Open Border Fanatics vs. the Trump Administration

posted by Rajan Laad at American Thinker 

Recently the LA Times claimed that an ICE raid operation in the City of Our Lady of Angels is imminent. The article cited sensitive internal government documents to prove that "federal law enforcement agents are planning to carry out a "large scale" immigration enforcement action in the Los Angeles area before the end of February" and that the targets will be "people who do not have legal status in the country or who already have pending orders of removal."

The article reveals that the raid would be the first in L.A. and that ICE didn't respond to their request for comment. 

A federal law enforcement official, "who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals," purportedly said that "the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration's Los Angeles field offices are being called in to assist.”

Another former federal law enforcement official, who also "spoke on condition of anonymity fearing retaliation" allegedly said that "FBI agents were being ordered to participate in pending ICE "raids" in Los Angeles. 

An unnamed "active federal law enforcement official" claimed that "plans could change due to the "chaotic" nature of the Trump administration's first few weeks in power and expected pushback from within some of the agencies that will be required to aid ICE."

“Just because certain information is being given doesn’t mean it’s the administration’s plan, because they know some agents are going to be resistant." 

So what do we make of this?

Propagandists frequently use anonymous sources to fabricate. The claim of anonymity for fear of retaliation is an attempt to portray the Trump administration as a totalitarian regime. But the propagandists fail to comprehend that Trump voters will be pleased that order has been restored in agencies and saboteurs are scared.

The piece gives itself wriggle room with the unnamed official's claim that "certain information is being given doesn’t mean it’s the administration’s plan."

The LA Times hasn't provided any proof of leaks. California is a hub of illegal aliens, hence predicting an ICE operation is easy. We certainly know is that leaks of the ICE operation in Colorado allowed some members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to evade capture. Still, the operation wasn't a fiasco, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed more than 100 Tren de Aragua members were deported.

Trump's Border chief Tom Homan said the leaks may have originated from within the FBI. Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem also blamed the FBI for these leaks in a social media post. Noem also vowed to "work with any and every agency to stop leaks and prosecute these crooked deep state agents to the fullest extent of the law.” This lends credibility to the LA Times story of saboteurs within the agency.

The leaks aren't the only challenge faced by the Trump administration in their effort to curb illegal immigration. Last month Catholic Charities uploaded a video that guides illegal aliens to dodge immigration officials. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) also criticized the Trump administration's deportation plans and so did Pope Francis. Also last month, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington during her sermon urged President Trump to be merciful towards illegal aliens. These words and actions from religious organizations play a part in narrative building.

Next is NY rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who hosted a webinar to aid illegal aliens evade law enforcement. AOC also shared a “Know Your Rights” guide instructing migrants not to open their doors to ICE agents unless they have a warrant. To sum it up, a lawmaker is siding with lawbreakers. 

NY attorney general Letitia James also sided with lawbreakers. James's official X account posted that her "office is aware of the increased presence of ICE across New York City: and that she is "monitoring the situation to ensure our laws are being respected and people's rights are not being violated." The post also included a link to a document providing 'guidance concerning local authorities’ participation in immigration enforcement and model provisions.'

We therefore have a situation where elements in law enforcement, a state AG, a lawmaker, religious leaders, and the media are siding with lawbreakers.

If challenged, they will all claim that they are doing it out of compassion for the less fortunate and perhaps include race in their argument as well. Most criminals suffer from a tough childhood with poverty, a broken family, perhaps time in juvenile jall, or even abusive parents. If one were to begin to feel compassion for every criminal, law enforcement would be rendered futile.

It is no surprise that these open-border advocates also supported the defunding of the police. These fanatics seldom suffer the consequences of their actions or opinions. Their jobs or resources aren't hijacked by illegal aliens. Their offices, properties, and the places they socialize usually have strict security by law enforcement so they have no fear of violent criminals.

It is regular people who suffer due to the influx of illegal aliens, from job loss to wage depression to being the victim of violent crimes. Open borders also facilitate the smuggling of illicit drugs and human trafficking

The leaks about raids, especially on violent gangs, not only compromise operations but also put law enforcement officers and all others involved in the raid at risk. The leak relating to the Colorado raid that saved violent criminal gang members didn't only endanger the lives of officials involved in the raid, it also endangers citizens who could suffer due to the violence of these fugitive gang members. The leak is hence a criminal act and most likely done in exchange for hefty bribes.

Those who abet or aid crime are criminals themselves and must face strict action.

The good news is that, unlike its first term, this time around the Trump administration reacts not only with words but actions as well. Tom Homan said a criminal investigation is being pursued over the leaks of the Aurora, Colorado raid. AG Pam Bondi has sued New York officials on immigration enforcement, and NY AG Letitia James has been named in the lawsuit.

AOC is also being investigated for her illegal aliens seminar. AOC may be surprised to discover that voters are displeased with her stand. Hopefully, they will remember this during the 2026 midterms.

Hopefully, the investigations will be swift and leakers won't just be sacked but will face criminal charges.

Hopefully, Bondi's lawsuit will result in punitive actions against the abettors of lawbreakers.

Hopefully, all media outlets that impede the enforcement officials from doing their job will also be punished.

In the end, a country that is governed by law is rendered meaningless if laws are not followed and if lawbreakers, irrespective of the violation, are not punished.

X22, And we Know, and more- Feb 16

 

Confessions of a One-Time Never Trumper

posted by Tom Knighton at Townhall 

Eight years ago, I was resigned to there being a Trump presidency. I didn't support his Democratic opponent at all, but I just couldn't bring myself to vote for Trump. He was loud, obnoxious, and everything I didn't want in a president, so while I'd originally intended to vote Republican, I went Libertarian instead.

I would have classified myself as Never Trump.

Four years later, I voted for him.

I still wasn't thrilled about it, but he wasn't as bad as I thought he'd be. He also might have been better if is every action didn't prompt Democrats to judge shop and sue him in some circuit court where the last conservative judge died in 1973 or something. It was still a grudging vote, but he had to be better than Joe Biden. I wasn't just voting against Biden, but it was close

Last year, I really wished he'd have decided to retire, but I still voted for him. I didn't feel bad about my vote.

Right now, though? I might be one of the biggest Trump fans you're going to find.

What changed?

Scorched Earth.

His first term was filled with him flailing around a bit, trying to do good work, but being stymied by the Democratic establishment, the Deep State, and more than a few Republicans who were just too wishy-washy for anyone's good.

This time, though, it's clear that he's learned.

Exactly what form the lessons took isn't exactly clear, but from day one, he stepped in and started going to work. Change is coming fast and furious. The vindictive leadership at the FBI was gone. USAID? Gone. The Department of Education? Terrified for its very existence.

The list goes on.

While Democrats are still trying to file lawsuits, Trump isn't giving them room to breathe. He's burning everything in his path to such a degree that Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman is concerned, and I'm here for it.

In my life, we've seen four Republican presidents. Reagan, Bush I, Bush II, and Trump.

None of them have started moving to dismantle the bureaucracy like Trump has. Billions in taxpayer dollars have already been slashed from the budget and he hasn't even been in the job for a month.

Illegal immigrants are running scared and the Democrats are freaking out because they're trying to defend literally everything, even as ordinary American citizens are completely untouched by everything that's happened.

It's too early for approval numbers to have any meaning, but I know the truth of the matter is that millions of Americans like myself have been waiting for something just like this. He's burning everything to the ground that needs to be burned, that he can burn without Congress, and is making the Democrats fight battles they can't win.

They're blustering about how awful Trump's killing of USAID is, but foreign aid has always been a sore subject with most folks, especially as we watch the national debt skyrocket. Yet they're doing it, potentially dooming them for 2026.

I didn't like Trump, and he still is a bit too bombastic in his speaking style for me, but this Never Trumper is nothing of the sort.

He won me over, and not by doing anything except what he said.

Promises made. Promises kept.

Why So Many Young Men Are Publicly Supporting the Pro-Life Movement

 

Men are raising awareness that they can, and should, have a voice on abortion.

Pro-life supporters gather on the National Mall during the 52nd annual March for Life in Washington, on Jan. 24, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

By T.J. Muscaro | February 09, 2025 Updated:February 10, 2025   WASHINGTON—Carlos Lamoutte and GianLuca Pasquotto listened intently as Vice President JD Vance spoke to a crowd of tens of thousands gathered on the National Mall on Jan. 24 for the 52nd National March for Life.   The seniors at Jesuit High School, an all-boys Catholic school in Tampa, Florida, traveled to the nation’s capital with more than 45 fellow members of the school’s pro-life club, which began sending students to the March for Life more than a decade ago.   But they were just a fraction of the thousands of young men from schools, colleges, and seminaries across the country gathered in the nation’s capital to make their voices heard.   Those young men were joined by little boys walking hand-in-hand with their fathers and mothers, and older men bearing signs with messages such as “Abortion Is Failed Manhood” and “Men Regret Lost Fatherhood.”   Their presence at the march, along with male leaders such as Vance, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), exemplified their determination to hold fast to their beliefs. President Donald Trump also shared a video message: “We will again stand proudly for families and for life.”   March attendee Ryder Wittman, 20, a senior at Colorado Christian University, said, “I think a lot of guys aren’t even aware that they can be part of this.”   He said his friends and peers have told him, “Oh, I didn’t know I could have an opinion about that. I didn’t know there was anything I could do. I thought that was a female thing.”   Wittman said that while volunteering at a pregnancy center in Denver, he comes face to face with young men who feel voiceless over an unplanned pregnancy, even when their girlfriends want them to speak up.   “A lot of guys come in and they’re my age, you know, they’re 19, 20, 21, and, you know, the mentality they’re told is ‘I can’t have an opinion on this,’” he told The Epoch Times.   “And their girlfriends, they’ll be looking at them saying, ‘Hey, lead me in this. Tell me what we should do.’ So, the big thing for me is how do we challenge that. How do we combat the idea that men don’t have a say here?   “It’s really heartbreaking and tragic to witness.”   Several pro-life groups have recognized that push to silence men on the issue and have even seen it arise in the pro-life movement.

Ryder Wittman, a senior at Colorado Christian University, ahead of the March for Life in Washington on Jan. 24, 2025. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

“Sometimes the pro-life movement risks falling into this mistake, that it’s just a women’s movement,” Priests for Life National Director Frank Pavone told The Epoch Times. “Sometimes you‘ll see these events being arranged, and they say, ‘Oh, let’s just let the women speak. We’ll only let the women speak.’ That’s a big mistake.   “Of course, we want the voices of the women to be loud and clear. We bring forward the voices of the women in our ‘Silent No More’ campaign, those who have had abortions. But even there, the men are involved as well.”   Janet Morana is Priests for Life’s executive director, as well as cofounder of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. Morana and Pavone said that making abortion exclusively a women’s issue helps perpetuate abortion by making women feel alone in their choice.

Frank Pavone (L) with Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Priests for Life Executive Director Janet Morana. (Courtesy of Frank Pavone)

Men need to resume the role of protector, they said, praising the number of young men they see becoming active in the pro-life movement.   “It’s so beautiful to see because if we had more guys like that, back when Norma McCorvey was around, and Roe v. Wade started, I don’t think we'd be where we are,” Morana told The Epoch Times.   “It’s strong men ... and boys growing up who will defend their women and put them up on a pedestal like they belong and really celebrate motherhood.”   Students for Life’s Kristen Cooper, 21, also emphasized the need for both men and women to be involved.   “The pro-life movement is built on families, and that requires both men and women, and we are so happy to have men standing up for our movement,” she told The Epoch Times.   The Post-Roe Generation   The young men who spoke to The Epoch Times said they see the need for a permanent change in the nation’s culture.   “I believe our generation has a great responsibility to redeem our culture of death and transform it into a culture of life,” Lamoutte wrote in an email before the march. “Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, it’s time to focus on our culture.   “As St. John Paul II constantly proclaimed, culture is more important than politics and economics when it comes to true and lasting change in our society. I think that’s what our post-Roe generation is called to above all else.”   Both of Lamoutte’s parents are obstetrician-gynecologists. Having two doctors as parents—and watching his dad volunteer for an abortion reversal hotline—was formative, as he heard of crisis pregnancies and women wanting to reverse first-trimester abortions.   “Having such a close experience with these patients gave me a different perspective, which caused me to become very passionate about the pro-life cause and inspired me to stand up for these women and their children,” he said.

People take part in the March for Life in Washington on Jan. 24, 2025. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

Testimonials also brought Pasquotto fully into the pro-life movement.   He told The Epoch Times via email that he initially joined Tampa Jesuit’s pro-life club because his brother had been a member for four years and had participated in three March for Life trips.   He said the turning point in his conviction occurred during his first March for Life when he heard the “Silent No More” testimonies of women who had abortions and were now speaking out about their remorse and continued pain and suffering.   “I realized that this was not a mere political or even social issue,” he said. “Abortion is a moral dilemma that directly affects the next generation of Americans. I honestly just want my children to grow up in a world that promotes life, not ends it.”   Survivors   Abortion has directly impacted every generation since Roe v. Wade, Pavone said. Those generations are connected by the fact that they are survivors; while their own parents may not have considered aborting them, they were conceived, carried, and born in a society that did not offer them protection.   That awareness of being a survivor, he said, should fuel people to speak up.   “In speaking for the unborn, you are speaking up also for yourselves,” he told The Epoch Times. ”If you were not protected in the womb, you’re speaking for yourselves.”   Speaker Johnson recognized that defining moment as well, telling the crowd of marchers about how he was the product of an unplanned pregnancy and born just one year before Roe v. Wade.   “I am so eternally grateful that my mom and dad ignored all the people who told them to just take care of that problem, and they chose to embrace life and to have me, the first of their four children,” he said... “It’s a simple fact, a very simple fact, that if they had not done that, then I would not be here.” Johnson said he often wonders “who else we have missed,” and what those individuals might have contributed to the world if they had been given the opportunity to be born. Johnson told the March for Life crowd that the House of Representatives had a day earlier passed the Born Alive Survivors Protection Act, which requires that infants born during botched abortions receive the same level of life-saving care that would be given to any other newborn. “It’s a matter of basic humanity to ensure that a child who survives an abortion attempt should be cared for as he or she is lying on the table gasping for breath,” Johnson said. He praised the activists for their collective efforts over the more than 50 years since Roe v. Wade was decided. “Together, we are rebuilding a culture of life,” Johnson said. The students of Tampa Jesuit High School also received words of encouragement from their Florida state senator, Jay Collins. “Your courage and dedication to protecting the unborn show the very best of what our community stands for—faith, service, and standing strong for what’s right,” he said when The Epoch Times asked him about their participation. “As you make your voices heard, know that your actions matter, and you’re part of a movement that can change hearts and save lives. Stay bold, stay focused, and keep fighting the good fight.” Culture of Life Although the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022, and other legislative victories have been won, those who spoke to The Epoch Times before and during the March said the fight is not over. “The job is not done,” Pasquotto said. “Although a monumental feat, the overturning of Roe v. Wade does not ban abortion through and through. “A much more difficult task is at hand: getting abortion at any stage of the pregnancy banned in each state. In fact, now more than ever, it is crucial for men to step up because there are still tens of millions of people in need of the truth, in need of our prayers, and in need of action.” Many of his schoolmates continue to pray in front of an abortion clinic every Friday, as well as every year on their trip to the nation’s capital. They pray “for all women who are scared, confused, and alone,” and for all of the babies who don’t have someone to stand up for them. They also pray for men faced with a crisis pregnancy, who may not know how to support their girlfriends, wives, sisters, or daughters at that difficult time. Lamoutte added that making the government aware of the nation’s enduring pro-life movement is crucial to continuing to build a culture of life. “It speaks to our nation as a whole to let them know that our movement isn’t going anywhere and will continue to fight for the cause of life and the ultimate end to abortion,” he said of the March of Life. Setbacks and Challenges The pro-life movement has had its setbacks, both collective and individual. Post-Roe, several states passed legislation to protect abortion access. Meanwhile, the students, although surrounded by like-minded communities and families, said they have faced prejudice in person and on the internet for their beliefs. In some instances, they’ve lost friends along the way. Young people are coming up in the movement who seek to change some deep-rooted problems that, they say, continue to hold it back. One change Wittman believes is necessary is improved communication between the pro-life movement’s different factions. While some groups, such as Students for Life, focus on defunding Planned Parenthood, other groups have other priorities. Some pro-life groups praised DeSantis for signing Florida’s heartbeat legislation, which outlaws abortion after six weeks of gestation. Others—such as the pro-life abolitionist movement—refuse to see legislation with any abortion concessions as a sign of progress. “When we get to those decisive moments, our lack of consensus hurts us,” Wittman said. Despite the challenges, members of this younger generation said they remain hopeful for the future, with the March for Life serving as an annual renewal of that hope. “I truly believe there is a younger generation that is standing up for the cause of life and already in the works of transforming our culture into one of life,” Lamoutte said. “Seeing the many young people on this March and activities surrounding it year after year continues to inspire me.” https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/why-so-many-young-men-are-publicly-supporting-the-pro-life-movement-5803604?utm_source=PR_article_paid&utm_medium=email&est=JTdHed%2FbRg0GrNzOf%2BCKfnelFSLxcdIk50WHYebR6VkXCUDAPZ0OyOJ60v3OyP4Opw6S&utm_campaign=pr-2025-02-16-ca