Tag: sanctuary phil

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3 Out of 4 Convicted Terrorists Came to U.S. Legally Via Current Immigration System

Omar Mateen, Terrorist Who Attacked Orlando Gay Club

February 4,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, Illustrating the national security threats created by the nation’s immigration system, the overwhelming majority of individuals convicted of terrorism are foreigners who entered the United States legally through various federal programs. Three out of every four convicted terrorists between September 11, 2001 and December 31, 2016 are foreign born and came to the United States through our immigration system, according to a new report issued jointly by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

At least 549 individuals were convicted of terrorism-related charges in American federal courts since 2001 and 402 of them—approximately 73%–were foreign-born, the report says. Here’s the breakdown by citizenship at the time of their convictions; 254 were not U.S. citizens, 148 were naturalized and received American citizenship and 147 were U.S. born. Additionally, 1,716 foreigners with national security concerns were removed from the United States. The Trump administration stresses that figures include only those aliens who were convicted or removed and therefore do not represent the total measure of foreign terrorist infiltration of the United States. Statistics on individuals facing terrorism charges who have not yet been convicted will be provided in follow-up reports that will be made available to the public.

This DHS/DOJ report, issued this month, is disturbing enough and reveals that a significant number of terrorists entered the country through immigration programs that use family ties and extended-family chain migration as a basis for entry. Among them is Mufid Elfgeeh, a national of Yemen who benefitted from chain migration in 1997 and was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for attempting to recruit fighters for ISIS. Sudanese Mahmoud Amin Mohamed Elhassan came to the U.S. in 2012 as a relative of a lawful permanent resident and eventually pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Pakistani Uzair Paracha was admitted to the U.S. in 1980 as a family member of a lawful permanent resident and in 2006 was sentenced to more than three decades in prison for providing material support to Al Qaeda. Khaleel Ahmed, a national of India, was admitted to the United States in 1998 as a family member of a naturalized United States citizen. Ahmed eventually became an American citizen and in 2010 was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

Other convicted terrorists came to the U.S. through the controversial visa lottery program, the multi-agency probe found. Among them is Abdurasaul Hasanovich Juraboev, a national of Uzbekistan who was admitted into the country as a diversity visa lottery recipient in 2011. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to support ISIS and in 2017 Juraboev was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Sudanese Ali Shukri Amin was admitted to the U.S. in 1999 as the child of a diversity visa lottery recipient and subsequently obtained American citizenship through naturalization. In 2015, he was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support and resources to ISIS. Amin admitted to using social media to provide advice and encouragement to ISIS and its supporters and facilitated ISIS supporters seeking to travel to Syria to join the terrorist group. Amin also helped a Virginia teen named Reza Niknejad get to Syria to join ISIS in 2015.

“The United States faces a serious and persistent terror threat, and individuals with ties to terror can and will use any pathway to enter our country,” the new DHS/DOJ report states. “Accordingly, DHS has taken significant steps to improve the security of all potential routes used by known or suspected terrorists (KST) to travel to the United States to ensure that individuals who would do harm to Americans are identified and detected, and their plots are disrupted. These figures reflect the challenges faced by the United States and demonstrate the necessity to remain vigilant and proactive in our counterterrorism posture.”

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FDU Poll 39% believe the state is on solid footing with Murphy at the helm ?

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January 31,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, FDU’s Public Mind released a poll showing Governor Phil Murphy garnering a 35% approval rating in his first two weeks in office, with 21% disapproving and 40% who don’t know yet. His predecessors fared better in their first weeks in office: Governor Christie had a 48-31%, while Governor Corzine had 47-16%.

One bright spot for Murphy, is according to the poll, there is optimism among the respondents in the direction of the state: 39% believe the state is on solid footing with Murphy at the helm, compared to 18% in October when Christie was still in office. President Trump has a 31-60% favorable/unfavorable rating, according to the same poll.

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Murphy Sides with Illegals and Criminals Moving New Jersey one Step Closer, “Sanctuary State” status

Phill Murphy -Sara Medina del Castillo

January 28,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, This week Governor Phil Murphy was involved  with a series of announcements demonstrating he will be taking sides against residents and citizens and favoring illegals and criminals.

The Governor “Sanctuary Phil” Murphy campaigned on massive tax raises and turning New Jersey into a sanctuary state . This week he moved that agenda forward .

First on January 24th NJ Attorney General Grewal announced alongside Governor Phil Murphy that the NJ Office of the Attorney General will use all the tools it has to protect the rights of Dreamers so they can enjoy the American Dream and to ensure the safety and well-being of all New Jerseyans, regardless of their immigration status.

Then on the 26th ,NJ Attorney General Grewal spoke on his focus of restricting legal gun owners rights and New Jersey’s intention to tighten restrictions on handgun-carry permits to combat gun violence for a safer state, despite the fact that criminals don’t get gun permits.

 

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Reader asks How about the “longstanding tradition” of enforcing the law?

ICE

“Thursday’s arrest by federal agents of two Indonesian nationals as they dropped off their children may have violated a longstanding prohibition on immigration enforcement actions at “sensitive locations,” and calling for the official to personally review the incident.”
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How about the “longstanding tradition” of enforcing the law? Maybe if the states cooperated with the Federal government and had respect for the immigration laws, then the federal government wouldn’t have to “violate” any longstanding behavior norms.

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Jersey PAC Vows to Fight Murphy’s Plan to Provide Free Legal Aid to Illegal Immigrants

phil murphy

January 26,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Wayne, NJ, The New Jersey Organization For Economic Growth rejects the proposal by Gov. Phil Murphy to create a program to use taxpayer money to provide legal help to illegal immigrants and says it will mount a citizens petition campaign to oppose the governor’s plan.

The new governor wants to create yet another agency — the Office of Immigrant Protection. It would fall within the Department of Law and Public Safety and it would provide legal representation to illegals.

“It is a slap in the face of law abiding, hard working men and women in New Jersey – many of whom cannot afford legal services for themselves — to be forced to fund a government agency that gives free legal aid to non citizens,” said Joseph Caruso, the NJOEG chairman.

“The governor is pandering to the extreme element in his party that want to not only to make New Jersey a sanctuary state, but to give illegals driver’s licenses and free legal aid so they can fight federal immigration laws. This is beyond absurd,” added Alex Cucciniello the Executive Director of OEG.

According to the Federation for American Immigration reform, 372,000 people live in New Jersey illegally and they cost state taxpayers in excess of $2.1 billion dollars annually for health, schooling and incarceration services.

“Spending taxpayer money to help people who entered our country illegally to further evade the law is the wrong priority for New Jersey,” added Caruso. “The state is beset with many problems: high taxes, unmanageable public sector pension and benefits costs, the overregulation of businesses and the flight of talented Millennials. The administration should be focusing on those core issues.”

Caruso noted that the Murphy administration’s free legal aid proposal for people who entered the country illegally is a slap in the face for the state’s struggling legal residents.

More than 10.4 percent of the state’s residents, over 915,000 people currently live below the poverty line, according to talkpoverty.org and the U.S. Census Bureau. Over 5 percent of our citizens are unemployed and more startling, 11.1 percent of the state’s population suffered from hunger and food insecurity at some point during the year.

“The governor should be focusing on addressing the problems that already exist in New Jersey – he shouldn’t be creating new ones,” added Cucciniello.

“The governor wants to make New Jersey a sanctuary state, give illegal immigrants driver’s licenses and free legal counseling. The consequences of those initiatives will be to make New Jersey a magnet for many more illegal immigrants.

“And who will bear the cost of the governor’s absurd plans? The hardworking legal residents of this state, that’s who,” added Cucciniello.

Chairman Caruso announced that since the Murphy Administration intends to proceed with this insane agenda on tax payer funded programs for illegal aliens, the OEG will immediately begin a petition drive show Gov. Murphy and his administration that they are out of step with the rest of the state.

“We cannot allow the governor to fundamentally change the character and quality of life in our state without a response. We will seek the signatures of 915,000 New Jerseyans — the same number of people that live below the poverty line — to make it clear where the people of this state stand on this issue, I will fight for all of our citizens, especially those less fortunate, those living below the poverty line” said Caruso.

Those who wish to assist NJOEG in volunteering for the petition drive can email the organization at info@njoeg.com. Those who can make a financial contribution to the effort please visit the NJOEG website at www.njoeg.com.

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New Jersey Heading Toward “a potentially catastrophic failure of its government pensions”

CBD oldtimers

file photo by Boyd Loving

January 21,2018

the  staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research New Jersey is running out of time projections show that the pension system, already the worst-funded in the nation, will continue taking on debt for at least five more years.

The Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York defines a government pension system that’s below 40% funded as in crisis. New Jersey’s pension system is well below that line, and the cost to fix the system, even under optimistic economic and financial-market projections, is already enormous. After a nine-year expansion, if America’s economy turns down in the coming months, the price of fixing New Jersey’s pension system will surge higher still. Yet even when the costs were considerably less, the state’s political leaders balked at fixing the system. We’ve now reached the point where neglecting to construct an adequate and lasting fix pushes the pension system on a path toward failure, a catastrophic scenario for New Jersey’s public employees and taxpayers.

Key takeaways from the report :

As this report demonstrates, to stay on pace to reach the new plan’s required yearly contributions into the pension system by 2023, state government must increase the revenue that it dedicates to its pension system by more than threefold. At that point, pension payments could equal 12%–15% of New Jersey’s budget.

Based on the historical growth of New Jersey’s revenues, rising pension payments alone will likely consume virtually all the state’s additional tax collections over the next five years, even under an optimistic scenario where tax collections accelerate. That would leave little money for increasing funding of local schools, higher education, municipal services, or property-tax relief.

If the economy were to experience even a mild recession, the resulting slowdown in tax collections would likely mean that New Jersey would fall short by at least an additional $3.5 billion in meeting its pension obligations, sparking a more substantial rise in new pension debt.

After years of relying on unrealistic investment assumptions, New Jersey recently cut its projected rate of investment returns to a more realistic 7%. Even so, this is higher than forecasts made by independent experts for pension fund performance over the next five to 10 years. If the outside experts are correct, the investment returns on the state’s pension portfolio will fall significantly short, requiring New Jersey to dedicate further tax revenues to its pension system or allow additional new debt to pile up—a dangerous situation because the system’s funding levels are already so low that some pension experts fear that fixing a system this poorly funded is nearly impossible.

Absent some unexpectedly robust acceleration of the economy, it is highly unlikely that New Jersey will generate enough new revenues to meet its pension commitments without severely hobbling the rest of the state’s budget. At the same time, allowing its pension system to continue to accumulate debt by not contributing adequately to it will push New Jersey toward a potentially catastrophic failure of its government pensions.

full report :

https://www.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/R-SMJM-0118.pdf

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Murphy to Hold on to Governor’s Salary

trenton nj

January 19,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, Democrat Phil Murphy ,New Jersey’s new governor says he’ll be accepting the job’s $175,000-a-year salary. Murphy a multimillionaire and former Wall Street executive who earned his fortune working at Goldman Sachs , will not match what even the failed Democrat Jon Corzine did . Corzine also a wealthy alumni of Goldman Sachs took only a $1-per-year salary.

When asked the new Governor declined Wednesday to take further questions about his salary from the media . His 2016 taxes showed he earned a mere $4.6 million, mostly from interest and dividends.

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Former Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal Confirmed as 61st New Jersey Attorney General

Gurbir S

January 17,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, Gurbir S. Grewal became the 61st Attorney General of the State of New Jersey following the inauguration of Governor Phil Murphy today, January 16, 2018. He was confirmed unanimously by the New Jersey Senate this afternoon.

“I am honored and humbled to assume the role of Attorney General at this critical time for our state and country. I am grateful to Governor Murphy and the Senate for the trust they have placed in me and I look forward to continuing my service to the state of New Jersey. There’s much to do, and I can’t wait to get started,” said Attorney General Grewal.
Prior to his selection as New Jersey Attorney General, Grewal served as Bergen County Prosecutor, the chief law enforcement officer of the most populous county in New Jersey and home to nearly 1 million residents living in 70 municipalities.

Grewal worked as an Assistant United States Attorney (“AUSA”) in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey from 2010 to 2016. While at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he served as Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit from 2014 to 2016 and oversaw the investigation and prosecution of all major white collar and cybercrimes in the District of New Jersey.

Before becoming a federal prosecutor in New Jersey, Grewal also served as an AUSA in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York from 2004 to 2007, where he was ultimately assigned to the Business and Securities Fraud Unit. As an AUSA in the Eastern District of New York, he investigated and prosecuted a wide range of narcotics offenses, white collar crimes, and terrorism cases. His significant matters included the successful prosecution of 12 men charged with providing material support to the Tamil Tigers terrorist organization.

In addition to his work as a federal prosecutor, Grewal has also worked in private practice, including at Howrey LLP (from 1999 to 2004 in Washington, D.C., and from 2008 to 2010 in New York, N.Y.). While at Howrey LLP, he counseled clients on a range of matters including securities, trademark, antitrust and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act issues; represented individuals and companies in government investigations and criminal proceedings; conducted internal investigations for public corporations; and conducted civil trials.

Attorney General Grewal graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1995. He obtained his law degree from the College of William & Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 1999.

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Department of Homeland Security Looks to Lodge to criminal charges against leaders of sanctuary cities

Phill Murphy -Sara Medina del Castillo

January 17,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, while Governor Phil Murphy pushes forward to turn New Jersey into a sanctuary state , Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen confirmed Tuesday that the department has asked federal prosecutors to see if they can lodge criminal charges against sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal deportation efforts.

“The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reviewing what avenues may be available,” Ms. Nielsen told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This came on the heels of California’s new sanctuary law went into effect Jan. 1, severely restricting cooperation the state or any of its localities could offer.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan says those policies put his officers and local communities at more risk because they have to arrest illegal immigrants out in the community.

Director Homan told The Washington Times last July that he wanted to see local officials charged as complicit in human smuggling if they shielded illegal immigrants through sanctuary policies.

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Murphy agenda will only exacerbate outward migration putting further pressure on the states limited resources

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January 16,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York were the top states in the nation for outbound moves in 2017, according to data from United Van Lines. We have in the past reported similar statistics from other moving companies .

United Van Lines, which tracks state-to-state migration patterns, found that Illinois was the top state for outbound migration with 63 percent of moves going out of state.

“The Northeast continues to experience a moving deficit with New Jersey (63 percent outbound), New York (61 percent) and Connecticut (57 percent) making the list of top outbound states for the third consecutive year,” the report states. “Massachusetts (56 percent) also joined the top outbound list this year.”

While taxes are often cited as the reason for the move , New Jersey just elected Phil Murphy who promised to raise taxes when elected . The Murphy agenda will only exacerbate this outward migration putting further pressure on the states limited resources .

 

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Sanctuary Phil Makes His Moves

phil murphy

January 16,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, the Washington Post reported that when Phil Murphy takes office as New Jersey’s next governor, he plans to establish a state agency geared toward aiding undocumented immigrants. Murphy, a Democrat who held the ambassador post under President Barack Obama after several years as a Goldman Sachs executive, said the agency would be called the Office of Immigrant Defensive Protection.

Murphy previously vowed to make New Jersey a sanctuary state if President Donald Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Governor Phil Murphy said in a tweet , “Honored to be sworn in as the new Governor of this great state in just a few short days. Together, we will build a stronger and fairer New Jersey for all. ” Critics claim “fairer New Jersey “is code for massive tax increases which will be needed to fund Sanctuary Phil’s wish list state.

While New Jersey faces catastrophic fiscal issues , the new governor is dead set on a significant expansion of failed policies that have lowered the quality of life in New Jersey and forced so many residents and businesses to flee the state .

Resident is suburban bastions like Ridgewood can be assured to take the brunt of Murphy’s far left agenda .

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California Moves to Cut Pension Benefits

jerry_brown_california_reuters

January 12,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, watch out New Jersey you could be next , for decades in California, a sacrosanct rule has governed public employees’ pensions: benefits promised can never be taken away.

But now the California Supreme Court has threaten to reverse that premise and open the door to benefit cuts for workers still on the job.

California Governor Jerry Brown said legal rulings may clear the way for making cuts to public pension benefits, which would go against long-standing assumptions and potentially provide financial relief to the state and its local governments.

ballooning expenses are an issue that Gov. Jerry Brown will face in his final year in office despite his earlier efforts to reform the state’s pension systems and pay down massive unfunded liabilities.

At issue is the “California Rule,” which dates to court rulings beginning in 1947. It says workers enter a contract with their employer on their first day of work, entitling them to retirement benefits that can never be diminished unless replaced with similar benefits.

It gives workers security that their retirement will be safe and predictable after a career in public service. But it also ties lawmakers’ hands in responding to exploding pension costs.

It’s widely accepted that retirement benefits linked to work already performed cannot be touched. But the California Rule is controversial because it prohibits even prospective changes for work the employee has not yet done.

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Glen Rock Mayor says Glen Rock Welcomes People from “shithole countries”

Glen Rock Mayor Bruce Packer

January 12,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Glen Rock NJ, Glen Rock Mayor Bruce Packer  says Glen Rock Welcomes People from shithole countries,

Packer at the Glen Rock REOG meeting said , “I had mentioned in my speech at the reorg meeting that I would like to see the council reconsider the Welcoming Community Resolution. To those who say it is not necessary, because we obviously welcome everyone, I would suggest that you probably would have said the same thing about our country. You know, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free…” and all that. Nothing about exclusions for shithole countries.That is what our country used to stand for and what Glen Rock still stands for.This is not a partisan statement but this is what patriotism should look like.We can’t assume that everyone is willing to welcome one and all when the elected leader of our country does not.
I’d love to see our local leadership send that clear message and we will include it on a future agenda for discussion.
I am a true believer that, as Martin Luther King Jr said, “Silence is Complicity” and I could not stay silent after seeing what was said.”

The question remains will Ridgewood follow suit ?
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New Jersey Once Again Ranks Last in Business Tax Climate

Phill Murphy -Sara Medina del Castillo

December 20,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the latest Tax Foundation ratings are out and once again New Jersey ranks dead last in business climate . #50 New Jersey ranked in the bottom 5 along with
#49 New York , #48 California ,#47 Vermont and #47 District of Columbia .

Neighboring states ,#15 Delaware ,#26 Pennsylvania and #49 New York .

According to the Tax Foundation , “The absence of a major tax is a common factor among many of the top 10 states. Property taxes and unemployment insurance taxes are levied in every state, but there are several states that do without one or more of the major taxes: the corporate income tax, the individual income tax, or the sales tax. Wyoming, Nevada, and South Dakota have no corporate or individual income tax (though Nevada imposes gross receipts taxes); Alaska has no individual income or state-level sales tax; Florida has no individual income tax; and New Hampshire, Montana, and Oregon have no sales tax.

This does not mean, however, that a state cannot rank in the top ten while still levying all the major taxes. Indiana and Utah, for example, levy all of the major tax types, but do so with low rates on broad bases.

The states in the bottom 10 tend to have a number of afflictions in common: complex, nonneutral taxes with comparatively high rates. New Jersey, for example, is hampered by some of the highest property tax burdens in the country, is one of just two states to levy both an inheritance tax and an estate tax, and maintains some of the worst-structured individual income taxes in the country . “

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Thieves Go On Crime Spree With Stolen Trooper Car

nj state trooper

photo courtesy of NJ state police

December 19,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

North Brunswick NJ, as previously reported on the Ridgewood blog ,  in Weapons and Uniforms Stolen from a State Troopers Car May Have Been Used in an armed robbery in Middlesex County https://theridgewoodblog.net/weapons-and-uniforms-stolen-from-a-state-troopers-car-may-have-been-used-in-an-armed-robbery-in-middlesex-county/

The New Jersey State Police and North Brunswick Police Department are cooperatively investigating the theft of an unmarked troop car, which was stolen from a trooper’s residence in North Brunswick and then used during the commission of two robberies and a theft at a gas station.

On Sunday, December 17, a New Jersey State Trooper reported his troop car stolen at approximately 9:39 a.m. when he discovered it missing from his driveway. The troop car contained several uniforms, two issued weapons, and other issued equipment.

Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives determined that the suspect and troop car were involved with three incidents early Sunday morning. At 6:50 a.m., a truck driver reported a robbery to State Police after he was stopped by the suspect using the stolen troop car on the New Jersey Turnpike southbound at milepost 74.7 in South Brunswick. During the interaction, the suspect stole cash from the driver. At 7:19 a.m., the suspect fueled the troop car at a gas station on St. George Avenue in Colonia, N.J. and left without paying. At 7:30 a.m., the suspect stopped a cab at the Woodbridge Center Mall in Woodbridge, N.J. and stole cash from the driver. No weapons were brandished during any of the incidents.

This is an active investigation, and we continue to work cooperatively with North Brunswick Police Department and local law enforcement. There is no further information available at this time. Anyone concerned or suspicious about the validity of an officer’s identification should call 9-1-1 to report the information and seek confirmation of the officer’s credentials.