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WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --The following statements were issued by Dan Stein, President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and Mark Morgan, former Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and FAIR Senior Fellow, in response to last night's Supreme Court ruling requiring the Biden administration to reinstate the highly effective Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program

Dan Stein, President of FAIR

"MPP was the most successful tool in stemming the flood of migrants attempting to reach the United States and defraud our asylum system. It deterred those with specious claims from attempting to abuse our asylum system by sending a clear message that they would not succeed which is precisely why the Biden administration, driven by radical left extremists, put an end to it.

"It is now up to the Judiciary to make sure that the Biden administration complies with both the letter and the spirit of the Supreme Court's ruling. Given the magnitude of the crisis this administration created by canceling MPP, and ominous warnings by the Pentagon of increased threats from international terrorist organizations in the aftermath of the administration's debacle in Afghanistan, it is imperative that the Biden administration comply fully and hastily with the Court's ruling."

Mark Morgan, former Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and FAIR Senior Fellow

"The evidence of MPP's effectiveness was the 75% reduction in the flow of illegal alien families crossing our southern border. The message was clear - no longer would a child be exploited to be used as a passport to gain entry into the US.

"Deterrence is the most effective and humane form of law enforcement. The number of people making the trek to our border began to increase exponentially immediately after the Biden administration arbitrarily canceled MPP. This politically-driven and, in the eyes of the Supreme Court, illegal act has resulted in needless deaths in the wilderness, the exploitation of children, the enrichment of criminal cartels, and growing threats to the health and safety of the American public.

"Based on this administration's track record, there is every reason to believe they will invent countless reasons to drag their feet in response to the Court's order that they reinstate MPP. Having been part of the team that created MPP in 2019, I can attest to the fact that it can be restarted quickly with the cooperation of our partners in Mexico who have as much reason as we do to want to end the chaos that the Biden administration has created at the border.

"Many of us who were involved in the creation of MPP have served in both Republican and Democratic administrations. All Secretary Mayorkas needs to do is call us if he needs our help again. This is not a political issue. Ending the chaos at the border is in the interests of the United States, Mexico, and those who truly deserve political asylum in our country."

Contact: Matthew Tragesser, 202-328-7004 or [emailprotected]

ABOUT FAIR

Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

http://www.fairus.org

Originally posted here:
FAIR: Supreme Court Ruling Ordering the Biden Administration to Reinstate Migrant Protection Protocols is a Big Win for the Health and Safety of the...

The more power government has, the more weapons that are available for officials to wield against people who rub them the wrong way. That's true when it involves the (thankfully former) governor of New York abusing regulatory powers to cut gun-rights groups off from banks and insurance, and it's also true when immigration officers selectively target activists for arrest and mistreatment in order to silence them and intimidate their allies.

"For years, activist Maru Mora-Villalpando has organized hunger strikes to protest conditions at an immigrant detention center in Washington state," NPR noted in a recent story. "By 2017, she'd gotten the attention of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One high-ranking ICE officer described her as an 'instigator' in an internal email. Another responded that Mora-Villalpando was a 'well-known local illegal alien,' and suggested that trying to deport her might 'take away some of her 'clout.'"

Targeting immigration enforcement efforts directly against people who protest and organize for changes in immigration law is an overtly politicized use of government power. Even those who like the law just the way it is, or who favor changes directly opposed to those advocated by Mora-Villalpando, should recognize the dangers of using enforcement as punishment. That's especially true since her case is far from isolated.

"Federal immigration officers have long engaged in a pattern of surveillance ofand outright retaliation againstindividuals advocating for immigrants across the country," according to a recent report from the University of Washington School of Law Immigration Clinic. "Court filings, internal government records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and related litigation, and interviews with five immigrants' rights organizations across the countryOrganized Communities Against Deportation (OCAD) in Chicago, IL; La Resistencia in Washington State; Grassroots Leadership in Austin, TX; Comunidad Colectiva in Charlotte, NC; and Migrant Justice in Vermontreveal a sustained campaign of ICE surveillance and repression against advocacy groups and activists."

The report goes on to detail the measures authorities take to identify and penalize activists, including placing them under close observation, harassing them, circulating their photographs, and barring them from facilities. Informants are called upon to identify people associated with activist groups. And, of course, activists are targeted for arrest and deportation.

Targeting can take a more brutal turn, too, according to the report. After a woman identified only as Laura alleged that she'd been sexually assaulted at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center in Texas, "Hutto guards assaulted, threatened, and isolated Laura, denied her medical attention, and attempted to force her to recant her accusations."

Laura's treatment involves clear acts of criminality by the authorities, but most cases revolve around selective enforcement. One such case resulted in the deportation to Argentina of Claudio Rojas, who lived, worked, and raised a family in the United States for years while going through the process to legalize his status. Then, he publicly criticized immigration policy.

"Everything changed suddenly when I was featured in a documentary film," Rojas wrote earlier this year for the Daily Beast. "The Infiltrators premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2019. Weeks after the film (and my name) was in the national news, I was suddenly deported. I had been in the United States for almost 20 years. To justify the sudden deportation, ICE falsely accused me of 'crimes.' It was clear that the true motivation was to punish me for speaking out."

Questioned in April about such cases of retaliation, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas grandly answered that "retaliation in response to the constitutionally protected right of free speech and, quite frankly, the obligation, the civic obligation, to protest government positions with which one disagrees, that's just unacceptable."

When specifically asked whether Rojas and those like him might be returned to the U.S., Mayorkas vaguely offered to check with DHS's Family Reunification Taskforce, created earlier this year, "about the community of people who might have claims of retaliation and to see if we can look into those as part of our overarching effort."

Being charitable, that's probably about as much as can be expected from an official unfamiliar with specific cases who doesn't want to commit to a course of action on abuses inherited from previous administrations. But it's cold comfort to even relatively prominent figures like Rojas whose case was brought before the head of DHS, and like Maru Mora-Villalpando, who has support from the United Nations, and still live in limbo. The many lesser-known activists targeted because they angered immigration officials by criticizing government conduct have even less hope for respect for their rights by government agents accustomed to punishing people for standing out.

Selective enforcement against people not for being in violation of the law, but for ticking-off government officials by advocating for changes in the law, should frighten even those who pride themselves as hardliners on immigration. After all, the United States isn't short on hot-button policy disagreements that divide supporters of enforcement from advocates of reform. From guns to drugs to sexual expression to free speech itself, Americans are at odds with government and each other on a host of issues. If speaking out against the law is enough to paint targets on our backs, then many people are at risk well beyond the world of immigration reform activists.

"Where federal agencies targeted an individual because they were engaging in protected speech critical of the government, they should restore them to their prior status," the University of Washington immigration clinic report urges the Biden administration with regard to immigration activists. That's excellent advice on any issuecriticizing official policy of any sort shouldn't be grounds for surveillance, arrest, and abuse.

But admonitions that government shouldn't target critics for special attention is also a reminder that law is always dangerous in ways that extend well beyond its intended application. Any opportunity for wielding coercive power will ultimately be used as a weapon by government agents against people they don't like.

See the article here:
Immigration Activists Targeted for Deportation and Harassment - Reason

What experience has prepared you to take over leadership of the worlds fifth largest economy?I am a businessman. I have run multimillion-dollar businesses. I know how to make a business profitable. I know I can turn the State of California into becoming profitable again.

Do you believe Joe Biden was lawfully elected president? No

Should an ethnic studies course be required for high school graduation?No

Defund police? No

Should government make any vaccine mandatory, including for polio and smallpox? No

Under California law, low-income women are eligible for taxpayer-funded abortions. Do you support this? No

Should the governors emergency powers be altered, and if so, how?I believe our emergency powers have been misused. I think there should be an end date. I think there should be a limit to the emergency powers. I think we should work together for solutions and not a band-aid.

If you had $25 billion to spend on homelessness, what would you do with it? I would put this money into mental health care. With my homeless reform plan, it will NOT need $25 billion. I think the current budget needs to be put in different places to be more effective. Please visit my website for detailed information.

As governor, would you direct the state to do more to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement?Under a Martinez administration, I have an Immigration reform solution, which includes finishing the border wall, more border patrol agents, immigration reform and having everyone pay their equal share of taxes. What would you do to decrease the chance of destructive wildfires? I would bring back the lumber industry, forest management and clearing up the forest. We will never eliminate wildfires, but we can make it less destructive.

What emergency steps would you take during a drought to allocate water usage among Californians?Under a Martinez administration, I will build more dams and reservoirs. I will also work with the private sector to build more desalination plants.

Do you support Californias climate change initiatives? If no, what would you change?Climate change is extremely important. However, with forest management and my reform water solutions, under a Martinez administration, everyone will see a difference in climate change!

See more here:
Meet the other recall candidates: Diego Martinez - Los Angeles Times

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul says she and Cuomo 'have not been close'

New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul is poised to become the state's first female governor after Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned amid sexual harassment claims.

Associated Press, USA TODAY

During her time aslieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul has said its time to rethink our criminal justice system, and reiterated that shehas "evolved" from her previous push against drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants.

Now shes days away from being governor after a sexual harassment scandal resulted inthe pending resignation of her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo. Her governorship, which begins Aug. 24, will come amid a surging coronavirus delta variant, as well as its ensuing social and economic upheaval all of which have disproportionately impacted communities of color.

Despite her prior stance on driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, many advocates hope Hochul will pursue a robust agenda, including racial justice and parole and immigration reform.

And many of those same voices view Hochul with much more optimism than Cuomo, who signed bail reform and whose administration oversaw several prison closuresbut who has been criticized for being unrelenting toward his opponents.

New York is at a crossroads, said Gabriel Sayegh, co-executive director of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice. We have an opportunity in New York to pursue an agenda on equity, an agenda on healthcare reform and justice reform.

In the past, Hochul has supported many measures put forth by the Cuomo administration as his lieutenant.

In a July interview with WBFO-FM, she said bail reform enacted under the Cuomo administration created a fairer criminal-justice system but said there may need to be adjustments to the law, which eliminated cash bail for many misdemeanors and non-violent felonies.

Think about the system that existed in this state prior to our reforms, where two individuals are accused of the exact same offense. One ends up going free walking the streets, the other incarcerated. The only difference: whether one was rich or poor, whether they had the money to make bail, she told the news outlet. So that is no longer the system in the state of New York. I think most people agree that that is a fairer system.

Hochuls support forrepealing thewalking while trans ban was key to getting it taken off the books, said New York Civil Liberties Union Policy Counsel Jared Trujillo.

Passed in 1976, the prior law allowed authorities to halt people loitering for prostitution. But it was frequently usedto discriminate against transgender people, repeal advocates said.

Trujillo hopes Hochul'sadvocacy on the repealis indicative of her desire to weigh in on the criminal legal system with an understanding of intersectionality.

Im hopeful based upon the work that she did on walking while trans and really her ability to see that criminal legal system issues arent just criminal legal system issues, he said. Theyre also immigration issues, and economic issues, and family issues, and just a number of other things that really support the entire human.

More: Kathy Hochul: Five challenges facing the incoming NY governor

On the anniversary of George Floyd's death, Hochultweeted, It's on all of us to recognize, step up and confront the systemic racism, inequalities and injustices in our society.

And when police shoved protestor Martin Gugino in her native Buffalo, leaving him injured, Hochul told WAMC the incident was a difficult sight.

During the interview, she added, this is the time to think about reform and the role of policing in communities.

Reform is always tough, she told WAMC. Its always resisted, but it has to happen.

Hochul could not be reached for comment for this article.

Hochul will nowdefine her path, though there could be some approved reform bills from Cuomo's time in office that will be waiting for her when she becomes governor.

One such bill may bethe Less IsMore Act, which would allowthose on parole who are accused of non-criminal technical violations to be issued a violation and a date to appear instead of being taken into custody. The bill has gotten support from a wide coalition, including several faith leaders and district attorneys from across the state.

More: Kathy Hochul vows to run for election next year and says mask mandates in schools likely

But Cuomo has not signed the measure into law, said Sayegh of the Katal Center, a leading organization behind the proposal.Sayeghhopes Hochul will sign it if Cuomo doesnt,and that shell gofurther.

Other legislation that could be waiting for Hochuls approval includes the Start Act. The measure would allow sex trafficking survivors to ask the court to clear convictions for offenses resulting from being trafficked and ensure their information is kept private, advocates say.

We would hope that Governor Hochul would step in and tacklethose problems with real energy and to work with New Yorkers who are impacted by these issues, he said. And, really try to advance policies that are focused on equity and trying to unravel the injustice that becomes too familiar."

"We'll celebrate her when we think she is doing right," he said. "We'll challenge her where we think she's not."

"We're not taking anything for granted," he added.

Jose Saldana, of theRelease Aging People in Prison campaign, orRAPP, hasbeen trying to get parole reform passed; last year, his organizationthrew its support behind several measures, including two parole reform bills.

More: Kathy Hochul says she's ready to become NY governor: 'I will fight like hell for you'

Neither of the two passed.Saldana said that thousands of families with incarcerated loved ones are "counting" on Hochul to take a standon mass incarceration by granting more clemencies and supporting parole reforms.

Saldanais hopeful that his mission to stop people from languishing in prisons will have better chances under a Hochul administration.

"Tens of thousands of families with incarcerated loved ones across the state are counting on incoming Gov. Hochul to turn the page on this ugly chapter in our history that we call mass incarceration by expanding the use of clemencies and promoting fair and common-sense parole reforms," he said.

Hochul said in a press conferencethat she's still building her senior staff and said that she'll lay out her vision for the state shortly after becoming governor.

Eddie Taveras, state immigration director of pro-immigration group FWD.us, said having diversity among Hochulsstaff is an early indicator of where she stands.

More: David Paterson's advice for Gov. Kathy Hochul. What she should do first

Another will be how her administration handles the distributionof money for the Excluded WorkerFund, a $2.1 billion fund meant toassistmany joblessimmigrant workers who were excluded from unemployment benefits during the pandemic.

"I go into this moment with more of an open mind and hoping that she takes this opportunityto redefine what she stands for and how inclusive immigrant and immigrant communities will be a part of that," Taverassaid.

But Hochuls past stance against giving driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants as Erie County clerk still resonates with some. She was against former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's proposal in 2007 to grant licenses to undocumented immigrants and said she would have them arrested if they applied for one in Erie County.

Later, in 2019, she penned an opinion piece in support of the Green Light Law. The law, signed by Cuomo, ultimately allowedundocumented immigrants to apply for New York driver's licenses, 12 years after Spitzer's initial push.

I had taken a position that has now evolved, Hochul said at an Aug. 11 news conference.And that evolution coincides with the evolution of many people."

More: How do you pronounce Hochul? Here's the trick NY's incoming governor uses

Taveras said he would also like her administration toshepherd legislation that would help immigrants economically, such as allowing them to get occupational licenses and addressing language barriers.

Still, Taveras said, "We'llproceed with caution." Hochul's actions in the next few months, he said, "will really determine her incoming legacy."

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith covers race and justice for the USA TODAY Network of New York. Click here for her latest stories. Follow her on Twitter @T_Cusaac.

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Kathy Hochul's stance on criminal justice, immigration reform - The Journal News

Even before the coronavirus crisis, the United States suffered from decades of sluggish economic growth, fueled in part by mounting inequality.

But our past doesnt have to be our future. Just last week, Congress took a monumental step toward charting a new course for the country and creating a new era of shared prosperity and robust economic growth, as the Senate passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and JOBS Act alongside a $3.5 trillion budget plan to enact the presidents Build Back Better agenda.

Together these plans tackle some of our countrys most important sources of stagnating growth and inequality by creating good union jobs to fix our crumbling infrastructure, ensuring access to paid family leave, and fixing the tax code so millionaires and billionaires finally pay their fair share.

A reconciliation bill, which can pass with a simple majority vote, is needed to jump-start the administrations vision for an economic recovery that is just, robust, and equitable.

Notably, and sensibly, the proposed budget framework that passed the Senate also included $107 billion dollars in funding toward immigration initiatives, including the creation of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrantsan important economic policy that is essential for U.S. economic growth and recovery.

The momentum for a pathway to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants, Temporary Protected Status holders, and the millions of essential workers who have kept our country running during this pandemic, has been building, and while there are important moral and social implications in finding a solution, immigration reform is also an economic imperative, because immigration reform is an economic growth policy.

Providing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status-eligible individuals, and undocumented essential workers would boost the U.S. gross domestic product by a cumulative $1.5 trillion over 10 years, create more than 400,000 new jobs, and increase wages for all workers, certainly for those eligible but also by an average of $600 for all other workers, according to a study by Center for American Progress and the University of California Davis Global Migration Center.

Undocumented immigrants have long played an outsize role in boosting the U.S. economy, and this was especially true during the pandemic. Nearly three in four undocumented workers, an estimated 5 million in total, served the country as essential workers on the front lines of the nations pandemic response.

They are the health-care workers and first responders providing medical care, the farmworkers harvesting fields, the custodial staff keeping hospitals and schools sanitized, they are the home health and personal aides taking care of our loved ones, and the construction laborers building and maintaining critical infrastructure projects. They also play a vital role in the construction sector that we are counting on to rebuild our countrys roads and bridgesmore than one of every 10 construction workers is undocumented.

Yet, despite their large contributions to this country and its economy, undocumented workers remain in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to unleash their full potential as formal members of the U.S. economy and society. A path to citizenship for undocumented workers would not only give families the certainty of remaining together in the country that they have long called home, but it would also boost our economy, generate new jobs, and benefit all Americans.

Despite having broad public support, bipartisan efforts at reform and a pathway to citizenship have failed again and again, often due to congressional Republicans political intransigence to overwhelmingly popular solutions. Its been more than 30 years since Congress last passed meaningful reforms to our nations immigration system, but Democratic lawmakers today have a unique opportunity to use the budget reconciliation process to enact these long overdue protections for undocumented immigrants and their families.

By including immigration-related provisions in their Build Back Better reconciliation package, Senate Democrats have a viable path to finally granting a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, farmworkers, and undocumented essential workers. Following a recent negative court ruling against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Congress is already facing growing urgency to enact permanent protections to the nations Dreamers.

While a bipartisan deal on infrastructure represents a critical step in President Joe Bidens Build Back Better agenda, a reconciliation bill, which can pass with a simple majority vote, is needed to jump-start the administrations vision for an economic recovery that is just, robust, and equitable. Such a bill could substantially improve the lives of working families, particularly as the country seeks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and its widespread economic fallout.

But you cant build back better without immigrants. As Congress and the Biden administration work together to address the coronavirus pandemic and work toward building a just and equitable recovery, a pathway to citizenship via budget reconciliation is a unique tool that Congress can and must use.

Claudia Flores is the associate director forpolicy and strategy and Nicole Prchal Svajlenka is the associate director for research with the immigration policy program at the Center for American Progress.

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A pathway to citizenship could create 400,000 new jobs, but only if Congress acts - MarketWatch