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Monday, April 15, 2024

'Biden Spending $300 Million On Sanctuary Cities'

by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is distributing $300 million to sanctuary cities that provide services like shelter and food to illegal immigrants amid a massive increase in incursions across the southern border.

The $300 million in grants will be provided through the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), according to an April 12 press release. SSP offers funding to non-federal entities like NGOs and local governments that provide support to illegal immigrants released into the United States by the DHS. Out of the $300 million, $275 million will be distributed in the first allocation, with the remaining $25 million to be allocated later this year to meet operational requirements.

“The initial funding will be available to 55 grant recipients for temporary shelter and other eligible costs associated with migrants awaiting the outcome of their immigration proceedings.”

Costs covered under the program include expenses related to providing shelter, food, transportation, medical care, and personal hygiene for illegal immigrants. Other costs like modification of existing facilities, clothing, translation services, outreach information, and management and administration expenses are also covered.

In addition to the $300 million funding, the DHS also announced $340.9 million for the SSP competitive grant program.

Last year, over $780 million was distributed through SSP and another program that went to organizations and sanctuary cities across the country that provided services to illegal immigrants. Well-known sanctuary cities include Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, New York City, and San Francisco.

The Biden administration’s latest funding splurge comes as the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States has ballooned in recent years.

According to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), border patrol agents encountered 1.73 million illegals at the southwest land border in fiscal year 2021. This number rose to 2.37 million in fiscal year 2022 and then to 2.47 million in 2023. For the first five months of this fiscal year, 1.34 million encounters have already been registered.

Between October 2021 and March 2024, the total number of encounters stands at over 7.9 million illegal immigrants.

During an April 10 press conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he estimates that nearly 16 million illegal immigrants entered the United States under the Biden administration.

“Since Joe Biden went into the Oval Office, it began on day one, they began to open that border wide,” he said. The Democrat government has taken more than 60 executive and agency actions to “open the border wide and send the welcome message to everybody around the globe, including violent criminals and terrorists and foreign nationals ... coming here to do us harm.”

Under the Trump administration, the number of people on the terrorism watchlist caught attempting to illegally enter the United States was 11. This number has surged to 351 under the Biden administration.

“This is a disastrous situation,” Mr. Johnson said. "It’s a catastrophe that was caused by intentional policy choices.”

Biden’s Pro-Immigration Policies

Back in January 2023, the Biden administration announced the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) program that allows people from the four nations the right to live and work lawfully in the United States for a period of two years under a legal mechanism called “humanitarian parole.”

In an April 12 press release, CBP said that more than 404,000 individuals from these four nations who arrived via commercial flights “were granted parole under these processes.”

According to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), “hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens from foreign airports” were ferried into some 43 American airports in the past year through CBP-approved secretive flights.

CBP did not reveal the names of the 43 American airports that received 320,000 illegal immigrants last year. Instead, the agency admitted that the process was creating law enforcement vulnerabilities.

“The public can’t know the receiving airports because those hundreds of thousands of CBP-authorized arrivals have created such ‘operational vulnerabilities’ at airports that ‘bad actors’ could undermine law enforcement efforts to ‘secure the United States border’ if they knew the volume of CBP One traffic processed at each port of entry,” CIS wrote in a post.

Former President Donald Trump has harshly criticized the Biden administration’s border policies, vowing to institute stronger measures if he returns to the White House.

Speaking to reporters in late February, President Trump called President Biden “the worst president our country has ever had.”

“He’s allowing thousands and thousands of people to come in from China, Iran, Yemen, the Congo, Syria, and a lot of other nations, many nations are not very friendly to us,” the former president said.

“He’s transported the entire columns of fighting-aged men and ... they look like warriors to me. Something’s going on. It’s bad.”

During a rally in Ohio last month, President Trump promised swift action on the illegal immigration issue. “On day one, my administration will terminate every open border policy of the Biden administration and we will begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”

“Nobody’s been hurt by Joe Biden’s migrant invasion more than our great African American and Hispanic American communities ... because they’re taking your jobs and they’re creating lots of problems,” he said.

The millions of illegal immigrants flooding into the United States also puts a strain on America’s Social Security program, which would end up negatively affecting the lives of retirees, the former president stated.

“Your Social Security will be destroyed by the people coming in ... There’s too many of them. It’s not sustainable. Joe Biden is costing you Medicare and he’s costing you your Social Security.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-spending-300-million-sanctuary-cities

"I Can't Go To My Son's Graduation": NY Judge Threatens Trump With Arrest

Update (1750ET): The first day of Donald Trump's 'hush money' trial was fairly uneventful - aside from the judge, a complete dick, barring the former President from attending his son's graduation and threatening arrest if he does.

Speaking after a long day of jury selection and ground rules (with more than 50 jurors dismissed), Trump walked out of the courtroom and expressed his obvious displeasure.

"As you know my son is graduating from High School, and looks like the judge will not let me go to the graduation for a son who's worked very, very hard," Trump said, adding that he was "looking forward for years to having graduation with his mother and father there," adding that the trial is a "scam" and a "political witch hunt."

Judge Juan Merchan also won't allow Trump to attend a Supreme Court hearing in DC regarding immunity.

"We got a real problem with this Judge," Trump continued, adding "that I can't go to my son's graduation, or that I can't go to the United States Supreme Court, that I'm not in Georgia or Florida or North Carolina campaigning like I should be... it's perfect for the radical left Democrats - that's exactly what they want," he continued, adding that it's "election interference."

* * *

Update (1200ET): Monday's 'hush money' trial against former President Donald Trump has begun, with jury selection and a discussion over evidence on the table. To get the blow-by-blow throughout the day, follow this thread on X by Inner City Press.

The case stems from a $130,000 payment made by Trump's former lawyer, convicted felon and admitted liar Michael Cohen, to adult film actress Stormy Daniels at the end of the 2016 election in an alleged scheme to buy her silence. Trump is required to be present for the trial, which will take place four days a week and could last up to two months.

Judge Juan Merchan kicked off the day by refusing a request by Trump's legal team to recuse himself from the case over an interview he gave to the press in which he mentioned the case, which Merchan said was within the law - while Merchan's wife and daughter have worked for prominent Democrats and/or made anti-Trump statements.

Prosecutors sought to include evidence from the Access Hollywood 'grab 'em by the pussy' tape, as well as various sexual assault allegations from Trump accusers. Merchan allowed a transcript of the tape, and denied a request to present the other allegations in court.

Next, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Trump's attorneys to explain how the former president shouldn't be held in contempt for allegedly violating Merchan's gag order - arguing that Trump's efforts have continued to this day, and that witnesses in the case "have incurred the wrath of Trump supporters."

And now, jury selection begins... with Merchan telling the court that 500 prospective jurors are waiting.

Stay tuned for updates...

* * *

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

I have long been critical of the case as a clear example of the weaponization of the criminal justice system. No one seriously believes that Alvin Bragg would have spent this time and money to prosecute what is ordinarily a state misdemeanor if the defendant was anyone other than Trump. One does not have to be like Trump to repel from the spectacle about to unfold in Manhattan.

The famous Roman philosopher and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero once said, “The more laws, the less justice.”

This week, New York judges and lawyers appear eager to prove that the same is true for cases against Donald Trump.

After an absurd $450 million decision courtesy of Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will bring his equally controversial criminal prosecution over hush money paid to a former porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

Lawyers have been scouring the civil and criminal codes for any basis to sue or prosecute Trump before the upcoming 2024 election. This week will highlight the damage done to New York’s legal system because of this unhinged crusade. They’ve charged him with everything short of ripping a label off a mattress.

Just a few weeks ago, another judge imposed a roughly half billion dollar penalty in a case without a single victim who lost a single cent on loans with Trump. (Indeed, bank officials testified they wanted more business with the Trump organization).

Now Bragg is bringing a case that has taken years to develop and millions of dollars in litigation cost for all parties. That is all over a crime from before the 2016 election that is a misdemeanor under state law that had already expired under the statute of limitations.

Like his predecessor, Bragg previously scoffed at the case. However, two prosecutors, Carey R. Dunne and Mark F. Pomerantz, then resigned and started a public pressure campaign to get New Yorkers to demand prosecution.

Pomerantz shocked many of us by publishing a book on the case against Trump — who was still under investigation and not charged, let alone convicted, of any crime. He did so despite objections from his former colleague that such a book was grossly improper.

Nevertheless, it worked. Bragg brought a Rube Goldberg case that is so convoluted and counterintuitive that even liberal legal analysts criticized it.

Trump paid Daniels to avoid any publicity over their brief alleged affair. As a celebrity, there was ample reason to want to keep the affair quiet, and that does not even include the fact that he is a married man.

It also occurred before the 2016 election and there was clearly a benefit to quash the scandal as a candidate. That political motivation is at the heart of this long-delayed case.

It is a repeat of the case involving former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards. In 2012, the Justice Department used the same theory to charge the former Democratic presidential candidate after a disclosure that he not only had an affair with filmmaker Rielle Hunter but also hid the fact that he had a child by her. Edwards denied the affair, and money from donors was passed to Hunter to keep the matter quiet.

The Justice Department spent a huge amount on the case to show that the third-party payments were a circumvention of campaign finance laws. However, Edwards was ultimately found not guilty on one count while the jury deadlocked on the other five.

With Trump, the Justice Department declined a repeat of the Edwards debacle and did not bring any federal charge.

But Bragg then used the alleged federal crime to bootstrap a defunct misdemeanor charge into a felony in the current case. He is arguing that Trump intentionally lied when his former lawyer Michael Cohen listed the payments as retainer costs rather than a payment — to avoid reporting it as a campaign contribution to himself.

Thus, if he had simply had Cohen report the payment as “hush money,” there would be no crime.

Once again, the contrast to other controversies is telling.

Before the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton’s campaign denied that it had funded the infamous Steele dossier behind the debunked Russian collusion claims.

The funding was hidden as legal expenses by then-Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias. (The FEC later sanctioned by the campaign over its hiding of the funding.). When a reporter tried to report the story, he said Elias “pushed back vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’” Times reporter Maggie Haberman declared, “Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year.”

Likewise, John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, was called before congressional investigators and denied categorically any contractual agreement with Fusion GPS. Sitting beside him was Elias, who reportedly said nothing to correct the misleading information given to Congress.

Yet, there were no charges stemming from the hiding of the funding, though it was all part of the campaign budget.

Making this assorted business even more repellent will be the appearance of Cohen himself on the stand. Cohen recently was denounced by a judge as a serial perjurer who is continuing to game the system.

Cohen has a long record as a legal thug who has repeatedly lied when it served his interests. He has a knack for selling his curious skill set to powerful figures like Trump and now Bragg.

For those of us who have been critics of Cohen from when he was still working for Trump, it is mystifying that anyone would call him to the stand to attest to anything short of the time of day . . . and even then most of us would check our watches.

Fortunately witnesses are no longer required to put their hand on the bible in swearing to testify truthfully in court. Otherwise, the court would need the New York Fire Department standing by in case the book burst into flames.

So this is the case: A serial perjurer used to convert a dead state misdemeanor into a felony based on an alleged federal election crime that was rejected by the Justice Department.

They could well succeed in a city where nine out of ten potential jurors despise Trump. Trying Trump in Manhattan is about as difficult as the New York Yankees going to bat using beach balls rather than baseballs. It is hard to miss.

However, this is a Pyrrhic victory for the New York legal system. Whatever the outcome, it may prove a greater indictment of the New York court system than the defendant.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-trial-manhattan-indictment-new-york-legal-system

Eli Lilly's nationwide insulin pricing settlement called off

A settlement between Eli Lilly LLY.N and purchasers of its insulin drugs that would have capped prices and provided $13.5 million to resolve claims that the company inflated the drugs' cost has fallen apart, after an unfavorable ruling from the judge overseeing the case.

Lawyers for a proposed nationwide class of individuals who paid for Lilly's Humalog and other insulin drugs said in a filing in Newark, New Jersey, federal court on Friday that they and Lilly had decided not to go forward seeking approval for the deal, which they first proposed last May.

Steve Berman, one of the lawyers, said in an email that the decision to drop the deal came after U.S. District Judge Brian Martinotti in February refused to certify a class in the litigation, which also targets insulin drug makers Novo Nordisk and Sanofi. The plaintiffs have since filed an amended version of their complaint again seeking to proceed as a class action.

Nonetheless, Berman said that because of the February decision, in which Martinotti found that classwide issues did not predominate over individual ones, "we see no way for us to get a settlement class approved."

Berman called the demise of the settlement, which would have capped patients' out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month for four years, a "potentially big loss for consumers."

Lilly said in a statement that the plaintiffs' claims lacked merit and that it would continue to defend itself.

Lilly and the other companies are still facing lawsuits by states, some of which objected to the settlement with purchasers on the grounds that it could interfere with their lawsuits.

The company in February settled with Minnesota, agreeing to a price cap and to donate insulin to clinics in the state.

Plaintiffs in the cases allege that insulin drug makers set artificially high list prices for their products, while paying rebates to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in exchange for their covering the drug on behalf of health plans.

Insulin is vital for patients with type 1 diabetes to control their blood sugar and for some patients with the more common type 2 diabetes.

Lilly said last March it would slash insulin prices and make it available to many patients for $25 or $35, following pressure from Democratic President Joe Biden, lawmakers and advocacy groups over skyrocketing costs.

A survey released last July by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, found that many patients nevertheless were still being charged hundreds of dollars for treatments.

Around 8.4 million of the 37 million people in the United States with diabetes use insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association.

The case is In re Insulin Pricing Litigation, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, No. 2:17-cv-00699.

For plaintiffs: Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro

https://www.xm.com/research/markets/allNews/reuters/eli-lillys-nationwide-insulin-pricing-settlement-called-off-53813321

'High risk of animal-to-human diseases in some China fur farms: animal protection group'

An investigation of five fur farms in China housing foxes, raccoon dogs and mink found a high risk of diseases developing that could jump from animals to humans, said animal protection group Humane Society International who conducted the study at the end of 2023.

The farms in China's northern Hebei and Liaoning provinces each held between 2,000 and 4,000 animals in intensive conditions, including in close proximity to poultry, HSI said.

Alastair MacMillan, a visiting professor at Surrey University's Veterinary School, said the high stocking density of the animals facilitates the rapid spread of viruses on droplets from one to another, and potentially to humans.

"The rapid circulation and mixing of different strains of virus from animal to animal facilitates their adaption to a mammalian host, the development of mutant strains of concern and a greater likelihood of a threat of human infection."

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs did not respond to requests for comment regarding the conditions on the fur farms and the risk of disease spread.

MacMillan said that from a disease transmission and public health perspective the footage was extremely worrying as it is well known that animals farmed for their fur are susceptible to respiratory viruses that can infect humans.

Data from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic briefly uploaded to a database by Chinese scientists last year suggested raccoon dogs may also have been involved in coronavirus reaching humans.

Photos and footage from HSI showed animals densely packed in small empty cages with wire mesh floors. Reuters was not able to independently verify the footage.

Many animals could be seen pacing up and down repetitively, an action linked to psychological distress, according to veterinary experts.

"Mentally disturbed animals, piles of animal filth, barren cages and worrying zoonotic disease is in stark contrast to the glamorous image the fur trade tries to portray," said Peter Li, HSI's China policy expert.

Even as China's fur production has fallen in line with global trends, down 50% from 2022 to 2023 and a near 90% decline in the past decade, there appears to be still robust demand for fur.

Social media platforms such as e-commerce site Xiaohongshu and Weibo showed users discussing wearing fur as desirable and practical for keeping warm.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/high-risk-animal-human-diseases-091836204.html

Anti-Israeli protesters wreak havoc in downtown NYC, disrupt bridge traffic as cops make arrests

Hundreds of anti-Israeli protesters wreaked havoc in Lower Manhattan on Monday, storming the Brooklyn Bridge and grinding traffic to a halt on its Manhattan-bound side as cops in riot gear fought to contain the unrest.

The marchers — including some who burned American flags, according to social media posts — converged on the historic span around 3:45 p.m., immediately disrupting cars and prompting NYPD cops to swarm the area and begin cuffing at least two dozen of them.

Photos posted on social media showed the massive mob invading the span during the disruptive rally — only the latest in the Big Apple since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel and the subsequent counter-offensive by the Jewish state in the Gaza Strip.

Police in riot gear were prepared and took a zero-tolerance approach to the massive demonstration, blocking the bridge to keep the protesters away from City Hall.

Although only one arrest had been officially reported by late afternoon, at least two dozen people were placed in handcuffs at the scene — with many other marchers making a run for the subways when they spotted cops moving in.

According to the NYPD, police first responded to a planned protest on Wall Street around 2:15 p.m. by the group Within Our Lifetime before the marchers began moving toward the bridge.

Rowdy pro-Palestinian demonstrations have rocked the city in recent months, with protesters disrupting Midtown holiday festivities and converging on Big Apple landmarks.

https://nypost.com/2024/04/15/us-news/hundreds-of-anti-israeli-protesters-wreak-havoc-in-downtown-nyc-disrupt-bridge-traffic-as-cops-make-arrests/

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