Immigration & Trumps Wall

searcher · Jul 28, 2018

'They want open borders and more crime': Trump lays into Democrats for not backing the 'brave and heroic men and women of ICE'

Trump referred to 167 Democrats who didn't back House resolution praising ICE
'Without ICE we would have no enforcement, no laws, and no country,' he said
Also slammed small number of Democrats have backed the agency's abolition

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-not-backing-brave-heroic-men-women-ICE.html

searcher · Jul 29, 2018

Guatemalan girl, six, was 'sexually abused TWICE' at Arizona detention facility after being separated from her mother under Trump's zero-tolerance immigration policy

The girl and her mother came to Texas to flee gang violence in Guatemala
They were separated two days later and the girl was sent to a facility in Arizona
Her father was informed on two separate occasions that she was sexually abused
She had to sign a form stating it was her 'responsibility' to say away from abuser

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...xually-abused-Arizona-detention-facility.html

searcher · Jul 29, 2018

Trump threatens to shut down the government if he doesn't get money for his border wall as REPUBLICANS mull putting off the money until after November election

Controversy over funding the president's wall could lead to a government shutdown in October
Republicans fear that could hurt them at the ballot box
GOP leaders Mitch McConnell and Speaker Ryan met with Trump at the White House last week to discuss government funding
Afterward both men said funding the wall could wait until after the election
Trump's tweet could change things, raising odds of a shut down
Trump threatened a shutdown in March over his wall but caved and signed a omnibus spending bill to fund government
He later indicated he regretted his decision

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rnment-doesnt-money-wall-GOP-mulls-delay.html

searcher · Jul 29, 2018

Trump threatens shutdown over wall, immigration
CNN

Published on Jul 29, 2018
President Donald Trump threatened to push the government into shutdown ahead of the coming appropriations deadline in September if Congress does not fund his border wall and change the nation's immigration laws. CNN's Boris Sanchez reports.

searcher · Jul 30, 2018

Philadelphia terminates ICE contract after activists storm city hall; DHS rips 'misguided' move
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...-storm-city-hall-dhs-rips-misguided-move.html

searcher · Jul 31, 2018

Trump says government shutdown is 'very small price to pay' for border security as he dares Dems to block border wall funding and promises 'Prosperous America' if he gets it

Donald Trump says he wants funding for his border wall and he's willing to force a government shutdown to get it
The president called that a 'small price to pay' for what he has promised will be improved national security and a stronger economy if his wall is completed
Trump also called conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh a 'great guy'
'Fox & Friends' played a clip of Limbaugh praising Trump's tough talk and said the GOP supports the president on the issue
A prominent Republican senator said Trump has 'privately' agreed to postpone any border wall shutdown fights until after November's election
Republicans fear a shutdown could boomerang back on them and cost them seats in Congress

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...shutdown-small-price-pay-border-security.html

Po'boy · Jul 31, 2018

searcher said:

The wall that Mexico isn't going to pay for?
The wall that Q said Trump signed the Omni buss bill so military funds would be used to build but funded sanctuary cities and baby killing instead.
The wall that Reagan amnesty duped taxpayers for in the 1980's?
Or is this a new easy to climb fence Trump will use to claim he's maga and keeping campaign promises while Hillary roams free?

searcher · Aug 1, 2018

Portland police 'refused to respond to TWO 911 calls from ICE employees inside their offices while protests against Trump's immigration policy raged outside'

Union representing ICE agents sent letter to Mayor Ted Wheeler
Wheeler didn't allow Portland police to come to ICE's aid during Occupy protest
Protests were launched in response to Trump's separation of migrant families

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...gents-union-slams-Portland-mayor-protest.html

searcher · Aug 1, 2018

George Takei On U.S. Government Holding Kids In Camps | The Last Word | MSNBC
MSNBC

Published on Jul 31, 2018
Like the children at the border, George Takei was seized by the federal government when he was five years old. The President ignored the crisis Tuesday but Takei explains what life in internment is like.

searcher · Aug 1, 2018

Appeals Court Tosses Nationwide Injunction Against Sanctuary City Defunding
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...injunction-against-defunding-sanctuary-cities

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALSFOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
https://www.scribd.com/document/385222047/9th-circuit-ruling-on-Trump-sanctuary-city-EO#from_embed

searcher · Aug 1, 2018

Administration Was Warned Of Family Separation Harms | All In | MSNBC
MSNBC

Published on Jul 31, 2018
An HHS official said today that he warned the administration that separating families could harm children.

searcher · Aug 1, 2018

Mika: President Donald Trump Continues To Own This Border Policy | Morning Joe | MSNBC
MSNBC

Published on Aug 1, 2018
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration enforcement and family reunification, HHS official Jonathan White told the panel the Trump WH was warned about the impact of separating children from parents.
» Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc

searcher · Aug 2, 2018

Worker at Arizona center for migrant children which Melania Trump visited is charged with sexual abuse after being seen 'kissing and inappropriately touching girl, 14, whose room he crept in to at night'

Fernando Magaz Negrete, 32, is accused of sexually assaulting the teenage girl
Another child at the Southwest Key center in Phoenix reported alleged attacks
She said she saw Negrete entering the girl's room, kissing her and touching her
Surveillance footage supports claim and shows him approaching teen's room
It is not clear if she is one of the children who was separated from her parents at the border recently

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...child-immigration-facility-molested-teen.html

searcher · Aug 2, 2018

Ivanka breaks with her father's immigration policy saying separating illegal immigrant families at the border was a 'low point' because she is 'vehemently against' it

Government has been separating children from men and women who illegally bring them across the border because it's illegal to house kids in adult jails
Ivanka Trump la slong been opposed to the four-month-old policy but has spoken publicly about it only once
On Thursday she declared that seeing desperate parents and inconsolable children was 'a low point' in her White House tenure
'I am very vehemently against family separation and the separation of parents and children'
Ivanka's mother, the president's first wife Ivanka, came to the U.S. from Commuinist Czechoslovakia, but entered the country legally

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rs-immigration-policy-family-separations.html

searcher · Aug 3, 2018

Immigrant mother-of-two who has been happily married to a former marine and Iraq War veteran for 18 years will be DEPORTED tomorrow

Florida resident and Mexican national Alejandra Juarez is to be deported Aug. 8
She has been married for 18 years to a former U.S. Marine and Army National Guardsman, and they have two children together who are also U.S. citizens
Juarez entered the country illegally at 16, though has committed no other crimes

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-married-former-Marine-18-years-DEPORTED.html

searcher · Aug 3, 2018

Federal judge says Trump must fully restore DACA

The Hill
Aris Folley
1 hr ago

A federal judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration must fully restore the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

In his 25-page opinion, Judge John Bates said the Trump White House had again failed to provide justification for its proposal to end the Obama-era program, under which nearly 800,000 people brought to the country illegally as children, known as "Dreamers," have received work permits and deferral from deportation.

The judge also said in his opinion that he has agreed to delay his ruling to give the Trump administration 20 days "to determine whether it intends to appeal the Court's decision and, if so, to seek a stay pending appeal."

President Trump rescinded DACA in September, a decision Bates wrote in his opinion "was arbitrary and capricious" with legal judgment that was "inadequately explained."

Bates further wrote that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia holds that if the Trump administration wishes to rescind the program, or take any other action for that matter, it must "give a rational explanation for its decision."

Bates said his court reaffirms its conclusion that DACA's rescission "was unlawful and must be set aside."

Earlier this year, Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, became the third federal judge to reject Trump's explanation for ending the program, ruling at the time that the decision by the Justice Department that the program was unlawful was "virtually unexplained."

The judge's decision on Friday comes amid high political tension over the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies.

Trump has faced backlash for his controversial "zero-tolerance" at the Mexican border, which prioritizes the prosecutions of migrants who illegally enter the United States.

The policy led to the separation of hundreds of migrant children from their parents, causing a bipartisan uproar. A court previously ordered the government to reunite the migrant families by last Thursday, but hundreds of children still remain divided from their parents.

Trump has signed an executive order to end the family separations, but also repeatedly pledged to shut down the government this fall if he fails to secure funding for his long-promised southern border wall.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fe...must-fully-restore-daca/ar-BBLsYXG?ocid=ientp

searcher · Aug 3, 2018

The Trump administration is '100 percent' responsible for locating immigrant parents who have been deported without their children, judge says

A federal judge ruled that the U.S. government is responsible for finding migrant parents who have been deported without their children - NOT the kids' lawyers
The ruling comes after the Trump administration argued that duty should fall to the ACLU, which is representing immigrant children in a federal class action suit
Judge Dana Sabraw said it was '100 percent' the government's obligation to track down the parents that it deported after separating them from their kids

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nts-deported-without-children-judge-says.html

searcher · Aug 4, 2018

Judge says Trump team '100 percent' responsible for finding deported immigrant parents

USA Today
Alan Gomez
6 hrs ago

The Trump administration believes that the responsibility for finding parents who were deported after they were separated from their children should rest with immigration advocacy groups, not with the federal government, according to a court document filed Thursday.

The administration reunited more than 1,400 children with their parents by a July 26 deadline imposed by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw. But the judge gave the government more time to reunite more complicated cases, including an estimated 431 children whose parents had already been deported.

Justice Department lawyers wrote on Thursday that the government would turn over whatever identifying information it could on the parents who were deported, including last known phone numbers and addresses. But they wrote that the ACLU "should use their considerable resources and their network of law firms, (nongovernmental organizations), volunteers, and others" to establish contact with the deported parents.

ACLU lawyers argued that the Trump administration is trying to shirk its responsibility by passing its work off to private groups despite its own considerable resources.

"Not only was it the government's unconstitutional separation practice that led to this crisis, but the United States Government has far more resources than any group of NGOs (no matter how many NGOs and law firms are willing to help),'" they wrote.

The ACLU attorneys said they "hope that the Government will take significant and prompt steps to find the parents on their own."

The ACLU lawyers also complained that the government is not even sharing information it already has on parents who have been deported, mostly to the Central American nations of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. They wrote that they found at least 12 parents who were already in contact with U.S. government officials, proving that the administration has established contact information with some deported parents but didn't pass that information along to the ACLU.

Even when information is being shared, the ACLU argues that it's only coming in pieces. Some addresses for parents list only a street, some merely a city.

It remains unclear what will happen when the parents are located. They could waive their right to be reunified and allow their children to remain in the U.S. to fight for legal status. But the ACLU is asking Sabraw to give parents the additional option of flying back to the U.S. to consult with lawyers and their children, a proposal that Trump administration officials have refused.

More: Ivanka Trump calls father's immigrant family separation policy 'low point' for administration

More: Top HHS official warned Trump administration against separating immigrant families

More: Bipartisan senators grill ICE, border patrol and other officials about family separations

The disagreement over the deported parents marks the latest step in the arduous process of reunifying more than 2,500 children who were separated from their parents under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy.

The policy required that most people apprehended trying to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border were to be charged with a criminal violation and sent to immigration detention centers or federal prisons to await deportation hearings. That prompted the government to separate them from their children, due to a U.S. law and a 1997 court settlement, known as the Flores Consent Decree , that limits the detention of children to no more than 20 days.

The policy was widely condemned, and the president signed an executive order ending the practice in an attempt to mitigate the problem.

A week later, Sabraw, based in San Diego, ruled that the practice may have violated the due process rights of the families and ordered the administration to reunite them within 30 days.

Lawyers on both sides are now at odds over whether the government has met the judge's deadlines and whether the government is doing enough to reunite parents who have been deported.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of senators grilled administration officials over the family separation crisis. During the hearing, a senior Department of Health and Human Services official said he repeatedly warned the Trump administration that the separation policy would not be in "the best interest of the child."

On Wednesday, a group of 14 bipartisan senators sent a letter to the heads of the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, demanding information on the status of separated families, including those where the parents have been deported.

"Unfortunately, the flow of information to the public and to congressional offices with important oversight responsibilities has been both incomplete and below acceptable standards," the senators wrote.

And on Thursday, Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and senior adviser, weighed in, calling the family separation practice a "low point" in her father's presidency.

Sabraw is scheduled to hold a hearing on Friday to decide who should bear the responsibility to find the deported parents.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ju...orted-immigrant-parents/ar-BBLqkU9?ocid=ientp

searcher · Aug 4, 2018

Allegations of abuse at migrant children shelters
CNN

Published on Aug 4, 2018
A federal judge is slamming the Trump administration, saying the government is completely responsible for reuniting the hundreds of migrant children still in federal custody with their parents. The remarks come as the government and immigration advocacy groups argue over who is responsible for tracking down their parents. CNN's Dianne Gallagher reports.

searcher · Aug 7, 2018

Don't build THAT wall! None of the prototypes for Mexican border barrier will be used despite $20 MILLION cost of San Diego construction project

A Government Accountability Office study revealed the Department of Homeland Security wasted $20 million on prototypes that won't be built
DHS built eight types of walls but none are feasible for the border area
The report found that the border wall project is under risk that it 'will cost more than projected, take longer than planned, or not fully perform as expected'
A Democratic lawmaker slammed the border wall project as 'a gift to contractors and the President's political base'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...border-wall-used-despite-20-MILLION-cost.html

Joe King · Aug 7, 2018

searcher said:

So in other words they're saying it'll function just like every other government project?

Edited to add: So why do we do any of them? Every gov project I've known of in my lifetime has been over budget and not performed to original expectations. If that's a reason to not do something, let's apply that thinking to everything the gov does. We'd be back to a fully Constitutional gov in no time. lol

searcher · Aug 7, 2018

Now the Trump administration wants to limit citizenship for legal immigrants

NBC News
11 mins ago

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is expected to issue a proposal in coming weeks that would make it harder for legal immigrants to become citizens or get green cards if they have ever used a range of popular public welfare programs, including Obamacare, four sources with knowledge of the plan told NBC News.

The move, which would not need Congressional approval, is part of White House senior adviser Stephen Miller's plan to limit the number of migrants who obtain legal status in the U.S. each year.

Details of the rulemaking proposal are still being finalized, but based on a recent draft seen last week and described to NBC News, immigrants living legally in the U.S. who have ever used or whose household members have ever used Obamacare, children's health insurance, food stamps and other benefits could be hindered from obtaining legal status in the U.S.

Immigration lawyers and advocates and public health researchers say it would be the biggest change to the legal immigration system in decades and estimate that more than 20 million immigrants could be affected. They say it would fall particularly hard on immigrants working jobs that don't pay enough to support their families.

Many are like Louis Charles, a Haitian green-card holder seeking citizenship who, despite working up to 80 hours a week as a nursing assistant, has had to use public programs to support his disabled adult daughter.

Using some public benefits like Social Security Insurance has already hindered immigrants from obtaining legal status in the past, but the programs included in the recent draft plan could mean that immigrant households earning as much as 250 percent of the poverty level could be rejected.

A version of the plan has been sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget, the sources said, the final step before publishing a rule in the federal register.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said, "The administration is committed to enforcing existing immigration law, which is clearly intended to protect the American taxpayer by ensuring that foreign nationals seeking to enter or remain in the U.S are self-sufficient.

Any proposed changes would ensure that the government takes the responsibility of being good stewards of taxpayer funds seriously and adjudicates immigration benefit requests in accordance with the law."

Miller, along with several of his former congressional colleagues who now hold prominent positions in the Trump administration, have long sought to decrease the number of immigrants who obtain legal status in the U.S. each year. And even before the rule is in place, the administration has made it more difficult for immigrants to gain green cards and for green-card holders to gain citizenship.

In fiscal year 2016, the last full fiscal year under the Obama administration, 1.2 million immigrants became lawful permanent residents, or green-card holders, and 753,060 became naturalized U.S. citizens, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Data from the first quarter of fiscal year 2018 indicates that the administration is on track for a decline in immigrants granted green cards by 20 percent and naturalized citizenship will drop by 10 percent by the end of October compared to fiscal year 2016.

Four immigration lawyers practicing in Massachusetts, Virginia, Tennessee and California told NBC News they have noticed a spike in the number of their clients being rejected when seeking green cards and naturalized citizenship.

In a statement, USCIS spokesperson Michael Bars said, "USCIS evaluates all applications fairly, efficiently, and effectively on a case-by-case basis."

“Contrary to open borders advocates, immigration attorneys and activists," said Bars, "USCIS has not changed the manner in which applications for naturalization have been adjudicated, as the law generally requires that an eligible applicant must have been properly admitted for permanent residence in order to become a U.S. citizen. ... We reject the false and inaccurate claims of those who would rather the U.S. turn a blind eye to cases of illegal immigration, fraud, human trafficking, gang activity, and drug proliferation at the expense of public safety, the integrity of our laws and their faithful execution."

"I DID EVERYTHING THEY ASKED ME"

Charles, the Haitian green-card holder who works as a nursing assistant in a psychiatric hospital near Boston, said he was stunned to learn his application for citizenship had been denied. He had used a fake passport given to him by smugglers when he entered the U.S. from Haiti in 1989, but confessed to border officers and received a waiver from USCIS absolving him of his wrongdoing and allowing him to obtain a green card in 2011.

Now 55, Charles is a homeowner and a taxpayer and thought obtaining citizenship would be a smooth process. "I thought in this country everything was square and fair," Charles said.

But when he went for his citizenship interview in August 2017, the USCIS officers told him they were going to revisit the decision to waive the fake passport incident, meaning he could potentially lose his green card as well.

Then he received a letter in September telling him his request for citizenship had been denied.

"I was devastated. And I'm not sure exactly why they did it. I did everything they asked me to."

He appealed the decision, but as he waits for a final verdict, his lawyer says his green-card status may also now be in question.

In late November, the Trump administration announced they would end temporary protected status for Haitians who came to the U.S. after the deadly 2010 earthquake. Charles's wife was a recipient of that protection and without him becoming a citizen, he would be unable to vouch for her.

But Charles's biggest concern is his daughter. Although she is in her 20s and a U.S. citizen, she has severe disabilities that make it impossible for her to live by herself.

Charles is unaware of Miller's new plan to limit citizenship for immigrants who have used public assistance. But it is likely to affect him because he has used public assistance to help care for his daughter, so she could end up further hurting his chances for citizenship.

Though its effects could be far-reaching, the proposal to limit citizenship to immigrants who have not used public assistance does not appear to need Congressional approval. As the Clinton administration did in 1999, the Trump administration would be redefining the term "public charge," which first emerged in immigration law in the 1800s in order to shield the U.S. from burdening too many immigrants who could not contribute to society.

Rosemary Jenks, executive vice president of NumbersUSA, which promotes limited immigration, said the new rule and the increased scrutiny around green card and citizenship applications are all part of a new focus at DHS on enforcing the law and preventing fraud.

"Applications for renewal or adjustment of status that have been filed with the government before are being re-examined to look for fraud," Jenks said.

In light of this, immigration attorneys are cautioning their clients before moving from green-card status to citizenship.

Rose Hernandez is the supervising attorney at the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition's naturalization clinic. She said the clinic's model has completely changed in light of the crackdown. She now sends six information requests to government agencies to check on green-card holders' backgrounds before she advises them to file for citizenship. If the government finds something she doesn't, the fear is the applicants could lose their green cards and be sent home.

And other immigration attorneys are preparing to push back fiercely against the public charge rule.

"Any policy forcing millions of families to choose between the denial of status and food or health care would exacerbate serious problems such as hunger, unmet health needs, child poverty, and homelessness, with lasting consequences for families' wellbeing and long-term success and community prosperity," said the National Immigration Law Center in a statement.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/no...ip-for-legal-immigrants/ar-BBLBuAH?ocid=ientp

Joe King · Aug 7, 2018

searcher said:

Isn't that the reason they left their home country in the first place? That they were unable to support themselves and/or their families?

If the result is the same no matter where they live, (unable to support themselves) the only difference between here and where they came from is our government assistance. If they become citizens, what will change about the situation? IMHO, America shouldn't be looking for immigrants that will only become dependent upon gov handouts.

searcher · Aug 8, 2018

Lawmaker wants to pay for Trump's wall by canceling $2,000 of foreign aid to Mexico for EVERY illegal immigrant who crosses the border

Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs wants the United States to fine countries $2,000 every time one their nationals is caught illegally crossing America's southern border
So far, the American taxpayer has been footing the bill for construction costs and border security enhancements requested by the Trump administration
Trump says he will make Mexico pay for the border wall but has no specific plans
Says he needs a minimum of $25 billion to complete the barrier's construction
Biggs' plan would provide $1 billion a year at best and would severally affect the amount of foreign aid to Mexico and and Central America

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ll-canceling-2-000-foreign-aid-immigrant.html

Joe King · Aug 8, 2018

searcher said:

Good idea!

The only way to get the govs of those nations to do anything about it is to hit 'em in the pocketbook.

searcher · Aug 9, 2018

Cuomo calls out Trump's anti-immigrant stance
CNN

Published on Aug 8, 2018
In Chris Cuomo's closing argument, he calls out the Trump administration for its anti-immigrant policies, saying the President rejects those who truly make America great.

searcher · Aug 9, 2018

Mexican tourist and her toddler son are barred from America for her LEGAL use of 'government assistance' during a previous visit

Michelle Nicoll Gutierrez made a layover stop in Houston on Satuday with her son, mother and sister and was turned away by border agents claiming she purposely used Medicaid services to cover son's birth expense in 2016. Her visa was revoked
Gutierrez was placed in a detention room and separated from her mother and sister and another friend
The businesswoman was also accused of being a public charge to taxpayers
Gutierrez was placed on an airplane Sunday morning to return back to Mexico

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-America-LEGAL-use-government-assistance.html

searcher · Aug 9, 2018

'Turn the plane around!' Judge threatens to hold Jeff Sessions in contempt after Trump administration tries to deport asylum-seeker and her daughter during their lawsuit hearing

ACLU was arguing new lawsuit Thursday on behalf of asylum-seekers who were turned down on the basis of AG Jeff Sessions' revised standards
Both sides' lawyers agreed to pause deportation of one plaintiff and her daughter; word reached the courtroom that she was on her way out of the U.S.
Judge Emmet Sullivan went ballistic that the woman was being 'spirited away while her attorneys are arguing for justice for her'
Sullivan ordered

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ontempt-deporting-asylum-seeker-daughter.html

searcher · Aug 9, 2018

Melania Trump’s Parents Become U.S. Citizens as Lawyer Acknowledges ‘Chain Migration’

NYT
By ANNIE CORREAL and EMILY COCHRANE
1 hr ago

Melania Trump’s parents were briskly sworn in as citizens of the United States in New York on Thursday.

Viktor and Amalija Knavs, formerly of Slovenia, wore suits and sunglasses as they entered 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan just before noon, flanked by their lawyer and federal police.

As they left the building after the 20-minute private naturalization ceremony, their lawyer, Michael Wildes, spoke briefly to a group of reporters who had gathered outside.

“We just thank everybody for their attention to this very important dialogue that we’re having on immigration,” said Mr. Wildes, who pointed out that his father had represented John Lennon in his immigration case. “This is a very important example of it going right.”

In a phone call after the ceremony, Mr. Wildes described the process by which the first lady’s parents had become U.S. citizens. “They had gotten sponsored by their daughter and then once they had the green card, they then applied for citizenship when they were eligible,” he said.

Mrs. Trump became a citizen in 2006 after obtaining a green card.

Since initial reports emerged in February that the Knavses had obtained permanent residency in the United States, there has been a lack of clarity about when or how the couple received green cards. And unless the couple themselves divulge the timeline of their citizenship process, the applications and petitions are protected by privacy law.

Under immigration statutes, the Knavses would have needed to have their green cards for at least five years in order to apply for citizenship, along with fulfilling character, residency and civic knowledge requirements. The average time to process an application for naturalization in New York City is 11 to 21 months, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Their lawyer said that the couple had met the five-year requirement, but added, “I can’t give further comment.”

Asked if the Knavses had obtained citizenship through family-based immigration, sometimes called “chain migration,” their lawyer said, “I suppose. It’s a dirty — a dirtier word.” He went on: “It stands for a bedrock of our immigration process when it comes to family reunification.”

In family-based immigration, adult American citizens can petition for residency for their parents, adult married children and siblings.

Mr. Trump has criticized the program as a path for terrorists to get into the country.

“CHAIN MIGRATION must end now!” he wrote on Twitter in November. “Some people come in, and they bring their whole family with them, who can be truly evil. NOT ACCEPTABLE!”

The president often rails against family-based immigration in his rallies, frequently reminding his audience of the October terror attack in New York, where Sayfullo Saipov, an immigrant from Uzbekistan plowed a pickup truck down a bike lane, killing eight people near the World Trade Center. While the president never mentions Mr. Saipov, who obtained his green card through the equally maligned diversity lottery, he has been known to detail the attack.

“He said, ‘Hey look, there’s people, nice people, they’re relaxing, some are jogging,’” Mr. Trump said during a rally last week in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., lamenting the lives lost and injured. “He decides to kill them.” “They lost arms. They lost limbs. They lost so much. They lost their life. But they lost so much,” Mr. Trump added. “So, we have to change this and we’re going to change it.”

Typically, naturalization ceremonies at 26 Federal Plaza are large events, where groups of immigrants are sworn in as citizens en masse, after reciting an oath and the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Knavses’ lawyer said their ceremony was kept private for “security reasons.” The USCIS District Director Thomas Cioppa presided over the ceremony, Mr. Wildes said. As is customary, the couple held their hands over their hearts and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, he said.

The Knavses, both in their 70s, raised Mrs. Trump in Sevnica, a Slovenian town of around 4,500 people. There, Mr. Knavs was a traveling car salesman and belonged to the Communist Party. Mrs. Knavs had harvested onions on her family’s farm, then worked in a textile factory, and sewed her two daughters’ clothes.

Mrs. Trump was born in 1970 and during her childhood Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia, was ruled by Josip Broz Tito, a Communist dictator who nonetheless allowed more freedoms than other Eastern bloc leaders. When Mrs. Trump began her modeling career, while still a teenager, the whole family sensed opportunity, according to those who knew them in Slovenia.

Mrs. Trump became a U.S. citizen after entering the country on a so-called Einstein visa for “individuals of extraordinary ability” in 2001 as a model. She was not present for the ceremony, and her parents told their lawyer she was in Bedminster, N.J., where the president spends time in the summer at Trump National Golf Club.

The lawyer called the naturalization ceremony “inspiring” and “heartwarming.”

The Jacob J. Javits Federal Building, at 26 Federal Plaza, also houses immigration court and the local offices of the Department of Homeland Security, and its subsidiary, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It is not infrequently the site of protests, but on Thursday, things were quiet as the first lady’s parents came and went. Curious about the cameras, bystanders wandered over. William White, a 74-year-old actor, said, with his eyebrows raised, “I’m happy for them.”

He went on: “It seems like we now have two immigration systems. One for the people who have no power, and one for the people who we are letting in through the V.I.P. entrance. We saw an example of that today.”

News of the ceremony prompted an immediate response on Twitter, with tweets ranging from “welcome!” to “unfreakingbelievable.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/melania-trump’s-parents-become-us-citizens-as-lawyer-acknowledges-‘chain-migration’/ar-BBLIXiv?ocid=ientp

searcher · Aug 9, 2018

Massachusetts man, 33, is arrested for tweet offering $500 to anyone willing to kill an ICE agent

Brandon Ziobrowski was arrested Thursday for the tweet he posted last month
Investigators found multiple expressions of 'extreme anti-US sentiments' on his now-suspended Twitter account
Prosecutors say they hope his arrest will serve as an example amidst a recent increase in threats against law enforcement

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6044427/Feds-Man-offered-500-killing-ICE-agents.html

searcher · Aug 10, 2018

Texas investigating death of migrant toddler after leaving immigrant detention center

USA Today
Madlin Mekelburg
2 hrs ago

AUSTIN — Texas officials have opened an investigation into the death of a toddler who reportedly died after being released from an immigrant detention center in South Texas.

The child's death was publicized earlier this month by the American Immigration Lawyers Association but details, including the child's name and cause of death, were not made public.

Lawyers representing the toddler's family contacted state officials on Thursday to share information about the child, hours after a top state official publicly called for the details to be shared.

"I need to know the name of that child so we can investigate thoroughly," said Hank Whitman, commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services, during a legislative hearing at the state Capitol.

Whitman said the department had made repeated efforts to contact the family's lawyers and learn information about the child in order to investigate.

Issara Baumann, spokeswoman for the Washington D.C.-based law firm Arnold & Porter, confirmed that lawyers were representing the toddler’s mother.

"Arnold & Porter has recently been retained by the mother of a small child who tragically died after being detained by ICE in unsanitary conditions at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley," Baumann told the USA TODAY Network. “We currently are assessing the case and have no further comments at this time.”

The Department of Family and Protective Services is responsible for investigating allegations of abuse and neglect against a child, which includes immigrant children being housed at dozens of residential facilities across the state.

The facilities have come under intense scrutiny in recent months, due to the influx of migrant children being taken into government custody after being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In addition to the latest investigation into the toddler's death, the department has conducted 51 investigations between December and July into allegations of abuse and neglect at facilities that contract with the federal government to house immigrant minors.

Nine investigations are still pending and the others were determined unfounded, according to Whitman.

When reports of the toddler's death first surfaced, federal officials denied the claim and said that no child had died in their custody. They also said they were unable to investigate the claim further without the child's name or other personal information.

“Without a name or more specific information, we are unable to research this allegation,” ICE spokeswoman Danielle Bennett said in a statement to the Washington Post earlier this month. “That doesn’t make the allegation true, just impossible to refute.”

State Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, asked the House Human Services Committee to hold a public hearing to discuss the state's ongoing involvement in housing immigrant children in light of the toddler's death and abuse allegations that have surfaced in shelters in other parts of the state.

During Thursday's hearing, Alvarado asked state officials to stop issuing licenses for companies to operate residential shelters until an investigation into the toddler's death is completed. There are currently four pending applications to establish such shelters, including in Houston, Los Fresnos and San Benito County.

Victoria Ford, the interim chief operating officer at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, said the state is required by law to issue licenses to entities who file the appropriate paperwork and meet all of the requirements for operating a shelter.

Madlin Mekelburg is a reporter with the USA Today Network Austin Bureau; she may be reached at 512-479-6606; mmekelburg@elpasotimes.com; @madlinbmek on Twitter.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/te...igrant-detention-center/ar-BBLJE0g?ocid=ientp

gnome · Aug 10, 2018

Melania's parents are now citizens due to CHAIN MIGRATION which Trump has said should be illegal.

All animals are equal, but some are more equal.

tigerwillow1 · Aug 10, 2018

gnome said:

You seem to be saying that there was some sort of special treatment here because of Trump's political position. Did they receive any benefit that wasn't available to others? If for eaxmple there's a tax deduction someone thinks should be eliminated, but they use it while it's still legal, do you say they are more equal?

searcher · Aug 10, 2018

Federal judge threatens to hold Sessions in contempt of court
CNN

Published on Aug 10, 2018
A federal judge on Thursday erupted at the Trump administration when he learned that two asylum seekers fighting deportation were at that moment being deported and on a plane to El Salvador. DC District Judge Emmet Sullivan then blocked the administration from deporting the two plaintiffs while they are fighting for their right to stay in the US -- excoriating the administration and threatening to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt.

searcher · Aug 10, 2018

Joe: President Donald Trump's Warning Of Immigration Invasion Was A Lie | Morning Joe | MSNBC
MSNBC

Published on Aug 10, 2018
New court filings show that hundreds of migrant children still remain separated from their parents. The Morning Joe panel digs into the latest details of the border crisis, the lies Trump told about an immigration invasion and Laura Ingraham's remarks this week on immigration.
» Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc

searcher · Aug 10, 2018

Immigrants use less health care and cost the U.S. system less than native-born Americans, study says

While immigrants make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, they only account for 8.6 percent of American health care expenditures, according to a new study
Researchers discovered that illegal immigrants account for 1.4 percent of the total U.S. medical spending despite making up 5 percent of the U.S. population
Many immigrants are younger and healthier than the average American, a trend known as the 'healthy immigrant effect' that helped keep their health costs down

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ost-U-S-native-born-Americans-study-says.html

gnome · Aug 10, 2018

tigerwillow1 said:

I'm saying Trump a hypocrite.

Build's buildings using illegal polish immigrants.
Then rails against illegal immigration.

Tirade against CHAIN MIGRATION... in-laws are chain migrants.

Ivanka's made in China shoes faced no tariffs, while farmers and manufacturers go bankrupt.

What's good for the goose isn't for the gander.

The MAGA agenda is great in theory, but never seems to apply to his own family or business interests.

hammerhead · Aug 10, 2018

searcher said:

Joe: President Donald Trump's Warning Of Immigration Invasion Was A Lie | Morning Joe | MSNBC
MSNBC

Published on Aug 10, 2018
New court filings show that hundreds of migrant children still remain separated from their parents. The Morning Joe panel digs into the latest details of the border crisis, the lies Trump told about an immigration invasion and Laura Ingraham's remarks this week on immigration.
» Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc

Yo Joe, How many kids don't have their parents with them to begin with?

searcher · Aug 11, 2018

Melania Trump’s immigration lawyer calls president’s attacks on 'chain migration' 'unconscionable'

Washington Post
Kristine Phillips
33 mins ago

First lady Melania Trump’s immigration attorney is criticizing the president’s hostility toward “chain migration” — a process by which U.S. citizens or permanent residents can sponsor family members to come to the country — and said the attacks are “unconscionable.”

“This is a tradition that happens in all rank and all files of life, whether you’re president of the United States — and this is the first naturalized first lady that we have — or people who eventually navigate through the waters into America,” Michael Wildes told CNN on Friday.

Wildes, a high-profile attorney who has worked for numerous celebrities on immigration cases, represented the first lady’s parents, who became naturalized citizens Thursday. Viktor and Amalija Knavs left their native Slovenia and had been living in the United States as permanent residents.

Citing legal experts, The Washington Post reported in February that the Knavses very likely came to the United States through family reunification, with their daughter sponsoring their green-card applications. Wildes confirmed as much during the interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront,” saying the first lady hired him “with the intentions of bringing her family here like everybody else would.”

It’s the same process of legal immigration that President Trump has derided as “chain migration” and which he has called to end.

Trump has claimed that chain migration has resulted in national security threats, even though studies have shown that immigrants, both legal and undocumented, are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans. In several speeches and interviews over the past months, Trump has called chain migration “terrible” and a “disaster.” He has also claimed, falsely as The Post’s Fact Checker found, that the process allowed a terror suspect to bring two dozen relatives to the country.

“You bring one person in, you end up with 32 people,” he said at one news conference.

“You come in and now you can bring your family and then you can bring your mother and your father, you can bring your grandmother,” he said at another.

Responding to the president’s comments, clips of which were played in succession during the interview, Wildes denounced claims that chain migration allows people to simply bring in any relative to the United States.

“Let me take off one hat as the first lady’s immigration lawyer and her family and put on my own personal hat. It’s unconscionable to scare people into believing that. You cannot bring nephews, you cannot bring nieces or uncles, you can’t bring 32 people here, and some of the quotas are backed up for 10 or 15 years from particular countries,” Wildes said, adding that the proper term is family reunification.

Wildes, a staunch Democrat who is running for a third term as mayor of Englewood, N.J., has previously criticized the president’s policies on immigration. Among his other clients have been British singer Boy George and French chef Jean-Georges.

Under U.S. law, citizens can sponsor their spouses, children, parents and siblings so that they can come to the United States. Rules are stricter for permanent residents or green-card holders, who can sponsor only a spouse or unmarried children. The process often takes years and often has a lengthy waiting list. Nearly 4 million applicants were on the waiting list as of last November.

Both Melania Trump and the president’s first wife, Ivana, came to the country as immigrants. Ivana Trump, born in the former Czechoslovakia, became a naturalized citizen in 1988.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment about Wildes’s remarks. Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for Melania Trump, had previously declined to comment about the first lady’s parents because they’re not part of the administration.

The president in December called for ending chain migration and the visa lottery system, after Uzbekistan-born Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov allegedly killed eight people and injured a dozen others in an attack in Manhattan. The lottery system, which allowed Saipov to come to the U.S., is a process in which up to 50,000 immigrant visas are drawn annually from a random selection of applications from countries with low rates of immigration to the country.

“We’re going to end both of them, the lottery system and chain migration. Fast. Congress must get involved immediately and they are involved immediately, and I can tell you we have tremendous support. They will be ended. These attacks underscore the dangers we face from around the globe,” Trump said at a news conference.

David Nakamura contributed to this article.

Read more:
Trump’s false claim that alleged terror suspect brought two dozen relatives to U.S.
How ‘chain migration’ brought us the Trump White House
‘Chain migration’ is not bringing floods of terrorists to America

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...igration-unconscionable/ar-BBLNdSy?ocid=ientp

nickndfl · Aug 11, 2018

As soon as Trump builds the wall his popularity will increase exponentially. That is one reason why the democrats are obstructing.

Immigration & Trumps Wall

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