In July, the Biden-Harris administration extended and “redesignated” something called Temporary Protected Status for Somalis who are present in the U.S. illegally, allowing them to stay here until 2026. Over 700,000 Venezuelan nationals also enjoy this immigration status or are eligible for it under this presidential administration, and more about them later. Somalia got its initial Temporary Protected Status designation in 1991—before most Somalis were born, since the median age there is 15. Its protected status under U.S. immigration law—and that of other countries such as Venezuela and El Salvador—just keeps getting extended and expanded, over and over. This makes the process a parallel, quasi-asylum procedure without any basis in law. Congress created Temporary Protected Status with the intention of protecting those foreign nationals already in the U.S. when some qualifying bad event—such as ongoing armed conflict, natural disaster, or “extraordinary and temporary conditions”—occurred in their home country. This immigration status is different than asylum. Yet every modern president except Donald Trump has used it as relief for foreign nationals without written legal authority. You can’t find the word “redesignate” in the law. This is important because the effect of “redesignation” is to expand the timeframe of when foreign nationals must have entered the U.S. to capture more recent entrants from the country in question. This is a violation of the statute’s intent. Temporary Protected Status is but one of many immigration provisions that government officials have twisted way beyond their clear purposes to create large populations who then advocate legalization and eventual citizenship. That’s deliberate. Unable to force through Congress the kinds of sweeping increases in immigration numbers that they want, while lowering eligibility requirements, Democrats since the Clinton administration have used back-door methods to accomplish their goals. President Joe Biden has been the most egregious, but one can only imagine what a President Kamala Harris could do, given her feckless handling of the border portfolio for three years—much less her statements as a U.S. senator about “reforming” (read “ending”) immigration enforcement. Currently, citizens of 16 countries may get Temporary Protected Status. Some entered America on visas and overstayed, rendering themselves illegal unless they qualify for asylum or other protection under U.S. law. Others came across the border illegally and were released pending lengthy court proceedings to deport them. And some, called “gotaways,” snuck across the border without being encountered by U.S. authorities at all. The latter two categories dramatically increased since Biden became president in January 2021. Starting then, the Biden administration began authorizing TPS for Venezuelans, who now enjoy that status more than the citizens of any other country. The Department of Homeland Security said there were already 242,700 TPS beneficiaries from Venezuela as of last September, when Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas declared an “extension and redesignation” that made another 472,000 Venezuelans eligible. The idea behind Temporary Protected Status is in the name—it’s supposed to provide temporary protection. That means individuals so designated are to go home when their country’s immediate crisis has ended, not when that country becomes a fully developed, stable democracy far in the future. Somalia, a dirt-poor country with practically no functioning government, industrial base, or natural resources, might never get it together. But Venezuela is potentially the world’s greatest oil producer and was doing pretty well before it went far down the path of socialism. Most of the Venezuelans who left under the regimes of Hugo Chavez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, went to countries in Latin America. There are nearly 2 million in Colombia alone. At least a million made it to the United States, where they either were allowed to enter under immigration parole—a power abused by the Biden administration to pre-clear over a million inadmissible aliens for mass release—or simply are being released into the country and punted into endlessly backlogged U.S. immigration courts. Under a Biden order, Venezuelans share a quota of 30,000 parole slots a month with Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans. This allows them to book an appointment to be paroled using a phone application and then fly in by commercial airliner. Between those allowed in under parole at land ports or airports and those released between ports of entry by the Border Patrol, nearly 263,000 encounters with Venezuelans have occurred so far in fiscal year 2024, which ends Sept. 30. There were 334,914 last fiscal year and 189,520 in fiscal 2022. The Biden administration’s excuse for releasing or paroling all these Venezuelans is that they are fleeing political persecution and will apply for asylum here. Biden’s approach to evil regimes is, as Oscar Wilde said of second marriages, “the triumph of hope over experience.” Last October, the U.S. made a deal with Venezuela in Barbados where we agreed to let Venezuela sell more oil and Maduro agreed to hold free and fair elections. Since then, Maduro steadily broke his promises. The Venezuelan dictator’s tame supreme court banned his popular opponent, Maria Corina Machado, from running. And his thugs harassed opposition supporters. In response, the Biden administration reluctantly reimposed some economic sanctions in April, while leaving Venezuela able to sell a lot of oil. But Maduro didn’t ban another opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, from running. With Machado campaigning on his behalf, Gonzalez was the favorite to win by far. Venezuela’s presidential election took place last Sunday. Leading up to it, the Maduro regime sabotaged opposition rallies, arrested opposition politicians, and reportedly assassinated enemies overseas. It came as no surprise to see Maduro welch on the deal he made with the Biden administration, which speaks softly and carries no stick, to turn Teddy Roosevelt’s famous phrase on its head. Opposition leaders are certain that they beat Maduro by a large margin. Much of the world agrees. China, Russia, and other far-left leaders in Latin America, meanwhile, are willing to pretend Maduro won. He allowed pitifully few election observers and now is trying to cover his tracks by hiding the results of the voting. Protests reportedly have occurred in several cities, with crowds pulling down statues of Chavez. It’s anyone’s guess what will happen next. The likely bet is on ruthless repression by the Maduro regime to keep power. But if the U.S. and a few key countries apply maximum pressure, and the Venezuelan people refuse to be cowed, Maduro might yet concede. Logically, his ouster would lead to a mass reverse flow of Venezuelans back home to rebuild their country and restart its economy. But don’t bet on it. The old, bipartisan norm that U.S. immigration law should be enforced until changed by Congress is gone. Biden put the nail in that coffin. But it is not good for the country if only one political party believes that immigration laws are to be taken seriously. Law enforcement matters to rich and poor, black and white. Ensuring national security and public safety is goal No. 1 for federal and state or local governments, respectively. Without that, neither vibrant political discourse nor economic growth is possible. What this means is that we should enforce the “temporary” part of Temporary Protected Status. A Gonzalez presidency would ask American leftists to put their convictions into action. They pay lip service to the notion that those failing to win asylum should be deported, while removing very few in practice. Leftists can’t deny the temporary, conditional nature of TPS, parole, and other quasi-legal immigration channels. But they refuse to let any temporary status end, even when circumstances allow. If Gonzalez can claim the electoral prize, restore democracy, and allow Venezuela’s economy to roar back to life, then any credible legal grounds for Temporary Protected Status and pending asylum claims will disappear. So would the reason underlying the Biden administration’s mass grants of parole. CNN quotes one exile in Bogota, Colombia, as saying: “Maduro can only win the election if he steals it. But if there’s a new government, I’d go back the same day. Not just me, hundreds, thousands … there won’t be enough planes for everyone to return home.” If Venezuela does get back on its feet, Congress and whoever is president should uphold the law, end Temporary Protected Status, and require recipients of that immigration status to return home. For that to be possible, the U.S. government must show a spine and not let Maduro get away with stealing this election. The BorderLine is a weekly Daily Signal feature examining everything from the unprecedented illegal immigration crisis at the border to immigration’s impact on cities and states throughout the land. We will also shed light on other critical border-related issues such as human trafficking, drug smuggling, terrorism, and more. Read Other BorderLine Columns: Here’s the Chart on Illegal Immigration That Trump Was Talking About When Shot How Noncitizens Get to Vote in US Elections and How to Stop It Yes, America Is Exceptional. Happy 4th of July! Supreme Court Confirms No ‘Right’ for Foreigners to Enter US Biden’s 5 Favorite Fudges on Immigration Law The post A Successful US Immigration Policy Would Send Venezuelans Home to Rebuild: The BorderLine appeared first on The Daily Signal.

In the clear, blue sky 50,000 feet above Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, two F-16 Fighting Falcons square off in a dogfight. Although it may seem like a common drill to the average observer, what makes this particular test unusual is that only one of the two planes is controlled by a pilot. The other is powered by artificial intelligence, known as AI. In this unprecedented drill, the Air Force’s experimental self-flying fighter takes on a jet flown by a human pilot at speeds up to 1,200 miles per hour. It successfully performs nose-to-nose passes and vertical maneuvers, and forces the opposing jet into vulnerable positions.  But Project Venom, the name of the Air Force initiative to launch unmanned aircraft, is only a glimpse into the way AI is revolutionizing military technology. From systems that allow missiles to seek out hidden targets in thick canopy with alarming precision to quantum computers with the potential to crack the encryption algorithms that practically all computers use, AI is taking the defense world by storm.  The problem is, America is running behind in the global race for AI supremacy. According to a report released by the data analytics company Govini, America is falling behind China in investing in practical AI capabilities. Although the Defense Department has increased its spending on AI by 150% in the past few years, most of this money goes toward research and development. Since AI is an emerging industry, it’s easy to envision its future capabilities without cultivating current applications. However, since China’s recent surges in military aggression near Taiwan signal that war may be more imminent than thought, it’s important that America change its AI strategy to be prepared for such a breakout war involving China.  While the Pentagon is stuck in research and development, China’s People’s Liberation Army is engineering AI-powered weaponry to challenge Americans in a conflict. In strategic areas where China now falls short of the U.S., Beijing views AI as its opportunity to regain an advantage.  “The PLA seems most focused on procuring AI for intelligence analysis, predictive maintenance, information warfare, and navigation and target recognition in autonomous vehicles,” says a report in October 2021 from Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.  Reports from China show that Beijing matches Pentagon spending on AI, but China’s strategy of civil-military fusion makes it impossible to know how much the communist regime truly spends. Unlike in U.S. industry, Chinese companies must work with the Chinese Communist Party to merge their technology systems in support of national defense. Given that by 2027 China’s top 2,000 companies will allocate over 50% of core information-technology spending on AI initiatives, American policymakers should be worried about falling behind.  China has the ability to direct massive spending toward artificial intelligence and other dual-use research and technology. The U.S. government won’t be able to compete if it fails to massively leverage the nation’s commercial sector. This lesson applies across the board regarding defense innovation. The Chinese space industry might well be ahead of the American space industry if the U.S. government had restricted its efforts to NASA. Instead, leveraging the commercial abilities of American companies such as SpaceX has kept the United States competitive and prevented the Chinese from gaining a technological edge. If America is to stay ahead of China in artificial intelligence, our private sector will be the deciding factor. The Defense Department’s AI chief, Radha Plumb, apparently agrees, saying: “The pointy end of the spear on this AI technology development is coming from private companies, often with commercial or dual-use cases in mind.” As is always the case, emerging technologies will play a key role in future conflicts, so it’s imperative that America stays ahead. The post As AI Revolutionizes Military Defense, America Must Stay Ahead of China appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Live Results: Tennessee Primary

In a follow-up congressional hearing on the assassination attempt on Trump, the FBI revealed a surprising twist regarding Thomas Crooks’ social media. That is that he may have been a far-right terrorist. The update comes after the FBI unearthed a social media account that it claims may be tied to Crooks. The account left around 700 comments between 2019 and 2020 and appeared to reflect “anti-Semitic and anti-immigration themes.” “Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes, to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature,” FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said. Sara Gonzales of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered” isn’t convinced. “I’m just wondering, do you trust the FBI?” She asks. “Do you trust the FBI’s anti-Semitism narrative?” Gonzales then notes that Crooks had donated to ActBlue, an organization that funds Democrats, and was in a BlackRock commercial. But Crooks' background isn’t the only thing that makes Gonzales skeptical of the narrative the FBI is now attempting to push. “Do we trust the FBI to not feed us a narrative that they want to use against us, because this is the same FBI who is investigating grandmas who waved their American flags, who [were] led in, sent on a guided tour by Capitol Police on January 6,” Gonzales says. “This is the same FBI who are calling parents domestic terrorists who show up at school board meetings. This is the same FBI who’s raiding pro-life protesters homes. This is the same FBI who raided Mar-a-Lago over some classified documents,” she continues, adding, “Do you trust them to not just feed you a narrative that is against half of the country?” Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Carrie Underwood is returning to "American Idol" after winning the contest 20 years ago in order to be a judge on the show. The country superstar will replace Katy Perry, who has been on the judging panel for seven years. 'I went from nobody knowing my name to tens of millions of people watching.' The announcement was made Thursday by Craig Erwich, the president of Disney Television Group. "This upcoming season marks 20 years since Carrie won America’s hearts on ‘Idol’ and launched her successful multi-GRAMMY Award-winning career. As a former Idol and dynamic musical force, she brings a remarkably unique perspective to one of the most popular shows on television," he said. "This is a full-circle moment both for the show and audiences at home who have been tuning in for over two decades," he added. "Welcome home, Carrie."Underwood has previously returned to the show in smaller roles, including as a mentor and also as a performer in its 2022 finale. She will sit at the judging panel next to Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan for Season 23. "I went from nobody knowing my name to tens of millions of people watching the show," she said in a video about her return to Idol. "I’m proud of everything I was able to accomplish on the show, and I’m so proud of everything I’ve accomplished since."The popular singer made headlines in 2021 when many on the left tried to cancel her for merely "liking" a tweet that criticized the "cruel and indefensible mask mandate for children." She had previously poked fun at former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump during separate appearances at the Country Music Awards. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Left Keeps Telling Us This Isn't Happening: Illegals in GA Apartment Are REGISTERED TO VOTE

Gretchen Whitmer Reminds a Lot of People of Caitlyn Jenner in New Video

FLIP-FLOP PALOOZA: Read the EPIC Thread on All of Kamala Harris' Policy Changes

White House Gets Decimated Over Disgusting Comment on 9/11 Deal

Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department attorney who was part of former President Donald Trump's challenge of the 2020 election should be barred from practicing law for two years, a Washington, D.C., disciplinary ruled Thursday.