DC: The GOP’s 2019 Department of Homeland Security spending bill may include $5 billion for a border wall, but some of President Donald Trump’s staunchest backers say it will do far more to undermine his immigration agenda than to advance it.
Trump heaped praise on the bill’s primary author, Rep. Kevin Yoder of Kansas, in a message of thanks that doubled as an endorsement for reelection in a swing district that Hillary Clinton narrowly won in 2016.
“Thank you to Congressman Kevin Yoder! He secured $5 BILLION for Border Security,” Trump wrote July 18 on Twitter. “Now we need Congress to support. Kevin has been strong on Crime, the Border, the 2nd Amendment, and he loves our Military and Vets. @RepKevinYoder has my full and total endorsement!”
Immigration hawks shared little of Trump’s enthusiasm for the DHS spending proposal, however. Even though it included a hefty sum for border wall construction, the bill “put the interests of illegal aliens and foreign workers” ahead of American citizens, said Chris Chmielenski of NumbersUSA, a grassroots organization that advocates for lower levels of immigration.
That’s because Yoder and House Appropriations Committee chair Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey helped to tack on several amendments that would undermine the administration’s efforts to tighten asylum rules and protect American workers from competition from cheap imported labor.
Killing asylum reform
The biggest rebuke to Trump’s immigration policies came in the form of an amendment offered by Rep. David Price, a North Carolina Democrat. The Price amendment would block U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the DHS component that handles asylum petitions, from implementing strict new standards when making “credible fear” determinations.
USCIS adopted the new guidelines after Attorney General Jeff Sessions ruled in June that gang and domestic violence alone could no longer serve as a basis for a valid asylum claim. In a policy memo issued earlier in July, the agency applied Sessions’s ruling to asylum officers, who make the initial determination of credible fear that allows asylum seekers to pursue their claims in immigration court. keep reading.
Lazlo wants Mr. Trump to remake the GOP into the Trumpican party and leave the Milquetoast Repubs behind
You should have figured this out, the first time xhe told you. You should have known the truth the first time xhe took you on an “all expense paid” trip to Stamford — and you learned “You. Were not the father!” of, at least, one of xer children. Now it’s another “all expense paid” trip to another fabulous location. And, again, “You. Were not the father!”.
It’s not my place to tell you what you should do. Xer sisters, xer mother, many of xer “gentleman callers” — have all told you how to man up… and “Smash the patriarchy! Do (keep doing) what you want. But, you know (or should know, by now), xhe’s not going to leave (on xer own). And xhe “knows” you’ll do the “Manly, manly, man! thing” and keep paying for all xer… oops, “your” (plural)… children. It’s the law! Rule of law. Muh Constitution! (derp)
But, if you expect to be allowed to “walk away” — you know how cooperative xhe’s going to be. You know how “fair” xhe’s going to be. And all xer sisters. And xer moms. And all xer gentleman callers.
And if you insist you must “Stay. And ‘fix’ this!” — well, “Good for you!”. And we all (already) know how that’s going to change. So, please, don’t feign offense, when we just keep “studying” our Twitterbook feeds.
Wellness check STAT ⬆️⬆️⬆️