Politics
What would a President Pritzker do on immigration, border crisis?
With ongoing speculation about whether President Biden will remain the Democratic 2024 presidential nominee after a disastrous debate performance last week, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is one of the names being raised as a replacement.
But the ongoing crisis at the southern border remains a top issue for voters across the country, and there are signs of the extent to which Pritzker might take a different approach to the crisis than the current administration.
Illinois has been one of the states hit by the knock-on effects of the immigration crisis, where migrants have moved through the southern border into cities like Chicago by the tens of thousands.
HOW WOULD A PRESIDENT WHITMER HANDLE IMMIGRATION, BORDER CRISIS?
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting at the Hilton Midtown on September 19, 2023, in New York City. (John Nacion/WireImage)
While Pritzker has been broadly supportive of most of President Biden’s efforts at the southern border, he has also been one of a number of Democrats who have been critical of the federal government’s handling of the crisis.
In October, Pritzker sent a letter to Biden stressing that he believes in the right “of every human, especially those facing persecution, to find refuge and live with dignity in this great country of ours.” However, he warned that the crisis is “overwhelming” the states and criticized the federal government.
“Unfortunately, the welcome and aid Illinois has been providing to these asylum seekers has not been matched with support by the federal government. Most critically, the federal government’s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois,” he said.
“There is much more that can and must be done on a federal level to address a national humanitarian crisis that is currently being shouldered by state and local governments without support,” he said.
Specifically, he requested a number of actions, such as the waiving of fees for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and “significant” increases in logistical coordination, including the federal government taking over coordination of routing buses of migrants across the country.
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Migrants are processed by the U.S. Border Patrol near the Jacumba Hot Springs after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on June 13, 2024, near San Diego, California. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
Pritzker also called for a “federal coordinator and task force” to be based at the border and solely to be dedicated to migrant resettlement. In addition, he called (as Biden’s administration has done) for more funding to states, local governments and non-governmental organizations and the expediting of work permits.
He also called on Biden to approve requests from Illinois to allow waivers for Medicaid and housing vouchers for migrants.
In January, he, along with a number of other governors, wrote to Biden calling again for more federal action while backing the administration’s supplemental funding request to Congress. It also backed claims by the administration that the immigration system is broken and in need of reform.
“Without serious reform informed by evidence-based solutions, the challenges facing states and localities will only grow,” the letter said.
Pritzker was also supportive of the Biden administration’s move last year to redesignate Venezuela for TPS, meaning that hundreds of thousands more were protected from deportation and given work permits.
ILLINOIS GOVERNOR SAYS DEMOCRATIC VOTERS ARE ‘THROWING AWAY’ THEIR VOTES BY SUPPORTING ANYONE BUT BIDEN
“Reducing wait times for employment approvals and expanding protection status for those coming from Venezuela will get people working and on a path to building a better future for themselves and their families,” he said.
Meanwhile, at home, Pritzker has kept that focus on funding by approving significant amounts of funding to help the state deal with the number of migrants it is seeing.
As he was pushing Biden for more funding last year, he also announced that the state was investing $160 million to address the crisis, including money for shelter and wraparound services.
This year, Pritzker announced another $160 million for assistance, while taking another shot at inaction from Congress.
“With thousands of asylum seekers continuing to come to Chicago in desperate need of support and with Congress continuing to refuse to act—it is clear the state, county and city will have to do more to keep people safe,” he said.
Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.
new video loaded: Democrats Question Hegseth About Misconduct Allegations
transcript
transcript
Democrats Question Hegseth About Misconduct Allegations
Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee called Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, unfit to serve. Meanwhile, Republicans praised Mr. Hegseth’s record and performance.
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“The totality of your own writings and alleged conduct would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the secretary of defense.” “Have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature? The fact is that your own lawyer said that you entered into an N.D.A. and paid a person who accused you of raping her a sum of money to make sure that she did not file a complaint. I have read multiple reports of your regularly being drunk at work. Will you resign as secretary of defense if you drink on the job, which is a 24/7 position?” “I’ve made this commitment on behalf of —” “Will you resign as secretary of defense?” “I’ve made this commitment on behalf of the men and women I’m serving —” “I’m not hearing an answer to my question. So I’m going to move on.” “You claim that this was all anonymous. We have seen records with names attached to all of these, including the name of your own mother. So don’t make this into some anonymous press thing.” “I’m quoting you from the podcast. ‘Women shouldn’t be in combat at all.’ What I see is that there’s a 32-day period in which you suddenly have another description about your views of women in the military, and I just want to know what changed in the 32 days that the song you sang is not the song you come in here today to sing?” “Senator, the concerns I have and the concerns of many have had, especially in ground combat units, is that in pursuit of certain percentages or quotas, standards have been changed.” “Our adversaries watch closely during times of transition, and any sense that the Department of Defense that keeps us safe is being steered by someone who is wholly unprepared for the job, puts America at risk. And I am not willing to do that.” “I know what I don’t know. I know I’ve never run an organization of three million people with a budget of $850 billion.” “Why do you want to do this job? What’s your, what drives you?” “Because I love my country, Senator. And I’ve dedicated my life to the warfighters.” “He is a decorated post-9/11 combat veteran. He will inject a new warrior ethos into the Pentagon, a spirit that can cascade from the top down.”
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Biden says he's been carrying out ‘most aggressive climate agenda’ in history as he designates CA monuments
President Biden on Tuesday signed proclamations to establish the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, which will protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land in California, during his last week in office.
The event was delayed by a week due to the destructive wildfires raging in Southern California, and Biden revealed that he had wanted to do the ceremony in the state, but it had to be moved to the White House.
“We’ve been carrying out the most aggressive climate agenda ever in the history of the world,” the president said in the East Room of the White House, before discussing the national monuments. “Our natural wonders are the heart and soul of our nation.”
He said in his second week as president he signed an executive order “establishing the first ever conservation goal to protect 30% of all our lands and waters everywhere in America by 2030 … I call this national campaign America the Beautiful … And over the last four years, we’ve delivered … putting America on track to meet that bold goal, restoring it, creating new national monuments, conserving hundreds of millions of acres of land and waters all across America, from New England to Minnesota, Texas to Colorado, Arizona, Alaska.”
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Biden signed a proclamation to establish Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in California on Tuesday. (Anna Rose Layden/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He added, “Over the past four years, I’m proud to have kept my commitment to protect more land and water than any president in American history.”
WHITE HOUSE REMOVES CUBA’S STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DESIGNATION, REVERSING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MOVE
President Biden on Tuesday signed proclamations to establish the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, which will protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land in California, during his last week in office. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
The Chuckwalla National Monument will protect more than 600,000 acres of public land in the California desert near Joshua Tree National Park and the Colorado River, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
Biden listens to California officials update him on the wildfires on Jan. 10. (eigh Vogel/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Sáttítla Highlands National Monument will protect more than 224,000 acres of land in Northern California in the Modoc, Shasta-Trinity, and Klamath national forests and “provides protection to tribal ancestral homelands, historic and scientific treasures, rare flora and fauna, and the headwaters of vital sources of water,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Elon Musk on Tuesday, alleging failure to timely disclose that he bought more than 5% of Twitter’s stock in 2022 before he took over the social media company.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Washington, accuses Musk — tapped by Trump to co-head a so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” — of violating federal securities law because of the late disclosure.
The litigation underscores the longstanding tension between Musk, who backed President-elect Donald Trump, and the U.S. government. The eccentric billionaire has clashed with the SEC before, including over what the agency described as false and misleading statements he had posted on Twitter about taking his other company, Tesla, private.
A federal jury in San Francisco in Feb. 2023 cleared Musk of claims by Tesla investors that he defrauded them.
Under federal law, Musk was required to disclose his stake in Twitter 10 days after he acquired more than 5% of Twitter’s stock in March 2022, according to the lawsuit.
Instead, Musk disclosed his stake in Twitter in April 2022, 11 days after the regulatory deadline. By then, the billionaire had bought more 9% of Twitter’s stock. Twitter’s stock jumped more than 27% over its previous day’s closing price after Musk made the disclosure.
“As a result, Musk was able to continue purchasing shares at artificially low prices, allowing him to underpay by at least $150 million for shares he purchased after his beneficial ownership report was due,” the lawsuit states.
The action also harmed investors who didn’t know about Musk’s stake and ended up selling their Twitter shares at low prices, the SEC alleges.
Alex Spiro, Musk’s lawyer, said in a statement that “Mr. Musk has done nothing wrong and everyone sees this sham for what it is.” He accused the SEC of engaging in a “multi-year campaign of harassment” against the billionaire that “culminated in the filing of a single-count ticky tak complaint” against him.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler is stepping down Jan. 20, the day of Trump’s inauguration. In December, Trump said he would nominate Paul Atkins, a cryptocurrency advocate, to lead the securities regulator.
Musk’s big stake in Twitter was an early sign in 2022 that he might buy the company, which was struggling to attract ad dollars and compete with larger social networks such as Facebook.
After trying to back out of buying the social media company for $44 billion, he completed his acquisition of Twitter in October 2022. Musk, who renamed Twitter to X and took the company private, said he bought the platform to promote free speech.
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