Fact-checking Trump 2026 State of the Union address on jobs, inflation, crime, immigration and more
WELCOME TO THE BLOG This blog reflects my views of current political issues.. It is also an archive for columns in the Sky Hi News 2011 to November 2019. Winter Park Times 2019 to 2021.(paper publishing suspended in 2021) My Facebook page, the muftic forum, posts blog links, comments, and sharing. Non-political Facebook page: felicia muftic. Subscribe for free on Substack: https://feliciamuftic.substack.com Blog postings are continuously being edited and updated.
Showing posts with label immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immigration. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
The old GOP trick: Whenever in doo doo, the GOP invokes law and order
Fear is sweeping DC that Democrats will take over the House in 2026. Pulling the panic button the GOP not only tries to cut expected losses by gerrymandering to gain seats, they are pulling their old rabbit out of the magic hat: Democrats are soft on crime; the GOP is tough on crime. President makes provocative claim during Cabinet meeting as National Guard patrols DC streets | Fox News Trump will make crime the top issue in 2026.
Willie Horton in 1988? GOP ads in 2022? The GOP mouths familiar words, but their Big Beautiful Bill cuts funding to after-school programs and adds nothing to local policing. Instead, Trump cut billions from local police reforms and improvements and Gov. Pritzker charged he "defunded police". Trump Reverses Biden Directive on Policing Reforms | Brennan Center for Justice. Trump's big beautiful bill diverted funding from policies that shift funds away from some policing and crime-prevention programs. So, Trump threatens to send in the military just to make the point that he is the big muscle caring about your safety and protection against crime. As usual, the perception by the loyal GOP followers is that crime is always out of control whenever there are black mayors in blue states. The statistics show crime rates are as bad to worse in red states' cities, but who in the GOP cares about statistics? Perception is all that counts.
In the meantime, if there was a crime wave to justify such military intervention, the Big Beautiful Bill added nothing to support of urban policing and instead yanks funds from community-based policing and taking guns off the street beginning in 2026.. Instead, all law enforcement increases were for combating immigration. Trump loves crime committed on his behalf or by those who support him enough as he issues pardons and gets immunity to commit crimes himself, a gift from the Supreme Court.
The next question is how Democrats should counter this Trump strategy to make crime the issue: One way is to show that Democrats don't like crime either, and then come up with a plan that makes sense. It may vary from one area to another, but it isn't just strategy and collaboration, or solving urban social problems caused by poverty. I have served in big city local government, have had close friends in law enforcement, and sat through interminable city council debates. There is no silver bullet. However, more cops on the beat on foot or bike do two things: one, make a visible statement, giving reassurances to residents, and two, get on the ground response more quickly in high crime urban areas. The difference is that Democrats would extend such programs not only to cities with high crime rates in blue states but also to cities in need in red states.
In politics, visibility counts in shaping perception. I could see some smart candidate proposing an idea like "a cop a block" in targeted high crime areas or something catchy and visible like that, and then proposing funding more cops visible on the streets. That may be where Congress fits into the picture. That may not be the best and highest use, but at least it would provide something better than a soldier on every block for only 30 days. What happens when they leave, anyway? Soldiers are not trained to be cops of civilians, make arrests, and intervene to defuse hot conflicts. It is like the concept of community cop policing in schools. or a cop on every subway train or bus stop.
https://www.nlc.org/article/2025/07/11/local-impacts-from-congress-one-big-beautiful-bill #:~:text=The%20bill%20maintains%20the%20direct,2034%20period%20by%20$3.4%20trillion.%E2%80%9D
MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: So is Trump going to send troops into crime ridden cities located in red states?
To keep kids out of trouble, the Big Beautiful bill also It is also withholds nearly $7 billion in gran is to admit t funding to school districts – for before- and after-school programs, teacher training, ... https://www.nlc.org/article/2025/07/11/local-impacts-from-congress-one-big-beautiful-bill/:
The Campaign Ad that Reshaped Criminal Justice | The Takeaway | WNYC Studios Willii Horton
Local crime news coverage and concerns about crime | Pew Research Center 2022
https://giffords.org/press-release/2025/05/trump-budget-defunds-the-police/
Trump loves criminals convicted of crimes committed on his behalf or by those who support him enough as he issues pardons and gets immunity to commit crimes himself, a gift from the Supreme Court. List of people granted executive clemency in the second Trump presidency - Wikipedia
Saturday, July 19, 2025
A memorable quote: "Fear is the tool of tyrants" and how Trump rules by fear
The most memorable quote of the past week was contained in a letter written by a fired Department of Justice prosecutor, Maurine Comey, warning those left in the DOJ not to succumb to the rule of fear by Trump: "Fear is the tool of tyrants". Comey's contribution to the concept of Trump as a tyrant was that she condensed the concept that rule by fear is how tyrants control both opponents and their masses and stated it in those six memorable words. Maurene Comey's farewell after firing: 'Fear is the tool of a tyrant' - ABC News. The concept has deep roots from the Greeks to Machiavelli to 20th century dictators, and Trump often uses fear as a tool.
This is how Trump is using fear as a tool, like a tyrant. He mongers fear against his opponents and controls his supporting masses in many ways: fear of primaried, fear of prosecution, fear of losing federal funding, losing government contracts, fear with threats of being prosecuted with a crime by his Department of Justice without evidence of probable cause, fear of being called degrading names used to turn his MAGA base against someone he sees as a past, current, and using fear of active army displays of power to suppress demonstrations against him. Above all, he has promoted fear of brown migrants from south of the border because they are murderers and rapists," and we must remove them from us because they will "adulterate our blood" ...phrases well documented as uttered by Trump himself by many sources.
Trump's mongering fear of brown people has become the mantra that has fueled the approval of his MAGA base to violate human and civil rights and the due process clauses of the 4th and 14th amendments, to be cruel about the method of detaining and deporting them, whether or not they had a criminal record. The issue of ICE snatching anyone from the street or fields who looks "Mexican" or speaks Spanish or English with an accent has been temporarily halted by a federal judge and will eventually make it to the Trump-favoring Supreme Court.
The concept that tyrants rule by fear, per a brief Google AI search, goes back to ancient Greeks, Machiavelli. The Declaration of Independence called what the King was doing to the states was "tyrannical".Hannah Arendt noted that, unlike previous tyrannies that used terror against opponents, modern dictatorships used it to rule even the obedient masses. How King George III acted like a tyrant was spelled out in a 'bill of particulars' in the 1776 Declaration..
Fear is one half of the tool tyrants can use: the other half is favor...favorable treatment of sycophants, and loyalists, to the disadvantage of others. One example of that is Trump's appointments to his cabinet and his firing of Department of Justice employees who had anything to do with investigating Trump and the prosecution of those convicted for January 6, either by jury or by admission that they had committed a crime, attacking law enforcement or the equivalent in peacetime of
Saturday, July 12, 2025
Is it unconstitutional for ICE to snatch people off the street or in ag fields because they look undocumented?
It may sound unAmerican for ICE to snatch from streets and chase through fields those who look like they could be undocumented, detain them, and ship them off to a domestic or foreign gulag without a chance for the subject to object or even prove citizenship, birth or special refuge status, or be guilty of any crime more than a minor traffic violation or lack of documentation, but it may also be unconstitutional. The ICE idescriminate action of snatching and shipping off to detention just got slapped with a lower federal court ruling temporarily stopping that practice in regards to Los Angeles and Ventura County/ The judge put on temporary hold the ICE practices that had agrigultue workers running for their lives and resulting in the death of a long time undocumented resident and farm worker and any number of landscape workers and day laborers. Their dragnet has even trapped citizens and properly documented migrants. Now in play is the 4th Amendment that refers to the right of people (not just citizens) to protection from warrantless seizures, requiring probable cause to charge someone of a crime, and due process. This one may end up in the Supreme Court.
Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Carrying Out Indiscriminate Immigration Raids In Los Angeles
The 4th Amendment applies to protect people from warrantless searches and seizures and pertains to the concept of probable cause, a threshold of evidence required to charge a person with a crime. I'm no attorney, but I did find some illuminating, credible sources..
The administration contends they are only going after those with criminal background, yet 70% of those apprehended and detained by ICE do not have records. That one is an easy lie to prove: https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-immigration-crime-ice-criminal-dangerous-violent-99557d9d68642004193a9f4b7668162e?
Fourth Amendment | U.S. Constitution | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
There is another case affecting those in the US with temporary protective status that will also have a strong relationship to the rights of migrants and the Fourth Amendment. It stops deportation of Venezuelans here on that status...and reaffirms the Constitution protects them and their right to due process. This was upheld by an appeals court 8/29/2025 It will end up in the SupreAppeals court upholds the rights of those on temporary status in the US because of asylum. Due proces and the Constitution do apply. This is an important case and will end up in the lap of the Supreme Court. Appeals court rules against Trump's plans to end legal protections for 600,000 Venezuelan migrants | AP News
From Google AI with references to source:
- While the Fourth Amendment uses the phrase "the people," it has been interpreted to include anyone within the United States' physical borders, not just citizens.
- The Supreme Court has addressed this issue in the case United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, ruling that the Fourth Amendment does apply to non-citizens within the U.S.(
- The Fourteenth Amendment also guarantees due process and equal protection under the law to all individuals, including non-citizens, which further reinforces the idea that the Fourth Amendment's protections are not limited to citizens.
One of the more disturbing comments to a recent post came from a person who claimed the president of the US was only for its citizens, as if to imply the president had no responsibility to honor the rights of undocumented migrants. ., I replied, the president was responsible for both the rights of the undocumented and those of the documented and citizens are wrong to claim the President of the US is only for citizens and not for non-citizens. The President may be elected by only citizens, but the responsibility of the office to comply with the Constitution regarding non-citizens means the president is not just like a president for just citizens, but for all in the USA. I wondered if it was her way of rationalizing a belief that undocumented migrants had no rights, or did it mean to her that she would only respect what Donald Trump said about immigrant rights?
The issue of undocumented migrants' rights has certainly risen in the context of the discussion of the 14th Amendment regarding birthright citizenship and other provisions of that amendment, since the wording clearly states it applies to "persons," not just citizens. That one will soon be in the hands of the Supreme Court, as a lower federal court has just ruled Judge Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order in Class-Action Challenge - The New York Times
Third court blocks Donald Trump birthright citizenship order nationwide after Supreme Court decision
MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Are the ICE detainees and deported due to racial targeting?
Monday, June 16, 2025
Trump's abuse of power: he targets Democrat-run cities for ICE raids avoids Texas (Dallas) and Miami
While Trump is only focusing on Democratic run cities...his abuse of power for political purposes is pretty obvious. I conducted a brief AI search and reviewed the data sources they utilized. Texas, which is run by the GOP, has an estimated 1.7 million undocumented migrants;(GOP-run Dallas, close to 300 thousand alone). Miami, also run by a GOP mayor, has the "5th largest population of undocumented migrants in the US." Trump directs ICE to expand deportations in Democratic-run cities
The thought did not escape my mind that if Trump cracks down on just blue states and cities, the only sanctuaries left will be red states and cities, because they too have huge populations of "unauthorized" migrants..
For GOP run Florida over 700K. Profile of the Unauthorized Population - fl | migrationpolicy.org
However, Miami is run by a GOP mayor and has the 5th largest population of undocumented in the US. https://www.miamiherald.com/.../pol.../article131785114.html
How many immigrants live in Houston, Texas without legal permission? Nearly half a million. Mayor is a Democrat
1.7 million in Texas 1.7 million undocumented immigrants live in Texas
In Dallas, Mayor, GOP.(became a Republican in September) estimated 300 K undocumented migrants https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrant-population/county/48113#:~:text=Profile%20of%20the%20Unauthorized%20Population,34
Friday, June 13, 2025
TACO Trump backs off mass deportations policies Update 6/21/2025
Update 7/2/2025: Federal judges block Trump's attempt to end asylum and to deport migrants under temporary protective status. Judge Blocks Trump's Bid to Deny Migrants Asylum
Update: 6/21/25 Actualización 20/06/2025 TACO TACO. Se retractó de su decisión y los trabajadores hoteleros y agrícolas vuelven a ser blanco de ICE. Trump reversed himself again: Hotel and farm workers are once again fair game for ICE. https://www.axios.com/2025/06/19/trump-immigration-raids-farms-hotels-border-czar
Update 6/16/2025: Trump issued the memo to exempt restaurant, hotel, and farm workers from ICE raids. That was clearly a political decision since owners of those establishments are often his base supporters. Left out of his memo were those engaged in construction or services to homes and health care. TACO Trump strikes again . https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-immigration-officials-told-largely-pause-raids-farms-hotels-nyt-reports-2025-06-14/ Trump emitió el memorando para eximir a los trabajadores de restaurantes, hoteles y granjas de las redadas de ICE. Fue claramente una decisión política, ya que los dueños de esos establecimientos suelen ser sus simpatizantes. Excluyó del memorando a quienes trabajan en la construcción o en servicios para el hogar y la salud. TACO Trump ataca de nuevo. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-immigration-officials-told-largely-pause-raids-farms-hotels-nyt-reports-2025-06-14/
I am torn between relief, living in a county with tourism and skiers as one economic engine and ranching still a major occupation, and sad he was so late recognizing what he had been warned about for so long was reality. ...sad for those already deported. However, I am not sure if his less-than-bright Kristi Noem. Secretary of Homeland Security has gotten the memo yet? Lost in the violent takedown of Sen. Padilla, at her presser in LA, was what she said before the takedown was motivating her rabid devotion to mass deportation of non-criminal migrants, which was to "liberate California from the socialists" and "burdensome leadership" of Gov. Newsom and Mayor Bass. https://time.com/7293667/alex-padilla-noem-los-angeles/ I would like to see how that reasoning would stand up in any court, but it is revealing of the true political motives of the federalization of the military to carry out the Trump policies. It was not to protect its citizens, but to advance an ideology over the objections of adversaries.. Calling Gov. Newsom and Mayor Bass socialists is an ideological slur similar to the left calling MAGA neo Nazis..
https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/backing-down-trump-modifies.html TACO Trump
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Manifestantes anti-ICE, ¡cuidado! No le den a Trump una excusa para fascistas .updated 6 21 2025
Updated: go to https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/06/birthright-citizenship-supreme-court.html Decisión de la Corte Suprema sobre ciudadanía por derecho de nacimiento, 27 de junio de 2025
Update 6/21/2025 6/21/25 Actualización 20/06/2025 TACO TACO. Se retractó de su decisión y los trabajadores hoteleros y agrícolas vuelven a ser blanco de ICE. Trump reversed himself again: Hotel and farm workers are once again fair game for ICE. https://www.axios.com/2025/06/19/trump-immigration-raids-farms-hotels-border-czar
Update: Si cree que su inquilino está siendo arrestado injustamente por el ICE, pídale que le grite su fecha de nacimiento para que, al menos, pueda reportar su nombre y fecha de nacimiento a ciertas agencias encargadas de rastrear su paradero. Una agencia que sí recibe información sobre las actividades del ICE se encuentra en una publicación anterior: https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/11/mass-deportations-colorado-is-ground.html
Update 6/16/2025 Trump emitió el memorando para eximir a los trabajadores de restaurantes, hoteles y granjas de las redadas de ICE. Fue claramente una decisión política, ya que los dueños de esos establecimientos suelen ser sus simpatizantes. Excluyó del memorando a quienes trabajan en la construcción o en servicios para el hogar y la salud. TACO Trump ataca de nuevo. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-immigration-officials-told-largely-pause-raids-farms-hotels-nyt-reports-2025-06-14/
Manifestantes anti-ICE, ¡cuidado! No le den a Trump una excusa para satisfacer sus instintos fascistas enviando marines. Usará la violencia continua como excusa. Este es el mismo presidente que, durante su primer mandato, quería que militares en activo dispararan en las piernas a los manifestantes de Black Lives Matter, pero solo su entorno lo detuvo. Ahora, nadie a su alrededor lo detendría. No hay nada que preferiría hacer para consolidar su poder e inspirar aún más a su base antiinmigrante. Quiere ser violento. Tampoco se ganará siendo violento en las calles. El hecho de que haya llamado a la Guardia Nacional sin la solicitud del gobernador de California ya es un paso más hacia el fascismo, porque afirman que esto es una rebelión, una insurrección, una invasión o amenazas de guerra... Quiere convertir a Estados Unidos en un estado policial. Trump actuará primero ilegalmente y luego, si la opinión pública y los tribunales se vuelven en su contra, recurrirá a la ley. Los disturbios violentos no son una insurrección. Ignorar el debido proceso para deportar a migrantes que alegan que una invasión venezolana no fue una invasión ni una insurrección. Le gusta la violencia cometida por personas blancas, como lo demostró el 6 de enero, y no por personas de color, como lo demuestra su instinto en la historia de BlackLives Matter y George Floyd. Aprenda de Martin Luther King sobre cómo llevar a cabo la desobediencia civil.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
The best word to describe Trump's big beautiful bill: irresponsible
As Trump fights for his big beautiful bill, there is one word that describes it: irresponsible ...irresponsible for the national debt and for those who need health care they cannot afford. It should be renamed as A big irresponsible bill. The main culprit, tax breaks for the rich. The word, irresponsible, should be tied to any criticism of this legislation and those who support it. From my dear friend Google AI, summing up the Congressional Budget Office of their findings. The CBO is a nonpartisan service to Congress members. Here's a summary of the CBO analysis of the "Big Beautiful Bill," also known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which is the subject of discussion and analysis in the provided search results:
One big part of the bill is the Golden Dome development, which is geared to the same defense against missile attacks like that Israel has with their Iron Dome. I am no expert on such technology, but I do have a question. If this takes years to develop, will the technology or the goal be obsolete when it is done, and will this be able to handle the real threat that hovers over us in near outer space, not just from missiles lobbed from China or Iran ? Is anyone looking at this, or is this just being glossed over as sounding good?
Overall Impact per Google AI:
Increased Deficit: The CBO estimates the bill would increase the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion over a decade, driven primarily by tax breaks, according to Fortune.
Income Inequality: The bill's distributional effects favor higher-income households. The CBO estimates household resources would decrease by 2-4% for the lowest-income decile (mainly due to cuts to Medicaid and SNAP), while increasing by 4-2% for the highest-income decile, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Key Provisions and Effects:
Tax Cuts: The bill includes significant tax cuts, particularly benefiting wealthy Americans, that are the main driver of the deficit increase, according to Fortune.
Medicaid and SNAP Cuts: The bill proposes cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), aimed at reducing spending by $1 trillion over a decade, according to Fortune.
The CBO estimates these cuts could lead to more than 7 million people losing Medicaid coverage.
Extending 2017 Tax Cuts: The bill would extend the Trump administration's 2017 tax cuts, contributing to the projected increase in the national debt.
Other Provisions: The bill also includes provisions related to border security, such as funding for the border wall and hiring more enforcement officers, and new tax deductions for tips, Social Security benefits, and overtime pay.
Note: This is a preliminary CBO analysis, and the bill's legislative text and potential impacts are subject to change as negotiations continue in Congress.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-golden-dome-missile-defense-china-russia-reaction/
Golden Dome AI google summary:
The "Golden Dome" refers to a new, ambitious space-based missile defense system planned for the United States. It's designed to protect the country from long-range and hypersonic missile threats, and is inspired by Israel's Iron Dome.
Here's a more detailed look:
- The Golden Dome aims to create a layered defense shield that can detect and intercept missiles at all stages of flight, from before launch to their final descent.
- The system is envisioned to include ground and space-based capabilities, potentially involving a large number of satellites for tracking and attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers.
- While inspired by Israel's Iron Dome, the Golden Dome is significantly broader in scope, aiming to protect the entire U.S. territory from advanced missile threats.
- The project is expected to be completed within three years and cost approximately $175 billion. The U.S. Space Force is expected to play a central role, according to SpaceNews, and defense contractors like SpaceX are reportedly vying for involvement.
- The Golden Dome initiative is a major part of President Trump's vision for deterring adversaries from attacking the U.S. homeland.
- Some experts have expressed concerns about the project's timeline, feasibility, and cost, according to Wikipedia.
- A comprehensive opinion piece that ties the big beautiful bill to corruption, Medicaid, feeding the kids, dictatorship, and much more:
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