Angered activists storm out of meeting with Biden administration: 'Reached a turning point'



Immigration activists stormed out of a meeting with top Biden administration officials on Saturday, apparently upset that President Joe Biden is breaking yet another campaign promise.

What is the background?

During his campaign, Biden promised to end former President Donald Trump's "remain in Mexico policy," which is officially known as Migrant Protection Protocols. Trump created the policy to end so-called "catch-and-release," where migrants seeking asylum in America are released into the U.S. while their case progresses through the immigration court system.

Biden initially made good on his promise. On his first day in office, Biden suspended the policy. The Biden administration formally ended the policy this summer.

However, the Supreme Court ruled in August that Biden needed to reinstate the policy. The administration announced Friday they would reinstate the policy to comply with federal court rulings.

What happened now?

Immigration activist met virtually with top members of the Biden administration on Saturday, including Homeland Security officials and the White House Domestic Policy Council's Esther Olavarria, Politico reported.

At some point, "dozens" of activists stormed out of the meeting, angry over Biden's broken promises. The activist were reportedly upset that Biden will enforce the "remain in Mexico" policy.

Before leaving the meeting, the activist accused Biden of "playing politics with human lives." The activists reportedly said, "We have sadly reached a turning point."

"I cannot stand one more meeting of them pretending," Ariana Saludares, who attended the meeting, told Politico. "They give us accolades on the outside, but on the inside, we're having to take out the metaphoric knives from our back."

"It's almost like we were bamboozled into thinking that this was going to be the best option, and it isn't. It's actually worse," she added. "It is as if you know that your family is now turning against you and telling you that it's okay. It's not."

Luis Guerra, who also left the meeting, said, "We don't actually believe they're doing everything in their power to actually restore asylum at the border, the way that they say that they're trying to."

How did the Biden admin respond?

The White House attempted to sooth tensions with activists by reaffirming the Biden administration's disagreement with MPP.

"The Biden Administration has been very clear that MPP is not an immigration policy we agree with or support. That's why the Department of Homeland Security immediately appealed the court injunction once it was ordered," a White House official told Politico.

"We are incredibly thankful and appreciative of the work immigration advocates and organizations do around the clock to improve our immigration system," the official added.

Liberal activists decry red state border security efforts as 'invasion,' 'insurrection' in letter to Biden



A major immigrant activist group is calling on President Joe Biden to put down growing efforts by Republican governors to send law enforcement personnel from their own states to fight illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border, calling the endeavor an "invasion" and "insurrection."

What are the details?

Over the last several weeks, governors in Arizona, Arkansas, Nebraska, Ohio, Idaho, Florida, and South Dakota have sent law enforcement personnel down to the country's southern border in response to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's request.

Abbot, in a letter sent to all 50 governors last month, asked states to send "all available law enforcement resources" to the border "in defense of our sovereignty and territorial integrity."

But on Sunday, Independence Day, the League of United Latin American Citizens sent a letter to the White House urging the president to use executive authority to order an immediate stop to the efforts, calling it an illegal "pay for hire" scheme.

"We told the President in no uncertain terms, this is an insurrection by recalcitrant and rebellious states that must be stopped," LULAC National President Domingo Garcia said in a news release. "This unilateral action by governors hijacks the Emergency Assistance Management Compact (EMAC) and involves our armed forces in a 'pay for hire' scheme, funded in part by private donations."

Garcia went on to accuse Abbott and former President Donald Trump of "fomenting dangerous racial hatred targeting Latinos" in their recent visit to the border.

"LULAC cannot say strongly enough that this militia action must be dealt with before it spreads," he added.

What else?

Rodolfo Rosales, Jr., the group's state director for Texas, ironically decried the border security efforts as an invasion. That term, however, was not employed to describe the situation taking place at the border as unprecedented numbers of migrants continue to rush into the country in hopes of lenient treatment from the Biden administration.

"This is insane!" Rosales Jr. said. "We are being invaded by governors of the defeated confederacy to arm the border against brown women and children escaping political persecution, hunger, and death.

"These governors are using the sacred chain of command to mobilize forces meant to defend us from military invasion by a foreign nation, as mercenaries to save white people from the brown threat," he exclaimed.

In the letter, LULAC argued that the deployment of National Guard troops and other law enforcement is a breach of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, an agreement that allows one jurisdiction to send assistance to another.

Republican governors, on the other hand, have maintained that their assistance is needed due to the federal government's failure to secure the border.

Just last week, Democrats unveiled plans to bring border wall funding to zero even while spending $870 billion on border security measures in the Middle East.