The Daily Signal - Senate Bill Would Allow Thousands into US Daily, Trans Whistleblower, Terrorists Threaten Italy | Jan. 5

Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Monday, January 5th. Here are today's headlines. The Senate has introduced a bill that includes about $20 billion for border-related provisions. But House Speaker Mike Johnson has called the bill worse than expected and says that it is dead on arrival in the House. So what exactly is inside this Senate bill and why are Republicans voicing such strong opposition to it. Here with us to discuss that is the Heritage Foundation's director of the Border Security and Immigration Center, Laura Reese. Laura, this bill is 370 pages long. I know that you have spent much of your time since it was released on Sunday night combing through it.

Starting point is 00:01:01 What have you found? Well, there is a lot of money and there's a lot of bad policy changes and neither would secure the border. So as you mentioned, the border security portion of the total funding is over $20 billion. Within that is over $7 billion, that billion would be, that would go to pay off sanctuary cities that are sheltering and feeding and giving social services to large numbers of illegal aliens and the NGOs that have built the incredible infrastructure really throughout the Western Hemisphere and throughout the U.S. to receive, process, transport, shelter, and give social services to these millions of people who are here. And in no world should we be continuing to fund

Starting point is 00:01:57 this machine that has carried out this open border agenda. So right there, that should be a no vote from senators, no deal. But on top of that, the policy changes that the negotiators have agreed to definitely would not secure the border. In fact, it would make it more difficult for a future president to actually enforce the law and secure the border. The most glaring item in there is that it accepts and codifies 4,000, 5,000, up to 8,500 illegal alien encounters per day. Again, that's crisis levels, and we shouldn't be accepting that, let alone putting that in statute. Okay, so it includes provisions that allow, like you said, four, five, up to 8,500 illegal aliens to cross the border a day. Does it do anything to end cash and release?

Starting point is 00:02:53 No. In fact, the word release is in the bill 21 times and non-custodial detention, this new phrase they came up with instead of, you know, big bad detention is in there eight times. So in some places it says certain populations of aliens shall be released. And it gives work authorization or work permits as soon as they are released. So it's going to continue encouraging more legal immigration. It will continue more asylum fraud because it dangles that carrot out there of a work permit. And in fact, it's a faster work permit. So no, it does not end cash and release, despite what some senators proclaim. Now, this was touted as a bipartisan bill. It was negotiated in the Senate between Democrats and then on the Republican side, Senator Lankford of Oklahoma led the efforts from

Starting point is 00:03:51 the Republican side. But what are we seeing when it comes to things that Republicans have been very clear? There are certain measures that we have to take to secure the border, such as building the wall and in catch and release. Are any of those provisions that Republicans have been speaking about for a long time in this bill? No, they aren't in there. And recall in May, the House passed HR2, the Secure the Border Act. And it was really a very strong bill. What the Senate negotiated deal has done is done the opposite of HR2. So when HR2, it ended catch and release, as we just discussed, the Senate bill continues catch and release. HR2, it ended what's called the Flores Agreement, which says that both unaccompanied children and families cannot be detained longer

Starting point is 00:04:44 than 20 days. The Senate bill codifies that settlement agreement into place. The HR2 ended the mass abuse of parole that Secretary Mayarchus of Homeland Security is so enamored with using. The Senate bill both expands the definitions for parole. and then codifies it. So in each instance, it makes the situation worse. Okay. What happens next? As I mentioned, House Speaker Mike Johnson has already said this bill is dead on arrival in the House. We're seeing a lot of senators, actually both Republicans and Democrats, come out in opposition to it.

Starting point is 00:05:26 What are we going to see in the coming days and weeks? Yeah, we're going to have to see how many senators line up behind know that it seems to be snowballing. And if it doesn't even get out of the Senate, that'll be remarkable. If it ekes through the Senate, then, yes, it is dead on arrival in the House. The key tool that either chamber has right now is the funding issue. Truly, the Biden administration, the sanctuary mayors, the NGOs are on the ropes. They have burned through their money, and it is critical that Congress not continue to give them more money. That's the strongest tool right now.

Starting point is 00:06:02 But otherwise, we are also in the midst of still having to pass all the appropriations bills for this fiscal year. We've been living on continuing resolutions. So these funding issues aren't going away. And I'm sure as appropriation bills are considered, parts of these policy changes will probably reappear. So I think this is just going to drag on for months. Laura, really appreciate your analysis on this for all of our listeners who want to get the play-by-play. analysis on this moving forward. I encourage anyone to check out your X account. It's Laura underscore Reespelled R-I-E-S. You follow all your work there and, of course, at the Heritage Foundation

Starting point is 00:06:41 website. That's heritage.org. But Laura, thank you so much, really appreciate it. Thanks, Virginia. Well, speaking of the border, I was glad to join the show on Friday from Eagle Pass, Texas, but I'm also glad to be back in studio with you all today. On Friday night, after I joined the show, I attended the arrival of the pro-border security trucker convoy. This convoy started in Virginia Beach on Monday, and it arrived in Eagle Pass, or just north of Eagle Pass, about 30 minutes north, on Friday night. The convoy was peaceful. It was a peaceful protest in support of border security, and it was made up of semi-trucks, lots of pickup trucks, lots of vehicles that were all

Starting point is 00:07:24 being driven by Americans who support border security. And they had it. a very, very simple message that they brought with them. They want the Biden administration. They want their elected leaders to secure the border. But as that convoy rolled up, this is what it sounded like. to name a few states, and they were all people who had driven down to Texas, again, in support of U.S. laws being followed and having a secure border. I spoke with one woman named Shurisa Hoke, and she drove with the convoy for two days from her home in Alito, Texas. She traveled with her family, and I asked her why she took two days to drive with this convoy and what her message is to America's elected leaders. This is what she told me.

Starting point is 00:08:30 I would like them to follow the law, but mostly read our Constitution and give the people back their voice. It just amazes me that they can do whatever they want nowadays and nobody is held accountable. Just like I'm to start with closing the border, actually, like the law says. Well, that convoy then held a rally on Saturday, again at that same location, about 30 minutes north of Eagle Pass, Texas, on a ranch. And the rally was peaceful. It honestly looked a lot more like a church service when it first started. There was contemporary worship. There was prayer. Folks gave testimonies. And then there were several hours of people talking about the need and the necessity for a secure border. You can check out today's show notes to read my full report on that rally and catch some highlights of conversations

Starting point is 00:09:22 that I had with folks there. Well, shifting gears from the border, let's take a minute to talk about a critical story that has just broken on the issue of gender dysphoria and transgenderism. A therapist says that she was told that she had to affirm all teens who are struggling with gender dysphoria. But after six years, she quit her job, and she's now sounding the alarm on the issue. Therapist Tamara Pitsky worked for a hospital system in Washington State called Multi-Care for six years. But in January, she quit her job. and she explained why in a recent column for the free press. The therapist writes that it is her job as a therapist to guide a patient to self-understanding

Starting point is 00:10:11 and sound mental health, and she noted that this is a process that requires careful assessment and time, not snap judgments, and confirmation of a patient's worldview. Pietzky says that over the course of the past year, she began to notice a concerning new trend in the field of psychology. She says she was getting the message from her supervisors that when a young person that she was meeting with expressed discomfort with their gender, that she should, in her words, throw out all my training. The therapist said it didn't matter what the patient's history was or their health condition. She was instructed to affirm that patient was transgender and even approve the start of a medical transition.

Starting point is 00:10:59 Pietzky says she believed this rise of affirmative care for young people with gender dysphoria challenges the very fundamentals of what therapy is supposed to provide. She is warning others in the medical field and patients that it is time to stop this dangerous trend. You can check out that full report in today's show notes. Well, let's move internationally for a moment where terrorists are threatening Italy. According to Fox News, Italy's defense minister said on Friday, that an Italian admiral will help lead the European Union naval mission that is working to protect ships in the Red Sea from Houthi militant attacks. But the head of the Houthi's Supreme Revolutionary Committee is warning that Italy should stay out of the situation.

Starting point is 00:11:48 The Houthis say Italy would make itself a target to retaliation if the nation took part in attacks against the Houthis. The Houthis began launching attacks on ships in the Red Sea after Hamas attacked Israel about four months ago. Fox News reports that the plan for Italy to be involved with the mission to defend commercial ships along the vital trade route was first announced in December of 2023 after a meeting between Italy's defense minister and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The mission is to specifically protect commercial ships and intercept attacks from the Houthis. Italy has given no indication that it plans to back away from that mission. Over 70 policies. Over 70 policies, The experts, activists, and former lawmakers are demanding that the U.S. permanently withdraw all funding

Starting point is 00:12:38 to a U.N. aid organization that operates in Palestine. That's according to an exclusive report from the Daily Caller. The aid group is called the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The entity is facing accusations that some of its employees were involved in the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel. The agency has fired some of its employees over those. allegations. Now, former lawmakers and activists have sent a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate, and they're demanding that not one cent of American taxpayer money should ever again be used to directly or indirectly support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The U.S. has suspended funding to the UN Aid Organization, but the many signers of this letter want to make sure

Starting point is 00:13:29 that the group never again receives U.S. funding, given the accusations that some of its employees did take part in the atrocities of October 7th. Signers of the letter include former U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Matt Brooks, and Penny Nance, the head of Concern Women for America. And with that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining us here on the Daily Signal, top news. Be sure to catch the show tomorrow morning. I'm sitting down with the head of Immigration Accountability Project, Rosemary Jenks, and Mike Howe, who's the director of Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, and we're diving deeper into the Senate bill that is so controversial right now as it relates to

Starting point is 00:14:15 border security. We're talking about what is and isn't in the bill. Laura Reese gave us a great perspective on that on the show today, but we take a step further in the conversation tomorrow morning to really get into the weeds of this bill and why it is facing so much criticism and what is and is not inside it. So make sure you check out that conversation tomorrow morning, but also take a minute if you haven't done so already to subscribe to the Daily Signal podcast. You never miss out on new episodes. And please take a minute to leave us a five-star rating and review. Thanks again for being with us today. We hope your week is off to a great start. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning.

Starting point is 00:14:52 The Daily Signal podcast is brought to by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Lewy and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheris. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - Senate Bill Would Allow Thousands into US Daily, Trans Whistleblower, Terrorists Threaten Italy | Jan. 5

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