Pritzker’s Latest: Handing Out College Cash to Illegals While Illinois Drowns in Debt

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the corpulent Democrat billionaire with 2028 White House whispers, just inked a bill that has conservatives spitting coffee. The new law throws open the doors of state-funded financial aid to all residents, yes, including illegal immigrants. If you're in Illinois and dreaming of college, Pritzker's got your back, legal status be damned.

Cue the outrage. Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), didn't mince words, calling it a "slap in the face" to hardworking Illinois families. "Our state is drowning in debt, yet JB Pritzker is determined to drain even more taxpayer dollars to reward illegals," she told Fox News Digital. "It's absolutely shameful." Miller isn't wrong; Illinois' budget is already a train-wreck, and this move isn't exactly screaming fiscal responsibility.

The bill's defenders, like state Sen. Celina Villanueva, are popping champagne. "This law is about making sure no student is left behind because of where they were born," Villanueva said, framing it as a win for "equity." Her office bragged that the measure scraps a "patchwork of confusing and sometimes conflicting requirements" that kept undocumented, DACAmented, and mixed-status students from getting aid.

Translation: if you're in Illinois, you are now eligible for state or local financial aid, whether you're a citizen, a DACA recipient, or, say, a transgender student who didn't register for selective service. The bill has a little something for everyone, except, perhaps, the taxpayers footing the bill.

Villanueva's all-in on the feel-good vibes: "If you live in Illinois and are pursuing higher education, you should have access to the same opportunities as your peers."

Sounds nice, but the Illinois GOP isn't buying it. A spokesperson told the outlet that Pritzker's "prioritizing illegal immigrants at the expense of Illinois families." They added, "Illinois taxpayers should not have their hard-earned dollars pay for benefits to illegal immigrants who shouldn't be here in the first place." 

Meanwhile, state Sen. Andrew Chesney (R) took to Fox's Fox & Friends First to pile on, blaming Pritzker's policies for everything from budget woes to a recent deadly collision. He's calling for a serious overhaul of state laws, and you can bet this financial aid stunt isn’t helping Pritzker's case.

So, there you have it: Illinois, already strapped for cash, is now playing Santa Claus with college funds for illegal immigrants. Pritzker is betting this will cement his progressive cred, but with folks like Miller and the Illinois GOP crying foul, it's looking more like a political hot potato. As Miller put it, "It’s absolutely shameful." Wonder how many taxpayers agree.

Hey guys, if you enjoy Brain Flushings, I hope you'll consider supporting my work with a small donation to Buy Me a Coffee. It fuels my late-night writing sessions with fresh ideas. No pressure.

Tweet

Biden blocked by judge from giving Obamacare to DACA recipients

A federal judge in North Dakota on Monday blocked the Biden administration from putting into action a new policy that would have made some illegal immigrants eligible for government-supported health care.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor agreed to stop a new rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that would have let people with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status sign up for Obamacare. Traynor stated that Kansas and the 18 Republican attorneys general who challenged the policy were likely to win, so he issued a stay against it.

Traynor pointed out that CMS broke the law when it decided to include DACA recipients in the definition of "lawfully present" in the U.S. DACA recipients are people who entered the country illegally as children with their parents and were protected from deportation by an executive action from President Barack Obama.

“The authority granted to CMS by the ACA [Affordable Care Act] is to ascertain whether an individual meets the requirements for lawful status. It by no means allows the agency to circumvent congressional authority and redefine the term ‘lawfully present,’” Traynor wrote.

“As it currently stands, the ACA does not allow federal healthcare subsidies or coverage for aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States,” he added.

Traynor also agreed with the Republican attorneys general that the policy could encourage illegal immigrants to stay in their states because of the healthcare benefits.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who led the lawsuit, celebrated the decision, saying, “Big win for the rule of law. Congress never intended that illegal aliens should receive Obama care benefits. Indeed, two laws prohibit them from receiving such benefits. The Biden administration tried to break those laws. But we fought back, and defeated the Justice Department.”

The states involved in the lawsuit were Ohio, Idaho, Nebraska, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Arkansas. They argued that the rule was arbitrary, capricious, and would encourage more illegal immigration.

In response, CMS mentioned they were reviewing the judge's decision but couldn't comment further.

This rule change was opposed by President-elect Donald Trump, whose campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt called it “unfair and unsustainable” back in May.

“Joe Biden's handouts for illegal immigrants are especially devastating to Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and union workers who are forced to watch their jobs and public resources stolen by people who illegally entered our country,” Leavitt, Trump's incoming press secretary, said at the time.

Last month, another judge overturned a different Biden administration program that would have given legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

Tweet

Tibbetts murder suspect lawyer rips Trump, says Rivera not illegal immigrant. Authorities disagree

Allen Richards, the lawyer for the illegal alien who allegedly killed 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts filed a court document Wednesday. He slammed President Trump calling him "sad and sorry" for calling the scumcrumpet confessed killer and illegal alien. According to the shyster lawyer, Mexican national Cristhian Rivera, 24, was working legally at an Iowa dairy farm.

Except that he wasn't.

Immigration officials usually have a better handle on whether someone is an illegal alien than the lawyer defending them on a murder charge. It turns out they say that Rivera is an illegal alien who was never in the E-Verify system as originally, but falsely claimed.

The crap-weasel lawyer was seeking a gag order, and accused the federal government, namely President Trump, of spreading false information about his client's legal status.

"Sad and sorry Trump has weighed in on this matter in national media which will poison the entire possible pool of jury member," Richards wrote.

Trump's personal account and White House official Twitter account [which he is not yet banned from] identified Rivera as an "illegal alien" and used this example to discuss America's problematic immigration laws.

Rivera lived in Iowa for three to seven years and worked at Yarrabee Farms whose owners, one of whom is the prominent Republican Craig Lang, said they used the E-Verify system to vet Rivera.

Richard claimed "Craig Lang supports Cristhian's right to be in this jurisdiction and for the government to support any other idea of status publicly flies in the face of such statement. Cristhian deserves the court's protection as to his characterization before a jury pool."

Except that it's balderdash. Rivera was never in the E-Verify system. "A government archive does not indicate the Brooklyn, Iowa farm as a participating member of the system," noted the Des Moines Register. And Yarrabee Farms acknowledge this on Wednesday.

Michael Bars, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told USA TODAY, "A search of records by USCIS revealed Rivera did not make any DACA requests nor were any grants given. We found no record in our systems indicating he has any lawful immigration status."

The gag order request by Richards was denied and he remains a shyster lawyer.

Please follow Brain Flushings and take a moment to visit the sponsors on this page. Thank you.


Tweet

Jennifer Lawrence's plan to save the free world

Actress and comedienne hopeful Jennifer Lawrence has decided to take a year off from pretending to be someone else and speak words written by other people in order to save the country, and possibly the world as we know it. 

The Kentucky-born 27-year-old daughter of Gary, a construction worker, and Karen, a summer camp manager, is the youngest of three--having two brothers, Ben and Blaine.

Jennifer suffered from social anxiety and hyperactivity as a child and her mother didn't allow her to play and have fun with her peers. In fact, Jennifer was considered a misfit. [She hated her childhood, which wasn't very long ago.]

But when she pretended to be someone else on stage or in front of the camera, her anxiety level disappeared.

She signed with CESD Talent Agency and they convinced her mother to allow her to audition for roles in LA under the condition that she graduate from high school. She was then home-schooled in LA and graduated.

And now with acting under her belt, a high school diploma and a yen for impeaching President Trump, Jennifer Lawrence intends to take time out to "fix our democracy." She revealed that plan while promoting her new movie "Red Sparrow."

"I'm going to take the next year off," she told Entertainment Tonight. "I'm going to be working with this organization I'm a part of: Represent.Us. It's just trying to get young people engaged politically on a local level."

She says her activism work will not be politically partisan. "It's just anti-corruption and stuff trying to pass state-by-state laws that can help prevent corruption, fix our democracy. And then I don't know what I'm going to do next." 

Probably run for president once she's old enough.

Represent.Us claims to bring together "conservatives, progressives, and everyone in between to pass powerful anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money, and fix our broken elections."

Below is a video of Lawrence drinking "a ton of wine" and explaining all about the organization.

Lawrence is not a one-issue activist, however. She is also very involved with climate change, the gender pay gap (which doesn't actually exist) and hating on President Trump.

Last year in a Channel 4 News interview, Jackie Long questioned her about a statement director Darren Aronofsky made at the Venice Film Festival. It begins: "It's a mad time to be alive." Long said those words had an "end of days feeling" and suggested it might resonate with the American public.

"It's scary," the actress cum political pundit responded. "This new language that's forming. I don't recognize it. It's also scary to know that climate change is due to human activity and we continue to ignore it, and the only voice that we really have is through voting."

She went on: "And we voted, and it was really startling. You're watching these hurricanes now and it's hard, especially while promoting this movie, not to feel Mother Nature's rage or wrath."

Ironically, and rather hypocritically, the actress often  takes private jets to travel to acting or activist gigs, putting more carbon emissions into the atmosphere than a family of five does in three years. [I've fudged the actual numbers but you get the idea.]

She wears her heart on her . . . heart

Lawrence has attacked President Trump many times. In 2015 she said, "If Donald Trump becomes president, that will be the end of the world,"according to Entertainment Weekly. She even suggested that the Texas and Florida hurricanes were signs of "Mother Nature's rage and wrath" at America for electing Trump and not believing in man-made climate change [a term feminists must find offensive].

Those statements come from Lawrence's deep knowledge of high school meteorology and generalized anxiety.

In spite of her relationship with Represent.Us and it's allegations of being non-partisan, Lawrence joined with dozens of  brave Hollywood trained seals to sign a letter imploring Senate Minority Leader Chuck "Nostrils" Schumer (Democrat-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy "Dancing Hands" Pelosi (Democrat-Calif.) to pass legislation to protect DACA recipients, [none of whom live near any of those brave Hollywood trained seals, senators, congressmen, congresswomen, or Jennifer Lawrence].


Tweet

With hands all ablur, Pelosi sets a record

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) talked and talked and talked for 8 hours on the House floor on behalf DACA recipients (aka illegal aliens)  and boy, did her hands get tired. 

Pelosi hopes to strengthen the future of the Democratic Party by pretending she cares about DACA illegal aliens beyond their vote.

But the most impressive part of the talking was that she did it in high heels. Some in her party actually define this as 'brave,' in spite of her never have served in the military or worked as a first responder.

The same political geniuses that helped Hillary Clinton lose the election to a politically inexperienced Donald Trump, those amazing Hollywood elites, cheered Pelosi on as if she was doing something wonderful for mankind [or personkind, as that Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, mansplains to a woman who used the word 'mankind'] as she blathered on like 'The Great Zoltan' being fed a million quarters at the Midway Carnival.

Yes, that was a run-on sentence, but I like it.

The incomparable Alyssa Milano and others such as someone named RuPaul, cheered like they'd been touched by a Bieber.

Photo: Getty Images

Pelosi, who is pushing 29,000 days old, spent more than 8 suicide-inducing hours on the house floor reading letters from illegal aliens and begging the GOP Speaker Paul Ryan, to allow a vote on keeping the DACA program alive, even though President Trump already agreed to a number three times greater than the Obama cut-off number that allows them to stay. 

It was Pelosi grandstanding for her home base while pretending to care.

Trying to appeal to the GOP using personal stories that glorify DACA recipients who did well and leaving out DACA recipients who have killed American citizens in various ways, Pelosi spoke of the 900 who joined the military, making it sound as if that number was a significant percentage of the 1.8 million in the program. (By the way, it's 0.05%.)

Well, she finally finished and Twitter nearly caught on fire, like the paper evidence in Hillary's desk drawer.

Tweet

Manchin hits Pelosi and Paul Ryan for Pelosi's 'Make America white again' comment

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WVa.) is a moderate Democrat and criticized House Minority Leader Nancy "Dancing Hands" Pelosi when she called President Trump's immigration plan a blue print to "make America white again."

But Joe did it artfully.

Manchin was able to obfuscate the statement by saying on CNN's 'State of the Union' that we "don't need that type of rhetoric on either side, from Nancy, (Speaker) Paul Ryan or anybody else."

Paul Ryan did not make such a statement, nor did anybody else in the Republican Party. But by throwing in Ryan's name and 'anybody else,' it sounds as if both parties are guilty of identity politics, when, in fact, that's the bread and butter of the left.

Manchin leads a bipartisan Senate group that is trying to solve the immigration problem.

But the problem is, Republicans see it as a legal and a national security problem, while the Democrats see it as a voting block problem they need to get their hands on.

Senate Minority Leader Charles "Nostrils" Schumer of New York, called Trump's plan a wish list" for hard-liners. He acknowledged the areas of common agreement on both sides for illegal immigrants shielded by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). 

But Schumer flared his mighty nostrils and accused Trump of using DACA recipients as "a tool to tear apart our legal immigration system and adopt the wish list that anti-immigration hardliners have advocated for years."

Naturally, Schumer is full of it. Most conservatives have no issue with legal immigration. We tend to follow the law and want others coming here to do the same. And let's face it, if most immigrants were to vote Republican, the Democrats would be taking the same stance on illegal immigration that conservatives take.

If the left really cared about DACA recipients, they would have immediately passed Trump's plan to allow 1.8 million DACA recipients to stay here, almost three times as many as Obama did, but the Democrats need it as an issue for the midterms.


Tweet

DACA pair arrested for human smuggling

San Diego -- Two DACA dudes, one who's under the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals program and the other whose DACA protection expired, were busted on suspicion of human smuggling in two separate incidents last week.

The program gave illegal immigrants who were brought here as children 2-year renewable permits protecting them from deportation and allowing them to take jobs away from Americans.

The thinking about these DACA recipients is that they're not responsible for the behavior of their parent(s). It's analogous to the idea that if your parent steals a computer from someone and gets caught and is sent to jail, his child gets to keep the computer.

President Trump announced in September the program would end in March 2018. 

The first arrest occurred on Wednesday near Torrey Pines State Beach after border agents were sent there after a resident spotted what appeared to be a smuggling incident, federal officials said.

After further investigation, agents spotted a vehicle suspected of being involved and pulled it over on Interstate 5, near Dairy Mart Road around 12:00 noon.

Officers found three men inside: the driver, a 20-year-old DACA recipient whose status had expired, and two Mexican nationals, ages 21 and 22, suspected of being in the country illegally.

The driver and his cousin, the 22-year-old passenger, told federal agents they had been involved in human smuggling in the area. The driver, who may not have been aware that Barack Obama is no longer the President, was taken into federal custody.

The second incident occurred on Thursday around 8 a.m. Two folks were arrested by Border Patrol agents in East County on suspicion they were in the US illegally when the agents saw two suspicious vehicles on Buckman Springs Road in Campo.

The agents followed one of the vehicles, a blue Honda sedan, and stopped it at a checkpoint where they conducted an immigration inspection.

The drive, a 22-year-old Mexican national who lived in Riverside County as a DACA recipient, eventually admitted to agents that he and another driver were scouting the area to help a group of smugglers, federal officials said.

This man also committed other acts of human smuggling and is currently in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and awaiting removal proceedings.

Agents later arrested another man, a 25-year-old US citizen, who is also suspected to be part of the smuggling scheme.



Tweet

"They're coming for the illegal alien patriots"

Not one DREAMer behind her

When a person is 77-years-old, shows lapses in memory and says crazy things, you might think twice before making them your real estate broker or manage your restaurant (if you have one to manage). 

Why then is Nancy Pelosi still a California congresswoman?

Because liberals will vote for anyone who feels the same way they do.

In yet another one of her confused press conferences, Pelosi compared young folks who fall into the "DREAMer" category to the Japanese who were interned by then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during World War II.

Roosevelt, of course, was a Democrat, and it was he who made the decision to intern U.S. citizens. DREAMers are not U.S. citizens and, from what one can tell, they aren't being interned by Trump.

"And they came for me, and now they're coming for the DREAMers," she babbled to a crowd of supporters for the proposed legislation to give legal status to illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. when they were children.

"It's a honor to be here with the DREAMers [aka future Democrats]," she said, "the DREAMers, who are perpetuating, advancing the American dream with their courage and their optimism and their inspiration, they make America more American."

Yes, the courage their parents had about sneaking into the U.S., hoping not to get caught and then being sent out and told to come here legally like others who wait for their turn.

The optimism the DREAMers have that they will not be told to return to the country of family origin, along with their family who brought them here, and obtain legal status like our Constitution demands and law abiding people respect.

The inspiration for others who want to come here illegally. "If they can do it, so can you," is the only inspiration that comes to mind when you realistically analyze the situation.

Pelosi described an art exhibit she recently attended called "And then they came for me," a title likely inspired by Lutheran Minister Martin Niemöller's (1892-1984) famous quote:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--  Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--Because I was not a Trade Unionists. 

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--        Because I was not a Jew. 

Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

"[I]t's about the internment of the Japanese-American patriots in our country who were interned into camps during World War II while their family members were fighting for America and for the world in World War II, they were in camps," she said, conveniently leaving out the party affiliation of FDR.

"And they came for me," she opined, "and now they're coming for the DREAMers."

She went on to say that "we owe these DREAMers for their patriotism, for their courage, their optimism to come forward."

But we don't.

In fact, one might say they lack patriotism because they lack respect for our laws. And it wasn't their courage and optimism that got them here in the first place--that credit goes to their parents who had the guts to break the law and the optimism to think they'd get away with it.

"But it's about America too," she continued. "The fight is for who we are as a country, too. They are the manifestation of that fight right now. But we cannot let them come for them."

Pelosi, as you can see, is trying to paint a picture of DREAMers being heroes, and pretends that it's their right to be here. And who we are as a country is that we are supposed to be a country of laws. 

And when the old Democrat says "But we cannot let them come for them," she is attempting to make the Trump administration look like villains when all they're doing is upholding the existing law, a law the Democrats could have changed when they were in power under Obama.

Trump has decided to end the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) but will give Congress 6 months to pass legislation to make the next action a legal one. 

The proverbial ball is in Congress' court.

Pelosi, ever the toady, ended her emetic speech with, "So thank you DREAMers for being stronger than anybody, for being stronger than anybody and for actually taking some risks for your families to keep America a country we take pride in being. Thank you for your patriotism."

Stronger than anybody? Really, Nancy?

There is no easy solution to the DACA situation. Yes, DREAMers are here through the illegal acts of their parents and no fault of their own and shouldn't be punished for it. 

But is it fair to all of the immigrants who came here legally and waited or are still waiting for legal status? 

Of course not--but don't make DREAMers out to be heroes. They have become opportunists and Nancy Pelosi has become senile.  

Tweet

College Republicans labeled 'white nationalists' at SDSU

Leftist anti-constitutionalists have a new tactic on college campuses--they now label Republican students as 'white nationalists.'

Brandon Jones, a conservative student at San Diego State University (SDSU) received violent threats last month and now is being targeted as a 'white nationalist.'

Jones, leader of the College Republicans, an organization on campus, drew flack in August after asking a Muslim association to condemn recent terror attacks overseas. They didn't but he was condemned by leftist activists along with his organization and labeled a 'white nationalist' group by the university's Democratic socialist group.

The socialists are particularly upset after Jones released a statement supporting Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program Tuesday.

The socialists posted on Facebook that "All people deserve to live without fear of deportation." All people also deserve to have a sovereign nation with laws.

Jones told Fox News the Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) haven't contacted him directly nor the College Republicans group. But the leftist scumquats have referred to the College Republicans as a "hate group" and "white nationalists" and they hate them and all white people who voted for Trump or think that All Lives Matter as much as Black Lives.

The YDS couldn't be reached for comment as to whether or not they believe that brown lives or Asian lives also matter, but they have never referred to other groups beyond black people.

"They have the liberty to label us whichever way they would like," Jones said. "However, they fail time and time again to respond to the College Republicans' numerous requests to hold an on-campus debate."

What Jones may be forgetting is that debating isn't their forte, and it may be out of their 'safe spaces.'

Also, most socialists are pussies (of the genus cat) and don't have the courage for the intellectual defense of an economic political system that is best exemplified in Venezuela and created by a Russian who rarely bathed and never supported his own children.

But they like to anonymously threaten violence and become violent at rallies when they greatly outnumber Republican men or go up against smaller Republican women (see Antifa).

The YDS were angry and hate-filled when the College Republicans posted a letter asking the [Muslim Brotherhood arm] Muslim Student Association (MSA) to condemn an ISIS-claimed terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain. The YDS called the letter a "cruel and bigoted attack" that insinuated "MSA members will be considered terrorist sympathizers unless they condemn an attack they had nothing to do with." 

YDS 'beefcake'

Yes. In fact, they would be ISIS sympathizers if they don't condemn something that obviously should be condemned. The YDS condemned President Trump for not condemning the KKK and the neo-nazis quickly enough after the Charlottesville rally and they condemn patriots who pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Let's face it, the YDS are a bunch of whiny, low-information butt-pains who've done nothing but complain about 'the system' and everyone in authority. It's all psychological--they evidently were taken off the boob too soon as babies and became boobs themselves.


Tweet

Trump fakes right cuts left

President Trump is criticizing Republican lawmakers as he cozies up to top Democrats, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.

On Friday, Trump tweeted about the GOP's failure to pass health care legislation:

"Republicans, sorry, but I've been hearing about Repeal & Replace for 7 years, didn't happen!"

The president complained about the filibuster rule requiring 60 votes to pass major legislation and  hyperbolically tweeted that the rule will "never allow the Republicans to pass even great legislation. 8 Dems control--will rarely get 60 (vs. 51) votes. It is a Repub Death Wish!"

This week, President Trump overruled GOP leaders to cut a deal with Democrats on the debt ceiling. And while it's obvious his diehard supporters will not see a problem with that move, it was not the move of a genius.


The idea that taking the very first deal offered by Democrats and asking nothing in return, simply because it was done by the author of "The Art of the Deal," has a tough task in proving that notion, in spite of his base claiming how brilliant it was.

Clearly, Trump has abandoned Republicans to strike this deal, getting a 3-month extension on the debt ceiling and asking for nothing in return. It seems as if he's more concerned with being liked by Schumer and Pelosi than by those he calls RINOs.

In fact, Trump just did exactly what he accused 'RINOs' of doing and that is giving in to the left. 

If Hillary Clinton had been president and struck the exact same deal, Trump supporters would be livid, but since it was Trump, there must be some hidden agenda behind it, or it's just Trump's way of proving he can work with both sides of the aisle.

Sometimes, however, working with both sides of the aisle, one side at a time, is merely an indication of a lack of ideological conservatism and that Trump doesn't know what he's doing.

It was only a matter of time before we'd see Trump's pivot to the left. Where he supposedly reached across the aisle to work with the Democrats, he basically gave the shaft to GOP conservatives, something they worried about from 'day one.'

Trump started out as a New York Democrat and his favorite issues such as infrastructure, are more part of the Democratic portfolio. 

Again, President Trump does not have a serious conservative ideology.

But at least Chuck and Nancy like him again.

Trump's base would rather see him pivot and work with Democrats if it can provide him with a victory about something, anything, even if it makes the establishment look bad--particularly if it makes the establishment look bad, because now they can blame people like Ryan and McConnell rather than Trump.

Trump says that Congress has disappointed him and his most faithful supporters. But even under ideal circumstances, major legislation can't simply get out of Congress, the first branch of government, without robust presidential leadership. 

You can't outsource big decisions to Congress but Trump wasn't aware of this and still refuses to learn.

Example: earlier in the week, the Trump administration said it was ending the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, which allows undocumented (aka illegal) immigrants brought into the US as children, to stay here. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the program was unconstitutional.

But when the media and former president Obama attacked Trump for being heartless and cruel, Trump then made it clear that he wants Congress to restore DACA by passing legislation. 

If Congress doesn't pass legislation, he might still keep the program using the same means AG Sessions described as unconstitutional.

Pivoting to the left isn't going to work out for Trump, however, because for one, Democrats don't actually trust him and most of his agenda is too volatile for them. 

The bigger issue, however, is that it's slowly becoming clearer that while he has done some good things, overall, President Trump doesn't know what he's doing.

I truly hope I'm wrong--I want him and the USA to succeed and I'm perfectly willing to change my mind.  


Tweet

The softer side of Sean Spicer

The new White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer started off with a little teeny weeny bit of anger in his first encounter with fellow journalists over the weekend, but today was a new day and the first day of the "real" work week.

On his first daily presser he actually picked a reporter from Univision--the Spanish language media outlet that had, in the past, been hostile to President Donald Trump as he campaigned, particularly over his stance on immigration. 

The reporter, Janet Rodriguez, was Spicer's third pick, in fact, after having called upon the New York Post and the Christian Broadcasting Network.

FoxNews.com reported that Spicer's decision to not pick the AP and other front-row outlets for the first questions might have been his way of signaling the press that he might be showing less deference to mainstream news outlets in the briefing.

Rodriguez asked Spicer about former President Obama's actions on children of illegal immigrants (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals aka DACA) and what would be done for recipients. She also asked about the current status of the White House's Spanish website--which was taken down on Inauguration Day as part of the transition to a new website. 

The new White House Press Secretary said that the website may take a bit more time. "Trust me," he said, "it's just going to take a little bit more time, but we're working piece by piece to get that done."

He should have added that the Spanish website will be running without a problem a lot faster than the Obamacare website did.

Insofar as DACA is concerned, Spicer made it clear that President Trump's priority for immigration was to deport criminal illegal aliens first.

"First and foremost, the president's been very, very clear that we need to direct agencies to focus on those who are in this country illegally and have a record--a criminal record or pose a threat to the American people," he said. "That's where the priorities are going to be and then we're going to continue to work through the entire number of folks that are here illegally. But right now the clear focus is on that."

Gee, that sounds like a good idea.

This presser by Spicer was a far less angry one than the very first meeting he had with the press. It seemed like he was going for a "do-over."


Tweet