California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that President Donald Trump’s proposal to expedite construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border violates laws aimed at protecting the environment. Becerra announced the legal challenge standing in front of the existing border fencing at Border Field State Park near San Diego, saying the federal…
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Improved security has made it harder than ever to illegally cross into the U.S. from Mexico, and Border Patrol agents are catching a higher percentage of those who try, according to a new report from the Department of Homeland Security. The report from the DHS Office of Immigration Statistics used arrest and migrant survey data to…
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The fact-checking website PolitiFact labeled as “false” Virginia Republican Rep. Dave Brat’s statement that legalizing the DACA ‘kids’ would lead to three-four million more people coming into the country, because of chain migration. But Brat was right, experts say, and PolitiFact was only looking at half the facts. In a Sept. 7 interview on MSNBC, Brat…
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by Roy Beck A new national poll of “likely midterm voters” finds 55% of them favoring a bill that “would allow immigrants to bring in their spouse and minor children but would end migration of extended family.” Only 32% of the voters say they oppose eliminating the Chain Migration categories. With so much speculation the last two days about what the President would require to be part of any DACA amnesty, his tweet September 15 was a welcome one: CHAIN MIGRATION cannot be allowed to be part of any legislation on Immigration! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017 Although the brief tweet could have been clearer, we assume the President meant that “Chain Migration categories cannot be allowed to continue in any immigration legislation.” That would be consistent with his repeated support over the last year for the concept and legislation to reduce overall legal immigration, primarily by ending Chain Migration categories for extended family members beyond spouse and minor children. Majorities support all parts of the ‘RAISE Act’ The scientific survey of 1,000 likely midterm voters conducted by Pulse Opinion Research found strong majorities supporting all parts of the RAISE Act, which the White House stated Friday afternoon…
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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was interrupted at a press event Monday by a group of over 100 immigration activists. As Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, was speaking to a crowd in San Francisco, a group of so-called Dreamers or DACA recipients, people brought to the U.S. illegally as children, overtook the stage and began chanting. “You…
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Just hours after questioning why anyone would want to deport “good, educated and accomplished young people,” President Donald Trump said Thursday that beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should not be allowed to get U.S. citizenship. Trump said a path to citizenship would not be part of an agreement to codify the DACA…
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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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With the Nashville Chamber of Commerce in a leading role, Nashville was one of three “non-traditional gateway cities” along with Portland (OR) and Lowell (MA) chosen for the 2001 pilot project funded by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) called “Building the New American Community, A Collaborative Project on Integration (BNAC).” These three sites were determined to be in the “beginning phases of a demographic transformation” due to increases in refugee resettlement and the arrival of legal and illegal immigrants. As explained in the project’s final report authored by the Soros funded Migration Policy Institute (MPI): Nashville exemplifies characteristics typically associated with new immigrant gateway cities in the United States: strong economic growth coupled with rapid foreign-born population increases from a very tiny base of refugees and immigrants who resided in the city in 1990. Core principles of the pilot project included building coalitions, refugee and immigrant leadership, and civic engagement, including: learning about the American electoral system and the importance of voting, but also participating as partners with public agencies in the coalitions. In practical terms, refugee and immigrant organizations played a direct role in crafting policies and programs that directly influence their communities as well as the receiving community.…
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The Nashville Chamber of Commerce and the Partnership for a New American Economy, now known as The New American Economy (NAE), are helping spread liberal immigration policies. That work will be on display here in the Music City this coming Sunday, July 16, when the Nashville Chamber of Commerce hosts the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) annual convention. It was also on display in St. Louis in March, when “The New American Economy (NAE) and the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) came to St. Louis on March 22-23, 2017 to learn from the St. Louis Regional Chamber,the St. Louis Mosaic Project, the International Institute of St. Louis, and Welcoming Economies Global Network (WE Global).” The St. Louis event in March launched a joint NAE and ACCE project to network chamber of commerce leaders to focus on “the imperative for state, local, and federal policies that promote immigrant integration as an economic growth strategy.” During the ACCE convention in Nashville on Sunday, the NAE will be hosting an event similar to the one held in St. Louis using the opportunity to share its brand of advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform which highlights the work ethic and perceived business ambitions of legal and illegal immigrants over native-born…
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RUTLEDGE, Tennessee — In her remarks as a gubernatorial candidate at the Grainger County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday night, Sen. Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) relayed her strong voting record against special privileges for illegal aliens, and reported that, “Illegals are costing us somewhere between $400 to $600 million a year for education, for food stamps, for housing, for all those things that we have to pick up after Catholic Charities and other organizations bring them in here.” Beavers shared that Donald Trump’s stance on illegal immigration was one of the main reasons she decided to support him for president. She went on to be an at-large delegate for Trump, garnering more votes than any other delegate, and was later elected by the Tennessee delegation as the state’s delegation chair, an honor usually reserved for the governor of the state. In light of the recent controversy over two Metro Nashville/Davidson County ordinances that would make Nashville the most liberal sanctuary city in the United States Beavers noted that she voted for the 2009 bill that made sanctuary cities illegal in Tennessee. “That’s been in the news the past few days with Nashville and Nashville’s Mayor pushing sanctuary cities,” Beavers…
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President Trump made a campaign-style appearance to an enthusiastic, capacity crowd in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Wednesday. https://youtu.be/YJ8klgo4uaM
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Apple’s top executive asked President Donald Trump to show more compassion in his immigration policy and reassure immigrant workers in the technology community that they are welcome in the U.S. Tim Cook, visiting the White House Monday along with fellow Silicon Valley power players, told Trump that the technology sector is “nervous” about the administration’s tough…
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Tennessee’s American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) is objecting to certain Iraqi and Kurdish nationals living in Nashville being detained by ICE based on probable cause for deportation. AMAC has claimed that: All week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been targeting and harassing Nashville’s Iraqi and Kurdish community members at their homes, on the road, and even at their workplaces, and all without a warrant to show. AMAC board member and spokesman Drost Kokoye acknowledges that some of the ICE detainees have criminal records and some may have overstayed their visas; either violation makes them a priority for deportation. AMAC, which grew out of a project sponsored by the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), was organized in 2011, to oppose anti-terrorism legislation passed by the Tennessee state legislature in response to the jihad perpetrated by Carlos Bledsoe, aka, Abdulhakim Mohammed. After the legislative session concluded, a picture was published showing the group that formed AMAC, receiving direct support and assistance from Tennessee’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security. A November 2011 letter signed by then Commissioner of Safety and Homeland Security Bill Gibbons stated: On behalf of the State of Tennessee and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, I thank and…
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Landscaping businesses who heavily depend on foreign labor are begging the government to expand the number of visas available for workers, as lawns are apparently going unmowed. In a call Thursday with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, these businesses said without a big increase in the number of H-2B visas available for low-skilled seasonal workers,…
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Mayor Megan Barry praised Nashville’s Muslim community and spoke about the “gift of globalism” in her speech Saturday at the Islamic Center of Tennessee in Antioch. Barry made her comments at a luncheon to celebrate the third annual Standing up for Justice and Muslim Community Day. The event was sponsored by the American Muslim Advisory Council. A progressive Democrat, Barry has faced criticism from conservatives who portray her embrace of immigration as a heedless one that doesn’t seriously examine the challenges posed by linguistic, cultural and religious diversity. Barry issued a proclamation Saturday honoring Muslims in which she calls them “an increasingly important thread in the tapestry of America” and calls their presence in Middle Tennessee “historic” even though their presence did not become notable until recent years. In her speech, Barry said promoting diversity has been a critical issue for her since taking office. Nashville is home today for many newcomers from all over the world. Barry noted the 120 languages spoken by families whose children attend Metro Nashville Public Schools. “What a gift to have a multilingual community,” she said. “We need to make sure that the folks who are speaking their first language continue to speak that…
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Metro Nashville Public Schools hopes to spend $4.7 million on adding numerous new positions next year to meet the needs of students who have a native language other than English. In the district’s proposed budget for the 2017-2018 school year, MNPS plans to add 31 English Learner (EL) teachers to address state-mandated student-teacher ratios, according to a factsheet on the district’s website. The district also wants to add seven teacher professional development positions and 19 interpreters and translators. In addition, the proposal calls for adding six new tutors for afterschool tutoring and expanding summer school programming. “Continued growth in the district’s EL population brings the need to further expand the scope and depth of EL services,” the factsheet reads, noting that MNPS gains more than 1,000 new EL students each year. Those students include immigrants and refugees born in other countries as well as those born in the U.S. but who are exposed primarily to another language at home before starting school. Languages spoken include Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi, Burmese, Nepali, Somali, Swahili and Vietnamese, among others. While activists support the expansion of EL programs in public schools, critics view the related expenditures as burdening taxpayers with soaring, unchecked immigration growth. MNPS…
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President Trump in Nashville on Wednesday defended his revised travel ban, which earlier in the day was blocked by a federal judge in Hawaii. “We’re going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court,” Trump said during his speech at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. “We’re going to win. We’re going to keep our citizens safe.” The ban is part of an executive order issued March 6 that outlines measures to protect America from terrorists and others wishing to harm the U.S. The new order was released in response to a similar order from Jan. 27 that was blocked by a federal judge in Washington state and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Various changes were made to try to appease judges, but Wednesday’s ruling in Hawaii shows that hurdles still exist because of what Trump called “judicial overreach.” Among other revisions, the new order took Iraq off a list of seven Middle Eastern countries whose citizens are temporarily barred from entering the U.S. The revised executive order temporarily bans citizens of six Middle Eastern countries who do not currently have “green card” immigration status from entering the U.S.: Yemen, Sudan,…
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Across the state and country, activists are calling for curbs on immigration enforcement because it’s making illegal immigrants fearful. But that’s the way it should be, says Michael Cutler, a nationally-recognized expert and retired senior special agent with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). “You should be fearful if you break the law,” said Cutler in an interview Monday with The Tennessee Star. In Nashville, activists angered by President Trump’s enforcement plans have gone so far as to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leave the city. Students at Vanderbilt have insisted that the university be a sanctuary campus and Metro Nashville Public Schools say they intend to make illegal immigrant students and their families feel safe. Cutler, who writes commentary on immigration issues, appears in TV interviews and hosts a show on Blog Talk Radio, said efforts to provide sanctuaries for illegal immigrants will make it harder for law enforcement to root out gangs, drug traffickers, terrorists and other criminals. Problems with crime and drug trafficking will worsen if immigration enforcers aren’t able to do their jobs, said Cutler, who blames loose borders for the reason “why heroin has never been cheaper and more plentiful.” Cutler said it…
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Latinos For Tennessee has issued a statement backing President Trump’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration while keeping protections for those who entered as minors. “The reality is that if we are to remain free and prosperous, no one can be above the law,” said Raul Lopez, the conservative group’s executive director. “What’s more, to rebuild trust with the American people to push for a permanent immigrant solution, our government needs to immediately expel those that have come here to our country to commit crime and be a burden on society.” Lopez noted that prior administrations have taken similar steps and that even President Obama was called “Deporter in Chief” by the National Council of La Raza for deporting millions during his administration. Lopez said his group is supportive of immigrants and that “we must discourage continued illegal immigration and work to improve the legal avenues for legal immigration.” “We are confident that President Trump understands this and we support him and his administration for doing what is necessary to ensure that we remain a country of laws, and also a country of immigrants,” Lopez said. Lopez said President Trump showed compassion in “accommodating young adults that were brought to…
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A Texas megachurch has decided to at least temporarily withhold funds from the Southern Baptist Convention over concerns about the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), one of its component organizations. Prestonwood Baptist Church is a 41,000-member congregation in Plano. In a statement to the Baptist Message, Executive Pastor Mike Buster spoke of “various significant positions taken by the leadership of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission that do not reflect the values of many in the Southern Baptist Convention.” The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, “a network of 50,000 cooperating churches and church-type missions banded together to make an impact on God’s Kingdome,” is located in Nashville, Tennessee. The decision impacts $1 million the church would give to Southern Baptist state and national causes, according to the Baptist Message. The church will escrow the funds while further discussing the matter. Russell Moore, president of the ERLC, created a controversy by signing a friend of the court brief supporting construction of a New Jersey mosque involved in a zoning dispute. The Tennessee Star reported previously that a large church in East Tennessee has also decided to escrow funds while considering future support of the ministry program that funds the ERLC.…
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The United States Supreme Court ruled in Plyler vs. DOE that children in our country here illegally have the same right to attend public schools as other citizens. In addition, these children are obliged to attend school until they reach a mandatory age. So there will be an impact in whatever state that these children reside, including here in Tennessee.
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A report authored by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and New American Economy (formerly named Partnership for a New American Economy) claims that, “[f]orty-three percent of unauthorized immigrants who earned their degrees abroad were either working in low-skilled jobs or unemployed,” a number almost twice as many as immigrants who naturalize and become U.S. citizens. They call this “brain waste.” The NAE was launched in 2010 by corporatists that includes former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, media magnate Rubert Murdoch, Bill Marriott and Disney’s Dan Eiger, to push the idea that comprehensive immigration reform would “help grow the economy and create new American jobs.” The MPI receives funding from many sources including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. Both the MPI and NAE use economic arguments to blur the line between legal and illegal immigrants. Both organizations supported the DREAM Act which amnestied certain individuals who had entered the U.S. illegally before age sixteen. In 2012, the NAE partnered with another Soros funded organization, the Center for American Progress (CAP), to push for passage of the DREAM Act. The MPI and NAE also pushed the 2013 “Gang of Eight” bill which would have amnestied…
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As controversy heats up over sanctuary cities across the U.S., many Mt. Juliet residents are backing the city’s promise that Mt. Juliet will never be one. Frustrated by burdens illegal immigrants place on police and public services and grieved over the loss of a couple killed by an illegal immigrant drunk driver, many people have had enough. In late November, the city commission unanimously approved a proclamation saying it won’t shield illegal immigrants from enforcement of federal immigration laws. Around 300 cities across the U.S. are regarded as sanctuary cities. Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has signaled that she wants Nashville to be welcoming toward all. However, Nashville is not officially a sanctuary city, having not stated an intent to refuse to comply with federal immigration officials. Immigration activists quickly denounced the move by Mt. Juliet commissioners. On its Facebook page, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) called the resolution “unacceptable and irresponsible” and urged its supporters to encourage commissioners to rescind it. The resolution, according to TIRRC, will have a “chilling effect on immigrant families trying to build their lives, start their businesses, and raise their families.” Supporters of the resolution, however, see it as an effort to ensure…
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Metro Nashville Director of Schools Shawn Joseph says President Trump’s executive orders on immigrants and refugees are causing concern for foreign-born families and staff. In his two orders on border security and interior enforcement, President Trump called for allowing state and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration officials. However, schools are likely to be unaffected, at least directly. A 1982 Supreme Court ruling prohibits school systems from denying children a free public education based on immigration status. In a 5-4 decision, the court found in Plyler v. Doe that doing so violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. A federal judge has blocked for now a third executive order temporarily barring immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries and suspending the nation’s refugee program. In a Jan. 30 statement, Director of Schools Joseph sought to reassure those troubled by the three executive orders by expressing the district’s commitment to welcoming immigrants and protecting Muslim students from hate speech. “As a public school district, it is our responsibility to ensure that our schools are safe spaces where all children are supported not only academically, but socially and emotionally as well,” Joseph said. In October, the Metro Nashville school board passed a…
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Activists want federal immigration enforcers out of Nashville, but a bill sponsored by state Senator Mark Green would impose penalties on Nashville or any other Tennessee locality that becomes a sanctuary city. At a rally Wednesday in Nashville, the Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) slammed President Trump’s executive orders calling for stricter enforcement of immigration laws and blasted the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the city. “ICE is here in our communities today. They are working in our sheriff’s department, taking people out of our jails,” cried Stephanie Teatro, TIRRC co-executive director. She encouraged the crowd to sign up to help with efforts “to get ICE out of Nashville.” While Mayor Megan Barry has voiced support for immigrants and refugees, Nashville is not officially a sanctuary city shielding illegal immigrants. City officials have not enacted policies refusing to comply with federal immigration officials. Mayor Barry said on Twitter Jan. 25 that the city’s law department was reviewing President Trump’s executive orders. “While we cannot control border policies here in Nashville, we can pull together as a city by embracing the immigrants and refugees who are an integral part of our community,” she said. Sen. Green (R-Clarksville)…
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For immigration activists, the fight against President Trump kicked into high gear in December before he took office. That’s when Nashville was the host city for the annual National Immigrant Integration Conference, drawing groups from across the country to the Omni Hotel. Speakers at the event made repeated calls to unite with other progressive causes in the name of social justice. The list of allies they highlighted included Planned Parenthood, LGBT activists and activists for racial and ethnic minorities. The conference was co-hosted by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA). The conference featured a screening of Forbidden, a documentary about a young undocumented gay man growing up in the rural south. Moises Serrano, the Mexican-born subject of the film, is involved in the UndocuQueer movement and his mission is “to unite the immigration and LGBTQ movements, seeing them both as a struggle for human rights.” That human rights continuum also includes a progressive version of racial justice. An activist with the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) said that African-Americans are still fighting for full citizenship in the U.S., making immigrants their natural allies. The group’s website says, “Everyday, people of color in the United States are being criminalized…
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