27 Dec, 2024 08:00

Biden to seek ‘comfort’ from Pope – NYT

The outgoing president is planning to visit the Vatican in January, likely his final international trip as US leader

US President Joe Biden is set to visit the Vatican in January to seek solace and “relief” as his term draws to a close, according to the New York Times, citing sources close to the matter. The White House has confirmed that Biden accepted an invitation from Pope Francis during a phone call last week.

With less than a month remaining in his presidency, Biden will also meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden and Pope Francis will discuss global peace efforts. The New York Times reported, however, that the visit may also serve a more personal purpose, offering comfort as he prepares to leave office.

Pope Francis has reportedly been a confidant for Biden, exchanging occasional phone calls that have been quite casual, including “friendly check-ins.”

The upcoming meeting signals that Biden may have additional concerns weighing on him, the New York Times said.

In public, he has alluded to regrets about certain decisions, including not signing Covid relief checks personally. He has also faced scrutiny for more recent actions, including pardoning his son Hunter Biden. The decision sparked significant criticism, with some viewing it as a reversal of his earlier commitments not to interfere in his son’s legal matters. Despite the backlash, there have been no reports or official statements from the president expressing regret over the pardon.

Biden, a devout Catholic, has shared a longstanding connection with Pope Francis. Their previous conversations touched upon both personal and global issues, spanning topics such as climate change, poverty, and deeply personal matters, including the loss of Biden’s son Beau in 2015.

Foreign trips during a US president’s final month in office are not common. According to State Department records, the last president to do so was George H.W. Bush in January 1993. He traveled to Moscow to sign a nuclear treaty and to Paris for discussions on the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

https://www.rt.com/news/610055-biden-seek-relief-solace-pope-nyt/

(He'll most probably leave on Jan 4th, or 5th, to be there on Jan 6. What do they have planned for J6? This sounds really fishy.)

Citizen Free Press

@CitizenFreePres

CHIP ROY RESPONDS TO CRITICISM FROM TRUMP.

From

Washington Examiner

12:56 AM · Dec 28, 2024

·21.9K Views

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1872884425903751329

3:20

Politico

Musk influence sparks fresh talk in Congress on high-skilled immigrants. 1/3

Brendan Bordelon

Thu, December 26, 2024 at 2:36

A Christmas Day social media brawl between President-elect Donald Trump’s backers in Silicon Valley and the MAGA base highlighted the looming battle facing the incoming White House and Congress over high-skilled immigration.

Early conversations are already taking place on Capitol Hill,where Republican lawmakers are openly mulling new plans to boost numbers of high-tech immigrantsas Elon Musk and other tech billionaires — including many who have named skilled immigration a priority — flex their expanding influence on Trump and the GOP.

But this week’s online blowup suggests immigration hard-liners won’t surrender easily to Trump’s new tech friends.The president-elect’s Sunday naming of Sriram Krishnan, a former partner at venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz, to serve as his artificial intelligence advisercaused panic among Trump’s base, with many fretting over his recent advocacyfor removing country caps on green cards for high-skilled workers. Laura Loomer, a far-right immigration restrictionist close to Trump, called Krishnan’s appointment “deeply disturbing” and said tech leaders are cozying up to Trump to “enrich themselves” and get Pentagon contracts.

Musk and David Sacks, another venture capitalist tapped to serve as Trump’s AI and crypto “czar,” fiercely defended Krishnan and his ideas from Loomer and other MAGA critics.

“There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” Musk posted on X on Christmas Day, calling it “the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Musk later claimed that“America will LOSE” without more high-skilled immigrants.

The debate over high-tech immigration is not new —Republicans and Democrats have repeatedly tried to pass laws making it easier for foreign experts to work in the U.S.,most recently in 2022. But anti-immigrant sentiment and concerns about weakening a comprehensive immigration package with a high-skilled carve-out always sunk their plans.

Now the long-stymied effort is getting new life from Musk, Sacks, Krishnan and other tech leaders advising Trump as he prepares to take office. The tech lobby sees an opening and is pressing its advantage. And GOP lawmakers — even some immigration hawks — interviewed on Capitol Hill say Congressshould consider letting foreign-born students who earn advanced STEM degrees stay in the country after graduation.

“Every Ph.D. in a STEM field that is awarded by an American university should come with a green card,” said Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), co-chair of the House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, in a recent interview. He added that the issue “is something that Congress should look at.”

Obernolte said more foreign tech experts are needed to compete with China on AI. Despite his support for laws cracking down on immigration, he said immigrants “have proven throughout U.S. history the impact that they can have on the U.S. economy.”

The online fight reflects a key point of tension in today’sRepublican Party, though some of its most fierce immigration opponents appeared to stay outof the holiday week fracas. Stephen Miller, Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, worked during Trump’s first term to slash the number of green cards and skilled visas issued or extended. Dan Stein, president of the conservative Federation for American Immigration Reform,has told POLITICO that tech lobbyists expecting to get what they want on foreign visas “are in for a big surprise.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/musk-ascendant-congress-eyes-path-193600294.html

>>22243140

2/3

But Trump appears open to high-skilled immigration increases. In June, he told venture capitalists he’d support giving green cards to foreign graduates of U.S. universities.

Several elected Republicans agreed that the U.S. needs more foreign tech experts to stay competitive. And others sounded less skeptical about high-skilled immigrants, now that Musk — who was born in South Africa — and other right-leaning tech tycoons have weighed in.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters in mid-December that he’s likely to talk with Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the committee’s top Democrat, about ways to increase the number of “engineers and the professional-type people that are trying to get into the United States.”

“We've talked about expanding that number,” said Grassley, who has blocked previous efforts to boost the number of foreign STEM experts, though he also said he still sees things that are “wrong with it.”

Musk’s influence could prove key to swaying Grassley and other GOP fence-sitters. The tech billionaire’s constellation of companies rely on foreign-born talent, and his lightning takedown of a bipartisan government funding bill suggests he is already adept at getting what he wants out of Republicans in Congress.

Tech companies have long pressed Washington to expand access to high-skilled H-1B visas and green cards. Their lobbyists now see new opportunities to advance the issue by leveraging the sway of tech billionaires over the GOP. John Neuffer, president and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, told POLITICO that Musk and other Silicon Valley leaders could create “an opportunity to reset the debate in a way that may be fruitful in terms of high-skilled immigration.”

“New personalities that come out of tech could augur well for the conversation,” Neuffer said.

Still, success is not guaranteed. Trump’s election was powered in large part by anti-immigrant sentiment, and advocates of more foreign-born experts acknowledge they must pull off a tough balancing act.

“The money is on the side of the big tech firms and the tech entrepreneurs,” Foster told POLITICO. “To the extent that the [Trump] administration dances to that tune, the answer is clear.”

Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), a member of the Senate’s four-person AI working group and a longtime proponent of high-skilled immigrants, said Congress can do two things at once: crack down on illegal immigration while also clearing new pathways for foreign STEM professionals.

Young waved off questions about the powerful anti-immigrant current in his party, instead noting that Musk himself is an immigrant.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/musk-ascendant-congress-eyes-path-193600294.html

>>22243149

3/3

“America has benefited from Elon Musk and his amazing contributions to our economy,” Young told POLITICO. “He’s the object lesson on how high-skilled immigration can benefit our country, if done right.”

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), a longtime proponent of increases to high-skilled immigration, said he’s been “waiting for the stars to align” — and that Silicon Valley’s rising influence on the GOP may be what’s needed to break the logjam and defeat the restrictionists.

Durbin shared some of that optimism but also sounded a note of doubt, saying in an interview that “there are some political forces in the MAGA world who don't want a single new immigrant doing anything, period.”

It’s not clear which side will prevail. Many of Trump’s most ardent backers claim high-skilled immigrants depress wages and take jobs from native-born Americans. And while Trump recently expressed support for letting STEM students stay stateside, he said similar things in his first term even as his administration made things harder for skilled foreign workers.

The tension is likely to at least slow any high-tech immigration fixes on Capitol Hill. While Republican lawmakers on key committees now express some openness to reform, they’re wary of moving too fast and getting crosswise with a GOP base eager for a border crackdown.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over immigration policy, said winning the AI race “includes Americans who went to school and got the same degree” as STEM immigrants. But Jordan, a longtime admirer of Musk, said he’s happy to work with the tech billionaire on the issue — after the border is locked down.

“President Trump and Mr. Musk, if they’re open to other things, we’ll look at those,” Jordan told reporters. “But we got to secure the border first. That’s where the country’s at. The sequence matters a lot.”

Young agreed with Jordan’s sequencing. But the senator told POLITICO it may take only “a matter of weeks” for Congress to “put in motion a lot of the border security promises that have been made.”

“Then you'll start to hear from people who recognize that we need to increase our rate of growth, and that this is one sensible, possible way to do that,” Young said.

One sign of change could be Grassley. In 2022, he helped block a bipartisan deal in the CHIPS and Science Act that would have lifted green card caps for foreign nationals. At the time, he said a carveout would weaken a comprehensive package. But the incoming Judiciary chair recently admitted “it’s difficult to get a comprehensive immigration bill” — before adding he’s in no hurry to fix things solely for high-skilled workers.

“Why don't you ask me that in a month?” he said to POLITICO in late December.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the House Science Committee and one of two members representing Silicon Valley, was a key driver of the 2022 deal killed by Grassley — an experience that has made her cynical about future efforts, even with Musk in her corner.

“Whenever you try to do anything on immigration, right-wing, anti-immigrant forces take out radio ads and trash Republicans with them back home,” Lofgren told POLITICO.

“I believe that Jay Obernolte is sincerely expressing his views. I don't question that,” Lofgren said. “I just — having seen this show before, I’m skeptical."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/musk-ascendant-congress-eyes-path-193600294.html

Mexico tests cellphone app allowing migrants to send alert if they are about to be detained in US

EST, Fri December 27, 2024 Source: AP

Mexico is developing a cellphone app that will allow migrants to warn relatives and local consulates if they think they are about to be detainedby the U.S. immigration department, a senior official said Friday.

The move is in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to carry out mass deportations after he takes office on Jan. 20.

The app has been rolled out for small-scale testing and “appears to be working very well,” said Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico’s secretary of foreign affairs.

He said the app would allow users to press a tab that would send an alert notification to previously chosen relatives and the nearest Mexican consulate.De la Fuente described it as a sort of panic button.

“In case you find yourself in a situation where detention is imminent, you push the alert button, and that sends a signal to the nearest consulate,” he said.

U.S. authorities are obliged to give notice to home-country consulates when a foreign citizen is detained.Mexico says it has beefed up consular staff and legal aidto help migrants in the legal process related to deportation.

De la Fuente expects the app to be rolled out in January. He didn’t say whether the app has a de-activation tab that would allow someone to rescind an alert if they weren’t really detained.

The government says it has also set up a call centerstaffed 24 hours a day to answer migrants’ questions.

The Mexican government estimates there are 11.5 million migrants with some form of legal residency in the United States,and 4.8 million without legal residency or proper documents.(Bullshit)

(Do they have NGO's lined up to represent with lawyers, to sue the US? this sounds like all the details are not here.)

https://lite.cnn.com/2024/12/27/americas/mexico-cellphone-app-deportations-intl-latam/index.html

California appeals court overturns ex-NFL star Dana Stubblefield’s rape conviction

A California appellate court has overturned the rape conviction of former San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield –finding it “legally invalid” – on the grounds of racial bias.

On Thursday, the Santa Clara County Sixth District Court of Appeal vacated the former NFL star’s conviction and prison sentence, saying that the prosecution’s statements during the trial “constituted ‘racially discriminatory language about’ Stubblefield’s race” and violated the California Racial Justice Act of 2020,which makes it illegal to obtain a conviction “on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin.”

In 2020, Stubblefield was sentenced to 15 to years to life after a jury found himguilty of rape by force using a firearm, oral copulation by force and false imprisonmentafter prosecutors said he had lured anintellectually disabled womanto his home in April 2015 with the promise of a babysitting job.

During the trial, the prosecution had alleged that Stubblefield had threatened the woman with a handgun. In closing arguments, which were made eight weeks after George Floyd was murdered by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, aprosecutor said police had not searched Stubblefield’s house after the woman reported the incident, based partly on the fact that he was a famous Black man and doing so would have caused “a storm of controversy,” according to a court filing.

Following the conviction in 2020, Allen Sawyer, one of Stubblefield’s trial attorneys, told CNN he “firmly believe(d)” his client is innocent.

In its Thursday opinion overturning the conviction, the appeals court wrote:“The statement implied the house might have been searched and a gun found had Stubblefield not been Black, and that Stubblefield therefore gained an undeserved advantage at trial because he was a Black man.

“Second, the claim that a search would ‘open up a storm of controversy’ implicitly referenced the eventsthat followed George Floyd’s then-recent killing, appealing to racially biased perceptions of those events and associating Stubblefield with them based on his race,” it added.

CNN has contacted the California Attorney General’s office for comment.

In a statement to CNN, Stubblefield’s lawyer, Joseph Doyle, said, “We’re all tremendously grateful for the court’s decision and for what this means for Mr. Stubblefield and his family. This reversal is a significant development forthose facing potential racial bias in the legal system, and the court’s thorough and considered opinion demonstrates a commitment to addressing these complex issues.The opinion also sets a strong precedent for future cases.

“Unfortunately for Mr. Stubblefield, the racial undertones in the case were just one of many problems with his conviction. There was also a tremendous amount of evidence that was excluded at Mr. Stubblefield’s trial that would have fundamentally altered the prosecution’s narrative. But we look forward to righting those wrongs when we get back to the trial court.”

In an interview with the Bay Area News Group, Sawyer said Thursday, “We’re over the moon. We knew from the day we stepped out of this courtroom when the jury came back, that this was not over, that this would not stand.”

Sawyer also told the news outlet: “The context of this case was so unfair, layers upon layers, but we’re happy, and we can’t wait to get Dana out of custody. We expect that to happen soon.”

=lThe Santa Clara County District Attorney will decide whether there will be a retrial, though there is no timeline for a decision. When reached by CNN for comment, the county District Attorney’s office said it was “studying the opinion.”

(https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/27/sport/dana-stubblefield-rape-conviction-overturned-spt-intl/index.html

(Knowing Kamala was AG, it gives a felling maybe the AG wasn't truthful or used tricked; but didn't they collect a rape kit? That's not mentioned. Because the AG saying "he was a black man, that's why police didn't investigate his home", doesn't sound racist, the police admitted because he was a black man they didn't.This is fucked up. Once again, what about the victim?)

>>22243328

I'm sure this law will only be used if the suspect are black, brown or hispanic. Typical CA law, don't protect white people only the ones that overwhelmingly commit the crimes!

"California Racial Justice Act of 2020,which makes it illegal to obtain a conviction “on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin.”