Victory! Court Slaps Down Deportation Ban

February 24, 2021

Agrees with IRLI, attorneys' group that ban is unlawful and has devastating effects

WASHINGTON—Yesterday, in a major victory, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted the state of Texas's motion for a preliminary injunction against the new administration's 100-day moratorium on deporting aliens who—very often because of their criminal activity—are subject to a final order of removal. The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) and Attorneys United for a Secure America (AUSA), a project of IRLI, had both filed friend-of-court briefs in the case.

 

In a thorough and lengthy opinion, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton agreed with IRLI's arguments in its brief that the deportation ban is unlawful. The court held that, though the ban amounts to an administrative rule that controls what immigration enforcement agents may and may not do, it did not go through the notice-and-comment process required by law, and thus was void when issued. The court also held that the ban constitutes a blanket refusal by the administration to enforce the law requiring aliens unlawfully in the country to be deported, and thus is contrary to law, and that the ban was never rationally explained by the agency, and thus is arbitrary and capricious. The court deferred judgment on the argument that the ban violates the Constitution's requirement on the President to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

 

The court also agreed with AUSA's brief that the ban would have devastating effects, including increased crime. In this regard, the court cited statistics showing that tens of thousands of criminal aliens are deported each year, and that banning such deportations for 100 days would force Texas to increase its spending of public funds on law enforcement and incarceration.  

 

"With this deportation ban, the administration has run roughshod over the protections administrative law gives to the American people against arbitrary and irrational government actions," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "What the administration can never explain, and has never explained, is how this disastrous directive, which would send a wave of criminal aliens out onto the streets of Texas and the whole country, is even a rational policy, let alone the product of reasoned decision-making, as the law requires," Wilcox continued. "We are pleased that the court struck the ban down in a notably solid opinion that should hold up on appeal, and halted this bizarre and sinister attempt to shutter our entire immigration law enforcement system."

 

The case is Texas v. United States, No. 6:21-cv-0003 (S.D. Tex.)

“Equality Act” Exposed: Vulnerable Women and Children Lose,House Democrats Ram Vote to Avoid Scrutin

Washington, D.C. – Penny Nance and Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) joined Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Missouri), Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Arizona), and organizations from the left and the right to expose the dangerous effects of the Equality Act before tomorrow's House vote.

In a virtual rally hosted by the Family Policy Alliance, all were clear: the "Equality Act" will do away with women's-only sports and locker rooms, safe spaces for vulnerable women in prisons and domestic violence shelters, and jeopardize parents' jurisdiction over their child's education and health care. The "Equality Act" is dangerous for our country.

Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America LAC, issued the following statement:

"Democrats are rushing the deceptively-named Equality Act for a vote because they fear the truth if their radical gender ideology is exposed. The media and Big Tech are giving them cover, devoting no attention to its dangerous and far-reaching implications. Amazon is banning books revealing its harms.

"The gender ideology of the elitist left erases the ability to differentiate between men and women and denies the harm this inflicts on women and children. Democrats should fear any examination of the real impact of the "Equality Act" because Americans reject its destructive agenda.

"This bill is not about equality; it is about imposing a new form of discrimination against women and all who believe in the basic truth and dignity of our creation as male and female. Women's rights to safety, privacy, and conscience are abandoned under this bill. Vulnerable women in prisons and violence shelters have nowhere to be safe when any male claiming identity as a woman can occupy our spaces.

"Under the so-called Equality Act, women will lose female protected status in bathrooms, dressing rooms, locker rooms, and women's shelters. Women will lose opportunities for scholarships and contracts.  Female athletes will lose their place on the podium in unfair competition. Children will face interrogation about their "gender identity" by educators and doctors and prescribed cross-sex hormones based on their self-declared identity regardless of parents' concerns.

"The vast majority of America is united against government-coerced gender ideology and the harms that will result from the Equality Act.  Congress must reject it."

So-Called 'Equality Act' Harms Women, Punishes People of Faith, and Creates an Abortion Mandate says Family Research Council

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council responded today to the White House giving support to H.R. 5, deceptively titled "The Equality Act," which was introduced yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives and is scheduled for a vote next week.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins made the following comments:

"To wrest special privileges for sexual orientation and gender identity, the so-called Equality Act would eliminate women's privacy and safety, forcing them to share public bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and even battered women's shelters with biological males. The harms aren't hypothetical; local laws to this effect have already led to a kindergartener being assaulted in her school restroom, a rape survivor being forced to quit her job, and nine women being harassed in a shelter.

"The bill erodes parental rights and positions the government as lord over churches and other faith-based institutions, potentially dictating how their facilities are used, who they hire, and even punishing them for not falling in step with a view of human sexuality that directly contradicts orthodox biblical teaching. No person of faith or religious institution, whether school, church, synagogue, mosque, business, or non-profit, will escape the Orwellian reach of the Equality Act.

"When Speaker Pelosi says she isn't concerned about the 'collateral damage' of her agenda, she means it. The bill would bring a catastrophic loss of religious freedom in America, and, as a result, every American, those who believe and do not believe, will suffer the consequences," concluded Perkins.

Mary Beth Waddell, FRC's Director of Federal Affairs For Family and Religious Liberty, also commented:

"The Equality Act undermines hard-fought gains for women in America. The Equality Act imposes on women's privacy and unfairly penalizes female athletes by allowing biological men to compete in women's sports, flagrantly denying the scientific evidence of real biological differences.

"This bill also politicizes the medical profession and denies biological reality, harming those it claims to protect. It could also be the most pro-abortion legislation to pass the House in a decade, dramatically expanding abortion access and jeopardizing long-standing federal conscience laws. All Americans should strongly speak out against what is actually the 'Inequality Act,'" concluded Waddell.

Amidst Global Pandemic and Economic Upheaval, Democrats Introduce Largest Amnesty in American History, Says FAIR

(February 18, 2021, Washington, D.C.) – The following statement was released by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in response to the introduction of the U.S. Citizenship Act. The statement is attributed to Dan Stein, president, FAIR:

"Today, Congressional Democrats introduced a President Biden-backed mass immigration bill that grants a sweeping amnesty to at least 14.5 million illegal aliens, significantly increases legal immigration levels, and provides $4 billion in foreign aid to Central American countries while eviscerating immigration enforcement. This bill is 353 pages long, indicating just how far the administration intends to go in its pursuit of Biden's promise to amnesty every illegal alien in the country."

Mass Amnesty:

"This amnesty would be the largest in U.S. history, promising citizenship to nearly 14.5 million people. They do not even have to live here, as the proposal allows any illegal alien who was deported by the Trump administration to return and receive the amnesty as well. The legislation is wide-reaching, and even extends legal status to illegal aliens convicted of multiple crimes."

Increased Legal Immigration:

"The U.S. Citizenship Act accelerates failed family chain migration policies by clearing long visa backlogs by expediting admission of a whole range of family members already in the queue, and the tens of millions of family members of those who will get amnesty under the bill. FAIR estimates that there will be 52 million more legal and illegal immigrants entering the country because of this amnesty and related policies. This shortsighted legislation increases the unpopular green card lottery from 55,000 to 80,000 visas a year, and awards green cards to all foreign students who graduate with an advanced degree in a STEM field from a U.S. university or college despite the continued unemployment of more than 10 million Americans."

 

Non-Enforcement of Immigration Laws:

 

"An entire section of the bill is devoted to training (and retraining) border and immigration enforcement agents about how not to enforce immigration laws. Under curricula Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be given 'cultural awareness' training, taught where they may enforce laws (likely nowhere where immigration law violators are likely to be found), and how to 'refer complaints to the Ombudsman for Border and Immigration Related Concerns.'"

Foreign Aid:

"The legislation calls for $4 billion in funding to address the so-called 'root causes' of migration in Central America, even though history has shown that foreign aid packages do not work in these countries due to corrupt governments and U.S. immigration policies that encourage migrants to come to the U.S. border."

Not the Time for Any Immigration Bill:

"Even Democratic Representative Vincente Gonzalez, whose district sits along the Texas-Mexico border, noted his concern, stating, 'The way we're doing it right now is catastrophic and is a recipe for disaster in the middle of a pandemic.'

"Rep. Gonzalez is dead-on. Now is not the time for any bill that does not address the concerns of the American people, or even worse, exacerbates a border crisis. Even the White House is tacitly acknowledging that the bill will have little public support, and is suggesting that it might be broken up into smaller pieces. The problem is the 'recipe,' which ignores every public interest immigration policy. Serving it up in smaller portions will not make it any more palatable."

Biden Bows To Beijing

February 12, 2021

By Gary Bauer

Remember when Barack Obama bowed to Chinese President Hu Jintao? Well, Joe Biden appears to be continuing the tradition of his former boss, only virtually this time due to the pandemic.

Presidents Biden and Xi Jinping spoke this week over the phone, and communist China's state media are gushing with praise for Biden's demonstration of "respect for President Xi and China" in his Lunar New Year call. 

If communist China is happy after a U.S. president calls, Americans should be worried!

According to the White House readout of the call, Biden brought up "Beijing's coercive and unfair economic practices, the crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang" and China's "increasingly assertive actions" toward Taiwan.  

Of course, the Deep State will never leak transcripts of Biden's calls with foreign leaders, so we will never know what was really said. But such a statement was never sufficient for the Trump Administration. Left-wing media hacks always demanded specific answers on every issue. 

But they didn't press the Biden White House on what it is prepared to do about the suppression of free speech in Honk Kong, the persecution of Chinese Christians or the communist regime's genocide against the Uighurs. 

Meanwhile, right in front of our eyes, Biden and his team of Beijing apologists are recasting our relationship with communist China. 

It has been obvious for years that communist China is an adversary at best, if not an outright enemy. But the Biden Administration is attempting to recast China as merely "a competitor." 

They believe the most important thing about our relationship is working with China on global warming. So, trade issues, national security issues and human rights will be pushed aside. 

Just two years ago, Biden mocked the idea of communist China "eating our lunch." Yesterday he suggested they just might. But he meant it economically, not in terms of national security or the influence operations they are running in the U.S. and in other western countries.

There's another irony here. When the left talks about beating China economically, it usually has to do with green jobs and climate change. (They've already lost that battle!)

Yet it often seems like the left is trying to be like communist China in its efforts to silence dissent and suppress religious liberty here in America. Adopting an enemy's worst behaviors is a strange way of trying to beat them.