Biden Announces Widespread Amnesty Plan for Illegal Immigrants

President Joe Biden announced a new plan on Tuesday that will fast track a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals who’ve been living in the country illegally for more than 10 years and married a U.S. citizen. He also expanded protections for DACA recipients, according to several reports.

In a statement issued by the White House, the president blamed Republicans in Congress for not securing the border and fixing the “broken immigration system.”

Because of Republicans putting “partisan politics ahead of national security,” he announced additional measures to implement deportation protections to some illegal foreign nationals. Doing so reflects his commitment to “expanding lawful pathways and keeping families together,” he said, arguing that those who entered the country illegally “who have been in the United States for decades, paying taxes and contributing to their communities, are part of the social fabric of our country.”

His new action will help “people who have been here many years to keep American families together and allow more young people to contribute to our economy,” according to the statement.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the plan zeroes “in on the population of mixed-status families, where typically the children and one parent are U.S. citizens, because they believe that demographic is the most compelling, according to administration officials and advocates who have spoken with them.”

One way to do this would be to implement another parole policy called “parole in place,” enabling illegal foreign national spouses of U.S. citizens to obtain green cards and U.S. citizenship. They would also receive work permits and deportation protections, according to several reports on Monday.

In order to be eligible for the new parole program, noncitizens, as of June 17, 2024, must have resided in the U.S. for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen. On average, those who are eligible have resided in the U.S. for 23 years, according to the White House statement released Tuesday.

Advocates in support of providing amnesty estimate there are more than one million spouses who could apply to the new parole program, the Journal reported.

The announcement at the White House came on the 12th-year anniversary of former President Barack Obama creating by executive order the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). DACA shielded children from deportation who were brought into the country illegally by their parents and has been in litigation for 12 years. A federal judge has twice ruled that the program is illegal. The most recent ruling was in a multi-state lawsuit led by Texas to end DACA once and for all, The Center Square reported. The case is expected to ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Biden announced an expanded program for DACA recipients to “streamline the process” for them “and other undocumented immigrants to request waivers that would make it easier for them to obtain temporary visas, such as H-1B visas for high-skilled workers,” CBS News reported.

DACA recipients who earned a degree at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education and who received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree will be able to quickly receive work visas, according to the White House statement.

Numerous reports suggest between 700,000 and 800,000 people living in the U.S. are DACA recipients. The Los Angeles Times reports there are 578,680 DACA recipients on record with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as of March 2023.

After announcing earlier this month he was limiting asylum claims, the president is now proposing a measure to ensure those in the country illegally aren’t deported. Both announcements made five months before the election aren’t solutions but political ploys and will only incentivize illegal immigration, critics argue.

“It is definitely an incentive and will drive more illegal immigration,” former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan told The Center Square. “In a time where we are facing historic numbers on the southern border, President Biden announces yet another giveaway program, another reward for illegally entering this country.

“This reinforces that you can enter this country illegally and if you can hide out long enough, you get legal status. This will drive more illegal immigration and they know that and that is why they are doing it.”

If the president really cared about border security and reforming immigration law, he would “reimplement the Migrant Protection Protocols; … restore Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Central American partners; finish construction of new border wall system that Congress funded years ago [which he halted]; and … end mass catch-and-release,” U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-TN, said in a statement. The president “could stop the flow of hundreds of thousands entering this country via unlawful mass-parole programs created by his DHS secretary. And he could encourage Senate Democrats to pass H.R. 2, the only border bill passed by either house of the 118th Congress, to further close loopholes and end avenues for exploitation of our borders by the cartels.

“But he won’t, because the rabidly anti-enforcement, open-borders left is calling the shots for the Biden administration. And the rest of us are paying the price.”

Any executive actions taken related to newly created parole programs or DACA are likely to be challenged by Republican attorneys general.

Originally published by The Center Square. Republished with permission.

Related Topics:#BidenAmnestyPlanForIllegalImmigrants #HeartlandDailyNews #TheCenterSquare

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Mayor of Chicago Vows To Fight Trump’s Immigration Crackdown As Notorious Venezuelan Gang Takes Root In His City

Published on November 15, 2024

Todayville

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Jason Hopkins

Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday vowed to fight the incoming Trump administration’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration and sanctuary cities, even as the city struggles with its own presence of migrant gang crime.

When asked if he was prepared to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s preparations to deploy “a squad” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to sanctuary cities like Chicago and attempts to withhold federal funds from sanctuary governments, Johnson reaffirmed his commitment to local laws that prevent cooperation with immigration enforcement authorities. The comments came despite recent reports indicating organized migrant crime has been hitting the Windy City, particularly from Tren de Aragua, an international crime syndicate originating from Venezuela.

“We’re going to defend the people of this city because, look, his attack — let’s be very clear — the president-elect, former President Trump, his threat is not just toward new arrivals and undocumented families,” Johnson said. “His threats are also against black families.”

“We’re going to stand up and protect undocumented individuals,” the mayor went on, and continued to make a connection between immigration enforcement and racial animus.

The mayor’s comments were in reaction to former ICE director Tom Homan, who has been tapped by the president-elect to serve as “border czar” for the upcoming administration. In his announcement of the appointment, Trump said Homan would be in charge of all deportations of illegal migrants.

“If you are not going to help us, get the hell out of the way because we’re gonna do it,” Homan said on Monday in his first interview since his appointment, speaking on expected pushback from anti-ICE politicians. “So, if we can’t get assistance in New York City, we may have to double the number of agents we send in New York City.”

“We are going to do the job,” Homan continued. “Sanctuary cities are sanctuaries for criminals.”

Law enforcement authorities confirmed in September that Tren de Aragua members have been arrested in Cook County — where Chicago is located — on weapons and narcotics charges, and internal emails obtained from the Cook County Sheriff’s office confirmed that members of the Venezuelan gang are in the city, according to NBC Chicago. The arrival of Tren de Aragua — which has coincided with Chicago’s own migrant crisis — has been linked to a rise in crime and has led to concerns of an impending turf war between their members and local gangs in the city, according to Fox 32.

The Chicago Police Department has arrested at least 30 suspected Tren de Aragua members between January 2023 and September of this year, documents obtained by the New York Post indicate.

Chicago officials have welcomed in at least 43,000 migrants since August 2022 and have so far spent around $150 million to house and feed them, amid the border crisis that began under the Biden-Harris administration. Many of the foreign nationals are from Venezuela and have largely been bussed into the city by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as he has sought to relieve his own state.

A growing number of Democratic politicians, such as the mayor of Los Angeles and a slate of governors across the country, have also declared their opposition to Trump’s hardline immigration agenda.

Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Business

Sanctuary State Told To Cut Spending On Hotel Stays For Migrants As Costs Expected To Hit $1 Billion

Published on November 14, 2024

Todayville

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Jason Hopkins

A state commission is encouraging Massachusetts to cut costs on emergency shelter services for migrants and other families by spending less on expensive hotels.

The emergency shelter system in Massachusetts housing migrant families and others experiencing homelessness is expected to spend over $1 billion in fiscal year 2025, according to a state commission report investigating the matter. The report comes as Massachusetts, a sanctuary state that limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities, is continuing to experience financial hardship over the border crisis and an influx of migrants into their communities.

The draft report proposed spending less on the most expensive accommodations for migrants — which would include hotels and motels. Prior reports have found that housing migrants in hotels or motels in the state can be as costly as $300 per night.

“Since the EA shelter system reached capacity at 7,500 families last year, approximately 50% of families have been in hotels and motels across the state,” the report stated. “The Commission recommends limiting reliance on hotels and motels to best serve families and increase the financial and operational efficiency of the system, while recognizing that hotels and motels may be a last-resort option for surge capacity at times of rapid changes in demand.”

“Data suggests that hotels and motels are the most expensive type of shelter in the EA system,” the report concluded. It also noted that the state’s shelter caseload and system costs have skyrocketed to “unsustainable levels” since 2022.

The immigration crisis taking place under the Biden-Harris administration has hit Massachusetts particularly hard. Roughly 355,000 illegal migrants and other inadmissible foreign nationals live in the state, and approximately 50,000 have arrived since 2021, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.

Democrat Gov. Maura Healey, in her efforts to clamp down on the state’s crisis, has publicly called on illegal immigrants to not go to Massachusetts, offered plane tickets for them to leave, and has asked residents to take in migrant families. The state has also experienced a rising number of deportation cases as illegal migrants continue to flock there.

Despite the growing pains with mass illegal immigration, the governor has remained steadfast in her opposition to President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for an immigration crackdown, and she confirmed that her state’s law enforcement would “absolutely not” help with mass deportation efforts. The entire state of Massachusetts is considered a sanctuary for illegal migrants for its laws limiting cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The state legislature appropriated $639 million to the emergency assistance shelter system for fiscal year 2025, according to the report. However, expense projections are expected to hit $1.094 billion – leaving a shortfall of roughly $455 million for the fiscal year.