When Judge Douglas Fasciale was nominated to the New Jersey Supreme Court last week, he elegantly and lovingly spoke about his family’s journey to America.
Fasciale, the highly qualified Republican chosen to ensure the tradition of keeping the court ideological balanced, detailed his father arriving from a small village of 300 in the mountain ranges of Italy.
“At age seven, he and his mother crossed the Atlantic Ocean and joined his father, who several years earlier had arrived at Ellis Island to start his own career as a carpenter,” said Fasciale. “They searched for a better life and to live the American dream.”
Fasciale’s father would go on to enlist in the Navy during World War II and serve on the USS Texas Battleship. After his service, he lived a life that included playing music professionally while obtaining a college and masters degree in education. His mother, who lived into her 90s, would go on to have a career as a seamstress at Bloomingdales.
“My two sisters and I fulfilled their dreams,” he declared.
Hours later, the current harshness on immigration of the party Fasciale is a member of was exemplified by the relocation of about 50 migrants unexpectedly arriving at Martha’s Vineyard. The flights were part of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ $12 million program to transport undocumented immigrants to sanctuary destinations.
The plane reportedly originated in San Antonio, made a stop in Florida and then another stop in South Carolina before landing on the island off the southern coast of Massachusetts. NPR reported that the migrants said a woman approached them outside the shelter in Texas and lured them into boarding the plane, saying they would be flown to Boston where they could get expedited work papers. If the allegation is true, it is state-sponsored human trafficking.
With national aspirations, DeSantis and Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) have decided to protest the rise in illegal immigration under President Joe Biden by shuttling from Republican-led states busloads of migrants to liberal cities and states. Its a policy that was deemed illegal by immigration officials in the Trump Administration.
“States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration,” according to a statement from the Florida governor’s office after the transport.
The juxtaposition was striking and truly disgusting. Children, ones the same age as Judge Fasciale’s father when he came to America all those many years ago, are being used as political pawns that are antithetical to the American Dream.
Yes, our immigration system is broken—in no small part sabotaged by the extreme right wing of the Republican party. And the burden is being too heavily felt on the southern border states. We actually think it makes sense to incorporate every state in the nation to give comfort for those looking to make a better life in America.
For the overwhelming majority of those fleeing countries in South America to come to the U.S., their reasons are no different than Judge Fasciale’s father and grandparents. Maybe the only difference is the violence they are running from leave them no other option in their attempts to escape their country.
The inhumane stunts by Republicans like DeSantis and Abbott do not serve anyone. Those who are cheering those moves should really take stock if this violation of basic human rights is what you want as a leader.
For men who talk about their religion guides them, the two governors would be wise to heed the words found in the Bible, Zechariah 7:9-10: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.”
Those on Martha’s Vineyard who scrambled to feed, clothe and shelter the immigrants are the ones who understand the message of compassion to help others above all else.
We were all immigrants at one point, with our family members having faced the same intolerance that is exhibited today by MAGA Republicans. We would be wise to learn from our past mistakes, not repeat them. The time for stunts is over, the time for solutions that incorporate both Republican and Democratic ideas is long overdue.
Why shouldn’t all states share in the expensive support of illegal immigrants?
The usual NIMBY, not in my backyard is prevalent. Time to put your money where your mouth is. Why should the southern states have to shoulder this burden alone?
BTW, my parents were both immigrants, legal immigrants.
Your hypocrisy on this issue is second only to that of the DemonRats, who have no problem bringing in MILLIONS of illegals to overwhelm the western and southwestern U.S., but cry bloody murder when a few hundred are relocated to their elite enclaves. Are you really THAT stupid and tone deaf?
Texas and Arizona accepted 2,000,000 million migrants since President Biden became president. The richest island in America, Martha’s Vineyard, populated by billionaires and the “righteous,” can’t graciously accept 50? Martha’s Vineyard, through the political connections of their billionaires, then deported the 50 within 24 hours of their arrival? A stunt by DeSantis, yes, but a necessary stunt to open the eyes of America to the hypocrisy of those who talk the talk of their sanctuary city and state status, but don’t walk the walk.
I agree with James. The hypocrisy, the Democrats only care when their policy affects them, Illegals for you but not for me is their slogan.
Ditto James, ditto!
DeSantis for President! Applause to him and Abbott. You’re only mentioning DeSantis because you know what a threat he is to the Democrat party and Joe Biden. One-sided as usual. If you’re going to keep letting illegals break the law and enter country, then keep bringing them to areas that are sanctuary cities and elite (we know Dems love that word) areas such as Martha’s Vineyard. Keep up the good work Mr. DeSantis! Looking forward to 2024 White House run!!!
But it isn’t deplorable for the Biden Administration to 1) allow all these illegals to invade border towns, at the rate of 8,000/day?; 2) fly/bus them in the dark of night all over our country?; and 3) take absolutely no responsibility or have any remorse for the 53 cartel mules who were fried to death in the back of a container truck? Your hypocrisy is deplorable.
Secretary Mayorkas and VP Harris has been lying telling congress that the southern border is closed and secure for 18 months while millions illegal aliens have marched into Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. The press ignored the sexual abuse the women have endured and the hundreds of deaths from heat exhaustion and drownings. We have Fentanyl deaths killing our young adults from the Mexican cartels and now is the number 1 cause of death in 18-45 year olds!
The US citizens are crying out for help from this invasion on our southern border.
President Biden has been flying thousands of illegals to airports in the northeast for over 12 months. Videos show buses dropping off the immigrants at Costcos parking lots. Where was the outrage?
So Gov Desantis out of desperation of not receiving federal assistance warned DC he would send immigrants to blue sanctuary states where Biden and Obama live to see if this might change the country’s perception of this crisis.
And guess what? It worked! We have no southern border and every state is a border state!
Time to face the facts and fix our country!
Desantis just gave the cluless liberal /progressive establishment a tiny taste of their owe evil deplorable tactics and they (you) went absolutely ape shit ballistic , wet their pants and humiliated themselves in front of the whole world.
The liberals’ “tolerance” is and always has been a scam. White liberals and many black liberals are deep down many of them vicious racebating bigots who use the issue of race and diversity to augment their own power and when that Truths thrown in their faces like an aced tennis serve , They just can’t handle it because they’re too immature and ignorant. They have no self awareness. And so they just react by blaming everyone else and everything else around them except themselves
Big difference.. these “migrants are entering this country illegally. My grandparents migrated legally.
Dems have been so aggressive with overloading the country with illegals, among destroying it many other ways I don’t have enough time to get into. These politicians are all so elite that It’s not until the illegals are in your everyday life that they’ll understand it’s a problem. I tend to be middle of the road but everyone has there breaking point. The republicans are starting to fight back and I agree 100%. I personally now lean republican. Sorry dems but your running this country to ground….Fast
Sad that we had to resort to this in order to open up the eyes of the delusional, HYPOCRITICAL elites and the so called sanctuary cities ( in name only ) The fact the author mentioned a judges family (who came thru Ellis island!! requiring quarantine if necessary and a sponsor or a job before you could come in !!) Shows how truly dumb they are- Go visit Ellis island to see how its supposed to be done !!! My son in llw became a US citizen the right way and yes it took awhile but he did it the right way = the open border is a mockery to all those who follow the laws
AND; Why call this a Deplorable Immigration Stunt!! Since, it’s so Unfair to ALL the Southern States that are dealing with this immense Migrations of People’s!! They can’t be expected to handle these huge number’s & this must also be absorbed by other more Affluent States!! This is only the fair thing to do & in the Spirit of the American Way!!//
These are not “illegal immigrants”. You consume too much Fox News. “Illegal immigrants” are people who try to sneak into the country by swimming across the Rio Grande or easily slipping through the fake Trump border wall that Mexico didn’t pay for. These people are LEGAL ASYLUM SEEKERS who present themselves at the border to DHS, provide them with documentation, are LEGALLY processed and then, eventually get a court hearing to determine whether or not they are entitled to legal asylum in America. Of course you are misinformed. You listen to Fox or whatever lying outlet suits your false beliefs. And then when clowns like Tom Cotton cite illegals intercepted and say “the border is not secure” or talk about “Biden’s open border” you believe that nonsense because you want to. The numbers Cotton and the other clowns give you are the ILLEGALS INTERCEPTED The number is actually proof that the border is secure. The larger the number the greater is the proof that the border is secure. In fact, Biden has intercepted more illegals than did orange grifter.
Listen, ignorant, stupid, tone deaf Repuklican: these pawns in DeSantis’s and Abbott’s game are not ILLEGALS. They are LEGAL asylum seekers who presented themselves at the border FOLLOWING US IMMIGRATION LAWS, were LEGALLY PROCESSED BY DHS and at some point will have hearings to determine if they are eligible for asylum status. So before you mouth off more stupidity, get your facts straight. Unfortunately, the system has been backed up for many years and the wait to have a hearing is long. The RePUKElicans had all 3 branches for more than a few years and did NOTHING about immigration reform because they prefer grandstanding with it because it’s so easy to convince fools like you that ‘the illegals are coming’ and that Democrats are trying to overwhelm the borders with them. The problem with Democrats is that they assume a well informed electorate understands the difference between an “illegal” trying to sneak in and an asylum seeker who plays by the rules.
They are not “illegals”. Learn the difference between an “illegal” and these asylum seekers who have presented themselves at the border, submitted their legal documents, were processed by DHS and assigned a case number for a future hearing to determine their fitness for asylum status. They followed the law, they broke no laws and were lied to by DeSantis’s people. You have been lied to by Fox News or whoever failed to tell you the difference between an “illegal” and these asylum seekers. The Republicans held all 3 branches of government for years and did NOTHING to fix a problematic immigration system. Blaming Democrats for this is foolish. So of course that’s what you do.
They did generously accept them, but no doubt this wasn’t shown on your fake news source. The issue is that they were lied to by DeSantis’ people and it was a stunt and nothing but a stunt. Had they been Cubans and not Venezuelans, that fat, pasty faced Trump wannabe wouldn’t have dared to ship them off. You can be sure of that.
THEY ARE NOT ‘ILLEGALS’ get your damn facts straight. They are LEGAL asylum seekers who presented themselves to DHS at the border, had their papers processed by DHS and will eventually have hearings to determine their worthiness for asylum status just like the Cuban boat people. Had these people been Cuban, DeSantis wouldn’t have DARED ship them off you can be sure. It was a pure political stunt.
You are either a good liar or pathetically ignorant. Or both. I’ll go with both. 1) Biden has intercepted and returned across the border more “illegals” than did the stealer of classified documents. Then real liars like Tom Cotton cite the INTERCEPTED number as “proof” that the border is “open”, when in fact the larger the number, the more proof it is that the border is more secure than ever. 2) The people we are talking about here are NOT “ILLEGALS”. They are legal asylum seekers following UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION LAWS RE: SEEKING ASYLUM IN THE UNITED STATES. They present themselves at the border LEGALLY, request asylum LEGALLY, show their papers (passports etc.) to DHS and then they are processed by DHS and assigned a case # for a future hearing as to their eligibility for asylum status. The system has been overwhelmed for MANY YEARS including when the GOP controlled all 3 branches of government yet they did NOTHING because they know it’s a great political talking point that they can use by lying about it and convincing clowns that this is all somehow the Democrats’ fault. Wake up Harvey.
These asylum seekers are not “illegals”, despite the hysterical, ignorant posts here. They are asylum seekers who are following American immigration laws by presenting themselves at the border, handing DHS their papers, being processed by DHS, assigned a case number for a future hearing and then allowed to stay here until their hearings. It’s as American as it gets. The hysteria here about “illegals being dumped at the border” or “shipped around by Biden” is just crap. Illegals who try to sneak across are being returned in GREATER NUMBERS THAN EVER. Far greater than under the guy who stole classified documents. Then, using those numbers, liars like Tom Cotton cite the INTERCEPTED number to claim it as proof that the border is “open” when the number is actually proof that the border is more secure than ever. Unfortunately, the system is overtaxed and backed up in great part because when the GOP had control of all 3 branches of government it did NOTHING about fixing a broken system. Why? Because they knew it could be used as it is now as a foul political tool to whip up the ignorant base, like the majority of the posters here, especially the ones spewing nonsense about drugs and sexual abuse. None of that has anything to do with these asylum seekers, some of whom where moved to non border states like Florida. Rather than deal with them in a mature manner, DeSantis’s people LIED to them and used them as pawns in his pathetic political game. As for Governor Abbott, he treats all of his citizens in a very wealthy state like crap—just look at the state’s awful numbers: #31 in health care, #34 in education, #37 in crime and corrections, #40 in the environment and an abysmal #39 in metrics for opportunity so his treatment of asylum seekers is hardly surprising nor is the compete ignorance, hatred and stupidity shown by most of the posters here who consume far too much Fox News and not enough legitimate news. You’re all worked up over LIES fed you that you eagerly consume. Enjoy!
They entered legally. These are not “illegals”. They are legal asylum seekers who followed American asylum immigration law, presented themselves with legal documents to DHS at the border, were then processed and if found to pass the basic requirements, given temporary asylum status and a case # and allowed to stay here until their hearing. Get your facts straight. You more than the others posting nonsense here should know better.
If you do have a spare bedroom and are not willing to take in these poor people then you should shut your mouth. 3,500,000 people since Biden took office. That is two boroughs of New York City. Or the combined population of six smaller states. Get real. Where are the jobs? Where is the housing, the schools, the law enforcement? One could readily assume that at least half the world’s population could claim refugee status here, certainly more than half of all of Russia and China’s populations. When is enough enough?
Unfortunately, you have no clue what you are talking about. Nobody is presenting anything, nobody is vetted, nobody is vaxxed or given a medical exam. At least 40% of the world’s population can claim “refugee” or “asylum” status, certainly all of China and Russia, Most of Africa, South east and Southwest Asia, a good portion of South America and a good portion of South America. You see, I do have a friend at the Texas Border with the Texas Guard. A retired US Army Colonel who has seen everything from Viet-nam to Afghanistan and all that went in between. he routinely lets’ us know what is going on down there. Something for you to chew over………………..: “The crap I am going through again, I thought that I left in Vietnam and Bosnia with the killings and rapes and dismemberment’s I see on the border each and every month. I saw my very first up close and personal “rape tree” last week that had a mother and daughter tied to it with barbed wire and each had been raped repeatedly and left to die of exposure. I am tired of seeing dead bodies everywhere….Biden’s dead bodies….after the birds and ants and wildlife have been feasting on them. People do not understand that open borders will not stop the violence and drugs. Until you are on the border, you will not understand and that is why the Washington groups do not come here. They do not want to report on it and the media by passes it and ignores what is going on. But, you mentioned civil war, it is already here. Ranchers and townsfolk are protecting themselves. What I fear is the escalation of the Cartels as the ranchers, with our assistance, are closing off their routes. They are moving more and more to Arizona whose border is primarily Federal Land instead of private.
If a group manages to escape the cartels and cross the bridge, they are hunted down on the American side by the cartel and slaughtered. Even the buses arriving in New York and Washington are being met by cartel members and examples being made out of them…..by pass the cartel and we will kill you. In my area alone, we witness summary executions on the Mexican side of the river. Almost every day.
I was serious about the vigilantism…..it is beginning to happen and it will escalate and it will spill over to the innocent.”
Unless you open up your house to a family of refugees, just start using whatever powers of observation you may have and SEE WTF is going on.