‘Squad’ Dem lashes out at primary challenger for saying she’s ‘not cute enough’ to ignore voters
Don Samuels, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Democrat challenger, said the ‘Squad’ member is ‘not cute enough’ to ignore voters, prompting blowback from the contentious lawmaker. Samuels, who nearly defeated Omar during the 2022 Democratic primary, made the comments during a Nov. 21 appearance on “The Break Down with Brodkorb and Becky” podcast while speaking on how Omar is not “responsive” to her constituents. “And so to see government not be responsive like that to the people who pay them, it is offensive to me,” Samuels said on the podcast. “And to not be responsive and available to those people? To meet with them and find out what their concerns are and to answer their tough questions? To not get back to people on the phone? Who do you think you are? And who do you think you’re working for? You’re not cute enough, you don’t dress well enough, nothing about you is attractive enough to overcome that deficit.” ILHAN OMAR’S CAMPAIGN CASH TO CONSULTANTS DIPPED BY MILLIONS AFTER HALTING PAYMENTS TO HUSBAND’S FIRM Samuels’ comments provoked Omar to react on social media, where she said his remarks were “beneath the dignity of any adult” and sexist. “This is beneath the dignity of any adult, let alone someone seeking public office,” Omar wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It is reminiscent of the worst kinds of lies and misogyny that we are hearing from people like Donald Trump, who think they can say anything about women and get away with it.” “Like Trump, instead of engaging in an adult debate, [Don Samuels] relies on lies and sexism,” she added. “We need civility now more than ever and Don’s behavior should be alarming to anyone who agrees.” ILHAN OMAR CRITICIZES US POLICY TOWARD ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU: ‘DOESN’T ADD UP’ Samuels, a former Minneapolis City Council member, is again challenging Omar during the 2024 elections after narrowly losing to her in the 2022 Democratic primary. During the previous campaign, Samuels ran as a pro-police candidate and hammered the “Squad” member over her anti-law enforcement views. Samuels lost to Omar by just 2,500 votes in the 2022 Democratic primary after she convincingly won her 2020 primary by 35,000 votes.
Marco Rubio leads effort to block clean energy credits from automakers that offshore jobs
FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republicans led by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., are planning to introduce legislation that would prohibit automakers from benefiting from a wide range of federal incentives if they move to offshore domestic manufacturing. The Putting American Automakers First Act — on track to be introduced early next week by Rubio and original cosponsors Sens. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. — would bar automakers from participating in 12 federal incentive programs if they offshore production, manufacturing or final assembly of their products for 10 years. The bill comes weeks after the largest U.S. autoworker union ratified new contracts with the “Big Three” American automakers. “Despite the recent negotiations resulting in big wins for autoworkers, automakers still have the upper hand,” Rubio said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday. “They can still undermine these deals by offshoring production to countries with cheaper labor,” the Florida Republican continued. “This legislation would create a strong incentive for automakers to keep jobs right here in America and allow workers to share in the profits that they helped create.” FORD DRAMATICALLY SCALES BACK EV PLANT AMID PLUMMETING SALES IN BLOW TO BIDEN’S GREEN ENERGY GOALS The New Clean Vehicle Credit, Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit, Used Clean Vehicle Credit, Clean School Bus Program and Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicle Program are among the 12 programs that Rubio’s legislation would block automakers from participating in. The programs save consumers and businesses thousands of dollars, bringing down the costs of electric vehicles (EV), which remain more expensive than gas-powered alternatives. For example, under the new clean vehicle credit, Americans can save up to $7,500 on an EV if it means certain material and sourcing requirements outlined under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. According to Cox Automotive data, factoring in credits, the average transaction price for electric cars was $53,469 as of July 2023 while the average price of gas-powered vehicles was $48,334. NEW REPORT UNMASKS TRUE COSTS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANDATES: ‘REMAIN MORE EXPENSIVE’ And Rubio’s bill was designed to prevent automakers from moving production abroad after the recent labor negotiations between the United Auto Workers and Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Republicans and experts have warned workers may bear the brunt given the projected costs of the agreements and recent struggles of the EV sector. “I support the UAW’s demand for higher wages, but there is a 6,000-pound elephant in the room: the premature transition to electric vehicles. While EV supply chains are still heavily concentrated in China, the Biden administration sends billions to that industry every year,” Vance said in September. “While most Americans want to drive a gas-powered car, the Biden administration pursues a policy explicitly designed to increase the cost of gas,” he said. “They do this in the name of the environment, but all they’re doing is enriching the dirtiest economy in the world at the expense of auto workers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.” On Thursday, Ford projected that the new UAW agreement, which came after a weeks-long strike at multiple auto plants nationwide, will cost it $8.8 billion over the life of the contract which lasts until 2028, CNBC reported. One day earlier, General Motors projected the contract would cost it more than $9 billion. In addition, while EV sales continue to increase incrementally, automakers have struggled to see a significant return on investment. Ford projected earlier this year that its EV division was projected to lose a staggering $4.5 billion in 2023 alone and earlier this month scaled back an ambitious billion-dollar EV battery plant in Michigan.
UFO watch: House lawmakers blast intelligence community’s ‘orchestrated attempt’ to hide UAP info
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers claim the intelligence community is concealing information about unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) and scuttling attempts to release the information to the public. The group of congressional leaders led by Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said the Pentagon and other agencies needed to grant Congress, as well as the American people, more answers to the unidentified objects, some of which have been observed flying in ways that appear impossible with current technology. “The American people are not stupid, we can handle this information. Other countries have declassified similar information, and it’s time that the United States stepped up to the plate and did the same,” said Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. LAWMAKERS FIGHT TO UNCOVER DETAILS OF ALLEGED SECRET UFO PROGRAM The UAP issue exploded earlier this autumn after whistleblower David Grusch alleged that the intelligence community “has not conducted any audit, inspection, evaluation or review” of supposed programs to investigate the strange flying objects. “In my short time in office, it has become very clear and evident that there is an apparent attempt to an orchestrated attempt to deny this access, and it appears that that is coming from the intelligence community,” Luna said. Grusch will grant permission for lawmakers to view his report, Luna said Thursday, but lawmakers were still baffled at the secrecy from the government as well as other members of Congress. “Why are folks who are in charge of committees, whether they are in the House or in the Senate, opposed to this disclosure?” said Rep. Jacob Moskowitz, D-Fla. “This is not about whether there are aliens or there are not aliens,” he added, but the response to questions about the UFOs. “The problem is when we ask those questions, rather than being provided information that would prove it false, they stonewall the information and that is what piques the interest.” UFO WHISTLEBLOWER TESTIFIES HIS LIFE WAS THREATENED OVER SECRET ALIEN TECH RETRIEVAL An amendment to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) offered by Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., would create a baseline of transparency and declassification of information regarding UFOs, which some lawmakers view as just a starting point. “It is insufficient though to seek this transparency from the Department of Defense alone. We have to have cooperation, so that all 50 authorities through the intelligence community are also subject to review [and] the FAA, the NSA, the FBI, even state and local authorities that have information are able to have that cataloged, assessed and then put out before the public,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Whether it’s little green men, American technology, or worse, technology from the CCP, we need to know. There needs to be better cooperation between agencies, and Congress has a right, an obligation to know. This is about transparency, this is about accountability. The truth is out there, and the American people are ready.”
Fight over greenlighting controversial surveillance program unites progressives, conservatives in Congress
Congressional hardliners on the left and right are uniting in opposition to talks of saving a controversial surveillance tool of the U.S. government by linking it to an annual must-pass military and defense bill. The House of Representatives is no stranger to public division, but it’s rare for issues to unite progressives and conservatives like this. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) has been both credited with preventing terror attacks on U.S. soil and accused of being a vehicle for spying on U.S. citizens. It lets the government keep tabs on specific foreign nationals outside the country without first obtaining a warrant to do so, even if the party on the other side of those communications is an American on U.S. soil. FBI PAINTS GRIM PICTURE OF AI AS A TOOL FOR CRIMINALS: ‘FORCE MULTIPLIER’ FOR BAD ACTORS The program expires at the end of this year if not reauthorized. Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that congressional leaders are discussing punting that fight until early 2024 by attaching a temporary extension of FISA to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA is an annual bill laying out priorities for the Pentagon and other U.S. defense programs. Freedom Caucus Policy Chair Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that he believes that combining the two would ensure the least conservative of each was passed. “They want to use clean FISA, which I oppose. But a thirty- to sixty-day extension of FISA while we negotiate reforms, not the end of the world if it’s standalone, right? Because then it’s kind of staying on its own merit. I can vote no, maybe it passes,” Roy explained. PUBLIC TRUST IN FBI HAS REACHED ‘THE RED ZONE,’ US INCHING CLOSER TO ‘MAYHEM, CHAOS, ANARCHY:’ WSJ COLUMNIST “But if you take FISA and you add it to the NDAA, and we know that the NDAA is going to be stripped of our fixes on our side on abortion tourism, transgender surgeries, DEI, critical race theory…you’re using the fear of the security of this country under FISA collection of data, and you’re using that extension to pass a crap NDAA bill,” Roy continued. Critics of FISA on both the right and have claimed it encroaches on Americans’ civil liberties, specifically if the FBI conducts warrantless surveillance on communications between Americans and foreign nationals. GARLAND SAYS INCENDIARY MEMO DIRECTING FBI TO USE COUNTERTERRORISM TOOLS ON PARENTS NEVER RESCINDED A letter objecting to combining the measures was signed by more than 50 lawmakers on Wednesday, led by Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, along with Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. “A temporary extension would be entirely unnecessary, and it would be an inexcusable violation of the public’s trust to quietly greenlight an authority that has been flagrantly abused,” the letter addressed to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “If Section 702 is to be reauthorized for even a single day, it must be through standalone legislation subject to robust, open debate and amendment.” Fox News Digital reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson’s office to confirm the discussions but did not immediately hear back.
Judge denies Texas’ request to stop feds from cutting border razor wire
Judge Alia Moses ruled in the federal government’s favor but chided the Biden administration for not allowing migrants to use international bridges to claim asylum.
GOP senator roasts John Kerry for jetting off to another climate conference
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is taking aim at Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry for jetting off to lead the U.S. delegation at the annual United Nations conference in Dubai. In a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday, Ernst accused Kerry and the Biden administration of hypocrisy for flying on airplanes to attend the UN’s COP28 summit where delegates are expected to condemn fossil fuels and push green energy alternatives. Kerry is leading the U.S. delegation which includes Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, White House clean energy czar John Podesta among other senior officials. “Once again, the Biden administration exposes the hypocrisy of their own radical green fantasy,” Ernst told Fox News Digital. “Joe Biden’s Climate Czar is jetting off again emitting the greenhouse gases he warns against, wasting taxpayer dollars, and undermining U.S. strength on the world stage. While the Biden administration’s weakness has caused chaos across the globe, President Biden doubles down on combating climate change instead of terrorism.” “Just another area where he allows China, the world’s largest polluter, to eat our lunch in lip service to the radical green wing of his own party,” she said. “Make no mistake, virtue signaling is no virtue, and Americans have had enough of an administration with their head in the clouds. It’s time for Biden bureaucrats to face the facts, as terrorists threaten the safety and security of Americans, fossil fuels are not the enemy.” UN DELEGATES CIRCULATE PETITION TO SHUT DOWN US NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION AS GLOBAL CLIMATE SUMMIT KICKS OFF COP28 kicked off on Thursday and is slated to take place over the next two weeks through Dec. 12. Ahead of the summit, UN officials led by Secretary General António Guterres have raised the alarm about the risks posed by global warming and the summit is expected to garner agreements to curb fossil fuel reliance in the coming years. During remarks Thursday, Guterres said global warming should “send shivers down the spines of world leaders” and added that the world is living through “climate collapse in real time.” His comments came shortly after the World Meteorological Organization declared 2023 the warmest year ever recorded in an announcement as the conference began and a day after Kerry outlined his ambitious goals for the summit. UNITED NATIONS SET TO CALL ON AMERICANS TO REDUCE MEAT CONSUMPTION “It’s safe to say that there literally will be hundreds of initiatives that will be announced, many of them coming from the United States but also many coming from other parts of the world, and I think it’s going to be a very exciting presentation of a global effort that is taking place, even though it’s not happening fast enough or big enough yet,” the U.S. climate czar told reporters Wednesday. “What is very clear to us – and we will be pushing this the next two weeks that we are here negotiating – we have to move faster,” Kerry added. “We have to be much more seized of this issue all around the planet. There’s too much business as usual still.” The summit comes one year after COP27, last year’s UN climate summit in the luxurious resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, that Kerry, President Biden and hundreds of other U.S. government officials attended. Following that summit, Ernst and fellow Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., asked the Government Accountability Office to determine and disclose the total carbon footprint of the trip. However, the agency released a report in June stating it couldn’t fulfill the request because the State Department, which houses Kerry’s climate office, hasn’t created a mechanism for tracking such information. DARK MONEY FUND POURED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO ECO ACTIVIST GROUPS BLOCKING HIGHWAYS, DESTROYING FAMOUS ART In December 2021, Biden signed an executive order to require federal agencies to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from travel. “Joe Biden and his officials say they are addressing an ‘existential’ crisis by participating in climate conferences, all while traveling on private jets to and from the conferences,” Cotton said at the time. “The Biden administration should instead focus its efforts on American energy production — or at the very least, let American taxpayers know about the private travel they are paying for.” In his role as special presidential envoy for climate, Kerry regularly travels around the world, attending high-profile climate summits and diplomatic engagements in an effort to push a global transition from fossil fuels to green energy alternatives. He has also received criticism for his use of a private jet owned by his family. According to flight tracking data obtained by Fox News Digital in July 2022, a Gulfstream GIV-SP jet owned by Kerry’s family made a total of 48 trips that lasted more than 60 hours and emitted an estimated 715,886 pounds, or 325 metric tons, of carbon over the course of the Biden administration’s first 18 months. However, one month after the Fox News Digital report that highlighted the jet’s extensive carbon footprint, and after lawmakers blasted Kerry for apparent hypocrisy, the Gulfstream jet was sold to an energy-focused hedge fund in New York City. Whitney Smith, a State Department spokesperson, confirmed the sale in a statement earlier this year and said Kerry travels commercially in his current role. Kerry’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Sen. Rand Paul performs Heimlich maneuver on choking Joni Ernst
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., performed the Heimlich maneuver on Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa who was choking on food. The incident happened on Thursday during a Senate lunch, a source told Fox News Digital. “Can’t help but choke on the woke policies Dems are forcing down our throats. Thanks, Dr. @RandPaul!” Enrst later posted on X.
Chicago residents rail against planned migrant shelter
Chicago residents are speaking out as the city moves forward with plans for a winterized base camp to house migrants in Brighton Park. Work crews began construction at 38th Street and California Avenue on Wednesday and continued Thursday, even as neighbors have complained the area is not suitable for shelter, FOX 32 Chicago reported. Local residents say the city has ignored their concerns of overcrowding and safety, as well as fears that the encampment is being built on contaminated soil. “They’re going to start moving as soon as they can, because they gotta cover their tails, and I’m talking about the mayor and the alderwoman. They’ve been lying since day one,” said Ricardo Palacios, a community member interviewed by FOX 32. CHICAGO MAYOR TARGETS LIGHTFOOT, ‘RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM’ FOR ‘CHAOS’ IN CHICAGO City officials have said that the camp will be completed in a matter of days and will house up to 2,000 migrants. Multiple heated tent structures will be built that will have bathrooms, showers, a kitchen and security, the outlet reported. Migrants housed in the facility will have an 11 p.m. curfew, according to city officials. However, residents told FOX 32 they are worried about crime and schools becoming overcrowded. “I can handle myself, I worry more about the children in the neighborhood,” said Michael Patlan. Locals are also concerned that the encampment is being built on a former industrial site and believe the soil is still contaminated. They are worried that the migrants who move in might become sick. CHICAGO RESIDENTS EXPLODE WITH ANGER OVER MIGRANTS, SANCTUARY POLICIES: ‘THEY ARE NOT LISTENING’ “You got the railroad tracks right behind, when it rains the water comes in,” Palacios told FOX 32. “So guess what’s going to end up happening? Sooner or later, people are going to end up getting sick, they’re going to sue the City of Chicago, us as taxpayers, we’re going to end up paying double.” The city has conducted environmental testing but has not yet released the results, FOX 32 reported. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office told the outlet that the test results would be forthcoming. “Details regarding environmental remediation will be provided this week,” a spokesman for Johnson’s office said in a statement. “Again, common mitigation strategies are ongoing and anticipated for completion by the end of this week, weather permitting.” DEM TEXAS MAYOR SAYS CITY IS AT ‘BREAKING POINT’ AS BORDER CRISIS RAGES At a press conference this week, Johnson touted the construction of the encampment and blamed his predecessor, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, for the city’s migrant crisis. “Look, the international crisis that I inherited six months ago, I’ve made it very clear that we are going to make sure that we remove people out of police districts: women, children who are living on floors and sleeping outside, that we’re going to create spaces that provide more dignity,” Johnson said Tuesday. At least 20,000 migrants have poured into Chicago since August 2022, when many migrants were bused from the southern border states to liberal cities farther north. Efforts have been underway to strip Chicago of its sanctuary city status as some residents sound off about the issue. In addition to the influx of migrants who lack shelter, an estimated 68,000 Chicago citizens are considered homeless, Fox News Digital reported earlier this month. FOX 23 reported Chicago is paying nearly $92,000 per month to lease the lot in Brighton Park. That is in addition to a $29 million contract the city signed with GardaWorld in September to build additional migrant camps. Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Rep. Dan Goldman denies Hunter Biden laptop is ‘real,’ revives debunked Russian minisnformation theory
Rep. Dan Goldman, R-N.Y., denied that the information contained in Hunter Biden’s laptop hard drive is accurate on Thursday, reviving a debunked claim that the laptop contained Russian disinformation. Goldman questioned journalist Michael Shellenberger on the topic of Biden’s laptop during a Thursday hearing with the House Judiciary Committee. Goldman has repeatedly denied the veracity of what was found on the laptop despite FBI testimony to the contrary. “You are aware, of course, that the ‘laptop,’ so to speak, that was published in the New York Post was actually a hard drive that the New York Post admitted here was not authenticated as real?” Goldman asked. “It was the same contents,” Shellenberger responded. “How do you know it’s the same contents?” Goldman pressed. “Because it’s the same contents. Everyone has verified that it’s the same contents,” Shellenberger said. EXCLUSIVE: JOE BIDEN ALLEGEDLY PAID $5M BY BURISMA EXECUTIVE AS PART OF A BRIBERY SCHEME, ACCORDING TO FBI DOCUMENT “You’d have to authenticate it to know that it’s the same contents. You have no idea. You know hard drives can be manipulated,” Goldman argued. DEVON ARCHER CONFIRMS JOE BIDEN ‘LIED’ ABOUT KNOWLEDGE OF HUNTER’S BUSINESS DEALINGS, COMER SAYS “Are you suggesting that the New York Post participated in a conspiracy to construct the contents of the Hunter Biden laptop?” Shellenberger asked. “No, sir. The problem is that hard drives can be manipulated by Rudy Giuliani or Russia,” Goldman suggested. “What’s the evidence that that happened?” Shellenberger pressed. DEVON ARCHER SAYS HUNTER USED JOE BIDEN AS ‘DEFENSIVE LEVERAGE’ FOR FOREIGN BIZ PARTNERS, TRANSCRIPT SHOWS “There is evidence of it, but the point is it’s not the same thing,” Goldman said. “So you’re engaging in a conspiracy theory,” Shellenberger said before being cut off. Skeptics of the New York Post’s original story on Biden’s laptop suggested that it may have contained Russian disinformation, citing FBI speculation at the time. FBI agent Laura Dehmlow, who served as Section Chief of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force at the time, testified in July that the bureau “conditioned” social media companies to believe the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation, despite knowing it was legitimate. “Put simply, after the FBI conditioned social media companies to believe that the laptop was the product of a hack-and-dump operation, the Bureau stopped its information sharing, allowing social media companies to conclude that the New York Post story was Russian disinformation,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote in a letter to FBI director Christopher Wray this summer. The laptop hard dive contained salacious information about Biden’s personal life as well as his business dealings. Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
ICE to close Adelanto detention facility holding few illegal immigrants due to COVID-era court order: sources
EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is expected to close down a detention facility in Adelanto, Calif., that can house nearly 2,000 illegal immigrant inmates but has been nearly empty for years due to a COVID-era court order, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell Fox News Digital — just as the administration is calling for more detention beds for the agency. ICE was blocked by a September 2020 court order from sending more detainees to the privately-operated facility after a lawsuit demanding fewer detainees due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was then near its peak. But that order is still in place, despite the COVID-19 emergency declaration having ended earlier this year and similar facilities — including in the area — having expanded capacity. While able to house nearly 2,000 detainees, only a handful of immigrants live there. ICE DETENTION CENTER HOUSES HANDFUL OF INMATES DESPITE HAVING THOUSANDS OF BEDS: LAWMAKER Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., has led the charge to expand the facility’s intake, urging both ICE and recently the DOJ, urging them to pursue “all available avenues” to lift the prohibition on more detainees. “At a time when our communities are suffering historic levels of illegal immigrants overwhelming our social services safety nets and our local law enforcement authorities to the point that they have been forced to use taxpayer resources to hold them in hotels, prisons and other detention housing alternative, it is unacceptable that the Adelanto facility has been so underutilized,” he said in a letter this week. In a statement to Fox News Digital, ICE said it does not comment on “ongoing or pending litigation or its outcome.” “As part of routine strategic operational planning, ICE continually assesses various factors when contemplating whether to enter new contracts for facilities or terminate existing facility contracts. Discussions with detention providers, including state and local partners, are critical to ICE’s custody management mission and occur on a regular basis,” aspokesperson said. “Significant agency changes/updates are publicly announced when operationalized. ICE continuously reviews and enhances civil detention operations to ensure noncitizens are treated humanely, protected from harm, provided appropriate medical and mental health care, and receive the rights and protections to which they are entitled,” they said. ” ICE takes its commitment to promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously.” The closing –expected imminently, sources said — is expected to impact more than 300 workers who currently staff the facility. The National Federation of Federal Employees recently warned of a “devastating” impact on workers if the facility were to close, particularly before Christmas. WHITE HOUSE FUNDING REQUEST INCLUDES $14 BILLION FOR BORDER AS CRISIS HITS NEW RECORDS It’s the latest move by the Biden administration to reduce the use of private immigration detention facilities — which then-candidate Biden promised to do in 2020. ICE has ended family detention and has closed multiple facilities, but liberal civil rights groups have called for more closures, including dozens of groups calling for such moves along with ICE funding cuts in November last year. But, facing an ongoing and historic migrant crisis at the southern border, more recently the administration has been appealing to Congress for more funding — including for thousands more ICE beds “to allow DHS to process more recent border crossers on expedited timelines when we see increased encounters and swiftly remove those without a legal basis to stay in the country.” Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, in a statement to Fox News Digital, said the move in Adelanto was “enforcement malpractice.” “At the same time Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden are asking Congress to fund new detention beds, they’re considering closing a state-of-the-art facility that offers almost 2,000 beds,” he said, before saying the administration’s math “simply doesn’t add up.” ” It just goes to show that the Biden administration’s talk about immigration enforcement is cheap – its actions tell the real story,” he said. The chairman, who has been investigating the Biden administration’s handling of the migrant crisis, said that even if Congress granted money for the beds, “they won’t be used properly” and would instead be used as “spillover capacity for overwhelmed Border Patrol facilities instead of for detaining and removing illegal aliens.” RJ Hauman, president of the National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE) and a visiting adviser at The Heritage Foundation, called the looming closure an “abdication of duty” that will put American communities at risk and urged Republicans to take a harder line on the matter in talks over funding. “Millions of unvetted illegal immigrants are flooding across our border and Joe Biden’s response is to shut down fully-funded ICE detention facilities at the urging of open borders groups,” he said. “Biden and [Mayorkas] clearly have no intention of enforcing the law — this reckless decision should serve as the last straw for Republican lawmakers flirting with the idea of more money and minor policy changes.” There were more than 2.4 million migrant encounters at the southern border in FY 24 alone, and more than 240,000 encounters in October. The administration overall has asked for $14 billion in more funding for border operations, which include fentanyl detection and migrant care, as well as calling for Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that the administration released on day one in office. Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.