TikTok in the news.

Qdelta: Tick Tock

Excerpt from 1961 documentary on LA wildires. Democrats have known about the issues for decades.

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1880742300596437238

Massachusetts migrants taking shelter beds from taxpayers, allowed in with no vetting: former director

A former migrant shelter director in Massachusetts described the chaos he saw under the state's right-to-shelter laws, saying that the influx of illegal immigrants has clogged the state's infrastructure and that there is virtually no vetting for the surge of border crossers.

Massachusetts spent nearly $1.1 billion of taxpayers' money this fiscal year to house and feed migrants streaming into the state, often in hotels that have been converted to shelters. However, taxpayers have at times found themselves boxed out of shelters as immigrants have crowded the system and taken priority, said Jon Fetherston, who acted as a migrant shelter director at the Marlborough Holiday Inn between November 2023 and July of last year.

Under its right-to-shelter law, established in 1983, the state must provide housing for displaced families and pregnant women. In 2023, the state's shelters reached their capacity of 7,500 enrolled families – yet migrants continue to use Massachusetts' programs.

Fetherston previously detailed the repeated violent incidents and mistreatment of children he saw during his tenure – and decried a lack of consequences for their perpetrators.

In light of a man from the Dominican Republic, who was accused of possessing an AR-15 and $1 million worth of fentanyl in a state-subsidized room last month in Revere, Fetherston explained the vetting process – or lack thereof – in an interview with Fox News Digital.

Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, 28, was arrested on Dec. 27 after his girlfriend called Revere police to report that he had drugs and a long, black gun hidden under a pink suitcase in their hotel room. The woman told police that she had been living at the Quality Inn for three months and that she and Sanchez had obtained the room through a refugee program.

"I worked in that shelter for a very limited time," Fetherston told Fox News Digital. "You can't hide an AR-15 in that room. You cannot hide drugs in that room. The rooms are not big… the case manager there should have been standing up… there should have been red flags… to say 'Hey, listen, this guy's not attending those meetings. This guy is blowing off housekeeping.'"

Fetherston said that the incident was just another example of a lack of security and vetting at the state's strained migrant facilities.

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, which oversees the state's shelter program, told Fox News Digital that it has security guards at every facility and conducts warrant checks every 30 days. However, Fetherston did not see that activity during his tenure.

"I will tell you that all the shelters that I've either worked in and volunteered [at] do have a form of security. But… it's really basically somebody sitting at the desk – no better than you would have in a corporate office park… it's certainly not the level of security that you need in these shelters… I never saw anybody come in and do a warrant check."

Staff at the shelters were primarily chosen because of the languages they spoke rather than any kind of experience, he said.

"You hire people just because they can speak the language that you need, being either Haitian or, you know, Portuguese or Spanish. So you're not necessarily hiring a qualified caseworker or mental health advocate or somebody who's been experienced in navigating these things, because those people don't exist," he said.

"A lot of times… the case managers became sympathetic to their fellow countrymen when they taught them how to navigate the system and not always in the most ethical ways. And that's where the chaos came down."

Meanwhile, he said, there was "a tremendous amount of domestic violence… a tremendous amount of violence towards children [and] a tremendous amount of violence towards other countrymen."

Fetherston said residents' alleged friends and relatives would constantly cycle through the facility where he worked. Despite policies about residents coming through security, staffing was stretched so thin that actually keeping track of who was coming in and out was near impossible.

"[The Revere arrest] touch[es] the hot point [for me] from day three, maybe, of me being in the shelter," Fetherston said. "'Who's that?… I didn't check them in. I didn't see them when they came in. Who were they?… How did this guy get past?' 'Well, that's so-and-so's uncle.'"

Oftentimes, he said, families would "disappear" – housekeeping would report that a family had not been in their room for three or four days. He would get calls about residents showing up at the facility, and they would never arrive, or a person whose ID did not match at all would show up.

Since a ruling handed down by the Supreme Court in November of last year, after Fetherston left the shelter, shelters are not allowed to ask families for identification or documents when they are applying for its short-term shelter program.

This distinction, he said, makes Democratic Gov. Maura Healey's recent call to further vet emergency shelter residents to ensure that they are in the U.S. legally, with rare exceptions, impossible.

"I believe these changes are appropriate and needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the state shelter system in a way that aligns with the original intent of the law," Healey said in a statement. "In addition, these proposed changes will allow us to continue to ensure the safety of our system, support cities and towns in addressing the needs of unhoused families in their communities and put us on the path toward a more fiscally sustainable shelter system."

"She can say she will increase vetting, but how do you vet someone who has no ID? She also wants migrants to self-identify if they have committed crimes in the past – that's not going to happen," Fetherston said.

"She is saying this now, in an attempt to get [this] out of the news, and then have someone to blame when the reform doesn't happen," Fetherston said.

Healey's office could not be reached for comment at press time.

Fetherston said he has had to turn away American citizens who had fallen on hard times amid the chaos at the state's migrant shelters.

"I would have veterans walk up to the shelter, [saying] ‘I am a Vietnam veteran, I just need a room for tonight.’ And I would say, ‘I’m sorry. This is for migrants. All the public is not allowed. This is for migrants only,'" he recalled.

"I wasn't always able to find, you know, a homeless veteran a place on a cold night. But we've got migrants," he continued. "And once again, I don't blame them living in a shelter where everything's free for three free meals, free dry cleaning, free Ubers, has a roof over your head, free health care. And I'm sending a decorated veteran out into the cold. At least half a dozen times I had to do that."

He also said that, although there are technically limitations to how long one can stay in the state's shelters, they are not always enforced, and spots for citizens in need are not made available.

"You can't blame the people who stepped up and tried to do their job. You have to blame the system and the person running the system for not putting checks and balances," Fetherston said. "The governor had no plan and she just wanted to get these shelters open… Nobody specializes in this – Massachusetts is the only state in the entire nation that has the right to shelter. So it's fair to say, well, they didn't have qualified people. Well, nobody's qualified for this because nobody's ever had to experience this."

https://www.foxnews.com/us/massachusetts-migrants-taking-shelter-beds-from-taxpayers-allowed-no-vetting-former-director

Orange County democrat charged with election fraud

Alyce Van, who was defeated for re-election to the Stanton City Council in November, has been charged with multiple felonies related to her seeking re-election in a council district in which she did not live.

“Hong Alyce Van, 40, of Anaheim, has been charged with one felony count of perjury, one felony count of offering a false or forged document to be filed, registered, or recorded, one felony count of filing false nomination papers, and one felony account of not being entitled to vote at an election,” the Orange County District Attorney’s office announced in a press release today.

“The integrity of our elections will be safeguarded and political candidates who lie and cheat the system in order to get elected will be prosecuted,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “These are not mistakes. These are deliberate decisions to interfere with our democratic process and they will not be tolerated.”

Last summer, OC Independent investigated allegations that Van was seeking re-election in District 2 when she actually lived in District 4.

No other media outlet reported on the issue.

Van, a Democrat, was overwhelmingly defeated for re-election from District 2 by city Parks Commissioner Victor Barrios.

From the OCDA’s statement:

“Van was elected in November 2020 to represent Stanton’s City Council District #2, but less than a year after her election Van is accused of purchasing a home in Stanton City Council District #4 with her husband and son. Despite no longer living in her district, Van did not resign as required by law and continued to serve as the District #2 City Councilmember. Van did not sell her home in District #2, which was located next to the home where her parents live and allowed other family members to live in her former home.”

“While serving on the City Council, Van is accused of leaving her home located in Stanton City Council District #4, driving to her former residence in Stanton City Council District #2, and then walking to Stanton City Hall to attend City Council meetings.”

“On July 23, 2024, Van submitted an Affidavit of Nominee, which she signed under penalty of perjury, to run for re-election for Stanton City Council District #2, despite the fact that she no longer lived in the district and was therefore ineligible to run for the City Council seat.”

“Van’s voter registration continued to list her former District #2 address after she moved and she illegally cast her vote in the November 2024 election while being registered at her former address.”

These facts track with what the OC Independent found during our own investigation into the matter last summer, which you can read about here.

Van will be arraigned on January 29, 2025, at the Stephen K. Tamura Justice Center in Westminster in Department W12, and faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison if convicted on all counts.

https://ocindependent.com/2025/01/former-stanton-councilwoman-alyce-van-charged-with-multiple-felonies-related-to-running-in-district-she-didnt-live-in/

Karoline Leavitt

@karolineleavitt

NYT POLL: “A vast majority of Americans — 87 percent — support deporting undocumented immigrants with a criminal record, which Mr. Trump has said would be one of the first orders of business he carries out."

https://x.com/karolineleavitt/status/1880634439585395196

Laken Riley immigration bill clears Senate filibuster with 61 votes; 10 Democrats plus Fetterman join republicans

The Senate voted Friday to advance the Laken Riley Act, putting Republicans a step closer to sending the first bill of the 119th Congress to President-elect Trump for his signature next week and giving him an early win on one of his key issues.

Senators voted 61-35 to end debate on the bill, with 10 Democrats voting with every Republican; 60 votes were needed.

Democrats who voted “aye” were Sens. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Mark Warner (Va.) and Elissa Slotkin (Mich.). Gallego and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who did not vote, were co-sponsors of the legislation.

The vote tees up final passage of the immigration-related bill in the upper chamber early next week. It will need to head to the House for approval once again before Trump can sign it.

The legislation would mandate federal detention of immigrants without legal status who are accused of theft, burglary and assaulting a law enforcement officer, among other things.

“This bill is a small but critical step to resolving the Biden border crisis — the first of many I might add,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said on the floor Friday morning ahead of the vote.

The bill is named after Laken Riley, a Georgia college student who was killed almost a year ago by a Venezuelan migrant who had been arrested for shoplifting ahead of the attack and paroled in the U.S.

A pair of procedural votes earlier this week were overwhelmingly backed by Democrats; 48 Democrats also voted to pass the bill in the House earlier this month.

However, while a number of those Democrats have said they would support final passage of the bill, others said they were only voting to open debate to facilitate an amendment process.

Friday’s vote was not nearly as large, after that amendment process did not bear the kind of fruit Democrats had hoped for.

The upper chamber only voted on two amendments, one of which — proposed by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) that added the assault of a law enforcement officer provision — was adopted.

The other — offered by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and defeated along party lines — would have nixed part of the bill that hands state attorneys general authority to sue federal immigration officials over detentions.

Democrats raised numerous concerns about the bill in recent weeks, including the lack of funds available to deal with the detainments that will result from the bill. The Department of Homeland Security estimated it would cost nearly $27 billion to implement the law during the first year and that it “would be impossible for [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to execute within existing resources.”

Other worries stem from the detainment of migrants upon arrest rather than conviction, and the issue surrounding state attorneys general that Coons’s amendment would have addressed.

Ahead of Friday’s cloture vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who had earlier voted to open debate on the bill, lamented that more amendment votes were not brought to the floor.

“We voted on two amendments … and no more,” Schumer said. “Unfortunately without more changes … to address deficiencies, I’ll be voting ‘no.’”

“While I do not support this particular bill, I stand ready to work with both sides to pass smart, effective, tough and commonsense legislation to secure our borders and reform our immigration system,” Schumer added.

A number of Democrats voted for the bill only months after the party was decimated at the ballot box, with border security and immigration playing a key role as Republicans repeatedly panned Democrats for being too soft on those issues.

Democrats tried to blame Republicans for problems at the border for much of last year, especially after Trump and conservatives tanked a bipartisan border package. That argument, however, did not stick, as record crossings remained tethered to the Biden administration.

“Unfortunately, it seems that even a simple and straightforward bill to detain criminal illegal immigrants is too much for some on the left,” Thune said. “Some of our Democrat colleagues have been searching for a reason — any reason — to justify voting against this bill.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5091435-senate-advances-laken-riley-act/amp/

Thune gets his first big win

Senate Majority Leader John Thune notched his first big win Friday by clearing the filibuster on the Laken Riley Act. It'll almost certainly pass Monday with ease.

Why it matters: It's a specific, popular, bipartisan bill. But it also hands Thune a chance to prove he's serious about promises made during the GOP leadership election.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told Axios: "What we can feel good about is we're having a lot more conversations about what we're doing." Scott ran against Thune for leader.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told Axios that Thune "says what he means and means what he says when he talks about having a more open amendment process." Lee wants a more open process and backed Scott in November.

Zoom in: Thune spent days haggling with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over the bill, which requires ICE to detain immigrants charged with or convicted of theft.

-Thune and Schumer agreed Wednesday to allow two votes on amendments. One passed, which would require ICE to detain immigrants who attack law enforcement.

-Senators will vote Monday on another amendment from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) that would add to the detention list immigrants who commit crimes resulting in death or bodily injury. It's likely to pass.

-Because of the change, the House will have to pass the bill again before it reaches President-elect Trump's desk.

Zoom out: Nearly a quarter of Senate Dems proved they're willing to help break a filibuster for GOP priorities.

-Schumer privately told Democrats they were free to engage with the GOP on the bill, before he publicly opposed it once it was clear that substantive changes weren't happening.

-His defectors included new Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.

-Schumer also lost Georgia's Jon Ossoff, Arizona's Mark Kelly, Michigan's Gary Peters, Nevada's Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, and New Hampshire's Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen.

https://www.axios.com/2025/01/17/thune-gets-his-first-big-win

Trump to Begin Large-Scale Deportations Tuesday

The incoming Trump administration is planning a large-scale immigration raid in Chicago next week, according to four people familiar with the planning, the first move in President-elect Donald Trump’s promised mass deportation campaign.

The raid is expected to begin on Tuesday morning, a day after Trump is inaugurated, and will last all week, the people said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will send between 100 and 200 officers to carry out the operation.

Trump ran for president on a bold promise: to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history.

The Trump team intends to target immigrants in the country illegally with criminal backgrounds—many of whose offenses, like driving violations, made them too minor for the Biden administration to pursue. But, the people cautioned, if anyone else in the country illegally is present during an arrest, they will be taken, too.

The transition team had been contemplating cities to target in a day-one operation as a way of making an example of so-called sanctuary cities, which adopt policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. They settled on Chicago both because of the large number of immigrants who could be possible targets and because of the Trump team’s high-profile feud with the city’s Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Though it isn’t clear how many people the operation will actually target, Trump’s team is planning to work with several right-leaning media outlets to amplify its efforts.

Tom Homan, the administration’s incoming border czar, appeared to preview the operation during a visit to Chicago last month.

“We’re going to start right here in Chicago, Illinois,” Homan said at a holiday party on Chicago’s North Side. “And if the Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, he can step aside. But if he impedes us, if he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien, I will prosecute him.”

In response to Homan’s comments at the time, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said “I’m going to make sure to follow the law. I’m concerned that the Trump administration and his lackeys aren’t going to follow the law.”

The Trump transition team and ICE didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Friday, nor did representatives for Pritzker or Johnson.

Large immigrant centers, such as New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Miami, are also in the incoming administration’s sights, and more targeted raids could come. To help carry them out, the Trump team is weighing a broad mix of changes to give sheriffs more power, with rewards for jurisdictions that cooperate, and financial penalties against those that hold out, people involved in the planning said previously. Homan, for example, has publicly threatened to throw the mayor of Denver—who has loudly protested Trump’s immigration plans—in jail.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that local officials in 2020 banned cooperation with federal immigration authorities, who are prohibited from using county property, databases and personnel without a federal warrant. “We are here to protect the communities we serve, not to enforce immigration laws,” the department said.

Trump’s advisers have said they intend to penalize sanctuary cities by cutting off what could amount to billions of dollars in federal grants to them.

With Trump’s inauguration looming, rumors spread on social media in recent days of coming ICE raids. One organization, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said it has conducted more than 140 workshops since the election informing immigrants of their rights, legal resources and how to respond if approached by ICE agents.

“If the intent is to instill a sense of terror and persecution, that’s what the Trump administration is doing very well,” CHIRLA spokesman Jorge-Mario Cabrera said.

With the American population aging, the U.S. economy has become increasingly dependent on immigrant labor, particularly in the food, construction and service industries

Since the end of 2020, some 10 million people have migrated to the U.S., after subtracting those who left, including those who came both legally and illegally. The arrivals have eased labor shortages and helped propel faster economic growth.

Economists and business leaders say deportations on the scale Trump has suggested would amount to a shock to the economy, hitting crucial industries with labor shortages.

Many voters felt President Biden’s border policies strained towns and schools across the country. In the November election, immigration was a top concern for voters, with only the economy a bigger worry, polls showed.

Chicago became a political flashpoint during Biden’s presidency, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started sending busloads of migrants seeking asylum at the southern border to Chicago and other northern cities. Since August 2022, more than 51,000 migrants have arrived, according to Chicago city figures.

Fasika Alem, program director of the United African Organization in Chicago, said her group and others have mobilized to ensure that people they work with know their rights and have plans for someone to watch their children if they become separated.

“We are preparing our community to be ready,” she said. “That’s how we’re framing it.”

The Chicago Police Department referred any questions about pending immigration enforcement actions to the federal government.

CPD, in a statement, cited Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, under which the department “does not document immigration status”—or share information with federal immigration authorities. “We will not intervene or interfere with any other government agencies performing their duties,” it added.

https://archive.is/VfA92#selection-5885.0-5991.294

Attorney General Merrick Garland has left the Department of Justice building for the last time

https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1880381333710811487