The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 23rd, 2024: SCOTUS Smacks Texas & Israel's Ceasefire Offer

Episode Date: January 23, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:     The border fight in Texas is heating up as a sharply divided Supreme Court said the Biden administration could remove razor-wire fencing that Texas had installed as a deterrent to illegal migrant crossings. Israel has proposed a potential two month pause in fighting as part of a deal to release all remaining hostages, the longest ceasefire offered by Israel since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.     Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast is sponsored by Blackout Coffee. Start your day off right with a tasty cup of American-made Blackout Coffee. Family-owned, premium coffee, fresh-roasted, and shipped out within 48 hours of roasting. Go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB, for 20% off your first purchase. It's Tuesday, January 23rd. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed.

The border fight in Texas is heating up as a sharply divided Supreme Court said the Biden administration could remove razor wire fencing that Texas had installed as a deterrent to illegal migrant crossings. They also said it was not appropriate that Texas removed President Biden's all-or-welcome-here signs that lined the southern border. Also, Israel has proposed a potential two-month pause in fighting as part of a deal to release all remaining hostages. Now, that would be the longest ceasefire offered by Israel since the brutal 7 October attacks by Hamas. But first, our afternoon spotlight. A battle between Texas and the federal government is intensifying in the wake of a highly controversial 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that critics say undercuts the state's efforts to address the

worsening border crisis. The Supreme Court, again in a tight-five-for decision, cited with the Biden administration on Monday, granting U.S. Border Patrol agents the authority to cut down or remove razor-wire fencing that Texas erected along the Rio Grande River to stem the surge in illegal migrant crossings. The administration argued that the fencing was preventing federal border agents from reaching migrants who had crossed certain areas of the border. Texas had argued that in the absence of the of federal action to address the border crisis, they as a state had a constitutional right to take matters into their own hands to protect their citizens. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

blasted the Supreme Court decision in a statement on X Monday evening, saying, quote, the Supreme Court's temporary order allows Biden to continue his illegal effort to aid the foreign invasion of America. The destruction of Texas' border barriers will not help enforce the law or keep American citizens safe. The fight is not over." End quote. The controversy started when Texas sued the Biden administration in October of 2023 for destroying recently installed razor wire fencing. The U.S. District Court sided with the Biden administration, though we should note that presiding U.S. District Judge Alia Moses did note the Biden administration's, quote, utter failure to deal with the border crisis. In December, however, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

overruled that decision, temporarily blocking Border Patrol agents from cutting or removing the razor wire fencing. The situation escalated when Texas Governor Greg Abbott mobilized the Texas National Guard on January 10th, directing them to take full control of Shelby Park. That's a 47-acre area in Eagle Pass, Texas, that has been a hotspot for illegal migrant crossings. They indefinitely closed public access to the park and installed wire and fencing to block entry. The Biden administration had complained that U.S. Border Patrol agents were blocked from accessing the area of Shelby Park and asked the Supreme Court to intervene on January 12th. While they were waiting for the court to rule, the Department of Homeland Security issued

a cease-and-diss letter to Texas, demanding that Texas stop obstructing Border Patrol agents' access to Shelby Park by January 17th or face repercussions from the U.S. Justice Department. while that deadline came and went, and Texas held firm. Attorney General Paxton sent a letter back to the DHS disputing their claims, saying, quote, the facts and law side with Texas, the state will continue utilizing its constitutional authority to defend her territory, end quote. It's worth noting that amid this back and forth, the Biden administration falsely claimed that the actions of Texas officials led to the tragic deaths of three migrants who drowned in the real ground river. The White House was later forced to admit that the initial narrative was wrong and that the deaths were in no way linked with Texas's Razor Wire and Shelby Park.

Now, the Razor Wire border fence was just one of a number of policies enacted by Texas as part of Governor Abbott's Operation Lone Star aimed at securing the state's border. The state also passed a law that allows Texas state law enforcement to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the border. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Texas on January 3rd challenging that law, which will officially go into effect in March barring a judicial intervention. So it appears that the White House and the Biden Justice Department are worried that arresting people who enter the U.S. illegally or putting up fencing along the nation's borders might send the wrong message to the rest of the world. After all, you wouldn't want people coming to the conclusion that the U.S. intends.

to secure its borders or worry about its own national security and citizens. Just to recap some statistics, in fiscal year 2023, according to Homeland Security numbers, there were 3.2 million known encounters nationwide, and 2.4 million of those were at the southern border. In 2022, the year before, there were roughly 2.5 million known encounters. And, of course, those numbers, well, they don't include those crossing illegally. who didn't encounter law enforcement, referred to as known godaways. That number would conservatively be in the vicinity of two million over the past couple of years. So, over the course of 2022 and 2023 combined, including both known encounters and known gotaways, we're looking at approximately

7,700,000 folks crossing into the U.S. Fun fact, when thinking about these numbers, the population of Los Angeles is about four million. And again, during fiscal year 2023, 169 individuals on the terrorist watch list were apprehended, attempting to cross into the U.S. And nobody has any idea how many persons on the watch list made it across the border without detection. Finally, if you imagine this to just be a border states issue. Maybe check in with the mayors of New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other sanctuary cities and towns currently housing new arrivals on warming buses and intense and school gymnasiums. All right, coming up after the break, Israel has proposed a potential two-month pause in

fighting as part of a deal to release all remaining hostages, and that would be the longest ceasefire offered by Israel since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. I'll be right back. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds for fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings. There's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Let's turn to the conflict in southern Gaza, where the Israeli government facing mounting pressures both domestically and internationally has reportedly proposed an extended ceasefire with Hamas.

The proposal, which was mediated by Qatar and Egypt and first reported by Axios, would see the release of approximately 130 hostages currently held in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire lasting up to two months. The Israeli proposal isn't too dissimilar from other multi-phase plans we've been discussing here on the PDB. The initial phase of the hostage release would prioritize women, men, over 60 and those in critical condition or with severe health problems. Subsequent phases would see the release of hostages not affiliated with the Israeli defense forces, the IDF, followed by Israeli soldiers and the bodies of hostages who died in captivity. In return, Israel would release a number of Palestinian prisoners. Additionally, the agreement includes the

redeployment of some IDF soldiers away from key population areas in Gaza. It also allows the gradual return of Palestinians to Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip. However, Israeli officials, as cited by Axios, indicate that the war is expected to resume once these exchanges are are completed. This proposal, though not an agreement to end the war, represents the longest ceasefire that Israel has offered Hamas since Hamas started this conflict. Unfortunately, it appears that Hamas has already given its answer. According to Israeli media, the terror group has rejected Israel's proposal, insisting on a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza before agreeing to release any more hostages. That, of course, would leave Hamas intact and in control. News of this proposal

comes at a precarious time for Israel. Less than 24 hours before this proposal was made public, supporters and relatives of the hostages stormed a meeting at Israel's parliament, the Knesset, demanding more decisive action to secure the captive's release from Gaza. The situation is further compounded by the recent losses faced by the Israeli defense forces. In what has been described as the deadliest single day

for the IDF in this ongoing conflict, 24 Israeli soldiers were killed, during fighting in southern Gaza on Monday. Now, not to oversimplify this incredibly complex situation, but the Israeli War Cabinet has defined their overriding objective, their primary goal, as the destruction of Hamas to ensure that the Iranian-backed terrorist organization is not left in control of Gaza or in a position to carry out further attacks on Israel. Hamas is completely embedded within the population and infrastructure of Gaza, and they've done this over the years in order to complicate any attempts by Israel to target Hamas. Hamas understands and frankly is unconcerned about civilian

casualties because they understand it creates the enormous international media and social media pressure that we're currently witnessing. The families of the hostages taken by Hamas, well, they're in an impossible situation. Pressuring the Israeli government to do more to secure the release of their loved ones, basically means a binary choice, hit Hamas harder, which means more civilian deaths and possibly the deaths of the hostages, or negotiate, barter for the hostages, and agree to a ceasefire, which leaves Hamas intact and capable of future violence, which they've already promised. And that, my friends, is the BDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday, 23 January. 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 tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.