Border Apprehensions Drop to Lowest Level in Months

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Apprehensions by Border Patrol agents of migrants who illegally cross the U.S. border with Mexico dropped nearly 29 percent in June, reaching the lowest level since March. The decrease follows seasonal patterns and increased immigration enforcement in Mexico following President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs.

“Since the administration reached a new agreement with Mexico,” Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kevin K. McAleenan said in a written statement, “we’ve seen a substantial increase in the number of interdictions on the Mexican southern border.

The apprehension of migrants illegally crossing the U.S. border from Mexico dropped from 132,880 in May to 94,897 in June. This represents a decrease of 28.6 percent, according to the Southwest Border Migration Report released on Wednesday afternoon by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The biggest drop in apprehensions came in the categories of family units and unaccompanied minors. The apprehension of these two categories fell from 95,890 in May to 64,767 in June — a 32.5 percent drop. Single adults also dropped from 36,900 to 30,130 — an 18.3 percent drop. . .

“This year’s decline in apprehensions from May to June outpaces last year’s decline by 11 percent,” the acting DHS secretary explained. “The reduction in apprehensions accounts for decreases across all demographics, including unaccompanied minors, family units and single adults, as well as decreases in migrants from all Northern Triangle countries, particularly those coming from Guatemala.” (Read more from “Border Apprehensions Drop to Lowest Level in Months” HERE)

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Here’s How Vets Feel About President Trump’s Handling of the Military

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A majority of veterans approve of the way President Trump is handling his duties as commander in chief of the military, according to a new Pew Research Center poll published Wednesday.

The poll found that a majority – 57% – of veterans approve of Trump’s handling of the military, with about half at 48% saying his policies have made the military stronger. Forty-one percent of veterans said they disapproved and only 23% said they have made the military weaker. . .

A majority of veterans — 64% — also said Trump respects veterans a “great deal” or a “fair amount,” versus the 38% who said Trump does not respect veterans much or at all. Older veterans were more likely than younger veterans to say Trump respects veterans a “great deal” — at 54% and 40%.

A majority of veterans — 58% — approve of Trump sending troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to deal with migrants coming to the U.S. Fifty-three percent approved of his withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal, and 52% approved of his transgender policy. . .

An overwhelming 92% of veterans who are Republicans or lean Republican said they approved of how Trump is handling the military, as well as 6% of veterans who are Democrats or lean Democrat. Ninety-three percent of veterans who are Democrats or lean Democrat disapprove. (Read more from “Here’s How Vets Feel About President Trump’s Handling of the Military” HERE)

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Kamala Harris’s Ancestors Owned Slaves, Her Father Says

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By Washington Free Beacon. Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) is the descendant of an Irishman who owned a slave plantation in Jamaica, according to her father’s lengthy ancestral summary of his side of the family.

Donald Harris, a Stanford University economics professor, revealed in 2018 that his grandmother was a descendant of Hamilton Brown, the namesake of Brown’s Town in northern Jamaica.

“My roots go back, within my lifetime, to my paternal grandmother Miss Chrishy (née Christiana Brown, descendant of Hamilton Brown who is on record as plantation and slave owner and founder of Brown’s Town),” he wrote in a post for Jamaica Global.

Hamilton Brown built the town’s local Anglican Church, which is where Prof. Harris says his grandfather is buried. It is also where he himself was baptized and confirmed.

A research archive of Jamaican records indicate that at one point in 1817, Hamilton Brown owned scores of slaves. The majority were brought in from Africa, though he also owned many Creole slaves. (Read more from “Kamala Harris’s Ancestors Owned Slaves, Her Father Says” HERE)

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Liberal Donors’ Dream Agenda Taking Form in 2020 Campaigns

By Washington Free Beacon. . .The idea of race-based government reparations—a proposal opposed by both Sanders and former president Barack Obama—is now being embraced by 2020 frontrunners Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.

Harris, asked during an interview last week whether she supports “some form of reparations for black people,” said she did.

“We have to be honest that people in this country do not start from the same place or have access to the same opportunities,” Harris said. “I’m serious about taking an approach that would change policies and structures and make real investments in black communities.” (Read more from “Liberal Donors’ Dream Agenda Taking Form in 2020 Campaigns” HERE)

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Obama DOJ Officials Knew Their Spy Warrant for Trump Official Would Be Controversial and Second-Guessed

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Well, Christopher Steele, Department of Justice investigators interviewed the ex-MI6 spy who compiled the infamous Trump dossier. That document, a Clinton-funded piece of political opposition research, was one of the key pieces of so-called evidence that was used to fan the flames of the Russian collusion myth. The dossier’s credibility was immediately questioned, as a large portion of the information in it couldn’t be verified. In fact, most of it remains unverified. It doesn’t matter. The report filed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller debunked all of it. Trump and his campaign team didn’t collude with the Russians. There was no conspiracy. . .

Steele had previously refused to cooperate, but only recently agreed to be interviewed by investigators with the DOJ inspector general’s office who are investigating the alleged FISA abuses during the 2016 campaign. This certainly put a delay on whatever deadline this office put on the report, which has some Democrats and former Obama intelligence chiefs a bit nervous and for good reason (via NYT):

. . .During a congressional deposition last fall, Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio and a Trump ally, asked Mr. Baker why he took the unusual step of personally reviewing the original warrant application.

“I anticipated being — sitting here in rooms like this down the road, I seriously did, and I knew that it was — I knew that it was sensitive,” Mr. Baker replied, according to a transcript. “I knew that it would be controversial.”

(Read more from “Obama DOJ Officials Knew Their Spy Warrant for Trump Official Would Be Controversial and Second-Guessed” HERE)

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British Ambassador to U.S. Resigns After Trump’s Wrath

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The British ambassador to the United States resigned Wednesday after leaked memos showed he called the Trump administration “inept.”

“Since the leak of official documents from this Embassy there has been a great deal of speculation surrounding my position and the duration of my remaining term as ambassador,” Kim Darroch said in a letter released by the Foreign Office. “I want to put an end to that speculation. The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.”

He continued: “Although my posting is not due to end until the end of this year, I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador.” . .

“I have been very critical about the way the U.K. and Prime Minister Theresa May handled Brexit. What a mess she and her representatives have created. I told her how it should be done, but she decided to go another way. I do not know the Ambassador, but he is not liked or well thought of within the U.S. We will no longer deal with him,” he tweeted. “The good news for the wonderful United Kingdom is that they will soon have a new Prime Minister. While I thoroughly enjoyed the magnificent State Visit last month, it was the Queen who I was most impressed with!”

(Read more from “British Ambassador to U.S. Resigns After Trump’s Wrath” HERE)

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Governor Signs Bill Extending Health Care to Illegal Aliens

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On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law State Bill 104, which now extends health care benefits to illegal immigrants between the ages of 19-25, in addition to the law that already had guaranteed coverage to illegal immigrants under the age of 19. . .

The bill states:

The federal Medicaid program prohibits payment to a state for medical assistance furnished to an alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing in the United States under color of law.

Existing law requires that individuals under 19 years of age enrolled in restricted-scope Medi-Cal at the time the Director of Health Care Services makes a determination that systems have been programmed for implementation of these provisions be enrolled in the full scope of Medi-Cal benefits, if otherwise eligible. Existing law requires the department to maximize federal financial participation in implementing the provisions.

This bill would extend eligibility for full-scope Medi-Cal benefits to individuals 19 to 25 years of age, inclusive, and who are otherwise eligible for those benefits but for their immigration status. This bill would additionally require the department to claim federal financial participation to the extent that the department determines it is available, and to the extent that federal financial participation is not available, would require the department to use state funds. Because counties are required to make eligibility determinations and this bill would expand Medicaid eligibility, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(Read more from “Governor Signs Bill Extending Health Care to Illegal Aliens” HERE)

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Watch: GOP Mocks Democrat ‘Civil War’ in New Video

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On Tuesday, the official Twitter account for the Republican National Committee released a brutal video targeting Congressional Democrats’ “civil war” between the old Left — headed by House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — and new Left, including radical freshman lawmakers Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA).

The video, entitled “Democrat Civil War: Socialism Rising,” cuts between clips of controversies generated by the newcomers and experienced representatives, such as Pelosi, belittling the newcomers’ “influence.”

One of the controversies covered in the clip includes Rep. Omar’s past comments concerning Jewish lawmakers’ supposed “dual allegiance” to Israel. . .

Last week, another heated exchange between the two sects broke out. As reported by The Daily Wire’s Emily Zanotti on Monday, Pelosi hit back at the freshman progressives in The New York Times for refusing to “fall in line behind the Democratic caucus and approve a $4.5 billion emergency spending bill aimed at addressing the humanitarian crisis at the southern border, even after the quartet complained loudly of the treatment asylum seekers were receiving.”

“All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world. But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got,” Pelosi said, later adding, “We have to have a solution, not just a Twitter fight. If the left doesn’t think I’m left enough, so be it.” (Read more from “Watch: Gop Mocks Democrat ‘Civil War’ in New Video” HERE)

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Report: Epstein’s Lawyers Offer Plea Deal to Divulge Names in Exchange for 5-Year Sentence

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Alleged child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein will agree to give up names of individuals who took part in the trafficking ring he’s charged with running—in exchange for a substantially lower sentence, according to a report by broadcast channel One America News Network (OANN). . .

“Epstein will agree to cooperate with the investigation, including giving up the names of individuals that paid for activities with underage girls in exchange for a maximum sentence not to exceed 5 years,” he continued, without indicating where he got the information.

A two-count indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors on July 8 charged the 66-year-old billionaire financier with sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. Epstein allegedly sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in Manhattan, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida, among other locations.

The charges carry with them a maximum sentence of 45 years in jail. At Epstein’s age, the charges are tantamount to “a life sentence,” Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a press conference.

The 14-page unsealed indictment didn’t name any of the “employees and associates” who facilitated Epstein’s conduct by contacting and scheduling the victims’ sexual encounters with him. (Read more from “Report: Epstein’s Lawyers Offer Plea Deal to Divulge Names in Exchange for 5-Year Sentence” HERE)

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New Epstein Accuser: Here’s How He Lured Me in When I Was Just 14 Years Old

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. . .”Jennifer Araoz says she was 14 years old when a young woman approached her outside her New York City high school in the fall of 2001,” NBC News reports. “The woman was friendly and curious, asking Araoz personal questions about her family, her upbringing, their finances. Soon she began talking to Araoz about a man she knew who was kind and wealthy and lived nearby. His name, the woman said, was Jeffrey Epstein.”

“I was kind of a lost kid and she sensed it,” Araoz told NBC. The woman, whom she described as a brunette in her 20s, told her that Epstein just wanted to help people and was supporting her and her family. Araoz said the woman described him as “almost like a fatherly figure to her, which had meaning for me at that time because I was maybe longing for that.”

Convinced by the unnamed woman to visit Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, Araoz, now 32, said initially all he wanted to do was talk, the “recruiter” always accompanying them. Among the things they discussed were her dreams of becoming a Brodway actress and the tragic passing of her father, who died of AIDS two years before. She said he made sure to mention that he had donated money to AIDS charities and said he believed she could be a model. Each time she left, he handed her $300, she said.

Things grew sexual the first time she visited Epstein’s mansion without the woman, she said. The financier gave her a tour of the mansion that ended with a visit to what he described as his “favorite room in the house,” where a massage table rested on the floor and a painting of a nude young woman hung on the wall, she said.

“When he first brought me up there, he was like, ‘You know, you remind me so much of this woman in the painting,'” she said. He then asked her to strip down to her painties and give him a massage. “I felt almost obligated because of the money he was giving me,” she said. “I didn’t know if he would get angry or if I didn’t listen what the repercussions would have been. So I kind of just followed. I was so young, so I didn’t know better.” (Read more from “New Epstein Accuser: Here’s How He Lured Me in When I Was Just 14 Years Old” HERE)

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President Trump Should Set the Refugee Cap for 2020 at ZERO

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If over one million people are coming straight to our border this year, much of it fueled by quasi-asylum policies, why should we willingly bring in more people through a separate refugee program? The president should pose that question to the American people and then should announce a cap of zero for annual refugee intake in fiscal year 2020.

The Refugee Act of 1980 [8 U.S.C. §1157(a)(2)] grants the president the sole authority to set the annual cap for refugee intake. He only needs to “consult” with the Senate and House Judiciary committees, but they have no veto power over his decision without changing the law. Thus, there is nothing stopping the president from setting the cap at zero when the State Department sends the annual written report to Congress roughly two months from now.

To his credit, the president did reduce the cap to 45,000 in FY 2018 and 30,000 in FY 2019. So far, for the first three quarters of this fiscal year, 21,604 refugees have been processed. That is a sharp drop from the standard 70,000 cap for most of the past few decades and from the 110,000 cap Obama set in his final year in office. However, with everything going on at the border, it is simply indefensible to bring in more refugees when our system can’t handle the quasi-asylum invasion at our border. Dropping the number of refugees by 80,000 or so is nothing when we have one million people coming to our border.

Whether you believe in holding the line at the border or in processing more catch-and-release for amnesty at the border, either way, we need every resource we have among immigration officers trained in asylum adjudication and processing to deal with the border. Every employee of USCIS needs to be working on clearing the existing backlog in the system being driven by the border invasion. While 30,000 refugees doesn’t sound like a lot based on historical trends, all those employees who would be diverted to that process next year should be marshalled to combat the border crisis.

The refugee program is broken beyond repair anyway, and any sane government official would admit that it should be suspended while we deal with our broken border. We spend 12 times as much money resettling migrants in America as it would cost to resettle them in their own regions. Moreover, as Christians and Jews in the Middle East are becoming extinct, much of the resettlement program has become a fundamental transformation of America by bringing in thousands of non-assimilating Muslims engaged in protracted sectarian civil wars. The cost to Americans in terms of welfare, security, and culture is staggering — and it all enriches self-promoting and parasitic refugee contractors.

Moreover, it’s important to remember that much of the border crisis is already straining the refugee resettlement program under the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The thousands of Central American children smuggled in by illegal alien families are all being processed and resettled just like the refugees we choose to admit from other parts of the world. It’s unfair for the agency and its advocates to double-dip. If we are experiencing record resettlement of Central American kids, which is bankrupting the agency, then there is no reason to electively add more to the program.

Finally, there is also another refugee program not subject to the annual caps, the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, which has continued to grow under the Trump administration. It seems like the only purpose of our military remaining in Afghanistan is to bring in families of those who supposedly helped us in the dubious mission, which runs completely counter to the entire purpose of the War on Terror and the impetus for 9/11 (protecting America from dangerous immigrants). Since Trump took office, the State Department has admitted over 30,000 SIVs from Afghanistan and close to 10,000 from Iraq.

Bottom line? There’s no reason to have a separate refugee program when our entire border and immigration system has become one mass fraudulent refugee system. (For more from the author of “President Trump Should Set the Refugee Cap for 2020 at Zero” please click HERE)

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