ISRA Condemns Senator Morrison’s Attempt to Take More Freedoms from Gun OwnersOn January 10th, Senator Julie Morrison (D IL-29) filed legislation (SB2720) that would take away the freedom to drive in Illinois should an individual’s FOID card become revoked. The Illinois State Rifle Association immediately warned its members and Illinois gun owners of yet another attack on their rights.
“It is no surprise to us that Senator Morrison chose the one year anniversary of the Illinois ban on commonly owned firearms to unveil yet another attack on the freedoms of Illinois firearm owners.”, said Richard Pearson, Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association. Over the years many gun owners in Illinois have had their rights withheld due to errors in the Illinois State Police FOID database, and serious delays in proper processing. Now Senator Morrison is relying on these same faulty databases for data to enforce her proposed bill. “Illinois firearms owners have felt like they’re being punished with an understaffed State Police and faulty databases causing them to lose their rights and end up in an endless bureaucracy. This proposed law is a continuation of the punishment of those who try to exercise their second amendment rights in Illinois “ said Doug Mayhall, President of the ISRA. The ISRA would like to remind Illinois lawmakers that they have passed several reforms in the last few years designed to stop the outdated process of using a driver’s license as punishment for non-criminal offenses. Senator Morrison’s bill would reverse that trend.
State Department Bypasses Congress For Israeli Munition Sale
(ConservativeInsider.org) – The US State Department on Dec. 8 declared an emergency for the rapid sale of thousands of military ammunition to Israel, bypassing the standard 20-day review period granted to congressional committees.
The State Department requested Congress to swiftly approve the sale of over 40,000 shells for Israel’s Merkava tanks due to the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza. The House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, overseeing military sales, faced pressure to expedite the approval. The declaration followed this request.
Committees usually have a 20-day timeframe to review international military sales, providing lawmakers with enough time to review and delay the process if needed. However, last Friday night, the State Department urgently notified the committees about an emergency declaration for over 10,000 tank shells, valued at over $100 million, for immediate delivery to Israel.
According to the documents facilitating the sales, the items could be transferred right away, with no additional information provided.
The US government is sending munitions to Israel at this time due to increasing pressure from both inside and outside the country. Calls for the US to support a ceasefire in Gaza and put conditions on the weapons sent to Israel have emerged.
On Saturday, a State Department spokesperson said Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Congress on Friday about an emergency. Blinken used his authority to approve sending tank munitions to Israel quickly. The spokesperson stressed that the US is dedicated to Israel’s security, seeing it as crucial for US interests. Helping Israel build a strong defense aligns with these goals.
The Israeli defense ministry has confirmed receiving over nine thousand tons of military equipment in military aid since the beginning of the war with Hamas. However, a US Defense Ministry spokesperson said the aid originated from “several countries.” However, they did not disclose the specific countries providing help or specify the amount provided by the United States.
The use of US weapons in Israel’s war has come under increased scrutiny following a report by Amnesty International this week. The report alleges that US-made precision-guided munitions were used in two October strikes, causing the deaths of more than 40 civilians.
According to a recent report from WBEZ Chicago, there were unprecedented record numbers of illegals apprehended at the southwest border in the last week of December 2023. In fact, it was reported in the last five days of December alone that over 50,000 illegals crossed our southwest border.
One might ask: when did we decide it would be good for the U.S. to become the number one WELFARE COUNTRY in the world? We CANNOT keep funding the system to support more and more illegal immigrants. It’s UNSUSTAINABLE! Unless, of course, you want the United States to become more like Illinois –a state where we have unfunded mandates but keep spending like drunken sailors.
The funding for illegals is becoming more like the state pension system in Illinois, with more debt piled on more debt, and NO accountability. The can just keeps getting “kicked down the road” for future generations to deal with!
In 2019, Tom Homan, former Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under President Trump, warned members of a congressional hearing about the serious threat to our national security caused by the invasion of illegals at our Southern border.
Homan has over 34 years of experience as a Border Patrol agent. He certainly has the experience, background, and wisdom to know what he’s talking about. He spoke to members of Congress about sanctuary cities “shielding” illegal immigrants, now referred to as “undocumented” citizens by the Biden administration.
These are the same illegals that receive “free” medical care, “free” housing or lodging, and even “free” college education. What more could anyone ask for? (By the way, these “free” items are not free. Who’s kidding who? They are paid for by hardworking Americans like you and me.)
So, why is there such an enormous INVASION at the Southern Border, you ask?
Well, other than offering illegals FREE EVERYTHING — the Biden Administration has canceled Title 42, construction of the border wall, and any real enforcement of immigration laws at the southwest border, as well as turning border agents into immigrant processing agents. Then there’s the reinstatement of the “catch-and-release” program.
Border Patrol agents are now forced to release illegals into our communities rather than transfer them to ICE.
Add to that the “MONEY FACTOR.” A host of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are facilitating lawlessness for the Biden border crisis by applying for and receiving tax dollars to provide processing and transportation services, thereby making possible the migration of aliens or illegal immigrants INTO the INTERIOR of AMERICA! In short, they are making BILLIONS of dollars supporting the invasion of illegals into America.
That’s right! It’s not enough that our southwest border is flooded by illegals that are invading America and we are handing out all these “freebies” as incentives, but as taxpayers, we go above and beyond that for these illegals by providing transportation services to ANYWHERE they want to go in the U.S. Such a deal!
These NGOs not only provide shelter and food, but they also purchase plane, train, and bus tickets for these illegals. A good chunk of those dollars come from – you guessed it – hardworking American taxpayers and legal citizens living in the great U.S. of A.
According to the Heritage Foundation and their investigation called the “Oversight Project,” 30 NGOs in the border states were monitored by tracking cell phones. These tracked cell phones demonstrated that illegals were sent into 431/435 Congressional districts in the U.S.
In addition, out of 3400 “pings” following Catholic Charities, one of the largest NGOs, over the course of 30 days, phones pinged in all but 2 Congressional districts.
Americans are being forced to pay for this massive invasion and the resettlement of illegal immigrants across America!
Of course, NGOs like Catholic Charities will claim they are merely helping a “vulnerable population,” but who are they kidding? They are FINANCIALLY CLEANING UP!
We all know that the Biden administration is not equipped to handle the flood of illegals at the southwest border by themselves. They rely heavily on NGOs to do the work, especially when it comes to transporting, lodging, and counseling these millions of illegals in the U.S.
In return, the Biden Administration pays BILLIONS of dollars to these NGOs. Billions of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars.
These BILLIONS of dollars have led to and supported this MASS INVASION and the obnoxious amount of misused and unaccounted funds that go to these prominent NGOs.
As mentioned, Catholic Charities in the USA is one of the largest U.S. charities involved in illegal immigration. It received over $1.4 BILLION in grants from our federal government in 2022 to support the migration of illegals.
Another prominent NGO, Lutheran Immigration and Referred Services received $93 million in 2022 in U.S. government grants.
In addition, Church World Services in 2022 received $20.5 million in grant funds and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society received $40.9 million.
Even the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services received 10 Federal grants worth several billion dollars.
We are talking about BILLIONS of taxpayers’ dollars going to fund illegals both along the border and inside the interior of the U.S.
How can we as legal U.S. citizens and Americans continue to sit idly by and watch this massive invasion of illegals supported by the Biden Administration continue? It’s INSANE!
We CANNOT continue to sit silently by and watch as the LEFT and these NGOs claim the higher moral ground as mass illegal migration continues, and as they continue to profit from this insanity.
This concerns national security, public safety, and economic security threats to America!
As Homan stated, this RESETTLEMENT Program will lead to most people in the U.S. becoming dependent on the government. This will lead to massive changes in our population. This will lead to our culture being watered down and the destruction of common American traditions. It will lead to permanent changes in demographics.
In addition, in June 2023, the Biden Administration opened the first of 100 regional processing centers or “Safe Mobility Offices”in Guatemala. Expect more of these so-called “Safe Mobility Offices” to open in Costa Rica and Colombia in 2024, as well. Yes, you read that correctly. American taxpayers are paying to open centers in OTHER countries for processing illegal immigrants.
Maybe the Biden Administration thinks if they open processing offices OUTSIDE OF THE U.S., illegals won’t overcrowd our southern border and it will look like they solved the illegal immigration problem. What a joke, but it’s not! This is serious money, and it is a SERIOUS problem involving national security!
Biden’s deliberate INACTION has left Gov. Greg Abbott and the state of Texas to fend for themselves. Abbott’s solution is called Operation Lone Star, and it allows the Texas police to do what the Biden Administration won’t do – arrest illegal aliens. Of course, what is the Biden Administration doing in response? It is SUING Texas.
Gov. Abbott did the right thing. In Texas, they passed legislation to mirror federal immigration laws, which Biden refuses to enforce, to reduce illegal immigration and enhance the safety of Texans. Then, Gov. Abbott started sending the illegals to “sanctuary cities” – after all, it was those same cities that received government grants for providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants. It makes sense, doesn’t it, to send illegals where the money went for taking care of them in the first place?
Oh, but this is where the story turns really interesting.
Chicago’s Mayor Johnson, along with other major Democratic city mayors, took federal tax dollars – BILLIONS over the last few years – to provide housing, food, and transportation for illegals. In fact, just last May, Chicago received a $51 million grant for migrant housing. Then in October, Illinois received another $11 million in grants for migrant assistance in the suburbs.
Then in November, Chicago received an additional $160 million grant for “shelter” of immigrants. Previously, Chicago received a $320 million grant for illegal immigration support.
But it seems things changed rather quickly for Chicago Mayor Johnson and those other mayors of sanctuary cities. Especially when Governor Abbott started sending illegals into their municipalities, those same mayors started to throw their hands up and ask the federal government to step in and send more funds! These same mayors, including Chicago City Mayor Johnson, all claimed victim status and cried,
“WE NEED MORE MONEY!”
Well, it turns out that Chicago Mayor Johnson also recently passed an executive order defining the terms and limitations as to dates, times, and locations for when exactly the illegals can be “received” in Chicago. That’s right!
The order fines bus companies for disobeying “drop-off protocols” for illegal immigrants in Chicago. According to the executive order, ONLY 2 buses can arrive EACH hour at 800 S. Des Plaines in Chicago, between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm, and ONLY Monday through Friday!
So, maybe that’s why we had 355 illegal immigrants recently sent to Rockford, Illinois via a Boeing 777 from San Antonio, Texas, on January 1, 2024, at 1 AM! These same immigrants were then transported to the Chicago landing zone, escorted by the Winnebago County sheriffs.
Posted Tue, Jan 9, 2024 at 1:17 pm CT|Updated Tue, Jan 9, 2024 at 2:52 pm CT
The complaint seeks damages for physical and emotional damages suffered by the victim, the law firm said. (Shutterstock)
LOCKPORT, IL — A Lockport Township High School student’s parents have filed a lawsuit against Lockport Township High School District 205 alleging a sexual assault that happened in 2022, according to a release from GWC Injury Lawyers, LLC.
The suit names the school district, Superintendent Robert McBride and Assistant Superintendent Anthony Cundari as defendants.
The suit claims that a student of LTHS, referred to as “Jane Doe,” had traveled to Andrew High School in Tinley Park as a member of a sports team. While at the school, she was forcibly raped by a fellow LTHS student, according to a release from the law firm.
Tinley Park Police Department said the case occurred at Andrew High School, and an arrest was made.
The complaint filed in Cook County court, since that is where the assault took place, states that the assailant had multiple prior sexual assault allegations.
Find out what’s happening in Homer Glen-Lockportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Subscribe
According to the complaint, McBride, Cundari and other District 205 officials knew that Doe’s assailant had an extensive history of sexual assault allegations, “yet inadequate, or no steps at all, were taken to prevent Doe’s assailant from committing another sexual assault at this school sporting event,” the law firm said.
The complaint seeks damages for physical and emotional damages suffered by the victim, the law firm said.
“The damages suffered by Doe are the most unimaginable, life-altering damages that can occur to a young girl. The emotional scarring will never heal. Students should be safe during school activities,” GWC lead counsel, Timothy J. Keiser, said in a release. “Parents should have the peace of mind that their children will remain safe when they are at school or participating in school-sanctioned events. Unfortunately, Doe and her family have had their peace of mind and sense of safety stripped away and trampled upon by the District’s conscious disregard for the health, safety and well-being of this young girl.”
“The allegations of the Complaint suggest that given the District’s advanced knowledge of the assailant’s history, the District is the only party involved that was not shocked that this sexual assault occurred. Doe seeks and deserves justice from the District, given its knowledge of the assailant’s propensities, as well as its responsibility to prevent such a heinous act from ever occurring at a school event,” Keiser said.
According to the court complaint, in 2021, local law enforcement investigated a complaint a student made about the same offending student, who had touched the victim inappropriately. In March 2022, another student told an LTHS employee the offending student had sexually assaulted them. Law enforcement investigated and took statements.
“Despite knowledge of two prior sexual attacks, District 205 permitted the assailant to continue living an otherwise normal high school experience,” the complaint states.
The complaint states that the assailant was taken into custody by law enforcement after the assault in Tinley Park. The student transferred schools without undergoing formal expulsion proceedings.
The initial case management date is set for March 13 at 9:30 a.m., according to the law firm.
Patch reached out to LTHS District 205 for comment, and the District said it does not comment in matters of litigation.
Three variations of the AR-15 assault rifle are displayed at the California Department of Justice in Sacramento on Aug. 15, 2012. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
CHICAGO (CN) — There are 102 counties in Illinois. Each has a sheriff. One hundred and two men — and they’re all men — who enforce state law.
Except when they don’t.
Since the start of the year, a majority of county sheriffs in Illinois have stated that they don’t plan to enforce the Protect Illinois Communities Act, a sweeping ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines state lawmakers passed in January.
What the sheriffs oppose specifically is PICA’s effect on private assault weapon owners. The law not only prohibited the sale and purchase of new assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, but also forbid, with some exceptions, their private ownership. One of those exceptions was a grandfather measure ensuring those who already owned assault weapon could keep their guns and weapon accessories so long as they registered them with the Illinois State Police before New Year’s Day, 2024.
Since the registration portal opened in October, about 52,000 people have done so.
After New Years Day, at least in theory, anyone found owning an unregistered assault weapon or extended magazine could face criminal penalties. But in the days after Democratic Gov. J. B. Pritzker signed PICA into law, sheriffs across the state issued statements saying they believe the bans violate the Second Amendment.
Though a few sheriffs who opposed the ban, like Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley, simply voiced their opposition without saying what it means in practical terms, dozens of others weren’t so coy.
“I, among many others, believe that [the Protect Illinois Communities Act] is a clear violation of the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution,” read a near-identical statement issued by sheriffs across the state in January. “Therefore, as the custodian of the jail and chief law enforcement official for_______ County, that neither myself nor my office will be checking to ensure that lawful gun owners register their weapons with the State (sic), nor will we be arresting or housing law abiding individuals that have been arrested solely with non-compliance of this Act.”
Since the sheriffs issued their statements, the bans have survived numerous challenges at the state and federal level, ultimately prevailing in both the Illinois Supreme Court and the federal Seventh Circuit of Appeals.
The U.S. Supreme Court has also declined to hear challenges to the ban on not one but two occasions, and just last week even a conservative federal judge in southern Illinois declined to strike down PICA’s Jan. 1 registration requirement on a 14th Amendment challenge.
As far as the government is concerned, it is, at least for now, the law of the land in the Land of Lincoln.
Despite this, Courthouse News could find no examples of a sheriff who, after saying he wouldn’t enforce the bans in January, reversed course and agreed to abide by the courts’ decisions. Of the multiple PICA-opposing sheriffs’ offices CNS reached out to for comment, none responded.
This mass non-compliance presents a major political challenge for Illinois’ ruling Democrats. It doesn’t mean much that the party spent 2023 fighting for PICA in the courts, if those charged with enforcing the law decide they don’t care what the courts say.
It’s also indicative of the cultural and political divides between liberal, urban Chicagoland in northeastern Illinois and the whiter, more conservative, more rural areas to the states’ south and west.
Case in point, among the only sheriffs to support the ban openly are John Idleburg of Lake County, one of the state’s only Black sheriffs, representing the northeastern most county in the state, and Tom Dart, representing Cook County, which includes all of Chicago proper and several more liberal collar suburbs.
“Sheriff Dart has been a staunch supporter of this legislation as it is part of his ongoing mission to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of unlawful owners, especially individuals who have had their Firearm Ownder ID cards revoked and individuals who partake in criminal activity,” Dart’s office told CNS in a prepared statement.
According to University of Illinois – Chicago political science professor Alexandra Filindra, who has extensively researched the confluence of guns, policing and politics, the divide between liberal Chicago legislators passing stricter gun laws and conservative downstate sheriffs refusing to enforce them is the latest iteration of a conflict going back to the founding of the country and the socioeconomic premises it was founded upon.
At the center of the debate, she said, is the question of who gets to be a “good American” and who gets labeled as those good Americans’ enemies.
Historically, she explained, the “good Americans” have been white, Christian, property-owning men. And being a good American is more than just belonging to an elite social club. By virtue of being white men who own property and profess Christian faith, Filindra said, one’s ability to govern themselves and others is made self-evident.
“This is consistent with ideals of Jeffersonian Democracy, which held that the ‘Good Americans’ were the freeholders,” she said. “It was the property owners who can be trusted with the state.”
Part of being trusted with the state or property, she explained, is the expectation that you will defend it — by force of arms if need be — from the good Americans’ enemies. Not just foreign soldiers, but indigenous peoples, Black slaves, agitating laborers and others.
This call to arms to defend whiteness, home and property from the threat posed by not-good Americans has echoed down the centuries, Filindra said, even being enshrined in deceased, conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s majority opinion in the 2008 landmark gun rights case District of Columbia v. Heller.
In that case the high court overturned a Washington D.C. law criminalizing handgun possession, with Scalia writing that the Second Amendment “elevates above all other interests the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home.”
Filindra estimated that about 40% of white Americans hold this view still; a view that, as the Illinois sheriffs’ refusal to enforce PICA shows, has concrete effects.
To further drive the point home, she pointed to Effingham County is southern Illinois, which local leaders declared a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” in 2018 — meaning they would not enforce any state laws which could affect gun rights. Dozens of other Illinois counties have since passed similar resolutions, further challenging the state’s authority.
“We have a huge problem where people are turning federalism on its head,” Filindra said. “We are creating a situation where the system is unworkable.”
More practically speaking, Illinois State University legal studies professor Jason Cieslik said downstate sheriffs’ refusals to enforce PICA represent a major affront to the state government’s legitimacy. Police, not politicians, are ultimately the ones walking around with guns, and if law enforcement get away with disobeying the state here, what’s to stop them from blowing off any other law they oppose?
“Where does this begin and where does this end? I don’t know,” Cieslik said.
While those left of center have at times praised law enforcement defying laws they considered unjust, like when Florida State Attorney Andrew Warren refused to enforce anti-trans and anti-abortion laws backed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, Cieslik also worried that this defiance could result in another assault weapon mass shooting like that which occurred on July 4, 2022 in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park and claimed the lives of seven people — the very same mass shooting that prompted PICA’s creation.
Among liberals, the shock and anger that shooting generated only grew when state police revealed the suspected gunman, then-21-year-old Robert Crimo III, had purchased the assault weapon he used in the attack completely legally. He bought the rifle and several others despite a history of violent incidents — while underage, no less — using a valid Illinois Firearm Owner ID card bolstered by his father’s sponsorship of the purchases.
Cieslik worried about a repeat of the incident, with state government left holding the bag for sheriffs’ refusal to rein in unlicensed guns. He urged the state government to get serious about the issue, perhaps even to levy criminal penalties against sheriffs who refuse to enforce the new law.
“You need some prosecutorial authority to step in and say, enough is enough,” Cieslik said.
But it may not be so simple. Cieslik, who has a pending legal review paper on the issue, said “any eighth grader in a civics class” could point out that sheriffs can’t pick and choose which laws to enforce, but wondered aloud if simply stating a refusal to enforce a law is grounds for any kind of legal consequence.
“Are any of these issues ripe? Can they be charged with making these statements right now? I don’t know,” Cieslik said.
It’s also unclear how many state attorneys would be willing to go after others in the law enforcement field. Courthouse News reached out to multiple Illinois state attorneys, specifically in counties where sheriffs had opposed the assault weapon ban, to ask if they would consider action against their county sheriffs.
Only one, the office of DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin, responded, and even then, it was only to decline to comment.
Pritzker’s office also seems caught in a bind on the issue; though a spokesman issued a statement Friday condemning “political grandstanding,” it did not offer any concrete plans to deal with non-compliant sheriffs.
“Sheriffs have a constitutional duty to uphold the laws of the state, not pick and choose which laws they support and when,” the spokesman said. “We’re confident that this law will hold up to any future legal challenges, but again, it is the current law of our state, and anyone who claims to advocate for public safety and law and order should follow the law.”
“I see the problem from Pritzker’s position,” Filindra added, considering the issue as the 2024 election cycle looms. “The party’s not going to go that way. It wouldn’t do him any good to create a culture of victimization of… sheriffs, because that’s what the NRA would come out with. They don’t want to give that narrative to Fox News.”
But bad political narratives or not, Cieslik warned that unless the state didn’t act on the sheriffs’ non-compliance, the line between police and judge, enforcing the law and interpreting it, may begin to fade.
“If somebody doesn’t grow some teeth, we’re going to see some blurring of the line,” he said.
Illinois’ population shrinks for the 10th straight year. Millions of Illinoisans will depend on federal food assistance for Christmas dinner. State lawmakers can’t ditch their sin tax habit. Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan wants his trial delayed. A Portage Park migrant shelter has sparked controversy. Also, thousands of Cook County property owners will get automatic refunds this week. O’Hare airport is close to a $200 million remodel. Finally, Tuscola school paraprofessionals are fighting for Christmas bonuses.
Illinoisans in moving vans drives 10th straight population drop – Illinois Policy Institute People choosing to move out of Illinois led to the 10th consecutive year of population decline, new data from U.S. Census Bureau shows. Politicians can change that. READ MORE.Illinoisans rely on food stamps for Christmas dinner’ – Illinois Policy Institute This holiday season, nearly 2 million Illinoisans will rely on federal food assistance. Illinois is eighth in the country for highest reliance on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. READ MORE.
Foreigners bought 3.4 million acres of U.S. agricultural land in 2020, and now own or lease nearly two percent of the entire US landmass, according to new federal data.
“Foreign persons held an interest in over 43.4 million acres of U.S. agricultural land as of December 31, 2022,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a report released this month. “This is an increase of over 3.4 million acres from the December 31, 2021 report and represents 3.4 percent of all privately held agricultural land … and nearly 2 percent of all land in the United States.”
Interest in U.S. farmland from other countries was once rare, but has skyrocketed in recent years, apparently largely because of foreign-controlled wind energy farms. “Foreign holdings of U.S. agricultural land increased modestly from 2012 through 2017, increasing an average of 0.6 million per year. Since 2017, foreign holdings have increased an average of nearly 2.9 million acres annually, ranging from 2.4 million acres to over 3.4 million acres per year,” USDA said.
Citizens of the United Arab Emirates controlled 46,496 acres; Venezuelans 28,218; Saudis 18,586; Egyptians 17,645; firms tied to Iran 2,463, Syrians 2,574; Pakistanis 1,677; Cuban investors controlled 848 acres; and Russians 73 acres. One firm listing its country as the “State of Palestine” had possession of 11,381 acres.
The annual report comes days after Congress sent the president a defense bill that, at the last minute, removed provisions aimed at clamping down on the practice.
In 2022, a Chinese food manufacturer called the Fufeng Group bought 300 acres about 20 minutes from an Air Force base in North Dakota that is “the backbone of all U.S. military communications across the globe.” The top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee both opposed the move.
South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds introduced an amendment to this year’s defense funding act that would block China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from buying farmland. The Senate passed the amendment 91-7.
The Republican-controlled House included only a milder version of the amendment. Yet when the National Defense Authorization Act came out of the reconciliation committee, which normally irons out differences between the two chambers’ bills, the final text removed not only the Senate amendment, but also the House one requiring the Department of Defense to write a report on the issue. The bill was sent to the president last week.
“At best, this serves the interests of the companies and other countries, not America’s,” Cotton said. “At worst, these purchases undermine our security.”
He added that with many American farmers reaching retirement age, there is a threat of the trend getting even worse.
In September, the Senate Committee on Agriculture held a hearing on the topic, where Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) said, “I hope many of our colleagues agree, the Chinese government and other U.S. adversaries should own zero, zero agricultural land in our country.”
“They’re taking back our pandas. We should take back all of their farmland,” Fetterman said, referring to panda bears being returned from U.S. zoos. “Small farmers… face enough hardships, and they don’t need to compete with foreign governments buying our land.”
The foreigners usually owned the land but sometimes leased it. The land was roughly evenly split between farmland and timber. More than one-fifth of Maine’s agricultural land was owned by foreigners, and Texas had the most foreign-held acreage, at 5.4 million acres. In both states, most of that was timber.
In 2022, foreign interests added more than half a million acres in Colorado and Alabama, and nearly that much in Michigan.
A third of the land was owned by Canadian investors, followed by the Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
“China held 349,442 acres, which is slightly less than 1 percent of foreign-held acres,” the report said, but “there is considerable interest in this topic.” All of the by-country totals likely understate the true figure because they omit some cases where the land is jointly operated.
The Chinese government did not acknowledge directly purchasing any US farmland, but the acreage reflects land whose primary investors are Chinese.
“Two Chinese-owned companies — Brazos Highland Properties, LP and Murphy Brown LLC (Smithfield Foods) — reported 102,345 acres and 97,975 acres, respectively, and were by far the largest Chinese reporters. Other top Chinese-owned reporters were Murphy Brown of Missouri (Smithfield Foods) (42,716 acres); Harvest Texas, LLC (29,705 acres); and Walton International Group (USA), Inc. (29,437 acres),” the report said.
The amount of land controlled by Chinese-owned companies actually declined from the previous year from 195,000 acres to 187,000 acres, but is up more than 15-fold from 2006.
In the last ten years, the amount of cropland owned by foreign interests has increased from 5 million to nearly 13 million. The USDA said that was mostly due to foreign-controlled wind and solar energy firms, who buy large amounts of cropland and place windmills on a small portion.
About a quarter of the foreign-tied agricultural acreage was controlled by companies with “wind” in the name, and another three percent had “solar” in the name. There was a massive spike in the amount of foreign-controlled agricultural land being used for non-agricultural purposes, which would include windmills, and now totals nearly one million acres.
“The total amount of cropland intended to be used for non-agricultural purposes as of December 31, 2022, was 266,316 acres (32 percent) and the amount of pastureland intended to be used for nonagricultural purposes was 187,465 acres (20 percent),” it said.
In its 2021 report, USDA said that more than 1,000 counties had enacted prohibitions on foreign ownership of cropland, but that except in Iowa, some of the laws were “so vague as to be unenforceable.”
Conservative bishops worldwide are objecting to Pope Francis’ decision to permit church blessings on same-sex couples, but the global church remains divided on the issue as bishops in some European countries, where priests for years have been holding ceremonies to bless gay couples are embracing the move.
Bishops in Malawi and Zambia, as well as the principal archdiocese of Kazakhstan this week prohibited priests from offering blessings, while bishops in Ukraine said they are concerned that the wording of the pope’s declaration could suggest the church’s approval of same-sex relationships, reports The Wall Street Journal.
In Zambia, the bishops declared they will not abide by the Vatican guidelines so they can “avoid any pastoral confusion and ambiguity as well as not to break the law of our country which forbids same-sex unions and activities, and while listening to our cultural heritage which does not accept same-sex relationships.”
Pope Francis on Monday issued the guidelines saying that gay couples can be blessed by the church, while not endorsing same-sex marriages, raising an outcry from conservative church leaders.
Thursday morning, the pope, delivering his Christmas message to Vatican officials, did not mention the new policy but instead called for continued vigilance “against rigid ideological positions that often, under the guise of good intentions, separate us from reality and prevent us from moving forward.”
Meanwhile, Germany’s Catholic bishops in March voted to adopt formal ceremonies blessing same-sex relationships, and Bishop Georg Bätzing, who heads the German bishops’ conference, said he is thankful for the new guidelines, which said that the blessings must not be part of an official liturgy but instead be spontaneous.
In the United States, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stressed that the pope’s document does not change the church doctrine that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and does not include same-sex unions.
Still, even though the conference generally opposes what it sees as Francis’ liberalization of the church, opinions are varied among church leaders across the country.
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago insisted that the Chicago archdiocese welcomes the declaration, “which will help many more in our community feel the closeness and compassion of God.”
Some Catholic leaders, though, are warning that the pope’s declaration may create a permanent split in the church, pointing to stark disagreements over the issue in the Anglican Communion.
Conservative Anglican churches, which include some in Africa where nearly half of the world’s estimated 100 million Anglicans worship, have broken with sister churches that back liberal teaching and views on homosexuality. This includes the Episcopal Church in the United States.
Further, a dozen leading Anglican archbishops, mainly from the global South, called to break with the Church of England after it decided to allow blessings of gay relationships.
State Rep. Nicole La Ha (R-Homer Glen) has voiced her concerns over the growing number of residents leaving Illinois, attributing this exodus to high taxes and what she perceives as “out-of-touch public policies.” In an effort to reverse this trend, La Ha affirmed the commitment of House Republicans to transform Illinois into a more affordable and secure place for its residents.
“People are leaving Illinois in droves to escape high taxes and out-of-touch public policies,” La Ha said on Facebook. “House Republicans are fighting to make Illinois a more affordable and safe place to live, learn, work, and grow so we can get our state on a better path forward.”
La Ha’s concerns echo the findings of U-Haul’s 2023 Growth Index report. The report placed Illinois among the top three states with the highest number of outbound movers, surpassed only by California and Massachusetts. The report indicated that the preferred destinations for these movers were primarily located in the southeast and southwest regions of the United States.
According to WGNTV, Texas retained its position as the most popular state for migration for the second consecutive year and the sixth time in eight years. The U-Haul Growth Index calculates net gains based on one-way U-Haul trucks arriving compared to those departing. Although one-way transactions in 2023 were below peak levels observed during the pandemic, they continued to reflect similar geographical trends. Citing new Census reports, La Ha highlighted that Illinois had lost approximately 33,000 residents since July 2022.
Recently appointed to fill a vacancy in the 82nd State House District following John Egofske’s resignation, La Ha expressed gratitude upon her appointment while pledging to prioritize safe neighborhoods, exceptional schools, and lower taxes. Her appointment was announced by House Republican leaders who underscored her dedication towards children’s welfare and public safety, according to a previous DuPage Policy Journal report.
La Ha previously served as press secretary for Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods). Her extensive background in public advocacy, active involvement in charitable committees, and the 2018 International Humanitarian Award for exceptional community service are among her notable achievements, according to her website. She was elected to the Village of Homer Glen Board of Trustees in 2021, where she strongly opposed tax increases and played a crucial role in improving the quality of life for residents with disabilities.
La Ha’s current term as representative of House District 82 will end on Jan. 8, 2025. The district covers Darien and Lemont in DuPage and Cook counties. Democrat Suzanne Akhras is also listed by Ballotpedia as another candidate running to represent the district.
Posted Tue, Jan 9, 2024 at 1:17 pm CT|Updated Tue, Jan 9, 2024 at 1:24 pm CT
The complaint seeks damages for physical and emotional damages suffered by the victim, the law firm said. (Shutterstock)
LOCKPORT, IL — A Lockport Township High School student’s parents have filed a lawsuit against Lockport Township High School District 205 alleging a sexual assault that happened in 2022, according to a release from GWC Injury Lawyers, LLC.
The suit names the school district, Superintendent Robert McBride and Assistant Superintendent Anthony Cundari as defendants.
The suit claims that a student of LTHS, referred to as “Jane Doe,” had traveled to Andrew High School in Tinley Park as a member of a sports team. While at the school, she was forcibly raped by a fellow LTHS student, according to a release from the law firm.
The complaint filed in Cook County court, since that is where the assault took place, states that the assailant had multiple prior sexual assault allegations.
According to the complaint, McBride, Cundari and other District 205 officials knew that Doe’s assailant had an extensive history of sexual assault allegations, “yet inadequate, or no steps at all, were taken to prevent Doe’s assailant from committing another sexual assault at this school sporting event,” the law firm said.
Find out what’s happening in Homer Glen-Lockportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Subscribe
The complaint seeks damages for physical and emotional damages suffered by the victim, the law firm said.
“The damages suffered by Doe are the most unimaginable, life-altering damages that can occur to a young girl. The emotional scarring will never heal. Students should be safe during school activities,” GWC lead counsel, Timothy J. Keiser, said in a release. “Parents should have the peace of mind that their children will remain safe when they are at school or participating in school-sanctioned events. Unfortunately, Doe and her family have had their peace of mind and sense of safety stripped away and trampled upon by the District’s conscious disregard for the health, safety and well-being of this young girl.”
“The allegations of the Complaint suggest that given the District’s advanced knowledge of the assailant’s history, the District is the only party involved that was not shocked that this sexual assault occurred. Doe seeks and deserves justice from the District, given its knowledge of the assailant’s propensities, as well as its responsibility to prevent such a heinous act from ever occurring at a school event,” Keiser said.
According to the court complaint, in 2021, local law enforcement investigated a complaint a student made about the same offending student, who had touched the victim inappropriately. In March 2022, another student told an LTHS employee the offending student had sexually assaulted them. Law enforcement investigated and took statements.
“Despite knowledge of two prior sexual attacks, District 205 permitted the assailant to continue living an otherwise normal high school experience,” the complaint states.
The complaint states that the assailant was taken into custody by law enforcement after the assault in Tinley Park. The student transferred schools without undergoing formal expulsion proceedings.
The initial case management date is set for March 13 at 9:30 a.m., according to the law firm.
Patch has reached out to LTHS District for comment.
January 9, 2024 5:00 AM
