Radio America Online News Bureau

border security

2021 Martini Awards Part 3: Worst Scandal, Best Political Theater, Worst Political Theater

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Listen to “2021 Martini Awards Part 3: Worst Scandal, Best Political Theater, Worst Political Theater” on Spreaker.

Jim and Greg are back for the third round of their prestigious Three Martini Lunch Awards. Today, they discuss the worst scandals of 2021, with Jim choosing an international mess of epic proportions and Greg opting for a national security crisis much closer to home. Then, they reveal their choices for the best and worst political theater of 2021.

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Why Is The Border Crisis Getting So Much Worse?

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Listen to “Why Is The Border Crisis Getting So Much Worse?” on Spreaker.

Just a few weeks ago, a fierce debate raged over President Trump’s call for a national emergency to direct billions of taxpayer dollars to build a wall along strategic points of the U.S. Mexico border, and while the controversy over Trump’s action persists, all sides now agree there is a humanitarian urgency as the number of people attempting to enter the U.S. continues to swell.

According to government statistics, some 58,000 border apprehensions occurred in January.  There were 76,000 in February and the figures for March could reach 100,000.

And the surge is taxing the already stretched manpower and resources along our southern border.

“The system has broken down because it’s so overwhelmed by the number of people we see entering the United States illegally,” said Andrew Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies.

“The border patrol just doesn’t have the facilities to process those individuals in a timely manner.  We lack the detention facilities to hold them and [Health and Human Services], which is supposed to take custody of unaccompanied alien children within 48 hours, is now out of space as well,” said Arthur.

Arthur says one of the reasons for so many people being allowed into the U.S. despite coming illegally is because the Obama administration loosened the terms by which the migrants can ask for protection based on claims of “credible fear” if they return to their home countries.

As a result, 97,000 people in the past year claim credible fear as opposed to 5,000 per year when Obama took office.  Those 97,000 claims are then processed by just a few hundred case officers and immigration judges.

Listen to the full podcast to learn about other factors triggering this wave of humanity across the southern border, what President Trump can do to address it and what actions have to come from Congress.

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Americans Want Strong Borders, Waters Urges Unrest, George Will: Vote for Dems

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are pleasantly surprised to see a new CBS poll showing that a strong plurality of Americans believe families should stay together but be sent back to their home countries when they come to the U.S. illegally.  They also slam Rep. Maxine Waters for suggesting protesters should loudly confront every Trump administration cabinet member whether in restaurants or at the gas station.  And they categorically reject columnist George Will’s call for conservatives to vote Democrats into the majorities of the House and Senate as punishment for Republicans who refuse to stand up to President Trump.

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Beefing Up the Border, Mark Warner Is No Moderate, Indiana Joan?

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America welcome President Trump’s order sending National Guard personnel to the southern border.  They explain why questions about whether Trump has such power are ridiculous but also hope the forces are not needed for long if lawmakers address the problem quickly and effectively.  They also get a kick out of “moderate” Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner suddenly supporting some kind of “assault weapons” ban, proving once again Warner talks like a moderate but always ends up toeing the liberal line on virtually every issue.  And they shake their heads as Steven Spielberg suggests Indiana Jones could be a female character in future installments of the series.  Jim makes the point that it’s a bad idea to recast roles so closely identified with a certain actor, and they both vent about the unmitigated garbage heap that was the fourth film in the Indiana Jones franchise.

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House Judiciary Chairman: There Is No DACA Deadline

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The author of the House of Representatives bill to clamp down on illegal immigration and address the fate of people brought to the U.S. illegally as children says there is no reason for lawmakers to rush immigration legislation and says his goal is to make sure the nation never faces an illegal immigration crisis again.

Senate Democrats tried to attach immigration legislation to efforts to keep the government funded past January 19.  Three days later, they agreed to fund the government in exchange for a promise that an immigration debate would begin prior to the next funding deadline of Feb. 8.

At issue is the fate of roughly 700,000 people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.  President Obama granted legal status for anyone who enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, through executive action in 2012.  In September, President Trump announced the executive DACA program would end in March 2018.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., is author of the Securing America’s Future Act.  He says despite some lawmakers waving frantically at the calendar, Congress does not need to race to get legislation done.

“We should take our time and not feel we’re compelled to do anything by any deadline.  There is no deadline.  February 8 is not a deadline to solve this bill.  It is a deadline to keep the government funded but not to solve this problem.  March 5, the deadline the president has set, can be changed if necessary,” said Goodlatte, who also notes a federal judge has ordered a stay on Trump’s order.

“We should use all the time that’s necessary to get this done right and not a minute longer,” said Goodlatte.

The Goodlatte bill and the Senate’s Gang of Six legislation differ significantly in many ways.  It allows current DACA enrollees to receive legal status for three years, which they can renew in perpetuity.  The bill does not offer them a pathway to citizenship, and it grants no legal status to people eligible for DACA but failed to enroll.

The Senate plan offers a pathway to citizenship  to DACA recipients as well as the other so-called “Dreamers.”  It also confers legal status on the very parents who broke the law to bring their families to the U.S.

Goodlatte’s plan would also greatly limit chain migration to only spouses and minor children, kill the visa lottery, authorize whatever is necessary to beef up border security, and make overstaying one’s visa a crime.

Goodlatte says his legislation comes from a very straightforward premise.

“We agreed we would negotiate on four points: security, chain migration, ending the visa lottery, and DACA.  That’s what my bill does,” said Goodlatte.

He also explained his mindset in crafting the legislation.  He wants “a fair way way to deal with the problem created by President Obama in this unconstitutional program and ended by President Trump.”

“But then [Trump] turned around and said these individuals need a solution and Congress should do it.  We provided that in our bill,” said Goodlatte.

He also wants this to be the last time Congress has to deal with the immigration mess.

“We also are the only plan that addresses Speaker Ryan’s concern and that is that we not allow this problem to happen again,” said Goodlatte.

While the Senate and the media focus on the Gang of Six bill, Goodlatte says he has assurances from Republican House leaders that his legislation will come to the House floor.  He says before that time, he plans to educate his colleagues on why all of the various enforcement mechanisms are required and why he thinks they will be effective.

Goodlatte is ready to defend his bill, starting with his refusal to grant DACA enrollees a pathway to citizenship.

“We don’t object to people who are DACA recipients finding an opportunity to get a green card and U.S. citizenship as long as they follow the existing law like anybody else who has followed the rules and come here legally,” said Goodlatte.

“Under our bill, DACA recipients would be allowed to live in the United States  permanently with three-year renewables but indefinitely.  [They can] work in the United States, own a business in the United States, travel in and out of the country and if they find a way under the normal law to qualify for U.S. citizenship that’s fine, but not a special pathway to citizenship,” said Goodlatte.

He says the parents who perpetrated the crime of illegal immigration should not be rewarded in any way.

“I am not unsympathetic to the situation, but it is a situation that their parents created for them and one we have to respond to with that in mind.  In other words, take care of them but don’t give them an opportunity to petition for those same parents who were responsible for coming here illegally in the first place,” said Goodlatte.

In exchange for granting legal status for DACA recipients, Goodlatte’s bill clamps down hard on chain migration, ending the practice of an immigrant sponsoring many extended family members to come into the U.S.  It also ends the visa lottery.

“The visa lottery is a crazy program that gives 55,000 people green cards every year, not based on family relations, not based on job skills, but based upon pure luck.  That is totally unfair and it is a national security concern as well,” said Goodlatte.

When it comes to border security, President Trump has made it clear that there will be provision for a border wall or he will not agree to DACA legislation.  Goodlatte says Republicans are in agreement on what that means.

“There is a need to repair fences, to extend the wall and build a wall in some places, particularly in high population areas and in high crime areas where there is a lot of smuggling going on.  You do not need it where there are mountains, where there are large deserts, or where there are rivers,” said Goodlatte.

But he cautions enforcement advocates that there is a lot more to preventing the influx of illegal immigration than just the wall.

“That is one tool but it doesn’t at all address the 40 percent of [illegal immigrants] who come into this country legally and them simply ignore the laws and overstay their visas.  Nor does it address the people who come into the country illegally  and are not trying to evade the border patrol but are actually going to them and turning themselves in,” said Goodlatte.

He says those people are then released into the U.S. and told to show up for a court hearing, which they rarely do.

Goodlatte’s bill is officially known as H.R. 4760.

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Gang of Six Pushes Massive Amnesty

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While the media and many politicians focus on President Trump’s verbiage in response to the immigration legislation presented by the “Gang of Six,” one major immigration reform group says the plan itself is nothing but an amnesty push for more than 10 million people.

The Gang of Six is led by Sens.  Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.

At issue is the effort to provide legal status to young people brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents.  In 2012, President Obama unilaterally granted legal status to young people who agreed to sign up with the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program, or DACA.

President Trump announced in September that he would end the program in March of this year and lawmakers were ostensibly working on a bill to continue granting legal status to DACA enrollees while also tightening some immigration restrictions.  Most estimates suggest there are between 800,000-850,000 people impacted by DACA.

Instead, Numbers USA reports the Gang of Six bill extends permanent legal protection to all illegal immigrants who fit the DACA criteria rather than those who actually enrolled and sets them on a path to citizenship.

“They expand DACA to include the entire pool of dreamer illegal aliens.  The Migration Policy Institute estimates that that population exceeds three million and is about 3.3 million,” said Numbers USA’s Chris Chmielinski.

In fact, Numbers USA has released a worksheet comparing the Gang of Six bill with a much more conservative plan from house Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, known as the Securing America’s Future Act.  It also lines up both plans against President Trump’s immigration reform priorities.

He says there’s a big difference between DACA and everyone who fits under the ‘dreamer’ label.

“When President Obama announced the DACA program, he limited it to folks that entered prior to 2007, had maintained continuous presence until 2012 and were under the age of 31.

“The dreamer population is much, much more broadly defined than that.  And again, the Migration Policy Institute estimates that population is about 3.3 million,” said Chmielinski.

So how does the estimate get to 10 million?  By opening the doors for the parents of the dreamers.

“It also offers an amnesty for the parents of the dreamers.  So if you assume that all the parents have two parents, that’s another 6.6 million.  6.6 million plus and 3.3. million and you’re at 10 million,” said Chmielinski, who says that is clear-cut amnesty even though the parents are not in line for citizenship.

“We define amnesty as anything that allows illegal aliens to stay in the country and work in the United States,” said Chmielinski.

Furthermore, Chmielinski says those parents actually could wind up being rewarded with citizenship.

“Once the dreamers become citizens, they will be able to sponsor their parents under the chain migration laws, because even though they say they address chain migration, they really don’t,” said Chmielinski.

In fact, it’s unclear what immigration enforcement advocates get in exchange for legalizing DACA in the Gang of Six bill.  Chmielinski points out the plan does not address chain migration or the visa lottery in any serious way.  It does provide almost $1.6 billion for border fencing, but it comes with a massive caveat.

“They appropriate a little funding towards border fencing, but they say that this $1.6 billion they’re assigning can only be used for existing fencing.  They’re telling the administration that as part of this deal, you cannot build any new fencing or any new walls.  You can only use the money to repair existing fencing,” said Chmielinski.

The Goodlatte bill, in contrast, gives the government broad authority to build new fences and even walls.  However, it does not include funding for such projects, meaning lawmakers would have to approve a separate bill to pay for such construction.

Overall, Chmielinski is encouraged by the Goodlatte bill.  He says it limits chain migration to an immigrant’s spouse and children, although there is an exception for elderly parents to come over without a path to citizenship so that their children can care for them.

The Goodlatte plan also scraps the visa lottery entirely, makes overstaying a visa a crime and mandates all employers use E-Verify to confirm their new and existing employees are all in the country legally.

Chmielinski also says Goodlatte wants to use cutting edge technology to keep track of who is in the country.

“It requires the implementation of a bio-metric entry-exit system.  This is something that was actually passed by Congress in the mid-2000’s as a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.  This is basically a tracking system.  Every non-citizen that enters the United States is checked in to the country and then we check them out when they leave, so we know when folks overstay,” said Chmielinski.

The Goodlatte bill seems to have little traction on Capitol Hill right now and the mainstream media have ignored it completely while often hailing the Gang of Six bill.  The issue prominent this week as Democrats try to attach legalization of DACA to legislation to keep the federal government running at full capacity.

So what is likely to happen?  Chmielinski doesn’t expect much to happen for a few weeks.

“You’ll see a [continuing resolution] passed for about a month.  Then over the next three to four weeks, this DACA situation will completely play out.  But I think this might be the last time we’re talking about it.  I think if nothing’s taken care of over the next month, then nothing will probably happen on it,” said Chmielinski.

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Rohrabacher: Forget Leverage, Ditch DACA Altogether

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While Republicans and Democrats work to produce legislation to grant legal status and a pathway to citizenship for people brought to the United States illegally when they were children, one Republican congressman says Congress should refuse to enshrine that policy into law to avoid a flood of new illegal immigrants looking to benefit from the same policy.

In September, President Trump announced that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, would end in March 2018, but also suggested that the people impacted by his decision ought not to worry.  President Obama enacted DACA in 2012 and the program survived despite fierce criticism that such a change in the law could come through an act of Congress.

With the DACA expiration now just weeks away, House and Senate leaders in both parties appear united in wanting to pass legislation to protect those impacted by the policy. A “Gang of Six” in the Senate is working on the bill, although President Trump has rejected their first overture.

Many conservatives are urging GOP leaders and President Trump to use DACA as leverage to squeeze concessions out of Democrats, including a reduction in chain migration, and end to the visa lottery, expanded E-Verify at businesses and greater border security including at least portions of a new border wall.

However, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., rejects the premise of the discussions.  He doesn’t want DACA as part of federal law.

“If we legalize the status of 850,000 young people who are here illegally, we can expect tens of millions of young people throughout the world to notice that.

“If they would like the government benefits of health care and education that comes from legally being in the United States, there is no reason for me to believe this won’t obliterate out chances of getting control of our border,” said Rohrabacher.

The congressman says once Congress gives the green to putting “dreamers” on the path to citizenship, it may be impossible to restore integrity to our immigration system.

“We’re talking about millions of people here who will be brought into this country and there’s no way we can build a wall high enough or dig a ditch deep enough to stop it after we’ve given them a treasure house of medical care and education.  We are going to undo any good we can possibly do otherwise,” said Rohrabacher.

Rohrabacher says even if the legislation agrees to significant limits on chain migration, providing legal status to people who came to the U.S. illegally will still be crippling.

“We cannot secure our borders as long as we’re giving this ultimate prize to people who have made it across the border illegally.  When we have young people like this, we’re notifying parents all over the world, ‘Whatever you do, get your kid to the United States,'” said Rohrabacher.

While Rohrabacher admits many young people are suffering terribly in our own hemisphere and around the world, the resources of the United States only go so far.

“There are people who are living in horrible situations overseas.  Young people.  We cannot afford to take care of every one of them while we don’t even have the money now to take care of our own people, meaning the veterans and the seniors, and yes, the young people who need educational training here,” said Rohrabacher.

At an on-camera negotiation this week, President Trump was open to a two-step approach to immigration offered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who wanted a “clean” DACA bill now with a commitment to address comprehensive immigration reform later.  Trump later explained he considers a border wall part of a clean DACA bill.

Rohrabacher has no interest in that.

“The only thing I would have a stomach for if DACA comes first is if it’s defeated,” said Rohrabacher.

With Republicans, Democrats and the president seemingly agreeing to the general path forward to enshrine DACA, Rohrabacher says other critical voices are being ignored yet again.

“What hasn’t changed is the American people.  They keep getting left out of this as if their point of view doesn’t count.  Up until now, nobody’s made the case to the American people of the magnitude of what we’re talking about,” said Rohrabacher.

He says people who casually follow the debate think it’s about helping a few impoverished kids from Latin America or Asia when the facts are very different.

“They don’t know that they’re talking about the large number of people that we’re talking about and the impact that it will have later on as people all over the world pay attention to the fact that if young people can get to the United States, we don’t have the heart to send them back.  Then what we’ll see is a flood of millions more people coming in,” said Rohrabacher.

Rohrabacher has been part of efforts to beat back immigration legislation in 2006, 2007, and 2013.  He says public pressure clearly makes a difference.

“The only thing that’s saved us from a massive onslaught of people crossing our borders from all over the world, many of whom probably would have been detrimental to us in terms of terrorism, it’s been alerting the American people that’s given us the leverage,” said Rohrabacher.

President Trump campaigned vigorously on enforcing immigration laws and beefing up border security, most famously with a wall.  However, Rohrabacher says the performance of Republicans in the televised meeting suggests most GOP members have no intention of pursuing Trump’s campaign vision.

“I don’t think there was anybody in that meeting that was someone who was, on principle and in practicality, opposed to legalization of illegal immigrants,” said Rohrabacher, who admits no lawmakers would admit to such a label.\

However, the congressman says actions speak louder than words and the emerging talks suggest a major disconnect between lawmakers and the voters who sent them there.  He says it could have a major impact come Election Day 2018.

“We could turn off our base the same way moderate Republicans have turned off their base and lost elections for the last 20 years,” said Rohrabacher.

Interestingly, despite his vehement opposition to congressional legislation on DACA, Rohrabacher is not guaranteeing a ‘no’ vote.

“I’m not telling you that if I lose in my argument that I will vote against any bill that has DACA in it or any other type of immigration reforms or changes they plan to make,” said Rohrabacher.

“I’ll pay attention to the compromise to see if it’s possible that I could vote for it.  I’ll keep an open mind, but I think it will do us great harm, so I would prefer not to have a legalization, especially of 850,000 young people,” said Rohrabacher.

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Trump’s Dizzying DACA Move, Soft on Iran Sanctions, White House vs. ESPN

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America react to President Trump making a deal with Democratic leaders to enact DACA into law in exchange for “massive border security” that has yet to be defined.  They also sigh as the Trump administration continues sanctions relief for Iran in conjunction with the nuclear deal it still hasn’t scrapped.  And they slam the White House for suggesting ESPN anchor Jemele Hill ought to fired for tweeting that Trump is a white supremacist while also blasting Hill and ESPN for their aggressively extreme politics.

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‘They’re Furious at Our Senators’

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Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, is fully behind President Trump’s demand for full congressional funding for a border wall and both he and his constituents are exasperated with the state’s two Republican senators for offering no solutions of their to overhaul or repeal Obamacare.

Gosar is a member of the House Freedom Caucus who fended off a primary challenger backed by national party allies in 2016.  He says the GOP Senate is a major disappointment, with the failure to address Obamacare as the prime example of its inability to get things done.

“What has the Senate done?  They copped out on Obamacare.  And to my senators (Republicans John McCain and Jeff Flake), if you didn’t like what the House put forward, where are your ideas?” said Gosar, a dentist who first ran for Congress as part of the tea party wave in 2010.

He says while politicians are posturing, people in his state are suffering from Obamacare.

“We’re catastrophically moving down this pathway where we’re seeing Americans getting a 40-90 percent increase in their premiums coming up.  Obamacare is failing.  There’s not enough money to fix it.  We’re seeing Medicare being implemented in all the group plans, so it behooves us to be big boys and girls and have that conversation,” said Gosar.

Gosar says the anger of Arizonans towards McCain and Flake is palpable everywhere he goes.

“They’re furious at our senators.  There isn’t one meeting I don’t have where people are going off on our two senators.  Leadership comes at a price and that means you have to put solutions on te table.  That means that ‘No’ can;t be your answer, it’s going to be what it takes to be ‘Yes,'” said Gosar.

In addition to hearing his constituents vent about their senators, he’s also hearing about their hardships created by our current health care system.

“I have represented most of the rural parts of Arizona.  They’ve got a piece of paper that says they have health insurance but they can’t afford to pay the co-pays and deductibles.  It’s a travesty.  They see no job growth out here.  They don’t see opportunity.  Those were all the things they were promised,” said Gosar.

Gosar says Trump has done what we can to improve conditions but Congress needs to do the heavy lifting.

“Whether it be tax breaks, tax cuts, getting government out of the way, this president has done his fair share with the Congressional Review Act and with executive orders to streamline the regulatory process.  Now Congress has got to respond.  It can’t continue working in a broken, dysfunctional fashion,” said Gosar.

Dr. Kelli Ward, a former Arizona state senator, is already running against Flake in next year’s GOP primary.  Ward challenged McCain last year and lost badly in the primary, leaving some conservatives to push for Gosar and other conservatives to enter the fray.

Gosar says he’s thought about but is not close to any decision.

“We’ll see.  That’s as good as we can say at this point in time,” said Gosar.  “We want to make sure that we’re doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason.  I don’t need another title, I’ve got four titles above congressman: that’s a husband, a father, a citizen, and a doctor,” said Gosar.

Just a few days ago, President Trump held a campaign rally in Phoenix.  In addition to sparring with the media and defending his response to the chaos in Charlottesville, Trump demanded Congress fund his central campaign promise of a wall along the southern border, even vowing to shut down the government to make it happen.

Gosar says no one should be surprised by Trump’s blunt tactics.

“This gentleman is not built as a politician and that’s why America voted him in.  He’s a disrupter.  The business as usual has got to stop.  We’re $20 trillion in debt,” said Gosar.

He also says not approving the money would be a huge mistake.

“I don’t think I would cross the president and I don’t think I would cross the American people.  This is something the American people want.  So far the Senate has let them down in regards to promises they made on Obamacare and so I think they’re getting restless.  They don’t see solutions but they see a man that’s struggling to make sure that he honors the promises that he made to those people,” said Gosar.

Gosar also asserts that the controversy over the wall is only a creation of the past decade.

“The wall was authorized over a decade ago and it was a bipartisan effort.  A sovereign country has a right to defend and dictate it’s borders,” said Gosar.

So how did this become such a political lightning rod?

“It’s because the political correctness in the media has gotten into people,” he said.

Another hot-button issue is the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.  He says all contracts ought to be renegotiated every few years and NAFTA has been on the books for more than two decades.  He says the issues of border security and trade are very closely linked.

“I think these are all interwoven and I think the president has a good thought process about how to drag all these together to get what he believes the American people want because they voted for him.  He made no qualms about border security and building the wall,” said Gosar.

Gosar also applauds Trump sending more border patrol agents and immigration judges to stem the tide of illegal entries and to adjudicate cases much more quickly.  He does, however, urge the president to make more personnel nominations in the Justice Department and elsewhere to improve the effort even more.

But with Trump in a very public battle with members of his own party about blame over Obamacare and other issues, will any big ticket items on the GOP agenda actually get done when Congress returns next month?

Gosar says they have no choice.

“Winston Churchill made the famous analogy saying, ‘You can always count on Americans to do the right thing when they’ve exhausted everything else.  Well, here’s our sign looking at Congress..  We’ve exhausted everything else, at least from the House.  We’ve got over 200 bills over there waiting on the Senate to take a look at,” said Gosar.

While he can’t say for sure what will get done, Gosar says if one big thing can get to Trump’s desk, other major priorities will fall like dominoes.

“The atmosphere is going to be very confrontational.  It’s going to be very high stakes.  But once that first brick falls, a lot of this stuff is going to fall right in line,” said Gosar, who personally hopes Obamacare repeal is the first brick to fall.

“I would hope that it’s health care, because I think that sets the stage for tax breaks [and] the budget and that looks at a positive influence for the American people to move forward,” said Gosar.

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