state department

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U.S. bows to United Nations Human Rights Council, ACLU helps (Arizona, SB1070) - 11/05/10

In Geneva today the United Nations Human Rights Council met to assess the U.S.'s record on human rights, or at least human rights as they see them. And, as previously discussed, the report from the U.S. government mentions Arizona's recent SB1070 immigration law. While I downplayed the significance of this in the earlier post, perhaps I should raise the alert level given that one of the groups involved in complaining to the U.N. about the U.S. is the American Civil Liberties Union; more on them below. From this: The United States is submitting its human rights record to the scrutiny of other...

Obama wants $500 million to send National Guard to secure the border (prelude to amnesty) - 05/25/10

Barack Obama wants Congress to allocate $500 million in order to send up to 1200 National Guard troops to the border. Per an unnamed administration official (link): "[The troops will] provide intelligence; surveillance and reconnaissance support; intelligence analysis; immediate support to counternarcotics enforcement; and training capacity until Customs and Border Patrol can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border... [the funding will be used to] enhance technology at the border, share information and support with state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and...

Obama administration apologizes about Arizona immigration law... to China (Jon Huntsman, Michael Posner) - 05/16/10

It's rare that I link to or agree with Powerline blog, but there you go: link. A couple of days ago, Michael Posner of the State Department was asked the following question at a press conference about human rights talks that State is holding with China: QUESTION: Did the recently passed Arizona immigration law come up? And, if so, did they bring it up or did you bring it up? ASSISTANT SECRETARY POSNER: We brought it up early and often. It was mentioned in the first session, and as a troubling trend in our society and an indication that we have to deal with issues of discrimination or...

"Temporary" Protected Status for Haitian illegal aliens pushed by profiteers (Haiti earthquake) - 01/14/10

[TPS has been approved; see the update below] Yesterday, Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security suspended repatriations of illegal aliens from Haiti; that makes some sense as long as it's actually temporary. What doesn't make sense are the calls from some to give "Temporary Protected Status" in the U.S. to Haitian illegal aliens. The word "temporary" is generally a misnomer as that status is renewed over and over. TPS would be an infected band-aid that wouldn't fix Haiti's structural problems and in some cases would result in importing Haiti's problems into the U.S. It would...

America.gov promotes banks profiting from money earned illegally ("unbanked", Matt Herrick) - 05/20/09

America dot gov - run by the U.S. State Department - recently promoted Canadian-style multiculturalism. Now they'd decided to promote banks profiting from money that was earned illegally. America.gov staff writer Matt Herrick offers "Banking the Unbanked/Alternative financial services attract immigrants" [1]: Compared to native-born Americans, immigrants like Gama are not only poor, but also disproportionately "unbanked," meaning they do not have bank accounts. Some might be "under-banked," making minimal use of banks. Among immigrants, Mexicans are most likely to be unbanked, reports the Pew...

America.gov promotes Canada-style multiculturalism (from a melting pot to a "patchwork of cultures") - 04/22/09

While you weren't watching, Barack Obama's State Department has changed us from a melting pot into a Canadian-style multicultural society. Apparently some time around April 1 of this year, the section "A Patchwork Culture" was added to america dot gov at america.gov/identity.html

Rosa Brooks to Pentagon; CFR, Soros; her Darwinistic, anti-American immigration policy; journalism bailout - 04/09/09

Former Los Angeles Times columnist Rosa Brooks is going through the revolving door again, this time to be an advisor at the Defense Department, specifically to Michele Flournoy the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. There's a lot about her not to like; here's just some of it: 1. She was affiliated with George Soros' Open Society Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations. 2. During the Clinton years, she advised Harold Koh in his previous position at the State Department. 3. In her farewell (for now) column, she advocates for a "government bailout of journalism" (link). In addition to...

Letter to Senate shows Harold Koh's disinterest in U.S. sovereignty (John Fonte) - 04/09/09

Under the name "Coalition to Preserve American Sovereignty", John Fonte and others from the Ethics and Public Policy Center are seeking signatures for a letter pointing out just how weak State Department legal advisor Harold Koh is on U.S.

Harold Koh also horrible on U.S. sovereignty; U.N., international laws would influence U.S. law - 03/30/09

As first discussed here in July 2007, Harold Koh - recently appointed the top legal adviser at the State Department - supports illegal immigration. The fact that he supports illegal activity is cut and dried; his actual position on U.S. sovereignty is less clear but it doesn't look very good.

Harold Koh is new legal adviser to Department of State, despite supporting illegal activity - 03/23/09

Earlier today, Barack Obama named Yale University Law School dean Harold Koh to be legal advisor to the State Department.

Barbara Boxer wants to ratify U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (Hillary Clinton) - 02/08/09

From this: The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which opponents say could destroy American sovereignty by imposing international rulings on American law, could reach the Senate within 60 days. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) says she wants a 60-day timeframe for the State Department to complete its review so the Senate can move toward ratification of the UNCRC. During the Senate Confirmation hearing between Boxer and UN Ambassador-designate Susan Rice held on January 15, 2009, Boxer told Rice the UNCRC would protect "the most vulnerable people of society." Opponents vehemently...

Illegal immigration-supporting Harold Koh: legal adviser to State Department? - 02/05/09

From [1]: Yale Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh is a leading contender to be appointed legal adviser to the Department of State, two people familiar with the selection process told the [Yale Daily News]... In that position, Koh - a former assistant secretary of state and a leading expert on international law - would serve as principal counselor on all legal matters to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton LAW ’73...

Hillary Clinton: not eligible to be Secretary of State? (emoluments, Judicial Watch) - 01/29/09

Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit on behalf of State Department employee David Rodearmel claiming that Hillary Clinton isn't eligible to head that department (link): The lawsuit maintains that Mrs. Clinton is constitutionally ineligible to serve as Secretary of State and that Mr. Rodearmel cannot be forced to serve under the former U.S. Senator, as it would violate the oath he took as a Foreign Service Officer in 1991 to "support and defend" and "bear true faith and allegiance" to the Constitution of the United States. Under the "Emoluments" or "Ineligibility" clause of the U.S....

World Economic Forum (Davos) pushing global governance, global TV, Law of Sea Treaty - 01/27/09

The World Economic Forum will be meeting in Davos starting on the 28th, and see this for all the details on one of their key documents as well as the media sources that haven't disclosed the fact that they're sponsors as well as much, much more. Here's a snippet: "The Global Agenda 2009" report says that "sovereign states do not adequately address problems reaching across borders" and that "international taxation" may be needed to generate the "additional resources" for "global governance... ...As current global governance problems come from market failures, sovereign failures and...

"Mexican ID opens doors for undocumented workers in U.S." - 02/21/03

I created a thread here about the Dallas Morning News article "Mexican ID opens doors for undocumented workers in U.S." (link). The subtitle of the article is 'Critics say 'matricula' is a tool to facilitate illegal immigration', which in a way summarizes the whole article: it's mostly pro-Matricula Consular, with a few anti-MC comments thrown in for a semblance of balance. Of particular note: