Tom Homan Joins Trump on Texas Border Tour

 June 30, 2021

 

Former president consults IRLI senior fellow on Biden's immigration crisis WASHINGTON—When former President Donald Trump visited the United States southern border in Texas today, he was accompanied by a number of immigration enforcement experts. Among them was Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and currently senior fellow at the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). They got a firsthand look at the Biden administration's immigration enforcement collapse that has caused catastrophic damage to Texas and other border states. The former president and his entourage had a roundtable discussion with Texas sheriffs to discuss how border security has degraded since the Biden administration began. "The border has never been this way," Trump said. "It went from the best border we've ever had in the history of our country … the best ever by far. We built almost 500 miles of wall despite two-and-a-half years of lawsuits, litigation … and we won the suits and we started. " The former president requested that Homan, a veteran of more than 30 years in immigration enforcement, join him on the trip at the invitation of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. They were also joined by members of the House Republican Study Committee that has called attention to the crisis at the border. "Tom Homan has been unbelievable," said Trump. "Nobody knows it like Tom." This is the latest of several trips Homan has made to the border this year, bringing awareness to the costs the Biden immigration policies have incurred in terms of lost lives, human suffering, national security and the spread of infectious diseases as the nation still struggles with the coronavirus pandemic. Homan's participation in the border tour is just the latest example of how IRLI is pushing back against the destructive immigration policies of this administration. Among its many other legal activities and victories, IRLI is currently serving as outside co-counsel to the State of Texas in its lawsuit against the Biden administration and several federal agencies over the influx of illegal aliens infected with COVID-19 into Texas and the United States by this administration. "Thanks largely to a highly partisan, agenda-driven media, most of America has not been told the true damage being inflicted on our country by this administration's reckless immigration policies," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "Residents of Texas and other border states are living with these consequences every day. IRLI will not relent in our efforts to challenge these policies and bring about an immigration strategy that actually serves the interests of the American people."

Tom Homan Joins Trump on Texas Border Tour

 June 30, 2021

 

Former president consults IRLI senior fellow on Biden's immigration crisis WASHINGTON—When former President Donald Trump visited the United States southern border in Texas today, he was accompanied by a number of immigration enforcement experts. Among them was Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and currently senior fellow at the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). They got a firsthand look at the Biden administration's immigration enforcement collapse that has caused catastrophic damage to Texas and other border states. The former president and his entourage had a roundtable discussion with Texas sheriffs to discuss how border security has degraded since the Biden administration began. "The border has never been this way," Trump said. "It went from the best border we've ever had in the history of our country … the best ever by far. We built almost 500 miles of wall despite two-and-a-half years of lawsuits, litigation … and we won the suits and we started. " The former president requested that Homan, a veteran of more than 30 years in immigration enforcement, join him on the trip at the invitation of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. They were also joined by members of the House Republican Study Committee that has called attention to the crisis at the border. "Tom Homan has been unbelievable," said Trump. "Nobody knows it like Tom." This is the latest of several trips Homan has made to the border this year, bringing awareness to the costs the Biden immigration policies have incurred in terms of lost lives, human suffering, national security and the spread of infectious diseases as the nation still struggles with the coronavirus pandemic. Homan's participation in the border tour is just the latest example of how IRLI is pushing back against the destructive immigration policies of this administration. Among its many other legal activities and victories, IRLI is currently serving as outside co-counsel to the State of Texas in its lawsuit against the Biden administration and several federal agencies over the influx of illegal aliens infected with COVID-19 into Texas and the United States by this administration. "Thanks largely to a highly partisan, agenda-driven media, most of America has not been told the true damage being inflicted on our country by this administration's reckless immigration policies," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "Residents of Texas and other border states are living with these consequences every day. IRLI will not relent in our efforts to challenge these policies and bring about an immigration strategy that actually serves the interests of the American people."

Victory! Supreme Court Upholds Finality of Removal Orders

June 29, 2021

Agreeing with IRLI, Court maintains clarity in immigration law

 

WASHINGTON—Today the U.S. Supreme Court reached a decision clarifying the meaning of key terms in immigration law—terms that affect whether detained aliens may be let out into the United States on bail—and in so doing refused to weaken the finality of final orders of removal. The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case urging the result the Court reached.

 

Immigration law states that if an alien is issued a final order of removal from the country, the alien may be eligible for "withholding of removal." Under one view of the law urged before the Court, if an alien applies for withholding of removal, his final order of removal is not final until his application for withholding of removal is decided. Under another view, his final order of removal remains final even while his application for withholding is pending. If the first view is correct, the alien is eligible for getting out of detention on bail. If the second view is correct, the alien is not so eligible.

 

In its brief, IRLI showed why the second view is correct. Withholding of removal, even if granted, only means that an alien may not be deported to a particular country where he faces a likelihood of torture. Such an alien may still be deported to some other country—and that can only be true if his final order of removal is, indeed, final. Today, the Supreme Court agreed, finding that the withholding of removal proceeding is about whether an alien may or may not be removed to a specific country, not whether he is to be removed from the United States, and thus his attempt to gain withholding of removal does not change the finality of his removal order.

 

"Words have meaning, and in immigration law, their meaning often is carefully calibrated," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "The purpose of the humanitarian provision of withholding of removal was not to make the status of an alien who has been issued a final order of removal murky by casting the finality of his removal order into doubt. Applying for withholding of removal is not an appeal from a final order of removal, but a separate immigration benefit having to do with a single country. We are pleased that the Supreme Court recognized this, and resolved this case in the direction of clarity and certainty in our immigration system."

 

The case is Johnson v. Guzman Chavez, No. 19-897 (Supreme Court).

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Another Big Problem

Thursday, June 24, 2021

By Gary Bauer

I want to touch on something else. Policy disagreements aside, there is something cognitively wrong with the president. His speech was slurred yesterday. He couldn't follow the teleprompter. He told the same joke twice, and at times seemed incapable of articulating complete sentences and thoughts. 

Here's just one example. Yesterday, Biden attempted and failed to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson in order to mock supporters of the Second Amendment. Eventually, Biden said, "If you think you need to have weapons to take on the government, you need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons." WHAT?!

This president has been telling us for months that unarmed demonstrators who entered the Capitol Building amounted to an "insurrection" and "the worst attack since the Civil War." Now he's suggesting that people need nuclear weapons to threaten the government. Well, if that's the case, the "insurrection" clearly wasn't such a threat.

America is facing huge challenges at home and abroad, and there are growing concerns about the president's health.  Obviously, I'm not a fan of Joe Biden. But I don't take any pleasure in watching his health and mental capabilities fail. 

If Donald Trump gave a rambling speech like that, there would be deafening calls for the Cabinet to invoke the 25^th Amendment to remove him.

Biden's Crime Problem

By Gary Bauer

After months of silence, President Biden will deliver a major speech tomorrow on the growing crime wave sweeping the country. It's obvious why Biden is finally addressing this topic. Polling shows that the overwhelming majority of Americans feel less safe and are increasingly alarmed at rising crime in their communities.

But I have zero expectation that Biden will actually do anything to address rising crime rates and growing disrespect for the police. He can't do anything about those issues because he and the left are deeply implicated in the breakdown of law and order.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki made it clear that Biden will blame it on "gun violence," as if guns discharge by themselves. Some big city mayors say lifting COVID restrictions is responsible for the rise in crime. In other words, if no one is allowed to leave their homes, crime drops.

I wonder if the president realizes that there has been a 40% increase in the number of police officers deliberately murdered in the first six months of this year. Another police officer was murdered in the line of duty in Colorado yesterday. 

Radical leftists and their liberal media allies have fed our country a steady diet of anti-police rhetoric. Morale among law enforcement officers is in the tank. Retirements are up and recruiting is down. Words matter. Policies matter.

There's another reason why Biden and the left have no credibility on lawlessness. He is personally responsible for the lawlessness taking place every day on our southern border. 

The border is increasingly controlled by international drug cartels, gangs like MS-13, human traffickers and illegal immigrants who are pouring into our country by the hundreds of thousands every month because Joe Biden refuses to enforce the law and secure our border. 

Biden's open border policies are guaranteeing that more crime is coming to your city and state. Catch and release which is fine in fishing, but terrible when it comes to border security and the security of our communities. 

So, Joe Biden will make his speech, crafted for him by the wordsmiths at the White House. But nothing he says or does will have any impact on the crime ravaging your neighborhood, your schools and your city streets.

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This Is Not A Debate

By Gary Bauer

The school board in Randolph, New Jersey, just voted to drop the names of all holidays from the school calendar to avoid offending anyone. Instead of Thanksgiving or Christmas, the calendar simply reads "Day off." So, Happy Day Off, and Merry Day Off!

If certain names offended some students or parents, the school board should be holding a meeting to find out what is wrong in that district, not bending to this insanity!

I watched video of the board meeting. When the motion was made to eliminate the names of the holidays, the audience was shocked. People were yelling objections. One school board member responded, "This is not a debate!" 

Intentionally or not, that school board member perfectly summarized the attitude of the political left. Everything it does is meant to shut down debate, just like they did at this school board meeting.

These arrogant elites think they can tell the taxpayers, "You can't keep your holidays." The titans of social media tell us that we can't debate the origins of COVID-19. On issue after issue, the left's game plan is always the same. They either shut down the debate or slander conservatives with grotesque charges of bigotry in order to silence opposing voices.

I don't believe the American people – who brought more liberty to more people than any civilization in history – will allow themselves to be muzzled.

And the good news is that they are fighting back! 

• Thousands have signed a petition calling on the members of the Randolph School Board to resign.
• In Loudoun County, Virginia, six of nine school board members are facing recall efforts.
• In Fairfax County, Virginia, parents opposed to critical race theory just took over the leadership of the Parent Teacher Student Association of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Virginia's top-rated public high school.

We MUST keep this momentum going!

Please stand with me now!

1st Class Postage set to rise to $.58 per letter

The United States Postal Service (USPS) filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) under the cover of a holiday weekend on May 28, requesting rate increases of 6.9 percent on average, with different categories ranging from 5.7 percent to as much 14.6 percent.

New rates would take effect on Aug. 29.

EMET Congratulates Isaac Herzog on Becoming Israel’s 11th President

(Washington, D.C., June 4, 2021) EMET congratulates Isaac Herzog on becoming Israel's 11th president. The president-elect won the secret-ballot election in the Knesset by the largest margin in Israeli history.

The father of Isaac Herzog, Haim Hertzog, was Israel's 6th President and his grandfather, Yitzhak HaLevi Hertzog served as the Israeli Chief Rabbi. The President-elect currently serves as the chairman of the Jewish Agency. EMET wishes him continued success in uniting world Jewry and much prosperity during his presidency as he follows in his father's footsteps.

Says EMET founder and president Sarah Stern, "Isaac Herzog is pre-eminently qualified to lead Israel as its 11th President. Mr. Herzog is a talented leader capable of uniting worldwide Jewry with the state of Israel and healing the fractures between them and among Israeli citizenry. He comes from an illustrious family and has been raised among many of the great leaders of the state of Israel. His views are not radical, but are solidly down the middle. The state of Israel needs someone to navigate many challenges right now. Mr. Herzog is the right person for the job and we at EMET want to congratulate him, and wish him much success on the road ahead."

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About The Endowment for Middle East Truth

Founded in 2005, EMET is an unabashedly pro-American and pro-Israel think tank and policy institute in Washington, D.C. Our mission is to educate policymakers and the general public about the importance of Israel to the United States in their common struggle against radical Islam.  For more information, please visitwww.emetonline.org. Follow EMET on Twitter and Facebook.

How SATAN gets little souls

By John Horvat

Amazon is selling Satanic books to young children.

Among the items sold are "A Children's Book of Demons," which teaches children how to make sigils to summon demons, and "Satanic Coloring Book."

Some of the books mimic a conjuring guide where children are encouraged to call on demons by drawing out sigils, symbols used to summon devils to one's bidding.

According to reports:

"[A] book, titled A Children's Book of Demons, is available in paperback and authored by illustrator Aaron Leighton, who describes himself as a 'fan of all things occult.'

"As the holiday season gears up, the product is being sold by leading book retailers such as Amazon...

"The book is marketed as appropriate for ages 5 to 10.

"'Don't want to take out the trash tonight? Maybe you're swimming in homework? Perhaps that big bully is being a real drag?' the description of the book reads. 'Well grab your coloured pencils and sigil drawing skills and dial up some demons! This paranormal parody is filled to the brim with funny spirits more silly than scary!'"

This is absolutely repulsive.

Downplaying conjuring demons as a "parody" is no small matter. On the contrary, it makes demons seem innocuous to children, and introduces them to practices of the occult. This effectively destroys children's innocence by eroding the barriers of horror of the devil and by equating evil with good.

And we should have confidence that our petition will have effect. The proof: Books a Million and Barnes & Noble both removed the book after we protested similar items!

So, please sign our petition telling Amazon to stop selling such satanic children books.

Why Our Liberty Is in Peril

By Gary Bauer

I offer these helpful examples to President Biden on why so many Americans do believe our freedom is in peril. 

 

• Our public schools that ought to be teaching American children to love their country are teaching our sons and daughters anti-American history along with Marxist-based critical race theory certain to increase racial hatred.

• Our most important intelligence agencies and federal law enforcement, filled with brave men and women whose job it is to protect us, have been compromised by leftist partisans who have "weaponized" those agencies to spy on American citizens and harassed the Trump/Pence Administration for four years. 

• Religious liberty is under relentless attack. Churches were forced to close during the pandemic while rioters gathered by the thousands to loot and burn American cities. The full weight of the Biden/Harris Justice Department is being brought down on Christian ministries trying to force them to accept the demands of the LGBTQ fascists.

• Freedom of speech is being attacked daily by a combination of "cancel culture" warriors, big tech oligarchs who do the bidding of the far left and "woke" corporate CEOs.

• The American military is under relentless assault from the progressive left. Men and women who currently serve in the ranks and are conservative, super patriotic, pro-Trump, pro-life, etc. are now facing the prospect of their communications being monitored and their careers ended. The same Marxist "critical race theory" poison foisted on our children is now finding its way into the ranks of our warriors.

• The degree of Chinese communist influence into key American institutions is impossible to accurately estimate. Politicians have been compromised, U.S. corporations parrot the Chinese line and lobby for more trade deals, university campuses have accepted hundreds of millions of dollars of Chinese communist's money, professors at major universities are being indicted for giving China U.S. technology and research. . . the examples go on and on.

  

So, yes, President Biden, clearly American liberty and our national security are in grave peril and you are clueless or complicit in what threatens us.

FAIR Urges the Department of Labor to Protect the Jobs and Wages of American Workers

(June 3, 2021, Washington, D.C.) – The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has submitted public comments to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), urging the agency to raise the wage rates employers are required to pay foreign workers and implement worker-protection rules that were promulgated under the Trump administration. The January 2021 rule, which was delayed after President Biden took office, would establish more realistic wage scales aimed at discouraging U.S. employers from bypassing American workers in favor of cheap foreign labor.

"To ensure that employment-based visa programs operate in line with Congressional intent and are not administered to the detriment of U.S. workers' interests while exploiting their foreign counterparts, FAIR supports implementation of DOL's final rule to raise wage rate levels," the comment reads. "More must be done, however, to improve the effectiveness of the updated prevailing wage rates. DOL must require that all wage levels conform to the statutory requirement of meeting or exceeding the prevailing wage and should implement additional safeguards to ensure that foreign workers are not exploited while U.S. workers are unfairly stripped of economic opportunity and high- quality labor conditions in their own country."

"Whether DOL requires employers to pay guestworkers market wages or not presents a true test for President Biden and the DOL," said Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "On one hand, the president presents himself as an advocate for American workers, and DOL's explicit purpose is to protect those interests. On the other, his administration has made it clear that they support a virtual open borders immigration policy. Those two interests are at odds as DOL considers the fate of the rule. The decision will make it absolutely clear which is more important to this administration: the jobs and wages of American workers, or unchecked immigration."

As expected, powerful business lobbyists and mass immigration groups have flooded DOL with comments from the other side, with the end goal of more cheap foreign labor for unscrupulous employers.

"FAIR's position is unambiguous. In our comments to DOL, we forcefully urge them to side with American workers by adopting rules that both eliminate incentives for employers to displace and undercut American workers, and ensure that those guestworkers whose services are legitimately needed are compensated fairly," Stein concluded.

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Victory! Supreme Court Refuses to Presume Aliens are Credible

June 1, 2021

 

Agreeing with IRLI, High Court throws out Ninth Circuit precedent

 

WASHINGTON—Today, agreeing with a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously disallowed the practice in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of conclusively presuming that an alien's testimony in his removal proceedings was credible and true, unless the immigration judge had explicitly found that it was not.

 

IRLI showed in its brief that this rule flatly conflicts with a federal statute that provides that no presumption of credibility shall be given to an alien's testimony, except a rebuttable—not conclusive—presumption on appeal if no explicit finding that the alien's testimony was not credible was made below. The Ninth Circuit had argued that it escaped this contradiction with the statute because a petition for review is not an "appeal." IRLI showed that this technical dodge is unavailing; if a petition for review is not an appeal, then the Ninth Circuit's conclusive presumption is not deployed on appeal, and is barred by the statute's bar on any presumption of credibility, whether rebuttable or conclusive, except on appeal. In today's opinion, the Supreme Court agreed with IRLI on this point.

 

IRLI also showed that the Ninth Circuit's rule has disastrous real-world consequences. In another Ninth Circuit case (consolidated with this one), a thrice-deported criminal alien who had been convicted of severely beating his girlfriend was deemed a danger to the community of the United States by the immigration judge at his removal proceedings, and so denied withholding of removal, despite his claim that he would be abused by police in Mexico if he returned there. But because the immigration judge did not explicitly find that the criminal alien's testimony, which included his testimony downplaying his conviction, was not credible, the Ninth Circuit conclusively presumed that his testimony was credible, and sent the case back down with instructions likely to result in the blocking of the criminal alien's deportation. In its reversal today, in keeping with this showing in the IRLI brief, the Supreme Court dwelled at length on the criminal alien's brutal crimes, and on the flimsiness of his contrary evidence.

 

"The Ninth Circuit's presumption of credibility is yet another example of how some courts have weakened immigration law by rigging it in favor of aliens, including criminal aliens," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "Because Americans end up getting hurt by these judge-made rules, it is vital that we point out how they conflict with statutes passed by Congress, and get them struck down. We are pleased that the Court—once again, unanimously—did just that today."

 

The case is Barr v. Ming Dai, No. 19-1155 (Supreme Court).

 

For additional information, contact: Brian Lonergan • 202-232-5590 • blonergan@irli.org