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House Republican leadership is pushing for a delay to a planned markup next week of multiple immigration and border security bills as it deals with infighting between members a move likely to upset immigration hawks keen to see action from the caucus on the historic migrant crisis at the southern border.

Punchbowl News reported Thursday that leadership has asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to delay a planned consideration of as many as eight border and immigration bills next week before the April recess.

But sources told the outlet that leadership had delayed the markup until after the recess, meaning it will be more than four months since Republicans took control of the House before there is any consideration of legislation to tackle the ongoing migrant crisis at the southern border. A source familiar with the situation confirmed the Punchbowl News report to Fox News Digital.

BIDEN ADMIN SCALING BACK DETENTION OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, EVEN AMID MIGRANT SURGE

Republicans had been planning to markup as many as eight bills next week. (Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images / File)

Jordan told Punchbowl that "we have eight pieces of legislation that we think makes sense, and were going to get done as soon as we can, but were working with the whole conference."

Republicans have little wiggle room when it comes to defections as they have just a five-seat majority in the lower chamber. While there has been consensus on the broad strokes of how the caucus should tackle the migrant crisis, deep divisions have emerged between members.

Specifically, legislation introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, which would allow DHS to block the entry of illegal migrants into the U.S. until there was "operational control" of the border, has seen internal Republican opposition from a small number of lawmakers.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, has been the most vocal opponent of the bill, calling it anti-American and claiming it bans asylum a claim Roy has denied. Gonzales' opposition to the bill was one factor in the Texas Republican Partys move to censure him this month.

But Republicans had campaigned on coming up with solutions to the border crisis and have already held a number of hearings at the border to draw attention to the crisis. Last year, Republicans unveiled a number of policy proposals to secure the border that they said they would advance if they took the House. Policies include finished the Trump-era border wall, expanding Title 42, modernizing technology and overhauling the asylum system.

DHS PUSHES BACK AGAINST MCCARTHY CALL FOR MAYORKAS TO RESIGN OR FACE POTENTIAL IMPEACHMENT

Since then, some Republicans including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have floated the possibility of impeaching DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. That move has yet to happen, although two lawmakers have introduced articles of impeachment.

A coalition of hawkish groups, including the Heritage Foundation, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), America First Policy Institute and Numbers USA, had written to GOP leaders in February urging the party to keep its promises and warning that resources alone were not enough and that laws needed to be changed to end loopholes.

In a statement on Thursday, Heritage Action Executive Director Jessica Anderson said border security needs to be the "top priority" for the House.

BORDER HAWKS SAY FAILURE TO PASS BORDER SECURITY BILL WOULD BETRAY GOP COMMITMENT TO AMERICA

"House Republicans have been in power for several months," she wrote. "They must immediately develop and consider a border security package that ends the asylum fraud, creates an authority to immediately expel illegal aliens, sends resources to complete the border wall, and gives border agents the personnel and tools needed to carry out their proper duties, not the mass release of illegal aliens as directed by the Biden administration. Migrants must be disincentivized from making the dangerous journey to cross the border illegally, and must not be promised any possibility of amnesty."

Anderson noted the ongoing fentanyl crisis, which is primarily smuggled across the border, as well as cartel trafficking and an increase in the number of individuals encountered on the terror watch list. While she blamed the "Biden administrations deliberate border destruction," she also urged action from Republicans.

"The time is now American sovereignty has been severely damaged. Heritage Action urges House Republicans to follow through on their Commitment to America and move forward on consideration of a border security package," she said.

Meanwhile, Democrats and the Biden administration have been attacking Republicans for failing to agree to border security funding requests made by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden himself has called for Republicans in Congress to support additional funding to the ports as well as pathways to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

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GOP leadership pushes back immigration, border bill markup amid infighting - Fox News

In Afghanistan, Dr. Wessal Mukhtar was a successful doctor for 20 years. After coming to the United States 10 months ago, he and his family have struggled just to pay rent.

Mukhtar was among the panelists in San Francisco last week for a program titled Refugees in the Bay Area: Welcoming Our Neighbors, held at the Mission District community space and caf Mannys.

Members of the local immigrant community and their supporters gathered to tackle questions of resettlement, immigration policy and how Bay Area residents can best help their new neighbors, and the space was filled to capacity as Mukhtar told his story.

Along with his wife and six children, Mukhtar fled Afghanistan in March 2022 after the fall of Kabul seven months earlier.

After arriving in San Francisco, the Mukhtars were helped by Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay, which helped them secure housing, jobs and schools for the children. But complications and hardship soon followed. Despite his education, Mukhtar cannot practice medicine due to visa regulations; he cannot buy a home with no credit history in the U.S.; and two months ago, his youngest daughter passed away.

I have to be strong, Mukhtar told the audience. I am here in this region [so] my children can grow.

San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar, a Jew from El Salvador who emigrated in the 1980s to escape civil war, hosted the panel, which also included Joe Goldman of HIAS (a Jewish nonprofit that aids refugees and asylum seekers) and Robin Mencher, CEO of JFCS East Bay.

I think Jews understand more than most people the harm that occurs when refugees are not welcome.

State Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco dropped in before things got underway to shake hands and promote his recently proposed State Senate Bill 85, which would grant refugees and asylum seekers an additional 90 days of case management support on top of the 90 days given by current policy.

The work of immigration reform, Wiener said, is intimately tied to his Jewish identity.

I think Jews understand more than most people the harm that occurs when refugees are not welcome, Wiener said.

Many of the hardships faced by refugees like Mukhtar and his family are the direct result of United States policy, Goldman pointed out.

He said that HIAS which considers itself the worlds oldest refugee agency and was founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in 1902 is heavily involved with not only resettlement, but also with advocating for legislation that would make things easier for refugees seeking to enter the country. Goldman encouraged the crowd to get involved in local politics, contact representatives and advocate for change.

We should be welcoming far more people into California, said Goldman, community engagement director for the Western region of HIAS.

Mencher praised the work JFCS East Bay is doing on the ground to help refugees after they arrive in the Bay Area. The agencys mission is to help those in need flourish with dignity, a process that is different for every family, she said.

Over the course of the event at Mannys, which is owned by Manny about town and observant Jew Manny Yekutiel, it became clear that, despite the efforts of agencies such as HIAS and JFCS, much is still needed when it comes to a family like the Mukhtar family.

When asked what he wanted to leave the audience with, Mukhtar, through a translator, said that although the assistance he has received has been life-changing, there need to be more resources for families like his.

[I want] the government as well as these organizations to look into the possibilities of increasing these services, furthering the assistance programs and helping refugees, Mukhtar said.

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In Afghanistan he was a doctor. Now he struggles to pay rent. J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

For the first time ever, two of the largest associations representing the home-based care industry have joined together on a call to action regarding the workforce shortage.

On Monday, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the Home Care Association of America (HCAOA) released a report that details the needs of the nursing and home care aide workforces and specifically recommends policy changes and operational practices that can be implemented to address the workforce shortage in home-based care.

What I think is truly innovative with this report is the collaboration of it, Kristen Wheeler, NAHCs executive director of private duty home care, told Home Health Care News. This really brought the associations together in a way that hasnt been done before.

Industry leaders from across the home-based care space came together to form working groups to strategize and solidify actionable steps to address the issue, Wheeler said.

Some of the recommendations include higher wages and immigration reform, which are familiar concepts. Others, however, are more fresh.

Those include: creating agency-based peer mentoring for new hires during the first 90 days of employment; replacing weekly or bi-weekly pay with daily or on-demand pay; and engaging with nursing schools to institute rotations in a community or home care setting as part of a nursing school curriculum.

The industry also has to do a better job of educating policymakers about the financial implications that come with low-paying home care jobs while demand continues to rise, according to the report.

It also emphasizes the importance of collecting data that will show how the cost trend factors in home care are threatening the affordability of family-funded or private-pay care. Higher prices for care would then lead to more need for Medicaid support, something policymakers would have no choice but to pay attention to.

One of the main sticking points, Wheeler said, was for the industry to change the public perception of direct care workers and to put their struggles in the limelight.

Two of the work groups focused on supply, benefits and retention and two of them focused on elevating the profession and really getting a more positive image of the profession out there, Wheeler said. Particularly for the direct care workers. Everyone understands what a nurse is and what they do. Oftentimes, theres confusion out there as to what a home care caregiver or home health aide really does and what kind of skill level they actually operate under.

Wheeler pointed to one comment specifically, made by Pattie Rodgers, the VP and director of operations at the Pennsylvania-based home care provider Waverly Care.

The way private home care is paid can be contributing to misperception of the complexity of what we do, Rodgers said in the report. Clients, who pay $100 or more for a few hours of housecleaning, often balk at paying anywhere near that for home care.

That perception needs to shift, Wheeler said, which is a massive undertaking.

Theres a reason that people arent coming into the industry and its because they dont even understand whats great about the industry, Wheeler said. So its going to take time to get that information out there and into the public, but it has to start now with all of us.

While this latest report is an example of how the industry can come together to try to enact change, its also crucial for states to band together in order to affect change at the federal level.

That could start by getting everyone on the same page with workforce training standards.

I think the federal government really needs to implement benchmarking standards for people providing care in the home, Wheeler said. There certainly are some bad players out there that are in this just to take advantage of these very vulnerable folks and I think a national standard would start to change that. Its astonishing how many states actually have zero regulations when it comes to this level of home care.

Originally posted here:
NAHC, HCAOA Unveil Practical Solutions To Address Home-Based ... - Home Health Care News

Sinema highlighted her focus on delivering lasting, common sense solutions to the challenges impacting housing availability and affordability

WASHINGTON Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema hosted a meeting with members of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) to discuss lasting solutions to the shortage of affordable and available housing options across Arizona.Right now, too many Arizona families struggle to find quality, affordable housing. As rent and home prices continue to rise, Ill keep working to address the affordable housing shortage and help everyday Arizonans feel secure, said Sinema, a member of the Senate Housing, Transportation, and Community Development Subcommittee.Sinema heard from members of NAHREP about their priorities and how they can work together to address their needs and better provide for Arizona families. Specifically, Sinema discussed lasting solutions to the affordable housing shortage across Arizona and the need for comprehensive immigration reform.Last week, Sinema met with the White Mountain Apache and San Carlos Housing Authorities to discuss solutions to housing affordability and accessibility challenges in tribal communities. Sinema discussed successes with both tribal housing authorities including how they built more affordable housing units using the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) alongside the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG), expanding accessible housing options while supporting careers for Tribal members.Last month, Sinema convened two events with leading housing stakeholders in Phoenix one focused on homelessness and services, and one around housing supply and affordability. Sinema first toured UMOM, the largest shelter services provider in Maricopa County and saw firsthand how their innovative model provides child care and workforce development alongside shelter services. Afterwards, Sinema brought industry stakeholders and affordability advocates together to assess the market in Arizona, identify supply chain challenges that hold capital investment back, and craft solutions to those challenges.In January, Sinema led the largest bipartisan delegation of U.S. Senators in recent memory to the Southwest border in El Paso, Texas, and Yuma, Arizona, to see firsthand the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis that Arizona border communities witness every day. During the Congressional delegation, Sinema convened a roundtable with participating U.S. Senators, nonprofits, local law enforcement, and local elected leaders, highlighting the challenges presented by the ongoing border crisis. Sinema vowed to continue her work with solutions-focused colleagues who understand the need to deliver lasting results to solve this challenge.The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals is a nonprofit 501(c)6 trade association dedicated to advancing sustainable homeownership among Latinos by educating and empowering the real estate professionals who serve them. NAHREP is the premier trade organization for Hispanics and has more than 30,000 members in 48 states and over 70 chapters.

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Sinema Discusses Solutions to Arizona's Affordable Housing ... - Kyrsten Sinema

Every year the United States spends many billions of dollars securing the 2,000-mile border it shares with Mexico. This perpetually growing investment hasmade Customs and Border Protectionwhich is staffed by more than 60,000 federal employeesone of the largest law enforcement organizations in the world.

But you wouldnt know that by tuning in to Fox News, which depicts the US-Mexico border as an unmonitored wasteland where all are free to come and go at will. Since just before the 2020 election, the term open borders has been featured in right-wing media with startling frequency: From November 1, 2020, through March 16, 2023, Fox News pundits used the phrase a whopping 3,282 times, according to data compiled by Americas Voice and Media Matters, while Newsmax clocked 2,727 mentions over the same period. This coverage, according to Americas Voice, aired during time slots collectively valued at nearly $27 million for advertisers.

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While right-wing medias open borders messaging has proven salient for stateside viewers, theres also reason to believe that its impacting perceptions of the border abroad. I met with migrants in Costa Rica that were turned back, and their sense was that they will be able to enter freely, RepresentativeAdriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat, told me, arguing that the confusion stems squarely from right-wing disinformation. The perception from them was that the border is open and they could just walk through.John Modlin, a chief Border Patrol agent,shared a similar insight last month. Testifying before the House Oversight Committee, he relayed how detained migrants often said they were led to believe the border was open.

Just how this misinformation is reaching migrants is not entirely clear. But its well known that human smugglers, who ferry migrants across the border for a fee, have widely promoted the open borders lie as a way of driving business, according toDylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute, a nonprofit that works with migrants. Smugglers are constantly peddling that type of misinformation because theyre looking to feed their bottom line, he said, noting that traffickers falsely advertise open crossings to migrants desperate for a way into the US. The open borders myth is alsospread on Facebook and WhatsApp, where it reaches unwitting migrants. We had a group of Venezuelans who approached a bridge because they had seen something online and were under the notion that the border was open, Corbett added.

Still, Corbett noted that while migrants might latch on to any glimmer of hope that can sustain them on their journey, including bogus conservative talking points that end up on social media, policy debates in Washington and on Fox News is hardly whats fueling the crisis. We know whats going on in their countries: hunger, poverty, and social insecurity, he said. Those are the things that drive migration. Not the political situation in the US.

Vanessa Cardenas, the executive director of Americas Voice, said that she, too, has heard accounts of migrants receiving misinformation about the porousness of the border from social media and smugglers. The best open border propaganda machine is, in fact, the GOP, she said in an interview. We know the impact this disinformation has on migrants, who largely get information through online platforms. And we know that smugglers take this information and use it for their own purposesto recruit and encourage irregular migration.

The open borders narrative, while especially prominent now, has been circulating in the US for years. In the mid-2000s, whenLou Dobbs hosted a nightly show on CNN, he aired a recurring segment called Broken Borders, in which he baselesslyportrayed migrants as disease-ridden criminals. That style ofcoverage, viewedat the time as both disturbing and novel, is now par for the course on Fox, the network Dobbs joined when he left CNN.Tucker Carlson regularly smears South and Central American migrants as invaders freely rampaging across the border, evenclaiming they make the US dirtier and arebeing used by Democrats to replace the current electorate.

For Republicans in Congress, Carlsons prime-time show is considered gospel. During the long series of votes for Speaker, a lot of folks on the floor were saying, Well, well see where the votes land after Tucker is on tonight, RepresentativeGreg Casar, a Democrat whose Texas district stretches from San Antonio to Austin, told me. And this interdependence, said Casar, has crippled any hope of immigration reform. So as Republicans feed anti-immigrant fear, its accelerated by right-wing media, he continued, and then you see the Republican Party becoming more and more extreme on issues like immigration."

For a while, fearmongering around migrants proved useful for riling up the Republican base. During the lead-up to the 2018 midterms,Donald Trump, along with his congressional and media allies, aggressively spun narratives about a migrant caravan homing in on the US. A similar spike in open border warnings occurred ahead of the 2020 election. Open borders is one of their favorite things to resort to when they think its politically advantageous, or when they need to pass a certain Trump litmus test, RepresentativeChuy Garca, an Illinois Democrat, told me, noting how many times hes seen his Republican colleagues lean on the buzzword during Fox News interviews, floor speeches, and committee hearings. But its interesting to see that their messages dont land that well among the American electorate, as we saw in November.

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How the Rights Open Borders Myth Might Be Fueling the Migration Crisis - Vanity Fair