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A memo from the Department of Homeland Security, which was recently reviewed by Reuters, suggest that the Trump administration plans to hit the ground running on the construction of that U.S.-Mexico border wall when they move into the White House later this month. The memo apparently summarized a meeting held between DHS officials and Trump's transition team on December 5th in which requests were made for an assessment of "all assets available for border wall and barrier construction." In a wide-ranging request for documents and analysis, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team asked the Department of Homeland Security last month to...

In a wide-ranging request for documents and analysis, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team asked the Department of Homeland Security last month to assess all assets available for border wall and barrier construction. The team also asked about the department's capacity for expanding immigrant detention and about an aerial surveillance program that was scaled back by the Obama administration but remains popular with immigration hardliners. And it asked whether federal workers have altered biographic information kept by the department about immigrants out of concern for their civil liberties. The requests were made in a Dec. 5 meeting between Trump's transition team...

In a wide-ranging request for documents and analysis, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team asked the Department of Homeland Security last month to assess all assets available for border wall and barrier construction. The team also asked about the department's capacity for expanding immigrant detention and about an aerial surveillance program that was scaled back by the Obama administration but remains popular with immigration hardliners. And it asked whether federal workers have altered biographic information kept by the department about immigrants out of concern for their civil liberties. The requests were made in a Dec. 5 meeting between Trump's transition team...

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Jerry Knowles wants to put a stop to the sanctuary campus movement in his state. He circulated a co-sponsorship memo in December in an effort to find like-minded lawmakers to help push a bill that would cut off state funding to any institution of higher education that sets itself up as a “sanctuary campus” to protect illegal immigrants. Knowles’ memo followed by only a few days the news that two Pennsylvania schools — Swarthmore College and the University of Pennsylvania — had pledged to refuse to allow federal authorities on campus without a warrant. They directed their...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama is under pressure during his final weeks as president to do something — anything — to secure the future of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children who could face deportation under the Trump administration. His options appear few. At least 50 congressional Democrats are pushing Obama to take the rare if not unprecedented step of granting pardons to the young immigrants who have stepped forward to identify themselves in exchange for a promise that they'd be safe from deportation. The White House, though, has repeatedly ruled that out. Several Republican...

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Jerry Knowles wants to put a stop to the sanctuary campus movement in his state as soon as he and his legislative colleagues get back to work in January. He circulated a co-sponsorship memo in December in an effort to find like-minded lawmakers to help push a bill that would cut off state funding to any institution of higher education that sets itself up as a “sanctuary campus” to protect illegal immigrants. Knowles’ memo followed by only a few days the news that two Pennsylvania schools — Swarthmore College and the University of Pennsylvania — had pledged...

In central Mexico’s Mezquital Valley, new pick-up trucks bounce along unpaved roads and U.S.-style houses are springing up alongside cornfields. But people are afraid that remittances from family members abroad, a primary source of funding for such purchases, may soon dry up.During the holiday season, even as money and gifts have flowed into the area from relatives working in the United States, residents have fretted about what a Trump presidency will mean for them and family members working in the United States.During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump said he would stop allowing wire transfers of money out of the United...

The California Legislature reconvenes this week, but thanks to Donald Trump, it is more likely to resemble a war council in the coming months than the deliberative body of the most populous state in the nation. This war posture is triggered by fears that Trump’s election means life as we know it in the Golden State is about to change for the worst. Marauding hordes of federal agents will sweep up illegal immigrants wherever they find them, Covered California will be rendered naked, and scientists who believe in climate change will be pushed to the sidelines. Out will go solar...

The phrase “sanctuary city” should be redundant. Cities should be sanctuaries for citizens. Period.The surrounding walls of a community kept inhabitants safe from marauding tribes in the Middle Ages. To this day, Vatican City has its ancient surroundings. Israel has a fence, with a cement wall in key sections, to protect their citizenry from Islamic terrorists and West Bank agitators. Those cities are safe, or at least safer.American citizens, though, are finding less safety in their cities. In California, there are at least 35 sanctuary cities in the lawless sense: illegal aliens can live and work in these areas, and...

A special commission in the northern German city of Braunschweig will investigate over 300 cases of fraud committed by asylum applicants, who gamed the welfare system by using multiple IDs to claim benefits – and that may just be the tip of the iceberg. The estimated total loss of taxpayer money in the state of Lower Saxony alone has been put at three to five million euros ($3.2-5.3 million), Regional German broadcaster NDR reported. In the majority of cases, the scheme was employed by Sudanese refugees who were applying for benefits within the social welfare system, the head of the...

As California lawmakers return to Sacramento on Wednesday, liberal dreams of expanding safety-net benefits and providing health coverage to immigrants are giving way to a new vision revolving around a feverish push to protect gains racked up in the past. After years of pushing forward a progressive agenda, legislative Democrats will be pushing back against conservative policies from President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Congress. Instead of expanding Medi-Cal health coverage to adult immigrants who can’t prove they’re legally in the country, Democrats are now concentrating on how to retain health coverage for those who already have it. And anti-poverty...

Between 2012 and 2015, 1,565 refugees were diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB) in the United States, according to annual reports published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC data, which has been public but obscure until now, shows that the number of refugees diagnosed with active TB in recent years is more than three times greater than previously reported by any media outlet.( Emphasis Mine ) The number of refugees diagnosed with TB in the United States has increased every year since 2012, the first year the CDC began publishing data on foreign-born cases of the disease by...

Boston’s Trust Act — designed to reassure immigrants that city police would not help deport them — has a loophole that was used to turn over nine men to federal immigration officials, city records show. The nine men turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2015 had serious criminal histories, according to police, making their detention less of a public issue. But advocates worry that the same loophole could be used to detain and deport any immigrant for so much as a traffic violation — putting undocumented families at risk if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his promise...

In an interview with 60 Minutes last month, President-elect Donald Trump made yet another pledge to remove undocumented immigrants from the United States, saying he would deport up to 3 million of them who “have criminal records.” Similar promises—like building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and blocking federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities—were a cornerstone of his campaign. But as he assumes the presidency, Trump will face not only continued public opposition to his plans, but potential obstruction by state and local law enforcement who he would need to implement any new policies. In many cases, federal immigration agents...

White House politics are rarely felt in the restaurant industry as acutely as the demand to get food to customers on time. As the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump approaches, nevertheless, many Bay Area restaurant workers and owners are anxious about the impact of the incoming administration. In his campaign, President-elect Trump called for sweeping changes — deporting undocumented workers, repealing the Affordable Care Act, loosening regulations — that would affect local restaurateurs.

Democratic politicians, including mayors in three major cities, are looking to use millions in taxpayer funds to protect illegal immigrants in their cities from deportation. Mayors of Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco are looking to create funds to provide attorneys to illegal immigrants who face deportation, the Wall Street Journal reports. If these efforts succeed, the amount of taxpayer money set aside to protect illegal immigrants will easily be in the millions. California alone will consider a bill that may cost between $10-80 million per year. Los Angeles has already set aside $10 million for an immigrant defense fund.

Thousands of Muslim refugees are flowing into the small Idaho town of Twin Falls because of closed-door decisions made by a group of self-serving advocates in and around Washington D.C. One key player is Lavinia Limón, CEO of the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). That’s a government-backed group that is paid to place migrants in Americans’ towns. Her group is also called a “voluntary agency,” or ‘VOLAG.’ The group’s local affiliate, the College of Southern Idaho, has already placed 1,000 Iraqi refugees in Twin Falls. Limón is married to a man that she met in Saudi Arabia while...

This is yet another story from Rutland, VT where citizens and elected officials have been questioning a resettlement contractor (USCRI) and the federal government for months about the details of the US State Department’s decision to send the FIRST 100 Syrians there perhaps next month! Board of Aldermen President William Notte wanted to know about school funding if the refugee children arrive in the middle of the school year. Miriam Ehtesham-Cating, the English language program director for the Burlington School District, said the focus needs to be on elementary and high school kids, in keeping with the federal government’s requirements...

Republicans’ grip on all levers of power stands as a mandate to the GOP-led Congress, which will move swiftly to try to undo eight years of outgoing President Barack Obama’s agenda. With Republican President-elect Donald Trump weeks away from assuming office, GOP lawmakers plan to open the 115th Congress on Tuesday and immediately take steps to repeal Obama’s health care law. Beyond that, they’ll look at a tax overhaul, reversing Obama-era environmental regulations and other conservative priorities. Republicans will face some obstacles. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says Democrats “stand ready to fight vigorously” to protect health care and other...

Submitted by Joseph Jankowski of PlanetFreeWill.com December 30, 2016 The Obama administration’s refugee resettlement program took off in 2016 with 15,479 Syrian refugees having been admitted to the U.S, a 606% increase from the resettlement numbers of last year. In his last month of the presidency alone, Obama admitted 1,307 more Syrian refugees to the states. Overall, 98.8% of the refugees the president has welcomed into the country are Muslim. CNS News Breaks it down: ◦15,302 (98.8 percent) are Muslims – 15,134 Sunnis, 29 Shi’a, and 139 other Muslims ◦125 (0.8 percent) are Christians – 32 Catholics, 32 Orthodox, five...