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Battleground Wisconsin voters weigh constitutional amendment on noncitizens voting in future elections

Battleground Wisconsin voters weigh constitutional amendment on noncitizens voting in future elections

Voters in the battleground state of Wisconsin will decide at the ballot box in November whether to revise the state constitution to explicitly ban noncitizens from voting in municipal, state and federal elections.  The statewide referendum authored by Republican legislators is listed at the bottom of the ballot and will ask voters for permission to amend section 1 of article III of the state constitution, which deals with voting, to specify that “only a United States citizen age 18 or older who resides in an election district may vote in an election for national, state, or local office or at a statewide or local referendum.”  Currently, the state constitution says “every United States citizen age 18 or older” can vote. “Addressing this issue now will ensure votes are not diluted in the future,” state Sen. Julian Bradley, a Republican, explained to the nonprofit news organization Votebeat Wisconsin. “It’s best for the government to address this concern before it becomes a problem.” NEBRASKA HIGH COURT RESTORES VOTING RIGHT FOR THOUSANDS OF CONVICTED FELONS In recent years, North Dakota, Alabama, Florida, Colorado, Ohio and Louisiana have passed amendments to their state constitutions specifying that “only” U.S. citizens can vote. The question is on the ballot in eight other states this year, including Wisconsin, Iowa, Kentucky and Missouri, The Associated Press reported.  Republicans argue they are trying to protect election integrity as migrants pour across the border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows more than 10 million encounters with illegal immigrants at U.S. borders under the Biden-Harris administration and at least another 2 million known got-a-ways.  Democrats and other opponents say the state amendment prohibiting non-citizens from voting has no practical effect – no Wisconsin municipalities allow noncitizens to vote – and is instead designed to draw conservatives to the polls and stoke anger against foreigners in the United States. “There is no problem with noncitizens voting,” Jeff Mandell, an attorney with Law Forward, a nonprofit organization, told the AP. “It is the very definition of a solution in search of a problem.” DOJ ONCE OK’D LAW AT CENTER OF YOUNGKIN VOTER ROLL-CULLING ORDER FEDS NOW SUING TO BLOCK A 1996 federal law bans noncitizens in any state from casting their ballots in a federal election. It does not apply to state and local elections.  Multiple municipalities in California, Maryland and Vermont as well as the District of Columbia allow noncitizens to vote in some local elections such as school board and city council races.  The Department of Justice last week sued Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin‘s administration for removing people from the voter rolls who had been identified as noncitizens and could not verify their citizenship within a two-week grace period. The state said it removed 6,000 ineligible people from its rolls. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in August that over 6,500 potential noncitizens had been removed from the state’s voter rolls since 2021. Ohio Secretary of State Frank La Rose also said in August that he referred 138 apparent noncitizens found to have voted in a recent election for prosecution.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen has said 3,251 people previously identified as noncitizens by the federal government have been deactivated on the state’s voter registration rolls. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Youngkin hits back at DOJ suit over ‘common sense’ law that culls noncitizens from voter rolls

Youngkin hits back at DOJ suit over ‘common sense’ law that culls noncitizens from voter rolls

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin hit back at the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the state over an election reform law that he said was most recently used by previous Democratic state leaders without intervention from the federal government.  “To be clear, this is not a purge. This is based on a law that was signed into effect in 2006 by then-Democrat Gov. Tim Kaine. And it starts with a basic premise that when someone walks into one of our DMVs and self-identifies as a noncitizen, and then they end up on the voter rolls, either purposely or by accident, that we go through a process, individualized – not system, not systematic – an individualized process based on that person’s self-identification as a noncitizen to give them 14 days to affirm they are a citizen,” Youngkin said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” anchored by Shannon Bream. “And if they don’t, they come off the voter rolls. And by the way, they have one last safeguard, which is they can come and same day register and cast a provisional ballot,” he added.  Youngkin was responding to a DOJ suit filed on Oct. 11 alleging the state, its board of elections and elections commissioner violated a federal law by carrying out an executive order by Youngkin. The order directs municipal and/or state officials to cull names of people who are “unable to verify that they are citizens” to the Department of Motor Vehicles for voter registration purposes. DOJ ONCE OK’D LAW AT CENTER OF YOUNGKIN VOTER ROLL-CULLING ORDER FEDS NOW SUING TO BLOCK The complaint argues federal law says states must complete their maintenance programs no later than 90 days before an election, citing a clause known as the Quiet Period Provision. The complaint notes that voters were identified as possible noncitizens if they responded “no” to questions about their citizenship status on certain forms submitted to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.  Youngkin continued on Sunday that the law has been on the books for 18 years, but is now coming under fire from the federal government after Youngkin’s administration enforced it.  GOP GOVERNOR SLAMS ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ DOJ LAWSUIT OVER REMOVAL OF NONCITIZENS FROM VOTER ROLLS “Back in 2006, the then-Justice Department actually approved of this law and said that it is not only further constitutional, but we have given it thorough review, and we’re OK with you moving ahead with it,” he said.  “Now, 25 days last week before the election, a Justice Department decides they are going to bring suit after this law has been in effect for 18 years, administered by Democrat and Republican governors. And this is the reason why I believe that Americans and Virginians wonder what the Justice Department is up to. It’s been in effect for 18 years. It’s been applied universally by Republican and Democrat governors. And now all of a sudden, when Virginia is getting tight… it launches a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia when we are trying to make sure that citizens vote, not noncitizens,” he said.  Youngkin’s executive order cited Virginia code 24.2-439, which requires government registrars to cancel noncitizens’ voter registrations deemed to have been sought under false pretenses. It also cited Virginia Code 24.2-1019, requiring registrars to immediately notify their county or city prosecutor of such situations. The Republican governor underscored that he is not enforcing a voter roll “purge,” but an “individualized” safeguard system to ensure legal residents are the only people to vote in elections.  “It had been used within the 90-day quiet period, most recently by Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam. And they said nothing about it at the time. The reality is that this is not a purge. It is not systematic. It is individualized. And it starts with someone identifying as a noncitizen and then ending up on our voter rolls. As I said, either purposely or by accident. And the reality is, how can we as a nation, and how can I, as a governor, allow noncitizens to be on the voter roll? This is just not right. It’s not just constitutionally correct. It’s common sense,” he continued.  GLENN YOUNGKIN VOWS TO MAKE SURE THE ELECTION IN VIRGINIA ‘WILL BE FAIR, WILL BE ACCURATE AND WILL BE SAFE’ “Elections in the United States should be decided by citizens, and noncitizens just shouldn’t be on the voter rolls. And we’re going to make sure that elections in Virginia are fair and accurate and safe. We have paper ballots. We have counting machines, not voting machines. We have great custody laws. And we’re going to make sure that we have… the cleanest voter rolls in the country.”  Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.  Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Libyan arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning Israeli embassy attack

Libyan arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning Israeli embassy attack

Prosecutors said the accused exchanged information with a member of ISIL in a messenger chat and was planning to use firearms in his assault. A Libyan national with suspected ties to the ISIL (ISIS) group who was planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin has been arrested in Germany, the authorities said. Police and other security forces arrested the man on Saturday evening in Bernau, a town just outside the capital, Berlin, and searched his home, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on Sunday. The prosecutor’s office identified the 28-year-old man only as Omar A in keeping with Germany’s strict privacy laws. “He intended to carry out a high-profile attack with firearms on the Israeli Embassy in Berlin,” the statement said. “The accused exchanged information with a member of [ISIL] in a messenger chat.” Security forces also searched the home of another person near the city of Bonn, who was considered a witness but not a suspect, the statement said. German newspaper Bild said the Libyan man was believed to have entered Germany in November 2022 and to have made a request for asylum the following January, which was rejected in September 2023. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said German security authorities “struck in time to thwart possible plans to attack the Israeli Embassy in Berlin”. The suspect is expected to be brought before an investigating judge at the country’s highest court, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, on Sunday, the prosecutor’s office said. The authorities acted after receiving a tip-off from an unspecified foreign intelligence agency, local media reported, with a heavily armed elite police unit storming the suspect’s home in Bernau. “We are acting with the utmost vigilance and attention in view of the high threat posed by Islamist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel violence,” Faeser said. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann warned on Sunday about the threat of such acts. “Israeli institutions are particularly often the target of terrorists,” he told the German news agency dpa. Tensions between supporters of Israel and those incensed at Israel’s war on Gaza over the past year have flared in Germany for months. Pro-Palestine demonstrators say they have faced repeated violence from police and counterdemonstrators. Adblock test (Why?)

Video: See the moment a seven-storey building collapses in Nairobi, Kenya

Video: See the moment a seven-storey building collapses in Nairobi, Kenya

NewsFeed Video shows the moment a multi-storey building collapses in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Local media says residents were warned to leave due to the weakened structure, but it’s unclear whether it had been fully vacated. A search and rescue mission is under way. Published On 20 Oct 202420 Oct 2024 Adblock test (Why?)

US investigating release of classified docs on Israel’s planned strike on Iran

US investigating release of classified docs on Israel’s planned strike on Iran

The United States is investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents detailing Israel’s planned attack against Iran, The Associated Press reported. The documents, attributed to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. The documents, which are marked top secret, were posted to the Telegram messaging app last week and first reported by CNN and Axios. The AP first reported Sunday about the U.S. investigation into the unauthorized release, citing three U.S. officials. The AP said a fourth U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, indicated that the documents appeared to be legitimate.  House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also confirmed the investigation in an appearance on CNN.  “The leak is very concerning. There’s some serious allegations being made, there’s an investigation underway, and I’ll get a briefing on that in a couple of hours,” Johnson said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “There’s a classified level briefing and then another. But we’re following it closely.”  IDF SAYS ‘MISSION IS NOT OVER’ UNTIL HOSTAGES ARE RETURNED: ‘WE WILL NOT REST’ The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained – including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the U.S. intelligence community or by another method, like a hack – and whether any other intelligence information was compromised, one of the officials told the AP, adding that officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted.  The documents first appeared online Friday via a channel on Telegram, claiming they had been leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community, then later the U.S. Defense Department. The information appeared entirely gathered through the use of satellite image analysis. ISRAEL’S UN AMBASSADOR: RESPONSE TO IRAN WILL BE ‘VERY PAINFUL’ The AP reported that one of the two documents resembled the style of other material from the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman who pleaded guilty in March to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war on Ukraine and other national security secrets. The Telegram channel involved in the leak identifies itself as being based in Tehran, Iran’s capital. It previously published memes featuring Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and material in support of Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Middle East terrorist groups armed by the Islamic republic. In a statement to the AP, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports of the documents but did not elaborate further. The AP said the Israeli military did not immediately return their request for comment. Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Department of Defense but did not immediately hear back.  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

What Vice President Harris left out about Biden admin’s role in border crisis: A timeline

What Vice President Harris left out about Biden admin’s role in border crisis: A timeline

Vice President Kamala Harris faced a series of questions from Fox News’ Bret Baier on Wednesday about the administration’s record on the border crisis – but did not mention a number of key decisions that critics say fueled the historic migrant crisis. “The first bill that we offered Congress before we worked on infrastructure, before the Inflation Reduction Act, before the Chips and Science Act, before any, before the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first bill, practically within hours of taking the oath, was a bill to fix our immigration system,” Harris said in response to questioning on how the administration handled the border crisis. But Harris skimmed over some of the details of that bill and also did not mention other actions taken by the administration at that time. KAMALA HARRIS AVOIDS QUESTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S MENTAL DECLINE: ‘JOE BIDEN IS NOT ON THE BALLOT’ After the Biden administration took office, it did, as Harris said, introduce a sweeping immigration reform bill. It would also grant farmworkers, along with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), immediate green card eligibility. They would then be eligible for citizenship three years later.  The bill would have also significantly increased the number of green cards and other immigration pathways available to foreign nationals. It would have also ended per-country caps and implemented a strategy to address “root causes” of migration. Additionally, the administration announced the same day a 100-day moratorium on all deportations. It was eventually blocked by a federal judge after a lawsuit from Texas. Biden also ordered a halt to all border wall construction, an abrupt move that resulted in piles of unused border wall materials littered throughout the border. Separately, the administration also ended the “Remain-in-Mexico” policy, which had forced asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their asylum cases were heard. Supporters had said that policy had effectively ended “catch-and-release” in the areas in which it was implemented. Other orders included a directive to safeguard protections for DACA recipients, and a revocation of the Trump restrictions on travel from predominantly Muslim countries. Encounters soon began to skyrocket at the southern border and President Biden took action by putting Harris in charge of tackling root causes. The administration said issues like climate change, poverty and violence were driving migrants north. It quickly led to Harris being dubbed by media outlets and Republicans as the “border czar.” The White House rejected that title, but it has stuck with her ever since and made her a figurehead, along with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, for the crisis. After the assignment by Biden, and with numbers skyrocketing through subsequent months to record highs, Harris immediately came under pressure to visit the border as the White House said her role was more diplomatic than related to the border directly. She instead went to Mexico and Guatemala and had a stern message for migrants that upset immigrant activists. “Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our borders,” she said. “If you come to our border, you will be turned back.” She would face pressure to go to the border itself, and eventually would visit the border in El Paso, Texas. KAMALA HARRIS REPEATEDLY PIVOTS TO TRUMP WHEN GRILLED ON IMMIGRATION RECORD IN FOX NEWS INTERVIEW After a lengthy court battle over first its deportation block, and then subsequent guidance that narrowed interior enforcement, the Biden administration announced its official rules for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. “The fact an individual is a removable noncitizen therefore should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them,” the memo said. It restricted agents to targeting recent border crossers, national security threats and public safety threats. That guidance coincided with a sharp drop in deportations and arrests. The administration would attribute that to COVID-era restrictions, but Republicans said it was part of a broader decrease in enforcement.  That month would also see a controversy over since-debunked claims migrants were whipped by Border Patrol agents on horseback in Texas. Harris helped fuel those claims. “What I saw depicted about those individuals on horseback treating human beings the way they were was horrible,” Harris told reporters. “And I fully support what is happening right now, which is a thorough investigation into exactly what is going on there. But human beings should never be treated that way. And I’m deeply troubled about it. And I’ll also be talking to Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas about it today.” A subsequent investigation faulted the agents for minor infractions but found the underlying claims that migrants were whipped were not true. Meanwhile, in the Senate, Democrats attempted to use the budget reconciliation to bypass the Republican filibuster and pass a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.  Multiple plans were proposed, but were ruled inappropriate by the Senate parliamentarian. The measure was killed in October, when Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he was opposed to pushing an amnesty through in the process. In 2022, the Biden administration sparked outrage by announcing that it intended to end Title 42 – a COVID-era order that allowed border officials to turn back migrants quickly at the border for public safety reasons. The administration was blocked by a federal judge, and faced bipartisan backlash for the move, given that numbers were on the rise – with more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in FY 23, which was then a record. The administration said it had a plan in place for the order, but that did not convince critics, including border Democrats. The administration also faced legal challenges over its ICE rules for agents, and a tougher congressional makeup as Republicans took control of the House. Meanwhile, Harris traveled to the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and met with other leaders on how to handle the crisis. During that summit, she announced that $3.2 billion in commitments from private sector companies had been secured. She also doubled down on the root causes explanation for the crisis.