Immigration

November 25, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff

Alejandro Mayorka under fire for irregularities in issuing green cards

Alejandro Mayorka is Joe Biden’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security. His nomination was expected to be confirmed. However, the nomination might already be in jeopardy. Sen. Tom Cotton tweets: Alejandro Mayorkas was found by Barack Obama’s Inspector General to be guilty of selling Green Cards to Chinese nationals on behalf of rich, democratic donors. He is disqualified from leading the Department of Homeland Security. Mayorka should, indeed, »
September 14, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff

Why is Biden falling short of his party’s expectations with Latino voters?

Featured image Today’s Washington Post includes a front page story the essence of which is that Democrat operatives are frustrated that President Trump is making inroads with Latino voters. The Post attributes Trump’s inroads to (1) lack of direct outreach by the Biden campaign to Latinos and (2) lingering resentment over deportations that occurred during the Obama administration. I have no reason to doubt the reporting that Team Biden hasn’t done a »
August 13, 2020 — Scott Johnson

CRB: Border wars

Featured image This is the third of three planned previews of the new (Summer) issue of the Claremont Review of Books. Having reviewed the issue in galley, I selected essays and reviews I thought some Power Line readers would find of interest. With the indulgence of the editors of the CRB, we are extending the preview with a bonus edition tomorrow. Please stay tuned. Today I have two books reviews that I »
August 12, 2020 — John Hinderaker

Britain Or Bust

Featured image Prime Minister Boris Johnson is threatening to use the British Navy to block emigres from Iran and Afghanistan from crossing the Channel to make landfall in England. The London Times interviews a number of emigres, and the result is this sympathetic piece: “Refugees pushed to the brink in Calais: ‘If they stop us I’ll drown myself.’” Migrants preparing to cross the Channel in small dinghies warned today that they would »
July 22, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff

Losing control

Featured image The U.S. has been losing control of migration to our country for half a century or more. I don’t think we’ve lost additional control under President Trump, but I doubt we have gained much. Thus “Losing Control” is the perfect title for Jerry Kammer’s new book about immigration. Kammer is a reporter who has covered immigration issues for decades. He describes himself as a “liberal restrictionist” when it comes to »
June 25, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff

Supreme Court upholds limits on asylum seekers’ rights

Featured image Today, the Supreme Court ruled that asylum seekers who are turned down by U.S. immigration officials immediately upon entry do not have a right to have their case heard in federal court. The Court reversed a ruling to the contrary by the left-wing Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit’s ruling was an outlier among U.S. courts of appeals, and in my view, the case was a no-brainer. The notion that undocumented »
June 23, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff

Trump extends ban on foreign workers

Featured image Yesterday, President Trump renewed and broadened the immigration suspension he issued in April. The updated order keeps in place until the end of the year his limited suspension of immigrant visas. In addition, it suspends a number of foreign work-visa programs. Trump’s latest measure makes great sense. As Mark Krikorian points out, there are 20 million unemployed Americans, and the jobless rate is more than triple what it was before »
June 5, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff

Britain offers refuge to Hong Kong residents in face of Chinese crackdown

Featured image In response to China’s coming crackdown on Hong Kong, Boris Johnson says he’s prepared to grant British residency and working rights to approximately 3 million Hong Kong residents — about 40 percent of its population. Johnson says he will make this move if China implements its new security laws, which will criminalize conduct deemed sedition and subversion, and enable Chinese security forces to crush dissent in Hong Kong as they »
April 21, 2020 — John Hinderaker

Trump Suspends Immigration

Featured image As you undoubtedly know, President Trump announced last night–via Twitter!–that he will issue an order temporarily suspending all legal immigration on account of the COVID-19 virus: In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April »
March 14, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff

Mexico considers closing border with U.S.

Featured image We already knew these are strange times. Confirmation isn’t necessary. If it were, this report from the Daily Mail would suffice: For once, the conversation over closing the US-Mexico border is being driven by Mexican health officials who say they are considering shutting out Americans to keep coronavirus out of their country. There are currently more than 2,000 cases of the virus in the US and it is spreading rapidly. »
March 11, 2020 — Scott Johnson

Trumplaw: Supreme Court update

Featured image In the Innovation Law Lab case, a divided Ninth Circuit panel upheld an injunction against enforcement of the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (“MPP”). Under the MPP, non-Mexican asylum seekers who present themselves at the southern border of the United States are required to wait in Mexico while their asylum applications are adjudicated. The MPP must be the most effective measure implemented by the Trump administration to stem the crushing »
March 7, 2020 — Scott Johnson

Trumplaw: Ninth Circuit update

Featured image Writing about developments in Trumplaw here this past Sunday, I confused two Ninth Circuit decisions that were decided on the same day. Both cases are worthy of note; they are a double whammy. In the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant case, the Ninth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against enforcement of a rule and presidential proclamation that, together, strip asylum eligibility from “migrants” who cross into the United States along the »
February 26, 2020 — John Hinderaker

A Legal Blow to “Sanctuary” Jurisdictions

Featured image Today the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in State of New York et al. v. U.S. Department of Justice, upholding the Trump administration’s order withholding Byrne Program Criminal Justice Assistance funds from state and local governments that defy federal immigration law by declaring themselves “sanctuaries” for illegal aliens. The court’s opinion is here. The back story includes three prior Court of Appeals decisions going against the administration: the 9th »
February 24, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff

What the Nevada vote tells us about Latino Democrats

Featured image Bernie Sanders’s big victory in Nevada was powered by the Latino vote. The socialist claimed 53 percent of it. Sanders didn’t do nearly as well with African-Americans and whites. If Hispanics had voted like these other two groups, Sanders would not be riding so high. His victory would have resembled the more modest wins in Iowa and New Hampshire. Mark Krikorian sums up what the Nevada results and other evidence »
February 24, 2020 — John Hinderaker

Good News On Immigration

Featured image Mother Jones has data on immigration that most people will consider good news. Mother Jones, of course, doesn’t see it that way. When President Donald Trump took office, he wasted no time in overhauling immigration system with high-profile moves such as separating asylum seekers from their children, rolling back the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and diverting federal funds to build a border wall. Yet along with these »
February 21, 2020 — Steven Hayward

The Fox Butterfield Effect Notices Immigration and Wages

Featured image Many readers will be familiar with the notorious “Fox Butterfield effect,” after the typically clueless New York Times journalist who wondered why crime was falling even though the number of inmates in prisons was going up. As they saying goes, there’s no fixing certain kinds of stupid (and note that the Butterfield Effect about crime is now Democratic Party orthodoxy). I think the Butterfield Effect can be better generalized than »
February 7, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff

Virtue signaling can carry a cost

Featured image Last night on our Power Line VIP program, Steve noted that the Department of Homeland Security plans to deny the privileges of its Global Entry and other Trusted Traveler Programs to New Yorkers. The Global Entry program enables American citizens and permanent residents who travel abroad to avoid long customs lines when they return to the U.S. As I understand it, to determine who qualifies as a “trusted traveler,” the »