Why SCOTUS Should Nuke Mexico’s Bogus Lawsuit Against U.S. Gun Manufacturers
The Mexican government is attempting to blame American gun manufacturers and distributors for the damage Mexican criminals cause in Mexico.The Mexican government is attempting to blame American gun manufacturers and distributors for the damage Mexican criminals cause in Mexico.Blaze News original: Biden's immigration nightmare — Trump left to clean up $160 million in ICE waste, unused centers
With the sun setting on the Biden-Harris administration, President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming Cabinet face an unprecedented challenge — resolving the chaotic and overwhelming immigration crisis.
Despite having the necessary resources to put a stop to illegal immigration, the current administration has instead used taxpayer dollars in ways that have worsened the problem rather than solving it.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, millions of dollars were allocated to various initiatives purportedly designed to tackle the immigration crisis. Yet some of those investments — including a multimillion-dollar processing center and Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention space — were not utilized.
Unused illegal alien center
In the summer, the Biden-Harris administration's Federal Emergency Management Agency allocated nearly $20 million in taxpayer funds to open an illegal immigrant processing center in San Diego County.
The decision to establish the center was made amid a massive surge in unlawful immigration in the San Diego Sector. Border encounters in the area spiked by 40% in fiscal year 2024, surpassing the already record-high numbers from the year before.
The facility was designed to provide basic services to foreign nationals who had recently entered the country as well as assist them with traveling to their intended destinations within the U.S.
‘Instead of prioritizing Americans' needs, this administration has chosen to funnel resources into programs that don't even function.’
In two separate votes, four out of five San Diego County supervisors voted to accept FEMA's funding, believing it would help manage the overwhelming crisis.
Supervisor Jim Desmond (R), the one lone dissenter on the board, was not convinced. He argued that the FEMA funds failed to establish a long-term solution to the immigration issues, instead acting as only a Band-Aid over a symptom.
Desmond contended that passing the proposal "effectively approves and perpetuates the federal government's mismanagement of the border."
"I refuse to be complicit in a broken system," he added.
Desmond's skepticism about the multimillion-dollar processing facility was warranted. Although FEMA funding was approved in May, the facility has remained largely unused.
In July, the county selected Jewish Family Service to manage the center. However, after two months of negotiations, the deal collapsed after the parties could not develop a sustainable plan.
San Diego County spokesperson Michael Workman said in a joint statement with JFS, "Despite best-faith efforts, the two parties have been unable to develop a plan to meet the scope of work required to address the needs of migrants in the region based on federal funding criteria and have mutually agreed to end negotiations."
Consequently, the county was forced to relaunch the search for a new contractor, with no clear timeline on when an agreement might be secured.
Following the devastating impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the federal government claimed that FEMA's funds were quickly dwindling and the agency would struggle to provide aid in the event of another disaster.
Desmond torched the federal government for throwing money at the immigration crisis and failing to allocate enough resources to ensure assistance for Americans.
"The federal government claims they have no funds left to assist American citizens whose homes and lives have been torn apart. Yet this is the same government that spent $20 million on a migrant processing center in San Diego that isn't even being used. That was a complete waste of taxpayer dollars, and now American citizens are being told there's nothing left for them," Desmond explained in an emailed press release.
"At the time, I voted against accepting $20 million from the federal government to establish a migrant processing center in San Diego County," he continued. "I firmly believe that we shouldn't be complicit in the federal government's — and specifically this administration's — failure to enforce immigration laws effectively. My concerns were validated. That facility, which was supposed to address a critical immigration issue, is sitting idle, serving no purpose, while Americans are left to suffer."
He called the shortage of funds for citizens "a slap in the face to every hardworking American."
"It's a glaring example of the federal government's incompetence and mismanagement. Instead of prioritizing Americans' needs, this administration has chosen to funnel resources into programs that don't even function," Desmond added.
‘This is taxpayer money that incentivizes illegal immigration and could be far better spent on pressing local needs.’
In mid-September, the county submitted a Notice of Intent to Award after entering into negotiations with a different provider. However, the offer was rescinded approximately a month later due to failed negotiations.
"No award will be made, as there were no additional proposals received to evaluate," the county's rescindment notice read.
A spokesperson for San Diego County told Blaze News, "The County is pausing work to consider its options and will be sharing an evaluation with the Board of Supervisors in early 2025."
Desmond described the county's decision to open the center as "completely unnecessary."
He told Blaze News, "The County of San Diego's plan to open a 'Migrant Welcome Center' is completely unnecessary, especially given the incoming administration's commitment to securing our borders."
Desmond explained that Vice President-elect JD Vance told him that securing the border and stopping the Biden-Harris administration's illegal immigration crisis would be the incoming administration's "top priority."
"The need for a facility to welcome and process migrants will be obsolete as this new administration takes real, decisive action to stop illegal crossings," he added.
"The county has already poured millions into temporary shelters and legal fees for those facing deportation, with little to show for it," Desmond continued. "FEMA contributed $19 million, and the county has spent $6 million on a temporary shelter, alongside another $5 million in legal fees to defend illegal immigrants facing deportation. This is taxpayer money that incentivizes illegal immigration and could be far better spent on pressing local needs, from infrastructure to community services that directly benefit San Diegans."
Empty beds
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General has released a number of bombshell reports spotlighting federal government waste. A startling report in September revealed that under the Biden-Harris administration, ICE wasted more than $100 million in taxpayer dollars on unused detention bed space.
The OIG report read, "We calculated ICE paid approximately $160 million for unused bed space under guaranteed minimum contracts."
To make matters worse, as of July, there were more than 425,000 convicted criminal immigrants and another 222,000 with pending criminal charges on the agency's non-detained docket, according to data released in September by ICE acting Director Patrick Lechleitner. The convicted and accused criminals were reportedly responsible for offenses ranging from traffic violations and theft to sexual assault and homicide.
Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, called ICE's unused detention space "one of the most scandalous examples of negligence under the Biden administration."
Vaughan told Blaze News, "ICE left beds unused and closed detention facilities, even as illegal migrants surged over the border in historic numbers and even as they were releasing criminal aliens in the interior."
"Americans were killed by illegal aliens that they released who should have been and could have been detained and removed," she added.
‘The Biden administration should have at least finished the parts of the job that were paid for, but Congress let him get away with just throwing away the money.’
In a New York City-specific instance of inefficiency, taxpayers paid $432 million for a contract with Rapid Reliable Testing NY LLC, also known as DocGo, aimed at providing housing for illegal aliens. However, according to an August independent audit, over the first two months of the no-bid contract, DocGo received $1.7 million for nearly 10,000 hotel rooms for illegal immigrants that sat vacant.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D) stated at the time, "Our detailed investigation into DocGo invoices and properties found a wide range of fiscal mismanagement and shoddy oversight — from DocGo overpaying security subcontractors by $2 million, skimming off over $400,000 in overhead for almost 10,000 unused hotels rooms, and failing to ensure promised social and casework services. Each misstep reveals that the administration failed to adequately vet the company or oversee their work."
A spokesperson for Democrat Mayor Eric Adams' office accused Lander's audit of "nitpick[ing]" during "an unprecedented international humanitarian crisis."
The wall
Vaughan told Blaze News that one of the most disgraceful examples of the federal government throwing away taxpayer dollars was the Biden-Harris administration's decision to stop the construction of the southern border wall after the materials had already been purchased and contractors had already been paid for the work.
"The materials sat and rusted out in the open for many months, until Texas purchased some of them. The Biden administration should have at least finished the parts of the job that were paid for, but Congress let him get away with just throwing away the money," Vaughan explained.
Last year, the New York Post reported that the administration was quietly auctioning off the unused materials for a fraction of the original $300 million cost.
The materials, auctioned on GovPlanet, fetched prices between $25,700 and $32,505. In October 2023, the federal government managed to recover about $116,000 by selling 28-foot metal fencing tubes. Previously, in September, it sold approximately $455,000 worth of unused border wall materials, and in August, it gained around $500,000 from similar sales.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) stated at the time, "This sale is a wasteful and ludicrous decision by the Biden administration that only serves as further proof they have no shame."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also criticized the administration for the move.
"Leaving the border open to terrorists while selling border security materials at a loss is Bidenomics in a nutshell," Cotton said.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer called the sale of the materials an example of "waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars."
"We should be using tools already at our disposal to stop the surge of illegal border crossings. When someone is repeatedly breaking into your home, you don't sell the locks on the door," he added.
Days after the Biden administration was caught selling off the unused material, it announced that it planned to resume building a new 20-mile section of the wall along the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The funding for the new section was reportedly appropriated by Congress in 2019.
The Biden administration had to purchase or seize private lands and bypass environmental laws to build the new section.
‘Dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.’
Trump torched Biden for the reversal.
"So interesting to watch Crooked Joe Biden break every environmental law in the book to prove that I was right when I built 560 miles ... of brand new, beautiful border wall. As I have stated often, over thousands of years, there are only two things that have consistently worked, wheels, and walls!" he wrote on Truth Social.
"Will Joe Biden apologize to me and America for taking so long to get moving, and allowing our country to be flooded with 15 million illegals immigrants, from places unknown. I will await his apology!" he added.
Trump has vowed to finish the construction of the border wall once he returns to office.
When asked how the Trump administration can ensure taxpayer funds are no longer wasted on unused services and materials, Vaughan told Blaze News, "The incoming administration can end a lot of this waste by enforcing the law, by detaining illegal border-crossers and repatriating them swiftly, by using the accelerated forms of due process available under the law, by streamlining the immigration court processes, by reprogramming money from activities that benefit NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] and their illegal alien clients to activities that support immigration enforcement, and by denying federal law enforcement grants to sanctuary jurisdictions."
There is optimism that the incoming administration will focus on reducing unnecessary expenditures and removing the bureaucratic red tape within the federal government.
On November 12, Trump tapped Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead his new Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE. The two business leaders will be tasked with shrinking the federal government and ensuring taxpayers' dollars are used wisely.
Trump stated, "Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies - Essential to the 'Save America' Movement."
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Blaze News original: While Biden-Harris cheer southern border 'victories', a migrant invasion from Canada grows
The Biden-Harris administration, in an attempt to deflect blame for the unprecedented immigration crisis it has created and overseen for the past several years, frequently highlights the reduced number of crossings at the southern border. Meanwhile, both the administration and Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign seem to deliberately ignore the escalating situation at the U.S.-Canadian border.
A closer look at the northern numbers
Customs and Border Protection data reveals that the northern border experienced just over 27,000 encounters in fiscal year 2021. By 2024, this number had surged by 637%, reaching nearly 199,000 encounters.
The Swanton Sector, covering 24,000 square miles and including Vermont, along with several counties in New York and New Hampshire, has become by far the most heavily trafficked section of the U.S.-Canadian border.
In fiscal year 2024, Border Patrol agents manning the Swanton Sector encountered more than 19,000 individuals. For comparison, the next busiest northern sector, Blaine — which services Alaska, Oregon, and half of Washington — reported fewer than 2,500 encounters over the same period.
While the number of encounters impacting the northern border's most heavily trafficked sector may appear inconsequential compared to the staggering reports from its southern border counterparts, the stats reveal a terrifying trend.
Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia stated in an early October post on X, "Border Patrol Agents in Swanton Sector have apprehended more than 19,222 subjects from 97 different countries since October 1, 2023, which is more than its last 17 fiscal years combined."
Executive order fallacy: Statistical smoke and mirrors
Despite this alarming data, the Biden-Harris administration continues to boast about reductions in southern border encounters. Yet these slightly lower figures remain astronomically high compared to those under previous administrations.
The administration's numerous so-called "lawful pathways" have hidden the true extent of the immigration crisis. While the number of illegal crossings — defined as individuals attempting to cross the border between ports of entry — has decreased, the overall number of foreign nationals entering the country has been skyrocketing under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' leadership.
The current administration has repeatedly credited Biden's June executive order, 89 FR 48487 — Securing the Border, for the reduction in illegal crossings over the second half of 2024. From June to September, encounters at the southern border dropped roughly 22%.
‘We still are giving those families that are crossing with their vehicle Notice to Appears, and they took us on the chase.’
The administration claims that the executive action grants the federal government the authority to shut down the border once daily encounters reach 2,500 for seven consecutive days.
However, it includes numerous exceptions, such as expediting the entry process for foreign nationals who used Customs and Border Protection's CBP One application to schedule an appointment at a port of entry to request asylum.
Moreover, the executive order applies exclusively to the southern border and therefore has no effect on reducing the escalating encounters at the northern border.
Border Patrol agent reveals northern border chaos
Zachary Apotheker, a Border Patrol agent who was previously stationed at the southern border before transferring to the Swanton Sector, told Blaze News, "We're very slammed up here."
"I've actually worked harder on the northern border than we have down south because, per capita, we have less agents to do so much work," he said.
"We have a lot of drive-throughs up here, which means people will physically take a vehicle and drive from Canada into America, which should be a massive crime. You're not just crossing; now you're taking a vehicle across. You're driving past an international boundary," Apotheker explained. "If it's a family, sometimes they've taken us on chases."
Apotheker recounted an incident in which a vehicle sped past him at 70 miles per hour on a dirt road, driving through the international boundary. He started to pursue but was called off the chase.
"Later on, someone found the vehicle. It was a family," Apotheker continued. "We still are giving those families that are crossing with their vehicle Notice to Appears, and they took us on the chase. And that's happened more than once."
A Notice to Appear, or Form I-862, is given to noncitizens entering the country, instructing them to appear before an immigration judge. Although United States Citizenship and Immigration Services states that this document is "the first step in starting removal proceedings against" the individual, the overwhelmed immigration system means noncitizens receive court dates years in the future, effectively allowing them to stay in the U.S. until their court date.
‘Detaining all individuals without identification … may hamper DHS' ability to prioritize detention for individuals identified as a possible national security or public safety risk.’
Apotheker told Blaze News, "And the kicker is, if they bring a rental, we tow the rental to the yard. We don't seize rental vehicles. We tow the rental vehicle. They go back after we release them into the country, and they get the rental back."
He stated that those illegally crossing the border are "looking at us as a joke."
"There's no incentive to stop," he said. "We have the legal authority to do our job and punish these people, but we're not allowed to do so."
"It's just a game to them," he added, referring to the illegal border crossers.
Terror watch-list encounters
The Department of Homeland Security's 2025 Homeland Threat Assessment, published in early October, acknowledged that northern border encounters "continue to increase."
Through July of fiscal year 2024, CBP reported 283 individuals on the terrorist watch list who attempted to enter the U.S. via the northern border, according to the report. This number was slightly down from the 375 encounters in the previous year over the same time frame.
"In contrast to the U.S.-Mexico border, many watch-list encounters along the U.S.-Canada border occur at ports of entry, and the vast majority of these individuals have legal status in Canada," the DHS report read.
The agency anticipates that terrorists "will continue their efforts to exploit migration flows and the complex border security environment to enter the United States."
The DHS' assessment omitted mention of concerning findings from a September DHS Office of Inspector General report, which discovered that agencies, including CBP, had released noncitizens into the U.S. without identification. When individuals fail to provide identification, it is more challenging for federal officials to determine whether they are on the terrorist watch list.
‘There is also no consistency on what documentation they are saying young people need.’
"If noncitizens do not have identification such as an unexpired visa, unexpired passport, re-entry permit, border crossing identification card, or document of identity and nationality, immigration officers may deny their admission and subject them to removal from the United States without further hearing or review," the IG report explained. "However, if noncitizens without identification indicate they either intend to apply for asylum or express a fear of persecution in their home country, an immigration officer will refer them for a credible fear interview. If asylum officers determine those claims are credible, these noncitizens may be released into the country to await further hearings or reviews of their claims to admission."
The report concluded that neither CBP nor Immigration and Customs Enforcement "could determine how many of the millions of noncitizens seeking entry in the United States each year entered without identification and whose self-reported biographic information was accepted."
These federal law enforcement agencies are not required to record how many noncitizens present identification documents.
The OIG provided the DHS with three recommendations as part of the report's findings. The DHS rejected all three.
One of the recommendations, directed at CBP, advised the agency to "conduct a comprehensive analysis of the risks associated with releasing noncitizens into the country without identification and develop and implement policies and procedures to mitigate those risks."
The DHS responded with a non-concurrence, arguing, "Although CBP acknowledges the broad intent of the recommendation, mitigating potential risks associated with releasing noncitizens into the country without identification requires broadly detaining noncitizens, including those noncitizens lacking documentation, for a time exceeding 'short-term' detention. … Further, detaining all individuals without identification would seriously risk DHS exceeding its detention capacity, and may hamper DHS' ability to prioritize detention for individuals identified as a possible national security or public safety risk."
To this, the OIG countered that without the ability to confirm an individual's identity, CBP "faces challenges in identifying noncitizens who pose a national security or public safety risk."
Trusting words over evidence
"We're taking people's word," Apotheker told Blaze News. "The adults may not show up with documents, but then the children may not show up with documents, or maybe false documents. So we're just taking their word that this child is now this person's child."
"We really can't definitely say, and we can't track them," he continued. "A lot of these countries, we don't have their criminal history."
‘If we do give them an expedited removal … they still may be granted asylum.’
Apotheker detailed that while adults crossing the border undergo fingerprinting, iris scans, and DNA swabs and are photographed, such biometric data is not gathered for children under 14 years old.
Unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. are handed over to the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, which seeks to place these children with sponsors in the U.S.
"Maybe a relative's house. How do we even know that it's the relative's house, and then who's following up on it?" Apotheker questioned.
Records released in October revealed that nearly 7,000 unaccompanied children arrive in New York City each year, the New York Post reported. During a city council hearing, experts noted a 60% rise in unaccompanied minors in the city over the last four years.
Jamie Powlovich, a supervisor at the Coalition for the Homeless, informed city lawmakers, "We've also seen young people whose passports were falsified so that they could flee."
"But all their other documents or certificates from their home country to indicate that they are in fact minors and then [the city Administration for Children's Services] does not take them," Powlovich said. "There is also no consistency on what documentation they are saying young people need."
The credible fear loophole and asylum case outcomes
In some circumstances, single adults crossing the border are subject to "expedited removal," a process intended to swiftly remove them from the country. Apotheker indicated that is not always the case.
"We allow them a credible fear hearing, which is up to an asylum officer to clear," he told Blaze News. "If we do give them an expedited removal, we're going to hold them or have them at a holding facility up until the point they have a credible fear hearing. And they still may be granted asylum."
According to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, if a foreign national "indicate[s] an intention to apply for asylum, express[es] a fear of persecution or torture, or express[es] a fear of return to your country," he "must be referred to an asylum officer for an interview to determine whether you have a credible fear of persecution or torture."
Recent data from USCIS, spanning October 2023 to October 15, 2024, shows that out of over 170,000 credible fear cases, fear was not established in approximately 32% of them.
Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse found that in fiscal year 2024, immigration judges denied asylum in 56% of the cases, granted it in 42%, and provided another form of relief in just 2% of cases.
Immigration courts are grappling with a backlog exceeding 1.1 million asylum cases in fiscal year 2024, with foreign nationals waiting more than 1,400 days — almost four years — before their asylum hearing dates.
While many of the Biden-Harris administration's destructive policies that have led to the open-border crisis can quickly be reversed by a new administration committed to national security, the enormous backlog in immigration courts will likely pose significant challenges well beyond Biden's tenure in the White House.
CBP did not respond to a request for comment.
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The Christian Case For Voting For Trump
Staying home is not the moral high ground this election. Voting for Donald Trump is.Vance Is Right: If Kamala Has Such Great Plans, Why Hasn’t She Implemented Them?
Kamala Harris has been VP for three and a half years, and her policies have only exacerbated Americans' biggest problems.Border Patrol union torches Harris for 'photo op' visit to southern border ahead of election: 'Problem she created'
The National Border Patrol Council torched Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris for her recent "photo op" visit to the southern border.
On Friday, Harris visited Douglas, Arizona, marking her first trip to the border since 2021. After her brief visit touring the wall, Harris gave a speech on border security, during which she took credit for increasing overtime pay for agents and vowed to curb illegal entries and drug trafficking. Harris also promised to bring back the rejected Senate bill that she claimed would have cracked down on the border crisis, but "Donald Trump tanked it."
'After years of not just ignoring the problem, but helping create it, Vice President Kamala Harris is finally headed down to the border.'
"He prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem," she declared. "And the American people deserve a president who cares more about border security than playing political games and their personal political future."
As soon as Harris and President Joe Biden were sworn into office, the administration immediately killed the ongoing construction of former President Trump's border wall, which Harris has previously called a "complete waste of taxpayer money" and Trump's "vanity project."
Since then, her campaign has done a complete turnaround, claiming that a Harris administration would support placing barriers to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
After Harris' speech in Douglas, the Border Patrol union released several statements, slamming the vice president for her contributions to the immigration crisis.
On social media, NBPC wrote, "VP Harris asserted in Arizona that CBP needed more resources. We have apprehended over 8 million illegal immigrants over the last 4 years and now you realize we need more help 38 days before the election."
In a separate post, the union fact-checked Harris' claim that she helped increase officer overtime pay.
"Today, VP Harris claimed that she played a role in increasing Border Patrol Agent overtime pay. This couldn't be further from the truth. As with all things border related she was no where to be found when we needed her," NBPC explained.
"Vice president Harris has ignored the border problem she created for over three years. She goes down there for 20 minutes for a photo op and decides to repeat some of the things the NPBC has said before. But again, where has she been the last 3 1/2 years?" the union questioned.
Art Del Cueto, NBPC vice president, told Fox News' Bill Melugin, "After years of not just ignoring the problem, but helping create it, Vice President Kamala Harris is finally headed down to the border. This is nothing more than for her to check the box, but what it is in reality is a slap in the face towards the men and women that put their lives on the line every day, and also a slap in the face to the American public. Where has she been?"
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Biden And Harris Fly Migrants In From The Bougiest Places On Earth Under Guise Of ‘Humanitarianism’
They're flying them in from Europe, the Caribbean, and even Australia.Today's top stories
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