Before you panic over the Budget Bill that President Trump signed, read this. There is a lot of disinformation being put out about it:
DHS official: Border security bill does not contain ‘amnesty’ poison pills
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dhs-official-border-security-bill-does-not-contain-amnesty-poison-pills.amp?
Immigration hawks slammed the border security compromise President Trump signed into law Friday for containing last-minute provisions that they argued give "amnesty" to many – but a Department of Homeland Security official insisted to Fox News that’s a misunderstanding of the bill.
The amnesty claim was made by lawmakers and conservative commentators.
That ‘amnesty’ claim is based on section 224 of the budget -- which appears, on first glance, to block the deportation of many people who are illegally in the U.S.
That’s because it states that no funds may be used to detain or deport any "sponsor" or "potential sponsor" of an "unaccompanied alien child." It adds that even any "member of a household" of a "potential sponsor" is now immune from deportation.
But a DHS official told Fox News that terms like "potential sponsor" have precise meanings in Department of Homeland Security regulations -- meanings that severely limit the number of people the budget keeps safe from deportation.
For example, to be a "potential sponsor" according to the DHS regulations, one must file significant paperwork -- such as showing ID (U.S. or foreign) and proof of residency. The adult applying must also submit documents about the child.
Further, because the bill only applies to kids who are unaccompanied, it does not provide protection for those bringing kids into the US.
That would significantly limit the number of people to whom the no-deportation provision applies.
The section was added to ensure that people coming to pick up kids in custody did not find themselves deported for showing up to pick up the kid.
Chris Chmielenski, the deputy director of NumbersUSA, which fights for lower immigration levels and which urged President Trump to veto the budget, told Fox News that the provision is still problematic despite DHS’s clarifications.
“We still have some serious concerns about the provision,” Chmielenski told Fox News. “It still protects these sponsors and/or relatives who make it into the US. That’s not a precedent we should be setting.”
He noted that, despite the paperwork DHS demands of someone to become a “potential sponsor,” some might still try to game the system and that it could still encourage “unaccompanied” kids to be sent over the border.
“We would prefer this wasn't in there. We would also hope this is something that expires at the end of fiscal year,” he said.
The provision in the budget will be replaced by whatever the next budget says.
Another major alleged “poison pill” that may be misunderstood is a clause requiring the federal government to "confer and seek to reach mutual agreement" with local governments before building any wall.
The Center for Immigration Studies, which favors lower immigration levels, tweeted that “the spending bill would give local governments in the Rio Grande (all of which are *heavily* Democratic) the ability to veto the fence. If those blue municipalities don't agree with DHS, the fence can't get built.”
But the DHS official told Fox News on background that the exact language in the budget -- "confer and seek to reach mutual agreement" – nowhere requires the federal government to actually reach an agreement before building fences.
Rather, it just requires DHS to consult with local governments – something DHS already generally does, the official noted.
Mark Krikorian, the director of the Center for Immigration Studies, says he remains skeptical.
“I hope DHS is right, I just think it’s wishful thinking,” he told Fox News. “Do you really want to bet that a judge won’t read that differently?”
But Trump allies say that the information from DHS shines light on why Trump ultimately signed the bill after reviewing it. Some warned about “disinformation” on Thursday.
“Just spoke with the White House. There will be NO Amnesty and NO path to citizenship,” Sebastian Gorka, a former deputy assistant to President Trump and a Fox News contributor, tweeted Thursday.
Other criticisms of the budget Trump signed include that it allows the Department of Homeland Security to more than double the number of guest worker visas, from 65,000 to 135,000. However, the law merely allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to make such an increase; it would only happen if the secretary authorizes it.
Another matter of contention is that the budget authorizes 45,000 ICE detention beds; an increase from the past budget which paid for 40,520 beds, but less than the number of detention beds ICE actually has.
However, the number of beds authorized by Congress does not actually force ICE to reduce its number of beds, as they can use money from other parts of the budget.
Gorka says the claims of the sky falling are overblown, and also told Fox News that it was silly to call anything in the budget “amnesty” because it’s just an annual budget.
“How is a funding bill that expires before the end of the fiscal year able to create conditions for a lasting ‘amnesty?’” Gorka said.
(Dagny: Sebastian Gorka is a very intelligent reliable and well informed conservative. I trust him.)
Twitter Censors the President
On Friday President Trump retweeted CarpeDonktum‘s amusing video mocking Democrat reaction to the president’s State of the Union Address.
By Friday night Twitter removed the video from its platform.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/02/big-tech-tyranny-president-trump-tweets-out-carpedonktum-video-mocking-democrats-twitter-takes-it-down/
Here is the video: https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1096633130260353024
This morning Twitter relented and replaced the video on Trump’s feed: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump
Carpe Donkum has made many wonderful videos, many of which are even better than the banned one.
These ones are Really Excellent! Enjoy!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?+Definitely+worth+2.5+minutes+of+your+time%3A+time_continue=140&v=oruBxje1MG4
The art of the Wand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUrpQVFWJ-8&frags=pl%2Cwn
The Maestro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ew2TJ7qI4&index=1&list=PLykryZtogkYKuiBJZ3X1BLdJv3DS6Ueg4&frags=pl%2Cwn
His latest is staring Cortez and Shumer:
https://twitter.com/CarpeDonktum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnJMBlpFLtE&list=PLykryZtogkYKuiBJZ3X1BLdJv3DS6Ueg4&index=5&frags=pl%2Cwn
U.S. Supreme Court to decide legality of census citizenship query
Rueters ^ | 2-15-2019 | Andrew Chung
Posted on 2/15/2019, 12:46:12 PM by tcrlaf
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide the fate of a fiercely contested plan by President Donald Trump’s administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, agreeing on Friday to an expedited review of a judge’s ruling blocking the plan.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com …
Trump Is Using Obama’s National Emergency on Mexican Cartels to Build the Border Wall
Via Law and Crime:
As it turns out, back in 2011 then-President Barack Obama issued an executive order “blocking property of transnational criminal organizations organizations.” Obama cited his authority as granted through the Constitution to invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1701, and the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1601. The latter is the same legislation that Trump is citing to get funding for the wall to achieve his immigration reform goals. That executive order targeted a number of criminal organizations, including the Mexican Los Zetas cartel, an ally of the MS-13 gang President Trump has regularly called out as a danger to Americans. “Drugs, gangs and people — an invasion,” Trump said on Friday. “We have an invasion coming into this country.” “We may be using one of the national emergencies that [Obama] signed having to do with criminal cartels… it’s a very good national emergency… we’re going to be using parts of it,” he said. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/02/ignored-by-media-trump-is-using-obama-national-emergency-on-mexican-cartels-to-build-the-border-wall/
Every president since 1976 has declared at least one #nationalemergency.
Carter: 2 Reagan: 6 H.W. Bush: 4 Clinton: 17 W. Bush: 12 Obama: 13 Trump: 3
Don’t let fake media make you think it’s this unprecedented big scary thing. They lie.
https://voat.co/v/QRV/3040350
It sure looks like the Democrats are on the drug/sex trafficking/terrorist payroll:
On Thursday 2020 potential Democratic Party candidate Beto O’Rourke said he would be willing to remove the walls in place in El Paso, Texas.
On Friday potential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said she would also be open to the idea.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/02/wow-democrat-presidential-hopefuls-suggest-tearing-down-existing-border-walls-with-mexico-video/
The Jussie Smollett hate hoax officially blew up this week.
The Smollett hoax took an interesting turn Friday night after Chicago Police released the two Nigerian brotherswho were held for 48 hours and questioned as “persons of interest.”
CWB, a local Chicago crime blog is reporting the Nigerian brothers, who appeared as extras on the show ‘Empire’ may have flipped on Jussie Smollett.
It was reported Friday that Jussie Smollett hired high-powered criminal defense attorney Michael Monico. Mr. Monico also represents Michael Cohen.
Jussie Smollett alleges two white Trump supporters violently attacked him at 2 AM in the streets of Chicago when he was walking home from Subway with a sandwich in his hand.
Smollett told police the attackers were white and hurled homophobic and racial slurs at him while they beat him, poured bleach on him then put a noose around his neck.
Mr. Smollett told police the attackers screamed, “This is MAGA country” while they beat him — Smollett claimed he was on the phone with his manager at the time of the beating who apparently heard the attack as well.
There is zero video surveillance of the attack even though Chicago is the most surveilled city in the world.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/02/police-seize-bottle-of-bleach-from-jussie-smolletts-apartment-as-detectives-review-new-evidence/
CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH A COMET: On Feb. 13th, Comet Iwamoto (C/2018 Y1) made its closest approach to Earth in more than a thousand years. Enrico Colzani of the Sormano Astronomical Observatory monitored the flyby and, while watching, caught the dirty snowball passing through the outer arms of spiral galaxy NGC 2903:
http://spaceweather.com to see the comet in motion:
http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=151907