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Trump Immigration Tag

Hey, give Joy Reid credit. At least she didn't go full Hitler analogy . . . On her MSNBC show this morning, Reid claimed that a recently-adopted Texas immigration law sounds "almost like an apartheid-era law." To support her alarmist claim, Reid badly mischaracterized the law, suggesting that under it, "any person can be stopped for any reason and asked essentially [to] show their papers." Her ACLU guest seemingly agreed, saying, "that's right." But she added that immigration-status inquiries can be made "once a person is legally detained," thus debunking Reid's suggestion that a person could be stopped and asked "for any reason."

Baltimore is taking the idea of "sanctuary cities" to the next level in its ongoing "resistance" to President Trump's policy of enforcing our nation's immigration laws. The mayor has insisted that Baltimore is a "welcoming" rather than a "sanctuary" city, and earlier this month, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz signed an executive order regarding illegal immigrants.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions held a press conference in Long Island, New Jersey in which he addressed gang violence.  He directly addressed the brutal and growing barbarism of the MS-13 gang, stating that in the Trump era the violent grip this gang has on Long Island, in particular, is unacceptable and will be stamped out. MS-13 is a Salvadoran gang that has established roots across America and is touted as "the gang that scares other gangs." Fox News reports:
They’re known as MS-13, MS, Mara or Mara Salvatrucha, but by any name, they’re trouble.

There's a wall being built on the Mexican border. You just can't see it. But Mika Brzezinski could feel it. On today's Morning Joe, Brzezinski mimed an invisible border wall. Mika's shtick came in the course of a discussion suggesting that the Trump administration might settle for less than a 2,200 mile-long wall, substituting surveillance of various types. Joe Scarborough helpfully suggested "wild coyotes wearing cameras."

A federal judge in California blocked a portion of President Trump's January Immigration Executive Order Tuesday. Jude William H. Orrick of United States District Court for the Northern District of California targeted the Trump administration's promise to cut federal funding from "sanctuary cities" or cities who refused to cooperate with federal law enforcement concerning immigration matters.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a stop in my hometown on Friday. During the visit, he urged cities and other government jurisdictions with sanctuary policies to reconsider and work with federal law enforcement to identify criminals who should be deported.

President Trump is set to sign a "Buy American, Hire American" Executive Order today that is expected to direct federal agencies to buy American when possible and to refocus the H-1B visa program to discourage companies from replacing American workers with lower paid foreign workers.  Rather than a new set of rules, the Executive Order seeks to ensure enforcement of decades old existing laws and rules that have gone unenforced. In yesterday's White House background briefing, a senior administration official explained that the rules for buy American and hire American have been abused and "enormously diluted over time" due to waivers and exemptions.  President Trump's executive order is intended to rectify this problem.

On Wednesday night, Virgil Bernero, the mayor of sanctuary city Lansing, Michigan, told Tucker Carlson that if his police force were to enforce immigration laws, it would be seen as an "occupying force." An incredulous Tucker responded, "people come into your country illegally, your job is to enforce the laws as a police officer, and you somehow feel guilty because you're an occupying force?" Bernero then played the white privilege card,  "it's easy for white men like us . . . who enjoy what we enjoy . . . " Tucker could take no more: "I was taking you seriously at the beginning, but this is just buffoonish."

One of my favorite TV shows airing this season is "Feud", which depicts the legendary rivalry between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) during their collaboration on the psychological thriller, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Another legendary feud is currently taking place between President Donald Trump and California's political leaders. The policy conflict has now substantially escalated after the state senate approved "Sanctuary State" legislation bill that bars local and state law enforcement from using their resources to help federal immigration authorities.
The 40-member body approved Senate Bill 54, introduced by Sen. President Pro Tem Kevin de León, on a 27-12, party-line vote. It now heads to the Assembly.

One of the industries that has been most impacted by the aftermath of the 2016 election has been the tattoo removal business. At the end of last year, Kemberlee Kaye noted that many millennials were consulting plastic surgeons to remove now unwanted body art. As we head toward President Trump's 100th day in office, and it is apparent he is continuing his policies of having Immigration and Customs Enforcement actually enforce federal law, tattoo removal experts are now seeing a different kind of client: Illegal aliens.

An Al Sharpton guest has the early lead for today's most simultaneously inflammatory and nonsensical statement. Ras Baraka, mayor of Newark, NJ, said that in clamping down on sanctuary cities such as his, the Trump administration is "trying to intimidate us into being what I've called fugitive slave catchers." Not only is the image abhorrent, it is utterly illogical. By enforcing the immigration laws, the Trump admin is not seeking to force illegal immigrants into uncompensated labor. To the contrary, the goal is to deport them.

In the wake of a Massachusetts state representative tipping off illegal aliens about pending ICE raids, Tucker Carlson interviewed MA state senator Jamie Elderidge to discuss this plus pending legislation to make Massachusetts a "sanctuary state." Fox News reported on state rep Michelle DuBois's Facebook posting warning illegals in Brockton to "stay off the streets."

It probably comes as no surprise that California's politicians are doubling down against President Trump's immigration law enforcement policies.
State and local leaders in California struck a defiant tone Monday, saying they would continue to protect people in the country illegally despite an announcement by U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions that the U.S. Department of Justice would soon cut federal grants from so-called sanctuary cities. ...[I]n Sacramento the swiftest reaction came from state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), who is championing legislation that would effectively make California a sanctuary state by prohibiting state and local police from enforcing federal immigration laws. He called Sessions’ statements “nothing short of blackmail.”

On the heels of the failed GOP health care bill, Republicans on the Hill have two new battles: tax reform and avoiding a government shutdown. I detailed the tax reform fight Sunday. Funding for Trump's border wall could complicate the looming budget showdown. Among the options for avoiding yet another government shutdown are reeling in Democrat support to stop a filibuster in the Senate and possibly excluding border wall funding in the spending bill. Typically, the federally government is funded on a yearly basis. Current federal funding ends at the end of April and if nothing happens, a partial shutdown may occur. If a shutdown occurs, GOP lawmakers fear they'll be blamed like they were in 2013. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) has encouraged his colleagues to stay focused:
“The government can’t shut down,’’ he said. “If you have a Republican Congress shutting down a Republican government, that’s just about as politically stupid as it gets.”

While California's Governor Jerry Brown is in Washington, D.C., asking for the Trump administration for funding to help pay for storm damage repair and train construction, the state's legislators have been busy working against the American President. The border wall is the cornerstone of President Trump's campaign platform. This week, Sacramento politicians proposed a bill that that would divest its pension funds from companies engaged in the building of that wall.