The President's Daily Brief - May 10th, 2024: Border Rules, Chinese Migrants, & Iran's Nuclear Threat

Episode Date: May 10, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: We tackle the latest domestic news concerning the border crisis as Democrats plan to introduce new rules to curb illegal migration. This strategy could majorly undercut their political rivals just before the presidential election. Our conversation continues on border issues with a focus on the new agreement between the Chinese government and the US, aimed at handling the significant influx of Chinese nationals crossing the US border from Mexico. We delve into international tensions as top officials in Iran threaten to acquire nuclear weapons, coinciding with reports from the UN’s top watchdog about Iran's non-cooperation with nuclear inspectors. In the Back of the Brief, we bring you an update from the Kremlin, where a former top defense official is now facing trial in a Russian court, accused of accepting bribes worth approximately $11 million. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world's day. Let's get briefed. Today, we begin with U.S. domestic news on the southern border crisis, as Democrats are set to introduce new regulations aimed at curbing illegal migration. Now, this strategic move could significantly undermine their political opponents ahead of the presidential election. Hmm, a cynic would say that the Democrats' reason for doing anything related to the border is because of politics and the impending election. And by cynic, I have a cynic, I have a president.

I mean anyone who's been paying attention. Later in the show, we'll continue our discussion on border issues with the recent agreement between the Chinese government and the U.S. to collaborate on deporting unprecedented numbers of Chinese nationals entering the U.S. via Mexico. Plus, top officials in Iran are, once again, threatening to acquire nuclear weapons as the UN's top watchdog reveals that the Islamic Republic isn't cooperating with inspectors. What? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most shocked and surprised, I'm a zero. Lastly, in today's back of the brief, an update on the bribery scandal in the Kremlin,

as a former top defense official faces a Russian court for allegedly accepting over $10 million in bribes. But first, today's PDB spotlight. With the presidential election rapidly approaching, it looks like Democrats are beginning to take the issue of border security, a bit more seriously, even if for the wrong reasons. First, let me set the table by giving you some of the most recent numbers. I'll start with some good news. We have seen a slight dip in illegal crossings in the past few months.

Preliminary numbers published by the Washington Post show that Border Patrol agents apprehended approximately 130,000 migrants in April. Now, that's a marginal decrease from February and March, but, historically speaking, those numbers are still incredibly high. This year is still on track to break records in terms of illegal border crossings. CBP records show that the first six months of fiscal year 2024 had more than 1.3 million total encounters, exceeding the first six months of fiscal year 2023, which set a record of 1.2 million encounters. Democrats strategists and politicians are worried that this could be a major problem, you think, for the Biden administration because it's an issue that resonates with voters.

A Wall Street Journal National Poll conducted back in late February found that 20% of voters now rank immigration as their top issue, and that's up from 13% in December. On top of that, 65% of voters said they disapproved to President Biden's handling of border security. So who's the 35% that think that President Biden's handling of border security has been, A, and okay. So with a political fire lit under their collective butt, the Biden administration has finally decided to take some action, proposing a new rule on Thursday to streamline the asylum process for certain migrants at the U.S. southern border. The rule is designed to speed up the evaluation of asylum claims, specifically targeting migrants with criminal records or those likely to be

deemed ineligible for asylum. Yeah, it really shouldn't be that tough to make a lot of decisions about migrants with criminal records. How about no? As the system currently operates, any migrant who expresses a credible fear of persecution in their home country can proceed with their asylum claims, even if they have criminal backgrounds or pose a security risk, until a judge reviews their case. As a result, it can take asylum seekers years to get a final decision in immigration court. In the meantime, of course, they're released into the country. However, the new rule would streamline that process, allowing immigration officers to make eligibility determinations at the initial screening stage, rather than deferring this decision to a judge later.

This isn't really rocket science, is it? U.S. citizenship and immigration services currently have a backlog of over 1.1 million cases that are still pending. And the new rule, well, I mean, at least it would do something to alleviate that just a bit. and screening out people with criminal records before they're let into the country. Now, I haven't done a survey, but I suspect that's a popular concept. That being said, it's unlikely that this change would have a major impact on the total numbers, as the vast majority of illegal migrants obviously don't have prior criminal records, and oftentimes, those that do, well, they're not inclined to reveal them during initial contact with customs agents.

This isn't the only move Democrats plan on making in the coming weeks. According to a report in Axios, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is considering bringing the failed bipartisan border deal back to the floor, here it is again, for a vote later this month. Look, you have to admit, the Democrats are far better at gamesmanship and political theater than the Republicans. The move by Senator Schumer is clearly designed to corner Republican lawmakers. You can either vote for a weak border security bill or risk looking ineffective. Hey, it's your choice. Ultimately, the goal here doesn't appear to be furthering America's national security interests. Instead, the goal is to convince voters that the White House is being proactive at the border

and to try and remove the border as a key talking point for Republicans in the upcoming election. All right, coming up next. We'll examine the new agreement between China and the U.S. to try and manage the surge of Chinese nationals crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. Plus, we'll discuss Iran's renewed nuclear threats, and the U.N.'s top nuclear watchdogs report that says the Islamic Republic is falling short in its cooperation with inspections. I'll be right back.

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They noted that the Chinese disproportionately used crossings in the San Diego sector, where roughly 98% of the apprehensions took place. The dramatic surge in Chinese nationals coming through the border has alarmed observers, particularly Republicans, who see it as a clear national security threat. that could be leveraged for espionage efforts by China's ruling Communist Party, and I can't believe that anybody would think Xi Jinping and his intelligence apparatus would engage in anything so dodgy. Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council,

previously told Fox News, quote, that is a very scary prospect. We know that China does not like us. We know that we are in the crosshairs of China, and they're exporting so many people to our country, and you have to really fear about that. end quote. In the first five months of this fiscal year, which began in October, CBP reports that it has encountered more than 22,000 Chinese nationals. For context, that number was only

342 in 2021 for the entire year. That's a staggering increase of roughly, if my math is correct, let's see, wait for it, 6,300%. And that number grew to more than 24,000 in fiscal year 2023, which means we are on pace to more than double the number of Chinese migrants that we saw last year. Let me repeat that. In the 12 months of fiscal year 2023, we had more than 24,000, and now, after only five months of fiscal year 2024, were already up to more than 22,000 Chinese nationals. Now, amid the backdrop, there is some hope that things are improving. As we discussed in early April, U.S. officials have been conducting high-level discussions with China

aimed at increasing the number of Chinese nationals deported from the United States back to China. An exclusive report from the Associated Press on Thursday confirmed that such cooperation on deportations has quietly resumed. In a statement to the AP, the Chinese foreign ministry said they were, quote, willing to maintain dialogue and cooperation in the area of immigration enforcement with the U.S. The Chinese official added that they would accept any Chinese nationals who were deported as long as the U.S. has properly verified their nationality, and as long as they aren't PLA spies, sent by Xi to engage in shenanigans,

in which case they won't accept them back. Okay, that last part might be made up. It's a notable development, as without Chinese cooperation, the U.S. has no legal remedy regarding the Chinese nationals and can't send them back to their home country. So far, it appears that the number of Chinese nationals

being sent back to China is relatively small, but still, it's a hopeful sign regarding U.S.-China relations on the issue of immigration. As a reminder, China formally cut off cooperation on deportations back in 2022, following a visit by then-speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. That was likely a major driver of the surge of Chinese migration we're seeing today. Okay, shifting gears. I want to return to our coverage of Iran's nuclear ambitions, as senior officials within the Islamic Republic

issue a threat to the international community regarding their long-standing nuclear doctrine. A senior advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, said Thursday that Iran will shift its nuclear doctrine from civilian to military and move forward with building a bomb if Israel threatens its existence, according to a report from Reuters. Over the past several months,

Iran has pivoted away from their usual, nuclear rhetoric, which tends to be full of denials regarding their pursuit of atomic weapons to openly discussing the possibility of building a bomb. The advisor to the Supreme Leader said Thursday, quote, we have no decision to build a nuclear bomb, but should Iran's existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine, end quote. It's the most pointed nuclear threat yet from Iran, and it comes at a time of heightened concern regarding UN oversight of their nuclear facilities. Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, was in Iran early this week to attend a nuclear energy conference hosted by the

Islamic regime, where he held discussions with the head of Iran's civilian nuclear program. Relations between Iran and the UN took a turn for the worst, to say the least, last September after Iran booted several senior UN nuke inspectors from their country in what the IAEA called in, quote, unprecedented move. While UN monitoring is still being conducted in Iran, IAEA surveillance cameras have reportedly faced significant disruptions, raising questions about just what Iranian scientists are up to at their nuclear sites. Huh, what could they be up to? Could it be building a bomb? Grossie was hoping to make progress on these issues, but it appears the talks were not very productive. Following his trip, Grossi told reporters in Vienna on Tuesday that Iran's cooperation

regarding their nuclear program is, quote, completely unsatisfactory. He added that no progress has been made on expanding UN inspections of the country's nuke program. He elaborated, saying, quote, we have to be moving on. The present state is completely unsatisfactory for me. We are almost at an impasse, and this needs to be changed, end quote. Grossie demanded that Iran take concrete measures to address UN concerns, but, frankly, if history is any indication, sometimes it is, we should not expect any concessions from leaders in Tehran. As a reminder, Iran has large stores of 60% enriched uranium. Now, experts note that it would not take much time or effort for Iran to further enrich

those supplies from 60% to the 90% threshold that is considered weapons grade. A report by the IAEA in March concluded, that Iran has enough near-weapons-grade uranium to build at least two nuclear weapons in a relatively short amount of time. It's also worth remembering that the former head of Iran's nuclear agency suggested earlier this year that Iran has all the component parts to immediately build a nuclear device, but that they're currently in a disassembled state, and they can't find the instruction book. And on that cheery note, coming up in the back of the brief, we'll bring you the latest. on the Kremlin's bribery scandal.

A former top defense official is now facing trial in the Russian court accused of accepting bribes worth approximately $11 million. I'll be right back. Exema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with ebbglis, a once-monthly treatment for moderate-tissaphyr.

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1 billion rubles, or roughly $11 million. As we recently discussed on the PDB, Ivanov was arrested in late April on suspicion of accepting bribes, and he faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty on the charges. He's a close ally, and this is important, of Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shorgu, and his arrest was largely seen as a shot across the bow by Russian President Putin, who was reportedly disappointed with the minister's failures regarding the war, war in Ukraine. That's according to a report by the Moscow Times. As a reminder, as Deputy

Minister of Defense, Ivanov was responsible for overseeing the construction of military infrastructure and facilities across Russia and inside occupied Ukraine. Now, one could argue that's a highly lucrative position ripe for self-enrichment. Most recently, he oversaw construction in Maripol, as Port City and Ukraine's partially occupied Donetsk region. His role put him at the cross-section of military contracts and the construction business, and that's a role custom-made, I suspect, for kickbacks and fat stacks. Judging by his luxurious personal spending habits, it would appear that Ivanov availed himself of every opportunity to siphon off funds, and he did it largely in plain view of its peers within Russia. He wasn't trying to hide his

wealth. For example, since becoming Deputy Defense Minister back in 2016, and that was by the decree of Putin himself, Ivanov has become, you know, what you could describe as obscenely wealthy. He's regularly taking long holidays and sprawling villas in the south of France, sailing the Mediterranean on yachts and dropping tens of thousands of dollars at a clip on shopping sprees with his wife. Well, that doesn't sound sketchy at all. He also reportedly owns a palatial mansion on the Volga River, and then again, who doesn't, and a pair of Rolls Royces. Evenov, who's denied all the charges. Really, he's denied the charges. Really? He's denied the charges will be held in pre-trial detention until a trial begins in late June. Now, here's a thought,

maybe even of, and U.S. Senator Bob Menendez about to start his own trial, they could start a podcast and they could call it, I'm just spitballing here, the kickback chronicles. While we don't know for certain what prompted his arrest, prosecution of senior Russian officials, it is a rare sight. As we mentioned, however, speculation is rife that Putin was sending a clear message to the Russian Minister of Defense that if he doesn't yield better results in Ukraine, he could be next. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Friday, 10 May. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin.

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