15 states demand Apple, Google relabel TikTok for ‘mature’ content
Attorneys general from 15 states have demanded Apple and Google increase the age-appropriate rating for social media app TikTok from “teen” to “mature” in their online stores or face possible legal action. The demand was made in nearly identical letters to Apple and Google sent on December 13 by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, co-signed by attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Currently, Apple’s App Store labels TikTok as appropriate for “Age 12+ Years Old,” and Google labels it “T” for “Teen” appropriate. Both ratings mean, “Content is generally suitable for ages 13 and up. May contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling and/or infrequent use of strong language,” according to the company’s websites. The AGs contend the content available on TikTok goes well beyond those guidelines and is not suitable for children under age 17. “The TikTok app contains frequent and intense alcohol, tobacco, and drug use or references, sexual content, profanity, and mature/suggestive themes,” the letters state, drawing the conclusion “The TikTok app can only plausibly qualify for an ‘M’ for ‘Mature’ rating.” The Center Square requested comments from both Apple and Google but did not receive a reply. The move comes amid growing pressure on TikTok by state governments over alleged deceptive practices and data security. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a pair of lawsuits against the app maker on December 8, alleging the company has engaged in deceptive practices aimed at minors in violation of state law by luring children to the platform with misleading messaging about the site’s content, and it deceives consumers into believing their personal information is protected from the Chinese government and Communist Party. TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., also named in the suits. Also December 8, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all Texas state agencies to ban the use of TikTok on any government-issued electronic devices, alleging a growing threat posed by the platform in exposing critical information to the Chinese government. Maryland, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, Alabama, North Dakota, and Utah have subsequently banned use of the app on state-owned electronic devices. According to Apple’s App Store, TikTok collects information and “identifiers” in order to track each user and collects other data specifically linked to the user’s identity, including contact information, purchases, financial information, contacts, search history, browsing history, and data usage. As for Apple and Google, the AGs stated both tech giants are partly responsible for any harm caused by the alleged mislabeling of TikTok. The AGs write that Apple and Google share “the responsibility to ensure that apps like TikTok display an accurate age rating to consumers. When parents are deceived into letting their kids download TikTok, there are real consequences. Exposure to drug, alcohol, and tobacco content on social media makes kids more likely to use or experiment with those illicit substances in real life. And exposure to sexual content on TikTok can lead to pornography addiction and even the sexual exploitation of kids by online predators.” The app has been downloaded more than 1 billion times from Google, according to Google Play, and about 70 million times from Apple through April 2002, according to 9to5Mac. The letters conclude with the warning that if Apple and Google do not change their age ratings for TikTok, the attorneys general reserve the right to take legal action against both vendors, including litigation and civil penalties. A spokesperson for TikTok said earlier this month that concerns by state leaders “are largely fueled by misinformation about our company,” The Washington Post reported. The Center Square requested additional comment from ByteDance, but none was received. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Here’s how Americans can get Naloxone to prevent opioid poisoning, save lives
Naloxone, the emergency treatment that’s proven to reverse opioid overdoses and fentanyl poisoning if administered quickly enough, is available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It’s accessible for free and low cost online, through a range of community organizations, and through pharmacies with and without a prescription and with or without insurance. With fentanyl-laced drugs pouring through the southern border, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has issued a new public safety alert, and several governors, and attorneys general have issued warnings. But after reporting on a toddler nearly dying from fentanyl poisoning, The Center Square received numerous requests from readers about where and how to obtain Naloxone. Nationwide, individuals and organizations can access the life-saving drug through nextdistro.org/naloxone, the first statewide online and mail-based Naloxone distribution project in the country. The online mail-based harm reduction service was created “to reduce opioid overdose death, prevent injection-related disease transmission, and improve the lives of people who use drugs.” Naloxone, and NARCAN, the brand nasal spray, can also be purchased at Naloxoneexchange.com for as low as $59, according to the site. It requires users to enter a physician’s name and NPI#. All state health departments have information about Naloxone training programs and resources to acquire the drug, including free access. Several states and cities have rolled out NARCAN vending machines, the most extensive one is through Philadelphia’s public library system. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have “access laws or alternate arrangements in place that allow persons to obtain naloxone from a pharmacist without an individualized, in-person prescription,” Narcan.com reports. The majority of states and the District of Columbia have Naloxone standing orders, which allow adults to purchase the drug from a licensed pharmacy without a prescription, Rehabs.org explains. The majority of states have also authorized third-party prescriptions, meaning pharmacists and doctors can prescribe and dispense Naloxone. GoodRX Health provides information about where and how to obtain Naloxone for free or at a reduced cost at pharmacies by zip code. It also has a mobile app to help consumers locate the best prices and comparison shop. Having Naloxone on hand is “a good precaution,” the discount prescription drug website says, similar to having a fire extinguisher. You hope you won’t have to use it but if you do, having one on hand could save your life or someone else’s, it says. Good RX Care also provides a prescription service online for individuals between the ages of 18 and 65 who live where Naloxone isn’t available through community-based distribution programs, which primarily assist drug users. The National Harm Reduction Coalition has published a map identifying where the programs are located nationwide. “I would love to see everyone carry naloxone, Narcan, because you never know when you’re going to need it,” Dr. Mark Calarco says in an informational video produced by American Addiction Centers. In it, he explains how to identify if someone has had an overdose and shows how to administer the NARCAN nasal spray. Most states have also passed Good Samaritan Laws, which vary widely. They generally grant immunity from lawsuits to those who prescribe Naloxone and who administer it to save someone they believe is overdosing, among other measures, according to an analysis by the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association. Naloxone has proven to successfully reverse the effects of opioids and prevent someone who’s overdosed from dying by restoring their breathing, the National Institutes of Health reports. Signs of an overdose, according to NIH, include unconsciousness, small pupils, slow or shallow breathing, vomiting, inability to speak, faint heartbeat, limp arms and legs, pale skin, purple lips and fingernails. On Tuesday, Emergent BioSolutions, which was first authorized to sell NARCAN Nasal Spray in 2015, announced the FDA had fast-tracked its application to sell the drug over the counter. Greater access to Naloxone, law enforcement officers have told The Center Square, has the potential to save countless lives. It’s important to note that while Naloxone is successfully used in emergencies, it doesn’t replace emergency medical care, health officials warn. Emergency medical treatment is recommended immediately after receiving treatment. Naloxone has been effective in treating fentanyl poisoning. The highly addictive synthetic opioid is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl poisoning is the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45 years old, according to the CDC. “Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country,” the DEA said in its latest public safety alert. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott argues President Joe Biden’s open border policies are fueling the fentanyl crisis. The precursors, which are made in China, are shipped to Mexico where cartels and their operatives manufacture illicit fentanyl. They then bring it into the U.S. through the southern border and distribute it nationwide. Two milligrams, roughly the weight of a mosquito and small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially lethal dose. Since last March, Texas law enforcement officers alone have seized more than 352 million lethal doses, enough to kill everyone in the U.S. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
DEA issues public safety alert lethal fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has issued another public safety alert warning Americans of a “sharp nationwide increase in the lethality of fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills.” Six of 10 fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills its experts analyzed in 2022 contained a potentially lethal dose, the DEA says, an increase from 4 out of 10 pills tested last year. “More than half of the fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills being trafficked in communities across the country now contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said. “This marks a dramatic increase – from four out of ten to six out of ten – in the number of pills that can kill. “These pills are being mass-produced by the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel, in Mexico,” she said, referring to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC), a deadly rival of the Sinaloa. For the past two years, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said, “the cartels have been emboldened by Biden administration’s open border policies that are killing Americans.” In March 2021, Abbott launched Operation Lone Star to interdict Mexican cartel-linked criminal activity coming through the southern border. He also recently designated the Sinaloa and JCNG cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and called on President Joe Biden to do the same. Abbott hasn’t heard back. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and 17 attorneys general also called on Biden to classify illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. They also haven’t received a reply. The DEA’s public safety alert comes after Texas’ OLS officers have seized over 352 million lethal doses of fentanyl since last March, enough to kill everyone in the U.S. It also comes after Florida law enforcement officers in the last few months seized enough fentanyl to kill everyone in Florida. That was after they after shut down a major drug trafficking operation run by gang members affiliated with Mexican cartels and seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly half of Florida’s population. And after DEA agents earlier this year, in a three-month operation, seized 10.2 million fake pills in all 50 states after they’d seized more than 20.4 million fake prescription pills in 2021. Moody has increasingly been warning Americans that “one pill can kill,” especially rainbow fentanyl being used to target children because it looks like candy. Her office has published a Fast Facts on Fentanyl Toolkit as well as information about digital dealers who are using social media apps targeting minors. The DEA has also published an Emoji Drug Code identifying symbols used to communicate with minors about drugs. Texas also launched a “one pill can kill” public service campaign. Americans are urged to never take a pill that isn’t prescribed by a doctor, from a friend or purchase anything through social media. “Fentanyl has flooded into the country, and Joe Biden continues to look the other way as Mexican drug cartels smuggle massive amounts of this deadly opioid across our southwest border,” Moody said. Addressing the president, she said: “Biden, do your job, secure the border and help us end this opioid crisis.” After receiving the precursors from China, the cartels manufacture fake pills in Mexico to look like real prescription pills like OxyContin, Percocet, Xanax, and others that are laced with fentanyl. “Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country,” the DEA says. The highly addictive synthetic opioid is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Two milligrams, roughly the weight of a mosquito, and small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose. According to the CDC, 107,622 Americans died of drug poisoning in 2021; 66% involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
AGs push back against EPA ‘environmental justice’ rule, say it will increase energy costs
Twelve attorneys general have submitted comments to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan expressing concerns about a new proposed rule they argue will increase energy costs and risk Americans’ safety. At issue is the EPA’s proposed rule, “Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk Management Programs under Clean Air Act; Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention.” (87 Fed. Reg. 53,556), which Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argues is another attempt by the Biden administration to revive an Obama-era “environmental justice” regulation. If implemented, it would far exceed the statutory authority of the EPA, the attorneys general argue, which was curtailed by the Supreme Court earlier this year. The rule would require a range of American facilities and industries to implement costly new processes to minimize “climate change risks,” which the EPA hasn’t proved will reduce such risks, they argue. Those impacted by the regulations would include petroleum refineries, chemical manufacturers, water and wastewater treatment systems, chemical and petroleum wholesalers and terminals, food manufacturers, packing plants, cold storage facilities, agricultural chemical distributors, and midstream gas plants, among others. The proposed rule would impose “burdensome new regulatory requirements that do not lead to improvements in preventing accidental releases or minimizing the consequences of any such releases,” they write, and “would come at the cost of a greater regulatory burden without providing sufficient corresponding benefits.” It would also cripple the U.S. energy industry and subsequently create a serious national security risk, the attorney generals from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah, and led by Oklahoma, argue. Worse still, another requirement would jeopardize Americans’ safety, they argue because it requires certain facilities to publicly disclose information about specific locations of dangerous chemicals. This would only expose Americans to “risks of intentional releases by bad actors,” they write. “There is an inherent security risk in requiring public disclosure of information of sensitive information about chemical facilities without protections sufficient to mitigate that risk.” The EPA has offered no evidence that imposing additional regulations “would have any effect on the number of chemical accidents that occur at the regulated entities,” they say. Instead, it “would increase costs and add onerous reporting requirements on the regulated facilities.” Several commenters offered support for the rule change during the 2019 reconsideration comment period, but none provided information to support security concerns. The AGs argue the Biden administration is revisiting the same “security shortcomings we warned about” before. They aren’t alone. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also has been pushing back against EPA overreach in the Permian Basin and supported the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v. EPA in June. He said it correctly ruled to restrain the EPA when the agency has attempted to impose costly regulations without input from Congress. Abbott said the ruling was “a victory against an out-of-control administration” as Americans were grappling with “skyrocketing energy costs due to expensive federal regulations that threaten our energy industry. President Biden cannot keep attacking the energy industry and the hardworking men and women who power our nation.” And while other states continue to be hamstrung by federal regulations, Texas continues to lead the U.S. in oil and natural gas production and job creation. Such a rule would stifle that growth, Abbott said. Oil & Gas Workers Association Board Member Richard Welch told The Center Square a so-called “environmental justice” rule would devastate the economy, drive fuel prices up and hamper production at refineries that are already producing at capacity and under the strictest regulations already. The rule isn’t about “justice,” he argues, but is “simply a ‘strong arm’ of an already weaponized EPA aimed at suffocating the already over-regulated oil and gas industry.” Welch also says the administration doesn’t regulate the wind, solar and electric vehicle industries to the extent that it regulates the oil and natural gas industry. These industries also receive significant subsidies from the federal government while the harvesting of resources and production to create so-called green energy “causes significant harm to the environment,” he added. He also said the U.S. oil and gas industry “remains confident in the AGs commitment to protecting it from ongoing federal overreach” and the Texas oil and natural gas industry “remains confident in the efforts of AG Paxton and Gov. Abbott to ensure Texas remains the oil and gas powerhouse that fuels America and the world.” Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Halloween warning: Beware rainbow fentanyl pills hidden in candy boxes
From coast to coast – from California to New York, from Texas to Florida – law enforcement officers are warning parents about rainbow fentanyl pills being hidden in candy boxes ahead of Halloween. The pills look like candy but are laced with illicit fentanyl intended to kill children and others who ingest them. Two milligrams, the size of a mosquito, is considered a lethal dose. After a major drug bust at the Los Angeles Airport, LA County Sheriff’s Department issued a warning saying, “With Halloween approaching, parents need to make sure they are checking their kid’s candy and not allowing them to eat anything until it has been inspected by them. “If you find anything in candy boxes that you believe might be narcotics, do not touch it and immediately notify your local law enforcement agency.” The sheriff’s office issued the warning after its Narcotics Bureau detectives and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents seized approximately 12,000 suspected fentanyl pills hidden inside “Sweetarts,” “Skittles,” and “Whoppers” candy boxes that a passenger was trying to take on a plane at the Los Angeles International Airport. In Tampa on Tuesday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and law enforcement officers warned parents about the dangers of rainbow fentanyl ahead of Halloween. “Halloween can be scary, but nowhere near as scary as rainbow-colored fentanyl that looks like candy and can be lethal in minute doses,” she said. “Whether these drugs are being transported in candy boxes or mixed with other common drugs and sold to unsuspecting users, the threat posed to the safety of kids and young adults is very real. “Just one pill laced with fentanyl can kill, so parents, please talk to your children about the dangers posed by this extremely lethal drug.” Earlier this month, Florida law enforcement officers seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly half of Florida’s population after they shut down a major drug trafficking operation run by gang members affiliated with Mexican cartels. Last month, two Maryland men were charged with fentanyl trafficking offenses after selling illicit pills to undercover DEA agents, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut said. Investigators confiscated 15,000 fentanyl-laced pills, many of which were hidden inside numerous Nerds candy boxes and Skittles candy bags. Earlier this month, DEA agents seized the largest amount of fentanyl to date in New York City – 15,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills hidden in a Lego toy box. Agents said the pills were primarily supplied by two Mexican cartels, the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartel. “Using happy colors to make a deadly drug seem fun and harmless is a new low, even for the Mexican cartels,” New York narcotics city prosecutor Bridget Brennan said in a statement. She said more than 80% of drug overdoses in New York City involve illicit fentanyl. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has designated the two cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and has called on President Joe Biden to do the same. Fentanyl is pouring through the border “because of President Biden’s open border policies,” Abbott said. He’s continued to call on the president to close the border, sounding the alarm on the volume of drugs pouring through. Since the president has been in office, Texas law enforcement working through Operation Lone Star have seized enough lethal doses of fentanyl to kill everyone in the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have seized enough lethal doses of fentanyl to kill 5 billion people. The DEA also recently said it had seized 36 million lethal doses of fentanyl in operations from May to September nationwide. Moody and 17 attorneys general have called on the president to classify illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. “With massive amounts of fentanyl flooding in from Mexico, we know that deadly drugs are more available,” than they were before, Moody warned. She’s urging parents to talk to their children about how dangerous just one pill is: it can kill. Her office has published a range of resources about the dangers of fentanyl, including a Fast Facts on Fentanyl Toolkit to educate parents about digital drug dealers who are aggressively targeting children and young adults on social media apps. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Joe Biden turning to Donald Trump-era rule to expel Venezuelan migrants
Two years ago, candidate Joe Biden loudly denounced President Donald Trump for immigration policies that inflicted “cruelty and exclusion at every turn,” including toward those fleeing the “brutal” government of socialist Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Now, with increasing numbers of Venezuelans arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border as the November 8 election nears, Biden has turned to an unlikely source for a solution: his predecessor’s playbook. Biden last week invoked a Trump-era rule known as Title 42 — which Biden’s own Justice Department is fighting in court — to deny Venezuelans fleeing their crisis-torn country the chance to request asylum at the border. The rule, first invoked by Trump in 2020, uses emergency public health authority to allow the United States to keep migrants from seeking asylum at the border, based on the need to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Under the new Biden administration policy, Venezuelans who walk or swim across America’s southern border will be expelled, and any Venezuelan who illegally enters Mexico or Panama will be ineligible to come to the United States. But as many as 24,000 Venezuelans will be accepted at U.S. airports, similar to how Ukrainians have been admitted since Russia’s invasion in February. Mexico has insisted that the U.S. admit one Venezuelan on humanitarian parole for each Venezuelan it expels to Mexico, according to a Mexican official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke condition of anonymity. So if the Biden administration paroles 24,000 Venezuelans to the U.S., Mexico would take no more than 24,000 Venezuelans expelled from the U.S. The Biden policy marks an abrupt turn for the White House, which just weeks ago was lambasting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, both Republicans, for putting Venezuelan migrants “fleeing political persecution” on buses and planes to Democratic strongholds. “These were children, they were moms, they were fleeing communism,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the time. Biden’s new policy has drawn swift criticism from immigrant advocates, many of them quick to point out the Trump parallels. “Rather than restore the right to asylum decimated by the Trump administration … the Biden administration has dangerously embraced the failures of the past and expanded upon them by explicitly enabling expulsions of Venezuelan migrants,” said Jennifer Nagda, policy director of the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. The administration says the policy is aimed at ensuring a “lawful and orderly” way for Venezuelans to enter the U.S. Why the turnaround? For more than a year after taking office in January 2021, Biden deferred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which used its authority to keep in place the Trump-era declaration that a public health risk existed that warranted expedited expulsion of asylum-seekers. Members of Biden’s own party and activist groups had expressed skepticism about the public health underpinnings for allowing Title 42 to remain in effect, especially when COVID-19 was spreading more widely within the U.S. than elsewhere. After months of internal deliberations and preparations, the CDC on April 1 said it would end the public health order and return to normal border processing of migrants, giving them a chance to request asylum in the U.S. Homeland Security officials braced for a resulting increase in border crossings. But officials inside and outside the White House were conflicted over ending the authority, believing it effectively kept down the number of people crossing the border illegally, according to senior administration officials. A court order in May that kept Title 42 in place due to a challenge from Republican state officials was greeted with quiet relief by some in the administration, according to officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions. The recent increase in migration from Venezuela, sparked by political, social, and economic instability in the country, dashed officials’ hopes that they were finally seeing a lull in the chaos that had defined the border region for the past year. By August, Venezuelans were the second-largest nationality arriving at the U.S. border after Mexicans. Given that U.S. tensions with Venezuela meant migrants from the country could not be sent back easily, the situation became increasingly difficult to manage. So an administration that had rejected many Trump-era policies aimed at keeping out migrants, that had worked to make the asylum process easier, and that had increased the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. now turned to Title 42. It brokered a deal to send the Venezuelans to Mexico, which already had agreed to accept migrants expelled under Title 42 if they are from Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador. All the while, Justice Department lawyers continue to appeal a court decision that has kept Title 42 in place. They are opposing Republican attorneys general from more than 20 states who have argued that Title 42 is “the only safety valve preventing this Administration’s already disastrous border control policies from descending into an unmitigated catastrophe.” Under Title 42, migrants have been expelled more than 2.3 million times from the U.S. after crossing the country’s land borders illegally from Canada or Mexico, though most try to come through Mexico. The administration had announced it would stop expelling migrants under Title 42 starting May 23 and go back to detaining and deporting migrants who did not qualify to enter and remain in the U.S. — a longer process that allows migrants to request asylum in the U.S. “We are extremely disturbed by the apparent acceptance, codification, and expansion of the use of Title 42, an irrelevant health order, as a cornerstone of border policy,” said Thomas Cartwright of Witness at the Border. “One that expunges the legal right to asylum.” A separate lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union also is trying to end Title 42, an effort that could render the administration’s proposal useless. “People have a right to seek asylum – regardless of where they came from, how they arrive in the United States, and whether or not they have family here,” said ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Joe Guzzardi: Bill Clinton’s post-1994 mid-term immigration awakening
Every now and again, both during and after his two-term presidency, Bill Clinton espoused sound immigration thoughts that focused on the nation’s best interests. Most recently, Clinton, without naming Joe Biden, took direct aim at the sitting president’s open border fiasco. On a CNN podcast, and in response to a question about economic migrants who are, in the host’s description, “gaming” the asylum system, Clinton replied that “there’s a limit,” at which point open borders will cause “severe disruption.” Clinton added that the established immigration protocols, presumably a reference to the traditional agencies that assist incoming immigrants, function on the assumption that border conditions would “be more normal.” “Severe disruption” may be the kindest way to describe the chaos in the Rio Grande Valley and other entry points along the Southwest Border. And severely disrupted is an understatement to define the conditions in sanctuary cities New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., where the mayors are grappling unsuccessfully to accommodate the migrants that Texas and Florida governors Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis send north. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul summoned the National Guard to help Eric Adams with his plan, still in flux, to relocate the migrants to a Randall Island tent city. Adams, who declared the incoming migrants’ need for assistance “a humanitarian crisis,” pleaded to no avail with Biden for a minimum $500 million emergency aid infusion. Having no money to deal with incoming migrants is as disruptive, to use Clinton’s word, as conditions get. Clinton has long been aware of over immigration’s effect on American citizens. In his 1995 State of the Union address, given shortly after Republicans picked up eight Senate seats and a net 54 House seats post a GOP mid-term rout to win congressional control for the first time in four decades, Clinton spoke about the anxiety Americans experience during periods of unchecked immigration. Clinton listed many dangers that illegal immigration presents to Americans that, included illegal hiring, the subsequent U.S. job losses, and providing costly social services. Clinton’s word-for-word conclusion: “It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it.” During his SOU speech, Clinton mentioned Barbara Jordan, the former U.S. representative who chaired the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. The commission’s goal was to establish a “credible, coherent immigrant and immigration policy.” The African-American Democrat from Texas endorsed significant legal immigration reductions, emphasizing high-skilled admissions, fewer refugees, more deportations, and a chain migration overhaul that would limit sponsorship to nuclear family members. Jordan distilled her immigration vision in a sentence: “Those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave. However, Jordan died just months after releasing her report, after which a civil rights, Hispanic advocacy coalition opposed to Jordan’s immigration goals strong-armed Clinton into backing away. Had Jordan lived, her presence would have kept Clinton committed to her commonsense immigration reform rules. Should the GOP manage to recapture Congress, no sure thing, the results won’t spawn a 1995-style immigration awareness in Biden similar to Clinton’s. As Vice President, Biden continuously hailed “constant” and “unrelenting” immigration stream “in large numbers” as America’s source of strength. Given the red carpet welcome Biden has extended to millions of illegal immigrants and gotaways, complete with, in many cases, parole and work authorization, a presidential immigration awakening is highly improbable. Joe Guzzardi is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist who writes about immigration and related social issues. Joe joined Progressives for Immigration Reform in 2018 as an analyst after a ten-year career directing media relations for Californians for Population Stabilization, where he also was a Senior Writing Fellow. A native Californian, Joe now lives in Pennsylvania. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.
Joe Guzzardi: Hispanic voters trending red
For the last several presidential election cycles, media messaging has been consistent: candidates who capture the Hispanic vote will win. The suggestion, often unstated, was that GOP candidates need to promote an illegal alien amnesty, pledge to curtail interior enforcement, and promote expanded immigration. In 2022, however, Hispanics could indeed hold the key to a GOP victory, but not because they endorse amnesty. Hispanics, realizing that an open border creates job competition, classroom chaos, and disrupts their communities, oppose President Joe Biden’s immigration agenda. The Hispanic shift toward Republicans has been slowly but steadily building. In 2004 and 2016, Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump scored well among Hispanics, 40 percent and 38 percent, respectively. Trump’s 2020 total was almost 10 points higher than his 2016 tally. But in the 20 months since Biden’s inauguration, the White House’s open borders agenda has accelerated the Hispanic shift to the GOP. Remember that Hispanics who vote are U.S. citizens, and their hopes and concerns are largely identical to other Americans. In his new book, “Political Migrants: Hispanic Voters on the Move,” Jim Robb wrote that Biden’s refusal to enforce border laws and instead to opt for catch-and-release has been disastrous for all Americans, but especially legal immigrants and the 40-plus million American-born Hispanics. This fall, indications are that Hispanics will vote Republican at a higher rate than they did in 2020: 41 percent plan to vote Republican against 45 percent who will support Democrats, with others undecided. Since only 29 percent of Hispanics voted Republican in the 2018 mid-term election, 41 percent would be a significant GOP move toward capturing an important demographic. In fact, 41 percent would be the highest mid-term election share Republicans have ever received from Hispanics. On important life-affecting issues, Hispanics side with the GOP. Among likely Hispanic voters, 52 percent believe the government is doing “too little to reduce illegal border crossings and visitor overstays.” Only 15 percent believe the government is doing “too much.” Hispanic voters overwhelmingly agree that chain migration should be limited to spouses and minor children, that Congress should mandate E-Verify, which helps assure that only citizens and lawfully present foreign nationals can hold jobs, that businesses should raise wages to attract American workers before hiring foreign nationals, and that legal immigration should be reduced from its current one million-plus annually inflow. Other poll findings may vary, but tangible evidence exists that the Hispanic shift to the GOP is real and may represent the difference in November. In a special June election to determine who would represent Texas’ 34th congressional district in the illegal immigration-besieged Rio Grande Valley, Mayra Flores defeated Democrat Dan Sanchez. A citizen since age 14 and married to a border patrol officer, Flores represents a burgeoning breed of Hispanic officeholders who promote strict border enforcement. Flores is the first Republican to represent her historically blue district in 150 years and the first woman born in Mexico ever elected to Congress. Just weeks after her victory, Flores called on her colleagues to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his abject failures to enforce immigration laws which have caused the ongoing border crisis. Texas gubernatorial challenger Robert O’Rourke, trailing Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, explained why Hispanics have abandoned Democrats. O’Rourke, harkening back to 2020, blamed Biden, who “…didn’t spend a dime or day in the Rio Grande Valley or really anywhere in Texas….” Flores will be on the November ballot when she faces Democrat Vicente Gonzales, who has consistently voted to support Biden’s open borders policy. Political forecasters maintain that the 34th still leans blue. But a Flores victory would confirm that the Hispanic trend to red is real. Joe Guzzardi is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist who writes about immigration and related social issues. Joe joined Progressives for Immigration Reform in 2018 as an analyst after a ten-year career directing media relations for Californians for Population Stabilization, where he also was a Senior Writing Fellow. A native Californian, Joe now lives in Pennsylvania. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.
Joe Guzzardi: DOJ May Intervene in Florida, Texas Transport Plans
Hillary Clinton, Yale Law School ’73, said on MSNBC that sending 50 illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard was “literally human trafficking” by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Harvard Law School, ‘05. The MSNBC co-host, Joe Scarborough, University of Florida School of Law ‘90, accused DeSantis of using innocent people as political pawns. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Harvard Law School ‘95, suggested that DeSantis and fellow Texan Gov. Greg Abbott, Vanderbilt University Law School, ’84, should send more migrants to blue cities and states. Cruz, pointing to the millions of illegal immigrants that the administration has admitted, bussed, and flown around the nation, called President Joe Biden, Syracuse University School of Law ’68 and former Senate Judiciary Chair, “the biggest human trafficker on the face of the planet.” Biden demanded that the governors stop their “un-American” political stunts. Clinton, Scarborough, and Biden have support from like-minded lawyers. Professors from Notre Dame, Georgetown, and other universities, along with civil rights advocates, came down hard on DeSantis and Abbott. The harshest criticism came from Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who requested that the Department of Justice open an investigation into the Martha’s Vineyard flights on charges that the migrants were “kidnapped.” Move along. Nothing to see here; just angry lawyers going after each other, hammer and tongs. The voting public, however, is grappling with a contradiction. If the Biden administration can order Customs and Border Patrol to put thousands of aliens on buses and planes to send them throughout the interior of the United States, then the same flexibility should apply to the governors, assuming, of course, that the migrants agree to be flown to Martha’s Vineyard or driven to Washington, D.C. or New York. Jonathan Turley, George Washington University law professor, provided his perspective. Turley wrote that to call transporting aliens kidnapping is “to take a flight from one’s legal senses.” On his blog, Turley stated that human trafficking, a legal term, is altogether different than moving humans in traffic. The governors’ actions aren’t an attempt to put humans, through fraud, coercion, or force, into peonage, involuntary servitude, or sex slavery. In conclusion, Turley wrote that many objections could be made to the governors’ transport programs, but not kidnapping and human trafficking. The tensions between the states and the cities are just beginning. DeSantis promised to fly more migrants to other sanctuary cities, but not necessarily Martha’s Vineyard. That way, DeSantis explained, the sanctuaries can “put their money where their mouth is.” A possible 2024 presidential candidate, DeSantis may sense that while some American voters support immigration, they object to Biden-style open borders. Political expediency is at play in Texas, too. Abbott is up for re-election in November, and he’s counting on removing illegal immigrants as integral to his victory. The border invasion is expensive. As part of its $4 billion Operation Lone Star program, Texas has installed more than 42 miles of concertina wire along its Southern border near Eagle Pass and Del Rio, two communities through which millions have passed. A potential roadblock – a boulder, really – may stand in the governors’ way. In a statement, the Boston nonprofit, Lawyers for Civil Rights, promised to investigate “the inhumane manner in which they [the Martha’s Vineyard migrants] were shipped across the country, to determine the responsible parties, whether state or federal criminal laws against human trafficking and kidnapping were violated, and what other legal remedies are available.” Even though no evidence exists that the migrants were treated inhumanely, and as Turley warned, trafficking and kidnapping are specious charges, LCR will press on. The legal advocates hope to gather pro bono attorneys, immigration experts, law enforcement, and social services providers. If that’s not enough, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco confirmed that the DOJ is reviewing inquiries like Newsom’s calling for an investigation. The DOJ’s involvement, inevitable in the Biden administration, especially if the governors escalate, would be the end of the line for the governors’ strategy to give sanctuary cities a tiny taste of their own medicine. Not a single voice among the many urged border enforcement. Joe Guzzardi is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist who writes about immigration and related social issues. Joe joined Progressives for Immigration Reform in 2018 as an analyst after a ten-year career directing media relations for Californians for Population Stabilization, where he also was a Senior Writing Fellow. A native Californian, Joe now lives in Pennsylvania. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.
Joe Guzzardi: Bussed migrants prove limits to inviting the world
Emotions are raw; temperatures are heated, and embattled parties are exchanging strong statements. The uproar’s cause: illegal immigrants being sent to sanctuary cities. New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. mayors Eric Adams, Lori Lightfoot, and Muriel Bowser allege that Texas, Florida, and Arizona governors – Greg Abbott, Ron DeSantis, and Doug Ducey, respectively – are playing politics with migrants’ lives, and that racism motivates their actions. After calling Abbott a racist, Lightfoot openly questioned the Texas governor’s Christian values. Bowser declared that the migrants’ arrival constituted a public emergency and asked the White House to summon the National Guard, an ignored request. Fulfilling a promise he made in April and upping the ante in the immigration debate, DeSantis sent two planes with migrants, mostly Venezuelans, to Martha’s Vineyard, an elitist playground. In the spring, the Florida Department of Transportation received DeSantis’ approval to set aside $12 million to fly the aliens to Martha’s Vineyard and Delaware. Abbott sent two busloads to D.C.’s Naval Observatory, Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence. DeSantis and the other governors counter the mayors’ political grandstanding charges by saying that the financial burden illegal immigrants create should be shared among the states. In the governors’ collective opinions, no destinations are better suited as new homes for aliens than sanctuary cities whose leaders have long avowed their willingness to accept them. Days after the migrants arrived in Chicago – and the total 500 headcount is minuscule compared to the millions that have crossed into Texas – Lightfoot changed her hospitable tone. She shipped the aliens unannounced to suburban Elk Grove Village. Mayor Craig Johnson was as displeased as Adams, Lightfoot, and Bowser with the influx of mostly poor, undereducated, and unskilled into his municipality. Johnson asked: “Why are they coming to Elk Grove?” Johnson’s question is valid. From the moment migrants cross the border, during their resettlement, and indefinitely into the future, taxpayers fund the exorbitant costs. A new financial analysis from the Federation for American Immigration Reform found that to provide for the 1.3 million illegal aliens that Biden has released into the interior and the 1 million estimated gotaways, taxpayers will be assessed $20.4 billion annually, a sum that will be added to the existing $140 billion that’s allotted each year to the existing, long-term illegal alien population. FAIR estimates that each illegal alien costs American taxpayers $9,232 per year and further calculates that the $20.4 billion could provide Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to more than 7 million additional needy families, fund and expand the entire National School Lunch Program, hire more than 315,000 police officers to combat the nation’s escalating crime wave across the country, and hire 330,000 new teachers, which would end America’s long-standing teacher shortage. The billions of dollars spent on migrants is against a backdrop of unmet needs in American families. A Brandeis University study found that 35 percent of American families, despite working full-time, year-round, do not meet the “basic family needs budget” – the amount needed for rent, food, transportation, medical care, and minimal household expenses. For black and Hispanic families, 50 percent cannot afford life’s fundamentals. The Brandeis survey showed that low-income families with children are struggling; more than two-thirds of full-time workers don’t earn enough to make ends meet. Those families would need to earn about $11 more per hour to fully cover basic costs, or about $23,500 in additional annual earnings. Black and Hispanic families would require a $12 hourly income spike, $26,500 annually, to meet the family budget. Joe Biden campaigned as Scranton Joe, working America’s champion. But as president, Biden has abandoned his commitment to lower- and middle-class families. Instead, Biden has rewarded illegally present foreign nationals with billions of dollars. As a result, Scranton Joe is as unpopular in his hometown as he is nationwide. In Pennsylvania’s 8th District, that includes Scranton, Biden’s approval rating is 38 percent, indicative of his failures. Joe Guzzardi is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist who writes about immigration and related social issues. Joe joined Progressives for Immigration Reform in 2018 as an analyst after a ten-year career directing media relations for Californians for Population Stabilization, where he also was a Senior Writing Fellow. A native Californian, Joe now lives in Pennsylvania. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.
GOP governors to Joe Biden: Student loan plan will be costly for American taxpayers
President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan will be costly for American taxpayers, a coalition of GOP governors said in a letter sent Monday to the White House. The letter, signed by 22 GOP governors, tells Biden to “withdraw” the plan, citing cost estimates of up to $600 billion, or $2,000 per American taxpayer. “As governors, we support making higher education more affordable and accessible for students in our states, but we fundamentally oppose your plan to force American taxpayers to pay off the student loan debt of an elite few,” the coalition wrote. The coalition includes Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon. “At a time when inflation is sky high due to your unprecedented tax-and-spend agenda, your plan will encourage more student borrowing, incentivize higher tuition rates, and drive-up inflation even further, negatively impacting every American,” the governors added. Biden announced the plan last month during an address from the White House. “Many people – many people can’t qualify for a mortgage or buy a home because the debt they continue to carry,” Biden said. “A lot of folks are even putting off starting families because of the cost, and the dream of starting or owning your business is just way off in the distance with a debt that’s – that so many are saddled with.” The plan forgives $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those who make less than $125,000 annually, while federal Pell Grant recipients will be forgiven $20,000. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that the plan’s total cost would be $440 to $600 billion. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Joe Guzzardi: Migrant school enrollment begins; less teacher time for U.S. kids
New York City public schools are bracing for a significant enrollment of non-English speaking migrants. The recently arrived youths were bused to Manhattan from Texas, an ongoing transfer from Red to Blue areas of the country that has led to bombastic protests from New York’s sanctuary city Mayor Eric Adams. The political implications for Adams and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are yet to be seen. But the consequences for the 80,000 K-12 teachers are immediate and demanding. As Schools Chancellor David Banks said: “There are students coming in every day.” But Banks omitted some key elements of what he called a challenge. The new students have arrived illegally from around the world, about 150 different nations, and will need assistance in every facet of public education. That assistance comes at the expense of New York’s already enrolled student body, as well as its teachers and administrators. No teacher has enough time in his or her day to properly educate existing pupils and simultaneously transition the newcomers into classroom readiness. Department of Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins put on a brave but foolhardy front. Jenkins said that his agency is going all out to smooth the way for the migrants, support their needs and quickly enroll them. Easier said than done, of course. The burden won’t directly fall on Jenkins, Banks, or Adams. The already overworked and under-appreciated teachers will be responsible for educating illegal immigrants, some with no formal classroom background. Good luck to the soon-to-be overwhelmed teachers. Mayor Adams, Chancellor Banks, and Commissioner Jenkins are off to a bad start. With schools opening on September 8, the high-ranking trio felt compelled to do something – anything! – to give teachers, school principals, and parents the impression that they have a clue. Adams introduced his short-on-details interagency plan to transition the students before their first day. The children received free-to-them, but taxpayer-funded school supplies and mobile phones. Few kids who live in an understaffed shelter as these do are prepared to begin a new school year in a new country and new environment. The child who is age-appropriate for the fourth grade but has no first, second, or third-grade preparation is unlikely, public education experts concluded, to ever catch up and are at risk of dropping out. President Joe Biden’s open borders agenda has hurt millions of already-struggling, poor Americans. Now, Biden’s brazen, illegal, unconstitutional immigration law-breaking will leave its mark on America’s classrooms. Among the biggest losers in the very long list of immigration policy victims that the Biden administration has willfully created are the students who will now have to compete for their teachers’ attention with non-English speaking migrants. Rita Rodriguez-Engberg, director of the Immigrant Students’ Rights Project at Advocates for Children, admitted that migrants who are learning English and living in shelters “will need targeted support in school, including programming to help them learn English and participate in class.” The city is dramatically short of bilingual English language instructors. Consider that in the 2021-2022 academic year, New York’s K-12 1.1 million student-strong profile showed that 72 percent were economically disadvantaged; 20 percent had disabilities, and 14 percent were English language learners. Into that mix, teachers and education-hungry citizen kids must find a way to accommodate the migrants and create a productive classroom environment – a tough assignment that could spike teachers’ already-high attrition rate. In New York, the two-year teacher attrition rate is 25 percent; 18 percent leave in the first year. The national rate is 10 percent. Because Abbott has bused illegal immigrants to New York, and Adams complained loudly, the fallout between them is headline news. But, remember, Biden has also authorized migrants’ release into the interior’s every corner. Other schools will soon be juggling teacher time and scarce resources between illegal aliens and citizen students. Coming off of two years of COVID-mandated remote learning and then vying for teacher time because of Biden’s reckless immigration agenda, U.S. kids have to apply themselves if they want a sound education that will put them on a path to good jobs. But with Biden, American kids’ educations are a distant second to illegal aliens’ schooling needs. Putting U.S. kids second is consistent with Biden’s now well-established America-last agenda. Joe Guzzardi is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist who writes about immigration and related social issues. Joe joined Progressives for Immigration Reform in 2018 as an analyst after a ten-year career directing media relations for Californians for Population Stabilization, where he also was a Senior Writing Fellow. A native Californian, Joe now lives in Pennsylvania. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.
