Bullheaded Texan's "Open Thread", All Info. is Welcome!

[Bullheaded Texan]

Post anything you want, as this is an "Open" site. You of course are welcome to disagree with anyone, Just remain respectful.
Keep up the Good Fight.
Thanks, BullHeaded Texan

[kevin kiernan]

I have not heard anything about this...Fox and others would been all over it....Got to be fake news...

[Bullheaded Texan]

Trump orders rare honor to the memory of Barbara Bush after her death.
Apr/17/18 11:42 pm
President Trump released a statement Tuesday ordering that flags be flown at half-staff in honor of the memory of Barbara Bush after her death.
Here’s what the president said:
“On this solemn day,” the statement read, “we mourn the loss of Barbara Bush, an outstanding and memorable woman of character. As a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, military spouse, and former First Lady, Mrs. Bush was an advocate of the American family.”
“Mrs. Bush lived a life that reminds us always to cherish our relationships with friends, family, and all acquaintances,” the statement continued. “In the spirit of the memory of Mrs. Bush, may we always remember to be kind to one another and to put the care of others first.”
“As a mark of respect for the memory of Barbara Bush, I hereby order,” it added, “by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment.”
“I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations,” the statement concluded.
Barbara Bush died on Tuesday at the age of 92 after the Bush family had released a statement Sunday indicating that she was in failing health and was denying further health care to focus on comfort. She spent her last moments surrounded with her family.
“Strong devotion to country and family”
In a previous statement on Tuesday, the president and the first lady praised Barbara Bush for her efforts in advocating for literacy.
“Among her greatest achievements was recognizing the importance of literacy as a fundamental family value that requires nurturing and protection,” the statement read. “She will be long remembered for her strong devotion to country and family, both of which she served unfailingly well.”
“The President and First Lady’s thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Mrs. Bush,” it concluded.
“I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations,” the statement concluded.
Barbara Bush died on Tuesday at the age of 92 after the Bush family had released a statement Sunday indicating that she was in failing health and was denying further health care to focus on comfort. She spent her last moments surrounded with her family.
“Strong devotion to country and family”
In a previous statement on Tuesday, the president and the first lady praised Barbara Bush for her efforts in advocating for literacy.
First Lady Melania and I join the Nation in celebrating the life of Barbara Bush.

[kevin kiernan]

Total classy statement , for a classy woman..RIP Mrs. Bush..

[Bullheaded Texan]

EXCLUSIVE: All Of Starbucks’ Official Race Experts Worked For George Soros!
By Luke Rohlfing - Apr/18/18
In response to claims of racism surrounding two black men being arrested in a Starbucks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, every Starbucks in the country will be closed on May 29th for “racial-bias education.” The company stated that the training will be mandatory, and will be implemented in the onboarding process for all new employees going forward.
The curriculum is being developed with guidance from “several national and local experts.” When Big League Politics reached out to get a list of those experts, we received the names of five different people. All of them have one major connection: George Soros.
The five people Starbucks mentioned, who are also named in their press release:
Bryan Stevenson, Founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. Stevenson also serves on the board of George Soros’ Open Society Foundation.
Sherrilyn Ifill, President and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Ifill also served on the board of George Soros’ Open Society Foundation.
Heather McGhee, President of Demos, a non-profit organization that advocates for a number of left-leaning issues. McGhee served in the Open Society Foundation’s
“Fellowship Program” for two years.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. Greenblatt previously served as the Director of the Impact Economy Initiative at the George Soros-funded Aspen Institute.
Eric Holder, Former Attorney General appointed by obuma, who since leaving his position has continued to push far-left politics using George Soros-funded groups.
Nearly 175,000 employees of Starbucks will be required to participate in the training next month. While the curriculum has not yet been released, it will be no surprise if it is filled with leftist propaganda.
George Soros has pumped tens of millions of dollars through his “Open Society Foundation,” which in turn has funded countless leftist organizations, from Planned Parenthood, to black Lives Matter Splatter, and even extremist antifa groups like Refuse Fascism. - Refuse Fascism believes that Donald Trump is a fascist, and organizers for the group believe he is more dangerous than Adolf Hitler was.
With people so closely connected to George Soros being involved in creating the curriculum for 'a training that every single Starbucks employee must go through', who knows what will be included in it?

[Bullheaded Texan]

Massive 'Pro-Gun' Rally Happening In Florida On Saturday In Response To Rick Scott’s Gun Control.
Apr/13/18 By Luke Rohlfing
Following the horrific shooting in Parkland, Florida, the so-called “pro-gun” state legislature passed a massive gun control package into law. In response, hundreds of pro-gun Floridians are flooding the State Capitol building in Tallahassee this Saturday to show their support for the Second Amendment.
The gun control measures signed into law by Governor Rick Scott last month raised the age to purchase a rifle from 18 to 21, banned “bump stocks,” and imposed a three day waiting, among other gun control measures.
The event, organized by The National Constitutional Coalition of Patriotic Americans (NCCPA), is set to occur from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Saturday, April 14th. At the time of this article being published, nearly 500 people had confirmed they will attend, with an additional 1,200 marking down their interest in the event.
Big League Politics reached out to the lead organizer, Matt Johnson, the founder of Patriots United for Freedom. Johnson told us that the overall goal of the rally is “to show that we too as voters, legal gun owners, and law abiding citizens have a voice.” Johnson also made it clear that unlike other recent anti-gun events, they can “organize without the help from Hollywood or even the NRA.”
The event is slated to have a number of speakers, including politicians, candidates for public office, and Second Amendment activists.
We wish the organizers of this rally nothing but the best, and encourage anyone in Florida to attend the rally!

[M]

Seems like everyone else in the world wants the USA to fall.

[Bullheaded Texan]

M, you are so right. That's because they are totally jealous of the USA!
What I don't understand, is when they get here, the first thing they start
doing is attempting to make "us" just like their third world country!
They refuse to assimilate! cinco de mayo, my s_ _ ! Vamoose back to mexico!

[Bullheaded Texan]

Fellow Patriots,
I apologize for overwhelming the "blog" site.
You are most welcome to join me in posting info. on my "forum" site.
All input is most appreciated! And needed!
Bullheaded Texan's "Open Thread", All Info. is Welcome!
For those posts that just don't quite fit anywhere else. You are free to
disagree with anyone-- just be polite. -- LET 'ER RIP!
Landel, a.k.a. Bullheaded Texan

[Bullheaded Texan]

"Total classy statement , for a classy woman..RIP Mrs. Bush.."
Thanks Kevin, She certainly was a Gracious Lady!

[Bullheaded Texan]

The New Faces on Trump’s Team.
4/20/18
A new face joined Trump’s legal team. The addition of former New York Mayor and Presidential candidate Rudy Guiliani to the Trump legal team was confirmed by the lead attorney yesterday.
A new face joined Trump’s legal team. The addition of former New York Mayor and Presidential candidate Rudy Guiliani to the Trump legal team was confirmed by the lead attorney yesterday.
USA Today reports:
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is joining President Trump’s legal team as the president looks to end the potentially perilous inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Giuliani, once considered a candidate for attorney general in the Trump administration, brings a big name to the team as well as unrivaled loyalty — a quality the president prizes.
The addition of the combative Giuliani, who once served as chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan, was confirmed Thursday by lead Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow.
Two other new additions will join Giuliani on the legal team, CBS reported:
Sekulow said in a statement that the president welcomed the news, and quoted him, saying, “‘Rudy is great. He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country!'”
Sekulow added that he has worked with Giuliani for many years and the team welcomes his expertise.
He also announced the addition of two other attorneys, Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin, both former federal prosecutors.
Giuliani’s grit and legal experience will prove valuable to the Trump legal team.
Ready for Liftoff;
In addition to Trump ramping up his legal team, Congressman Jim Bridenstine was confirmed as Trump’s NASA Administrator by the United States Senate on Thursday.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
Bridenstine released the following statement regarding his confirmation:
“It is an honor to be confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as NASA Administrator,” said Bridenstine. “I am humbled by this opportunity, and I once again thank President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for their confidence. I look forward to working with the outstanding team at NASA to achieve the President’s vision for American leadership in space.”
“I’m very pleased to welcome Jim Bridenstine to NASA,” said Lightfoot. “He joins our great agency at a time when we are poised to accomplish historic milestones across the full spectrum of our work. Jim now takes the reins of this agency and its talented and dedicated workforce. I’m looking forward to him building on our great momentum and sharing our many strengths to help us make the next giants leaps on behalf of humanity. I also want to express my heartfelt appreciation to the NASA team for all they accomplished during my time leading the agency.”
Bridenstine, a Congressman from Oklahoma, won the hearts and minds of grassroots conservatives across the country with his staunch opposition to the GOP Establishment in Congress.
Notably, he was one of the conservatives leading the charge against Boehner for speaker.
[VIDEO] Bridenstine: Why I’m Not Voting for Boehner.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/NHCkfSwcBGA?
Bridenstine’s bio, per his Congressional website:
Congressman Jim Bridenstine was elected in 2012 to represent Oklahoma’s First Congressional District. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.
Bridenstine began his Naval aviation career flying the E-2C Hawkeye off the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. It was there that he flew combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and gathered most of his 1,900 flight hours and 333 carrier arrested landings.
While on active duty, he transitioned to the F-18 Hornet and flew at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, the parent command to TOPGUN.
After leaving active duty, Bridenstine returned to Tulsa to be the Executive Director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium.
Bridenstine’s background includes a triple major at Rice University, a MBA from Cornell University, 9 years active duty in the United States Navy, and business experience in real estate, ranching, aerospace, and defense contracting.
Bridenstine was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2012 while flying missions in Central and South America in support of America’s war on drugs.
Most recently he transitioned to the 137th Air Refueling Wing of the Oklahoma Air National Guard, where he will fly with an MC-12 squadron stationed at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.
YES, WE NEED PRESIDENT TRUMP! HE IS A DOIER and A LEADER. HE HAS DONE EVERY THING TO RESTORE OUR BROKEN COUNTRY FIGHTING AGAINST SO MUCH OBSTRUCTION and LYING and (NO CO OPERATION WHAT SO EVER! OUR PRESIDENT HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG. HE IS FIGHTING A HUGE BATTLE TRYING TO RESTORE OUR BROKEN COUNTRY. HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED MORE IN HIS FIRST “YEAR” IN OFFICE. THEN THE LAST ADMINISTRATION DID IN 8YRS.!
WE ALL BELIEVE IN HIM AND WILL SUPPORT HIM AND HIS PARTY TO THE END. GOD BLESS. FULL SPEED AHEAD.
USA Today reports:


Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is joining President Trump’s legal team as the president looks to end the potentially perilous inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Giuliani, once considered a candidate for attorney general in the Trump administration, brings a big name to the team as well as unrivaled loyalty — a quality the president prizes.

The addition of the combative Giuliani, who once served as chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan, was confirmed Thursday by lead Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow.

Two other new additions will join Giuliani on the legal team, CBS reported:


Sekulow said in a statement that the president welcomed the news, and quoted him, saying, “‘Rudy is great. He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country.'”

Sekulow added that he has worked with Giuliani for many years and the team welcomes his expertise. He also announced the addition of two other attorneys, Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin, both former federal prosecutors.

Giuliani’s grit and legal experience will prove valuable to the Trump legal team.

Ready for Liftoff

In addition to Trump ramping up his legal team, Congressman Jim Bridenstine was confirmed as Trump’s NASA Administrator by the United States Senate on Thursday.


NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine

Bridenstine released the following statement regarding his confirmation:


“It is an honor to be confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as NASA Administrator,” said Bridenstine. “I am humbled by this opportunity, and I once again thank President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for their confidence. I look forward to working with the outstanding team at NASA to achieve the President’s vision for American leadership in space.”

“I’m very pleased to welcome Jim Bridenstine to NASA,” said Lightfoot. “He joins our great agency at a time when we are poised to accomplish historic milestones across the full spectrum of our work. Jim now takes the reins of this agency and its talented and dedicated workforce. I’m looking forward to him building on our great momentum and sharing our many strengths to help us make the next giants leaps on behalf of humanity. I also want to express my heartfelt appreciation to the NASA team for all they accomplished during my time leading the agency.”

Bridenstine, a Congressman from Oklahoma, won the hearts and minds of grassroots conservatives across the country with his staunch opposition to the GOP Establishment in Congress.

Notably, he was one of the conservatives leading the charge against Boehner for speaker.

[Bullheaded Texan]

...........Promise Kept.
Jan/18/18
Three months ago, President Donald J. Trump spoke before men and women of the American Trucking Associations in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At the time, he had good news to report on the economy, but Congress was still working to send tax reform legislation to his desk.
“We want lower taxes, bigger paychecks, and more jobs for American truckers and for American workers,” the President said to applause. “We need a tax system that is fair to working families and that encourages companies to stay in America, grow in America, spend in America, and hire in America.”
On Jan/18/18, he returns to Pennsylvania—with even better news to share!
Less than a month after the Tax Cuts Act became law, nearly 200 companies have issued bonuses, raised their minimum wage, planned investments, or donated to charity as a result of lower taxes.
Some of the country’s largest corporations are sharing the benefits of tax reform with their employees and their communities:
◾Walmart raised its minimum wage to $11 an hour and issued bonuses up to $1,000.
◾Fiat Chrysler issued $2,000 bonuses and now plans to build a Ram factory near Detroit, Michigan, with production set to start in 2020.
◾BB&T raised its minimum wage from $12 to $15 an hour and issued $1,200 bonuses.
◾Southwest Airlines issued $1,000 bonuses and donated $5 million to charity.
◾Comcast issued $1,000 bonuses.
◾Fifth Third Bank raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour and issued $1,000 bonuses.
◾JetBlue issued $1,000 bonuses.
◾U.S. Bank raised its minimum wage to $15, issued $1,000 bonuses, and donated $150 million to the U.S. Bank Foundation.
◾Wells Fargo raised its minimum wage to $15.
In addition to making U.S. businesses more competitive on the global stage by lowering America’s corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act delivers substantial relief for working families through cuts on the individual side.
For families with children under 17 years old, the child tax credit was doubled to $2,000. The obumadon'tcare individual mandate—a costly tax that primarily hits lower-income Americans—was repealed, as well.

[Bullheaded Texan]

...PG. 1.)
President Trump at Law Enforcement Roundtable on MS-13.
Feb/8/18
Acting Deputy Commissioner Ronald D. Vitiello visits the Border Wall Construction Site near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry as eight different prototypes of the Border Wall were unveiled at the U.S. border with Mexico. Oct/26/17.
Issued on: Feb/6/18
Cabinet Room 1:57 P.M.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Please. Good group. This is a very talented group of people. (Laughter.) Well, thank you very much. We need talent for what we’re doing, believe me. We’re here to discuss the tremendous threat of MS-13, one of the most violent and vicious gangs anywhere in the world. We’ve really never seen anything quite like this — the level of ferocity, the level of violence, and the reforms we need from Congress to defeat it. I’m honored to be joined by DHS Secretary Nielsen, top officials in federal law enforcement, and our local sheriffs — our great, great sheriffs.
We’re also joined by Congressman Peter King. Peter, thank you.
REPRESENTATIVE KING: Pleasure.
THE PRESIDENT: Congressman Lee Zeldin. Lee, good to have you. You’ve been working hard on this, you too. I know that. Martha — Martha McSally. Good. I hear you’re doing well out there. That’s what the word is.
Congresswoman Barbara Comstock. Barbara. Thank you, Barbara. Good, nice to have you. And Congressman Michael McCaul, who’s really an expert on this subject and has been for a long period of time. It’s a tough subject.
MS-13 recruits through our broken immigration system, violating our borders. And it just comes right through — whenever they want to come through, they come through. It’s much tougher now since we’ve been there, but we need much better border mechanisms and much better border security. We need the wall; we’re going to get the wall.
If we don’t have the wall, we’re never going to solve this problem. And I’ve gone to the top people. Many of these people are at the table right now, including this group. And without the wall, it’s not going to work!
During my State of the Union, I called on Congress to close the immigration loopholes that have allowed this deadly gang to break so easily into our country. My administration has identified three priorities. We went through and looked very closely. We’ve identified three priorities for creating a safe, modern, and lawful immigration system: securing the border, ending chain migration, and cancelling the terrible visa lottery.
We’ve been discussing it, we’ve been talking about it. We’re talking about it in Congress. We’re talking about DACA and how we can work that out. And I think the Democrats don’t want to make a deal, but we’ll find out.
As Congress considers immigration reform, it’s essential that we listen to the law enforcement professionals in this room today. And so I’m going to turn it over to Secretary Nielsen. We’ll begin a discussion. And you folks might want to stay for a little while. Okay?
Secretary.
SECRETARY NIELSEN:
"Yes, Mr. President, thank you for hosting this roundtable today on MS-13. As you know, it’s the first gang dangerous enough to be classified as a transnational criminal organization. We’ve talked at length of the devastating destruction and violence that it causes in our communities, and we’re here today to hear form a variety of folks who work every day to combat this.
First, I’d just like to say it’s my privilege to be here with the men and women of DHS and DOJ who make it their job every day to fight this and other violence coming across our borders, and also, to be joined by members of Congress who have shown great leadership. We thank you for that and always for your support of DHS and DOJ. So thank you all.
In your recently announced framework, as you know, you asked Congress to close loopholes that you just talked about. So when we talk about MS-13, we have two or three main loopholes.
The first is, we have an inadmissibility problem, meaning that when they come to our border, I have to let them in. I cannot keep them out by virtue of them being in a gang. Once we catch them and detain them, I cannot remove them by virtue of them being in a gang."
THE PRESIDENT:
"And, by the way, these things are unique to our country. No other country has this. This is unique to our country, and it’s got to change!"
SECRETARY NIELSEN:
"So the framework that you proposed will close these. So I remain hopeful to work with Congress on your behalf and the administration’s behalf to close these and other loopholes to secure our borders and our communities. So without going into further detail, I’d like to turn it over to John Cronan, who’s the Acting Assistant Attorney General for DOJ’s Criminal Division. He’s going to walk us through a bit more of MS-13.
MR. CRONAN:
"Thank you, Secretary Nielsen. As you know, Mr. President, as you just stated, one of the most significant public safety threats that our communities face comes from MS-13.
MS-13 has more than 30,000 members worldwide. But the gang has a particularly massive and troubling presence on United States soil. The numbers are staggering. An estimated 10,000 MS-13 members are living in our country. They’re primarily composed of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador, and they have infiltrated our entire country! There are MS-13 members in 40 states and the District of Columbia. It is estimated that there are upwards of 2,000 MS-13 members in Los Angeles; between 800 and 1,200 in Dallas and Houston; 2,000 in Long Island; 800 and 1,000 in Boston; and 3,000 members right here in the D.C. metropolitan area.
And, Mr. President, as you just said, MS-13 is probably the most ruthless and violent gang terrorizing our streets today! One of their mottos is, “Mata, Viola, Controla,” which means, “Kill, Rape, Control.” And, Mr. President, it is a model that MS-13 lives by.
MS-13 members engage in indiscriminate violence. They commit rape, extortion, murder, often just for the sake of it. They recruit children to be their murderers. They gang-rape young girls, they sell them for sex. They attack their victims with chains, bats, machetes, firearms. There is a photo, Mr. President, of a shotgun and a machete that was recovered from MS-13 members who were stopped by the police as they were on their way to murder a student at a high school in Woodbridge, Virginia. In January of last year, Damaris Reyes Rivas, a 15 year-old girl from a suburb of D.C., was stabbed 13 times with knives and a wooden stake by MS-13 members. Damaris’s killers filmed her murder so that they could show their leaders back in El Salvador. And Damaris’s body was then barbarically dumped next to railroad tracks that run under the Beltway.
Mr. President, you know well the story of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens, two teenage girls who were best friends and also were savagely murder by MS-13 thugs in September 2016. You had their parents as your guests a week ago at the State of the Union.
A year before that, in September 2015, four MS-13 members in Boston lured a 15-year-old boy to Constitution Beach in East Boston, where they took turns stabbing him to death. The four murderers passed around two knives as they methodically ended his life.
The next photo, Mr. President, are the remains of someone who is suspected of being a rival gang member. MS-13 members lured their victim into the woods of Central Islip, Long Island, where they beat him with sticks and a fire extinguisher, and then cut his throat with a pocketknife. Once dead, the savages sadistically stuffed his body into that drainage pipe, where it went for months without being discovered.
In October 2013, MS-13 members murdered someone they believed to be a snitch in a park in Falls Church, Virginia, stabbing him with knives and slashing him with a machete. And when they were done, they buried the body in a shallow grave in the park. And then just a few months later, in the very same park, MS-13 members murdered a recruit who had violated gang rules. They severed his head, and they buried his body as well.
Shallow graves used to bury two bodies in a park just about 10 miles from here.
We cannot, and we will not, let our neighborhoods be overrun by violent crime. And that is why dismantling violent gangs, and specifically MS-13, is a top priority of the Department of Justice.
Like I said, Mr. President, MS-13’s motto is, “Kill, Rape, Control.”
As Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said before, the Department of Justice’s motto is, “Justice for victims, and consequences for criminals.” And we too are living by that motto. The Department of Justice is devoting the resources necessary to ensure that our citizens are no longer being held hostage by murderous savages like MS-13 members. And it is working! Last year, the Department secured convictions against more than 1,200 gang members. We tried the most federal firearm prosecutions in a decade. We brought the most cases against violent criminals in at least a quarter of a century. And we also are enhancing the capacity of the Northern Triangle countries — El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala — so they can combat MS-13 themselves. This past summer, Attorney General Sessions visited El Salvador, where he met with the El Salvadorian Attorney General, Douglas Melendez, to discuss joint efforts to dismantle MS-13 at its roots. Soon after that meeting, 700 gang members were charged in El Salvador.
And, Mr. President, in total, our work with our Central American partners have resulted in arrests and charges against more than 4,000 suspected MS-13 members.
And we will not stop! The Department of Justice will be surging more federal prosecutors, hundreds of federal prosecutors to the field, with specific directions to focus on violent crime and immigration. And we will continue to use our robust criminal statutes to arrest violent criminals for whatever crime they commit — murder, racketeering, kidnapping, drug trafficking — and get them off our streets.
But, Mr. President, because MS-13 is based and operates in El Salvador, and MS-13 largely directs its murderous mission from prisons in El Salvador, it is not enough to enforce our domestic violent crime laws against gang members in the United States.
To effectively combat transnational organized crime, we also need enforcement of our immigration laws. The reason MS-13 is so massive in our country, the reason why they have 10,000 members in 40 states and the District of Columbia, is because many of those gang members have illegally entered our country. Now, the Department of Justice and our state authorities can continue to prosecute scores of MS-13 members located in the United States. But when we fail to enforce our immigration and human smuggling laws, when we have loopholes in our immigration laws, and when we have porous borders and insufficient enforcement of our immigration laws, MS-13 can simply replenish its jail population by sending more and more gang members across our borders.
And that is why the Department of Justice, under the Attorney General’s leadership, is also focused on stopping the flow of criminal aliens entering our country. The Attorney General has directed his prosecutors to renew their focus on immigration offenses, especially for offenders who have a nexus to gangs or drug cartels. The Attorney General has sent additional prosecutorial resources to the Southwest border, and he has created border security coordinators in each United States attorneys’ offices. They’ve been tasked with enforcing our immigration laws with a special emphasis on criminals like MS-13 with a nexus to the Southwest border.
And, lastly, Mr. President, on the smuggling front, the Department of Justice is working with the Department of Homeland Security to identify smuggling routes and to investigate and prosecute MS-13 smuggling networks.
Mr. President, the Department of Justice, along with the Department of Homeland Security, and our federal and state law enforcement partners, is committed to taking all lawful measures to end the scourge to our communities."
THE PRESIDENT:
"Thank you, John. This is after, actually, removing thousands of them out — some into the prisons — but literally thousands of people are removed out. But they come back as fast as we take them out. Different ones — not even the same ones — different ones. But they come back. And we need these immigration laws changed if we’re not going to — we’re just not going to be able to continue to do this. They just come in so fast, so easy. And then you have catch-and-release: You catch people and then you have to release them right away. Not another country in the world has the stupidity of laws that we do when it comes to immigration. And if we don’t get them changed — this isn’t politics, this isn’t Republican and Democrat. This is common sense. So it has to be taken care of."
SECRETARY NIELSEN:
"Sir, it’s my privilege to introduce you to Angel Melendez, who’s the special agent in charge of our ICE office in New York City. I just want to say I’m extremely proud of everything that our HSI office does — all of them. But New York, in particular, leads the fight against MS-13, and they truly, day to day, put their lives in danger."
REPRESENTATIVE KING:
"He does a great job. Terrific."
THE PRESIDENT: "Good."
SECRETARY NIELSEN:
"So, please, Angel."
MR. MELENDEZ:
"Mr. President, good afternoon. This is quite the privilege to brief you on some of our efforts. And one of the things that’s very important to address when we’re talking about MS-13 is that this is a war. We’re at war — a war in their countries against the command and control. It’s an issue that we’re facing at the borders. And once it goes beyond the borders, it’s a war that we’re battling on the streets with our local and law enforcement partners. The most important piece to any strategy in addressing MS-13 is collaboration, intelligence sharing, and immigration enforcement. Collaboration across the spectrum, across the continuum, with countries such as the Northern Triangle countries where we do have vetted teams of foreign national law enforcement officials working side to side with HSI and CBP in those countries. Locally, we do the same thing. We’ve been able to effectively implement a unity of effort within the Department of Homeland Security, where all of its agencies, all of its components that have a direct nexus to immigration enforcement and to controlling the borders are working together to face MS-13.
One of the things that we look at is illicit pathways. How do they get here? Who brings them here? And what we’ve been able to see is that MS-13 is not an organization that has their own smuggling apparatus. So they do utilize other organizations that are completely experts — or complete experts — in the smuggling aspect. Last year, we were able to convict an individual who was responsible for a smuggling network of special interest aliens coming in from Pakistan, through Brazil, to Central America, Mexico, and the United States. It’s that same type of illicit pathway that MS-13 exploits. And we continue to work with our foreign partners and our state and local partners and DHS partners to be able to identify those pathways.
Capacity-building and information-sharing is extremely important — capacity-building of those Northern Triangle countries. If we take the fight in their own territory, it’s less of a fight that we have to face here. But notwithstanding that, once they’re here, we have to address it. So they came across the border, and now we have to look at how can we curtail recruitment. So when we look at the numbers — and I’m just going to talk about numbers as of — and this is posted on our website already for the Office of Refugee Resettlement — in 2017 alone — 2017 alone, 40,810 unaccompanied alien children were placed for resettlement. These aren’t the total amounts of UACs that were detained at the border. These were the ones that were referred to be resettled within the United States.
When you look at the demographics, it turns out to 21,881 of them are from Northern Triangle countries; they are in the right age for gang recruitment, between the ages of 13 and 17; and they are males. I am not saying — and I want to be clear — that 21,000 of these unaccompanied alien children are gang members. What I’m saying, understanding MS-13, is that they’re looking at these 21,000 unaccompanied alien children that came into those states as potential recruits to continue to fill in their ranks.
Another aspect — another thing that we’ve been able to look at is, across certain operations that we’ve been able to manage throughout the last couple of years, 30 percent is a consistent number that we’ve seen of MS-13 members that have been arrested that came into this country as unaccompanied alien children. Specifically in New York, another point of interest that we’ve been addressing or we’ve been looking at is the Special Immigrant Juvenile program. Sixty-three percent of the unaccompanied alien children have filed for this immigration status that provides them a road to a green card, to lawful permanent resident, and eventually even to citizenship.
The way this works is, basically, a state court provides an order — a special cause — in which this alien is able to apply through CIS for this status. Now, one of the things that we’ve seen is we don’t know what’s in the family court records.
So we cannot utilize any information provided in those proceedings to validate with the information that we either have because of the encounter at the border, or because of the process over in the local office.
Finances. Finance is another important aspect of MS-13. We’ve been able to identify a very complex, integral scheme of the way they move their money. And we’re not — in no way, shape, or form are we talking money — cartel-type money. We’re talking about money that they utilize to be able to finance not only their movements, but their day-to-day operations; money that’s coming from the states, back to the command and control in the Northern Triangle.
One of the most important tools that we have in our arsenal is the designation of MS-13 as a transnational criminal organization by the Department of Justice — Department of Treasury, if I may correct myself. I have- and I have to say- and I have numerous pages of talking points of things that I can talk about, but I want to give you, Mr. President, our perspective from the field. When you have agents going out identifying, based on intelligence, and conducting targeted enforcement operations, they apprehend these individuals that we’re able to determine that are MS-13 members.
And once they are presented to the immigration judge for detention purposes, we explain that these individuals are a threat to society and they are MS-13 members.
But we cannot provide all the information that we have because in many instances, the information that we have is part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
These individuals are being released, and then we have to utilize our resources to focus on these individuals that have been released. So from our perspective, from the field, there are many things that could be accomplished within immigration law.
But I can tell you from my perspective of what I’m seeing on a day-to-day basis, we have agents going out, we have agents arresting, and then we have these individuals that were arrested being released again!
Through our efforts since 2005, ICE has arrested over 7,000 MS-13 members. In this quarter, this last quarter of 2018, we’ve been able to arrest 428 MS-13 members. And that talks about the numbers. So we know, or we understand based on intelligence gathered, that there are thousands of MS-13 across the country. There are even more in the Northern Triangle and in Mexico. We’ve seen a presence in the country north of us, in Canada, as well. The fact of the matter is that we continue to arrest, we continue to arrest, and since we haven’t been able to shut down the pipeline, they continue to come into our country! And it is something that we need to address to be more effective in disrupting and dismantling, once and for all, MS-13. Thank you, sir."
THE PRESIDENT:
"We need cooperation from the Democrats, you know that? Because we have to change the rules, we have to change the laws, and that’s all part of what we’re trying to get approved. Because right now — the way it is right now, you just can’t do that. Everything you do is illegal. You can’t touch, you can’t do anything. And if we don’t get those laws changed, we will do better than anybody can do, but still, it will never be satisfactory."
SECRETARY NIELSEN:
"Thank you. Thank you. I’d like to ask Jessie Liu, the U.S. Attorney for District of Columbia, to give us a few examples of cases that she’s worked."
MS. LIU:
"Well, thank you very much, Secretary Nielsen. And thank you, Mr. President, for inviting me to be here to talk about MS-13 and what we’re doing to combat it here in Washington, D.C. As the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, my top priority is the safety of the people who live and work here, and that means protecting them from vicious criminal gangs like MS-13. So in recent years, working with our law enforcement partners, we’ve successfully prosecuted a number of MS-13 leaders and members for murder, maiming, racketeering, and other crimes. And a number of those individuals are now serving prison sentences of life, or even beyond. In one case, a woman in D.C. took in an MS-13 gang member from her home country of El Salvador, and allowed him to live with her and her family. The gang member then began recruiting the woman’s son to join MS-13. And when she objected, the gang member shot her in the head as she was waiting at a bus stop, three miles from where we’re sitting right now, and then shot her again in the head as she was lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Miraculously, Mr. President, she survived, but she was permanently blinded by that attack!
In another case my office handled, MS-13 members repeatedly stabbed and killed a 14-year-old boy near the Columbia Heights metro station, and that’s about two and a half miles from where we’re sitting right now.
In yet another case, MS-13 members attacked a fellow MS-13 member who had removed his gang tattoos. They stabbed him at least 20 times and killed him.
We believe that these prosecutions, which took many years to build, helped disrupt MS-13 in the District of Columbia. But we know that it continues to operate here in this city, as well as next door in Virginia and Maryland. And we’re particularly concerned about its international reach, including its violence and drug dealing, and its efforts to recruit young people. That’s why we work every day, very closely, with our fantastic law enforcement partners at ICE, at the FBI, at the Metropolitan Police Department and other agencies, as we well as our strong allies in the community who work to dissuade young people from joining gangs like MS-13. Mr. President, we’re very grateful for the support that you’ve given to our efforts, for our close partnership with the Secretary and her team, and for the guidance and resources from our colleagues at Main Justice, like Mr. Cronan. And I thank you again for the opportunity to brief you on this today."
THE PRESIDENT:
"Thank you, Jessie, very much. Great job. MS. LIU: Thank you very much."
SECRETARY NIELSEN:
"Thank you. I’d like to turn it over to Director Cissna, who you’ve been hearing from a lot as we work to revise our immigration system. He’s going to talk a little bit about backlog and how that further exacerbates this problem.