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Coming this summer to a city near you: taxpayer-funded identification cards for thousands of illegal immigrants.
Well, maybe to a city near you; Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials insist that some aspects of the plan are “pre-decisional,” and though both Atlanta and Houston have been named as possible locations, things are still subject to change.
The source who told Fox News that went unnamed in the report, but Fox called him or her “familiar with the program,” and I’m very willing to believe that the source is at least a federal government employee. Only a professional bureaucrat would use a term like “pre-decisonal.”
Fox said that ICE was able to confirm that the program was headed for a limited roll-out in “three or four locations in the U.S.” that would issue cards to about 10,000 illegals.
People have been talking about the “ICE Secure Docket Card” for a couple of years, and now the talk is slated to become reality, but ICE says the card will not be an official form of federal ID, according to Fox, and that it will “indicate it is for use by DHS agencies” on the card itself.
Again, only a government bureaucrat could claim — presumably with a straight face — that a card issued to someone by an agency of the federal government on the basis of who the individual is should not be considered “an official form of federal identification.”
To quote the philosopher Douglas Powers (more commonly known as Dr. Evil): Riiiiiiight.
That is, however, what the agency claimed, at least according to Fox.
“While the specifics of the card and pilot are under development, it is important to note the secure card will not be an official form of federal identification,” Fox quoted the agency as saying.
“The secure card will indicate it is for use by DHS agencies and would be provided only after national security background checks have been performed,” the ICE statement added.
Here’s the part that makes sense: Illegal aliens are often given documents when they’re released from custody, such as information about when to appear in court for a hearing about their immigration status. Those documents are on paper, and therefore can get damaged or lost.
ICE Secure Docket Cards can presumably get lost as well — at least, I haven’t seen anyone proposing that they be glued to the recipients’ forearms or anything — but at least they’re less likely to be damaged.
Instead of having to secure and protect their personal paperwork, cardholders will be able to use the card to access information specific to them — specific, that is, to their identity.
“Moving to a secure card will save the agency millions, free up resources and ensure information is quickly accessible to DHS officials while reducing the agency’s FOIA backlog,” the ICE spokesperson told Fox. “For provisionally released noncitizens, the digital modernization will provide ongoing access to important immigration documents through the secure card and connected portal.”
“Provisionally released noncitizens,” of course, means illegals. Just in case you’re not fluent in bureaucrat.
Guess what else the “not an official form of federal identification” cards will be used for, though, according to Fox?
“It would also allow for an easier verification of identity through DHS systems via officials,” Fox reported. But it’s not an official federal ID, oh, no. It’s just an ID used by federal officials, which, obviously, is something completely different.
You can decide for yourself how much of that double-speak you want to believe, of course, but personally, I’m withholding judgment.
I guess you could say I’m pre-decisional.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Biden Admin Planning to Roll Out ID Cards for Illegal Immigrants This Summer: 10,000 Cards in First-Round Issue Across US appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
On Friday, the social media director for the Miss USA organization, Claudia Michelle, stepped down, announcing her decision in a post to Instagram.
Three days later, the reigning Miss USA, Noelia Voigt, also posted on Instagram that she had resigned from the title of Miss USA 2023, citing her mental health.
Two days after that, UmaSofia Srivastava, who had been crowned Miss Teen USA 2023, also announced on Instagram that she was giving up her title.
What, one might ask, is going on at Miss USA?
According to the New York Post, a source who knows all three said they had coordinated their resignations.
“The decision was not easy. Noelia and UmaSofia are extremely dedicated people who worked incredibly hard for the pageant. The decisions were not taken lightly. They all decided to do this together,” the insider reportedly told the Post.
“They are afraid of speaking out more at this time because of the organization,” the anonymous source added. “They don’t want this to have any lasting harmful effect on their futures.”
Details about what, specifically, was at the root of the problem at Miss USA were somewhat sparse, and almost universally sourced anonymously, making their verification all but impossible.
Michelle, however, hinted at serious dysfunction at the highest levels of the organization.
Michelle, who said in her post that she had not signed a non-disclosure agreement as had Voigt and Srivastava and was therefore more free to speak openly, wrote of Voigt that she’d seen a “decline in her mental health” while working closely with her at the organization, and that she’d also “seen firsthand the disrespect towards Uma and her family.”
She said both title-holders had been “threatened” by the organization’s “social media rules and guidelines” — rules and guidelines that Michelle herself, as social media director for Miss USA, hadn’t even seen.
“I feel the way current management speaks about their titleholders is unprofessional and inappropriate; I disavow workplace toxicity and bullying of any kind,” she wrote.
“This toxic atmosphere is a serious concern,” a source close to the situation reportedly confirmed to the Post. “There is an urgent need for intervention at the leadership level.”
You can read their statements regarding their resignations below.
“How have we not prioritized mental health among title holders in light of what happened to Cheslie Kryst?” Dani Walker, a former Miss Montana and pageant coach, asked in a YouTube video posted Wednesday, speaking of a former Miss USA who committed suicide in 2022. “For me there is no valid excuse as to why Noelia should be resigning because of her mental health.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Miss USA and Miss Teen USA Resign Their Titles Within Two Days of Each Other Amid Reports of ‘Toxic Atmosphere’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Another day, another piece of bad election-year news for proponents of Bidenomics.
The Department of Labor on Thursday released its weekly report of seasonally adjusted data on new unemployment claims through May 4, reporting a total of 231,000 jobless claims.
That number was both up from the previous week’s 209,000 and higher than the 214,000 claims Dow Jones had anticipated, according to CNBC.
In fact, it was the highest number since August, spurring CNBC to label the report “a potential sign that an otherwise robust labor market is changing.”
Continuing jobless claims were up 17,00o from the week prior, while the four-week moving average of claims also showed an increase, up 4,750 week-to-week.
“Weekly jobless claims are one of the timeliest indicators of when the economy is starting to undergo serious deterioration, and the magnitude of new layoffs this week looks worrisome,” Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS, told CNBC.
“One week does not a trend make, but we can no longer be sure that calm seas lie ahead for the US economy if today’s weekly jobless claims are any indication,” he added.
Nonfarm payrolls were expected to rise by 240,000 in April, but only increased by 175,000, the report also said — the smallest month-to-month rise since October.
Not all the news was bad, however. The unemployment rate “inched up” from 3.8 to 3.9 percent, for example, meaning that it has stayed below 4 percent for over two years — “the longest such streak since the 1960s,” according to The Associated Press.
Also, as Reuters noted, a slowing labor market makes additional interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve somewhat more likely.
The outlet reported that a “handful of economists” expect to see the first rate cut in July, but most don’t think the Fed will act before September.
Some of the numbers should probably be taken with a grain of salt at this time of year, according to one expert who talked with Reuters.
“Given that the varied timing of school spring breaks, and holidays like Easter and Passover, makes the seasonal adjustment process very complicated, we often see volatile readings in the seasonally adjusted data around this time of year,” JP Morgan economist Daniel Silver told the outlet.
Over 10,000 of the new claims came from New York alone, prompting speculation that much of that volume could be attributed to Citigroup employees who had been laid off in January but paid 90 days of severance finally becoming eligible for unemployment insurance benefits in April.
Reuters noted that California, Illinois, Indiana and Texas also saw large increases in new unemployment claims, but only one state — Iowa — saw claims drop by more than 1,000.
Stocks initially fell after the report, but by late morning had more than rebounded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly half a point by about 11:30.
The AP said strong consumer spending was responsible for preventing a recession and keeping American jobs “plentiful.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Shoot Up to ‘Worrisome’ Level appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The House on Tuesday passed a bill designed to ensure that any new energy efficiency standards promulgated by the U.S. Department of Energy be based on available technology and economic reality, according to a media release from the bill’s sponsor.
Rep. Debbie Lesko’s office said that the bill passed with bi-partisan support.
“I am saddened that we would need such a bill,” Lesko said in the release. “However, as we have experienced under this administration, the Department of Energy has unleashed an avalanche of new regulations for household products, including stoves, dishwashers, washing machines, showers, toilets, water heaters, air conditioners, heat pumps, and furnaces.
“No government bureaucrat should EVER scheme to take away Americans’ appliances in the name of a radical environmental agenda, yet that is exactly what we have seen under the Biden Administration,” she added (emphasis original).
Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington spoke in support of the bill from the House floor, calling the “rush to green agenda” by the Biden administration “out of touch” with the priorities of everyday Americans.
The Biden administration is waging war on American energy, and this war is making its way into Americans’ homes.
The administration is doubling down on unaffordable appliance mandates—which is why we’re leading on H.R. 6921. Watch: pic.twitter.com/Y8oYpDZNJe
— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) May 7, 2024
The intent of the bill is to tweak the way in which the DOE creates new regulations or modifies or revokes existing ones as they apply to consumer products like household appliances, but specifically excludes vehicles, according to a summary of the bill on the official congressional website.
According to a summary of the bill, if enacted, it would grant the DOE the authority to “grant a petition to revoke or amend energy conservation standards if it finds that the standards (1) result in additional costs to consumers, (2) do not result in significant conservation of energy or water, (3) are not technologically feasible, and (4) result in a product (e.g., gas stoves) not being commercially available in the United States to all consumers.”
It also would require all new or modified regulations to be ” technologically feasible and economically justified,” according to the summary.
The website listed 10 cosponsors of the bill, all of whom are Republicans.
Interested readers can read the bill in its entirety below.
H. R. 6192 by The Western Journal on Scribd
According to the U.S. House Clerk’s Office, 205 Republicans voted to pass the bill along with seven Democrats. All 195 votes against the bill were from Democrats.
Of those listed as “Not Voting” on the bill, 11 were Democrats and 12 were Republicans.
The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, although passage seems unlikely given the Senate’s refusal to take up similar bills in the past, such as Lesko’s Save Our Gas Stoves Act, passed by the House in 2023.
According to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would require no significant additional federal government spending.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post House Passes Bill That Forces Biden Administration to Keep Its ‘Hands Off Our Home Appliances’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
ABC News president Kim Godwin has tendered her resignation in a move that surprised a number of mainstream media insiders.
There will undoubtedly be some who are sad to see the first black woman to lead a broadcast television news division leave the position — but former President Donald Trump is apparently not among them.
Nor are most of her former staff, according to CNN.
Trump posted to Truth Social just over an hour after The Wall Street Journal broke the story on Godwin’s departure.
“Happy to report that Kim Godwin, Head of ABC, has resigned,” Trump wrote. “Could it be the unfair reporting on EVERYTHING TRUMP? In any event, GOOD RIDDANCE!” (emphasis original).
“Hopefully somebody else will be able to control George Slopadopolous and the rest of the Fake News Thugs over at ABC? Best wishes Kim!” he added.
The former president’s hypothesis notwithstanding, Godwin was known to be a controversial figure at ABC. CNN remarked that the “embattled” Godwin’s “polarizing leadership led to plummeting employee morale,” according to unnamed staffers.
CNN also reported that her departure — or at least its timing — came as something of a surprise. Her Sunday evening memo to staff announcing what the outlet referred to as her “abrupt” resignation was said to have “rocked” the newsroom.
Last week, CNN reported that Debra OConnell, who had been put over Godwin and the news division by parent company Disney in February, was “conducting a review of her performance and had voiced dissatisfaction in private conversations with the state of affairs” at ABC News.
More than 24 staffers and “others close to the network” — who requested anonymity because they had not been authorized to speak with CNN — said Godwin had had a crushing effect on morale in the organization she led.
“Godwin, staffers told CNN, made several profound errors, including employing a hands-off approach to managing, not developing a strategic vision for the newsroom, eliminating the heads of the talent-relations division and appointing an inner-circle that alienated staffers, among a stream of other complaints,” the outlet reported.
In addition, Axios reported that it had heard from other unnamed sources that “the main sentiment felt by staff was that Godwin was more focused on promoting herself as a leader rather than invest time with ABC News’ staff and show teams.”
Godwin’s resignation was apparently effective immediately, as OConnell said she will take charge of the newsroom “for the time being,” according to The Associated Press.
For her part, Godwin claimed to have made the decision on her own to part ways not only with ABC News, but with the entire industry.
“I have decided to retire from broadcast journalism,” the 60-year-old Godwin said in an email to the ABC News staff, according to CNN.
“I have been fortunate and blessed enough to have done almost every job there is in this business,” she added. “But after considerable reflection, I’m certain it’s the right one for me as I look to the future and prioritize what’s most important for me and my family.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post ABC News President Suddenly Quits Amid Internal Backlash – Trump Celebrates appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
How incompetent does the leadership of a national political party have to be to schedule its nominating committee after the deadlines of two states to confirm the party’s nominee to be included on the ballot?
That’s a good question — and one the Democratic National Committee is apparently well-placed to answer.
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen sent a letter Tuesday to the Alabama Democratic Party and the DNC to inform both groups that the party must, under state law, confirm its presidential and vice presidential candidates by Aug. 15 to be eligible to appear on the state’s ballots in November.
The only problem with that is that Democratic National Convention isn’t scheduled to begin until Aug. 19. Whoops.
Of course, everyone knows that the incumbent, President Joe Biden, will be the Democrats’ nominee again this year, despite some conspiracy theories to the contrary. But that’s not the same as the DNC confirming those nominees to the state.
Letter to AL Democratic Party 4.9.24 by The Western Journal on Scribd
Biden faces a similar problem in Ohio, as The Western Journal reported Monday.
In case you were wondering, the Republican National Convention is scheduled for July 15-18 in Milwaukee, well before the deadlines in both Alabama and Ohio.
Neither state is likely to be competitive, it should be noted. Combined, the two states represent 26 electoral votes that Biden may not even have a shot at, but he probably didn’t have much of a shot at them anyway.
Former President Donald Trump won Ohio by better than 8 points in each of the last two presidential elections, and he demolished his Democratic opponents in Alabama by more than 25 points in both 2016 and 2020.
Still, this isn’t a good look for Team Biden.
So far, the Democrats’ response to the issue has been simple: Rather than replace the people responsible for their terrible planning, they’re simply denying that there’s a problem.
“We’re monitoring the situation in Ohio and we’re confident that Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” a Biden campaign spokesperson told ABC News last week.
After the news about Alabama broke, a Biden campaign spokesperson — perhaps the same one — made a similar statement to Fox News, but actually amped up the denial.
“Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” the unnamed spokesperson said. “State officials have the ability to grant provisional ballot access certification prior to the conclusion of presidential nominating conventions.”
Some state officials may have that ability, but not those in Alabama.
“Under Alabama law, there are no ‘provisional certifications’ for candidates,” the Alabama secretary of state’s office told CNN. “All candidates must comply with current Alabama law to gain ballot access.”
So, back to my original question: How incompetent does the leadership of a national political party have to be to schedule its nominating committee after the deadlines of two states to confirm the party’s nominee to be included on the ballot?
Sit back and grab the popcorn. It looks like we’re about to find out.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Biden Now at Risk of Being Left Off Two State Election Ballots – 26 Electoral College Votes at Stake appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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