Would you agree to house illegal immigrants in your home? Not just no, but Hell no!

I will admit it: when I first saw this tweet, which contained no documentary link, I said to myself, “Self, this just has to be faked, so I Google searched for it. Guess what?

Governor Healey asks residents to house migrant families amid growing shelter crisis

by Kelly Sullivan | August 9, 2023 | 6:18 AM EDT

The state’s shelters are reaching capacity and now the governor is asking residents to help by opening their doors. That was part of Governor Maura Healey’s announcement–as she also is looking for help from the federal government. Continue reading

Why do the left want to defend Ukraine’s borders, but not our own?

I have said it in the past, and as recently as today: Ukraine cannot win no matter how much aid we give them, and Israel will not lose, even if we give them no support. Thus, we shouldn’t be helping either Ukraine or Israel.

Alas! the warmongers in Congress just love them some more spending to help Ukraine in its stalemated war against Russia, and there are enough Republicans among them for more aid to Ukraine to pass, unless Speaker Mike Johnson flat prevents a vote. But Conservatives have come up with a new tactic:

Republicans want to pair border security with aid for Ukraine. Here’s why that makes a deal so tough

Congress return to work this week after the holiday break, and Senate Republicans have made clear they won’t support additional war aid for Ukraine unless they can pair it with border security measures

by Mary Clare Jalonick and Stephen Groves, Associated Press | Sunday, November 26, 2023 | 8:52 AM EST

WASHINGTON — As Congress returns to session this week, lawmakers will be trying to forge an agreement on sending a new round of wartime assistance to Ukraine. But to succeed, they will have to find agreement on an issue that has confounded them for decades.

Republicans in both chambers of Congress have made clear that they will not support additional aid for Ukraine unless it is paired with border security measures to help manage the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Their demand has injected one of the most contentious issues in American politics into a foreign policy debate that was already difficult.

Time is short for a deal.

A small, bipartisan group in the Senate is taking the lead and working to find a narrow compromise that can overcome a likely filibuster by winning 60 votes. But even if they can reach a modest agreement, there is no guarantee it would pass the House, where Republicans are insisting on wholesale changes to U.S. border and immigration policies.

There’s more at the original.

As my good friend and occasional blog pinch hitter William Teach has noted many times, the so-called “sanctuary cities” to which Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) has shipped some, but nowhere near all, of the illegal immigrants ‘migrants’ who have crossed into the United States have found that the ‘migrants’ cost time, space, and money to house, and other budget items are having to be cut. But those are primarily the local officeholders, the big-city mayors who have to actually deal with the situation on the ground. far too many of the Democrats in Congress are more concerned with leaving the border wide open, because they aren’t the ones who have to deal with the problems themselves. And, as we noted on Saturday, wanting to do something really radical like protect your country’s borders is now “far right,” and the Democrats can’t do that, can they?

But there’s a real irony here, of Democrats wanting to protect Ukraine’s borders, but not our own.

Republicans hope that Democrats will feel political pressure to accept some of their border proposals after illegal crossings topped a daily average of more than 8,000 earlier this fall. President Joe Biden, who is running for reelection next year, has faced pressure even from fellow Democrats over the migrant flow.

Think about those numbers. “(A) daily average of more than 8,000” “illegal crossings” works out to over 240,000, roughly a quarter of a million illegal immigrants ‘migrants’ in a month, but President Biden, who has the same tools at his disposal that President Trump used to greatly reduce illegal immigration, simply won’t take action. We let in almost the population of St Louis, Missouri, a hellhole of homicide itself, of illegal immigrants in just a month.

We need to do both things: really restrict illegal immigration, and cut off aid for Ukraine, but we might, at best, get one.

Was Deep Space Nine prescient?

It was a single paragraph in The New York Times which caught my attention:

About 171,000 people living in California are homeless, a total that, stunningly, accounts for nearly one-third of all the homeless people in the United States.

According to the Census Bureau’s July 1, 2022 guesstimates of population, California had 39,029,342 residents, out of a total of 333,287,557 people in the United States. 39,029,342 ÷ 333,287,557 = 0.11710410779, or the Pyrite State having 11.71% of our total population. Why, then, does California have “nearly one-third of all the homeless people in the United States”? Continue reading

SCNY Mayor Plans Cuts To City Agencies To Pay For Illegal Aliens

It’s not quite as fun to support unfettered illegal immigration and declare yourself a sanctuary city when the fallout actually hits your city and your services are going to get cut to pay for it, eh?

Mayor Adams announces cuts as high as 15% for all NYC agencies amid ballooning migrant costs

Mayor Adams announced Saturday there would be cuts as high as 15% to all city agencies by next spring — including NYPD and health department — in response to the costly migrant crisis, which could further impact the delivery of city services.

The mayor made a surprise speech over the weekend telling New Yorkers that the lack of substantial support from the federal and state government regarding the crisis — at a time when COVID aid is drying up — has forced the city to impose austerity cuts.

“We are in the middle of a humanitarian crisis involving asylum seekers, a crisis that will cost our city $12 billion over three fiscal years,” Adams said. “While our compassion is limitless our resources are not.”

Those cuts, the administration said, intend to “minimize disruption to programs and services, and there will not be layoffs,” according to a press release on the announcement. The current budget stands at $107 billion.

So, if no layoffs, that means something else will bear the burden, which means services to citizens. Residents of Sanctuary City New York thought they were voting for this to happen Somewhere Else. If there’s a 15% cut to the NYPD’s funding, what is cut if not officers and all the admin folks? Cars? Patrols? Weapons and rounds? Bulletproof vests?

And in Sanctuary City Chicago

Chicago mayor faces pushback from local leaders for plan to house migrants in tents: ‘Help your people first’

Democrat Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is facing opposition from local leaders after he asked that “all 50 city council members” find space in their wards to help house “more than 200 migrants” in tents, according to a new report.

But some aldermen are pushing back on Johnson’s plans.

“I’ve looked in my ward. I just don’t have any available space. I have one of the most dense wards in the city,” Alderman Brian Hopkins said, according to ABC7 Chicago.

Alderman David Moore of the 17th Ward called on Chicago to help its own community first.

“I’m a believer in help your people first, help yourselves first, help your community first. Then reach out and help others,” Moore said.

Johnson wants to put up massive, winterized tents all over the city, meaning in the poorer wards. You can bet there won’t be any in the rich areas, like Obama’s rich and toney Hyde Park area. Sure, some alderman support the plan. Probably right up to Johnson putting tents up in their areas.

Residents clash over migrant shelter at Quincy community meeting

Tensions flared Tuesday evening at a community meeting, where more than 500 residents packed into Central Middle School to pepper city and state officials with questions about a recently opened migrant shelter at a local private college.

For more than two hours, people shared their support for migrant families, but also their frustration over not knowing enough about the “Family Welcome Center” located on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College. (snip)

Outside the middle school on Tuesday, colorful signs reading “We WELCOME you!” were propped inches from posters that said “NOT HERE.” (snip)

“Have you ever brought a refugee family to your own home?” Yan He, speaking through a Mandarin translator, asked Augustus.

William Doyle, another resident, called for the state to amend the state’s right-to-shelter law to limit the number of migrants it is required to care for.

“We cannot sustain this many people in our city,” he said, urging residents to call Governor Maura Healey’s office and tell her to “amend this law, otherwise we’re going to kick you out of office!”

Some supported this plan, some do not. Some feel more secure, because there is a ton of security at the school. It’s apparently needed to protect the residents from all these migrants. It’s a shame when Democrats have to live the life they voted for.

NY Times, Democrats Upset GOP Gets Optics Of Chicago Over-run By Illegals

Why? Because the Democrats will be holding their convention in Chicago in 2024. Is this pouncing or seizing by the GOP?

GOP Gets the Democratic Border Crisis It Wanted

When Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas began sending migrants and asylum-seekers from the southwestern frontier to New York, Washington and Chicago, he vowed to bring the border to the Democratic cities he said were naively dismissing its costs.

A year later, the migrant waves he helped set in motion have put northern “sanctuary” cities increasingly on edge, their budgets stretched, their communities strained. And a border crisis that has animated Republican politics for years is now dividing the Democratic Party. Humanitarian impulses are crashing into desperate resource constraints, and once-loyal Democratic allies have reluctantly joined Republicans to train their fire on President Joe Biden. (snip through a mention of the issues in Chicago, LA, NYC, etc)

Still, the rising clamor is creating a rare convergence between the two parties, which for years have fought in seemingly parallel political universes. Democrats focused on issues like abortion, the preservation of democracy and expansion of health care, while Republicans warned of a migrant “invasion” and railed against “woke” liberal ideology, socialism and expanding LGBTQ rights. Endless Republican news conferences at the border and threats to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, were dismissed as political bluster.

Now, suddenly, some Democrats are sounding remarkably like Republicans.

Well, they’re caterwauling, but, they aren’t quite at the point of demanding that illegal immigration be shut down, that illegals be sent packing, and that the sham of an asylum system be utterly revamped so we aren’t having them demand entrance, claim asylum, then never leave and just disappear when their claim is denied.

“Upstate New Yorkers shouldn’t be forced to bear responsibility for decades of failed immigration policy, dysfunction and stupidity out of Washington, Albany and places like New York City,” said Josh Riley, the Democratic candidate seeking to unseat Rep. Marc Molinaro, a Hudson Valley Republican. Riley added that it was time for Biden to “to step up and help out.”

Riley is short on details, but, he is calling to secure the border and revamp the visa system. But, will people believe him? Is he gaslighting? Because he has been yammering about “comprehensive immigration reform”, ie, amnesty.

Tom Suozzi, a Democratic former congressperson from Long Island mulling a comeback attempt next year, urged Biden to take a page from one of his predecessors, Bill Clinton. Suozzi said the president should propose to Republicans a moderate package of reforms that balances border security with “the very real human suffering that exists.”

“If the Republicans come to the table with the president and the Democrats, America has a path forward,” Suozzi said. “If the Republicans reject the president’s moderate solution, it exposes them as simply playing politics on this issue.”

Hmm, that sounds like “playing politics”, and sounds just like all the other BS Democrat proposals that are about amnesty and such now for a promise for secure borders later. What Democrats do not want are a ton of illegals bringing their crime and such to Chicago during the DNC.

Splodin’: SCNY Mayor Says Illegal Immigration Will Destroy City

Back in the day when I and so many used to blog a lot about terrorism there was something called “splodin'”, which was when a jihadi unintentionally set off their bomb early, usually taking themselves and other jihadis out. My favorite was a jihadi strapping on his suicide vest in Pakistan, then tripped and fell down the stairs from the 2nd floor and it went off. Good stuff. Watching liberal mayors of declared sanctuary cities lose their sh*t reminds me of splodin’

Adams: Cost of migrants ‘will destroy New York City’

New York City Mayor Eric Adams made some of his strongest comments yet on his concerns about the unending flow of migrants coming to the city, warning it will upend neighborhoods and continue to strain resources.

“Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this,” Adams said Wednesday night.

Adams, a Democrat, was speaking at a town hall organized by his office on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. His opening remarks lamented the financial impact of the city’s efforts to house and serve more than 100,000 migrants over the last year.

“This issue will destroy New York City. … All of us are going to be impacted by this. I said it last year when we had 15,000, and I’m telling you now at 110,000. The city we knew, we’re about to lose,” he continued.

It’s a real shame when Democrats have to deal with their beliefs when they wanted the problem to be Someone Else’s problem, eh?

Republicans praised Adams, jumping off his words to promote the party’s position of reducing immigration and knocking the White House for not doing more.

“The first step towards solving a problem is admitting you have one. Credit to Mayor Adams for being truthful in this clip about the scope of NYC’s migrant crisis,” Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Now, he must repeal NYC’s sanctuary policies & President Biden must reinstate Remain in Mexico to help solve it.”

The solution is simple: shut down the borders as much as possible. Anyone here illegally is to be deported immediately. This includes visa overstays. End asylum, allowing those here legally to assimilate, like has been done several times in the past. We can work on the “Dreamers”. I like my plan, we could also do Rand Paul’s plan, however, his doesn’t include forcing the people who “sinned” by bringing the kids illegally to leave the U.S. Enforce visas. No more constant reauthorization when they aren’t supposed to be, with the visa holders being here so long they demand citizenship, and are bringing over all their relatives. No. Increase the temporary worker permits, especially for Mexicans, we can get back to where everyone could cross the border at will and then everyone goes home.

Otherwise, Abbott and DeSantis should triple the buses going to sanctuary areas.

Federal Judge Orders Texas To Move River Barriers

Too bad the judge didn’t order the Brandon regime to actual secure the border, as required by federal law and the U.S. Constitution

Federal judge orders Texas to remove floating barriers aimed at deterring migrants on Rio Grande

A federal judge ordered Texas to remove floating barriers in the Rio Grande and barred the state from building new or placing additional buoys in the river, according to a Wednesday court filing, marking a victory for the Biden administration.

Judge David Alan Ezra ordered Texas to take down the barriers by September 15 at its own expense.

The border buoys have been a hot button immigration issue since they were deployed in the Rio Grande as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security initiative known as Operation Lone Star. The Justice Department had sued the state of Texas in July claiming that the buoys were installed unlawfully and asking the judge to force the state to remove them.

In the lawsuit, filed in US District Court in the Western District of Texas, the Justice Department alleged that Texas and Abbott violated the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act by building a structure in US water without permission from United States Army Corps of Engineers and sought an injunction to bar Texas from building additional barriers in the river. The Republican governor, meanwhile, has argued the buoys are intended to deter migrants from crossing into the state from Mexico.

Biden doesn’t want anyone to get in the way of unfettered illegal immigration. Abbott should invest in a lot more buses. Doesn’t Biden have a fence at the White House? One being built at his beach house? Barriers at the DOJ building?

Texas swiftly appealed the judge’s order.

“This ruling is incorrect and will be overturned on appeal. We will continue to utilize every strategy to secure the border, including deploying Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers and installing strategic barriers,” Abbott’s office said in a statement, adding that the state “is prepared to take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Well, it won’t be a long trip, but, Gov Greg Abbott should send a busload or two of illegals and drop them off outside Ezra’s court in Austin, Texas. And drop a bunch off at the DOJ building in D.C. And the White House. On the face of it, the ruling may be correct per law, being an international border, but, I hope Texas argues on appeal that the federal government is not doing much to stop illegals from crossing into the U.S.

Meanwhile, more justice system run amok

California Judge Halts School District’s Transgender Parental Notification Policy

A California judge granted the state government’s request for a temporary restraining order against the Chino Valley Unified School District’s new policy requiring parents to be notified if a child wishes to become transgender.

Though the full case will resume in October, San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Thomas Garza — appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in 2007 — seemed inclined to rule in favor of the state’s argument that the policy violates the rights of children who say they are transgender, and against the district’s contention that the policy is a common-sense rule that protects children and the rights of parents to be involved in their children’s upbringing.

Our justice system is protecting illegal aliens over U.S. citizens and groomers over the well-being of children.

A great Mexican family

We are having to renovate the rectory at St Elizabeth’s Catholic Church, which was, to put it bluntly, somewhat neglected for almost twenty years; our previous pastor was an uncomplaining man, and even in very warm, humid Kentucky, never even wanted air conditioning, save for a single, 110-volt window unit.

Now, we are having to catch up, and our new priest, who is Mexican and very well-liked by the Hispanic communities in the surrounding counties — our county really has few Latinos — and a Mexican family who have their own construction and remodeling company volunteered, volunteered I stress, to help us do some major work. They are not even parishioners here, but at St Mark’s in Richmond, where our priest, Fr Enrico Montoya, has been saying the 1:00 PM Mass in Spanish One thing is certain: though I did a lot of work myself, two contractors in their forties can do more work than my 70-year-old body can do! 🙂

On Saturday, our project was to remove the old carpeting from the rectory. After twenty years of our previous pastor, a child of the Depression who hated spending money, things were just plain not clean.

The brothers, Casiano and Anesimo — I’m not going to use their last names here — showed up, with two sons, in their late teens or early twenties, and we started work. I will say one thing: these guys worked! We cut out the carpets, removed them, and removed the ancient padding under them, to expose the hardwood floors beneath them. Pulling the carpets wasn’t that bad; it was cleaning the floors underneath them! The old padding had stuck to the finish on the original floors, not in one piece, but in small pieces across the entire area. We — including me! — were on our hands and knees, scraping the floors, pulling up staples and the nailer strips that hold wall-to-wall carpets in place. I might have said darn or heck or even shoot a couple of times, had our priest not been there.

The doors of St Elizabeth’s Church, after I refinished them last Fall.

Around 11:30, the men’s wives and families showed up. They set up a long table on the covered front porch, and they had brought a ton of food, for everybody. This was real Mexican food, not what you get at Taco Bell or other Mexican restaurants in the United States, and it was great. I’d never pictured real Mexican food as being anything like this, and Anesimo — I wound up closer friends with him than any of the others — told me that they don’t really consider what we see served in Mexican restaurants around here to be Mexican; their families are from far south in Mexico, near the Guatemalan border, so the cuisine is probably different from closer to the United States.

The family are huge! Lots of kids and grandkids, and the older wives joined right in with their husbands in pulling staples from the floor. They all spoke English, though among themselves, Spanish. And my thoughts were simple: these are the kind of immigrants the United States needs!

I do not know, and certainly didn’t ask, if Anesimo and Casiano and their wives were here legally. Considering that they had built companies in Kentucky, the younger kids were almost certainly born in the United States, and are citizens.

But what we need is the kind of border security that allows families like this into our country, to become citizens, while keeping the riff-raff out. And if the family with which I worked Saturday are here illegally, why don’t we just keep them, and deport some lazy, good-for-nothing Americans sucking up welfare in their place?