NTF issue paper: president61.doc. 4-20.
NEBRASKA TAXPAYERS FOR FREEDOM ISSUE PAPER:
PRESIDENT TRUMP MUST BAN INFECTED IMMIGRANTS.
BACKGROUND. After the outbreak of the coronavirus in Red China, thousands of Chinese and others residing there, including Americans, fled to all parts of the world, including the U.S., bringing the virus with them, knowingly or unknowingly. Moreover, refugees and aliens from south of our border desperately seek to sneak into the U.S., some of them already infected with COVID-19. Our nation unfortunately has too few regulations to identify and exclude such aliens at ports of entry or other border areas. As the virus pandemic spreads throughout the U.S., it is imperative that President Trump exercise his constitutional and legal authority to exclude aliens who may carry the deadly virus.
TRUMP AUTHORITY. By law, President Trump can, by executive order, and for a period time which he designates, suspend the entry of all illegal aliens, if he considers their entry detrimental to U.S. interests, including for health concerns. Congress in 1952 upheld this presidential privilege. Former presidents have invoked this authority 43 times since 1981. The federal court system has no authority to challenge such presidential decision. In Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, Inc., the Supreme Court by an 8-1 decision upheld the 1952 congressional act and clarified that no limitations exist on such presidential authority. This court also ruled in U.S. v. Ju Toy that an illegal alien is “regarded as if he had stopped at the limit of its (U.S.) jurisdiction, although physically he may be within its boundaries.” Lower federal courts clearly affirmed this settled law, stating that aliens who enter our country illegally have no right to apply for due process to avoid deportation. Therefore, no illegal alien can enter our country without presidential consent. A president can require a medical examination of each alien seeking to enter the U.S. or authorize qualified doctors from home nations to conduct such exams before aliens leave. Medical exams usually now required only for aliens seeking admission as permanent residents but not required for non-immigrant visitors. Under current law, medical tests a possible requirement for an alien if reason to believe alien is inadmissible for health reasons. Aliens who may have a communicable disease of public health significance, like COVID-19, inadmissible under 8 USC §1182(a)(1)(A)(i). 8 USC §1182(g) offers a discretionary waiver for this exclusion ground limited only to aliens who have a specific relationship with a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident, an alien issued an immigrant visa, and aliens who are Violence Against Women Act self-petitioners. Current restrictions unfortunately not enforced.
TRUMP ACTION. Amid growing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, Trump closed the southern and northern borders to immigrants caught trying to enter the U.S. illegally. The U.S. has reached agreements with both Canada and Mexico to limit all non-essential travel across borders. Such travel includes tourism or recreational ventures. To protect against the spread of COVID-19 by illegal aliens, Trump has implemented emergency authority under 42 U.S.C. § 265 at our borders to prohibit the entry of illegal aliens in the interest of public health. During a White House news conference, Trump confirmed he would invoke a statute allowing the surgeon general, the ranking U.S. public health official, to block people from specific countries or places to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Trump Administration immediately will deport illegal immigrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border during the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. citizens and foreigners with residency permits or other proper documentation allowed into the country only at legal crossing points. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents exempt from this action but will receive the same processing, evaluation, and potential medical screening at U.S. Ports of Entry. His new policy taking effect immediately orders the Border Patrol to immediately send immigrants and asylum-seekers caught trying to enter the U.S. between official border crossings back to Mexico or Canada without detaining or processing them. Otherwise, these illegals returned to countries of origin. Previously, border agents temporarily would detain and process aliens before sending them to ICE detention, back to Mexico to await a U.S. court hearing, to another country to first seek asylum there, or to their home countries. Instead, the U.S. will refuse to process them at a U.S. facility before sending them back. Immigrants returned to the nearest port of entry and returned to Mexico or Canada without due process. No processing, no endless court cases, no detention. Simple enforcement of our sovereignty. These recommendations come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC recommended immediate separating illegal aliens, placing infected ones in isolation upon initial detention. It determined that conditions present a serious infection control challenge, that illegals present a risk to our public health. Should an outbreak occur at these facilities from infected illegals, local medical facilities would become forced to devote extensive resources and become overwhelmed. This action will protect the health of our dedicated border agents and other law enforcement personnel, who are vital to the security of our nation. Every week until March, the Border Patrol apprehended between 7,000 – 9,000 illegals between ports of entry. Its facilities are for short-term holding and do not provide for needed large-scale isolation, diagnosis, or treatment of COVID-19. Its facilities not structured or equipped to effectively quarantine an infected population. The Border Patrol would become forced to rely on state and local hospitals to provide longer-term medical care for virus-infected individuals, further burdening our strained healthcare system and depriving Americans of key medical resources. Although our immigration service has policies and procedures in place to handle transmittable diseases, COVID-19 would impact already strained holding capacities and place an extreme burden on a presumed strained healthcare system and the critical medical professionals sorely needed to attend to U.S. citizens and legal residents. Eager migrants advised instead to shelter-in-place in their homes and communities rather than attempting a long and dangerous journey to the U.S. borders at the mercy of traffickers and smugglers. Illegal aliens without documentation now turned around immediately, including unaccompanied alien minors. Migrants who cross into the U.S. illegally now expelled to Mexico in an average of 96 minutes under emergency coronavirus measures now in force across the U.S. southern border. Illegals who have U.S. arrest warrants or serious criminal records still booked and detained in U.S. facilities using standard practices. However, the objective for the emergency model is to reduce the number of detainees in U.S. custody and minimize the risk of spreading infections across border stations and throughout immigration jails. The Administration requested $249 million in additional funding for immigration enforcement operations, including chartered aircraft for deportation. The flow of illegal border crossings has plunged since emergency measures implemented, from more than 1,000 per day to fewer than 600.
OBSTRUCTION. The Guatemalan government has suspended return flights carrying refugees and others attempting to enter the U.S. illegally, halting one key Administration means of deporting illegals to prevent their spreading the coronavirus here. Leftist U.S. groups promise legal challenges. A federal judge rejected an ACLU emergency demand that illegal immigrants at risk of coronavirus complications win release from an ICE detention center in Washington State. The ACLU also clamors for release of incarcerated illegal aliens not tested for COVID-19.
THE DANGER. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, former acting Immigration Commissioner Kevin McAleenan testified, “Migrants travel north from countries where poverty and disease are rampant,” and large numbers of them “may have never seen a doctor, received immunizations, or lived in sanitary conditions.” Randy Howe, head of operations for the immigration Office of Field Operations, testified that “their health can be aggravated by the physical toll of the journey.” He elaborated: “In many cases, they arrive at our southern border already exhibiting symptoms of a health issue. … Close quarters on trains and buses that smugglers procure for moving them through Mexico can hasten the spread of communicable diseases. All of these factors leave migrants vulnerable to serious medical complications.” “In normal times, these massive flows place a vast burden on our healthcare system, but during a global pandemic, they threaten to create a perfect storm that would spread the infection to our border agents s and to the public at large,” Trump said. 4 individuals in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at Pike County Correctional Facility in Hawley, PA. already have tested positive for COVID-19, including 2 Mexicans, a Guatemalan, and a Dominican. Additionally, a Mexican national in ICE custody at the York County Prison in York, PA. and a Mexican national in ICE custody at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, CA. have tested positive for COVID-19. As of March 29, at least 4 unaccompanied migrant children have tested positive at a detention facility in New York. 7 staff members and contractors working in facilities holding detained migrant children also have tested positive for COVID-19 in N.Y. and Texas.
REFUGEE DANGER. Another positive action by the Trump Administration affecting immigration to the U.S. during the COVID-19 crisis suspended refugee admission. The decision came after the International Organization for Migration and the U.N. refugee agency halted resettlement travel until at least April 16. “The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program coordinates refugee arrivals with its international humanitarian implementing partners, “a State Department spokesperson said. “The temporary suspension of resettlement travel programs globally will impact the arrival of refugees in the U.S. and other countries with refugee resettlement programs.” This suspension will lessen our susceptibility to the coronavirus.
THE PROBLEM. Illegal aliens present a serious challenge. A study done by Yale researchers, utilizing mathematical modeling on a range of demographic and immigration operations data, showed probably over 22.1 million illegal aliens in the U.S., many of whom will become infected by COVID-19 as it spreads through the country. The massive problem will not become evident until they become ill and contagious. Also, a problem of illegals already apprehended and detained for deportation proceedings. Our immigration courts have a backlog of over 1.1 million cases, completing only 276,523 cases in FY 2019. At this rate, 4 years needed to clear this backlog even if no new cases. The virus pandemic makes resolution of this problem more urgent. The public will demand deportation of infected aliens, once they begin occupying hospital facilities needed to sustain the lives of American citizens. Our hospitals could become bankrupted by the cost of caring for illegal aliens who have no medical insurance or ability to pay for their medical care.
THE SOLUTION. 8 U.S.C. §1361 places the burden of proof on the alien in deportation proceedings to show the time, place, and manner of his entry into the U.S. If he cannot establish a lawful entry, then presumed in the U.S. illegally, which is deportation grounds under 8 USC §1227(a)(1)(B). A judge could offer voluntary departure in lieu of deportation to those not having a full hearing, give them a brief explanation of how that would benefit them, and then issue his removal orders. Trump also can eliminate asylum claims from illegals. Asylum provisions state that aliens physically present in the U.S. may apply for asylum, with exceptions. Asylum denied on the basis of disqualifying conduct, like conviction for a serious crime. Trump already is using a clause that asylum not available to an alien who we can send to another nation where he will not face persecution and where he will have access to a procedure to determine his asylum claim. Also, 8 USC §1158(b)(2)(C) permits the Att.-Gen. to establish additional eligibility limitations and conditions, which Trump could utilize. As the U.S. is in the middle of a major coronavirus epidemic, asylum applicants required to prove that they do not have the virus, such as by presenting a specific type of medical certificate.
TAKE ACTION NOW. Aid benefits of the COVID-19 stimulus bills should not include illegal aliens. These criminals, both those residing here already and those who attempt to sneak across our borders, pose a clear danger to our public health. They do not deserve to share in the government financial outpouring currently stemming the COVID-19 pandemic. They should not clog our medical facilities while American citizens require emergency services there. Contact your representative and 2 senators to support President Trump in his attempt to close our borders completely to illegal migrants who endanger our public health, some already infected by the coronavirus. Email netaxpayers@gmail.com for Capitol Hill contact information and to join our President Watch Project.
Research, documentation, and analysis for this issue paper done by Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom. This material copyrighted by Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom, with express prior permission granted for its use by other groups in the NE Conservative Coalition Network. 4-20. C