Immigration Policy

[Isgrimnur]

2 bodies found near Texas floating river barrier on Rio Grande

Two bodies were found Wednesday in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, one of them stuck in a buoy barrier Texas installed in the river last month over objections from the U.S. and Mexican governments and humanitarian groups, officials say.

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said in a statement Thursday that "preliminary information" suggests the individual found in the state's buoy wall drowned upstream and "floated into the buoys."

"There are personnel posted at the marine barrier at all times in case any migrants try to cross," McCraw said.

[Alefroth]

Made it through the Darien Gap, died on a floating buoy.

[LawBeefaroni]

Was at our district police headquarters yesterday for a few hours. The lobby was full of people on the floor on inflatable mattresses, sleeping bags, etc. There was a small cleared area in front of part of the service counter and pathways between the bedding.

It was absolutely nuts. There were families, lots of kids. It was heartbreaking seeing some of the parents, you could tell they wanted better foelr their kids and lots of the fathers would sheepishly avoid eye contact with me, but in kind of a knowing way, it that makes sense. Devastating.

There were also a fair amount of a more unsavory element and I saw several gang tattoos and 3 ankle monitors. In talking to some of the officers, they can't do much about it because everyone is free to come and go (the front door was propped open and there were several tents/lean-tos set up on the sidewalk out front). There's a pecking order and it's kind of lord of thr flies.

Not sure what the solution is but that ain't it. We're working on donations, especially coming into the colder weather, but it's hard because anything nice just gets stolen/extorted by the rougher elements.


The contrast of mini tent city while Cubs fans walked to/from Wrigley was striking.

[malchior]

There was some political observations that hardliners could get an immigration deal to avoid a government shutdown if they wanted to. And frankly we need to move in some direction about what to do around immigration. For better or worse though they can't get out of their own way and take the opportunity. This situation is years in the making and just another problem we kicked down the road. You definitely get a constant sense that it is coming to a head now if you are in a major city or work in industries that seek low-cost labor.

[Kraken]

Mass. has the only "right to shelter" law in the US. It doesn't cover single males, but families, women, and children who claim refugee status have to be housed in short order (I think it's within 48 hours). There are currently something like 10,000 migrants in hotels, motels, dorms, and other temporary shelters, and 1,000 more arrive every month. This in a state that already has a severe housing shortage.

So yeah, we're welcoming here, but the system's overwhelmed. The immediate solution that state pols are pushing for is to quickly authorize them to work. Many immigrants could quickly lift themselves up if we only let them, because there's also a labor shortage.

[Kraken]

Biden waives 26 federal laws to resume border wall construction in TX.

The Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act were some of the federal laws waived by DHS to make way for construction that will use funds from a congressional appropriation in 2019 for border wall construction. The waivers avoid time-consuming reviews and lawsuits challenging violation of environmental laws.

Although no maps were provided in the announcement, a previous map shared during the gathering of public comments shows the piecemeal construction will add up to an additional 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the existing border barrier system in the area.
...
Environmental advocates say structures will run through public lands, habitats of endangered plants and animal species like the ocelot, a spotted wild cat.

“A plan to build a wall through will bulldoze an impermeable barrier straight through the heart of that habitat. It will stop wildlife migrations dead in their tracks. It will destroy a huge amount of wildlife refuge land. And it’s a horrific step backwards for the borderlands,” Laiken Jordahl, a southwest conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, said Wednesday afternoon.

Biden is vulnerable on immigration so I understand the desire to do something visibly proactive...but this? Really?

“A border wall is a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem. It will not bolster border security in Starr County,” U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar said in a statement.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, the environmental folks I follow have been stunned by this. I genuinely don't understand the thought process here.

[malchior]

I blame Hochul and Eric Adams for the acute actions Biden has taken lately. DeSantis and hot wheels down in Texas start shipping migrants to them and these two amateurs start screaming loudly about needing a wall in the biggest media market in America.

And I can't let the media off the hook either. They are all too happy to flash "border crisis" every two seconds because they megaphone whatever the right-wing is yelling about. In the end, it comes down to optics and yet when directly asked if it'd work, Biden literally said, "No". Everything we do is stupid.

[El Guapo]

I blame Hochul and Eric Adams for the acute actions Biden has taken lately. DeSantis and hot wheels down in Texas start shipping migrants to them and these two amateurs start screaming loudly about needing a wall in the biggest media market in America.

And I can't let the media off the hook either. They are all too happy to flash "border crisis" every two seconds because they megaphone whatever the right-wing is yelling about. In the end, it comes down to optics and yet when directly asked if it'd work, Biden literally said, "No". Everything we do is stupid.

Seems like stupid politics too, unless I'm missing something. If you really need to do something to say "I take border security seriously" almost anything else would be better. Because the wall is so fundamentally associated with Trump, you might as well say "Trump was right about the wall".

[LawBeefaroni]

I blame Hochul and Eric Adams for the acute actions Biden has taken lately. DeSantis and hot wheels down in Texas start shipping migrants to them and these two amateurs start screaming loudly about needing a wall in the biggest media market in America.

You can throw JB Warbucks in there as well.

“Most critically, the federal government’s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois.”

[Alefroth]

Biden is vulnerable on immigration so I understand the desire to do something visibly proactive...but this? Really?

“A border wall is a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem. It will not bolster border security in Starr County,” U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar said in a statement.

It's so stupid. This won't move GOP voters one inch. In fact, many are ridiculing him for it.

[malchior]

The Democrats are addicted to forming a circular firing squad. Also, I should be fair and say part of the messaging miss belongs to Biden for not pinning the blame squarely on where it belongs -- in Congress.

[Unagi]

"Trump was right about the wall".

Trump literally said this, that Biden should be calling him any time now to tell him he was right about the wall.

So, yeah. It was a politically bone headed move.

[LordMortis]

Seems like stupid politics too, unless I'm missing something. If you really need to do something to say "I take border security seriously" almost anything else would be better. Because the wall is so fundamentally associated with Trump, you might as well say "Trump was right about the wall".

Wasn't it shown that the wall was built more under Obama than it was under TFG? I hadn't even paid attention to Biden's build until it was brought up here. It doesn't move me one way or another. The endangered species thing has been a topic of conversation for at least 15 years now.

[waitingtoconnect]

I’m not sure how the myth of the wall came about as a Donald trump idea. The wall existed before he even came to prominence.

In May 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that it had 649 miles (1,044 km) of barriers in place leaving only 50 odd miles of land border uncovered (the rest of the border being the Rio Grande).

Trump added only 52 miles largely improving existing barriers.

Barriers of some kind have existed since 1910 with major works starting in the 1940s while a Nixon aide was the first president to propose a wall. However it was the Clinton administration that started building border walls in earnest starting in 1993.

Further while the barrier is along the Mexico-United States border, 80% of the apprehended crossers are non-Mexican. Helping Mexico secure its southern border may be more cost effective than improving the US wall.

[Kraken]

A bit of context (or spin, if you prefer).

President Joe Biden on Thursday defended his administration’s decision to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow for construction of roughly 20 miles of additional border wall, saying he had no choice but to use the Trump-era funding for the barrier to stop illegal migration from Mexico.

Asked if he thought such walls work, he said flatly, “No.”

The new construction was announced in June, but the funds were appropriated in 2019 before the Democratic president took office. Biden said he tried to get lawmakers to redirect the money but Congress refused, and the law requires the funding to be used as approved and the construction to be completed in 2023.

“The money was appropriated for the border wall,” Biden said. “I can’t stop that.”
...
“I want to address today’s reporting relating to a border wall and be absolutely clear. There is no new administration policy with respect to border walls,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. “From day one, this administration has made clear that a border wall is not the answer. That remains our position and our position has never wavered.”

None of which explains why they waved off the environmental reviews to allow construction to proceed. Biden couldn't un-appropriate the money or the mandate, but he could have just been passive.

[GreenGoo]

Besides being an ineffective bit of political show, who cares?

It's not like it's going to lose Biden votes. It's meaningless besides looking stupid. I'll take looking stupid over being stupid any day of the week.

edit: Ok, not great for the environment. Didn't realize that. Still, that only moves the needle slightly for me. It's not like it's wetlands or other extremely important diverse ecologies.

Did this buy him specific support for something from the Dems who were pushing this?

[malchior]

For me there is something higher order to observe. It is another indicator of dysfunction. It's not like doing things for optics is new but that so much of what we see done now is deconstructive activity.

The people who want to break things are now easily pushing well-meaning people capable of doing constructive things to break things as well. There is an asymmetric game being played and folks like DeSantis have a lot of soft targets (e.g. Hochul/Adams/JB). And they are ruthlessly executing their game. And it steals time, political capital, and credibility from folks like Biden.

Did this buy him specific support for something from the Dems who were pushing this?

No. It's all reaction and a weak, weak talking point.

[El Guapo]

I'm also a little annoyed by the media coverage of this, which is all "Biden reverses course on The Wall!" with very little context about the congressional authorization or the significance of the environmental review.

Also, how unusual is it to waive this type of environmental review? Is this a relatively normal thing for which not granting waivers would have been unusual? Would there have been any negative consequences for not granting the waivers?

[malchior]

I agree it'd be nice to have this sort of detail. It's important! Unfortunately, they don't have the time to deliver that sort of nuance. It's a race to get clicks. We sometimes do get that nuance but almost always in arrears well after the indelible, potentially misleading first impression is long imprinted.

[Smoove_B]

Also, how unusual is it to waive this type of environmental review? Is this a relatively normal thing for which not granting waivers would have been unusual? Would there have been any negative consequences for not granting the waivers?

I don't have experience with federal level construction, but just from a state and local perspective, waiving environmental reviews would be highly unusual and unprecedented. It's the type of thing "progressives" cry about because it slows everything down - the careful review of construction or projects that have the potential to affect the environment in the long and short term.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn there is precedent for allowing it under very specific "emergency" scenarios at a federal level. There are plenty of loopholes in our state laws that allow for standards to be relaxed or bent if very specific conditions are met. As we know the borders are currently being flooded with "illegals" so I guess...that's an emergency?

Again, it's quite puzzling and rather concerning.

[Isgrimnur]

Appeals court orders Texas to remove buoy barrier on the Rio Grande border

A federal appeals court on Friday ordered Texas to remove a floating barrier from the Rio Grande placed there under the direction of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to deter illegal migrant crossings.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a lower court's finding that the buoys were illegal.
...
Judge Don Willett, a Trump appointee, wrote the dissenting opinion.

[Smoove_B]

Speaking of Texas, I had to check like 5 times to make sure this wasn't actually The Onion:

In a wide-ranging interview with a right-wing radio host, Gov. Greg Abbott defended the scope and legality of Texas border initiatives, at one point saying: “The only thing that we are not doing is we’re not shooting people who come across the border because, of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder.”

[malchior]

It is getting worse than just rhetoric apparently. The Solicitor General filed a brief with SCOTUS overnight that laid out that Texas is actually preventing access to the border for the BORDER PATROL. Texas National Guard members blocked roads, border access, and a boat ramp with razor wire and ordered the Border Patrol away from the border. It's getting hot.

The Texas National Guard and state troopers have blocked U.S. Border Patrol agents from a 2.5-mile stretch of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, preventing federal agents from patrolling that part of the border, according to a court filing by the U.S. Department of Justice, escalating the clash between state and federal authorities on the Texas-Mexico border.

On Wednesday night, troopers and National Guard members began to take “full control” of the 47-acre Shelby Park, erected concertina wire and fencing at the park to close off access to the public, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas said. He added that he was told that the park would be closed indefinitely and the state took the action to prevent immigrants from illegally crossing into Texas.

State officers and National Guard members also have denied Border Patrol agents entry to the park, where agents routinely used a boat ramp to launch their boats to patrol the Rio Grande, the filing says. There is also a staging area at the park that Border Patrol agents use to inspect migrants who have been apprehended in this part of the border, the filing says.

In the filing, the DOJ is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in an ongoing legal battle between the state and the federal government and overrule a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that prevents Border Patrol agents from cutting the concertina wire Texas has strung along the Rio Grande.

[geezer]

It is getting worse than just rhetoric apparently. The Solicitor General filed a brief with SCOTUS overnight that laid out that Texas is actually preventing access to the border for the BORDER PATROL. Texas National Guard members blocked roads, border access, and a boat ramp with razor wire and ordered the Border Patrol away from the border. It's getting hot.

The Texas National Guard and state troopers have blocked U.S. Border Patrol agents from a 2.5-mile stretch of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, preventing federal agents from patrolling that part of the border, according to a court filing by the U.S. Department of Justice, escalating the clash between state and federal authorities on the Texas-Mexico border.

On Wednesday night, troopers and National Guard members began to take “full control” of the 47-acre Shelby Park, erected concertina wire and fencing at the park to close off access to the public, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas said. He added that he was told that the park would be closed indefinitely and the state took the action to prevent immigrants from illegally crossing into Texas.

State officers and National Guard members also have denied Border Patrol agents entry to the park, where agents routinely used a boat ramp to launch their boats to patrol the Rio Grande, the filing says. There is also a staging area at the park that Border Patrol agents use to inspect migrants who have been apprehended in this part of the border, the filing says.

In the filing, the DOJ is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in an ongoing legal battle between the state and the federal government and overrule a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that prevents Border Patrol agents from cutting the concertina wire Texas has strung along the Rio Grande.

SMH.

I've been telling my wife for a few years that we need to GTFO of here (Austin) while we still have some semblance of property value left, or more ominously, before something really bad happens. I'm not generally alarmist, but the rhetoric here is getting uncomfortable.

[Pyperkub]

A bit of context (or spin, if you prefer).

President Joe Biden on Thursday defended his administration’s decision to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow for construction of roughly 20 miles of additional border wall, saying he had no choice but to use the Trump-era funding for the barrier to stop illegal migration from Mexico.

Asked if he thought such walls work, he said flatly, “No.”

The new construction was announced in June, but the funds were appropriated in 2019 before the Democratic president took office. Biden said he tried to get lawmakers to redirect the money but Congress refused, and the law requires the funding to be used as approved and the construction to be completed in 2023.

“The money was appropriated for the border wall,” Biden said. “I can’t stop that.”
...
“I want to address today’s reporting relating to a border wall and be absolutely clear. There is no new administration policy with respect to border walls,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. “From day one, this administration has made clear that a border wall is not the answer. That remains our position and our position has never wavered.”

None of which explains why they waved off the environmental reviews to allow construction to proceed. Biden couldn't un-appropriate the money or the mandate, but he could have just been passive.

He can't be passive.

a) The GOP will continue to harp on the border while also killing all efforts to do anything about it (see Boehner & the Tea Party killing bipartisan 2014 Senate bill, House GOP killing DACA for Wall $$$ - not sure if Dems were fully behind it either)

b) the border is still a huge problem. Ignoring it doesn't make it go away.

c) Climate (and War?)refugees may make the wall an inevitability.

[Smoove_B]

Uhhh...what am I missing here? Please tell me I'm missing something here.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., says American dream is threatened by 300,000 illegal immigrants swarming southern border.
'I honestly don’t understand why it’s controversial to say we need a secure border,' the senator told CNN anchor Jake Tapper.

EDIT: Here's the full exchange:

"I’ve been very clear, in fact, that was weaponized against me [by] Republicans in my race, that I’m very much a strong supporter of immigration, and you know, my wife’s family, that’s the origin story about that," he added.

Fetterman noted that he is very supportive of legal immigration, while at the same time a proponent of securing the southern border. "And I think two things can be true at the same time. You can be very supportive of immigration, but we also need to have a secure border," he declared.

He then mentioned how the influx of illegal border crossings make it harder for legal immigrants to achieve their move to America, adding, "And I really — [what] I think about immigration is, we want to provide the American Dream for any migrant. But it seems very difficult when you have 300,000 people showing up, encountered at our border to do that."

[LawBeefaroni]

Is his point that the rule breakers are ruining it for those who play by the rules? Something like that?

[malchior]

Meanwhile, SCOTUS voted 5-4 to overturn the injunction that allowed Texas to interfere with the Border Patrol - Order text

Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh sided with the extremist 5th circuit ruling.

Is his point that the rule breakers are ruining it for those who play by the rules? Something like that?

I think he's saying that. That people jumping up and down about the border issues we face prevents discussion that enables legitimate, reasonable immigration reform. Which is true. However, the bigger issue is that one party doesn't want to solve the issue. Their oligarchic overlords demand cheap labor and they now have a fresh replacement for generating headlines and a new excuse to obstruct (e.g. holding up Ukraine aid for a border deal they'll refuse to agree to). This is more important for them now that they got Roe tossed. They need something to focus on to stoke the hate voting engine within the deplorables.

[hepcat]

I try to be understanding of both sides of the immigration issue. Almost half of all immigrants live in California, Texas and Florida. That's a huge drain on resources and ends up hurting immigrants as well as they can't get the help they need. However, I do think the governors of Texas and Florida don't give two shits about the lives of immigrants and would happily have the military move in and treat them like criminals. We've already seen these inhuman assholes drop them off in freezing cold weather in other states just to score political points with the sociopaths who support the branch of the GOP that consists of their kind.

My sympathy lies with the people of those states who want to honestly help and are overwhelmed. For them and the immigrants themselves, I'd like to see something done to help humanely stem the flow or spread the numbers around more evenly. So yes, I do think it needs attention.

I don't know the answer. I just know using them as political pieces without a care for their safety is a shitty fucking thing to do.

[Pyperkub]

... That's a huge drain on resources. ...

This isn't true. Immigrants are probably propping up the economy more than they are draining it (you're falling for GOP-speak)

According to the American Immigration Council, in 2018, California’s immigrant-led households contributed about $80.8 billion in federal taxes and $38.9 billion in state and local taxes. The total spending power of immigrants across California was $290.9 billion in 2018.

And yes, that includes illegal immigrants - in CA:

Undocumented immigrants, like everyone else, pay sales and excise taxes when they purchase goods and services. They pay property taxes directly on their homes or indirectly as renters. And, many undocumented immigrants also pay state income taxes. Property, income, and sales and excise taxes are one of the many ways that undocumented residents contribute to the health of California communities...

...Just how much do undocumented Californians contribute California and its counties in tax revenues? We estimate that Undocumented California’s tax contributions total $154 million in the Central Valley, $145 million in Orange County, $110 million in San Diego County, $100.6 million in Santa Clara County, $58.3 million in San Bernardino County, $29.3 million in Ventura County, $29.6 million in Sacramento County, and $544 million in Los Angeles County.

Also don't forget that most, if not all illegal immigrants who are working have an SSN (stolen or fake), and are paying into Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment, etc, but not collecting anything. Well, except for those who are being hired under the table.

You may be undocumented, but the taxman still takes a cut...

[Zarathud]

The initial burden leads to future income. The problem is when it’s unbudgeted and unexpected.

Republican governors have chosen to take benefits from immigration funding but shift the cost elsewhere to manufacture political points. If the budget wasn’t frozen, federal funds could be shifted to help sanctuary states receiving forced immigration and away from states refusing them. Zero chance they would risk it if Congress could pass a budget.

[hepcat]

I was referring more to the resources required for managing newly arrived immigrants. Not the ongoing economic impact.

[Blackhawk]

Meanwhile, SCOTUS voted 5-4 to overturn the injunction that allowed Texas to interfere with the Border Patrol - Order text

Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh sided with the extremist 5th circuit ruling.

You mean the one that allowed them to physically block the border patrol from saving drowning children?

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Homeland Security Department said Saturday that Texas denied federal agents access to a stretch of border when they were trying to rescue three migrants who drowned.

[...]

“In responding to a distress call from the Mexican government, Border Patrol agents were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the park,” Homeland Security said in a statement. “The Texas governor’s policies are cruel, dangerous, and inhumane, and Texas’s blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses grave risks.”

The drowning victims were a mother, a 10-year-old boy, and an 8-year-old girl. Why certain Texans aren't being dragged to prison over this is beyond me.

[malchior]

Meanwhile, SCOTUS voted 5-4 to overturn the injunction that allowed Texas to interfere with the Border Patrol - Order text

Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh sided with the extremist 5th circuit ruling.

You mean the one that allowed them to physically block the border patrol from saving drowning children?

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Homeland Security Department said Saturday that Texas denied federal agents access to a stretch of border when they were trying to rescue three migrants who drowned.

[...]

“In responding to a distress call from the Mexican government, Border Patrol agents were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the park,” Homeland Security said in a statement. “The Texas governor’s policies are cruel, dangerous, and inhumane, and Texas’s blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses grave risks.”

The drowning victims were a mother, a 10-year-old boy, and an 8-year-old girl. Why certain Texans aren't being dragged to prison over this is beyond me.

I mean we're pretty far from hauling insurrectionists away considering we were one unelected tyrant away from Texas seizing effective control over part of the US border...and...as an aside deciding if recent insurrectionist behaviors are...not crime.

[malchior]

Meanwhile, an unhinged racist calls for more insurrection against the US government.



Ken Paxton, gave the "Sinn Fein" version of the same response:

"The Supreme Court's temporary order allows Biden to continue his illegal effort to aid the foreign invasion of America. The destruction of Texas’s border barriers will not help enforce the law or keep American citizens safe. This fight is not over, and I look forward to defending our state’s sovereignty."

[Alefroth]

Wow, those comments

[YellowKing]

Funny, I thought orange man had 4 years to do something about the border.

[Zarathud]

TFG didn’t even have legislation. Just some poorly built structures that claimed to be a “wall.” And camps which separated children from their parents.

[Pyperkub]

Funny, I thought orange man had 4 years to do something about the border.

AND control of the House, Senate and Supremes...