The President's Daily Brief - May 15th, 2024: Border Crisis Cash, IDF Advances, & Blinken in Kyiv

Episode Date: May 15, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: We kick things off at the border, where a recent investigation reveals how nonprofit organizations are raking in cash from the border crisis. Later in the show, Israeli tanks advance deeper into Rafah, causing more than 450,000 Palestinians to flee. The IDF's operation complicates negotiations with Hamas, with mediator Qatar warning of a near stalemate. Plus, Secretary of State Antony Blinken makes a surprise visit to Kyiv, promising that U.S. military aid will significantly impact Ukraine's fight against a new Russian offensive. In today's Back of the Brief, Harvard students end their protest after the university caves to some of their demands. 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 stage. Let's get briefed. Today, we'll kick things off at the U.S. southern border, where a recent investigation is showing how nonprofit organizations are raking in cash from the border crisis. While the poorest southern border is a political headache for President Biden, it's a financial windfall for NGOs handling the resettlement of unaccompanied migrant minors with their revenues

and executive salaries soaring. Now, I realize that this story may ruin your strong faith in the ability of the federal government to spend your tax dollars wisely, but the amount of money that has been flowing into the pockets of the NGOs as a result of mismanagement of border security is really a story worth telling. Later in the show, Israeli tanks advanced deeper into Rafa, causing more than 450,000 Palestinians to flee the area. the IDF's operation to root out the remaining battalions and leadership of Hamas, obviously has complicated ceasefire negotiations, with mediator Qatar warning of a near stalemate.

Plus, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken makes a surprise visit to Kiev, promising that U.S. military aid will significantly impact Ukraine's fight against a new Russian offensive. And finally, in today's back of the brief, Harvard students end their protest, after claiming that university officials have caved to some of their demands. Apparently, and I don't have this corroborated yet, but I hear that they'll get free juice boxes, an extended daily nap time and all the numby gram crackers that they can stuff in their gobs. But first, today's spotlight.

When we think of profits being made at the southern border, we usually think of the drug cartels and the billions that they're making by smuggling narcotics and engaging in human trafficking. As it turns out, there are other organizations reaping windfalls from the surge in illegal migrants. According to an investigative report by Madeline Rowley for the free press, a handful of nonprofits are making billions off the border crisis through government contracts. Shocking. These nonprofits, which are responsible for resettling unaccompanied migrant minors,

have seen a significant increase in their revenues and the salaries of their CEOs and senior personnel. The federally funded unaccompanied children programmed delegates much of the resettlement task to private contractors and non-governmental organizations or NGOs running shelters in border states like Texas, Arizona, and California. With a record 130,000 unaccompanied children entering the U.S. back in 2022 alone, the coffers of these NGOs, well, they'd been swelling. and obviously, as we've reported on the PDB, 2023 and 2024 have seen consistently increasing numbers. So the NGOs, apparently, aren't going to step away from the free government cheese trough anytime soon. The free press investigated three of the most prolific NGOs active at the border,

global refuge, Southwest Key programs, and Endeavors Inc., all catchy names. And these organizations have seen their combined revenue grow from, get this, $597 million in 2019 to an astonishing $2 billion by 2022. The CEOs of these nonprofits now earn over $500,000 annually, with the CEO of Southwest Key making more than $1 million annually. Now, some of the spending habits of these organizations are, well, they're unusual. Endeavor's Inc., for example, uses taxpayer funds, to offer services like pet therapy, horticulture therapy, and music therapy. In 2021,

a music therapist was paid $533,000. Seriously, a music therapist was paid over half a million in government fat stacks in 2021. Southwest Key programs, despite past scandals involving misuse of federal funds and employee misconduct, continues to operate and receive. substantial government funding. Of course they do. It's the intersection of contractors, NGOs, and federal government. What do you expect? Good governance, proper due diligence, consequences for bad behavior, please. In 2022, Southwest Key Program's contract nearly doubled to $790 million. Endeavor's Inc. saw its government contract sort of $1.3 billion in 2022, though it was reduced in 23 due to shelter closures. Now, if you want a demonstration of how these groups are

inflating costs, it's really just a matter of basic math. The Free Press reports that in 2019, Global Refuge housed a total of 2,591 unaccompanied children while spending $30 million. Three years later, the same NGO reported that it housed 1,443 unaccompanied children. children at a cost of $82.5 million, almost half the number of migrants for more than double the money. That's what we call right-sizing your profit margin. Now, they may not be feeding the kids, but at least they're feeding the bottom line. Most of these funds flow through the federal government's Office of Refugee Resettlement, or ORR, a clever acronym. The ORR's budget has swelled from 1.8 billion in 2018 to 6.3 billion in 2020, with most of the funds funneled to NGOs.

The ORR, that's not easy to say, you tried at home. The ORR is expected to spend at least $7.3 billion this year. Does anybody do any due diligence in Washington, D.C.? Nah, no, that's a rhetorical question. Of course they don't. The unaccompanied children program, faces numerous challenges, including a lack of oversight, what really, and pressure to quickly move children to sponsors. An investigation revealed that the ORR loosened safety protocols resulting in adults posing as unaccompanied children and cases of children being placed with unsuitable sponsors. Despite these issues, the ORR is set to codify more relaxed standards in the coming months, which critics, of course, argue, will further compromise the safety and well-being of

unaccompanied minors and lead to further mismanagement of government funds. Look, given how the current administration is handling the border, there's no reason to be shocked to hear that they're also mishandling the ecosystem of groups and dollars supporting the crisis that they've created. Look, you've got the perfect recipe for waste, abuse, and greed. an intractable problem created by the government, a big feed trough full of government doche, opportunists, and a lack of accountability. The only way I'd be shocked here is if there wasn't mismanagement. All right. Coming up after the break, thousands continue to flee Rafa as Israeli tanks advance deeper into the besieged city. Plus, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken makes a surprise

visit to Kyiv, promising that U.S. military aid will significantly impact Ukraine's fight against a new Russian offensive. More on those stories when we come back. Welcome back. Returning to our coverage of the chaotic situation in Gaza, Israeli forces moved deeper into Rafah on Tuesday, reaching residential districts in the southern Gaza city. IDF forces were engaged in intense close quarters combat on the Gaza side of the Rafa border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday and said they had eliminated several armed Hamas cells operating within the city. Additionally, IDF forces neutralize several Hamas cells in Eastern Rafa and destroyed a launch post used by Hamas to hurl missiles at Israel, and that's according to a report from the Times of Israel. The IDF also launched

targeted airstrikes at more than 100 sites used by Hamas across Gaza on Tuesday. as fighting raged both inside and outside of Rafa, where Hamas has been working to reconstitute their fighting structure. As a reminder, Israel has issued multiple evacuation orders to Palestinians in Rafa since last Monday, and so far, some 450,000 people are estimated to have fled the city. A U.N. official told the Guardian, quote, it's hard to believe that there were over one million people sheltering here just a week ago, end quote. Still, the U.S. other Western powers have been desperately trying to stop Israel from mobilizing a full-scale ground invasion of Rafa, claiming Israel is not doing enough to protect civilians. President Biden

has dramatically escalated his threats against Israel over the past week, including cutting off weapons transfers. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, however, has brushed off the threats and vowed to finish rooting Hamas out of Rafa with or without U.S. support. Israeli officials also stressed that they have made great efforts to evacuate civilians before moving into new areas. A report on Tuesday from CNN confirmed that the U.S. believes Israel has amassed enough troops just outside Rafa to mobilize a full-scale ground operation in the city. Anonymous officials added, however, that the Biden administration is still unsure if Israel has made a final decision regarding an offensive operation.

Intense fighting also continued in northern Gaza on Tuesday in areas previously cleared by the IDF against regrouped Hamas battalions. Officials said Tuesday they had killed dozens of Hamas fighters in close quarters combat, located several tunnel shafts, and destroyed several rocket launchers in a weapons depot used by Hamas terrorists. The renewed fighting has thrown ongoing ceasefire negotiations into question, according to officials in Qatar who have been mediating the discussion for months. Qatar's Prime Minister said Tuesday that Israel's operations in Rafah have greatly set back progress. No word on whether the Qataria Prime Minister thinks Hamas has any responsibility here. He said, quote, unfortunately, things didn't move in the right direction, and right now we are on a status of almost a stalemate, end quote.

All right, now I want to turn our attention back to the conflict in Ukraine, as Russia presses forward with a new offensive operation, aimed at shattering Kiev's frontline defenses. U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, made a surprise visit to Kiev on Tuesday amid the intense fighting, which is taking place in the northeast of Ukraine near the city of Kharkiv. Blinken sought to reassure Ukrainians and promised that billions of dollars in recently approved U.S. military aid would soon arrive to help them fend off the Russian incursion, according to a report from the Associated Press. Blinken acknowledged to leaders in Kiev that the months-long delay by U.S. lawmakers to approve the aid package likely left them more vulnerable to attacks by the Putin regime, but assured officials that the

arrival of larger quantities of fresh aid would begin to make a, quote, real difference on the front lines against Russian forces. Blinken said Tuesday, quote, we meet at a critical moment. The coming weeks and months will demand a great deal of Ukrainians who have already sacrificed so much. I've come to Ukraine with a message, you are not alone, end quote. Now, not one to miss a political opportunity. He noted that immediately after Congress approved the aid package in late April, President Biden began sending shipments of armored vehicles, missiles, and air defenses. The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that initial batches of critical weapons and equipment

have begun arriving in Ukraine. A Pentagon official said, quote, the Russians have launched a very aggressive offensive, but we believe that the Ukrainians continue to prove themselves, on the battlefield. That's why we're doing everything we can to make sure Ukraine has what it needs." Russia officially opened up a new front in their war against Ukraine on Friday morning, launching a cross-border offensive in the northeast. Reports on Monday confirmed that Russia's offensive involves a use of some 30,000 troops that the Putin regime had amassed along their

northeastern border. As of Tuesday, Russian forces had penetrated much of Ukraine's border defenses in the region, capturing Ukrainian border villages to the northeast of Kharkiv's city. The Ukrainian border city of Vovchansk, which Russian forces began advancing towards on Sunday, has reportedly been nearly destroyed. Officials called the situation at Vovchansk critical, but said it remained under the control of the Ukrainian military. Meanwhile, Russia has also been relentlessly shelling the city of Kharkiv in recent days, with a strike on a high rise on Tuesday, injuring 17 people, including two children, thousands of civilians have been evacuated amid the intense fighting.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said Monday, quote, we are destroying the enemy's infantry and armored vehicles. At the same time, we can clearly see how the enemy acts and their intent to stretch our forces thin, end quote. Okay, coming up in the back of the brief, students at Harvard have agreed to dismantle their anti-Israel encampment after protesters claimed that University of the United States. the officials agreed to a number of their demands. I'll be right back. Not loving your AT&T or T Mobile Bill?

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Now, the encampment in Harvard Yard, I suppose I should say at Harvard Yard, set up nearly three weeks ago by protesters, has officially come to an end. Oh, camp time is over. Hopefully, they can exchange addresses and keep in touch during the summer. Dear mom and dad, camp was so much fun. We wore kaffias and beat on drums and made up cool slogans. We welcomed everybody, I mean, except for the Jews. The student group Harvard out of occupied Palestine, announced on social media Tuesday morning that the encampment is over, saying the protest had, quote, outlasted its utility with respect to our demands, end quote. Sounds like the outside groups responsible for funding the encampment decided to wrap things up. The group said Harvard agreed to a number of its demands, including the retraction of suspension notices issued to students participating in the protest last week and holding meetings about divesting from Israel. Well, at first blush, that sounds like quite a win for the whiners, but not so fast. According to Harvard, claims that they caved on suspensions and divestment are not quite accurate. According to administrators,

suspensions and discipline will be at the discretion of individual schools at Harvard, not Harvard's central administration. In a statement to Harvard students, interim Harvard President Alan Garber said, quote, I will also ask disciplinary boards within each school to a very very evaluate expeditiously, see, look, he's clearly the Harvard president, and look at all the big words he knows. According to their existing practices and precedents, he never stops, the cases of those who participated in the encampment, end quote. Also, claims that the administration will come to the table on divestment seem to be overblown as well. A university spokesperson said a meeting with students will cover the university's endowment, not divestment. Harvard leadership

continues to oppose divestment from Israel. The protest at Harvard began on April 24th and was the last remaining tent encampment at a Boston area college. Many frisbys were tossed and much hacky sack was enjoyed. Harvard is set to host its commencement ceremonies on campus next Thursday, and like many other colleges across the country, it will likely see some anti-Israel activities during the proceedings. So far, those protests have been fairly tame, with the most notable being several dozen student activists

walking out on a commencement address by comedian Jerry Seinfeld at Duke University. Hopefully, Jerry will survive the snub. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Wednesday, 15 May. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdb premium.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the BDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.