Sanctuary State Illinois: Illegal Alien Convicted of Raping Three Women After Failing to Be Deported
From Breithbarth
(WCSO)
An illegal alien who failed to be deported in 2012 was convicted and sentenced this week for the rape of two women and a third, now deceased, whom he admitted to raping.
Miguel Luna, a 37-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, was sentenced to 80 years in prison after being convicted of raping two women in 2015 and 2016, according to the Chicago Tribune. A third woman whom the illegal alien raped has since died, though prosecutors revealed evidence showing Luna admitting to the rape.
Luna had an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) final order for removal placed on him in 2012 before the rapes occurred, but the deportation order was never honored. Illinois is, for the most part, a sanctuary state where illegal aliens are protected from being deported.
Judge David Carlson laid into the illegal alien as he passed down the 80-year prison sentence.
“You were free to do these acts … whether through misguided political correctness or people who do not believe in laws or borders,” Carlson told Luna, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“One thing I can do with the sentence is show that the laws we believe in here, maybe this won’t happen again, maybe that’s a little bit of closure,” Carlson said.
The illegal alien is mandated to serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence and he must register as a sex offender should he ever be released from prison.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
President Trump tweeted a video Tuesday evening of then-Sen. Barack Obama condemning illegal immigration while adding that the United States cannot let unvetted people enter the country.
In the video, which dates back to 2005, Obama said, “We are a generous and welcoming people here in the United States but those that enter the country illegally and those that employ them disrespect the rule of law and they are showing disregard for those who are following the law.”(RELATED: Pence: ‘Inconceivable’ Middle Easterners Not Part Of Caravan)
“We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently and lawfully to become immigrants in this country,” he added.
False accusations ruin lives and bring indescribable heartache. We hear a lot about rape and sexual assault victims, but rarely do we hear of the injustices and pain endured by those falsely accused of such crimes, the silent sufferers of cruelty and malice.
The confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh have brought into focus a great divide in this country between those who choose to believe any allegation a woman makes and those who value presumption of innocence when a man is accused of rape. Many of us aren’t willing to discard due process simply because feminists demand it — we have experienced firsthand the devastation that follows in the wake of false accusations, particularly regarding rape, sexual assault, and molestation.
After America was subjected to the insanity surrounding the Kavanaugh hearings, I posted on Twitter a call to hear the stories of the falsely accused, voices that are rarely heard or respected. You can scan the many responses I received in the thread to that tweet.
These aren’t cases in which the accuser was credible but the allegations simply could not be proved, something that happens in our courtrooms across the country, to the frustration of accusers who know they are telling the truth but the perpetrator walks free. Justice is sometimes elusive despite our best efforts. The stories I’m hearing are about lies told to exert control — they’re about evil.
As we have seen, there are cases when a woman is automatically believed simply because she is a woman, despite having zero corroborating evidence. One such account in the news is that of Gregory Counts and VanDyke Perry, who were sentenced to decades in jail on rape and other charges despite the investigators having no physical evidence.
This lack of physical evidence sometimes happens in trials like these, but there must be some kind of supporting evidence. They didn’t have any. The prosecution’s case mostly relied on the woman’s testimony, which, as with Christine Blasey Ford’s against Kavanaugh, was full of inconsistencies.
Several years ago, my husband was a juror in a rape trial held in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. When the jury started deliberating, only two jurors found him not guilty — my husband and another man. The other jurors were incensed and pressured them to change their verdict. My husband refused, saying the prosecutor simply had not proved her case and relied on the woman’s incoherent testimony. He was horrified when most of the other jurors said, “That’s true, but the risk is too high — we simply can’t let a potential rapist back on the streets.”
The angry jurors pummeled them for hours to change their minds, and finally the man who had stood with my husband succumbed and agreed to cast a guilty verdict. All eyes turned on my husband. He was the one holdout. The pressure was intense, but he refused to budge. He went through the case with them, pointing out holes in testimony, inconsistencies in the timeline, and the overall lack of evidence. In light of little evidence, my husband had to presume innocence and vote not guilty. He understood that, as frustrating as it might be, it is better to let a guilty man go free than put an innocent man behind bars and ruin his life forever.
We’ve heard such cases shrugged off by the media as they claim that only 2 percent of rape allegations are false, but Brent Turvey, an expert in criminal law, disagrees. In his 2017 book on the topic, he cited research, police reports, and studies to show that the number is much higher. One study even had false “sexual assault” allegations as high as 40 percent. Turvey wrote that in the 1990s, the FBI registered false accusations of “rape or attempted rape” at 8 percent. As cited in the Washington Examiner,
“There is no shortage of politicians, victims’ advocates and news articles claiming that the nationwide false report for rape and sexual assault is almost nonexistent, presenting a figure of around 2 percent,” writes Mr. Turvey, who directs the Forensic Criminology Institute. “This figure is not only inaccurate, but also it has no basis in reality. Reporting it publicly as a valid frequency rate with any empirical basis is either scientifically negligent or fraudulent.”
By downplaying the number of false accusations, the media allow victims of this heinous act to be ignored and silenced, their reputations ruined with no recourse to find redemption. The result is depression, anger, disrupted relationships, and even suicide.
One man who was falsely accused of rape told me he felt hopeless after being grilled by the police: “I left the station in emotional shambles. In the following days my depression sunk to depths as far as considering taking my own life. This was something I was completely innocent of, yet my life was about to be ruined.”
Another man said he felt shut down, defenseless before a false accusation of rape: “Aside from the right to make a statement, I was denied all of my legal rights—my employer lied about it, broke laws, and threw me out the door. Feminists claim employers don't take allegations seriously. They're lying. I attempted suicide and spent a week hospitalized.”
Other men, several in the military, have described the anguish of facing false sexual assault and rape charges — police showing up at their workplace, employers treating them as if they were guilty, onlookers believing the accusation and treating them as an outcast despite being found innocent.
A typical place in which false accusations occur, besides the workplace, is the home, especially when separated or divorced parents are fighting for custody rights. While there are many instances of actual abuse that are never proven — to the frustration of mothers or fathers who have to continue to send their children into a threatening situation — family law is rife with false allegations.
One father who contacted me shared a horrifying account that haunts his family to this day. The mother of his son accused him of sexually molesting the 4-year-old boy. She coached the child to say things the father couldn’t bear to repeat even after all this time. The allegations were found to be false, fabricated by a mother bent on manipulation and control.
“I am the ‘survivor’ (if you can call it that) of horrible, malicious, and ‘conveniently timed’ accusations of sexual assault,” he told me. “Those accusations and the storm they wrought were the most painful and traumatic events of my life, and the lives of my family. It changed us forever, and will haunt us in ways I’m sure we will never be able to fully see or understand for the rest of our lives.”
The circus of the last few weeks brought up painful memories for him: “Watching what is happening to Brett Kavanaugh and his family has been traumatic, especially for me, and has brought so many old feelings and pain to the surface. And watching those carry it out, and the millions of people and hundreds of media personalities simply stand by and cheer it on, is so deeply hurtful I cannot adequately find the words to explain.”
Listening to people claim that women just need to be believed is not just silly, it’s dangerous. Ask the Duke Lacrosse team. Listening to people claim that women (or men for that matter) don’t lie about such things is such a lie in and of itself that should be patently obvious.
Listening to people claim that since this is not a court of law, and there is somehow a different standard that needs to be applied when it comes to allegations such as this is so enraging I could barely sit and listen to it without screaming at my TV or cell phone when reading it. No one who has ever been publicly accused of such things will ever believe that [sic]
Listening to people claim that Brett Kavanaugh’s anger was a sure sign of his guilt was galling. No person who has ever been falsely accused of sexual assault, especially so publicly, would be anything BUT enraged and indignant, and in particular, at those they believe are guilty of orchestrating it.
He said he didn’t know if Ford believes what she alleges or not:
How could I? But I saw that look in Brett’s eyes—I saw the way he looked at those Democratic Senators—and I felt every ounce of his rage just the same way I felt mine years ago. I recognized it because I have been there. I lived it. I saw the pain in his wife’s face as he testified. I have seen that too. I saw his mother weeping. I saw that too. He was telling the truth and it’s the very nature of his anger and indignation, the way he expressed it, and the way he directed it to those he knew were responsible that reveals it. It is EXACTLY the way one would respond to such false accusations. My heart aches for him, his family, his friends and colleagues who all know the truth.
All false accusations of criminality are wrong, but especially when they are made public. The painful effects are imprinted on the victim’s life as others have already made judgments about him. Many people speak of the bravery of Ford and how she will leave a legacy that will encourage all women to come forward with their accusations of abuse. Sadly, this isn’t her legacy. Her legacy is carved into the hearts of the Kavanaugh family — it’s a legacy of grief and unwarranted shame.
The greatest gift America can give the Kavanaugh family is to stop saying Ford is credible and to remove all shame by believing his innocence because he was never even remotely found guilty.
Ford’s allegations might be a case of simply not being able to prove something that actually happened, but given the orchestration, conflicting testimonies, contact with senators and the press instead of law enforcement, political game-playing, zero corroborating evidence, and emotional display that reeked of fakery and inauthenticity, it seems more like false accusation than failure to prove. This possibility should be further investigated to find out if she lied.
While we should have empathy for victims, that empathy does not stop with those who suffered rape and sexual assault. It should extend to the falsely accused, because to be forced to prove that you didn’t do such an evil thing is another kind of rape — it’s rape of the soul.
We want victims of rape to feel free to come forward, but we also need to hold those who knowingly bring false accusations to account. We can all learn wisdom from ancient religious writings on this subject. One such text is from Deuteronomy:
If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime, both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time. The judges shall investigate thoroughly and if the witness is proven to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother, you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother.
You must purge the evil from among you. Then the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything so evil among you. You must show no pity (Deuteronomy 19:16-21).
If you want to know whether or not an idea has merit, pay attention to how much the establishment opposes it.
While it was not true that "Christians" murdered "millions" of women during the witch hunts in Europe during the last millennium (that figure was invented by feminists in the late 1800s), it is true that the Catholic Church included in its official definition of "witch" anyone with a practical knowledge of herbs because "those who used herbs for cures did so only through a pact with the Devil, either explicit or implicit."
That grand tradition of the establishment vs natural healing, and the persecution of those who practice natural medicine is carried on today by the American Medical Association, Big Pharma and their business partners and enforcement wing, the FDA.
This was demonstrated on Sept. 20, 1999, when Dr. Hulda Clark was arrested in San Diego and extradited in early October to Indiana, where she was charged with practicing medicine without a license.
Indiana authorities claimed she was doing the same thing in Nashville, Indiana, in the early 1990s, which amounted to practicing medicine without a license. A warrant for her arrest was issued in 1993. According to the Indiana legal code, Dr. Clark was holding herself out to the public as being engaged in:
The diagnosis, treatment, correction, or prevention of disease and ailments of human beings
The suggestion, recommendation or prescription or administration of a form of treatment
The prevention of any physical, mental or functional ailment or defect of any person
If any of those sound familiar to you, it's because those are the same restrictions placed by the FDA on manufacturers and sellers of health supplements, who are expressly not allowed to tell you that any of them cure or prevent any disease, even if science proves that indeed they do.
After being arrested and sent to Indiana, Dr. Clark appeared in court, pleaded not guilty and was released on a $10,000 bond. A judge ruled that her rights had been violated due to the delay in arresting and prosecuting her, so the charges were dismissed.
Dr. Clark returned to California and her clinic in Mexico and continued to promote natural cures for cancer and disease prevention until her death on Sept. 3, 2009.
What was so incredibly harmful to the establishment that Dr. Clark had to be persecuted and jailed? Well, Dr. Clark wrote several books, and in one of them, The Cure for All Diseases, Dr. Clark revealed the following, for which she went to jail:
High blood pressure comes from cadmium poisoning, which causes the adrenal glands to malfunction and engender high blood pressure. In order to get rid of cadmium, Dr. Clark recommended a thorough kidney cleanse to heal the adrenal glands.
Dr. Clark found that mold is a persistent cause of sickness and that most bags of tea contain mold. Buy tea in bulk only and avoid mold and its attendant illnesses.
Sleep breathing is regulated by acid in the blood. When we consume acidic processed foods and carbonated beverages, it causes us to lose sleep and even have sleep apnea (which has indeed increased since the explosion of soda drinking).
Depression is caused by chlorine as an allergen to the brain, and bromides as well. Avoid this group of chemicals which appear in bleaches and brominated flour, for example.
Aluminum is found in the brains of most people with Alzheimer's, and if you want to chelate the aluminum from your brain, use thioctic acid (now called alpha-lipoic acid) to remove it and prevent Alzheimer's.
Memory loss is not due to "aging." It is due to a deteriorating liver from toxicity and solvents in the environment. To reverse liver aging and cleanse your liver of prevalent chemicals and maintain your power of recall, it's no coincidence that alpha-lipoic acid works for this purpose as well. Also, add selenium. I use this formula each day.
For ultimate heart health and to get more oxygen to the blood, brain and tissues, use niacin, which increases oxygen to the blood and opens blood vessels.
What about cancer?
Dr. Clark believed parasites are present in all people with cancers. She also believed that propyl alcohol is a growth factor for parasites. Therefore if we remove propyl alcohol from our lives, cancer will never come to be in our bodies.
All store-bought shampoos have propyl or isopropyl alcohol in them, even if it is not on the ingredient label. Other names are propanol, isopropanol. For a "health" shampoo, it must be specifically labeled that it does not contain it.
Also, carbonated beverages, decaf coffee, bottled water, granolas, hairspray and synthetic vitamins can have propyl alcohol in them.
Dr. Clark recommended a recipe to eliminate parasites that included black walnut hull, wormwood capsules and fresh ground cloves, all very powerful antibiotics and antioxidants in and of themselves.
To clear molds and aflatoxins, which is a mycotoxin about which I have written in the past, you can use 3 grams a day of vitamin C and also cysteine and betaine. But the surest way to kill off mycotoxins is with colloidal silver.
Colloidal silver has been shown to be highly effective against this family of pathogens. The size of the silver particles is key. They have to be small enough to penetrate deep into the cells and tissues where these insidious "stealth pathogens" are known to hide.
General longevity and well-being
In general, Dr. Clark believed that removing mercury fillings and preventing the attendant poisons introduced into the body could relieve many maladies, illnesses, fatigue, memory loss and even improve eyesight and hearing.
She believed that you should drink a mixture of lemon juice, vinegar and added honey because it will add years to your life.
For prostate health, Dr. Clark pointed to nickel, which is plentiful in our soil and collects in the urinary tract and the prostate. Stainless steel utensils are 8 percent nickel. Nickel is fat soluble and gets stored in organs as well, so there can be a supply of it "feeding" your prostate enlargement unless you get rid of it. Histidine is a nickel chelator so take 500 mg once a day for a three weeks. Nickel also poisons enzymes that rely on zinc, so take extra zinc as well.
President Donald Trump speaks to the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons annual meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington Thursday.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
“Trump’s successes in reducing the cost of taxes and regulations, rebuilding our military, avoiding wars of choice and changing the courts rival those of all previous Republican presidents,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.
“Trump has an advantage over Ronald Reagan: he has a Reagan Republican House and Senate while Reagan had a [Democratic Speaker] Tip O’Neill House and a pre-Reagan Republican Senate. Reagan and [former GOP Speaker] Newt Gingrich were the ice breakers that allowed Trump’s victories to grow in number and significance,” he added.
Unlike the Year One list which included many proposals and orders still to be acted on, the new collection includes dozens of actions already in place, signed legislation and enforced executive orders.
For example, while the Year One list bragged about the administration’s efforts to rewrite the much-maligned NAFTA trade deal with Canada and Mexico, the Year Two list said, “Negotiated an historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace NAFTA.”
In December, Secrets reported on the first list of White House accomplishments.
And shockingly the NAFTA achievement is presented as a sidebar to the larger achievement that reads, “President Trump is negotiating and renegotiating better trade deals, achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade for the United States.” Under that umbrella are eight trade deals cut with Japan, South Korea, Europe and China.
“President Trump is a truly unique leader in American history. He’s a kid from Queens who became an international business leader and made billions by getting things when no one said he could,” said Trump’s 2016 campaign pollster John McLaughlin.
“They told him he couldn’t be president and beat the establishment and he did. For two years the establishment is telling him he can’t do things in Washington and he’s succeeding in spite of them. He never retreats. He doesn’t back up. He’s relentless. He just wins,” he added.
Comparing the two years shows that the latest has an expanded group of economic achievements while the pro-life category was folded into the health care section.
Along the way, there have been some disappointments such as failing to replace Obamacare, fund a big infrastructure plan and build the border wall.
But the White House believes that despite a lack of media coverage of his accomplishments, supporters know about them and will head to the voting polls to help the GOP maintain control of the House and keep the president on what CNN dubbed a “winning streak.”
In the Washington Post Friday, former Bush speechwriter and columnist Marc Thiessen agreed, and said that Trump has proven to be successful at keeping his campaign promises. He wrote, “The fact is, in his first two years, Trump has compiled a remarkable record of presidential promise-keeping.”
THE LIST
Economic Growth
4.2 percent growth in the second quarter of 2018.
For the first time in more than a decade, growth is projected to exceed 3 percent over the calendar year.
Jobs
4 million new jobs have been created since the election, and more than 3.5 million since Trump took office.
More Americans are employed now than ever before in our history.
Jobless claims at lowest level in nearly five decades.
The economy has achieved the longest positive job-growth streak on record.
Job openings are at an all-time high and outnumber job seekers for the first time on record.
Unemployment claims at 50 year low
African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American unemployment rates have all recently reached record lows.
--African-American unemployment hit a record low of 5.9 percent in May 2018. --Hispanic unemployment at 4.5 percent. --Asian-American unemployment at record low of 2 percent.
Women’s unemployment recently at lowest rate in nearly 65 years.
--Female unemployment dropped to 3.6 percent in May 2018, the lowest since October 1953.
Youth unemployment recently reached its lowest level in more than 50 years.
--July 2018’s youth unemployment rate of 9.2 percent was the lowest since July 1966.
Veterans’ unemployment recently hit its lowest level in nearly two decades.
--July 2018’s veterans’ unemployment rate of 3.0 percent matched the lowest rate since May 2001.
Unemployment rate for Americans without a high school diploma recently reached a record low.
Rate for disabled Americans recently hit a record low.
Blue-collar jobs recently grew at the fastest rate in more than three decades.
Poll found that 85 percent of blue-collar workers believe their lives are headed “in the right direction.”
--68 percent reported receiving a pay increase in the past year.
Last year, job satisfaction among American workers hit its highest level since 2005.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job.
--Optimism about the availability of good jobs has grown by 25 percent.
Added more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since the election.
--Manufacturing employment is growing at its fastest pace in more than two decades.
100,000 new jobs supporting the production & transport of oil & natural gas.
American Income
Median household income rose to $61,372 in 2017, a post-recession high.
Wages up in August by their fastest rate since June 2009.
Paychecks rose by 3.3 percent between 2016 and 2017, the most in a decade.
Council of Economic Advisers found that real wage compensation has grown by 1.4 percent over the past year.
Some 3.9 million Americans off food stamps since the election.
Median income for Hispanic-Americans rose by 3.7 percent and surpassed $50,000 for the first time ever in history.
--Home-ownership among Hispanics is at the highest rate in nearly a decade.
Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have reached their lowest levels ever recorded.
American Optimism
Small business optimism has hit historic highs.
--NFIB’s small business optimism index broke a 35 year-old record in August. --SurveyMonkey/CNBC’s small business confidence survey for Q3 of 2018 matched its all-time high.
Manufacturers are more confident than ever.
--95 percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future, the highest ever.
Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high.
12 percent of Americans rate the economy as the most significant problem facing our country, the lowest level on record.
Confidence in the economy is near a two-decade high, with 51 percent rating the economy as good or excellent.
American Business
Investment is flooding back into the United States due to the tax cuts.
--Over $450 billion dollars has already poured back into the U.S., including more than $300 billion in the first quarter of 2018.
Retail sales have surged. Commerce Department figures from August show that retail sales increased 0.5 percent in July 2018, an increase of 6.4 percent from July 2017.
ISM’s index of manufacturing scored its highest reading in 14 years.
Worker productivity is the highest it has been in more than three years.
Steel and aluminum producers are re-opening.
Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all notched record highs.
--Dow hit record highs 70 times in 2017 alone, the most ever recorded in one year. Deregulation
Achieved massive deregulation at a rapid pace, completing 22 deregulatory actions to every one regulatory action during his first year in office.
Signed legislation to roll back costly and harmful provisions of Dodd-Frank, providing relief to credit unions, and community and regional banks.
Federal agencies achieved more than $8 billion in lifetime net regulatory cost savings.
Rolled back Obama’s burdensome Waters of the U.S. rule.
Used the Congressional Review Act to repeal regulations more times than in history.
Tax Cuts
Biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history by signing the Tax Cuts and Jobs act into law.
--Provided more than $5.5 trillion in gross tax cuts, nearly 60 percent of which will go to families. --Increased the exemption for the death tax to help save Family Farms & Small Business. --Nearly doubled the standard deduction for individuals and families. --Enabled vast majority of American families will be able to file their taxes on a single page by claiming the standard deduction. --Doubled the child tax credit to help lessen the financial burden of raising a family. --Lowered America’s corporate tax rate from the highest in the developed world to allow American businesses to compete and win. --Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income. --Cut dozens of special interest tax breaks and closed loopholes for the wealthy.
9 in 10 American workers are expected see an increase in their paychecks thanks to the tax cuts, according to the Treasury Department.
More than 6 million of American workers have received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to tax cuts.
Over 100 utility companies have lowered electric, gas, or water rates thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Ernst & Young found 89 percent of companies planned to increase worker compensation thanks to the Trump tax cuts.
Established opportunity zones to spur investment in left behind communities.
Worker Development
Established a National Council for the American Worker to develop a national strategy for training and retraining America’s workers for high-demand industries.
Employers have signed Trump’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” committing to train or retrain more than 4.2 million workers and students.
Signed the first Perkins CTE reauthorization since 2006, authorizing more than $1 billion for states each year to fund vocational and career education programs.
Executive order expanding apprenticeship opportunities for students and workers.
Domestic Infrastructure
Proposed infrastructure plan would utilize $200 billion in Federal funds to spur at least $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment across the country.
Executive order expediting environmental reviews and approvals for high priority infrastructure projects.
Federal agencies have signed the One Federal Decision Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) streamlining the federal permitting process for infrastructure projects.
Rural prosperity task force and signed an executive order to help expand broadband access in rural areas.
Health Care
Signed an executive order to help minimize the financial burden felt by American households Signed legislation to improve the National Suicide Hotline.
Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments.
Signed Right-to-Try legislation, expanding health care options for terminally ill patients.
Enacted changes to the Medicare 340B program, saving seniors an estimated $320 million on drugs in 2018 alone.
FDA set a new record for generic drug approvals in 2017, saving consumers nearly $9 billion.
Released a blueprint to drive down drug prices for American patients, leading multiple major drug companies to announce they will freeze or reverse price increases.
Expanded short-term, limited-duration health plans.
Let more employers to form Association Health Plans, enabling more small businesses to join together and affordably provide health insurance to their employees.
Signed legislation repealing Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known as the “death panels.”
USDA invested more than $1 billion in rural health care in 2017, improving access to health care for 2.5 million people in rural communities across 41 states
Proposed Title X rule to help ensure taxpayers do not fund the abortion industry in violation of the law.
Reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy to keep foreign aid from supporting the global abortion industry.
HHS formed a new division over protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom.
Overturned Obama administration’s midnight regulation prohibiting states from defunding certain abortion facilities.
Signed executive order to help ensure that religious organizations are not forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs by complying with Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate or shutting their doors.
Combating Opioids
Chaired meeting the 73rd General Session of the United Nations discussing the worldwide drug problem with international leaders.
Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand, introducing new measures to keep dangerous drugs out of our communities.
$6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic.
DEA conducted a surge in April 2018 that arrested 28 medical professions and revoked 147 registrations for prescribing too many opioids.
Brought the “Prescribed to Death” memorial to President’s Park near the White House, helping raise awareness about the human toll of the opioid crisis.
Helped reduce high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent in 2017.
Opioid Summit on the administration-wide efforts to combat the opioid crisis.
Launched a national public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction.
Created a Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis which recommended a number of pathways to tackle the opioid crisis.
Led two National Prescription Drug Take Back Days in 2017 and 2018, collecting a record number of expired and unneeded prescription drugs each time.
$485 million targeted grants in FY 2017 to help areas hit hardest by the opioid crisis.
Signed INTERDICT Act, strengthening efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids before they reach our communities.
DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.
Declared the opioid crisis a Nationwide Public Health Emergency in October 2017.
Law and order
More U.S. Circuit Court judges confirmed in the first year in office than ever.
Confirmed more than two dozen U. S. Circuit Court judges.
Followed through on the promise to nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will adhere to the Constitution.
--Nominated and confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Signed an executive order directing the Attorney General to develop a strategy to more effectively prosecute people who commit crimes against law enforcement officers.
Launched an evaluation of grant programs to make sure they prioritize the protection and safety of law enforcement officers.
Established a task force to reduce crime and restore public safety in communities across Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.
Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.
Violent crime decreased in 2017 according to FBI statistics.
$137 million in grants through the COPS Hiring Program to preserve jobs, increase community policing capacities, and support crime prevention efforts.
Enhanced and updated the Project Safe Neighborhoods to help reduce violent crime.
Signed legislation making it easier to target websites that enable sex trafficking and strengthened penalties for people who promote or facilitate prostitution.
Created an interagency task force working around the clock to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent human trafficking.
Conducted Operation Cross Country XI to combat human trafficking, rescuing 84 children and arresting 120 human traffickers.
Encouraged federal prosecutors to use the death penalty when possible in the fight against the trafficking of deadly drugs.
New rule effectively banning bump stock sales in the United States.
Border Security and Immigration
Secured $1.6 billion for border wall construction in the March 2018 omnibus bill.
Construction of a 14-mile section of border wall began near San Diego.
Worked to protect American communities from the threat posed by the vile MS-13 gang.
--ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division arrested 796 MS-13 members and associates in FY 2017, an 83 percent increase from the prior year. --Justice worked with partners in Central America to secure criminal charges against more than 4,000 MS-13 members. --Border Patrol agents arrested 228 illegal aliens affiliated with MS-13 in FY 2017.
Fighting to stop the scourge of illegal drugs at our border.
--ICE HSI seized more than 980,000 pounds of narcotics in FY 2017, including 2,370 pounds of fentanyl and 6,967 pounds of heroin. --ICE HSI dedicated nearly 630,000 investigative hours towards halting the illegal import of fentanyl. --ICE HSI made 11,691 narcotics-related arrests in FY 2017. --Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand introduced new measures to keep dangerous drugs out the United States. --Signed the INTERDICT Act into law, enhancing efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids. --DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers. --DOJ launched their Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.
Released an immigration framework that includes the resources required to secure our borders and close legal loopholes, and repeatedly called on Congress to fix our broken immigration laws.
Authorized the deployment of the National Guard to help secure the border.
Enhanced vetting of individuals entering the U.S. from countries that don’t meet security standards, helping to ensure individuals who pose a threat to our country are identified before they enter.
--These procedures were upheld in a June 2018 Supreme Court hearing.
ICE removed over 226,000 illegal aliens from the United States in 2017.
--ICE rescued or identified over 500 human trafficking victims and over 900 child exploitation victims in 2017 alone.
In 2017, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested more than 127,000 aliens with criminal convictions or charges, responsible for:
--Over 76,000 with dangerous drug offenses. --More than 48,000 with assault offenses. --More than 11,000 with weapons offenses. --More than 5,000 with sexual assault offenses. --More than 2,000 with kidnapping offenses. --Over 1,800 with homicide offenses.
Created the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office in order to support the victims and families affected by illegal alien crime.
More than doubled the number of counties participating in the 287(g) program, which allows jails to detain criminal aliens until they are transferred to ICE custody.
TRADE
Negotiating and renegotiating better trade deals, achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade for the United States.
--Agreed to work with the European Union towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsides. --Deal with the European Union to increase U.S. energy exports to Europe. --Litigated multiple WTO disputes targeting unfair trade practices and upholding our right to enact fair trade laws. --Finalized a revised trade agreement with South Korea, which includes provisions to increase American automobile exports. --Negotiated an historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace NAFTA. --Agreement to begin trade negotiations for a U.S.-Japan trade agreement. --Secured $250 billion in new trade and investment deals in China and $12 billion in Vietnam. --Established a Trade and Investment Working Group with the United Kingdom, laying the groundwork for post-Brexit trade.
Enacted steel and aluminum tariffs to protect our vital steel and aluminum producers and strengthen our national security.
Conducted 82 anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations in 2017 alone.
Confronting China’s unfair trade practices after years of Washington looking the other way.
--25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods imported from China and later imposed an additional 10% tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods. --Conducted an investigation into Chinese forced technology transfers, unfair licensing practices, and intellectual property theft. --Imposed safeguard tariffs to protect domestic washing machines and solar products manufacturers hurt by China’s trade policies.
Withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Secured access to new markets for America’s farmers.
--Recent deal with Mexico included new improvements enabling food and agriculture to trade more fairly. --Recent agreement with the E.U. will reduce barriers and increase trade of American soybeans to Europe. --Won a WTO dispute regarding Indonesia’s unfair restriction of U.S. agricultural exports. --Defended American Tuna fisherman and packagers before the WTO --Opened up Argentina to American pork experts for the first time in a quarter-century --American beef exports have returned to china for the first time in more than a decade.
OK’d up to $12 billion in aid for farmers affected by unfair trade retaliation.
Energy
Presidential Memorandum to clear roadblocks to construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Presidential Memorandum declaring that the Dakota Access Pipeline serves the national interest and initiating the process to complete construction.
Opened up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.
Coal exports up over 60 percent in 2017.
Rolled back the “stream protection rule” to prevent it from harming America’s coal industry.
Cancelled Obama’s anti-coal Clean Power Plan and proposed the Affordable Clean Energy Rule as a replacement.
Withdrew from the job-killing Paris climate agreement, which would have cost the U.S. nearly $3 trillion and led to 6.5 million fewer industrial sector jobs by 2040.
U.S. oil production has achieved its highest level in American history
United States is now the largest crude oil producer in the world.
U.S. has become a net natural gas exporter for the first time in six decades.
Action to expedite the identification and extraction of critical minerals that are vital to the nation’s security and economic prosperity.
Took action to reform National Ambient Air Quality Standards, benefitting American manufacturers.
Rescinded Obama’s hydraulic fracturing rule, which was expected to cost the industry $32 million per year.
Proposed an expansion of offshore drilling as part of an all-of-the above energy strategy.
--Held a lease sale for offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2018.
Got EU to increase its imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States.
Issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
Foreign Policy
Moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Withdrew from Iran deal and immediately began the process of re-imposing sanctions that had been lifted or waived.
--Treasury has issued sanctions targeting Iranian activities and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. --Since enacting sanctions, Iran’s crude exports have fallen off, the value of Iran’s currency has plummeted, and international companies have pulled out of the country. --All nuclear-related sanctions will be back in full force by early November 2018.
Historic summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, bringing beginnings of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula.
--The two leaders have exchanged letters and high-level officials from both sides have met resulting in tremendous progress. --North Korea has halted nuclear and missile tests. --Negotiated the return of the remains of missing-in-action soldiers from the Korean War.
Imposed strong sanctions on Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro and his inner circle.
Executive order preventing those in the U.S. from carrying out certain transactions with the Venezuelan regime, including prohibiting the purchase of the regime’s debt.
Responded to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.
--Rolled out sanctions targeting individuals and entities tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program. --Directed strikes in April 2017 against a Syrian airfield used in a chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. --Joined allies in launching airstrikes in April 2018 against targets associated with Syria’s chemical weapons use.
New Cuba policy that enhanced compliance with U.S. law and held the Cuban regime accountable for political oppression and human rights abuses.
--Treasury and State are working to channel economic activity away from the Cuban regime, particularly the military.
Changed the rules of engagement, empowering commanders to take the fight to ISIS.
--ISIS has lost virtually all of its territory, more than half of which has been lost under Trump. --ISIS’ self-proclaimed capital city, Raqqah, was liberated in October 2017. --All Iraqi territory had been liberated from ISIS.
More than a dozen American hostages have been freed from captivity all of the world.
Action to combat Russia’s malign activities, including their efforts to undermine the sanctity of United States elections.
--Expelled dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, WA. --Banned the use of Kaspersky Labs software on government computers, due to the company’s ties to Russian intelligence. --Imposed sanctions against five Russian entities and three individuals for enabling Russia’s military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber capabilities. --Sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, and 12 companies they own or control, who profit from Russia’s destabilizing activities. --Sanctioned 100 targets in response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and aggression in Eastern Ukraine. --Enhanced support for Ukraine’s Armed Forces to help Ukraine better defend itself.
Helped win U.S. bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Helped win U.S.-Mexico-Canada’s united bid for 2026 World Cup.
Defense
Executive order keeping the detention facilities at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay open.
$700 billion in military funding for FY 2018 and $716 billion for FY 2019.
Largest military pay raise in nearly a decade.
Ordered a Nuclear Posture Review to ensure America’s nuclear forces are up to date and serve as a credible deterrent.
Released America’s first fully articulated cyber strategy in 15 years.
New strategy on national biodefense, which better prepares the nation to defend against biological threats.
Administration has announced that it will use whatever means necessary to protect American citizens and servicemen from unjust prosecution by the International Criminal Court.
Released an America first National Security Strategy.
Put in motion the launch of a Space Force as a new branch of the military and relaunched the National Space Council.
Encouraged North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to increase defense spending to their agree-upon levels.
--In 2017 alone, there was an increase of more than 4.8 percent in defense spending amongst NATO allies. --Every member state has increased defense spending. --Eight NATO allies will reach the 2 percent benchmark by the end of 2018 and 15 allies are on trade to do so by 2024. --NATO allies spent over $42 billion dollars more on defense since 2016.
Executive order to help military spouses find employment as their families deploy domestically and abroad.
Veterans affairs
Signed the VA Accountability Act and expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.
--Delivered more appeals decisions – 81,000 – to veterans in a single year than ever before.
Strengthened protections for individuals who come forward and identify programs occurring within the VA.
Signed legislation that provided $86.5 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the largest dollar amount in history for the VA.
VA MISSION Act, enacting sweeping reform to the VA system that:
--Consolidated and strengthened VA community care programs. --Funding for the Veterans Choice program. --Expanded eligibility for the Family Caregivers Program. --Gave veterans more access to walk-in care. --Strengthened the VA’s ability to recruit and retain quality healthcare professionals. --Enabled the VA to modernize its assets and infrastructure.
Signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act in 2017, which authorized $2.1 billion in addition funds for the Veterans Choice Program.
Worked to shift veterans’ electronic medical records to the same system used by the Department of Defense, a decades old priority.
Issued an executive order requiring the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to submit a joint plan to provide veterans access to access to mental health treatment as they transition to civilian life.
Increased transparency and accountability at the VA by launching an online “Access and Quality Tool,” providing veterans with access to wait time and quality of care data.
Signed legislation to modernize the claims and appeal process at the VA.
Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, providing enhanced educational benefits to veterans, service members, and their family members.
--Lifted a 15-year limit on veterans’ access to their educational benefits.
Created a White House VA Hotline to help veterans and principally staffed it with veterans and direct family members of veterans.
VA employees are being held accountable for poor performance, with more than 4,000 VA employees removed, demoted, and suspended so far.
Signed the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act, increasing the number of VA employees that can assist justice-involved veterans.
