Daily Caller
Democrat Governors, City Leaders Pledge To Shield Illegal Immigrants From Trump’s Agenda
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Jason Hopkins
Democratic governors and other liberal elected officials have lined up to declare that they will fight back against President-elect Donald Trump’s hardline immigration agenda.
Trump, who won the election on Tuesday in an electoral landslide, has promised to conduct mass deportations across the country and withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities, along with a slate of other hawkish enforcement proposals. However, Democratic governors in Massachusetts, California and Illinois — all of whom have been speculated as potential 2028 presidential contenders — and other elected leaders have said they will use their authority to push back against the upcoming administration’s agenda.
“I think that the key here is that every tool in the toolbox has gotta be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents and protect our states, and certainly to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law as a basic principle,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said to MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell after Trump’s victory. Healey confirmed that Massachusetts State Police would “absolutely not” be helping the Trump administration deportation plans.
The entire state of Massachusetts is already described as a “sanctuary” haven by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a Washington, D.C.-based group that tracks sanctuary laws and policies across. Healey’s reluctance to help the incoming administration’s enforcement efforts follows her state’s struggles with the ongoing immigration crisis, having publicly asked illegal immigrants to not go to her state and offered plane tickets for them to leave.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday called for a special session of the state legislature in order to “protect California values” from the incoming Trump administration.
“The special session will focus on bolstering California legal resources to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action, and immigrant families,” a statement from the governor’s office reads. “On immigrant protection, California has advanced policies that support immigrant families and is investing in their protection.
Like Massachusetts, the entire state of California is also deemed a “sanctuary” jurisdiction for statewide policies that forbid cooperation between local law enforcement officials and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Newsom’s office told The Associated Press that the upcoming special session for lawmakers will help “Trump-proof” the state’s laws.
In addition to conducting the “largest deportation program in American history,” Trump has also said he would end birthright citizenship for those born on American soil by illegal migrant parents, bring back the Remain in Mexico program, hire more Border Patrol agents and establish a compensation fund for victims of migrant crime.
The president-elect announced late Sunday he was picking former ICE acting director Tom Homan to be the border czar in the new administration, making clear the upcoming administration will be adopting a tough stance on enforcement.
“To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said during a press conference after Trump’s victory. “You come for my people, you come through me.”
Pritzker said that Illinois will remain a sanctuary state and vowed to take the Trump administration to court if it attempts to withhold federal funds over the issue. The president-elect has pledged to force sanctuary cities to cooperate with immigration authorities by stripping them of federal public safety grants.
Numerous local Democratic elected officials have also signaled that they will do what they can to stymie the president-elect’s immigration agenda, with several members of the Los Angeles City Council saying that they will fast-track the passage of a sanctuary city ordinance, according to the LA Times. The legislation, which is still under review by city attorneys, would prohibit federal immigration enforcement officials from accessing Los Angeles’ databases.
A spokesperson for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not immediately respond to a request for comment when asked by the Daily Caller News Foundation if she would support the bill.
Many liberal organizations have also declared they are ready and waiting to fight the Trump administration tooth and nail, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has filed over 400 legal actions against Trump and his previous administration since 2016, with a large portion of them targeting immigration directives from Trump’s first term.
“Starting on day one, we’re ready to fight for our civil liberties and civil rights in the courts, in Congress, and in our communities,” the organization stated after Trump’s election victory. “We did it during his first term — filing 434 legal actions against Trump while he was in office — and we’ll do it again.”
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Mariane Angela
President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday to remove the United States from the Paris Agreement.
The United States joins Iran, Libya, and Yemen as countries not part of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming, the New York Times reported. Trump had previously pulled out of the agreement during his first term, only to see his successor, former president Joe Biden, re-enter it in 2021 after taking office.
This decision aims to increase fossil fuel production and reduce investment in clean energy technologies like electric vehicles and wind turbines, the outlet stated. Additionally, Trump notified the United Nations, which manages the Paris Agreement, of the U.S.’s withdrawal with a signed letter, setting the official exit to occur one year after its submission.
Trump has said in the past that the U.S. involvement in the Paris agreement harms America’s economic competitiveness and would not make a significant impact on the climate. He also said previously that the agreement was poorly negotiated and did not put American workers first.
The Biden administration implemented new emissions goals as part of its efforts to solidify its climate strategy. The Trump administration plans to deregulate the energy sector and roll back funding from Biden’s key climate initiatives. Since Nov. 5, members of Biden administration have distributed $1.6 billion in “environmental justice” grants, secured significant loans for green energy firms, empowered California regulators to influence the national auto market, and published a detailed analysis on the effects of liquefied natural gas exports, potentially hindering Trump’s efforts to expand them.
Daily Caller
Biden Pardons His Brother Jim And Other Family Members Just Moments Before Trump’s Swearing-In
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Nick Pope
President Joe Biden pardoned his brothers and other family members on Monday just moments before President-elect Donald Trump’s swearing-in
Biden pardoned his brother Frank, his other brother James, James’ wife Sara Biden, his sister Valerie Owens and her husband, John Owens in one of his last acts as president. James was connected to Hunter Biden’s business dealings with overseas partners, while Frank Biden used Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration to promote his Florida law firm in connection with a lawsuit against sugar farmers and reportedly interrupted business meetings to speak on the phone with “the big guy” while working for a manufacturing company based in Illinois.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attempted to spin President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter after months of claiming that he would not do so. pic.twitter.com/FpxQJ5m9gE
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 2, 2024
Monday’s last-minute pardons followed Joe Biden’s December 2024 decision to pardon his son Hunter — convicted on federal gun and tax charges in 2024 — for all crimes he may have committed going back to 2014. The pardons for the five other family members will also span back to 2014.
Despite the fact that Joe Biden’s Justice Department oversaw the investigations into Hunter Biden and congressional investigators proved that Biden family members and business associates profited from business deals with overseas oligarchs, Joe Biden said that his family was the victim of “the worst kind of partisan politics.”
“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. “But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances.”
“That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden,” the statement continues. “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”
James Biden, along with Hunter Biden, were paid millions of dollars by a Chinese energy firm called CEFC to look to secure energy deals in the U.S., though those ventures never materialized, according to a former CEFC associate who testified to congressional investigators in January 2024.
Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, who spearheaded the House impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden, slammed the pardons in a Monday statement, saying that he believes the move indicates the Biden family is likely guilty of the corrupt and unsavory activity of which they have been accused.
“President Biden’s preemptive pardons for the Biden Crime Family serve as a confession of their corruption as they sold out the American people to enrich themselves. Our investigation revealed that at least ten members of the Biden Crime Family and their associates raked in over $30 million by selling Joe Biden’s influence to corrupt foreign entities and individuals in China, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and Kazakhstan,” Comer said. “The legacy media should be ashamed of themselves for covering up Joe Biden and his family’s abuse of power, corruption, and obstruction. The American people have seen through the legacy media’s coverup and the Bidens’ lies, and they know the truth: President Biden abused his public office to create a slush fund for his family.”
Prior to stepping in to protect his family members at the very end of his one term in office, Joe Biden also pardoned Anthony Fauci and other controversial figures before Trump was sworn in as president.
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