Biden DHS' flight scheme landed over 160,000 'inadmissible aliens' in Florida inside an 8-month window



The Biden administration is quietly loading Florida up with foreign nationals who have no business being in the country by way of the Department of Homeland Security's controversial Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHNV) mass-parole program.

This apparent illegal-immigration workaround, which Republicans have called "unlawful," could prove impactful for the Sunshine State as well as for the rest of the country. After all, the DHS' imports are likely to put additional stress on citizen resources in Florida, such as hospitals, which a recent report indicates were put out $566 million last year on account of illegal aliens.

Background

The Biden DHS launched the CHNV parole program in late 2022 in an apparent effort to both spare prospective illegal aliens from having to jump the border and to lower the Biden administration's egregious border-jumper statistics.

The DHS announced in January 2023 that prospective CHNV migrants "who have a supporter in the United States, undergo and clear robust security vetting, and meet other eligibility criteria" can apply for advance authorization to fly to an interior port of entry in the United States.The program grants up to a two-year parole for up to 30,000 CHNV nationals per month.

A U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas noted in March that by June 2023, the DHS had approved 97.5% of the applications for CHNV nationals.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection indicated that as of March, "404,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans arrived lawfully on commercial flights and were granted parole under these processes. Specifically, 86,000 Cubans, 168,000 Haitians, 77,000 Nicaraguans, 102,000 Venezuelans were vetted and authorized for travel; and 84,000 Cubans, 154,000 Haitians, 69,000 Nicaraguans, and 95,000 Venezuelans arrived lawfully and were granted parole."

Upon the implementation of the program, 21 states filed suit, claiming that the program exceeds the authority of the DHS and its secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas; failed to include a notice and comment period; and is arbitrary and capricious.

The states' complaint suggested the DHS has "effectively created a new visa program — without the formalities of legislation from Congress."

"The parole program established by the Department fails each of the law's three limiting factors. It is not case-by-case, is not for urgent humanitarian reasons, and advances no significant public benefit," continued the complaint. "The Department does not have the authority to invite more than a third of a million more illegal aliens into the United States annually as it has announced with this program."

Texas also argued that the CHNV program was also harmful because migrants approved under the scheme qualify for state services such as health care and public education, reported the Texas Tribune.

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton ruled in favor of the Biden administration on March 8, enabling the scheme to keep going.

Damning figures

On Tuesday, House Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee revealed some troubling details about the Biden Department of Homeland Security's CHNV scheme.

According to the internal data the committee obtained via subpoena, 1.6 million inadmissible aliens were awaiting travel authorizations through the CHNV program as of October 2023. If accepted by the DHS, as most are, then they would join more than 400,000 others, including the roughly 200,000 migrants flown into the U.S. then processed by the DHS under the program between January and August — the bulk of whom ended up in Florida.

The committee indicated during that 8-month window, 91,821 migrants flew into Miami, Florida; 60,461 flew into Ft. Lauderdale; 6,043 flew into Orlando; and 3,237 flew into Tampa under the program.

The top 15 airport locations used for the CHNV program also included New York City, which received 14,827 between January and August 2023; Houston, 7,923; Los Angeles, 3,237; Dallas, 2,256; San Francisco, 2,052; Atlanta, 1,796; and Washington, D.C., which received 1,472.

— (@)

The internal DHS documents apparently indicate that none of the migrants have a legal basis to enter the U.S., explicitly stating, "All individuals paroled into the United States are, by definition, inadmissible, including those paroled under the CHNV Processes."

Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chairman of the committee, said in a statement, "These documents expose the egregious lengths Secretary Mayorkas will go to ensure inadmissible aliens reach every corner of the country, from Orlando and Atlanta to Las Vegas and San Francisco. Secretary Mayorkas' CHNV parole program is an unlawful sleight of hand used to hide the worsening border crisis from the American people."

"Implementing a program that allows otherwise inadmissible aliens to fly directly into the U.S. — not for significant public benefit or urgent humanitarian reasons as the Immigration and Nationality Act mandates — has been proven an impeachable offense," added Green.

Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), told Fox News in a statement, "Biden's parole program is unlawful, and constitutes an abuse of constitutional authority. Florida is currently suing Biden to shut it down, and we believe that we will prevail."

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Rep. Dan Crenshaw denied Homeland Security Committee chair after calling House Republicans critical of McCarthy 'terrorists'



Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R) was denied the gavel on a key committee he had long hoped to lead. The House Homeland Security Committee will instead be led by a member of the House Republican group Crenshaw branded as "enemies."

What is the background?

Crenshaw rebuked Republican members of the House Freedom Caucus last week, rhetorically condemning some as "enemies" for having leveraged their House speaker votes in exchange for concessions over how Congress would be run.

He told Fox News Radio host Guy Benson, "We cannot let the terrorists win," referring to the 20 members of the Freedom Caucus who initially resisted voting for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Crenshaw also told Benson that the "terrorists" wanted "more places on committees."

\u201cRep. Dan Crenshaw on the 20 Republicans who oppose McCarthy:\n\n"We cannot let the terrorists win."\u201d
— Greg Price (@Greg Price) 1672866376

With McCarthy winning the speakership in the 15th vote on Friday night, Crenshaw's remarks appear to have amounted to an unforced error.

TheBlaze previously reported that Tucker Carlson called out the Texas congressman on his Fox News show, accusing Crenshaw of engaging in "Soviet-style politics."

Crenshaw apologized on Sunday, telling CNN anchor Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" that "things get heated, and things get said. ... I don't want them to think I actually believe they're terrorists. It's clearly a turn of phrase that you use in what is an intransigent negotiation."

The Houston Chronicle reported that Crenshaw couched his remarks within the broader context of "vile things" allegedly said by "the very same wing of the party that I'm fighting."

Despite the apology, the damage was done.

A gavel for Green

On Monday, Crenshaw was denied the gavel for which he campaigned over the course of several months.

The Houston Chronicle reported in November that Crenshaw was regarded as a front-runner for the top spot on the Homeland Security Committee. He certainly thought so.

"I am uniquely positioned to lead the Homeland Security Committee," Crenshaw said in a letter to his Republican colleagues, noting that having lived in a border state and served in the military provided him with the requisite experience and insights to "persuasively communicate our positions with the public."

Crenshaw may also have won some favor after raising roughly $1 million for the House GOP campaign arm in the latest cycle.

Despite the Texas congressman's bona fides and contributions, the chair will instead go to fellow combat veteran Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), a 58-year-old member of the Freedom Caucus — the group that bore the brunt of Crenshaw's turns of phrase.

Both Green and Crenshaw previously served together on the panel.

Politico previously reported the political significance of Green's appointment, stating, "Green is also an interesting candidate because picking him would give Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy the opportunity to say he has seated another HFC member in a senior leadership position, following only HFC Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)."

Extra to expressing gratitude to McCarthy, Green wrote in a tweet, "@RepDanCrenshaw ran a spirited race. I’m grateful for his friendship and leadership. I look forward to working with him, a fellow veteran who understands our national security challenges, to secure our homeland.

\u201c.@RepDanCrenshaw ran a spirited race. I\u2019m grateful for his friendship and leadership. I look forward to working with him, a fellow veteran who understands our national security challenges, to secure our homeland. /3\u201d
— Rep. Mark Green (@Rep. Mark Green) 1673290111

In a Jan. 9 release, Green noted that his priorities as head of the committee will be: "ending the border crisis Biden created"; stopping the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.; empowering Customs and Border Patrol personnel; and countering Chinese cyberwarfare.

Signaling the direction he might take, Green told Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in November that he should resign, indicating that failing that, he would be held accountable by House Republicans.

It is unclear what Crenshaw's rejection will mean for intraparty politics.

Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, told Houston Public Media last week, "Crenshaw has been waiting his turn, being the good soldier, and if he were to lose it to someone who jumps the queue because they are threatening McCarthy's speakership, that would estrange him, perhaps, from McCarthy for quite some time."

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Senate report on Jan. 6 riot calls on Congress to fund the police, identifies security failures that led to attack



The United States Senate released its bipartisan report on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot Tuesday, highlighting the "security, planning, and response failures" of the U.S. Capitol Police and the Capitol Police Board along with "critical breakdowns involving several federal agencies" before and during the events of that day.

The report was put together by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Committee on Rules and Administration. It is the first and so far only bipartisan review of how rioters trespassed at the U.S. Capitol, ransacked government offices, stole property, assaulted and severely injured Capitol Police officers, and sought to stop a joint session of Congress from carrying out its constitutional duty to certify the Electoral College votes for president and vice president of the United States.

The Senate report made several recommendations, including to give the Capitol Police chief more authority to respond to crises, to give law enforcement better planning and equipment — with additional congressional funding — and to make intelligence sharing between federal agencies more efficient.

"The January 6 attack on the Capitol was an attack on democracy itself. Today's joint bipartisan congressional oversight report from the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Rules Committee details the security and intelligence failures in the days leading up to the attack, the lack of preparedness at the Capitol, and the slow response as the attack unfolded," Homeland Security ranking member Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said. "We make specific recommendations to address key failures in the Capitol Police Board structure and processes; ensure Capitol Police has the training and equipment necessary to complete its mission; update how the intelligence agencies assess and issue intelligence bulletins, particularly as it relates to social media; enhance communications between the chain of command at the Department of Defense; and ensure timely and effective cooperation and coordination amongst federal, state, and local law enforcement. We must address these failures and make the necessary reforms to ensure this never happens again."

"Thanks to the heroic actions of U.S. Capitol Police, D.C. Metropolitan Police, the National Guard and others — rioters on January 6th failed to achieve their goal of preventing the certification of a free and fair presidential election. The events of January 6th were horrific, and our bipartisan investigation identified many unacceptable, widespread breakdowns in security preparations and emergency response related to this attack," committee Chairman Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said. "Our report offers critical recommendations to address these failures and strengthen security for the Capitol to prevent an attack of this nature from ever happening again."

The report found that federal law enforcement agencies, namely the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, failed to warn of potential violence on Jan. 6 despite known online calls for violence at the Capitol on open-sources like social media platforms. These agencies did not find such online posts to be credible. The divisions of USCP responsible for collecting intelligence on possible threats likewise "failed to fully incorporate this information into all of its internal assessments about January 6 and the Joint Session." Failure to share information across various law enforcement agencies was a serious problem that led police to be caught off guard when Trump's supporters formed a mob and breached the Capitol.

USCP also did not appear to develop a plan for how officers would be staffed during the Joint Session and front-line officers were not given "effective protective equipment or training" to deal with a crowd as big as the one that gathered in support of former President Donald Trump.

"These operational failures were exacerbated by leadership's failure to clearly communicate during the attack," the report said.

The National Guard's failure to respond to the riot was blamed on "opaque processes and a lack of emergency authority."

"As the attack unfolded, [the Department of Defense] required time to approve the request and gather, equip, and instruct its personnel on the mission, which resulted in additional delays," the report explained.

The Senate report recommended that the chief of USCP be given the ability to directly request assistance from the D.C. National Guard in emergency situations without waddling through bureaucratic red tape. It also calls for Congress to increase funding for Capitol Police training, equipment, and staff needs, among several other recommendations.

"This report lays out necessary reforms including passing a law to change Capitol Police Board procedures and improving intelligence sharing. I will work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to implement the recommendations in this report that are needed to protect the Capitol and, in turn, our nation," Rules Committee Chairwoman Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said.

"These recommendations are based on an extensive fact-finding effort that included interviews with key decision makers, firsthand accounts from law enforcement personnel, and the review of thousands of documents," ranking member Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said. "Our focus now should be on immediately implementing these recommendations. We owe it to the brave men and women who responded that day to do everything we can to prevent an attack like this from ever happening again, and in every instance ensure that the Capitol Police have the training and equipment that they need."

Upon release, the report was criticized by CNN and other media outlets for neglecting to directly blame then-President Trump for stoking violence.

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