Where Did the Feds Put the Unaccompanied Alien Children?

 According to Virginia Allen at The Daily Signal, the Biden administration has released more than “24,000 border-crossing minors to an ‘unrelated sponsor,’ a number representing over half of all 37,088 minors released to nonrelatives from January 2015 through May 2023.” More than half of all the unaccompanied alien children released in eight years were released by the Biden administration in two years. 

Allen used raw government data from The New York Times on the unaccompanied alien children crossing the border to write her article. The data chosen was found on more than 10,000 pages of information about the number of children crossing the border into America “without an adult and then were handed over to someone other than a family member.”

From January 2015 through May 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released tens of thousands of minors who crossed the border illegally to sponsors who weren’t an immediate or distant relative, raising concerns about human trafficking and forced labor.

“More children are cross the border on their own than ever before, and thousands are ending up doing dangerous, illegal jobs,” New York Times reporter Hannah Dreier wrote on X in a thread sharing the numbers with the public.

The Times sued the government to gain access to the records, which reveal more than 555,000 minors crossed the border illegally between 2015, halfway through Barack Obama’s second term as president, through May 2023, about two years and four months into Joe Biden’s presidency. From 2017 through 2020, Donald Trump was president. The data includes when each child arrived in the U.S., each child’s sex and country of origin, date released to a sponsor, relationship to that sponsor, and the ZIP code where the sponsor lives.

The data reveals that 37,088 unaccompanied alien children were released to an “unrelated sponsor,” 24,253 of which were released during Biden’s presidency between January 20, 2021, and May 25, 2023.

“Americans have the right to know that criminal cartels are bringing unaccompanied minors into our country as a result of President Biden’s failed border policies,” Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., told The Daily Signal. “The president must answer to the American people as to why he has failed to secure the border and been unable to protect these children from harm.”

The minors have been released to sponsors across all 50 states and a map created by the Times shows where the children, at least initially, were sent.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for placing unaccompanied alien children with a sponsor in America.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement has an “order of preference” for releasing the children: parent; legal guardian; an adult relative; an adult designated by the parent; a licensed program, or an adult who seeks custody when there is no one else to do so. Just to make sure that they are doing their duty, “the Department of Health and Human Services checks on all unaccompanied minors” after thirty days.

Data obtained by The Times “showed that over the last two years, the agency could not reach more than 85,000 children.” This information suggests that the United States Government is the world’s largest child trafficker. Do you want your tax dollars going to child trafficking, or do want your government involved in child trafficking?

Who Are Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson?

My VIPs for this week are Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson, two teenaged girls from New Orleans. According to an article by Asia Brown in the Deseret News, the two young women created a new proof for the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry. When teacher Michelle Blouin Williams first started the math contest, she did not expect anyone to finish it. 

Johnson and Jackson proved her wrong when they figured out the answer in 2023. The two girls were then seniors at St. Mary’s Academy in New Orleans, a prestigious Catholic school for girls. The record for the school itself is beyond outstanding as the school has maintained “a 100% acceptance rate to colleges and 100% graduation rate for 17 years.”

The girls were first enticed with the $500 prize. However, it was their inner drive that took over once the work became difficult. The two girls worked for two months to answer the problem that took “over 20 or 30 pages” to work it, according to one mother.

Brown said that “teachers at St. Mary’s recognized the importance of [the girls’] work and submitted their proof to the American Mathematical Society for recognition at a conference in March 2023, where the students presented their work.”

In case you are wondering what the Pythagorean theorem is and what is a proof, Brown’s article gave the answer as follows.

In essence, the mathematical theorem states that knowing the lengths of two sides of a right triangle enables you to figure out the length of the third using this formula: a² + b² = c².

It’s associated with Greek mathematician Pythagoras, but evidence suggests it was known earlier, in Babylon and Iron Age India, per Britannica. Its practical uses include construction and architecture, two-dimensional navigation, and surveying.

A mathematical proof is exactly what it sounds like: reasoning that proves a mathematical theorem is true. American mathematician Daniel Kane explains proofs as being like essays, but using math.

According to the “60 Minutes” episode, “there had been more than 300 documented proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem using algebra and geometry, but for 2,000 years a proof using trigonometry was thought to be impossible.”

In 1927, mathematician Elisha Loomis said as much in his book, “The Pythagorean Proposition.” Loomis argued that there could be no trigonometric proof of the theorem because it would be circular.

Sturt Anderson, a professor emeritus of mathematics at Texas A&M University-Commerce, told Scientific American, “A lot of the basic trig ‘identities’ are nothing more than Pythagoras’ theorem.”

Loomis argued that using trigonometric functions to prove the Pythagorean theorem would be like going in circles, but the girls differed in their opinion. They said that “a trigonometric identity called the law of sines didn’t depend on the Pythagorean theorem and that they could use it to prove the theorem.”

Their accomplishment puts Johnson and Jackson into “an extremely small group” of people who have accomplished the same feat. Mathematician Jason Zimba created a new proof in 2009. After they submitted their proof for final peer review this spring, they continued to work on more proofs. Johnson and Jackson laugh at the idea that they are geniuses. They prefer to consider their accomplishment as “a great mathematical achievement.”

Why Is the Biden Administration Attacking Title IX?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns Title IX, the law that President Richard Nixon signed into law in 1972 to protect women and girls. The law has protected female athletes and allowed them to play on a level playing field for more than fifty years until biological males decided that they could win medals by pretending they were females.

Now the Biden administration is trying to take the protection completely away from female athletes. According to Virginia Allen at The Daily Signal, the Biden administration released its new rule on Title IX on April 19, and the Defense of Freedom Institute filed a lawsuit against it less than two weeks later. 

“We are asking the court to … basically stop the effect of the regulations for a variety of legal reasons,” says Robert Eitel, the institute’s co-founder and president. That’s because the rule change is “simply unlawful,” he explained.

Among the changes to Title IX, the Biden administration is attempting to redefine sex to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Title IX is an education amendment that was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1972 and requires there be equal opportunities for men and women in schools across the country.

Eitel says the Biden administration’s attempt to redefine sex in Title IX is “federal overreach.”

The states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho filed the suit with the Washington-based Defense of Freedom Institute, a conservative nonprofit dedicated to providing policy and legal solutions within the spheres of education and the workforce.

The discussion about the lawsuit against the Biden administration continued in “The Daily Signal Podcast.” Eitel also explained “what should be done about the ever-growing issue of student loan debt, and why President Joe Biden can’t legally issue mass student loan forgiveness.” 

 

How Can We Watch Ourselves, Our Words, and Our Deeds?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Mosiah 4-6 in a lesson titled “A Mighty Change.” The lesson was introduced with the following information. 

Have you ever heard someone speak and felt inspired to change your life? Perhaps you decided, because of what you heard, to live a little differently—or even a lot differently. King Benjamin’s sermon was that kind of sermon, and the truths he taught had that kind of effect on the people who heard them. King Benjamin shared with his people what an angel had taught Mosiah 4:2). Because of His message, they changed their view of themselves (see Mosiah 4:2), the Spirit changed their desires (see Mosiah 5:2), and they covenanted with God that they would always do His will (see Mosiah 5:5). This is how King Benjamin’s words affected his people. How will they affect you?

As usual, there are numerous principles in this scripture block. The principle that felt impressed to discuss is found in Mosiah 4:29-30, “I must watch my thoughts, words, and deeds.” We will first look at the scriptures themselves.

29 And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.

30 But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

These verses tell us that God does not give us a list of every possible sin that we could commit. Instead, He tells us to be careful in our thoughts, words, and actions. Our thoughts, words, and deeds affect ourselves and other people. They also affect our individual relationship with God. You may be asking how a person can “watch [yourself].”

The late President Spencer W. Kimball wrote the following: “The curse of the earth is sin. It covers every area. It takes numerous forms and dresses itself in many kinds of apparel, depending on factors such as the stratum of society in which it is operating. But whether man calls it convention or business, or uses any other euphemism, if it offends God’s law it is sin.” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 39). 

Prophets tell us that we can avoid temptation by changing our thoughts. If we have evil thoughts come into our minds, we should quote a scripture or sing a hymn. I learned in my class this semester that we can change our feelings by changing our thoughts. If I entertain thoughts about how much I hate someone, then I will feel hateful feelings about that person. If I cultivate thoughts about how much I love someone, then I will be more likely to feel loving feelings towards that person.

The same thing applies to all sin. If we ruminate about a sin, we are more likely to commit that sin if we think about it long enough. We can avoid most sins by refusing to entertain them in our thoughts. 

Why Does God Command Us to Seek Learning?

Education strengthens individuals and families, and strong families strengthens communities and nations. Education is important to God. He commands that we gain as much knowledge as possible in this life because knowledge is the only asset that we can take with us into the next life. However, education can be obtained in many different ways and places.

As valuable as education is, we must be careful about the education that we make available to the next generation as well as for ourselves. This includes being choosy about the individuals that we allow to teach members of our families. The elite universities are currently showing us that they have professors who should not be teaching American students. Victor Davis Hanson published an article in The Daily Signal about education in America and its current status. 

Elite higher education – long questioned as globally preeminent – is facing a perfect storm.

Fewer applicants, higher costs, impoverished students, collapsing standards, and increasingly politicized and mediocre faculty reflect a collapse of the university system. The country is waking up to the reality that a bachelor’s degree no longer equates with graduates being broadly educated and analytical. Just as often, they are stereotyped as pampered, largely ignorant, and gratuitously opinioned.

No wonder polls show a drastic loss of public respect for higher education and, specifically, a growing lack of confidence in the professoriate.

Each year, there are far fewer students entering college. Despite a U.S. population 40 million larger than 20 years ago, fertility rates have fallen in two decades from some 500,000 births per year.

Meanwhile, from 1980 to 2020, room, board, and tuition increased by 170%.

According to Hanson, this high cost for higher education is caused by more than just inflation. Expanded administrative staffs at the universities and lightened faculty teaching loads add to the cost. The costs also rise because the number of students is shrinking despite universities offering more luxuries, such as “loco parentis counseling, Club Med-style dorms and accommodations, and extracurricular activities.”

As with almost everything else in our lives, education comes at various levels of expense. Community colleges and state universities offer education at lower tuition rates than due the elite universities. There are also trade schools where students can learn an important trade for less money and time.

There is also life-long learning that can take place on the individual level. Our children must go to some kind of after-high school education. Their education should be in fields or trades where they can learn enough to provide good living. Then they should continue to study and learn in areas that will improve their lives. People will good educations strengthen families, communities, and nations.

Will the Protests at Universities Bring Good or Bad Changes?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is that freedom of speech goes only so far. Activists on college campuses from coast to coast have used freedom of speech to stage pro-Hamas, anti-Israel occupations on the campuses. At first, the activists were tolerated, but they pushed too far.

According to Joshua Arnold in his article published in The Daily Signal, there were “at least 1,641 arrests at 33 colleges and universities in 23 states” between April 19 and May 1. However, the number of arrests is decreasing. Arnold found “several noteworthy trends” in the progress in the way that universities are responding to the occupations of campuses. 

There were several noteworthy trends in this progression: 1) universities are acting more quickly to disperse illegal encampments; 2) more universities are calling in police to make arrests; 3) the numbers of those arrested is dwindling; and 4) increasing attention is being drawn to the presence of outside agitators.

These trends suggest several developments. First, university administrators are watching what is happening at other universities. They are witnessing the recalcitrance of pro-Hamas activists, as well as the headaches and monetary damages they have caused at places like Columbia or Cal Poly Humboldt where they were not dealt with quickly.

Administrators also have witnessed the example of the University of Texas at Austin and other schools that have successfully prevented a campus occupation through vigilant policing. These factors motivate university administrators to put an end to protesters’ illegal occupation tactics.

Second, the force of the pro-Hamas wave has dwindled as it has expanded. Protests at elite, radically progressive schools had high energy and significant student involvement. But protests at smaller or less elite schools have seen less student enthusiasm. Arrests have been in higher numbers, and there has been a larger proportion of unaffiliated agitators.

Third, even the most radical protesters can behave rationally. Essentially, they would rather not face consequences for their actions….

Fourth, outside agitators have become involved to an alarming extent. Police made arrests at 22 universities from Saturday to Tuesday; in 11 out of 12 instances where the numbers are known, they arrested more outsiders than students. In multiple instances, these outside agitators participated in illegally occupying campus buildings.

Arnold noted that it is “unacceptable that a handful of activists, with no connection to a university, can seize its property and hold it hostage to absurd demands.” It is also unacceptable for professors and other university personnel to participate in such activities. Arnold ended his article with a statement that “the activists have gone too far.” Even though many of the school officials were slow in responding to the revolutions, the universities have fought back by making mass arrests.

Why Is George Soros Allowed to Keep American Citizenship?

It appears that the saying, “Like father, like son” is true. According to Rachel Ehrenfeld, George Soros was the bad guy for decades because he funded “progressive, neo-Marxist leftist groups as well as groups and individuals that reject the existence of Israel.” Now his son, Alexander, runs Open Society Foundations, which is “funding, directly or indirectly, pro-Hamas demonstrations and Hamas-supporters’ encampments on university campuses across the United States.” 

For decades, Soros has been funding attempts to destroy America, Israel, and Jews everywhere. Now the aged George has turned his evil empire over to his son. The current occupations of university campuses remind many people of the winter 2004-2005 encampment in Maidan Square in Kyiv. In 2014, he supported demonstrations of the Maidan Revolution and received Ukraine’s Order of Freedom from Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, the candidate that Soros supported.

When Hamas “took over Gaza in 2007, Soros criticized Israel for refusing ‘to recognize the democratically elected Hamas government.’ He deliberately ignored the fact that the Islamist terrorist group’s explicit and well-advertised objective is the elimination of the Jewish state of Israel.” Did Soros honestly expect Israel to support the exact group calling for the end of all Jews as well as Israel itself?

George Soros was born in 1930 in Nazi-occupied Hungary and moved to Britain after World War II. He later moved to New York and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1961. He made his fortune in America in the field of investing.

Directly or indirectly, Soros has funded “Israeli-Jewish and Israeli-Arab leftist groups, as well as media outlets, that oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” In addition, he generously fund “Palestinian-led groups, along with pro-Palestinian Jewish, Christian, and Muslim organizations that promote boycotts, divestments, and sanctions against Israel.”

Among the groups funded by Soros’ organizations are Students for Justice in Palestine and U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. These groups are responsible for many of the “violent demonstrations on college and university campuses.

According to Ehrenfeld, “More than a few organizations [which are] backed by Soros’ foundations have well-documented links with the U.S.-designated terrorist groups.” They all “support the elections and appointments of anti-Israel activists to Congress, the administration, and international nonprofit organizations.”

I have often wondered why Soros has not lost his American citizenship and been deported. One reason is that the Open Society Foundations continue to deny that their funding comes from Soros. The fact remains that Soros obviously hates Israel and all Jews as well as America. Why should America continue to host a billionaire who hates America so much that he is funding our destruction? Obviously, he has support from the secret combinations who run the federal government. Besides hating America, Soros hates all Jews. Did I forget to tell you that George Soros is a Jew? Why is he so against Israel and Jews?