Latest news with #CenterforImmigrationStudies
New York Post
3 days ago
- Health
- New York Post
Washington Post mocked after reporting on ‘mysterious' decline in fentanyl crossing the border
Advertisement The Washington Post is being mocked online and by the White House for 'pathetic' reporting on what the liberal-leaning news outlet calls a 'mysterious' decline in fentanyl flowing across the border. Fentanyl is a dangerous drug that is often trafficked into the United States across the southern and northern borders by cartels and other criminal elements. In 2024, fentanyl was linked to the death of 48,422 persons in the United States, according to the CDC. During his campaign, President Donald Trump vowed to wage a war against fentanyl traffickers through increased border security and by cracking down on illegal immigration. Advertisement Since taking office, Trump has deployed U.S. troops to the southern border, targeted cartels and transnational criminal groups as 'foreign terrorist organizations' and hit cartel leaders with sanctions. According to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), the U.S. law enforcement seizures of fentanyl, which the group explains is a 'key indicator of broader total smuggling at and between the southern border's ports of entry,' have dropped 50% since the November election. 5 Fentanyl is a dangerous drug that is often trafficked into the United States across the southern and northern borders. REUTERS CIS states that this significant decline indicates a 'greater decline in total fentanyl smuggling.' Advertisement The Washington Post reports on this decline, stating that U.S. seizures at the southern border are down by almost 30 percent compared with the same period in 2024. The outlet, however, states that the drop 'represents something of a mystery.' 5 The Washington Post states that U.S. seizures at the southern border are down by almost 30 percent compared with the same period in 2024. @DHSgov/X 'After years of confiscating rising amounts of fentanyl, the opioid that has fueled the most lethal drug epidemic in American history, U.S. officials are confronting a new and puzzling reality at the Mexican border. Fentanyl seizures are plummeting,' wrote the Post. Advertisement Among the possible reasons listed by the outlet are cartels finding other ways to smuggle the drug into the U.S., cartel internal strife, ingredient shortages and a possible decline in demand. Though baffled by the reason for the decline, The Washington Post posited that 'public health authorities are concerned that the Trump administration's budget cuts could hurt programs that have promoted overdose antidotes and addiction treatment.' 5 President Donald Trump vowed to wage a war against fentanyl traffickers through increased border security. AP The article was widely mocked by conservatives online. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., commented on X, 'The Washington Post is reporting a 'mysterious drop' in fentanyl seizures at the southern border. Mystery solved! The Trump effect is working.' Charlie Kirk, a popular conservative influencer, also commented, saying: 'Four months into the Trump administration, The Washington Post is marveling at the 'mysterious' drop in fentanyl seizures on the Mexican border … Is the Post simply lying, or are their reporters as dumb as the people they're writing propaganda for?' The Department of Homeland Security's official X account also replied, commenting: 'It's no mystery. On day one, [President] Trump closed our borders to drug traffickers.' 5 DHS said that 'from March 2024 to March 2025 fentanyl traffic at the southern border fell by 54%.' AP Advertisement DHS said that 'from March 2024 to March 2025 fentanyl traffic at the southern border fell by 54%.' 'The world has heard the message loud and clear,' said DHS. Several top White House spokespersons also weighed in. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt simply called the Post 'pathetic,' and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said: 'They can't stand that President Trump's strong border policies have led to a DECREASE in fentanyl coming into the U.S.' 5 White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt simply called the Post 'pathetic.' JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Advertisement Abigail Jackson, another White House spokeswoman, told Fox News Digital that 'the drop in fentanyl seizures at the border is only a mystery to Washington Post reporters suffering from Trump-Derangement Syndrome.' 'As of March, fentanyl traffic at the Southern Border had fallen by more than half from the same time last year – while Joe Biden's open border was still terrorizing America,' said Jackson. 'Everyone else knows the simple truth: President Trump closed our border to illegal drug traffickers and Americans are safer because of it.' The Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request by Fox News Digital for comment.
New York Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Colorado attack shows why ICE can't just focus on ‘criminals'
On Sunday, Mohamed Sabry Soliman — an Egyptian national admitted under the Biden administration who overstayed a tourist visa — was named as a suspect in a heinous anti-Semitic attack in Boulder, Colo. His arrest shows why 'border czar' Tom Homan can't just focus on criminal illegal aliens. An estimated 8 million illegal migrants poured into the United States over the Southwest border under Biden, and the media's attention has almost exclusively focused on them. But illegal entrants are just a part of a US unauthorized population the Center for Immigration Studies conservatively estimates at 15.4 million. 3 Mohamed Sabry Soliman was accused of throwing molotov cocktails at Jewish people. The rest came legally as 'nonimmigrants' — students, tourists, businesspeople, etc. According to the Migration Policy Institute, there were 132.4 million admissions of foreign nationals as nonimmigrants in FY 2023, down from more than 186 million in FY 2019 but still higher than the 96.8 million who came in FY 2022, when Soliman purportedly entered. Most, but not all, went back home as they were supposed to. A US Customs and Border Protection report estimates that among the nonimmigrants who came through airports and seaports and who were expected to depart in FY 2023, 1.45%, or 565,155 in total, didn't go home like they should have. CBP estimated the overstay rate that year for Egyptian nationals who came as nonimmigrant visitors to be even higher — 7.56%, or 3,264 individual 'overstay events.' In July 2015, then-Sen. (and now Secretary of State) Marco Rubio claimed 40% of all the illegal aliens in the United States were nonimmigrant overstays. If that percentage is lower now, it's because millions of migrants entered illegally under Biden, not because more nonimmigrants have respected the law and gone home. 3 Soliman overstayed his tourist visa and was living in Colorado. CBS News President Donald Trump has tasked Homan with overseeing a 'mass deportation' program to drive down the illegal population in the United States. Thus far, that plan has largely focused on aliens with criminal arrests or convictions. For example, the White House reports that of the nearly 40,000 aliens taken into custody during the first 50 days of the current administration, 75% were accused or convicted criminals. But immigration laws require the removal of all aliens here illegally, not just the least sympathetic. They are making a mockery of our rules, and avoiding the necessary vetting for asylum seekers. 3 He injured around a dozen people in the attack. @BHflyer5 via Storyful Soliman is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but if he's responsible for this attack, his actions harken back to another Egyptian overstay, Hesham Hedayet, who murdered two and wounded three others during a July 4, 2002, attack at the El Al counter at Los Angeles International Airport. It's reported Soliman 'filed a claim with US Citizenship and Immigration Services' — likely asylum — and if true it's yet another similarity to Hedayet. Hedayet was denied asylum, but was never deported. Two years later, his wife won the fraud-riddled 'visa lottery,' allowing him to stay and carry out his attack. We can't know who the next alien criminal or terrorist will be — which is why Trump and Homan must follow through on their deportation promises. Andrew Arthur is the fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Chicago Tribune
7 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
What is a ‘sanctuary jurisdiction' and how was the US list of them made?
The U.S. government's list of 'sanctuary jurisdictions' that includes hundreds of communities, both red and blue, is confounding critics. They have noticed the list included misspellings, communities with small immigrant populations, and those with strong support for cooperation with federal authorities. Jessica Vaughan is director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors anti-sanctuary policies and started publishing a list of sanctuary jurisdictions 10 years ago. The center's list is different from the government's. Vaughan noted that the center discloses its methodology and frequently updates its list. Trump administration increases pressure on 'sanctuary jurisdictions' with public listing'That's one thing that I feel is missing from the (government's) list is some documentation as to why they're appearing on the list,' she said. The list is part of the Trump administration's efforts to target communities, states and jurisdictions that it says aren't doing enough to help its immigration enforcement agenda and the promises the president made to deport more than 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal authorization. The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney general will send them official notice to the 500 jurisdictions on the list 'regarding its defiance of Federal immigration law enforcement and any potential violations of Federal criminal law,' according to an executive order from President Donald Trump. The list could be updated when the administration receives new information, but those that remain on the list could face serious financial consequences, including suspended or terminated federal grants and contracts by the Office of Management and Budget. It is not clear what legal actions the government will pursue. In response to questions Friday about the list, the Department of Homeland security reiterated that it was compiled using a number of factors, including whether the localities identified themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions, how much they complied with federal officials enforcing immigration laws, if they had restrictions on sharing information with immigration enforcement or had any legal protections for people in the country illegally. The agency noted in an email that the list will be updated regularly. But experts said it was difficult to understand the criteria used to make the list. 'It seems quite arbitrary because not all of these states or specific jurisdictions have a policy that limits cooperation with ICE,' said Nithya Nathan-Pineau, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. That's unclear. Several communities said they have been outspoken supporters of the president and his stringent immigration policies and do not understand why they have been included. Among them: Shawano County, Wisconsin; Alexandria, Virginia; and Huntington Beach, California. Jim Davel, administrator for Shawano County, thinks the administration may have confused the county's vote in 2021 to become a 'Second Amendment Sanctuary County' that prohibits gun control measures with it being a safe haven for immigrants. He said the county has approved no immigration sanctuary policies. There is no clear definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction, but it is generally understood to apply to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. DHS said it took into account 'factors like compliance with federal law enforcement, information restrictions, and legal protections for illegal aliens.' The notion of sanctuary dates back to Medieval Europe, when civil law enforcement entities were not allowed to enter churches, Cesar Garcia Hernandez, a professor at Ohio State University's College of Law, explained Friday. The term evolved into the 'sanctuary movement' among U.S. churches and other religious institutions that would house Central Americans fleeing civil war in the 1980s. 'There there was no legal guarantee of immunity for people who were who were spending their time inside church buildings, but there was policy' that prohibited immigration arrests, Garcia Hernandez said. That changed under the current Trump administration. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a nongovernmental organization, said that when compiling its own list of sanctuary jurisdictions, it considers how they limit interactions with ICE and federal law enforcement, and how they protect information.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What is a 'sanctuary jurisdiction' and how was the US list of them made?
The U.S. government's list of 'sanctuary jurisdictions' that includes hundreds of communities, both red and blue, is confounding critics. They have noticed the list included misspellings, communities with small immigrant populations, and those with strong support for cooperation with federal authorities. Jessica Vaughan is director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors anti-sanctuary policies and started publishing a list of sanctuary jurisdictions 10 years ago. The center's list is different from the government's. Vaughan noted that the center discloses its methodology and frequently updates its list. 'That's one thing that I feel is missing from the (government's) list is some documentation as to why they're appearing on the list,' she said. A message was left Friday seeking comment from DHS. The list is part of the Trump administration's efforts to target communities, states and jurisdiction s that it says aren't doing enough to help its immigration enforcement agenda and the promises the president made to deport more than 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal authorization. What are the stakes? The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney general will send them official notice to the 500 jurisdictions on the list 'regarding its defiance of Federal immigration law enforcement and any potential violations of Federal criminal law,' according to an executive order from President Donald Trump. The list could be updated when the administration receives new information, but those that remain on the list could face serious financial consequences, including suspended or terminated federal grants and contracts by the Office of Management and Budget. It is not clear what legal actions the government will pursue. How was the list made? DHS said it used several factors to make the list, including whether the cities or localities identified themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions, how much they complied with federal officials enforcing immigration laws, if they had restrictions on sharing information with immigration enforcement or had any legal protections for people illegally in the country. But experts noted that the list is too broad and it is difficult to understand the criteria used to make it. 'It seems quite arbitrary because not all of these states or specific jurisdictions have a policy that limits cooperation with ICE,' said Nithya Nathan-Pineau, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. How did communities that support Trump's policies end up on the list? That's unclear. Several communities said they have been outspoken supporters of the president and his stringent immigration policies and do not understand why they have been included. Among them: Shawano County, Wisconsin; Alexandria, Virginia; and Huntington Beach, California. Jim Davel, administrator for Shawano County, thinks the administration may have confused the county's vote in 2021 to become a 'Second Amendment Sanctuary County' that prohibits gun control measures with it being a safe haven for immigrants. He said the county has approved no immigration sanctuary policies. What is a sanctuary city? There is no clear definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction, but it is generally understood to apply to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. DHS said it took into account 'factors like compliance with federal law enforcement, information restrictions, and legal protections for illegal aliens.' The notion of sanctuary dates back to Medieval Europe, when civil law enforcement entities were not allowed to enter churches, Cesar Garcia Hernandez, a professor at Ohio State University's College of Law, explained Friday. The term evolved into the 'sanctuary movement' among U.S. churches and other religious institutions that would house Central Americans fleeing civil war in the 1980s. 'There there was no legal guarantee of immunity for people who were who were spending their time inside church buildings, but there was policy' that prohibited immigration arrests, Garcia Hernandez said. That changed under the current Trump administration. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a nongovernmental organization, said that when compiling its own list of sanctuary jurisdictions, it considers how they limit interactions with ICE and federal law enforcement, and how they protect information. ___ Associated Press writers Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, also contributed.
Winnipeg Free Press
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
What is a ‘sanctuary jurisdiction' and how was the US list of them made?
The U.S. government's list of 'sanctuary jurisdictions' that includes hundreds of communities, both red and blue, is confounding critics. They have noticed the list included misspellings, communities with small immigrant populations, and those with strong support for cooperation with federal authorities. Jessica Vaughan is director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors anti-sanctuary policies and started publishing a list of sanctuary jurisdictions 10 years ago. The center's list is different from the government's. Vaughan noted that the center discloses its methodology and frequently updates its list. 'That's one thing that I feel is missing from the (government's) list is some documentation as to why they're appearing on the list,' she said. A message was left Friday seeking comment from DHS. The list is part of the Trump administration's efforts to target communities, states and jurisdiction s that it says aren't doing enough to help its immigration enforcement agenda and the promises the president made to deport more than 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal authorization. What are the stakes? The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney general will send them official notice to the 500 jurisdictions on the list 'regarding its defiance of Federal immigration law enforcement and any potential violations of Federal criminal law,' according to an executive order from President Donald Trump. The list could be updated when the administration receives new information, but those that remain on the list could face serious financial consequences, including suspended or terminated federal grants and contracts by the Office of Management and Budget. It is not clear what legal actions the government will pursue. How was the list made? DHS said it used several factors to make the list, including whether the cities or localities identified themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions, how much they complied with federal officials enforcing immigration laws, if they had restrictions on sharing information with immigration enforcement or had any legal protections for people illegally in the country. But experts noted that the list is too broad and it is difficult to understand the criteria used to make it. 'It seems quite arbitrary because not all of these states or specific jurisdictions have a policy that limits cooperation with ICE,' said Nithya Nathan-Pineau, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. How did communities that support Trump's policies end up on the list? That's unclear. Several communities said they have been outspoken supporters of the president and his stringent immigration policies and do not understand why they have been included. Among them: Shawano County, Wisconsin; Alexandria, Virginia; and Huntington Beach, California. Jim Davel, administrator for Shawano County, thinks the administration may have confused the county's vote in 2021 to become a 'Second Amendment Sanctuary County' that prohibits gun control measures with it being a safe haven for immigrants. He said the county has approved no immigration sanctuary policies. What is a sanctuary city? There is no clear definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction, but it is generally understood to apply to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. DHS said it took into account 'factors like compliance with federal law enforcement, information restrictions, and legal protections for illegal aliens.' The notion of sanctuary dates back to Medieval Europe, when civil law enforcement entities were not allowed to enter churches, Cesar Garcia Hernandez, a professor at Ohio State University's College of Law, explained Friday. The term evolved into the 'sanctuary movement' among U.S. churches and other religious institutions that would house Central Americans fleeing civil war in the 1980s. 'There there was no legal guarantee of immunity for people who were who were spending their time inside church buildings, but there was policy' that prohibited immigration arrests, Garcia Hernandez said. That changed under the current Trump administration. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a nongovernmental organization, said that when compiling its own list of sanctuary jurisdictions, it considers how they limit interactions with ICE and federal law enforcement, and how they protect information. ___ Associated Press writers Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, also contributed.
