Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Cruz confronts White House on illegal-alien crimes
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lectured the Obama administration Tuesday about the White House policy on illegal aliens and sanctuary cities, and was joined by Americans who have lost family members to the crimes committed by those who were in U.S. illegally, and even in custody but let go.
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on the White House failure to enforce immigration law, Cruz confronted Sarah Saldana, chief of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“I will note in your opening statement here, you said after listening to the victims’ families, you were so sorry for their losses. And yet the Obama administration keeps doing it,” Cruz said.
“When I asked you how many murderers were released yesterday, you don’t know. There is a reason the American people are upset. If President Obama had the courage of his convictions, he would come and look in the eyes of these men and women who have lost their sons, their daughters, their mothers, their sisters, their brothers, and the administration would stop releasing murderers and rapists.”
He said the Obama administration simply refuses to follow the nation’s law on the issue, and he noted Saldana’s answer during an earlier congressional hearing, when she said, “Amen” to the idea that federal law should force local jurisdictions to follow federal standards for releasing, or detaining, illegal aliens.
Then the next day, she reversed her position.
At the hearing Tuesday, she denied that anyone pressured her to change, and said she was simply emphasizing that “clarity” in the law is important.
Cruz recited statistics revealing that for the 88,000 convictions among criminal illegal aliens released into the public in 2013, 193 were murderers and 426 were convicted of sexual assault.
Cruz said, “There are too many politicians in Washington that talk a good game but don’t act. If you want to honor Josh [Wilkerson], if you want to honor Kate Steinle, start enforcing the law and stop releasing murderers, and rapists, and drunk drivers,” citing two victims of crimes by illegals.
“I don’t want to hear from the Obama administration they’re sorry while they continue to do the exact same thing because what we know – more people will be murdered, more people will be raped, more people will be killed by drunk drivers because this administration refuses to enforce the law.”
Also making a statement at the hearing was Laura Wilkerson, whose son, Josh, of Pearland, Texas, was attacked by an illegal alien.
“This was our family’s 9/11 terrorist attack by a foreign invader, whether you want to recognize it or whether you do not,” she said. “Americans are dying daily at the hands of criminals that we don’t even know are here. … You’re either for Americans, or you’re not.”
Susan Oliver, wife of the late Deputy Sheriff Danny Oliver of Garden Valley, California, added, “I hope that my husband’s death won’t be in vain. I hope that I can be here to make a difference. My life is forever changed and saddened. Please help put policy in place to make sure that criminal immigrants who are in this country illegally are never allowed to dictate the life of a true humanitarian, like my husband Deputy Danny Oliver.”
And they were joined by Jim Steinle, father of Kathryn Steinle, of Pleasanton, California, who was shot and killed at a tourist location while walking beside her father. The attacker was an illegal alien who had been in custody, but was released.
“Unfortunately due to disjointed laws, and basic incompetence on many levels, the U.S. has suffered a self-inflicted wound in the murder of our daughter by the hand of a person that should have never been on the streets of this country,” he said.
WND reported earlier this month that the federal government confirmed some 1,800 illegals released by “sanctuary cities” in 2014 were accused of 7,500 new crimes.
Television and action movie actor Chuck Norris, an exclusive WND columnist, also has weighed in. He recently wrote about the Steinle killing: “Whether one believes the gun was accidentally discharged or not, a seven-time convicted felon and illegal immigrant who had been deported five times was set free by U.S. officials to run the streets of San Francisco.”
He continued, “So, do you know who intentionally made it easier for that seven-time convicted felon and five-time deported illegal to roam the streets of San Francisco? None other than the residing occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.”
He said the Center for Immigration Studies explains the federal government continues to ignore cities where officials themselves are ignoring federal law.
He wrote, “The CIS explains, ‘Although federal law requires the cooperation, the Department of Justice has never sued or taken any measure, including denying federal funds, against a jurisdiction. On the contrary, the present administration has made it difficult for the states and localities which choose to aid in enforcing immigration laws. Federal law was labeled voluntary by the administration in a November 2014 policy memorandum signed by the Homeland Security Secretary.’”
WND » World
Cruz confronts White House on illegal-alien crimes
World Congress of Families IX Announces New Additional Participants
Religious leader, international choir are among the experts and advocates coming to S.L.C.
Contact: Benjamin May, 202-413-0119, bmay@policyimpact.com; www.wcf9.org
SALT LAKE CITY, July 21, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ — The World Congress of Families (WCF) has announced four additional participants who will speak, influence, and entertain at the ninth World Congress of Families to be held Oct. 27-30, 2015, in Salt Lake City.
“To keep the momentum going, it is with great pleasure that we announce the next group of special guests who will be in attendance at the World Congress of Families IX,” said Janice Shaw Crouse, executive director of WCF IX. “We hope that families from all over the world, in this critical moment of history, will come and enjoy the remarkable, fun-filled weekend and stand with other pro-family advocates.”
The previous slate of speakers and participants can be viewed on WCF IX’s official website, www.wcf9.org. WCF will be announcing four participants each week throughout the summer.
The names released this week are the following:
- International Children’s Choir is world renowned for singing in many languages and performing in authentic, colorful costumes from around the world. The choir was founded by Dr. Kathy Sorensen, who believes music warms hearts and unites people, and that multicultural music allows us to share another person’s culture and thereby, a part of his or her soul. The International Children’s Choir has performed all over the world and was invited to represent the American Continent in the Opening Ceremonies of the World Choir Olympics in Xiamen China, and received multiple medals during the competition involving over 20,000 participants.
- John-Henry Westen is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.com, a non-profit Internet service dedicated to issues of culture, life, and family. Westen has spoken at conferences and retreats, and appeared on radio and television throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Westen serves on the executive of the Canadian National March for Life Committee, and the annual National Pro-Life Youth Conference.
- Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., is the Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, a nonpartisan, nonsectarian, and interdisciplinary initiative that analyzes the social and cultural forces shaping contemporary marriage. The Project provides research and analysis on the health of marriage in America and identifies strategies to increase marital quality and stability. Dr. Wilcox’s research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Slate, National Review Online, NPR, NBC’s The Today Show, and many other media outlets.
- James Kushiner is the Executive Director of The Fellowship of St. James, which serves to encourage Christian unity and Fidelity to the historic doctrines and moral teachings of the Christian faith. Kushiner is the Executive Editor of Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity magazine and Salvo, a quarterly for young adults seeking intelligent responses to the secular atheism and materialism dominating schools, media, and society. He has spoken at the World Congress of Families in Amsterdam in 2009 on “Prodigal Research: Religious Faith as it Relates to Family Life, Democracy, and Social Development.
The World Congress of Families (WCF) is the largest gathering of pro-family advocates in the world. WCF IX will seek to provide sound scholarship and effective strategies, and it will mobilize intellectual and advocacy resources to affirm and defend the natural family.
For more information, please visit WCF9.org or follow WCF on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
To download a PDF version of this press release, please click here.
Christian Newswire: Same-Sex Debate
World Congress of Families IX Announces New Additional Participants