Elizabeth Warren Cartoons

Stephen Miller: Coverage of Trump travel ban 'dishonest,' 'false,' and 'wrong'

White House policy director Stephen Miller ripped media coverage of President Donald Trump's travel and immigration ban Wednesday night, saying it "frankly contemptible the way that false statements have been made about the president’s lawful, necessary and fully constitutional action."
"This is the apex of presidential power, delegated to the president by Congress and the Constitution to suspend the entry of aliens into the United States,"Miller told Fox News' Sean Hannity.
WHITE HOUSE FIRES BACK AT IMMIGRATION ORDER CRITICS WITH LIST OF TERROR ARRESTS
Miller spoke hours after the White House released a list of terrorism cases involving suspects who came to the U.S. from the seven countries mentioned in the order: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
"We’ve seen example after example ... of individuals becoming radicalized and joining terrorist groups," Miller said. "The reality ... is that it is a daily feature of life for law enforcement officials and federal investigators all across this country to be investigating, interdicting and preventing terrorist acts that are only being conceived of ... because we let these individuals into our country in the first place."
Miller also slammed U.S. District Court Judge James Robart's decision last week to issue a temporary restraining order, which halted the enforcement of Trump's executive order, as "judicial activism."
"An unelected judge does not have the right to remake the immigration laws and policies for the entire United States of America," Miller said. "This was an issue put before 300 million American citizens and they voted ... to put in place new, tough vetting measures so that we don’t end up [spending] hundreds of billions of dollars long-term dealing with the effects of an immigration system that is not properly controlled."

Trump reaches out to China's Xi in letter instead of phone call

President Donald Trump has issued belated well-wishes to China for the Lunar New Year, the most important holiday in the world's most populous nation, saying he hoped to work with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to build a "constructive relationship."
Trump had been the only U.S. president in recent years not to have issued greetings when the holiday fell on Jan. 28, triggering speculation in China as to whether it was an oversight or an intentional slight.
A statement from the White House late Wednesday said Trump wrote to Chinese President Xi Jinping wishing the Chinese people greetings for the new year and the Lantern Festival that falls on Saturday.
"President Trump stated that he looks forward to working with President Xi to develop a constructive relationship that benefits both the United States and China," the statement said.
China said it appreciated Trump’s holiday greeting. When asked if Xi felt snubbed that Trump called other world leaders, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “This kind of remark is meaningless.”
Trump has accused Beijing of unfair trade practices and currency manipulation, criticized China's military buildup in the South China Sea and accused Beijing of doing too little to pressure neighbor North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs.
He also upended four decades of diplomatic protocol by speaking by phone with Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
Beijing decried the phone call with Tsai and has rejected the other accusations. China has in fact been spending heavily from its pile of foreign currency reserves to prop up the value of its currency, which would make its exports less competitive.
Nick Bisley, an international relations expert at La Trobe University in Australia said Trump’s decision not to call Beijing is a sign of “bad times” ahead.
“China is very much being lined up by Trump’s people as not quite enemy number one but something approximating that,” Bisley said.
The prospect of a military confrontation over the South China Sea had also been raised by Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon when he hosted the conservative Breitbart News Daily radio show in 2015 and 2016.
Bannon said he envisioned the possibility of a U.S.-China war over the strategic waterbody within five to 10 years. China, which claims the sea virtually in its entirety, has been building man-made islands in the area and equipping them with airstrips and military installations.
Despite Trump's confrontational image, Chinese internet users were warmed by a brief video clip of Donald Trump's granddaughter singing in Chinese that circulated on the web earlier this month.

White House fires back at immigration order critics with list of terror arrests

The White House moved Wednesday to counter critics who claim President Trump’s travel ban goes too far, circulating a list of terror cases involving suspects who came to the U.S. from the seven countries in question.
The list, obtained by Fox News, gave 24 examples of refugees and other immigrants from Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Syria and Libya who have been arrested on terror-related charges; most have been convicted.
Those seven, mostly Muslim countries were singled out in Trump's executive order, which suspended immigration for 90 days from those nations.
The document of terror arrests appears to be, in part, a rebuke to Seattle U.S. District Judge James Robart who, in questioning a Justice Department lawyer last week about the number of post-9/11 arrests of foreign nationals from those countries, incorrectly asserted: “Let me tell you … The answer to that is none, as best I can tell.”
Robart halted the rollout of the executive order. The case is now before the San Francisco-based 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals, where Justice Department lawyers are arguing for the restoration of the measure.
The White House document itself names 10 individuals from Somalia, six from Iraq, one from Yemen, two from Sudan, two from Iran, two from Libya and one from Syria. The cases span the last eight years, and include most recently a case in June in which two Somali refugees were jailed for conspiring to commit murder in Syria on behalf of ISIS.
It also includes a case from March of last year, where a Yemeni native who became a U.S. citizen was sentenced to 22 years in prison for attempting to provide “material support” to ISIS and planning to shoot and kill members of the U.S. military who had returned from Iraq.
The dossier also cited a case from January 2016, in which a Palestinian who was born in Iraq and came to the U.S. as a refugee allegedly tried to provide material support to terror groups abroad. The dossier cites media reports that he told his wife, “I want to blow myself up … I am against America.”
Earlier in the day, Trump defended his order at a meeting with local police chiefs and sheriffs in Washington, D.C., and hinted that he thought the court case was being politicized.
"I don't ever want to call a court biased, so I won’t call it biased and we haven’t had a decision yet, but courts seem to be so political," he said. “It would be so great for our justice system if they were able to read a statement and do what’s right and that’s to do with the security of our nation, which is so important.”
He warned that until the issue was resolved, the nation's security would be at risk.
"I think it's sad, I think it's a sad day," he said. "I think our security is at risk today and it will be at risk until such time as ... we get what we are entitled to as citizens of this country."
While the rollout of Trump's order, signed just days into his presidency, was marred by confusion over its application to green-card holders and others, critics have argued more broadly that it amounts to a discriminatory "Muslim" ban.
Washington state Solicitor General Noah Purcell argued in a court hearing that Trump campaign statements reveal "shocking evidence" of intent to discriminate.

Protests erupt outside Phoenix ICE office after arrest of illegal immigrant

Hard to take back our country when it's been taken over by Illegals.

The detention of an illegal immigrant sparked a protest Wednesday outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs office in Phoenix that resulted in seven arrests as crowds  blocked ICE buses on nearby streets.
Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, 36, arrived at the office for her routine check in, but instead of being released--under President Trump's illegal  immigration crackdown-- she was detained.
Garcia de Rayos, 36, was considered a “low priority” for deportation under the Obama administration and had to check in with ICE officials every six months following a 2008 conviction for felony identity theft for having false papers, The Los Angeles Times reported.
She was joined Wednesday by her husband and son--both U.S. citizens-- and supporters, some of whom cried when she was taken in to custody, The Arizona Republic reported.
The family reportedly fears she could be deported to Mexico.
“Ms. Garcia de Rayos is currently being detained by ICE based on a removal order issued by the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review which became final in May 2013,” and ICE statement read.
News of her detainment spread quickly and protesters were seen attempting to block the ICE van Garcia de Rayos was believed to be inside. Some protesters chanted, "Shame on you."
Puente Arizona Director Carlos Garcia said the arrest was in direct result of Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown.
“We all knew something could be different this time with the new administration,” Garcia told the Los Angeles Times. “She went in with the lawyer and didn’t come out. That was pretty much all there was.”
Police posted on Twitter that they arrested about seven protesters, but added that the demonstration was mainly peaceful.
"Besides the few people engaged in criminal acts, most people out here are peaceful and exercising their rights properly," police said. "Everyone remains safe so far. Hoping for continued cooperation and no more criminal conduct."
By 1 a.m. Thursday, less than two dozen protesters stood in the dark outside the building talking quietly, with just a handful of police looking on.
The protesters said they initially succeeded in stopping the vehicles from leaving, but said they later left the grounds by another exit. They didn't know if Garcia de Rayos had still been aboard.
Trump’s Jan. 25 executive order expanded deportation priorities to any illegal immigrants who had been convicted of a crime, regardless of its severity. The Obama administration previously prioritized violent offenders.
Puente Arizona had filed a stay in Garcia de Rayos’ removal, but it was denied.