Immigration

[GoCubsGo]

Not too mention swamping the courts and prison systems.

[O Really]

Not too mention swamping the courts and prison systems.

Arraignment, bail hearings, appointment of counsel, not to mention the administrivia required by every arrest.

If the federal law was changed to say nobody is eligible for asylum unless they're actually in immediate danger, it would help. For example, if you leave Venezuela but make it to Mexico, you're not in danger in Mexico so you're Mexico's problem. All this asylum law was intended for people like the original escaping Cubans, defecting Russians and East Germans, etc. It was never intended for a get-in-free card to avoid normal immigration requirements.

[Vrede too]

So Texas, a state stolen from Mexico and which has about 40% Hispanic citizenry, wants to make "illegal immigration" a state offence and enforceable by Texas state goons law officers.

Let's say, for the sake of discussion, that we think this is a good idea. After all, there really are lots of people trying (and being successful) to come across the border down there and the border patrol and related resources are stretched past the limit. You have to wonder, however, if they've really thought his through. F'rinstance, how are they going to know who's "illegal"? Arbitrarily asking to see "papers"?

That was shot down in AZ by federal courts during the Obama admin. Of course, the new SCOTUS could reverse that.

Yeah, probably. Catching them coming in at a place other than a real border crossing? Probably, but the vast bulk of those people aren't trying to sneak it. They come in and wait for the Border Patrol to appear so they can follow the US law (stupid as it is) and request asylum. And they're the responsibility of the feds. But if Texas gets involved and arrests the "illegals', then what are they going to do with them? Put thousands of people in already overcrowded jails? Maybe they could provide a useful service and send the wannabe immigrants back, but that would be illegal according to the (stupid) US law.

I don't think that's just asylum law. Rather, it's an exclusive federal responsibility to forcibly repatriate people across borders regardless of asylum law. Texass can't invent its own international relations.

So yeah, that's going nowhere. But when did repugs ever think about the logical ramifications of their idiocy?

They don't care as long as the male White supremacists are looking "tough" against whatever group they want to oppress at the moment.

Not too mention swamping the courts and prison systems.

Arraignment, bail hearings, appointment of counsel, not to mention the administrivia required by every arrest.

If the federal law was changed to say nobody is eligible for asylum unless they're actually in immediate danger, it would help. For example, if you leave Venezuela but make it to Mexico, you're not in danger in Mexico so you're Mexico's problem. All this asylum law was intended for people like the original escaping Cubans, defecting Russians and East Germans, etc. It was never intended for a get-in-free card to avoid normal immigration requirements.

That's not exactly the history of our asylum law:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asylum_in ... procedures

... The United States is obliged to recognize valid claims for asylum under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. As defined by these agreements, a refugee is a person who is outside their country of nationality (or place of habitual residence if stateless) who, owing to a fear of persecution on account of a protected ground, is unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of the state. Protected grounds include race, nationality, religion, political opinion and membership of a particular social group. The signatories to these agreements are further obliged not to return or "refoul" refugees to countries or places where they would face persecution.

This commitment was codified and expanded by the United States Congress with the passing of the Refugee Act of 1980. Besides reiterating the definitions of the 1951 Convention and its Protocol, the Refugee Act provided for the establishment of an Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to help refugees begin their lives in the U.S. The structure and procedures evolved and by 2004, federal handling of refugee affairs was led by PRM (Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration), working with the ORR at HHS. Asylum claims are mainly the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

I think your biggest issue is with the mechanisms we've created to honor our treaty commitments, and it's a valid gripe.

Still, most refugees "like the original ... defecting Russians and East Germans, etc." passed through other countries on their way here, and Venezuelans can make a reasonable case that the communist repression they suffer is comparable to that of Cold War era eastern Europeans, or they can try. Then, migrants in Mexico can make a reasonable case that "they're actually in immediate danger" given the degree to which they're preyed upon by cartels and other criminal elements. Plus, extreme gang violence is a huge reason that there are so many Honduran and El Salvadoran refugees.

Anyhow, my point is that it's a big mess, one that only gets on the road to sanity through Congress enacting comprehensive immigration reform, not just by tweaking asylum law and regs.

[O Really]

Anyhow, my point is that it's a big mess, one that only gets on the road to sanity through Congress enacting comprehensive immigration reform, not just by tweaking asylum law and regs.

True that, but they'd all rather point fingers and beat each other over the head with false/misleading claims.

I do understand that it was to the US political benefit to offer asylum to fleeing Russians, particularly if they happened to be Olympic-grade athletes or scientists, but I also don't think it's our responsibility to take in people outside normal immigration practices just because their country treats them badly.

[Vrede too]

Anyhow, my point is that it's a big mess, one that only gets on the road to sanity through Congress enacting comprehensive immigration reform, not just by tweaking asylum law and regs.

True that, but they'd all rather point fingers and beat each other over the head with false/misleading claims.

I do understand that it was to the US political benefit to offer asylum to fleeing Russians, particularly if they happened to be Olympic-grade athletes or scientists, but I also don't think it's our responsibility to take in people outside normal immigration practices just because their country treats them badly.

Here's a guy with a reasonable plan, which means it won't happen.

Mexico's president is willing to help with border migrant crush but wants US to open talks with Cuba

Mexico’s president said Friday that he is willing to help out with a surge of migrants that led to the closure of border crossings with the United States, but he wants the U.S. government to open talks with Cuba and send more development aid to migrants' home countries....

López Obrador confirmed that U.S. officials want Mexico to do more to block migrants at its southern border with Guatemala, or make it more difficult to move across Mexico by train or in trucks or buses, a policy known as “contention.”

But the president said that in exchange he wanted the United States to send more development aid to migrants' home countries, and to reduce or eliminate sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela.

“We are going to help, as we always do,” López Obrador said. “Mexico is helping reach agreements with other countries, in this case Venezuela.”

“We also want something done about the (U.S.) differences with Cuba,” López Obrador said. “We have already proposed to President (Joe) Biden that a U.S.-Cuba bilateral dialogue be opened.”

“That is what we are going to discuss, it is not just contention,” he said at his daily morning press briefing.

Mexico is apparently offering to negotiate with Venezuela, whose people make up a large part of the surge of migrants at the U.S. southwestern border. That surge has led U.S. officials to pull immigration officers away from two Texas border rail crossings that are vital to Mexico’s economy.

López Obrador has long opposed U.S. sanctions on Cuba, whose migrants are also streaming to the U.S. border. And the Mexican president has long pressed the United States to contribute to a tree-planting program and to youth scholarship and apprentice programs that he has been pushing for Central America.

López Obrador said the development aid will help stem residents' need to migrate....

In November, the Border Patrol made 191,113 arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico, or a daily average of 6,370, its parent agency announced. That's down 8% from November 2022 but the fourth monthly increase since July. U.S. authorities have reported surging numbers in December, with arrests above 10,000 some days.

Mexicans were the largest nationality in November arrests, followed by Guatemalans, Venezuelans, Hondurans and Colombians. Nearly 4,800 Chinese were arrested, largely in the San Diego area.

GoAndrés ManuelGo!

[Vrede too]

Why Ron DeSantis has a problem with Donald Trump's latest comments attacking immigrants

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis denounced former President Donald Trump’s most recent comments attacking immigrants, saying he would not use the same language.

Trump during a New Hampshire campaign rally last week told supporters that immigrants to the United States are "poisoning the blood of our country."

“When you start talking about using those types of terms, I don’t think that that helps us move the ball forward, " DeSantis told the Christian Broadcasting Network Thursday.

Translation: Fascist DerSantis' problem is that Dolt .45 said the quiet part out loud.

The Florida governor has long criticized undocumented immigrants and called for using deadly force against people suspected of smuggling illegal drugs into the country.

Yep, exactly why Fascist DerSantis did not denounce ex-PINO's underlying hateful bigotry.

... Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called the former president’s remarks “not constructive” and “not necessary” in an interview with the Des Moines Register.

Also can't bring herself to be a human.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that Trump was "dog whistling" about undocumented immigrants.

“He’s disgusting,” Christie said. “What he’s doing is dog whistling to Americans who feel absolutely under stress and strain from the economy and from the conflicts around the world.”

Better, though he could have just come out and said, 'dog whistling to White supremacists.'

Vice President Kamala Harris also criticized Trump's comments this week, saying his words have been "rightly" compared to dictators such as Adolf Hitler.

There we are. GoKamalaGo.

[Vrede too]

Supreme Court sides with Biden administration in Texas border razor-wire case

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, granted the Biden administration's request to vacate the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' injunction in a case involving razor wire places along Texas's border with Mexico.

The move paves the way for federal officials to remove the wire.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented....

This means that Chief Justice John Roberts and ex-PINO appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett ruled against homicidal Gov Abbott.

[Vrede too]

Greg Abbott Defies Supreme Court Order As Civil War Trends Online
Abbott is forcing the Biden Administration's hand

What an asshole America-hating bigot Abbott is! When a con loses in front of this extreme con SCOTUS, it's over.

GoJoltin' JoeGo, do what you have to do.

[O Really]

Could Abbot be held personally criminally liable? I'm guessing not, but short of sending in the Army, how can you enforce this? Maybe some version of "contempt"?

[GoCubsGo]

Could Abbot be held personally criminally liable? I'm guessing not, but short of sending in the Army, how can you enforce this? Maybe some version of "contempt"?

Can the Texas National Guard be federalized?

[Vrede too]

Could Abbot be held personally criminally liable? I'm guessing not, but short of sending in the Army, how can you enforce this? Maybe some version of "contempt"?

"Army"? Close.

... Following this statement, many politicians across the country called for President Biden to federalize the National Guard to take over operations along the border. United States Representative Joaquin Castro stated: “It’s clear that Governor Abbott is trying to use them to interfere with the enforcement of US law. National Guard troops cannot be used in that way. I think that, at this point, the president has no choice but to consider federalizing the Texas National Guard."

To federalize the guard, President Biden would have to invoke the Insurrection Act and order federal troops to mobilize and remove the barriers placed along the border. Such a decision would be at the sole discretion of President Biden and would be historic. The most recent time the national guard was federalized was in the 1950s when then President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued an order mobilizing the Arkansas National Guard to enforce a Supreme Court ruling on desegregation....

[Vrede too]

No surprise that Texas border bigots are eclectic bigots, some anti-Jewish, some anti-Muslim:

Texas Border Convoy Descends into Antisemitism

[GoCubsGo]

No surprise that Texas border bigots are eclectic bigots, some anti-Jewish, some anti-Muslim:

Texas Border Convoy Descends into Antisemitism

They're bringing out the heavy hitters.

[GoCubsGo]

This may be the most effective deterrent yet.

If I was crossing the border and saw this shit I'd think twice about where I'm going.

[Vrede too]

This may be the most effective deterrent yet.

If I was crossing the border and saw this shit I'd think twice about where I'm going.

https://twitter.com/JoJoFromJerz/status ... 6799694097

Gotta keep the riffraff out.

South Dakota tribe bans governor from reservation over US-Mexico border remarks

A South Dakota tribe has banned Republican Gov. Kristi Noem from the Pine Ridge Reservation after she spoke this week about wanting to send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to help deter immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and also said cartels are infiltrating the state's reservations.

“Due to the safety of the Oyate, effective immediately, you are hereby Banished from the homelands of the Oglala Sioux Tribe!” Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said in a Friday statement addressed to Noem. “Oyate” is a word for people or nation.

Star Comes Out accused Noem of trying to use the border issue to help get former U.S. President Donald Trump re-elected and boost her chances of becoming his running mate.

Many of those arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border are Indigenous people from places like El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico who come “in search of jobs and a better life,” the tribal leader added.

“They don’t need to be put in cages, separated from their children like during the Trump Administration, or be cut up by razor wire furnished by, of all places, South Dakota,” he said....

Pine Ridge don't need no foreign trash.

[Vrede too]

They're bringing out the heavy hitters.

https://twitter.com/realsandibachom/sta ... 9325104403

NugPal are sure to sway moderates.

Our NC11, sending really really dumb bigots to DC for decades:

Republican Congressman’s Biden Border Meme Backfires Spectacularly
Representative Chuck Edwards got a seriously embarrassing fact-check after posting a meme complaining about the border under Joe Biden.

Readers added context they thought people might want to know

This picture is from 2018 when Donald Trump was President.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/ ... nts-945683

x 2018

[GoCubsGo]

Amongst other things, Republicans really suck at social media.

[Vrede too]

Amongst other things, Republicans really suck at social media.

"other things" like facts, research, human rights and patriotism?

Katie Britt used decades-old (Shrub admin) example of rapes in Mexico as Republican attack on Biden border policy

Idiot.

[GoCubsGo]

Amongst other things, Republicans really suck at social media.

"other things" like facts, research, human rights and patriotism?

Katie Britt used decades-old (Shrub admin) example of rapes in Mexico as Republican attack on Biden border policy

Idiot.

They don't even lie credibly.

[Vrede too]

They don't even lie credibly.

https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/ ... 8270348417

What lie? She completely dodged the question, one that I give Fox's Shannon Bream credit for asking, even quoting - horrors! - the NYT. I'd be interested in whether there was any follow up or whether this was all designed as a CYA ploy for Britt.

Interesting that Britt speaks like that irl. SOTU wasn't just the result of over management and over rehearsal. What a creep!