More awesome. Nice work Brianna.

Thank God Minnesota is really dropping the hammer on the absentee ballot fraud. Starting January 1 the new law goes into effect.

quote:

Changes to Minnesota elections: Absentee ballots
What the law does:
Starting Jan. 1, 2026, a person who requests an absentee ballot must provide a Minnesota driver's license or state ID card number and the last four digits of their Social Security Number. That is, unless the applicant certifies they do not possess one of those numbers.

So you can only request an absentee ballot with some proper form of ID. Unless you claim you don't have that then ok here's you ballot anyhow. Can't make it up!

President Trump set to expand immigration crackdown in 2026

WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing for a more aggressive immigration crackdown in 2026 with billions in new funding, including by raiding more workplaces — even as backlash builds ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Trump has already surged immigration agents into major U.S. cities, where they swept through neighborhoods and clashed with residents. While federal agents this year conducted some high-profile raids on businesses, they largely avoided raiding farms, factories and other businesses that are economically important but known to employ immigrants without legal status.

ICE and Border Patrol will get $170 billion in additional funds through September 2029 - a huge surge of funding over their existing annual budgets of about $19 billion after the Republican-controlled Congress passed a massive spending package in July.
Administration officials say they plan to hire thousands more agents, open new detention centers, pick up more immigrants in local jails and partner with outside companies to track down people without legal status.
The expanded deportation plans come despite growing signs of political backlash ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Miami, one of the cities most affected by Trump’s crackdown because of its large immigrant population, elected its first Democratic mayor in nearly three decades last week in what the mayor-elect said was, in part, a reaction to the president. Other local elections and polling have suggested rising concern among voters wary of aggressive immigration tactics.
"People are beginning to see this not as an immigration question anymore as much as it is a violation of rights, a violation of due process and militarizing neighborhoods extraconstitutionally," said Mike Madrid, a moderate Republican political strategist. "There is no question that is a problem for the president and Republicans."
Trump’s overall approval rating on immigration policy fell from 50% in March, before he launched crackdowns in several major U.S. cities, to 41% in mid-December, for what had been his strongest issue.
Rising public unease has focused on masked federal agents using aggressive tactics such as deploying tear gas in residential neighborhoods and detaining U.S. citizens.

In addition to expanding enforcement actions, Trump has stripped hundreds of thousands of Haitian, Venezuelan and Afghan immigrants of temporary legal status, expanding the pool of people who could be deported as the president promises to remove 1 million immigrants each year – a goal he almost certainly will miss this year. So far, some 622,000 immigrants have been deported since Trump took office in January.
White House border czar Tom Homan told Reuters Trump had delivered on his promise of a historic deportation operation and removing criminals while shutting down illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border. Homan said the number of arrests will increase sharply as ICE hires more officers and expands detention capacity with the new funding.
“I think you're going to see the numbers explode greatly next year,” Homan said.
Homan said the plans “absolutely” include more enforcement actions at workplaces.
Sarah Pierce, director of social policy at the center-left group Third Way, said U.S. businesses have been reluctant to push back on Trump's immigration crackdown in the past year but could be prompted to speak up if the focus turns to employers.
Pierce said it will be interesting to see "whether or not businesses finally stand up to this administration."

Trump, a Republican, recaptured the White House promising record levels of deportations, saying it was needed after years of high levels of illegal immigration under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. He kicked off a campaign that dispatched federal agents to U.S. cities in search of possible immigration offenders, sparking protests and lawsuits over racial profiling and violent tactics.
Some businesses shut down to avoid raids or because of a lack of customers. Parents vulnerable to arrest kept their children home from school or had neighbors walk them. Some U.S. citizens started carrying passports.
Despite the focus on criminals in its public statements, government data shows that the Trump administration has been arresting more people who have not been charged with any crimes beyond their alleged immigration violations than previous administrations.
Some 41% of the roughly 54,000 people arrested by ICE and detained by late November had no criminal record beyond a suspected immigration violation, agency figures show. In the first few weeks in January, before Trump took office, just 6% of those arrested and detained by ICE were not facing charges for other crimes or previously convicted.
The Trump administration has taken aim at legal immigrants as well. Agents have arrested spouses of U.S. citizens at their green card interviews, pulled people from certain countries out of their naturalization ceremonies, moments before they were to become citizens, and revoked thousands of student visas.

The administration’s planned focus on job sites in the coming year could generate many more arrests and affect the U.S. economy and Republican-leaning business owners.
Replacing immigrants arrested during workplace raids could lead to higher labor costs, undermining Trump’s fight against inflation, which analysts expect to be a major issue in the closely watched November elections, determining control of Congress.
Administration officials earlier this year exempted such businesses from enforcement on Trump’s orders, then quickly reversed, Reuters reported at the time.
Some immigration hardliners have called for more workplace enforcement.
"Eventually you’re going to have to go after these employers,” said Jessica Vaughan, policy director for the Center for Immigration Studies, which backs lower levels of immigration. “When that starts happening the employers will start cleaning up their acts on their own.”

Criminal penalties for HR and management at companies hiring illegals. That will send a message.

Make E-Verify a mandatory requirement.

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
Criminal penalties for HR and management at companies hiring illegals. That will send a message.

Make E-Verify a mandatory requirement.

I read your post and the first thing that popped in my mind was "Can RICO be applied to hiring illegal immigrants so that HR and management go to jail?" I had Grok look at applying RICO to illegal immigration, and it turns out it's possible if there is an element of transporting across state lines. Not only is it possible but it's happened and here is Grok's 1-paragraph summary:

quote:

A real-world example is the 2025 federal case involving Specialty Foods Distribution, a Joplin, Missouri-based wholesale food supplier, where executives including the owner, president, CFO, and controller pleaded guilty to a RICO conspiracy from 2018 to 2021; they transported, hired, and harbored unauthorized workers from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador at affiliated restaurants across multiple states, using fraudulent IDs, off-payroll cash payments, and evasive scheduling to gain competitive advantages, resulting in up to 20 years' imprisonment each and millions in forfeitures.

Here is the IRS.gov link with more details.

I'd love to see the DOJ apply RICO more broadly as it'd ripple across corporate management nationwide who would go into self-preservation mode and stop hiring illegals. Keep the pressure on no benefits to illegals and add the pressure of nobody hiring then I believe there would be an increase self-deportation.

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
Criminal penalties for HR and management at companies hiring illegals. That will send a message.

Make E-Verify a mandatory requirement.

If the illegals stop obtaining jobs, and are not allowed to collect free money, many will self-deport. Making a few changes on our side is much less expensive than catching the illegals and flying them to their own country.

I have a short list of illegals that are sucking up free .gov money that I would like to send to ICE. However, the ICE website shows they are currently only looking for violent criminals, etc.

Bounty. $5 per
This is why we have housing shortages.
If you are here illegally, you are not afforded the constitutional rights that citizens enjoy.
also 50% tax on outbound wire transfers.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
Criminal penalties for HR and management at companies hiring illegals. That will send a message.

Make E-Verify a mandatory requirement.

If the illegals stop obtaining jobs, and are not allowed to collect free money, many will self-deport. Making a few changes on our side is much less expensive than catching the illegals and flying them to their own country.

I have a short list of illegals that are sucking up free .gov money that I would like to send to ICE. However, the ICE website shows they are currently only looking for violent criminals, etc.

My thought too. If nothing else, cracking down harder will cause more to self-deport. And I assume they'll still be offered that stipend to get the hell out.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:

I have a short list of illegals that are sucking up free .gov money that I would like to send to ICE. However, the ICE website shows they are currently only looking for violent criminals, etc.

Send it to them anyway.

Tax remittances 75%

quote:

If the illegals stop obtaining jobs, and are not allowed to collect free money, many will self-deport. Making a few changes on our side is much less expensive than catching the illegals and flying them to their own country.

Bingo. End the incentives to come or to be here illegally.

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfr...dkt_nbr=010502an9xpe

DHS Raises Self-Deport Bonus to $3K

The Department of Homeland Security is now offering $3,000 to illegal migrants who voluntarily self-deport from the U.S. before the new year, it is being reported.

According to CBS News, DHS has tripled its "exit bonus" from $1,000 to $3,000 for illegal migrants who sign up with the federal government and depart by Dec. 31, 2025, using the rebranded "CBP Home" app.

DHS says eligible participants will also receive free airfare to their home countries and may have certain civil fines or penalties waived if they leave voluntarily.

The stipend would be paid after the U.S. government confirms the individual has exited the country.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS News the incentive is temporary, and warned those who refuse it will be "found," "arrested," and "never return" to the United States.

The CBP Home platform is modeled on the Biden-era CBP One app, originally used to schedule asylum appointments.

Under President Donald Trump's renewed immigration crackdown, the technology has been repurposed to facilitate voluntary departures.

Migrants are instructed to use the app to signal their intent to leave.

If aliens are approved, DHS says they'll get travel assistance and the $3,000 payment once they are confirmed out of the country.

DHS argues the program is aimed at speeding up removals while saving taxpayer money.

As of May 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimated the average cost to arrest, detain and remove an illegal migrant is about $17,000, CBS News reported.

By contrast, DHS says voluntary departures with travel assistance are far less expensive — a point the administration is amplifying during the holiday season.

The Independent reported DHS has rolled out a holiday-themed advertising campaign promoting the app as a "dignified" way to leave, accompanied by a nostalgic Christmas song and images of travelers boarding planes.

The outlet also reported internal DHS data showing tens of thousands of people have used the app to depart since the self-deportation feature launched earlier this year, as the federal government spent heavily on advertising.

The Trump administration is betting that a bigger cash incentive, free flights, and a reduced chance of immediate ICE arrest for those making "meaningful strides" toward departure will persuade more illegal migrants to comply.

That would shift the burden away from costly detention and removal operations and back toward enforcement with consequences for those who stay.

$3k US is like $9k in Mexican Chi hua hua money.

"¡Vamos, coge el dinero y huye!"

PBS: "How the loss of USAID funding affects Indonesia’s ability to fight climate change"



https://x.com/NewsHour/status/2002998038583816520

I never knew they were fighting...always thought it was more peaceful than that

Mother Nature puts up a hell of a battle

OMG the left will go further off the edge after this!

President Donald Trump announced Monday afternoon that the United States Navy is creating a new class of battleships, dubbed the "Trump-class," and will begin with the construction of two ships.

The president made the announcement alongside War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he is spending the holidays.

Trump said the new battleships will be part of his Golden Fleet and will be building up to 25 new battleships. The ships are expected to be the "largest we've ever built."

"They will have 100 times the force, the power, and there's never been anything like these ships," Trump said. “We envision that these two ships will be the first of a whole new class of battleships that will be produced in the years to come.”
https://justthenews.com/govern..._campaign=newsletter

Obviously, Trump using the word “battleship” should be read as “warship”. It’s my understanding that the ships are updated “frigates” of the Arleigh-Burke” class. Maybe one of our Navy guys would have more insight about these.

^^^ Do you have a link, Bob? He does specifically say "largest we've ever built".

I'm curious about this.

Here’s what I’ve been able to track down. Approximately 30K tons, about 850 feet long, tech specs in linked article. It’s is given a hull designation of “BBG”. The USS Iowa is 48K tons and 850 feet.

So I guess it is a Battleship, per se, just without the big 16” guns.

https://news.usni.org/2025/12/...combatant-since-wwii