Immigration News

President Trump said that if the stalemate over funding a border wall continues--which has caused a partial shutdown of the government--he will consider declaring a national emergency. He affirmed that “We’re looking at a national emergency because we have a national emergency. Just read the papers. We have a crisis at the border. . . . it is national security, it’s a national emergency.” Under such an emergency, the president maintains, he would have authority to direct funding for border security.  Read more at breitbart.com

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that a "violent mob" of about 150 migrants tried to force their way into the U.S. at the San Diego sector of the U.S.-Mexican border on New Year's eve. DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman stated, “Once again we have had a violent mob of migrants attempt to enter the United States illegally by attacking our [Border Patrol and Customs] agents with projectiles.” Some of the migrants tried to lift small children over the concertina wire barrier at the border with little apparent regard for the safety of those children. Read more at breitbart.com 

Many members of the migrant caravan that left Central America in October are still on the Mexican side of the border seeking to enter the United States. Meanwhile, according to reports, a new and larger caravan--an estimated 15 thousand migrants--is preparing to leave Honduras on January 15 and head for the U.S.  Read more at latimes.com

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen affirmed in a written statement that “Our system has been pushed to a breaking point by those who seek open borders. Smugglers, traffickers, and their own parents put . . . minors at risk by embarking on the dangerous and arduous journey north. This crisis is exacerbated by the increase in persons who are entering our custody suffering from severe respiratory illnesses or exhibit some other illness upon apprehension.” Nielsen cited four particular problems,  an immigration system that rewards parents for sending their children across the border alone, a system that prevents parents who bring their children on a dangerous and illegal journey from facing consequences for their actions, an asylum process that is not able to quickly help those who qualify for asylum, a system that encourages fraudulent claims, and a system that encourages bad actors to coach aliens into making frivolous claims. Read more at breitbart.com

President Trump, apparently under pressure from his base, reversed his decision not to risk a government shutdown in order to get congressional funding for a border wall. The House passed the wall appropriation in its version of the budget bill, but the Senate did not authorize wall funding. If the two sides cannot reconcile their positions, and provide whatever funding the president will accept, he now appears set on vetoing the budget bill--thus bringing a shutdown.  Read more at foxnews.com

President Trump will not seek a shutdown of the government in order to get $5 billion in funding for a border wall.  White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced “We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion. At the end of the day we don’t want to shut down the government, we want to shut down the border.” Read more at washingtonpost.com

A left-wing social media campaign is trying to pressure advertisers to pull their ads from Tucker Carlson's Fox News program. Carlson's regularly speaks in favor of immigration law enforce and reasonable levels of legal immigration.  The Fox News commentator spoke defiantly against this effort to silence him:  “It happens all the time–the enforcers scream, ‘Racist!’ on Twitter, until everybody gets intimidated and changes the subject to the Russia investigation or some other distraction. It’s a tactic, a well worn one–nobody thinks it’s real, and it won’t work with this show, we’re not intimidated. We plan to try to say what’s true until the last day.” Read more at breitbart.com

In response to Rep. Nancy Pelosi's claim that a border wall is "immoral," Betsy McCaughey of Real Clear Politics states that "Not building a wall is what' truly immoral.  Allowing destitute, uneducated people with limited job prospects to flood across the southern border into the United States forces taxpayers here to toil longer and pay more in taxes to feed and house them, accommodate their children in public schools and pay for their medical care "Americans are already maxed out caring for our own needy, including the homeless sprawled on city streets. This nation has 40 million in poverty, 1 out of every 8 people and 1 out of every 6 children. That's far higher than in Canada or Great Britain. Our country doesn't need to import more poverty. "For [this] reason, Trump is also proposing that only immigrants who can support themselves without government handouts be granted green cards and permanent status. Read more at realclearpolitics.com

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has called for steps to stop the abuse of our asylum laws by illegal aliens. He observed: "Asylum is only  for those who fear persecution on the basis of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. "But what happened is that word got out that you could game the system.  People found out that you could apply for asylum and then get a work authorization in the United States while you waited for a court date.  That might take years—and you could disappear before that ever happened anyway. "Word got out that you could cross the border illegally, live here as an illegal alien—and then, if you got caught, you could just claim asylum." Read more at justice.gov

Last  month illegal crossings of the Mexican border nearly reached 52,000, the highest number for November since 2006. Princeton Researcher Steven Kopits projects that the total number of illegal crossings will rise to 600,000 in Fiscal Year 2019--nearly double the number of 310,000 in Fiscal Year 2017.   Read more at breitbart.com