US News Immigrants Jump Off Government Assistance, After Trump Admin Threatens to Cut Green Card


Latino children in California (Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock)


Significant numbers of immigrants, in the United States legally and illegally, are reportedly leaving federal assistance programs out of fear it could hurt their chances of obtaining permanent legal status.

Politico reports that 18 states have noticed a decline of up to 20 percent in the number of people applying for the WIC federal nutritional program for pregnant women and infants.

The decline has been attributed not just to a robust economy, but a rumored federal rule change by the Trump administration regarding eligibility to obtain green cards based on prior use of government assistance programs.

“Under a provision known as public charge, U.S. immigration law has for more than a century allowed officials to reject admission to the country on the grounds that potential immigrants or visitors might become overly reliant on the government,” according to Politico. “But until now, officials have looked narrowly at whether someone would need cash benefits such as welfare or long-term institutional care.”

The news outlet claimed there is a move within the Trump administration to include a larger array of services such as programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or commonly known as food stamps), Head Start, Medicaid and WIC.

WIC, first launched in 1974, has traditionally been for the most part immigration status-blind regarding eligibility.

When Trump took office, there were 7.4 million women and children enrolled in WIC. As of May, the most recent data available, the number had dropped to 6.8 million.

Similarly, there were 42.7 million enrolled in SNAP in Jan. 2017, which has declined to 39.3 million as of May, or a difference of 3.4 million.

The evidence the Politico piece offers that part of the decline is due to the possible Trump administration rule change is anecdotal. Any change to federal regulations regarding the programs would have to go through a public comment period before being adopted, and would likely be challenged in court before taking effect, meaning a final determination could take several months or years.

“It’s a stealth regulation,” said Kathleen Campbell Walker, an immigration attorney at Dickinson Wright in El Paso, Texas regarding the possible change to WIC. “It doesn’t really exist, but it’s being applied subliminally.”

Jennifer Mejias-Martinez, who works with the WIC program in Topeka, Kansas, recalled receiving a panicked call from an immigrant family wanting to unenroll after hearing a report on Univision that receiving government benefits could hurt their chances in immigration proceedings.

“They were very, very scared,” Mejias-Martinez said. She tried to reassure them that the policy had not changed, but they dropped from WIC anyway.

“It made me very sad, and quite frankly upset,” she said.

A WIC administering agency in Longview, Texas reported losing an estimated 75 to 90 participants per month to public charge fears, according to Politico.

The Trump administration has argued that it is not trying to alter immigration law, but clarify and enforce existing statutes.

“The goal is not to reduce immigration or in some diabolical fashion shut the door on people, family-based immigration, anything like that,” said Francis Cissna, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, at the National Press Club earlier this month.

The Department of Agriculture, which oversees WIC, is conducting multiple studies looking into why eligible families are not participating in, or choosing to drop their enrollment from, the program.

“The USDA is committed to the health and well-being of all WIC eligible mothers, infants and children and supports families seeking assistance,” the agency said.





National Guard Deployment Nets Arrest of 10,000 ‘Deportable Aliens’

by Jack Davis


The deployment of National Guard members along the United States’ southern border has led to more than 10,000 arrests, Customs and Border Protection officials said Monday.

About 1,600 Guard members have been deployed along the border since April, assisting Border Patrol agents with a variety of duties.

Their presence has led to 10,805 “deportable alien arrests,” said CBP press secretary Corry Schiermeyer, according to the Washington Examiner.

Guard members cannot make arrests because they are members of America’s military, but they can both lead agents to places where illegal immigrants have crossed and perform duties that free up agents to patrol the front lines.

More than 3,300 attempted border crossers were turned back because the Guard was on duty, Schiermeyer said. Further, 11,686 pounds of marijuana has been seized due to the presence of Guard units.

Guard troops providing support include those performing surveillance duties and those playing support roles to maintain equipment.

“From the get-go, our goal has been to return agents back to the border. Not all soldiers are directly replacing an agent, but every soldier contributes to the overall mission,” Assistant Chief Alfredo Lozano told Stars and Stripes last week.

Guard units are deployed through the end of September.

Despite the efforts of multiple law enforcement and military units, illegal immigrants still make it across the border.

On Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 18 smugglers and 117 illegal immigrants in southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, Fox News reported.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to vigorously pursue members of transnational criminal networks that exploit and endanger people they smuggle into our country,” Jack P. Staton, special agent in charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso, said in a statement.

The Washington Post  has reported that the Trump administration is considering a financial agreement with Mexico in which Mexico would help reduce the numbers of illegal immigrants coming across the border.

“We believe the flows would drop dramatically and fairly immediately” if such a deal took place, the Post quoted an unnamed senior Department of Homeland Security official as saying.

The way the plan would work is that illegal immigrants coming from Central America through Mexico would apply for protection there. Then, the U.S. can return anyone crossing the border illegally to Mexico.

Mexico would be paid, the Post reported.

“Look at the amount of money spent on border security, on courts, on detention and immigration enforcement,” the senior DHS official said, according to the Post.

“It’d be pennies on the dollar to support Mexico in this area.”



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Austria to Shut Down Seven Mosques and Expel Dozens of Imams

By Chris Agee


The Austrian government is pursuing a controversial plan as part of a broader effort to address concerns of radicalization among refugee and immigrant communities.

Amid a wave of right-wing electoral victories, particularly last year’s win by the populist Freedom Party, lawmakers have increasingly targeted Islamic groups for added scrutiny under the country’s so-called law on Islam.

That legislation prohibits any religious group from receiving foreign funds as well as imposes a duty on Muslim groups to respect Austrian tradition through “a positive fundamental view towards state and society.”

In recent statements, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz accused dozens of Islamic leaders of violating the law, revealing that they could be removed from the country or have their visas revoked.

The chancellor, who helped craft the law before he was elected to his current post last year, made his position clear in Friday’s news conference.

“Political Islam’s parallel societies and radicalizing tendencies have no place in our country,” he said.

Government data suggest 40 imams are believed to be part of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Cultural and Social Cooperation in Austria, also known as the ATIB. These individuals receive money directly from Turkey’s religious authority — known as the Diyanet — in violation of Austrian law.

At least 11 of these cases are reportedly under review and two imams involved have already been found to be in violation.

This week’s remarks by Kurz and others suggest even more individuals could have direct monetary ties to the foreign entity.

Austrian officials indicated that as many as 60 imams are thought to belong to the ATIB and Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache said the response being announced at that news conference was “just the beginning.”

Although an ATIB representative recently confirmed Diyanet was paying imams in Austria, he said there are efforts in place to shift those payments to a domestic source.

“We are currently working on having imams be paid from funds within the country,” Yasar Ersoy said.

In addition to the individual imams found to be in violation of Austrian law, leaders say at least seven mosques are set to be shuttered for alleged links to extremism.

The Grey Wolves, a Turkish nationalist youth organization, operates one illegal mosque in Vienna, according to the Austrian government. Another six believed to be funded and operated by a different entity will also be shut down.

Despite the legal and national security arguments for their actions toward some within Austria’s Islamic population, Turkish leaders have decried the recent announcements as bigoted.

In a statement, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan described Austria’s response as evidence of an “Islamophobic, racist and discriminatory wave” within the country.

Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin went further in a tweet posted Friday.

The Austrian government’s ideologically charged practices are in violation of universal legal principles, social integration policies, minority rights and the ethics of co-existence. Efforts to normalize Islamophobia and racism must be rejected under all circumstances.

“The Austrian government’s ideologically charged practices are in violation of universal legal principles, social integration policies, minority rights and the ethics of co-existence,” he wrote. “Efforts to normalize Islamophobia and racism must be rejected under all circumstances.”



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Rutgers Student Going Public Against Financial Aid for Illegals

by Jack Davis


The bottom line of a new New Jersey law is that breaking the law pays off, according to a Rutgers University student angered over a law that lets illegal immigrants collect financial aid. 

“It’s just absurd that we’re giving illegal immigrants more and more incentives to break the law,” said Nick Knight said, according to Fox News. “I’m going to be paying for that debt after college.”  Knight said putting those who break the law above everyone else is wrong.   “I think they’re taking the word ‘Dreamers’ and trying to put it in a positive light,” Knight said. “But in reality, it’s not fair for everybody else, for people who go through the process, for people who pay taxes and for people who come over here legally.”

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy put a very different spin on the bill when he allowed New Jersey to become the ninth state in the U.S. to dole out financial aid to illegal immigrants.

“New Jerseyans support the ability of our Dreamers to not only remain in our state but to become a strong and contributing part of our society and economy,” he said, according to NJ.com.  “By allowing them to not only go to college but to qualify for financial assistance, we are living up to that ideal,” he said.

The battle over financial aid to illegal immigrants is currently being fought in New Jersey’s neighbor, New York.

For the past seven years, the Democrat-controlled New York State Assembly has passed legislation that would allow the children of illegal immigrants to receive financial aid. However, the GOP-controlled state Senate has refused to approve the bill, which has received support from Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

Illegal immigrants and their supporters are demanding that New York follow New Jersey’s lead and putting heat on Cuomo, who is facing a primary challenge from actress Cynthia Nixon, to get the job done.

“I am disappointed that Gov. Cuomo and the State Senate have not introduced a similar bill, which would change our lives. New York needs to follow the example of New Jersey and provide the same access to higher education to all students, regardless of their immigration status,” said Jennifer Macías, an illegal immigrant who attends Queensborough Community College, according to Voices of NY. 

New York State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan has said his GOP colleagues are unlikely to change the stance on financial aid for illegal immigrants. 

“Our members are very strongly opposed to the Dream Act,” he told the Albany Times-Union.

“I’m going to put it in plain and simple terms: There’s tons of middle-class families in the state of New York who are struggling,” Flanagan said. “I met with college students who are working two and three jobs just to go to community college. So my primary obligation, and I think the position of our members is, let’s make sure we’re taking care of the hard-working middle class taxpayers who are struggling right now.”