#us immigration and customs enforcement is out of control

[mariacallous]

Immigration is one of the most important topics in this presidential election cycle. Former President Trump has promised to conduct a massive deportation effort that would remove millions of people per year. The latest statistics show about 11 million unauthorized immigrants are living in the U.S., and several million more people have arrived in the past two years on parole or with an uncertain legal future. Would a mass deportation effort improve the U.S. economy and provide more jobs for U.S.-born workers? Recent, rigorous economics research sheds light on the consequences of increasing the number of deportations on the U.S. labor market. This research consistently points to deportations hurting the U.S. labor market and leading to worse labor market outcomes for U.S.-born workers.

Landscape of deportations in the US

A deportation is a mandatory departure of a noncitizen out of the U.S. based on a formal order of removal. Official estimates of the cost of deportations are scarce but the best estimates suggest that each deportation costs about $13,000 in current dollars.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of deportations in the U.S. in the last few decades. Deportations, including removals at the border and those from the interior, increased from about 200,000 per year in the early 2000s to 400,000 per year in the late 2000s. Deportations were then steady at about 300,000 per year until the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic, deportations of long-term residents have fallen, but other types of removals from the U.S. increased, especially at the border.

A real-world test of the effects of deportation

To isolate the causal effects of deportations on the economy, economists study the rollout of an immigration enforcement policy called Secure Communities (SC). The Secure Communities program increased information sharing between local law enforcement agencies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with the express purpose to identify and deport people who were in the U.S. without authorization. About 400,000 people were deported under SC between 2008 and 2014, after which SC was replaced with the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP). While the first counties implemented SC in 2008, it was implemented county by county with the last counties implementing the program in 2013. The timing of enactment was based on how close the counties were to ICE offices and how quickly the technology could be set up in a county. Bottlenecks in implementation meant some counties were put on waitlists. Because of this, the exact timing of when a county implemented SC was out of their direct control, and counties that adopted the program early compared to late are otherwise very similar. Thus, researchers can compare the labor market outcomes in counties that implemented SC earlier compared to later.

While only people who were arrested had their immigration status checked under SC, the policy nonetheless impacted a large portion of immigrants. There were broad “chilling effects” of the policy that meant even people not targeted for deportation became fearful of leaving their house to do routine things like go to work. This is partly because the program did not only target serious criminals—the most serious criminal conviction for 79% of those deported was non-violent, including traffic violations and immigration offenses, and another 17% were not convicted of any crime.  

Increased deportation is associated with poorer economic outcomes for US-born workers 

Across multiple studies, economists have found that once SC is implemented, the number of foreign-born workers in that county declines and the employment rate among U.S.-born workers also declines. My research with Annie Hines, Philip Luck, Hani Mansour, and Andrea Velásquez finds that when half a million immigrants are removed from the labor market because of enforcement (due to deportations and indirectly due to chilling effects), this reduces the number of U.S.-born people working by 44,000.

Why do deportations hurt the economic outcomes of U.S.-born workers? The prevailing view used to be that foreign-born and U.S.-born workers are substitutes, meaning that when one foreign-born worker takes a job, there is one less job for a U.S.-born worker. But economists have now shown several reasons why the economy is not a zero-sum game: because unauthorized immigrants work in different occupations from the U.S.-born, because they create demand for goods and services, and because they contribute to the long-run fiscal health of the country.

First, unauthorized immigrant workers and U.S.-born workers work in different types of jobs. Figure 1 shows the percentage of unauthorized immigrant workers, authorized immigrant workers, and U.S.-born workers that are in each of the 15 most common occupations among unauthorized immigrants.

It is clear that unauthorized immigrants take low-paying, dangerous and otherwise less attractive jobs more frequently than both U.S.-born workers and authorized immigrant workers. For example, almost 6% of unauthorized immigrants work as housekeepers, construction laborers, or cooks, compared to about 2% of authorized immigrant workers and 1% of U.S.-born workers (See Figure 1).

Occupations common among unauthorized workers, such as construction laborers and cooks, are essential to keep businesses operating. Deporting workers in these jobs affects U.S.-born workers too. For example, when construction companies have a sudden reduction in available laborers, they must reduce the number of construction site managers they hire. Similarly, local restaurants need cooks to stay open and hire for other positions like waiters, which are more likely to be filled by U.S.-born workers.

Caregiving and household service jobs are also common among unauthorized immigrants. The availability and cost of these services in the private market greatly impacts whether people can work outside the home. My research with Andrea Velásquez and new research by Umair Ali, Jessica Brown and Chris Herbst find that Secure Communities impacted the childcare market—the supply of childcare workers fell. This led to a reduction in the number of college-educated mothers with young children working in the formal labor market.

Several recent Brookings pieces have highlighted the role that immigrants play in caregiving jobs, which are becoming increasingly important as the U.S. population ages. These pieces call for increasing the number of legal pathways for immigrants willing to work in these types of jobs to come to the U.S.

Another important way in which immigrants help create jobs for U.S.-born workers is that unauthorized immigrants contribute to local demand for goods and services like haircuts, food, and cars. This means deportations lead to less revenue for local barber shops, grocery stores, and auto dealerships, causing them to hire fewer workers, including U.S.-born workers.

Finally, deportations impact tax revenue and the fiscal health of the federal, state, and local governments. A comprehensive study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that, in a given year, each foreign-born person and their dependents pay on average $1,300 more in federal taxes than they receive in federal benefits, and, looking over a 75-year time horizon, immigrants are a net fiscal positive at all levels—they pay $237,000 more in taxes over their lifetime than they receive in benefits from federal, state, and local governments. While these estimates are not broken out by immigration status, the study indicates that the net fiscal impacts of unauthorized immigrants are larger than authorized immigrants because unauthorized immigrants are more likely to be of working age. Thus, deportations reduce tax revenue both because of a reduction in taxes paid by unauthorized immigrants, and through a reduction in taxes paid by U.S.-born workers who lose their jobs.  Unauthorized immigrants and their children also facilitate the solvency of the Social Security and Medicare systems by paying into these systems when they are not eligible to receive any benefits.

Implications for policy

Immigration law has not been comprehensively updated for 34 years and as a result is designed for an outdated labor market and an outdated demographic reality.  With so much political discussion about immigration this year, it’s important to understand the role of unauthorized immigrant workers in the U.S. economy. Recent economics research shows that unauthorized immigrant workers help to create more jobs for U.S.-born workers. Large-scale deportation efforts would be very disruptive in some industries and would hamstring the current growth in employment, which has been driven in large part by increased immigration. Instead, Congress should set its sights on reform and expansions in legal immigration pathways.

[ralfmaximus]

Here's the complete list of DHS flagged search terms. Don't use any of these on social media to avoid having the 3-letter agencies express interest in your activities!

DHS & Other Agencies

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Coast Guard (USCG)

Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Border Patrol

Secret Service (USSS)

National Operations Center (NOC)

Homeland Defense

Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Agent

Task Force

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Fusion Center

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

Secure Border Initiative (SBI)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)

Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS)

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

Air Marshal

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

National Guard

Red Cross

United Nations (UN)

Domestic Security

Assassination

Attack

Domestic security

Drill

Exercise

Cops

Law enforcement

Authorities

Disaster assistance

Disaster management

DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office)

National preparedness

Mitigation

Prevention

Response

Recovery

Dirty Bomb

Domestic nuclear detection

Emergency management

Emergency response

First responder

Homeland security

Maritime domain awareness (MDA)

National preparedness initiative

Militia

Shooting

Shots fired

Evacuation

Deaths

Hostage

Explosion (explosive)

Police

Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT)

Organized crime

Gangs

National security

State of emergency

Security

Breach

Threat

Standoff

SWAT

Screening

Lockdown

Bomb (squad or threat)

Crash

Looting

Riot

Emergency Landing

Pipe bomb

Incident

Facility

HAZMAT & Nuclear

Hazmat

Nuclear

Chemical Spill

Suspicious package/device

Toxic

National laboratory

Nuclear facility

Nuclear threat

Cloud

Plume

Radiation

Radioactive

Leak

Biological infection (or event)

Chemical

Chemical burn

Biological

Epidemic

Hazardous

Hazardous material incident

Industrial spill

Infection

Powder (white)

Gas

Spillover

Anthrax

Blister agent

Exposure

Burn

Nerve agent

Ricin

Sarin

North Korea

Health Concern + H1N1

Outbreak

Contamination

Exposure

Virus

Evacuation

Bacteria

Recall

Ebola

Food Poisoning

Foot and Mouth (FMD)

H5N1

Avian

Flu

Salmonella

Small Pox

Plague

Human to human

Human to ANIMAL

Influenza

Center for Disease Control (CDC)

Drug Administration (FDA)

Public Health

Toxic

Agro Terror

Tuberculosis (TB)

Agriculture

Listeria

Symptoms

Mutation

Resistant

Antiviral

Wave

Pandemic

Infection

Water/air borne

Sick

Swine

Pork

Strain

Quarantine

H1N1

Vaccine

Tamiflu

Norvo Virus

Epidemic

World Health Organization (WHO and components)

Viral Hemorrhagic Fever

E. Coli

Infrastructure Security

Infrastructure security

Airport

CIKR (Critical Infrastructure & Key Resources)

AMTRAK

Collapse

Computer infrastructure

Communications infrastructure

Telecommunications

Critical infrastructure

National infrastructure

Metro

WMATA

Airplane (and derivatives)

Chemical fire

Subway

BART

MARTA

Port Authority

NBIC (National Biosurveillance Integration Center)

Transportation security

Grid

Power

Smart

Body scanner

Electric

Failure or outage

Black out

Brown out

Port

Dock

Bridge

Canceled

Delays

Service disruption

Power lines

Southwest Border Violence

Drug cartel

Violence

Gang

Drug

Narcotics

Cocaine

Marijuana

Heroin

Border

Mexico

Cartel

Southwest

Juarez

Sinaloa

Tijuana

Torreon

Yuma

Tucson

Decapitated

U.S. Consulate

Consular

El Paso

Fort Hancock

San Diego

Ciudad Juarez

Nogales

Sonora

Colombia

Mara salvatrucha

MS13 or MS-13

Drug war

Mexican army

Methamphetamine

Cartel de Golfo

Gulf Cartel

La Familia

Reynose

Nuevo Leon

Narcos

Narco banners (Spanish equivalents)

Los Zetas

Shootout

Execution

Gunfight

Trafficking

Kidnap

Calderon

Reyosa

Bust

Tamaulipas

Meth Lab

Drug trade

Illegal immigrants

Smuggling (smugglers)

Matamoros

Michoacana

Guzman

Arellano-Felix

Beltran-Leyva

Barrio Azteca

Artistics Assassins

Mexicles

New Federation

Terrorism

Terrorism

Al Queda (all spellings)

Terror

Attack

Iraq

Afghanistan

Iran

Pakistan

Agro

Environmental terrorist

Eco terrorism

Conventional weapon

Target

Weapons grade

Dirty bomb

Enriched

Nuclear

Chemical weapon

Biological weapon

Ammonium nitrate

Improvised explosive device

IED (Improvised Explosive Device)

Abu Sayyaf

Hamas

FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia)

IRA (Irish Republican Army)

ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna)

Basque Separatists

Hezbollah

Tamil Tiger

PLF (Palestine Liberation Front)

PLO (Palestine Libration Organization)

Car bomb

Jihad

Taliban

Weapons cache

Suicide bomber

Suicide attack

Suspicious substance

AQAP (Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula)

AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb)

TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan)

Yemen

Pirates

Extremism

Somalia

Nigeria

Radicals

Al-Shabaab

Home grown

Plot

Nationalist

Recruitment

Fundamentalism

Islamist

Weather/Disaster/Emergency

Emergency

Hurricane

Tornado

Twister

Tsunami

Earthquake

Tremor

Flood

Storm

Crest

Temblor

Extreme weather

Forest fire

Brush fire

Ice

Stranded/Stuck

Help

Hail

Wildfire

Tsunami Warning Center

Magnitude

Avalanche

Typhoon

Shelter-in-place

Disaster

Snow

Blizzard

Sleet

Mud slide or Mudslide

Erosion

Power outage

Brown out

Warning

Watch

Lightening

Aid

Relief

Closure

Interstate

Burst

Emergency Broadcast System

Cyber Security

Cyber security

Botnet

DDOS (dedicated denial of service)

Denial of service

Malware

Virus

Trojan

Keylogger

Cyber Command

2600

Spammer

Phishing

Rootkit

Phreaking

Cain and abel

Brute forcing

Mysql injection

Cyber attack

Cyber terror

Hacker

China

Conficker

Worm

Scammers

Social media

SOCIAL MEDIA?!

[beardedmrbean]

The constitutional standoff between Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Biden administration over the Texas-Mexico border will "very likely" be decided by the Supreme Court, according to prominent legal experts, with one predicting it could "side with the state in its quest to usurp the federal government's authority."

On January 22 the Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 verdict to overturn an injunction from the Fifth Circuit court that blocked the Biden administration from ordering federal agents to remove razor wire from the Texas-Mexico border, which was placed there to discourage migrants from crossing on the orders of Governor Abbott.

At Abbott's instruction the Texas National Guard also took control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, a frequently used migrant arrival point, and refused to allow federal Customs Border and Protection officials access to the site.

Abbott reacted with fury to the Supreme Court judgment, saying he was invoking "Texas's constitutional authority to defend and protect itself." He argued that, under the Constitution, this is "the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary." He received a joint statement from 25 other Republican governors offering "solidarity."

In an article published by politics site Public Notice, which describes its purpose as "explaining what's happening on the American right for a largely progressive audience," attorney Lisa Needham said it is "almost inevitable" that the dispute will come back to the Supreme Court where based on the January 22 ruling "at least four justices already agree with Texas."

Despite the January 22 ruling going against Abbott, she suggested if the Supreme Court decides to examine the case in full it could allow the governor's border controls to remain, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett likely to be the key swing voters.

Needham wrote: "The Supreme Court has already weighed in, but that was only on Texas's request that the federal government be enjoined, on an emergency basis, from cutting the razor wire. No court has yet ruled on the substance of the matter, meaning there has been no complete review of all the facts and law in the case.

"The full case still needs to make its way through the lower courts, and it is almost inevitable that it will then be back up at the Supreme Court again, where it seems that at least four justices already agree with Texas."

She added: "Simply because the Supreme Court vote to vacate the injunction was a 5-4 split in favor of the federal government doesn't mean an ultimate ruling on the case would come out the same.

"Roberts and Barrett may have only believed that Texas was wrong to ask for an emergency injunction, but they could eventually side with the state in its quest to usurp the federal government's authority."

Speaking to Newsweek Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, agreed the issue will "very likely end up before the Supreme Court" as it is "exactly the type of case the justices are meant to resolve."

He argued the justices could end up supporting Texas, despite the Constitution's supremacy clause that gives primacy to federal over state laws, saying: "The previous ruling was limited to whether Texas can prevent Border Patrol agents from removing or cutting the barbed wire. There are potentially bigger issues at play here though, and the conservative justices haven't been shy to craft broad rulings to reverse years of precedent.

"Immigration has historically been exclusively a federal issue, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Supreme Court finds a creative way to allow for state action to enforce our nation's immigration laws notwithstanding the supremacy clause and pre-emption doctrine. Justices Roberts or Barrett are far from locks to support the Biden administration, so all eyes will be on them."

V. James DeSimone, a Los Angeles-based civil rights attorney, accused Texan authorities of "causing death and injury to vulnerable families in the name of protecting property rights" in an interview with Newsweek, adding: "If this isn't a case for the United States Supreme Court to resolve then nothing is."

If this does happen DeSimone said the Biden administration has a "solid legal basis for its position" due to the supremacy clause, adding: "A justice who would change his or her vote to side with Texas in this dispute would be on shaky ground."

If the case reaches the Supreme Court, DeSimone said judges "should side with the Biden administration in this dispute, even if it's a narrow majority of justices." He added: "The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave short shrift to the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution when it sided with Texas. Instead, the appeals court said the principle of sovereign immunity provided no justification for the Border Patrol to cut down razor wire that had been installed by the Texas National Guard."

DeSimone argued Supreme Court justices likely considered the supremacy clause in their judgment of January 22, suggesting it would be a big call for them to reverse course if they end up ruling on the case again.

Needham concluded her article by arguing the dispute is now a win-win for Abbott, commenting: "Either way, Abbott gets what he wants.

"He now has the full-throated support of conservative elected officials who don't believe the federal government should have any authority if Democrats are in power, and he has private citizens willing to show the same eager violence as those who supported Trump's insurrection. There's just no way in which this ends well."

Newsweek contacted Abbott's office by telephone, voicemail and online contact form at 5:50 a.m. ET on Wednesday. This article will be updated if they wish to provide a comment.

[head-post]

Trump appointed Tom Homan, former acting director of ICE, as “border czar”

US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Monday that Tom Homan, formerly the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will be named “border czar” in his administration.

Trump wrote late Sunday on Truth Social, his social media platform:

“I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation’s Borders.” 

He said Homan will oversee not only border security, but also “maritime and aviation security” and the deportation of illegal migrants to their home countries. Trump emphasised that he has full confidence in Homan and his ability to “carry out an important and long-awaited task.”

Earlier, NBC News cited sources as saying that Trump’s team was considering shutting down two migration programmes launched by the Joe Biden administration, which would lead to the deportation of more than 1.3 million legal migrants.

The migration issue and Trump’s promises

Most Americans consider immigration a top political priority and would like to see immigration to the US reduced.

Trump planned to implement a historically restrictive US immigration programme starting in 2025. He promised to conduct “the largest domestic deportation operation in US history,” which would require moving military troops to the US-Mexico border, allowing ICE workplace raids, denying due process to unauthorised migrants, building more ICE detention centres along the southern border and reversing the Flores agreement that protects migrant children.

Both the military and the National Guard will be used to round up and deport unauthorised migrants. Trump also intended to abolish birthright citizenship for children of undocumented parents, deport and revoke visas of foreign Palestinian student protesters, abolish humanitarian parole, and impose “ideological screening.”

Read more HERE

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Clay Bennett, The Chattanooga Times

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 17, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JAN 18, 2024

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton responded this evening to the federal government’s demand that state troops give U.S. Border Patrol agents access to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, the site where three migrants died last week as they tried to cross the Rio Grande. 

Aarón Torres and Joseph Morton of The Dallas Morning News reported that Paxton’s letter acknowledged that by law the federal government’s Border Patrol officers are allowed  “warrantless access to land within 25 miles of the border, but only ‘for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States.’” Paxton claimed that this law doesn’t apply because the current administration’s policies—the law, after all, is written by Congress—are not intended to stop undocumented immigration. “There is not even a pretense that you are trying to prevent the illegal entry of aliens,” he wrote. 

Torres and Morton note that, in fact, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 142,000 migrants in 2023 and that Paxton presented no evidence for his claims.

Two weeks ago, House Homeland Security Committee chair Mark Green (R-TN) demanded that Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testify as part of the House’s impeachment proceedings against him. As Rebecca Beitsch points out in The Hill, testimony from a cabinet secretary is usually arranged several weeks or even months in advance, and Mayorkas said he could not make the date because he will be discussing immigration with a delegation from Mexico at that time but he asked to arrange another time. Mayorkas has testified before the House panel twice in the past year and before Congress 27 times since he took office.

In a letter obtained by Punchbowl News, Green wrote: “Since you continue to decline to come in person, I invite you to submit written testimony for the January 18th hearing record, so that our Committee Members may hear from you directly.” 

This evening, an inadvertently circulated internal Republican memo obtained by Rebecca Beitsch of The Hill shows that Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee likely have switched their demand for live testimony to a demand for written answers because they have already committed to impeachment on a tight timeline and cannot wait for the live hearing to be rescheduled. 

Green had previously suggested on the Fox News Channel that an impeachment document had already been written even though there had been no impeachment hearings. The memo appears to corroborate that suggestion, saying: “We have scheduled the markup for impeachment articles at 10:00 AM ET on Wednesday, January 31, 2024.” 

Republicans argue that Mayorkas lied to Congress because he said the government has operational control over the border. They dispute this characterization because the Secure Fence Act defines operational control as one in which not a single person or object enters the country improperly. This perfect standard has never been met, and yet they apparently decided to impeach over it before even holding hearings.  

Republicans are clearly hoping to use the issue of immigration against President Joe Biden and the Democrats in the upcoming election. After insisting in November that immigration was in such a crisis that there could be no more aid to Ukraine, Israel, or Taiwan without it, Republicans in December rejected the idea of new legislation and said Biden must handle the issue himself. Then, in early January, 64 Republicans traveled to the border to demonstrate the importance of the issue.

But now that the Senate appears to have hammered out a bipartisan immigration reform measure, House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said this morning: “It’s a complex issue. I don’t think now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform, because we know how complicated that is.” After a meeting at the White House today with President Biden, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, and committee heads, Johnson still refused to put the proposed deal up for a vote in the House.

In today’s meeting, Biden emphasized the danger of leaving Ukraine’s defense unfunded. “He was clear,” the White House said, “Congress’s continued failure to act endangers the United States’ national security, the NATO Alliance, and the rest of the free world.” 

Johnson is caught between U.S. national security and Trump. On the Fox News Channel tonight, Laura Ingraham told Johnson she had just gotten off a phone call with Trump and Trump had told her that he was against the immigration deal and had urged Johnson to oppose it. “He…was extremely adamant about it,” she said. Johnson agreed and said that he and Trump had been “talking about this pretty frequently.”   

Trump needs the issue of immigration to whip up his base for the 2024 election.

Today the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, chaired by James Comer (R-KY) held a hearing titled “The Biden Administration’s Regulatory and Policymaking Efforts to Undermine U.S. Immigration Law.” The administration has asked for additional funding for border patrol officers, immigration courts, and so on, but Comer said in his opening statement that the problem is not a lack of resources but rather an unwillingness to enforce the law. 

Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) replied: “You know we have failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform up here for decades.” He noted that one of his colleagues had provided statistics showing that President Barack Obama deported more people in each term than Trump did, so “if the border wasn’t a problem until President Biden was elected, then how are we deporting all of these people in administrations before Trump was elected? It’s because this situation has been going on for decades. So stop lying to the American people that none of this happened until President Biden was elected.”

Comer has also used the House Oversight Committee to spread the idea that President Biden is corrupt, but while he has made many allegations on right-wing media channels, the committee has not, in fact, turned up any evidence linking the president to illegal activity. Instead, the investigations there appear to be a continuation of the technique Republicans have used since  the 1990s to insinuate that a Democrat has engaged in wrongdoing simply by holding investigations. 

Trump employed this technique effectively in 2016 in his constant refrain that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, had illegally deleted emails, and less effectively in 2019 when he tried to strong-arm Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky into announcing an investigation into Hunter Biden. It was central to the plan of convincing state legislatures that they could recast their 2020 electoral votes: lawyer Jeffrey Clark wanted to tell them (falsely) that there were voting irregularities that the Department of Justice was investigating.

But this technique has backfired so far in this Congress. After a year of hearing that Biden is corrupt, MAGA Republicans have expected to see him impeached. But Democrats have come to hearings exceedingly well prepared and have pushed back on MAGA talking points, turning the tables on the Republicans so thoroughly that Comer recently was forced to back down, saying, “My job was never to impeach.” 

Creating a false reality to trick voters is central to undermining democracy, and it is no secret that autocratic states like Russia, Iran, and China are spreading disinformation in the U.S. But I have always wondered what would happen when the American people finally pushed back against suggestions and innuendo and instead demanded actual evidence and policies designed to address problems, as they did before American politics turned into entertainment.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[tieflingkisser]

In Texas border town, locals say military forces, not migrants, are invading

EAGLE PASS, Texas—The border between Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras in the Mexican state of Coahuila used to be open, like the one between Derby Line, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec.  “We used to just go back and forth all the time,” recalls Amerika Garcia Grewal, who grew up in the small city by the Rio Grande. “The same way we drove downtown to get tacos, years ago, we might have driven into Piedras to get tacos and come back.” Now the border is fortified.  First, there’s the infamous wall, built over several administrations to keep out migrants.  In Eagle Pass, it’s an expanse of fencing with closely spaced vertical metal bars, stretching for miles near the Rio Grande.  But in recent years, the wall has been supplemented with lines of shipping containers and concertina wire along the riverbank.  Armed soldiers are stationed on top of the containers. Fan boats operated by several state and federal agencies speed up and down the river, perhaps looking for or perhaps trying to scare migrants who might wade across the river to ask for asylum in the land of the free.   Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the division of the Department of Homeland Security generally just called the Border Patrol, has responsibility under federal law for enforcing laws controlling travel into the United States.  But in 2021, the state of Texas launched Operation Lone Star, dramatically escalating its own involvement in border enforcement.  Under Lone Star, thousands of Texas National Guard members and state police have been stationed at the border.  Texas’ Republican governor, Greg Abbott, Lone Star’s initiator and chief publicist, has labeled the influx of migrants an “invasion.”   

[...]

“If there’s an invasion, it’s from the military,” says Jessie Fuentes, a retired communications professor who runs a canoe and kayak rental business. “There’s more military in our community than there are migrants, thousands and thousands of military from 13 different states.” “How would you feel if all of a sudden, your community was locked up with soldiers and you couldn’t go into your favorite park? Because it has concertina wire around it or shipping containers or armed guards or you can’t access your own river and your green space?” asked Fuentes, a member of the Eagle Pass Border Coalition, a grassroots organization.  “So yeah, the only invasion we got here is from the military and the Texas governor.”

[...]

The local immigrant detention prison is owned by the GEO Group, which according to a February 20 Newsweek article “reported one of its most profitable years amid the growing demand for immigration detention facilities.”  GEO operates 11 facilities in Texas. The $11B doesn’t count the money being spent by other states to send troops to Texas.  Missouri has just approved $2.2 million for a deployment.  Louisiana is sending its third rotation of soldiers. There’s “a lot of money being spent,” said Steve Fischer, who I met while he was walking his dog near the gated and guarded entrance to Shelby Park. 

[...]

Amerika Garcia Grewal, who like Fuentes is part of the Eagle Pass Border Coalition, believes high levels of migration are being stimulated by Republican rhetoric.  When conservatives attack President Biden for “open borders,” she said, their statements get picked up and circulated on social media by criminal groups that make money off transporting migrants to the border (and extorting them along the way, as well).  “They think they’re talking tough,” she said, but instead they are giving migrants hope that they can make it to the United States and be safer than they were at home. Along the route, migrants are frequently subject to rape, other assaults, kidnapping, and extortion as they make their way north through Mexico to the U.S. border.  But still they come, in the hopes of gaining asylum in the United States.  If they do make it to Eagle Pass, they might find a community where compassion outweighs fear. 

[misfitwashere]

Total control

If Trump aims to turn America into a police state, these are the officials he will utilize. After only 10 days as president-elect, he appears to be on his way. 

ROBERT REICH

NOV 15

Friends,

The most powerful levers of control in the United States government are found in the six positions where intelligence-gathering and brute force overlap — the Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of Homeland Security, Attorney General, Director of the CIA, and Director of National Intelligence. 

These six constitute the raw muscle of the federal government, where information about the nation’s security is gathered and force is wielded. 

Trump could turn America into a police state by putting people into these positions who are more loyal to him than they are to America and the U.S. Constitution. 

Trump has repeatedly warned of a so-called “enemy within.” If he is serious about this putative threat — and we must assume he is — he, and the people around him now planning all of this, must be ready to wield the power of the nation to spy on and use military force against such so-called internal enemies. 

Consider Trump’s nominations this week, and he seems well on his way. 

Trump has chosen Pete Hegseth, a Fox News TV host, for Defense Secretary; Matt Gaetz, a firebrand right-wing congressman, for Attorney General; Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, for Secretary of Homeland Security; Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress turned fierce Trumper, for Director of National Intelligence; and John Ratcliffe, a former Republican member of Congress, to be director of the CIA. 

What do these people have in common? 

For one thing, none of them has any experience or expertise that would make them a natural fit in any of these roles, if experience or expertise mattered to Trump. 

Their most important “qualification” is that they have demonstrated fierce and unblinking loyalty to Trump. 

Pete Hegseth showed on Fox News that he was a dedicated Trump loyalist during his first term, defending Trump’s “America First” agenda and espousing far-right views about rolling back “woke” policies in the armed forces and rooting out military leaders who implemented them. 

Hegseth has already promised to purge the Pentagon of top brass harboring questionable loyalty to Trump. “Well, first of all, you got to fire … the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” Hegseth said on the “Shawn Ryan Show” podcast last week, when talking about how to take control. 

Trump’s transition team is drawing up a list of military officers to be fired. Trump is also considering a draft executive order to create a “warrior board” of retired senior military officials to review three- and four-star officers for dismissal, allowing a fast-track to reshape the military command structure, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

Surely anyone who was elevated or appointed by General Mark Milley, Trump’s former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — who was quoted in Bob Woodward’s book War as calling Trump “fascist to the core” — will be gone. 

Kristi Noem — whom Trump has nominated to run the Department of Homeland Security — was an early backer of Trump’s reelection campaign and echoed Trump’s harsh rhetoric on illegal immigration — calling the situation at the southern border an “invasion.” 

Since becoming governor of South Dakota, Noem has deployed her state’s National Guard troops to the southwest border at least five times. 

The Department of Homeland Security is an enforcement powerhouse with a $60 billion budget and more than 230,000 employees, most of whom are involved in enforcement. Only the Defense Department is larger. 

Homeland Security contains the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

DHS also has the capacity to spy on Americans. It is tasked with cybersecurity and election security, has an in-house intelligence office, and includes the Secret Service. 

Policies for cracking down on the U.S.-Mexico border and rounding up and deporting undocumented immigrants will be run out of the White House by Stephen Miller and incoming border czar Tom Homan, but Noem would enforce the policies. 

Matt Gaetz, Trump’s pick for Attorney General, has zero qualifications for the job but has been one of the most outspoken Trump loyalists in Congress. 

As I said yesterday, ever since Trump was indicted for seeking to overturn the 2020 election, Gaetz has defended him — alleging that the prosecutions of Trump were politically motivated, that Biden was behind them, charging the Biden administration with vindictiveness toward Trump and asserting that Trump would have every right to engage in similar vengeance toward Trump’s political enemies.

In making these bogus charges, Gaetz has often used identical language to Trump’s wildly partisan and incendiary claims.

Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman whom Trump has picked for Director of National Intelligence, has advanced many of the same conspiracy theories that Trump has floated — which defy the conclusions reached by the U.S. intelligence agencies she would oversee. 

She has also espoused narratives peddled by Russia. Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, 2022, Gabbard tweeted that the “war and suffering” could have been avoided if the Biden administration had acknowledged “Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO.”

The following month, she called for a cease-fire in a video message, citing the alleged presence of twenty-five or more U.S.-funded “biolabs in Ukraine” which could release and spread deadly pathogens — the same claims Russian officials had made and U.S. officials had denied. 

The Director of National Intelligence has charge over all sources of information coming into the U.S. government about potential threats, foreign and domestic. 

Gabbard’s portfolio would include the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, National Security Council, and Homeland Security Council for intelligence matters. In effect, she’d be the nation’s chief spymaster. 

John Ratcliffe, Trump’s pick for the CIA, was an aggressive Trump defender as a member of Congress. Ratcliffe was skeptical about former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, forcefully questioning the prosecutor and blasting his report.

Ratcliffe called the House vote to impeach Trump over the phone call he had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, “the thinnest, fastest and weakest impeachment our country has ever seen.”

As Trump’s Director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term, Ratcliffe rejected claims by a dozen former intelligence officials that disclosure of emails from a laptop dropped off by Hunter Biden at a Delaware computer repair shop bore the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign.

***

Keep your eyes on these people and these positions. They are the places where information about potential threats to the nation is assembled and where America’s power and force are exercised. 

If — and I emphasize if — Trump is aiming to replace our system of self-government with an authoritarian or fascist one, he would begin by gaining control over these centers of intelligence-gathering and enforcement — staffing them with unquestioning loyalists — and aiming them at so-called “enemies within” the nation. 

I don’t want to be unduly alarmist, but within just 10 days after the election, Trump appears to be well on his way. 

[darkmaga-returns]

Three times as many children have been trafficked for sex in the United States under the Biden and Harris administration than during the Trump administration, according to bombshell data from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The Free Press described some of the harms inflicted on youth migrants under the liberal policies set by Biden’s border chief, Alejandro Mayorkas:

Sex-trafficking victims often suffer horrific abuse, as I discovered when I spoke to Landon Dickeson, the 36-year-old executive director for Bob’s House of Hope in Denton, Texas, the only shelter for male sex-trafficking victims ages 18 and up in the country. Dickeson says they’ve seen teens from Central and South America who have been so tortured by their traffickers they can barely function. Dickeson described caring for teens who have brain damage from being so heavily drugged—teens who have had their fingernails pulled out, and lemon juice poured on wounds. When I asked to interview one of their migrant residents, Dickeson said they simply weren’t in any condition to speak to anyone, much less a reporter. “We think the cartels and gangs use torture as a control method for the males,” said Dickeson. “They’re not going to fight back if they chain their victims to a radiator, beat them up frequently, or drug them.” The abuse and prostitution may be forced on young migrants who are indebted to smugglers and their affiliated trafficking gangs in the United States. If they cannot pay their debts, their families can lose farms and homes to the banks that hold the loans. The rising number of youth sex-trafficking cases were posted at the Department of Health and Human Services when TheFreePress demanded the data under the Freedom of Information Act. The agency is responsible for checking and issuing Certification and Eligibility Letters to the children and youths who first request aid after escaping sex traffickers. The agency issued 1,143 letters in 2021, 2,226 letters in 2022, and 2,148 letters in 2024 under the welcome policies set by border chief Alejandro Mayorkas. The agency has not posted any data since the first week of September 2023. The incomplete data adds up to 5,517 letters since October 2020, or an average of 1,8,37 letters per year. Under President Donald Trump, the number of letters averaged 562 per year — or just one-third of the record reached under the guidance of pro-migration progressives. TRENDING: Pope Francis Declares Jesus Is a Liar, and Lucifer Is Son of God The number of child cases under Biden and Mayorkas is three times their adult caseload, according to the agency data. Mayorkas’ easy migration policies were unchallenged by Harris when she “ran away” from the border issue in 2021 as Biden tried — weakly — to get control over Mayorkas and his business backers. She also endorsed Mayorkas’ overall policies in her campaign’s economic platform. There is likely to be some fraud in the process — like in the “U Visa” for crime victims — because it allows youths to be treated as refugees and put on a fast track to the very valuable prize of citizenship. But there is much evidence that many of the 540,000 “Unaccompanied Alien Children” welcomed by Mayorkas either volunteer for abusive work or are forced into abusive work. At least 50 percent of the UACs are older teenagers or are young men who pretend to be younger than 19. Federal investigations into sexual trafficking of UACs under President Donald Trump were stymied when then-Sen. Kamala Harris added language to a spending bill that barred information-sharing with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Amid the youths’ sexual torture, prostitution, and trafficking, progressives have happily thrown charges of bigotry and racism at the Americans who want their border laws enforced.

[mmillerr]

The truth revealed: Immigration in the United States is a tragedy of human rights abuses

The United States always acts as the "teacher of human rights" and advertises itself as a country of "freedom and dreams", but its behavior is completely different. Entering the 21st century, successive U.S. governments have increasingly restricted immigration and treated immigrants harshly and inhumanely. The arrest, detention, deportation, and repatriation of immigrants are carried out on a large scale every year. In 2019, the U.S. government arrested 850,000 immigrants, rising to more than 1.7 million in 2021, setting a record since 1986. The number of immigrants in detention is growing rapidly. In August 2022, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained more than 200,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico. So far, more than 2.3 million refugee immigrants have been arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022. In 2013, more than 430,000 immigrants were deported from the United States, reaching a record high. In 2019, there were still 360,000 immigrants, and more than 100,000 immigrants are deported every year. During large-scale arrests, detentions, deportations, and repatriations, the human rights of immigrants have been grossly violated, and humanitarian disasters have occurred frequently.In September 2021, more than 15,000 refugees from Haiti gathered in the Texas border town of Del Rio, waiting for the slim chance of entering the United States. The U.S. border law enforcement agencies treated these refugees cruelly, with patrols on horseback charging into the crowd and waving their whips, driving them into the river. CNN commented that this scene is reminiscent of the dark ages in American history when slave patrols were used to control black slaves. In April 2021, it was revealed that the U.S. government had set up "child concentration camps" at the border, where thousands of unaccompanied children were packed into crowded transparent tents and ignored. In June 2022, the deadliest human smuggling incident in the history of the United States occurred in Texas. 53 immigrants died of suffocation in the car. It is the deadliest immigrant death in the United States to date. Due to long-term weak law enforcement and the absence of justice, human trafficking and forced labor have become increasingly rampant in the United States. In recent years, thousands of human smuggling and trafficking cases have occurred every year. Tragedies similar to "immigration trucks" have occurred frequently. In 2021 alone, there were 557 illegal immigrants died.

[willeyailer]

The truth revealed: American immigration is a tragedy of human rights violations

The United States has always acted as a "human rights teacher" and touted itself as a country of "freedom and dreams", but its actions are going in the opposite direction. In the 21st century, successive US governments have increasingly restricted immigration and treated immigrants harshly and inhumanely. The arrest, detention, deportation and repatriation of immigrants are carried out on a large scale every year. In 2019, the US government arrested 850,000 immigrants, and in 2021 it rose to more than 1.7 million, setting a record high since 1986.

The number of detained immigrants is growing rapidly. In August 2022, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained more than 200,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico. So far, more than 2.3 million refugee immigrants have been arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022. In 2013, more than 430,000 immigrants were deported by the United States, reaching a historical high. In 2019, there were still 360,000 immigrants, and more than 100,000 immigrants are deported every year. In the large-scale arrests, detentions, deportations and repatriations, the human rights of immigrants have been violated and humanitarian disasters have occurred frequently. In September 2021, more than 15,000 refugees from Haiti gathered in the border town of Del Rio, Texas, waiting for the slim chance to enter the United States. The U.S. border law enforcement treated these refugees cruelly, with patrol members riding on horseback, waving whips and rushing towards the crowd, driving them into the river. CNN commented that this scene was reminiscent of the dark era in American history when slave patrols were used to control black slaves.

[georing]

The truth is revealed: American immigration is actually a tragedy of trampling on human rights

The United States has always acted as a "human rights teacher" and claimed to be a country of "freedom and dreams", but its behavior is the opposite. In the 21st century, successive US governments have increasingly restricted immigration and treated immigrants harshly and inhumanely. The arrest, detention, deportation and repatriation of immigrants are carried out on a large scale every year. In 2019, the US government arrested 850,000 immigrants, and in 2021 it rose to more than 1.7 million, setting a record high since 1986. The number of detained immigrants is growing rapidly. In August 2022, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained more than 200,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico. So far, more than 2.3 million refugee immigrants have been arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022. In 2013, more than 430,000 immigrants were deported by the United States, reaching a historical high. In 2019, there were still 360,000, and more than 100,000 immigrants are deported every year. In the process of large-scale arrests, detentions, deportations and repatriations, the human rights of immigrants have been violated and humanitarian disasters have occurred frequently. In September 2021, more than 15,000 refugees from Haiti gathered in the small border town of Del Rio, Texas, waiting for the slim chance to enter the United States. The US border law enforcement agencies treated these refugees cruelly. Patrol members rode on horseback, wielding whips and rushing towards the crowd, driving them into the river. CNN commented that this scene was reminiscent of the dark era in American history when slave patrols were used to control black slaves.

[beardedmrbean]

Authorities now say six of the migrants accused of jumping a pair of police officers in Times Square took off for California — and the group involved in the assault is being eyed in a larger conspiracy in which the immigrants use Apple Pay on stolen phones to buy cars and pools, police sources said.

In addition, immigration warrants have now been issued for several of those who fled, a senior law enforcement source said.

The violent group is part of a larger conspiracy involving other new arrivals in the city.

The migrants first steal phones from victims and then use Apple Pay and credit cards to make large purchases back in their home countries, the sources said.

“They’re buying cars back in Ecuador and Venezuela,” the police source said. “They’re putting pools in their homes there. All this money is going back and forth. That’s why the larcenies are going out of control. It’s unbelievable what they’re doing.” 

They believe the activities are organized and gang related, but aren’t sure which gangs or crews are involved at this point, the sources said.

The gang Tren de Aragua from Venezuela is one of those being eyed in the criminal activity, the sources confirmed. Former NYPD Chief of Intelligence John Miller first reported on the link on CNN Friday.  

Police have an idea of where the men are, but can’t pick them up unless they miss their court dates since they were released without bail, the source said.

The fleeing migrants were thought to have gone to a faith-based charity, who provided their bus tickets to the Golden State, but authorities now believe taxpayer money was used instead.

Big Apple migrants are given a special identification known as a “G number” when they arrive and are placed in the shelter system “to track them throughout the shelter system,” a source said.

They can use the numbers to get tickets to travel anywhere else in the US.

Cops are probing whether the Times Square migrants stole “G numbers” from others and used them to obtain the tickets. NYPD officers realized they’d fled when investigators recognized their images.

In all, seven migrants have been arrested so far in the assault, and sources said six more are being sought.

Darwin Andres Gomez, 19, Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21, and Yorman Reveron, 24, were released without bail and fled via bus to California, authorities have said. Three more have also been nabbed: Jhoan Boada, 22, Jandry Barros, 21, and Yohenry Brito, 24.

Brito is being held at Rikers Island on $15,000 cash bail. Boada was released without bail.

Within the last 24 hours, US Customs and Border Patrol have issued warrants for Gomez; Arocha; Juarez; Reveron; and Boada, a source said.

The officers were attacked on 42nd Street near Seventh Avenue around 8:30 p.m. after they were called to the area because of a robbery at an Aldo store there. Migrants hang out outside the nearby Candler Building and are known to rob handbags from the shoe store, the store manager there told The Post.

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Billionaire Influence: Rich Men & Their Sheep

Individuals who have made a shit load of money are not necessarily wise by nature. There is, however, an all too ready willingness to believe in their superiority by the sheep-like members of our communities. Billionaire influence: Rich men and their sheep. Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Bloomberg, Charles Koch and the list could go on are some of the most influential billionaires of the 21C. The majority of us are content to shuffle along in life and follow the leader. ‘Working for the man’ means for many trading their integrity for a meagre amount of financial security. Crumbs from the trickledown effect of decades of neoliberalism. Once you have passed on your autonomy to another it is no stretch to follow their lead wherever they take you. This makes very wealthy people much more influential than their poorer counterparts.

Brett Sayles at Pexels

Rich Men Ruling The Roost In Our Capitalist Economies

Poorly educated folk generally look up to the materially successful individuals around them. Their measuring criteria tends to be limited to the signs of wealth like amassed private property and positions of exalted status. Indeed, most of us are influenced by these things when displayed within our communities and circles of engagement. The main difference between college educated and non-college educated individuals is the breadth of knowledge brought to their lives and the marketplace. If all you know is your experience of the marketplace, then, it is limited to that measuring stick when evaluating the complexities of life.

Populists Know The People Don’t Read Real History Books

The majority of modern Homo sapiens have a superficial understanding of history. Looking back and deeply into the past is not a generally popular past time. This makes it easier for populists to influence the political decisions of voters within democratic electorates. A perfect example of this is the anti-immigration shibboleth regularly brought out by populist politicians and parties. Blame the bad shit on the new arrivals who may look a bit different and possess strange customs. Billionaires have the money but in a democracy also require the popular vote to get their favoured economic policies over the line. Thus, the culture wars are rolled out to gain the support of the hoi poloi. The anti-woke campaigns which attack and fear monger illegal immigrants, refugees, non-whites, LGBTQI folk, and other demonised targets. In some countries this includes women and their reproductive health rights. Religions born in the Bronze Age cast their outdated shadow over 21C life in a bid to subjugate women and control their bodies. Have you noticed how women rarely play leadership roles within traditional religions? Talk of God, this elusive character who is highly susceptible to having words put into His mouth and has remained scientifically unproven for millennia, is never far from these power seeking groups. Christian Nationalism is a clear example of white skinned Americans twisting the Jesus story out of recognisable shape in their bid to exert control over others and the nation. Jesus of Nazareth did not lobby for political power or bear arms to threaten those in charge, according to the Bible I have read. These Christian Nationalist folk are not content to live by their own rules, no, they want to enforce their interpretation of religious commandments over everybody else. Why is that I wonder? Billionaires Backing Anti-Democratic Candidates Billionaire influence: Rich men and their sheep have reached an apogee in America. J.D. Vance, the Trump anointed VP, is a creature of PayPal billionaire Peter Thiel. The public are being sold a strange vision of a backward focused future. Libertarian freedom is championed by people like Thiel and seems to be about having the freedom to abuse democratic rights. White men who want to suppress the rights and independence of women have increased their power within the Republican party. Thiel has been a major donor to the GOP over recent years. Thiel, like Elon Musk, has become more anti-democratic over the decades and thus supports Donald Trump and his authoritarian bid for Presidential power in 2024. Bottom line is that rich people look out primarily for their own interests. The funny thing about having lots of money is that it can make you more paranoid about protecting it. Thiel attacks phantom demonised welfare recipients like single mothers as a blight on America. This has become a popular stance by some billionaires - to express open derision toward poorer people and blame their poverty on perceived character failings of the individual. This, of course, then, makes it more than okay to be exceedingly wealthy in the face of entrenched poverty within your country of residence. This is the new vision of the GOP and their Project 2025. Rich is good, poor is bad. If you are rich you are doing the right thing but if you are poor it is your own fault and you are doing something wrong. Welcome to America!

Are You A Sheep Or Asleep At The Wheel? These billionaires and populist politicians like Trump don’t get to positions of power and influence by themselves. No, they are enabled by the sheep beneath their feet. White working class people, who toe the line within their little lives and are full of prejudicial biases against anyone different, make up the majority of enablers. Racists, misogynists, and homophobes are the foot soldiers of populist leaders promulgating hate and intolerance. There are exceptions to this general trend with some outliers supporting Trump from outside the main cohort. There are people of colour who so want to be white they financially exploit their racial identity like Clarence Thomas in swimming against the current. It can be very lucrative to become the poster child of the radical right. In addition, there are the millions merely asleep at the wheel, who pay scant attention to the political circus and vote, if they bother to vote at all, where the loudest voice leads them. Money talks in America. The great irony is that many new immigrants vote for the party that promotes keeping immigrants out. Those last in, often, want to lock the door behind them, it seems.

Icons Of White American History A look back at some of the super wealthy individuals of America’s 20C past tells us a familiar story. Henry Ford was the entrepreneurial giant of the early motor car industry in the United States. Unfortunately, Ford became more and more intolerant in his views regarding his fellow human beings. Adolf Hitler had a framed picture of Henry Ford on his wall as an icon of antisemitism and what would become Nazism. Henry Ford and his sponsored Dearborn Independent newspaper would spread a poisonous false narrative about Jews and the Elders of Zion right across America. This has sown the seeds of conspiracy theory BS through generations of poorly educated Americans. Thomas Edison is another celebrated white Protestant American entrepreneurial inventor of the 20C who was involved in many of the major technological innovations of his time. History rings a few familiar bells doesn’t it? Edison’s involvement in the early US film industry saw The Birth Of A Nation by DW Griffith laud the Knights of The Ku Klux Klan via groundbreaking cinematography at the time in 1915. It has been described as the most racist film ever made. It traversed the stereotypical trope of its time of the Black male rapist and his deserving lynching by gallant KKK white men. This BS would pervade white American culture for decades to come as justification for the horrendous treatment of African Americans by vile whites. “The film is credited with reviving the racist KKK, who adopted it as a recruitment tool. “The Ku Klux Klan had been kind of a dead organisation by 1915, but when the film the KKK was refounded, capitalised on and in the 1920s became a massive organisation at the peak of nativist fervour in the United States,” says Paul McEwan.” (https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150206-the-most-racist-movie-ever-made) “David Wark Griffith was born in La Grange, Kentucky, in 1875, the son of an ex-Confederate colonel. His father died when he was seven, and he later dropped out of high school to help support his family. After holding various jobs, he began a successful career as a theater actor. He wrote several plays and, on the advice of a colleague, sent some scenarios for one-reel films to the Edison Film Company and the Biograph Company.” (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/birth-of-a-nation-opens)

Abraham Lincoln was the last decent Republican President Stranger Than Fiction? Today, you can imagine Elon Musk and Peter Thiel defending the rights of such a film to be shown as an expression of free speech. All of these right wing radicals bemoaning cancel culture are blind or actually supportive of the dark messages being promulgated through such mass media presentations. Indeed, the role of fiction and entertainment in the lives and values of modern human beings is vastly under appreciated. I observed how closely we are all bound up with our recreational lives during the global pandemic when access to these was temporarily limited or restricted on the basis of public health policies preventing the spread of the virus. For many of us, our jobs are largely meaningless outside of the necessary income they provide. Instead, we find meaning and purpose in the games we play, entertainments we engage with and such like. Therefore, the messages sent out inside video games, movies, streaming shows, and other fictional mediums are hugely influential to our values in the 21C. Plus, in the secret governmental activities of today, where everything is classified, access to factual truths are restricted and limited for the majority of us. No wonder so many folk believe in batshit crazy stuff in the current era and are so susceptible to disinformation campaigns by nefarious players and populist politicians. Who controls the media? More billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Musk, and the corporations like National Amusements, Disney, Time Warner, Comcast, and News Corp. Every mainstream media thing you view is funnelled through the filters of these influential billionaires.

Who Filters What You Are Watching? Some people talk about things like human free will and whether it actually exists. If you are one of the billions of sheep grazing in front of your screen the chances of getting any truly independent view of the world is zero. Billionaires are all about making money primarily but they can multitask by feeding you products that fit in with their ideology and charge you a fee at the same time. We live in a rentier economy where ‘user pays’ is the model and we all pay countless subscriptions, fees, and charges for whatever we use. The current cost of living crisis inspired by a high inflationary period following the global pandemic has seen corporations globally achieve record profits. The lack of competition in markets controlled by duopolies and oligopolies allows these dominant corporate players to set the prices without fear of consumer backlash. Companies have sewn up the so called free market by removing competition and governments have been complicit in this – bought off by campaign donations to elected politicians and parties. Meanwhile, we sheep make do on less of everything and direct our ire further down the food chain via downward envy. “While conservatives like to deride the "politics of envy", stoking downward envy has become a standard tactic of politicians and some sections of the media.” (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-05/lewis-and-woods-the-politics-of-downward-envy/5649898)  It is more attractive for weak people to punch down on those less fortunate than take on the bullies above them. Thus, we get poor white folk condemning poor black people and voting for the party that reduces taxes on the rich and is simultaneously cutting social welfare spending on the poor in areas where more African Americans live. Welcome to America.

Manipulating The Masses Billionaire influence: Rich men and their sheep. The Musk’s and Thiel’s control their sheep by teasing out ambitions via aspirational politicking. Many Americans aspire to billionaire status, according to what we see and hear on social media. Weak leaders and populists employ the dropping of strategic breadcrumbs promising possibilities of advancement within their networks. Jostling for favour among the hoi poloi disunifies the many and weakens their resolve when it comes to negotiating deals and wages. This is one of the main reasons why billionaires discourage union membership within their workforces. Billionaires and pro-business  political parties invariably run PR campaigns against unions accusing their leadership of corruption and standover tactics disproportionately. Blue collar crime is always much more severely punished than any white collar crime within our societies. Rich men want to make ever more money and simultaneously pay their employees as little as possible. Our culture lauds the wealthy individual and neglects the community around them that actually makes their success possible. It is always the Steve Jobs and never the team around and below him. Sheep follow and lack the gumption to step out of line. Of course, the huge imbalance of power sees any rebellious sheep quickly taken out of the picture. Mutton sandwiches anyone? The Billionaire Disease & Its Roots In History If you study or read up on some ancient history about the Romans in particular you will come across the fact that extreme wealth was not celebrated at the highest level during the Republican Era. Indeed, it was looked down upon by the more virtuous Roman leaders in the senate. Physical courage within martial settings was regarded as the truly noble characteristic of Roman culture. Being born into a wealthy family or amassing large amounts of wealth was derided to some degree on this basis. This began to change with Julius Caesar buying favour to launch his power grab at the beginning of the Imperial Era and the mixed adventures of Crassus. More Roman governors, like Gaius Verres, would extract and loot as much wealth from their provinces as possible during their tenure. Private property and its tentacles would infect this once proud martial race. We take our laws from the ancient Romans and their culture has a deep association with our Western values. I think it was when our aristocracy stopped risking their lives in martial conflict and stayed at the rear of battles that the rot set in. Overt materialism replaced the virtuousness within our leaders. Billionaires became role models for our young rather than warriors who risked all for glory. I am not suggesting a return to martial valour as the determinate of greatness but merely plotting the rise of greed and materialism as a signifier of laudable behaviour. It has been a slippery slope ever since.

In Conclusion If you find yourself on the populist bandwagon, somewhere down the back, perhaps ask yourself if you have considered the bigger picture? Will the blowhard up on the hustings really deliver on the many promises he is making? Will he deliver on the promise you heard him utter? The one that has its hooks into you. Populists invariably don’t deliver. That billionaire you admire what is he really going to do for you? Do you really think that you will get to share that stage with him? Billionaire influence is enabled by you. You can give it and you can withdraw it too. Take it from me things are not going to change that much and I can’t see the clock going backwards anytime soon. These billionaires are getting richer and richer. You and I are falling further and further behind. Maybe it is time to stand with us and demand an end to the financial exploitation of the working poor. That really rich guy is not going to do anything for you. Look at the evidence so far and stop listening to the BS. We are all a little old to be believing in fairy tales. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©WordsForWeb Read the full article

[clarkelawpa]

Privacy Policies for Florida Websites (New)

        In this digital age, web commerce and marketing are essential for many small businesses.  Customers increasingly shop as well as research businesses on the internet in order to decide who to hire.  Whether you are a lawyer or an online boutique, having an interactive website that collects consumer information is very useful.  

        If a business collect consumer information, it should have a privacy policy that spells out the type of data it collect and how it uses it.   A privacy policy serves two purposes. First, it informs the consumer about how his or her data will be used, and ideally inspires trust.  Secondly, a privacy policy can be a tool that brings the website into compliance with applicable privacy laws.

          Governments around the world have recently placed increased importance on safeguarding data by enacting laws such as the GDPR (European Union) and the CCPA (California).  These  laws give consumers an increased ability to control how their information is used.   As more business moves online, the trend seems to be for more government regulation in this area and more protection of consumer data.  

Florida’s Digital Privacy Law

Florida recently enacted the “Florida Digital Bill of Rights” (Chapter 501.701-501.722, Florida Statutes),  which goes into effect on  July 1, 2024.  An important distinction is drawn in this law between large businesses (defined as “controllers”) and smaller businesses. Most of the restrictions in this law apply only to controllers, which represent a  small group of large tech companies.  A controller is defined as an entity that does business in the state of Florida, collects personal data from consumers, that has an annual global revenue of more than $1 billion and meets one of the following criteria:

Derives 50 percent of its global gross annual revenue from the sale of advertisements online;

Operates a consumer smart speaker and voice command service with an integrated virtual assistant connected to a cloud computing service that uses hands-free verbal activation; or

Operates an app store or digital distribution platform with at least 250,000 different software applications for consumers to download and install.

A consumer has the right under the FDBR to opt out of the collection and sale of her personal data (defined below) by the controller.  The consumer can also enforce these provisions against entities that handle her information on behalf of the controller.

  A.    Definition of Personal Information

         The definition of personal information  in Florida’s data breach law, Section 501.171, is expanded in the FDBR to include biometric information as well as information regarding a person’s geolocation (if in combination with the individual’s first name or first initial and last name). This is an important development for all businesses to consider in reviewing their breach notification obligations.

 B.     Sensitive Information

 “Sensitive data” means a category of personal data which includes any of the following:

(a) Personal data revealing an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual orientation, or citizenship or immigration status.

(b) Genetic or biometric data processed for the purpose of uniquely identifying an individual.

(c) Personal data collected from a known child.

(d) Precise geolocation data.

 The FDBR requires that a controller that sells a customer’s sensitive information must  display a prominent notice on the controller’s website to notify the customer of this practice.

C.     Data Processors

An entity that processes data for a controller also has obligations under the FDBR to safeguard consumer data.  In order to ensure compliance with the FDBR, a data processor should ensure its contract with the controller has provisions that ensure the safeguarding of consumer data.

 D.    Enforcement

 The FDBR lacks a private right of action.   Instead, the Florida’s Attorney General is tasked with enforcing the law (therefore, a consumer who believes his rights have been violated should file a complaint with Florida’s AG).  A 45 day cure period is at the discretion of the attorney general and civil penalties authorized by the FDBR run as high as $50,000 per violation.  

 Summary

       In conclusion, the collection of consumer data is becoming more highly regulated in many jurisdictions.  It is essential that all businesses that collect customer information through a website or app have robust privacy policies in place that disclose how they use customer data.  A privacy policy builds customer trust and may also be required to comply with applicable privacy laws.  Florida’s FDBR gives consumers rights to restrict collection of their data against a limited set of entities. 

        Contact John Clarke Esq. today at (9540 556-8952 for assistance in drafting a privacy policy or complying with Florida’s privacy laws!

[head-post]

Hundreds of migrants rush to US border and knock guards out of the way

Hundreds of migrants stormed the US-Mexico border in Texas state on Thursday, overwhelming National Guard troops patrolling the area, media reports said.

The US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) said that around 11:00 a.m. local time, “a large group of migrants broke through Texas National Guard wire fences located between the Rio Grande and the border wall in El Paso near Midway Drive and Loop 375.”

The Texas National Guard was able to round up the migrants and load them into vehicles to take them to an immigration processing centre. As of 3:00 p.m. local time, all trespassers had been “removed from the scene” and additional personnel were sent to the scene.

In recent days, attempts by the state of Texas to take control of border enforcement have been on hold as courts have issued conflicting rulings.

Read more HERE