Colorado's Democratic governor points to failure of New Mexico mask mandate to declare he will not make citizens mask up, despite current COVID surge



Colorado is currently seeing a serious spike in COVID-19 cases, making it one of the most infected states in the nation, and according to Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, the experts do not know why.

But there is one thing that he is certain of: He will not be issuing a state mask mandate any time soon, KCNC-TV reported.

Why? Well, Polis suggested Friday that critics of his decision look to the Centennial State's neighbor to the south.

New Mexico is currently experiencing a COVID surge similar to Colorado's. The Land of Enchantment has also had a mask mandate since August.

What's going on?

Gov. Polis faced questions Friday about mitigation efforts, including mask mandates, and told reporters that though he continues to encourage people to wear masks, he does not plan to institute a mask mandate.

"Scientists simply don't know exactly why our region has a spike," Polis said, but he recognized, based on New Mexico's experience, that a mask mandate is not the answer.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis Holds COVID-19 Press Briefingyoutu.be

"Our neighboring state of New Mexico has had a mask-wearing requirement really for the last couple months statewide, and seems to be at about the same place we are with regard to infections rates," the governor noted, adding, "They've basically tracked with us over the last week or two."

"It's easy to say wearing a mask will protect you because absolutely it delays your chance of getting COVID at any given point in time," Polis continued. "It's a little harder to figure out what a mask order does in different areas and what impact that might have."

Polis' statements about Colorado's and New Mexico's case rates reflect the current publicly available data regarding state-by-state cases.

According to the New York Times' COVID tracking data on Monday, New Mexico currently has approximately 64 cases per 100,000 people and Colorado has 55 (after experiencing a drop in cases over the weekend).

Colorado daily COVID cases as of Nov. 15, 2021.pic.twitter.com/jI5nYIiBHk

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1637010365

New Mexico daily COVID cases as of Nov. 15, 2021.pic.twitter.com/UVLsGAYtr9

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1637010410

Both states' hospitalizations have also been trending upward at similar paces.

Colorado COVID hospitalizations as of Nov. 15, 2021.pic.twitter.com/4bidXfbxm6

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1637010389

New Mexico COVID hospitalizations as of Nov. 15, 2021.pic.twitter.com/KYFZkcGqvT

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1637010432

The neighboring states also have similar vaccination rates, with 62.8% of New Mexicans fully vaccinated and 62.3% of Coloradans fully vaxxed, according the Times' data.

The media used Vermont over the summer to tout vaccines and bash Florida. Now Vermont is seeing record cases and spikes in hospitalizations, deaths.



Vermont has had a reputation this year for being one of the most — if not the most — vaccinated state in the union. And the media was sure to point that out over the summer when Vermont was seeing COVID-19 cases in the basement and Florida cases were spiking.

Now the tables have turned. Vermont is seeing record COVID numbers, and Florida is currently the nation's least infected state.

What happened?

CNN posted a piece July 28 clearly meant to push the government line about getting vaccinated and simultaneously shame Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis for his state's high case count, reportedly due to the lack of restrictions and low vaccination rate.

The piece, "'I don't feel any fear going out.' How residents are living in America's most vaccinated state," shared stories from the Green Mountain State, where residents were enjoying activities — like dancing — they weren't sure were ever going to be possible again because of all the COVID restrictions their state had imposed.

From CNN:

But these dancers are all vaccinated. They reside in America's most vaccinated state -- 83.7% of Vermonters 12 and over have received at least one shot, according to health officials.

Throughout Vermont, hospital Covid-19 units are mostly empty. Bars and restaurants are hopping again. In remote rural towns, diners, country stores and campgrounds are filling up.

As the national health crisis evolves into "a pandemic of the unvaccinated," in the words of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Vermont health officials tout the Green Mountain State as the safest place in America.

Many Vermonters are venturing out, unmasked and with no fear, just as the CDC recommended on Tuesday that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in US counties with soaring transmission rates.

"My question is, 'Do you want to have a life again?'" Schoenbeck said. "We're living. Get vaccinated. Get back in the game."

The report repeatedly referred to Florida and its high summertime COVID numbers, lamenting the Sunshine State's low vaccination numbers.

But things have changed — a lot — over the last three and a half months.

Today, Florida is has the lowest COVID infection rate in the U.S. at just seven per 100,000 people, the New York Times reported. Hospitalizations and deaths have also plummeted. And Florida's vaccination rate is actually on par with states like Washington, Oregon, and Delaware.

Florida COVID numbers. Nov. 8, 2021.pic.twitter.com/VaM38C81JL

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1636393105

But Vermont is a different story.

It is still one of the most vaccinated states, according to data compiled by the Times — 71% of Vermonters are fully vaccinated (#1 in the nation), and 80% have received at least one dose (#2 in the nation) — but its COVID infection rate has skyrocketed.

While Florida is now 50th in infections per 100,000, Vermont is tied for seventh, with an infection rate of 49 per 100,000. The state's current rate is far above its previous record and shows no signs of slowing down. The state's hospitalizations are on the incline, and its recent death numbers have tied the state's previous records from last winter.

Vermont COVID numbers. Nov. 8, 2021.pic.twitter.com/mh3MH2ju1d

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1636393120

Biden claims reports of possible payments to illegal immigrants are 'garbage.' ACLU & media reveal he doesn't know what's happening in his own administration.



President Joe Biden claimed Wednesday that reports that his administration is negotiating massive payments to illegal immigrants separated from their families were "garbage."

But his liberal allies at the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Times, and ABC News explained that, in fact, the stories of negotiated payments to illegal immigrants are true — and that maybe he didn't remember or his team didn't tell him.

What happened?

The Wall Street Journal revealed one week ago that the Biden administration was in talks to offer $450,000 per person to immigrant families separated during the Trump years.

The U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, the Journal said, were working "to resolve lawsuits filed on behalf of parents and children who say the government subjected them to lasting psychological trauma" and were considering payments that could total around $1 million per family.

As the revelation circulated in the media, critics of the plan said such a move was not only unfair to legal immigrants and Americans, but also would serve only to invite more illegal immigration. But President Biden this week said that he doesn't think a hike in illegal immigration will happen — only because he doesn't believe the story is anything but "garbage."

Apparently, he is unaware of what his staff is up to.

During a news briefing Wednesday, Fox News' Peter Doocy asked Biden about the controversial plan.

"As you were leaving for your overseas trip, there were reports that were surfacing that your administration's planning to pay illegal immigrants who were separated from their families at the border up to $450,000 each, possibly $1 million per family," Doocy began. "Do you think that that might incentivize more people to come over illegally?"

Biden was incredulous.

"If you guys keep sending that garbage out, yeah," the president responded. "But it's not true."

Doocy replied, "So this is a garbage report?"

"Yeah – $450,000 per person, is that what you're saying?" Biden answered with a look of disbelief.

Doocy explained that the reported negotiations that Biden's own people had been conducting would be for families separated under the Trump administration.

Biden replied, appearing not to know what his own departments were doing, "That's not going to happen."

But the ACLU, the Times, and ABC News all reported after Biden's remarks that the stories were not, in fact, "garbage."

ACLU executve director Anthony Romero immediately condemned the president's statement and suggested that perhaps he didn't know his own DOJ was negotiating a deal regarding the separation of families. But Romero noted that it was part of Biden's campaign promises:

President Biden may not have been fully briefed about the actions of his very own Justice Department as it carefully deliberated and considered the crimes committed against thousands of families separated from their children as an intentional governmental policy. But if he follows through on what he said, the president is abandoning a core campaign promise to do justice for the thousands of separated families. We respectfully remind President Biden that he called these actions "criminal" in a debate with then-President Trump, and campaigned on remedying and rectifying the lawlessness of the Trump administration. We call on President Biden to right the wrongs of this national tragedy.

ACLU responds to Biden's claim that reports of possible payments to illegal immigrants are "garbage"pic.twitter.com/3AOTAYeLtj

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1636049150

The Times' report on the imbroglio noted that Biden was rejecting a compensation option that had, indeed, been part of negotiations his administration was conducting. The paper also noted the ACLU's recognition that it appeared Biden did not know what was going on.

And ABC News' headline declared that "Biden appears unaware of possible separated family payments." The outlet also added that it had confirmed that the "garbage" report from the Journal was accurate.

Reporter confronts Katie Couric for covering up RBG comments and violating journalistic ethics. Couric justifies actions by admitting reporters do it 'all the time.'



Conservatives have noted and lamented the left-wing bias of the mainstream media over the last two or three decades. For years, reporters and liberals denied any sort of bias in news reporting. Now, though, some reporters are just coming out and admitting that they're OK with violating a "cardinal rule of journalism" by omitting facts and information that they find uncomfortable.

On Tuesday, former NBC "Today" host Katie Couric admitted that she and other reporters take these kinds of actions "all the time."

What did she say?

Couric appeared on "Today" to discuss her new memoir with host Savannah Guthrie. During the interview, Guthrie pressed her predecessor on a passage of the book that made headlines last week.

Couric has now admitted that she covered up remarks by the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg condemning athletes who kneel during the national anthem. According to Couric, she cut the justice's uncomfortable remarks from her reporting in order to "protect" Ginsburg.

Guthrie questioned the ethics of such a move during the Monday interview.

"You decided to leave out newsworthy comments that she made on the subject of kneeling during the national anthem," Guthrie began. "How did you justify that? It violates a cardinal rule of journalism to do that."

Couric was happy to justify her move by saying that reporters and editors do it "all the time."

"I think what people don't realize is we make editorial decisions like that all the time," she answered. "And I chose to talk about this and put it in the book for a discussion. I mention that it was a conundrum, that I asked Justice Ginsburg about Colin Kaepernick and taking the knee and how she felt about that. And I did include the fact that she said it was dumb and disrespectful, it was stupid and arrogant, and quite a bit of what she said."

Couric, when pressed on violating journalism rules by cutting out newsworthy but uncomfortable RBG comments on nati… https://t.co/Q2IRxZyTSa

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1634671338.0

Couric, however, patted herself on the back for revealing the whole RBG conversation in the book, which is now for sale. She attempted to brush by the fact that she buried the discussion when it happened — and would have been relevant — in an effort to shield the aging judge for whom racial justice, according to Couric, was a "blind spot."

But Guthrie pushed back on this point, which Couric, naturally, attempted to dodge.

"Let me push you on it a little bit, because she did make those comments," Guthrie said. "You said in the book that you wanted to protect her. That's not an occasion where you're using that objectivity that's so important to us journalists.

"The question is whether that undermines journalism at a time when reporters are under attack for bias," she continued.

Couric responded by first obfuscating and then admitting, when Guthrie continued to push, that she "should have included" the full Ginsburg comments in her original report.

Following months of Biden-fueled disasters, Americans now trust GOP more on security, economy, and the 'most important problem'



It has been a rough first eight-and-a-half months for President Joe Biden.

  • Inflation continues to rear its ugly head (and experts believe Americans will reallyfeel it come Christmas).
  • The chaotic Afghanistan pullout endangered thousands of Americans and American allies.
  • White House vax mandates and attacks on the unvaccinated have deepened divisions among the citizenry.
  • The surge in COVID cases and deaths over the summer has caused people to question the government's leadership and the advice of the "experts."
  • The U.S. economy continues to struggle to recover since the pandemic forced the record economic successes under Trump to tank in the months leading up to the election.
  • Unemployment continues to be an issue as many people have found it more profitable to take government handouts than to get working jobs.
  • Government spending continues to skyrocket as Congress debates plans to spend nearly $5 trillion more — which will require tax hikes and take more money out of the struggling economy.
  • The immigration disaster at the southern border has seen hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens swarm across the southern U.S. border since President Biden's swearing in. The border disaster threatens American security as immigrants with unknown criminal and/or health backgrounds are routinely released into the country.

The ongoing problems have been even rougher for Americans. And the impact of these issues is showing up in their views on which party they trust.

A Wednesday report from Gallup revealed just how badly the events that have hurt the American public are negatively impacting voters' views of the Democratic Party.

Just a year ago, Americans favored the GOP by a mere four points (50% to 46%) over Democrats when it came to security issues. Now, after all of the Biden White House's missteps, voters favor Republicans by 15 points (54% to 39%). This is the largest GOP-favoring gap on security since 2015.

Americans more likely to trust GOP than Democrats on security. https://t.co/goaGsNsFNm https://t.co/EBV66WhCAD

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1633545944.0

When it comes to the economy, Democrats again took a hit as the Biden administration struggles. The GOP saw a 3-point bump among Americans who believe it will do a better job keeping the U.S. prosperous, moving from 47% in 2020 to 50% in 2021 — the first time since 1989 that at least half of Americans gave Republicans the edge on the topic. Democrats dropped 7 points over the last year, from 48% to 41%.

Americans more likely to trust GOP than Democrats on prosperity. https://t.co/goaGsNsFNm https://t.co/CsxsdxFxsl

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1633545965.0

And on the "most important problem," the GOP's fortunes have better-than-flipped since last year. From Gallup:

By 41% to 38%, U.S. adults say the Republican Party rather than the Democratic Party can better handle whichever problem they name (in an open-ended question format) as the most important facing the country. Last year, 47% said the Democratic Party and 39% said the Republican Party could better address the most important problem, when the coronavirus pandemic, the government and race relations were most commonly named as that issue.

The top two problems identified by respondents were the pandemic and the government.

Among those who named the pandemic, Democrats held a 29-point advantage (57% to 28%), but those figures are actually down from last year, when the Democratic Party held a 41-point lead (62% to 21%).

Those who named the government as the top problem were more likely to trust the GOP than Biden's party by 41 points (60% to 19%), which is a significant shift from a year ago when Democrats had a 7-point lead (51% to 44%) on the issue.

Americans more likely to trust GOP than Democrats on "most important problem." https://t.co/goaGsNsFNm https://t.co/W4adSQW86q

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1633545987.0

Black support for Biden takes big-time hit after vaccine mandate announcement



President Joe Biden's recent announcement that the federal government would mandate vaccines for businesses with more than 100 people was, to say the least, controversial. However, Biden's constitutionally questionable mandate has been met with polling that has been generally not hostile to the plan — if not somewhat favorable.

But there's one group of Americans whose views on Biden's job performance have deteriorated significantly following his mandate announcement, and they are a core constituency for the Democratic Party: black voters.

A new Morning Consult survey published Wednesday showed that net approval — the share of those who approve less the share who disapprove — for Biden among blacks has dropped 12 percentage points since Sept. 8, the day before Biden made his mandate announcement.

Disapproval of Biden among blacks, who happen to be the least vaccinated racial demographic in the U.S., has shot up 7 points to 24% since Sept. 8, though the president does continue to be popular with the 71% of black voters who approve of his job performance, Morning Consult said.

His net approval among vaccinated blacks dropped 6 points, from 75% to 69%.

Biden's biggest hit among black voters came from the unvaccinated, where his net approval was cut in half, from 35% to 18%. His disapproval numbers shot up 11 points from Sept. 8, while his approval dropped 6 points.

The president's net approval among all voters was a negative 2 points.

Biden’s support from black voters takes a hit following vaccine mandate announcement. https://t.co/eLh3WgVeE1

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1632339281.0

Democrats have reason to be worried, Morning Consult said:

The September erosion accounted for more than two-fifths of the decline in perceptions of Biden's job performance to date among Black voters, providing a stark warning sign for Democrats ahead of next year's midterms. While Black voters, who helped push Biden over the top against President Donald Trump in key states last year, are unlikely to abandon the Democratic Party en masse to back Republicans on the ballot next year, low turnout from the group could have dire consequences for Democrats in Congress, who already face an early enthusiasm gap.

The poll also revealed that President Biden has seen black voters' approval of his handling of various issues take a hit. He's down 9 points on his handling of the coronavirus; down 7 points on national security; down 6 points on jobs; down 4 points on foreign policy, immigration, and the economy; and down 3 points on health care.

Biden’s approval rating from black voters takes a hit on mulitple issues. https://t.co/6B9wJ7paQR

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1632341359.0

Bill Maher rips liberal media for 'scaring the s**t' out of people over COVID



Comedian and host of HBO's "Real Time" Bill Maher has a message for America's left-wing media: It's your fault so many people are afraid to leave their homes; stop scaring them about COVID.

The outspoken TV personality, who has gone after the left repeatedly on his uncensored cable show, shared his thoughts about the media's role in COVID panic during an interview on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Wednesday night.

What did he say?

Maher, who was on Kimmel's show to promote an upcoming tour, took the media to task for making life more difficult for artists trying to sell tickets to events in blue states.

The comic cited a survey from the New York Times showing that Democrats overwhelmingly overestimated the likelihood of a person being hospitalized should he get COVID-19 — which, he noted, likely surprised the liberal paper.

"The question was, 'What do you think the chances are that you would have to go to the hospital if you got COVID?' And Democrats thought that was way higher than Republicans," Maher said, referring to the Times poll that found Democrats were more likely to exaggerate the severity of COVID.

"The answer is between 1% and 5%," Maher correctly noted.

"Forty-one percent of Democrats thought it was over 50%. Another 28% thought it was 20 to 49%," he explained. "So 70% of Democrats thought it was way, way, way higher than it really was."

"The liberal media has to take a little bit of responsibility for that, for scaring the s**t out of people," Maher stated.

If you heard Bill Maher on Kimmel on Wednesday, this is the poll he was referring to: https://t.co/VNoiPovXwd
— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1631888007.0

"The reason why I'm bringing this up is because it's much harder for every touring act to sell tickets in blue states," he added. "They're afraid to go out of the house. Whereas in red states, it's all good to go."

Maher, who said he is fully vaccinated and also got COVID after getting the shots, told fans who might be hesitant about coming to his show over COVID concerns, "Live life. Embrace life."

Looking at the division in the nation that is getting progressively worse, especially when it comes to politics, Maher had a suggestion for how America might find a way to come back together: Shut up about politics for a minute.

"One of the keys to that is to stop talking about it, stop talking politics," he said. "When I was a kid ... people didn't talk politics all the time. There was no Facebook. You know, Facebook should go back to being what it should be — humblebrags, cat videos, finding out who from high school is gay, fat, or dead — but instead it's people arguing with some kid you went to third grade with about Brett Kavanaugh."

"You want to know how to heal America?" Maher asked. "Shut up. Shut the hell up. Stop talking politics all the time. Stop trying to convince people. It's a big country with lots of people who don't think like you no matter what side you're on, and you're not going to convince them. Just accept it, like you do in a relationship."

Bill Maher on Getting Anger from Both Sides, Our Divided Country & Norm Macdonald's Passing www.youtube.com

He later noted the importance of having live events again after the government shut everything down during the pandemic — a move he mocked.

"People have a hunger for the live experience," Maher said. "You can make people stay at home — you know, hiding was a great medical advancement to solve this problem."

Maher also ripped masking policies for restaurants, calling them "hygiene theater."

"The restaurant is so stupid now," he said. "You have to wear a mask when you walk in. As soon as you sit, you take it off. And when you go to the bathroom you have to put it back on because the virus would never attack you when you're seated."

CNN medical analyst: Unvaccinated people in public are the same as drunk drivers



CNN medical analyst and former head of Planned Parenthood Dr. Leana Wen recently compared unvaccinated people who venture out in public to drivers who dangerously take to the road while intoxicated.

The emergency physician who once claimed, "No one should tell you what to do with your body," has in recent days been busy demanding the government do just that as it relates to COVID-19 vaccines.

"We need to start talking about the choice to remain unvaccinated as the choice to go out and drive intoxicated," Wen told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Saturday.

Wen also made the argument Thursday to CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, saying, "You have the option to not get vaccinated if you want, but then you can't go out in public ... just like you can choose to drink in private if you want, but if you get behind the wheel of a car and can endanger other people there is an obligation by society to prevent you from doing that."

"The vaccinated should not have to pay the price for the so-called choices of the unvaccinated anymore," she continued, advocating for government intervention.

Fake news CNN is at it again.Propagandist Chris Cuomo had on former president of Planned Parenthood and woke vacc… https://t.co/ywQIoAUZxF

— Francesco (@Frances40996115) 1631539231.0

But she wasn't finished. In an opinion column published by the Washington Post Wednesday, Wen made the questionable comparison once again.

"Some might balk at this comparison, but here are the similarities," she wrote. "Both causes of severe bodily harm are largely preventable — COVID-19 through vaccination, and drunken driving by not driving after drinking alcohol. Both are individual decisions with societal consequences."

"The vaccine is simultaneously like a great seat belt and a choice to drive sober," she continued. "The seat belt reduces your chance of severe injury in an accident. Driving sober reduces the risk of the accident in the first place. The vaccine does both, but it still matters if you're surrounded by reckless drivers."

Based on her repeated use of the faulty analogy, it appears Wen's expertise may be limited to the field of medicine.

Refusing a vaccine is nothing like drunk driving. Not putting something in your body (the vaccine) is quite literally the opposite of putting something in your body (alcohol). And so far as it pertains to the risks associated with other people, an effective vaccine ought to protect someone from unvaccinated virus carriers, or at least that's what health experts have been arguing for months.

If the vaccine's efficacy against COVID-19 is strong, you might say that vaccinated people are those driving around in armored vehicles with seat belts on, but that's as far as the analogy should go — and that's to say nothing about those unvaccinated individuals who also have broad immunity based on prior infection.

But a more contextual analysis of the situation is not to be expected from Wen. After all, it's only been two years since the physician launched a campaign in support of bodily autonomy.

Two days after this tweet, she and PP launched a "BansOffMyBody" campaign (https://t.co/4ti5z8o0XR), which featured… https://t.co/FwvneDrpgW

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1631542683.0

"Every person deserves the right to control their body, their life, and their future," she argued in the Planned Parenthood campaign. "Our bodies are our own — if they are not, we cannot be truly free or equal."

Fort Hood shooter congratulates Taliban for Afghanistan victory. Lawyer says killer is happy Biden capitulated to and is working with group that shielded al Qaeda.



Former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Islamic radical who murdered 13 people and wounded more than 30 at Fort Hood in 2009, is now celebrating the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan after President Joe Biden's botched pullout of U.S. forces and lauding the opportunity to install Sharia law in the region.

In a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner, the man who called himself a "soldier of Allah" and shouted "Allahu Akbar!" while murdering fellow troops and currently sits behind bars on death row at Fort Leavenworth, declared "We Have Won" and congratulated Taliban leaders for their victory after 20 years of American and international forces keeping the organization out of power following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

What did the letter say?

Hasan — whose horrific actions the Obama administration refused to treat as an act of terrorism and instead infamously called "workplace violence" — sent his letter to his attorney, retired Army Col. John Galligan, on Aug. 18 with instructions for the lawyer to "communicate to the Taliban an leadership" a personal message.

"All Praises be to All-Mighty Allah!" Hasan began in his love note to the Taliban, extolling the greatness of their re-taking of control in Afghanistan.

His celebration was not solely because fellow Muslim radicals were in charge, but also because he saw the Taliban victory as another chance for Sharia law to get a foothold.

"Congratulations on your victory over those who hate for the Laws of All-Mighty God to be supreme on the land," he wrote. "I pray to Allah that He helps you implement Shariah Law fully, correctly, and fairly."

"We must learn from the nations of the past and not let our wretchedness overcome us thus earning His (God's) wrath. It is to All-Mighty God we give thanks," Hasan concluded.

Foot Hood shooter Nidal Hasan seems pretty excited about the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and Biden’s capitulati… https://t.co/Yb2QHtQozt

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1631211088.0

Galligan, the Examiner reported, said that he was "not at all surprised" by Hasan's statement, since the convicted killer has "always been consistent in the terms of his support for the governments to be rooted upon Sharia law."

"Given the Taliban victory in Afghanistan and President Biden's apparent capitulation on many fronts, Nidal Hasan and I are anxious to see what, if any, action will be taken with respect to the individuals still incarcerated at Guantanamo," Galligan said, according to the Examiner.

The attorney echoed those sentiments in a statement to Fox News, adding that Hasan "is pleased to see that the Biden Administration is now seemingly willing to engage with the Taliban as de facto government in Afghanistan."

Biden administration can't find at least one-third of illegal immigrant children released into US



The Biden administration continues to face massive criticism — from both Republicans and Democrats — for its botched handling of the illegal immigration crisis at the southern U.S. border, where hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens have flooded into the country since President Joe Biden's inauguration.

One of the many criticisms against the White House's approach to the issue has been its insistence on releasing illegal aliens in to the country after apprehension. Part of the administration's plan includes placing "unaccompanied minors" with sponsors in the U.S. These are children whom the government is supposed to keep tabs on — for their safety and for the sake of the immigration system.

But a new report from Axios this week revealed that the feds have failed miserably in keeping track of these minors: The government has lost contact with at least a third of them.

What's happening?

The numbers of illegal aliens slipping into the U.S. has spiked in recent months. In July alone, more than 212,000 migrants were detained along the Mexico border, the Washington Post reported last month. And that figure does not include the unknown number of illegals who successfully evaded authorities.

Of the migrants detained in July, about 19,000 were unaccompanied minors, the Post said. This is in addition to the 65,000 unaccompanied children detained the first five months of 2021.

With the surge in child migrants, the government has opted to place thousands of these kids with relatives or other pre-approved sponsors. The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement has a published order of preference for sponsors:

ORR releases children to a sponsor in the following order of preference: parent; legal guardian; an adult relative (brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grandparent or first cousin); an adult individual or entity designated by the parent or legal guardian (through a signed declaration or other document that ORR determines is sufficient to establish the signatory's parental/guardian relationship); a licensed program willing to accept legal custody; or an adult individual or entity seeking custody when it appears that there is no other likely alternative to long term ORR care and custody.

The ORR requires that care providers who place children with sponsors are queried to "conduct a Safety and Well Being Follow Up Call with an unaccompanied alien child and his or her sponsor 30 days after the release date" in order to make sure the "child is still residing with the sponsor, is enrolled in or attending school, is aware of upcoming court dates, and is safe."

The providers are required to document the calls, including whether or not the provider is able to contact the sponsor or the child.

Axios filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the data after the government refused to share information about whether it had actually been making the required 30-day follow-up calls.

Turns out the situation is pretty grim.

According to the data culled by Axios, iin the first five months of 2021, care providers made 14,600 calls to check in with the minors released from HHS shelters to approved sponsors. In 4,890 of those cases — 33% — providers were not able to reach the child or the sponsor.

The share of unsuccessful calls grew from 26% in January to 37% in May, Axios said.

Not a great look for the Biden admin when it comes to caring for immigrant kids: https://t.co/EBKx4r7is3

— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) 1630687491.0

As the outlet noted, the summer migration surge "suggests the problem of losing track of released children could be compounded in the months to come."

Making matters even worse, the data Axios received indicated that the government has not been calling as frequently as it is required to.

"Between President Biden's inauguration and the end of May, HHS discharged 32,000 children and teens — but the government placed fewer than 15,000 follow-up calls, according to the FOIA response," Axios said, adding, "In both March and April, the number of kids discharged was twice as high as the number of check-in calls the following month — indicating that half of the released kids might not have gotten a 30-day call, according to public agency data."