Later today, Pres. Obama will meet with leaders from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala - the three countries that are sending the most illegal-alien children to the United States during the ongoing border surge. But in advance of that meeting, Honduran President, Juan Orlando Hernández, offered his opinion on what caused the surge - the Obama Administration's lax immigration enforcement policies.
The Dallas Morning News is reporting that 20 illegal-alien children were schedule for a court hearing in Dallas on Tuesday, but 18 didn't show up. The report confirms fears that many of the newly-arrived illegal aliens, if released across the country, will simply disappear and not show up for the court hearings.
The House working group, formed by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and led by Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), has released their recommendations for solving the ongoing crisis along the Southwest border, including the deployment of the National Guard, a change to the 2008 human trafficking law, the establishment of repatriation centers in the sending countries, and permission for Border Patrol agents to operate on federal lands. The group has not offered legislative language, which can often be much different from a set of principles.
Here's a list of the group's recommendations:
On July 18-19 anti-amnesty groups coordinated a national event called the “National Days Of Protest Against Immigration Reform Amnesty & The Illegal Immigration Surge!” More than 320 protests were held nationwide.
No money until the Administration enforces the law! That's what we want to see in comments, blogs, tweets, posts, etc. News of the surge of illegal immigration at the border keeps pouring in as Congress debates President Obama's request for $3.7 billion to address the situation as he sees fit.
As we approach the end of the second full month of the border crisis, we're learning more about the impacts it's having on local communities across the country.
Only $25 million of Pres. Obama's $3.7 billion emergency funding request in response to the illegal-alien border surge would be spent in fiscal year 2014, according to an analysis of the proposal from the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO projected that the $25 million would be spent by the Department of Health and Human Services for the housing, care, and relocation of illegal-alien families, not the Department of Homeland Security that's tasked with securing the border.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) is taking matters into his own hands and is ordering 1,000 National Guard troops to the Texas border to help stop the illegal-alien border surge. Gov. Perry is expected to make a formal announcement later today, but by making the move before the Obama Administration takes action, Gov. Perry will oversee the Guard's operation since he's the one who deployed the troops.
A headline from the Huffington Post sums up the debate in Washington: "For Border Crisis, Many Bills But No Clear Answer."
President Obama’s plan for dealing with border surge aliens, which emphasizes the relocation and care of illegal border crossers over their immediate deportation, has Democrats and Republicans in Congress scrambling to develop legislation before the summer recess. But their differing plans make legislative action unlikely and give Obama cover for not doing what he should do - deport the aliens required under current law.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data show that 65 percent of unaccompanied alien minors’ asylum applications were immediately approved by asylum officers in Fiscal Year 2014, according to a press release from the House Judiciary Committee. And most unapproved cases are later approved by an immigration judge. This means that the vast majority of aliens who seek asylum are now successful in their claims despite the fact that an internal Department of Homeland Security report says that 70 percent of asylum cases contain proven or possible fraud.
CNSNews reports that the U.S. government did not grant refugee status to any people from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador or Mexico in fiscal year 2013. Democrats in Congress have tried to portray the surge aliens as refugees escaping violence in these countries as opposed to people who were encouraged to enter by recent Obama Administration policies.
A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies examines the role of the 2008 human trafficking law, the William Wiberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, in the ongoing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. In recent months, there's been a surge of Unaccompanied Alien Children crossing the border illegally, and the Obama Administration claims that the 2008 law prevents it from beginning removal proceedings against any UAC from a noncontiguous country. But the CIS report says that most individuals crossing the border illegally don't fall under the law.
A working group formed by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is putting the final touches on a response to the ongoing border crisis that would include deploying the National Guard and providing more immigration judges. The group briefed the House GOP caucus earlier today and will likely make their final recommendations public before the end of the week.
The group, headed by Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), visited both Guatemala and Honduras over the weekend and said both countries are eager to help repatriate newly-arrived illegal aliens.
Pro-enforcement activists yesterday protested a plan to house surge alien children at a 145-bed facility in Vassar, Michigan. This is the third protest in the past week in Vassar, a city of about 2,700 people about 70 miles northwest of Detroit. Also more that 200 people attended an information meeting on July 9.
Michiganders for Immigration Control and Enforcement organized the protest which turned out about 50 people. Protesters marched from Vassar City Hall to Wolverine Human Services' Pioneer Work and Learn Center, where the surge aliens would be located.
Pres. Obama's request to Congress for $3.7 billion in emergency funding to address the border crisis hasn't exactly been warmly received. Maybe it's because nearly half of the funds requested ($1.8 billion) would go Health and Human Services to relocate illegal aliens across the country. Or maybe it's because more than $15 million would go to immigration lawyers to defend Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) in deportation hearings that won't happen for several years -- and that's if they even show up for the hearing.
The Daily Caller obtained an unreleased poll that says 59 percent of voters who are closely following the border surge agree that "current administration policies and lack of focus on securing the border" are behind the crisis. One-third of political independents and Hispanics “strongly” blame the president. Six in 10 respondents say that unaccompanied alien children should be ordered to leave the country.
Earlier this week, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Guatemalan president Otto Perez Molina held a joint press conference to formally announce a new program that will allow Guatemalan citizens to legally travel through Mexico in their effort to enter the United States illegally. Guatemala is one of three sending countries accounting for most of the illegal aliens coming across the U.S.-Mexico border during the ongoing surge. The agreement grants Guatemalans 72 hours of legal status while they make their journey to the U.S.
Pres. Obama has sent a formal request to House Speaker John Boehner asking for $3.7 billion to help combat the ongoing border surge of illegal aliens along the Southwest border. Despite reports of the last few days, Pres. Obama did not request a policy change in the way that unaccompanied alien minors are processed if they come from a noncontiguous country. The requested funds would be used to beef up interior immigration enforcement, pay for the legal processing and potential removal of newly-arrived illegal aliens, and help relocate illegal aliens to the interior of the country.
Reports from the southern border indicate that some of the newly-arrived illegal border crossers are carrying infectious diseases and a few border patrol agents have already contracted the diseases. Physician and Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) has sent a letter to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention asking for more details on the activation of their Emergency Operations Center in response to the border crisis and what steps are being taken to safeguard Americans.
As I wish you a celebratory Independence Day, we are reminded that true independence requires continuing vigilance and efforts of all citizens.
Many of your friends and neighbors -- perhaps even you -- have a tendency to have sympathy for the open-borders advocates' argument that it is a humanitarian obligation to move the minors arriving at our border to shelters around the United States.
In fact, this mass "humanitarian" transportation of illegal aliens from our borders into our interior threatens to create far more danger, abuse, rape, illness and even death for Central American teens.
Why?
Testifying at a House Homeland Security Committee field hearing in McAllen, Texas, Gov. Rick Perry said the president should deploy the National Guard to secure the Texas border and send unaccompanied alien children and alien families back home. He also wants the federal government to reimburse Texas for expenses related to dealing with illegal immigration.
Thirty-two House Republicans joined Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., in a letter to the president calling on him to end the policies that have caused the surge of illegal border crossings. The letter calls on Obama to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and to forego policies that give the recent illegal border crossers or other illegal aliens special treatment under the law.
Residents of another community have expressed anger over the federal government’s placement of recent illegal border crossers in their area. According to an Albuquerque ABC affiliate, about 400 people attended a town hall in Artesia, New Mexico last night to speak out against holding illegal aliens at a local Federal Law Enforcement Training center. Only a few spoke out in favor of helping the illegal aliens.
Since the border surge gained coverage from the mainstream media last month, the Obama Administration has tried to relocate tens of thousands of newly-arrived illegal aliens to communities across the country.
Sign the petition asking your three Members of Congress to fight the relocation!
Click on the symbols on the map for name of each location and what is happening there. Below the map is the KEY for the symbols.
Buses carrying recent illegal border crossers to Murietta, California were rerouted after being blocked by protesters opposed to their being processed at a local Border Patrol facility and released into the community. The 140 nationals from Central American countries were flown from Texas on Tuesday and then bused to Murrieta. The actions of the roughly 100 protesters forced federal authorities to take them instead to a Border Patrol facility in San Ysidro, California.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who represents the border sector most impacted by the ongoing border crisis, bucked Pres. Obama and his party's leadership by saying that the United States should deport all illegal border crossers immediately, regardless of what country they're from. Cuellar said that's the policy the U.S. has for illegal border crossers from Mexico, and the country should treat all illegal border crossers the same.
Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) was denied access to the illegal-alien housing facility at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma yesterday. The facility is housing 1,200 illegal aliens who were relocated after being caught and processed by Border Patrol agents in Texas. The facility is currently under the control of Health and Human Services.
President Barack Obama announced he is starting "a new effort to fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress." He will reportedly will seek options that shift immigration enforcement from the interior to the border. Obama said he decided to act on his own after Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he would not bring an immigration bill to the House floor “at least for the remainder of this year.”
President Barack Obama wrote congressional leaders today request “new tools and resources we need to implement a unified, comprehensive Federal Government response” to the massive surge of minor and adult illegal aliens crossing the southern border.
A new study by the Center for Immigration Studies says that all of the net jobs added to the economy since 2000 went to legal and illegal immigrants. The study counters the claims by business groups that the U.S. has a shortage of workers and needs to increase immigration levels.
TheBlaze’s Sara Carter reports that Border Patrol Agents have found “cheat sheets” that provide illegal aliens rehearsed answers for the questions Border Patrol Agents will ask upon apprehension. The answers present a case for “credible fear,” which clears the way for remaining in the U.S. to attend an immigration hearing. “It’s proof they are told what to say,” a government official told TheBlaze.
At a Wednesday hearing on the surge of illegal aliens crossing the border, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said “These individuals know that the Administration’s policy of non-enforcement of our immigration laws presents a golden opportunity for unaccompanied minors and families with minors to come to the U.S., most likely to be released with very little chance of ever being removed…It is often said that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Unfortunately, it seems Obama fiddles while our borders implode.”
In testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee, Jeh Johnson, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said the government needs to do more to clear up the misperception that illegal aliens can get a free pass to stay if they make it across the southern border. Republicans on the committee argued the Administration’s policies created that perception.
Congressional Democrats are increasingly referring to those crossing in the border surge as “refugees,” who would have a different standing under U.S. and international law than those seeking legal status through asylum or other means. This shift in language is meant to conjure up public sympathy for displaced persons, and to infer that the United States has a legal obligation to accept the coming illegal aliens. Democrats may score political points under this strategy but should not gain the illegal aliens admission as refugees since current U.S.
New photos released by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) from his recent visit to the Rio Grande Valley border patrol sector in Texas reveals more details on the ongoing surge of illegal border crossings. Contrary to statements from the Obama Administration, saying the surge is of mostly women and children trying to escape violence in Central America, the pictures show a pretty even mix of women, children, and working-aged men who have been detained by Border Patrol officers.
House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., wrote Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson seeking data on the number of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) apprehended on the southern border over the past few years and the immigration benefits they were given. His committee will hold an oversight hearing on the matter next week.
For nearly a month, the Southwest border, and especially the Rio Grande Valley sector in Texas, has been overrun by illegal border crossings, many of which have been unaccompanied minors while Americans have been forced to sit back and watch. That starts to change today as the House of Representatives brings the Department of Defense Authorization Act of 2015 to the floor, and a few Members are offering amendments to provide some relief to the Border Patrol's efforts.
Hundreds of illegal-alien children continue to cross certain sectors of the U.S. southern border each day, often with their mother. In an effort to stop them from coming, the Obama Administration is claiming they are subject to deportation but immigration attorneys say the vast majority of children may be given the legal right to stay under current immigration and asylum laws.
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) has sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner regarding the situation along the Southwest border where thousands of unaccompanied minors are streaming across the border illegally.
The Administration of Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) will implement plans to eliminate state support for illegal aliens who apply for or receive General Assistance benefits. Although the plan is consistent with a federal ban on aid to illegal aliens, Maine Attorney General Janet Mills (D) said the move may be unconstitutional.
Julio Ligorria, the Guatemalan ambassador to the United States, said the surge of Guatemalan children traveling to the U.S. is not due to violence, as the Obama Administration has suggested. Appearing on the Univision Sunday talk show "Al Punto" he said the surge is the result of: an interest in being with their parents; few opportunities at home; and the claims of smugglers who promise illegal-alien parents in the U.S. that the government will deliver their children.
The Amnesty Threat Level is at Code Red this week after our Capitol Hill team got word last week that Reps. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), and Mario Diaz Balart (R-Fla.) are polling their fellow House Republicans to measure support for moving an amnesty bill before the August recess. Reportedly, if they can get enough Republicans on board with their plan, House Leadership will do a formal whip count and move an immigration bill to the floor of the House before the August recess.
A new CNN Poll found that 61% of Americans disapprove of the administration's handling of illegal immigration. The poll was taken between May 29 and June 1 and asked for a simple approve or disapprove rating of a variety of issues. Only 35% said they approved of the President's handling of illegal immigration.
A new report for the Inspector General found that the Department of Health and Human Services spent $120.6 million between 2009-2011 to provide Medicare Parts B and D to illegal aliens. Illegal aliens are ineligible from receiving Medicare services.
Former U.S. Congressman and Lt. Col. Allen West expressed his opposition to a potential move by Pres. Obama to use military enlistment as a vehicle to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. In a post on his website on Thursday, Lt. Col. West said, "the purpose of serving our nation should not be about earning citizenship. It should be about being a guardian of the Republic." Lt. Col. West added that he'll speak out against any Member of Congress who supports a policy to grant a military amnesty.
Two results from Texas' GOP Primary runoffs on Tuesday secured nominations for candidates who oppose amnesty and support tougher enforcement. Brian Babin defeated the heavily backed Ben Streusand in the GOP Primary runoff in Texas' 36th Congressional District on Tuesday to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas). Also, amnesty advocate David Dewhurst lost his re-election bid for Lieutenant Governor to state Sen. Dan Patrick, who ran on an immigration enforcement platform.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., told The Hill that a legalization for illegal aliens who serve in the military was not included in his draft of the National Defense Authorization Act because “(i)t was not the best place to do it.” Levin favors such legislation but said that complications arose.
The Major County Sheriffs' Association, representing counties with populations of 500,000 or more and 100 million Americans, sent a letter to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson calling for better immigration enforcement. The letter, signed by the association's president Donny Youngblood, urges Johnson to enforce immigration laws, secure the border, and work with local law enforcement in enforcement efforts. The group met with Johnson via telephone earlier this month.
