Latest news with #Bidenadministration
Fox News
a day ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Tom Homan slams 'Alligator Alcatraz' critics who stayed silent on Biden's 'historic migrant deaths'
Border czar Tom Homan slammed lawmakers for criticizing the conditions of "Alligator Alcatraz" — the nation's newest detention center — while remaining "silent" about the migrant death toll under former President Joe Biden. "Alligator Alcatraz," which was constructed in the alligator-filled swamplands of the Florida Everglades to deter escapees, has drawn scrutiny over its conditions, remote location and potential environmental impact. Critics have questioned whether the site is safe, humane or appropriate for long-term detention. Homan, however, said the center still meets guidelines under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and maintains the "highest" standards in the industry. "Detainees complain about the conditions of detention," Homan said during an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "You can simply go to and look at the detention standards ICE has. They have the highest detention standards in the industry, but these same congressmen are complaining about 'Alligator Alcatraz.'" Homan argued that the lawmakers condemning the facility were noticeably absent when migrant deaths surged under the Biden administration. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data obtained by Fox News, 856 migrants died attempting to cross the southern border in fiscal year 2022 — the highest number ever recorded at the time. "You didn't see them complaining about, under Biden administration, people being held in a border patrol parking lot surrounded by a fence and sweltering heat," Homan said. "They ignored four years of open borders, historic migrant deaths, historic Americans dying from fentanyl, historic numbers of women and children being sex trafficked." The border czar claimed that half a million children were trafficked into the country during Biden's presidency — a crisis he said was not criticized heavily — and asserted that the administration under President Donald Trump has done more to locate those children. "You didn't hear a word about half a million children being trafficked in the country and them not being able to locate 300,000," Homan said. "President Trump, this administration, is finding thousands of those children." Homan said lawmakers who failed to push for stronger border security remained "silent because they're complicit" in the crises that unfolded under the Biden administration. "You can't have strong national security in this country if we don't have border security," Homan said. "We got to know who's coming in, what's coming, where it's coming from. But, instead, they kept silent and they kept feeding the American people."
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Nursing homes struggle with Trump's immigration crackdown
NEW YORK (AP) — Nursing homes already struggling to recruit staff are now grappling with President Donald Trump's attack on one of their few reliable sources of workers: immigration. Facilities for older adults and disabled people are reporting the sporadic loss of employees who have had their legal status revoked by Trump. But they fear even more dramatic impacts are ahead as pipelines of potential workers slow to a trickle with an overall downturn in legal immigration. 'We feel completely beat up right now,' says Deke Cateau, CEO of A.G. Rhodes, which operates three nursing homes in the Atlanta area, with one-third of the staff made up of foreign-born people from about three dozen countries. 'The pipeline is getting smaller and smaller.' Eight of Cateau's workers are expected to be forced to leave after having their Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, revoked. TPS allows people already living in the U.S. to stay and work legally if their home countries are unsafe due to civil unrest or natural disasters and during the Biden administration, the designation was expanded to cover people from a dozen countries, including large numbers from Venezuela and Haiti. While those with TPS represent a tiny minority of A.G. Rhodes' 500 staffers, Cateau says they will be 'very difficult, if not impossible, to replace' and he worries what comes next. 'It may be eight today, but who knows what it's going to be down the road,' says Cateau, an immigrant himself, who arrived from Trinidad and Tobago 25 years ago. Nearly one in five civilian workers in the U.S. is foreign born, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but as in construction, agriculture and manufacturing, immigrants are overrepresented in caregiving roles. More than a quarter of an estimated 4 million nursing assistants, home health aides, personal care aides and other so-called direct care workers are foreign born, according to PHI, a nonprofit focused on the caregiving workforce. The aging of the massive Baby Boom generation is poised to fuel even more demand for caregivers, both in institutional settings and in individuals' homes. BLS projects more growth among home health and personal care aides than any other job, with some 820,000 new positions added by 2032. Nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home health agencies and other such businesses were counting on immigrants to fill many of those roles, so Trump's return to the White House and his administration's attack on nearly all forms of immigration has sent a chill throughout the industry. Katie Smith Sloan, CEO of LeadingAge, which represents nonprofit care facilities, says homes around the country have been affected by the immigration tumult. Some have reported employees who have stopped coming to work, fearful of a raid, even though they are legally in the country. Others have workers who are staying home with children they have kept out of school because they worry about roundups. Many others see a slowdown of job applicants. 'This is just like a punch in the gut,' she says. Rachel Blumberg, CEO of the Toby and Leon Cooperman Sinai Residences in Boca Raton, Florida, has already lost 10 workers whose permission to stay in the U.S. came under a program known as humanitarian parole, which had been granted to people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. She is slated to lose 30 more in the coming weeks with the end of TPS for Haitians. 'I think it's the tip of the iceberg,' says Blumberg, forecasting further departures of employees who may not themselves be deported, but whose spouse or parent is. Blumberg got less than 24 hours' notice when her employees lost their work authorization, setting off a scramble to fill shifts. She has already boosted salaries and referral bonuses but says it will be difficult to replace not just aides, but maintenance workers, dishwashers and servers. 'Unfortunately, Americans are not drawn to applying and working in the positions that we have available,' she says. Front-line caregivers are overwhelmingly female and a majority are members of minority groups, according to PHI, earning an average of just $16.72 hourly in 2023. Long-term care homes saw an exodus of workers as COVID made an already-challenging workplace even more so. Some facilities were beginning to see employment normalize to pre-pandemic levels just as the immigration crackdown hit, though industry-wide, there is still a massive shortage of workers. Some in the industry have watched in frustration as Trump lamented how businesses including farming and hospitality could be hurt by his policies, wondering why those who clean hotel rooms or pick tomatoes deserve more attention than those who care for elders. Beyond rescinded work authorizations for people living in the U.S., care homes are having difficulty getting visas approved for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses they recruit abroad. What used to be a simple process now stretches so long that candidates reconsider the U.S. altogether, says Mark Sanchez, chief operating officer of United Hebrew, a nursing home in New Rochelle, New York. 'There are lines upon lines upon lines,' says Sanchez, 'and now they're saying, 'I'm going to go to Canada' and 'I'm going to go to Germany and they're welcoming me with open arms.'' Looking around a facility with a majority-immigrant staff, the son of Filipino immigrants wonders where his future recruits will come from. 'I don't have ICE coming in my door and taking my people,' Sanchez says, 'but the pipeline that was flowing before is now coming in dribs and drabs.' Long-term care workers are routinely lured away not just by hospitals and doctors' offices, but restaurants, stores and factories. Half of the average nursing home's staff turns over each year, according to federal data, making the attraction and retention of every employee vital to their operation. Robin Wolzenburg of LeadingAge in Wisconsin began working to place an influx of people from Afghanistan after the U.S. pulled out its final troops four years ago and thousands of refugees arrived in her state. Care homes began hiring the refugees and were so delighted with them, some facilities began hiring refugees who arrived from Ukraine, Somalia and Congo. Though many homes had employee retention rates around 30%, Wolzenburg said the figure was above 90% with refugees. Trump has halted most refugee admissions, meaning Wolzenburg's successful outreach program has no new arrivals to target. 'It's been really devastating,' Wolzenburg says. 'Our communities that were actively working with the resettlement agencies are not seeing those referrals to long-term care like we were. There's no refugees coming in.' Lynne Katman, the founder of Juniper Communities, which runs 21 facilities across five states, says it's hard enough to find the right workers with a passion for older adults. Now, just as homes gird for an influx of residents brought on by the country's demographic shift, they're facing another challenge to a stable workforce. 'The work is hard. It's not always been the highest paying job that one can get,' she says. 'But many of the immigrants who actually have chosen this work consider caregiving a noble profession.' ___ Matt Sedensky can be reached at [email protected] and
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
We Asked ChatGPT What Would Happen If Everyone in America Got a $10,000 Stimulus Tomorrow — Here's What it Said
If you were hoping for an economic stimulus check from the federal government, you're likely to be disappointed. The idea of a stimulus check briefly made the rounds earlier this year when the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — formerly led by Elon Musk — promised trillions of dollars in federal budget savings. As GOBankingRates previously reported, there was talk that the Trump administration would distribute 20% of DOGE's expected tax savings in the form of a stimulus payment or dividend check as high as $5,000 per recipient. But Musk's promised savings were much lower than originally projected, and the stimulus talk came to a halt. Explore More: Try This: But suppose the government did issue a stimulus check — not for $5,000, but for $10,000, which is much higher than the $1,400 checks issued by the Biden administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked ChatGPT what would happen if everyone in America were issued a $10,000 stimulus check tomorrow. The first thing it said is that the effects would be 'massive and complex' and touch on nearly every aspect of the U.S. economy and society. Below are a few of the other things you could expect. Most Americans would 'immediately spend' some or all of the money on items such as cars, electronics, rent, debt and travel. This in turn would provide a major boost to businesses in the retail, travel, hospitality, food and related industries. The stock markets would also rise due to higher consumer confidence and business revenues. Check Out: A sudden surge in consumer spending would increase demand faster than supply could keep up. One result is that prices would rise for everything from homes and gas to groceries. Many Americans would use their $10,000 checks to pay off credit cards, student loans and medical bills, which would greatly improve the financial situations of millions of households. For those who don't have a lot of debt, such as the wealthy, part or all of the stimulus money would go directly into bank savings. According to ChatGPT, $10,000 is a 'life-changing' sum for people who have been living paycheck-to-paycheck, so lower income Americans would enjoy a major financial boost. The checks would temporarily narrow the wealth gap, while also convincing some Americans to leave the workforce or reduce their hours. One of the main risks of a massive stimulus program is that it would attract fraudsters and cybercriminals and lead to more financial scams. Meanwhile, the U.S. government would have to spend about $3.35 trillion to issue $10,000 checks to every American — which is roughly the size of the entire federal budget. This would lead to a 'massive' increase in the national debt unless it were offset by higher taxes or spending cuts elsewhere. In addition, the Federal Reserve might have to 'aggressively' raise interest rates. More From GOBankingRates Mark Cuban Warns of 'Red Rural Recession' -- 4 States That Could Get Hit Hard Mark Cuban Says Trump's Executive Order To Lower Medication Costs Has a 'Real Shot' -- Here's Why 4 Affordable Car Brands You Won't Regret Buying in 2025 This article originally appeared on We Asked ChatGPT What Would Happen If Everyone in America Got a $10,000 Stimulus Tomorrow — Here's What it Said Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court rules former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had authority to throw out plea deals for 9/11 alleged conspirators
A federal appeals court determined that former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin 'indisputably' had the authority to cancel plea agreements made last year with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants accused of plotting the 9/11 terror attack. The decision overturns a ruling by a military judge last year that plea agreements setting aside the possibility of the death penalty for the men were 'valid and enforceable,' after Austin revoked the deals months before. 'The Secretary of Defense indisputably had legal authority to withdraw from the agreements; the plain and unambiguous text of the pretrial agreements shows that no performance of promises had begun,' court documents outlining the decision of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals said. Wells Dixon, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who previously represented another Guantanamo detainee, Majid Khan, criticized the court ruling on Friday, saying it will 'ensure nothing but the continued lack of justice and accountability for anyone involved in the military commissions.' 'The Biden administration's effort to invalidate the plea agreements that would resolve in lasting convictions and life sentences for the 9/11 defendants was inexplicable,' Dixon said. 'It was a painful betrayal of the 9/11 victim family members, because we know after more than two decades of litigation at Guantanamo, and we know from experience, that the 9/11 cases will never be resolved through a contested trial.' 'Putting aside the fantasy that this case is ever going to go to trial — assuming it does go to trial and that there's a conviction — you get to sentencing, and they have a right to put forward evidence … that they were tortured. That's never going to happen,' Dixon added. The military trial against Mohammed and the other alleged 9/11 conspirators has been delayed for years as the US government tried to determine how to handle the issue of the torture of individuals at CIA prisons, and the question of whether evidence obtained through torture was admissible in court. Dixon previously told CNN that the government is 'unwilling' to admit evidence in trial 'about the defendants' torture.' The pretrial agreements were announced last summer after 27 months of negotiation, and took the possibility of the death sentence off the table for Mohammed, Mustafa al Hawsawi, and Walid Bin 'Attash. They required that the accused plead guilty to all charges against them and would undergo a public sentencing hearing in which they would be required to answer questions by family members and survivors of the September 11 attack. The agreements drew fierce backlash, both politically and from some groups representing 9/11 victims and their families who had pushed for the death penalty. But just days after the news of the agreements was publicized, Austin revoked them, saying the final decision should be left to him and not the official overseeing the military courts at Guantanamo Bay, Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier. Austin also withdrew Escallier's authority over the cases. Austin's revocation kicked off a months-long legal battle. Attorneys representing the three conspirators called Austin's actions corrupt and unprecedented, and argued that it was not legal due to a regulation in the military's own Manual for Military Commissions, which says a pretrial agreement can only be withdrawn before the accused begins 'performance of promises' or if they do not hold up their end of the agreement. A defense attorney for Mohammed argued in August last year that his client had already begun 'very important, substantive, specific performance,' and therefore Austin's actions were too late. The military judge overseeing the trials of the three men appeared to agree, ruling in November that the plea agreements were 'valid and enforceable.' A defense official told CNN at the time that the judge, Col. Matthew McCall, rules that not only are they legal and enforceable but 'that [Austin] was too late in doing that.' A military appeals court also ruled against Austin in December. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals said in its ruling on Friday that Austin had 'full legal authority' to withdraw from the pretrial agreements, and said there 'no prior performance of promises contained in those agreements prevented the Secretary's withdrawal.' CNN's Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
U.S. can revoke plea deal for accused 9/11 plotter, appeals court rules
A divided federal appeals court ruled Friday that the U.S. government can throw out plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and two others who agreed last July to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences, upholding a Biden administration request and leaving next steps to the Trump administration.
