Archive for the ‘Illegal Immigration’ Category

Homeland Security Chief Tempers Trump Illegal Immigration Promises – Fox Business

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly tempered some of President Donald Trump's recent promises on curbing illegal immigration before a congressional panel on Tuesday, explaining that funding to cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration agents would only be cut on a case-by-case basis.

Trump has threatened to cut large swaths of federal funding to about 300 so-called 'sanctuary cities' in order to pressure them to cooperate in the apprehension and deportation of illegal immigrants.

"If we are specifically giving grants for cooperation on the removal of illegal aliens and the department or city is no longer doing that, it seems irresponsible to me to continue giving them the money, but it will be case by case," Kelly told the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security.

Trump's executive order on Jan. 25 protected police from funding cuts but left programs like education and healthcare on the table.

Kelly also said he did not expect to meet Trump's hiring goals of 5,000 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents within two years. Trump did not specify a timeline when he called for the hiring in his executive action on Jan. 25.

Kelly said he would not "skip on training and standards" to speed up the pace of hiring.

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Lawmakers grilled Kelly over the controversial immigration ban on refugees and visa holders from seven countries, which is temporarily on hold by a court order.

Kelly defended the order, claiming that the seven countries were known to have inadequate systems for sharing information with the United States on their potentially dangerous citizens.

Reports circulated last week that twelve countries could be added to the travel ban were false, Kelly said, adding that no additional countries were being considered for the temporary travel ban.

Kelly also said that the wall Trump has called for building on the U.S.-Mexico border may include fence and may not cover the whole border. He said he expected to be "well under way" in the construction of some kind of physical barrier along parts of the border within two years.

Kelly previously told Fox News he expected the barrier to be finished within two years.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley, additional reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrew Hay)

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Homeland Security Chief Tempers Trump Illegal Immigration Promises - Fox Business

Eight Million Illegal Aliens Qualify for Deportation Under Trump, Says Report – Breitbart News

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According to figures compiled by the Los Angeles Times, the total comes after speaking with experts reviewing details of Trumps immigration overhaul and law enforcement agencies who will implement the orders.

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Under Trumps immigration orders, nearly any illegal alien who comes in contact with law enforcement officers can be deported for entering the country illegally, as the LA Times notes.

Many of those eight million illegal aliens hold jobs in the U.S. where they have lied on federal documents, claiming they are eligible to work in the country; acts subject to deportation.

Likewise, smaller cohorts of the population improperly receiving welfare benefits, using fraudulent identity cards, or found driving without a license will qualify for removal as well.

Illegal immigrants who have been accused or convicted of crimes, specifically violent ones, will be prioritized for deportation.

Ronald Mortensen with the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) wrote that the eight million illegal immigrants eligible for deportation would mean Trumps order could deport some 75 percent of the countrys illegal alien population.

Mortensen argues that the perpetuated narrative of illegal aliens paying into the Social Security system through payroll taxes means that they fraudulently obtained Social Security numbers, sometimes even stolen from American citizens.

So, until President Trump issued E.O. 13768, the career politicians that he replaced had consistently put illegal aliens first and deliberately ignored the terrible harm done to the American men, women, and children whose Social Security numbers are stolen, Mortensen wrote in a blog post.

Rather than protecting Americans, career politicians and their business, media, and faith-based allies stood by as the medical records of innocent children were corrupted by illegal aliens using their Social Security numbers, with life-threatening consequences, Mortensen continued. They did nothing as their constituents and neighbors credit records were destroyed by illegal aliens and as the arrest records of illegal aliens were attached to the stolen Social Security numbers of hard-working Americans.

Trumps overhaul is a major contrast to former President Obamas immigration orders, where only about 1.4 million illegal aliens were considered qualified for deportation.

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Eight Million Illegal Aliens Qualify for Deportation Under Trump, Says Report - Breitbart News

Illegal immigrant living in Brookline deported back to Mexico a 5th … – WPXI Pittsburgh

Updated: Feb 7, 2017 - 6:58 PM

An illegal immigrant who was living in Brookline has been deported in what could be the conclusion to a long fight to keep him in the country with his family.

Activists said Martin Esquivel-Hernandez was deported back to Mexico on Tuesday morning.

Officials found that he was in the United States illegally when he was pulled over for a traffic violation in March 2016 and did not have legal documentation. A few days later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Esquivel-Hernandez for illegally crossing the border.

The incident was the fifth time Esquivel-Hernandez was arrested in the United States for being in the country illegally. He was captured and returned to Mexico four times before coming to Pittsburgh several years ago.

His felony charge was dismissed, but in January, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement determined he would be deported again. An ICE spokesperson said in a statement:

Mr. Esquivel-Hernandez has two misdemeanor convictions, one from 2012 and 2017, and federal authorities removed him to Mexico four times since 2011, with the latest removal taking place in 2012. As a result, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has designated Mr. Esquivel-Hernandez's case as a priority for immigration enforcement.

Esquivel-Hernandez said he came to the United States to escape drug gangs in Mexico City who threatened him for his work in the military.

Esquivel-Hernandezs supporters said he came to the United States to be with his mother, wife and children. Despite his illegal status, activists fought for months to keep him in the country. The rallies continued even after word that he was deported. Tuesday evening.

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Illegal immigrant living in Brookline deported back to Mexico a 5th ... - WPXI Pittsburgh

Richmond mayor renews city’s protection of illegal immigrants – wtkr.com

RICHMOND Richmond is joining a national movement to protect immigrants and refugees in light of recent presidential executive actions.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney signed a mayoral directive Monday reaffirming his commitment to protect and promote the safety of all members of the community regardless of their immigration or refugee status.

The directive is a response to protests and a petition with about 1,400 signatures asking Stoney to take action against President Trumps executive order issued Jan. 25 that blocks funding to sanctuary cities, which are jurisdictions that limit law enforcement cooperation with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

America is a nation of immigrants, Stoney said. Unless you are Native American, all of us are from somewhere else. This is not as some have suggested a weakness. Rather, it is our strength. It is what makes us great. It is why so many from so many parts of the world want to make this country their home.

Trumps executive action was signed the same day he ordered the construction of a border wall between Mexico and the United States, in efforts to combat undocumented immigration.

Were in the middle of a crisis on our southern border, Trump said. A nation without borders is not a nation.

The presidential order also directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to release a weekly list of criminal acts committed by aliens in sanctuary jurisdictions, to better inform the public regarding the public safety threats associated with sanctuary jurisdictions.

This action against undocumented immigrants is reminiscent of Trumps controversial campaign statement in 2015, in which he said The Mexican government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc.

Stoney avoided using sanctuary city to describe Richmond, instead stressing the citys existing policy of being inclusive to illegal immigrants.

Today, by this directive, Richmond reaffirms its position where it has been since Day One on this issue. That we stand with all our residents as a Welcoming city, inclusive and diverse. That we are ONE RICHMOND, Stoney said.

The directive says, The Richmond Police Department will not consent to participate with the Immigration Customs Enforcement 287(g) agreements and will focus on residents well-being, not their legal status.

Immigration Customs Enforcement 287(g) authorizes the director of ICE to enter into agreements with local law enforcement to train and perform immigration law functions. Currently the only 287(g) agreement in Virginia involves the Prince William-Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center.

The Richmond Police Department already has a policy of not reporting undocumented residents to the immigration authorities unless they have committed certain criminal offenses.

At no time during any citizen interaction does the RPD ask any person about their immigration status, said Police Chief Alfred Durham.

Stoneys action could be met with criticism from members of the General Assembly, who are currently voting on bills to block sanctuary cities in Virginia.

Stoney issued the mayoral directive on the same day the Virginia Senate passed a bill to hold sanctuary cities liable for certain injuries and damages caused by illegal aliens. For example, if an illegal immigrant were to get into a fender-bender with a resident, the state would be responsible for paying the damages. The bill, SB 1262, sponsored by Sen. Dick Black, R-Loudoun County, was met with heavy criticism by Democrats in the Senate who argued that it was impossible to enforce and a burden on taxpayers.

House Bill 2000, by Del. Charles Poindexter, R-Franklin County, and HB 2236, by Del. Ben Cline, R-Lexington, both prohibit sanctuary policies. House Bill 1468, sponsored by Del. Robert Marshall, R-Prince William, would prohibit government officials from releasing incarcerated aliens for whom ICE has issued a detainer.

We need to keep our country, and our city, safe from those who would do us harm, and no one, citizen or not, is exempt from justice if they commit crimes against their neighbors, Stoney said. But actions such as those taken by the 45th President through these executive orders actions like those embedded in several bills currently before our General Assembly, do not make us stronger. They peddle fear. They are ill-informed and misguided attempts to protect us, that arguably make us less safe in our communities. Some are unconstitutional, and others are just un-American. That is not the country we are, and it is not the city we will be.

In the Virginia General Assembly, no anti-sanctuary bill has yet passed its house of origin and could be dropped by crossover day, the Tuesday deadline for bills to be approved by their house of origin.

Other states, such as Texas, are also seeking harsher penalties for cities that take up sanctuary policies in their states.

According to the Immigration Legal Resource Center, four states have statewide laws that limit how local police cooperation with ICE. They include Oregon which officially became a sanctuary state just three days ago.

The center also identified 364 counties and 39 cities that have similar policies.

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Richmond mayor renews city's protection of illegal immigrants - wtkr.com

Illegal Immigration Is Not a Religious Issue – LifeZette

In the margin of a public speakers manuscript was the notation: Weak point. Shout.

Such is the rhetoric of those who place emotion over logic and make policy through gangs rather than parliaments. In Athens some 2,400 years ago, Aristophanes described ademagogue as having a screeching, horrible voice, a perverse, cross-grained nature and the language of the marketplace.

While 10 percent of the Syrian population is Christian, only one-half of 1percent of the Syrian Christians were granted asylum.

That marketplace today includes the biased media and the universities that have become day care centers.

The recent action of our governments executive branch to protect our borders and enforce national security is based on constitutional obligations (Art. Isec 10 and Art. IVsec 4). It is a practical protection of the tranquility of order explained by Saint Augustine when he saw the tranquillitas ordinis of Roman civilization threatened.

Saint Thomas Aquinas sanctioned border control (S. Th. I-II, Q. 105, Art. 3). No mobs shouted in the marketplace two years ago when the Terrorist Travel Prevention Act restricted visa waivers for Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen.

The present ban continues that, and only for a stipulated 90 days, save for Syria. There is no Muslim ban, as should be obvious from the fact that the restrictions do not apply to other countries with Muslim majorities, such as Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Turkey.

Related:The Refugee Order Is Not at Odds with Christianity

These are facts ignored by demagogues who speak of tears running down the face of the Statue of Liberty. At issue is not immigration, but illegal immigration. It is certainly manipulative of reason to justify uncontrolled immigration by citing previous generations of immigrants to our shores, all of whom went through the legal process, mostly in the halls of Ellis Island. And it is close to blasphemy to invoke the Holy Family as antinomian refugees, for they went to Bethlehem in obedience to a civil decree requiring tax registration, and they violated no statutes when they sought protection in Egypt.

Then there was Saint Paul, who worked within the legal system, and invoked his Roman citizenship through privileges granted to his native Tarsus in 66 B.C. (Acts 16:35-38; 22:25-29; 25:11-12). He followed ordered procedure, probably with the status of civis Romanus non optimo jure a legal citizen, but not allowed to act as a magistrate.

It is obvious the indignant demonstrators against the new executive orders are funded in no little part by wealthy interests who would provoke agitation. These same people have not shown any concern forthe neglected Christians seeking refuge from persecution in the Middle East.

In 2016 there was a 675-percent increase in the number of Syrian refugees over the previous year, but while 10 percent of the Syrian population is Christian, only one-half of 1percent of the Syrian Christians were granted asylum. It is thankworthy that our changed government now wants to redress that. The logic of that policy must not be shouted down by those who screech rather than reason.

Fr. George William Rutler is a Catholic priest and the pastor of the Church of St. Michael in Manhattan. This article originally appeared in his parish church bulletin and is used by permission.

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Illegal Immigration Is Not a Religious Issue - LifeZette