Tag Archive for: Tennessee

Tennessee Passes Landmark Human Smuggling Legislation into Law

On May 27, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed groundbreaking state-level human smuggling legislation into law.

Mass illegal immigration into our country during the Biden administration has turned every state into a border state. Increased supply of dangerous drugs such as fentanyl, combined with expanded human trafficking, have caused a severe strain on states and community resources.  

Hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied children have been released to sponsors across the country. In all too many cases, these sponsors were actually fronts for traffickers. An unknown number of unaccompanied children fell into the full control of the cartels and blackmarket human traffickers. 

States must pass laws to deter illegal immigration and give state and local law enforcement the tools they need to perform duties to stop and apprehend human smugglers. States should continue working to find solutions to mitigate the dangers associated with allowing millions of unvetted illegal aliens to cross into America and ensure public safety. Tennessee has taken the lead with its new human smuggling law. 

Even before the Trump administration designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a relationship had been forming between transnational criminal organizations and terrorist groups in terms of human smuggling. Cartels have leveraged existing drug smuggling “ratlines” across the US southern border to establish human smuggling corridors. Now, they reportedly make more money off of human smuggling than they do off of drug smuggling. This is because the overwhelming majority of human smuggling victims are young females who are sold into sex slavery where they become ongoing sources of revenue. 

The key difference today is that the revenue stream is providing material support for foreign terrorist organizations.

Just as worrisome is the fact that over the past 4 years of Biden-Mayorkas malfeasance, cartels used the same routes to smuggle known terrorists and criminals into the U.S. thereby threatening U.S. national security and the safety of US citizens.

Enhanced investigation, enforcement, prosecution and intelligence sharing between local, state and federal law enforcement may be the best way to detect, prevent and put an end to human smuggling into and throughout the U.S. 

The landmark human smuggling law passed in Tennessee is a major step toward making the state and local criminal justice system and law enforcement meaningful partners and force multipliers to stop this activity and improve public safety. 

 The legislation, authored by Representative Chris Todd and Senator Brent Taylor, was needed because there is a distinction between human trafficking and human smuggling that had gone unaddressed. 

Human smuggling victims are distinct from other victims of human trafficking, who are often trafficked by family members, relatives and friends in small numbers (typically ones and twos). The different nature of human smuggling and especially the criminal and terrorist organizations behind it, require a finer point to the law.  

  • Human smuggling involves: 
  • Crossing international borders 
  • Trafficking larger numbers of victims at a time 
  • Control by organized crime in the form of terrorist cartels and others 

A whole new illicit, underground industry was built up in the US over the past 4 years due to malfeasant border policies and rampant illegal immigration. The Mexican cartels had been in charge of the border, not US law enforcement. Those cartels have only recently, since the beginning of the Trump administration, been designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Moreover, it wasn’t until President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the US military to the border that the border came under control.

The terrorist cartels have expanded their reach across America. They have brought thousands of “unaccompanied minors” into the United States. Most of those minors are young girls who are subjected to unbelievably cruel and abusive situations, including sex slavery. Tragically, some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been implicated in human trafficking and human smuggling.

Unfortunately, the human smuggling legislation in Tennessee came under unfounded attack from the extremist Left.

Leftists made the specious accusation that the new law would criminalize family members or religious groups who are “performing acts of charity.”

In reality, the law targets human traffickers who force largely minor females into “involuntary labor servitude, forced labor, trafficking for commercial sex acts, prostitution and human smuggling.”

None of these activities is something that a loving family or legitimate charitable organization would be involved in.

In the new law human smuggling is defined as transporting one or more victims for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain.  No loving family or legitimate charitable organization would be involved in human trafficking/smuggling for commercial advantage or private financial gain. 

Border czar and former Obama administration US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan reports that as many of 300,000 unaccompanied minors who came across the southern border are unaccounted for. Many of them became trafficking victims. Tragically and outrageously, the US government became complicit in this trade as those minors were passed on to unvetted “sponsors” by our government. Homan reports that many of those sponsors were actually traffickers.

Tennessee’s new human smuggling law gives law enforcement and the criminal justice system effective tools for prosecuting human smugglers and is focused on the methods and techniques that they use, namely forced labor and forced sex slavery, all for commercial advantage and financial gain.

In the months and years ahead, look for other states to adopt the Tennessee model to combat human smugglers.

AUTHOR

Christopher Holton

Senior Analyst and Director of State Outreach.

EDITORS NOTE: This Center for Security Policy column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Trump’s First Federal Judicial Nominees Fought Against Sex Changes For Kids, Limitless Abortion

President Donald Trump began making his first few federal judicial appointments in recent days, naming several individuals who have been prosecuting violent crime, arguing in front of the Supreme Court and defending various culture-war issues.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Caller in March she did not have an update on when the nominations or vetting would begin, but said she would provide a list of names to the outlet.

Nearly two months later, Trump began those appointments, naming a handful of Missourians to district courts as well as one individual to sit on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Joshua M. Divine of Missouri was appointed Tuesday by Trump to serve as judge on both the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and Western District of Missouri. Divine is the solicitor general of Missouri and director of special litigation in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. He was previously chief counsel to Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and deputy solicitor general in the Missouri Attorney General’s (AG) Office.

Divine was also a law clerk to both Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Judge William H. Pryor of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He attended Yale Law School, where he was a member of the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Law & Policy Review, according a White House press release.

During his time with the Missouri Attorney General’s office, Divine represented the state against a lawsuit attempting to overturn Missouri’s restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone treatment for minors. Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter ultimately sided with Divine and the state.

Divine also argued in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in favor of a block of President Joe Biden’s proposed income-driven repayment plan for borrowers. The court later granted the state its motion to block the student loan forgiveness plan.

While working under Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, Divine argued on behalf of the state for a $24 billion judgment against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its role in the COVID-19 pandemic. A federal judge later granted the judgement after finding the CCP liable for damages concerning the hoarding of personal protective equipment during the 2020 pandemic.

Whitney Hermandorfer, Trump’s pick for the Appeals Court for the Sixth Circuit, is the director of the Strategic Litigation Unit in the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General. Hermandorfer was previously a law clerk to Supreme Court Justices Samuel A. Alito and Amy Coney Barrett, as well as Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Richard J. Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Hermandorfer played Division I basketball at Princeton University, attended George Washington University Law School and was editor-in-chief of the George Washington University Law Review.

Recently, Hermandorfer argued on behalf of the state of Tennessee in front of the Supreme Court for the case United States v. Skrmetti. During Biden’s term, his administration challenged the state of Tennessee’s law banning child sex-change procedures.

Hermandorfer has also argued against broadening sex discrimination laws to protect individuals from being discriminated based on their gender identity, which often extends to bathroom and locker room use. Additionally, she challenged a government rule that required states to help employees who elected to obtain an abortion.

Maria A. Lanahan, Trump’s pick to serve as a judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, is the principal deputy solicitor general in the Missouri AG’s Office. She clerked for Judge Raymond Gruender of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian K. Zahra. Lanahan played Division I basketball at Gonzaga University and attended the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as an Articles Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review.

While working under Bailey, Lanahan has focused on statutory interpretation, tax litigation, writs, and constitutional issues, according to the AG’s press release. Lanahan argued in 2023 on behalf of the state in defense of Missouri’s decision to outlaw abortion.

Trump also nominated Zachary M. Bluestone, of Missouri, to serve as judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Bluestone is the appellate chief and violent crimes prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. He previously served in the Missouri AG’s Office as deputy solicitor general and was a law clerk to Judge Raymond Gruender of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Bluestone attended Harvard Law School, where he served as managing editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. As an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Missouri, he focused on the prosecution of violent crimes and criminal appeals.

In one case Bluestone was a prosecutor for, a judge sentenced a former St. Louis middle school principal to two consecutive life terms in prison after he was found guilty of hiring a friend to kill his pregnant schoolteacher girlfriend.

Edward Aloysius O’Connell was nominated Tuesday by Trump to serve as associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was previously chief of staff and deputy general counsel of the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. O’Connell was also a prosecutor in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia for nearly two decades where he prosecuted homicides, felony major crimes, domestic violence, organized crime, and narcotics offenses, according to the White House press release.

O’Connell clerked for Judge Rufus King III of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia after he graduated from Quinnipiac University School of Law.

“Our Court System is not letting me do the job I was Elected to do. Activist judges must let the Trump Administration deport murderers, and other criminals who have come into our Country illegally, WITHOUT DELAY!!!” Trump said in a Truth Social post following his appointments.

AUTHOR

Reagan Reese

White House Correspondent. Follow Reagan on Twitter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Deadly Sabotage Could Destroy Trump’s Legacy, And America Too

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Tennessee AG Says SCOTUS Could Pave Way To Ending Child Sex Changes And Saving Women’s Sports With Just One Ruling

The Supreme Court’s forthcoming ruling on state child sex change bans could impact a range of issues related to gender identity, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The justices heard oral arguments Wednesday on Tennessee’s law banning medical procedures intended to help a child live as an identity “inconsistent” with their sex, which the Biden administration argues violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

“There’s been no constitutional analysis of gender identity issues from the court prior to this,” Skrmetti told the DCNF on Thursday. “In the Bostock case, they were looking at statutory language.”

In the high court’s 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision, the majority held that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity equates to sex discrimination in the employment context.

“So potentially, there could be language in the opinion that significantly impacts not just the protection for kids from gender related procedures with life-altering impact,” Skrmetti said. “There could be an impact on litigation about women’s sports teams, about bathroom privacy, potentially other areas of law.”

Skrmetti believes his team did a great job defending the case before the court but acknowledges “you never want to predict” what is going to happen. Win or lose, the court could opt to issue a narrow ruling, or something broader and precedent-setting.

“The court asked a lot of brilliant questions,” he said. “It was a long argument because I think they recognize this could be a significant case precedentially, and they have months now to think about it and work through it, so there’s a long way to go before we get a decision.”

Several conservative justices pointed to European countries limiting gender transition procedures for children. Justice Samuel Alito questioned why the government claimed that overwhelming evidence supports the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy while failing to acknowledge studies indicating otherwise, such as the Cass report commissioned by the National Health Service (NHS) England.

Meanwhile, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson drew a parallel between banning child sex changes and bans on interracial marriage. “I’m worried that we’re undermining the foundations of some of our bedrock equal protection cases,” she said.

Tennessee contends its law does not draw lines based on sex, but based on medical purpose. Giving testosterone to a girl will have vastly different effects than giving it to a boy, the state argues.

Nearly half of all U.S. states have passed laws like Tennessee’s. Skrmetti is certain that this won’t be a decision of “no consequence.”

“The risks to kids are profound. You’re talking about potential lifelong loss of the ability to have children, the lifelong loss of the ability to have sexual function, a life of dealing with tumors and blood clots, bone density disorders, cognitive impairments,” he said. “So it’s not something to be taken lightly.”

AUTHOR

Katelynn Richardson

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Supreme Court Tips Its Hand on Transgender Procedures for Minors

SCOTUS Conservatives Seem Ready To Uphold Child Sex Change Bans — But One Justice Is A Wild Card

As SCOTUS Considers Major Trans Case, Pleas for Children to Be Protected Abound

DOJ Doubles Down on Gag Order of Surgeon Who Blew Whistle on Child Sex Changes

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Helene Death Toll Rises in NC and TN, Military Finally Given Orders to Help

“Evil beyond belief.  I just can’t get over how vile these people are!  I can’t get my mind around the situation and understand why G-d hasn’t smote them.  Calling and working toward the death of 4 billion “useless eaters” with orchestrated “disasters,” adulterating and destroying the food supply, using biological and chemical weapons, destroying life-saving energy supplies, encouraging lawlessness, engaging in nonsensical and deadly wars.” — PURPOSELY HURTING human beings made in G-d’s image.

“The Helene, East Palestine, Lahaina tragedies have brought this into such sharp relief.  They are so NOT like us and can execute their plans minus any burden of guilt. It’s beyond my understanding.” — Janet Levy Ross


North Carolina is in total chaos. Americans are stranded in the mountains. It appears as though our government has waited until people are lost and dying before they’ve ordered military help.  Ft. Bragg has medical helicopters that could have been there in 3 hours on the first day.

Civilian helicopters have been helping, but were turned back in many instances by sheriffs or FEMA.

Listen to this woman from Tennessee telling what is happening in the North Carolina mountains.  It’s only five minutes.

Click this link, it’s on X.com.  Musk allows even non-members.

Eight days into this nightmare, the US Army North is beginning to respond to the horrors in Northeast Tennessee and Northwest North Carolina.  How many are dead who may have been saved because of the despicable delayed response by our Stalinist run government?

Finally, at the request of FEMA, and in support of North Carolina and NC’s National Guard, the U.S. Army North is mobilizing active-duty Title 10 troops to assist with the Helene response and recovery.

Soldiers, equipment and resources, we don’t know just what, are being sent via the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, the 82nd Airborne Division and the 20th Engineer Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps.  They are headed to Asheville, NC.  They are also sending rotary wing air support and various engineering equipment for emergency route clearance.  Bet me when they see what they’re dealing with, they’ll radio back that they will need far more.

They are supposedly going to partner with FEMA, but we haven’t seen squat from FEMA, and neither has Glenn Beck who has been there.  The federal government has absolutely no right to stop neighbors from helping neighbors.

The Joint Force Land Component Commander, through USNORTHCOM, is the primary DoD organization coordinating defense support of civil authorities to assist federal partners in natural or man-made disasters.

Sorry folks, but where were they over a week ago when all hell broke loose in these mountains!

Here is Glenn Beck’s response.  It will both horrify you and make you proud of our fellow Americans.

The Devastating Reality

Last evening I spoke with our former county sheriff, Tim Hutchison.  You may know of him because almost 18 years ago, he was instrumental in capturing the four black men and one black woman who murdered the young college couple, Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, Jr.

Sheriff Hutchison has already been to NC with a Huey packed with supplies.

Hutchison’s helicopter crew was in Katrina rescuing and saving people and animals.  He said that on day two there were 20 helicopters in Louisiana, day three there were 15 more and by day four, 200 more.  Big difference with the Helene catastrophe.  We’re over 10 days out and the rescue missions are just now getting their orders to help.

General Mike Flynn has been on this from the beginning.  He lives in Florida and has seen damage from previous hurricanes.  He was interviewed by Benny Johnson who asked the General, “Where is the American military?”  The video is 35 minutes long, but General Flynn speaks nearly the entire time and clearly lays out the horrific devastation of Helene, especially in Asheville and the North Carolina mountains.

Since I know that many of you don’t have the time to listen when this is so very important, I’ll give you some of the highlights.  If you read my previous article on Helene and the damages, the General validates some of the rumors I listed.

Mike Flynn tells us there are over 150 counties from Apalachicola, Florida all the way up to the western mountains of Appalachia, North Carolina who are in a complete disaster zone. “It is a federal emergency of epic proportions, of Biblical proportions, and the federal government has totally been absent. In NC, there are over 1,000 dead who have been confirmed to me with just the body bags that have been filled. There are insufficient numbers of body bags.”

He says there are bodies laying aside that have not been bagged and he expects that they’ll have over 2,000 dead when this is over, if not more.  Katrina was responsible for 1,392 deaths.

Mike tells us that the terrain and weather are what first must be considered in rescues, but the weather in the mountains at night is in the 30s now.  How can people survive without food, water and shelter?  And by the end of this month, nights will be below freezing.

“The federal government has done nothing.”

The Irish in Flynn rises up when he tells Benny Johnson that the money the government has is our money and he is speaking directly to Speaker Mike Johnson who as the head of the House can reallocate funds from one line item to another line item, with one simple vote, especially for disaster recovery in the United States.  The President, who doesn’t even know what storm we’re talking about, can actually send funds immediately with the stroke of a pen or orders to subordinates.  The president also has the authority to federalize and call out the National Guard with Army divisions capabilities.

There is plenty of FEMA money, but Open the Books tells us that because FEMA failed to follow correct procedures and bookkeeping, the agency has $8.3 billion in “unliquidated obligations” set aside to help victims of storms from before 2012! That’s according to a Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report titled “FEMA’s Inadequate Oversight Led to Delays in Closing Out Declared Disasters.”

This is money that FEMA has promised to spend, but it’s unclear when or if it will actually help American families. That’s a dozen years ago!

Meanwhile, the money can’t be used to help victims of Helene, previous hurricanes, or looming storms like Milton.

This is total insanity!

Flynn says we need a full division, an active division who has all the materials and facilities to help every situation in this crisis.  “NC Forestry helicopters at Hickory Airfield in NC, were sitting idle for five days, and the pilots who know that part of the country like the back of their hands, were so frustrated because they were directed, ‘Don’t do anything.’  One phone call was made to Lt. Governor Robinson, and I’m going to give him a lot of cred right now because in that phone call, he told me that nobody was answering the phones in the governor’s office of NC, nobody was answering his calls to the DHS or in the White House. So, Mark went to the airfield and under his authority, directed those helicopters to go.”

There are a number of federal organizations who should have been put under a military unit immediately.  The incompetence with FEMA and these organizations, not to mention the hierarchy in the federal government reaching to Biden and Harris, is as ineffectual and unskilled as the Secret Service at the first Trump rally in Butler, PA.

Once again, the purposeful disregard for human life is overt, not to mention the entire federal government being weaponized by former President Obama and his minions, Valerie Jarrett, John Brennan, James Clapper and Eric Holder.

Low level soldiers in Ft. Bragg are taking leave for a couple days to a week to go home to these mountains and help their people.

Mike tells Benny that there are gun shots being fired, looting going on, the people fighting back.  And there are children they are finding with ropes on their arms and legs where they were tied to trees by their parents (to save them from washing away) and their parents are now dead and the children were able to get recovered.

“There are reports of illegals, of allegations of these illegals, raping some of these children.  This is brutal, and this is a war zone, and when you have a war zone like that, you’re going to have all sorts of nefarious people and actors.  The only way for a well-done, legitimate execution of recovery operation to take place, is if the United States government commits at least a brigade sized task force with about 7 or 8,000 soldiers with all the requisite capabilities for an operation this size.”

There is money and there are people in the government who can allocate all that is needed, but they’ve been purposely silent.

The General says, “Joe Biden is not there, Joe Biden needs to be 25th Amendment ed out.  Kamala Harris, has no concept of what the military has and their ability to help.”

Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense, knows the capabilities of our military and is doing nothing.

Flynn said there are top men who do search and rescue who have helicopters and FEMA always calls them.  This time, nothing.  So, they’re up there on their own.  They’re getting fuel half price, and if we continue trying to do this by private citizens, they will need money for fuel.

Mike tells Benny, “We have people, American people, American citizens, that are at risk, that have died, that have lost every single thing that they owned.  We have the full ability in this country to take care of them right now for an immediate period of time and I’m talking about certainly for the next 90 days, maybe longer.  We can put them up like we put illegals up in hotels.  We can bring them in.  These are all things I know we’re capable of doing.

“And the military can get in there immediately and start to put people in at least tents, on a fairground and line it up like we’ve always done in places like overseas combat zones.  We get in there with Seabees and build plywood homes, we can bring in complements of trailers.  So much can be done, and our government is on its rearend doing nothing.  You know what they’re hoping?  They’re hoping it affects the outcome of the election particularly in places like Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina who are affected so much.”

Certainly, this is not the end of this horror for these states, it will be years before the ravaged areas in NC and TN can be rebuilt.

General Flynn has a list of organizations that need donations who are helping the areas devastated by Helene.  I’ll send them out as soon as I receive them.

Conclusion

Helene’s destruction from Florida to North Carolina has wreaked havoc on the lives of the people and their communities.  So many lives have been lost, and the destruction is horrendous.  There aren’t adjectives to even describe the photos of the horrific damage.  There are important businesses also in these communities, mining of materials used world over.  We’ll look at them in the next article.

©2024. Kelleigh Nelson. All rights reserved.

RELATED VIDEO: Gov. DeSantis NUKES Kamala after she FREAKED OUT attacking him for ignoring her phone calls

Rep. Mark Green Leads Bid To Reverse Biden Admin’s ‘Politically Motivated’ Gun Restrictions

Republican Tennessee Rep. Mark Green on Wednesday took action to reverse a Biden administration rule placing new restrictions on firearm exports.

The rule, released by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on April 30, makes a number of changes to licensing requirements that could make it more difficult for firearm manufacturers and sellers to conduct business. Green, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the rule, along with 69 other Republicans.

“Congress cannot abandon American firearm exporters to the whims of an administration hellbent on undermining their businesses, their livelihoods, and their constitutional freedoms,” Green told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Congress has the authority to rein in rogue federal agencies—it’s time we used it.”

Republican Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty is introducing the Senate’s version of the CRA.

“This rule is another Operation Choke Point—a politically motivated effort that significantly harms Tennessee manufacturers—and will consequently destroy U.S. jobs and small businesses that support the firearm and ammunition industry,” Hagerty said in an April 30 statement. “The Biden administration has made clear that its goal is to damage the firearm industry that supplies the products that allow Americans to exercise their constitutional freedom. Crushing American exports is just a means to skirt the legislative process and do damage to yet another Biden-disfavored industry.”

The CRA comes on the heels of Green’s introduction of the Stop the Bureaucratic Ineptitude Shuttering Respectable and Upstanding Lawful Exporters Act (Stop the BIS RULE Act) bill in early May, which would prevent federal funds from being used “to finalize, implement, or enforce” the rule.

Green previously told the DCNF the rule would “harm American business owners, hinder the right of people overseas to protect themselves, and will allow China and Russia to fill the void.”

The rule lowers export license validity to one year rather than four, inserts a “crime control” licensing requirement that factors in crime in other countries and applies a “presumption of denial” to export applications to 36 countries deemed high-risk.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement announcing the new rule that it was designed to protect “America’s national security by making it harder for criminals, terrorists, and cartels to get their hands on U.S.-made firearms,” which she noted “fall into the wrong hands and end up being used in ways that directly undermine U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.”

BIS, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, issued the rule following a 90-day pause on new export licenses for civilian firearms, which was announced in October but ultimately lasted over 180 days.

President Joe Biden has a long history of supporting gun control. As a senator in 1994, he helped pass a ten- year ban on “assault weapons” and continues to advocate for a federal ban.

AUTHOR

KATELYNN RICHARDSON

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLE: Biden Proposes Increasing Budget Of Agency Pushing Gun Regulations By 30%

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Republican Lawmakers Set Their Sights On Abortion ‘Trafficking’ In Latest Post-Dobbs Fight

  • Republican state lawmakers are going after abortion “trafficking” in an effort to stop abortion advocates from evading state bans around the country and protect pregnant minors. 
  • Idaho, Texas and now Tennessee have all pushed legislation on the issue and Republican state Rep. Jason Zachary of Tennessee told the Daily Caller News Foundation that his bill was personal after he had been “directly involved” with a family whose 14-year-old daughter had been taken away to get an abortion without their knowledge.
  • “It should be the easiest thing in the world to say it’s unacceptable for an adult to take somebody else’s kid anywhere without their parents knowing,” Katie Daniels, state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told the DCNF.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Republican state lawmakers have proposed a variety of pro-life laws, with three states placing a new focus on abortion “trafficking.”

Following the Dobbs decision, Idaho became the first state in 2023 to pass a bill enforcing criminal penalties for individuals “trafficking” a minor to another state to get an abortion and since then, Texas and Tennessee have followed suit on both the state and local levels. Republican state Rep. Jason Zachary of Tennessee told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he introduced his bill Monday after having been involved in a situation where a 14-year-old girl was taken without her parents’ knowledge to get an abortion last year.

“A young girl, a 14-year-old girl in East Tennessee, unbeknownst to her guardian was taken to West Tennessee and was not notified until the child was taken to West Tennessee. The child called the parents and said, ‘I’m in West Tennessee and I’m being taken to get an abortion.’ I was on the phone with the dad and the mom, [who were] crying asking me what I can do to help stop it. There was nothing I could do,” Zachary told the DCNF.

Zachary’s bill would make it a “criminal offense” for anyone other than a parent or guardian to take a minor out of Tennessee for an abortion and also “provide for a civil action against a person committing the offense of abortion trafficking of a minor for the wrongful death of an unborn child that was aborted,” according to the text. If passed a minor could not travel with someone other than their legal guardian to get a chemical or surgical abortion.

Texas has taken a slightly different approach than Idaho or Tennessee as multiple city councils have established new ordinances barring its citizens from being transported on their state highways to get an abortion, according to the Texas Tribune. The city council in Amarillo, Texas, is one of the latest to consider a travel ban but postponed any vote during a meeting on Dec. 19 for further review.

If passed, Amarillo’s ordinance would allow private citizens to sue anyone who “aids and abet[s]” someone to get an abortion using the highways, according to the Texas Tribune. Similar measures have been proposed in other counties, such as LubbockLlano, Odessa, Dallas and San Antonio, according to The Washington Post.

Some city council members have expressed concerns that the ordinances and their framing may be too extreme, according to the Post.

“I hate abortion. I’m a Jesus lover like all of you in here,” Llano councilwoman Laura Almond said during a meeting in August, according to the Post. She explained that in college she had once picked up a friend from an abortion clinic and that the law would have put her at risk of a lawsuit despite her personal beliefs on the subject.

“It’s overreaching,” Almond said during the meeting, according to the Post. “We’re talking about people here.”

Republicans have struggled on the issue of abortion over the last several elections due to poor messaging and a divided base regarding how strong candidates should be on pro-life issues. With the presidential election coming up in November, Katie Daniels, state policy director for Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America, told the DCNF that it will be important for Republican candidates endorsing any kind of abortion legislation, including anti-trafficking measures, to “talk about what they are for” and not just what they are against.

“It should be the easiest thing in the world to say it’s unacceptable for an adult to take somebody else’s kid anywhere without their parents knowing, let alone to another state for a medical procedure that’s illegal in their state. That should be a real point of consensus, regardless of political party,” Daniels said. “Beyond that, candidates should be talking about what they’re for. They’re for resources being available to women and their children, they’re for the pregnancy centers that help these women and they are for the life of both the mom and her baby.”

Daniels argued polling had found that “two-thirds of Americans” support parental notification and consent before minors can get a chemical abortion through the mail and a Rasmussen poll from July 2022 found that 64% of Americans support parental notification before a child gets an abortion.

“This is a very common sense position if you ask normal people. It’s politicians who are tied up to the industry that seem to have trouble with it,” Daniels told the DCNF.

AUTHOR

KATE ANDERSON

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLE: CVS Employee Sues After Company Allegedly Revoked Religious Exemption To Avoid Prescribing Contraceptives

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Chaos Unravels As Anti-Gun Activists Swarm Inside Tennessee Capitol

Hundreds of protesters swarmed the Tennessee State Capitol on Thursday demanding gun control in the wake of Monday’s deadly school shooting.

Protesters showed up outside the capitol Thursday morning as lawmakers began their session, according to WKRN. Protesters were calling for stronger gun control following Monday’s shooting in which 28-year-old transgender Audrey Hale killed three nine-year-olds and three adults at a Christian elementary school.

One organizer told WKRN they hope “that we can make change.”

“It’s a tough state, I get it,” organizer Maryam Abolfazli said, according to WKRN.

Protesters overwhelmed the Capitol, filling the hallways and eventually making their way to the legislative session chambers.

Video shows a massive group of protesters screaming and trying to break past a group of troopers. One male protester storms through and is immediately taken into custody by authorities before being released as the crowd chants “give him back!”

Another video shows protesters in the legislative chambers chanting “no action, no peace” and “enough is enough.”

Authorities managed to clear the Capitol and resumed their session, according to reports.

AUTHOR

BRIANNA LYMAN

News and commentary writer. Follow Brianna on Twitter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

TENNESSEE: Bill advances to ban drag shows, other adult entertainment on public property

A society is in a moral crisis when it becomes necessary for a bill to be sponsored to safeguard kids in public places. Although the bill is aimed at “go-go dancers, exotic dancers, and strippers on public property,” it is hardly a secret that the trans agenda has come to include grooming children in vulgar performances that are inappropriate for children.

Republican Rep. Chris Todd, who sponsored the bill, called it a “common-sense” “child safety” bill. Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson introduced the bill. People have lost sight of what responsible censorship is even means. It is glaring how the far Left uses charges of censorship to shut down speech that does not suit its agenda and that they claim to consider “offensive,” but they have no problem with the overt, public corruption of children. The sexualizing and grooming of young children is relentlessly becoming normalized. That’s why laws of this kind are needed.

Tennessee bill aims to ban drag shows, other adult entertainment on public property

by Lawrence Richard, Fox News, February 1, 2023:

The state of Tennessee could bar drag shows and other adult entertainment performances, pending a bill that is advancing through the state’s legislature.

A bill banning go-go dancers, exotic dancers, and strippers on public property and for those under the age of 18 was approved by the Tennessee House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Tuesday, according to FOX 17 Nashville. It will now advance to the House Criminal Justice Committee.

“This is a common-sense child safety bill,” said Rep. Chris Todd, a Republican who sponsored HB. 9, per the report.

The bill intends to prohibit “adult cabaret entertainment” that is “harmful to minors,” including “male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, or similar entertainers.”

“There’s confusion in the law of what performances are covered. This clarifies what is crossing the line that is harmful to minors,” Todd added.

While the bill effectively bans drag shows, it does not specifically use the term.

Republicans in the state have contended that drag shows can result in the “sexualization” or “grooming” of children.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, a Republican, introduced the legislation near the end of 2022 with his own bill that limits gender-care surgeries for those under 18.

“We are not going to expose our children to this type of inappropriate, sexually explicit performances,” Sen. Johnson told the station in November 2022, after drag performances where kids were present were becoming more popular……

Read more.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Tennessee lawyer files free speech lawsuit after being fired for ‘anti-Islam’ and pro-Trump tweets

Jerry Morgan gave the details of this case in an exclusive Jihad Watch article HERE. Get more background on this case HERE, where Robert Spencer stated:

What disparaging remarks did Morgan make? Did he say that Muslims were “the most vile of created beings”? No, that’s what the Islamic holy book, the Qur’an, calls non-Muslims (98:6). Did he call Muslims “apes and pigs”? No, that’s what the Qur’an calls Jews (2:63-65, 5:59-60, 7:166). Did he say Muslims were “unclean”? No, that’s what the Qur’an says of non-Muslims (9:28).

So what egregious statements did Morgan actually make?

As it turned out, he has been forced to resign for “praising President Donald Trump for ‘stopping Muslims’ and ‘talking big against Muslims,’” and “said Islam was not a peaceful religion and made comments linking the faith with violence and ‘Muslim terrorists.’”

To our dhimmi overlords, however, all that matters is that anything offensive to Islam/Muslims, even if it is true, must be shut down in accordance with Sharia blasphemy laws, which are well on the way to becoming mainstream in American society, despite the First Amendment. Jerry Morgan is one of the few who have had the courage to fight back, and we wish him well.

“Tennessee: State Lawyer Fired for ‘Anti-Islam’ Tweets Files Speech Suit,” 

Bloomberg Law, April 6, 2021:

An attorney alleges the Tennessee Supreme Court’s board of professional responsibility unlawfully fired him for posting Tweets that an opposing party said displayed anti-Muslim bias, arguing his social media posts were constitutionally protected political speech similar to that of former president Donald Trump.

The board of professional responsibility regulates licensed Tennessee attorneys. Jerry Morgan handled appeals to the state supreme court regarding attorney discipline, according to his complaint filed Monday at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Attorney Brian Manookian, who was undergoing disciplinary proceedings, filed a motion to disqualify Morgan, claiming he was an anti-Muslim bigot. Manookian cited multiple Tweets Morgan had posted that, among other things, praised then-candidate Trump for “talking about the #1 issue of our time—stopping Muslims” and disparaged Muslims and Democrats.

Manookian claimed Morgan had an anti-Islam bias that could prejudice him, because his wife was Muslim and his children were being raised in a Muslim household.

Morgan says his posts were “indisputably political in nature,” concerning matters that were controversial but part of the national debate. “Many were views publicly expressed by Trump” and agreed to by the Tennessee voters who “overwhelmingly” voted for him in 2016, Morgan says. There were no accusations against him of biased conduct in the Manookian case or any other, Morgan claims.

Morgan was fired in December. He sued the board and chief disciplinary counsel Sandra Garrett, alleging he was unconstitutionally punished for Tweets that were made in his private capacity and were about matters of public importance.

Cause of Action: First Amendment.

Relief Requested: Damages, injunctive relief….

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Secrecy surrounds refugee program in Tennessee and in your state too!

This is an opinion piece published in The Tennessean yesterday and posted in its entirety here with permission from the author.

Barnett is an expert on the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program and its history having followed its progression for literally two decades.

From The Tennessean:

Before the Refugee Act of 1980, refugee resettlement was the work of true sacrificial charity, where sponsors and charities committed to maintaining and supporting the refugees with housing and employment, even medical care if needed. There was an explicit bar to the access of welfare benefits. The sponsor was responsible for all costs. This helped to guarantee assimilation and is how we absorbed post-WWII refugees, those fleeing communist oppression in Eastern Europe, the Hungarian Revolution and other upheavals.

Don Barnett 2

Don Barnett

With the 1980 Refugee Act and related laws, the charities morphed into money-making federal contractors whose main job is to link the refugees with social services and welfare benefits. The 1980 act made all welfare available to refugees upon arrival — for life, if eligibility is maintained.

Originally, the Refugee Act included three years of federal refugee cash assistance and medical insurance. As well, state governments were reimbursed for their expenditures on welfare used by refugees, such as Medicaid (TennCare), for three years. By 1991, reimbursement from the feds for state welfare expenditures had been completely eliminated and the three-year period of refugee cash and medical assistance for refugees was limited to eight months.

According to the most recent government data, even those refugees in the country for five years are largely dependent on taxpayer largesse. Sixty percent of this group receives food stamps and 17 percent are on the cash welfare program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). A nationwide U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study shows 44 percent are still in Medicaid and 29 percent of families who have been here for five years have one or more members on the lifetime cash welfare program Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

This gives an idea of the costs to the federal taxpayer and of the unfunded federal mandate placed upon state taxpayers by this program.

Because of the byzantine structure of Tennessee’s program, there is no way to get exact costs. Both the state refugee coordinator and state refugee health coordinator, who are supposed to represent the state and its taxpayers, are actually employees of Catholic Charities, the federal contractor whose income rises in direct proportion to the numbers of refugees resettled. Further, the salary for both of these positions is paid not by the contractor, but by the feds. How’s that for a conflict of interest?

In a healthy and open environment, information would be made available from these two sources, which would help in evaluating program success and program costs, such as use of TennCare by refugees, rates of infection with communicable disease and so on. Alas, because of incentives and disincentives built into the refugee coordinators’ jobs, the best strategy for them is to withhold information.

Secrecy surrounds all aspects of the program. We have no idea what it is costing Tennessee. Statistics about medical conditions among refugees are secret. Even the numbers of refugee arrivals proposed for next year is a secret. And when arrival numbers are reported, after the fact, they are routinely reported as lower than actual numbers by conveniently neglecting to include categories of resettlement that are not official refugees, but that have the same entitlements — and benefits to the contractor — as refugees.

Orwellian use of language allows for absurd claims about refugee economic integration. For instance, refugees are considered officially “self-sufficient” even if they receive every federal welfare benefit except TANF. Refugees in temporary jobs or training programs are counted as “employed.” An unpublicized federal audit from 1999 obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request found that Memphis Catholic Charities was dropping refugees off at a day labor lot and reporting them as “employed.”

It was never intended that the sponsors, known as “Voluntary Agencies,” would be purely federal contractors with all the behavior, untoward incentives, money and influence peddling that this brings. Yet, that is what we have today.

There would be no issue with this program if refugees were resettled in the traditional way America has always absorbed refugees. As long as the current resettlement model persists, it is imperative that Tennesseans have a say in how state resources are used. The state attorney general should proceed with SJR 467 challenging the federal government’s presumed authority over state resources.

We have previously posted op-eds by Don Barnett or written about his work, click here for posts mentioning Barnett.

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Tennessee to become first state to sue over U.S. Muslim Refugee Resettlement program

Michael Patrick Leahy has a much more understandable story on what the governor has done (or not done), and what it means.  Click here for more.

The Tennessean titles this breaking news today a lot more optimistically (from our point of view) than the article actually indicates:

Haslam will allow Tennessee to become first to sue feds over refugee resettlement

Stephanie Teatro

Regular readers know that the Tennessee legislature overwhelmingly resolved to sue the federal government on 10th Amendment grounds and rather than sign the measure, the governor is going to let it go forward by not vetoing it either.

No matter! The reaction of the refugee industry activists tells me it must be good news for us!

Tennessee Immigrant Rights spokeswoman [Stephanie Teatro]: “… the governor has helped secure Tennessee’s reputation as the most unwelcoming state in the country.”

Here is just a bit of the story, read it all:

Despite having concerns, Gov. Bill Haslam will allow Tennessee to become the first state in the nation to sue the federal government over refugee resettlement on the grounds of the 10th Amendment.

On Friday, Haslam announced his decision to allow the measure, which directs Attorney General Herbert Slatery to sue the federal government for noncompliance of the Refugee Act of 1980, to become law without his signature.

[….]

Explaining his decision, Haslam noted the provisions in the bill that allows the General Assembly to hire outside counsel if Slatery refuses to pursue the case.

“I trust the Attorney General to determine whether the state has a claim in this case or in any other, and I have constitutional concerns about one branch of government telling another what to do,” Haslam said. “I am returning SJR 467 without my signature and am requesting that the Attorney General clarify whether the legislative branch actually has the authority to hire outside counsel to represent the state.”

Slatery’s office has not indicated whether he would follow the legislature’s directive.

Haslam also questioned whether it was the “proper course” for the state to attempt to dismantle the refugee act. [Shouldn’t it be a Republican governor’s job to stand up for states’ rights?—besides, the state isn’t dismantling the act, it is only asking the courts for a ruling—ed]

Read on here to get the full flavor of the waffling going on!

Regarding Ms. Teatro’s comments about “unwelcoming” states, it would be so much fun to have a competition for the most unwelcoming state in the Nation!  You could all send in your nominations!

They think that just by uttering the word “unwelcoming” you will be shaking in your boots and begging for forgiveness.

Come on Kansas, come on New Jersey!

Does the Islamic State have the Right to Recruit on U.S. College Campuses?

A Tennessee lawmaker proposed the Islamic State be granted the right to recruit on campus during a debate on a new law to defend free speech on campus.

Representative Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville) was speaking in favor of the “Tennessee Student Free Speech Protection Act” (which he sponsored) when he was asked by Rep John DeBerry, Jr. (D-Memphis) whether he supported the right of ISIS to recruit on campus.

“Yes,” Daniel replied. “So long as it doesn’t disrupt the proceedings on that campus. Yes sir. They can recruit people for any other organization or any other cause. I think it’s just part of being exposed to differing viewpoints.”

Representative Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville)

Representative Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville)

DeBerry challenged Daniel, arguing that students are not ready to handle such dangerous ideas.

“There are young people who are not ready yet,” he said “they’re half-baked, half-cooked — who are recruited to work against their own parents, their own nation, and I would be concerned as a parent and as a citizen.”

The bill was brought forward to challenge a wave of restrictions on free speech which have come into being on campuses across America and which are the subject of much controversy in the media.

Free-speech advocates hold that free speech is only meaningful if it applies to one’s political enemies as well as one’s friends.

This is not to downplay the problem of Islamist extremism. It is vitally important to challenge the Islamist ideology wherever possible and act to prevent radicalization. Yet free speech is one of the cornerstones of a flourishing democracy. To give it up in order to combat Islamism – an ideology that wishes to dismantle our way of life – would be to forget what we are fighting for.

Daniel’s stance that even ISIS should be allowed to speak may be in breach of existing laws, which prohibit incitement to violence, although such laws are very tightly defined. Since ISIS is a group which carries out violent attacks against Americans around the world, it can be considered to be a security risk to allow it to openly recruit on college campuses.

Nevertheless, the ideology of Islamism is shared by ISIS and non-violent groups such as Hizb-ut Tahrir or the Muslim Brotherhood. They too wish to establish a global Islamic caliphate and implement sharia law as state law, they just don’t support the use of violent means to do so.

Those people must be allowed to speak.

Clarion Project has opposed blasphemy codes that prevent criticism of religion and we have supported the campaign to free the blogger Raif Badawi who is a prisoner of conscience in Saudi Arabia. But we have also interviewed UK-based Islamist Anjem Choudary, in order to show our readers the truth about Islamism. For the same reason we provide our readers with an opportunity to read the Islamic State’s propaganda magazine Dabiq on our website.

In denying free speech to Islamists, we would not only betray our own values, but also undermine our struggle.  Preventing Islamists from speaking would allow them to claim the mantle of victimhood, while preventing those who are attracted to the ideology from accessing all the counter-arguments against it. We also open ourselves up to accusations of hypocrisy, which would be deserved.

It is only in allowing them to air their views and robustly countering them, in speech, in print, in media and in debates, that the Islamist ideology will be shown up for the regressive and totalitarian worldview that it is and confined to the dustbin of history where it belongs.

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Tennessee: Refugee agency places Muslim migrants in jobs Americans would love to have!

And, adding insult to injury, the biggest chunk of their funding comes from you—the taxpayer!

Update!  National layoff numbers skyrocket! Breaking story.

This story from The Tennessean is meant to give the impression that this program of World Relief (National Association of Evangelicals) is doing wonderful humanitarian work by helping immigrants and refugees with advanced degrees find good paying jobs.

But, if you are like me, you reacted to this story by immediately asking these questions:

What about Americans who have advanced degrees and no work?  What about all of our children, recent college graduates (with big student loan debt), who can’t find jobs? Shouldn’t they come first?

Not according to World Relief’s REACH program or The Tennessean.

As is too often the case, one must read through refugee sob stories and eventually the reader learns that there are 10,000 immigrants in Tennessee who need high level jobs—-ahhhhhh!  10,000!  I wonder how many Americans with advanced degrees are competing with them for limited job opportunities?  Of course The Tennessean would never give us that number!

And, the American job seekers don’t have the services your tax dollars provide the immigrants through REACH. Here is what World Relief (a so-called Christian charity) does for the immigrants according to The Tennessean.

REACH, in Nashville, connects immigrants to mentors, who seek to introduce them to local individuals in their field, and coaches them through licensing processes. The organization also offers training on resumes and interviews. Between licenses and networking, it typically takes between nine and 12 months for an individual to move from a survival job to a professional one.

REACH, launched in 2011, has been able to help as many as 100 people a year. Among them are Coptic Christians fleeing Egypt, Kurds from Iraq and those coming from Congo after fleeing ethnic persecution in Rwanda.

Watch an unidentified REACH employee explain how they helped ‘Ahmed’ get a $93,000 a year job!

Here is what a reader said this morning about this story:

I have a very close friend, also an Ivy League masters graduate who is struggling to find a job in the Middle Tennessee job market. In fact, I have several friends, middle-age, well educated, intelligent, hard-working contributors to their communities who live in Middle Tennessee, and who are either unemployed or underemployed.

But the newspaper and the Chamber of Commerce isn’t taking up their cause.

Neil-MacDonald-3112161-220

Neil MacDonald of the Chamber of Commerce told The Tennessean: “If we want to continue to compete on an international basis, it’s essential we continue our growth in diversity.”

Nor do my friends have federal contractor agencies helping them find jobs.

And my friends aren’t wired-in either. They too are struggling.

At least the refugees and their federal contractors can blame the receiving community for not being more “welcoming” and ensuring that new arrivals get the jobs they thought would be waiting for them when they arrived.

According to this article, there are 10,000 refugees in Tennessee who can’t find the jobs they want. Predictably, federal refugee resettlement contractor World Relief and the refugees themselves blame the receiving community as “unwelcoming” because circumstances haven’t unfolded as they had planned.

But, this, of course, doesn’t stop World Relief from keeping their own cash flow going by bringing ever more refugees to the area.

And the Nashville Chamber of Commerce is telling us that businesses here value “diversity” over workers that are raised, educated and have roots in our Tennessee communities.

Speaking of World Relief’s financial position, World Relief Nashville directs people to its national headquarters where we can examine recent financial documents and their Form 990s.

Here we learn that in 2014, World Relief (National Association of Evangelicals) is a $61 million a year operation and that $41 million comes directly from U.S. taxpayers.

They could not supply all of these benefits to job-seeking immigrants if you (or the good-for-nothing Congress!) weren’t willing to pay for it.

Go here to see who else is funding World Relief’s REACH job hunting program.

More on MacDonald, here.

See 83 previous posts on Nashville by clicking here.

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Tennessee: Muslim Army Reservist kept wife virtual prisoner under Sharia law

UPDATE: Madina Sall is also apparently the victim of a forced marriage:

“Ba is the city of Oak Ridge electric project manager and has been employed by the city since May 2009. He is also a reserve officer with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. Court records state he is also in the Army Reserve. Documents filed in the pending breakup include allegations that Ba essentially kept his spouse captive for three years under Islam’s Sharia law in their Oak Ridge home. Sall and Ba are second cousins, according to records, and she ‘did not consent to the marriage but was forced to follow through with the marriage due to her families’ (sic) Islamic beliefs.’”

Source: “Divorce: Wife held captive under Sharia law,” MyInforms.com, November 7, 2015 (thanks to Robert).


According to Islamic law, “the husband may forbid his wife to leave the home.” This is based on a hadith in which Muhammad is depicted as saying: “It is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to allow someone into her husband’s house if he is opposed, or to go out if he is averse.” (Umdat al-Salik, M10.4).

So here again we have a confrontation between Islamic law and American law, while in the public discourse only racist, bigoted Islamophobes question the compatibility of the two. And we are constantly told that no Muslims, none, want to bring any aspects of Sharia that are recognized as incompatible with American law to the U.S. Yet it keeps happening.

“Court records: City of Oak Ridge employee kept wife virtual prisoner under Sharia law,” by Bob Fowler, Knoxville News Sentinel, November 7, 2015 (thanks to Creeping Sharia):

CLINTON — A city of Oak Ridge employee paid the bride’s father $2,000 for his daughter in a forced marriage in Africa, court records allege, and then kept her as a virtual prisoner in their Oak Ridge home. Documents filed on behalf of Madina Sall state she and Ardo Isma Ba were married in Senegal in May 2007, but Ba didn’t register the marriage with the Senegalese government. The couple are natives of Senegal.

The divorce papers filed on Ba’s behalf in Anderson County Chancery Court state their marriage occurred in Knoxville in August 2012. Ba is the city of Oak Ridge electr…

The rest of the story is behind a subscription wall.

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Why Tennessee Forces Seventh Graders to Learn Islam by Kevin Currie-Knight

How big is the distinction between education and indoctrination? Not terribly, if you ask some Tennessee lawmakers. They are pushing to remove any mention of religion from Tennessee’s State Academic Standards. At issue is an apparently controversial unit in seventh grade world history class that spends some time exploring Islam. At some point, the students even need to commit the five pillars of Islam to memory.

Needless to say, this issue has generated a lot of heat on all sides. State Representative Sheila Butts (R) believes that exposing students to Islam threatens to indoctrinate them. Others argue that students can’t effectively learn about world history without developing an understanding of the religions that shape that history, which includes Islam. (And for the record, the Tennessee State Academic Standards cover Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto; it just so happens that in seventh grade world history, students cover Islam before other religions.)

Let’s put aside the question of what the right way to teach history is, at least for a moment. What worries me, as a school choice advocate, is that within a public school system, whatever decision is made will be a political one, and the results will apply to all public schools across the state. There will be a winning side and a losing side, and the losing side — throughout the entire state of Tennessee — will have little choice but to send their children to public schools that teach in a way they see as unsatisfactory. And who will choose what side prevails? The state’s department of education.

Within a public school system, whatever decision is made will be a political one, and the results will apply to all public schools across the state. 

Religion has always been a thorny issue in US schools. In the early 1800s, American “common schools” were very Protestant, which led to a stand-off in New York by Catholics who understandably didn’t want their tax money going to Protestant public schools. (Eventually, many frustrated Catholics formed their own private Catholic schools.)

In 1922, the state of Washington outlawed all private schools (a law the Supreme Court found unconstitutional), largely motivated by a desire to eliminate Catholic schools. Since then, we’ve had legal battles over school- led prayer and student-led prayer, over whether schools can or should teach creation accounts of human origins in biology classes, and even over whether schools can allow “released time,” where students can leave school premises to learn about a religion of their choice during the school day.

Few of these controversies would have been as heated in a system of private schools. With markets, what goes on within one firm doesn’t dictate what must go on in another. If Chick-Fil-A wants to stay closed on Sundays, that doesn’t mean that Burger King can’t choose to remain open. Back in the days when video stores were a thing, Hollywood video could choose to carry “racy” films, but that didn’t mean that Blockbuster (which took a “family values” approach) had to. People are free to shop at stores that are most in line with their values.

But that is not how disagreements play out in public schools. In the government’s school system, curricular and other decisions apply across a large territory, usually the entire state. When textbooks for science classes are chosen, all public schools in the state must use those textbooks. When the courts decide that schools cannot lead students in prayer, that decision applies to all public schools across the state. And when curricular standards for seventh grade world history are revised for the state of Tennessee, the resulting standards apply for all public schools in the state.

In a private market, these decisions could be what economists call non-zero-sum situations. If you are appalled that your child must memorize the five pillars of Islam in our children’s history class and I am not, you can decide to take that up with the school and, if you still don’t get your desired result, you can try to find a school that better aligns with your values. But that won’t negatively affect other families who are fine with their children learning about Islam. Neither of us is in a position where a central department of education makes those decisions for everyone. All of us are free to find or start schools in line with our values.

These differences turn into heated conflicts when you and I disagree in a public school system, because for either of us to get our way, the other will have to lose. Instead of taking the issue up with the school, we take it up with the school board for the entire state to see who can garner the most favor.

Imagine if Chick-Fil-A could only close on Sundays if it got enough support to sway the Board of Rapid Dining Establishments to force Burger King and all other restaurants to do the same.

Historian of education Charles Glenn has written about the noisy history of religion’s place in America’s public schools. He writes of the difficulty American public education has had in finding one approach that accommodates all of our rich religious and cultural diversity. He concludes, “We have reason to hope that America may achieve a degree of pluralism in its schools, but important changes are needed. American public education should be disestablished and demythologized.”

But wait, critics might say; if we disestablish public education and allow for robust school choice, doesn’t that mean that some will choose educational forms that I regard as abhorrent?

Yes, I am sure that will happen. But in the world we inhabit, there is vast and persistent disagreement about what the proper elements are for a good education, a very complex issue. Until the day when we reach a truly voluntary consensus on what a good education looks like (not, as we do today, a consensus forced on us by legislation), the better path is to allow individuals to opt out of schools they believe teach inconsistently with their values.

That means you can go your way, I can go mine, and the state department of education never has the thankless task of deciding who is right.

Kevin Currie-Knight

Kevin Currie-Knight

Kevin Currie-Knight teaches in East Carolina University’s Department of Special Education, Foundations, and Research.

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