In the lawsuit, the DOJ argues Texas’ construction of buoys in the river violates the Rivers and Harbor Act, as it obstructs the “navigable capacity” of U.S. water. The filing also notes Texas did not obtain a prior permit from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers as required by the act.

The Biden administration is asking the courts to stop Texas from putting any more barriers in the water and to remove the current 1,000-foot stretch of buoys at its own expense.

“Because Texas installed the Floating Barrier without seeking the Corps’ authorization, the Corps and other relevant federal agencies were deprived of the opportunity to evaluate risks the barrier poses to public safety and the environment, mitigate those risks as necessary through the permitting process, and otherwise evaluate whether the project is in the public interest,” the lawsuit said.

Earlier Monday morning, Abbott rebuked the Department of Justice’s threat to sue Texas over the buoy barriers he ordered into the river and welcomed a federal lawsuit, in a hostile letter to President Joe Biden.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-will-see-you-in-court-abbott-tells-president-biden-over-border-buoys/

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Tatiana Laborde, the managing director of SAMU First Response, a relief agency working with the city of Washington to assist the aliens, told The New York Post that they were informed by nonprofit groups on the border that the buses would arrive in D.C. on Saturday instead of New York on Sunday, as initially planned.

This, she believes, was owing to heavy snowfall in the north of the country, which has bought transport to a standstill and left thousands without power.

Madhvi Bahl, an organizer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, also told The New York Times that the buses were rerouted owing to freezing temperatures and road closures.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.theepochtimes.com/busloads-of-illegal-aliens-sent-to-kamala-harriss-home-on-christmas-eve-were-headed-for-ny-officials_4945398.html

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[Disclaimer]

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The post Texas school shooting: Gov. Abbott gives update at Uvalde High first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Revelations about the Shanghai lock down are just unbelievable.  People face arrest if they venture out for any reason.  Their screams from windows and balconies sound like nothing you’ve ever heard.  Twenty five million people are not allowed out of their dwellings.  The streets are empty.  The COVID must be really bad!  It never got quite that bad in California, but another wave is in the wings.  The Mid Term variant.  Some cities are already demanding masks be worn at all indoor facilities, or you can’t come in.  It’s just great for business.

The Chinese don’t seem to care if their citizens are miserable, or starving.  Judging from the nightmarish soundtrack, they’re not happy.  Nobody within earshot is happy.  At least we can hit the mute button, change the channel or turn the noise off.

The brutality being visited upon people’s pets, should they test positive, is abhorrent to Western sensibilities. But they’ve opted for zero COVID, regardless.  We’re not going to say what they’re doing to people’s pets after they test positive here.  The media, the administration and the obnoxious Dr. won’t say a cross word, or even anything that could be construed as criticism of the regime.  There’s an obvious relationship to protect, now matter what they do.  It’s starting to look like they have Carte Blanche.  Where’s Jimmy Carter and his human rights crusade?  The left has changed. A lot.

Fauci is all over the place, again, warning and explaining as if we’re interested.  He doesn’t show up anywhere that might ask him about the communications we’ve been shown.  But he reserves the right to revisit the darkest mandates of the pandemic. Oh yeah, they just might be necessary. You almost hope he tries some draconian nonsense.  Then the occupant would have to read it off a teleprompter, embarrassing everybody but himself.

Some places still have many people roaming around in public, and driving solo, with their masks securely in place.  Either they’ve been frightened by the experts, or they’re modern Pharisees.  We could never be THAT righteous.  But alas, the experts may emerge to declare another health emergency.  It worked last time.

You might have seen the skit the Saudi’s put on television.  If not you probably will.  It’s too depressing to be funny.  It makes you wonder how it’s received by the other world leaders.  It’s just too close to the truth.  He’s at a podium trying to say something coherent, and the actor playing Kamala is a dude in make-up and pantsuit.  Saudi Arabia is an ally.  Nothing like this happens without approval from the ruling class.  It’s sad that they found it funny, but now the whole world is watching.  They probably already were.

Governor Abbott made good on his promise to bus illegals to Washington D. C.  None are going against their will, and presumably they’re treating it like tourism, glad to be among the gleaming monuments rather than running in the mud along the Rio Grand.  As the redhead said, illegals are free to travel throughout the country.  That alone shows how much this bunch cares for the citizens.  But at least some of the “migrants” are out of Texas.  Send them to Baltimore or Philadelphia.  If they thought it was dangerous where they came from…  The enhanced inspections of big rigs at the border turned out to be a bust, and is in the process of being reversed.  Turns out it was going to hurt American citizens and Texans, so the governor dropped it.

The pope is talking, well, something we never heard of and don’t want to know about.  Hopefully, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.  If he does, he must keep some pretty sick company.  You’re forgiven if you fail to be interested.

A pollster that worked for Bill and Hillary has said with current ratings that it’s utterly impossible a second term is in the offing.  We’re still wondering about the impossibility of the first term!  Now that was impossible!

As for Elon Musk buying Twitter wholesale, we’ll have to wait.  There are shoes yet to drop, and the Washington agencies have started some investigations to turn him into a criminal.  Over Tesla!  These electric cars aren’t about the save the planet, and I’m not going to Mars.  In fact with the continuation of the stupid mandates, I’m not flying either.  It was already stupid, But they’ve made it unbearable.

There are fireworks on the Temple Mount, literally.  Turns out Ramadan and the Passover fell at the same time this year.  It must be the third or fourth generation of rock throwers against rubber bullets.  Still, they haven’t learned a thing.

The war in Ukraine?  We’re starting to lose interest, or willingness to expose our senses to the madness of it all.  But don’t worry, the fake administration is on top of it.  Let’s hope it doesn’t escalate.  The Bible doesn’t say it can’t.

Mark

PS: We observed the Passover last evening, and had a great turnout for the cook-out and game day today. The kids are exhausted.  We’re meeting for dinner tonight when more will arrive.  The First Day of Unleavened Bread starts at sundown tonight, and it is an annual Holy Day.

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 15 April 2022 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Beginning May 21, local governments or officials that attempt to impose a mask mandate or impose a limitation inconsistent or conflicting with the Executive Order can be subject to a fine of up to $1,000.

“The Lone Star State continues to defeat COVID-19 through the use of widely-available vaccines, antibody therapeutic drugs, and safe practices utilized by Texans in our communities,” said Governor Abbott. “Texans, not government, should decide their best health practices, which is why masks will not be mandated by public school districts or government entities. We can continue to mitigate COVID-19 while defending Texans’ liberty to choose whether or not they mask up.”

Exempt from the Executive Order are state-supported living centers, government-owned or operated hospitals, Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities, Texas Juvenile Justice Department facilities, and county and municipal jails.

View the Governor’s Executive Order.

Source: https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-issues-executive-order-prohibiting-government-entities-from-mandating-masks

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The Republican governor vowed at a news conference to continue fighting any federal requirements for workers to get inoculated against the coronavirus, saying he believes individual employees should be “protected.”

“Just think of Biden. He says, ‘Don’t make the vaccines divisive.’ Don’t make the vaccines divisive? You are trying to take people’s jobs away over this issue,” the governor said. “You are trying to plunge people into destitution. You are taking away their livelihoods. No one else is doing that. You are the one being divisive about this.”

DeSantis has said he will sue the Biden administration if it enacts a proposal to mandate private businesses to require workers to get vaccinated or undergo weekly coronavirus testing. The mandate would apply to private sector businesses with 100 employees or more.

Biden announced his plan in September but left its implementation up to Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The administration submitted its proposal to the Office of Management and Budget earlier this week.

“Every day, we see more businesses implementing vaccination requirements, and the mounting data shows that they work,” Biden said in a Thursday speech. “Businesses and organizations that are implementing requirements are seeing their vaccination rates rise by an average of 20 percent or more to well over 90 percent. Let’s be clear: Vaccination requirements should not be another issue that divides us.”

The White House has already required all federal workers and contractors to get vaccinated, prompting several major airlines—including American, Southwest and United—to implement such requirements for their staff.

The administration said earlier this week it believes any mandate will withstand legal challenges following Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to sign an executive order banning vaccine mandates in the Lone Star State.

On Tuesday, press secretary Jen Psaki criticized DeSantis and Abbott for their opposition, saying their position is “out of step” with other leaders and only about “politics.”

“Every leader should be focused on supporting efforts to save lives,” she told reporters.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment on DeSantis’ remarks but didn’t receive a response before publication.

DeSantis has been consistently pushing back against COVID-19 requirements during the pandemic, including school mask mandates or vaccine requirements for consumers and businesses.

Ahead of the academic year, DeSantis signed an executive order making face masks optional across the state in schools and leaving it up to parents. His administration has withheld funding from school districts that put such mandates in place.

The Biden administration has also gotten into that issue, providing more than $500,000 in financial assistance to school administrators.

Earlier this week, the Florida Department of Health issued a $3.57 million fine against one county after it fired 14 employees who refused to get vaccinated against the virus.

“It is unacceptable that Leon County violated Florida law, infringed on current and former employees’ medical privacy, and fired loyal public servants because of their personal health decisions,” DeSantis said in a statement.

Leon County Administrator Vincent Long said the county doesn’t believe it violated the law.

“There is a genuine disagreement about the applicability of the statute and rule, and the County will enforce its rights using any remedies available at law, if necessary,” he said in a statement.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ron-desantis-says-biden-s-vaccine-mandates-will-plunge-people-into-destitution/ar-AAPA2l0

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(CNN)With 8,600 migrants remaining under the Del Rio International Bridge, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday officials are using “unprecedented” methods to deter migrants from crossing into the state, including parking Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety vehicles for miles along the border to create a “steel barrier.”

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Migrants crossed the Rio Grande between Texas and Mexico with supplies Thursday as they prepared to spend the night under the international bridge connecting Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune

DEL RIO — Five days after Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated by a group of foreign mercenaries on July 7, 29-year-old Stelin Jean decided to flee the country with his wife and two children — traveling to Bolivia, where many Haitians have arrived recently before starting an arduous overland trek to the United States.

The family was in Panama last month when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, destroying thousands of homes and killing more than 2,000 people. Jean said some of his family members were injured in the earthquake, which only increased their sense of urgency to make it to the United States.

“There are people killing each other in Haiti, there’s just no justice,” said Jean, who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday afternoon after a two-month trek through the jungles of South America and then crossed the Rio Grande at Del Rio to claim asylum. “I just want to live a calm life without any problems, I want to live somewhere where I know there’s justice.”

The family has joined an estimated 12,000 migrants who in recent days have arrived at the border and are now waiting under the Del Rio international bridge, about 150 miles west of San Antonio, to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Most are from Haiti and are seeking asylum in the U.S.

On Friday, Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano declared a local state of disaster and said the city is closing the toll booths on the international bridge connecting the city to Ciudad Acuña to halt traffic across the bridge, as a security measure.

The city later released a statement that said “international traffic will continue as normal” and people could be seen going back and forth on the bridge Friday evening. But late Friday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that the port of entry would temporarily shutter.

“This temporary closure and shift is necessary in order for CBP to respond to urgent safety and security needs presented by an influx of migrants into Del Rio and is effective immediately,” the agency said in a statement. “It will advance and protect national interests and help ensure the safety of the traveling public, commercial traffic, and CBP employees and facilities.”

Traffic that normally uses border bridges into Del Rio will be directed 57 miles east to Eagle Pass, federal officials said. They did not indicate how long the Del Rio closures would last.

Lozano said earlier he had requested assistance from the state to help deter more migrants from entering the city. He said the city expects an additional 8,000 migrants to arrive in the coming days.

The sheer numbers arriving so quickly in Del Rio, a city of about 35,000 residents, has local officials worrying about how to feed and house thousands of migrants who for now are being forced to wait in the shade of the bridge.

“Dire circumstances require dire responses,” Lozano said. “There are people having babies down there [under the bridge], there are people collapsing out of the heat. They’re pretty aggressive, rightly so — they’ve been in the heat day after day after day.”

At an appearance in Fort Worth on Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott said the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security have told the state that the migrants will be relocated to Arizona, California, and perhaps Laredo. “But one thing that we know for a fact and that is, there’s nothing but uncertainty and indecision by the Biden administration about exactly what they’re going to do,” Abbott said.

Many of the migrants in Del Rio said they began their journey years ago, fleeing Haiti after previous disasters such as the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Junior Pacheco, 38, said he left Haiti for Chile, where he lived for five years before he made his way to the Texas-Mexico border in August. He said that after arriving in Mexico, police asked for his passport as he was exiting a charter bus and never returned it.

“There’s a lot of abuse on the way here. From people to the police, they steal our money, our passports. There are some people who get stranded on the way,” he said in a phone interview from Ciudad Acuña, where he was buying food, water, and a tent so his family could have somewhere to sleep.

Migrants cross the Rio Grande between the United States and Mexico in Ciudad Acuña, across the border from Del Rio. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune

The post Thousands of Haitian migrants fleeing disaster and unrest seek asylum at Del Rio bridge first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s sweeping new vaccine requirements have Republican governors threatening lawsuits. His unapologetic response: “Have at it.”

The administration is gearing up for another major clash between federal and state rule. But while many details about the rules remain unknown, Biden appears to be on firm legal ground to issue the directive in the name of protecting employee safety, according to several experts interviewed by The Associated Press.

“My bet is that with respect to that statutory authority, they’re on pretty strong footing given the evidence strongly suggesting … the degree of risk that (unvaccinated individuals) pose, not only to themselves but also unto others,” said University of Connecticut law professor Sachin Pandya.

Republicans swiftly denounced the mandate that could impact 100 million Americans as government overreach and vowed to sue, and private employers who resist the requirements may do so as well. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called it an “assault on private businesses” while Gov. Henry McMaster promised to “fight them to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian.” The Republican National Committee has also said it will sue the administration “to protect Americans and their liberties.”

Such cases could present another clash between state and federal authority at a time when Biden’s Justice Department is already suing Texas over its new state law that bans most abortions, arguing that it was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution.”

The White House is gearing up for legal challenges and believes that even if some of the mandates are tossed out, millions of Americans will get a shot because of the new requirements — saving lives and preventing the spread of the virus.

Biden is putting enforcement in the hands of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is drafting a rule “over the coming weeks,” Jeffrey Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said Friday. He warned that “if a workplace refuses to follow the standard, the OSHA fines could be quite significant.”

Courts have upheld vaccination requirements as a condition of employment, both before the pandemic — in challenges brought by health care workers — and since the coronavirus outbreak, said Lindsay Wiley, director of the Health Law and Policy Program at American University Washington College of Law.

Where Biden’s vaccine requirements could be more open to attack is over questions of whether the administration followed the proper process to implement them, she said.

“The argument that mandatory vaccination impermissibly infringes on bodily autonomy or medical decision making, those arguments have not been successful and I don’t expect that to change,” Wiley said. “I think the challenges that are harder to predict the outcome of are going to be the ones that are really sort of the boring challenges about whether they followed the right process.”

Emergency temporary standards — under which the rules are being implemented on a fast track — have been particularly vulnerable to challenges, Wiley said. But the risks presented by the coronavirus and the existence of a declared public health emergency could put this one “on stronger footing than any other ones past administrations have tried to impose that have been challenged in court,” she said.

Indeed, the question of whether the mandate is legally sound is separate from whether it will be upheld by judges, including by a conservative-majority Supreme Court which has trended toward generous interpretations of religious freedom and may be looking to ensure that any mandate sufficiently takes faith-based objections into account.

Vaccination “has become politicized and there are many Republican district judges who might be hostile to the regulation for political reasons,” said Michael Harper, a Boston University law professor.

“I could imagine an unfortunate opinion that attempted to justify this political stance by rejecting the use of OSHA against infectious disease rather than against hazards intrinsic to the workplace,” Harper wrote in an email.

The expansive rules mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.

Biden is also requiring vaccination for employees of the executive branch and contractors who do business with the federal government — with no option to test out. That covers several million more workers.

Republican-dominated Montana stands alone in having a state law on the books that directly contradicts the new federal mandate. The state passed a law earlier this year making it illegal for private employers to require vaccines as a condition for employment.

But University of Montana constitutional law professor Anthony Johnstone said the federal rules would trump the state law. That means larger Montana businesses that previously couldn’t require their employees to get vaccinated will now likely be required to, including hospitals that are some of the largest employers in the sparsely populated state.

Given that the rules are still being drafted and haven’t been released, experts say the devil is in the details. It remains to be seen exactly what the rule will require employers to do or not do, and how it accounts for things such as other rights that unvaccinated employees may assert, such as the right to a disability accommodation, Pandya said.

For example — with the growing number of fully remote businesses and workers — if the rules are written to include people who don’t have workplace exposure, “there certainly is room for an issue there,” said Erika Todd, an employment attorney with Sullivan & Worcester in Boston.

Charles Craver, a labor and employment law professor at George Washington University, said the mandate presented a “close question” legally. But he said the Biden administration did have a legitimate argument that such a requirement was necessary for employers to protect the safety of workers, customers and members of the public.

The thornier question, though, is how employers — and courts — will sort through requests for accommodations for employees on religious or other grounds.

Though such accommodations may include having an employee work from home, “you can have a situation where someone has to be present and you can’t provide an accommodation because of the danger involved,” he added.

“I would not be a betting person if this went up before the Supreme Court,” Craver said. “I could even picture the court divided 5-4, and I wouldn’t bet which way it would go.”

____

Richer reported from Boston. Reporter Iris Samuels contributed to this report from Helena, Montana. Samuels is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Source: https://www.wnct.com/news/politics/bidens-vaccine-rules-to-set-off-barrage-of-legal-challenges-2/

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