Tag Archives: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

Another Day, Another Hurdle Placed In Front Of President Trump By The Biden Administration

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This is one of the nastiest peaceful transfers of power I have seen in my lifetime.

On Saturday, Townhall reported the following:

In a move that has many critics up in arms, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has granted amnesty to 850,000 illegal immigrants, further exacerbating concerns about the Biden administration’s border policies. With just days away from being outgoing President Joe Biden’s last week in office, critics argue that this decision, which effectively shields hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens from deportation, signals an alarming disregard for the rule of law and sets a dangerous precedent for future immigration enforcement. With the U.S. southern border already overwhelmed by record numbers of illegal crossings, conservatives contend that this blanket amnesty acts as a stab in the back to President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans.

With just days left as Biden’s border czar, Mayorkas announced the 18-month expansion of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) amnesty, which includes the 234,000 illegal immigrants from El Salvador who first got their TPS status after a 2001 earthquake that destroyed the nation’s economy. The mass amnesty also includes 600,000 economic migrants from Venezuela.

However, the once struggling economy is now growing, thanks to the successful crackdown on gang crime led by the country’s popular president, Nayib Bukele.

That’s correct—Mayorkas cited “bad weather” as the reason for not sending the illegal aliens back to their home countries. 

The probably outcome of this move is that the deportation plans of the Trump administration will be tied up in court for at least two years. At that point, the Democrats running for Congress can run on the ‘broken promise’ of the Trump administration. I hope I am wrong about that, but because of the way politics works in America, any significant changes in policy in the Trump administration will have to be accomplished in the first eighteen months. After that, Congressional campaigns begin, and nothing gets down. I hope that the Trump administration has figured out how to get around all of the roadblocks the Biden administration is placing in its path.

The Recent History Of The Porous Border

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On Sunday, Rich Lowry posted an article at The New York Post about the decisions made early in the Biden administration that created the border crisis we have now. You might be able to convince some people that the crisis was simply the unintended consequence of bad decisions (not done deliberately), but the fact remains that those bad decisions were made.

The article recalls the decisions made almost immediately after President Biden took office:

The Feb. 2 order emphasized an effort to “enhance lawful pathways for migration to this country” and revoked a slew of Trump rules, executive orders, proclamations and memoranda.

The sense of it was that there’s nothing we can or should do on our own to control illegal immigration; rather, we had to fix deep-seated social, economic and political problems in Central America instead.

It called for getting more refugees into the United States, using parole to let more migrants join family members here, enhancing access to visa programs and reviewing whether the United States is doing enough for migrants fleeing domestic or gang violence, among other things. 

And it put on the chopping block numerous Trump policies that had helped establish order at the border, from Trump’s expansion of expedited removal, to his termination of a parole program for Central American minors, to his memorandum urging the relevant departments to work toward ending “catch and release.”

Most important, it targeted two of the pillars of Trump’s success at the border: the Migrant Protection Protocols, better known as Remain in Mexico, and the safe-third-country agreements with the Northern Triangle countries that allowed us to divert asylum seekers to Central American countries other than their own to make asylum claims. 

 

When Facts Contradict The Narrative

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On Thursday, The Federalist posted an article about the crisis at our southern border. For more than three years, President Biden has been complaining that he can’t do anything about the border unless Congress passes bills that fund Ukraine. He chooses to overlook the fact that on his first day in office he overturned the Executive Orders passed by President Trump that sealed the border. He also chooses to overlook the fact that he not only refused to build the wall–he sold the parts to build it for pennies on the dollar. (article here)

The Federalist reports:

President Joe Biden has vehemently denied any blame for the years-long U.S. southern border invasion with claims that Congress, not the president, must act to defend the nation.

“I’ve done all I can do,” Biden said last month on the White House lawn. “Just give me the power.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the same thing two weeks ago. “There is no executive action that the president can take,” she said, to reinforce the border.

But now Politico is reporting that the president does, in fact, recognize the authority at his disposal to address the border crisis. On Wednesday, the paper reported the administration is “considering a string of new executive actions and federal regulations in an effort to curb migration at the U.S. southern border.”

“Among the ideas under discussion include using a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act to bar migrants from seeking asylum in between U.S. ports of entry,” the report read. “The administration is also discussing tying that directive to a trigger — meaning that it would only come into effect after a certain number of illegal crossings took place.”

The article concludes:

Lies about presidential powerlessness, however, have become the standard response from Democrats on the border. The number of illegal crossings has approximately doubled under President Biden, with 1.7 million “gotaways” evading capture over the three years he’s been in office. Last week, House Republicans formally impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to keep U.S. borders secure.

“It certainly is a crisis,” Mayorkas said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this month, “But fundamentally, Congress is the only one who can fix it.”

Biden’s allies on Capitol Hill have made the same arguments. New York Rep. Dan Goldman called the House impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas an example of “taking the scalp” for “the MAGA base” to scapegoat blame for a crisis which can “only be addressed by legislation.”

While Democrats continue to say this on TV, Politico reports more executive orders for border action are in the pipeline, indicating the White House believes it can indeed address the border without the need for action from Congress.

The border remains open because country-club Republicans want cheap labor and Democrats want future voters. Meanwhile, Americans are being denied benefits and being forced out of jobs by illegal immigrants who are working outside the system. We need to close the border, and we need to enforce e-verify.

This Is Simply Incredible

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In July, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., asked for Secret Service Protection after his April announcement that he was running for President. As I reported on September (article here) that request was pending even after someone was arrested for carrying a gun at a place where RFK, Jr. was speaking.

On Saturday, The Epoch Times posted the following headline:

RFK Jr. Reiterates Plea to Biden Administration for Secret Service Protection

This will be his third request for Secret Service Protection. The request comes after a suspect is arrested twice in the same day for trespassing on his property.

The article reports:

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has refused twice to authorize Secret Service protection, Mr. Kennedy noted Oct. 25 on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“It’s not right for the President to provide protection to his family and political favorites while denying it to political rivals. During his first week as Attorney General, my father assembled all the DOJ’s senior prosecutors to tell them that he would not tolerate any politicization of law enforcement,” Mr. Kennedy posted on Oct. 27.

“I don’t spend time worrying about my personal safety. I do worry about the safety of my family and their sense of well-being and about the safety of bystanders if there is a more serious incident. I’m most troubled by the weaponization of federal law enforcement agencies to serve political agendas,” Mr. Kennedy wrote.

President Biden is a mean-spirited, petty little man holding on to power by a thread. He maintains that hold by weaponizing the government against anyone he sees as a challenge.

Planned Or Accidental?

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On October 2nd, Breitbart posted an article about a recent comment by President Biden.

The article reports:

European-origin Americans deserve respect even after they become a minority in the United States, President Joe Biden told a friendly interviewer in an October 1 interview.

“We’re going to be — very shortly — a minority-white European country, and sometimes my [Democrat] colleagues don’t speak enough to make it clear that that is not going to change how we operate,” he told the progressive billionaire-funded ProPublica website.

…Current polls show mainstream, plurality, or majority opposition to the federal policy of mass migration that has helped suppress incomes for most Americans since 1990. That opposition is rising quickly because Biden has deliberately accelerated the wealth-shifting and population-replacing inflow into Americans’ workplaces, schools, housing, and politics.

…Under the federal government’s pro-migration policy, the immigrant population has grown from one in fourteen in 1955, up to one in seven, or roughly 50 million, in 2023. As a result, the children of European-origin parents were a 45 percent minority of the K-12 school population in 2021.

Biden — in close cooperation with Wall Street investors — has accelerated this very unpopular policy. For example, this year, he has imported roughly one migrant for every American born in the same year.

In the ProPublica interview, Biden did not mention — and was not asked — about the impact of his immigration policy.

The article concludes:

In many speeches, border chief Alejandro Mayorkas says he is building a mass migration system to deliver workers to wealthy employers and investors and “equity” to poor foreigners. The nation’s border laws are subordinate to elite opinion about “the values of our country,” Mayorkas claims.

Migration — and especially labor migration — is unpopular among swing voters. A 54 percent majority of Americans say Biden is allowing a southern border invasion, according to an August 2022 poll commissioned by the left-of-center National Public Radio (NPR). The 54 percent “invasion” majority included 76 percent of Republicans, 46 percent of independents, and even 40 percent of Democrats.

I really don’t mind legal immigrants coming into the country who are willing to work and contribute to the well-being of America. What is do object to is undocumented people coming into the country without being vetted for criminal histories or disease that are hear to live off of the earnings of hard-working Americans. That is not sustainable.

No, The Border Is Not Closed

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What would a closed border look like? It might have a completed wall, border patrol sending people right back over the border, and migrant caravans being forced to remain in Mexico after being turned away at America’s southern border. Currently, I don’t see any of those things despite Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas telling migrants not to enter the United States because the border is not open. That’s like putting a bowl of chocolate in front of a two-year old and telling him not to eat it. Good luck.

On Wednesday, Fox News posted an article about the impact the open border is having on Texas ranchers.

The article reports:

Two Texas ranchers are sounding the alarm about the impact the border crisis has had on them after groups of migrants allegedly walked through and destroyed their property. 

Marcus and Stephanie Canales, who live 56 miles from the Laredo border, said they have seen the impact of President Biden’s border policies firsthand. 

“What we’re seeing on our property, we’re getting the bailouts, we’re getting the getaways, the unknowns. We’re also getting all of the foot traffic,” Marcus explained on “Fox News Tonight.” “I mean, just last night we had about three groups of ten plus that moved through anywhere from one in the morning to four. We had some during the day. It’s just non-stop traffic around here.” 

Stephanie Canales added that they’ve had groups as large as 30 migrants come through their property. “You know, when you’re out in a pasture by yourself, you may have a gun on you, which we do. But, you know, if 30 people approach you, you’re in trouble. And that’s what’s scary,” she said.

The article concludes:

McEnany asked Stephanie how it feels when she hears White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre say the White House’s border security policies have caused illegal immigration to decrease by 90%. 

“It’s a slap in the face to those of us that live down here because we know that’s not true because we live it every single day,” she responded. “You know, this has taken a huge financial toll on not just us, but all of our neighbors, all of us along the border. And I think a lot of people don’t realize that. And, you know, we are sympathetic to some of those that are coming over here because they say they’re being oppressed or they can’t feed their families in whatever country they’re from. But, you know, there’s a lot of American citizens that also can’t feed their families right now. And I feel like the federal government doesn’t care and they’re not doing anything to help us.” 

It is the responsibility of government to protect its citizens and enforce its borders. Obviously, the Biden administration has chosen to ignore that responsibility.

Looking For The Root Causes

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On Thursday, The Daily Caller posted the following headline:

Biden Admin Still Working On ‘Root Causes’ Of Immigration Crisis As Border Crossings Remain At Record High

Is O.J. Simpson still looking for his wife’s killer?

The article reports:

Top officials from the Biden administration and the Mexican government met Thursday to discuss their work on border security, as illegal border crossings and cross-border drug trafficking remain at historically high levels.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Mexican Security Secretary Rosa Rodriguez held a press conference after meeting in Washington on Thursday to tout their progress on reining in drug trafficking, human smuggling and illegal arms sales across the southern border.

The Biden administration has continued to stress that it is focused on addressing the “root causes” of the border crisis, but the fruit of that labor isn’t evident to Americans yet.

Has it occurred to the Biden administration that one of the root causes of the border crisis might be that fact that there is no border wall to make crossing the border more difficult?

The article concludes:

Further complicating matters, the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico isn’t entirely copasetic. One journalist asked Blinken and Ebrard about recent comments from Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blaming President Joe Biden for a “lack of control” at the southern border and criticizing the West for shipping arms to Ukraine.

Mexico has also blamed the U.S. for cartel gun smuggling. Blinken said the comments and actions gave him no doubts about the strength of the U.S. relationship with Mexico and the two countries’ ability to continue working together. But as the administration continues to stress the long game, polls show that Americans’ immigration concerns aren’t fading.

The cartels are currently controlling America’s southern border. That is not good for either Mexico or America. If the Biden administration were to come up with a workable plan to control the border, I suspect that Mexico would be willing to cooperate with that plan.

Where Are They Coming From?

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According to a Western Journal article in August:

The illegal border crossings, which occurred between Oct. 1, 2021, and Aug. 6 2022, already exceed the 1,662,422 Border Patrol encountered in fiscal year 2021, which was already a record high for the force, according to the internal data.

The record number comes after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas assured the public in July that “the border is secure.”

So where are these people coming from? On Friday, The Epoch Times reported the following:

Venezuela is deliberately releasing prisoners, among them violent criminals, and has them travel to the U.S. southern border, a development that prompted 14 House Republicans to write to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who is leading the Republican effort to have Mayorkas answer questions, said in the Sept. 22 letter that the decision by the Nicolas Maduro regime has put the United States “in grave danger.”

“We write you with serious concern about a recent U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intelligence report received by Border Patrol that instructs agents to look for violent criminals from Venezuela among the migrant caravans heading towards the U.S.-Mexico border,” the letter says, citing a recent report from Breitbart.

The outlet reported on Sept. 18 that it had reviewed the DHS intelligence report from an unnamed source within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The report warned that released prisoners—including those convicted of murder, rape, and extortion—had been seen within migrant caravans traveling from Tapachula, Mexico, to the southern border, as recently as July.

The article concludes:

The 14 Republicans want Mayorkas to answer more than 10 questions, including the precautions DHS is taking to prevent these Venezuelan criminals from entering the United States.

“Have any of the Venezuelan nationals encountered at the southern border this year been suspected to be released prisoners?” says one of the questions. “Does DHS have a projected headcount of how many released Venezuelan prisoners are expected to enter the U.S.?”

Another question asks, “Do you have reason to believe that the release of the convicts could be a purposeful geopolitical move specifically intended to impact U.S. national security?”

“We need transparency and accountability from this administration,” Nehls wrote on Twitter.

The open southern border of America is a national security issue. It is only a matter of time until that porous border results in a terrorist incident that leaves Americans dead.

Removing The Policy That Worked

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The Washington Times is reporting that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is seeking to cancel the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” border policy.

The article reports:

The move comes even as Mr. Mayorkas is trying to restart the program under a federal judge’s injunction.

In a lengthy memo, the Department of Homeland Security said the U.S. cannot assure the safety of people it pushes back across the border under the policy, officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, and the government doesn’t want to spend the money needed to improve conditions in Mexico.

I realize that there is a humanitarian element to this, but we are not responsible for the people that are ‘pushed’ back across the border. That is like saying that if someone breaks into your house and you manage to get them out of your house you are responsible for their safety on the street. No. These people are breaking the law and coming into our country illegally. We owe them nothing except possibly a trip home. President Trump had the right idea in trying to help improve conditions in the countries the migrants are coming from. Until the corruption and lawlessness in these countries is dealt with, there is no point in sending the countries financial aid–it will only add to the corruption and lawlessness. However, if we can put strings on any financial assistance, we may actually be able to help some of the poorer countries in South America and Central America. Meanwhile, we simply do not have the resources to support the entire western hemisphere.

The article concludes:

But immigrant-rights groups said some legitimate asylum-seekers were pushed back and faced kidnappings, robberies and other abuse while waiting in Mexico.

The Biden administration had halted MPP (Migrant Protection Protocols) early in its tenure, and Mr. Mayorkas issued a memo in the spring attempting to cancel it altogether. But a federal judge in Texas ruled he cut too many corners.

In particular, the judge said Homeland Security in the Trump years had conducted a review of the program and found it to be a critical border tool. Canceling the program required more than Mr. Mayorkas‘ cursory dismissal of those findings, the judge said.

The judge ordered the program restarted, and the Biden team says it is negotiating with Mexico to do that — even as it works to undermine the program legally.

The new memo canceling the program runs to 39 pages of justification, arguing MPP is a misuse of resources at a time when the Biden team is trying to erase most of the Trump immigration legacy.

Mr. Mayorkas has promised a new system that he said will erase the incentives for illegal immigration while protecting legitimate asylum cases.

The thing to keep in mind is that there is a difference between legitimate asylum and economic migration. Economic migrants need to work to find a way to improve conditions in their home countries. I realize that in many of these countries, corruption and lawlessness are a problem, but until someone stands up to the problem, it will continue to exist.

Different Standards For Illegal Immigrants?

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On Friday, The Daily Signal posted an article about the Biden administration’s policy of dealing with illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

The article reports:

Federal immigration officials no longer will view unlawful entry into the country as the sole basis for detaining and deporting illegal immigrants, under a new Biden administration policy. 

The policy will limit deportation to what immigraion officials call aggravated felons, such as violent gang members and others who commit violent crimes. 

Critics of President Joe Biden’s new policy as stated by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas note that it will allow those who commit domestic violence, drunk drivers, and others convicted of crimes to stay in America—amid an ongoing border crisis. 

Just what America needs–more people who enter the country illegally, remain in the country illegally, commit domestic violence, drive drunk, and commit other crimes.

The article concludes:

Arthur (Art Arthur, a former federal immigration judge) said he also is concerned about a part of the Mayorkas memo regarding domestic violence. That section reads:

The broader public interest is also material in determining whether to take enforcement action. For example, a categorical determination that a domestic violence offense compels apprehension and removal could make victims of domestic violence more reluctant to report the offense conduct. The specific facts of a case should be determinative.

The new policy almost certainly will make it less likely that domestic violence offenders will be removed from the country, Arthur contends. 

“This is going to turn the United States into a sanctuary city for domestic violence,” he said.

Where are the feminists?

Closing Which Border?

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Yesterday The Washington Examiner posted an article about the border policies of the Biden administration.

The article reports:

Members of President Joe Biden’s party are upset about his decision not to allow Canadians into the United States despite Canada’s plan to begin admitting Americans in the coming weeks.

“As Canada prepares to further open the border next month, the United States is failing to reciprocate, jeopardizing an already tenuous recovery for thousands of businesses, families and communities across Upstate New York,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, in a statement. “It is critical for the United States to level the playing field and create a uniform system, following the science and data, to safely — and finally — reopen the border for those vaccinated.”

In Washington state, Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene said the move would prompt “further suffering in our border communities.” Rep. Brian Higgins, a New York Democrat, agreed, adding the negative impact would be felt across the 5,500-mile border between the continental U.S. and Canada.

Since March 21, 2020, the government has not allowed foreigners on “nonessential” travel to enter the U.S. at a land port of entry as a pandemic measure. However, people from outside the U.S. are often permitted to fly into the country from abroad.

Why are we closing our northern border to Canadian citizens while allowing illegal immigrants to flow freely into America at our southern border?

The article continues:

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the decision as being based on a “specific threat to human life or national interests” as the COVID-19 delta variant spreads worldwide and cases spike in the U.S. and Mexico.

More than 75 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Biden earlier this month asking him to reinstate international travel fully because the closure cost $125 billion in export profits last year.

While land ports of entry remain closed on the southern and northern borders, hundreds of thousands of migrants have illegally crossed the southern border since February. Tens of thousands of migrants have been allowed to go deeper into the U.S., even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended in 2020 all migrants be turned away at the border and not detained or released into the U.S.

Migrants are not given coronavirus vaccines before they’re released from federal custody.

So I guess illegal immigrants are going to be allowed to spread the coronavirus while the Canadians who have been vaccinated and probably won’t spread the coronavirus are kept out of America. In what world does this make sense?