Judge in Texas pauses Biden program offering legal status to spouses of U.S. citizens
Biden announced the program in June and Republicans in 16 states filed suit. The federal judge issued an order that puts the program on hold for at least two weeks.
Federal judge blocks Biden admin move to give legal status to illegal immigrant spouses of US citizens
The Biden administration’s efforts to grant a pathway to citizenship to some illegal immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens have been put on hold temporarily by a federal judge after a lawsuit from 16 Republican-led states. U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker on Monday put a stay on the “parole in place” program, which was announced in June and allows for humanitarian parole and a path to permanent residency for certain illegal immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens without them having to leave the country. The 16 states, led by Texas and America First Legal, argued in a filing first reported by Fox News Digital that the rule violates federal law, which prohibits illegal immigrants from obtaining immigration benefits, including permanent status, without first having left the country and being readmitted. BIDEN ADMIN SUED BY 16 STATES OVER PAROLE PUSH FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH US SPOUSES They argued it does that by an unlawful use of parole, which is limited to use on a “case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” “Biden’s unconstitutional scheme would have rewarded over 1 million illegal aliens with the opportunity for citizenship after breaking our country’s laws—and incentivized countless more,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This is just the first step. We are going to keep fighting for Texas, our country, and the rule of law. Great to work together with America First Legal, Stephen Miller and our partner states,” he said. “This is a huge victory in our courtroom battle to block the Biden-Harris executive fiat giving over 1 million illegal aliens a path to U.S. citizenship. That executive decree is now frozen. America First Legal is deeply honored to partner with Attorney General Paxton, [Idaho] Attorney General [Raul] Labrador, along with 14 other states to fight this unconstitutional mass amnesty,” Stephen Miller, president of AFL, said in a statement. The administration had estimated that about 500,000 immigrants would benefit, and about 50,000 children. The new process would have applied to noncitizen spouses who have lived in the U.S. for 10 years as of June and are judged not to pose a threat to public safety or national security, allowing them to apply for permanent residency. It argued that families live in fear and “face deep uncertainty about their future” due to the requirement that they depart and be processed abroad. “In addition, individuals must have no disqualifying criminal history or otherwise constitute a threat to national security or public safety and should otherwise merit a favorable exercise of discretion,” a fact sheet said. GOP LAWMAKERS WARN BIDEN PAROLE SCHEME COULD LEAD TO MASSIVE SPIKE IN MARRIAGE FRAUD The stay will last for two weeks but can be extended. Barker is a judge appointed by former President Donald Trump. “The claims are substantial and warrant closer consideration than the court has been able to afford to date,” he said in the order. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but had responded to the lawsuit last week with a statement promising to defend the policy in court. “The Department of Homeland Security is committed to Keeping Families Together. Keeping Families Together is grounded in well-established legal authority, and its purpose – enabling the families of U.S. Citizens to live without fear of separation – is consistent with fundamental American values. We will defend it in court. DHS is continuing to process already filed applications, and to accept and process new applications,” a spokesperson said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS The White House, in a separate statement, had accused Republican officials of being “more focused on playing politics than helping American families or fixing our broken immigration system.” “This lawsuit is seeking to force U.S. citizens and their families, people who have lived in the United States for more than ten years, to continue to live in the shadows. The lawsuit aims to separate American citizens from their spouses and stepchildren who are already eligible for lawful permanent residency and could remain together through this process,” spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said. “This lawsuit goes against our nation’s values, and we will vigorously defend Keeping Families Together and our ability to make the immigration system more fair and more just. We will also continue securing our border and enforcing our laws, something Congressional Republicans have refused to do time and time again.” “Since President Biden announced new, decisive executive actions to secure the border, encounters between ports of entry have dropped significantly – encounters in July 2024 were the lowest since September 2020 and lower than at this point in 2019,” he added. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Gujarat Rains: Ahmedabad Airport issues advisory for passengers amid heavy rainfall
Several areas of Ahmedabad, Gujarat witnessed severe waterlogging on Monday due to heavy rainfall. People and vehicles were seen wading through knee-deep waters. Waterlogging also caused traffic snarls in several parts of the city.
Judge pauses Biden policy allowing path to citizenship for migrant spouses
A federal judge in Texas on Monday paused a Biden administration policy that would give spouses of U.S. citizens legal status without having to first leave the country, dealing at least a temporary setback to one of the biggest presidential actions to ease a path to citizenship in years. The administrative stay issued by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker comes just days after 16 states, led by Republican attorneys general, challenged the program that could benefit an estimated 500,000 immigrants in the country, plus about 50,000 of their children. One of the states leading the challenge is Texas, which in the lawsuit claimed the state has had to pay tens of millions of dollars annually from health care to law enforcement because of immigrants living in the state without legal status. President Joe Biden announced the program in June. The court order, which lasts for two weeks but could be extended, comes one week after the Department of Homeland Security began accepting applications. BORDER RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST KAMALA HARRIS’ RECORD ON SECURITY: ‘EVERYTHING IS LITERALLY OPEN’ “The claims are substantial and warrant closer consideration than the court has been able to afford to date,” Barker wrote. The judge laid out a timetable that could produce a decision shortly before the presidential election Nov. 5 or before a newly elected president takes office in January. Barker gave both sides until Oct. 10 to file briefs in the case. The policy offers spouses of U.S. citizens without legal status, who meet certain criteria, a path to citizenship by applying for a green card and staying in the U.S. while undergoing the process. Traditionally, the process could include a years-long wait outside of the U.S., causing what advocates equate to “family separation.” The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the order. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton cheered the order. “This is just the first step. We are going to keep fighting for Texas, our country, and the rule of law,” Paxton posted on the social media platform X. Several families were notified of the receipt of their applications, according to attorneys advocating for eligible families who filed a motion to intervene earlier Monday. “Texas should not be able to decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and their immigrant spouses without confronting their reality,” Karen Tumlin, the founder and director of Justice Action Center, said during the press conference before the order was issued. The coalition of states accused the administration of bypassing Congress for “blatant political purposes.” The program has been particularly contentious in an election year where immigration is one of the biggest issues, with many Republicans attacking the policy and contending it is essentially a form of amnesty for people who broke the law. To be eligible for the program, immigrants must have lived continuously in the U.S. for at least 10 years, not pose a security threat or have a disqualifying criminal history, and have been married to a citizen by June 17 — the day before the program was announced. They must pay a $580 fee to apply and fill out a lengthy application, including an explanation of why they deserve humanitarian parole and a long list of supporting documents proving how long they have been in the country. If approved, applicants have three years to seek permanent residency. During that period, they can get work authorization. Before this program, it was complicated for people who were in the U.S. illegally to get a green card after marrying an American citizen. They can be required to return to their home country — often for years — and they always face the risk they may not be allowed back in.
Trump assassination task force rebuffs parallel probe: We’re ‘the only task force of jurisdiction’
The bipartisan congressional task force investigating the assassination attempt on former President Trump last month in Pennsylvania confirmed Monday they will be the only body with jurisdiction in probing the tragedy. The comments from ranking member Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., come after several Republican lawmakers — including one who took part in the first congressional tour of the Butler, Pennsylvania, site — launched a parallel probe. “We have sent one letter assuming jurisdiction from all other committees and directing all further productions of information to the task force,” Crow said Monday. “We are the sole task force of jurisdiction for this investigation.” NEWLY REPORTED TRANSCRIPTS DEPICT COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN HINDERING LAW ENFORCEMENT AT TRUMP RALLY Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., a former military sniper who during the last congressional tour pointed out several security lapses including an unmanned water tower overlooking both Trump’s dais and attempted assassin Thomas Crooks’ perch, is a member of the parallel panel. Crane and Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., are leading the parallel probe. While Crane previously shared a tweet calling their omission from the official panel “total bull,” Mills said it may have been a predictable outcome. “It’s very unfortunate but not surprising for anyone familiar with how D.C. works. I’m not a politician, leadership, or a ‘yes man,’” the Army veteran and State Department counter-sniper said. BUTLER LAWMAKER SLAMS ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ TREATMENT OF LOCAL POLICE AFTER TRUMP INCIDENT: ‘THROWN UNDER THE BUS’ Mills, Crane, conservative commentator Benny Arthur Johnson and Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., compose the panel, according to reports. In Butler on Monday, Crow, a retired Army ranger, however, appeared to echo one of Crane’s critiques, saying he recognized “a lot of lines of sight today that appeared to have been unsecured.” Official task force chairman Mike Kelly — who represents the district the site lies within — said his goal is results, not speed. Crow echoed Kelly, adding that all 416 House lawmakers voted unanimously to create the committee and saying, “You don’t have to be Democrat, or a Republican or an unaffiliated to say there’s no room for political violence in America.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “In the United States, you do not get to attempt to assassinate our candidates and elected officials,” Crow added, saying he hopes the probe will provide confidence to the American people that their candidates are safe. “We don’t want them to be afraid to speak their minds,” added Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif. “Where does the buck stop? Who is ultimately responsible for what happened here? Who’s in charge?” he added. Rep. Glenn Ivey, a Maryland Democrat and former prosecutor, said that he is confident the panel will not let partisanship affect its work. “The democratic process will not be undermined by violence,” he said. Fox News Digital reached out to Mills for comment for purposes of this story.
Biden, Harris ‘have never once reached out’ to Gold Star families of 13 fallen servicemembers, they say
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “have never once reached out” to the Gold Star families who lost their loved ones in the deadly bombing at Abbey Gate that killed 13 Americans during the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal three years ago. Members of the Gold Star families participated in a call with GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, the Trump campaign and reporters Monday afternoon — three years after the attack. ‘YOU’RE FIRED’: TRUMP VOWS PINK SLIPS ON DAY 1 FOR EVERY OFFICIAL RESPONSIBLE FOR ‘AFGHANISTAN CALAMITY’ The suicide bombing by a member of ISIS-K at the Abbey Gate entrance of Hamid Karzai International Airport took the lives of 13 U.S. service members – 11 Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier. Eighteen other U.S. service members were wounded. The bombing also left more than 150 civilians dead. Former President Trump held a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery Monday morning to commemorate and honor the 13 American servicemembers who were killed. But neither Biden nor Harris attended, or held any similar events on Monday to honor the fallen soliders. “I think this administration has shown they have treated the Afghanistan withdrawal like the plague – they’ve stayed as far away from it as they possibly can,” Gold Star father Mark Schmitz said in response to a question by Fox News Digital. “I’m not surprised in the least bit that neither one of them would show up for this event.” Schmitz told Fox News Digital that “it is pretty obvious that when things get tough, they go running.” “This is yet another spit in the face to the 13 families,” Schmitz told Fox News Digital. Schmitz added that Trump’s presence at the event “was genuine.” REPUBLICANS SLAM HARRIS FOR BEING ‘LAST PERSON IN THE ROOM’ WHEN BIDEN MADE CALL TO EVACUATE AFGHANISTAN “I don’t see this as being part of his political campaign in any way, shape or form,” Schmitz said. “He has always vowed to be there for us—since we met with him early on—and he has never let us down.” Schmitz lost his 20-year-old son, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, that day. Gold Star Aunt Cheryl Juels, who attended the ceremony Monday at Arlington National Ceremony, said that “it doesn’t matter” what Biden or Harris say, adding “it is not genuine.” “He has never once reached out to any of our families,” Juels said, “Kamala Harris has never once reached out. Kamala Harris supported [Biden] this entire time.” Juels, the aunt of fallen Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Ghee, told Fox News Digital that “the only person who has reached out to our family over and over again and to all 13 families is Trump.” “Him coming out here today and honoring these kids who served, and spending the time talking to all of us and doing this ceremony and showing them honor and respect and dignity,” Juels said. “We need President Trump back in office.” Juels said Trump “is the only president president who kept our men and women safe who were serving this country. We 100% support him.” “We will do whatever we can to get him back into office so that we can keep the men and women serving this country safe again,” Juels said. Fox News Digital had previously reported that the suicide bomber had been a prisoner released from Bagram Air Base on Aug. 15, 2021, after the Taliban seized control of the facility. The U.S. service members killed in the suicide bombing as they conducted the massive evacuation effort to save U.S. citizens and Afghan allies include: Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, U.S. Marine from Utah; Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, a U.S. Marine from California; Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, a U.S. Marine from Massachusetts; Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, a U.S. Marine from California; Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, a U.S. Marine from California; Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, a U.S. Marine from Nebraska; Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, a U.S. Marine from Indiana; Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, a U.S. Marine from Texas; Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, 20, a U.S. Marine from Missouri; Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, a U.S. Marine from Wyoming; Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, 20, a U.S. Marine from California; Navy Hospital Corpsman Max Soviak, 22, a Navy corpsman from Ohio; and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, 23, a U.S. Army soldier from Tennessee.
Biden Cabinet official poses for photo with one of Farrakhan’s ‘top soldiers’ at DNC
FIRST ON FOX: The chief administrator of President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posed for a photo at the Democratic National Convention with one of the “top soldiers” of notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan, who has compared Jews to termites and previously called them “Satanic.” “Maaaaaaaaan, I had a great time seeing My Environmental Justice Squad along with My Political/Social Justice Squad mixed in with some HBCU LOVE, while here in Chicago,” Terence Muhammad, the lead events and field coordinator for the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Hip Hop Caucus, said in a now-deleted Facebook post last week with a photo alongside EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “Yea, the EPA Administrator of the President’s Cabinet is an AGGIE,” he added. Muhammad’s social media profiles are littered with pro-Farrakhan posts and the Hip Hop Caucus, whose stated mission is to fight injustice and enact change, has been involved in key Biden administration policy decisions, Fox News Digital previously reported. DNC SPEAKER TIED TO FARRAKHAN TELLS DEMS TO ‘ACT RIGHT’ UNTIL ELECTION, THEN CAN ‘GO BACK TO ACTING CRAZY’ Hip Hop Caucus President and CEO Lennox Yearwood, who was also pictured with Regan and Muhammad, once referred to Muhammad as one of Farrakhan’s “top soldiers” and thanked Farrakhan for allowing Muhammad to be part of his organization. “Bless Minister @LouisFarrakhan allowing one of his top soldiers [Muhammad] 2 be w/ me for #MOW50. Much LOVE to the NOI,” Yearwood wrote in a now-deleted 2013 post, referring to Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam. “Happy Birthday [Terence Muhammad] You’re a blessing to our Movement & our People!” Yearwood wrote in 2016. “Thank you for your love [Louis Farrakhan].” In a 2014 Facebook post, Muhammad posted a photo of Yearwood and Farrakhan with the caption, “I am that I am(The Good) because I was introduced to a man named the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and a Life giving teaching from the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. I can move/help my people like I do cause of Rev Lennox Yearwood, CEO/President of the Hip Hop Caucus. I work for these great men.” “Maaaaaaaaan [Louis Farrakhan] gave me life and [Rev Yearwood] gave me a lifestyle thru @HipHopCaucus to serve our people. I’m sooooo grateful,” Muhammad wrote in 2017 with the same photo. Despite the social media posts, the Hip Hop Caucus claimed they are not involved with the Nation of Islam in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The Hip Hop Caucus and Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. have no relationship with the Nation of Islam and condemn the anti-semitic statements by Louis Farrakhan,” a spokesperson said. “As a multi-platform organization, Hip Hop Caucus centers Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Queer folks in our voting rights, racial justice, and climate and environmental justice work, we believe in building true allied relationships with well-intentioned communities, who want to collaborate in good faith, as we work to make the United States a more just place.” White House visitor logs show Yearwood has visited at least seven times since Biden took office, with six of those visits happening in 2023. In the most recent example, Yearwood and two other Hip Hop Caucus officials, Tanya House and Cynthia Swann, were hosted in the West Wing for a private meeting with White House Domestic Policy Council adviser Sofia Carratala. ‘SATANIC MINDS’: NAACP LEADER WHO GAVE BIDEN AWARD INVITED NOTORIOUS ANTISEMITE TO HIS CHURCH MULTIPLE TIMES During a 2021 speech, Regan referred to Yearwood as a “good friend.” EPA spokesperson Timothy Carroll doubled down on defending Regan’s partnership with Yearwood, telling Fox News Digital that the “EPA appreciates the important on-going work of the Hip Hop Caucus and Reverend Yearwood to advocate for environmental justice across the country” and that the “EPA condemns any statements of hate or prejudice against any group or individual based on religion, race, or background.” This statement is almost verbatim what Carroll said in March of this year when Fox News Digital asked about his association with one of Farrakhan’s “top soldiers.” Muhmmad’s Facebook post appears to have been deleted shortly after Fox News Digital reached out to the EPA and Hip Hop Caucus. In April 2015, during an event protesting police brutality, Muhammad posted a picture of Yearwood “with Malik Farrakhan and the brothers of the F.O.I.” The acronym “F.O.I.” appears to be a reference to the Fruits of Islam, the paramilitary wing of the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have been heavily criticized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which was founded to stop the defamation of Jewish people and by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The ADL has called Farrakhan “one of the most prominent antisemites” and SPLC has classified Nation of Islam as a hate group. Muhammad – who Yearwood described as a “dear brother and friend” in 2020 – has a long history of himself praising and, on multiple occasions, raising money for Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. “Just for the record AGAIN. I love [Louis Farrakhan]. He is my heart,” Muhammad said in a March 2018 post that included a picture of him with Farrakhan. In addition to Regan, Muhammad posted photos with several other attendees at the DNC, including MSNBC host Al Sharpton, who has a long history of associations with Farrakhan, and disgraced Women’s March leader Tamika Mallory, who has also praised Farrakhan and attended several events with him over the years. Mallory previously faced backlash after she said that the controversial Farrakhan was the “greatest of all time because of what he’s done in Black communities.” Mallory admitted to attending dozens of the Nation of Islam’s annual Saviour’s Day addresses, including one where Farrakhan said “the powerful Jew is my enemy.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House. Fox News Digital’s Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report
UT-Dallas President Richard Benson to step down
The 73-year-old served as president for eight years. He told the UT-Dallas community on Monday that he would remain president until a successor could start.
‘Menace to our fisheries’: New England flotilla unites to protest wind farm after turbine ‘disaster’
A fleet of 25 fishing boats off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, rallied together on Sunday to protest Vineyard Wind, an offshore wind turbine project under scrutiny after a turbine blade broke off, sending shards of sharp fiberglass into the ocean. “Vineyard Wind is a menace to our fisheries,” Jerry Leeman, CEO of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), told Fox News Digital. Leeman joined the flotilla of New England fishermen protesting the wind project. “Floating fiberglass shards remain a navigation and safety risk for mariners over a month after the blade disaster. We have no idea what effects this industrial litter will have on local food chains. Worse still, we have no idea whether this could happen again,” Leeman said. “Fishermen understand the volatility of the North Atlantic better than anyone, and we are not confident these turbines and blade components will survive a winter squall or a hurricane in light of July’s catastrophe,” he continued. ‘RUINED BY NEGLIGENCE’: DAVE PORTNOY BLASTS NANTUCKET WIND FARM AFTER BROKEN BLADE SHUTS DOWN BEACHES “The Vineyard Wind project is proof that offshore wind will crush fishermen and maritime communities,” he added. The fleet included boats that catch lobster, tuna, squid and scallops. The fishermen were from Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey. Vineyard Wind did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. CHAOTIC MOMENTS CAUGHT ON CAMERA DURING RHODE ISLAND WIND FARM FORUM; POLICE INVESTIGATING Last month, the Nantucket harbormaster announced that six of the town’s beaches would be temporarily closed after pieces of fiberglass washed ashore and said anyone walking the beach should wear footwear to protect themselves from the sharp debris. Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between foreign entities Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which built wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts, said on July 18 that a blade from a turbine had snapped and that power production from the turbines was stopped immediately. In October, Vineyard Wind boasted of a $1.2 billion “first-of-its-kind tax equity package” for commercial scale offshore wind with three U.S.-based banks, calling it “the largest single asset tax equity financing and the first for a commercial scale offshore wind project.” Vineyard Wind 1 began on-site construction in late 2021 and completed the nation’s first offshore substation in July 2023. It is an 800 megawatts project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and is the first commercial scale offshore wind project in the United States. When the blade fell last month, Leeman said, “the scariest thing” about it is that “it could happen again.” “The cause of the breakage is unknown at this time. GE, as the project’s turbine and blade manufacturer and installation contractor, will now be conducting the analysis into the root cause of the incident,” Vineyard Wind said at the time. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION BLASTED FOR ‘HYPOCRISY’ ON OFFSHORE WIND AS IT SCRAMBLES TO PROBE WHALE DEATHS Vineyard Wind also said that, upon ceasing power production, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issued a work suspension order. “Vineyard Wind is in full compliance with the order, and is working in collaboration with BSEE to support its assessment and advance critical safety response and debris recovery efforts,” the company said. “Our primary focus continues to be removing the parts of the blade that pose any risk of contributing further debris into the ocean,” GE Vernova chief sustainability officer Roger Martella said in an Aug. 13 statement. “We are thankful for our stakeholders, partners, and the skilled professionals at the site and behind the scenes for their unrelenting commitment to safe execution of these plans and the progress and risk mitigation of the last few days.” BLUE-STATE LOBSTERMEN SAY BIDEN’S ‘DESTRUCTIVE’ GREEN ENERGY PLANS COULD COST THEIR LIVELIHOOD Offshore wind farming has been a contentious push by the Biden administration, which aims to hit aggressive green energy goals by 2030. Agencies within the Biden administration have been accused of moving too fast to approve wind projects at the expense of both environmental and marine life. Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, testified in March last year before a House Committee that “[w]hile some offshore wind may hold promise, federal and state levels have moved forward without transparency, robust and sound science, or good governance.” Zipf testified that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) previously found that offshore wind can increase ocean noise, which can affect behaviors of whales; introduce electromagnetic fields that impact their navigation, predator detection and communication; and change species composition and survival rates, among other things. “The NMFS concludes with, ‘Offshore wind is the new use of our marine waters, requiring substation scientific and regulatory review,’” Zipf testified. “So, where is the substantial review? Where is the commitment to the precautionary principle?” Clean Ocean Action noted last February following the ninth whale death in the Northeast that the “alarming number of [whale] deaths is unprecedented in the last half century.” The only unique factor from previous years is the excessive scope, scale and magnitude of offshore wind power plant activity in the region, the group noted. Zipf emphasized that “climate change is real” and “living resources on the planet are in crisis,” but offshore wind projects should only be approved after pilot-scale projects are proven to be successful and when science supports industrial-scale plants. In April, NEFSA, a fishing advocacy group that represents wild harvesters in fisheries across New England, criticized the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) recently unveiled plans to lease 2 million acres of ocean in Maine for more offshore wind development – an unprecedented leasing area that would allow for construction of enough wind turbines to produce 32 gigawatts of energy. NEFSA, along with Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, said the administration is “rushing” to “political-proof” a green energy plan insulated from a possible administration change in November. BOEM told Fox News Digital in July that it will conduct a “phased leasing approach, and that BOEM does not intend to lease the entire final WEA (wind
On dodging the media, Kamala Harris ‘owes responses’ to the American public, says campaign adviser
A Harris campaign adviser conceded Sunday that Vice President Kamala Harris “owes responses” to the American public about why she has shifted her stance on policies like fracking, adding that she will sit for an interview “before the end of this month.” News of Harris’ first formal interview since becoming the Democratic Party’s nominee for president came Sunday, during an appearance by Harris’ deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, on Fox News’s “Media Buzz” with Howie Kurtz. During the discussion, Kurtz pressed Fulks on whether he felt Harris needed to explain to voters why – on issues like fracking and health care – she has backtracked on several of her formerly far-left, progressive stances touted amid Harris’ 2020 presidential run. “Look, I think that the vice president owes responses to the American people,” Fulks said. He pointed the finger at former President Trump for stirring up misinformation about Harris’ views on topics like fracking and health care. “We’re not going to be worried about explaining anything to Donald Trump, or people – the vice president is going to talk to the American people about what her positions are.” TOP HARRIS OFFICIAL PRESSED TO EXPLAIN BIDEN’S SPEECH GETTING MOVED TO LATE NIGHT, IF IT WAS ‘DISRESPECTFUL’ Harris has been criticized for failing to take interviews or hold press conferences since becoming the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee over a month ago. The Harris-Walz campaign lacks any information about the pair’s policy views on their campaign website as well, and the recent policy platform unveiled by the Democratic National Convention (DNC) cited President Biden and his policies more than it did Harris’. Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign to glean more details about the vice president’s upcoming interview, but did not receive a response. Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton said Sunday on ABC News that Harris “owes” the American public an explanation on when and why she changed her policy positions on various issues. “She needs to address the American people and speak to these questions because the only basis they have to conclude what she will be like as president is what she’s done for four years in this administration and what she said in her own voice in the last campaign,” Cotton said. Meanwhile, some of Harris’ supporters think she should continue dodging the media. For example, Rick Wilson, former GOP strategist and co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, said last week that Harris “has no f—ing necessity to do interviews right now.” “They should go out and keep racing along and doing the big things, do what’s working right now – which is going out and holding massive, enthusiastic rallies that are bringing people into the Democratic fold again, that are exciting voters,” Wilson continued. The same opinion was echoed by legendary Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino, who told talk show host Bill Maher that “sometimes it’s just about f—ing winning.” QUENTIN TARANTINO TELLS KAMALA HARRIS TO CONTINUE DODGING INTERVIEWS UNTIL ELECTION: ‘DON’T F— S— UP’ “She’s not stopping to stumble,” Tarantino told Maher. “And there’s nothing wrong to – and I’m going to vote for her f—ing anyway, no matter what she says in a stupid f—ing interview. So don’t f— s— up!” ‘WHATEVER’: DEMOCRATS REACT TO KAMALA HARRIS’ LACK OF INTERVIEWS Delegates at the DNC last week had similar, albeit less aggressive, takes on Harris’ failure to go in front of the media. “Let’s give some time,” Heather Pirowski, a delegate from Indiana, said last week. “I think just be patient because it’s all gonna come.” “Right now, our main concern is uniting the party,” said another. “And once that’s done, I think she’s gonna come out and speak to the American people.” At least one delegate couldn’t understand why Harris was being criticized for not going in front of the media. “I don’t know what that’s about,” the Texas delegate said at the convention last week. “I mean, when they have to resort to those tactics and the name-calling and the vitriol and the misogynistic – he’s back to 2016 when that’s all he did against Hillary.”