Tag: Border Wall

McConnell: President Donald Trump Will Sign Funding Bill, Announce National Emergency for Border Wall

Zachery Schmidt

President Donald Trump is set to declare a national emergency Thursday evening to deal with the southern border crisis, a move that will come as he signs the bi-partisans border security legislation passed by the Senate earlier in the day and expected to be passed later in the day by the House, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday afternoon from the floor of the Senate. “He has indicated he is prepared to sign the bill. He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time,” Senator Mitch McConnell said. “I’ve indicated to him that I’m going to support the national emergency declaration. So for all of my colleagues, the President will sign the bill. We will be voting on it shortly.” The Senate voted 83-16 to pass the border security legislation today and the House will vote on the measure tonight. By declaring a national emergency, President Trump will move forward on the construction of a physical barrier along the country’s porous southern border to the extent that is lacking in Thursday’s bipartisan measure. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement on Trump’s plan. Statement on Government Funding Bill: pic.twitter.com/DrNv9D4rEi — Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45)…

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Trump ‘Looking for Land Mines’ in Proposed Border Wall Deal

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by Steve Herman   U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has made no decision on whether to sign proposed bipartisan legislation for limited new barrier construction along the U.S.-Mexico border in order to avert another partial government shutdown Friday over the dispute. “We’ll be looking for land mines [in the bill]” but “we have not gotten it yet,” Trump said in response to reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque. The president, however, indicated he was pleased with preliminary figures in the border security deal worked out by a committee of Republicans and Democrats, saying “total funding is almost up to $23 billion, it’s about 8 percent higher.” Trump called Democrats stingy when it comes to funding for the wall. “We’re building a lot of wall right now with money that we already have,” added Trump, explaining that there are “a lot of options” to complete the border barrier’s construction. “We’re going to have a great wall, it’s going to be a great, powerful wall” with technology, including drones, explained the president. “I don’t want to see a shutdown. A shutdown would be a terrible thing,” Trump said. The bipartisan agreement reached…

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Commentary: The Democrats’ Real Motivation for Opposing the Wall

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by George Ralsley   Our friends at WND.com recently alerted us to the fact that privacy watchdogs are raising the alarm over the Democrats’ alternative to President Trump’s border-wall plan. They see the high technology “wall” that includes surveillance as another dangerous step toward the creation of a surveillance state, such as communist China. “Congressional Democrats, looking for alternatives to President Trump’s demand for a border wall, recently offered a border ‘security’ proposal that suggests expanding surveillance at the border. That could lead to new funding for technologies that invade the privacy of immigrants, travelers, and American citizens living near the border,” warned the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). “Congress should not counter President Trump’s calls for a physical wall with a tech wall. Unchecked use of surveillance tech undermines everyone’s right to privacy, especially the most vulnerable members of society. We stand with more than two dozen civil liberties groups who have told Congressional Democrats that we oppose such measures,” EFF said. The privacy groups say new tech could include automated license-plate readers, which collect sensitive location data, or more biometrics. “The federal government already conducts face surveillance of all travelers (U.S. citizens and foreign nationals alike) on certain international…

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Republicans and Democrats Are Divided Over Wall Funding as Government Shutdown Is Just Days Away

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by Henry Rodgers   Democrats and Republicans in Congress are split on an “agreement in principle” regarding President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall funding after meeting Monday night as the government is days away from a potential shutdown. The agreement reportedly includes $1.375 billion for physical barriers, which would be bollard, or basically a concrete-filled barrier that protects office buildings and shopping malls across the U.S. It would also limit the number of beds in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers for violent criminal aliens, which Democrats have been using as a bargaining chip. “This is not a CR, this is funding for the seven bills … We hope [the president will] sign it. He talked to me about it, gave us some latitude. I think we’re — overall — we’ve got a pretty good deal considering who we’re dealing with,” Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby told The Daily Caller News Foundation in the Capitol Tuesday. Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham had a different message, telling TheDCNF it is likely the president will have to declare a national emergency, as he believes lawmakers will not be able to reach an agreement. “My whole construct was — open up the government…

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Sen. Marsha Blackburn Says She Will Not Support Deal That Cuts Number of ICE Beds Or Opens The Border

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) outlined conditions for her support of a border security deal to avert the second government shutdown in less than two months. The comments came on Fox Business News’s “Mornings With Maria.” The tentative deal in Congress provides $1.38 billion for border security funding, Fox Business News said Tuesday. The video is available online here. President Donald Trump held a “Finish the Wall” rally Monday in El Paso to kick off his 2020 presidential campaign and to continue the push for the $5.7 billion border wall, The Tennessee Star reported Tuesday. Blackburn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the pending deal would add 55 miles of wall to the border. She said she did not know if Trump would sign the deal. Americans want to end “the influx of drugs and sex traffickers, human traffickers, gangs, that really make our communities unsafe,” Blackburn said. Although some reports indicate the number of beds in ICE detention facilities for “violent criminal illegal aliens” is reduced in the tentative deal, the numbers don’t bare that out. The “deal” limits the number of average daily beds to a number below what Trump requested, but it is still an…

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President Trump Holds Massive Border Wall Rally in El Paso, Texas

Jason M. Reynolds

“Finish the Wall” is President Donald Trump’s slogan, which he brought Monday to El Paso, Texas in a rally to continue his push for the $5.7 billion border wall. Fox News said the president kicked off his 2020 re-election campaign with the El Paso rally. Banners with his slogan adorned the El Paso County Coliseum, where the rally took place at 9 p.m. ET, The Hill said: Trump last week in his State of the Union address used the border city of El Paso as an example of border walls working. He said during the speech that El Paso “used to have extremely high rates of violent crime, one of the highest in the country, and considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities.”Now, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of our safest cities,” he said. The re-election campaign on Monday released a video with the voices of El Paso residents who have lived in their border community before – and after – the construction of a wall. According to a campaign statement on the video: As one resident in the video recounted, “They put the fence up and ever since then, the crime rate has gone down dramatically.” Another…

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State Representative Bruce Griffey Appears Fox News’ ‘Ingraham Angle’ to Discuss Border Wall Funding

Laura Baigert

Friday night’s episode of Laura Ingraham’s The Ingraham Angle on Fox News Channel featured a segment with Tennessee Representative Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) regarding his bill to fund President Trump’s southern border wall. Laura Ingraham’s television interview with the freshman legislator came two days after she tweeted about the bill, as reported by The Tennessee Star. Griffey’s bill HB 0562 is being sponsored in the Tennessee Senate by Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) as SB 1504. In her introduction prior to the break, Ingraham said, “We have highlighted a number of inventive funding ideas to help build that wall over the last several months. Well, up next is a Tennessee lawmaker who says that he’s figured it out.” Ingraham continued after the break, “Tennessee Representative Bruce Griffey filed legislation earlier this week that would establish a fee imposed on customers for transmitting money through certain entities. Well, that’s a mouthful.” Explaining further, Ingraham said “Basically, what this does is require a levy on money transfers from Tennessee to Mexico and then set aside those fees collected for the border wall.” Ingraham noted that Arizona, Montana and West Virginia are currently or have previously considered similar proposals. Ingraham asked Griffey if his proposal could…

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Likely Deal Would Give Trump Fraction of Desired Wall Money

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Congressional bargainers are working toward a border security deal amid indications that the White House is preparing to accept a bipartisan agreement that would give President Donald Trump a fraction of the money he’s demanded for his proposed southern border wall. Participants said they expect money for physical barriers to end up well below the $5.7 billion that Trump has sought to begin construction of the wall, which has attained iconic significance for him and his conservative supporters. Underscoring the clout he’s lost during a battle that’s dominated the opening weeks of divided government, the amount seems sure to fall much closer to $1.6 billion, the participants said, a figure that was in a bipartisan Senate bill last year. “That’s what we’re working toward,” said Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., one bargainer. An agreement would also avert a new partial federal shutdown next weekend. Trump has warned he might trigger a new closure of agencies if he doesn’t get his way, but that threat has become toothless because of solid opposition from GOP lawmakers burned by the record 35-day closure that he initiated in December. One White House aide said Trump was expected to back whatever compromise emerges and acknowledged there…

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Commentary: Trump’s Wall and a Plan to Stop Cartels at the Border

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Zero Tolerance Border Security

by Bill Thomas   If you’ve been thinking Trump Derangement Syndrome couldn’t get any worse, consider the Democratic Party’s position on border security. Sitting behind President Trump during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spent much of the evening making faces at the back of his head. And when he asked members of Congress to “reject the politics of revenge and resistance” and embrace “compromise and the common good,” she flashed a look that said: “Not while I’m in charge.” Pelosi opposes a wall or anything else that discourages illegal aliens from getting into the country and staying here (preferably in red states, where they can do her party the most political good). By itself, this would be bad enough. But the same dangerously inadequate approach she and most Democrats favor for human traffic is also responsible for the record amount of illicit drugs pouring across the border, not to mention the epidemic of crime and drug-related deaths that comes with them. Follow the well-traveled routes of illegal immigration from the southern border northward and invariably you come to cities and states with the worst drug problems. If Pelosi has her way, that’s…

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Bill Introduced By State Representative Bruce Griffey and Senator Joey Hensley to Help Fund Trump’s Border Wall Catches Attention of Laura Ingraham

Laura Baigert

The day after State Representative Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) filed a bill intended to help fund President Trump’s wall on the southern border, conservative radio and talk show host Laura Ingraham tweeted about it. Griffey’s bill HB 0562, which is being sponsored in the State Senate by Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) as SB 1504, is “calling for the imposition of fees on the transfer of any money from Tennessee to Mexico and calling for the fees generated to be set aside to fund the border wall proposed by Trump,” according to a statement issued Thursday about the bill. The news prompted a tweet by Laura Ingraham, “YES: Tennessee lawmaker introduces bill he says will help fund Trump’s border wall,” and included a link to a story in The Tennessean with the same title. If the bill is passed into law, all qualifying transactions after January 1, 2020, would be subject to a $10 per transaction fee plus 10 percent on amounts over $500. Those licensed in the business of money transmissions, referred to as the licensee, can keep a half percent as compensation for accounting and remitting the fee to the state’s Department of Revenue. The Department of Revenue will retain one…

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Trump to Hold First Rally of 2019 in Border City of El Paso

Anthony Gockowski

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign announced Wednesday that it will be holding its first rally of 2019 in El Paso, Texas on February 11. According to the Trump campaign, the rally will mark the president’s first in El Paso and seventh in the state of Texas. “We are please to announced the Make America Great Again rally on Monday, February 11 in El Paso, Texas, featuring President Donald Trump,” said Michael Glassner, chief operating officer of Donald J. Trump for President Inc. “As the president continues his fight to secure our border, there’s no better place to demonstrate that walls work than in El Paso. President Trump looks forward to visiting with the patriots of Texas who are on the front lines of the struggle against open-border Democrats who allow drugs, crime, and sex trafficking all along our border every day,” Glassner added. During his Tuesday night State of the Union address, Trump pointed to El Paso as shining proof that his border wall would work. “The border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime—one of the highest in the country, and was considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities. Now, with…

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Omar, Tlaib and Progressive Allies Call for DHS Funding Cuts: ‘Not Another Dollar’

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) and three fellow congresswomen are urging their Democratic colleagues to cut funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because of its alleged abuses on the southern border. Omar was joined by Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07) in issuing the letter – addressed “Dear Colleagues.” The letter, obtained by The Daily Beast Thursday, targets congressional Democrats working on a bipartisan conference committee convened in an attempt to reach a deal on border security. “The Department of Homeland Security is tasked with critical functions. However, under the auspice of the Trump Administration, a number of agencies housed at DHS have abused their authority and the fidelity of public resources,” the letter states. “Funds are being reallocated internally not to make our nation safer, but to build desert camps to inhumanely house infants and to prosecute immigrants who are part of the fabric of our community.” The letter goes on to request that “our colleagues at the negotiating table” adhere to “the following guidelines critical to protecting families and children and restoring Americans’ faith in government.” “Cut, do not increase funding,” the January 29 letter says. “A Republican controlled Congress has already…

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Tennessee Star Report Speaks With One America News Network’s Neil McCabe as He Explains the ‘Dynamic’ at the McAllen, Texas Border

Julie Carr

On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Steve Gill talked to Neil McCabe of One America News Network while he is visiting the McAllen, Texas border about the absence of a border wall and the interesting dynamic surrounding the area. Further into the conversation McCabe disclosed how the current laws as created under the Obama Administration were designed for failure and provided a deliberate loophole for illegals of all backgrounds to enter the United States. Gill: And our on the spot correspondent from One America News, Neil McCabe is down in McAllen, Texas, right on the border. I guess is there a border wall there or is that one of those areas where there is nothing keeping somebody from coming across the border, Neil? McCabe: Well there’s some wall and then there are places where you can sort of walk around the wall. And so there are sections of wall. But it’s a very interesting dynamic down here. This is my first time actually on the border, so very exciting Steve. Gill: More members of Congress should…

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Lamar Alexander Says Nancy Pelosi Ought to Let Congress Settle Border Wall Debate

Chris Butler

Control over the border wall debate in Washington, D.C. needs to shift to Congress and out of Nancy Pelosi’s hands, said U.S. Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, in a FOX News appearance this past weekend. Alexander said this as Congress has three weeks to negotiate over border security funding before the federal government possibly shuts down again. For 20 years, members of Congress have known that a comprehensive border security plan requires more personnel, more technology, more customs agents, more border agents, and, yes, a wall, Alexander told FOX News host Maria Bartiromo. Alexander sits on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. “President (Donald) Trump is asking for about 234 more miles of physical barrier as part of a comprehensive plan that would not build a wall from shining sea to shining sea, as he said,” Alexander said. “It would simply do what we’ve been doing for 20 years. I am optimistic that the committee, which, just last summer, in the Senate, approved another $1.6 billion for 65 miles of physical barrier, will be able to come up with a compromise.” Even if Trump gets his way, about 1,000 miles of the U.S./Mexican border would still go without a wall,…

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Trump Makes Case for Wall as Third Central American Migrant Caravan Heads North

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by Evie Fordham   President Donald Trump continued to hammer on the need for a southern border wall Saturday after announcing Friday that he will support a deal to temporarily reopen the government without any funding for the wall. “We have turned away, at great expense, two major Caravans, but a big one has now formed and is coming,” Trump wrote on Twitter Saturday. “At least 8000 people! If we had a powerful Wall, they wouldn’t even try to make the long and dangerous journey. Build the Wall and Crime will Fall!” The New York Times reported Friday on the third migrant caravan that Trump referenced: The current migrant caravan left San Pedro Sula in Honduras on Jan. 14 and, in the following days, began arriving at the Guatemala-Mexico border. Mexican officials encouraged the migrants to apply for the humanitarian visa, and since then over 12,000 people, mostly Hondurans, have done so in this border town in southern Mexico. Trump used his new slogan “Build the wall and crime will fall” in the tweet. Trump’s message about the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall comes a day after he and Congress ended the record-breaking 35-day partial government shutdown. Republicans and Democrats now…

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Rep. Mark Green Questions Democrats’ Trustworthiness Over Government Shutdown, Border Wall Fight

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) questions Democrats’ trustworthiness in a new op-ed. The op-ed ran on Fox News’ website Friday. It is available here. Green writes: Top Democrats are using this line as their new drumbeat, “Open the government and then we will secure the border.” But how can we trust them to keep their word? Here are four instances in the past 12 months where President Trump and Republicans have reached across the aisle looking for a deal. At every opportunity, Democrats have refused to work with Republicans to secure our border or fix our broken immigration system. Green goes on to list the examples, including a fight last year over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on the brink of a potential government shutdown. He also makes reference to this shutdown’s damage to the economy and making the country look weak, and asks if Democrats are afraid Trump will win in 2020 over the border wall. Trump on Friday laid out a plan to end the government shutdown, Breitbart reported: Trump agreed to reopen the government for three weeks while negotiations continued — with no apparent wall funding concessions from Democrats. The president warned that if Congress could not successfully…

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Commentary: Trump and Conservatives Know Without the Wall, America Soon May Fall

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by Jeffrey A. Randall   We all know, a catchy rhyming slogan can be really effective in selling an idea, no matter how simple or otherwise comprehensible to the layperson. Take for example notorious O.J. Simpson lawyer Johnny Cochran’s uttering perhaps the most well-remembered line of the disgraced celebrity’s year-long 1995 murder trial by synopsizing his case for the entire nation, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit!” From that point on, even if the jury recalled nothing else from the hundreds of hours of mundane testimony and evidence presented, Cochran provided them something easily digestible to chew on at the end. Now President Donald Trump’s done something similar for his wall concept. Brett Samuels reported at The Hill, “President Trump on Wednesday issued a new rallying cry to gin up support for building a wall along the southern border. “’BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party,’ Trump tweeted, urging supporters to ‘Use it and pray!’ “While the president said his desired border wall is ‘under construction now,’ multiple fact-checks have noted that Congress has not approved funding to construct…

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Congress’ Nonpartisan Research Arm Says Trump Could Have DOD Build a Wall Without State of Emergency or Congressional Approval

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by Luke Rosiak   The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a paper internally that suggests President Donald Trump may have the authority to use Department of Defense resources to build a wall without obtaining congressional approval or declaring a state of emergency. CRS, Congress’s in-house research arm, internally published a paper Jan. 10 titled “Can the Department of Defense Build the Border Wall?,” which The Daily Caller News Foundation has obtained. It says (emphasis added): Another statute that authorizes the Secretary of Defense to assist civilian law enforcement with counterdrug activities may provide some authority for the construction of barriers along the border. 10 U.S.C. § 284 (Section 284) provides that the Secretary of Defense “may provide support for the counterdrug activities or activities to counter transnational organized crime” of any law enforcement agency, including through the “[c]onstruction of roads and fences and installation of lighting to block drug smuggling corridors across international boundaries of the United States.” … Use of Section 284 would not require a declaration of a national emergency under the NEA. However, the DOD’s Section 284 authority to construct fences appears to extend only to “drug smuggling corridors,” a condition that may limit where DOD…

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Congress’ Work on Border Wall ‘Far from Over,’ Marsha Blackburn Affirms

Chris Butler

Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee reasserted her commitment to a wall along the U.S./Mexican border Friday. Blackburn did so immediately after U.S. President Donald Trump reached a compromise agreement with Democrats to re-open closed portions of the federal government in a dispute that centered primarily on border wall funding. My statement on the President’s decision to re-open the government: pic.twitter.com/2kxqmFyGRD — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) January 25, 2019 “President Trump has reached a compromise with Democratic and Republican leaders to reopen the federal government with a short term continuing resolution. While this action solves the immediate problem of funding the back pay of 800,000 federal workers, it does not address the urgent need to end the humanitarian crisis on our southern border. It does not end the illegal flow of drugs, gangs and human traffickers. Congress’ work on this issue is far from over,” Blackburn said in a press release. “I will continue to support our border patrol and their three essential needs: a border barrier, additional technology and more officers and agents on the border. I also support ending the DACA program, chain migration and the visa lottery system.” As The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, Trump…

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Joe Manchin Will Vote for the Wall

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by Jason Hopkins   West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is bucking the Democratic Party, announcing that he will vote for legislation funding a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. “Today I will vote for both gov funding bills b/c I believe we must end this harmful shutdown immediately & it’s our first opportunity in the Senate to do so,” the Democrat tweeted Thursday. “Even though they will probably fail, these votes are a start to finding a way to reopen the gov & get WVians back to work.” Today I will vote for both gov funding bills b/c I believe we must end this harmful shutdown immediately & it’s our first opportunity in the Senate to do so. Even though they will probably fail, these votes are a start to finding a way to reopen the gov & get WVians back to work — Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) January 24, 2019 The Senate will vote on two sharply different funding bills Thursday. First, lawmakers will vote on a GOP-backed bill that includes $5.7 billion the president has requested to fund his border wall and protections for some migrants. Following that vote, lawmakers will then decide on a Democratic-led budget…

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BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL: Trump Unveils New Slogan in Push for Border Wall

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by Michael Bowman and Steve Herman   As the U.S. Senate prepares for votes Thursday on separate Republican and Democratic proposals to end a partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump has resorted to rhyming and prayer to advance his case for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party. Use it and pray! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2019 “BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL,” Trump said in a Wednesday morning tweet. “This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished … Use it and pray!” Trump’s latest remarks on his proposed wall came after the Democrat-led House of Representatives passed a bill that would provide stopgap funding through February 8, allowing the shuttered agencies to reopen while the two sides debate border security. It does not contain money for Trump’s desired wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Republican plan is based on a Trump proposal to spend $5.7 billion on the wall and provide temporary protections for some immigrants. The White House said Trump is scheduled to…

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Seventh Generation Rancher Explains Why America Needs a Border Wall

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by Nick Givas   Seventh generation rancher Ruperto Escobar of Texas explained why America needs a southern border wall and said he’d give up his land to help start construction. “The problem there right now is primarily drug trafficking,” he said Wednesday on “Fox & Friends.” “I’ve lived there 75 years and let me tell you, I’ve seen everything happen there. Right now I must access the river because I have a pumping site. And I have good, workable road to the river. And you ought to see the amount of traffic that happens primarily going back towards the river. People that get caught with their vehicles full of drugs and then they speed back toward the river at very high velocity, past my house. A whole slew of police after them.” Co-host Steve Doocy asked Escobar what he would say to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi about her claim that the wall is immoral and Escobar said he’d draw on life experience and tell her to start building. “I’d say ma’am, I don’t know where you get your facts but from what we have endured, my lifetime, which is about 75 years now, of seeing the number of…

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Trump Vows ‘No Cave In’ on Border Wall Demand

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U.S. President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday to not cave in on his demand for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border as the longest-ever partial government shutdown extended into a second month. Senate Republicans began efforts to try to end the shutdown and approve Trump’s wall as part of a package of measures proposed by the U.S. leader that for three years would protect hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. from deportation back to their homelands. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt the Trump administration a defeat, saying it would not immediately act on its request to end the program started by former President Barack Obama to protect nearly 700,000 people brought to the country as children from deportation, allowing them to stay in the country indefinitely. A Senate vote could come Thursday, but there so far is no indication that enough opposition Democrats would support the legislation to ensure its passage. Day 32 of shutdown The shutdown has furloughed 800,000 government civil servants, with 420,000 forced to continue working without pay and the remainder sent home, some of whom have been forced to look for temporary work elsewhere to help pay their household bills. All are set to…

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Minnesota Democrat Urges Colleagues to ‘Give Trump the Money’

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN-07), who says he’s “the only one left in the middle,” urged Democrats to “give Trump the money” for the border wall during a recent interview. Peterson sat down with Joel Heitkamp Tuesday for his KFGO News & Views program to discuss the ongoing government shutdown and how to get out of it, though Peterson didn’t exactly have an optimistic outlook. “I don’t see how we get out of this either, and they’re not reaching out to us—maybe me. I’m kind of the only one left in the middle. There’s a way out of this, but I mean both sides have taken these ridiculous positions. Our side—we’ve wasted money on things worse than the wall. I’m not against the wall. There’s places where it’s needed. We don’t need a wall coast to coast, but there’s places where a wall makes sense,” Peterson said. The Democrat from rural Minnesota said he’s been “talking to some ranchers down there” who have people “crawling over their fences and there’s no border patrol agents.” “One guy told me he had some people crawl over and he called the border patrol, and he said it’d be five hours before we can get…

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Pelosi Rejects Trump’s Shutdown Offer, Minnesota Democrats Fall in Line

Anthony Gockowski

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) rejected President Donald Trump’s offer Saturday to provide temporary protections for DACA recipients in exchange for border-wall cash, and Minnesota’s congressional delegation promptly followed suit. “Democrats were hopeful that the president was finally willing to re-open government and proceed with a much-needed discussion to protect the border. Unfortunately, initial reports make clear that his proposal is a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable and in total do no represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people’s lives,” Pelosi said in a statement, which was released before Trump delivered his remarks. Pelosi called Trump’s proposal a “non-starter,” taking issue with the fact that it didn’t “include the permanent solution for the Dreamers and TPS [Temporary Protected Status] recipients that our country needs and supports.” Minnesota’s DFLers fell in line Saturday afternoon, saying they wouldn’t negotiate on border security until the government reopens. “While I welcome many elements of the president’ proposal, negotiations cannot begin during a shutdown,” Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) wrote on Twitter. “I believe a bipartisan deal can be reached that satisfies our need for enhanced border security and immigration reform, but government must be reopened for that…

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Rep. Green, Senators Blackburn, Alexander Back Trump Immigration Compromise Offer Which Pelosi Has Dismissed

Jason M. Reynolds

At least three members of Tennessee’s Congressional delegation came out in support of President Donald Trump’s offer Saturday to end the government shutdown with a compromise on immigration. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green issued statements of support for Trump’s proposed compromise. Blackburn said: The president has once again shown he is willing to work with Democrats to end this shutdown and find a compromise that will secure our border,” said Senator Blackburn. “This proposal that has bipartisan support would provide the much-needed $5.7 billion for a border barrier. “The border patrol agents have repeatedly asked for three items: a physical barrier, more technology, and more agents and officers. As members of Congress we must deliver for them.” Green said: “The president has made yet another effort to engage Democrats on the crisis at the border, something I’ve called an arterial bleed. It’s time to stop the hemorrhage. Will Speaker Pelosi come to the table and negotiate? Do Democrats care about the American lives being devastated by crime and the drug trade? Do they care about our hard working govt. employees? Speaker Pelosi?” Alexander said in a statement: “The President has proposed…

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Trump Offers Limited DACA Protections in Exchange for the Wall

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U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that “urgent action” was required to respond to a humanitarian crisis on the southern U.S. border, as he offered a plan to reopen the government and gain the funding he wants for a border wall. Trump, speaking from the White House, said, “Our immigration has been badly broken for a very long time.” “We are now living with the consequences,” which are tragic, he added. Trump said his plan to offer temporary protections to young people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program would also include $5.7 billion for a “see-through barrier,” which he said would quickly reduce the problems of crime and illegal immigration. Before the speech, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement, saying, “Democrats were hopeful that the president was finally willing to reopen the government and proceed with a much-needed discussion to protect the border.” Passage ‘unlikely’ “Unfortunately, initial reports make clear that his proposal is a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable and in total do not represent a good-faith effort to restore certainty to people’s lives. It is unlikely that any one of these provisions alone would pass the House, and…

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Justice Department Is Hiring Lawyers to Take on Property Seizures for Trump Border Wall

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by Jason Hopkins   In a strong indication the Trump administration is preparing for the next phase of the immigration battle, the Department of Justice is now hiring lawyers to handle border wall litigation in South Texas. The two attorney positions — which are advertised to pay between $53,062 and $138,790 — are to be based in the southern Texas towns of Brownsville and McAllen. Preferred candidates are to have “at least four (4) years of civil litigation experience in litigation of land condemnation cases, oil and gas disputes, and real estate matters,” according to the posting on USAJobs, adding that knowledge of the Spanish language “is helpful, but not required.” The jobs were first posted in December, with the deadline for applications closing on March 5. The attorneys will likely be tasked with eminent domain and other property seizure legalities — issues that will undoubtedly arise if President Donald Trump is able to move forward with construction of a wall on the southern border. The federal government is on the 28th day of a partial shutdown — the longest in U.S. history. Trump is demanding Congress send him a budget that includes $5.7 billion in funding for 200-plus miles…

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Democrats Worry Doug Jones’ Opposition to Trump’s Wall Will Sink His Re-Election Bid

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by Chris White   Democratic Sen. Doug Jones’ opposition to President Donald Trump’s wall is threatening to torpedo the Alabama lawmaker’s re-election bid in 2020, and Democrats in the state say he’s a “dead man walking.” Jones, who barely defeated Republican Roy Moore during a bruising special election in 2017, finds himself in an unenviable position: opposing the president’s demands for wall-funding while representing a red state chalked with federal workers who support Trump’s immigration policies. The moderate Democrat is testing the limits of his party’s pull in Alabama, a heavily conservative state with one of the largest groups of federal workers in the country. Voters are criticizing Jones for not only opposing Trump’s demands for wall funding, but also for putting their jobs at risk. “I voted for Jones, I did,” Ann Lynch, a retired schoolteacher who lives near Huntsville, Alabama, where more than half of the local economy is tied to federal spending, told The New York Times. “But he doesn’t support the wall. I don’t like that, of course. I think we need it. Trump knows we need it.” Jones is the only Senate Democrat from a red state up for re-election in 2020. He’s standing pat.…

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House DFL Tells Trump He’s ‘Threatening the Well-Being of Minnesotans’ in Letter

Anthony Gockowski

Nearly every DFL member of the Minnesota House signed their name to a letter sent to President Donald Trump Thursday urging him to “end this shutdown immediately.” “The ongoing federal government shutdown—now the longest in the history of our nation—is threatening the well-being of Minnesotans, putting our state tax dollars at risk and forcing Minnesotans to deal with declining federal services like the Transportation Security Administration,” the letter begins. Thursday’s letter was signed by 72 DFL state representatives, including House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D-Brooklyn Park), and House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (D-Golden Valley). The Minnesota House DFL claimed on Twitter that “in the spirit of bipartisanship” it “invited House Republicans to sign on but none did.” Today, members of the DFL House Majority sent this letter to President Trump respectfully requesting he re-open the government and end the shutdown. In the spirit of bipartisanship, we invited House Republicans to sign on but none did. https://t.co/VHACCmHNIl #mnleg — Minnesota House DFL Majority (@mnhouseDFL) January 17, 2019 “As the president, and leader of our nation, we count on you to set the tone and consider the national interest over any one political goal,” the letter continues. “You can end this shutdown immediately,…

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Former Sen. Bob Corker Says Trump Responsible for ‘Juvenile’ Government Shutdown

Jason M. Reynolds

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) cannot get off the Never-Trump bandwagon, this time blaming the Commander-in-Chief for the government shutdown. Corker has long gone cuckoo over President Donald Trump and used his platform as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to criticize Trump. Twice last year he compared the president to a banana republic for removing former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance and other former officials’ clearances. Now, the retired senator conducted a phone interview with Sergio Martínez-Beltrán OF WPLN (Nashville Public Radio) and blamed the president for the shutdown. A story and the audio clip are available here. Corker said of the shutdown, “This is one where at the last minute the president changed his mind and so now we are sitting here shut down because – just because. This whole thing, as I’ve mentioned before, is pretty juvenile, and at some point government will open back up.” WPLN asked Corker about his potential designs on running for president in 2020 against Trump in the Republican primary. Corker said he would be good as president but it is “not necessarily even on the front burner; it’s a possibility.” As The Tennessee Star reported in the past, Corker…

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U.S. Rep. Mark Green Calls for Border Security in Speech on House Floor, Chastises Democrats for Partisanship

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) on Monday delivered an impassioned speech on the House floor calling for border security and chastising the Democrats for partisanship. The C-SPAN video clip is available here. “We could spend our time debating what a physical barrier should consist of, but let’s make one thing clear, whether it’s in the form of a wall or a fence or some barrier, combined with 21st century surveillance technology and increased border security agents, a barrier is an effective defense against entry by criminals, gang members, drug smugglers, and yes, even terrorists,” Green said. He chastised Democrats for saying physical barriers are ineffective and “immoral.” “Now this is not the position they held in the recent past,” he said, and added Democrats were willing to spend $40 billion under President Barack Obama but not $5.7 billion under President Donald Trump. “What’s changed?” He pointed out that ISIS is encouraging followers to cross over the United States’ “porous” border. “That leads me to direct some questions to my colleagues and friends across the aisle,” Green said. “Is it worth the risk?” “I’d pay 5.7 billion to stop the next 9-11.” In 2017, an estimated 72,000 Americans died of…

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Government Shutdown Soon to Cost More Than Trump’s Border Wall

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by Hanna Bogorowski   The U.S. economy lost $3.6 billion by Jan. 11, according to an S&P Global Ratings report, which suggests that by the end of the next two weeks, the economy will have lost more than the price of President Donald Trump’s requested border wall. Having lost just over $3.5 billion by Friday, the 21st day of the partial government shutdown, the S&P says that roughly $1.2 billion a week for another two weeks would “[exceed] the $5.7 billion requested for the proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.” “The longer this shutdown drags on, the more collateral damage the economy will suffer,” the agency said in a news release. As of Saturday, the partial government shutdown, which began on Dec. 22, is the longest in the country’s history. Trump and the White House have pushed to cast blame on the Democrats for not agreeing to pass legislation to fund the $5.7 billion wall. Trump reiterated this claim in a Monday tweet, saying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer could end the shutdown “in 15 minutes.” Nancy and Cryin’ Chuck can end the Shutdown in 15 minutes. At this point it has become their, and…

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America’s Youngest Lawmaker, WV Delegate Caleb Hanna, Wants to Help Build the Wall to Combat Drug Epidemic

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by Evie Fordham   West Virginia House of Delegates member Caleb Hanna wants to fund a southern border wall with $10 million of his state’s surplus to combat West Virginia’s drug problem, he said on “Fox and Friends” Tuesday. “West Virginia has a terrible drug problem,” Hanna said Tuesday. “I believe that a lot of those drugs and opioids are coming directly from the southern border. I spoke to local and state law enforcement, and they say these drugs are so pure they can’t be coming from anywhere other than Mexico. So I believe that the wall is a crucial part in addressing West Virginia’s drug problem.” Hanna and his fellow Republican delegates Carl “Robbie” Martin and Patrick Martin plan to introduce the bill that would transfer $10 million of the state’s $185 million surplus to the border wall that President Donald Trump has proposed, reported The Mountaineer Journal. The state surplus funds would not make much of a dent in the wall fund, though — Trump is asking for more than $5 billion. Watch the latest video at foxnews.com “So, the West Virginia Republican majority in the House has been very supportive of President Trump and his efforts to…

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Most, But Not All Tennessee Republican D.C. Representatives Are Die Hard About the Border Wall

Chris Butler

Republicans Chuck Fleischmann, Scott DesJarlais, and Marsha Blackburn have all reportedly come out swinging in support of President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall. U.S. Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, however, seems to have taken a more passive approach. Alexander’s junior colleague, U.S. Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn reportedly told The Cleveland Banner this week that, despite the shutdown, a large portion of the federal government, about 75 percent, still functions. Blackburn, according to The Banner, blamed the shutdown on Democrats, who refuse to negotiate. “It is sad they are putting partisan politics ahead of the American people,” the paper quoted Blackburn as saying. “It is unconscionable they would refuse to secure the border and protect our nation. Drugs, human sex and labor traffickers and gang members cross into this country — illegally every day. It is imperative that we secure the border and end illegal entry.” The United States, Blackburn went on to tell the paper, spends billions of dollars each year in foreign aid, money she said this country could use to secure the border — for one-tenth of that amount. Fleischmann, meanwhile, told The Banner he is withholding his pay during the shutdown, but he, like Blackburn, also…

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Minnesota Democrat Says Most People Calling His Office Support ‘The Wall’

Anthony Gockowski

Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN-07) told Fox News that the overwhelming majority of calls his office is receiving are from constituents who support President Donald Trump’s border wall. “From what I can tell, they’re still hanging with the president. Today, we got 67 calls for building the wall and five against. So, sounds to me like he’s still pretty popular,” Peterson said in an interview last week. This week, @collinpeterson admitted that both President @realDonaldTrump and the wall are popular in Minnesota. #BuildTheWall #mn07 pic.twitter.com/6xS9M7NKKr — Republican Party of Minnesota (@mngop) January 11, 2019 In another interview with Bloomberg, Peterson revealed that he’s not actually opposed to Trump’s wall, and said he believes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “should negotiate.” During Trump’s Tuesday night Oval Office address, he urged every American citizen to “call Congress and tell them to finally, after all of these decades, secure our border.” “This is a choice between right and wrong. Justice and injustice. This is about whether we fulfill our sacred duty to the American citizens we serve,” Trump said. Vice President Mike Pence echoed those sentiments in an interview on The Rush Limbaugh Show, where he too pleaded…

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Veteran Says Mainstream Media Reports Claiming End to Border Wall Fundraiser are ‘Blatantly False,’ More Than $20 Million Raised

Jason M. Reynolds

Purple Heart veteran Brian Kolfage came out swinging against the mainstream news media over the weekend after multiple outlets falsely sounded the death knell of his border wall fundraiser and attacked his honesty. The triple amputee veteran took to Twitter and at least one other outlet to refute false reports that GoFundMe would refund $20 million collected for the wall because Kolfage’s goal had not been met or that he was funneling the money elsewhere. The media campaigns used half-truths to question the honesty of Kolfage, who has been transparent in changing his goal from giving the donations to the shut-down government to build the wall to instead planning to use the money in a nonprofit to buy land on the border and build the wall faster and more inexpensively. Kolfage said on a video on his website that to counter the Democrats – who do not want the wall – he changed his charity’s mission, and gave it the name “We Build the Wall.” The GoFundMe page is here, and shows donations of all amounts continuing to pour in at more than $20.4 million. Kolfage says people who donated before Jan. 11 can either receive a refund or opt-in…

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U.S. Rep. Mark Green Discusses First Two Weeks in Congress, Chides Democrats for Shutdown and Failure to Protect Border

Jason M. Reynolds

Freshman U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) provided an update on his first two weeks in Congress in a Facebook video Saturday. The video is available here on Facebook. The transcript follows. “It has been emotional to say the least,” Green said. “I raised my hand and I took the oath – the same oath that I took at West Point when I was 17 years old. I just thank the people of the Seventh Congressional District who gave me the opportunity to once again serve our great nation. “It’s been a challenging two weeks. The government is still shut down. We have federal employees that aren’t getting paid because the Democrats won’t give us 5.7 billion dollars to protect our southern border. Money that they voted on before in the past. Money that they’ve all been quoted saying was needed in the past. And they’re just ignoring the human suffering in our country from things like heroin addiction and overdose and death, the murders. Lindsey Graham  said it the other day – at least our federal employees will get back pay, but the wife of Officer Singh will not get her husband back. “It’s a national crisis. We’ve got…

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Ilhan Omar Declares Trump Presidency a ‘National Emergency’ in Twitter Tirade Against the Wall

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) fired off dozens of tweets this week in response to President Donald Trump’s Tuesday address to the nation, nearly outpacing the president himself in tweets about the southern border wall. Before Trump’s Oval Office address even began, Omar was exasperated with the fact that Trump would receive “free airtime for propaganda on the ‘humanitarian and national security crisis’ at the border.” “Two children died in ICE custody last month after 10+ years with no such deaths. There’s blood on your hands,” Omar tweeted Tuesday. Tonight, while #Trump gets free airtime for propaganda on the "humanitarian & national security crisis" at the border, CHILDREN sit in cold cages in inhumane conditions. Two children died in ICE custody last month after 10+ years with no such deaths. There's blood on your hands. — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 8, 2019 “We are literally watching a manufactured crisis, designed to divert attention from this criminal and dysfunctional administration. Stay woke America, Individual-1 is not one to sleep on,” she later wrote. Notably, Individual 1 was a code-name used by federal prosecutors in the charges brought against Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, and it was later made clear that Trump and…

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President Trump Shares An Image Of ‘Strong And Beautiful’ Wall Design

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by Evie Fordham   President Donald Trump shared an image of a “very high, strong and beautiful” portion of wall on the U.S. border with Mexico via Twitter Friday. “The Fake News Media keeps saying we haven’t built any NEW WALL,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Below is a section just completed on the Border. Anti-climbing feature included. Very high, strong and beautiful! Also, many miles already renovated and in service!” The Fake News Media keeps saying we haven’t built any NEW WALL. Below is a section just completed on the Border. Anti-climbing feature included. Very high, strong and beautiful! Also, many miles already renovated and in service! pic.twitter.com/UAAGXl5Byr — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2019 He included an image labeled “30-foot Bollard wall constructed and installed” that appeared to be dated Oct. 1. The tweet did not make clear where the portion of wall was located. Trump shared the photo just a day after visiting the nation’s southern border Thursday. The president is asking for $5.7 billion in funding for a southern border wall and is trying to negotiate his way out of a partial government shutdown that began Dec. 22 when Democrats refused to fund it. Trump’s jab…

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Commentary: America’s Southern Border Isn’t Just a Crisis, It’s a Disgrace

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by Chris Buskirk   Why have Democrats shut down—or at least partially shut down—the federal government rather than approve partial funding for a wall along the southern border? President Trump’s $5.7 billion request is a trivial sum, amounting to a bit more than one-tenth of 1 percent of the federal budget. It’s far less than the amount we give to Latin American countries in handouts every year and it’s part of a sacred commitment government has to defend our border, uphold our laws, and protect our people. President Trump described a humanitarian crisis at the border contrived by Democrats with the active complicity of misguided Republicans who think that attracting a helot class from Latin America to clean their houses, mow their lawns, and drive down wages for low-skill jobs is some sort of capitalist charity scheme that signals their virtue. It isn’t. In fact, it’s inhumane. How can we describe the human trafficking racket that transports so many of these people here, including many thousands involved in the sex trade or forced into servitude for the cartels, as anything other than a modern slave trade? And it comes with all of the violence and degradation you would expect. For…

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DOD IG Reveals the Pentagon Let $27.7 Billion ‘Expire’ as Trump Seeks $5.7 Billion in Border Wall Funding

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by Andrew Kerr   The Defense Department has relinquished over $27 billion to the U.S. Treasury since 2013 simply because it couldn’t spend the money quick enough, according to a DOD Inspector General report released Tuesday. The DOD was required to fork over the “expired funds” because the Pentagon failed to spend it “within the legal timeframes,” according to the report. The revelation comes as President Donald Trump is considering declaring a state of emergency that would allow him to bypass Congress and leverage unobligated military funds to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The partial shutdown of the federal government entered its 19th day on Wednesday as Trump remains steadfast in his demand for $5.7 billion in border wall funding from Congress. Democrats, in turn, say they won’t negotiate with the president on the wall until the government reopens. Legal analysts say Trump would have the authority to leverage unused DOD funds to construct a wall in the event he declares a national emergency. “My instinct is to say that if he declares a national emergency and uses this pot of unappropriated money for the wall, he’s on very solid legal ground,” Harvard law professor Mark Tushnet told…

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Trump Visits Southern Border as Shutdown Hits 20th Day

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U.S. President Donald Trump headed Thursday to the U.S.-Mexico border for a firsthand look at efforts to thwart illegal immigration, a day after declaring that talks with opposition Democratic leaders on border security and the partial government shutdown were a “total waste of time.” Before leaving for McAllen, Texas, Trump said on Twitter there is “GREAT unity” among Republican lawmakers who support him keeping a quarter of the federal government closed in a dispute over his demand for more than $5 billion in new funding for a wall, “despite the Fake News Media working in overdrive to make the story look otherwise.” Democrats have offered $1.3 billion in new funding for border security, but none for a wall. WATCH: Frustrations Run High in Third Week of Shutdown A small number of Republicans have questioned Trump’s refusal to reopen the agencies that have been shuttered since Dec. 22, a 20-day closure that is the second longest in U.S. history, two days short of a new record. Some government services have been curtailed, with about 800,000 federal workers furloughed or forced to work without pay. All will miss their first paycheck on Friday. Trump said, “The Opposition Party & the Dems know…

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Tennessee Republican Party Supports President Trump’s Commitment to Border Security

Jason M. Reynolds

Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden has come out in support of President Trump’s visit to the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday. “The most important job a president has is to protect Americans, and today’s visit to the southern border by President Trump further illustrates his strong commitment to our nation’s safety,” Golden said in a statement. “While Democrats continue to play petty partisan games with our security, drug dealers, human traffickers and enemies of this country flaunt our sovereign border. The games have to end, and Democrats need to work with President Trump to make America a more secure nation. This is non-negotiable.” Trump visited the border in Texas Thursday, Fox News reported: During an afternoon briefing with border agents at a patrol station in McAllen, Trump highlighted the prevalence of guns and drugs along the border. The president spoke in front of a table of items border agents have seized, including a rifle, handguns, a plastic bag full of cash and black-taped bricks of heroin and meth. “If we had a barrier of any kind, a powerful barrier, whether it’s steel or concrete…We would stop it cold,” Trump said of human trafficking. The president posted a Twitter video of himself with…

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Tennessee Star Report EXCLUSIVE: Ann Coulter Talks About Why Donald Trump Needs to Deliver on His Campaign Promise to Build a Border Wall

Julie Carr

In an interview on The Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast Wednesday on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Steve Gill spoke to good friend Ann Coulter about the issues facing the border wall, and why the Democrats want the illegal immigration. She explained during the interview that this is not just about a chant but a “serious compassionate policy” and that after two years, it’s time to deliver. Gill: As we get ready to further analyze the President’s speech and his upcoming trip to the border.  We’re pre-taping this with the woman who’s being blamed by some on the left for causing President Trump to step up, stand up, and shut down the government to fight for the wall.  She and Rush Limbaugh getting the blame. I’m sure my friend Ann will take the credit, along with the blame.  And Ann first of all, thank you, for nudging the President into doing the right thing. Coulter: Well let’s hope (Laughter) by the time your listener’s hear this he’s still on the track to do the right thing.  I won’t believe it until I see it. …

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U.S. Rep. DesJarlais Supports President Trump’s Border Policy ‘100 Percent’

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U.S. Rep. Dr. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) said he supports stronger border and immigration security in the wake of President Donald Trump’s Oval Office address to the nation. On Tuesday, Trump said, “This is just common sense. The border wall would very quickly pay for itself. The cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from Congress. The wall will also be paid for indirectly by the great new trade deal we have made with Mexico.” In a statement, DesJarlais said: Weak border security and bad laws are causing a humanitarian crisis at the southern border and in our local communities. Erecting more effective physical barriers would prevent drug and human smuggling into the U.S. We need more border agents and ICE officers, too, but Democrats oppose a wall, a fence and even ICE itself. But over ninety percent of heroin crosses into the U.S. from Mexico, killing Americans, and cartels and gangs are also smuggling women and children. Illegal immigration is overwhelming our court system. “The President presented these clear facts, including his offers to sign legislation Democrats supported until he took office. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are now describing…

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Students Stunned to Find Out Dems Actually Once Supported Building a Wall

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by Neetu Chandak   Campus Reform asked American University students for their thoughts on President Donald Trump’s statements on immigration and building the wall in midst of the partial government shutdown. The only catch being that the quotes were actually said by Democratic politicians. Students were given the following quotes: “We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented and unchecked,” former President Barack Obama said in 2005. “I voted numerous times… to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in. And I do think you have to control your borders,” 2016 Presidential nominee for the Democratic party Hillary Clinton said in 2008. “Illegal Immigration is wrong, plain and simple. Until the American people are convinced we will stop future flows of illegal immigration, we will make no progress,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in 2009. Many described the statements as “divisive,” “hateful,” and “dehumanizing.” Reactions were different when finding out the statements were made by Democrats with some speechless and shocked. “That’s a very good surprise by the way,” one student said. “If this were a Trump quote, I believe it would be maybe a lot less…

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Multimillionaire Dean Phillips Won’t Take Pay During Shutdown, 0.2 Percent of His Net Worth

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) announced Wednesday that he will forego his congressional salary during the government shutdown “in solidarity with hard-working federal employees who are working without pay or on furlough.” “I have officially requested that my salary be withheld until the shutdown ends. I’ll divide my shutdown pay equally, and contribute it to 2harvest, CornerstoneMN, and VVAmerica,” Phillips wrote on Twitter, saying he would donate the money to three different charities, including one that works with victims of domestic violence. In solidarity with hard-working federal employees who are working without pay or on furlough, I have officially requested that my salary be withheld until the shutdown ends. I’ll divide my #shutdownpay equally, and contribute it to @2harvest, @CornerstoneMN and @VVAmerica. pic.twitter.com/JDHhV4FYPO — Rep. Dean Phillips 🇺🇸 (@RepDeanPhillips) January 9, 2019 It’s now well-known that Phillips is the heir to the Phillips Distilling Company, and has started several successful businesses of his own, including Talenti Gelato and Penny’s Coffee. His personal financial disclosure forms show that he has an estimated net worth of up to $77 million, meaning the average congressional salary of $174,000 is just 0.22 percent of his projected net worth. His wealth was the subject of a…

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Trump Asks Dems ‘How Much More American Blood’ They’re Willing to Shed in Oval Office Address

Anthony Gockowski

In a highly anticipated prime-time event, President Donald Trump delivered his first Oval Office address Tuesday night to discuss the continued battle over funding for his border wall. “This is just common sense. The border wall would very quickly pay for itself. The cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from Congress. The wall will also be paid for indirectly by the great new trade deal we have made with Mexico,” Trump said. He also pointed out that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has “repeatedly supported a physical barrier in the past along with many other Democrats.” “How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job? To those who refuse to compromise in the name of border security I would ask: imagine if it was your child, your husband, or your wife whose life was so cruelly shattered and totally broken. To every member of Congress: pass a bill that ends this crisis,” Trump said. Schumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) responded to Trump in their own address Tuesday night. “I appreciate the opportunity to speak directly to the American people…

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Tennessee Star Report EXCLUSIVE: Congressman Mark Green Discusses the National and Humanitarian Crisis at the Border

Julie Carr
Steve Gill, Mark Green

On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy talked to recently elected Congressman from Tennessee, Mark Green about his recent rise to fame of Congress’s Freshman class, the transition, and how he’s leading the way in declining a paycheck while the government is in a shutdown. During the course of the interview, Green gave his thoughts and opinions about the border wall’s national security and humanitarian crisis and his strategy to create a cultural change within the House. Gill: Congressman Mark Green has kicked things off with a flurry of activity.  He’s on what, CBS, Fox News every time you turn on the TV he’s making headlines and leading the way. He was one of the first, if not the first to say I’m not going to take my paycheck while the government is shutdown. So he’s the pro bono Congressman from Tennessee at this point. I’ve worked free for clients a lot of times.  I didn’t intend to, they just didn’t pay.  But in this case, Mark Green has continued to show up for…

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