1 00:00:16,519 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: And we are back with another edition of the Federalist 2 00:00:19,399 --> 00:00:23,000 Radio Hour. I'm Matt Kittle, Senior Elections correspondent at the 3 00:00:23,039 --> 00:00:27,800 Federalist and your experienced Shirpa on today's quest for Knowledge. 4 00:00:28,239 --> 00:00:31,039 As always, you can email the show at radio at 5 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:36,079 the Federalist dot com, follow us on x at FDRLST, 6 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,799 make sure to subscribe wherever you download your podcast, and 7 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,679 of course to the premium version of our website as well. 8 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,679 Our guest today is Ira Melman with the Federation for 9 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:52,079 American Immigration Reform FAIR. They have done excellent work over 10 00:00:52,119 --> 00:00:56,119 the years and tracking the real numbers behind the immigration 11 00:00:56,359 --> 00:01:01,679 problem in America. Our broken immigration system now for several years, 12 00:01:01,799 --> 00:01:06,840 are very broken border. I rejoins us to talk about 13 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:13,120 how to fix that immigration mess the Biden administration has wrought. 14 00:01:13,599 --> 00:01:15,560 Thank you, sir for joining us on this edition of 15 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,760 the Federalist Radio Hour. Thank you for having me. Can 16 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:23,719 I ask you this question? Since it is the holiday season? Really, 17 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,200 can we have samee immigration for Christmas? Is that too 18 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:29,959 much to ask Santa this year? 19 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:32,519 Speaker 2: You know, I think it is coming. It may be 20 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,159 a little bit after Christmas, but I think the American 21 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,200 public last month decided that enough was enough that the 22 00:01:39,239 --> 00:01:42,760 craziness needs to stop. That the immigration policies of this 23 00:01:42,799 --> 00:01:46,480 country are not serving any identifiable public needs. In fact, 24 00:01:46,519 --> 00:01:50,040 it's quite the opposite. It is undermining the vital interests 25 00:01:50,079 --> 00:01:52,640 of the best majority of the American people. And they 26 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,359 voted for change. And you know it has been promised 27 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:59,000 to us. We'll see come January twentieth, if it's delivered 28 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:04,000 on All politicians have a habit of kind of backsliding 29 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,159 once they take office, but we're going to hold them accountable, 30 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,840 just as we've been holding the Biden Harris administration accountable. 31 00:02:11,319 --> 00:02:14,199 Hopefully we won't have to. You know, you have people 32 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,280 like come home and in the new administration, there's a 33 00:02:17,319 --> 00:02:19,599 guy who says what he means and means what he says, 34 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,599 and you know, we are hoping that come January twentieth, 35 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:23,639 he will get to work. 36 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: You know, you say that, you talk about backsliding, I 37 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:32,280 don't see that with the incoming administration. I think President Trump. 38 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,120 President Trump, the forty fifth president of the United States 39 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,479 and the forty seventh president of the United States. I 40 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:44,159 think he's learned a lot over the past several years 41 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:48,199 in this country. And one thing that you can certainly 42 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,159 see with Donald Trump over the years, particularly on immigration. 43 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,479 It's a president who sticks to his guns. But let 44 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:56,680 me read you some of the headlines iira that I'm 45 00:02:56,719 --> 00:03:02,879 seeing today that popped up within the last several minutes 46 00:03:03,039 --> 00:03:07,080 before we started recording this podcast from the Associated Press. 47 00:03:07,719 --> 00:03:12,800 Trump wants mass deportations for the agents removing immigrants. It's 48 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:17,599 a painstaking process. From the Hill. Will new Trump immigration 49 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:22,599 policies keep international students out of the US? Bloomberg again, 50 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:27,479 all of these coming fired fast. Trump's immigration overhaul is 51 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,360 cruel and self defeating. And the list goes on and on. 52 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:36,319 This is obviously an accomplice media that is getting ready 53 00:03:37,479 --> 00:03:43,599 for the fight against not only Donald Trump, but clearly 54 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:49,560 the wishes of the American people who just voted last month. 55 00:03:51,759 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 2: Well, you know, we saw the accomplished media during the campaign. 56 00:03:56,319 --> 00:03:58,840 They were saying pretty much the same things. The American 57 00:03:58,879 --> 00:04:03,120 public either them, tune them out, didn't believe them. You know, 58 00:04:03,479 --> 00:04:06,680 whatever it is, the American public was not influenced by them. 59 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,599 And you know, the second Donald Trump administration comes in 60 00:04:10,919 --> 00:04:14,000 with a significant advantage over the first one. The American 61 00:04:14,039 --> 00:04:18,040 public has now had four years of open borders. They 62 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:20,000 have seen what it's like to live in a country 63 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,399 that doesn't have borders, and they've decided they don't really 64 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,519 like it. I mean, we see these things going on 65 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:28,600 every day. Just over the weekend, you know, we saw 66 00:04:28,639 --> 00:04:33,160 this horrific story of a Guatemala migrant who set a 67 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:37,879 sleeping passengers on fire in a New York City subway. 68 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,279 You know, these are the sorts of things that happened. 69 00:04:40,519 --> 00:04:43,120 You know, we've seen it with Lincoln Riley with just 70 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:46,120 you know, you go down the list, and the American 71 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,199 public is also seeing it in terms of the costs 72 00:04:49,319 --> 00:04:52,759 the disruption to their communities. So you know, the new 73 00:04:52,759 --> 00:04:56,360 administration clearly has a mandate on this issue. They ran 74 00:04:56,439 --> 00:04:59,000 on this issue. The American public, as I said, has 75 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,000 now had a taste of it's like not to have 76 00:05:01,079 --> 00:05:04,879 immigration enforcement. So you know, you can have all the 77 00:05:04,959 --> 00:05:09,079 crying and sobbing and moaning from the accomplice media, the 78 00:05:09,079 --> 00:05:12,240 American public, I think, is on board now and we're 79 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:14,759 going to see swift action, you know, at least that's 80 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:15,560 what we're all hoping. 81 00:05:16,399 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: Why is it so hard for the corporate media in 82 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:22,560 this country to get their minds around people do not 83 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:28,040 want criminals in this country, and we're talking about you know, obviously, 84 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:33,560 when you enter this country illegally, you've already broken the law. 85 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:38,319 But we're talking about some hardened criminals who've committed felonies, 86 00:05:38,319 --> 00:05:42,839 who've committed violent crimes. And that is based on what 87 00:05:42,879 --> 00:05:47,199 I'm hearing from Tom Homan in the Trump administration and 88 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,920 from the President elect himself. That's the first order of business. 89 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:56,199 Why is that so difficult to process for the corporate media. 90 00:05:57,079 --> 00:05:59,399 Speaker 2: I don't know. Look, I mean, I think some of 91 00:05:59,439 --> 00:06:02,439 them are idologically committed to open borders in spite of 92 00:06:02,439 --> 00:06:05,279 the fact that the American public doesn't want open borders. 93 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,240 And it's not just on this issue that they are 94 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:10,720 out of step. And you know, I think that's why 95 00:06:10,759 --> 00:06:13,680 you're seeing the you know, the diminishment of some of 96 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,040 these legacy media companies to a point where you know, 97 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,279 MSNBC is in danger of going out of business right now. 98 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:25,199 So the American public is they understand what the stakes 99 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,600 are here. Nobody is going to be weeping to see 100 00:06:28,639 --> 00:06:32,000 trend of Uragua gang members deported from the United States. 101 00:06:32,439 --> 00:06:35,720 And you know, as Tom Homan has said, the Biden 102 00:06:35,759 --> 00:06:39,000 Harris administration has given him a lot of places where 103 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:40,680 he can go to find people who are in the 104 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,720 country illegally, who nobody will miss if they are sent 105 00:06:43,759 --> 00:06:47,639 out of the country. You mentioned the criminals, that's certainly 106 00:06:47,639 --> 00:06:50,480 one group of people. You have one point four million 107 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:53,720 people in this country who have final orders of removal 108 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,160 that have been issued and they're still here. These are 109 00:06:56,199 --> 00:06:59,120 people who've had their day in court, They've had multiple 110 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,959 days in court, they have been told by a judge 111 00:07:02,079 --> 00:07:04,720 you have to go. There's one point four million of 112 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:09,160 those people. Those are people that he can prioritize. The 113 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,759 people who just came into the country over the past 114 00:07:11,839 --> 00:07:14,439 few years, who have no real connections to this country, 115 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,800 mostly single adult men who came here to work. Those 116 00:07:18,839 --> 00:07:21,759 are the places where the new administration can start. That's 117 00:07:21,839 --> 00:07:25,399 going to keep them busy for quite some time. And 118 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,959 you know, Tom Homan has also told the sanctuary jurisdictions 119 00:07:29,199 --> 00:07:31,240 that if you try to impede me. You know, if 120 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,879 you arrest somebody who is in the country illegally and 121 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,000 you don't turn them over to us, We're going to 122 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,399 go out there into the community. And not only are 123 00:07:38,399 --> 00:07:41,040 we going to find the bad guy, you know, chances 124 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,759 are we're going to stumble across other people who are 125 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,639 in the country illegally, and we're going to take them too, because, 126 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:51,920 contrary to what Alejandro Majorca is our current Homeland Security secretary, 127 00:07:51,959 --> 00:07:55,560 has said, being in the country illegally is grounds for removal. 128 00:07:55,839 --> 00:07:58,680 And Homan has said, you know, we're not going to 129 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,680 be out there looking for old lady who's been here 130 00:08:01,759 --> 00:08:05,240 for ten years, but you know, if we come across her, 131 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:06,839 we're going to take her as well. 132 00:08:07,879 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just about to mention that as well. 133 00:08:10,519 --> 00:08:14,399 What about these sanctuary cities doubling down now, there are 134 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,040 a number of sanctuary cities so called in this country. 135 00:08:18,959 --> 00:08:22,279 Some of them have learned some very difficult lessons over 136 00:08:22,319 --> 00:08:26,680 the years. As I think, one of the greatest acts 137 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,879 to shine a light on illegal immigration in this country 138 00:08:31,399 --> 00:08:34,440 came from the governor of Texas and the governor of 139 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:40,440 Florida in moving significant numbers of illegal immigrants to these 140 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:45,480 so called sanctuary cities. New York City in particular, Chicago 141 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:50,120 is another one that immediately comes to mind. They experienced 142 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:56,519 ira firsthand, the impact of a flood of humanity on 143 00:08:57,639 --> 00:09:02,399 not just the criminal justice system, but on you know, 144 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:07,600 the social services system, on the taxpayer dollar, but then 145 00:09:07,639 --> 00:09:11,519 you have places like San Diego doubling down on the 146 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:19,440 whole sanctuary city concept. Here, what is it going to 147 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:23,480 take for these cities to truly get it that when 148 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:28,480 it comes to breaking the law, there can be no sanctuary. 149 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 2: Well, the people, I think it is ultimately their responsibility 150 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,320 to hold their leaders accountable. And you know, if anybody 151 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,720 in California was paying attention to what happened in the 152 00:09:38,799 --> 00:09:42,840 last election, up and down the state, voters voted out 153 00:09:43,279 --> 00:09:47,879 or recalled local officials not only were soft on illegal immigration, 154 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,000 but sopt on crime. Generally. You had the mayor and 155 00:09:51,039 --> 00:09:55,519 the district attorney in Oakland who were recalled. The mayor 156 00:09:55,519 --> 00:09:58,639 of San Francisco was defeated, the district attorney in Los 157 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:02,960 Angeles County was defeated. The people that are even in California, 158 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,559 which is clearly a deep blue state, even they have 159 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:09,759 had enough of the lawlessness. They also voted to reinstate 160 00:10:09,799 --> 00:10:13,519 criminal penalties for shoplifting. So the American public is saying, 161 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,639 enough of the craziness, enough of the lawlessness. We want 162 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,080 some change. And you know, a glimmer of hope you're 163 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,200 seeing Mayor Eric Adams, who sat down last week with 164 00:10:23,279 --> 00:10:26,600 Tom Home and to discuss you know, limited cooperation, but 165 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:30,919 nevertheless cooperation when the new administration comes in. You know, 166 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:33,840 obviously he is a guy in deep political trouble. He's 167 00:10:33,879 --> 00:10:37,399 up for reelection in twenty twenty five. But clearly New 168 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:39,559 Yorkers are not happy with what has been going on. 169 00:10:39,799 --> 00:10:42,559 The city has spent six point four billion dollars so 170 00:10:42,639 --> 00:10:46,759 far since twenty twenty two on illegal aliens that the 171 00:10:46,799 --> 00:10:50,639 migrants who have come very recently. You know, go to YouTube. 172 00:10:50,639 --> 00:10:54,480 Look at the city council meetings in Chicago over the 173 00:10:54,519 --> 00:10:57,639 past few weeks. People who were up in arms. They 174 00:10:57,639 --> 00:11:00,799 wanted to raise property taxes by three hundred million dollars 175 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:04,159 to pay for the migrants. The people finally said no, 176 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,480 you know, this is what is happening all across the country, 177 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,279 and eventually the politicians have to start paying attention. Eric 178 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,679 Adams is paying a little bit of attention, as I said, 179 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:19,759 for a variety of reasons. But these other politicians also 180 00:11:19,879 --> 00:11:23,240 have to. They cannot ignore the people indefinitely. 181 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:28,639 Speaker 1: Eric Adams has a whole host of other problems dealing with, 182 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,799 and an election is certainly one of them. If he 183 00:11:32,879 --> 00:11:36,080 gets to that point. Based on what's happening in his 184 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:43,039 personal and professional life right now. Your organization has done 185 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:48,159 this four years, actually tracked the real numbers. The Federation 186 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:52,159 for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR as it is commonly known, 187 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:58,080 has tracked the numbers of illegal immigrants in this country, 188 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:03,720 of illegal aliens. What are the real numbers right now? 189 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:08,759 Based on what you know? How much of an impact 190 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,720 have we seen on those numbers? What's the final count 191 00:12:12,879 --> 00:12:16,879 as we wrap up this four years of insanity in 192 00:12:16,919 --> 00:12:18,000 the Biden administration. 193 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 2: Well, you know, the last time we did a deep 194 00:12:21,039 --> 00:12:24,080 dive into the data was I guess about a year 195 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,759 and a half ago, and at that point we estimated 196 00:12:26,919 --> 00:12:30,399 there were sixteen point eight million illegal aliens in the country. 197 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:33,919 The costs netted out to about one hundred and fifty 198 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,600 one billion dollars a year to American taxpayers at the federal, state, 199 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,519 and local level. I can only imagine that it has 200 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:43,960 gone up since because you have had continued large scale 201 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:48,000 illegal immigration during that time. So, you know, we are 202 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,200 probably north of seventeen million people in the country illegally 203 00:12:52,279 --> 00:12:56,120 right now, and a lot of them have come obviously 204 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:00,000 under the Biden Harris administration. You know, we've had eleven 205 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:04,919 million people enter our country illegally under this administration, you know, 206 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:09,120 by Allejandro Mayoricans own estimation, about seventy about eighty five 207 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,399 percent excuse me, have been released into the United States 208 00:13:12,399 --> 00:13:15,679 pending some kind of hearing, so most of them are here. 209 00:13:16,279 --> 00:13:18,440 And again, these are the kinds of people that Tom 210 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,200 Holman can start with when he starts removing people from 211 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:25,519 the United States come January twentieth. So, you know, the 212 00:13:25,639 --> 00:13:28,759 costs keep mounting. You know, I mentioned the Chicago City 213 00:13:28,799 --> 00:13:32,759 Council meeting. Chicago has spent almost six hundred million dollars 214 00:13:32,879 --> 00:13:37,039 on illegal immigrants, the illegal migrants who have settled in Chicago, 215 00:13:37,639 --> 00:13:41,480 because it's the sanctuary jurisdiction within a sanctuary county, within 216 00:13:41,519 --> 00:13:46,720 a sanctuary state. And you know, the people rightly feel that, 217 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,639 you know, with crumbling schools, with crumbling infrastructure, that money 218 00:13:50,639 --> 00:13:53,559 could be put to better use rather than raising taxes 219 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:58,240 on already over tax citizens. So you know, these are 220 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:02,879 the costs. There's the the sheer numbers, and also just 221 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,679 the impact on American society. You know, we talked about 222 00:14:07,039 --> 00:14:10,519 this latest horrific incident on the New York City subway system. 223 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,960 But these things happen every single day all across the 224 00:14:14,039 --> 00:14:17,200 United States. Trender Ragua is now estimated to be in 225 00:14:17,279 --> 00:14:21,519 nineteen states. They've taken roots in nineteen states across the 226 00:14:21,639 --> 00:14:25,120 United States. People notice this, they notice the impact that 227 00:14:25,159 --> 00:14:26,960 it's having on their lives, and they're saying. 228 00:14:26,799 --> 00:14:31,759 Speaker 1: Enough, as they most certainly are. And it has been 229 00:14:32,039 --> 00:14:36,039 a very, very difficult four years in the lives of 230 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:37,200 so many communities. 231 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:39,759 Speaker 2: And I think you'd. 232 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 1: Laid that out very well. What are you seeing. I've 233 00:14:44,399 --> 00:14:49,320 noticed a lot of examples in the Biden administration from 234 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,519 the outgoing president if he is indeed, I like to 235 00:14:52,559 --> 00:14:55,679 call him the acting president because he seems to be 236 00:14:55,759 --> 00:14:59,480 president in name only at this point in time. But 237 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,000 there's been a lot of there have been a lot 238 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,120 of examples of this president and this administration kind of 239 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:12,279 sticking it to the next thumbing their noses at the 240 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:18,320 reform minded Trump administration on immigration, including this silly bit 241 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:19,080 of business. 242 00:15:19,279 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 2: Ira. 243 00:15:21,159 --> 00:15:23,559 Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit more about the Biden 244 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:29,840 administration selling off the remaining pieces of Trump's border wall 245 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,879 right before Trump becomes president again? 246 00:15:33,799 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, essentially, what they're doing is trying to 247 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,279 stick the American public with a huge expense to buy 248 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,840 new new material to construct the wall that the President 249 00:15:44,919 --> 00:15:47,200 elect has said he wants to put up. And it's 250 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:49,799 one of the reasons he is the president elect right 251 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,600 now is because he did get serious, or at least 252 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:56,600 claims he's going to be serious about enforcing immigration laws. 253 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,240 You know, we saw that right from the outset with 254 00:15:59,279 --> 00:16:03,960 the Biden administ Right from the first days in office 255 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,000 in twenty twenty one, he canceled a lot of the 256 00:16:07,039 --> 00:16:10,759 policies that were effectively controlling illegal immigration. Before he came 257 00:16:10,799 --> 00:16:14,679 to office, he stopped construction of the border wall. You 258 00:16:14,879 --> 00:16:18,559 had just a lot of material that had already been 259 00:16:18,559 --> 00:16:20,919 paid for by the United States, by the people of 260 00:16:20,919 --> 00:16:25,840 the United States, the taxpayers, just sitting there, rusting. We 261 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:29,919 had the materials to build a wall that they were 262 00:16:29,919 --> 00:16:33,440 sitting there, and now here he is on the way 263 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:35,600 out the door. Not only is he just going to 264 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:37,919 leave that stuff lying around, he's going to sell it 265 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,039 off at pennies on the dollar and forced the new 266 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:45,039 administration in the new Congress to appropriate more money to 267 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,759 build something that was already paid for. I mean, obviously 268 00:16:48,799 --> 00:16:52,320 the construction costs have to continue, but the materials were there. 269 00:16:52,399 --> 00:16:55,480 The American public paid for it, and he's practically giving 270 00:16:55,519 --> 00:17:00,200 it away. And the only logical conclusion is that he 271 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:04,079 wants to have an effect on this immigration policy even 272 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:06,599 after he has left office. He wants to make sure 273 00:17:07,039 --> 00:17:11,319 that not only did won't he enforced immigration laws, He's 274 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,640 going to make it as difficult as possible for future 275 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:15,839 administrations to enforce immigration laws. 276 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, it is absolutely irritating and frustrating to the American taxpayer, 277 00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:24,279 already so burdened, so burdened on so many fronts, but 278 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:29,640 burdened in particular on the cost of immigration, as we've 279 00:17:29,759 --> 00:17:32,720 talked about, and then to do something like this, I mean, 280 00:17:32,759 --> 00:17:38,519 what a petulant act from a petulant old man, and 281 00:17:38,559 --> 00:17:44,839 an emphasis on all those terms for so many reasons. 282 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:50,319 It's really it's unbelievable what has occurred in this country 283 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:51,799 over the last four years. 284 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,599 Speaker 3: Skyrocketing energy prices have cost people to do what watched 285 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,400 out on Wall Street Podcast with Chris Markowski. Every day 286 00:18:00,519 --> 00:18:03,480 Chris helps unpack the connection between politics and the economy 287 00:18:03,519 --> 00:18:05,920 and how it affects your wallet. Thirty four percent of 288 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,279 people have cutback or skip spending on necessary expenses to 289 00:18:09,319 --> 00:18:13,079 pay their electric bill. This government involvement and increased regulation 290 00:18:13,279 --> 00:18:16,640 continues to drive their prices even higher. Whether it's happening 291 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,160 in DC or down on Wall Street, it's affecting you financially. 292 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:19,759 Speaker 2: Be informed. 293 00:18:19,839 --> 00:18:21,960 Speaker 3: Check out the Watchdot on Wall Street podcast with Chris 294 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,039 Mrkowski on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 295 00:18:27,559 --> 00:18:30,200 Speaker 1: Our guest today is Ira Melman with the Federation for 296 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:34,960 American Immigration Reform FAIR, joining us to talk about how 297 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:39,799 to fix the immigration mess the Biden administration has wrought. 298 00:18:40,039 --> 00:18:44,359 It's a whole lot of fixing, Ira, it really is. 299 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:52,359 It seems like, you know, a task that is well, 300 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:56,160 it's going to take every bit of energy. It's as 301 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,200 you mentioned before, it would seem that the right people 302 00:18:59,319 --> 00:19:02,079 are in charge arge of this task. Are you pleased 303 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:06,039 with what you're hearing in general from Tom Holman? A 304 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,359 real borders are if you will. Are you pleased with 305 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:13,160 what you're hearing from the administration overall? 306 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:17,079 Speaker 2: Yeah? You know, as I said, Tom Homan, who I 307 00:19:17,079 --> 00:19:20,680 think he was the second appointment that the President elect made. 308 00:19:20,759 --> 00:19:23,480 You know, first he appointed as chief of staff and 309 00:19:23,559 --> 00:19:26,000 Tom Holman was the very next person that he appointed 310 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,559 to his administration. And I think it's precisely number one, 311 00:19:29,599 --> 00:19:31,960 to send a message that he was serious about this. 312 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,440 Number two, This is a guy who knows this issue 313 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,400 better than anybody. He has been on the inside of 314 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:44,640 immigration enforcement for decades. He has held every high level 315 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,880 position that there is to hold, including, you know, being 316 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:53,000 award hit a Distinguished Federal Employee award by President Obama 317 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,640 back in twenty fifteen. I forget what the exact title 318 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,240 of his award was, but he has been recognized by 319 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:03,200 both Democrats and Republicans as somebody who knows how to 320 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,640 get things done. Even Darris Meisner, who ran immigration under 321 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,079 President Bill Clinton, even she acknowledged that this is a 322 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,759 guy who really knows what he's doing, and you know, 323 00:20:14,799 --> 00:20:18,000 he is a force of nature. Nobody is going to 324 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:20,720 stand in his way. But just getting back to some 325 00:20:20,759 --> 00:20:22,799 of the stuff we were talking about before, one of 326 00:20:22,839 --> 00:20:25,480 the things that really needs to happen early in this 327 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,920 new year is that Congress finally needs to pass HR two. 328 00:20:30,039 --> 00:20:32,359 It was passed by the House in twenty twenty three, 329 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:37,000 never went anywhere in the Democratic controlled Senate. Know this, 330 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,359 it's not just a bill to enforce immigration laws now. 331 00:20:40,759 --> 00:20:43,480 It is to make sure there are provisions there that 332 00:20:43,519 --> 00:20:46,519 will make sure that no future administration can simply ignore 333 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,759 laws that they don't want and throw up the kind 334 00:20:49,799 --> 00:20:53,440 of impediments that this administration has thrown up, you know, 335 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:55,880 the abuse of the parole authority and all sorts of 336 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,880 other abuses that they have committed over the past four years. 337 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:01,720 So they they not only have to clean up the mess, 338 00:21:02,039 --> 00:21:05,039 but they also have to make sure that no future 339 00:21:05,079 --> 00:21:08,599 administration that's ideologically inclined to make another mess it can 340 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:08,960 do so. 341 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:10,799 Speaker 3: Well. 342 00:21:10,839 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: That raises a good point about accountability. You noted this. 343 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,839 We've all lived under this for the past four years. 344 00:21:19,559 --> 00:21:24,519 We have a Secretary of Homeland Security who repeatedly broke 345 00:21:24,559 --> 00:21:29,079 the law, repeatedly abuse the laws of this country, put 346 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:35,480 the country's security at risk, put the homeland security at risk. Now, 347 00:21:35,519 --> 00:21:38,079 I know there was an impeachment drive here that obviously 348 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:43,079 sputtered out, But shouldn't these folks be held accountable? Shouldn't 349 00:21:43,079 --> 00:21:46,000 some of these people be in prison right now? 350 00:21:46,759 --> 00:21:48,839 Speaker 2: Well, you know that is going to be up to 351 00:21:49,039 --> 00:21:52,559 the Justice Department. You know, I think what the American 352 00:21:52,599 --> 00:21:56,720 public really wants is for the new administration to correct 353 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:58,759 the problems that have been created over the past four 354 00:21:58,839 --> 00:22:03,640 years and to make sure that future administrations cannot repeat 355 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,680 what we have seen over the past four years. You know, 356 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:10,839 what they want to do with the people who, you know, 357 00:22:11,079 --> 00:22:14,519 as you pointed out, ignored laws, broke laws, violated their 358 00:22:14,559 --> 00:22:18,440 oaths of office, that's up to them. But I think 359 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:20,960 what's really of concern to the American public is that 360 00:22:21,079 --> 00:22:25,640 things really change, that we see an administration in power 361 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:30,279 that recognizes that this is the American public's immigration policy. 362 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:32,799 It is there to protect and serve the American people. 363 00:22:33,319 --> 00:22:36,039 And when you have you know, upwards of eleven million 364 00:22:36,039 --> 00:22:38,759 people coming across that border, people we don't know who 365 00:22:38,759 --> 00:22:41,880 they are discovering that there are gang members coming into 366 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:45,319 the country en mass, that that does need to stop. 367 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,200 I think that's the American public's first priority. After they 368 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,480 get that under control, you know, that they can decide 369 00:22:51,519 --> 00:22:52,480 what they want to do next. 370 00:22:53,079 --> 00:22:55,920 Speaker 1: What about our so called partners in all of this, 371 00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:59,599 I think specifically of Mexico, but the other countries and 372 00:23:00,279 --> 00:23:04,839 in South America and elsewhere in Central America. Are they 373 00:23:04,839 --> 00:23:08,599 getting the message that is being sent from the incoming 374 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,880 administration that business as usual is over? 375 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,799 Speaker 2: Yeah? I think so. You know, you have seen you know, 376 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,519 our neighbor to the North. Justin Trudeaux came and paid 377 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:27,279 a visit tomorrow Lago. You know, the president elect has 378 00:23:27,319 --> 00:23:30,839 spoken to Claudia Shinbaum, the new president of Mexico, and 379 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,799 you know, really it is in her interest in Mexico's 380 00:23:33,839 --> 00:23:38,200 in Chris to see this crisis abate as well. What's 381 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,119 been happening now has been happening because you have these 382 00:23:41,519 --> 00:23:44,519 cartels that not only smoke the human beings, they smoke 383 00:23:44,599 --> 00:23:50,319 on drugs. These are huge and well armed criminal organizations 384 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:53,759 that are challenging the legitimate government to Mexico for power 385 00:23:53,759 --> 00:23:58,000 in that country. We keep making them wealthier. Our open 386 00:23:58,079 --> 00:24:02,000 border has made them wealthier, better armed than they were 387 00:24:02,039 --> 00:24:05,079 four years ago. They're making tons of money off of this. 388 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,599 They will do anything that they can to protect these interests. 389 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:11,319 And you know what we need to do is more 390 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:13,640 of what has been going on over the past few months. 391 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:18,839 Early on in the campaign, President Biden did recognize that 392 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,799 this was a liability for his re election did and 393 00:24:21,839 --> 00:24:25,000 he spoke to the former president Lopez Obrador and said, hey, 394 00:24:25,039 --> 00:24:28,000 can you maybe help me out here because I can't 395 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,839 control the border. I'll have my far left flank, you know, 396 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,680 all over me can you do it for me. And 397 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,240 what has been happening in Mexico is that they have 398 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:39,160 been apprehending migrants who have made their way up near 399 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,480 the US border. They send them back to the south 400 00:24:41,519 --> 00:24:44,319 of Mexico in an effort to kind of discourage them 401 00:24:44,319 --> 00:24:47,759 from keep crying. So there are things that are in place, 402 00:24:49,319 --> 00:24:52,400 and there is some motivation on the part of these governments. 403 00:24:52,519 --> 00:24:56,200 This is not good for them either. You know, Mexico 404 00:24:56,319 --> 00:25:00,480 doesn't need these problems, and you know, with the right 405 00:25:00,559 --> 00:25:03,359 kind of incentives, they can be convinced to make it 406 00:25:03,839 --> 00:25:07,359 a continuing part of the way that they conduct business 407 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,240 with the United States as well. 408 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: What kind of levers can the Trump administration pull? What 409 00:25:13,599 --> 00:25:19,160 kind of tools does the president have in dealing with Mexico. 410 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:25,720 I know, tariffs, that's a point of conversation always in 411 00:25:25,759 --> 00:25:32,319 this Are we going to need to have American troops 412 00:25:32,759 --> 00:25:37,119 at the border and involved in securing the border on 413 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:41,400 that front? What are the means for dealing with all 414 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:41,640 of this? 415 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:45,000 Speaker 2: Well, you know, as you point out, tariffs are a 416 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,319 good lever to use with these governments. You know that 417 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:50,519 they want to be able to send goods to the 418 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:55,480 United States, and you know, we've seen in the past 419 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,440 that if you send a clear signal that we're serious 420 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,559 about enforcing the laws, that people make rational decisions, they 421 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,319 don't come here illegally on masks. So you know, we 422 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,279 probably don't need troops at the border. What we need 423 00:26:10,319 --> 00:26:14,480 are rational immigration policies that send clear messages to people 424 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,160 and you know, just count on the fact that people 425 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,799 do make rational decisions. With some other countries, you know, 426 00:26:20,839 --> 00:26:24,480 when it comes to sending people back, we've seen resistance 427 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:28,880 from China, for instance. Obviously they you know, they're concerned 428 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:32,039 about tariffs as well, but you know, a very big 429 00:26:32,079 --> 00:26:35,160 thing for Chinese nationals is getting a student viieza to 430 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:39,160 come to the United States and study. The administration will 431 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,240 have the power to say, you know what, if you 432 00:26:41,279 --> 00:26:44,279 don't accept people that we're deporting back to China, we're 433 00:26:44,279 --> 00:26:47,039 not going to issue any more visas. And even in 434 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:51,039 a totalitarian state like China, the government does need to 435 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:54,000 be responsible in some way to the people. You know, 436 00:26:54,319 --> 00:26:57,599 if we take this away, it is going to hurt 437 00:26:57,599 --> 00:27:01,240 the government in Beijing, and they do have to pay attention. 438 00:27:01,319 --> 00:27:04,319 So we have a lot of leverage, not just with 439 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,240 Mexico or Canada or some of these other countries in 440 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,599 our hemisphere. We have leverage with countries around the world 441 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,359 to get them to cooperate in an effort to stop 442 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:15,240 what's been going on. 443 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,960 Speaker 1: How do you get the cartels to cooperate though, that's 444 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,599 the question, and you alluded to that before Mexico is in. 445 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,759 You know, a lot of us talked about the last 446 00:27:26,799 --> 00:27:30,279 election in the United States as an existential election for 447 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:35,279 the Republic. That's a daily walk for Mexico in the 448 00:27:35,319 --> 00:27:38,839 war with the cartels. Yeah. 449 00:27:39,279 --> 00:27:41,079 Speaker 2: Look, I mean, the cartels are going to do what 450 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:43,920 they try to do to keep the flow of people 451 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,480 and drugs coming across the border. But you know, if 452 00:27:47,519 --> 00:27:50,160 we take this business away from them, it's particularly the 453 00:27:50,599 --> 00:27:54,480 smuggling of human beings, you know, it becomes much more 454 00:27:54,519 --> 00:27:56,599 difficult to get the drugs in. What they have been 455 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:01,880 doing is using the people as a diversion. They would 456 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,440 send across a whole group of illegal aliens, knowing that 457 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,759 the border patrol would apprehend them, they'd have to take 458 00:28:07,799 --> 00:28:11,599 them in process them. In the meantime, the border was 459 00:28:11,599 --> 00:28:14,319 wide open and they could come across with the drugs. 460 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:19,240 So look, I mean, these are criminal organizations. They will 461 00:28:19,279 --> 00:28:23,279 try to defy any laws that the United States imposes 462 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:28,200 or Mexico imposes. But we can erode their business model. 463 00:28:28,599 --> 00:28:31,359 We can. You know, they have created the business model 464 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,319 around the fact that we have open borders. You know, 465 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,079 I'm sure they will find some way to adapt. Criminals 466 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:40,880 never go away, but we don't have to make it 467 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,880 easy for them. We don't have to become complicit. What 468 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:47,000 we've had over the past four years is an administration 469 00:28:47,279 --> 00:28:50,400 that was actually working hand in glove with the cartels. 470 00:28:51,039 --> 00:28:53,559 Not only was the border open, but once they dump 471 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,119 the people on our side of the border, we delivered 472 00:28:56,119 --> 00:29:00,160 them to their final destinations here in the United States. So, 473 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:05,039 you know, if you want to undermine the cartels, start 474 00:29:05,079 --> 00:29:10,200 taking their start going after their business model. Again, We're 475 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,039 not going to have perfection. You're al is going to 476 00:29:12,119 --> 00:29:14,119 have criminals, but we don't have to make it easy 477 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:14,920 for them. 478 00:29:15,359 --> 00:29:20,839 Speaker 1: I think the American people just reviewed the Biden administration 479 00:29:21,039 --> 00:29:27,400 quite harshly. It's decision at the polls, and understandably and rightly. 480 00:29:27,519 --> 00:29:31,319 So I think history is going to look at this administration. 481 00:29:31,599 --> 00:29:36,559 Even though generally the leftist are responsible for writing history, 482 00:29:36,839 --> 00:29:40,079 it is hard to look at what has happened, particularly 483 00:29:40,119 --> 00:29:46,079 on immigration in this country with this administration and not say, man, 484 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:50,000 this was a complete and abject failure. And I think 485 00:29:50,039 --> 00:29:54,599 about how often, again the accomplished media has tried to 486 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:59,279 paint these I don't know if you can call them policies, 487 00:29:59,359 --> 00:30:03,799 this absolute open door, but these Biden administration policies to 488 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:08,720 just take in a flood of illegal immigrants, no matter 489 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,359 who they are, including, as we noted, the most hardened 490 00:30:12,359 --> 00:30:18,279 criminals in the world. And the painting the narrative that 491 00:30:18,319 --> 00:30:22,240 has been attached to this for so long, even though 492 00:30:22,319 --> 00:30:25,960 it was very clear just how problematic all of this 493 00:30:26,079 --> 00:30:28,799 has been for so many reasons, the narrative has been, well, 494 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:31,799 you know, this is a matter of kindness, this is 495 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:38,000 just decency taking in, you know, all of these illegal immigrants, 496 00:30:38,599 --> 00:30:42,519 and you look at the impacts and you say, how 497 00:30:42,559 --> 00:30:47,000 do you get kindness out of losing hundreds of thousands 498 00:30:47,039 --> 00:30:50,839 of children because of these kinds of policies. That's just 499 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,200 one of many examples. But I want to focus on that, Ira. 500 00:30:54,319 --> 00:30:56,920 What are some of the numbers that we've seen about 501 00:30:57,359 --> 00:31:02,680 the abuses of children through these so called kind illegal 502 00:31:02,799 --> 00:31:05,720 immigration policies under the Biden administration. 503 00:31:07,039 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 2: We have seen just countless horrific examples of exploitation. You know, 504 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,920 it was so bad that a while back The New 505 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,119 York Times did a series of articles about what happens 506 00:31:18,119 --> 00:31:20,799 to these kids once they get here. Very you know, 507 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:22,799 they don't have the money to pay off the cartels 508 00:31:22,799 --> 00:31:25,319 that they have to work them off once the work 509 00:31:25,359 --> 00:31:27,799 off those debts once they get here. So we have 510 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:31,759 child labor in this country when you know, Pharewell was 511 00:31:31,759 --> 00:31:36,319 instrumental exposing the fraud and the Cuba Haiti, Nicaragua Venezuela 512 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,480 parole program earlier this year. One of the things that 513 00:31:40,519 --> 00:31:44,720 we discovered was that, you know, there was an inordinate 514 00:31:44,839 --> 00:31:48,519 number of young females who are being paroled into the country, 515 00:31:48,839 --> 00:31:52,519 which tells us that the criminal cartels were essentially controlling 516 00:31:52,559 --> 00:31:57,039 the parole process of the Biden Harris administration. And you know, 517 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:01,000 we can only surmise what these young women were doing 518 00:32:01,039 --> 00:32:03,680 once they came here to the United States. But I'm 519 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:06,960 sure it wasn't really a good thing that they were 520 00:32:07,039 --> 00:32:09,359 up to. But it wasn't good for them. You know, 521 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,200 we see people coming across the Darien Gap, which is 522 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,240 so inhospitable that they couldn't even build the Crans of 523 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:19,559 America highway through there, people die along the way. About 524 00:32:19,559 --> 00:32:22,000 a third of all the women who come up through 525 00:32:22,359 --> 00:32:26,400 Central America are sexually abused as they make their way 526 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,519 to the United States. These are just awful, awful things 527 00:32:29,519 --> 00:32:32,960 that go on every single day, and it is because 528 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:37,839 the Biden Harris administration instituted policies that encouraged people to 529 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,559 put their lives, in their children's lives, and their life 530 00:32:40,599 --> 00:32:44,119 savings in the hands of these criminal organizations. So there 531 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:47,519 is absolutely no excuse for it. What the Biden Harris 532 00:32:47,559 --> 00:32:51,279 administration was clearly trying to do was establish facts on 533 00:32:51,319 --> 00:32:54,480 the ground. They understand that it's easy to let people 534 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,039 into the United States, it is much more difficult to 535 00:32:57,079 --> 00:33:00,920 remove them, and even somebody like Tom Homan acknowledges that 536 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,000 it is going to take some time because there are hurdles, 537 00:33:04,759 --> 00:33:07,440 And that's what they were counting on, that once people 538 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,519 are here, that we are eventually going to give up 539 00:33:10,519 --> 00:33:13,519 and allow them to stay here. They may have miscalculated 540 00:33:13,519 --> 00:33:16,920 this time, but even under the best of circumstances, it's 541 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,480 going to take a long time. This is an ideological 542 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:24,079 battle that they have been waging since day one, that 543 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,039 they don't care about the well being of the migrants. 544 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:29,799 They care about establishing packs on the ground, and that's 545 00:33:29,799 --> 00:33:30,359 what they're doing. 546 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:36,359 Speaker 1: Ira back to the yard sale of the Biden administration, 547 00:33:36,599 --> 00:33:40,720 the fire sale that's going on, the materials being sold 548 00:33:40,759 --> 00:33:43,720 off for pennies on the dollars. Notwithstanding, how soon do 549 00:33:43,759 --> 00:33:47,920 you think this new Trump administration can get a border 550 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:51,279 wall built? And I know we say border wall, there's 551 00:33:51,319 --> 00:33:54,200 a lot to that. It's not necessarily a wall, but 552 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:58,759 it's a secure fencing system across the border to make 553 00:33:58,839 --> 00:34:01,599 sure that we have a way of keeping a lot 554 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:03,119 of illegal immigrants out. 555 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,759 Speaker 2: Well, you know, we're going to have yet another budget 556 00:34:07,759 --> 00:34:10,119 battle coming up in the coming months with the new 557 00:34:10,159 --> 00:34:14,000 Congress and the new administration, and you know, the President 558 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:17,320 when he does take office, you know, I am sure 559 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,360 that he is going to fight hard to make sure 560 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,679 that funding is included. Because look, I mean, it is 561 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,599 not cheap to build this wall, but it is a 562 00:34:26,599 --> 00:34:29,920 lot cheaper than the cost of providing for all the 563 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,639 illegal aliens who have come into the United States. That 564 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,599 is a much much more expensive proposition. You know, as 565 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:37,800 they said, we estimated a year and a half ago 566 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,519 that it came to more than one hundred and fifty 567 00:34:40,519 --> 00:34:44,440 billion dollars a year, and that's a recurring cost. The 568 00:34:44,519 --> 00:34:47,000 wall is really a one time only cost, and you 569 00:34:47,039 --> 00:34:50,840 obviously have maintenance costs. But you know, you build it, 570 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:52,800 it's not going to be cheap, but it is going 571 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,079 to save us a lot of money in the long run, 572 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:57,360 and the country is going to be better off. You're 573 00:34:57,400 --> 00:34:59,760 not going to see these kinds of horrific stories that 574 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:02,280 we've and seeing every single day where you have these 575 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:06,400 criminal gang members terrorizing people all across the country. So 576 00:35:07,199 --> 00:35:11,719 you know, you know, the administration, that Biden Harris administration 577 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:14,400 is making sure that it's going to be as difficult 578 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:18,320 as possible. But you know that can't help what they're doing. 579 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:20,239 All we can do is look to the future and 580 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:22,239 make sure that this does not happen again. 581 00:35:22,679 --> 00:35:25,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what else is expensive, as you noted, 582 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:29,599 is not building the wall how much, you know, especially 583 00:35:29,639 --> 00:35:32,000 if you're selling off the materials for it. Now you've 584 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,599 got to repurchase all of that. It's just so frustrating 585 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:41,360 and aggravating again this act of presidential petulance. But you know, 586 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:45,519 the cost of construction, of course, is skyrocketed, and it's skyrocketed. 587 00:35:46,519 --> 00:35:50,599 Like everything else, the inflation of the last four years, 588 00:35:51,559 --> 00:35:56,679 while easing somewhat, is still you know, every American is 589 00:35:57,079 --> 00:36:01,519 feeling the impact therein so it is going to be expensive, 590 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,920 but it is this should have been done a long 591 00:36:05,039 --> 00:36:09,800 time ago. We've added more expense to this. But the savings, 592 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:14,840 I think everyone can agree to a secure border. You know, 593 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:20,079 those sorts of savings can't be measured ultimately in the 594 00:36:20,119 --> 00:36:23,760 security of this country. And here's the thing that you 595 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:27,840 and I have talked about for years, and that is 596 00:36:29,159 --> 00:36:33,360 everyone thinks that you know that, Wow, this is such 597 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,679 a brand new concept of building a border wall. And 598 00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:39,320 you have the leftist in this country, you're saying, how 599 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:44,760 in humane is that? Look at the immigration policies in Europe, 600 00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:49,320 look at the immigration policies and the border security in 601 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:55,039 Israel and other countries. The United States is the only, 602 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,000 it seems to me, the only sad sack that would 603 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,760 allow a buy administration to do what it has done 604 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:04,199 for the last four years. 605 00:37:05,639 --> 00:37:08,920 Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I mean we have always operated on the 606 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:12,039 belief that whoever was occupying the Oval Office would carry 607 00:37:12,039 --> 00:37:14,320 out the laws in the interest of the American public. 608 00:37:15,159 --> 00:37:17,719 And what we have seen over the past four years 609 00:37:18,039 --> 00:37:20,679 is that you know, we can't actually put our faith 610 00:37:21,119 --> 00:37:23,920 in that happening in the future, and we've got to 611 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,599 make sure that there are safeguards in place that will 612 00:37:27,639 --> 00:37:31,679 prevent future administrations from doing this. So you know that 613 00:37:31,679 --> 00:37:34,280 that is one of the reasons that you know, we 614 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,400 will be pushing hard to make sure that some renewed 615 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:42,599 version of HR two it is enacted in the early 616 00:37:42,679 --> 00:37:45,559 days of the new administration of the new Congress, because 617 00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:49,519 it will prevent you know, what we've seen over the 618 00:37:49,599 --> 00:37:52,480 past four years. Look, I mean, the wall is great, 619 00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:55,719 but if you have an administration power that simply says 620 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,920 we're going to grant parole to anybody we please anywhere 621 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,719 on the globe flie them into the United States, the 622 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:04,519 wall isn't going to have much impact. So you've got 623 00:38:04,559 --> 00:38:08,440 to have the physical barriers that prevent people who are 624 00:38:08,559 --> 00:38:11,480 trying to sneak across the border, but you also have 625 00:38:11,599 --> 00:38:14,199 to have safeguards in place to make sure that you 626 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:18,559 don't have a future administration that simply decides that they 627 00:38:18,559 --> 00:38:22,000 are going to undermine the basic laws of this country 628 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:24,239 and let in whoever they want to let in the 629 00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:25,880 way we've seen over the past few years. 630 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:29,840 Speaker 1: So that's our final question. I guess we'll end our 631 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:33,519 conversation with this. You know, there's a big victory for 632 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:38,920 organizations like yours in November been fighting for a very 633 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:43,320 long time to secure our borders and to have sane 634 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:50,440 immigration policies and to get our policy leaders, our political 635 00:38:50,519 --> 00:38:54,559 leaders to follow the law. That shouldn't be too much 636 00:38:54,559 --> 00:38:57,320 to ask. But what is next for the Federation for 637 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:03,960 American Immigration Reform or FAIR as we know it? The battle, 638 00:39:04,079 --> 00:39:08,159 I know is far from over. No, it is very 639 00:39:08,199 --> 00:39:10,159 far from over it. You know, funny as you mention it. 640 00:39:10,199 --> 00:39:13,519 Speaker 2: We just posted our legislative agenda for the one hundred 641 00:39:13,559 --> 00:39:16,440 and nineteenth Congress. People can find it on our website, 642 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,639 which is fairus dot org. You know, it goes down 643 00:39:19,679 --> 00:39:23,039 the whole list, and you know it also includes reforms 644 00:39:23,039 --> 00:39:25,519 that need to be made to our legal immigration policy. 645 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:27,559 You know, we didn't have a chance to speak about 646 00:39:27,599 --> 00:39:29,519 that because you know, there's been so much going on 647 00:39:29,599 --> 00:39:33,000 with the illegal immigration, but our legal immigration policy doesn't 648 00:39:33,039 --> 00:39:35,199 make much sense either. You know, we've got to end 649 00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:38,440 family chain migration that just brings in people based on 650 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,000 who they're related to and not based on any objective 651 00:39:41,039 --> 00:39:45,239 assessment of their likelihood to contribute to this country, so 652 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:48,079 that there is so much work to do. And you know, 653 00:39:48,159 --> 00:39:50,360 four years may seem like a long time, but it 654 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,320 really isn't, you know, if you figure in you know, 655 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:56,880 the midterm elections and then you know, the lame duckness 656 00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:01,039 of the administration after those elections, it has got to 657 00:40:01,119 --> 00:40:05,320 happen fast because that there's just so much, so much 658 00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:07,519 to correct in the immigration policy area. 659 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:12,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's really eighteen months for this administration to do 660 00:40:14,199 --> 00:40:17,519 what it hopes to do, and it's an ambitious, ambitious 661 00:40:17,559 --> 00:40:20,679 list of things. Yeah, I'd be remiss if I didn't 662 00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:24,639 ask you do you think this administration will take on 663 00:40:25,039 --> 00:40:28,360 and this Congress ultimately will take on the so called 664 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:35,559 birthright citizenship that's so impacted immigration in this country, illegal 665 00:40:35,599 --> 00:40:39,440 immigration in this country, something that is simply, quite frankly 666 00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:42,440 not allowed in so many other places around the world. 667 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,519 Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, the President elect said he is going 668 00:40:45,559 --> 00:40:49,760 to sign an executive order declaring that you know, if 669 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:52,480 you are parents are in the country illegally and you're 670 00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:56,519 born here, that you are not a US citizen. And look, 671 00:40:56,559 --> 00:40:59,480 I mean, I think they have every expectation that This 672 00:40:59,559 --> 00:41:01,360 is going to be challenge in court, and it needs 673 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,840 to be. You know, the Fourteenth Amendment, the clause says, 674 00:41:05,039 --> 00:41:10,079 any person born or naturalized in the United States and 675 00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:14,360 subject to the jurisdiction thereof is an American citizen. It's 676 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:18,519 not an exact quote paraphrasing, but subject to the jurisdiction 677 00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:23,280 does have some meaning. The Constitution does not include rhetorical flourishes. 678 00:41:23,719 --> 00:41:26,280 Those words are in there for a very good reason, 679 00:41:26,639 --> 00:41:29,039 and we really have to look at what it means 680 00:41:29,079 --> 00:41:31,599 to be subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. 681 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:35,639 There is territorial jurisdiction, which means if you're here, you know, 682 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:37,960 in whatever status, you have to stop at the red lights, 683 00:41:38,079 --> 00:41:40,480 just like the rest of us. But to be really 684 00:41:40,519 --> 00:41:43,440 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, sovereign jurisdiction, 685 00:41:44,519 --> 00:41:47,840 it means something else. You know, if we you and 686 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:50,480 I go live abroad, we're still going to be required 687 00:41:50,519 --> 00:41:53,000 to file tax returns here in the United States. That 688 00:41:53,079 --> 00:41:54,880 is not true. If somebody who is not a citizen 689 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,679 of the United States, once they leave the territory of 690 00:41:57,679 --> 00:41:59,599 the United States, they are no longer in any way 691 00:41:59,679 --> 00:42:03,199 subject the jurisdiction. UH you know, if we were draftable 692 00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:05,280 age and there was a draft, we could be drafted 693 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:07,840 no matter where in the world we were living. All 694 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:12,400 of these things, you know, play into the whole question 695 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:15,119 of whether, you know, simply coming into the United States, 696 00:42:15,199 --> 00:42:19,000 whether it is illegally, or coming as a tourist in 697 00:42:19,039 --> 00:42:21,840 the late stages of pregnancy with the intention of giving 698 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:25,239 birth here really makes somebody a citizen of the United States. 699 00:42:25,599 --> 00:42:28,760 That it's never been. It's never really been adjudicated in 700 00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:32,800 the courts, And an executive order would put that, you know, 701 00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:35,119 it would put it right there in the courts. Uh 702 00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:40,119 court there, and you know that we are looking forward 703 00:42:40,199 --> 00:42:42,119 to seeing what they what they decide. 704 00:42:42,679 --> 00:42:45,039 Speaker 1: Well, I got to tell you, Ira that if we 705 00:42:45,119 --> 00:42:48,519 ever get to a point in this country where I'm 706 00:42:48,679 --> 00:42:51,599 part of the draft, We're in a lot more trouble 707 00:42:51,639 --> 00:42:52,280 than you think. 708 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:55,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, same goes for me. I just you know, if 709 00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:56,880 we were a bit younger and. 710 00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:03,079 Speaker 1: And there was a draft, EI policies aside. I'm not 711 00:43:03,239 --> 00:43:06,800 your first cut for defending the nation anymore. There was 712 00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:10,719 a time, believe me, a fellow of a certain age, 713 00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:13,719 you know, might have some more problems. 714 00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:16,679 Speaker 2: Yeah, I subspect we both be liabilities not assets. 715 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:20,559 Speaker 1: Well, you are an asset to the good work that 716 00:43:20,639 --> 00:43:25,320 has been done on immigration policy and shining a light 717 00:43:25,519 --> 00:43:28,400 on the horrible policies that we've seen in this country, 718 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:32,840 not just from Democrats, certainly from Republicans too. Let's be 719 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:37,599 honest about this. There have been this is a bipartisan 720 00:43:37,679 --> 00:43:41,239 problem in many ways, but it was absolutely has been 721 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:47,079 exacerbated to an unimaginable and untenable degree over the last 722 00:43:47,159 --> 00:43:51,159 four years in this country under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 723 00:43:51,679 --> 00:43:55,079 Thanks to my guest today, Ira Milman with the Federation 724 00:43:55,519 --> 00:44:01,880 for American Immigration Reform, very much appreciate his time today 725 00:44:02,559 --> 00:44:04,679 and his perspective. 726 00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:07,360 Speaker 2: Pleasure. Thank you. 727 00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:10,199 Speaker 1: You've been listening to another edition of the Federalist Radio Hour. 728 00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:14,400 I'm Matt Kittle's senior elections correspondent at the Federalist. We'll 729 00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:17,559 be back soon with more. Until then, stay lovers of 730 00:44:17,599 --> 00:44:38,079 freedom and anxious for the Fray