Senator Lankford Defends Controversial Bill Allowing Entry to Illegal Immigrants and Funding Two Wars Thousands of Miles Away

by | Jan 29, 2024 | Aggregate

 Screenshot: FOX News

Senator James Lankford appeared on Fox News Sunday regarding a hotly debated border security bill that has stirred controversy across party lines.

The bill, criticized for allowing entry to thousands of illegal immigrants and funding conflicts abroad, was a major point of discussion between Lankford and host Shannon Bream.

Bream dove straight into addressing the contentious rumors surrounding the bill, confronting Lankford with Senator Ted Cruz’s assertion that the bill would normalize an “invasion” level of 5,000 people crossing the border daily. This figure translates to approximately 155,000 illegal immigrants each month, amounting to an annual total of 1.8 million.

According to information obtained by FOX News reporter Bill Melugin, the deal includes:

— Mandatory detention of all single adults.

— Mandatory “shut down” of border once average daily migrant encounters hits 5,000. Importantly, this 5,000 number includes 1,400 CBP One app entries at ports of entry per day, and roughly 3,600 illegal crossings per day.

— How is that enforced? Once the 5,000 threshold is hit, a new authority is codified into law that requires Border Patrol to immediately remove illegal immigrants they catch without processing. They would not get to request asylum, they would immediately be removed. This includes removals back to Mexico, and deportations to home countries. This would be a *massive* change from current policy, which is that once an illegal immigrant reaches US soil, they must be processed via Title 8 and allowed to claim asylum. Under this new authority – they are not processed, and they are mandatorily immediately removed once the “shut down” threshold is reached.

— This “shut down” also takes effect is there are 8,500 migrant encounters in a single day.

— The “shut down” would not lift the next day. It wouldn’t lift until daily encounters are reduced to under 75% of the 5,000 threshold for at least two weeks. This means the “shut down” authority would not lift until two weeks of an average of less than 3,750 migrant encounters per day.

— Some family units will be released with ATD (Alternatives to Detention, ankle monitors etc).

— New removal authority to immediately remove all migrants who do not have valid asylum claims, which will be determined within 6 months rather than the years long process we have right now.

— Any migrant caught trying to cross twice during “shut down” phase would be banned from entering US for one year.

— US will need agreement with Mexico for MX to take back non-Mexican illegal immigrants. This hasn’t been ironed out yet.

Lankford countered, insisting that the legislation’s ultimate goal is to reduce illegal crossings to zero, claiming that there is no amnesty involved and that the bill would bolster border patrol resources, increase detention capacities, and streamline the asylum process to ensure swift deportations.

Lankford: Right now, there’s Internet rumors, which is all that people are running on. It would be absolutely absurd for me to agree to 5,000 people a day. This bill focuses on getting us to zero illegal crossings a day. There’s no amnesty. It increases the number of border patrol agents. It increases asylum officers. It increases detention beds so we can quickly detain and then deport individuals. It ends catch and release.”

“It focuses on additional deportation flights out. It changes our asylum process so that people get a fast asylum screening at a higher standard and then get returned back to their home country. This is not about letting 5,000 people in a day. This is the most misunderstood section of this proposal.

“Let me tell you briefly what it is. In the last four months, we’ve had seven days that we had less than 5,000 people. This is set up for if you have a rush of people coming at the border, the border closes down, and no one gets in.”

“This is not someone standing at the border with a little clicker saying, I’m going to let one more in. We’re at 4,999. And then it has to stop. It is a shutdown of the border, and everyone actually gets turned around. Okay, that’s the focus that we have right now: how do we actually intervene in this administration and turn people around, not let people in?”

The bill, as described by Lankford, includes mechanisms to shut down the border in the event of a surge in crossings. Bream pressed Lankford on the nuances of this mechanism, referencing reports that the border would close only after a rolling average of 5,000 crossings over a week, with a potential for reopening.

Bream: So, there may be some initial measurement. You get to that rolling, 5000 in a week, and then it’s zero from that point on. But there is some initial measurement. Our Bill Melugin is reporting that the number would dial back then to about 3750 a day at the border. And then, once you hit that for about two weeks, the gates would open again. Can you confirm or deny that?

Lankford: Yeah, again, it’s not gates opening. That’s a misunderstanding of the bill itself. It’s about how many we can process and actually deport. When you raise the standard for people coming across, when you increase the detention beds, when you increase deportation flights, you’re not letting people in. And people are thinking about how the Biden administration is running it now.

Right now, the Biden administration is allowing, for instance, 1500 people a day just to come to the ports of entry, get a work permit, and get released into the country. People coming between ports of entry get what’s called a notice to appear and get released in the country. All of that stops. We’re focused on how many people we can process quickly and then deport out of the country, not release into the country.

It would be absolutely absurd for anyone to be able to propose something to say, “We’re just going to slow the number of releases.” We’re focused on how do we actually enforce our border and get us back to zero people actually crossing the border illegally. Every administration has struggled to be able to get the authorities in place to be able to actually enforce our border.

The interview also touched on concerns from Senator Michael Bennet regarding immediate work permits for asylum seekers. Lankford defended the bill’s stance, stressing that only those who’ve gone through a strict evaluation and are likely to be granted asylum would receive work permits.

Shannon Bream also questioned Lankford about the rationale behind presenting an immigration and foreign policy bill during an election year. She pointed out that critics of the bill argue it would allow President Biden to claim a legislative victory despite him already possessing executive powers and laws at his disposal that are not being enforced.

Bream: A lot of Republicans are saying he has things [Biden] could use now, executive powers and laws that are not being enforced. So, why give him this in an election year? The cover of this deal that critics say is still going to let a lot of people in, but he gets to take a victory lap that he’s gotten something done.

Lankford: Yeah, well, it’s definitely not going to let a bunch of people in. It’s focused on actually turning people around on it. It is interesting. Republicans, four months ago, would not give funding for Ukraine, for Israel, and for our southern border because we demanded changes in policy. So, we actually locked arms together and said, ‘We’re not going to give you money for this. We want to change in law.’ And now, it’s interesting a few months later when we’re filing it at the end, they’re like, ‘Oh, just kidding. I actually don’t want to change in law because it’s a presidential election year.’ We all have an oath to the Constitution. And we have a commitment to say we’re going to do whatever we can to be able to secure the border.

The segment sparked reactions from conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump Jr.

Charlie Kirk wrote, “Senator Lankford stands by the bill! One of the best things to come out of this border debate is the DC Uniparty has admitted we have the logistical capability of closing the border. It’s a choice to leave it open to invasion. We must keep emphasizing this point.”

Donald Trump Jr. wrote, “This is total BS from this RINO. Lankford is cutting a deal with Dems to fund Zelenskyy with billions, while giving a mass amnesty to illegals. That’s why we oppose his shitty deal. Anyone who supports it deserves a primary. Why is it so hard to just secure the damn border???”

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma GOP party passed a resolution on Saturday to censure U.S. Senator James Lankford for his involvement in an outrageous border security deal with Democrats.

The resolution passed with immediate effect, states that the party will withhold all support for Senator Lankford until he ceases his involvement with the proposed legislation.

WATCH:

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Soros Dumping a Fortune Into Texas, Funding Operatives with One Goal in Mind

by | Jan 28, 2024 | Aggregate

George Soros is striking again.

The progressive billionaire — who has poured a fortune into electing prosecutors who have destroyed criminal justice systems across the United States — is turning his attention to Texas, according to a Fox News report.

And the first Mexican-born woman to serve in the U.S. House has a warning about why Soros is doing it.

With President Joe Biden’s disastrous open-border policy failure to win over Hispanic voters — a failure reflected in Biden’s polling numbers — Soros is putting new millions into a state Democrats are trying to flip to their control.

“They’re seeing that Hispanics are shifting towards the Republican Party because they’re realizing that we are the party of prosperity, that we want to build a strong economy, that we want to secure the border, that we want to prioritize the people of this country and not prioritize people from outside this country,” former Rep. Mayra Flores told Fox.

“And I believe that it’s our policies that are winning people over, and the struggle is real.

“George Soros and the Democratic Party are seeing people like myself that resonate with the Hispanic community,” Flores said. “They resonate with me. I resonate with them. We have similar stories. I’m bilingual. I speak Spanish and English. We have similar stories, and we share that bond.”

That’s a bond Democrats can’t afford to see building. And a leftist billionaire like Soros can afford to do something about it.

According to Fox, Soros has pumped $3 million into the Lone Star State over the past year, with the money going to at least five liberal groups.

The time and the place are critical.

Burdened with bearing the brunt of Biden’s illegal-immigration disaster, Texas has emerged as the symbol of Republican resistance — if that word hasn’t been too sullied by the left’s machinations during the Trump presidency — to the destruction of the United States as a sovereign nation.

Under the leadership of Gov. Greg Abbott, and the Republican-controlled legislature — Texas has challenged Biden’s border policies. And while it lost a major round in the Supreme Court on Monday, when Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the court’s liberal justices in a lawsuit over whether the Border Patrol can cut through razor wire Texas installed to protect its borders from illegal crossings, the state has vowed to continue the fight.

That puts Texas in the crosshairs of liberal activists and the establishment media even more than usual for the Republican stronghold.

And it makes the state — with its 40 Electoral College votes — a target for  influential mega-wealthy leftists like Soros.

According to 2020 Census figures the Hispanic population of Texas was essentially even with the white population (11,441, 717 Hispanics to 11,584,997 whites) and by now is probably larger.

That makes for a powerful voting bloc. And it’s a voting bloc Democrats are pandering to, with their support for blatantly disregarding the laws of the land to welcome millions upon millions of unvetted, unknown foreigners to enter the country illegally.

But Biden’s pathetic poll numbers in general — and among Hispanics who are actually American citizens and voting members of the public in particular — show how ineffective that pandering has been.

And now comes George Soros, a man who has bankrolled prosecutors who won’t prosecute criminals, to support Texas lefties against Hispanics who won’t toe the party’s leftist line.

Flores made history — and made Democrats uncomfortable — when she won her seat as a Republican in a traditionally Democratic district in a special election in June 2022.

She lost the seat in November, when the district’s politics reasserted themselves (amid a disappointing midterm election for Republicans generally).

Now, she’s warning that Soros and his millions are trying to make a different kind of history in Texas, targeting money to the state’s leftist groups to keep a growing Hispanic disgust with Biden’s border policies from setting in for the long haul.

Democrats have taken advantage of knee-jerk loyalty from black voters to maintain their power for decades. They’re trying to cement the same kind of psychology of servitude among Hispanics, too, and use it to turn the country’s second-most populous states into the same kind of lawless, leftist dumping ground they’ve already made of the first most populous state.

And Soros is putting his money where it matters — in the state of Texas.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

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Trump Aide Dismisses Rumors of RFK Jr. as Potential VP Pick, Labels Report as “Fake News”

by | Jan 28, 2024 | Aggregate

A top aide to former President Donald Trump has firmly denied recent speculations about environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being considered as a potential vice presidential candidate.

Chris LaCivita, a senior advisor to Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, took a strong stance against the rumors, categorically ruling out any possibility of such an alliance.

The news comes following a report from The New York Post suggesting that members of Trump’s inner circle had been exploring the possibility of partnering with RFK Jr.

However, LaCivita’s recent statement has put an end to these rumors. In a post made on Saturday, he expressed his unequivocal stance on the matter.

“This is 100% FAKE NEWS – NO ONE from the Trump Campaign ever approached RFK jr (or ever will) – one of the most LIBERAL and radical environmentalists in the country. For all the fake news- update your stories,” LaCivita wrote on X.

This is 100% FAKE NEWS – NO ONE from the Trump Campaign ever approached RFK jr (or ever will) – one of the most LIBERAL and radical environmentalists in the country. For all the fake news- update your stories. https://t.co/HYBJLqSux0

— Chris LaCivita (@LaCivitaC) January 28, 2024

According to a report from The Post, ““Trump operatives expressed an interest in Kennedy early on, but it was all premature,” said one person familiar with the matter, adding that it was “right out of the box when Bobby announced” in April 2023 he was running for president. “Anything’s possible. I wouldn’t write it off by any means,” the insider continued.”

Recent polling posted at Real Clear Politics confirms that a Trump-Robert Kennedy, Jr. ticket would win over 60% of the vote. Joe Biden would be a distant second and would suffer the historic loss he deserves.

Today, America is at a crossroads. There is only one man who can lead us back to our foundation, to law and order, to a rational foreign policy, to a thriving country that respects its border.

As The Gateway Pundit reported last week, If President Trump needs to take on Robert Kennedy, Jr. to ensure a united win in November, then he should not hesitate to make that happen.

The post Trump Aide Dismisses Rumors of RFK Jr. as Potential VP Pick, Labels Report as “Fake News” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Military Juntas of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso Leave African ECOWAS Organization, in a Hard Blow to Power Players France and Nigeria

by | Jan 28, 2024 | Aggregate

In the last couple of years, we watched the French influence crumble and collapse amid the changing geopolitical landscape in the Sahel region of Africa – a Savannah area south of the Sahara Desert and north of the tropical Jungles.

The military juntas that rose to power in Mali, Guiana and Burkina Faso have bucked widespread international pressure and hard economic sanctions by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), that went as far as to threaten military action.

So the new decision by the three African allies to leave the organization cannot be, under any circumstances, be called a surprise.

Reuters reported:

“Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three West African states led by the military, said on Sunday they are immediately leaving the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional economic bloc that has been urging them to return to democratic rule.

The decision by the three, announced in a simultaneous joint statement on their national television channels, is a blow to the bloc’s regional integration efforts after it suspended the three following coups.”

Read:  Powder Keg Africa: Burkina Faso Military Junta Foils Yet Another Coup d’état – Population Takes to the Streets in Support for Captain Traore

The departure of the three countries is bound to weaken ECOWAS, who appears to have been caught by surprise, with spokesperson limiting themselves to say that ‘it is yet to receive any formal notification about the withdrawal’ and declining further comment.

ECPWAS did not recognize the military-led governments.

“Since the coups – and despite sanctions, negotiations and threats of military intervention – the military leaders have failed to provide a clear timetable for a return to constitutional rule.

Instead, they have hardened their rhetoric against the bloc and accused it of being influenced by external powers. The three have also cut military and other ties with former colonial master France, and turned to Russia for security support.”

Read: Powder Keg Africa: Niger Military Junta Prevented Deposed President Bazoum From Escaping Detention – Lawyers Denounce He Is Now Being Held in Secret Location

The military leaders say they need to crush insurgencies linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State before any restoration of the democratic order.

“‘After 49 years, the valiant peoples of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger regretfully and with great disappointment observe that the (ECOWAS) organization has drifted from the ideals of its founding fathers and the spirit of Pan-Africanism’, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, Niger junta spokesman, said in the statement. ‘The organization notably failed to assist these states in their existential fight against terrorism and insecurity’, Abdramane added.”

Read: ‘Au Revoir’: The Last French Troops Leave Niger, Signaling the End of Paris’ Influence in Africa’s Sahel Region

ABC News reported:

“Widely seen as West Africa’s top political and regional authority, the 15-nation bloc of ECOWAS — formed in 1975 to “promote economic integration” in member states — has struggled in recent years to reverse rampant coups in the region where citizens have complained of not benefitting from rich natural resources.

[…] Sunday’s announcement is the latest twist in a series of events that have deepened political tension in West Africa since it experienced its latest of a string of coups — in Niger — last year. It also comes as the three nations have formed a security alliance after severing military ties with France and other European nations and turning to Russia for support.”

The countries accuse ECOWAS of failing to assist those three countries in fighting terrorism.

“’When these States decided to take their destiny into their own hands, it (ECOWAS) adopted an irrational and unacceptable posture in imposing illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions in violation of its own texts’, the statement noted.”

This new development is another proof of the diminishing influence of the two traditional superpowers in West Africa – France and Nigeria.

Read more:

Macron Depression: Globalist Leader Survives Many Crises, While French Influence Collapses in Africa – Snubbed at BRICS Meeting, He Is Object of Internet Rumor About an Affair With Canada’s Trudeau

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