Posts

Unreal: Obama Admin Takes BOTH Sides on Driver’s Licenses for Illegals

/2 Comments/in , /by

Just when you thought Obama’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has hit rock bottom, it surprises with novel ways to break the barriers of unprecedented politicization of our nation’s law enforcement.

Earlier this week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with illegal aliens amnestied by Obama and forced the state of Arizona to offer them driver’s licenses. But the illegal aliens and the corrupt legal profession weren’t alone in the war against Arizona’s sovereignty and security. Early on in this case, the Obama Administration filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs, arguing that Arizona is obligated to provide the illegal aliens with driving privileges, even though the entire issue is within the purview of “core police powers” of the state.

However, as my friend Ian Smith of the Immigration Reform Law Institute has told me, this is the complete opposite position they take in Texas v. US, the multi-state case against Obama’s second executive amnesty which will be appearing before the Supreme Court this very month. DOJ is arguing that Texas has no standing to challenge the DAPA amnesty because they have no legitimate grievance or state interest. In order to arrive at that conclusion, DOJ explicitly argued that a state does NOT have to issue driver’s licenses to recipients of Obama’s executive amnesty.

DOJ argued before the district court that “[F]ederal law establishes a presumption that certain categories of aliens, including the recipients of deferred action, are ‘not eligible for any State or local public benefits.” It further admitted that “[S]tates have a choice to issue driver’s licenses to deferred action beneficiaries, so the costs of doing so are “self-inflicted injuries”.

Hence, when it helps the Obama Administration’s argument to assert that states are free to choose (in order to deny Texas standing), the DOJ admits that states have full power over driver’s licenses. At the same time, when it helps Obama’s cause to assert that states must issue driver’s licenses (in order to screw over Arizona), the DOJ has no shame in countermanding its original argument.

And guess what? The same DOJ lawyer listed on the amicus brief in the Arizona case, Acting Assistance AG Joyce Branda, is also listed as an attorney-of-record in the Texas case.

In a little over a week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Texas case on Obama’s executive amnesty. In a rational world governed by the rule of law, all eight justices would laugh this case out of court and uphold the 5th Circuit’s inunction on the illegal power grab. Yet, there are at least four justices who share the view of Obama’s inJustice Department: choose a desired outcome first, select the jurisprudence later – even if they contradict each other to get the desired political result. (For more from the author of “Unreal: Obama Admin Takes BOTH Sides on Driver’s Licenses for Illegals” please click HERE)

Watch a recent interview with the author below:

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Obama Claims Power to Make Illegal Aliens Eligible for Social Security, Disability

/5 Comments/in , /by

Does the president of the United States have the power to unilaterally tell millions of individuals who are violating federal law that he will not enforce that law against them now, that they may continue to violate that law in the future and that he will take action that makes them eligible for federal benefit programs for which they are not currently eligible due to their unlawful status?

Through Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, President Barack Obama is telling the Supreme Court exactly this right now . . .

He argues that under this particular type of “prosecutorial discretion,” the executive can make millions of people in this country illegally eligible for Social Security, disability and Medicare.

On April 18, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case. Entitled United States v. Texas, it pits President Obama against not only the Lone Star State, but also a majority of the states, which have joined in the litigation against the administration.

At issue is the policy the administration calls Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, which would allow aliens in this country illegally who are parents of citizens or lawful permanent residents to stay in the United States. (Read more from “Obama Claims Power to Make Illegal Aliens Eligible for Social Security, Disability” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Border Agents: DHS Has ‘No Intention’ of Deporting Illegals

/3 Comments/in , /by

A top Homeland Security official told Border Patrol agents the Obama administration has “no intention of deporting” many of the illegal immigrants caught trying to sneak into the country, ordering instead that they be released so they don’t clog up the courts, a leading advocate for agents testified to Congress.

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said the orders are a new “catch and release” policy, which he said “amounts to amnesty” because it means many illegal immigrants are never asked to leave the country.

It also suggests the Border Patrol is being ordered to break President Obama’s own enforcement priorities, which say new illegal immigrants — defined as those who came after Dec. 31, 2013 — are priorities for deportation, and are supposed to be arrested and processed.

Mr. Judd provided his testimony in written answers released Monday by the House Judiciary Committee, saying that even in some criminal cases, agents are ordered to let illegal immigrants go without ever issuing them a Notice to Appear, or NTA, which is what puts them into deportation proceedings.

Mr. Judd said they took their case directly to Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who told them not to bother. (Read more from “Border Agents: DHS Has ‘No Intention’ of Deporting Illegals” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Almost 90,000 Dangerous Illegal Aliens Go Free

/1 Comment/in , /by

Nearly 60 percent of illegal immigrants identified by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as criminal threats are not deported and are eventually released, the latest example of the Obama administration’s failed immigration policy.

Internal ICE figures show that in fiscal 2015, the agency encountered 152,393 illegal immigrants labeled a criminal threat, mostly in jails, but charged 64,116. About another 88,000 were not processed for deportation, according to the Center for Immigration Studies’ Jessica Vaughan . . .

Under Obama’s recently announced Priority Enforcement Program, officials work with local police to arrest and deport criminal immigrants. In reality, that amounts to a phone call from ICE requesting local authorities hold the suspect for 48 hours after they’re set to be freed . . .

Richard W. Stanek, sheriff of Hennepin County in Minneapolis, said he had 75 illegals ICE wanted, but the agency only picked up about 35 percent. “And these are people that they want,” he told the Washington Examiner . . .

It’s become a huge issue for local police. Benton said she wants to help ICE and hold illegal immigrants longer, but can’t legally. Often the result is more crime from the suspect and questions about why her department’s jail frees them. (Read more from “Almost 90,000 Dangerous Illegal Aliens Go Free” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Father of Child Murdered by Illegal Alien: Trump ‘Sent From God’ [+video]

/0 Comments/in , /by

A new ad released Friday by Donald Trump’s campaign team tells the story of Jamiel Shaw, a Los Angeles man who lost his teenage son in 2008 when a man in the U.S. illegally randomly shot and killed 17-year-old Jas.

In his first interview since the ad debuted, Shaw, an African-American man, told the Washington Examiner why he chose to support the Republican Manhattan billionaire who has been criticized by some as a racist and a phony.

It started on March 2, 2008, in the Arlington Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles were Jas had been walking home, talking with his girlfriend on a cellphone. He was three doors down from his house when a car pulled up by him. Two Hispanic men in the vehicle asked Jas which gang he belonged to. Police reports indicate Jas did not respond, which frustrated one of the men who pulled out a gun and shot the teen . . .

The journey for Shaw in the eight years since his son’s death still takes a toll on him, he said. But now he has some hope, that in helping to change the policies that abetted his son’s murder, he can find a way to go on.

“This was the first time I thought everything’s really gonna be all right. To me, he was sent from God,” said Shaw. (Read more from “Father of Child Murdered by Illegal Alien: Trump ‘Sent From God'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

John Kasich: ‘God Bless’ Illegal Aliens

/6 Comments/in , /by

Illegal immigrants are “a critical part of our society” and should be provided a route to amnesty, Republican presidential candidate John Kasich tells a coalition of Hispanic company executives.

“For those that are here that have been law abiding, God bless them,” he told the business group, which is a major advocate for expanded immigration.

“Then I think the [illegals] should have a path to legalization… I think that can pass,” Kasich said, using one of the euphemisms for granting legal residency to illegal immigrants.

The Ohio governor also claimed the illegal immigrants are skilled. The illegals “are a critical part of our society from doctors to engineers to lawyers– well, I don’t know if we need more of them [lawyers]– but we’ve got a lot of teachers, whatever,” he said . . .

Kasich’s pro-illegal stance is very unpopular among Republicans and voters, but it is consistent with the views of Democratic progressives and donor-class Republicans who think America should experience a level of foreign migration never before experienced in its history. (Read more from “John Kasich: ‘God Bless’ Illegal Aliens” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Border Agent: ‘We Might as Well Abolish Our Immigration Laws Altogether’

/4 Comments/in , /by

In a shocking reversal of policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are being told to release illegal immigrants and no longer order them to appear at deportation hearings, essentially a license to stay in the United States, a key agent testified Thursday . . .

“We might as well abolish our immigration laws altogether,” suggested agent Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.

Testifying on the two-year border surge of immigrant youths, Judd said the policy shift was prompted by Obama administration “embarrassment” that just over half of illegals ordered to appear in court actually do.

“The willful failure to show up for court appearances by persons that were arrested and released by the Border Patrol has become an extreme embarrassment for the Department of Homeland Security. It has been so embarrassing that DHS and the U.S. attorney’s office has come up with a new policy,” he testified before the immigration subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.

The biggest change: Undocumented immigrants are no longer given a “notice to appear” order, because they simply ignore them. Judd said that border agents jokingly refer to the NTAs as “notices to disappear.” (Read more from “Border Agent: ‘We Might as Well Abolish Our Immigration Laws Altogether'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Feds Dramatically Reduce Border Surveillance as Number of Illegal Crossings Climb

/5 Comments/in , /by

Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, pressed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Monday to explain why the agency plans to reduce its aerial surveillance on the Texas-Mexico border.

In a letter to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, the lawmakers said the cut to a requested 3,850 hours of aerial detection and monitoring in 2016 amounts to 50 percent less coverage than recent years.

“Given the recent surge of migrants from Central America and Cuba along the southern border, we believe DHS should request more surveillance and security resources, not fewer,” Abbott and Cuellar wrote in a letter.

The pair also reminded Johnson that in September, Abbott’s office asked the DHS for more aerial resources and U.S. Border Patrol agents but that the request was never acknowledged . . .

Monday’s request comes as CBP is reporting a new surge in the number of undocumented immigrants crossing the Rio Grande. From October to December of 2015, about 10,560 unaccompanied minors entered Texas illegally through the Rio Grande Valley sector of the U.S. Border Patrol. That marks a 115 percent increase over the same time frame in 2014. The amount of family units, defined as at least one child and adult guardian or parent, has increased by 170 percent to 14,336 in the Rio Grande Valley. (Read more from “Feds Dramatically Reduce Border Surveillance as Number of Illegal Crossings Climb” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Indiana Ponders Revoking Business Licenses From Employers Who Hire Illegal Aliens

/3 Comments/in , /by

Indiana may crack down soon on employers who hire illegal immigrants, under a new bill that would prohibit those convicted of doing so from practicing business in the state.

The legislation, announced in the Indiana General Assembly last week, would enable judges to revoke business licenses from employers who repeatedly and “knowingly” hire illegal immigrants.

State Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, told IndyStar that he introduced the bill to strip financial incentives from employers “who profit off of illegal immigration.”

Jon Feere, a legal policy analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies, said the legislation imposes “high stakes” on employers. He said it likely would spur more businesses to use E-Verify—the government database that matches an employee’s I-9 form to federal records for confirm legal eligibility to work.

To that end, Feere told The Daily Signal, the bill effectively would discourage illegal hiring practices because employers who use the federal registration system would be immune from prosecution. He said:

Ultimately, that’s a good thing for employers who are law-abiding since they will no longer have to compete with unscrupulous businesses that get work and sales by undercutting wages. It’s also a good thing for legal workers and taxpayers, who will likely see illegal immigration deterred from Indiana.

Indiana law currently requires that state agencies and public contractors use E-Verify. Private employers only need to enroll if they would like to qualify for specific tax credits on state income taxes.

Although the bill could be effective in encouraging businesses to use E-Verify, Feere said, it may be more effective for state legislators to simply mandate that all employers use the system.

A study from the Pew Research Center found that Indiana’s population of illegal immigrants sharply dropped off in recent years, falling from 100,000 in 2009 to 85,000 in 2012.

At least three states—Alabama, Arizona, and Missouri—already have laws in place that strip business licenses from employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, said Delph’s legislation threatens economic development in the state and hinders the chamber’s efforts to spur job growth.

“We absolutely do not condone employers knowingly hiring undocumented workers, but sometime it’s hard to distinguish what’s knowingly and what’s unknowingly,” he told The Daily Signal. “The punishment just doesn’t fit the crime.”

Brinegar said because immigration is a federal issue, it should be dealt with at the federal level, not at the state level.

“It could certainly be argued that Congress has done an abysmal job dealing with that issue, but that doesn’t mean that states should start taking things into their own hands,” he said.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, said the constitutionality of revoking business licenses from employers who hire illegal immigrants was settled in 2011.

The Supreme Court ruled on an identical Arizona law when it took up Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, von Spakovsky told The Daily Signal. Noting the high court decided that federal law didn’t prevent states from imposing penalties on businesses that hire illegal immigrants, he said of the Indiana measure:

This is a great piece of legislation that can be a very effective tool in preventing employers from hiring illegal aliens, particularly in the face of the unwillingness of the Obama administration to enforce federal prohibitions on such hiring.

(For more from the author of “Indiana Ponders Revoking Business Licenses From Employers Who Hire Illegal Aliens” please click HERE)

Watch a recent interview with the author below:

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

DHS Says Sweep of Illegals Has Begun

/3 Comments/in , /by

Moving to belatedly counter another surge of illegal immigrants from Central America, the Department of Homeland Security has launched a series of raids to kick out some of the arrivals, Secretary Jeh Johnson said Monday, defending his move to enraged immigrant rights activists who say the Obama administration is being inhumane.

All told, 121 people were rounded up — a tiny fraction of the more than 110,000 Central American family members that sneaked into the country over the past year and a half, putting strains on the immigration system and on schools and authorities who have to educate and police the newcomers.

Mr. Johnson, who thought he had ended the surge in 2014 only to be stunned by another wave beginning last spring, said in a statement that enforcing the law in this case is the best way to send a message that the U.S. is serious about defending its borders.

He said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement focused the first round of raids on Georgia, Texas and North Carolina. Those they have caught are being prepared for flights back to their home countries.

“I know there are many who loudly condemn our enforcement efforts as far too harsh, while there will be others who say these actions don’t go far enough. I also recognize the reality of the pain that deportations do in fact cause,” he said. “But, we must enforce the law consistent with our priorities. At all times, we endeavor to do this consistent with American values, and basic principles of decency, fairness, and humanity.” (Read more from “DHS Says Sweep of Illegals Has Begun” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.