Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) praised Somali migrants as the "CEOs of the future" and claimed that Somalis were being criticized because people see "the kind of economy and entrepreneurship" they are trying to build.
The post Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Praises Somali Migrants as ‘CEOs of the Future’ appeared first on Breitbart.
An American woman living in Massachusetts has been accused by the Department of Justice of arranging sham marriages to help her clients seek green cards and U.S. citizenship.
Jennifer Gonzalez, a U.S. citizen, collected up to $40,000 per marriage and arranged as many as 20 per year over the last decade, according to Leah Foley, the U.S. attorney for the Massachusetts District.
Gonzalez's female employees, who were also charged, married the men looking to get legal status in the U.S., authorities said.
"This conspiracy netted her $6 million during the course of the alleged scam," Foley said during a news conference Wednesday at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston. "She bragged that she invested her ill-gotten proceeds in businesses and property in the Dominican Republic, which she repeatedly referred to as 'my country.'"
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It appears Gonzalez spilled the details of the scheme to a witness cooperating with federal law enforcement. Foley said Gonzalez believed this individual was an illegal immigrant.
Gonzalez, 43, told a witness who was recording the interaction that Massachusetts was "so special" because it is a sanctuary state where "illegal aliens get a lot of help as an immigrant."
Gonzalez also allegedly said her goal was to give all her children pieces of land in the Dominican Republic they could later own.
"Miss Gonzalez got rich off selling the American dream, all the while investing her money in another country," Foley said.
Gonzalez told the witness she stopped holding phony marriages at the end of 2024 because President Donald Trump was returning to office, before shutting down the scheme entirely in 2025 because immigration enforcement had become "a little harsh," according to Foley.
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Gonzalez was described by prosecutors as the "ringleader" of the operation, though there were other alleged co-conspirators.
Amara Pugh, Gonzalez's 31-year-old secretary, along with Jessica Tavares, 31; Erica Daniels, 29; and Jaylin Hill, 26, were allegedly paid to marry Gonzalez's clients. Gonzalez also allegedly entered into a sham marriage herself with an illegal immigrant.
Photographs of at least two marriage ceremonies were included in court records shared by the Justice Department.
In most cases, they would stay married to the illegal immigrants for years, get divorced, then get married to other illegal immigrants as early as a month after their divorces, officials added.
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Foley told reporters that another component of the alleged fraud involved Gonzalez applying for and receiving SNAP benefits from 2019 through 2026. She received more than $124,000 from the SNAP program over that time, according to prosecutors.
"She did not list her income from her sham marriage business and did not list anyone else in her household, not the illegal alien she married and not the father of her children, who she referred to as her husband," Foley said.
Gonzalez, Pugh, Tavares and two other conspirators were arrested Wednesday morning, the Justice Department said. Hill is already in state prison for a gun offense.
It is no surprise that a unanimous three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit just enjoined the blatantly unconstitutional attempt by the "No-Longer-So-Golden State" to impose restrictions on the ability of ICE and other federal agents to enforce federal immigration law. That panel was doing exactly what federal courts are supposed to do — uphold the U.S. Constitution.
On October 14 in U.S. v. California, the court tossed the so-called "No Vigilantes Act" (NVA) onto the ash heap. This law was part of the state’s continuing effort to obstruct federal immigration enforcement, which has included relentless public attacks by the governor and state officials on federal agents just trying to do their job of enforcing the law. That includes noxious claims like Newsom likening them to the thuggish "secret police" of an "authoritarian" state.
The NVA required any non-uniformed "federal law enforcement officer" operating in California to "visibly display identification" when carrying out federal law enforcement duties. A federal agent violating this requirement could be criminally prosecuted by the state.
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As the Ninth Circuit pointed out, the Supremacy Clause in Article VI makes the "Constitution, and the Laws of the United States … the Supreme Law of the Land." In other words, federal law not only overrides any state law to the contrary, but it requires what is called "intergovernmental immunity." Under "the intergovernmental immunity component of the Supremacy Clause … states may not directly regulate the Federal Government’s operations or property." The panel cites to a 1996 Ninth Circuit decision, Blackburn v. U.S., on this issue, but then points out that this basic legal principle — that states cannot interfere in federal functions — goes all the way back to one of the most seminal Supreme Court cases in our history, McCulloch v. Maryland (1819). "It is the very essence of Supremacy," said the Court in McCulloch, "to remove all obstacles to its action within its own sphere, and so to modify every power vested in subordinate governments, as to exempt its own operations from their own influence." That is why "States have no power … to retard, impede, burden, or in any manner control the operations of the constitutional laws enacted by Congress to carry into execution the powers vested in the General Government."
California tried to argue that the NVA was constitutional because it did not "substantially burden" federal law enforcement. But the Ninth Circuit shot that down, too, saying any attempt by a state law to directly regulate "the conduct of the United States … is void irrespective of whether the regulated activities are essential to federal functions or operations, and irrespective of the degree to which the state law interferes with such functions or operations."
What made this law even worse was its threat to criminally prosecute federal agents. This is especially ironic because California attempted to do with the NVA what the Supreme Court specifically told the state it couldn’t do 136 years ago in another seminal case, In re Neagle (1890), also cited by the Ninth Circuit panel. That decision reads like a Hollywood movie but also demonstrates just how bizarre state officials have acted in California for a long time, not just in today’s heated political arena.
In re Neagle involved the state of California trying to prosecute a U.S. Marshal for murder. Marshal David Neagle was acting as a bodyguard for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Field, a job the U.S. Marshal’s Service still carries out today. He shot and killed the former chief justice of California’s state supreme court, David Terry, at a railway station in the San Joaquin Valley, after Terry tried to assassinate Field. Terry was known for his violent temper and apparently had a grudge against Field for a court decision involving the prior divorce of Terry’s current wife.
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The Ninth Circuit quoted the Supreme Court’s opinion in Neagle that even the "most unquestionable and most universally applicable of state laws, such as those concerning murder, will not be allowed to control the conduct a marshal of the United States acting under and in pursuance of the laws of the United States." California couldn’t prosecute a U.S. Marshal then for doing his job, and it cannot criminally prosecute federal agents now who are "acting under and in pursuance of the [immigration] laws of the United States." End of story, end of case, end of unconstitutional state law.
By the way, a second law enacted by California’s constitutionally ignorant legislators, the "No Secret Police Act," was already enjoined by a lower court for the same reason. That law made it a criminal offense for federal agents to wear "a facial covering that conceals or obscures their facial identity." You know, the same agents who have been villainized, doxxed, followed home, harassed, run down by cars, and shot at by thugs who masquerade as protesters.
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As the Ninth Circuit correctly recognized, the lawlessness occurring in California is not limited to thugs. Perhaps some remedial courses on the Constitution for Governor Newsom and the California legislature may be in order.
EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a nationwide operation targeting illegal immigrants accused of fraudulently obtaining benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), resulting in multiple arrests, Fox News has learned.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed the operation to Fox News, announcing several arrests of illegal immigrants accused of fraudulently receiving SNAP benefits.
"Illegal aliens who have no right to be here in the first place are the last people who should be using SNAP benefits and other forms of welfare," Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement.
"These programs are for Americans only," he continued. "Even non-violent illegal alien crime can still have devastating consequences when they’re defrauding the American taxpayer."
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Mullin said those already apprehended and deported by federal authorities represented "just a drop in the bucket," adding that the Trump administration would continue pursuing individuals accused of fraud.
DHS identified several illegal immigrants accused of SNAP fraud, including multiple Haitian nationals.
According to federal officials, Rubstony Junior Theodore, a Haitian national living illegally in the United States, was arrested by ICE as part of the operation. Theodore's criminal history includes arrests for larceny, obstruction of officers and trespassing, DHS said.
Three other Haitian nationals living illegally in the United States — Wilbert Jean Baptiste, Louis Jean and Jhensly Charles — were also arrested, according to DHS.
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Elizabeth Povea Rodriguez, a Cuban national living illegally in the United States who was previously convicted of disorderly conduct and arrested on battery and domestic violence allegations, was also arrested, according to DHS.
"These arrests mark the opening salvo in a sustained, large-scale ICE operation specifically targeting illegal aliens who have fraudulently accessed SNAP benefits that American taxpayers fund exclusively for U.S. citizens in need," DHS said.
"Every one of these individuals entered the country unlawfully, then proceeded to draw from a program designed to feed struggling American families, in some cases while carrying criminal records," the agency continued.
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Federal law generally bars immigrants living in the country illegally from receiving SNAP benefits, although certain categories of lawfully present noncitizens may qualify for the program.
DHS said the Trump administration would continue targeting alleged SNAP fraud as part of a broader crackdown on misuse of federal benefits.
A Honduran national who federal authorities say was unlawfully present in the United States allegedly climbed onto his truck and repeatedly swung a hammer at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during a traffic stop in New Jersey this month, federal prosecutors said.
Reinieri De Jesus Licona Amador, 27, was charged with assaulting federal officers and appeared Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal in Camden federal court, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.
"Federal officers put themselves in harm’s way to enforce the law and protect the public," U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer said in a statement.
"When an individual responds to a traffic stop by attacking an officer with a hammer, that conduct threatens not only the officer’s safety but the rule of law itself," he continued. "We will not allow violent attacks on federal officers to go unanswered and will hold those responsible accountable under the law."
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Federal prosecutors said the incident began during a targeted ICE operation in Gibbsboro, when officers ran a license plate check on a truck traveling through the area.
According to the criminal complaint, the vehicle was registered to Licona Amador, and a search of immigration records indicated he lacked lawful status in the United States.
Officers then activated their emergency lights and pulled over Licona Amador's truck, prosecutors said.
According to the complaint, as officers approached the truck, they saw Licona Amador reach into a tool container in the back seat and pick up a hammer.
Prosecutors said officers ordered Licona Amador to stop moving, but he refused to comply, prompting them to open the vehicle door and attempt to remove him from the truck.
He allegedly pulled away from the officers and moved to the passenger side of the truck, where they again tried unsuccessfully to restrain him.
Licona Amador then climbed out of the passenger side of the truck while holding the hammer, ignoring officers' repeated commands, according to the complaint.
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He allegedly climbed onto the passenger-side door and repeatedly swung the hammer at officers, prosecutors said.
Officers then deployed oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray, commonly known as pepper spray, and wrestled Licona Amador to the ground, prosecutors said.
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He was arrested without injury and faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of assaulting federal officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
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