Latest news with #Clem
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump immigration advisor targets criminals exploiting unaccompanied minors who entered US under Biden
A retired Border Patrol chief tapped to advise on immigration issues related to unaccompanied minors and refugees for the Trump administration's first 100 days said about 70% of sponsors' applications were fraudulent. Chris Clem, who spent almost three decades with Customs and Border Protection, says the Trump team is working to resolve the many problems created by nearly 470,000 unaccompanied children crossing into the United States over the last four years, "overwhelming a system that was really put in place to protect the well-being and welfare of children." "It actually pretty much did the opposite with so many because the system was broken, the policies and practices were broken, where children were being placed [with] sponsors that were unvetted or improperly vetted or may have been illegal aliens themselves or smugglers or criminals," Clem, who was based out of Yuma, Arizona, during the Biden administration, told Fox News Digital. "So, my role was to go in there with my 27-plus years of Border Patrol experience, and having dealt with this firsthand in the field for years, to rebuild and put… commonsense practices and policies in place. And that's what we did." Clem worked with President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services Department to improve the vetting of documentation from sponsors offering to take in unaccompanied minors. Migrant Sex Trafficking Survivor Speaks Out: 'I Saw Good People Die' They are also working to identify and arrest criminals who provided fake documentation to become sponsors. Read On The Fox News App "Here's an example — we'll call it the Ohio case, where a sponsor claimed to be an adult brother of a 14-year-old female," Clem said. "He was accepted by ORR [the Office of Refugee Resettlement] — and this happened a little over a year ago. There [were] other adults living there that should not have been placed with that person. Unfortunately, she was placed. The 14-year-old was raped and… impregnated, and the sponsor ultimately was arrested." Smugglers Abandon Two Migrant Girls At Southern Border With Note To Authorities The federal government "chose not to pursue" fraud charges for the subject, who lied to federal agents about his documentation, but state prosecutors did, Clem said. "That's how we were able to catch him and ultimately get him indicted federally for trafficking, for fraud, for lying to federal agents," Clem said. "And so this person is looking at a lengthy time." House Republicans Grill Hhs Secretary Becerra Over Migrant Children: 'Would Not Want To Be You' The Justice Department documented the case in April, when federal officials were able to charge the suspect, Juan Tiul Xi, 26, of Guatemala. "There are literally thousands of cases where there is assault, abuse," the former Border Patrol chief said. "We did an internal investigation and some random sampling where about 70% of the… sponsor applications are fraudulent. Meaning there is information that is not verifiable, it's incorrect, the documents submitted were not valid, and yet they were placed." While trying to track down potentially fraudulent sponsors and criminals housing unaccompanied minors can be disturbing, Clem says various departments within the Trump administration are working every day to combat this kind of illegal activity occurring in the United States as a result of four years of an unsecured border. They are also bolstering border security: U.S. Customs and Border Protection said last week it averaged 279 apprehensions per day at the southern border in April, compared to 4,297 in April 2024. The total apprehensions for April this year landed at 8,383, compared with last year's 129,000. Young Siblings Discovered With Address On Piece Of Paper Among Massive Group Of Illegals At Border CBP officials also noted that just five illegal aliens were temporarily released into the U.S. during April, compared to 68,000 during the same month last year. "In Yuma, my last few months, we were averaging over a thousand arrests a day just in my little sector alone. They're averaging four arrests a day now," Clem said. "So, you can only imagine what it's like to be able to go out there and patrol and secure the border and not worry about threats getting away from you because you're actually able to go out there and arrest those or keep them from even coming in." Tom Homan On 'Faulkner Focus': 'I've Never Been More Concerned About The Safety Of This Country' He noted that agents are also able to use their parking lot again. It had been covered by large tents to process the thousands of migrants passing through their sector every day under the Biden administration. "What a time to be a Border Patrol agent, to be creative, innovative, go after targeted operations again, go after those that have eluded us, work side by side with state and federal law enforcement to go after threats that have already made it into the country," Clem said. "No. 1, they can do their job, and that's protecting America, and they sleep good at night knowing that they can give their all, and they're going to be championed by the White House as opposed to demonized by the White House." Clem expressed concern that some U.S. officials, including politicians, judges and attorneys or prosecutors, are using their government positions to protect illegal immigrants. He has a message for those people. "We are going to leave no stone unturned. If you are complicit, if you are knowingly and willingly encouraging, aiding and abetting, directly or indirectly, illegal immigration, whether it's cross-border or inside the United States, we're coming after you," he said. "Those are the laws. And it doesn't matter if you are a teenage smuggler on the Rio Grande or a sophisticated cartel or, unfortunately, an elected member of Congress or a state and local government — if you are aiding and abetting, if you are facilitating illegal activity, the U.S. government is coming after you." The CBP recorded the lowest southwest border crossings in history in March, with fewer apprehensions in the entire month than there were in the first two days of the month in 2024 under the Biden administration. Border Patrol apprehended a total of 7,181 illegal aliens attempting to cross the southern border between ports of entry in March. This constitutes a 14% decrease from February, when Border Patrol apprehended 8,346 aliens. More dramatically, it is a 95% decrease from the 137,473 aliens apprehended under the Biden administration in the same period in 2024. Fox News' Anders Hagstrom, Bill Melugin and Peter Pinedo contributed to this article source: Trump immigration advisor targets criminals exploiting unaccompanied minors who entered US under Biden
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Clem Burke's Beat Helped Blondie Conquer the World
Farewell to Clem Burke, one of the all-time great rock & roll drummers. The Blondie legend passed away on Sunday, only 70, from cancer. His exuberant energy was as crucial to the Blondie sound as Debbie Harry's vocals. He combined the chaotic frenzy of his idol Keith Moon with the forward motion of Motown drummers like Benny Benjamin, as his beat took them from CBGBs to conquer the world. 'Clem was not just a drummer,' the band said in an official statement. 'He was the heartbeat of Blondie.' To hear what made Clem Burke unique, all you need to listen to is the first 26 seconds of 'Dreaming,' the band's 1979 hit. The first sound you hear is Burke bashing away, setting the scene for Debbie Harry's entrance. By the time she starts singing, the emotional stakes are already high because there's so much teenage melodrama bursting out of the drums. More from Rolling Stone Pete Best, Original Beatles Drummer, Announces Retirement Drummer Clem Burke, the 'Heartbeat of Blondie,' Dead at 70 Why Hollywood Can't Resist the Beatles Blondie were kicking around the Lower East Side bars before they hooked up with Burke, but he was the element that made them finally click as a band. Before he joined in 1974, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein weren't even sure they wanted to keep trying 'We stepped back and decided whether we were going to continue,' Harry told the Chicago Tribune, 'and Clem showed up, and he was a real star. He could play, and you could tell that it was his life. He was that kid—that rock 'n' roll kid. Then we sort of knuckled down and put it together.' The rock & roll kid was just 18, from Bayonne, New Jersey, but he had no doubts about this band, and he never let them down. Burke powered the band through the frantic new wave rush of classics like 'Hanging on the Telephone' or 'Fan Mail' or 'Rip Her to Shreds,' but he also held down the groove as they dabbled in disco with 'Heart of Glass' and 'Atomic,' rap in 'Rapture,' reggae in 'The Tide Is High.' He could do it all. He was left-handed, but played a right-handed kit because that's the way Ringo did it. He joined the band after their previous rhythm section quit.(Bassist Fred Smith left to join Television.) Everyone figured this band was cooked, but Harry and Stein put an ad in the Village Voice and auditioned 50 applicants. Clem was the last one they heard, but he blew them away. 'He had a charismatic quality,' Harry recalled in the 1981 book Making Tracks. 'He was also the only one who had on fancy shoes.' He had the flash they needed. 'Clem was definitely what we were looking for. His father was a drummer in a society band and he was a show-biz drummer.' That show-biz element was key, because Burke was a drummer with real star power. He was the fashion plate of Blondie, with his impeccably dapper suits and his much-imitated mod haircut. 'I also would put beer and grease in my hair and turn on the oven and stick my head in there,' he told Please Kill Me in 2017. 'I would be spiking my hair out because I didn't have a hair dryer.' You can hear his boyish energy jump out right from the opening seconds of 'X Offender,' the first song on their debut, which he once cited as his favorite performance. He plays along with Harry for the spoken-word intro — a Sixties girl-group trope in the mode of 'My Boyfriend's Back.' But he combines punk mania with Hal Blaine-style pop frills; in the final minute, he speeds up, getting more giddily excited the faster he plays. I don't think I've ever heard 'X-Offender' without immediately craving to hear it again. 'Debbie is definitely a big sister to me,' Burke said. 'She's ten or eleven years older than me.' As the kid brother of the band, he goaded Harry and Stein into writing songs. As she recalled, 'Clem kept telling us we were good, that we had something. I never asked what 'something' was but he got us rehearsing again.' Yet he never saw himself as taking a back seat to the glamorous lead singer. 'I don't like being in the back,' he told Please Kill Me. 'The Beatles were four superstars. New York Dolls were five stars. No, I was never interested in being in the back. Of course, Keith Moon was a big inspiration for me as Ringo was, and they were both rock-star drummers; they were not the drummer in the back. There was no jealousy over Debbie's position, other than I wanted to be famous too, and when you're young and you're trying to be famous, you kind of have a gunslinger attitude. I wanted to be the best drummer.' He thrived in the CBGBs punk scene. In the early days, he recalled, 'There were no t-shirts, there were no punk rockers, and you know, not too many women either. That's what you say. When the girls started showing up – that's when you knew something was starting up.' Burke was a big reason why the girls came, as he fueled Blondie's pop appeal. 'As someone who used to go to Woolworths to buy bin albums by the Shangri-Las and the Ventures, he fell in enthusiastically with our plans to form a pop group that aimed to modernize AM radio sounds,' Harry recalled in Making Tracks. 'Clem never wanted anything else but to be a pop star.' Everybody wanted to play with this guy. Over the years, Burke drummed with everyone from Iggy Pop to Nancy Sinatra, from Pete Townshend to the Eurythmics to Joan Jett. He played with his hero Bob Dylan, on the 1986 album Knocked Out Loaded. He also sat in with his old friends in the Go-Gos, filling in for drummer Gina Schock. As he boasted, 'I was the best-looking guy in the band.' He even joined the Ramones in the summer of 1987 — and famously lasted for two gigs. When their drummer Richie Ramone quit, they called and asked him to join, under the name 'Elvis Ramone.' However, Elvis soon left the building, since Johnny didn't like his madcap drumming style. 'It was very loose, like in Blondie,' Johnny said, 'not as rigid as we need.' (Burke later played the Ramones Beat On Cancer benefit in 2004, on what would have been Johnny's 56th birthday.) Whenever you saw Clem at a gig, you knew you were in the right place. He was renowned as a charmer and a wit. (When the Go-Gos finally got elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, I posted on social media that Gina Schock was now the coolest drummer in the Hall. Clem, inducted in 2006, quipped, 'Sorry Rob, but I don't think so, Ha!') In the Eighties, he formed the Chequered Past with fellow Blondie bassist Nigel Harrison and Sex Pistol guitarist Steve Jones. He played in the International Swingers with another Pistol, Glen Matlock, and the Empty Hearts, with members of the Cars, the Romantics, and the Chesterfield Kings. 'My favorite drummers are Earl Palmer, Hal Blaine, Keith Moon, Ringo Starr and Al Jackson Jr. from Booker T,' Burke told Tidal in 2022. 'There's a time for flash and there's a time to lay down the groove, so you have to find that balance. I try to do that, and I have little trademark things that I do that let people know I'm there.' But nobody ever had trouble hearing when Clem Burke was there — his signature style brightened everything he played on. He was always that irrepressible rock & roll kid, right up to the end. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Asharq Al-Awsat
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Clem Burke, Drummer for Blondie, Dies at 70
Clem Burke, the longtime drummer for the pioneering New Wave band Blondie, has died, the band announced Monday. He was 70 years old. The band said Burke died after a "private battle with cancer." "Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie," read the statement on Instagram. "His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable." A native of New Jersey, Burke appeared on all of Blondie's albums, joining in 1975 shortly after Debbie Harry and Chris Stein founded the band behind seminal hits like "Heart of Glass." Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside his bandmates in 2006. He worked with many other storied artists throughout his career, including Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Joan Jett, the Ramones and Eurythmics. "Clem's influence extended far beyond Blondie," read the band's statement. "His influence and contributions have spanned decades and genres, leaving an indelible mark on every project he was a part of." "Godspeed, Dr. Burke."
The Independent
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
‘Unmatched' Blondie drummer Clem Burke dies aged 70 after cancer diagnosis
Blondie drummer Clem Burke has died aged 70 after a cancer diagnosis, the band has said. Born in New Jersey, US, Burke featured on all of the Debbie Harry-fronted band's studio albums, from their self-titled debut, through their 1978 classic Parallel Lines, to 2017's Pollinator, after joining the band a year after their formation in 1975. In a statement on Blondie's Instagram, Harry and the band's guitarist Chris Stein said: 'It is with profound sadness that we relay news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Clem Burke following a private battle with cancer. 'Clem was not just a drummer, he was the heartbeat of Blondie. His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable. 'Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. 'Clem's influence extended far beyond Blondie, a self proclaimed 'rock and roll survivalist', he played and collaborated with numerous iconic artists.' Burke played on Iggy Pop's 1982 album Zombie Birdhouse, and also performed with Bob Dylan, The Ramones, The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, and Joan Jett. The statement continued: 'His influence and contributions have spanned decades and genres, leaving an indelible mark on every project he was a part of. 'We extend our deepest condolences to Clem's family, friends, and fans around the world. His legacy will live on through the tremendous amount of music he created and the countless lives he touched. 'As we navigate this profound loss, we ask for privacy during this difficult time. Godspeed, Dr Burke.' Burke made his final live appearance with Blondie last year, and even performed with tribute act Bootleg Blondie in 2019. The drummer performed on classic tracks such as Call Me, Heart Of Glass and One Way Or Another, scoring six UK number one singles and two UK number one albums. Among those paying tribute was Kinks guitarist Dave Davies, who said in a post on X: 'I feel saddened that Clem Burke was taken from us so soon. 'May he rest in peace, spectacular drumming, we were friends.' The band began their career performing at New York's CBGB and Max's Kansas City clubs, which witnessed the birth of a number of pioneering punk bands, including the Patti Smith Group, Television, The Ramones and Talking Heads. During their early days Burke was credited with keeping the band together after original bassist Fred Smith left to join Television, recruiting his friend Gary Valentine to take over. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with his fellow bandmates in 2006.
Los Angeles Times
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Clem Burke, Blondie drummer and self-proclaimed ‘Rock & Roll survivalist,' dies at 70
Blondie drummer Clem Burke has died, the band announced Monday on social media. He was 70 'It is with profound sadness that we relay news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Clem Burke following a private battle with cancer,' singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein said in a statement on behalf of 'the entire Blondie family.' The specifics of Burke's cancer were not revealed. 'Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie,' the statement continued. 'His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable. Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.' Born Clement Anthony Bozewski on Nov. 24, 1954, Burke joined the band shortly after it was founded in 1974 by Harry and Stein and played on every Blondie album, including 'Parallel Lines,' the 1979 release that included the hit single 'Heart of Glass.' The genre-crossing nature of that song upset some punk fans, but not Burke. 'Dance was as subversive as punk to me. Us doing 'Heart of Glass' was our way of pissing off people in our own circles,' he said at the SXSW Festival in 2014. Burke was 'a self proclaimed 'Rock & Roll survivalist,'' the band said, who was undaunted when Blondie split up in 1982 years after the hits 'Call Me,' 'The Tide Is High' and 'Rapture.' Blondie reunited periodically, in 1997 and beyond. In and around those times, he performed with musicians including Eurythmics, Ramones, Bob Dylan, Bob Geldof, Iggy Pop, Joan Jett, the Fleshtones, the Romantics, Dramarama and the Go-Go's, to name a few. Burke was inducted with his Blondie bandmates into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2006. In 2011, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the U.K.'s University of Gloucestershire, the BBC reported, in recognition of his 'groundbreaking work with students' tied to a research project he started to study the positive physical and psychological effects of drumming. The study tracked the heart rate, oxygen uptake and blood lactate levels of professional drummers in rehearsals and during live shows, the outlet said. It included the likes of Rush drummer Neil Peart and led to the conclusion that top rock drummers required the same stamina as elite-level soccer players. 'His influence and contributions have spanned decades and genres, leaving an indelible mark on every project he was a part of,' the band's Monday statement continued. 'We extend our deepest condolences to Clem's family, friends, and fans around the world. His legacy will live on through the tremendous amount of music he created and the countless lives he touched. As we navigate this profound loss, we ask for privacy during this difficult time. Godspeed, Dr. Burke.'
