Immigration

[easye]

I listened to this interesting story the other day.....

Border Patrol sending migrants to unofficial camps in California's desert, locals say

www.npr.org/2023/11/21/1213597119/border-patrol-migrants-unofficial-camps-jacumba-california-desert

Migrants and volunteers told NPR that every single day, Border Patrol finds hundreds of people who have made their way through the gap, drops them off at these camps, and tells them to stay put. They are told if they leave, they will get deported.

NPR reached out to Customs and Border Protection, who responded "CBP officers and agents prioritize the health and safety of all those they encounter by providing appropriate medical care and humanitarian assistance as needed and by routinely coordinating with emergency medical services to assist individuals in need. CBP prioritizes the most vulnerable migrant populations and transports them out of inclement weather to CBP processing facilities as quickly as possible."

The agency did not respond to NPR's specific questions concerning the Jacumba camps.

Locals say there is barely any oversight.

[easye]

www.npr.org/2023/12/18/1219790874/texas-immigration-law-abbott-mexico-border-crossing-illegal

Texas governor signs law making it a state crime to cross the border illegally

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed a controversial immigration bill Monday afternoon, which makes unauthorized border crossings a state crime. When the new state law takes effect in March of 2024, Texas law enforcement officers will have the authority to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Mexican border into the Lone Star State.

A first-time conviction carries a sentence of up to six months in jail. For a second-time offender, the penalties are much steeper: up to 20 years in prison. After offenders serve their sentences, a judge would be required to issue an order for police to transport them to a port of entry. They could face a felony charge for refusing to return to Mexico.

Texas again proving it does not really want to be part of the US Federal system.....

[skyth]

Add in Trumps comments about immigrants poisoning the blood of the country and wanting to set up internment camps for Hispanics...

[A Town Called Malus]

That Texas law surely isn't intended to give the police an even more easily abusable loophole to allow legal police harassment of minorities.

[easye]

This is a pretty big deal....

thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4416126-texas-us-legal-standoff-eagle-pass-border/

Texas, US in legal standoff as state refuses to comply with directive on border access

The government of Texas and the Biden administration are in a legal standoff over a public park along the U.S.-Mexico border, where Texas National Guard soldiers have blocked access to Border Patrol officials.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday repudiated a demand from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide Border Patrol officials access to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass.

“Because the facts and law side with Texas, the State will continue utilizing its constitutional authority to defend her territory, and I will continue defending those lawful efforts in court,” Paxton wrote in a letter to DHS general counsel Jonathan Meyer.

“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security should stop wasting scarce time and resources suing Texas, and start enforcing the immigration laws Congress already has on the books.”

Paxton’s response followed a cease-and-desist letter dated Sunday, in which Meyer demanded that Texas officials stop blocking Border Patrol access and that they remove the barriers in the park.

“The recent actions by the State of Texas have impeded operations of the Border Patrol. Those actions conflict with the authority and duties of Border Patrol under federal law and are preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. Texas’s actions also improperly seek to regulate the federal government,” wrote Meyer.

The issue was escalated by the drowning deaths of three migrants in the Rio Grande in the environs of Shelby Park on Jan. 12.

Meyer wrote that Texas officials prevented Border Patrol agents from entering the park to assist a Mexican rescue operation, which ultimately saved two other migrants from drowning.

“Texas has demonstrated that even in the most exigent circumstances, it will not allow Border Patrol access to the border to conduct law enforcement and emergency response activities,” wrote Meyer.

Paxton denied that claim and said federal officials did not request access to the park the night in question.

“Your attempt to blame Texas for three migrant deaths on January 12, 2024 is vile and, as you now should be aware, completely inaccurate. ‘Three individuals drowned’ that night on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, but that tragedy is your fault. Contrary to your letter, [the Texas Military Department] did not prevent U.S. Border Patrol from entering Shelby Park to attempt a water rescue of migrants in distress.”

The use of National Guard troops to prevent the Border Patrol’s access to the border is an escalation in an ongoing fight between Texas and the Biden administration over how immigration and border security policy should be enforced.

The Biden administration says it’s complying with asylum law as it exists by detaining and processing foreign nationals who cross the border unauthorized between ports of entry — a longstanding practice that’s recently come into the national spotlight because of growing regional migration.

But Paxton expressed a different interpretation of the law.

“Quite apart from the Shelby Park specifics, your demand letter rests on a more fundamental misunderstanding of federal law and the role of sovereign States within our constitutional order. This much is clear from your invocation of a federal statute that gives U.S. Border Patrol warrantless access to land within 25 miles of the border, but only ‘for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States,'” wrote Paxton.

“President Biden has ordered your agency to do the exact opposite, in keeping with his open-borders campaign promise. There is not even a pretense that you are trying to prevent the illegal entry of aliens.”

The use of Texas National Guard troops has further inflamed debate over constitutional jurisdiction in the case, as ultimately all military officials are under the command of the president as commander in chief.

“Texas officials are using the Texas National Guard to interfere with federal duties. And so that’s why I’ve said that the president should consider federalizing the Texas National Guard,” said Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-Texas).

Castro added that Texas’s bluster has a political component because Gov. Greg Abbott (R) “is auditioning to be Donald Trump’s vice president.”

“Greg Abbott is just gonna keep interfering with federal responsibilities and trying to usurp federal authority. And so unless you put a clear stop to that, he’s going to continue.”

These are the same folks that were afraid of Jade Helm. Not, they are openly inviting the Feds to come down and smack them up. Meanwhile, the arch-Conservative 5th circuit has sided with Texas which guarantees this is going to the SC.

Welcome to the Constitutional Crisis that the right has been agitating for.

[semipotentwalrus]

It's a pretty blatant display of the fact that what the Republicans are so upset about in regards to immigration isn't actually the immigration but rather not being allowed to unilaterally deciding the response. It's about refusing to recognize any power but their own as legitimate.

[easye]

How as the ruling even this close?

Supreme Court allows Biden administration to remove razor wire on US-Mexico border in 5-4 vote

www.cnn.com/2024/01/22/politics/supreme-court-texas-razor-wire/index.html

The Supreme Court is allowing US Border Patrol agents to remove razor wire deployed by Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s security initiative at the US-Mexico border while the state’s legal challenge to the practice plays out.

The vote was 5-4.

The justices’ order is a major victory for President Joe Biden in his ongoing dispute with Abbott over border policy, which had become especially fraught in recent days after three migrants drowned in a section of the Rio Grande that state officials have blocked agents’ access to, prompting the administration to further press for the high court’s intervention.

A federal appeals court last month ordered the Border Patrol agents to stop removing razor wire along a small stretch of the Rio Grande while court proceedings continue, and the Justice Department asked the justices earlier this month to step in on an emergency basis to wipe away that order, which they did on Monday.

Oh here is how....

Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, Justice Gorsuch, and Justice Kavanaugh would deny the application to vacate injunction.

If Biden wins another term, he should pack the sh*t out of this court.

[easye]

Trump is asking for the House to kill a Senate approved plan for Border security, while he screams about the border in his campaign......

McConnell says immigration talks in ‘quandary’ as Trump lobbies Congress to kill deal

www.cnn.com/2024/01/24/politics/mcconnell-senate-gop-border-ukraine-package/index.html

Former President Donald Trump’s push to kill a bipartisan immigration deal may now derail a major national security package, forcing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to suggest a new course of action and endangering aid to Ukraine and Israel in the process.

According to a GOP source familiar with the matter, McConnell told Republicans at a private Wednesday meeting that they are in a “quandary,” given that bipartisan talks over immigration have created intraparty feuding and may have closed off a path to getting a massive package approved this Congress.

The fresh doubts from the Senate GOP leader – one of the leading proponents of more aid to Ukraine – suggest Congress may have to punt on the issues altogether or break up the package into individual pieces, though no decisions have been made. McConnell’s goal at the meeting, sources said, was to lay out to his colleagues that there was no clear path ahead unless members were willing to compromise.

The new doubts come as House Republicans – with the encouragement of Trump, who is railing on immigration as a top election issue – are revolting over the bipartisan talks, even before they’ve concluded. Republicans were already divided over whether to approve any aid to Ukraine, even as they have insisted that the border must be dealt with before Ukraine aid can be approved. On top of that, the House Republican demand to pass their border security bill – HR 2 – is a non-starter with Democrats.

Well, until the Rs are punished for these kind of obstruction tactics, why would they stop?

[Haighus]

Jan 18, 2024 16:13:08 GMT -5 easye said:

This is a pretty big deal....

thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4416126-texas-us-legal-standoff-eagle-pass-border/

Texas, US in legal standoff as state refuses to comply with directive on border access

The government of Texas and the Biden administration are in a legal standoff over a public park along the U.S.-Mexico border, where Texas National Guard soldiers have blocked access to Border Patrol officials.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday repudiated a demand from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide Border Patrol officials access to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass.

“Because the facts and law side with Texas, the State will continue utilizing its constitutional authority to defend her territory, and I will continue defending those lawful efforts in court,” Paxton wrote in a letter to DHS general counsel Jonathan Meyer.

“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security should stop wasting scarce time and resources suing Texas, and start enforcing the immigration laws Congress already has on the books.”

Paxton’s response followed a cease-and-desist letter dated Sunday, in which Meyer demanded that Texas officials stop blocking Border Patrol access and that they remove the barriers in the park.

“The recent actions by the State of Texas have impeded operations of the Border Patrol. Those actions conflict with the authority and duties of Border Patrol under federal law and are preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. Texas’s actions also improperly seek to regulate the federal government,” wrote Meyer.

The issue was escalated by the drowning deaths of three migrants in the Rio Grande in the environs of Shelby Park on Jan. 12.

Meyer wrote that Texas officials prevented Border Patrol agents from entering the park to assist a Mexican rescue operation, which ultimately saved two other migrants from drowning.

“Texas has demonstrated that even in the most exigent circumstances, it will not allow Border Patrol access to the border to conduct law enforcement and emergency response activities,” wrote Meyer.

Paxton denied that claim and said federal officials did not request access to the park the night in question.

“Your attempt to blame Texas for three migrant deaths on January 12, 2024 is vile and, as you now should be aware, completely inaccurate. ‘Three individuals drowned’ that night on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, but that tragedy is your fault. Contrary to your letter, [the Texas Military Department] did not prevent U.S. Border Patrol from entering Shelby Park to attempt a water rescue of migrants in distress.”

The use of National Guard troops to prevent the Border Patrol’s access to the border is an escalation in an ongoing fight between Texas and the Biden administration over how immigration and border security policy should be enforced.

The Biden administration says it’s complying with asylum law as it exists by detaining and processing foreign nationals who cross the border unauthorized between ports of entry — a longstanding practice that’s recently come into the national spotlight because of growing regional migration.

But Paxton expressed a different interpretation of the law.

“Quite apart from the Shelby Park specifics, your demand letter rests on a more fundamental misunderstanding of federal law and the role of sovereign States within our constitutional order. This much is clear from your invocation of a federal statute that gives U.S. Border Patrol warrantless access to land within 25 miles of the border, but only ‘for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States,'” wrote Paxton.

“President Biden has ordered your agency to do the exact opposite, in keeping with his open-borders campaign promise. There is not even a pretense that you are trying to prevent the illegal entry of aliens.”

The use of Texas National Guard troops has further inflamed debate over constitutional jurisdiction in the case, as ultimately all military officials are under the command of the president as commander in chief.

“Texas officials are using the Texas National Guard to interfere with federal duties. And so that’s why I’ve said that the president should consider federalizing the Texas National Guard,” said Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-Texas).

Castro added that Texas’s bluster has a political component because Gov. Greg Abbott (R) “is auditioning to be Donald Trump’s vice president.”

“Greg Abbott is just gonna keep interfering with federal responsibilities and trying to usurp federal authority. And so unless you put a clear stop to that, he’s going to continue.”

These are the same folks that were afraid of Jade Helm. Not, they are openly inviting the Feds to come down and smack them up. Meanwhile, the arch-Conservative 5th circuit has sided with Texas which guarantees this is going to the SC.

Welcome to the Constitutional Crisis that the right has been agitating for.

Feels like a sort of soft trial of Texan succession.

[easye]

www.cnn.com/2024/02/04/politics/senate-border-bill-takeaways/index.html

Key highlights of the Senate’s proposed border deal package

— New emergency authority to restrict border crossings if daily average migrant encounters reach 4,000 over a one-week span. If that metric is reached, the Homeland Security secretary could decide to largely bar migrants from seeking asylum if they crossed the border unlawfully.

If migrant crossings increase above 5,000 on average per day on a given week, DHS is required to use the authority. If encounters reach 8,500 in one day, the department is required to trigger the authority. But the federal government is limited in how long it can use the authority.

In the first year, the government can use it for 270 days, then 225 calendar days in the second year, and 180 days in the third year. The authority sunsets after three years.

— Codifies a policy that requires the government to process at least 1,400 asylum applications at ports of entry when the emergency authority is triggered.


— Raises the legal standard of proof to pass the initial screening for asylum, making it potentially more difficult for asylum seekers to pass.



— Expedites the asylum processing timeline from years to six months.



— Introduces a new process in which US Citizenship and Immigration Services would decide an asylum claim without it going through the immigration court system. The process doesn’t apply to unaccompanied migrant children.



— Preserves the president’s authority to designate humanitarian parole on a case-by-case basis. President Joe Biden has used the authority for Ukrainians, Afghans, Cubans, Venezuelans and Haitians, among other populations.



— Includes limited changes that narrow the use of parole at land borders.



— Authorizes 250,000 additional immigrant visas to spread out over five years for families and applies to employment-based immigrants.



— Provides a pathway to citizenship for Afghans paroled into the United States after the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and extends the special immigrant visa program for Afghans who worked for the US government.

Is this thing all ready DOA in the House?

[skyth]

Yeah, because it helps Biden and takes away a talking point of the R's

[adurot]

Trump told the House Rs not to pass any border deals because he wants to campaign on the issue and they promptly came out and said heck no to this bill.

[easye]

Biden is trying to take the offensive and claim the high ground in the political border battle.

www.npr.org/2024/02/09/1230023607/biden-border-politics-trump

Biden's new move is playing offense on border politics. But will voters be swayed?

As Republicans in Congress tanked bipartisan legislation this week on beefing up border security, President Biden took the opportunity to do something he hasn't done before when it comes to handling the politics over the crisis at the U.S. southern border: he went on offense.

Biden said the bill would have let him "temporarily shut down the border" when migrant numbers overwhelmed resources — but said Republicans were running scared from former President Donald Trump. Biden said Trump wanted to keep border issues alive as an election issue rather than see a compromise deal.

"Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends," Biden vowed.

Let's see how well this works. Typically, Dems are weak on the border because their base doesn't care that much about it.

[easye]

More US Border theatre by the party that effectively killed Border Reform for..... reasons.....

www.npr.org/2024/02/13/1230977868/house-impeachment-mayorkas-border

The House of Representatives has voted 214-213 to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" in enforcing border policy and "breach public trust." Three Republicans voted with all Democrats against the impeachment.

Mayorkas is the first cabinet member to be impeached since William Belknap, secretary of war under President Ulysses S. Grant, in 1876. It is highly unlikely that he will be convicted in the Senate or removed from office.

Mia Ehrenberg, a DHS spokesperson, said in a statement that the impeachment was done "without a shred of evidence or legitimate Constitutional grounds."

I look forward to this now being normalized and further paralyzing government as the Rs go to this well for every temper tantrum.

[dabbler]

Can't wait to hear about how this is the fault of the Dems or progressives somehow. I'm sure they'll get there