Kamala Harris: Our Capitol Was ‘Attacked by Insurgents’
Vice President Kamala Harris told an audience Thursday just how dark things she felt things were in America when she first took office.
“Our Democracy was under assault and our Capitol had just been attacked by insurgents,” she said, referring to supporters of former President Donald Trump storming Capitol Hill on January 6th.
The line from Harris shares a similar message from President Joe Biden’s address to Congress on Wednesday, as he described the riot on Capitol Hill as “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”
Harris spoke after visiting a vaccination site at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore and declared significant progress for the Biden administration in its first 100 days.
“Things are looking up,” she said. “America is once again on the move.”
She credited the administration’s successful vaccine effort across the country for giving more people confidence about returning to normal life.
“Whoever you voted for, light is at the end of the tunnel, we can see it but it is we who create these moments,” she said.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen and other Democrat members of congress joined the vice president for the visit as well as Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R). Dr. Anthony Fauci also joined the tour.
“It’s always a wonderful day to spend time with Dr. Anthony Fauci,” Harris said.
She urged Americans to get vaccinated and get their friends vaccinated.
“It’s time for each one of us to do our part,” she said.
Harris promoted President Biden’s $6 trillion in proposed spending on infrastructure, clean energy spending, more free government education, and the expansion of social welfare programs, including the $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue plan.
“Some said it was too big, but we went for it anyway, and the American people rallied around it,” she said.
Harris said the pandemic had taken a toll on the physical, mental, and financial health of American families and promised the administration would work to provide relief across the spectrum.
She said the administration would focus on helping working parents get childcare, free universal pre-school and community college, affordable broadband internet, and the replacement of lead pipes in homes.
“President Joe Biden, he had a clear vision and a clear purpose, and he never forgets who we are doing this for,” she said.
But Harris noted there was still work to do on issues of gun control, racial justice, and gun control.
“There have been too many days when we w
3 Migrants Dead, 27 Injured as Smuggler’s Boat Flips off California Coast
Officials in San Diego, California, report at least three migrants died and as many as 27 were injured when a human smuggler’s overloaded vessel capsized off the coast.
San Diego Fire Department (SDFD) officials tweeted images from the scene where a 40′ cabin cruiser broke apart on the rocky coastline after overturning in the surf. A multi-agency response led to the rescue of dozens of smuggled migrants and the recovery of at least three bodies.
Photos taken at the scene of the boat incident today. 40’ cabin cruiser broke up along the rocks inside the surf line. The @SDLifeguards cliff rescue veh was used to extricate one patient up to street level. pic.twitter.com/lQ54UdBWBG
— SDFD (@SDFD) May 2, 2021
SDFD Lifeguard Services Lieutenant Rick Romero told reporters rescuers pulled seven people from the waves including the three migrants who died. The cold surf was running five to six feet on Sunday morning when the incident occurred, Fox News reported. The boat quickly broke apart as the waves smashed it into the rocky shore.
Homeland Security Investigations spokesman Jose Ysea confirmed the deaths of three people and that 27 were transported to local hospitals for “varying degrees of injuries.”
Agents responding to the failed human smuggling attempt included the SDFD, local lifeguards, the U.S. Coast Guard, Border Patrol, and other agencies, NPR reported.
Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jeff Stephenson told the reporters, “Every indication from our perspective is that this was a smuggling vessel.” He said the boat was “severely overcrowded.”
The captain of the boat is under arrest under federal charges that appear to be related to human smuggling resulting in death to migrants.
Stephenson said the San Diego Sector experienced a growing number of maritime smuggling apprehensions this year. He said the boat appeared to be attempting to blend in with commercial vessels before capsizing onto the rocky coastline.
Officials have not yet released information on the migrants.
On Saturday, San Diego Sector Border Patrol officials announced a stepped-up operation to attempt to disrupt maritime smuggling incidents. The effort includes assets from CBP’s Air and Marine Operations and Border Patrol.
.@DHSgov partners are ramping up operations to disrupt maritime smuggling off the coast of San Diego this weekend. From Fri, 4/30 – Mon, 5/3, federal law enforcement partners will dedicate extra resources to coastal patrols. https://t.co/rPmTks5uf9 pic.twitter.com/tr5EWe0KN4
— CBP San Diego (@CBPSanDiego) May 1, 2021
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s Sunday-morning talk show, What’s Your Point? Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, Parler @BobPrice, and Facebook.
California Hosts Latest Unaccompanied Migrant Child Shelter
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials announced the opening of another Emergency Intake Site (EIS) to move the increasing numbers of unaccompanied children out of Customs and Border Protection custody. The move mirrors recent announcements by HHS to address the surge in unaccompanied children migrants flooding the southern border.
The new EIS facility will be located at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California. The Pomona Fairplex EIS is expected to receive 250 unaccompanied migrant children over the weekend. The Emergency Intak Site will provide shelter for up to 2,500 boys and girls between two and 17 years of age.
According to HHS, the EIS shelters being brought into service will provide required standards of care for children, such as providing clean and comfortable sleeping quarters, meals, toiletries, laundry, and access to medical services. A COVID-19 health screening protocol for all children will be implemented to follow CDC guidelines for preventing and controlling communicable diseases, officials claimed. Services will be provided by a combination of contractors and federal staff – including teams from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
The number of unaccompanied minors in United States custody rose steadily over the last several months and shows no signs of waning. At the start of April, HHS held 13,204 unaccompanied alien children. Friday, that number stood at 22,557, a 70% increase. On April 1, HHS released 244 UACs to sponsors in the United States. On Friday, HHS released 580 UACs to sponsors, over twice their daily rate of releases during the month. In total, HHS officials released more than 7,000 UACs to sponsors in the United States in April.
HHS attempts to move the unaccompanied migrant children from temporary holding facilities at Border Patrol Stations as quickly as possible. So far, officials are unable to keep up with the current rate of illegal border crossings by unaccompanied minors. According to a law enforcement source within CBP, Border Patrol agents arrested nearly 19,000 unaccompanied children in March — an all-time monthly record.
Although current laws dictate the children may only be in CBP custody for 72 hours, many have been detained for more than ten days according to law enforcement sources. A number of Border Patrol facilities continue to face issues with overcrowding. HHS, by opening additional shelters can move UACs from Border Patrol custody into HHS Emergency Intake Sites, thus reducing the number held in temporary holding cells at Border Patrol Stations. The number of UACs being detained by the federal government continues to climb despite this effort.
HHS estimates the cost to house each unaccompanied child in an EIS is approximately $775 per day. The cost is lower at other HHS shelters that provide more permanent housing. Based on their cost estimates, daily expenses for the care of the UACs in HHS custody are over $9 million per day.
The Biden administration has not, thus far, communicated a clear plan to reduce the influx of unaccompanied migrant children.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas Sector.
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