Day: January 5, 2018
LIBERAL “SANCTUARY CITY” GOVERNORS PARDON IMMIGRANTS CONVICTED OF SERIOUS CRIMES TO HALT DEPORTATION
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
USA – -(Ammoland.com)-
While the nation was preoccupied celebrating the holidays, the governors of
two major states pardoned immigrants convicted of serious crimes to
shield them from deportation.
First, California Governor Jerry Brown pardoned two men on the verge of being deported for committing crimes in the U.S., according to a Sacramento news report.
Days later, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
[who is eyeing a run for President] pardoned 18 immigrants convicted of
serious crimes so they could remain in the country. The foreigners had
obtained legal immigration status in the United States but committed
such abhorrent crimes that they faced removal after the completion of
their criminal sentence. An official statement issued by the governor’s office refers to the pardoned as “contributing members of society” who face the “threat of deportation and other immigration-related challenges” as a result of their crimes.
Cuomo
said the foreign criminals he pardoned had been rehabilitated but the
“stigma of convictions” prevented them from gaining legal status or
fully reentering society. “While the federal government continues to
target immigrants and threatens to tear families apart with deportation,
these actions take a critical step toward a more just, more fair and
more compassionate New York,” Cuomo said in a statement.
The
state press release also quotes several representatives from open
borders groups praising the governor’s pardons. Among them is the
president of a group dedicated to eradicating racial disparities in the
criminal justice system, who commended Cuomo’s strong display of
leadership.
“Too many immigrants with prior criminal
convictions are subjected to the gratuitous punishment of deportation,
despite being longstanding contributing members of our community,” said
the president of the Vera Institute of Justice. The director of the
Center on Race, Inequality and the Law also applauded Cuomo, saying
“deportation is an out-size punishment for prior criminal convictions
when people serve their sentences and go on to become longstanding, law
abiding, contributing members of society.”
Let’s look at a few of the newly pardoned immigrants.
The
Californians are two Cambodian men, Mony Neth of Modesto and Rottanak
Kong of Davis, arrested in immigration sweeps a few months ago. The men,
ages 42 and 39, came to the U.S. as children and were convicted of
felonies as adults. The crimes include a weapons charge and association
to a gang. Neth and Rottanak were scheduled to be deported in December
along with dozens of other Cambodians convicted of crimes but a federal
judge in southern California issued a temporary restraining order after
their pro bono attorneys from a civil rights group filed an emergency
motion. Nearly 2,000 Cambodians in the U.S. are subject to deportation,
according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) figures cited in a northern California newspaper. More than half of them have criminal convictions that stripped them of legal status.
The
New York pardons include a 57-year-old Mexican transgender woman
convicted of criminal facilitation, a 35-year-old man from Estonia
convicted of larceny and a 53-year-old Dominican man convicted of
criminal sale of a controlled substance.
The Mexican
national, Lorena Borjas, deserves to stay in the U.S. because she is a
strong advocate for transgender and immigrant communities and runs HIV
testing programs for transgender sex workers and a syringe exchange for
transwomen taking hormone injections. The Estonian, Alexander Shilov,
became a nurse and frequently gives talks on overcoming addiction. The
Dominican, Freddy Perez, works as an electrician and takes care of his
autistic younger brother. For these reasons, they deserve to remain in
the U.S. despite their criminal histories, according to Cuomo.
This appears to be part of a broader effort by local governments to protect criminal immigrants from deportation. Months ago, Judicial Watch reported
that prosecutors in two major U.S. cities ordered staff not to charge
illegal immigrants with minor, non-violent crimes because it could get
the offenders deported. Brooklyn, New York District Attorney Eric
Gonzalez was the first to issue the order creating two sets of rules
involving local crimes. The goal, according to a statement issued by the
Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, is “minimizing collateral immigration consequences of criminal convictions.”
Taxpayers in the busy New York City borough are also paying for two
immigration attorneys to train all staff on immigration issues and
advise prosecutors when making plea offers and sentencing
recommendations. The idea is to avoid “disproportionate collateral consequences, such as deportation, while maintaining public safety.”
Gonzalez, the Brooklyn District Attorney, says he’s committed to equal
and fair justice for all Brooklyn residents—citizens, lawful residents
and undocumented immigrants alike.
Judicial WatchA
few weeks after Brooklyn proudly disclosed its policy, prosecutors in
Maryland’s largest city joined the bandwagon, albeit more quietly. There
was no public announcement or celebratory press conference but a local
newspaper got ahold of an internal memo sent by Baltimore’s Chief Deputy
State’s Attorney instructing prosecutors to think twice before
charging illegal immigrants with minor, non-violent crimes. The chief
deputy, Michael Schatzow, used similar language in the memo, writing
that the Trump administration’s deportation efforts “have increased the potential collateral consequences to certain immigrants of minor, non-violent criminal conduct.” Schatzow is second-in-command to Baltimore’s top prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, and oversees major crimes at the state agency.
“In
considering the appropriate disposition of a minor, non-violent
criminal case, please be certain to consider those potential
consequences to the victim, witnesses, and the defendant,” Schatzow
wrote to his staff.
About Judicial Watch
Judicial
Watch, Inc., a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation,
promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government,
politics and the law. Through its educational endeavors, Judicial Watch
advocates high standards of ethics and morality in our nation’s public
life and seeks to ensure that political and judicial officials do not
abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American people. Judicial
Watch fulfills its educational mission through litigation,
investigations, and public outreach.
For more information, visit: www.JudicialWatch.org.
MUSLIM DEMOCRAT KEITH ELLISON POSES WITH ANTIFA HANDBOOK THAT RECOMMENDS FORMS OF VIOLENCE
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
endorsed
Antifa on Wednesday, tweeting a picture of himself smiling with an
Antifa handbook.
Ellison posted a picture with “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook” and
asserted that the book would “strike fear in the heart” of President
Donald Trump.
At @MoonPalaceBooks and I just found the book that strike fear in the heart of @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/r81nYoeqpL— Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) January 3, 2018
Antifa is a far-left group that uses violence to achieve progressive
political ends, including starting riots and fires at the University of
California, Berkeley. While the group claims to be anti-Fascist, they
routinely shut down the speech of people they disagree with. Antifa
clashed with far-right protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, last
year.
The book, written by Dartmouth professor Mark Bray,
argues that “militant anti-fascism is a reasonable, historically
informed response to the fascist threat that persisted after 1945 and
that has become especially menacing in recent years.”
According to Bray, it is acceptable to use violence against “fascism”
because what he considers to be fascist ideas — like those shared by
right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopolous — aren’t worthy of debate.
Bray also states that anti-fascists must be prepared to “physically confront the far right when necessary.”
During an MSNBC interview in August, Bray even argued that Antifa
needs to preemptively strike against white nationalists because “fascism
cannot be defended by speech.” (RELATED: Dartmouth Professor Defends Antifa Violence)
Ellison’s decision to share a photo with the book is interesting considering House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi condemned the “violent actions” of Antifa protesters.
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US PUTS PAKISTAN ON WATCH LIST FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM VIOLATIONS; IRAN & SAUDI ARABIA OF “PARTICULAR CONCERN”
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
In 2012, the Obama State Department scrubbed the section on religious freedom from its human rights report, so this is a step in the right direction.
“U.S. places Pakistan on watch list for religious freedom violations,” Reuters, January 4, 2018:
WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department
has placed Pakistan on a special watch list for “severe violations of
religious freedom,” it said on Thursday, days after the White House said
Islamabad would have to do more to combat terrorism to receive U.S.
aid.
The State Department also said it had re-designated 10 other nations
as “countries of particular concern” under the International Religious
Freedom Act for having engaged in or tolerated egregious violations of
religious freedom.
The re-designated countries were China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North
Korea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
They were re-designated on Dec. 22.
“The protection of religious freedom is vital to peace, stability,
and prosperity,” the department said in a statement. “These designations
are aimed at improving the respect for religious freedom in these
countries.”…
MICHAEL W. SMITH CONTINUES TO CALL FOR ECUMENICAL UNITY
SMITH CONTINUES TO CALL FOR ECUMENICAL UNITY
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
BY DAVID CLOUD
– One of the great dangers of using contemporary worship music is that
it builds bridges to the one-world church. To my knowledge, 100% of the
popular contemporary worship musicians are radical ecumenists, including
Stuart Townend and the Gettys. They have non-critical association with
“Christians” of every stripe, including Roman
Catholics. To them, “separation” is almost a dirty word. Michael W.
Smith is one of the most prominent and influential names in contemporary
worship, and he continues to call for ecumenical unity. The goal of his
new live album Surrounded is “to unify the Church’s diverse
expressions into one passionate, joyful cry of worship.” He says, “I
feel God moving through His Church and He is calling us together to be
one voice and one heart. One bride. Every
nation, every tribe and every tongue. Every social class, EVERY
DENOMINATION” (“Michael W. Smith Releases Two Albums,” louderthanthemusic.com,
Dec. 2017). It is impossible to reconcile the Bible’s clear and
forceful warnings about false teaching and apostasy (e.g., Romans 16:17;
2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 11:1-4, 14-15; 1 Timothy 1:3; 4:1-5; 2 Timothy
3:5; 4:3-4; 1 John 4:1; Jude 3; Revelation 2:14-16) with contemporary
praise music’s call for ecumenical unity. For those
who love the Bible, interpret it literally, and hold it to be the sole
and final authority for faith and practice, it is clear that the voice
Michael W. Smith is hearing is not God’s. “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and
I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:128). Bible-believing churches that
are messing around with contemporary music and are not properly
educating their people about this issue are playing with spiritual fire,
but most of the pastors are terribly and carelessly and willfully ignorant of such things.