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WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --The following statements were issued by Dan Stein, President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and Mark Morgan, former Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and FAIR Senior Fellow, in response to last night's Supreme Court ruling requiring the Biden administration to reinstate the highly effective Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program

Dan Stein, President of FAIR

"MPP was the most successful tool in stemming the flood of migrants attempting to reach the United States and defraud our asylum system. It deterred those with specious claims from attempting to abuse our asylum system by sending a clear message that they would not succeed which is precisely why the Biden administration, driven by radical left extremists, put an end to it.

"It is now up to the Judiciary to make sure that the Biden administration complies with both the letter and the spirit of the Supreme Court's ruling. Given the magnitude of the crisis this administration created by canceling MPP, and ominous warnings by the Pentagon of increased threats from international terrorist organizations in the aftermath of the administration's debacle in Afghanistan, it is imperative that the Biden administration comply fully and hastily with the Court's ruling."

Mark Morgan, former Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and FAIR Senior Fellow

"The evidence of MPP's effectiveness was the 75% reduction in the flow of illegal alien families crossing our southern border. The message was clear - no longer would a child be exploited to be used as a passport to gain entry into the US.

"Deterrence is the most effective and humane form of law enforcement. The number of people making the trek to our border began to increase exponentially immediately after the Biden administration arbitrarily canceled MPP. This politically-driven and, in the eyes of the Supreme Court, illegal act has resulted in needless deaths in the wilderness, the exploitation of children, the enrichment of criminal cartels, and growing threats to the health and safety of the American public.

"Based on this administration's track record, there is every reason to believe they will invent countless reasons to drag their feet in response to the Court's order that they reinstate MPP. Having been part of the team that created MPP in 2019, I can attest to the fact that it can be restarted quickly with the cooperation of our partners in Mexico who have as much reason as we do to want to end the chaos that the Biden administration has created at the border.

"Many of us who were involved in the creation of MPP have served in both Republican and Democratic administrations. All Secretary Mayorkas needs to do is call us if he needs our help again. This is not a political issue. Ending the chaos at the border is in the interests of the United States, Mexico, and those who truly deserve political asylum in our country."

Contact: Matthew Tragesser, 202-328-7004 or [emailprotected]

ABOUT FAIR

Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

http://www.fairus.org

Originally posted here:
FAIR: Supreme Court Ruling Ordering the Biden Administration to Reinstate Migrant Protection Protocols is a Big Win for the Health and Safety of the...

The more power government has, the more weapons that are available for officials to wield against people who rub them the wrong way. That's true when it involves the (thankfully former) governor of New York abusing regulatory powers to cut gun-rights groups off from banks and insurance, and it's also true when immigration officers selectively target activists for arrest and mistreatment in order to silence them and intimidate their allies.

"For years, activist Maru Mora-Villalpando has organized hunger strikes to protest conditions at an immigrant detention center in Washington state," NPR noted in a recent story. "By 2017, she'd gotten the attention of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One high-ranking ICE officer described her as an 'instigator' in an internal email. Another responded that Mora-Villalpando was a 'well-known local illegal alien,' and suggested that trying to deport her might 'take away some of her 'clout.'"

Targeting immigration enforcement efforts directly against people who protest and organize for changes in immigration law is an overtly politicized use of government power. Even those who like the law just the way it is, or who favor changes directly opposed to those advocated by Mora-Villalpando, should recognize the dangers of using enforcement as punishment. That's especially true since her case is far from isolated.

"Federal immigration officers have long engaged in a pattern of surveillance ofand outright retaliation againstindividuals advocating for immigrants across the country," according to a recent report from the University of Washington School of Law Immigration Clinic. "Court filings, internal government records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and related litigation, and interviews with five immigrants' rights organizations across the countryOrganized Communities Against Deportation (OCAD) in Chicago, IL; La Resistencia in Washington State; Grassroots Leadership in Austin, TX; Comunidad Colectiva in Charlotte, NC; and Migrant Justice in Vermontreveal a sustained campaign of ICE surveillance and repression against advocacy groups and activists."

The report goes on to detail the measures authorities take to identify and penalize activists, including placing them under close observation, harassing them, circulating their photographs, and barring them from facilities. Informants are called upon to identify people associated with activist groups. And, of course, activists are targeted for arrest and deportation.

Targeting can take a more brutal turn, too, according to the report. After a woman identified only as Laura alleged that she'd been sexually assaulted at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center in Texas, "Hutto guards assaulted, threatened, and isolated Laura, denied her medical attention, and attempted to force her to recant her accusations."

Laura's treatment involves clear acts of criminality by the authorities, but most cases revolve around selective enforcement. One such case resulted in the deportation to Argentina of Claudio Rojas, who lived, worked, and raised a family in the United States for years while going through the process to legalize his status. Then, he publicly criticized immigration policy.

"Everything changed suddenly when I was featured in a documentary film," Rojas wrote earlier this year for the Daily Beast. "The Infiltrators premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2019. Weeks after the film (and my name) was in the national news, I was suddenly deported. I had been in the United States for almost 20 years. To justify the sudden deportation, ICE falsely accused me of 'crimes.' It was clear that the true motivation was to punish me for speaking out."

Questioned in April about such cases of retaliation, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas grandly answered that "retaliation in response to the constitutionally protected right of free speech and, quite frankly, the obligation, the civic obligation, to protest government positions with which one disagrees, that's just unacceptable."

When specifically asked whether Rojas and those like him might be returned to the U.S., Mayorkas vaguely offered to check with DHS's Family Reunification Taskforce, created earlier this year, "about the community of people who might have claims of retaliation and to see if we can look into those as part of our overarching effort."

Being charitable, that's probably about as much as can be expected from an official unfamiliar with specific cases who doesn't want to commit to a course of action on abuses inherited from previous administrations. But it's cold comfort to even relatively prominent figures like Rojas whose case was brought before the head of DHS, and like Maru Mora-Villalpando, who has support from the United Nations, and still live in limbo. The many lesser-known activists targeted because they angered immigration officials by criticizing government conduct have even less hope for respect for their rights by government agents accustomed to punishing people for standing out.

Selective enforcement against people not for being in violation of the law, but for ticking-off government officials by advocating for changes in the law, should frighten even those who pride themselves as hardliners on immigration. After all, the United States isn't short on hot-button policy disagreements that divide supporters of enforcement from advocates of reform. From guns to drugs to sexual expression to free speech itself, Americans are at odds with government and each other on a host of issues. If speaking out against the law is enough to paint targets on our backs, then many people are at risk well beyond the world of immigration reform activists.

"Where federal agencies targeted an individual because they were engaging in protected speech critical of the government, they should restore them to their prior status," the University of Washington immigration clinic report urges the Biden administration with regard to immigration activists. That's excellent advice on any issuecriticizing official policy of any sort shouldn't be grounds for surveillance, arrest, and abuse.

But admonitions that government shouldn't target critics for special attention is also a reminder that law is always dangerous in ways that extend well beyond its intended application. Any opportunity for wielding coercive power will ultimately be used as a weapon by government agents against people they don't like.

See the article here:
Immigration Activists Targeted for Deportation and Harassment - Reason

What experience has prepared you to take over leadership of the worlds fifth largest economy?I am a businessman. I have run multimillion-dollar businesses. I know how to make a business profitable. I know I can turn the State of California into becoming profitable again.

Do you believe Joe Biden was lawfully elected president? No

Should an ethnic studies course be required for high school graduation?No

Defund police? No

Should government make any vaccine mandatory, including for polio and smallpox? No

Under California law, low-income women are eligible for taxpayer-funded abortions. Do you support this? No

Should the governors emergency powers be altered, and if so, how?I believe our emergency powers have been misused. I think there should be an end date. I think there should be a limit to the emergency powers. I think we should work together for solutions and not a band-aid.

If you had $25 billion to spend on homelessness, what would you do with it? I would put this money into mental health care. With my homeless reform plan, it will NOT need $25 billion. I think the current budget needs to be put in different places to be more effective. Please visit my website for detailed information.

As governor, would you direct the state to do more to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement?Under a Martinez administration, I have an Immigration reform solution, which includes finishing the border wall, more border patrol agents, immigration reform and having everyone pay their equal share of taxes. What would you do to decrease the chance of destructive wildfires? I would bring back the lumber industry, forest management and clearing up the forest. We will never eliminate wildfires, but we can make it less destructive.

What emergency steps would you take during a drought to allocate water usage among Californians?Under a Martinez administration, I will build more dams and reservoirs. I will also work with the private sector to build more desalination plants.

Do you support Californias climate change initiatives? If no, what would you change?Climate change is extremely important. However, with forest management and my reform water solutions, under a Martinez administration, everyone will see a difference in climate change!

See more here:
Meet the other recall candidates: Diego Martinez - Los Angeles Times

It was fun while it lasted.

The European Union recommended member states reinstate travel restrictions on U.S. visitors that were lifted as recently as June, according to multiple media reports.

Plans for the move, first reported by Reuters, arose amid a Covid-19 surge fueled by the delta variant and a lack of reciprocity from American officials, who have not lifted the U.S. entry ban on EU citizens earlier this year.

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Now that restrictions are renewed, Americans traveling to the bloc's 27 member nations might be subject to measures such as Covid testing, quarantine upon arrival and a halt to all non-essential travel. The EU recommendation is non-binding, however, and member states retain control over their own border restrictions vis-a-vis Covid.

According to published reports, the EU is also removing five other nations from its nonbinding list of 23 nations exempted from travel restrictions: Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro and North Macedonia. Countries reportedly retaining least restrictive status include Canada, Japan, Qatar and Ukraine.

The EU maintains a website detailing developments on international visitor access at Reopen.europa.eu/en.

Continued here:
EU recommends reinstating travel restrictions on U.S. travelers - CNBC

Over the past two decades, the Afghan broadcaster Tolo has been known for provocative programs like Burka Avenger, in which an animated superheroine uses martial arts to vanquish villains trying to shut down a girls school.

Millions of Afghans have also tuned in to its racy Turkish soap operas, its popular 6 P.M. News and the reality show Afghan Star, featuring female singers dancing energetically on Afghanistans version of American Idol.

Since the Taliban captured Afghanistans capital, Kabul, on Aug. 15, however, Tolos usual lineup has been supplemented by something else: educational programming about Islamic morality. Whether its menu of pop music and female television hosts survive in the Talibans new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will be a barometer of the insurgents tolerance for dissenting views and values.

To be honest, Im still surprised we are up and running, said Saad Mohseni, Tolos co-owner, an Australian-Afghan former investment banker who started Moby Group, which owns Tolo, in 2002. We know what the Taliban stand for.

Keen to gain international legitimacy, the Taliban have been seeking to rebrand themselves as more moderate since they stormed Kabul, offering former rivals amnesty and urging women to join the government. They have vowed to support media freedom, on the condition that outlets subscribe to Islamic values. A Taliban spokesman even appeared on a Tolo news program hosted by a female anchor just days after the group captured Kabul.

But journalists and human rights advocates say there are ominous signs that a violent media clampdown is underway.

Taliban fighters hunted a journalist from the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle who had already left the country, fatally shooting a member of his family and seriously injuring another, according to the broadcaster.

Ziar Khan Yaad, a Tolo journalist, and a cameraman were beaten by five Taliban fighters at gunpoint while out reporting last week.

The Taliban have also barred at least two female journalists from their jobs at the public broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan. And the woman who hosted the Taliban spokesman on a Tolo news program is no longer at the network.

Follow this link:
Can Afghanistans leading broadcaster survive the Taliban? - The New York Times