The 5 Point Pillar Program
Did you know the Biden Administration has a “5 Point Pillar Program” for its immigration Root Cause immigration policy?
I don’t think I live on the dark side of the moon, but I can tell you I have no recollection of ever seeing the phrase until recently. Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention.
I do recall President Biden’s counter EOs nullifying his predecessor’s EO’s with a hundred or so EO’s of his own immediately upon taking office in late January 2021.
Shortly thereafter President Biden named VP Harris to be the U.S. Border Czar
On Feb. 2, 2021, the President, with another EO, called for the development of the Root Causes Strategy in Central America.
In early March 2021 VP Harris traveled to central America and apparently announced she had talked to leaders in the region and Mexico to implement the 5 pillar, Root Cause Strategy. Here it is:
- Pillar I: Addressing economic insecurity and inequality.
- Pillar II: Combating corruption, strengthening democratic governance, and advancing the rule of law.
- Pillar III: Promoting respect for human rights, labor rights, and free press.
- Pillar IV: Countering and preventing violence, extortion, and other crimes perpetrated by criminal gangs, trafficking networks, and other organized criminal organizations; and
- Pillar V: Combating sexual, gender-based, and domestic violence.
When I discovered these pillars, I think I understood why I hadn’t heard of them before. They say nothing about immigration. They also didn’t say anything about “Honoring thy father and mother” or “Thou shalt not give false witness against your neighbor.”
We’re supposed to imply, I guess, that if we solve the 5 Pillar issues, in Central American countries there will be less incentive for their populations to immigrate to the U.S. So, the responsibility for emigration from these countries falls on us and how much money we send them to stop sending immigrants.
While on the March 2021 trip to Central America, VP Harris announced she had released $310 million to Guatemala to implement the Root Cause 5 Pillar Strategy in that country to begin the approach to help them “find hope at home.”
So how has the Root Cause Strategy, 5 Pillar program worked – so far?
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports show the number of immigrants from Guatemala has doubled since 2020 to 710,000. That’s 5% of the country’s population. So, that’s an obvious que to this administration to give that country more money. In March 2024, several months ago, VP Harris announced another $170 million to Guatemala as part of the strategy to address root causes after meeting with Guatemala’s new president, Bernardo Arevalo. Just think of what the number of Guatemalan immigrants would have been without the strategy and the money.
Frankly, it sounds like good policy for our country – or any country. Must we pay countries to follow it?
But, following the Biden policies on just about everything, solutions just take a few billion or trillion more dollars here and there.
Let’s get real. The borders are wide open. The federal government, along with numerous sanctuary states and even more cities – large and small – are providing incentives to immigrate. Processed, ‘paroled’ Illegals get a cell phone, transportation anywhere, food, shelter, clothing, and credit cards. If they need to fly commercial for free, they are not required to meet TSA requirements. Their phony passports will suffice.
Can we offer any more incentives?
Since President Biden took office and VP Harris has been in charge of the borders, no one really knows the number of immigrants that have entered the U.S. Apparently its between 7.2 and 11 million. That doesn’t count the unknown number of ‘getaways’ – those who do not go through checkpoints – which DHS estimates at around 1.3 million for the 3-year period.
DHS also reports immigrants from 140 countries from around the world in the last 3 years. I wonder if we’re employing – or should be employing – our root cause 5 Pillar “strategy” in 140 countries. You think?
For example. DHS reports 52,000 Chinese – mostly young men – were encountered in 2023 – with about 30,000 in each of the previous 2 years.
In the first 4 months of 2024, over 23,000 Chinese border encounters are on the books. So, we should be helping China. Right? Oh, we might start helping the Chinese stay in China by removing all tariffs on Chinese goods, now including EVs, so there would be more jobs in China – and fewer in the U.S. You see how dumb this whole thing is?
The Pillars of Hercules – the name given to the Rock of Gibraltar and Mt. Hacho – the two promontories on each side of the east entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar – keep more ships out of the Mediterranean Sea than the 5 Pillars of the Biden administration keep immigrants out of the United States. Namely, none.
But aren’t we compassionate – making people cared for and dependent?
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Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
References:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/guatemala-president-bernardo-arevalo-interview-immigration/
https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/breaking-down-the-immigration-figures/
https://www.politifact.com/article/2024/feb/07/as-chinese-immigration-to-us-rises-republicans-and/
This week’s trivia question is: Who was the last of the Apache warrior chiefs? The answer to last week’s question re: pitching 749 games in his 22-year career, including a perfect game, who is this MLB player that has an award for great pitchers named after him? Cy Young. The right-hander won 511 games during his tenure in baseball, almost 100 more than any other pitcher in history. He recorded 30 victories on five occasions and won 20-or-more games 16 times. He played from 1890 to 1911.
Memorial Day tomorrow. It was originally called Decoration Day and became a federal holiday in 1971. It’s a day to remember those who died fighting for our country.
I learned something from this month’s edition of Rotary Magazine. Yerba mate tea is as popular to South Americans as coffee is to us. It’s a caffeinated beverage and often times shared from the same vessel with others. Yerba mate.
The International Criminal Court requested arrest warrants for the Prime Minister of Israel and his defense officials, and as an apparent after thought, requested arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas. Neither the U.S. nor Israel recognize this court, so it’s just headlines for cable news.
Michael Cohen concluded his ‘star witness’ testimony in the NY Trump trial by admitting he stole from Trump. Anybody believe this person? Oh, and both the prosecutor and the defense rested on Tuesday, but the judge announced the jury won’t start deliberating until this Wednesday. Why a week+ delay?
Our President released another million barrels of gas from the county’s strategic reserves last week. The reserves are now down 40% in 3 years, after being set up for emergencies. I guess gas prices are a political emergency for President Biden.
Oh, and he cancelled another $7.7B in student loans.
The Congressional Democrats last week asked the DOJ to investigate major oil companies and their trade groups following a probe that concluded the industry spent decades deceiving the public about climate change. It’s all pretty scary, folks, and “crying wolf” a thousand times doesn’t mean the wolf is finally at the door this time.
The Massachusetts’ governor praised the “fair tax” on millionaires last week, indicating it has generated $1.8B in additional revenue. Like so many politicians she thinks the revenue is linear –- that it will result in even greater revenue in following years, and that it’s now a national model. Let’s see what she says about it next year and the year after as the state negates its high-tech, high income welcome mat.
With recent legislation, Florida will not allow wind turbines within a mile of shore and will increase the prospects of small nuclear reactor technology. It also removes “climate change” from consideration in state energy policy.
Renowned for its green energy initiatives, Costa Rica announced the rationing of electricity last week.
