Require All “Refugee” Claims to Be Made & Vetted Abroad — Yet Another Scam to Slip in Illegal
Require All “Refugee” Claims to Be Made & Vetted Abroad — Yet Another Scam to Slip in Illegals
Here’s the latest scam to slip rich Indians into Canada to claim “refugee” status. It’s a scam, of course. India’s a democracy. How can it produce “refugees”? To secure our borders, we must insist that would-ve “refugee” claimants, pop in here legally or illegally and make their claim.
Here’s the latest scam: “An airline worker who allegedly hatched and carried out an elaborate plan to get Indian citizens who lacked proper travel documents into Canada via Pearson Airport in Mississauga and Vancouver International Airport is now reportedly on the run from authorities on the other side of the world.
The bold and illegal ruse, allegedly the brainchild of a former British Airways employee who was stationed at Heathrow Airport in London, allowed travellers without proper documentation to board flights to Canada, according to multiple media reports.
Once at Pearson or in Vancouver, the Indian citizens, who had allegedly paid the airline worker the equivalent of $43,000 per person, would then reportedly claim asylum.
According to The Times of London, which first reported on the travel/immigration scheme earlier this week, Canadian immigration officials brought the matter to light after noticing more and more Indian citizens flying into Pearson and Vancouver who were lacking proper papers and then claiming asylum. The alleged scam is reported to have garnered an estimated $5.1 million for the British Airways employee.
The worker, a 24-year-old man alleged to have masterminded the scheme from his airport check-in desk in London, was arrested on Jan. 6. However, he made bail and allegedly fled to India, reportedly with a partner who also worked for the British airline.” (Insauga, February 29, 2024) As so often in our lamestream media, we are not even told the name of the slippery, now a millionaire, scam artist.
The cultural revolution is here. Just ask Xi Van Fleet. She’s lived it twice.
COMMENT This is the very most important Tucker Carlson interview I have watched yet. Do not miss this one. Canadians and Americans may have problems to understand what is said here because they grew up in a once free country. This can change very fast as you will hear from this great lady who grew up under Mao. All governments follow the same recipe to stay in power. We have to watch every step of what is going on in government. Don’t ever trust any of them. This interview may wake you up to the real facts and the truth. We are almost at the point of no return. Be informed, help take our country back from the insanity that is going on now. True history is suppressed on purpose, because all this happened before.
Temporary immigration up nearly 50% in 2023, report finds
National Post
28 Feb 2024
FRÉDÉRIC TOMESCO ftomesco@postmedia.com
Quebec Premier François Legault has called on Ottawa to cut the number of asylum seekers arriving in the province.
THERE’S A JUMP IN TEMPORARY IMMIGRATION AND AN IMPRESSION THAT QUEBEC HAS LOST CONTROL, THAT WE WEREN’T PREPARED IN AREAS
SUCH AS HOUSING OR PUBLIC SERVICES. MAYBE THE CO-ORDINATION (WITH
OTTAWA) HAS BEEN LACKING. — EMNA BRAHAM, IDQ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Authorities in Canada and Quebec underestimated the effect temporary immigration would have on housing and public services over the past decade, a new study suggests.
Quebec’s temporary resident population soared 46 per cent last year to 528,034, according to a report published Monday by the Institut du Québec (IDQ) non-profit think tank, which compiled Statistics Canada data. Quebec had 167,435 temporary work permit holders in 2023, almost four times as many as in 2015, as well as 117,745 foreign students — most of whom have the right to work here — and asylum seekers.
Surging immigration numbers have become a hot-button issue in Quebec, with Premier François Legault calling on Ottawa to cut the number of asylum seekers arriving in the province because not enough of them speak French.
Some of the issues surrounding immigration can be traced back to an easing of regulations in 2022 that accelerated the delivery of temporary work permits in Quebec, IDQ economists write in their report.
“There’s been a lot of talk about immigration in the last few weeks and we thought it was important to underline the impacts on the job market that are often looked at only in silos,” IDQ executive director Emna Braham, who co-authored the study, said in an interview.
Immigration policies “are generally well designed, but when governments decided to put in place a series of simplifications a few years ago, they failed to anticipate their cumulative impact,” Braham added. “Today, there’s a jump in temporary immigration and an impression that Quebec has lost control, that we weren’t prepared in areas such as housing or public services. Maybe the co-ordination (with Ottawa) has been lacking.”
Temporary immigration programs lack precise limits, the IDQ economists write. A dearth of detailed data that would shed light on the economic effect of the measures means authorities can’t adequately monitor them, the authors add.
Immigration was the sole source of growth in Quebec’s labour pool between 2015 and 2023 as many baby boomers retired, the IDQ report shows. About 272,000 permanent immigrants entered the workforce during the period, as well as 112,000 temporary residents, while 54,000 Canadian-born workers exited the province’s labour pool.
New arrivals explain why Quebec gained about 100,000 working-age individuals last year, the study says. That’s almost triple the 39,000 average annual increase recorded between 2015 and 2022. Unlike permanent immigration, which is capped at about 50,000 people a year, Quebec has set no limits on temporary residents.
The surge in temporary immigration over the past year has coincided with an economic slowdown. Quebec’s unemployment rate rose from four per cent to 4.5 per cent in the year ended in January.
Temporary immigrants come here through two main channels: the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which allows Quebec employers to bring people in to fill vacant positions, and Ottawa’s International Mobility Program, which combines various mechanisms for welcoming temporary residents such as foreign graduates.
With 107,615 permit holders as of last year, the International Mobility Program is the biggest source of temporary foreign workers in the province. The problem is, it doesn’t specifically aim to fill vacant jobs, IDQ economists write.
As for Quebec’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program, it generated 59,820 temporary immigrants last year. Twenty-three per cent of participants were agricultural workers. So far, neither tool has allowed Quebec to fill vacant positions in health care and construction — critical shortcomings as the population ages and authorities scramble to tackle the housing crisis.
“In the past year, we’ve seen a major drop in vacant positions across Quebec, but the number in health care has barely budged,” Braham said. “There are attractiveness issues, including wages and working conditions, but the fact is we are seeing few temporary immigrants active in health care.”
One way for Quebec to alleviate pressing labour shortages would be to focus future international recruitment missions on health care and construction, Braham says.
Authorities should also put greater emphasis on recognizing foreign degrees and worker competencies in these two fields, she adds.
“The good news is that the levers exist, partly in Quebec City and partly in Ottawa, to adjust (immigration) policies,” Braham said.
Article Name:Temporary immigration up nearly 50% in 2023, report finds
Matthew Grant uses a broom to clean snow off ice fishing enclosures at a tent encampment in front of City Hall in downtown Halifax’s Grand Parade square, Monday, Dec. 4, 2023. Photo by Darren Calabrese /The Canadian Press
If we can’t house the, why bring them? Why bring them to cast Canadian poor and homes people out on the streets. A February 24 major article in the National Post entitled “Tent City Nation” made the following important observation: “
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
It’s believed that more people are sleeping rough in this country than at any point since the Great Depression. How did tent encampments suddenly become a fixture of so many of our towns and cities?
Many things happened at once, among them a pandemic. COVID-19 forced homeless shelters to impose capacity limits to reduce the spread of the infectious disease, which forced many people on the margins into tents and sheds.
Shelters were already under pressure, in part because of a substantial increase in the number of refugees using their services. The number of people seeking asylum in Canada has spiked in recent years. During the first 11 months of 2023, more than 128,000 people filed asylum claims in this country — a record number. It’s more than double the number from all of 2019, the year before the pandemic’s outbreak.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, in a November letter to two federal cabinet ministers, noted that refugees then occupied 3,900 of the city’s 11,000 shelter spaces — a 50 per cent increase in just six months — while another 1,200 refugees were supported outside the shelter system. She asked the government for financial and material aid to help address what she called a “dire” situation.
“Shelters are full but demand for shelter continues to increase,” Chow wrote. “Each night, hundreds are turned away because no beds are available. While we have opened hundreds of additional spaces, including dedicated spaces for newly arrived refugees, we cannot keep pace.”
Maxime Bernier & People’s Party of Canada Pledge to Rid Us of Diversity, Equity & Inclusions Insanity
Today I was in Bowmanville (ON) for a press conference with our amazing Durham by-election candidate, Patricia Conlin.
This press conference was an opportunity to introduce Patricia to the local and national media.
We also announced a new PPC policy on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
DEI is a fundamentally racist, sexist, and discriminatory ideology that divides Canadians, creates blatant injustices, and undermines social cohesion.
Under the pretext of promoting nice-sounding goals, it does the exact opposite: it imposes a uniform far-left perspective, and unfairly gives more rights to some, while excluding others who don’t fit in official categories of victims.
This hateful ideology holds that our culture and Western society is irredeemably racist, colonialist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and whatever new phobia or -ism they come up with next week!
We hear about new absurd examples of these programs almost every day.
Just a few weeks ago, we learned that the University of Waterloo wanted to hire two Research Chair positions in the Computer Science department.
The first position was only open to applicants “who self-identify as women, transgender, gender-fluid, non-binary, or Two-spirit”.
The second position was only open to applicants “who self-identify as a member of a racialized minority”.
If you’re straight or white, tough luck! The University of Waterloo doesn’t want you.
Our woke leaders do not believe in merit anymore. They undermine one of the key foundations of western civilization.
They tell us that “diversity” is more important than competence.
We see this everywhere in Canada and the West today.
The longer that this twisted agenda is in place, the more things will fall apart and cease to function.
Because decline is the only outcome when you prevent and penalize the most capable and meritorious.
A PPC government will take the following steps to expunge this toxic ideology from our society and country:
Abolish all federal DEI programs and policies in the public service and in federal institutions such as the Armed Forces, as well as those that apply to federally regulated industries.
Prohibit DEI training sessions in all federal institutions.
Remove all DEI clauses imposed on institutions, organisations, associations and businesses as a condition to obtain federal subsidies, grants, loans, scholarships, services, or contracts.
Stop funding groups that promote the DEI ideology.
In all legal proceedings, narrowly interpret section 15(2) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in a manner that proscribes reverse discrimination.
Support Canadians who are being discriminated against, harassed, vilified, or harmed in any way by organisations that impose DEI programs and policies.
‘Absurdly woke’: Google’s AI chatbot spits out ‘diverse’ images of Founding Fathers, popes, Vikings
By
Social Links for Thomas Barrabi
Published Feb. 21, 2024, 1:51 p.m. ET
Google’s highly-touted AI chatbot Gemini was blasted as “woke” after its image generator spit out factually or historically inaccurate pictures — including a woman as pope, black Vikings, female NHL players and “diverse” versions of America’s Founding Fathers.
Gemini’s bizarre results came after simple prompts, including one by The Post on Wednesday that asked the software to “create an image of a pope.”
Instead of yielding a photo of one of the 266 pontiffs throughout history — all of them white men — Gemini provided pictures of a Southeast Asian woman and a black man wearing holy vestments.
Another Post query for representative images of “the Founding Fathers in 1789″ was also far from reality.
Gemini responded with images of black and Native American individuals signing what appeared to be a version of the US Constitution — “featuring diverse individuals embodying the spirit” of the Founding Fathers.
Google admitted its image tool was “missing the mark.” Google GeminiGoogle debuted Gemini’s image generation tool last week. Google Gemini
Another showed a black man appearing to represent George Washington, in a white wig and wearing an Army uniform.
When asked why it had deviated from its original prompt, Gemini replied that it “aimed to provide a more accurate and inclusive representation of the historical context” of the period.
Generative AI tools like Gemini are designed to create content within certain parameters, leading many critics to slam Google for its progressive-minded settings.
Google said it was aware of the criticism and is actively working on a fix.
“We’re working to improve these kinds of depictions immediately,” Jack Krawczyk, Google’s senior director of product management for Gemini Experiences, told The Post.
“Gemini’s AI image generation does generate a wide range of people. And that’s generally a good thing because people around the world use it. But it’s missing the mark here.”
Social media users had a field day creating queries that provided confounding results.
“New game: Try to get Google Gemini to make an image of a Caucasian male. I have not been successful so far,” wrote X user Frank J. Fleming, a writer for the Babylon Bee, whose series of posts about Gemini on the social media platform quickly went viral.
The chatbot’s strange depictions of Vikings included one of a shirtless black man with rainbow feathers attached to his fur garb, a black warrior woman, and an Asian man standing in the middle of what appeared to be a desert.
Famed pollster and “FiveThirtyEight” founder Nate Silver also joined the fray.
Silver’s request for Gemini to “make 4 representative images of NHL hockey players” generated a picture with a female player, even though the league is all male.
“OK I assumed people were exaggerating with this stuff but here’s the first image request I tried with Gemini,” Silver wrote.
Another prompt to “depict the Girl with a Pearl Earring” led to altered versions of the famous 1665 oil painting by Johannes Vermeer featuring what Gemini described as “diverse ethnicities and genders.”
Google added the image generation feature when it renamed its experimental “Bard” chatbot to “Gemini” and released an updated version of the product last week.
In one case, Gemini generated pictures of “diverse” representations of the pope. Google GeminiCritics accused Google Gemini of valuing diversity over historically or factually accuracy. Google Gemini
The strange behavior could provide more fodder for AI detractors who fear chatbots will contribute to the spread of online misinformation.
Google has long said that its AI tools are experimental and prone to “hallucinations” in which they regurgitate fake or inaccurate information in response to user prompts.
In one instance last October, Google’s chatbot claimed that Israel and Hamas had reached a ceasefire agreement, when no such deal had occurred.
OK, this email says the number of illegals is about 15 million. I’ve been saying 50 plus. Not accounted for are the unknown number of “get-a-ways” that have sifted thru our sandy sieve of a border and gotten away with their ill gotten gains for over 50 years now, so they can get away with statements like that.
Also, for decades, Ive been reading statements from supposed immigration restriction organizations, to the effect that the number of illegals that get in each year is about one million. Add that up since 1970 or so, and the so and so’s can fool the johnny-come-lately citizens suddenly interested in the issue — and so there’s your over 50 million in addition to the “get-aways”.
These organizations still spout that they are for “sensible immigration”. Show me why a moratorium on this displacement of our native population is not the right thing to enact now. Pat Buchanan, where are you now?
OVERVIEW FROM THE CEO (JAMES MASSA) welcome to the “Inside Immigration” Newsletter of NumbersUSA Your Voice Mattered in Defeating Senate Border Bill There is so much misinformation in the media regarding the Senate Border Bill that was defeated this past week. First, the vote itself was procedural and was not a vote on the bill. As explained in our short video last week, the Senate bill did not pass “cloture”. Second, the short powerful truth is that your voice mattered! Your contacting your member of congress and telling them that the Senate deal was no deal at all and you wanted H.R. 2, the Secure Border Act, as passed in the House of Representatives is what really shut down chances of the Senate bill even reaching a vote. Third, the Senate bill was bad immigration policy. It did not accomplish anything it was touted to have done. It raised legal immigration in several ways. It failed to close heavily abused loopholes. It ignored the fact that the President already has authority to get control of the border. It normalized 1.8 million illegal alien encounters a year, suggesting that anything less wasn’t an emergency. It was bad immigration policy offered in an attempt to pass funding for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel. Finally, it is an election year. President Biden who is seeking reelection and his party have made every attempt to say the bill gave Republicans everything they wanted and yet they still voted it down. Nonsense! H.R. 2 gives everything the Republicans want and not a word of it was in the Senate bill. Another election year spin has been to blame former President Donald Trump, who is seeking reelection, saying he influenced the vote. This is just not what caused the Senate Border (plus Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel) funding bill to go down in a cloture vote. Trump has done many things to highlight the issue of illegal immigration. However, the Senate bill was defeated by you and it being bad policy. This week there are efforts to fund the military defense items separately and, as we have shared in other e-mails, to vote again to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas. We await the upcoming government funding appropriation bills to see if the House of Representatives with their power of the purse will ensure that the national security issue which is our nation’s southern border is secured. Grant Newman will give an update on Mayorkas in the federal section. FEDERAL (GRANT NEWMAN) DHS Secretary Mayorkas Impeached
Yesterday, the House of Representatives successfully impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law and breach of public trust. This marks the first time a cabinet secretary has been impeached in nearly 150 years. Next, the impeachment articles go over to the Senate, which has to immediately consider them and determine whether to convict or acquit the Secretary on each article. The Senate is currently in recess until after the President’s Day recess, but is set to return the week of February 23rd. We’re hearing rumors that Senate Democrats may try to swiftly move on from impeachment, so stay tuned for developments.
January Border Numbers Drop… Already
Only a couple of weeks after the December Customs and Border Protection numbers dropped, January’s numbers arrived early. In fact, not only does the data show (relatively) good news, but that news dropped on the same day the House was reconsidering the impeachment of DHS Secretary Mayorkas. What a coincidence! That said, 242,587 encounters in a month is far from normal. There are many reasons why the drop may have occurred in January. First, historically, January is a slower month than others on the border. You may also have seen articles about Texas Governor Greg Abbot making an effort to slow the influx into Texas in lieu of Federal assistance. Another factor is action occurring on the Mexican side of the border, reported by Todd Bensman at CIS, where Mexican military and law enforcement are suddenly cracking down on migrants. We’ll see soon enough whether this is something that will continue, or if it’s a temporary action.
STATE (ANDREW GOOD)
(Idaho capitol building in Boise; Idaho state Representative Jordan Redman (R-03)) IDAHO Another state has joined the list of states where there is active E-Verify legislation. Introduced by Rep. Jordan Redman,Idaho’s H.B. 510 is an excellent bill which requires all businesses in the state of Idaho to use E-Verify for new hires. HB510 has been referred to the Commerce and Human Resources Committee, and we are pushing to get a hearing on the bill as a next step. West Virginia As you might remember from our last Inside Immigration update, the West Virginia Senate has an active piece of legislation that was passed by the West Virginia House of Delegates already (82-18), and would require employers of 15 or more employees to use E-Verify for new hires. H.B. 4759 (sponsored by Del. Chris Phillips) has been the target of a coordinated, last-minute opposition effort by business lobbyists to protect the ability of employers to have access to workers without effectively checking legal status. While the Senate did unanimously support E-Verify for all employers just last year, there will still need to be two committee hearings (Government Organization and Judiciary) where opponents of E-Verify will also seek to testify on the bill. These hearings have not yet been scheduled. Meanwhile, West Virginians continue to flood Charleston with messages of support. COLORADO Colorado is a state that has a number of sanctuary policies at both state and local levels.SHB24-1128, sponsored by Rep. Richard Holtorf and Sen. Mark Baisley, is a bill that would repeal sanctuary policy laws enacted in the past. This legislation will get a hearing in the State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee next week, on February 22nd.High-profile cases like this recent fatal DUI will surely make for a contentious affair on the topic, another case in which the public needs to overcome zealous support for sanctuary policies within the legislature. SUSTAINABILITY (JEREMY BECK) Defending a way of life A half-century of elevated immigration levels has diminished agricultural land and habitats throughout America (Henry Barbaro looks at wetlands). Due to extremely high levels, immigration over this period changed the landscape . . . and the way people want to live. See the media coverage of our Idaho study. OUR STUDIES NumbersUSA’s two decades of sprawl studies have been cited in scholarly literature over a hundred times in over a dozen languages. You can now access them all in one place. COMING TO AUSTIN If you’re in Austin, TX on February 21st, come say “hello”! Rob Harding will be presenting NumbersUSA’s findings to the American Conservation Coalition. The event is free. Reserve a spot!
HIRING LINE (JEREMY BECK)
“What about poor and desolate citizens here?” Stephen A. Smith’s viral statement about the border crisis and its impact on American communities is one of the latest examples of nonpolitical people “spilling the tea” about immigration. Read Andre Barnes’ article. INDIFFERENCE Why did NumbersUSA oppose the failed Senate immigration package that so many political and media institutions praised? For starters, the immigration provisions displayed a profound indifference to the inadequate job prospects of vulnerable American workers. Read more. Knowledge is power The quotes from Washington, Jordan, and Douglass above are all found in Back of the Hiring Line. In case you missed it, listen to author Roy Beck revisit the 200-year history of immigration surges, employer bias, and the depression of Black wealth with Denise Long in their Feb 1 conversation.
ALLIANCES (JIM ROBB)
NumbersUSA speakers featured in national debate on closing the border NumbersUSA is a charter member of the Braver Network, which is groups trying to lower the temperature of political discourse even while keeping to their positions and principles. Last Thursday, VP of Alliances & Activism Jim Robb, Director of Planned Giving & Member Retention Christy Shaw, and CEO James Massa were featured speakers in the Braver Angels national Zoom debate on the question: “Resolved: Close the Border.” The video clip below shows James Massa’s opening 4-minute speech that urged that the U.S. border be closed. Listen in! To see the entire debate featuring many speakers, including James Massa, click below: Immigration: A Braver Angels Debate (1)
Foreign-Born Population Reaches Record Peak Amidst the worst border crisis in our history, it is worth taking a look at a lesser known, but equally important figure: the actual size of the immigrant population in the U.S.
Our friends at the Center for Immigration Studies have done a deep dive into the recent Census Bureau Current Population Survey (CPS) data (October 2023) that show that the foreign-born population in the U.S. has reached a peak in both numbers and percentage share of the overall population – 49.5 million and 15% – higher than at any other time in our history. Although illegal immigration accounts for a significant share of the recent foreign-born growth, it is worth noting that legal immigrants still account for 75% of the total foreign-born population.
OK, this email says the number of illegals is about 15 million. I’ve been saying 50 plus. Not accounted for are the unknown number of “get-a-ways” that have sifted thru our sandy sieve of a border and gotten away with their ill gotten gains for over 50 years now, so they can get away with statements like that.
Also, for decades, Ive been reading statements from supposed immigration restriction organizations, to the effect that the number of illegals that get in each year is about one million. Add that up since 1970 or so, and the so and so’s can fool the johnny-come-lately citizens suddenly interested in the issue — and so there’s your over 50 million in addition to the “get-aways”.
These organizations still spout that they are for “sensible immigration”. Show me why a moratorium on this displacement of our native population is not the right thing to enact now. Pat Buchanan, where are you now?
welcome to the “Inside Immigration” Newsletter of NumbersUSA
Your Voice Mattered in Defeating Senate Border Bill There is so much misinformation in the media regarding the Senate Border Bill that was defeated this past week. First, the vote itself was procedural and was not a vote on the bill. As explained in our short video last week, the Senate bill did not pass “cloture”. Second, the short powerful truth is that your voice mattered! Your contacting your member of congress and telling them that the Senate deal was no deal at all and you wanted H.R. 2, the Secure Border Act, as passed in the House of Representatives is what really shut down chances of the Senate bill even reaching a vote. Third, the Senate bill was bad immigration policy. It did not accomplish anything it was touted to have done. It raised legal immigration in several ways. It failed to close heavily abused loopholes. It ignored the fact that the President already has authority to get control of the border. It normalized 1.8 million illegal alien encounters a year, suggesting that anything less wasn’t an emergency. It was bad immigration policy offered in an attempt to pass funding for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel. Finally, it is an election year. President Biden who is seeking reelection and his party have made every attempt to say the bill gave Republicans everything they wanted and yet they still voted it down. Nonsense! H.R. 2 gives everything the Republicans want and not a word of it was in the Senate bill. Another election year spin has been to blame former President Donald Trump, who is seeking reelection, saying he influenced the vote. This is just not what caused the Senate Border (plus Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel) funding bill to go down in a cloture vote. Trump has done many things to highlight the issue of illegal immigration. However, the Senate bill was defeated by you and it being bad policy. This week there are efforts to fund the military defense items separately and, as we have shared in other e-mails, to vote again to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas. We await the upcoming government funding appropriation bills to see if the House of Representatives with their power of the purse will ensure that the national security issue which is our nation’s southern border is secured. Grant Newman will give an update on Mayorkas in the federal section.
FEDERAL (GRANT NEWMAN)
DHS Secretary Mayorkas Impeached Yesterday, the House of Representatives successfully impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law and breach of public trust. This marks the first time a cabinet secretary has been impeached in nearly 150 years. Next, the impeachment articles go over to the Senate, which has to immediately consider them and determine whether to convict or acquit the Secretary on each article. The Senate is currently in recess until after the President’s Day recess, but is set to return the week of February 23rd. We’re hearing rumors that Senate Democrats may try to swiftly move on from impeachment, so stay tuned for developments.
January Border Numbers Drop… Already Only a couple of weeks after the December Customs and Border Protection numbers dropped, January’s numbers arrived early. In fact, not only does the data show (relatively) good news, but that news dropped on the same day the House was reconsidering the impeachment of DHS Secretary Mayorkas. What a coincidence! That said, 242,587 encounters in a month is far from normal. There are many reasons why the drop may have occurred in January. First, historically, January is a slower month than others on the border. You may also have seen articles about Texas Governor Greg Abbot making an effort to slow the influx into Texas in lieu of Federal assistance. Another factor is action occurring on the Mexican side of the border, reported by Todd Bensman at CIS, where Mexican military and law enforcement are suddenly cracking down on migrants. We’ll see soon enough whether this is something that will continue, or if it’s a temporary action.
STATE (ANDREW GOOD)
(Idaho capitol building in Boise; Idaho state Representative Jordan Redman (R-03)) IDAHO Another state has joined the list of states where there is active E-Verify legislation. Introduced by Rep. Jordan Redman,Idaho’s H.B. 510 is an excellent bill which requires all businesses in the state of Idaho to use E-Verify for new hires. HB510 has been referred to the Commerce and Human Resources Committee, and we are pushing to get a hearing on the bill as a next step.
West Virginia As you might remember from our last Inside Immigration update, the West Virginia Senate has an active piece of legislation that was passed by the West Virginia House of Delegates already (82-18), and would require employers of 15 or more employees to use E-Verify for new hires. H.B. 4759 (sponsored by Del. Chris Phillips) has been the target of a coordinated, last-minute opposition effort by business lobbyists to protect the ability of employers to have access to workers without effectively checking legal status. While the Senate did unanimously support E-Verify for all employers just last year, there will still need to be two committee hearings (Government Organization and Judiciary) where opponents of E-Verify will also seek to testify on the bill. These hearings have not yet been scheduled. Meanwhile, West Virginians continue to flood Charleston with messages of support. COLORADO Colorado is a state that has a number of sanctuary policies at both state and local levels.SHB24-1128, sponsored by Rep. Richard Holtorf and Sen. Mark Baisley, is a bill that would repeal sanctuary policy laws enacted in the past. This legislation will get a hearing in the State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee next week, on February 22nd.High-profile cases like this recent fatal DUI will surely make for a contentious affair on the topic, another case in which the public needs to overcome zealous support for sanctuary policies within the legislature.
SUSTAINABILITY (JEREMY BECK)
Defending a way of life A half-century of elevated immigration levels has diminished agricultural land and habitats throughout America (Henry Barbaro looks at wetlands). Due to extremely high levels, immigration over this period changed the landscape . . . and the way people want to live. See the media coverage of our Idaho study.
OUR STUDIES NumbersUSA’s two decades of sprawl studies have been cited in scholarly literature over a hundred times in over a dozen languages. You can now access them all in one place. COMING TO AUSTIN If you’re in Austin, TX on February 21st, come say “hello”! Rob Harding will be presenting NumbersUSA’s findings to the American Conservation Coalition. The event is free. Reserve a spot!
HIRING LINE (JEREMY BECK)
“What about poor and desolate citizens here?” Stephen A. Smith’s viral statement about the border crisis and its impact on American communities is one of the latest examples of nonpolitical people “spilling the tea” about immigration. Read Andre Barnes’ article. INDIFFERENCE Why did NumbersUSA oppose the failed Senate immigration package that so many political and media institutions praised? For starters, the immigration provisions displayed a profound indifference to the inadequate job prospects of vulnerable American workers. Read more. Knowledge is power The quotes from Washington, Jordan, and Douglass above are all found in Back of the Hiring Line. In case you missed it, listen to author Roy Beck revisit the 200-year history of immigration surges, employer bias, and the depression of Black wealth with Denise Long in their Feb 1 conversation.
ALLIANCES (JIM ROBB)
NumbersUSA speakers featured in national debate on closing the border NumbersUSA is a charter member of the Braver Network, which is groups trying to lower the temperature of political discourse even while keeping to their positions and principles. Last Thursday, VP of Alliances & Activism Jim Robb, Director of Planned Giving & Member Retention Christy Shaw, and CEO James Massa were featured speakers in the Braver Angels national Zoom debate on the question: “Resolved: Close the Border.” The video clip below shows James Massa’s opening 4-minute speech that urged that the U.S. border be closed. Listen in! To see the entire debate featuring many speakers, including James Massa, click below: Immigration: A Braver Angels Debate (1)
Foreign-Born Population Reaches Record Peak Amidst the worst border crisis in our history, it is worth taking a look at a lesser known, but equally important figure: the actual size of the immigrant population in the U.S. Our friends at the Center for Immigration Studies have done a deep dive into the recent Census Bureau Current Population Survey (CPS) data (October 2023) that show that the foreign-born population in the U.S. has reached a peak in both numbers and percentage share of the overall population – 49.5 million and 15% – higher than at any other time in our history. Although illegal immigration accounts for a significant share of the recent foreign-born growth, it is worth noting that legal immigrants still account for 75% of the total foreign-born population.
OUR STUDIES NumbersUSA’s two decades of sprawl studies have been cited in scholarly literature over a hundred times in over a dozen languages. You can now access them all in one place. COMING TO AUSTIN If you’re in Austin, TX on February 21st, come say “hello”! Rob Harding will be presenting NumbersUSA’s findings to the American Conservation Coalition. The event is free. Reserve a spot! 
