Author: Chris Alto

Legislators Raise the Stakes for Illegal Aliens in Tennessee

Chris Alto

During Tennessee’s 2017 legislative session, Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris (R-Collierville) and freshman Representative Ron Gant (R-Rossville), sponsored a bill that allows judges to “enhance,” or increase the usual sentence for a criminal conviction when the person is also an illegal alien. The bill was passed 28 -3 in the Senate with Democrats Thelma Harper (D-Nashville) and Reginald Tate (D-Memphis) voting in support of the measure. On the House side, the bill passed 66 – 17 with Republican Mark White (R-Memphis) registering as “present and not voting.” Since 2015, White has sponsored multiple bills aimed at granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens. With the passage of the Norris/Gant bill, Tennessee law now states that: If appropriate for the offense and if not already an essential element of the offense, the court shall consider, but is not bound by, the following advisory factors in determining whether to enhance a defendant’s sentence: (28)  At the time the instant offense was committed, the defendant was illegally or unlawfully in the United States. Sentencing enhancements are discretionary so there is no guarantee that judges in Tennessee will apply the new law.  

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Secrecy and Withholding of Information Characterize Move of Tyson Foods Plant into Humboldt, Tennessee

Chris Alto

Gibson County Mayor Tom “Welcoming” Witherspoon and Humboldt Mayor Marvin Sikes claim that only positive impacts will result from the arrival of the Tyson Foods chicken plant, first rejected in Tonganoxie, Kansas, but now being relocated to Humboldt, Tennessee. The plan to put the plant in Tonganoxie was defeated by citizen-led opposition because of concerns of Tyson’s history of environmental violations, impact on infrastructure and potential to attract refugee workers. Opposition to the Kansas plant also focused on the secrecy surrounding the plan for Tonganoxie and withholding of information from public scrutiny. Twilight Greenaway, reporting at Moyers & Company, the website operated by far left journalist Bill Moyers, described the citizen-led opposition in Tonganoxie as “staggering” and fueled in part by the secrecy in which the deal was arranged between Tyson executives and local officials until information was finally made public. As Greenaway reported: The Tyson plant was also a long-kept secret with the code name Project Sunset. Local lawmakers were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements when considering welcoming it to town, and the company is said to have worked through intermediaries when negotiating with the landowner over the 300-acre lot it would occupy. But once the deal was done and…

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Sen. Lamar Alexander Wants an Amnesty Immigration Bill Like the One He Voted For in 2013

Chris Alto

Pro-American immigration groups want voters to tell legislators in Washington that no amnesty fix for illegal aliens whose parents brought them to the U.S. illegally and who later received deferred deportation under Obama’s unconstitutional DACA program can be considered, if at all, until after certain fixes are made to the immigration system. And the same thing goes for any form of a “DREAM Act” to help an even larger group of illegal aliens. Activists that want immigration reform that makes Americans’ interests the priority, say that any Congressional action must first terminate the visa lottery program, end chain migration, increase interior enforcement and fund the border wall. Tennesseans who have delivered the “no amnesty” message to Sen. Lamar Alexander’s office, however, are being told that Lamar’s priority is to help illegal aliens by reviving the ‘Gang of Eight’ amnesty bill which he voted for in 2013: Dear , Thanks very much for getting in touch with me and letting me know what’s on your mind regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. On September 5, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Department of Homeland Security was ending the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The DACA program was…

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Gibson County Mayor ‘Welcoming Witherspoon’ Defends Tyson Foods Plant Using Rhetoric From Open Immigration Organizations

Chris Alto

The announcement in November that Humboldt, Tennessee is getting the Tyson Foods plant that was rejected by citizens in Tonganoxie, Kansas, raises legitimate questions about whether the new plant will attract refugee workers to the area. In their press release, Tyson Foods said the company had “accepted the invitation of city, county and state leaders to build a new chicken production complex in the City of Humboldt, which is part of Gibson County in western Tennessee,” and included words of praise from Humboldt Mayor Mavin Sikes, Gibson County Mayor Tom Witherspoon, a Democrat who has endorsed Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd in the Republican gubernatorial primary, and Gov. Bill Haslam: “This is an historic day for Humboldt, Gibson County and West Tennessee,” Humboldt Mayor Marvin Sikes said. “I want to thank Tyson Foods for their commitment to our community and region. The significant job creation and capital investment that will result from this project will have a positive impact on our community that will last for many years, and I could not be more excited about the future of Humboldt and Gibson County.” “Many years of dedicated work from countless Gibson County citizens and volunteers have laid the foundation for the…

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Gubernatorial Candidates Randy Boyd and Karl Dean Support LGBT Agenda

Chris Alto

Despite being from two different parties, two millionaire gubernatorial candidates, Republican Randy Boyd and Democrat Karl Dean, have used the umbrella of employment discrimination to publicly validate the LGBT agenda. According to the American Psychological Association (APA),  LGB (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual),  “refers to sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is defined as an often enduring pattern of emotional, romantic and/or sexual attractions of men to women or women to men (heterosexual), of women to women or men to men (homosexual), or by men or women to both sexes (bisexual).” The “T” in LGBT refers to “transgender,” considered by the APA to describe people whose “gender identity, gender expression or behavior” does not match the sex with which they were born or assigned at birth. Gender identity “refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female or something else; gender expression refers to the way a person communicates gender identity to others through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, voice or body characteristics.” During his tenure as mayor of Nashville and Davidson County, Karl Dean issued Executive Order No.008 ensuring that the issues of “gender, gender identity and sexual orientation” were embedded in the city and county’s employment policies. Randy Boyd voiced his support for the same agenda through…

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Tyson Plant Rejected by Kansas Citizens, But Welcomed by Gibson County Mayor

Chris Alto

The decision by Tyson Foods to open a meat-packing plant in Humboldt, Tennessee, welcomed recently by Gibson County Mayor Tom Witherspoon, came only after the facility was rejected by citizens in Tonganoxie, Kansas. The “big meat” company would have created approximately the same 1,500 jobs there that it says it will bring to rural Gibson County. Witherspoon, elected as a Democrat in 2010 and 2014, is one of 45 county mayors who have endorsed GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd, the Knoxville businessman and former commissioner of the Tennessee Economic and Community Development Department. Reuters reported in November 2017 that the decision by Tyson Foods to switch over to Humboldt came only after “the No Tyson in Tongie” citizen-led opposition defeated a proposed Tyson plant in Tonganoxie, Kansas, a town not much smaller than Humboldt. Several Kansas state legislators also committed to opposing the proposed Tyson plant. Citizen opposition in the “Tongie” area was described as “staggering,” Twilight Greenaway reported at Moyers & Company, the website operated by far left journalist Bill Moyers. That opposition was fueled in part by the secrecy in which the deal was arranged between Tyson executives and local officials until it was finally made public in September, Greenaway reported:…

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Bob Corker Once Told Other Senators That Illegal Immigration Isn’t ‘Fair to American Citizens’

Chris Alto

In 2007, when Bob Corker went to D.C. as the newly elected junior Senator from Tennessee he was openly against illegal immigration until he switched over while trying to save the 2013 “Gang of Eight” amnesty bill. During debate on the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007,” that would have ended chain migration, instituted a system of merit-based immigration, increased border security and interior enforcement, Corker said that to be “fair to American citizens,” illegal aliens should have to leave the country and then re-enter through legal channels: One of the things we are trying to address in this bill is a situation where our immigration has been broken, the system has been broken for many years. In 1986, legislation was offered to try to solve this problem. What has happened is it has gotten even worse, so there has been, obviously, more thought put into this bill. I appreciate again the many amendments and the discussion that has taken place. Many of the things we have talked about have addressed the legalities, have addressed some of the technicalities in our immigration system. It seems to me, one of the things we have not addressed—while we have tried to address fairness…

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Randy Boyd Looking For a Way to Give Illegal Aliens In-State College Tuition

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd

During last week’s radio interview with Ralph Bristol, Randy Boyd repeats the same arguments being used by legislators to grant in-state tuition to illegal aliens living in Tennessee. At first, Boyd makes it sound as if he is opposed to giving in-state tuition to illegal aliens when he says, “I don’t believe that the state should be providing additional benefits for people that are illegal in our state.” But Boyd makes a quick pivot relying on the same arguments used by legislators who voted in favor of the State Sen. Gardenhire/State Rep. White in-state tuition bill. Former State Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) said his focus was wanting to help UT Martin fill their open seats because “we need more students in college…we are not at full capacity now…I’m just trying to reach more students.” Boyd used a partially empty hotel example to illustrate why the state shouldn’t use its tuition policies to “charge a penalty of triple” the amount of in-state tuition: I think that’s true and I think this my be a longer conversation for another interview, but I think there is also a concern that I have about us being able to attract more talent around the country and around…

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Veteran Owned & Operated Coffee Company ‘Fueling Freedom-Loving Americans’ While Starbucks Focuses on Hiring Refugees

Chris Alto

When globalist Starbucks announced its pledge to hire 10,000 refugees in response to President Trump’s executive order instituting a temporary travel ban, former Special Ops veteran Evan Hafer, now CEO and founder of Salt Lake City, Utah-based Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC) had a better idea. Hafer said his veteran owned and operated company is working to employ 10,000 veteran service members and others who have served their country. Hafer, who had been roasting coffee for ten years between multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and taste-testing his roasts on the gun range while teaching tactical skills, launched his “premium conservative coffee company” in 2014. During interviews Hafer’s passion for roasting coffee, serving his country and supporting those who have served, is evident. He says simply, BRCC is different from other coffee sellers because it was “built from the ground up for people serving their country.” And instead of Starbuck’s globalist approach to business Hafer says it’s important to shift the focus closer to home. In that context, he makes a compelling case for the potential veteran worker pool of 2.5 million unemployed or underemployed post 9-11 vets and a veteran unemployment rate of 6.3% as compared to a 5% non-vet unemployment rate. Hafer…

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Chattanooga’s Refugee Resettlement Contractor Likely to Close Office Under New State Department Guidance

Chris Alto

Catholic Charities of Tennessee State Refugee Coordinator Holly Johnson has confirmed that the federal refugee resettlement contractor Bridge Refugee Services, may have to close its Chattanooga office due to new guidance from the U.S. State Department which reportedly informed voluntary agencies (VOLAGs) that any of their local offices expecting to resettle fewer than 100 refugees in 2018, “will no longer be authorized to resettle new arrivals.” Bridge’s resettlement numbers for Chattanooga were reported as likely to fall below the 100 mark for 2018. It is not known whether this will lead Bridge to concentrate all its efforts in Knoxville where their other office operates. Nine national voluntary agencies (VOLAGs) contract with the State Department to facilitate refugee resettlement through almost 300 local affiliated agencies across the U.S. which must first be authorized to receive new refugee arrivals. Refugee resettlement contractors have become dependent on federal funding to operate these local agencies even though the State Department contract states that the public money is only “intended to augment the private resources” the refugee contractor is supposed to contribute. The contractors are paid a fee for each individual refugee they resettle. Currently, the contractor keeps $1,000 of the $2125 refugee fee paid by the…

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Illegal Aliens Occupied Congressional Hallways Demanding Amnesty During Votes On Tax Reform Bill

Chris Alto

Chanting “undocumented and unafraid,” illegal aliens continued more than a month of protests at the Capitol on Wednesday as the House of Representatives cast the final vote in favor of President Trump’s Tax Cut and Jobs Act. “Hundreds of illegal immigrant ‘Dreamers’ were taking to the halls of the U.S. Capitol complex Wednesday to complain they were being left behind by congressional leaders working on a year-end deal that does not grant them full citizenship rights,” The Washington Times reported on Wednesday: The Dreamers were particularly angered that Democrats, who they were counting on to engage in a shutdown showdown over their fate, appear to have backed off and are willing to grant another month-long funding bill without a an solution in hand. The activists, wearing red stocking hats and T-shirts, marched and lay down in hallways to try to slow business in the office buildings that ring the Capitol. They broadcast the actions live on Facebook. “We want Dream Act,” protesters chanted, referring to a bill that would grant tentative legal status to more than 2 million illegal immigrants, and would see 1.7 million of them earn a green card signifying permanent legal presence, according to the Migration Policy…

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Boyd-Endorsing Mayor May Help Humboldt, Tennessee Become a New Refugee Resettlement Site

Chris Alto

Tysons Foods recently announced the building of a chicken processing plant in Humboldt, bringing with it, 1,500 jobs to Gibson County’s largest city.  While GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd was Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD), business development money began flowing to Gibson County, an investment that has paid off for Boyd with it’s mayor supporting his run for governor. Tom Witherspoon, mayor of Gibson County was included on Boyd’s July list of county mayor endorsements. Locating a food processing plant in Gibson County may also continue a trend of transforming small rural towns by becoming a magnet for federal refugee resettlement contractors looking to place low-skill workers who don’t have to speak English. Tysons Foods has a demonstrated commitment to employing refugees; its Human Resources Manager, Gary Denton served on the board of the Nashville-based Center for Refugees and Immigrants of Tennessee. Representing the State of Tennessee Economic & Community Development, Lamar Alexander’s son, Will, while serving as Chief of Staff for Haslam’s ECD, served as Treasurer for the resettlement contractor, the Nashville International Center for Empowerment. The federal resettlement program allows refugee contractors to place refugees within 100 miles of the resettlement contractor’s office and that, “[re]gardless of their…

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As Governor, Democrat Phil Bredesen Diverted Road Money to Balance the Budget and Pay for TennCare

Chris Alto

Last week, Tennessee’s former Governor Phil Bredesen announced that he would run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) in the 2018 election. Even though Bredesen is a Democrat and Corker is a Republican, both disfavor President Trump, both have no aversion to raising taxes, and both are okay with diverting transportation money for non-roadway projects. By the time Bredesen left the governor’s office in 2009 after eight years in the job, several tax increases had been put on cigarettes and certain managed care companies. Other revenues were raised in the form of fee increases. Corker proposed raising the federal fuel tax in 2014. Congress hasn’t raised the federal gas tax since 1993, and in 1998, over $8 billion was diverted from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) to the general fund. This was before Corker’s time, but he still pushed his gas tax increase without tackling the diversion of HTF money for non-highway projects: A Government Accountability Office report found that 32% of the HTF didn’t go toward highway or bridge construction and upkeep from fiscal 2004-08. That rose to 38% in 2009, according to an analysis by Ron Utt, senior research fellow at the…

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GOP State Rep. Candidate Tommy Vallejos Marched With Open Border Groups Demanding Amnesty for Illegal Aliens

Chris Alto

Tommy Vallejos, a Montgomery County Commissioner and GOP candidate for Tennessee’s District 67 State House seat currently held by retiring State Rep. Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville), has been an advocate for both legal and illegal aliens in Tennessee. Vallejos is the founder and current Chairman of Latinos for Tennessee (L4TN) and former Director for Hispanic Organization for Progress & Education (HOPE), a position he held for almost five years but which is not referenced on his campaign’s website. Pitts’ wife Cynthia served on HOPE’s board during Vallejos’ tenure as director. While leading HOPE, Vallejos joined Soros-backed open border groups including the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) in the 2010 D.C. march organized by the National Immigration Forum. Rally-goers were demanding comprehensive immigration reform that along with border security, would include an amnesty and path to citizenship for illegal aliens. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, considered Congress’ most radical open borders advocate for illegal aliens, was the rally’s keynote speaker. Today, Vallejos tells The Tennessee Star that “I have never been for amnesty, but felt our immigration system was broken (still is) and needed reform.” As a recognized leader of the Latino community, Vallejos who described himself as a “staunch Republican,” opposed a 2006…

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Council on Islamic Education Worked with Textbook Publishers, Educational Organizations and Teachers to Erase ‘Miconceptions’

Chris Alto

Public school students across the country are receiving instruction about Islam from proselytizing Muslim speakers using the excuse of “correcting misconceptions” even though the Council on Islamic Education (CIE), worked for years with textbook publishers, provided teacher training and supplemental classroom resources for teaching about Islam consistent with state social studies standards. Shabbir Mansuri founded CIE in 1991, to: provide academic support and scholarly resources about Islam and Muslim history to K-12 textbook publishers, educators, and others. We went on to cultivate expertise in world history and teaching about world religions, producing assessments of national and history-social studies state standards, training thousands of teachers, publishing high-quality teaching materials, and reviewing numerous social studies textbooks. To that end, CIE sponsored multiple conferences focusing on textbook content and national standards related to teaching about Islam and Muslims. In 2007, CIE changed its name to the Institute on Religion and Civic Values. An article posted on SoundVision, an organization that promotes proselytizing Islam to students in public school, quoted Abigail Jungreis, Editorial Director for school social studies at Houghton Mifflin regarding CIE: We’ve had a really good relationship with them [the CIE] over the years. Their reviewers are knowledgeable, access to primary source materials. She gives Susan…

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Tennessee Muslim Advisory Council Co-Founder Endorsed Islamic Proselytizing Organization

Chris Alto

Sabina Mohyuddin, long-time volunteer and former Youth Director at the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN), co-founder of the Tennessee American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC), and a featured panelist at a recent event held at the University of the South in Sewanee, endorsed the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a U.S. based leader in dawah (Islamic proselytizing), at a 2013 event as an organization that “help[s] American Muslims stay true to their religious values while being uniquely American.” ICNA was named in a 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document, An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America as one of the Brotherhood’s 29 likeminded “organizations of our friends” that shared the common goal of destroying America from within and turning it into a Muslim nation “so that … God’s religion [Islam] is made victorious over all other religions.” ICNA is also the organization that admits public school students should be targeted for dawah conducted under the guise of “sharing knowledge of Islam as an attempt to correct the misrepresentations often found in secular reading materials.” Mohyuddin offered the ICNA endorsement during her slide presentation Understanding the American Muslim Community, which was part of a 2013 AMAC sponsored forum in Manchester,…

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Students in Tennessee And Across the Country Are Targeted By Proselytizers of Islam Claiming to Address ‘Misconceptions’

Chris Alto

Last month, students from Nashville’s Meigs Middle Magnet School received a presentation about Islam during a field trip to the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN). The mosque’s Director of Operations, Dina Sirois, told the students that they would “talk about beliefs and practices in Islam” and that “another little piece of your brain that has some new little storage compartment” would get “filled with Islam stuff.” Anna Shepherd, Chairman of the Metro Nashville School Board, defended the ICN presentation  when questioned by The Tennessee Star, saying that “[Sirois] was addressing any misconceptions the students/parents might have had in the context of the [social studies] standards.” U.S.-based Islamist organizations proselytize Islam to public school students through presentations alleged to “correct misconceptions,” “supplement the curriculum in the context of social studies standards” or “correct inadequate and biased” teaching resources. Rashed Fakhruddin, president of the ICN is also a founding member of the Tennessee American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC),  which in 2012 became a formal affiliate of the Islamic Networks Group (ING) and established an Islamic speaker’s bureau with training using ING’s prepared presentations. ING claims that its outreach to middle and high schools will correct “inadequate and biased” teaching resources, supplement the curriculum in the context of the standards…

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‘Enemies of Allah’ Turn Rockets of Hate into Peace Art

Chris Alto

Yaron Bob, an Israeli artist whose community has been repeatedly attacked with Kassam rockets fired from Gaza by Palestinian terrorists, turns the rockets of hate into metal art called “Rockets into Roses.” Bob’s work was inspired by his own close calls with rocket attacks. According to his website, “I take the Kassam, the instrument of death and I change it, I transfer it into something of beauty.” After the rockets are checked by a bomb squad, the police give Bob the metal to create the roses which he “plants” in a base shaped as a map of Israel, “so that the rose literally ‘grows’ from the place of destruction – where most of the rockets have landed.” Until very recently, HAMAS has controlled the government in Gaza and has been primarily responsible for the rocket attacks. Founded in 1987, HAMAS, an acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, is a U.S. designated terrorist group and the self-described Palestinian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. Its charter makes it clear that Jews are the enemies of Allah and that the HAMAS mission is to destroy Israel and kill Jewish people. Quoting Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood founder, the HAMAS charter states: Israel will exist and will continue to…

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Islamic Center of Tennessee Imam Preaches Against ‘Enemies of Allah’

Chris Alto

In July, Imam AhmedulHadi Sharif told his followers at the Islamic Center of Tennessee (ICT) that if the Muslim ummah loses the struggle over the al Aqsa mosque, the “enemies of Allah would come and try to destroy the ka’aba” (at 22:43 in the video below). According to Muslims, the ka’aba is the building at Mecca that houses a sacred black stone. Sharif’s sermon about Muslims’ claim to the al Aqsa mosque was given during the conflict surrounding the mosque after two Israeli police officers were killed by three Israeli Arabs who had smuggled weapons into the mosque. Subsequent security measures of metal detectors and security cameras undertaken by the Israeli government were ultimately withdrawn after Palestinians led violent protests and a terrorist killed three Israeli civilians during their Sabbath meal. In his sermon, Sharif tries to differentiate between what he calls “ethnic” Jews and Zionist oppressors who he calls “the number one terrorists in the world,” but nonetheless, incites hatred against Jews who believe that Israel is the Jewish homeland saying: We do not hate the ethnic Jewish rather we do hate the oppressors of this Zionist because the Prophets of Allah some of them were from Bani Isra’il so…

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Chairman of Metro Nashville School Board Defends Mosque Speaker Giving Students Misleading Information

Chris Alto

On October 17th, students from Metro Nashville Meigs Middle Magnet School visited the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) where Dina Sirois, the mosque’s operations director, told them that they would “talk about beliefs and practices in Islam.” The Tennessee Star contacted Ms. Anna Shepherd, Chairman of the Metro Nashville School Board about the audio recording of the presentation given to the students, and asked the following questions: how to find a copy or link to the MNPS policy that complies with the [2016] Tennessee law [regarding inclusion of religion in local curriculum] and whether public notice and comment related to the adoption of the Metro policy was provided as required by the state law how to access information required by part (c) of the state law [a complete syllabus that includes information regarding major assignments and field trips] confirmation as to whether MNPS considers that the provisions in the [state law] also apply to guest speakers on and off school grounds during field trips Ms. Shepherd responded as follows, explaining: Please see the policies below in regard to religious education. I hope these are helpful. Sixth and seventh grade students study a number of religions as part of state’s approved Social Studies Standards. Sixth grade concentrates…

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Textbook Shows Islamic Center of Nashville Speaker Was Misleading to Public School Students About Islam

Chris Alto

The presentation to students from Metro Nashville Meigs Middle Magnet School at the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) on October 17th was misleading when compared to corresponding information in a popular Islamic school textbook. ICN’s Director of Operations Dina Sirois claimed that her talk to the students was not about “trying to win you over,” presumably a disclaimer of proselytizing Islam to the students which would otherwise violate federal and state law. However, her comparisons between Islam, Christianity and Judaism, especially when considered in light of her incomplete explanations on topics such as the resurrection of Jesus and jihad, suggests that her talk was more in line with the Islamic mandate of dawa and designed to be “the seeds of Islam [that] can be sowed inside the hearts of non-Muslim students.” But a school textbook included in a video about Annoor Academy, a private Islamic school in Knoxville, shows that Sirois’s explanation of Muslims’ belief in the resurrection of Jesus is incomplete making it appear the intention was to have students think that Christian and Muslim beliefs are more alike than different. A 2013 promo YouTube video for Annoor Academy shows a row of textbooks titled What Islam Is All About. (See at the 1:04…

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Metro Nashville Students Visit Local Mosque for Religious Instruction

Chris Alto

On October 17th, students from Metro Nashville Meigs Middle Magnet School visited the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) where Dina Sirois, operations director of the mosque, told them that they would “talk about beliefs and practices in Islam.” An audio recording of Sirois’ presentation was forwarded to The Tennessee Star. Using a set of prepared slides, Sirois alternated between talking about Islamic religious doctrine and posing comparisons of Islam to Judaism and Christianity. She opened her talk telling the students that: We’re all on a learning journey and on a faith journey and today’s talk is to expand your critical thinking skills. We’re not trying to win you over. We’re trying to give you information so you can leave here today with yet another little piece of your brain that has some new little storage compartment that has been filled with Islam stuff and then you take that on with your life and your faith journey and then you keep adding more and more aspects from different faiths and different cultures until you make your final decision as to what kind of person you want to be when you grow up. Sirois described how she came from a “mixed family”: So I call…

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Tennessee-Based Subhi Ali’s D.C. Organization Fundraises By Promoting Anti-Israel Speakers

Chris Alto

The Jerusalem Fund and Palestine Center, a pro-Palestinian organization headquartered in D.C. chaired by Tennessee-based Dr. Subhi Ali (pictured, right), fundraised this month with two galas featuring a keynote by Israeli-Arab Knesset (Israel’s legislature) member, Haneen Zoabi (pictured, left) who compared Israel to Germany in the 1930s, claimed Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish state and suggested that Israeli-Arab members of the Knesset should work to undermine the State of Israel from within. Ali who lives in Waverly, Tennessee, joined the Jerusalem Fund in 2000 and became Vice-President of the Board in 2004, serving alongside the Fund’s founder Hisham Sharabi. Ali has led the Board since 2005. The galas’ featured speaker, Zoabi, also speaks at Students for Justice in Palestine anti-Israel events on U.S. college campuses, characterizing Israel as a racist apartheid state, getting what it deserves for forcing people to “live under occupation.”  In 2014, when HAMAS militants abducted and murdered three Israeli teenagers, Zoabi said the HAMAS militants were “not terrorists” but people forced to live under occupation: They’re people who don’t see any way to change their reality and they are forced to use these means until Israel will wake up a little, until Israeli citizens and society will…

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Senator Bob Corker Has Plenty of Evidence to Support President Trump’s Reduction in the Refugee Ceiling for FY 2018

Chris Alto

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) has plenty of evidence to support President Trump’s presidential determination to reduce the refugee ceiling in FY  2018 to 45,000, but, so far, the soon-to-retire senator has been silent on that matter since that news broke late last month. In April, however, PJ Media reported, “Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he hopes the Trump administration begins to ‘move back to a regular process’ and ‘normalize’ the admission of refugees into the United States.” Corker should know the pitfalls of “normalizing” the admissions of refugees to higher levels of the Obama administration. He was a sitting member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when it convened a hearing in 2010, to address the failures of the U.S. refugee resettlement program and he learned a great deal about the serious problems of the program back then. The committee’s report, Abandoned Upon Arrival: Implications for Refugees and Local Communities Burdened by a U.S. Resettlement System That is Not Working, offers ample, if not overwhelming justification for Corker, now chairman of the committee, to support President Trump’s responsible FY 2018 cap for U.S refugee admissions at 45,000 annually, significantly lower than the 85,000 admissions in FY 2016, the…

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Gov. Haslam Has Not Kept Campaign Promises to Curb Illegal Immigration in Tennessee

Chris Alto

Broken promises from Bill Haslam’s 2010 campaign could figure prominently in any run for Bob Corker’s Senate seat.  While campaigning for governor, Haslam repeatedly raised the issue of illegal immigration and how he, as governor, would work to insulate Tennessee from the negative fiscal effects of illegal immigration and from becoming a magnet for illegal immigrants. In his “Jobs4TN” written campaign materials Haslam tied job development and employment for Tennesseans to the problem of illegal immigration and promised: In order to keep Tennessee a great state, we must also work to provide more and better job opportunities for Tennessee residents. An important part of that effort must be making sure that available jobs are only going to individuals who are legally resident in the state. Tennessee is paying a price for the failure of the federal government to effectively secure our nation’s borders and enforce our immigration laws. As governor, I will enforce the state laws on the books and do everything within my authority to be sure that Tennessee does not attract illegal activity. After he was elected, however, Haslam began to incrementally retreat from considering illegal immigration a negative fiscal and/or employment issue. In 2009, during the Bredesen administration, Managing…

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Commentary: Tennessee Attorney General Abuses His Position to Offer Political and Not Legal Opinion

Chris Alto

  Disregarding the Constitution, foundational principles of federalism, immigration law and his statutorily prescribed duties, Tennessee’s Attorney General Herbert Slatery III, the state’s chief legal advisor, has used his position and office to advance a political agenda on behalf of illegal aliens in the state. Forty-three states elect their Attorney General unlike in Tennessee whose state Constitution directs the State Supreme Court to make the appointment for a term of eight years. Elected Attorney Generals are viewed as more accountable to the public and more independent from the governor. Elected AGs are also viewed as having more credibility should a situation arise requiring investigating wrongdoing by any state official including the governor. Prior to his appointment as Tennessee’s Attorney General, from 2011 – 2014, Slatery, also from Knoxville, served as counsel to Governor Haslam. “In addition to providing legal advice to the Governor, he oversaw the process for judicial appointments, coordinated the legal affairs of the executive branch for the Governor, assisted in the development and implementation of legislation, and reviewed requests for executive clemency and extradition.” Using his official letterhead, Slatery informed Sens. Alexander and Corker that Tennessee would not challenge the DACA program despite admitting the likelihood of prevailing. Slatery’s…

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Tennessee Attorney General Slatery Pushes Amnesty For Illegal Immigrants On Advice From Soros Funded Organization

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Prior to withdrawing Tennessee from the coalition of state Attorneys General challenging the 2012 DACA program Attorney General Herbert Slatery, III, met with Stephanie Teatro, a co-Director of the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), who convinced Slatery to ignore the Constitution and the entire body of U.S. immigration law and advocate instead for illegal aliens in Tennessee. After meeting with Teatro, Slatery reneged on his commitment to the coalition of Attorneys General challenging DACA. Even though there was no statutory or Constitutional authority for Obama’s unilateral action on DACA, or the fact that DACA does not alter anyone’s illegal immigration status, Slatery chose instead, to join TIRRC’s push for passage of the “DREAM Act of 2017” which would grant amnesty and a path to citizenship for the DACA eligible. Slatery’s push for amnesty is also in line with the campaign being led by the New American Economy. In 2013, this same organization then called the Partnership for a New American Economy (PNAE), was championing the “Gang of Eight” immigration reform bill which included amnesty and was supported by Sens. Alexander and Corker. GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd is a named member of the PNAE. In his letter to Sens. Alexander…

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Memphis Imam Raises Money For Islamic Charity U.S. Congressman Says Has Ties to Muslim Brotherhood

Chris Alto

Last week, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced an amendment to the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Act blocking any U.S. funding to Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW). Between 2015 and 2016, IRW received $370,000 in federal funding. DeSantis explained to the Free Beacon that: U.S. tax dollars cannot go to groups involved in funding terrorism. Any group tied to Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood should be ineligible for funding.  It is a slap in the face of the American taxpayer to allow such groups to receive federal funding. Founded in 1984, IRW is headquartered in the UK but operates as a franchiser of sixteen charity affiliates comprising the largest Islamic charity in the West with revenues in the hundreds of millions. Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA), reputed to be one of the largest affiliate funders of IRW, is also inter-connected to IRW through leadership. For example, IRUSA’s former CEO, Abed Ayoub also served on the governance committee of the IRW. Between 2012 and 2016, Memphis Imam Yasir Qadhi has been helping IRUSA raise money speaking at a dozen fundraising events. More recently, he undertook an eight-date tour in the UK to raise money for the parent organization IRW. Britain’s Charity Commission which…

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Tennessee State Legislators Caved to Leftists on ‘Soft Amnesty’ Instead of Upholding Constitution

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Sixteen Republicans in the State Senate and twenty-seven in the House caved to the demands of the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) when they voted to give in-state tuition to illegal aliens with deferred deportation under DACA, or who might become eligible for DACA. DACA does not alter a grantee’s illegal immigration status. Ignoring the illegal immigration issue and offering a “soft amnesty” to DACA illegal aliens, the forty-three Republicans voting “aye” for the Gardenhire/White 2015 in-state tuition bill, also voted to violate federal and Tennessee law. These lawmakers also ignored the fact that Obama’s DACA policy was neither a statutory nor Constitutional exercise of executive authority. Republican Senators voting for the 2015 in-state tuition bill:  Janice Bowling, Richard Briggs, Rusty Crowe, Steve Dickerson, Todd Gardenhire, Mark Green, Dolores Gresham, Ferrell Haile, Ed Jackson, Brian Kelsey, Becky Duncan-Massey, Randy McNally, Frank Niceley, Doug Overbey, Steve Southerland, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey. Republican House members voting for in-state tuition: Harry Brooks, Kevin Brooks, Kent Calfee, Dale Carr, Mike Carter, Bill Dunn, Jimmy Eldridge, Andrew Farmer, Marc Gravitt, Mike Harrison, Ryan Haynes, Patsy Hazlewood, Bud Hulsey, Curtis Johnson, Sabi Kumar, Pat Marsh, Gerald McCormick, Steve McDaniel, Steve McManus, Bob Ramsey,…

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Teach For America Says Their ‘DACAmented’ Trainees Can Tell Tennessee Students About Living Illegally in U.S.

Chris Alto

  Teach For America (TFA)  is “actively recruit[ing]” illegal aliens who have been granted temporary deportation through the unconstitutional DACA program. After one month of TFA summer training the “DACAmented teacher” can be placed in a Tennessee public school. Over one hundred “DACAmented” trainees are currently teaching in schools around the U.S. to date, and TFA is actively working to find more schools that are willing to employ illegal aliens who were given temporary work permits. In 2006, Memphis began partnering with TFA and three years later, Metro Nashville Public Schools followed. In 2014, the Islamic Center of Nashville whose president Rashed Fakhruddin helps train Metro middle and high school teachers, hosted TFA recruits at the mosque. Passionate about supporting the “DREAM Act” and educating “undocumented students,” TFA tells its DACAmented recruits that a personal story of living in the U.S. illegally can influence students : Picture standing in front of a classroom, having grown up undocumented. Imagine having the opportunity to share your story from fearing deportation to the day you graduated from college, and what it was like to get admitted to Teach For America. Think about the impact your story could have on your students, both those born in…

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Tennesseee Attorney General Wants Congress to Grant Amnesty and Legitimize Unconstitutional Action by Obama Administration

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Tennessee’s Attorney General Herbert Slatery, III, by letter dated September 1, 2017, informed Sens. Alexander and Corker that he is willing to forgo upholding the Constitution and the rule of law in favor of supporting Obama’s unilateral action that established the 2012 DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. Slatery has elected to leave the coalition of ten state Attorneys General and the Governor of Idaho, which in a June 29, 2017 letter to U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions, requested a phase out of the 2012 DACA program because there was no statutory authority for the executive branch to unilaterally confer lawful presence and work authorization on illegal aliens. It was estimated that the 2012 DACA extended to over one million illegal aliens. The Attorneys General also requested that the memorandum and order establishing DACA be rescinded and that no new DACA permits or renewals be issued. The administration was also put on notice that the AG coalition would sue if the requested actions regarding DACA were not undertaken by September 5, 2017: This request does not require the Executive Branch to immediately rescind DACA or Expanded DACA permits that have already been issued. This request does not require the Secretary to alter the…

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Tennessee American Muslim Advisory Council Board Member Says Constitution is Document of White Supremacy

Chris Alto

Tennessee’s American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) board member Drost Kokoye says the U.S. Constitution “is a document that writes white supremacy into law.” Those were the exact words Kokoye used in a tweet sent from her Twitter account on September 17, 2014–the 227th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution at the close of the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787: #ConstitutionDay to celebrate a document that writes white supremacy into law. — so many consonants (@foreverafugee) September 17, 2014 Kokoye is a Kurdish refugee who, as a young child, came to live in Nashville, grew up there and was educated in Nashville’s public schools. While attending college at Middle Tennessee State University, she worked for the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) as a “Multicultural Organizer.” TIRRC offers workshops encouraging immigrants to become citizens and assists them through the naturalization process, after which TIRRC says they can represent “the immigrant vote” in elections. In 2012, Kokoye was featured in TIRRC’s “New American Voter” campaign: Voting gives me the opportunity to voice what not every immigrant or refugee can yet. It’s my chance to choose the people and laws that will allow others to practice this freedom I now have.…

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Illinois First State to Legislatively Discriminate Against All Religions Except Islam

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

The “Muslim American Advisory Council Act” (MAACA), signed by Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner last week permanently establishes a formal role for Muslims to influence the state’s policy: The purposes of the Council is to advise the Governor and the General Assembly on policy issues impacting Muslim Americans and immigrants; to advance the role and civic participation of Muslim Americans in this State; to enhance trade and cooperation between Muslim-majority countries and this State; and to build relationships with and disseminate information to, in cooperation with State agencies, boards, and commissions, Muslim American and immigrant communities across this State. In 2014, the Urban Muslim Minority Alliance endorsed Rauner over Democrat Governor Pat Quinn. As written, the MAACA law claims that the state’s public policy is to “promote diversity and to ensure inclusion of all religious, racial, and ethnic groups within this State” even though there are no other legislatively sanctioned religious councils inside the state government. The new law requires political appointments of twenty-one people to the Muslim council along with liaison personnel from multiple state agencies. Additional state government employees will provide administrative and technical support. A staffer from the Governor’s office will serve as the ethics officer. No fiscal note…

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Anti-Israel UT Knoxville Alum Collaborates With Antifa

Chris Alto

UT Knoxville alumnus Rev. Osagyefo Sekou credits antifa forces with whom he was “discussing tactics,” for “saving [his] life” while he was protesting in Charlottesville: Antifa saved my life. — Rev. Osagyefo Sekou (@RevSekou) August 15, 2017 It’s ironic that Sekou, an anti-Israel agitator who supports extreme anti-Israel groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation (CEO), would be demonstrating against Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville. The Anti-Defamation League lists both organizations among the top 10 most influential and active anti-Israel groups in the United States. The CEO is led by Yousef Munayyer, who as former director of the Jerusalem Fund openly advocated for the BDS (Boycott, Divestment & Sanction) campaign against Israel which has continued under the new director. The Jerusalem Fund’s board Chairman is Dr. Subhi Ali from Waverly, Tennessee. His daughter, Samar Ali served in the Haslam administration. The BDS campaign attacks Zionism and seeks to demonize, delegitimize and eliminate the State of Israel, to wit, the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” used by BDS promoters to signal that if successful, there would be no Israel or Jews between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. It is…

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‘Drive to 55’ Likely Gives ‘Tennessee Promise Scholarship’ to Illegal Immigrants in a Boyd Administration

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

Gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd takes full credit for the “Drive to 55” higher education umbrella initiative which includes programs like the Tennessee Promise scholarship, but has made no definitive statement to date about whether illegal immigrants should be permitted access to this benefit or in-state college tuition. Boyd, however, is a named member of an organization that pushes state and local policymakers to support giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students and he has used his philanthropy to help expand an entrepreneurship program whose services are available to illegal aliens. He is also a board member of the “College Promise Campaign” which wants a universal and free entitlement for the first two years of a higher education. The board is led by the president of the leftist Joyce Foundation and honorary chair Dr. Jill Biden, wife of former Vice-President Joe Biden. A briefing book for state leaders posted on the College Promise website, Making Public Colleges Tuition Free, includes a reference to the “alternative application for undocumented students” used by two states for their college promise scholarships. Boyd also has six state legislators working to get him elected as governor, four of whom voted to give illegal immigrant students access to in-state college tuition.…

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Metro Nashville Schools Confirms Speaker From Mosque at Teacher In-Service, Refuses to Say If There Were Speakers From Other Religions

Chris Alto

  Several days prior to releasing the story that Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) social studies teacher in-service featured Rashed Fakhruddin from the Islamic Center of Nashville, Olivia Brown, the Director of Communications for MNPS was offered an opportunity to explain to The Tennessee Star, whether other speakers were invited or did speak to the teachers about other religions, but the question remains unanswered even though MNPS admits to having the information. Fakhruddin’s now deleted Facebook message about his talk at the in-service was posted for at least one week before The Star asked Ms. Brown who spoke at the social studies in-service. Her response was a generalized description of speakers and no mention of religious speakers: The Star: What was the agenda for the social studies in-service, who were the speakers and was it open only to teachers?  Which grades? Brown: Social Studies professional development was provided primarily to teachers in middle and high school as the majority of elementary teachers were participating in training for literacy and math. The first day started with a keynote addressing the purpose for social studies and how to address social studies practices. This was followed by a number of breakout session that teachers were able to choose from based on…

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Mayors of 44 Tennessee Counties Where President Trump Won Overwhelmingly Have Endorsed ‘Never-Trumper’ Randy Boyd for Governor

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Since launching earlier this year, Randy Boyd’s gubernatorial campaign has sent out numerous press releases announcing the names of county mayors who are supporting him for governor.  To date, 45 county mayors across Tennessee have endorsed Boyd. The state has 95 counties. In 44 of these 45 counties where Boyd has claimed the mayor’s support, President Trump won the vote overwhelmingly over Hillary Clinton in the November 2016 general election – with anywhere from 56.4 percent to 84.9 percent of the vote. (Shelby County is the lone exception) Here is the list of the 44 counties won convincingly by President Trump whose county mayors have pledged support to Boyd for Governor: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Carroll, Claiborne, Cocke, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Gibson, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Henry, Hickman, Humphreys, Jefferson, Johnson, Lake, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Moore, Morgan, Obion, Overton, Pickett, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Unicoi, Union, Washington, Weakley, White. By supporting Boyd for governor, these county mayor are going against the voters on a key issue that put Trump in the White House, namely, illegal immigration. Boyd, who says he “aspire[s] to be like” failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney, aligned himself with “never-Trump”…

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Nashville Public Schools’ Social Studies In-Service Event for Teachers Featured Speaker From Islamic Center

Chris Alto

  The president of the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) spoke about his religion during a Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) social studies in-service event held on August 2nd for middle and high school teachers preparing for the start of the 2017-2018 academic school year. According to the ICN’s website, its president, Rashed Fakhruddin, “has been coordinating and providing presentations on Islam to universities, schools, leadership groups and churches” over the past fifteen years in an effort to influence how his religion is received in the wider community. In a Facebook post dated August 2 captured in a screen shot, the owner of an account identified as Rashed Fakhruddin said, “Today, I got to present during MNPS’s social studies in service on Islam in context to the social studies curriculum, ending the presentation with the question, ‘Is Islam compatible with the West?’. There were parallel sessions going on, but there was a great turnout!”   That post apparently is no longer available on Mr. Fakhruddin’s Facebook page. The Tennessee Star asked MNPS about this in-service presentation. “On August 2 and 3, MNPS facilitated district-wide Professional Development for teachers in all tiers (elementary, middle and high school) and in all grade…

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Tennessee Taxpayers Fund Conexion Americas’ ‘Education Equity’ for Students Here Legally and Illegally

Chris Alto

  Last year Conexion Americas, a multi-million dollar funded Latino advocacy organization headquartered in Nashville, convened the Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition (TEEC), which it now leads. Partnering with the George Soros funded Migration Policy Institute, TEEC launched the “TN English Learner Network.” TEEC does not appear to be a separate corporate entity, but rather merely a “project” of Conexion Americas, according to the most recent Conexion Americas annual report. Renata Soto, founder and director of Conexion Americas, was elected in 2015 to lead the National Council of La Raza’s (La Raza) board. George Soros has generously funded La Raza over the years in amounts typically exceeding $2 million. Gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd is a mega donor to Conexion Americas, which received $250,000 from Randy and Jenny Boyd in 2016, and his education non-profit Complete Tennessee, which works in a reciprocal relationship with Soto and the TEEC. Soto serves on his board and his organization serves as a State Partner to TEEC. Both Complete Tennessee and the TEEC say they want to address “equity gaps” in the education provided to Tennessee students. Both Soto and Boyd are tied to organizations that support “tuition equity,” which is the legislative reference to a bill that would…

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Conexion Americas Led Coalition, With Randy Boyd’s Non-Profit as a ‘State Partner,’ Says Students Here Illegally Deserve ‘Educational Equity’

Chris Alto

  Conexion Americas, the convener and leading member of the Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition (TEEC), has issued a letter to Sens. Alexander and Corker asking them to continue Obama’s administrative bypass of Congress that unilaterally created the questionable DACA program. Gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd’s education non-profit Complete Tennessee, on which Conexion Americas’ founder and executive director Renata Soto serves as a board member, is listed as a State Partner on the TEEC website. TEEC was established in March 2016. Complete Tennessee was established in September 2016, about the same time that Randy Boyd and his wife Jenny Boyd donated $250,000 to Conexion Americas. TEEC says that students who arrived in Tennessee in violation of U.S. immigration law deserve “educational equity:” As members of the Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition, we write you to express our support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition is a diverse group of civil rights and education advocacy organizations whose goal is to build a shared advocacy agenda to address achievement and opportunity gaps for students across the state. We write you to respectfully request that you support the DACA program and that you urge President Trump to keep the DACA program intact until…

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Conexion Americas, Recipient of $250k From Randy Boyd, and TIRRC Are Defending Obama’s DACA Program for Illegal Aliens

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Conexion Americas and TIRRC (Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition) are taking action this Friday to defend recipients of Obama’s unilateral 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program who are euphemistically referred to as “dreamers.” After the “Dream Act” failed in 2010, the Obama administration used an administrative bypass of Congress to execute unilateral executive amnesty in the form of the DACA program. On Friday, Conexion Americas, a Nashville Latino advocacy organization and recipient of a $250,000 donation from Randy and Jenny Boyd, is offering a popsicle to anyone who stops by and sends a postcard to Tennessee’s D.C. legislators requesting support for the newest “Dream Act.” Recently introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Dick Durbin, the bill provides even greater protection for the DACA eligible by offering a path to citizenship. Boyd is one of five announced candidates for the Republican nomination for governor of Tennessee. Conexion is taking a subtle approach to undermine the rule of law and preserve an unconstitutional action by the Obama administration, whereas TIRRC’s approach is more direct – they are asking Tennessee teachers to take their politics into the classroom. TIRRC’s Friday “Educator Day of Action” in defense of DACA…

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Gubernatorial Candidates Beavers and Black Consistently Support Bills to Curb Illegal Immigration, But a Key Bill Sets Them Apart

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  On the issue of illegal immigration, gubernatorial candidates Mae Beavers and Diane Black both consistently vote for bills intended to curb illegal immigration. However, in 2001, a Democrat controlled legislature passed HB983, a bill which allowed driver’s licenses to be issued to someone without a social security number enabling illegal aliens to obtain a Tennessee drivers license. It was estimated that more than 180,000 licenses were issued after the law was passed. Beavers voted against HB983 while Black voted for it. Black doesn’t deny voting for the bill, but explained it as “an unintended consequence of a bill that was supposed to allow legal immigrants to get licenses and co-sponsored legislation to repeal it.” Just months after Tennessee’s legislative session concluded, the 9/11 terrorist attack occurred and the question of easy access to state driver’s licenses was highlighted by the FBI raising the same question in state legislatures around the country, including Tennessee. This prompted a bill at the start of Tennessee’s next legislative session to fully repeal the illegal alien driver’s license bill. Even though the bill was not passed, both Beavers and Black signed on as co-sponsors and both voted for it. In 2004, the Tennessee General Assembly and the Governor’s office…

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Tennessee’s Republican U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker Help Elevate Victim Status of Muslims Living in America

Chris Alto

  On April 5, 2017, Senators Alexander and Corker joined in the unanimous consent of the Senate and “agreed to” S.Res. 118: A resolution condemning hate crime and any other form of racism, religious or ethnic bias, discrimination, incitement to violence, or animus targeting a minority in the United States. Because S.Res.118 was introduced as a “simple resolution,” considered a non-binding statement of the Senate, no roll call vote is required, the House does not vote on it, and it has no force of law although it remains to be seen whether a bill will follow later. According to the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), “[t]he drafting, introduction, and passage of this resolution [was] the result of a joint advocacy effort between MPAC and Emerge USA [a Muslim organization now renamed eMgage]. We ensured that the resolution went beyond rhetoric and resolves that the government take concrete steps to address hate crimes.” S.Res. 118 references acts of anti-Semitism, threats against Jewish institutions, anti-Black or anti-African American bias crimes, and “harassment and hate-based violence against individuals who are perceived to be Arab or Muslim, including members of South Asian communities in the United States, and Hindu and Sikh Americans” but reserves the opening and misleading statistic…

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Commentary: Will Diane Black Go Along With McConnell Again to Raise the Debt Ceiling?

Chris Alto

In 2011, Rep. Diane Black voted for the “Budget Control Act of 2011” which automatically increased the debt ceiling by $400 billion to $14.694 trillion and subsequently increased it by another $1.2 trillion via the “McConnell Mechanism.” This provision introduced by Sen. Mitch McConnell allowed Obama to request debt increases which could only be blocked by a joint resolution of disapproval passed by Congress. Any resolution, if passed, was still subject to the President’s veto which could only be over-riden by a two-thirds vote by Congress. Twice the Senate failed to block the debt increases allowed by the “McConnell Mechanism” which reportedly was intended to make Obama responsible for the debt limit increase. Intentionally or not though, it also effectively and unconstitutionally allowed the President to exercise the exclusive power of Congress under Article I, section 8, “to borrow money on the credit of the United States.” Now as Senate Majority Leader, McConnell is looking to raise the debt ceiling again. With regard to “Spending Cuts and Debt” Black’s website, which doesn’t seem to have been updated since President Trump was elected, states: In Congress, I have voted against every blank check to raise the federal debt ceiling. A decision to…

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Nashville Chamber of Commerce and NAE Support for Low-Skill Immigrant Labor Undermines Mayor Barry’s Office of Resilience And Its Goal of ‘Economic Inclusion’

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Mayor Megan Barry’s Office of Resilience has singled out “economic inclusion and equity” as the key to building “urban resilience,” but support from the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and the New American Economy for legal and illegal immigration complicates achieving the mayor’s goals. According to Metro Nashville Social Services’ 2016 Community Needs Evaluation report, “the poverty rate in Davidson County remains higher than Tennessee and the U.S.” Low wages, educational attainment, unaffordable housing and wage gaps are among the reasons cited for the pervasive and continuing high rate of poverty. Low wage work is equated with earning the federal minimum hourly wage of $7.25 used by Tennessee. According to the 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.8% of  Tennessee’s 67,000 low wage workers are paid the minimum wage, while 2.1% earn below the minimum wage.   Nashville Workers Dignity organized in 2010 to represent “wage theft” from low wage immigrant hotel cleaners and have expanded their campaign to include construction workers. Low wage hotel workers are bootstrapping their demands for “economic justice” defined as “a minimum wage of $15 an hour, paid sick days and maternity time, and more than anything else, respect for hotel and cleaning workers,” to the explosive growth…

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Mayor Megan Barry’s ‘Office of Resilience’ Sells Globalists The Opportunity to Shape Nashville

Chris Alto

  Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has officially tethered the city to the Rockefeller Foundation’s “100 Resilient Cities” (100RC) initiative. The globalist foundation provides direct funding for Barry’s new “Office of Resilience” chief resilience officer, Erik Cole. The Foundation’s team works with networked cities to plan for every eventuality ranging from natural disasters like floods and tornadoes to “slow-moving disasters like unemployment, affordable housing, and poverty and inequality – that are increasingly part of 21st century life.” According to a U.S. Conference of Mayors report, from 2015 to 2016, chronic homelessness in Nashville has increased by 9.8 percent, well above the national average and ranking Mayor Barry’s city as having the sixth largest jump among cities included in the report. Nashville also ranked a 43.2% increase in unsheltered homelessness during the same time period. Mayor Barry’s commitment to “meeting the goals of the Paris [climate] Agreement” aligns with the “City Resilience Framework” (CRF) and is supported by the president of 100 Resilient Cities and other 100RC city members. The CRF was developed by Arup, whose “independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists” have assembled to “shape a better world.” The CRF is intended to identify a city’s “characteristics and capacity” to respond to the:…

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Partnership for a New American Economy Misstates Facts While Pushing to Keep DACA Program

Chris Alto

  The New American Economy (NAE, aka, Partnership for a New American Economy), has sent out a “Code Red” alert trying to protect Obama’s amnesty-style DACA program which according to their count, has granted 800,000 illegal immigrants a temporary deferral from deportation. The NAE alert claims that DACA applicants “had to show that they were contributing to our country” even though this is not part of the criteria or considered by USCIS when deciding whether to grant DACA status. Putting that fact aside, NAE’s characterization of DACA applicants is in line with the economic narrative NAE uses to promote legal and illegal immigration: DREAMer program faces death sentence Here’s the harsh new reality: 800,000 DREAMers are now likely to lose their status and face deportation. Immigration advocates are calling this the “Code Red moment.” The warning first came down this week from the Secretary of Homeland Security to members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Obama’s program allowing for DREAMer legal status will no longer be defended in court, a potential death sentence for the program that leaves every one of the 800,000 DREAMers potentially subject to deportation. The result could be the deportation of hundreds of thousands of our best-and-brightest young…

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Gubernatorial Candidate Randy Boyd’s GOP ‘Great Opportunity Party’ Likely to Include Illegal Aliens

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  “As a member of the Republican Party and the GOP, I’ve always been a little concerned and also as a marketer, having a brand being the ‘Grand Old Party’ isn’t something that people necessarily aspire to, but I think the ‘Great Opportunity Party’ can stand for something,” gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd told Knoxville radio host Jim Brogan during an on-air interview in May (beginning at the 42:50 mark in the interview). And when I think about opportunity I think about this opportunity for a better education. Wouldn’t it be great if people from around the country they think of Tennessee, they think yeah, that’s the land of opportunity. That’s where you go to get a great education. You can go to technical community college free even as an adult now as a result of this past legislation. It’s where you can go to get great jobs. They’ve got factories and companies all across the state willing to pay top dollar. It’s the place to go to get great jobs. And also it’s the place where you can go to rural communities and live a great quality of life because they’re not leaving people behind. It’s an opportunity, a state of opportunity…

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Metro Nashville Council Member Erica Gilmore Tells the State & Congress ‘We Make the Laws’

Chris Alto

  In the last moments of Metro Council’s debate over the second reading of the now withdrawn sanctuary city ordinance before the June 20 vote, Nashville Council Member-at-Large Erica Gilmore, tried to assert non-existent local authority over illegal immigration, claiming “[w]e make the laws. We decide whether something is legal or not.” When the vote was held later that evening, Gilmore was among the 25 members of Metro Council who voted yes. Only 8 members of the Metro Council voted no. Had it not been for a vast grassroots uprising, an unfavorable legal opinion from Metro Legal Director, and a letter signed by more than 63 members of the Tennessee House of Representatives telling the Metro Council the Tennessee General Assembly would not let such an ordinance stand, the ordinance may have passed on a third reading. But the ordinances sponsors, Council Members Bob Mendes and Colby Sledge permanently withdrew the ordinance in light of the public backlash, and it never came to a vote on a third and final reading. But on the evening of June 20, Gilmore let her constituents know exactly where she stands on the issue. “I’m concerned when we have to talk about what’s American,…

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Memphis Sheik Joins Islamist Linda Sarsour and CAIR Founder to Oppose Supreme Court Decision on Travel Ban

Chris Alto

Memphis Sheik Yasir Qadhi joined Islamist activist Linda Sarsour and fellow activist and Hamas supporter Nihad Awad to collectively state their opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding key parts of President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) while attending the Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) 54th annual convention in Chicago earlier this month. Their opposition to the ban was captured in this tweet: Government shouldn't be in the business of defining "bona fide relationships" & excluding grandparents, etc. Unacceptable. #NoMuslimBanEver pic.twitter.com/qrndrFwe7x — MPower Change (@MPower_Change) June 29, 2017 The temporary travel ban from Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iran and Yemen remain in effect except for those refugees “who have a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States” although they must still satisfy all security vetting. The EO’s limit of 50,000 refugee admissions for the current fiscal year was also upheld by the court. Iraq was dropped from the revised travel ban after it agreed to accept Iraqi deportees from the U.S. Sheik Qadhi is the resident scholar at the Memphis Islamic Center, Dean of Academic Affairs of AlMaghrib Institute and an “expert” with the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA). Linda Sarsour recently gained notoriety…

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