Even in the opinion section, only approved thought is permitted.

We’re in the dawn of a high-tech, bloodless Cultural Revolution; one that relies on intimidation, public shaming, and economic ruin to dictate what words and ideas are permissible in the public square.

“Words are violence” has always been an illiberal notion meant to stifle speech and open discourse. Popularized by a generation of coddled and brittle college students, it now guides policy on editorial pages at newspapers such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, the New York Times, and most major news outlets.

Cotton’s critics are correct that not every dumb or radical idea deserves a debate or a place in the country’s biggest newspapers — although some of us believe editors should make room for contrarian and unpopular arguments. But this insistence masks their real objection: That Cotton’s column, which tonally and philosophically was well within the parameters of traditional editorial writing, might have found an audience. At root, our cultural revolutionaries are frightened of ideas. Do we honestly believe that had another paper published it, the same people wouldn’t have deemed that inappropriate, too?

None of the Times’ editors, all of whom are apparently comfortable with running fabulist histories or odes to Communist tyrannies, pushed back against the caustic notion that engaging in debate was act of violence. They bowed to the internal mob and pleaded for forgiveness.

“ICE said Segura was initially apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol near Roma, Texas in November 2017, but was released as an “unaccompanied alien child.”

Marietta Daily Journal

April 15, 2020

• Rosie Manins

A 15-year-old Marietta murder suspect is to be deported to El Salvador once released from criminal custody, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says.

Brayan Segura, also known to authorities as Brayan Eduardo Rivas and Brayan Rivas-Segura, was arrested by Marietta police on April 9, accused of the stabbing death of 14-year-old Marietta girl Janina Valenzuela the evening prior.

Police said Segura told them he stabbed Valenzuela near The Arbors at East Cobb apartment complex on April 8 as part of an initiation into the MS-13 criminal street gang, because she claimed to be from a rival gang, 18th Street.

ICE said Segura was initially apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol near Roma, Texas in November 2017, but was released as an “unaccompanied alien child.”

An ICE statement, shared Tuesday night with the MDJ by Atlanta Field Office public affairs officer Lindsay Williams, confirmed it had lodged an immigration detainer against “unlawfully present Salvadoran national Brayan Rivas-Segura, 15, pursuant to his arrest for murder April 9 in Cobb County, Georgia.”

An ICE detainer orders local law enforcement to not release the person, but instead to hold the person for up to 48 hours after the time they would otherwise be released, so immigration officials can detain and transfer them to federal custody.

If Segura is prosecuted in Cobb, convicted and sentenced, he will be subject to deportation at the end of his sentence, even if that is decades from now. If he is found innocent of his charges in Cobb and released from criminal custody, he must answer to ICE, which can still deport him for being in the country illegally.

The MDJ has much more (!) on this story here.

CNSNews.com

Rep. Tlaib Proposes Giving Everyone–Including Illegal Aliens–$2,000 Debit Card

By Melanie Arter | April 13, 2020

(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) is proposing giving debit cards initially worth $2,000 and $1,000 monthly after that for everyone in America, including dependents and illegal immigrants and temporary visitors who have been in the United States for more than three months.

Her proposed bill – the Automatic BOOST to Communities Act – would give every person in America $2,000 on a debit card and then $1,000 every month after that until one year after the coronavirus pandemic ends.

“Every person” is described as such:

c. Individuals who do not have a bank account, social security number, or permanent address. d. People living in unincorporated territories or protectorates and Americans living abroad.

Cards would be distributed in three ways: read the rest here.

Coronavirus: Mexicans demand crackdown on Americans crossing the border

26 March 2020

BBC.com

“Mexican protesters have shut a US southern border crossing amid fears that untested American travellers will spread coronavirus.

Residents in Sonora, south of the US state of Arizona, have promised to block traffic into Mexico for a second day after closing a checkpoint for hours on Wednesday.

They wore face masks and held signs telling Americans to “stay at home”.

Mexico has fewer than 500 confirmed Covid-19 cases and the US over 65,000.

The border is supposed to be closed to all except “essential” business, but protesters said there has been little enforcement and no testing by authorities.

The blockade was led by members of the group Sonorans for Health and Life, who called for medical testing to be done on anyone who crosses from the US into Mexico.

Jose Luis Hernandez, a group member, told the Arizona Republic: “There are no health screenings by the federal government to deal with this pandemic. That’s why we’re here in Nogales. We’ve taken this action to call on the Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to act now.”

The Mexican president has been criticised for his response to the pandemic, as has US President Donald Trump.

Mr Hernandez said the Wednesday demonstrations were a “first warning” to Mr Lopez Obrador, popularly known by his initials, Amlo.

The group has called for enforcement of the crossing ban on all US or Mexican citizens for tourism or medical reasons, including those who cross the border every day to attend school or work in the US.

Authorities must also conduct medical testing on Mexicans deported from the US, they said… Read the rest here.