Pelosi: No Dem counteroffer on border security

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By Mike Lillis

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that House Democrats are not working behind the scenes to craft a counteroffer to President Trump’s border wall demands as a strategy for ending the history-making partial shutdown.

“That’s not true. That’s not true. That’s not true,” Pelosi said during a press briefing in the Capitol.

Instead, the Speaker asserted that Democrats’ strategic blueprint remains unchanged: The House will continue to pass spending bills already authored and endorsed by Republicans, while insisting that Trump reopen the government as the prerequisite for bringing Democrats to the negotiating table on his border wall.

“We are doing what we have been doing all along: working on our congressional responsibility to write bills, appropriations bills, to keep government open,” she said.

The remarks arrive as Democratic leaders are expected to release their own plan to bolster border security, to include enhanced surveillance technologies and reinforcement of existing physical barriers — but no new wall construction.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Wednesday that the Democrats are prepared to match Trump’s figure of $5.7 billion for border security — with two stipulations: it can’t be used for new wall construction, and the negotiations must happen after the shutdown has ended.

“Using the figure that the president has put on the table, if his $5.7 billion is about border security then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing what I like to call using a smart wall,” Clyburn told reporters after a Democratic caucus meeting. “These are the types of things that we are going to be putting forward.”

Pelosi on Thursday framed the Democrats’ emerging border security proposal — expected to be released as early as Thursday afternoon — as a standard part of the appropriations process.

“Many of those bills have come to the floor again and again, just this week. The Homeland Security Bill was not finished. Hopefully it will be finished soon, and out of that you will see our commitment to border security,” she said. “That’s not any negotiation behind the scenes, or anything like that.”

Pelosi declined to put a figure on the border security provisions to be included in the Department of Homeland Security bill, being spearheaded by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who heads the Homeland Security Committee. But she emphasized that it will come in addition to other border-related funding already included in House-passed bills to to fund other agencies with a hand in security, including the Treasury, Justice and State departments.

“Within our $49 billion Homeland Security bill there will be some provisions,” she said.

Pelosi’s remarks highlight the disagreement at the crux of the shutdown standoff: Democrats are insisting the government be reopened as a condition of negotiating on the border wall; Republicans are demanding negotiations on the border wall as a condition of reopening the government.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Wednesday that the Democrats “are prepared to spend a very substantial sum of money because we share the view that the borders need to be secure.”

But Hoyer, speaking for most Democrats, said there’s no “crisis” at the southern border, as Trump has insisted, and he amplified the party’s position that the Democrats will start negotiating new border security spending only after the government has been reopened, even if only temporarily.

“The letter is not a negotiation,” Hoyer said. “The letter is going to articulate what we believe is an effective investment to accomplish border security.”

Amid the standoff, Pelosi on Wednesday postponed Trump’s State of the Union address, initially scheduled for Jan. 29, citing the injustice of requiring federal law enforcement officials to secure the Capitol while they aren’t getting paid.

Trump late Wednesday acquiesced to the postponement.

“This is her prerogative,” he tweeted. “I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.”

Pelosi on Thursday thanked Trump for assent, saying the fight over the speech was an unneeded distraction that’s “so unimportant in the lives of the American people.”

“Thank goodness we’ve put that matter to rest and that we can get on to the subject at hand: open up government, so we can negotiate how best to protect our borders,” she said.

January 24, 2019 0

Finland Identifies Over 200 Migrants Who Pose Security Threat

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While about two percent of Finland‘s rejected asylum seekers have been found to pose a security threat, the authorities are having trouble in locating them, as some have already left the country.

An intelligence risk assessment of 9,000 asylum seekers who have received negative asylum decisions since the autumn of 2017 has established that over 200 of them pose a potential danger, national broadcaster Yle reported.

The aim of the risk assessment carried out by the National Bureau of Investigation was to identify “individuals who have the potential to commit crimes in Finland,” who later will be prioritised for deportation. The list includes those who have been suspected of committing a crime at some point or those suspected of posing a threat to national security.

“It is determined by the whole picture, although attempted murder and assault on its own can also lead to prioritisation,” NBI crime inspector Ritva Elomaa told Yle.

The actual number of rejected asylum seekers who made the list and are still in the country may be much smaller than that the NBI assessment, though, as many are believed to have left the country.

The National Police Board admitted that the list of priority deportations will be subject to daily changes.

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Western culture has been under attack on multiple fronts and now is in crisis after years of demoralization.

“We have to go through the names on the list one by one and see who has already been deported”, police inspector Mia Poutanen told Yle.

The authorities’ campaign to identify and deport dangerous asylum seekers has been further complicated by the fact that the police are seldom informed about rejected asylum seekers that choose to leave the country of their own accord.

Furthermore, some individuals with criminal records may have reapplied for asylum, while international laws say they cannot be deported as long as their application is pending.

The Finnish police are trying to prevent their “disappearance” by interning rejected asylum seekers in detention centres until they can be deported.

“People who have committed serious crimes are usually in prison, and deportation takes place once their prison sentence has been served,” Poutanen explained.

However, this system doesn’t always work as intended, as the authorities identified as many as 5,000 “missing” asylum seekers in 2017.

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The risk assessment for rejected asylum seekers was commissioned by the government of Finland after the Turku stabbing on 18 August 2017, when rejected Moroccan asylum seeker Abderrahman Bouanane killed two and left eight injured in Finland’s first-ever terrorist attack. Bouanane was later given a life sentence.

In the past few weeks, a grooming gang scandal involving migrants and asylum seekers assaulting underage schoolgirls as young as 10 has left Finland deeply shaken.

Apart from drawing the condemnation of high-ranking Finnish politicians including Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and President Sauli Niinistö, it also sparked a citizens’ petition demanding the deportation of migrant sex offenders.

The initiativee, backed by over 100,000 Finns, has been supported by the right-wing Blue Reform party, whose leader Sampo Terho expressed himself in favour of “speedy deportations.”

You can read this article as it originally appears at Sputnik here.

January 24, 2019 0

Swedish Leader Calls to Seal Border

By Ben Warren

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A Swedish political leader is calling on his government to establish a limit on incoming refugees.

Various political parties, specifically the Social Democrats, are abusing migration policies for short-sighted political gain, according to Moderate party chairman Christian Sonesson.

“I believe that Sweden must introduce a total refugee [limit], and many other moderates consider it too,” said Sonesson. “The Social Democrats are now selling out our common welfare by introducing an even more generous migration policy.”

“[The Social Democrats] use migration policy to bring together [government support] in Parliament. Apparently, power is more important than the country’s well-being.”

An agreement entitling 20,000 migrants to be reunited with their families is reportedly the “generous” migration policy Sonesson is referring to.

Sonesson goes on to stress the significance of migration policies by saying they impact almost everything else a government is capable of doing.

He ultimately wants to bring all parties to the negotiation table for objective cooperation to solve the crises stemming from the nation’s migration policies.

Correspondingly, another Swedish politician slammed Sweden’s policies as the most “disturbed” in the Western world.

“It’s probably one of the most disturbed countries in the West. And it’s not just about immigration,” said Alternative for Sweden’s Gustav Kasselstrand. “It is about all the authorities we have today where most of them are taken over by left interests.”

“So it is clear that it will take time. It has taken decades to make Sweden what it is today, thus in a negative way. So it will take decades to fix the problems.”

January 24, 2019 0

Illegal Immigrant Demands Change to the Pledge of Allegiance in Hill Op-Ed

By Richard Moorhead

“I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America- one nation, invisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

American kids accustomed to beginning their days at school with a recitation of the timeless Pledge of Allegiance may soon have to adapt to some changes, if an illegal immigrant dissatisfied with its content get his way.

Cesar Vargas, an illegal immigrant who has become a practicing attorney in spite of his legal status, authored an op-ed in The Hill on Tuesday calling for the nearly 150-year old pledge to be altered, as apparently it failed to suit his political preferences.

The original pledge was a creation of former Union Army officer George Thatcher Balch, who created it as a means to popularize American patriotism in New York City schools, which were at the time tasked with educating and assimilating the children of many recent Irish and Italian immigrants.

According to Vargas, the pledge is a product of “the fear of a white native-born Protestant culture,” and must “updated” so that it “takes pride in our immigrant heritage and the equality of all Americans.”

The central contraction of the pledge of allegiance to the United States being something that belonged to Americans- not foreign nationals like Vargas- seemed to escape the author throughout the op-ed, treating a venerated tradition of the United States as something which he had the right to impose upon.

An “upgraded” version of the pledge was floated later in the piece:

“I pledge allegiance and love to our indigenous and immigrant heritage, rooted in the United States of America, to our civil rights for which we strive, one voice, one nation, for equality and justice for all.”

Truly touching. Now, instead of pledging allegiance to their country, Americans have the chance to make a daily affirmation in support of immigration, should Vargas get his way.

Vargas is also a leading pro-amnesty and illegal immigration advocate, serving as the leader of the Dream Action Coalition.

January 24, 2019 0

Trump to Pelosi: Ready or not, State of the Union is happening ‘on time & on location’

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US President Donald Trump has informed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that he will show up on January 29 to deliver the State of the Union. She replied that it cannot happen until the government shutdown ends.

In a letter sent to Pelosi (D-California) on Day 33 of the shutdown, Trump said that he had already accepted her “kind invitation” when he got another letter about security concerns, on January 16. However, both the Secret Service and Homeland Security assured him “there would be absolutely no problem regarding security” and even said so publicly.

“Therefore, I will be honoring your invitation, and fulfilling my Constitutional duty, to deliver important information to the people and Congress the United States of America regarding the State of our Union,” the president wrote on Wednesday.

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“It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!” he added at the end, in a typical Trumpian flourish.

Pelosi responded within a couple hours, telling Trump that the House will “not consider a concurrent resolution” authorizing the president’s speech in the House chamber until the government has reopened, in effect rescinding her invitation.

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The letter exchange is just the latest twist in the war of words between Trump, a Republican, and the congressional Democrats. At the end of last year, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) blocked the approval of a bill passed by the Republican-majority House giving $5.6 billion to Trump’s proposed border wall, triggering a government shutdown. Pelosi, who became Speaker on January 3, after a new Democrat-majority House was sworn in, has flat-out refused any funding for the wall, ever, calling it “immoral.”

About a quarter of the government has been shuttered as a result, with some 800,000 federal workers either sent home or made to work without pay until the impasse is resolved.

Attempting to leverage Trump into surrendering, Pelosi sent the January 16 letter about security concerns, bringing up the fact that Trump’s Secret Service security detail and indeed the entire Department of Homeland Security are among the furloughed feds.

Both DHS and the Secret Service immediately chimed in to say that this mission was critical and would not be affected. Trump also fired back the following day, denying Pelosi the use of US military assets for congressional travel – including a trip she and a delegation of House Democrats have already embarked on, to Belgium and and Afghanistan. Pelosi fumed, but did not take the final step of dis-inviting the president at the time.

Under Article II, Section 3 of the US Constitution, the president “shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” It was traditionally delivered in writing until President Woodrow Wilson appeared in person before the joint session of Congress in 1913.

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January 23, 2019 0

Teen girl seriously injured in Germany after drunk Afghan refugee drags her off bus

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A 17-year-old girl was seriously injured in Minden, Germany after a drunk Afghan refugee dragged her off a bus by her hair, causing her to be run over by the bus while trying to escape the man.

According to a police statement, the girl was repeatedly harassed by the 22-year-old man while she waited at a bus terminal in Minden, near Hanover, with her 14-year-old friend just before 9pm local time on Saturday.

The girl and her friend sought safety from the man, and his 21-year-old friend, by running to a nearby bus, where the bus driver, 41, let them on. However, the persistent pair also got onboard and the 22-year-old dragged the girl from the bus by her hair – after it had started to move.

In the attack, the girl slipped and fell beneath the bus, causing it to run over her legs and leaving her with “severe injuries,” police said. As bystanders rushed to help the teen, the bus driver chased the men hoping to get a picture of them. He was reportedly slapped in the face by the 21-year-old.

Police and ambulance crews were called to the scene and the girl was transported to hospital. The aggressor and his companion were both found drunk by police a short time later and arrested.

The 22-year-old was charged with assault and brought before a district court the following day where he was ordered to remain in jail until his trial. His friend was released without charge on Sunday after sobering up.

January 23, 2019 0

Grooming Gang Gets Taxpayer Money to Fight Deportation

By RONOC R. 23 January 2019

A grooming gang in Britain has received over 1 million pounds in taxpayer funds to fight their deportation.

The Rochdale grooming gang, so loving referred to as “Asian” by the British government, has been charged with grooming and raping girls as young as 13 years old. All four men come from Pakistan.

Since Britain is still a part of the EU, the “Asian” gang gets to use Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 8 is used to protect families against traumatic experiences such as separation.

David Spencer of the Crime Prevention Think Tank weighed in on the matter: “These men have been convicted of some truly shocking offenses, and it beggars belief that they are now able to run up even bigger taxpayer-funded bills making spurious appeals to extend their stay in the UK.”

The four men have run up a bill on the taxpayer dime, estimated to be 1,009,645 pounds.

Their taxpayer funded lawyers are working very hard to stop their eminent deportations and most of them are already out of prison for these heinous crimes.

This event outlines the extreme detriment of the EU laws that Britain has to live under because Prime Minister May can’t seem to get her act together and deliver on the referendum vote.

January 23, 2019 0

REPORT: Pelosi Signals State of Union Shutdown, Tells Democratic Caucus Members Not to Invite Family to D.C.

By Peter D’Abrosca

A Wednesday morning report from a CNN correspondent said that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told Democratic caucus members not to invite their families to Washington D.C. next week, signaling that the State of the Union speech will not happen as planned.

“Speaker Pelosi advised members not to bring family to Washington next week, an implication that the State of the Union is not going to happen, per source in a morning caucus meeting. Members often invite spouses and other family to attend the SOTU,” explained Manu Raju on Twitter.

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If true (this is a CNN report, remember) Pelosi’s actions would represent an escalation in the border wall funding feud between Democrats and President Donald J. Trump.

Saturday, Trump offered the Democrats an extension of President Barack H. Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in exchange for wall funding. Pelosi and company swiftly declined the deal, shifting the burden of the shutdown onto the Democrats.

Before that, Pelosi surprised the Trump administration by saying that she would disinvite him from the State of the Union speech – not that he needs her permission to convene Congress.

Trump responded by cancelling Pelosi’s taxpayer-funded trip abroad, just one hour before she and a Congressional delegation were set to go wheels up from Andrews Air Force Base, an epic power move.

January 23, 2019 0