Mandatory Vaccination for Migrants Cancelled

By: John Semmens

After a brief show of treating illegal immigrants the same as Americans, the Biden Administration has abandoned its policy of mandatory covid vaccinations. “We tried telling them that they wouldn’t be able to go anywhere in the United States without proof of vaccination, but the vast majority still refused to be injected,” said a Border Patrol official. “The practical thing is we have no leverage over them. We can’t threaten their jobs because they have no jobs. We can’t threaten to send them back because the President doesn’t want them sent back. All we can do is put them on buses or planes and send them somewhere else.”

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas hastened to clarify that “it isn’t just the practical difficulties that led to our course correction. There are also equity considerations. These people aren’t American citizens. Who are we to boss them around and deny them free choices? One of the reasons they entered this country is to be free. The applicability of mandates like the one President Biden issued for all employers with more than 100 workers is questionable. Coercing citizens is a recognized authority of the President. Coercing foreigners is not. To be on the safe side and avoid being liable for damages it is best to just let them go where they want and do whatever they want.”

In related news, Mayorkas insisted that “the newly created Disinformation Governance Board will not infringe legitimate freedom of speech. There are clear boundaries between disinformation and genuine freedom of speech. Disinformation is speech that intends and attempts to discredit or oppose government policies and actions. Speech that intends or attempts to support government policies and actions is not disinformation and will not draw any punitive response from the Board against any person engaging in the activity.”

Gov. Ducey, Gov. Abbott: Biden Created Border Crisis

Washington Post: Arizona And Texas Governors: The Border Crisis In Our States Was Created By The Biden Administration
Governors Doug Ducey & Greg Abbott
Washington Post
April 14, 2021
The Biden administration recently made an astonishingly out-of-touch statement: “The border is secure.”

The president himself needs to take a trip to our states.

Unlike President Biden, we’ve both been to the U.S. border in our respective states, Texas and Arizona, and the situation is much different from what Washington politicians and bureaucrats are telling Americans.

The U.S. Border Patrol is overwhelmed. Local law enforcement and mayors are calling out for help. Citizens in border communities are concerned for their safety. And nonprofits, left to pick up the pieces of a broken federal policy, are trained.

In typical Washington fashion, the federal government has thrust this man-made crisis on states. But for the people we represent, this isn’t a political issue — it’s a real-life issue.

What’s happening at the border shouldn’t come as a surprise.

The president and Vice President Harris campaigned on a platform of relaxing border security. They supported health care for undocumented, illegal immigrants. Biden’s pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants offered amnesty for those who circumvented the legal process.

They also rushed to repudiate policies of the Trump administration, including repealing the Migrant Protection Protocols — a policy that required asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for their court dates and that we fought to uphold.

These actions have led to the unprecedented surge of migrants who are overwhelming the border.

ABC News’ Martha Raddatz visited both of our states recently. She aired footage last month of interviews with people attempting to enter the country illegally. “Would you have tried to do this when Donald Trump was president?” she asked. “Definitely not,” said one asylum-seeker. “So did you come here because Joe Biden was elected president?” Raddatz asked. “Basically,” said the man.

It’s no wonder Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has called Biden the “migrant president.”

The administration’s policies and communications have encouraged thousands of people to make dangerous trips to our southern border. This has caused a humanitarian crisis that is endangering the lives and welfare of U.S. citizens, as well as those attempting to come here.

Apprehensions at the border in March reached the highest monthly level in two decades.

Many of these migrants are kids.

In fact, Customs and Border Protection has more than 18,000 migrant children in custody — the highest number in the history of the agency. Many of these children are in overcrowded federal facilities and face a significant chance of contracting covid-19.

The crisis at the border has also threatened the safety of Texans and Arizonans.

Yet, aside from two trips by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the administration has been nowhere to be found. Biden showed his apathy for this crisis by passing control of the administration’s response to Harris. Her record includes voting against funding for border security, comparing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to the KKK and calling efforts to secure the border “a distraction from the real issues.” It’s clear that this administration does not take this issue seriously.

So how can America fix this crisis?

To start, the administration needs to immediately reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols, which disincentivize migrants from making the dangerous journey to the border by ending the policy of “catch and release” for those seeking asylum. Law enforcement officials and leaders in border communities are concerned that repeal of these protocols is a major factor behind the surge in illegal border crossings. Reinstating them would go a long way toward alleviating the crisis at the border.

Next, administration officials at all levels should state clearly that our country’s borders are not open and that immigrants seeking a better life or more economic opportunity should not be attempting to utilize the asylum process. The State Department should be heavily engaged in this strategy, as the Mexican president’s continued statements blaming this crisis on Biden are concerning.

We’ve already begun to activate our states’ National Guards to the border to assist, but border enforcement is a federal responsibility. So we are requesting federal reimbursement to support this mission to resolve a problem of Washington’s creation.

We continue to support legal immigration. But what’s happening now is not legal, and it needs to end.

The president and his team should resolve these issues as soon as possible — for the protection of Arizonans, Texans, these migrants and our entire country.

Gov. Ducey Makes A Run For The Border

Governor Doug Ducey on Friday traveled to Douglas to get a first-hand view of the security and humanitarian situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. After taking an aerial border tour, the governor received a briefing and held a press conference and a border security roundtable.

He was accompanied by U.S. Senator Rick Scott of Florida, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; state lawmakers; and community leaders from Cochise County.

“This isn’t just a border security problem — it’s a humanitarian problem,” Governor Ducey said. “Here in Arizona, we’re doing our part to keep our border safe and secure.”

“But we need more leadership from the federal government to keep our borders safe,” he added. “The Biden administration’s immigration policy decisions directly impact our state, and we’re left to pick up the pieces. Our number one priority is keeping Arizonans safe, and we want to keep these migrants safe too.”

The Governor participated in an aerial tour of the border and received a briefing from federal and state officials on border security and the influx of migrants crossing into the state. After the tour, Governor Ducey and Senator Scott held a press conference at the border wall. The Governor then held a border security roundtable with Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Col. Heston Silbert and other officials.

This week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced our nation is on pace to reach the highest number of apprehensions at the border in the last 20 years. In addition, U.S. Customs and Border Protection currently has the highest number of migrant children in custody in the history of the agency.

The Governor met this week with Federal Border Officials to discuss the escalating crisis on the border where he raised concern over the dramatic increase in illegal immigration in recent weeks, as well as the strain it’s putting on law enforcement and Arizona’s border communities. Border Patrol also shared concerns about increases in apprehensions and illegal immigration across the board. 

As the crisis pursues, the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) continues to deter and dismantle illegal activity to keep Arizona safe thanks to the Arizona Border Strike Force, a highly-trained group of state troopers. The Border Strike Force has been helping to disrupt and dismantle transnational organized crime along the border and in Arizona communities, enhancing DPS efforts to protect Arizonans. See the latest data on its operations HERE

Additionally, Governor Ducey on February 17 wrote a letter to Secretary Mayorkas outlining concerns he has for the situation at the border.

FOR MORE NEWS ON THE BORDESR CRISIS, SEE https://ourrendezvouswithdestiny.wordpress.com/

Arizona Sheriff Says Biden Building Smuggler’s Highway For Drug Cartels

By Theodore Bunker, Newsmax

A sheriff from the border region of Arizona says that President Joe Biden’s immigration policies have essentially ”built roads for the cartels,” according to The Washington Times.

“We just built roads for the cartels,” Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels told the Times.

He went on to say that Biden’s order halting work on the border wall has created gaps in security, which Dannels said allows for smugglers to bring people into the country.

”One area that’s wide open right now, we’re getting five to six groups a day,” he said. ”It’s almost worse than it was before. We just built them infrastructure.”

Dannels added that most residents in his county have given him positive feedback about the wall, ”with the majority saying it works — it really works.”

Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar told Fox News on Tuesday that “the numbers have been increasing, the number of unaccompanied kids, the number of families that are coming in are just increasing every day. In my district, just a couple of days ago, 166 people [crossed the]  border. … So it’s not a crisis yet, but it’s going to get there very soon.”

If You’re Voting For Joe Biden You’re Voting For …

  • A man with a career of corruption behind him.
  • A man who has disrespected and abused women.
  • Abuse of power: the Obama-Biden Administration illegally used the IRS to deny tax benefits to conservative organizations; they used the Department of Justice to attack law enforcement personnel who were working to prevent illegal aliens from entering the country; they shut down the work of and fired federal agents to monitor and prosecute terrorist cells in the U.S., also protecting organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood which are sworn enemies of the U.S.
  • Censorship
  • The removal of Second Amendment gun rights and home protection.
  • Gender confusion (people who’ve had sex change surgery are less happy than they were before).
  • Socialism: The rights of the individual are made secondary to the control of the collective; Vladimir Lenin said “The end game of socialism is communism.”
  • Loss of freedom, including free speech and religious freedom.
  • Increased taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, which profits from the shedding of human blood.
  • Open borders, drug and human smuggling.
  • Voter fraud and voting by felons, illegal aliens and unregistered individuals.
  • Over regulation of small businesses, the backbone of America.
  • Prohibition of school choice.
  • A smaller, weaker military.
  • Obama II, a country that befriends and funds America’s enemies while turning away from America’s allies.
  • Civil unrest in the streets, i.e., Seattle and Portland.
  • Higher taxes.
  • Harmful laws based on non-existent, politically based global warming.
  • Criminalization of the conservative movement.
  • Confused men posing as “transgenders” in order to take the positions of females on girls and women’s sports teams.
  • Continued attacks on America’s founding ideals.
  • Damage to the public education system.
  • Expanded government health insurance, which does not guarantee medical care.
  • Sanctuary cities.
  • Judicial activism by judges who make law from the bench.
  • Radical individuals with access to the White House and the highest levels of government who cannot pass background checks.
  • Increased likelihood of terrorism on American and foreign soil. Democrats are very weak on terrorism.
  • Bigger government making the individual smaller and smaller.
  • A greater likelihood that America, “the home of the free and the land of the brave” will become a nation of one-party rule with opposition to Democrat policies outlawed.
  • A re-writing of U.S. history and the Constitution.
  • Cold-hearted Obama and Biden left four Americans to die in Benghazi.
  • Ruthless Obama and Biden are to blame for the death of a U.S. Border Patrolmen who was gunned down by the Mexican drug cartel, armed with guns given by the Obama Administration.

You will also be voting for a man whose health is failing, and who may have to relinquish his presidency to a vice president with even more radical views on important issues.

Raul Grijalva: Good Friend of Communists

Raul Grijalva is a long-time Southern Arizona congressman running for re-election in November. 

By Trevor Loudon, Contributing Writer, The Epoch Times

December 26, 2018

Long-time Communist Party USA ally Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is to chair the critical House Committee on Natural Resources. This position will give Grijalva significant influence over key economic and environmental decisions.

In this position, he will be able to stall and otherwise influence legislation and create major uncertainty for potential infrastructure, natural resource, and energy investors.

Grijalva is so excited about his new post that he has even opted to resign from his influential position as co-chair of the far-left Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Allowing a man with Grijalva’s radical record to wield such influence could have disastrous implications for American jobs and economic growth.

The Early Years

Grijalva foreshadowed his legislative strategy in 2013 when he revealed to In These Times, a Democratic Socialists of America affiliated publication, that “I’m a Saul Alinsky guy,” referring to the “community organizer” who mentored Hillary Clinton and inspired Barack Obama.

But even the Marxist Alinsky wasn’t Grijalva’s most radical influence.

According to a 2009 Center for Immigration Studies memorandum, as a young activist in Tucson, Arizona, Grijalva became a leader in several Marxist-leaning groups including the Chicano Liberation Committee, which pressured the University of Arizona to implement affirmative action for Chicano staff and establish a Mexican-American Studies program.

Grijalva was also active in Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), which agitated for the return of the “Chicano” areas of the U.S. Southwest to Mexico. The group’s motto was “Por la raza todo, fuera de la raza nada,” which translates to “For the race, everything; outside the race, nothing.”

Grijalva further joined the radical Raza Unida Party. After losing a school board race in 1972, Grijalva dropped some of his revolutionary posing and sought to involve himself in more “mainstream” Democratic Party politics.

In 1993, Grijalva, identified at that time as a member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, wrote an anti-NAFTA article headlined “North America Needs ‘Fair’ Trade” for the Nov. 13 edition of the Communist Party USA’s newspaper People’s Weekly World (which has since changed its name to People’s World).

Through the 1990s, Grijalva used his Pima County position to assist Communist Party USA-affiliated organizations, such as the Southern Arizona People’s Law Center and the Tucson Tenants Union.

By the early 2000s, Grijalva was ready for the big time, and the Communist Party USA was eager to help.

Communist Party Assistance

According to Tucson Communist Party USA leader Steve Valencia, his mentor—the late Arizona Communist Party USA chair Lorenzo Torrez—was a pioneer in the “struggle” for Mexican-American political representation.

Valencia told People’s World newspaper in 2012, “I always say: Before [Communist Party USA-aligned Democratic Rep.] Ed Pastor and Raul Grijalva, there was Lorenzo Torrez.”

The article continues: “Pastor and Grijalva are Arizona’s first two Mexican Americans [sic] members of the U.S. Congress. But Torrez ran for Congress before they ran, and also boldly ran against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater.

“‘Lorenzo told us it is time for these majority Latino districts to be represented by a Mexican American,’ said Valencia. ‘He wanted voters to see a Latino name on the ballot.’

“When Pastor declared his candidacy, Torrez rallied the Tucson CP [Communist Party] club to join in the effort. Pastor’s victory in 1991 set the stage for Grijalva’s election in 2002.”

On Sept. 21, 2002, the People’s World published an article headlined “People Gain in Arizona Primaries” by local Communist Party leader Joe Bernick. It dealt mainly with Grijalva’s victory in the recent Democratic Party primary:

“The tireless efforts of hundreds of grassroots volunteers dealt a blow to the corporate establishment here and their attempt to dominate Southern Arizona politics in the Sept. 10 primary election.

“Long-time progressive Raul Grijalva routed seven other candidates to win the Democratic nomination for CD-7, one of Arizona’s two new Congressional seats. …

“As a Pima County Supervisor and Tucson School Board member Grijalva consistently fought for working people’s interests.

“The Grijalva campaign was a textbook example of how to conduct a people’s campaign, beginning with its name: ‘A whole lot of people for Grijalva.’ Hundreds of people came out seven days a week, sometimes twice on Saturday, to wear out tons of shoe leather.

“Grijalva thanked labor for its key support and for ‘putting the union label on me.’ He promised the Southern Arizona Central Labor Council, at its Sept. 12 meeting, to become ‘an extension of the voice of labor in the U.S. Congress.’”

At a meeting of the National Board of the Communist Party USA in South Chicago, on the last weekend of January 2003, an Arizona activist boasted, “Using street heat tactics, all of labor worked to back one candidate Raul Grijalva in Tucson … And we won!”

Tucson Communist Party USA supporter Susan Thorpe confirmed this narrative in an article covering the 2002 Grijalva campaign in an article in People’s World on Nov. 7, 2003, titled “Arizona: Grassroots Can Beat Big Bucks”:

“Nevertheless, here in Tucson, we are gearing up for local elections in 2003 and the presidential election ahead in 2004 by using the same tactics we did in 2002 to get Raul Grijalva elected to Congress. …

“Congressman Raul Grijalva is proving to be a wonderful voice for the people of Arizona. And our movement and those important connections made during his campaign are still alive in Tucson.”

In Congress, Grijalva worked to help the Communist Party USA where he could.

Returning the Favor

According to a 2005 statement by Latinos for Peace (an anti-Iraq War front for the Communist Party USA) published in the Communist Party USA theoretical journal Political Affairs on Oct. 4, 2005: “On Monday September 26 we participated in the peace movement lobby day at the capitol. We met with Rep Raul Grijalva who said he would work to help build our campaign.”

On July 13, 2006, Communist Party USA member Carolyn Trowbridge addressed 14 fellow black-shrouded members of the “peace” group “Raging Grannies” along with 40 supporters. Trowbridge’s speech was followed by “a reading of an antiwar speech” by Grijalva. They then marched to the late Sen. John McCain’s office to “deliver a petition on Iraq demanding an immediate end to the U.S. occupation, the closing of all U.S. military bases and the removal all U.S. mercenaries and corporate involvement,” according to People’s World.

Later that same year, on Nov. 7, Arizona voters became the first in the nation to reject a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The campaign was led by activist group Arizona Together. Both Arizona state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and Congressman Grijalva assisted the campaign.

According to Arizona Communist Party leader and Arizona Together activist Joe Bernick, who wrote it up in the People’s World:

“Why Arizona? How come voters in more liberal states have voted for similar hateful laws while conservative Arizona voted no?

“So how did we do it? The answer is: educating, organizing and mobilizing.

“As soon as proponents started circulating petitions to put 107 on the ballot, opponents brought out their own clipboards, signing up thousands of volunteers. Arizona Together emerged as the campaign committee, chaired by progressive state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.

“Congressman Raul Grijalva appeared on radio ads calling Prop. 107 an attack on working families. The Grijalva campaign worked closely with Arizona Together, using its literature in their extensive door-to-door canvassing.”

Sinema, now the newly elected U.S. senator from Arizona, also has close ties to the Communist Party USA.

On March 29, 2003, Grijalva sponsored and addressed the Third Annual Cesar Chavez Day March and Rally for Peace.

The rally was organized by Tucson Communist Party member and high school teacher Ray Siqueiros, one of the most militant teachers in Tucson. In 2006, Siqueiros was involved in organizing a mass walk-out by Tucson high school students protesting proposed legislation that would classify illegal immigrants as felons. Some of the students waved Mexican flags.

In June 2015, Siqueiros received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Grijalva for “valuable service to the community.”

Border Security

In September 2015, the late Sen. John McCain from Arizona introduced legislation (S750) to exempt certain projects from environmental protection laws, in order to better enhance border security.

S750, if passed, “would exclude new surveillance installations and other border patrol activities from environmental protection laws. The bill would apply to federal lands within 100 miles of the U.S.–Mexico border in Arizona and parts of California,” according to People’s World.

Grijalva was apparently willing to work with the Communist Party USA to stop legislation designed to keep America’s borders secure.

Then the senior Democrat in the House’s Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulations, Grijalva fought back against the proposal.

Grijalva spoke at a forum co-sponsored by the Communist Party USA-led Arizona Peace Council, and the Communist Party USA-run Salt of the Earth Labor College, saying he was “confident regarding the ability to defeat S750 provided people stay aware of it and speak out against it.”

According to People’s World, Grijalva said in part: It’s a two pronged agenda. … Part of the agenda … [is] to end any legislative hope … that we would end up with something semi-rational in terms of comprehensive immigration reform because this bill is about enforcement only—only enforcement. …

“The other agenda is about attacking bedrock environmental laws that have been on the books for 50, 40, 45 years. … It’s both about immigration and the environment and citizen accountability and participation in decision making.”

As today’s Communist Party USA is loyal to Cuba, China, and Venezuela, Grijalva was effectively attempting to aid and abet enemies of the Republic.

The Communist Party USA is the sworn enemy of American capitalism.

Houston Communist Party leader Bernard Sampson wrote only this past September: “We aren’t like other parties. We are a party dedicated to the overthrow of the capitalist class in this country.”

Yet Grijalva has worked with these people for more than 30 years. He is clearly fully on board with the Communist Party USA agenda.

Imagine the damage Grijalva will be able to do to America’s economy, environment, and national security as Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Communist Party USA leaders must be rubbing their hands in revolutionary glee.

Americans likely do not realize that elected officials such as Grijalva are not required to undergo any form of background security check before serving on sensitive committees. If they were, Grijalva would certainly fail.

America’s enemies are aware of this loophole and are using it to their advantage.

Trevor Loudon is an author, filmmaker and public speaker from New Zealand. For more than 30 years, he has researched radical left, Marxist, and terrorist movements and their covert influence on mainstream politics.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch

President Trump’s Unparalleled Achievements

  • Almost 4 million jobs created since election.
  • More Americans are now employed than ever recorded before in our history.
  • We have created more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since my election.
  • Manufacturing jobs growing at the fastest rate in more than THREE DECADES.
  • Economic growth last quarter hit 4.2 percent.
  • New unemployment claims recently hit a 49-year low.
  • Median household income has hit highest level ever recorded.
  • African-American unemployment has recently achieved the lowest rate ever recorded.
  • Hispanic-American unemployment is at the lowest rate ever recorded.
  • Asian-American unemployment recently achieved the lowest rate ever recorded.
  • Women’s unemployment recently reached the lowest rate in 65 years.
  • Youth unemployment has recently hit the lowest rate in nearly half a century.
  • Lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for Americans without a high school diploma.
  • Under my Administration, veterans’ unemployment recently reached its lowest rate in nearly 20 years.
  • Almost 3.9 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps since the election.
  • The Pledge to America’s Workers has resulted in employers committing to train more than 4 million Americans. We are committed to VOCATIONAL education.
  • 95 percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future—the highest ever.
  • Retail sales surged last month, up another 6 percent over last year.
  • Signed the biggest package of tax cuts and reforms in history. After tax cuts, over $300 billion poured back in to the U.S. in the first quarter alone.
  • As a result of our tax bill, small businesses will have the lowest top marginal tax rate in more than 80 years.
  • Helped win U.S. bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
  • Helped win U.S.-Mexico-Canada’s united bid for 2026 World Cup.
  • Opened ANWR and approved Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines.
  • Record number of regulations eliminated.
  • Enacted regulatory relief for community banks and credit unions.
  • Obamacare individual mandate penalty GONE.
  • My Administration is providing more affordable healthcare options for Americans through association health plans and short-term duration plans.
  • Last month, the FDA approved more affordable generic drugs than ever before in history. And thanks to our efforts, many drug companies are freezing or reversing planned price increases.
  • We reformed the Medicare program to stop hospitals from overcharging low-income seniors on their drugs—saving seniors hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone.
  • Signed Right-To-Try legislation.
  • Secured $6 billion in NEW funding to fight the opioid epidemic.
  • We have reduced high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent during my first year in office.
  • Signed VA Choice Act and VA Accountability Act, expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.
  • Increased our coal exports by 60 percent; U.S. oil production recently reached all-time high.
  • United States is a net natural gas exporter for the first time since 1957.
  • Withdrew the United States from the job-killing Paris Climate Accord.
  • Cancelled the illegal, anti-coal, so-called Clean Power Plan.
  • Secured record $700 billion in military funding; $716 billion next year.
  • NATO allies are spending $69 billion more on defense since 2016.
  • Process has begun to make the Space Force the 6th branch of the Armed Forces.
  • Confirmed more circuit court judges than any other new administration.
  • Confirmed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
  • Withdrew from the horrible, one-sided Iran Deal.
  • Moved U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
  • Protecting Americans from terrorists with the Travel Ban, upheld by Supreme Court.
  • Issued Executive Order to keep open Guantanamo Bay.
  • Concluded a historic U.S.-Mexico Trade Deal to replace NAFTA. And negotiations with Canada are underway as we speak.
  • Reached a breakthrough agreement with the E.U. to increase U.S. exports.
  • Imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to protect our national security.
  • Imposed tariffs on China in response to China’s forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and their chronically abusive trade practices.
  • Net exports are on track to increase by $59 billion this year.
  • Improved vetting and screening for refugees, and switched focus to overseas resettlement.
  • We have begun BUILDING THE WALL. Republicans want STRONG BORDERS and NO CRIME. Democrats want OPEN BORDERS which equals MASSIVE CRIME, including drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Unprecedented Judicial Nominations

In his first three years in office, Trump had successfully appointed a record 50 judges to the U.S. circuit courts of appeals. For comparison purposes, by the same point in their first terms, President Obama had appointed just 19 and President Bush 26.

With the cooperation of the Republican Senate, Trump also pushed the judges through far faster than his predecessors. After three years in office, Trump had already set a modern record for the appointment of appeals court judges.

Trump’s judicial juggernaut could not have succeeded without the cooperation of a Republican Senate majority. Mitch McConnell not only held open the Scalia seat in Obama’s last year and eliminated the Senate filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, but he also made the confirmation of appellate judges a Senate priority.

By the end of three years in office, Trump and McConnell had confirmed enough federal appeals judges to ensure that Republican presidents had appointed a bare majority of all federal appeals judges in the nation.

The 11th Circuit has 12 judges, seven of whom were appointed by Republican presidents after Lagoa’s confirmation on Wednesday. That count now includes five Trump appointees.

“This success – along with the record number of federal appellate judges President Trump has appointed to date – is a testament to the tangible impact the president has had in reshaping the federal judiciary with constitutionalist judges who are committed to the rule of law,” Carrie Severino, the chief counsel and policy director at the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, said in a tweet about Lagoa’s confirmation.

Trump has now named 10 judges to the 9th Circuit — more than one-third of its active judges — compared with seven appointed by President Obama over eight years.

“Trump has effectively flipped the circuit,” said 9th Circuit Judge Milan D. Smith Jr., an appointee of President George W. Bush.

If Trump were to win reelection, he would probably succeed in flipping most, if not all, appellate courts to conservative control.

Trump’s success with judicial appointments came about through the normal constitutional process. He may have chosen younger, more conservative judges. But here he followed closely the example set by President Reagan.

Reagan and Trump have been the two greatest American presidents in the past century-plus.