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Texas judge extends suspension of Biden deportation freeze
A federal judge in Texas has extended the temporary block on the Biden administration’s freeze on deportations for another two weeks.
In an order dated Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Drew Tipton in the Southern District of Texas lengthened his suspension of the White House’s 100-day deportation moratorium through February 23, writing that the extension was necessary for “the record to be more fully developed” in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) lawsuit challenging the moratorium, according to The Texas Tribune.
Initially, Tipton on January 26 suspended the moratorium for 14 days. Through halting deportations, President Joe Biden has been trying to dismantle many of former President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration policies. In response, Paxton was quick to file a lawsuit against the moratorium, arguing that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would be breaching an agreement law it has with the state by ordering the deportation freeze. The agreement, signed during the final days of the Trump administration, required DHS to consult Texas before altering policies.
Having just taken effect on Friday, the moratorium does not impact individuals who came to the United States after November 1. However, those who have taken part in–or are suspected to have taken part in–terrorism and espionage or are deemed national security threats can still be deported.
In his order, the judge also said that the extension will give parties more time to “provide for a more fulsome record” to assist the court in “adjudicating Texas’s motion for a Preliminary Injunction,” per Fox News.
Moreover, Tipton, who was appointed by Trump last year, mentions “the irreparable harm that would accrue to Texas if an extension” was not issued.
The Biden administration, the order states, “argued that the 100-day pause on removals is necessary to allow” them to take account “important immigration, foreign policy, and humanitarian considerations.”
“The Court may ultimately be persuaded by the Defendants’ arguments, but any harm they might incur between now and then does not outweigh the potential for irreparable harm to Texas,” Tipton added.
You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.
China has a vast network of covert police stations abroad, according to a recent report by Safeguard Defenders, an NGO that focuses on human rights violations in China and other Asian countries. These police stations serve consular functions, but are also used by China to crack down on what the CCP deems “illegal” activity of Chinese nationals abroad. The police stations include at least 38 run by the Fuzhou City police, and 22 run by the Qingtian City police. Cities housing these police stations include New York, Toronto (which has three stations), London (two), Paris (three), Buenos Aires, Rio De Janeiro, and Tokyo.
Key findings of the report are below.
“Persuaded to return”
According to China, China has “persuaded to return [to China]” 230,000 Chinese nationals living aboard from April 2021 to July 2022 alone to face charges of fraud and telecommunications fraud. A Yangxia police station set up in Mozambique, for example, persuaded a Chinese national to return to China after being accused of stealing money from his employer. Chinese authorities also put pressure on the accused family to convince the accused to surrender.
Roughly 54,000 Chinese nationals were persuaded to return from northern Myanmar alone, in the first nine months of 2021. In July 2022, the government of Wenchang City warned that its citizens living in northern Myanmar must check in with their local police stations or face multiple penalties including blocking their children from attending urban schools back in China. Similarly, in February 2022, the government of Liayang City stated that Chinese “illegally staying” in northern Myanmar must return or the bank accounts of their immediate family members could be frozen.
The Nine Forbidden Countries
China has claimed that nine countries contain serious levels of fraud and telecom fraud perpetrated by Chinese nationals. Since November 2021, China has declared that Chinese citizens living in these nine countries must return to China immediately unless they have an “emergency reason” or a “strict necessity” to travel or stay in those countries. Those countries are: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, the UAE, and Turkey. However, the report questions whether these countries are truly awash in such fraud, as most of China’s oversees police stations are in the West, and only one of the nine countries (Cambodia) has such a police station. Chinese staying in the nine forbidden countries, as well as threats to family members as stated above, creates a “guilt-by-association” atmosphere intended to repatriate the Chinese nationals.
Conclusion
According to the report, Chinese police stations abroad serve to bypass “bilateral extradition treaties or other mechanisms of judicial cooperation” to cooperate with CCP-linked NGOs which effectively “[sets] up an alternative policing and judicial system within third countries.” Instead of using international judicial cooperation, which establishes due process, the presumption of innocence, and the right to a fair trial, China uses the above “persuade-to-return” methods and transnational police stations to circumvent international law and coerce Chinese nationals to return to China for trials. These policies show the power of China’s long-arm oppression over its own subjects.
You can follow Steve Postal on Twitter @HebraicMosaic
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