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President Trump floated a “potential path to citizenship” for H1-B visa holders in an early Friday morning tweet, as the partial government shutdown is set to become the longest shutdown on record.
It’s unclear what Mr. Trump meant exactly, as simplifying a path to citizenship for such visa holders would almost certainly require approval from Congress, and the White House has made no such suggestion in its latest border security funding proposal, or any other public offer.
“H1-B holders in the United States can rest assured that changes are soon coming which will bring both simplicity and certainty to your stay, including a potential path to citizenship,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “We want to encourage talented and highly skilled people to pursue career options in the U.S.”
The H-1B visa, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, lets U.S. employers temporarily employ foreign workers with at least a bachelor’s degree for speciality occupations. H-1B visa holders can apply for a green card to obtain permanent residency — but even a green card does not equate to citizenship.
Mr. Trump has expressed openness to a broader immigration overhaul, but has insisted that he first wants funding for a concrete or steel wall or barrier, along with funding for technology and personnel to handle the situation at the border. It’s unclear what prompted Mr. Trump’s tweet.
During the campaign, Mr. Trump proposed increasing the prevailing wage paid to H-1B visa holders in an effort to force companies to give entry-level jobs to an existing pool of unemployed workers in the U.S., instead of bringing in cheaper workers from overseas.
“This will improve the number of black, Hispanic and female workers in Silicon Valley who have been passed over in favor of the H-1B program,” the Trump campaign wrote in an August 2015 immigration platform.
Meanwhile, the president continues to put his immigration agenda front and center. The president has threatened to call a national emergency if Congress doesn’t reach an agreement to fund his border wall.
“If this doesn’t work out, I probably will do it, I would almost say definitely,” Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday on his way to the southern border, adding later, “If we don’t make a deal, I would say 100 percent but I don’t want to say 100 percent.”
— This is a developing story and will be updated.
Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-floats-path-to-citizenship-for-h-1b-visa-holders/
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Source Article from https://www.news8000.com/news/top-stories/21-year-old-faces-homicide-kidnapping-charges-in-connection-to-jayme-closs-case/973314333
In an earlier post, I examined the significant risks for conservatives if President Trump invokes emergency powers to build a border wall. But it’s also worth taking a moment to examine why the move may not be such a no-brainer for Trump, either.
At first blush, it seems like invoking emergency powers would be a win-win for Trump when viewing things through the prism of his unorthodox political style. Right now, he’s boxed in a corner. The government has been partially shut down for three weeks, and there’s no conceivable way that the Democratic House is going to cave and agree to fund his border wall. Giving in to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and abandoning the central promise of his 2016 campaign would be a colossal embarrassment. So the declaration of emergency powers has an obvious appeal. He can declare the state of emergency, agree to reopen the government, and fight it out in court. He will have demonstrated to his base that he’s willing to do anything in his power to deliver. Either he’d win in court and start constructing a wall or he’d lose and get to blame judges.
But here’s where it gets interesting. The border wall emergency powers declaration will ultimately get decided by the Supreme Court. What if one or both of his appointees rule against him?
This is not a particularly wild scenario. While Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s writings on executive power got attention during his confirmation hearings, he hasn’t been on the court long enough to get a sense of how he’ll rule on such issues. Gorsuch, however, at both the appellate level and so far at Supreme Court, has taken a relatively narrow view of administrative power — as he did when he sided with the court’s liberal wing against the administration in an immigration case.
An adverse ruling joined by Gorsuch (and perhaps Kavanaugh), a totally plausible scenario, would blunt any Trump “blame the courts” strategy to explain his failure to deliver on the border wall.
It’s easy to blame judges appointed by former President Barack Obama for losses in court. But how does Trump attack his own prized appointees?
He could, of course, but doing so would undermine the greatest argument he can make to Trump-skeptical conservatives: that he appointed great judges.
If a high-profile decision comes down during the 2020 campaign, how would he on one hand run on his judicial appointment record and, on the other hand, attack the crown jewels of that record as weak?
I suppose he could argue that Gorsuch and/or Kavanaugh were recommended to him by Federalist Society types and turned out to be frauds. But that would only make it seem like he was easily snookered, which is contrary to his image as a street-smart businessman who can spot a scam from a mile away.
The bottom line is that the emergency powers option shouldn’t be viewed as an obvious no-lose exit strategy for Trump.
[Related: Lindsey Graham: It’s time for Trump to use emergency powers to build border wall]
Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/who-would-trump-blame-if-gorsuch-or-kavanaugh-rules-against-his-use-of-emergency-powers-for-a-border-wall
Federal workers woke up to a harsh reality on Friday when they did not receive their expected paychecks for the first time as the partial government shutdown entered its 21st day.
An estimated 800,000 federal employees have been furloughed or are working without pay, throwing everything from airport security to environmental protection to federal resources for low-income housing into jeopardy.
The last government shutdown to have lasted this long was the impasse that stretched from December 1995 to January 1996, when President Bill Clinton and the GOP-controlled Congress were at loggerheads. As of Friday afternoon, with the shutdown poised to become the longest in U.S. history, President Donald Trump and Congress appeared no closer to a deal to reopen the government.
Trump on Friday continued to lambaste Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, for standing firm in their refusal to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Humanitarian Crisis at our Southern Border,” the president said on Twitter a day after traveling to Texas to bolster his argument for the wall. “I just got back and it is a far worse situation than almost anyone would understand, an invasion!”
“The Steel Barrier, or Wall, should have been built by previous administrations long ago. They never got it done – I will. Without it, our Country cannot be safe. Criminals, Gangs, Human Traffickers, Drugs & so much other big trouble can easily pour in. It can be stopped cold!”
With negotiations at a standstill, Trump has threatened to keep key agencies shuttered for months or even a year if Democrats don’t agree to allocate billions for his border wall. The president has even signaled that he would declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and siphon billions from the federal government to build the wall.
Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/federal-workers-miss-first-paycheck-shutdown-poised-become-longest-u-n957651
LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — The winter storm forming across Missouri and Illinois will bring the heaviest snowfall to the Lake of the Ozarks area and eastward into Illinois, with the National Weather Service predicting between 5-10 inches over the next two days.
A Winter Storm Warning is in effect until midnight on Saturday for Benton, Morgan, Miller, Maries, Hickory, Camden, Pulaski, Phelps, Dallas, Laclede, Texas, Dent, Webster, Wright, and Shannon counties.
The slow-moving storm system had already brought a mixture of precipitation to the Lake area beginning early Friday, and the NWS says it will turn to snow on Friday afternoon, lasting through Saturday night. A total accumulation of 5-10 inches of snow is expected with the possibility of a light glaze of ice. The Lake of the Ozarks area and the eastern Ozarks can expect mostly heavy snow, while a wintry mix is forecasted for surrounding areas.
Travel conditions across central Missouri and the eastern Ozarks are expected to begin deteriorating late Friday afternoon and decline as the evening progresses. Travel is expected to be impacted throughout the rest of the Missouri Ozarks.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol issued a warning to drivers on Friday, asking drivers to, “make smart decisions about traveling Missouri’s roadways this weekend.”
“Consulting Missouri’s Road Condition Report (1-888-275-6636) or MoDOT’s Road Condition Map at traveler.modot.org/map can provide the most current road condition information available. Avoiding travel may be the safest decision.
It is next to impossible to stop quickly on snow-covered or icy roads. Drivers should compensate for these slippery conditions by increasing their following distance when driving. Decrease your vehicle’s speed when driving in snow or on ice. During inclement weather, driving the speed limit is not ‘exercising the highest degree of care.’ Missouri law (Section 304.012 RSMo.) states the responsibility of exercising the highest degree of care while driving rests on the driver’s shoulders.”
Winter Storm Warnings indicate that significant amounts of snow, sleet, and ice are expected to make travel very hazardous or impossible. Call 511 for updates on road conditions.
Source Article from https://www.lakeexpo.com/weather/winter-storm-warning-for-lake-of-the-ozarks-area-weather/article_3c5090b6-15b3-11e9-9724-f35bffc6bcdf.html
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