FAIR: Biden Border Action is an "I Told You So" Moment for Trump and His Immigration Policies

(April 14, 2021, Washington, D.C.) – The Biden administration is attempting to secure the nation's southern border by negotiating border security agreements with Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras—moves that closely mirror Trump administration immigration initiatives that were terminated by the current administration. 

As apprehension totals continue to soar to historic levels with no end in sight, the Biden administration has chosen to steal a page from the Trump administration's immigration playbook—including the 2019 border security agreements with the Northern Triangle countries—to effectively regain control of the border. "In many respects, the agreements closely resemble the ones President Biden scrapped during his first days in office," commented Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

The agreements reportedly require the countries to deploy thousands of military and police personnel to their borders, although Guatemalan and Honduran officials deny that these agreements have been made. "Nevertheless, the Biden administration's efforts to restore the pre-inauguration status quo is an acknowledgement that conditions at our southern border are in a state of crisis, that their policies have failed, and that more deterrent policies are necessary," Stein said.   

The Biden administration does not need to reinvent the wheel. It still has many proven policy options that can be implemented immediately to help better secure the southern border.

Among the policy options available to the Biden administration to reduce the number of fraudulent asylum seekers and unlawful border crossings is the reinstatement of the Asylum Cooperative Agreements (ACAs) with the Northern Triangle countries that have already been negotiated. The administration should also reimplement the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), another effective program that helped the southern border become more secured than ever and adhered to its humanitarian obligations.

"The sad irony is that the humanitarian, national security and public health disaster President Biden is now seeking to address could have been avoided in the first place if he had not taken a wrecking ball to existing policies and agreements that were in place when he took office. Restoring agreements with the Northern Triangle would be an important step in the right direction, but the Biden administration still has much more to do if it's serious about ending the migration crisis it created," concluded Stein.

Best of Biden

FAIR: Biden's Bold Move on Border Crisis: Nominate High Level Officials Guaranteed to Worsen It

(April 12, 2021, Washington, D.C.) – The following statements were issued by Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), regarding the nomination of Chris Magnus and Ur Jaddou to lead key immigration enforcement agencies in the middle of a historic border crisis:

"Monday's nominations of Chris Magnus to head U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Ur Jaddou to lead U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provide further evidence that the current crisis raging at our southern border is part of a deliberate effort by the Biden administration to eviscerate any form of border and immigration enforcement. Both of these individuals, nominated to lead key immigration enforcement agencies, have long and well-documented records of hostility toward immigration enforcement and to the laws they would be obligated to uphold.

"Their nominations are a clear indication that the border chaos – along with the risks posed to national security, public health, and to the migrants themselves – is by design and that the ultimate objective of the Biden administration is to cause the collapse of our immigration enforcement infrastructure."

Chris Magnus

"The job of CBP is to prevent people and contraband from entering the country illegally. As Chief of Police of Tucson, Arizona, Chris Magnus has worked to thwart the removal of illegal aliens from the United States, including those who are criminals. In a 2017 op-ed in The New York Times, Magnus asserted that local policies that provide sanctuary for illegal aliens make the country safer.

"Undoubtedly, if he is confirmed as head of CBP, Magnus will play a pivotal role in the Biden administration's efforts to impose sanctuary policies nationwide by refusing to answer calls from state and local authorities who seek to have criminal aliens removed from the United States. With him at the helm, the entire country will be a sanctuary for illegal aliens. Under his leadership and faithful execution of policy directives from the White House, the role of CBP will shift from preventing entry of unauthorized aliens to processing anyone who turns up at our border."

Ur Jaddou

"Ur Jaddou is a mass immigration amnesty advocate who will undoubtedly try to bend, or outright ignore, countless rules and laws expressly designed to exclude people who do not qualify for immigration benefits. If she is confirmed, gone are the days of focusing on fairness, lawfulness, efficiency, protecting American workers, and safeguarding the homeland.

"Much like when her boss, current DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, ran USCIS under President Obama, the agency's mission will be to rubber stamp immigration benefits regardless of eligibility or evidence of fraud."

Senators must reject both nominations

"Any senator who votes to confirm either of these nominees is on the side of lawlessness, smugglers, traffickers, illegal aliens, and businesses reliant on cheap foreign labor. Confirmation of Magnus and Jaddou to jobs that require them to enforce laws and administer a system they have actively worked to undermine would make members of the Senate complicit in the humanitarian, national security, and public health crisis that the Biden administration has created and which it seeks to expand.

"Senators must uphold their constitutional role of advise and consent and reject the nominations of Magnus and Jaddou to lead key immigration enforcement agencies."

FRC Praises Ark. Legislature for Protecting Children from Gender Transition Procedures Over Veto

April 6, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Arkansas became the first state in the nation to enact legislation that prohibits gender transition procedures on minors, prevents taxpayer funds or medical insurance mandates to pay for them, and provides legal remedies for minors who have been permanently disfigured and/or sterilized by them. On Tuesday afternoon, in quick succession the Arkansas House (72-25) and Senate (25-8) overrode the governor's veto of the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act. Family Research Council praised the state legislature for its effort to protect minors.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"The SAFE Act's successful passage into law is a victory for children and their health and safety. The state of Arkansas has taken the lead in the race to protect children from a political movement that advocates for using off-label drugs and experimental procedures on minors.

"As the name implies, the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act protects minors from unscientific, experimental, and destructive gender transition procedures that interrupt their natural development and irreversibly alter their bodies. As a growing number of individuals come forward to share their stories of being permanently disfigured and/or sterilized, there is a growing and urgent need for other states to follow Arkansas' lead by protecting minors from life-altering procedures such as puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgeries.

"Family Research Council applauds State Representative Robin Lundstrum and State Senator Alan Clark for their exemplary leadership. Because of their courage and hard work, the state legislature voted overwhelmingly to override the governor's veto of the SAFE Act," concluded Perkins.

Arkansas is one of 18 states this year to introduce legislation aimed at banning gender transition procedures on minors: www.frc.org/safeact

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FAIR: Now, 275 Sheriffs from 39 States Are Sounding the Alarm on the Dangerous Biden Border Crisis

Administration Must Not Ignore Dire Law Enforcement Warning  

(April 8, 2021, Washington, D.C.) – A letter signed by 275 sheriffs from all across the United States was sent to President Joe Biden on April 7 imploring him to secure the nation's borders and end the illegal migration crisis raging at our southern border. The sheriffs, representing 39 states, expressed their grave concerns about the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border and laid the blame squarely on the president's policies.

"America's Sheriffs are deeply troubled about the dangerous impacts your administration's border policies are having on our citizens, legal residents and communities," they wrote. The elected law enforcement officials, from both political parties, demanded that the Biden administration take immediate action to restore order at the border. "You must act now before our nation's public safety resources are overwhelmed with the criminal side effects of unchecked illegal immigration, including transnational gangs, guns, dangerous drugs and human trafficking," they warned.

Mark Morgan, a Senior Fellow at the Federation for American Immigration Reform and former chief of the U.S. Border Patrol and former acting director of Customs and Border Protection reaffirmed the urgency of the sheriffs' demand for action. "I have just returned from the southern border. What I witnessed was nothing short of an unprecedented humanitarian disaster, and a national security and public health crisis – one which was created by this administration beginning the day President Biden took office.

"The president's open border policies are directly responsible for the abuse and death of children at the hands of criminal cartels, and an invitation to criminals and terrorists to prey on the American people. Hundreds of sheriffs and other law enforcement professionals, as well as local government officials in affected communities are telling the president it is time for immediate action, not words, to end the crisis he created."

Dan Stein, president of FAIR, concurred with the sheriffs' assessment of the dangers of the Biden immigration policies. "These local law enforcement officials have been dealing with the impact of unsecured borders for decades, as criminal cartels have taken root in their communities. Every day, as the Biden administration releases people we know nothing about, into communities all across the nation, the threats to public safety and public health grow evermore grave. President Biden has the obligation and the ability to restore policies that were in place when he took office that had checked the flow of migrants crossing our borders. He has a moral and constitutional obligation to do so immediately."

The full text of the sheriffs' letter and signatories can be found here.

FRC Urges Arkansas Legislature Override Veto of SAFE Act and Protect Children

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act passed overwhelmingly through both chambers of the Arkansas legislature, unfortunately, Governor Asa Hutchinson appeared to yield to the sirens of the Left and issued a last-minute veto. Family Research Council urges the legislature to override the veto and provide children with critical protections from experimental gender transition procedures. If enacted, the SAFE Act would prevent gender transition procedures for minors, protect taxpayers and medical insurance providers from being mandated by government to pay for such procedures, and provide legal remedies for minors who have been permanently disfigured and/or sterilized by them.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"The Arkansas legislature has demonstrated leadership and courage in the face of the Left's campaign of deception combined with spineless wokeism of Corporate America. The legislature cannot stop now and deprive Arkansas's children of this much needed protection. Under the leadership of Rep. Robin Lundstrum and Sen. Alan Clark, the Arkansas legislature courageously passed the first-of-its-kind protection for minors from experimental gender transition procedures.

"The harmful gender ideology sweeping across our nation creates a growing and urgent need for legislative protections for children vulnerable to life-altering procedures such as puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgeries. Research has not shown that these procedures are effective in improving patient's mental health. They have serious negative side effects, up to and including permanent sterilization--thus violating the most fundamental principle of medical ethics, 'First, do no harm.' While the governor called for a narrower bill, he did not seem to recognize that gender transition procedures are off-label, irreversible, and (as the name of the bill indicates) experimental. It is never appropriate to experiment on our children, no matter how politically expedient.

"These unscientific, destructive gender transition procedures should not be allowed to interrupt the development of children and irreversibly alter their bodies. A growing number of individuals are coming forward to share their stories about being permanently maimed, highlighting the need for legal remedies. The SAFE Act addresses this critical need while also ensuring that the government never uses taxpayer dollars to pay for experiments that will damage the lives of the next generation.

"Family Research Council urges the Arkansas General Assembly to override Governor Hutchinson's veto and pass the SAFE Act into law to protect vulnerable children from experimental procedures that cause physiological trauma for those dealing with gender dysphoria."

"Minors cannot drive cars, purchase cigarettes, or consume alcohol legally. Parents cannot take newborn infants home from the hospital without a car seat or allow children to ride in an automobile without a seatbelt. In Arkansas, minors cannot purchase NyQuil over the counter. Yet in the absence of this legislation they would have a green light to alter and even do irreversible harm to their bodies," concluded Perkins.

Arkansas is one of 18 states this year to introduce legislation aimed at prohibiting gender transition procedures on minors: www.frc.org/safeact.

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The Totalitarian Left

By Gary Bauer

Reverend Patrick Mahoney, of the Christian Defense Coalition, has been working in Washington, D.C., for 30 years. Over that time, he has held many events on Capitol Hill, including prayer vigils on Good Friday. 

But Rev. Mahoney's permit to hold a Good Friday prayer vigil on Capitol Hill tomorrow was denied. So, he's suing Speaker Pelosi and Vice President Harris in her capacity as president of the Senate.

Why was his permit denied? The Capitol is not closed. Members of Congress have been showing up for work and casting votes regularly. You can make appointments to see members and visit the leadership in their Capitol Hill offices. 

Do they really think Rev. Mahoney is a security threat? There's absolutely no security risk at all. Besides, Congress is out of session for two weeks! 

But using January 6th as the excuse, the only thing being banned is the First Amendment – the freedom of assembly and the freedom of religion. And that's very telling. 

This is what the left does wherever it gets control. If you live in a left-wing state, you had a more difficult time practicing your faith and peaceably assembling during the entire pandemic. If you lived in a conservative state, you had greater opportunities to exercise your faith and express your views. 

The left has a totalitarian impulse, and we see it every time the left controls the levers of power.

Here's another example: The intolerant radicals pushing critical race theory in the Virginia public schools are demanding that every school teacher toe the line or be fired. So much for free speech and academic freedom!

EMET DEEPLY APPLAUDS REP. JEFF DUNCAN (R-SC) and 24 OTHER,HOUSE MEMBERS FOR THEIR LETTER ON THE ICC INVESTIGATION OF ISRAEL

Washington, D.C., April 1, 2021

Over two dozen Republican House members: Reps. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), lead the letter which was co-signed by Randy K. Weber (R-TX), Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL), James R. Baird (R-IN), Brian Babin (R-TX), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Chuck Fleischman (R-TN), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Bill Posey (R-FL), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Ted Budd (R-NC), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Jody Hice (R-GA), W. Gregory Steube (R-FL), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL), Bob Good (R-VA) and Michael Cloud (R-TX). The letter was addressed to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to express opposition to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) investigation of Israel and to urge the United States government to uphold the relevant law conditioning aid to the Palestinian Authority.

 

Given that neither the United States nor Israel are parties to the Rome Statute, the ICC has no authority over either country. Furthermore, when Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the language specifically forbade funding for the Palestinian Authority if it were to initiate an ICC investigation into Israel or actively support one. 

 

By submitting a formal referral to the ICC in 2018, the PA has clearly violated the first condition. By repeated submission of ostensible "evidence" to the ICC, and official visits and communications with the ICC Prosecutor and staff, the PA has also actively supported the Court's investigation, violating the second condition as well.

 

"It is equally important to adhere firmly to established law that already provides an unambiguous response to efforts to use the ICC to challenge our sovereignty, our defense, and that of our ally Israel," the letter states.

 

Said Sarah Stern, Founder and President of EMET, "This effort to investigate Israel, which has clearly been supported, if not initiated, by the Palestinians, is a transparent attempt to utilize the International Criminal Court  to weaponize a purely political agenda, and represents a total defilement of the original noble purposes of the Court."

 

Stern added that "the genocide of the Holocaust was part of the original impetus to establish the Court, and its documents cite the Convention for the Prevention of Genocide of 1948, and  calls "attempts to investigate the United States and Israel an egregious misuse of the original, honorable intention."

 

"If the Palestinians are going to pursue this tactic to undermine Israel, we are legally forbidden, under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 from funding the Palestinians. This law has been on the books since 2014, and has been passed on a bipartisan basis," Stern said. "EMET deeply applauds Rep. Jeff Duncan and the 24 other signatories to this excellent letter for elucidating the fact that the Palestinians and their enablers on the International Criminal Court cannot have it both ways. We cannot both watch them proceed with their lawfare against our ally, Israel, and simultaneously provide economic assistance to the Palestinians. That constitutes a clear violation of American law."                                      

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Today is a good day to remind ourselves that God is in control. Our country faces massive challenges. The headlines are chilling. There is incompetence or worse in high places. But the God of Abraham, who hung the stars in the sky and knows when a sparrow falls to the ground, has promised He will not forsake us. For us it remains to be of good cheer and to fight the good fight!"

Gary Bauer

Killing King's Dream

March 31, 2021

By Gary Bauer

 

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life fighting for civil rights in America. His eloquent speech at the Lincoln Memorial should be required reading for every child and policymaker in America, especially our school teachers and college professors. 

What they are teaching today – critical race theory – is killing King's dream of a society where we are judged based on the content of our character rather than the color of our skin.

Case in point: A video has emerged from Loudoun County, Virginia. In the video, a teacher shows a student a picture of two women and asks what he sees. The student says, "It's just two people chillin." The teacher asks, "There's nothing more to that picture?" And so it goes until the teacher is harassing the student about the race of each woman.

That's critical race theory. It turns Martin Luther King's legacy and teachings upside down. It is not striving for a racially blind society. It is striving for a society where the only thing you can see is race.

This isn't an isolated incident. This isn't just one bad apple. When parents began organizing to fight back against this radical agenda, teachers and elected officials -- public servants paid by the taxpayers -- secretly plotted to hack, dox and smear them! I am pleased to report that there is now an active recall campaign against six Loudoun County school board members.

I know there are some people who are skeptical of vaccines and don't trust the government and medical elites. We can have that debate.  But there is no debate about this: Critical race theory is a poison being injected into the brains of our children that will destroy this country more efficiently than any virus or vaccine developed to fight it.

My friends, you must fight for your local schools! It will be unpleasant. You will be criticized. You may lose friends. 

But unless we're willing to sit by and lose the country in one more generation, we must stop what is happening in our public schools. 

If you can, I urge you to consider Christian schools, homeschooling, creating pods or coops of like-minded parents who can take turns teaching your children. But we cannot allow this to continue in our public schools that we are all paying for, and where the vast majority of our children are being indoctrinated.

FRC Praises Arkansas legislature for protecting children from life-altering gender transition drugs, hormones, and surgeries

March 30, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council is praising the Arkansas legislature for overwhelmingly approving the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act which prohibits physicians from administering gender transition procedures to minors, prohibits taxpayer funds and medical insurance policies from paying for them, and provides legal remedies for minors who have been permanently disfigured and/or sterilized by them.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"Family Research Council applauds the Arkansas legislature for voting overwhelmingly to send the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act to Governor Asa Hutchison to be signed into law.

"There is a growing and urgent need for this legislation as harmful gender ideology sweeps across our nation, leaving children vulnerable to life-altering procedures such as puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgeries. These unscientific, destructive gender transition procedures should not be allowed to interrupt the development of children and irreversibly alter their bodies. The SAFE Act addresses this critical need while also ensuring that the government never uses taxpayer dollars to pay for experiments that will damage the lives of the next generation.

"As a growing number of minors come forward to share their stories about being permanently disfigured and/or sterilized, the need for legal remedies has become very apparent. Research has not shown that these procedures are effective in improving patient's mental health. They have serious negative side effects, up to and including permanent sterilization--thus violating the most fundamental principle of medical ethics, 'First, do no harm.'

"Family Research Council urges Governor Hutchison to sign the SAFE Act and protect vulnerable children from experimental procedures that cause physiological trauma for those dealing with gender dysphoria," concluded Perkins.

For more information, please check out these FRC resources:

FRC Issue Analysis: www.frc.org/gendertransition

FRC State Policy Brief: www.frc.org/safeact

FAIR: Lunch Bucket Joe is Long Gone: Biden Betrays American Workers during Ongoing Economic Crisis

(March 31, 2021, Washington, D.C.) – The following statement was released in response to the Biden administration's impending decision to let to a guestworker pause expire in the middle of an ongoing economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement should be attributed to Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR):

"President Biden loves to portray himself as a champion of the working class and a tireless defender of unemployed Americans, but today he showed his true colors. By restoring unfettered access to cheap foreign labor in the middle of an economic downturn, it shows how incredibly disconnected and uncaring he really is.

"Sadly, many of the jobs that were lost after COVID-19 first struck will never return.  Now the very workers who held them will be competing toe-to-toe with foreign guestworkers, many of whom are willing to be paid less than their American counterparts. This move not only undermines the American worker but underscores President Biden's thoughtless disregard for the American worker and his failure to understand that first and foremost, immigration policy must serve the national interest.

"Millions of Americans still remain out of work. Even worse, the unemployment rate for the bottom quartile of Americans – many who compete with guestworkers and illegal aliens for jobs – is a staggering 23 percent. In a couple months, millions of American college students will graduate facing dim job prospects, and many will struggle to find meaningful employment. They too will now compete for limited openings with tens of thousands of guestworkers. This is unconscionable and devoid of common sense. Allowing this pause to expire reveals that President Biden is more interested in protecting access to cheap foreign labor at the expense of struggling Americans. 

"President Biden inherited a country that was in the middle of two of the biggest crises our nation has ever faced: A global pandemic that has killed over 550,000 Americans coupled with an economic crisis that has caused millions to lose their jobs and life savings. Blindly, his administration dismantled nearly every facet of border enforcement this nation had in place, causing the biggest rush of illegal aliens to the border in two decades. Many of these illegal aliens will be seeking jobs right along with their foreign guestworker counterparts. We hope the American people are watching."

Can Illegal Aliens Adjust to Legal?

March 31, 2021

IRLI shows Supreme Court that the law allows no such transformation

 

WASHINGTON—Today the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Supreme Court in a case that raises the question of whether Congress intended to reward illegal border-crossing by providing a pathway for illegal aliens to become legal. The plaintiffs, illegal aliens who were granted temporary protected status (TPS) because of a disaster in their home country, now seek to adjust their status to that of lawful permanent resident.

 

In its brief, IRLI shows that TPS status cannot be used to work such a transformation. Rather, Congress intended to disincentivize illegal immigration, not reward it, and the jump from illegal to legal that plaintiffs claim as their right rests on a strained reading of the statutory scheme that is diametrically opposed to this intent. Though Congress did extend TPS to certain illegal aliens out of humanitarian concern, the TPS program, as its name implies, was meant to be temporary, not a pathway to permanent residence and citizenship.

 

"The law is, and has to stay, clear that illegal entry into our country will not be tolerated, much less rewarded," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "We are seeing right now what happens when deliberate non-enforcement sends the opposite message: crisis and chaos at the border. We hope that, against this backdrop, the Supreme Court sees the wisdom of the law as written and intended, and does not let a humanitarian program become a vehicle for undermining our entire immigration system by creating a magnet for even more illegal immigration."

 

The case is Sanchez v. Mayorkas, 20-315 (Supreme Court).

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