5,000 illegal immigrants released every day into US, admin officials privately tell lawmakers
EXCLUSIVE: The Biden administration has told lawmakers that an average of 5,000 illegal immigrants are currently being released into the U.S. each day at the border, while there were over 670,000 illegal immigrants who evaded Border Patrol last fiscal year, Fox News has learned. In a briefing on Friday to the Arizona congressional delegation, Fox is told that Department of Homeland Security officials told lawmakers that there were around 670,000 known “gotaways” at the border last fiscal year. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had previously acknowledged that the number was over 600,000. Lawmakers have also been told there is an average of 5,000 illegal immigrants released each day to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who provide migrants with assistance and will sometimes help them get to their destinations. If that pace holds throughout the entire year that would be over 1.8 million illegal entrants in that timeframe. MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS HIT DAILY RECORD AT SOUTHERN BORDER, AS WASHINGTON STRUGGLES TO AGREE ON SOLUTIONS Meanwhile, at the ports of entry, an average of 1,600 migrants are being processed and released via the use of humanitarian parole each day under the CBP One app. That authority is set by Congress to be used on a “case-by-case basis” for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Republicans have sought to limit the use of the authority, claiming the administration is abusing it — something officials have denied repeatedly. Border Patrol agents have encountered migrants from over 150 countries, lawmakers were told. The daily record for encounters was broken this week when over 12,000 migrants hit the border in a single day. That comes after a record-setting 2.4 million encounters in FY23 and an all-time monthly high of over 260,000 in September. Officials said that there have been over 440,000 encounters since Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year began. The Tucson Sector, which has been at the center of the most recent migrant surge that has seen hundreds of mostly male adult migrants queued up against the border fence, agents are outmanned 200 to 1 in the field, officials said. The Biden administration has been calling for additional border funding from Congress with a $14 billion request, which includes funding for migrant care, costs related to expedited removal and help for cities. But that has been blocked so far as Republicans seek limits on releases into the U.S. by increasing asylum screening standards and reducing parole use — proposals at which some Democrats have balked. ‘I LOVE YOU JOE BIDEN:’ MIGRANT THANKS POTUS AFTER CROSSING ILLEGALLY IN ARIZONA The administration has said overall that it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis and needs funding and immigration reform to fix what it says is a broken system. The administration has touted a significant expansion of “lawful migration pathways” while also claiming it has increased consequences for illegal entry in the wake of the end of Title 42 in May. At the briefing, officials were asked what the U.S. government is doing to work with Mexico to stop masses of migrants riding on trains to the border. An official said they have stressed to authorities that the “safety and security” of noncitizens” is a major concern given they are riding the trains illegally in an “unsafe” manner, but offered no details on trying to stop migrants getting on trains in the first place. President Biden this week attempted to break the gridlock on solutions to the border by saying he was open to “significant compromises,” although DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the administration’s handling of the crisis and suggested that some GOP proposals were off the table. “We’ve presented proposals that address the situation, that provide real practical solutions and also do not do violence to our fundamental values,” he said on CNN. “We are a country of refugees. We do have asylum laws. We do have refugee laws. We abide by our international obligations that are long-standing,” he said. “And so that is my response to that.” “Some of the [Republican] proposals are reasonable and worthy of discussion. Others are, frankly, not,” he said.
UPenn president’s fate hangs in balance as angry board convenes for emergency meeting
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill’s job is increasingly at risk as university donors, lawmakers in both parties, alumni and Jewish groups have piled on criticism after her disastrous congressional testimony on antisemitism this week. The Penn Board of Trustees will hold a meeting on Sunday at 5 p.m., the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, where Magill’s future with the school may be decided. The question facing the board is whether Magill can continue to effectively fundraise and lead the university after the backlash against her handling of antisemitism at the school since the October 7 attack on Israel. Pressure is building on Magill to resign after she declined to outright state that calls for the genocide of Jewish people constitute bullying or harassment under UPenn’s code of conduct during a congressional hearing on Tuesday. Magill, along with Harvard President Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth, was summoned to Capitol Hill to give testimony about rising antisemitism on their campuses before the House Education and Workforce Committee. 74 HOUSE MEMBERS ISSUE LETTER CALLING ON MIT, HARVARD, UPENN BOARDS TO ‘IMMEDIATELY REMOVE’ PRESIDENTS At the hearing, Magill told Congress that if calls for Jewish genocide were to turn into conduct, they would be considered harassment, adding that it was a “context-dependent” situation that would constitute bullying and harassment if “directed,” “pervasive” and “severe.” Gay and Kornbluth gave similar indirect answers that sparked widespread public outrage and have led to calls for each university president to resign. Magill in particular has received scathing condemnation from Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, the board of the Wharton School of Business and prominent donors, including an alumnus who threatened to rescind a $100 million donation to the school unless there is a change in leadership. The Penn Office of the President and Office of the University Secretary did not respond to requests for comment. In a video statement posted Wednesday on X, Magill attempted to walk back her congressional testimony. “There was a moment during yesterday’s congressional hearing on antisemitism when I was asked if a call for the genocide of Jewish people on our campus would violate our policies. In that moment, I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which says that speech alone is not punishable,” she said. “I was not focused on, but I should have been, on the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate,” the university president explained. “It’s evil. Plain and simple,” she stated. STEFANIK BLASTS HARVARD PRESIDENT OVER APOLOGY REGARDING JEWISH GENOCIDE COMMENTS: ‘I ASKED YOU 17X’ But the clarification has not satisfied Magill’s detractors. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), who is Jewish, said Wednesday that her comments were “unacceptable” and that the school was under “failed leadership,” Jewish Insider correspondent Gabby Deutch reported on X. The board of Penn’s Wharton business school demanded Magill’s resignation on Wednesday in a letter that cited her remarks and “collective failure to act” in response to anti-Israel and antisemitic protests on Penn’s campus. “Our Board has been, and remains, deeply concerned about the dangerous and toxic culture on our campus that has been led by a select group of students and faculty and has been permitted by University leadership,” the board said. “As confirmed in your congressional testimony yesterday, the leadership of the University does not share the values of our Board.” On Thursday, Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, threatened to pull a $100 million donation to the school in a letter from his attorneys that said the university violated Stone Ridge’s limited partnership agreement through its failure to adhere to anti-discrimination and anti-harassment rules. “Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter further and give the University a chance to remedy what Stone Ridge believes are likely violations of the LP Agreement if, and when, there is a new University President in place,” the letter said. “Until then, there can be no meaningful discussion about remedying the University’s ongoing failure to honor its obligations.” That same day, the UPenn Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting, where some board members reportedly asked Magill to resign if she cannot effectively function in her role as the university’s president, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported. “If the answer is you can’t [function], we need to know that, and you ought to resign,” the trustees told Magill, according to the outlet’s source, who attended the meeting. Then on Friday, more than 70 House lawmakers sent a bipartisan letter to the governing boards of UPenn, Harvard and MIT, calling on all three to take immediate action to remove the respective presidents of each institution. UPENN BOARD MEMBERS TELL PRESIDENT TO ‘RESIGN’ IF SHE CAN’T PERFORM ROLE EFFECTIVELY: REPORT “There is no context in which calls for the genocide of Jews are acceptable rhetoric. Their failure to unequivocally condemn calls for the systematic murder of Jews is deeply alarming. It stands in stark contrast to the principles we expect leaders of top academic institutions to uphold,” the bipartisan letter states. “It is hard to imagine any Jewish or Israeli student, faculty, or staff feeling safe when presidents of your member institutions could not say that calls for the genocide of Jews would have clear consequences on your campus. “If calls for genocide of the Jewish people are not in violation of your universities’ policies, then your universities are operating under a clear double standard.” While Magill appears to be losing support from the Penn board, the governing board of MIT is standing behind President Sally Kornbluth with “full and unreserved support.” “When words amplify distress and pain, I don’t know how you could feel anything but regret,” Gay said. “I got caught up in what had become at that point, an extended, combative exchange about policies and procedures. Amid the national controversy, Stanford University on Friday issued a statement unequivocally condemning calls for
NRA finds surprising ally in ACLU for Supreme Court challenge to NY blacklist allegation
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has found an unlikely ally in the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as the group pursues its First Amendment case before the Supreme Court. “The NRA is proud to stand with the ACLU and others who recognize this important truth: regulatory authority cannot be used to silence political speech,” NRA President Charles Cotton said after adding the ACLU as co-counsel for the case. “This case is important not only to the Association, but all who openly advocate for the causes and issues in which they believe,” Cotton continued. The NRA filed its 2018 challenge following the revelation that former New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo, at the order of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, allegedly blacklisted the NRA – effectively forcing banks and insurers to cut ties with the group. GUN RIGHTS GROUP APPLAUDS AFTER FEDERAL APPEALS COURT DEALS BLOW ON NY CONCEALED CARRY LAW The NRA fired back at this action by claiming it violated First Amendment rights to free speech. The lawsuit alleges that Vullo made “backroom threats” against regulated firms, accompanied by offers of leniency on unrelated infractions if regulated entities would agree to blacklist the NRA. The lawsuit defeated multiple challenges and setbacks before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. The NRA sees the ACLU’s support as a major confirmation of its arguments. “The ACLU joining as counsel underscores the importance of this First Amendment case and the NRA’s position that government officials cannot use intimidation tactics to silence those with whom those officials disagree,” William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and counsel for the NRA, said of the development. SUPREME COURT APPEARS WARY OF MASSIVE TAX CODE OVERHAUL “The ACLU is a leading voice on legal and constitutional issues and is a welcome addition to this advocacy,” Brewer added. The ACLU’s national legal director David Cole acknowledged that the decision to assist the NRA will prove controversial within and beyond the group, but argued that while it’s “never easy to defend those with whom you disagree… the ACLU has long stood for the proposition that we may disagree with what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it.” “In this hyper-polarized environment, where few are willing to cross the aisle on anything, the fact that the A.C.L.U. is defending the N.R.A. here only underscores the importance of the free speech principle at stake,” Cole wrote in a statement to the New York Times. NRA CALLS CHUCK SCHUMER’S LATEST GUN BILL ‘ATTACK’ ON CONSTITUTION The group made clear that it does not support the NRA or its mission, but that it also did not support public officials abusing their power to blacklist an organization “just because they oppose an organization’s political views.” A Second Circuit court struck down the effort in 2022, arguing that New York’s financial regulators had a reasonable duty to warn banks and businesses about “social backlash” for associating with the NRA, calling it part of the “enhanced corporate social responsibility.” The Supreme Court agreed to review the decision and review on the question of “Does the First Amendment allow a government regulator to threaten regulated entities with adverse regulatory actions if they do business with a controversial speaker, as a consequence of (a) the government’s own hostility to the speaker’s viewpoint or (b) a perceived “general backlash” against the speaker’s advocacy?” The answer will impact the relationship between state regulators and private entities, which the NRA argues currently “gives state officials free rein to financially blacklist their political opponents.” Fox News Digital’s Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.
Poll shows Biden hitting record low approvals, falling behind against Trump in 2024 matchup
President Biden’s approval rating has hit an all-time low, and he trails former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical head-to-head 2024 matchup. Trump leads Biden 47% to 43% in a hypothetical ballot between only those two candidates and trails 37% to 31% in a hypothetical ballot with five independent candidates, according to the results of a Wall Street Journal poll released Saturday. The president’s sagging numbers against Trump also come as voters gave Biden low approval marks, including only 23% of respondents saying Biden’s policies have helped them personally, compared to 53% who say they have been hurt by the president’s policies. About half of respondents said they were helped by Trump’s policies when he was president, and only 37% said the former president’s policies harmed them. DEMOCRATIC ANALYSTS SOUND ALARM ON MORE ‘GRIM’ BIDEN POLLING SHOWING DIMINISHING SUPPORT IN KEY VOTER GROUPS Biden’s overall job performance garnered only 37% approval from survey respondents as well, a new low for the WSJ poll. Meanwhile, 61% of respondents see his overall image in an unfavorable light, which is a record high for the poll. The president also compared unfavorably to Trump when it comes to most issues, with a majority of respondents saying Trump was better suited for the economy, inflation, and border security. Trump also garnered higher marks than Biden on crime and ability to handle the Israel-Hamas conflict. Meanwhile, Biden only topped Trump on abortion and setting a better tone in politics. HEAD HERE TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING “Americans were better off financially under President Trump. Now, under Crooked Joe Biden, we have runaway inflation, a porous southern border, crime in our streets, and chaos around the globe,” Jason Miller, a Senior Trump Advisor, told Fox News Digital. “If this race is about policy and performance, then Donald Trump has a significant advantage,” Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster who conducted the survey with Democrat Michael Bocian, said of the results. “If this race is about temperament and character, things like that, then Biden has an advantage.” BIDEN FACES A BIGGER POLLING DEFICIT NOW THAT OBAMA DID A YEAR BEFORE THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Bocian, meanwhile, said Biden might be struggling with groups that have traditionally sided with Democrats, including young Latino and Black Americans. “They are feeling economically stressed and challenged right now. And they are not showing enthusiasm in the way they were turning out in 2020, 2022,” he said. The poll surveyed 1,500 registers voters between November 29 and December 4, having a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points. The Wall Street Journal survey is the latest national poll the past two months to indicate Trump with the edge over Biden in hypothetical general election matchups. THESE SIX BATTLEGROUND STATES COULD COST BIDEN THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2024 Biden once held the upper hand over Trump in 2024 rematch surveys, but Trump began enjoying an advantage over his successor in the White House in most polls starting in October. And a Siena College survey for the New York Times released early last month indicated Trump topping Biden in five of the six key battleground states the president carried over Trump in the 2020 election. The survey sparked another round of stories spotlighting Biden’s polling woes. The new Wall Street Journal survey is also the latest to indicate that Biden remains well underwater in the most important metric of his presidency – his approval rating. Biden’s approval rating hovered in the low to mid 50s during his first six months in the White House. But the president’s numbers started sagging in August 2021 in the wake of Biden’s much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan and following a surge in COVID-19 cases that summer among mainly unvaccinated people. The plunge in the president’s approval was also fueled by soaring inflation — which started spiking in the summer of 2021 and remains to date a major pocketbook concern with Americans — and the surge of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. along the southern border with Mexico. Biden stands far below where his three most recent two-term predecessors stood at this point in their presidencies, as they successfully ran for re-election. The only recent president whose approval ratings were nearly as negative as Biden’s current numbers was his most recent predecessor — Trump. Amid the spate of polls suggesting Biden trails Trump in a likely 2024 election rematch, the Biden campaign and Democratic allies point back nearly a dozen years. That’s when former President Barack Obama — with Biden as his running mate — won re-election to a second term in the White House in 2012 despite polls a year earlier predicting a ballot box defeat for the incumbent. “Predictions more than a year out tend to look a little different a year later,” Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said last month. “Don’t take our word for it: Gallup predicted an eight-point loss for President Obama, only for him to win handedly a year later.” Obama was saddled in late 2011 with unfavorable polling a year before his re-election, but his standing was not as troublesome as the deficits Biden currently faces. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
House Republicans demand new study on possible link between ‘uncontrolled immigration’ and crime
FIRST ON FOX: House Republican lawmakers are calling for a new report on the number of illegal immigrants who commit crimes and who are incarcerated in prisons across the U.S., as the previous assessment came years before the current historic migrant crisis at the border. Last month, authorities announced the arrest of a Honduran illegal immigrant charged with rape, kidnapping and assault, and last week authorities said an illegal immigrant was arrested for fatally shooting two sisters in their home in Dallas. There have been a slew of other charges against illegal immigrants, including a Venezuelan migrant accused of raping a woman in front of a three-year-old child in New York. Meanwhile, the head of Border Patrol has said that illegal immigrants with “serious criminal histories” are trying to cross the border daily. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED FOR FATALLY SHOOTING 2 TEXAS SISTERS Immigration activists and others have pointed to the relatively small percentage of migrants with known criminal histories found to be crossing the border — although that does not account for those who cross and evade Border Patrol — and some studies suggest that illegal immigrants offend at a lower rate than the general population. Now, Republicans want to get to the bottom of it. In a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), obtained by Fox News Digital, Republicans led by Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, note the estimated 1.7 million gotaways in the last three years in addition to the more than 2.4 million encountered last fiscal year alone. “The possible correlation between uncontrolled immigration and rising crime in major cities across the U.S is a major concern for Congress, local law enforcement, and everyday Americans,” the 23 lawmakers write. “Congress needs data outlining incarcerations, arrests, crimes, convictions, costs, and removals of noncitizens to properly evaluate the relationship between increased illegal immigration and current criminal alien population.” ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH ‘SERIOUS CRIMINAL HISTORIES’ ARE TRYING TO CROSS BORDER DAILY: BORDER PATROL CHIEF The GAO last published a report on “Criminal Alien Statistics” in 2018, but that was before the Trump-era migrant crisis in 2019, and the Biden-era crisis from 2021 to the present. The report provided information on the number of incarcerated foreign nationals, the number of arrests and convictions and the costs of jailing them. “In addition, the report provided data on the removability of noncitizens from the United States after their incarceration in federal prison,” the lawmakers wrote. Consequently, they ask the GAO to update its study on incarcerated noncitizens, which includes federal and state prisons, as well as local jails. Lawmakers signed onto the letter include Reps. Kay Granger, R-Texas, Michael McCaul, R-Texas, Mike Rogers, R-Mich., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Chip Roy, R-Texas. Republicans and Democrats along with the Biden administration remain at loggerheads over the ongoing border crisis. The Biden administration has said the crisis is due to a “broken” system and a hemisphere-wide migration movement. It has called for more funding and comprehensive immigration reform. A $14 billion funding request is still being debated in Congress, with Republicans calling for more limits on asylum and the use of parole. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Republicans have called for stricter border controls, and have blamed the crisis on the Biden administration’s rollback of Trump-era policies, greater use of catch-and-release and narrowed interior enforcement. “The crisis on our southern border is reverberating into cities and towns across the United States,” Sessions said in a statement. “Violent crime, drug trafficking, and human trafficking are now a daily reality in communities where such illicit activity was once rare. While we cannot directly attribute rising crime to illegal immigration, Congress needs data to fully understand the effect President Biden’s open border has in enabling illicit activity,” he said. “This update to the 2018 Government Accountability Office report will provide this necessary information,” he said.
DeSantis’ wife prompts Republican reminder of Iowa nominating process rules
A call by the wife of Republican candidate Ron DeSantis for women from across the United States to “descend” on Iowa for its 2024 presidential nominating process prompted a reminder by the state Republican party that only residents can take part.
Sen. JD Vance sends scathing letter to Ohio State demanding action against DEI initiatives
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) published to social media an open letter to the incoming president of Ohio State University, urging the new administrator to abandon “diversity, equity and inclusion” mandates. Vance, an alum of Ohio State, accused the school of using racial justice rhetoric to mask “racial hatred” in its hiring of personnel and curricula. “Today I wrote to the leadership of Ohio State, a university I love, to ask about the troubling rise of racial prejudice on campus,” Vance said of the letter on social media. “If universities keep pushing racial hatred, euphemistically called DEI, we need to look at their funding.” JD VANCE IN LETTER TO BIDEN ADMIN ACCUSES WAPO WRITER OF ENCOURAGING ‘OPEN REBELLION’ AGAINST US “I write to express frustration with the culture at my alma mater, The Ohio State University, and to understand how that culture might change once you become its president,” the senator’s letter reads. “In particular, I am concerned about recent news reports that considerations related to ‘diversity equity, and inclusion’ have been infused into the university’s hiring practices and curricula.” Vance cited an analysis of Ohio State public records published in the Wall Street Journal that found diversity considerations a key factor in university employment at the College of Arts and Sciences. Vance claims to have previously been in contact with administrators of the university, who he says assured him that emphasis on immutable characteristics such as race and sex would be removed in favor of a more standardized hiring process. JD VANCE FURIOUS OVER FORBES ARTICLE ON HOW TO ‘DECENTER WHITENESS,’ WILL INVESTIGATE AUTHOR’S DEI FIRM “However, I recently learned that the problem here may go well beyond hiring practices. Once again, a public records request has revealed that a core function of the university — this time, teaching — has been compromised in the name of DEI dogma,” Vance wrote. “It turns out that earlier this semester, Ohio State undergraduates were being asked to ‘Unpack the Invisible Knapsack’ of privilege, including ‘White Privilege,’ ’Heterosexual Privilege,’ and ‘Able-Bodied Privilege.’” Vance pressed incoming president Walter Carter Jr. for a meeting on the continued use of DEI ideology at the school. Specifically, Vance is demanding clarification on whether Carter will allow discrimination based on ideological viewpoint and whether the incoming president will allow race- and identity-based lessons in undergraduate courses. “I will direct my staff to schedule a meeting at your earliest convenience, in order to discuss these and other matters,” Vance’s letter concluded.
US OKs potential sale of tank cartridges to Israel for $106.5 mln
The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of tank cartridges and related equipment to Israel for an estimated $106.5 million, the Pentagon said on Saturday.
With Rs 290 crore from Income Tax raid, Odisha cash haul set to be ‘highest-ever’
The tax department has deployed about 40 large and small machines to count the currency notes and brought in more department and bank staffers to finish the process, which began on December 6 following raids against Boudh Distillery Private Limited and others, the sources said.
GOP rep introduces resolution condemning UN for calling on Americans to stop eating meat
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., is planning to introduce a resolution this week condemning all United Nations recommendations that the U.S. lower its meat consumption to reduce carbon emissions and fight global warming. Flood is planning to formally introduce the resolution Monday amid the ongoing U.N. COP28 climate change conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where delegates are planning to issue a first-of-its-kind report that is expected to call for the West to reduce consumption of beef. The U.N. has, for years, called for individuals to ditch animal-based diets, which it says “have a high impact on our planet.” “Resolved, that the House of Representatives (1) recognizes the importance of meat and livestock production to the United States economy; (2) recognizes the importance of meat and animal-based protein; (3) disapproves of United Nations recommendation to reduce meat consumption in their global food systems’ road map; and (4) opposes the use of any Federal resources to support attempts to reduce meat consumption,” Flood’s resolution states. Flood, who serves on the Congressional Beef Caucus, joined a chorus of voices this week criticizing the U.N.’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) for preparing its global food systems’ road map, which will reportedly include a call for the U.S. and other Western nations to ditch meat in favor of plant-based foods. That report is expected to be published as soon as Sunday during a COP28 session hosted by FAO. UN CLIMATE SUMMIT SERVING GOURMET BURGERS, BBQ AS IT CALLS FOR AMERICANS TO STOP EATING MEAT Critics, including Flood, have argued such a recommendation would present a threat to global food security, harm the economy and fail to consider emissions reductions achieved by the agriculture industry and American beef producers. “As delegates from around the world are preparing to gather in Dubai to identify solutions to the climate change crisis, we call on them to look at solutions holistically. Solutions that seek to reduce meat consumption are misguided and will only lead to limited consumer choice and higher food prices,” National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. “At a time when malnutrition plagues countries across the world, a reduction of high-quality animal protein would disproportionately impact consumers who can ill-afford to pay more and are ultimately at the highest risk of malnutrition,” Lane added. “Reducing beef consumption in the U.S. is not a realistic or impactful solution for climate change. America’s beef producers and consumers around the globe deserve real solutions to the climate issue, not artificial barriers to protein consumption that will do nothing to solve the world’s climate issues.” BIDEN ADMIN UNDER FIRE FOR OPENING BORDERS TO FOOD IMPORTS POTENTIALLY CONTAINING DEVASTATING DISEASE The global food system — which includes land-use change, actual agricultural production, packaging and waste management — generates about 18 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, the equivalent of 34% of total worldwide emissions, according to a March 2021 study published in the Nature Food journal. FAO data indicates livestock alone is responsible for around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the U.S., however, agriculture alone generates about 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions, federal data shows. The American agriculture sector accounts for just 1.4% of global emissions and has implemented a wide range of solutions, making it the nation’s lowest-emitting economic sector. And beef cattle in the U.S. are responsible for just 2% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions and less than 0.5% of the world’s emissions. “FAO emphasizes the critical need for an innovative plan and a concrete package of solutions to overhaul agrifood systems,” the organization said in a statement to Fox News Digital earlier this week. “The Global Roadmap is positioned as a strategic tool to demonstrate that accelerated climate actions can transform agrifood systems, simultaneously addressing food security and nutrition challenges today and in the future without breaching the 1.5 degrees threshold. In this roadmap, FAO is urging for good food for today and tomorrow.”