Family Research Council's Tony Perkins Releases Statement on SCOTUS 303 Creative Decision

June 30, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council president Tony Perkins released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today in 303 Creative v. Elenis:

"As Christians, we are instructed to do everything, including what we speak and how we work, as unto the Lord for His glory. We cannot check our biblical faith at the door of our vocation. That understanding of free speech and religious freedom has long been protected by the First Amendment. I am grateful that the U.S. Supreme Court strongly reaffirmed this today."

FRC also submitted an amicus brief in the case in support of 303 Creative: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21-476/226880/20220602102911906_FRC%20Final%20Draft.pdf?bcs-agent-scanner=ea445ced-c546-9542-8045-1bf99dfffb38

Rep. Donalds Reacts To Supreme Court Blocking Biden's Student Loan Bailout

June 30, 2023

WASHINGTON - Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) reacts to the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision blocking President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan today.   "Today's SCOTUS ruling is a pivotal reminder of our system of Checks and Balances that President Biden was attempting to trample on with his unconstitutional plan to cancel billions in student loan debt. As then-Speaker Pelosi stated, the president has no authority to terminate debt unilaterally, and this decision answers this question once and for all.  "Additionally, morally and politically, this decision is a triumphant victory for most Americans who have either paid off their debts or never incurred student loan debt. As we turn the corner, lawmakers should evaluate ways to lower the cost of higher education and promote alternatives to college, creating more opportunities and economic mobility for countless Americans."

Biden Tries to Restart Mass Parole

June 29, 2023

IRLI shows programs violate the parole statute

WASHINGTON—Today, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) filed a brief in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals opposing the Biden Administration's attempt to restart two of its programs for paroling massive numbers of illegal aliens into the country.   In two court orders, a Florida federal district court blocked the administration from implementing these programs. The administration has appealed that ruling to the Eleventh Circuit. The administration also had asked that court to stay—that is, suspend—the district court's orders during that appeal, a request that IRLI opposed and the court denied.   In its brief on appeal, IRLI makes the crucial argument that, under the parole statute, parole must only be given on a case-by-case basis for "urgent humanitarian reasons" or "significant public benefit."   The only benefit to the public from these programs the administration claims is that they will relieve overcrowding in detention centers. That "benefit," however, is not advanced significantly by paroling any individual alien, but only by granting parole en masse to many aliens. And, of course, en masse parole violates the statute because it is not given on a case-by-case basis.   "These are two of a number of massive parole programs the administration seeks to unleash on the country," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "Instead of detaining and removing illegal aliens, Biden just wants to parole them in, thus giving them work authorization and potentially putting them on a path to citizenship—a policy that of course encourages even more illegal immigration. We hope the Eleventh Circuit sees how flatly unlawful this abuse of parole is, and refuses to undo the work of the district court, which for now has stopped these disastrous programs."   The case is Florida v. United States, No. 23-11528 (Eleventh Circuit).

Rep. Donalds Addresses Concerns Regarding Ethylene Oxide (EtO) Discharges In Fort Myers

June 27, 2023

FORT MYERS, Fla. –– Today, Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) issued the following statement following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recently reported concerns about the Ethylene Oxide (EtO) discharges at the LeeSar/American Contract Systems (ACS) plant in Fort Myers.  "As a father, husband, member of the community, and Congressman elected to serve the people of Southwest Florida, the health and safety of everyone I represent is paramount. Over the last several days, my office and I have worked diligently with the EPA, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and other stakeholders to gather the most accurate and up-to-date information in assessing the detriment to the public.  "Following these productive conversations, the consensus is that there is no public hazard for citizens in the discharge zone. Additionally, the ACS plant is near completion of implementing a voluntary discharge control system to capture additional carcinogens, ultimately lowering EtO emissions by over 99.9 percent. Lastly, I, too, share the public's frustration concerning the inadequate handling of the dissemination of information to the people that have caused undue panic and anxiety for countless families. As a result, I've sent a letter to the EPA calling for an extension of its official public comment period and an in-person meeting for community members to ask questions and submit their pertinent concerns."     Read the letter here.

Victory! Appellate Court Upholds Rule Combating Fraud on the American Worker

June 27, 2023

Agrees with IRLI that the rule is within agency authority

WASHINGTON—Today, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an attempt by H1-B staffing companies to rid themselves of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule that makes it harder to commit visa fraud. The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) had filed a brief in the appeal urging that result.   As IRLI had shown the appellate court in its brief, rampant fraud would occur without the rule because the Department of Labor, by statute, lacks enforcement authority, and is required to approve applications for foreign labor as long as the forms are filled out correctly. In practice, this means that staffing companies could get applications approved for any number of workers they wished, without even identifying any specific workers, and then move them around the country freely. That would let them move foreign workers from low-wage areas to high-wage areas, where they could illegally still be paid low-wage area rates, with no one the wiser. That fraudulent process lowers the wages of American workers.   The companies' ability to move workers around at will would also enable them to get foreign workers approved to work at universities, where H1-B visa caps do not apply, and then move them into jobs at companies where the caps do apply, thus overriding the visa caps and harming American workers further.   The DHS rule the companies challenge, by requiring a new visa petition whenever a worker is transferred, prevents these abuses.   "It's easy to see why businesses don't like this rule; they want staffing companies to be able to circumvent the visa caps, so they can pay people less," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "But fraud on the American worker is against the law, and the DHS rule attacked here is clearly needed to stop it. We are pleased that the court agreed with us today, and ruled in favor of American workers and American wages."   The case is ITServe Alliance, Inc. v. DHS, No. 22-5074 (DC Circuit).

Biden Border Crisis and Abuse of Parole Send Illegal Alien Population and Costs Soaring

At Least 16.8 Million Illegal Aliens are in the U.S., Costing Taxpayers As Much as $163 Billion Annually, Finds New Analysis by FAIR

(June 22, 2023, Washington, D.C.) — An analysis by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) of the most recent Census Bureau data reveals that at least 16.8 million illegal aliens now reside in the United States. This figure represents an increase of 1.3 million just since the beginning of 2022, and 2.3 million since President Biden took office in January 2021.

Along with the sharp increase in the illegal alien population comes sharp increases in costs to American taxpayers. The unprecedented rate of influx of new illegal aliens over the past year would add $12.6 billion annually to the costs of illegal immigration, bringing the cumulative net cost to at least $163 billion a year. At the current pace of illegal immigration, the annual net cost will exceed $200 billion by 2026.
 

Key Takeaways:

• The study is based on the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) and Current Population Survey (CPS) data, which traditionally undercounts the illegal population by about 30 percent because many illegal aliens are reluctant to respond to the surveys.
• The increase in the illegal alien population under President Biden is based on a sample that only tracks household addresses on file with the government. Even adjusting for undercount, it excludes the tens of thousands of unsheltered illegal migrants and a huge number of "gotaways" or other individuals who have been paroled into the U.S. and live under the radar. The full number is impossible to quantify but likely even higher.
• These 16.8 million illegal aliens now represent nearly one-third of the foreign-born residents of the United States.
• The additional $12.6 billion in costs annually is only a down payment. These costs are likely to grow as the migrants become more settled and increase their use of services like public education and health. Moreover, parolees are immediately eligible for a range of welfare benefits.
• At the current pace of illegal immigration, more new illegal aliens will have settled in the U.S. in the first three years of the Biden administration than in the entire decade of the 2010s.

"As just about every mayor and governor around the country – including those who preside over jurisdictions that have declared themselves sanctuaries for illegal aliens – has loudly proclaimed, the fiscal and social burdens of the Biden administration's sabotage of our immigration enforcement policies are unsustainable," observed Dan Stein, president of FAIR.

"The impact of these policies is causing social upheaval, setting states and against other states, big cities against surrounding communities, overwhelming school districts and social service providers, as economic migrants from all across the globe pour across our borders. The report, How Many Illegal Aliens Are in the United States? 2023 Update, provides hard, albeit conservative, numbers that graphically illustrate the magnitude of this self-inflicted crisis," concluded Stein.

The full report, including detailed methodology, can be found here.
 

Victory! Supreme Court Upholds Anti-Harboring Law

June 23, 2023

Agrees with IRLI that causing illegal immigration is not protected free speech

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal statute making it a crime to induce aliens to break federal immigration law. The Court's decision reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had found the law an "overbroad" restriction on free speech under the First Amendment. The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) had filed a brief with the Court in support of the law.   The First Amendment overbreadth argument was made by Helaman Hansen, who was charged with taking fees from aliens for helping them seek citizenship through fraudulent "adult adoption." This inducement made the aliens illegally overstay their visas.   In its brief, IRLI argued that the First Amendment does not protect criminal enterprises that rely on speech. Just as it is illegal to commit false advertising or blackmail, or to run pyramid schemes, so it is illegal to trick people out of their money and induce them to break immigration law. Properly interpreted, the law against encouraging or inducing aliens to break immigration laws does not penalize First Amendment-protected speech, but only crimes carried out by speech.   Today, agreeing with IRLI, the Court interpreted the law as only penalizing a narrow band of speech—that which "encourages" or "induces" law-breaking in the technical senses of these terms that Congress intended. So interpreted, the law does not violate anyone's free speech rights, certainly not any "right" Hansen had to commit fraud.   "The anti-harboring law is vital in immigration law enforcement," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "Though activists may not like immigration laws, that does not give them the right to cause others to violate them. It would have been disastrous if the Court had sent the opposite message today. We are pleased that didn't happen, and that the Court instead interpreted the law in a way that protects both law enforcement and the right to free speech."   The case is United States v. Hansen, No. 22-179 (Supreme Court).

REMINDER: June 27th: Kimberly Lowe and Dr. Shelia Furey to be Guest Speakers at MCRW Meeting

                       

   

Kimberly Lowe

a Farmer, Mother to 3, Homeschool, Christian Policy Advisor and 6th Generation Virginian,

running for the U.S. Senate, and

Dr. Sheila M. Furey

President of Virginia Medical Freedom Alliance

will be our Guest Speakers

at Madison County Republican Women's next monthly meeting on

Tuesday, June 27th

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM at the Fellowship Baptist Church Annex, 725 Gate Road, Madison.

The meeting dinner will feature a Chicken Fiesta plus great side dishes and desserts by MCRW Members.

Dinner donation $10.  Everyone is invited to attend this informative meeting.

Biden Border Crisis and Abuse of Parole Send Illegal Alien Population and Costs Soaring

 

At Least 16.8 Million Illegal Aliens are in the U.S., Costing Taxpayers As Much as $163 Billion Annually, Finds New Analysis by FAIR

(June 22, 2023, Washington, D.C.) — An analysis by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) of the most recent Census Bureau data reveals that at least 16.8 million illegal aliens now reside in the United States. This figure represents an increase of 1.3 million just since the beginning of 2022, and 2.3 million since President Biden took office in January 2021.

Along with the sharp increase in the illegal alien population comes sharp increases in costs to American taxpayers. The unprecedented rate of influx of new illegal aliens over the past year would add $12.6 billion annually to the costs of illegal immigration, bringing the cumulative net cost to at least $163 billion a year. At the current pace of illegal immigration, the annual net cost will exceed $200 billion by 2026.
 

Key Takeaways:

• The study is based on the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) and Current Population Survey (CPS) data, which traditionally undercounts the illegal population by about 30 percent because many illegal aliens are reluctant to respond to the surveys.
• The increase in the illegal alien population under President Biden is based on a sample that only tracks household addresses on file with the government. Even adjusting for undercount, it excludes the tens of thousands of unsheltered illegal migrants and a huge number of "gotaways" or other individuals who have been paroled into the U.S. and live under the radar. The full number is impossible to quantify but likely even higher.
• These 16.8 million illegal aliens now represent nearly one-third of the foreign-born residents of the United States.
• The additional $12.6 billion in costs annually is only a down payment. These costs are likely to grow as the migrants become more settled and increase their use of services like public education and health. Moreover, parolees are immediately eligible for a range of welfare benefits.
• At the current pace of illegal immigration, more new illegal aliens will have settled in the U.S. in the first three years of the Biden administration than in the entire decade of the 2010s.

"As just about every mayor and governor around the country – including those who preside over jurisdictions that have declared themselves sanctuaries for illegal aliens – has loudly proclaimed, the fiscal and social burdens of the Biden administration's sabotage of our immigration enforcement policies are unsustainable," observed Dan Stein, president of FAIR.

"The impact of these policies is causing social upheaval, setting states and against other states, big cities against surrounding communities, overwhelming school districts and social service providers, as economic migrants from all across the globe pour across our borders. The report, How Many Illegal Aliens Are in the United States? 2023 Update, provides hard, albeit conservative, numbers that graphically illustrate the magnitude of this self-inflicted crisis," concluded Stein.

The full report, including detailed methodology, can be found here.

Victory! Supreme Court Lets Criminal Aliens be Removed

June 22, 2023

High Court rejects overly narrow reading of deportation statute

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Supreme Court, in two consolidated cases, rejected the arguments of criminal aliens that the crimes they were convicted of did not "relate" to obstruction of justice—and thus did not require their deportation—because no proceeding was pending when they committed those crimes. The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) had filed a brief with the Court in support of this outcome.   A federal law makes aliens deportable if they have committed an offense "relating to obstruction of justice." At issue in the case was whether the Board of Immigration Appeals had been right to hold that an alien has committed such an offense if he has been convicted of violating a state statute that makes it a crime to obstruct an investigation that is either already begun or likely to take place. IRLI had argued that such a crime clearly "relates to" obstruction of justice, and, indeed, constitutes obstruction of justice in state criminal codes.   Today, the Court agreed. It noted that the words "relating to" clearly support a broad reading of the statute. The Court also observed that obstructing justice before a proceeding is pending—such as by threatening a witness to a crime to prevent him from reporting it to the police—is garden-variety obstruction of justice in any event.   "No national interest is served by making the categories of criminal aliens who are deportable narrower than Congress intended, nor by letting aliens who have committed serious crimes stay in this country," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "This statute is not hard to interpret, and we are pleased that the Court came to what is clearly the right result."   The cases are Pugin v. Garland, No. 22-23, and Garland v. Cordero-Garcia, No. 22-331 (Supreme Court).

Donalds Supports Effort To Begin Impeachment Inquiry Due To Biden's Open Border Crisis

June 22, 2023

WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) spoke on the House floor to support an effort to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Joseph R. Biden for his willful dereliction of duty by handing our sovereignty and homeland security to cartels, human smugglers, sex traffickers, drug kingpins, and terrorists at our Southern Border. This resolution empowers the House Committee on Homeland Security to investigate thoroughly the president's purposeful neglect of federal law that's caused irreparable harm to We The People. "Impeachment is one of the most significant and arduous authorities of the United States Congress, a power I do not take lightly. What I also don't take lightly is a president that knowingly and single-handedly enacts the greatest threat to our Republic, its people, and our sovereignty by neglecting federal law through his radical open-border policies.   "Since Biden took office, America has seen a scourge of illegal immigrants, fentanyl overdoses, cartel influence, and the evisceration of law and order intended to keep our citizens safe. This resolution will diligently unearth the obvious, which is the ongoing border crisis Biden created to appease the ACLU and a radical party that views border enforcement as racist. Borders are essential to our sovereignty and security, and the president must be held accountable for the harm his actions have inflicted on the American people."

Emord Dominates Loudoun County Straw Poll

US Senate Candidate Emord Wins Virginia Straw Poll by Triple Digits in First Major Primary Test

FAIRFAX, VA, June 3, 2023 - Jonathan W. Emord, a top-ranked DC-based constitutional attorney, author of a pathbreaking best-selling book, THE AUTHORITARIANS, official candidate for the United States Senate for the Commonwealth of Virginia, won 61% of the vote last evening, June 2, in Virginia's first straw poll to test primary candidates, the Loudoun County Republican Committee's Virginia Straw Poll. In a field comprised of 8 candidates, Emord won 144 votes with the second closest party winning only 41 votes.

Last night's victory for Emord in the race to remove Tim Kaine is a testament to his powerful base of grassroots support and his commitment to restoring the republic, ending woke indoctrination in the schools and military, securing the borders, and reversing the rise of socialism, inflation, and tyranny. Every vote for Jonathan Emord is a resounding stand against everything threatening our state, country, and values.

Jonathan appears frequently on Washington Times, Real America News' Securing America, Sirius XM Wilkow Majority, Salem Radio, 990 AM with Chris Stigall, Cumulus Radio's WMAL, DC's Top Conservative radio, the Joe Thomas Show on WCHV, Charlottesville, TNT Radio, and the Power Hour.

For more information please visit: www.EmordforVa.com

Weekly Wrap-Up with Congressman Byron Donalds

June 5, 2023

Last week, House Republicans were called back to Washington to debate and subsequently vote on Speaker McCarthy and President Biden's debt ceiling deal. After hearing about what had been negotiated, I was a no on this deal, but after reading the deal in its entirety, I was absolutely a no.  Unfortunately, Washington did it again. While you were celebrating Memorial Day, this town was cutting another terrible deal that's going to put us in more debt. The disastrous debt ceiling deal included no cap in raising the debt $4 trillion, while only cutting $12 billion. It also kept Biden's baseline spending intact for federal agencies, canonized post-COVID overspending and does nothing to eliminate Green New Deal policies that were implemented under the previous Congress. These provisions do not reflect the priorities or best interests of the American people. I called on my Republican colleagues to vote against this deal. I warned my colleagues that their constituents will ask them why they voted to keep all of Biden's policies intact, while all they did was vote to raise the debt ceiling. I told them to stand up and demand renegotiation. 70 of my colleagues joined this cause for fiscal responsibility. The reality is that we must curtail baseline spending in our country. We have to do this so we can have the opportunity to at least stabilize our debt position and in some respect, begin to pay down our trillions of dollars in debt. This deal did not do that.  Unfortunately, the debt ceiling deal passed the House of Representatives with the support of 165 Democrats and only 149 Republicans. The fact that Biden White House talking points on this deal were very positive all week, should have been enough for our conference to realize that this deal was not serious about cutting down our debt. If we were going to keep all of Biden's overspending anyway, we should have at least tried to do something constructive like adding border security provisions. Moving forward, our federal government must rein in spending and go back to pre-COVID spending levels. If we started paying down our debt today, it could take at least fifteen years to get closer to a balanced budget. The level of cuts & austerity measures that we will need to take, will only get more serious with inaction. Who this really hurts are the American people, who didn't ask for this reckless Democratic overspending. Furthermore, I introduced my thirty-third bill of the 118th Congress, the Short Line Rail Road Relief Act. This bill, which received the support of eleven Congressional cosponsors from coast to coast, authorizes the establishment of a disaster relief program to provide much-needed immediate financial assistance to our nation's short line railroads. Just months ago, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida, causing historic devastation in our community. Among one of the hardest hit entities in Southwest Florida was the Seminole Gulf Railway–which incurred catastrophic damage. When a storm of this magnitude hits any area of our nation, it is the federal government's responsibility to make available the necessary resources to rebuild and restore vital components of a community. As Hurricane Season 2023 begins, it is imperative that we establish a means in which America's short line railroads can receive critical relief in the event of natural disasters. As your Congressman, you have my commitment to work on your behalf and restore order and proper governance to The People's House.

Legislative Updates

Donalds Reintroduces Legislation To Secure Disaster Relief For Short Line Railroads As Hurricane Season 2023 Begins WASHINGTON - Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) reintroduced H.R. 3782 - The Short Line Railroad Relief Act alongside Representatives Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Mike Bost (R-IL), Mary Miller (R-IL), Jake LaTurner (R-KS), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Brad Finstad (R-MN), Chuck Edwards (R-NC), Don Bacon (R-NE) and Troy Nehls (R-TX). This legislation authorizes the establishment of a disaster relief program to provide much-needed immediate financial assistance to our nation's short line railroads.    "Just months ago, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida, causing historic devastation in our community," said Congressman Byron Donalds. "Among one of the hardest hit entities in Southwest Florida was the Seminole Gulf Railway–which incurred catastrophic damage. When a storm of this magnitude hits any area of our nation, it is the federal government's responsibility to make available the necessary resources to rebuild and restore vital components of a community. As Hurricane Season 2023 begins, it is imperative that we establish a means in which America's short line railroads can receive critical relief in the event of natural disasters." "Short line railroads are responsible for transporting a variety of goods across the country, and without support from Congress, many are forced to close shop after a natural disaster because of inadequate federal relief," said Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chairman Troy E. Nehls. "These small businesses must receive the support they need to stay afloat and keep our country moving after a natural disaster. I am proud to join my colleague, Congressman Byron Donalds, to provide much-needed relief for our nation's short line railroads." "Americans have come to realize just how fragile our supply chains are. Short line railroads help save small businesses money and keep our supply chain moving," said Congressman Mike Bost. "But when disaster unfortunately strikes, federal programs have failed to provide timely assistance to affected businesses. I'm proud to support the Short Live Railroad Relief Act to establish a permanent disaster relief program for short line railroads and protect our supply chain." "The past couple years have demonstrated how devastating supply chain interruptions can be," said Congressman Don Bacon. "I support the Short Line Railroad Relief Act to ensure that short line railroads, which primarily support small businesses and local economies, are protected in the case of natural disasters. We need to keep goods and services moving!" "In the event of a natural disaster, short line railroads can play a critical recovery role, moving relief goods in and debris of all kinds out, yet no significant federal disaster relief options are available to them beyond small loans," stated Chuck Baker, President, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. "The Short Line Railroad Relief Act would provide parity across transportation modes, allowing for immediate deployment of grant funding to short line railroads, enabling them to turn their attention to rebuilding the local economy, particularly crucial in the small town and rural communities that we serve. Representative Donalds was spurred into action by the devastation to the Seminole Gulf Railway in his district, caused by Hurricane Ian last year. The concern however is applicable nationwide, resulting in Congressional support throughout the country for this effort. We applaud each of the cosponsoring members of Congress for their leadership." Background: The United States is home to more than 600 small business, short line freight railroads, that play a vital role in transporting materials from various economic sectors including: industrial manufacturing, agriculture, energy, chemicals, minerals, metals, timber, etc. Only a handful of short line railroads are government-owned, none are publicly traded and most short line railroads are private, small businesses.  Without short line railroads, freight would generally be diverted to highways—which could cost shippers up to four to six times more per shipment, or production would shift to other areas/industries. Any short line railroad closure would, over the course of one year, add thousands of additional semi-trucks on our nation's roads & highways. Currently, federal programs fail to provide short line railroads with immediate financial relief after natural disasters. Commercial insurance for short lines is also often unavailable, doesn't provide adequate coverage following a natural disaster, or is unaffordable at a viable rate for small businesses. Short line railroads are generally one natural disaster away from being forced to close shop, which would ultimately result in gaping holes and negative impacts throughout our country's volatile supply chain. The Short Line Railroad Relief Act is the thirty-third bill introduced by Rep. Donalds during the 118th Congress and addresses this urgent concern by authorizing the establishment of a disaster relief program for American short line railroads. The program will be headed by the Secretary of Transportation in consultation with the Federal Railroad Administrator.

More: Read the Short Line Railroad Relief Act in its entirety HERE. See the Short Line Railroad Relief Act summary page HERE.