Potpourri News’ Post

The trip reflects the extent to which immigration has become one of President Joe Biden’s biggest political vulnerabilities. (Kenny Holston | The New York Times) House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), center, leads a delegation of House Republicans on a visit to the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2023. By Eileen Sullivan | The New York Times   | Jan. 4, 2024, 4:12 p.m. | Updated: 4:33 p.m. More than 60 House Republicans traveled to the southern border in Texas on Wednesday, seeking to pressure the Biden administration to enact stricter immigration policies as a record number of migrants enter the United States. They gathered near the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, a town of fewer than 30,000 that has become a popular crossing point. But on Wednesday, only a few migrants were seen traversing the narrow stretch of the river from Piedras Negras, Mexico, and climbing up the banks on the U.S. side. (The number of illegal crossings along the southern border often declines around the holidays, and fewer people tend to cross if a notable event is expected on the U.S. side.) “One thing is absolutely clear: America is at a breaking point with record levels of illegal immigration,” Speaker Mike Johnson said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “And today, we got a firsthand look at the damage and the chaos the border catastrophe is causing in all of our communities. The situation here and across the country is truly unconscionable.” The visit reflects the extent to which immigration has become one of President Joe Biden’s biggest political vulnerabilities, particularly as the 2024 presidential election nears. Republicans’ visit to Eagle Pass comes as Congress seeks to reach a deal over a spending package that would provide military aid to Ukraine in exchange for more stringent border policies. On Wednesday, House Republicans threatened to stop funding the federal government if Biden and Democrats did not “shut the border down.” Here’s a fact check on some of their statements. What was said “We have lethal drugs that are pouring into our country at record levels.”— Johnson This needs context. It is true that large amounts of fentanyl and other deadly illicit drugs have been flowing into the United States from Mexico. But the majority is trafficked through official ports of entry, not on the backs of economic and asylum-seeking migrants like those who have been coming to the country through Eagle Pass. For example, in December, federal officials at the Ysleta port of entry in El Paso, Texas, discovered 123 pounds of fentanyl and methamphetamine over three days, hidden in vehicles coming from Mexico. What was said “That 312 suspects on the terrorist watch list that have been apprehended — we have no idea how many terrorists have come into the country and set up terrorism cells across the nation.”— Johnson This needs context. From October 2020 to November 2023, 312 migrants

Who controls what can happen at our border? Except in a national emergency, Acts of Congress determine what the President and executive branch can do. States have limited roles. There are treaties which restrict immigration policy with respect to asylum seekers and restrict how immigrants can be treated. Once in the country, due process and the rights of all persons in the US apply. SCOTUS has repeatedly blocked much of what Presidents try to do if outside of the laws passed by Congress. This has been true for policies from both Trump and Biden. Neither President has been able to fix our border due to the limitations of our existing laws. Immigration has been increasing since Obama left office, except for the temporary decrease during covid lockdowns. The increase has many causes, both local to countries of origin, regional or global, like climate catastrophes, droughts, and wars, perceptions about US policy, and availability of travel to the US or countries that can feed into the US. Implementing our outdated 40-year old immigration laws has been made even more difficult because Congress has not provided enough funding for upgrading border crossings, upgrading security between border crossings, hiring and training enough border agents, and hiring enough immigration judges to rule on asylum seekers so they can be admitted or deported. Asylum seekers frequently wait 5 years or more to come before a judge. The laws make it difficult for immigrants awaiting determinations to work, increasing the burden on the federal government and on cities and states where they have temporary residences. The recent bill that was passed in the Senate had most of what Republicans have been asking for, including stricter asylum criteria and more judges and border agents. It was not brought to the floor of the House for debate after conversations between House leadership and Trump, with the stated purpose of denying Biden a "win," even before the text of the bill was available to be analyzed. One factor that both parties fail to point out is that our country needs immigrants to fill millions of current job openings. There are not enough citizens who can work for the current needs of American business. In addition, without young immigrants who can enter the workforce, our aging population will have trouble supporting itself without increases in the retirement age and drastic, unsustainable cuts in retirement benefits. Like most wealthy countries, the birth rate is under what it needs for long-term sustainability. We need to update immigration laws to meet our current business needs while increasing border security. It is not just a matter of "closing our borders." We need a laws that support a sustainable economy and population, with immigration that is neither too much or too little. https://lnkd.in/eJK98YWf

THE BILL IS DONE! For Mr. Biden, it was a matter of principle. He wanted to show the world that the United States was a humane nation, while also demonstrating to his fellow citizens that government could work again. On Friday, in a dramatic turnaround from those early days, the president implored Congress to grant him the power to shut down the border so he could contain one of the largest surges of uncontrolled immigration in American history. “If given that authority,” Mr. Biden said in a statement, “I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.” Some of the circumstances that have created the crisis are out of Mr. Biden’s control, such as the collapse of Venezuela, a surge in migration around the world and the obstinance of Republicans who have tried to thwart his efforts to address the problems. They refused to provide resources, blocked efforts to update laws and openly defied federal officials charged with maintaining security and order along the 2,000-mile border. Pressure was building on Mr. Biden to find a solution. He looked to the one place that could pass meaningful new immigration laws, but has not done so in decades: Congress. Republicans in Washington largely ignored Mr. Biden’s entreaties to come to the negotiating table to help fix the immigration system. And out in the country, G.O.P. officials came up with their own plan. During a news conference in April 2022, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas vowed to “take the border to President Biden” by busing thousands of migrants to Democratic-led cities. It was a stunt, but it worked. But in his speech from the Roosevelt Room, he announced tough new restrictions on asylum, the system of laws that has for decades established the United States as a place of refuge for displaced and fearful people across the globe. Mr. Biden repeatedly accused “extreme Republicans” of blocking his efforts to modernize the nation’s immigration laws, refusing to provide billions of dollars for border security and rejecting bipartisan negotiations. “They can keep using immigration to try to score political points,” he said, “or they can help solve the problem.” The president’s speech was the culmination of months of frustration and debate inside the administration on how to confront the crisis. But the reaction underscored the difficulties: Human rights groups condemned it as too harsh. Republicans said it was still too lenient. Mr. Biden was responding to the largest movement of displaced people since World War II, with millions fleeing economic decline, political instability and gang violence — from Central America, South America, Africa and elsewhere. Mr. Biden soon sensed an opening to capitalize on the changing dynamic, and on Dec. 6 he made it official. “I am willing to make significant compromises on the border,” he said. “We need to fix the broken border system. It is broken.” “If that bill were the law today,” Mr. Biden said to applause, “I’d shut down the border right now and fix it quickly.”

New Post: Joe Biden expected to sign executive order to curb immigration - https://lnkd.in/gM9byCas President Joe Biden is expected to issue a sweeping new executive order aimed at curbing migrant arrivals at the US-Mexico border as early as Tuesday. Under the planned order, US officials could swiftly deport migrants who enter the US illegally without processing their asylum requests once a daily threshold is met, according to CBS.That, in turn, will allow border officials to limit the amount of migrant arrivals, three unnamed sources briefed on the expected order told CBS, the BBC's news partner.More than 6.4 million migrants have been stopped crossing into the US illegally during Joe Biden's administration - a record high that has left him politically vulnerable as he campaigns for re-election. Migrant arrivals have plummeted this year, however, although experts believe the trend is not likely to be sustainable. CBS - the BBC's US partner - and other US news outlets have reported that Mr Biden has been mulling use of a 1952 law that allows access to the American asylum system to be restricted. The law, known as 212(f), allows the US president to "suspend the entry" of foreigners if their arrival is "detrimental to the interests" of the country. The same regulation was used by the Trump administration to ban immigration and travel from several predominantly Muslim countries and to bar migrants from asylum if they were apprehended crossing into the US illegally, provoking accusations of racism. Asylum processing at ports of entry is expected to continue under the order. About 1,500 asylum seekers go through the process at official crossings each day, mostly after setting up appointments using a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) app known as CBP One. Mayors of several border towns - including Brownsville and Edinburg, both in Texas - were expected to be in Washington for the president's announcement. Democratic lawmakers have also been reportedly briefed on the plan. The proposal, however, is likely to be challenged in court, either from immigration advocates or from Republican-led states. A White House official told the BBC on Friday that no final decisions had been made on possible executive actions.In a statement, a White House spokesperson noted that a bipartisan border security deal failed earlier this year as a result of opposition from Republicans in Congress. "While Congressional Republicans chose to stand in the way of additional border enforcement, President Biden will not stop fighting to deliver the resources that border and immigrational personnel need to secure our border," the spokesperson said. "As we have said before, the administration continues to explore a series of policy options and we remain committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system," the spokesperson added.Republicans criticised the Biden border plan as a

On May 25, 2006, the Senate passed the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, S. 2611, with a vote of 62 yeas and 36 nays. Although it was bipartisan, it was opposed by 58 percent of Senate Republicans, and the Republicans held the majority in the House.   On June 27, 2013, the Senate passed Sen. Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, S. 744, with 68 yeas and 32 nays. It was opposed by 70 percent of Senate Republicans, and Republicans held the majority in the House.  Neither bill went anywhere. Why are such bills introduced at all? According to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the purpose of the Border Act is merely to let Democrats running for office in the upcoming elections say, “I wanted to secure the border … but those mean Republicans wouldn’t let me.”  The asylum system is broken  The Border Bill would facilitate asylum processing at the border and make it more difficult to get an asylum hearing before an immigration judge. However, migrants would still be screened for eligibility for withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture. In addition, Customs and Border Protection would be required to process a minimum of 1,400 inadmissible migrants per day at land ports of entry under expedited removal or non-custodial removal proceedings. This would be more than 511,000 undocumented immigrants a year.  At best, these measures would slow the rate at which the immigration court backlog grows.  According to TRAC Immigration, the growth of the immigration court backlog has been accelerating at a breakneck pace since the start of the Biden administration, when the backlog was only 1,290,766 cases. It is 3,287,058 cases now. The hardship that suspending consideration of new asylum applications might cause could be minimized by increasing the cap on annual refugee admissions and making refugee camps available to the asylum seekers who appear at our border.  Biden has set the cap for fiscal 2024 at 125,000, but presidents can increase the cap at any time on an emergency basis.  Another possibility to make the bill more acceptable to Republicans would be to establish a legalization program that is based on America’s needs instead of on the needs of undocumented immigrants.  According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, we have 9.5 million job openings in the U.S., but only 6.5 million unemployed workers. Many of these job openings could be filled by making temporary lawful status and employment-based visas available to undocumented immigrants who are already in the United States.  But none of this is possible without genuine bipartisan cooperation. 

Trump's Bold Immigration Plan, a vision for Immediate Action Date: September 17, 2024 By: Miwa News Editor In a recent post on X, former President Donald Trump outlined a sweeping plan to address what he describes as an "invasion" of migrants into the United States. His proposal includes a series of immediate and drastic measures aimed at reversing current immigration policies and addressing illegal entries. Trump's plan calls for the immediate cessation of migrant flights, effectively halting the arrival of migrants by air. He also proposes to end all forms of illegal entries, targeting undocumented crossings into the U.S. In a bid to dismantle what he refers to as a "smuggling network," Trump advocates for terminating the CBP One App, a tool used by migrants and asylum seekers to schedule appointments with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Furthermore, Trump seeks to revoke deportation immunity, which he argues has been granted to some migrants, and suspend all refugee resettlement programs. His plan also includes the controversial proposal of "remigration," which involves returning migrants to their countries of origin. Trump emphasizes that his policies are designed to "save" American cities and towns, particularly highlighting states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. His strong stance is framed within his broader campaign slogan, "#MAGA2024," signaling his commitment to addressing immigration as a central issue of his presidential platform. This proposal reflects Trump's continued focus on stringent immigration controls, a cornerstone of his political agenda. His approach is set to ignite debate as he seeks to position himself as a defender of American borders and local communities. Source: Donald Trump’s X post

Ah, it's Thursday afternoon, and presented is a commentary by Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation. It is entitled: Why Biden’s Executive Order Won’t Solve the Illegal Immigration Crisis. Well Joey and his handlers must have woke up from a nightmare of their own creation and said....you know, our poll numbers are low and we need to take some sort of action. The real irony is what they were handed on day one, and also what they did on DAY ONE. Yep Joey we remember......pause, yelling EI, EI, EO...old McJoe had a farm.....He ripped the fences down, let the animals loose, and for 3 and 1/2 years said nothing was wrong on the farm. Even his VP "Border Czar or Cigar" could not find the farm, nor did his Home Security Secretary know anything about farms, fences or various types of livestock. "All is secure folks". Now suddenly he wants to do something before a big election. Even then, with stipulations. Psttt Joey, crew, what about all of those now in, and your funding of these people. Hello, hello.....nothing. Deafening silence......guess he is watching Hunter's trial for fairness and a certain laptop denied by 51 upper level security agents......now events unfolding big time.....so on to it. ...."President Joe Biden announced his highly anticipated executive order to supposedly secure the border on Tuesday. With it, the president attempted to do the impossible: avoid impeding the mass illegal migration for which his policies are directly responsible while convincing Americans he is “doing something”—at last—to secure the border.  This “unserious” proclamation-plus-rule combo platter (a Presidential Proclamation on Securing the Border and the Joint DHS-DOJ Interim Final Rule to Restrict Asylum During High Encounters at the Southern Border) will do the first but not the second. It’s hard to imagine there is an American out there who can be persuaded that Biden has gotten religion on enforcing U.S. immigration law, three and a half years and about 10 million illegal immigrants too late. The White House fact sheet announcing the proclamation and rule proclaims that “President Biden believes we must secure our border,” but if so, this belief was not manifested by a single action in his entire term....." READ ON , PRAY ON...STAND UNITED for FREEDOM, RIGHTS...IN GOD WE TRUST!!...PROUDLY, STRONGLY!!....all over the WORLD>>>!!

What will happen if your border control and immigration system if inefficient or perpetrated by leftist ideologies? First, you see rise in numbers of people who try to enter the country illegally. Second, your system needs to process a huge number of cases. Third, it’s overloaded. Fourth - you drop cases, thus unloading the system by failing to protect your country from illegal immigration.

Breaking News: The Biden administration is gearing up for significant changes to expedite asylum processing for new migrants at the southern border. According to the recent report, the administration is considering adjustments to the asylum system aimed at streamlining processing and potential removal procedures for migrants arriving at the border. This interim measure comes as President Biden weighs a broader executive order to address border crossings later this year. Under the proposed change, certain migrants arriving at the border may be processed through the asylum system more swiftly, rather than being relegated to the back of the line. This initiative, anticipated to be announced by the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department, seeks to process recent arrivals within six months, a significant improvement compared to the current backlog that leaves applicants waiting for years. These changes would primarily impact individuals crossing between ports of entry and surrendering to immigration authorities. By expediting the processing of newly arrived migrants, the administration aims to deter further migration attempts, ultimately alleviating strain on the immigration system. However, challenges persist as the nation's immigration court faces a record 3 million cases, overwhelming judges with an average caseload of 5,000 each. While previous administrations have attempted similar acceleration measures, including efforts to empower asylum officers to decide family claims, the path forward remains complex. Stay tuned for further updates as this story develops. If you have questions or concerns about how these changes may affect your immigration journey, don't hesitate to reach out. https://lnkd.in/eeUG24hj

MAGA Hypocrisy On Immigration by Jennifer Rubin President Biden called Republicans’ bluff in February when he backed a tough, bipartisan border security plan. When now-felon Donald Trump told Republicans to block the deal for fear of giving Biden a “win,” Democrats lost the battle to pass immigration reform but seemed to have negated the Republicans’ tough-on-the-border talking point. On Tuesday, however, Biden went one step further, putting out an executive order that raises legal questions but tightens the screws on MAGA border hawks. The measure would deny asylum requests from those who illegally cross the border, if illegal crossing attempts exceed 2,500 per day. Asylum seekers can continue to make appointments and use other lawful means to submit asylum claims. The measure will come under immediate legal attack. (The administration argues it has made significant humanitarian exceptions and provided alternative pathways for asylum seekers, steps that will help defend the order in court.) In setting up the stark contrast with Trump, Biden said, “I will never demonize immigrants. I will never say they are poisoning the blood of our country. I will never separate children from their families at the border. I will not ban people because of religious beliefs.” He emphasized, “I would have preferred to address this issue through bipartisan legislation. That’s the only way to actually get the kind of system we have now fixed.” But Republicans have made that impossible, he stressed. “The decision to sign the executive order follows months of debate inside the administration. “Trump sought to enact a nearly identical ban in 2018 but was blocked by several federal courts that ruled it was a violation of asylum laws, which allow people to ask for humanitarian protection no matter how they enter the country.” There is little reason to think that Biden’s action will hold up any better in the courts. The administration’s logic in pursuing a legally questionable tactic is simple: What would you have us do? “For 3 years, America’s border security has been devastated by congressional Republican opposition to the law enforcement resources that President Biden has sought,” the White House explained in a memo accompanying the announcement. “For 3 years, Joe Biden has led on border security and congressional Republicans have obstructed it — all in the name of politics.” While conceding legislation is needed for a “permanent” fix (not to mention to allocate new funds), the administration argues it has been left no choice as a result of Republican obstruction. Memories fade, but it’s worth recalling how Biden got to this point. When Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was still speaker, the White House began negotiations in September on a tough border plan as part of the shutdown fight and later in the context of the supplemental funding bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. ©️Washington Post 2024.