Gatekeeper Countries — Key to Stopping Illegal Immigration

Cooperation with “gatekeeper countries” — transit countries that can help mitigate the flow of irregular migrants — is a key instrument used by Europe to protect its borders, and should be used more consistently by the United States.1

Such collaboration could prevent millions of people from illegally entering destination countries. Without the assistance of those gatekeepers, Europe would have faced a much higher number of illegal immigrants. Therefore, this type of collaboration could be seen as a cornerstone of European migration policy. The United States, on the other hand, pays less attention to gatekeeper states, and focuses on the thin border line as the main protection strategy.

Gatekeeper countries, of course, are only part of the solution, and the concept must be integrated into a much broader and complex immigration and border protection policy that includes physical barriers, human resources, deterrence factors, and a consistent application of existing rules (e.g., detention and deportation). But an effective border regime cannot exist without the cooperation of transit countries.

This paper compares the role of gatekeeper countries in the European and the U.S. contexts. It analyzes the ways different actors are utilizing (or not) transit countries to reduce the number of illegal arrivals. It argues that different historic, economic, and social developments have shaped and altered policies and strategic thinking in the transatlantic region.

https://cis.org/Report/Gatekeeper-Countries-Key-Stopping-Illegal-Immigration

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RFK Jr. tells Musk he wants to permanently seal the US-Mexico border

A great idea

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Elon Musk, venture capitalist David Sacks, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard, and others for a Twitter Spaces interview Monday to discuss many of the issues he reckons should be at the forefront of the political debate going into the 2024 presidential election.

Kennedy, running for president as a Democrat, drew the ire of the liberal media for championing so-called "right-wing ideas and misinformation" during the interview, which had more than 64,000 active listeners during the live broadcast and over 1.8 million listeners tune in since.

The New York Times, in particular, took issue with Kennedy's: expressed desire to close the U.S.-Mexico border; suggestion that there is a link between mass shootings and pharmaceutical drugs; claim that COVID-19 was "clearly a bioweapon"; and his criticism of Democrats' penchant for for war.

The 69-year-old son of assassinated former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of assassinated former President John F. Kennedy stressed he knows firsthand the impact of gun violence but noted that the Supreme Court has made clear the meaning of the Second Amendment, which he would not impinge on.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/rfk-jr-tells-musk-he-wants-to-permanently-seal-the-us-mexico-border-links-mass-shootings-to-pharmaceutical-drugs

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British PM 'ready to ram Channel migrant law through' despite House of Lords resistance after claiming his plan is 'starting to work'

Rishi Sunak is ready to ram his Channel boats plan through the House of Lords despite resistance from peers.

The PM has suggested he will use the Parliament Act to force the Illegal Migration Bill through, saying it was 'very strongly' backed by MPs and 'incredibly important'.

The comments - in an interview with the Telegraph - raise the prospect that the objections of the Upper House, including religious leaders such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, will be overruled.

The Parliament Act is a rarely-used mechanism that limits the blocking powers of peers. It was last deployed by Tony Blair to get the Hunting Act on the statute book.

Mr Sunak hinted at the drastic move as he insisted his plan to 'stop the boats' is starting to work. On a visit to Kent, he argued that numbers crossing the Channel were down 20 per cent this year.

The stakes for the premier were underlined by a poll indicated that Labour is 14 points ahead - and immigration could sway the votes of huge numbers of Conservative supporters.

The Illegal Migration Bill would dramatically limit the rights of Channel arrivals to claim asylum or that they are a victim of modern slavery.

Critics say it breaks international law, but ministers are adamant that it is a crucial deterrent to stop people making the potentially deadly journey from the continent.

Asked whether he would be willing to use the Parliament Act, Mr Sunak said: 'One of my five priorities is to stop the boats. This legislation is an incredibly important part of how we're going to do that.

'It passed the House of Commons very strongly. And my intention is to see this piece of legislation on the statute books so that we can start using it.'

Pressed again, Mr Sunak said: 'I want to see this legislation on the statute books. It's one of my five priorities. It is the country's priority and this legislation is an incredibly important part of how we're going to do that.'

Speaking at the port of Dover yesterday, Mr Sunak announced two new 'super-barges' to accommodate asylum seekers in an effort to slash the £6million-a-day cost of migrant hotels.

He stressed there remained a 'long way to go', but he insisted the numbers showed the Government was 'making progress on gripping' the small-boats 'phenomenon' – one of his five key pledges as Prime Minister.

Just over 7,600 have crossed the Channel illegally so far this year, down from just under 10,000 in the same period last year.

The PM said: 'That's the main message for people to take away from today – our plan is working. We're not complacent. There's more work to do, but people should have confidence that when I said I was going to stop the boats, I meant it. And that's what we're delivering.'

He defended measures to house asylum seekers on barges, with the first one set to be moored off Portland in Dorset within a fortnight.

Up to 1,000 people will be placed on two further temporary vessels, but Mr Sunak declined to say where they will be berthed.

Yesterday's Home Office data showed the backlog of 'legacy' asylum claims has fallen by 17,000 cases since December to 74,410.

But the overall asylum backlog – including claims lodged since June last year – is still at a near record high of 137,583, down 1,200 from its peak in February.

In a crucial landmark, the French authorities are intercepting more than 50 per cent of small boats in the Channel for the first time, compared with 42 per cent last year.

However, new data showed the number of Turkish migrants reaching Britain by small boat has tripled in the wake of February's devastating earthquake, and arrivals are expected to increase.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12163987/Rishi-Sunak-ready-ram-Channel-migrant-law-House-Lords.html

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Sunak Moves to Curb Migration Citing Strain on UK Services

Rishi Sunak this week will defend his efforts to curb migration, saying the UK government is struggling to cope with the number of arrivals.

The prime minister will appear at an event in Kent in southern England on Monday to draw attention to progress over the last six months, notably 50% increase on raids for those working illegally and 700 new staff to track people crossing the English Channel in small boats.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said the government will deploy barges and unused army bases to house people seeking asylum and tell young men four people will have to share one room.

The measures are aimed at making Britain a less-attractive destination to people arriving through informal routes. Ministers are concerned a record 606,000 more people moved to Britain than departed last year despite a promise to reduce immigration.

“We also can’t allow the UK to be perceived to be a soft touch,” Jenrick said on BBC television’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show. “It’s placing serious pressure on public services and our ability to successfully integrate people into the country.”

Immigration has become a lightning rod for the right wing of the ruling Conservative Party after a wave of migrants arrived in small boats this spring and inflows hit a record.

Sunak has backed away from a manifesto promise to cut migration, but ministers are working on measures to deport 3,000 people a month deemed to have entered the UK though means they deem are illegal. While the vast majority of immigrants arrive legally with visas, it’s the informal routes and especially asylum that are the prime focus.

The Labour opposition has promised to cut immigration levels and says the Conservatives are to blame for letting numbers get out of control. The issue has added to friction with business lobby groups, which are urging a relaxing of the rules to allow in workers needed to fill vacant jobs and alleviate upward pressures on wages.

“We want businesses to be in the first instance investing in British workers and technology and automation that drives productivity, not just reaching for the easy lever of foreign labor,” Jenrick told the BBC.

Sunak’s office said on Sunday that the prime minister will say the current measures are working but “there is more to be done.” The government already has signed deals with France and Albania aimed at limiting flows and passed in legislation in the House of Commons that ensures that “if you come here illegally, you will be detained and swiftly removed,” Downing Street said in a statement released Sunday.

Jenrick said the asylum system needs “fundamental” reform because it’s “riddled with abuse,” notably the government paying too much money to hotel operators for housing people.

The Illegal Migration Bill, due before the House of Lords on Wednesday, will let officials detain migrants who arrive through informal channels. The government wants to return many of them home — or to Rwanda.

“That will create the deterrent we desperately need,” Jenrick said. “It will break the business model of the people smuggling gangs, and it will stop the system from coming under intolerable pressure like it is today.”

The House of Commons on Wednesday is set to approve a bill that will confirm how and when immigrants are considered settled in the UK for citizenship purposes.

Jenrick said it’s reasonable to ask asylum seekers to share rooms, brushing aside concerns of a group that refused to enter a hotel in Pimlico, where the Home Office had asked them to sleep “four people per room.”

The leader of Westminster City Council expressed “deep concern” that some 40 refugees were placed in the borough last week “without appropriate accommodation or support available,” the Press Association reported.

“We had offered them a safe bed with board and lodgings in a good-quality hotel in central London,” Jenrick said on the BBC. “Yes, some of them had to share with other people. These are single adult males, I don’t think that’s unreasonable.”

He said the government wants to reduce the cost to taxpayers of housing asylum seekers, saying that putting them in hotels drains “valuable assets for the local business community.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-04/rishi-sunak-moves-to-curb-migration-citing-strain-on-uk-services

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Biden's Lax Border Policies Made It Possible for Five Illegal Aliens to Murder a 15-Year-Old Boy

President Joe Biden's havoc-wreaking open border policies have done unrepairable damage to the U.S.

The country has seen more than six million illegal migrants enter through the southern border bringing in deadly drugs such as fentanyl and sex trafficking, causing fear for law-abiding Americans.

Biden's open border has caused consequences that the Democratic administration can no longer ignore.

On Wednesday, authorities confirmed the arrests of five illegal aliens in connection to the murder of a 15-year-old boy whose remains were found in a Fredrick County state park in Maryland two months after he was reported missing.

Alexis Alfredo Ayala Lopez, 21; Jose Roberto Ramos Lopez, 23; Ismael Lopez Lopez, 29; Elmer Bladimir Reyes Reyes, 27; and Ismael Ivan Rivera Canales, 20, are all illegal migrants who are associated with the notorious deadly gang MS-13. The five men have been charged with first-degree murder.

In February, the young boy Limber Jocimar Lopez Funez was reported missing in Frederick— about 40 miles northwest of D.C. One day later, police found evidence that someone had been assaulted in a nearby wooded area.

On April 25, after two months of searching for the 15-year-old, authorities found his body in Gambrill State Park, just a few miles outside the city.

"On behalf of the entire team at FPD, our hearts go out to the victim's family. While we know it will not bring Limber back, we hope the arrests, in this case, will offer some closure to the Lopez Funez family," Chief of Police Jason Lando said in a statement.

Instead of working endlessly to close the border, Biden has ignored the ongoing issue for almost his entire presidency. As a result, the U.S. has suffered from Biden's reckless actions, posing national security risks as the president welcomes deadly gang members and drugs into the country with open arms.

Americans suffer as the Biden Administration continues to fail as the leader of the U.S.

According to an April Global Strategy Group poll, 58 percent of voters in seven key Electoral College battleground states disapprove of how the president is handling immigration, compared with just 32 percent who approve.

Additionally, 52 percent of voters believe Biden is blatantly ignoring problems at the border, while 50 percent said the president is ignoring the situation around undocumented immigrants.

https://townhall.com//tipsheet/saraharnold/2023/06/01/bidens-lax-border-policies-made-it-possible-for-five-illegal-aliens-to-murder-a-15-year-old-boy-n2623969

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Evidence shows immigration reduces wages significantly

Due to the border crisis and a rebound in legal immigration, the foreign-born population has increased by 3.4 million since President Joe Biden took office. With many of those arriving entering the labor force, economic theory predicts they will put downward pressure on wages for workers who compete with them for jobs. For years, immigration activists countered that any negative wage impact due to immigration was inconsequential — until now. A number of prominent economists and advocacy groups, many of which previously argued that immigration has little or no wage impact, are now calling for more immigration to reduce wages to lower inflation.

Former Walmart CEO Bill Simon has complained that the company now has to pay $14 an hour. He has also called for more immigration to reduce wages and lower inflation. There are a number of problems with the increase-immigration-to-reduce-inflation argument. But what is perhaps most striking is that advocates now openly admit that immigration reduces wages for the working class, an idea they used to dismiss.

The latest immigration advocate to call for more immigration to lower wages is George Mason professor Justin Gest. Drawing on research he did for the immigration advocacy group Fwd.us, he recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the country needs more immigration to reduce wages and stem inflation in high-growth cities, particularly in sectors such as hospitality and construction. But Fwd.us explicitly states on its website that it is a “myth” that immigration “drives down wages.”

Gest and Fwd.us are not alone in having a change of heart when it comes to the impact of immigration. The National Immigration Forum, another leading advocacy group, now argues wages are too high and that we need more immigration to bring them down, contradicting its prior position that any concerns that immigration reduces wages “are largely overblown.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which used to argue that “data do not support” the idea that immigration has a sizable impact on wages, now says that doubling immigration “might be the fastest thing to do to impact inflation” by keeping wages down.

In an article for Foreign Affairs, prominent economists Gordon Hanson and Matthew Slaughter called for significantly increasing immigration to “limit wage and price growth” and help “defeat inflation.” Strangely, later in the same article, they state that immigration has only “a modest effect on the wages of native-born workers.” In an interview for NPR, University of California, Davis, economist Giovanni Peri argued that more immigration would keep wages down and alleviate inflation. This is in stark contrast to his prior position that immigration’s impact on wages was “small and, on average, essentially zero.”

Apparently, what was once a negligible impact on wages is now a large and desirable one. In truth, there has always been ample evidence that immigration reduces wages. A comprehensive 2016 report by the National Academies of Science cites over a dozen studies showing a negative impact of immigration on wages for competing workers, particularly those with low levels of education. Subsequent research has come to the same conclusion. The only difference now is that inflation is a hot political topic, and immigration advocates are happy to offer their cause as a solution — even if it contradicts their prior talking points.

Inconsistency aside, there is a more basic problem with the argument that expanding immigration can lower inflation — it is grossly impractical. The nation’s roughly 160 million workers account for about 60% of the economy, while the rest is capital investment. In its analysis, the National Academies assumed that each 1% increase in the supply of immigrant workers reduces wages by 0.3%. So even a sudden 10% increase in the supply of workers — about 16 million new people, or a decade’s worth of immigration — could reduce prices by only 1.8% (60% times 3%). And this assumes businesses passes all the saving onto consumers.

Of course, the negative wage impact of immigration could be much larger in particular sectors, especially at the bottom end of the labor market. But if the impact is limited to a narrow part of the economy, then the resulting effect on overall consumer prices would be correspondingly smaller.

Even if it were practical to lower overall prices in this manner, it would hardly be desirable. Wages for noncollege-educated workers, who make up the vast majority of the employees in lower-paid jobs, either stagnated or declined in the decades prior to COVID. And in the last year, wages for service workers and other less-skilled occupations have generally not kept pace with inflation. Using immigration to reduce wages further for such workers is as regressive a policy as one can imagine.

In reality, immigration advocates always call for more immigration. Reducing inflation is simply the latest justification. Revealingly, this time around, they have shifted their arguments and acknowledged immigration does negatively affect the wages of American workers.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/evidence-shows-immigration-reduces-wages-significantly

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NYC Will House Illegal Immigrants in a Shuttered Jail

A jail in New York City that was shut down in 2019 will be utilized to house illegal immigrants coming to the Big Apple from the southern border.

According to the New York Post, the Lincoln Correctional Facility, which was shut down in 2019, will be repurposed to house those who are seeking asylum. There are no “jail cells” at the 10,000 square-foot facility and it is meant to be a “pit stop” for the illegal immigrants.

“We’re grateful to the state for providing this site and partnering with the city to open this space as a temporary site for asylum seekers as New York City continues to face this humanitarian crisis,” a City Hall rep said.

“We’ve had over 70,000 asylum seekers come through the city’s intake centers since last spring,” the representative added. “And yet hundreds of asylum seekers continue to arrive in New York City every day.”

“We continue to need additional financial and operational support from our partners,” the representative concluded to the outlet.

Reportedly, several hotels and other sites have been “overflowing” with migrants as more than 70,000 have arrived since last year. Townhall previously covered that Democrat Mayor Eric Adams complained that it would cost billions of dollars to care for the illegal immigrants.

On Tuesday, New York Rep. Jamaal Brown announced that the illegal immigrants deserve “dignified” housing and called on schools to create temporary housing for them.

“Our NY university communities can and should come together to ensure migrants are welcome here,” he wrote.

Earlier this month, Townhall reported how Adams began sending illegal immigrants out of the city to nearby areas. And, several soon-to-be-married couples told news outlets that their hotel accommodations for their guests in these areas were canceled last minute to house the migrants.

https://townhall.com//tipsheet/madelineleesman/2023/05/31/migrants-to-be-kept-in-closed-jail-in-nyc-n2623892?utm_source=thdailyvip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&recip=6139244

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