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WHITE HOUSE RELEASES REVISES TRAVEL BAN
President Trump has issued another executive order to extend and broaden the travel band that expired on Sunday.
The new travel ban will be more impervious to challenges from the Supreme Court, and will require foreign governments to improve their identity management, issue more secure passports, identify serious criminals, and provide information on known or suspected terrorists.
The new travel makes changes to the immigration policy the US has with different countries. The travel ban on Sudan has been lifted. North Korea, Chad, and Venezuela have been added to the list of banned countries (although this ban only extends to North Korean and Venezuelan government officials). Libya, Somalia, Iran, Syria, and Yemen will remain.
The White House has stated that the new travel ban has created a new “baseline for information sharing to support visa and immigration vetting determinations.” President Trump stated:
“Following an extensive review by the Department of Homeland Security, we are taking action today to protect the safety and security of the American people by establishing a minimum security baseline for entry into the United States. We cannot afford to continue the failed policies of the past, which present an unacceptable danger to our country. My highest obligation is to ensure the safety and security of the American people, and in issuing this new travel order, I am fulfilling that sacred obligation.”
TRUMP TO REPEAL DACA
President Donald Trump has officially ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy.
President Trump had criticised DACA during his 2016 Presidential campaign. In an official statement, President Trump stated:
“As President, my highest duty is to defend the American people and the Constitution of the United States of America. At the same time, I do not favour punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are a nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.”
Trump continued:
“The legislative branch, not the executive branch, writes these laws — this is the bedrock of our Constitutional system, which I took a solemn oath to preserve, protect, and defend. In June of 2012, President Obama bypassed Congress to give work permits, social security numbers, and federal benefits to approximately 800,000 illegal immigrants currently between the ages of 15 and 36. The typical recipients of this executive amnesty, known as DACA, are in their twenties. Legislation offering these same benefits had been introduced in Congress on numerous occasions and rejected each time.”
President Trump reportedly plans to give US Congress six months to pass legislation that would address the hundreds of thousands of DACA immigrants. According to the Daily Beast, there are approximately eight-hundred-thousand immigrants that benefit from the DACA policy. All of these people could feasibly be deported.
DACA, which was created by an executive action in 2012, was started by Former President Obama, to protect illegal immigrants who had arrived in the United States as children. The policy has been in legal limbo for years with ten Republican-led states threatening to sue over the alleged unconstitutionality of the policy.
Under DACA, applicants are required to prove they have immigrated to the United States illegally, must pay a US$495.00 application fee, and renew their deferment every two years. Once the applicant has been accepted, they are eligible for social security cards, welfare benefits, and are eligible for work and study permits.
Former President Obama has released a statement accusing President Trump of casting a shadow on some of America’s “best and brightest young people.” Former President Obama stated on Facebook:
“Some 800,000 young people stepped forward, met rigorous requirements, and went through background checks. And America grew stronger as a result. But today, that shadow has been cast over some of our best and brightest young people once again.”
Former President Obama continued:
“To target these young people is wrong – because they have done nothing wrong. It is self-defeating – because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel.”
Predictably, the left has vowed to increase “resistance” against President Trump. Similarly, Democrats have accused President Trump of racism. New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, has claimed he will sue to protect DACA immigrants living in New York. Schneiderman stated:
“President Trump’s decision to end the DACA program would be cruel, gratuitous, and devastating to tens of thousands of New Yorkers—and I will sue to protect them. Dreamers are Americans in every way.”
Left-wing documentary filmmaker, Michael Moore, stated on twitter:
“To the streets! Find out where the DACA protest is where u live and SHOW UP! If we are ever to be a decent country, this is your moment.”
Karine Jean-Pierre of MoveOn.org has claimed that President Trump’s decision only serves to advance the “white supremacy agenda.” Similarly, Modern Family producer, Danny Zuker, showing true left-wing tolerance to different opinions, told Christians: “if you support [Donald Trump’s] decision to end DACA your Christianity is bulls***. But on the other hand f*** you.”
Some Republicans, including Republican Congressman from Wisconsin, Paul Ryan, have urged President Trump to hold off rescinding DACA so a legislative agenda can be achieved. Ryan stated:
“The president’s announcement does not revoke permits immediately, and it is important that those affected have clarity on how this interim period will be carried out. At the heart of this issue are young people who came to this country through no fault of their own, and for many of them it’s the only country they know.”
Republican Senator from Oklahoma, James Lankford, and Republican Senator from Arizona, John McCain, meanwhile have argued that children should not be punished for the actions of their parents.
In the end, rescinding DACA and other disastrous Obama-era immigration policies will be important steps in allowing the United States to reclaim control over its borders and immigration.
TRUMP THREATENS A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Tuesday – President Trump has threatened to shut down the government if Congress doesn’t pass a spending bill that includes financing for the US-Mexico border wall.
Trump stated at a political rally in Phoenix, Arizona, Trump stated:
“The obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it, but believe me, if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall.”
Trump went on to remind the crowd that he had been elected to bring down illegal immigration and boost national security. He then accused the Democrats of hurting national security and putting American lives at risk, stating:
“Let me be very clear to Democrats in Congress who oppose a border wall and stand in the way of border security: you are putting all of American’s safety at risk.”
Trump’s immigration policy has received support from conservatives in the congress. House Freedom Caucus Chairman, Republican. Congressman from North Carolina, Mark Meadows, stated:
“I applaud President Trump for his leadership on this issue and for his relentless commitment to keeping a promise that was central to his campaign. Congress would do well to join the President and follow through on our own promises by including funding for a border wall in upcoming spending bills–anything less will show that we are not serious about keeping our word to the American people.”
Similarly, Republican Congressman from Virginia, Dave Brat, stated in support:
“The American people placed their trust in the President and Republicans in Congress last November with the expectation that we would finally take action to secure the border. Our country is the melting pot of the world and I support legal immigration, but legal immigrants and American workers should not have to compete with illegal aliens for jobs. Our country was founded upon the rule of law and it is important that we hold to those principles. It is time for Congress to step up and keep the promises we made to the American people by joining with the President to fully fund construction of a border wall and ensure the U.S. Border Patrol has the resources they need to secure our border.”
Whilst, Republican Congressman from Texas, Louie Gohmer, urged the United States to work with Mexico to end illegal immigration:
“The best thing we can do for BOTH the United States and Mexico is to secure our border. Thankfully, we have a President who understands and is committed to that. A nation founded on laws that apply to everyone, where neither rich nor poor or supposed to be above the law, must have the law enforced to maintain its integrity, fairness, justice and opportunity. If we secure and enforce our border properly, Mexico’s drug cartels are reduced dramatically, which reduces corruption and lawlessness in Mexico, and, thereby, helps Mexico finally achieve its place as one of the top economies and vibrant countries in the world.
A good neighbour would help Mexico in this way, which also returns America back to being a nation where the law matters and where we can continue to allow more lawful entries into the United States than any other country in the world. Thankfully, we have a President who not only understands the importance of security and the rule of law, but is doing all he can to make such security, propriety, and opportunity a reality.”
HEATED EXCHANGE OVER “RAISE” IMMIGRATION POLICY INITIATIVE
A heated exchange between Trump advisor Stephen Miller and CNN speech-giver Jim Acosta over the Trump Administration’s new immigration policy has illustrated the implicit bias and ignorance of the mainstream media.
The exchange began when Acosta quoted the poem on the Statue of Liberty. The poem, Emma Lazarus’ “the New Colossus”, goes:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbour that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
“The Statue of Liberty has always been a beacon of hope to the world for people to send their people to this country, and they’re not always going to speak English Stephen, they’re not always going to be highly skilled.”
Miller responded by correctly pointing out that the poem had been added to the base of the Statue of Liberty in 1903 – two decades after it had been installed, and reminded Acosta that the poem had never encapsulated US immigration policy. He then went on to challenge Acosta on the supposed principle encapsulated by the poem:
“In 1990s, when we let in half a million people a year, was that violating or not violating the law of the land? Tell me what years meet Jim Acosta’s definition of the Statue of Liberty per law of the land. You’re saying a million a year is the Statue of Liberty number — 900,000 violates, 800,000 violates it.”
Acosta then changed tactics by suggesting that the requirement for immigrants to speak English was racist, arguing that it would “only bring in people from Britain and Australia.” Miller responded by accusing Acosta of having a ‘cosmopolitan bias‘:
“Jim, I just got to say, I am shocked by your statement, that you think that only people from Great Britain and Australia would know English. It reveals your cosmopolitan bias to a shocking degree that in your mind … this is an amazing moment … that you think that only people from Great Britain and Australia would speak English is so insulting to millions of hardworking immigrants that do speak English from all over the world.”
Jim Acosta has claimed victory over Stephen Miller, commenting: “I think what you just saw in the briefing room is that he [Miller] really just couldn’t take that kind of heat and exploded before our eyes.”
However, it was Stephen Miller that won the argument. Miller remained calm, used arguments that required reason and evidence, and called out Acosta’s biases and ignorance at the appropriate moments. Miller argued using facts, Acosta argued using emotions. In the end, it is Acosta, and by extension the left-wing media, that have been shamed.
