Showdown Over Bipartisan Border Bill - Will Biden Gain Unlimited Dictatorial Authority Over The Border?

Monday, February 5, 2024.

Wendell L. Malone

Feb 05, 2024

Transcript

After listening to Alex Jones and reading the attached articles this song came to mind.

Hey You

Pink Floyd Jan 16, 2016

Pink Floyd - Hey You:

Hey, you, out there in the cold, getting lonely, getting old
Can you feel me?
Hey, you, standing in the aisles with itchy feet and fading smiles
Can you feel me?
Hey, you
Don't help them to bury the light
Don't give in without a fight

Hey, you, out there on your own, sitting naked by the phone
Would you touch me?
Hey, you with your ear against the wall, waiting for someone to call out
Would you touch me?
Hey you
Would you help me to carry the stone?
Open your heart, I'm coming home

But it was only fantasy
The wall was too high, as you can see
No matter how he tried, he could not break free
And the worms ate into his brain

Hey, you, out there on the road, always doing what you're told
Can you help me?
Hey, you, out there beyond the wall, breaking bottles in the hall
Can you help me?
Hey, you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall

(We fall, we fall, we fall, we fall, we fall, we fall, we fall, we fall...)

BREAKING: Bipartisan Border Bill Gives Biden Dictatorial Powers, 2.3 Billion To NGO Human Traffickers, And Millions Of Aliens Legal Status

The Alex Jones Show Feb 5, 2024

Alex Jones breaks down the Senate's new 118 billion dollar bill on border security, Ukraine, and Israel.

Opening comments by Alex Jones:

There are sections in this that even shocked Alex Jones, because I know they're a bunch of criminals. But it actually says that Biden has the power of a dictator. Which shows they would never give this power to Trump.

So they intend to steal the election in nine months. And it says for any reason Biden can declare an emergency And do whatever he wants on the border, including in cities around the country, and giving them unlimited money, and it gets worse. Only the special court in D.C., which they totally control, you've seen all the kangaroo action there, all the rigged show trials there, that that court has the jurisdiction.

And I mean, I sat there and marked up the bill. There's gotta be like 30 things in there that are just, Jaw-Dropping! Jaw-Dropping! The bill grants the far-left DC court exclusive authority over future immigration disputes.

Only by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia which shall have sole and original jurisdiction to hear challenges whether constitutional or otherwise. The validity of this section, or any written policy directive within policy guideline written procedures, or the implementation thereof issued by the under the authority of a secretary implementation of this section.

Where do you see bills that say all the other local courts, district courts, federal courts, Supreme Court don't have jurisdiction? No, it's gotta go to the D.C. court. That right there is setting up the D.C. dictatorship.

But it goes on here, well this is the key. In general, if the President finds this is in the national interest to temporarily suspend the Border Emergency Authority, the President may direct the Secretary to suspend the use of Border Emergency Authority on an emergency basis. 

Duration? If the case of the decree of the president under subparagraph and here it all is right here. So and I've got the bill, I've got it all right here. It legalizes everything and the funding and sets up special courts and billions and billions to NGOs. And even more money if the president says in this emergency or his undeclared emergency it makes him a dictator over the border.

SENATE

Graham warns Senate border deal will die without amendments

BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 02/05/24 2:55 PM ET

Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), a key Senate Republican voice on national security and immigration issues, says that Democrats need to give Republicans a chance to amend the new border security deal or it will fail to muster enough votes to advance.

Graham was an early proponent of linking border security reforms to funding for the war in Ukraine, but now he says the deal produced by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) after four months of negotiations with Democrats needs to be improved.

“Now that the Senate’s national security supplemental text has been released, I look forward to the amendment process to try to improve the bill,” Graham said in a statement. “Something this significant cannot be rushed and jammed through. It should be subject to a robust debate and amendment process in the Senate.”

Graham warned that if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) fails to allow an open amendment process, “then the bill will die because of process.”

Graham declared “I am open-minded on steps we can take to make the bill stronger,” adding “that can only come through the amendment process.”

The South Carolina senator on in an interview with “Fox News Sunday” expressed doubt about passing the bill this week before the Senate is scheduled to take a two-week break for Presidents Day.

He called it the “oldest game in town” to “bring an important piece of legislation” to the floor “right before a holiday or right before a break.”

“Process-wise, we’re not going to deal with this next week, it’s too important,” he said.

Schumer says he will schedule a vote Wednesday to proceed to the legislative vehicle that will carry the bipartisan border deal along with $60 billion in funding for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.

At least two Democrats have expressed opposition to the border package — Sens. Alex Padilla (Calif.) and Bob Menendez (N.J.) — and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is expected to vote against the bill unless it restricts military aid to Israel.

Sanders has called for holding back $10 billion in military aid to Israel that he says will be used to support the invasion of Gaza.

That means the $118 billion defense supplemental spending bill will need at least 12 Republican votes to pass the Senate.

CONGRESS

Detention and that border ‘shutdown’: What’s really in Biden’s bipartisan immigration deal

Breaking down 12 major points in the border deal, including the parameters of a border shutdown, increased visas and work permits for asylum seekers.

The bill would force the Department of Homeland Security to shutter the border if daily illegal crossings top 5,000 migrants on average or 8,500 in a single day. | Eric Gay/AP

By JENNIFER SCHOLTES and CAITLIN EMMA 02/05/2024 12:00 PM EST

The bipartisan border security deal that’s headed for a pivotal first vote this week would pair $20 billion in emergency spending with policy changes that would amount to the most stringent immigration bill endorsed by a Democratic president in recent memory.

President Joe Biden is calling the bill the “toughest and fairest” in decades — and progressives are calling it a return to the Trump era.

The 370-page bill is already in jeopardy, with House Republican leaders vowing that they’ll never vote on the long-negotiated package. They are joined by conservative senators who argue that the $118 billion-plus legislation, which also sends tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, has too many loopholes to effectively stop spiking migration at the southern border.


Progressives in both chambers of Congress are also turned off by the deal, lamenting that it amounts to an embrace of Donald Trump-style border policies and an undue shrinking of the asylum system designed to protect vulnerable immigrants.

Yet Biden is throwing his weight behind the plan, which he called “essential” to making the U.S.-Mexico border “more orderly, secure, fair, and humane.” It would deliver far more emergency cash than his October request for less than $14 billion in border funding as illegal border crossings from Mexico reached an all-time high in December, with nearly 250,000 arrests.

As members of both parties scrap over the substance of the bill, here’s a rundown of what’s really in it:

Detention
Immigration and Customs Enforcement would get almost $8 billion in emergency funding, rivaling the agency’s regular annual budget of about $9 billion. The emergency funding would include more than $3 billion for increased detention capacity.

Asylum
The plan would set a goal of speeding up the review of asylum claims, striving to let no cases last more than six months — often by allowing asylum officers to close out a claim rather than going through immigration courts. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would get nearly $4 billion to help shoulder that new workload, including for hiring more than 4,300 asylum officers.

The measure would require asylum seekers to show greater proof to seek refuge in the U.S. and would ensure they are allowed a lawyer if they are facing rapid deportation. All unaccompanied children under 14 years old would also be granted lawyers during removal proceedings, covered by an infusion of $350 million for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Immigrant advocates quickly panned the proposal, with the ACLU arguing that it would “eviscerate” longstanding protections, and the National Immigrant Justice Center stressing that it would make asylum “largely un-obtainable for those who are permitted to request it at ports of entry.”

‘Border shutdown’
The bill would force the Department of Homeland Security to shutter the border if daily illegal crossings top 5,000 migrants on average or 8,500 in a single day. Unaccompanied minors from countries other than Mexico and Canada wouldn’t count toward that total.

The administration could only reopen the border if encounters of illegal crossings drop to 75 percent of the number that initially triggered the closure.

DHS would also have the power to shut down the border if crossings average more than 4,000 a day for a week, and Biden has signaled he would aggressively use that authority.

During a “border shutdown,” many people trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border would be quickly deported. But exceptions would be made for unaccompanied minors and people who meet the requirements of the United Nations Convention Against Torture rules.

Ports of entry
DHS would still consider asylum requests from people crossing at legal ports of entry during those periods of “border shutdown” — just not in between those ports. Officials would have to process at least 1,400 asylum requests per day under those terms.

Local support
$1.4 billion would be disbursed to help states and local governments handle the influx of immigrants. In New York alone, Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month proposed spending $2.4 billion to provide services to migrants in her annual budget.

Border wall
The bill would force the Biden administration to use money already laid out for border barriers on the kind of steel fencing that Trump boasted during his tenure. That “bollard”-style border wall is supposed to be 18 to 30 feet high, with “anti-dig” and “anti-climb” features.

Afghan nationals
Permanent residency would be offered to Afghans who fled their home country and received special immigrant visas following the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2021. It would also allow Afghans who are considered U.S. allies to be deemed refugees and entitled to special State Department protections or immediate removal from Afghanistan.

Special immigrant status would also be offered to Afghans who are an immediate relative of a U.S. military member or veteran. Up to 2,500 special immigrant visas would be offered a year, for a total of up to 10,000.

Visas
The deal would free up 250,000 new visas over half a decade for people seeking to work in the U.S. or to join family members. It would offer work authorization to the children and spouses of people who have H-1B visas for specialized jobs that often require a bachelor’s degree, like tech and engineering work.

Immigrants awaiting visas would also be eligible for work if they have a U.S. citizen spouse or fiancé, or if their parent is the spouse or fiancé of a U.S. citizen.

Countering fentanyl
Folded into the border security deal is legislation aimed at beefing up anti-money laundering policies and sanctions, known as the Fend Off Fentanyl Act.

The Drug Enforcement Administration would receive more than $23 million to disrupt and disband Mexican cartels trafficking fentanyl across the southern border. And the State Department and USAID would see about $25 million for programs aimed at curbing the flow of the drug into the U.S.

‘Documented Dreamers’
Advocates and some Democrats quickly slammed the lack of relief or pathways to citizenship for so-called Dreamers, or undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. There’s also no new citizenship path for farm workers or other long-time residents who work in essential jobs.

The legislation does, however, aim to provide a pathway to citizenship for “Documented Dreamers,” or children who accompanied their parents on a work visa and who could potentially lose their place in line for a green card at age 21.

Work permits
Immigrants who apply for asylum could be eligible to work in the U.S. while they wait.

Border Patrol
Customs and Border Protection would get nearly $7 billion in emergency funding, a massive infusion above its current yearly budget of about $21 billion. That extra funding would include $723 million would cover increased hiring of Border Patrol agents and overtime pay.

The bill would also give DHS more flexibility in hiring Border Patrol agents and create yearly training requirements for non-lethal force, protecting due process and preserving civil and human rights.

Anthony Adragna contributed to this report.

McConnell and Border Patrol union back embattled Senate border deal

Senate Republican no votes are trickling into public view as party leaders gauge support for the agreement.

DANIELLA DIAZ 02/05/2024, 4:16PM ET

The Senate’s bipartisan border security deal – wobbling early on its way to the 60 votes it needs to advance later this week – picked up two big public supporters on Monday.

The first was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has long championed the border talks as a means to unlock stalled Ukraine aid that he’s made a top priority. While McConnell’s broader backing of the negotiations was no secret, his public call to pass the deal on the Senate floor marked a critical use of his political capital even as many of his own conservative members slammed the agreement.

“The national security legislation we’re preparing to take up will invest heavily in the capabilities and capacity America and our allies need to regain the upper hand over this emerging axis of authoritarians. Make no mistake: the gauntlet has been thrown. And America needs to pick it up,” McConnell said on Monday.

The second endorsement of the border deal came from the union that represents workers at the Border Patrol – the rare labor group that’s known for its ties to former President Donald Trump, who has urged Republicans to reject the Senate agreement.

Despite its Trump ties, the National Border Patrol Council endorsed the Senate deal in a Monday statement, saying that the bill would “codify into law authorities that U.S. Border Patrol agents never had in the past.”

The deal that’s formally named the Border Act, the product of months-long talks led by Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), is expected to face a pivotal test vote on Wednesday.

“While not perfect, the Border Patrol Act of 2024 is a step in the right direction and is far better than the current status quo,” the statement read.