The grip on reality held by the ruling uniparty in Washington, D.C. is becoming increasingly tenuous. Unfortunately, its grip on power remains absolute.
As a result, we wind up with “bipartisan compromises” like the one floated over the weekend by “Republican” and Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate in conjunction with the administration of president Joe Biden – a $118 billion foreign aid giveaway which would codify the mass amnesty of millions of illegal immigrants currently flooding across the U.S.-Mexican border.
The uniparty compromise contains $60 billion in new appropriations for America’s proxy war in Ukraine – which is clearly not going Ukraine’s way despite tens of millions of U.S. tax dollars already being spent on its defense. It would also obligate more than $14 billion in “security assistance” to Israel – which is in addition to the costs of the recent American military operations in the Middle East.
In response to the worsening crisis at the border, the legislation proposes spending $20.2 billion – although a big chunk of that, $2.3 billion, would be routed to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which traffic illegal aliens for “refugee and entrant assistance.”
***
The most controversial portion of the bill is the so-called “emergency authority” trigger – which would require the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to activate enhanced measures only if the flow of illegal aliens were to average more than 5,000 daily encounters over a one-week period – or eclipse 8,500 on any given day.
For those of you keeping score at home, that means anything south of 1.83 million annual “encounters” is not an emergency. To put that number in perspective, through the first three months of the 2024 fiscal year – which began last October – there were a total of 785,429 encounters, according to the latest data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). That total included a record 302,034 encounters during the month of December – or an average of 9,743 encounters per day during the final month of the previous calendar year.
And as noted in our previous coverage, these recorded encounters do not include the millions of “got-aways” – or illegal immigrants whose crossings are observed but who are never detained. The official number also fails to include the number of undetected illegal alien crossings at the border.
It also fails to consider the cost of all those crossings …
According to a report (.pdf) published last November by the U.S. House’s homeland security committee, the annual cost of housing and providing for “known got-aways and illegal aliens who have been released into the country (since Biden became president)” is a staggering $451 billlion. Per year.
***
RELATED | WILL TRUMP FOLLOW THROUGH THIS TIME?
***
Even if an “emergency” were triggered under the new law’s elevated benchmarks, Biden could unilaterally revoke it by simply issuing a verbal directive to the DHS secretary.
“If the president finds that it is in the national interest to temporarily suspend the border emergency authority, (he) may direct the secretary to (do so),” a draft version of the proposal stated.
Biden wouldn’t likely have to ask twice as his DHS secretary – Alejandro Mayorkas – is facing impeachment by the GOP-controlled U.S. House of Representatives for his “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” on immigration as well as his “breach of public trust” in the face of America’s open borders disaster.
Other giveaways in the legislation:
- $10 billion in “humanitarian assistance” for refugees in global conflicts.
- $4.83 billion to “deter aggression by the Chinese government” by supporting “Indo-Pacific partners.”
- $2.44 billion for U.S. Central Command to pay for combat expenditures in the Red Sea theater.
- $2.33 billion in “continued support” for Ukrainians “displaced by Russia’s war of aggression.”
Just a few more drops in the bucket for a nation drowning under the weight of $34.2 trillion of red ink, right?
This abomination of a deal was negotiated by senators Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and James Lankford of Oklahoma. Senators are expected to vote on it imminently.
Lankford, incidentally, was previously censured by the Oklahoma Republican Party (OKGOP) for his support of this “open border deal.” He has pushed back against his critics, saying the emergency border authority embedded in the bill “is not designed to let 5,000 people in, it is designed to close the border and turn 5,000 people around.”
He called suggestions to the contrary “absurd and untrue.”
Biden says he “strongly supports” the legislation, and has urged lawmakers to pass it. Meanwhile, Republicans who haven’t sold out to the uniparty are rallying against it – especially in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Any Republican who votes for this will betray the American people,” congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna wrote on X.
Count on this media outlet to keep tabs on how South Carolina’s congressional delegation votes on this legislation. So far, U.S. congresswoman Nancy Mace is already on the record as a “no.”
“Mass amnesty by any other name isn’t securing the border,” Mace wrote on X.
Hopefully the rest of the Palmetto State’s delegation will follow her lead …
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven (soon to be eight) children.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to proactively address? We have an open microphone policy here at FITSNews! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
6 comments
How is any of that mass amnesty? There is no amnesty. We have a law that says refugees can seek asylum in the US. Every civilized nation has such a law. If you want to end that, then say so. Say we will not take any further immigrants for any reason, period. If you apply for amnesty, they have to give you a hearing, and you have to have something to do with them while they await their hearing. That is what the money is for. Why don’t you tell the truth about this?
Also, encounters do not mean people are getting into the US. The Department of Homeland Security separates border encounters into primarily two categories:
Apprehensions are the temporary detainment of people by the US Border Patrol (USBP) who crossed the border illegally between ports of entry. They may or may not be arrested under Title 8. These individuals can possibly file for asylee status, depending on where they are from.
Inadmissibles are individuals encountered at ports of entry by officers of the Office of Field Operations (OFO) seeking lawful admission into the United States but are found ineligible for entry under Title 8. These can also include people seeking humanitarian protection and people who voluntarily withdraw their admission application.
These encounters do not even correspond to the number of people attempting to cross the border since people can make multiple attempts to cross the border within the same fiscal year or month and each would be reported as an encounter.
Why do you feel the need to lie for Trump? Trump wants a border crisis because that is all he has to run on. Why do so many people feel the need to lie for Trump and makeup statistics? Are you being paid to do that?
We need a law that works. This law is a huge step in the right direction and DOES NOT PROVIDE AMNESTY for anyone. Or we can just do the opposite of what Christ told us to do.
And the Lord will say unto them, “I was hungry and you watched me starve. I was thirsty and you watched me die in the desert. I was naked and you watched as I froze to death and died of exposure. I was a stranger and you greeted me with razor wire and whips. I was fleeing oppression, and you turned me away at gunpoint. I was a child needing help and you watched me drown in the river. And they will turn to him and say “Lord when did we do these things unto you? We only did what Trump told us to do.” And he will be amazed, because, unlike self-centered gullible Americans, God cannot be fooled.
“Why do you feel the need to lie for Trump?”
He’s been doing it for almost a decade now. Grifters gotta grift.
There is an art to this stuff though, and the other day when Willie posted that “Is Biden actually running, or… planning an exit!” post everyone laughed at him for, yeah… He’s at the fingerpaint level of artistry.
Insert why-are-so-many-failed-artists-right-wing meme here.
Insert rejected-from-german-art-school meme here.
Take notice how Fits”News” thinks the two party’s working together to fix a problem is a bad thing.
All these MAGA types, like Will Folks, want is obstruction. No progress. No working together.
The problem is…a vast majority of Americans are NOT trump supporters. Your views are unpopular and dumb. Make like the Puritans you style yourselves after (another very unpopular group of nuts) and fuck off away to another land. And
Amnesty? That’s what I signed. In fact I signed a bunch of great stuff, like gun control!
Remember me? Sure you do. I bet they’re still finding jelly beans in the oval office thanks to me! Don’t you complain either, I’m sure you’d rather find a crusty old jelly bean than whatever Bill left in there!
Why do you have this weirdo trying to replace me by the way? Stole my campaign stuff, made a really bad copy of my Star Wars idea, and he is buddies with a Russian? And here I thought I was leaving the country in the very capable and competent hands of… Bush? Oh, I see, that’s where I messed up. Man, I was gone way sooner than I thought. Why didn’t any of you stop me?
lol
They went from worshipping a B movie actor to worshipping a reality show pretend businessman.
Republicans just can’t stop shooting themselves in the foot. The MAGA turds ran off all the Republicans with half a brain.
They cried and screamed about the border for years now. American voters are very aware.
Then Republicans shit the bed when given a chance to help do something about the problem they constantly bring up and, once again, they obstruct and do literally nothing.
And American voters are very aware of their massive failure at playing politics…again.
When a blogger positively quotes Rep. Luna-tic you know you’re not on a serious website.
Also, you forgot to mention Mace getting shut down to her face about her lie about amnesty…on Fox freakin “News” no less.
Republicans: taking L’s wherever they can.