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Massive group of migrants hits Texas border as end of Title 42 looms

Source image: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/massive-group-migrants-hits-texas-border-end-title-42-looms

A massive group of hundreds of illegal immigrants hit just one part of the southern border early Saturday, as agents face tens of thousands of illegal crossings each month — and as the end of Title 42 authorities to expel migrants is just weeks away.

Fox News drone cameras showed the group of several hundred migrants who crossed and turned themselves in to Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass, Texas on Saturday morning.

A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) source told Fox News that there have been over 72,000 illegal crossings in the Del Rio Sector, where Eagle Pass is located, since the beginning of October when Fiscal Year 2022 began. There have been over 1,400 illegal crossings in the last 24 hours alone.

The southern border has been hit by a massive surge in illegal crossings since early 2021. There were more than 1.7 million migrant encounters in FY 2021 and that number jumped to over 2.3 million last fiscal year. 

MAYORKAS MAINTAINS DHS HAS A PLAN FOR TITLE 42’S END, DESPITE FEARS OF A NEW MIGRANT WAVE AT SOUTHERN BORDER 

This week, Customs and Border Protection announced that there had been more than 230,000 encounters in October, up from more than 164,000 last October. The Biden administration has said that the border is “secure” and “closed” and has emphasized a response based on opening legal asylum pathways, targeting smugglers and combating “root causes” like poverty, violence and climate change.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told lawmakers this week that the crisis was not just limited to the U.S. border.

“The entire hemisphere is suffering a migration crisis. We are seeing an unprecedented movement of people from country to country. It is not restricted to the southern border,” Mayorkas said at a Senate hearing.

Republicans, meanwhile, have blamed the Biden administration for its border policies, including ending Trump-era border security systems and narrowing interior enforcement — which they say have encouraged migrants to make the journey north. Some border states have taken matters into their own hands. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this week declared an “invasion” at the border, a move he said gives Texas law enforcement the ability to return illegal immigrants.  

FEDERAL COURT DELAYS END OF TITLE 42 BORDER POLICY UNTIL DECEMBER AMID FEARS OF MIGRANT SURGE 

Nov 19, 2022: A massive group of migrants in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Nov 19, 2022: A massive group of migrants in Eagle Pass, Texas.
(Fox News)

The new groups of migrants come days after a federal judge ruled that the use of Title 42 to expel migrants is unlawful and has ordered the government to wind down the use of the public health order — first implemented in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Biden administration sought, and was granted, a five-week delay to implement its plan for a post-Title 42 border situation. The Trump-era order has been used to expel a majority of migrants at the border and the Biden administration last month expanded its use to include Venezuelan nationals.

Border Patrol sources have told Fox News that they fear the ending of the expulsions will lead to a fresh wave of migrants trying to get into the U.S. on the belief that they are now less likely to be removed. 

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But DHS has said its plan includes the greater use of other removal authorities such as expedited removal and has warned potential migrants that they will not be let in.

“People should not listen to the lies by smugglers who will take advantage of vulnerable migrants, putting lives at risk. The border is closed, and we will continue to fully enforce our immigration laws at the border,” DHS said in a statement.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/massive-group-migrants-hits-texas-border-end-title-42-looms

Politics

Biden vetoes bill cancelling his $400 billion student loan handout, vows he’s ‘not going to back down’

President Biden on Wednesday vetoed the bill that would have scrapped his $400 billion student loan handout and vowed he wasn’t “going to back down” when it came to forgiving the college debt of millions across the country.

“Folks, Republican in Congress led an effort to pass a bill blocking my administration’s plan to provide up to $10,000 in student debt relief and up to $20,000 for borrowers that received a Pell Grant. Nearly 90% of those relief dollars go to people making less than $75,000 a year,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter

“I’m not going to back down on my efforts to help tens of millions of working and middle class families. That’s why I’m going to veto this bill,” he said. 

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Amid his railing against Republicans, Biden made no mention of the two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., who joined all Republicans in voting to advance the bill last week. Independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema also voted in favor with the final tally coming to 52-46.

Biden also made no mention of Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., who joined Republicans in voting for the bill in the House of Representatives. The final House vote tally was 218-203.

The president went on to say that some of the members who voted for the bill had “personally received loans to keep their small business afloat during the pandemic,” and supported “huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.” 

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President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden speaks ahead of vetoing a bill scrapping his $400 billion student loan handout on June 7, 2023 in the Oval Office. (White House)

“But when it comes to hardworking Americans trying to get ahead, dealing with student debt relief, that’s where they drew the line. I think it’s wrong,” he said.

“Let me make something really clear, I’m never going to apologize for helping working and middle class Americans as they recover from this pandemic. Never,” he added before signing his veto of the bill.

Biden’s veto of the bill marks his fifth veto since taking office.

Under the program announced last year, Biden said he would cancel up to $10,000 in student loans for people making less than $125,000, and up to $20,000 for students who received Pell Grants. That program was expected to cost the government more than $400 billion in lost debt repayment, but the program was put on hold after a court blocked it.

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US Capitol Washington DC

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

The resolution approved by the House and Senate was written under the Congressional Review Act, which lets Congress reject an executive branch policy as long as both the House and Senate pass a resolution disapproving of that policy.

Given the mostly partisan nature of the votes in the House and Senate, it’s unlikely Congress will be able to find the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to override Biden’s veto.

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Fox News’ Peter Kasperowicz contributed to this report.

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Politics

Michigan man pleads guilty to assisting Whitmer kidnapping scheme

A man accused of aiding a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor pleaded guilty Wednesday, the ninth conviction in state and federal courts since agents broke up an astonishing scheme by anti-government rebels in 2020.

Shawn Fix said he provided material support for an act of terrorism, namely the strategy to snatch Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home in Antrim County. Prosecutors agreed to drop a weapon charge.

Fix trained with a militia, the Wolverine Watchmen, for “politically motivated violence,” prosecutors have said, and hosted a five-hour meeting at his Belleville home where there was much discussion about kidnapping Whitmer.

MICHIGAN MAN CHARGED WITH AIDING WHITMER KIDNAPPING PLOT TO CHANGE PLEA

Fix, 40, acknowledged helping plot leader Adam Fox pinpoint the location of Whitmer’s home, key information that was used for a 2020 ride to find the property in northern Michigan.

“Guilty,” Fix told the judge.

Shawn Fix

Shawn Fix has pleaded guilty to his role in the planned kidnapping of Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (AP Photo/John Flesher)

He appeared in an Antrim County court, one of five people charged in that leg of the investigation. A co-defendant pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in March, leaving three other men to face trial in August.

Fix, who faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, agreed to testify if called by prosecutors.

The main kidnapping conspiracy case was handled in federal court, where four men, including ringleaders Fox and Barry Croft Jr., were convicted. Two others were acquitted.

WISCONSIN MAN CHARGED IN WHITMER KIDNAPPING PLOT TO CHANGE PLEA

Separately, three men were convicted at trial in Jackson County, the site of militia training, and are serving long prison terms.

Whitmer, a Democrat, was targeted as part of a broad effort by anti-government extremists to trigger a civil war around the time of the 2020 presidential election, investigators said. Her COVID-19 policies, which shut down schools and restricted the economy, were deeply scorned by foes.

But informants and undercover FBI agents were inside the group for months, leading to arrests in October 2020. Whitmer was not physically harmed.

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After the plot was thwarted, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had given “comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.” Last August, after 19 months out of office, Trump called the kidnapping plan a “fake deal.”

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Politics

Utah Rep. Chris Stewart to step down from Congress in September

U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, on Wednesday officially submitted his letter of resignation from Congress. 

In a letter to Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox, Stewart said he would be stepping down as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives effective Sept. 15. 

Utah Rep. Chris Stewart addresses supporters at an election night party

FILE: Utah Rep. Chris Stewart talks to supporters during an Utah Republican election night party on June 28, 2022, in South Jordan, Utah.  (Photo/George Frey, File)

“It has been one of the great honors of my life to serve the good people of Utah in Congress,” Stewart said.

Stewart, a six-term lawmaker, announced his plans to leave Congress last month due to his wife’s illness. 

His resignation would leave open a Republican seat on the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees — and reduce an already narrow GOP majority to just four seats.

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Utah law states that the governor must call for a special election in the event of a House vacancy. Once Stewart makes his resignation official, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox will have seven days to set the time for a primary and special election. 

The law requires those dates to be the same as municipal primary and general elections scheduled for this year, unless the state legislature appropriates funds to hold a separate election.

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Though Stewart’s departure will mean one less Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, it is not expected to affect House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ability to steer a tight Republican majority. 

The district is reliably Republican and Stewart defeated a Democratic challenger by more than 30 percentage points in 2022.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report. 

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