In his first sit-down interview since taking over DHS, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf discussed the dangers of sanctuary cities, border wall construction and new plans to combat the gangs that control the flow of illegal migrants across the border. Wolf spoke to Fox News during a visit to the Texas-Mexico border.
In a series of tweets today, President Trump said he would "close the Southern Border entirely" if Democrats do not agree to fund the wall and to change the nation’s “ridiculous” asylum laws. The threats come on the seventh day of a partial government shutdown. At this point no votes are expected until Trump and Democratic leaders reach a funding deal.
San Francisco District Judge Jon Tigar temporarily blocked President Trump’s new rule which prevents illegal border crossers from requesting asylum. The judge ruled that federal law allows any foreign national who reaches U.S. soil to request asylum. The ruling is a setback for the Administration’s attempt to cope with the Central American caravan now arriving at the southwest border.
Ruling in two cases before him, Attorney General Jeff Sessions determined that immigration court judges may not end removal proceedings unless DHS has failed to prove its case for deportation or regulations expressly authorize it. His ruling notes that “immigration judges have no inherent authority to terminate or dismiss removal proceedings,” and that “authority to dismiss or terminate proceedings is not a free-floating power an immigration judge may invoke whenever he or she believes that a case no longer merits space on the docket.”
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) introduced a resolution in Congress calling for the designation of Cesar Chavez's birthday, March 31, as National Border Control Day. The late civil rights icon and founder of the United Farm Workers union was a strong opponent of illegal immigration and supporter of increasing border controls.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Tex., unveiled a plan to overhaul homeland security that includes: “extreme vetting” of foreign travelers; revamping the visa application process; immediate suspension of all immigration, including refugees, from high-risk areas; building a wall and increasing border assets; ending catch-and-release policies; reforming asylum standards; deporting criminal aliens; ending sanctuary cities; implementing a full entry-exit system; re-examining guest-worker programs; and mandating E-Verify.
The Center for Immigration Studies’ Jessica Vaughn today revealed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) diverted $167 million from numerous programs to pay for the housing and care of those designated as unaccompanied alien children. With the latest border surge, HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is caring for a record number of illegal-alien minors. The shifted funds will cover just one month’s expenses, and the agency may need an additional $1-2 billion in fiscal year 2017.
The Washington Examiner reports the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) and a number groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that its policies did not take into consideration the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. Julie Axelrod, IRLI’s lead counsel on the case, said, “Our lawsuit will demonstrate that legal and illegal immigration have a very significant impact on the environment, which DHS has spent the last 46 years ignoring.”
Former Senator and possible presidential candidate Rick Santorum laid out an immigration policy that he says “prioritizes American’s needs, workers, and families.” It calls for: securing the border and ending the border surge; tracking all entries and exits; making E-Verify mandatory; ending birthright citizenship for aliens; pursuing interior enforcement; reducing legal immigration; and denying further work permits to illegal aliens.
The Washington Times’ Stephan Dinan explored one product of President Obama’s decision to relocate and care for, rather than deport unaccompanied alien children that surged over the southern border. He found that some of the minors have been charged with serious crimes such as murder and aggravated rape – a harbinger of problems to come this year as DHS begins to handle another surge. This undermines Obama's "felons, not families" rationale for his November 2014 amnesties, which are now the subject of litigation in a Texas District court