing their primary law enforcement roles,” Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) said in response to the report’s findings during the hearing.
“America is largely under the impression that we’re moving border agents down [to the border] to enhance law enforcement. Is that the role that these agents are primarily performing, Mr. Cuffari?” he asked.
In response, Cuffari explained that Border Patrol agents and federal criminal investigators deployed to the border were supposed to perform law enforcement activities but were instead “doing some law enforcement” while also “providing care and welfare services to the detained and those individuals who they’re processing.”
Report Findings
Cuffari’s May 3 report was based on an audit and survey responses involving interviews with 9,311 law enforcement personnel.
It found that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) current method of managing law enforcement staffing is “unsustainable.”
“CBP and ICE workloads have grown significantly due to factors beyond the Department of Homeland Security’s control, namely increasing border encounters and travel volume,” the report states. “Despite greater workloads, staffing levels have remained the same, with CBP and ICE using details and overtime to temporarily address the rising number of encounters along the Southwest border.”
Specifically, the report noted that the situation at the border—staffing challenges and an increased number of illegal immigrants crossing—has “negatively impacted the health and morale of law enforcement personnel, who feel overworked and unable to perform their primary law enforcement duties.”
“Although CBP and ICE annually assess their staffing needs, neither has assessed how using details and overtime has affected the workforce and operations,” the report states.
Unless CBP and ICE assess and strategically change their current staffing management at the border, heavier workloads and low morale may lead to higher turnover and earlier retirements. This could worsen staffing challenges and degrade CBP and ICE’s capacity to perform their mission,” the report said.
According to the report, both CBP and ICE were “consistently staffed close to their authorized hiring levels” between 2019 and 2021, but the number of illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border rose drastically in 2022, while staffing at the border did not grow at the same pace.
In 2021 and 2022, for example, there were roughly 7,800 officers assigned to the southwest border, meaning that roughly the same number of officers who processed about 6,300 immigrant encounters per month in 2021 processed nearly 14,400 encounters per month in 2022, according to the report.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/senior-dhs-official-says-border-agents-providing-care-welfare-services-to-illegal-immigrants_5322922.html
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12 June, 2023
New York Republicans Denounce the Housing of Migrants at JFK Airport, Citing Terror Risk
As New York City grapples with the influx of tens of thousands of migrants, the city is suing counties across the state over their refusal to help with housing them. Meanwhile, New York Republicans are condemning the housing of migrants at JFK Airport, claiming it’s a safety and security hazard.
According to Mayor Adams, the city has supported 72,000 migrants at locations across the city up to this point. However, he’s warned that the city’s resources are being stretched thin.
To help house the migrants Mr. Adams has called for them to be accepted by faith-based organizations, private residents, and other counties in New York, to mixed success.
“It is my vision to take the next step to these faith-based locales and then move to a private residence,” Mr. Adams said Monday. “They have spare rooms.”
While Mr. Adams’s call for New Yorkers to house migrants in their spare rooms has been widely criticized on social media, his plan to send migrants upstate has led to a lawsuit.
Last month, the Rockland County executive, Ed Day, declared a state of emergency over the issue and threatened to grab Mr. Adams “by the throat” if he sends migrants to Rockland County.
The city challenged Mr. Day’s order in court, alongside a similar order in Orange County, and on Wednesday, Judge Nelson Roman of the Southern District of New York temporarily stopped these counties from enforcing their respective orders.
“While it does not bar all travel or residency in the County for migrants or asylum seekers, it is clear that the Rockland County [executive order] does impede travel to the county for the migrants and asylum seekers,” Judge Roman wrote in his order.
Mr. Adams celebrated the order from Judge Roman and said that he hoped the lawsuit would temporarily allow the city to continue bussing migrants north. “Some elected officials have attempted to build metaphorical walls around their localities with unlawful executive orders,” Mr. Adams said in a press release.
Mr. Day responded to Mr. Adams’s statement by saying that “instead of living up to that declaration of sanctuary, Mayor Eric Adams and the city is exporting them to neighboring municipalities across the state of New York.”
One migrant who was bused to Newburgh told the Associated Press that he preferred New York City because, “There, no one cursed at you and said ‘go back to your country.’”
At the same time, New York Republicans have condemned the federal government and the Port Authority’s approval for using an old postal warehouse at JFK Airport as a shelter.
The letter, sent by Representative Anthony D’Esposito and co-signed by Representatives Elise Stefanik, Nick Langworthy, Marc Molinaro, Claudia Tenney, Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino, Brandon Williams, and Mike Lawler, argues that housing migrants at the old postal warehouse would compromise the airport.
“The 9/11 Commission carefully laid out recommendations to prevent and combat acts of terrorism, some of which addressed major vulnerabilities in general and cargo aviation security, such as inadequate screening and the need for layered security systems,” the letter reads.
They added that the “housing of unvetted migrants on the campus of one of the world’s busiest airports willfully ignores public safety.”
https://www.nysun.com/article/new-york-republicans-denounce-the-housing-of-migrants-at-jfk-airport-citing-terror-risk-as-new-york-city-sues-counties-over-deepening-crisis
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11 June, 2023
Texas Erects Innovative Solution to Fed's Border Wall Gaps – Illegal Crossings Just Got Tougher
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Thursday that the Lone Star State will deploy “marine floating barriers” to combat illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The barriers will be enacted at hot spots along the Rio Grande River with the first 1,000 feet being placed near Eagle Pass, according to the press release.
Abbott stated, “This is a new water-based barrier: buoys. We can put mile, after mile, after mile of these buoys.”
The process of adding the barriers in the river has “pretty much immediately” already begun, the governor noted.
Abbott also made it crystal clear that he and administration “are securing the border at the border.”
The release elaborated, “This strategy will proactively prevent illegal crossings between ports of entry by making it more difficult to cross the Rio Grande and reach the Texas side of the southern border.”
During Abbott’s press conference, he praised how the state has handed the surge of immigration since the Biden administration allowed Title 42 to expire.
The governor added, “The Texas Legislature has stepped up to make sure we continue to robustly respond to President Biden’s growing border crisis, including allocating $5.1 billion for border security.”
Abbott said the state has a “strategy that no state has ever before deployed — to stop people from entering Texas illegally.”
The National Guard and the Department of Public Safety have worked in unison to lay “mile after mile after mile” of Concertina razor wire along the border and then re-lining it multiple times, Abbott reported.
Abbott signed six measures into law during the conference.
One being Senate Bill 1133, which creates a grant program to provide up to $75,000 to agricultural landowners that have experienced damage to their property because of illegal trespassers.
The other measures were related to strengthening border security and allowing the state “to coordinate and execute an interstate compact for border security among interested states without congressional approval,” the release stated.
“Texas can continue to do even more to stop illegal immigration at our southern border and provide new tools to the brave men and women along the southern border,” Abbott said.
https://thefederalistpapers.org/us/texas-erects-innovative-solution-feds-border-wall-gaps-illegal-crossings-just-got-tougher
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8 June, 2023
Gatekeeper Countries — Key to Stopping Illegal Immigration
Cooperation with “gatekeeper countries” — transit countries that can help mitigate the flow of irregular migrants — is a key instrument used by Europe to protect its borders, and should be used more consistently by the United States.1
Such collaboration could prevent millions of people from illegally entering destination countries. Without the assistance of those gatekeepers, Europe would have faced a much higher number of illegal immigrants. Therefore, this type of collaboration could be seen as a cornerstone of European migration policy. The United States, on the other hand, pays less attention to gatekeeper states, and focuses on the thin border line as the main protection strategy.
Gatekeeper countries, of course, are only part of the solution, and the concept must be integrated into a much broader and complex immigration and border protection policy that includes physical barriers, human resources, deterrence factors, and a consistent application of existing rules (e.g., detention and deportation). But an effective border regime cannot exist without the cooperation of transit countries.
This paper compares the role of gatekeeper countries in the European and the U.S. contexts. It analyzes the ways different actors are utilizing (or not) transit countries to reduce the number of illegal arrivals. It argues that different historic, economic, and social developments have shaped and altered policies and strategic thinking in the transatlantic region.
https://cis.org/Report/Gatekeeper-Countries-Key-Stopping-Illegal-Immigration
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7 June, 2023
RFK Jr. tells Musk he wants to permanently seal the US-Mexico border
A great idea
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Elon Musk, venture capitalist David Sacks, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard, and others for a Twitter Spaces interview Monday to discuss many of the issues he reckons should be at the forefront of the political debate going into the 2024 presidential election.
Kennedy, running for president as a Democrat, drew the ire of the liberal media for championing so-called "right-wing ideas and misinformation" during the interview, which had more than 64,000 active listeners during the live broadcast and over 1.8 million listeners tune in since.
The New York Times, in particular, took issue with Kennedy's: expressed desire to close the U.S.-Mexico border; suggestion that there is a link between mass shootings and pharmaceutical drugs; claim that COVID-19 was "clearly a bioweapon"; and his criticism of Democrats' penchant for for war.
The 69-year-old son of assassinated former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of assassinated former President John F. Kennedy stressed he knows firsthand the impact of gun violence but noted that the Supreme Court has made clear the meaning of the Second Amendment, which he would not impinge on.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/rfk-jr-tells-musk-he-wants-to-permanently-seal-the-us-mexico-border-links-mass-shootings-to-pharmaceutical-drugs
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6 June, 2023
British PM 'ready to ram Channel migrant law through' despite House of Lords resistance after claiming his plan is 'starting to work'
Rishi Sunak is ready to ram his Channel boats plan through the House of Lords despite resistance from peers.
The PM has suggested he will use the Parliament Act to force the Illegal Migration Bill through, saying it was 'very strongly' backed by MPs and 'incredibly important'.
The comments - in an interview with the Telegraph - raise the prospect that the objections of the Upper House, including religious leaders such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, will be overruled.
The Parliament Act is a rarely-used mechanism that limits the blocking powers of peers. It was last deployed by Tony Blair to get the Hunting Act on the statute book.
Mr Sunak hinted at the drastic move as he insisted his plan to 'stop the boats' is starting to work. On a visit to Kent, he argued that numbers crossing the Channel were down 20 per cent this year.
The stakes for the premier were underlined by a poll indicated that Labour is 14 points ahead - and immigration could sway the votes of huge numbers of Conservative supporters.
The Illegal Migration Bill would dramatically limit the rights of Channel arrivals to claim asylum or that they are a victim of modern slavery.
Critics say it breaks international law, but ministers are adamant that it is a crucial deterrent to stop people making the potentially deadly journey from the continent.
Asked whether he would be willing to use the Parliament Act, Mr Sunak said: 'One of my five priorities is to stop the boats. This legislation is an incredibly important part of how we're going to do that.
'It passed the House of Commons very strongly. And my intention is to see this piece of legislation on the statute books so that we can start using it.'
Pressed again, Mr Sunak said: 'I want to see this legislation on the statute books. It's one of my five priorities. It is the country's priority and this legislation is an incredibly important part of how we're going to do that.'
Speaking at the port of Dover yesterday, Mr Sunak announced two new 'super-barges' to accommodate asylum seekers in an effort to slash the £6million-a-day cost of migrant hotels.
He stressed there remained a 'long way to go', but he insisted the numbers showed the Government was 'making progress on gripping' the small-boats 'phenomenon' – one of his five key pledges as Prime Minister.
Just over 7,600 have crossed the Channel illegally so far this year, down from just under 10,000 in the same period last year.
The PM said: 'That's the main message for people to take away from today – our plan is working. We're not complacent. There's more work to do, but people should have confidence that when I said I was going to stop the boats, I meant it. And that's what we're delivering.'
He defended measures to house asylum seekers on barges, with the first one set to be moored off Portland in Dorset within a fortnight.
Up to 1,000 people will be placed on two further temporary vessels, but Mr Sunak declined to say where they will be berthed.
Yesterday's Home Office data showed the backlog of 'legacy' asylum claims has fallen by 17,000 cases since December to 74,410.
But the overall asylum backlog – including claims lodged since June last year – is still at a near record high of 137,583, down 1,200 from its peak in February.
In a crucial landmark, the French authorities are intercepting more than 50 per cent of small boats in the Channel for the first time, compared with 42 per cent last year.
However, new data showed the number of Turkish migrants reaching Britain by small boat has tripled in the wake of February's devastating earthquake, and arrivals are expected to increase.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12163987/Rishi-Sunak-ready-ram-Channel-migrant-law-House-Lords.html
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5 June, 2023
Sunak Moves to Curb Migration Citing Strain on UK Services
Rishi Sunak this week will defend his efforts to curb migration, saying the UK government is struggling to cope with the number of arrivals.
The prime minister will appear at an event in Kent in southern England on Monday to draw attention to progress over the last six months, notably 50% increase on raids for those working illegally and 700 new staff to track people crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said the government will deploy barges and unused army bases to house people seeking asylum and tell young men four people will have to share one room.
The measures are aimed at making Britain a less-attractive destination to people arriving through informal routes. Ministers are concerned a record 606,000 more people moved to Britain than departed last year despite a promise to reduce immigration.
“We also can’t allow the UK to be perceived to be a soft touch,” Jenrick said on BBC television’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show. “It’s placing serious pressure on public services and our ability to successfully integrate people into the country.”
Immigration has become a lightning rod for the right wing of the ruling Conservative Party after a wave of migrants arrived in small boats this spring and inflows hit a record.
Sunak has backed away from a manifesto promise to cut migration, but ministers are working on measures to deport 3,000 people a month deemed to have entered the UK though means they deem are illegal. While the vast majority of immigrants arrive legally with visas, it’s the informal routes and especially asylum that are the prime focus.
The Labour opposition has promised to cut immigration levels and says the Conservatives are to blame for letting numbers get out of control. The issue has added to friction with business lobby groups, which are urging a relaxing of the rules to allow in workers needed to fill vacant jobs and alleviate upward pressures on wages.
“We want businesses to be in the first instance investing in British workers and technology and automation that drives productivity, not just reaching for the easy lever of foreign labor,” Jenrick told the BBC.
Sunak’s office said on Sunday that the prime minister will say the current measures are working but “there is more to be done.” The government already has signed deals with France and Albania aimed at limiting flows and passed in legislation in the House of Commons that ensures that “if you come here illegally, you will be detained and swiftly removed,” Downing Street said in a statement released Sunday.
Jenrick said the asylum system needs “fundamental” reform because it’s “riddled with abuse,” notably the government paying too much money to hotel operators for housing people.
The Illegal Migration Bill, due before the House of Lords on Wednesday, will let officials detain migrants who arrive through informal channels. The government wants to return many of them home — or to Rwanda.
“That will create the deterrent we desperately need,” Jenrick said. “It will break the business model of the people smuggling gangs, and it will stop the system from coming under intolerable pressure like it is today.”
The House of Commons on Wednesday is set to approve a bill that will confirm how and when immigrants are considered settled in the UK for citizenship purposes.
Jenrick said it’s reasonable to ask asylum seekers to share rooms, brushing aside concerns of a group that refused to enter a hotel in Pimlico, where the Home Office had asked them to sleep “four people per room.”
The leader of Westminster City Council expressed “deep concern” that some 40 refugees were placed in the borough last week “without appropriate accommodation or support available,” the Press Association reported.
“We had offered them a safe bed with board and lodgings in a good-quality hotel in central London,” Jenrick said on the BBC. “Yes, some of them had to share with other people. These are single adult males, I don’t think that’s unreasonable.”
He said the government wants to reduce the cost to taxpayers of housing asylum seekers, saying that putting them in hotels drains “valuable assets for the local business community.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-04/rishi-sunak-moves-to-curb-migration-citing-strain-on-uk-services
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4 June, 2023
Biden's Lax Border Policies Made It Possible for Five Illegal Aliens to Murder a 15-Year-Old Boy
President Joe Biden's havoc-wreaking open border policies have done unrepairable damage to the U.S.
The country has seen more than six million illegal migrants enter through the southern border bringing in deadly drugs such as fentanyl and sex trafficking, causing fear for law-abiding Americans.
Biden's open border has caused consequences that the Democratic administration can no longer ignore.
On Wednesday, authorities confirmed the arrests of five illegal aliens in connection to the murder of a 15-year-old boy whose remains were found in a Fredrick County state park in Maryland two months after he was reported missing.
Alexis Alfredo Ayala Lopez, 21; Jose Roberto Ramos Lopez, 23; Ismael Lopez Lopez, 29; Elmer Bladimir Reyes Reyes, 27; and Ismael Ivan Rivera Canales, 20, are all illegal migrants who are associated with the notorious deadly gang MS-13. The five men have been charged with first-degree murder.
In February, the young boy Limber Jocimar Lopez Funez was reported missing in Frederick— about 40 miles northwest of D.C. One day later, police found evidence that someone had been assaulted in a nearby wooded area.
On April 25, after two months of searching for the 15-year-old, authorities found his body in Gambrill State Park, just a few miles outside the city.
"On behalf of the entire team at FPD, our hearts go out to the victim's family. While we know it will not bring Limber back, we hope the arrests, in this case, will offer some closure to the Lopez Funez family," Chief of Police Jason Lando said in a statement.
Instead of working endlessly to close the border, Biden has ignored the ongoing issue for almost his entire presidency. As a result, the U.S. has suffered from Biden's reckless actions, posing national security risks as the president welcomes deadly gang members and drugs into the country with open arms.
Americans suffer as the Biden Administration continues to fail as the leader of the U.S.
According to an April Global Strategy Group poll, 58 percent of voters in seven key Electoral College battleground states disapprove of how the president is handling immigration, compared with just 32 percent who approve.
Additionally, 52 percent of voters believe Biden is blatantly ignoring problems at the border, while 50 percent said the president is ignoring the situation around undocumented immigrants.
https://townhall.com//tipsheet/saraharnold/2023/06/01/bidens-lax-border-policies-made-it-possible-for-five-illegal-aliens-to-murder-a-15-year-old-boy-n2623969
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2 June, 2023
Evidence shows immigration reduces wages significantly
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Due to the border crisis and a rebound in legal immigration, the foreign-born population has increased by 3.4 million since President Joe Biden took office. With many of those arriving entering the labor force, economic theory predicts they will put downward pressure on wages for workers who compete with them for jobs. For years, immigration activists countered that any negative wage impact due to immigration was inconsequential — until now. A number of prominent economists and advocacy groups, many of which previously argued that immigration has little or no wage impact, are now calling for more immigration to reduce wages to lower inflation.
Former Walmart CEO Bill Simon has complained that the company now has to pay $14 an hour. He has also called for more immigration to reduce wages and lower inflation. There are a number of problems with the increase-immigration-to-reduce-inflation argument. But what is perhaps most striking is that advocates now openly admit that immigration reduces wages for the working class, an idea they used to dismiss.
The latest immigration advocate to call for more immigration to lower wages is George Mason professor Justin Gest. Drawing on research he did for the immigration advocacy group Fwd.us, he recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the country needs more immigration to reduce wages and stem inflation in high-growth cities, particularly in sectors such as hospitality and construction. But Fwd.us explicitly states on its website that it is a “myth” that immigration “drives down wages.”
Gest and Fwd.us are not alone in having a change of heart when it comes to the impact of immigration. The National Immigration Forum, another leading advocacy group, now argues wages are too high and that we need more immigration to bring them down, contradicting its prior position that any concerns that immigration reduces wages “are largely overblown.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which used to argue that “data do not support” the idea that immigration has a sizable impact on wages, now says that doubling immigration “might be the fastest thing to do to impact inflation” by keeping wages down.
In an article for Foreign Affairs, prominent economists Gordon Hanson and Matthew Slaughter called for significantly increasing immigration to “limit wage and price growth” and help “defeat inflation.” Strangely, later in the same article, they state that immigration has only “a modest effect on the wages of native-born workers.” In an interview for NPR, University of California, Davis, economist Giovanni Peri argued that more immigration would keep wages down and alleviate inflation. This is in stark contrast to his prior position that immigration’s impact on wages was “small and, on average, essentially zero.”
Apparently, what was once a negligible impact on wages is now a large and desirable one. In truth, there has always been ample evidence that immigration reduces wages. A comprehensive 2016 report by the National Academies of Science cites over a dozen studies showing a negative impact of immigration on wages for competing workers, particularly those with low levels of education. Subsequent research has come to the same conclusion. The only difference now is that inflation is a hot political topic, and immigration advocates are happy to offer their cause as a solution — even if it contradicts their prior talking points.
Inconsistency aside, there is a more basic problem with the argument that expanding immigration can lower inflation — it is grossly impractical. The nation’s roughly 160 million workers account for about 60% of the economy, while the rest is capital investment. In its analysis, the National Academies assumed that each 1% increase in the supply of immigrant workers reduces wages by 0.3%. So even a sudden 10% increase in the supply of workers — about 16 million new people, or a decade’s worth of immigration — could reduce prices by only 1.8% (60% times 3%). And this assumes businesses passes all the saving onto consumers.
Of course, the negative wage impact of immigration could be much larger in particular sectors, especially at the bottom end of the labor market. But if the impact is limited to a narrow part of the economy, then the resulting effect on overall consumer prices would be correspondingly smaller.
Even if it were practical to lower overall prices in this manner, it would hardly be desirable. Wages for noncollege-educated workers, who make up the vast majority of the employees in lower-paid jobs, either stagnated or declined in the decades prior to COVID. And in the last year, wages for service workers and other less-skilled occupations have generally not kept pace with inflation. Using immigration to reduce wages further for such workers is as regressive a policy as one can imagine.
In reality, immigration advocates always call for more immigration. Reducing inflation is simply the latest justification. Revealingly, this time around, they have shifted their arguments and acknowledged immigration does negatively affect the wages of American workers.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/evidence-shows-immigration-reduces-wages-significantly
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1 June, 2023
NYC Will House Illegal Immigrants in a Shuttered Jail
A jail in New York City that was shut down in 2019 will be utilized to house illegal immigrants coming to the Big Apple from the southern border.
According to the New York Post, the Lincoln Correctional Facility, which was shut down in 2019, will be repurposed to house those who are seeking asylum. There are no “jail cells” at the 10,000 square-foot facility and it is meant to be a “pit stop” for the illegal immigrants.
“We’re grateful to the state for providing this site and partnering with the city to open this space as a temporary site for asylum seekers as New York City continues to face this humanitarian crisis,” a City Hall rep said.
“We’ve had over 70,000 asylum seekers come through the city’s intake centers since last spring,” the representative added. “And yet hundreds of asylum seekers continue to arrive in New York City every day.”
“We continue to need additional financial and operational support from our partners,” the representative concluded to the outlet.
Reportedly, several hotels and other sites have been “overflowing” with migrants as more than 70,000 have arrived since last year. Townhall previously covered that Democrat Mayor Eric Adams complained that it would cost billions of dollars to care for the illegal immigrants.
On Tuesday, New York Rep. Jamaal Brown announced that the illegal immigrants deserve “dignified” housing and called on schools to create temporary housing for them.
“Our NY university communities can and should come together to ensure migrants are welcome here,” he wrote.
Earlier this month, Townhall reported how Adams began sending illegal immigrants out of the city to nearby areas. And, several soon-to-be-married couples told news outlets that their hotel accommodations for their guests in these areas were canceled last minute to house the migrants.
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