Customs and Border Patrol

Friday

Cockburn

Is the outgoing Border Patrol chief a sex tourist?

Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks has resigned, ostensibly “to retire and return home to Texas to focus on my family and ranch.” Banks served under President Biden but quit in frustration over the administration’s lax border policies. When Trump returned to office, Banks took up his old job again: like Cincinnatus, he came out of retirement to serve, and will now return to his plow. Perhaps “plow” is the operative word here. It’s widely speculated that Banks is in fact resigning because of a Washington Examiner investigation, which claims that he was a sex tourist who made regular trips to Colombia and Thailand while in post.

michael banks border patrol

Monday

Ben Clerkin

Facts, unlike opinions, are hard to come by in Minneapolis

Did a Border Patrol officer kill Alex Pretti in self-defense after being alerted that he was carrying a gun in a chaotic scramble to arrest him? Or did he execute the anti-ICE protester in cold blood after he was disarmed? The truth is that it is difficult to know. Facts, unlike opinions, are hard to come by in Minnesota. Endless replays, as in the case of Renee Good who was shot dead in the city by an ICE officer she drove towards, aren't helping to draw a consensus Endless replays, as in the case of Renee Good who was shot dead in the city by an ICE officer she drove towards, aren't helping to draw a consensus. Trump opponents post freeze-frames and selective snippets of the horrible video to hammer home their assertion of out-of-control ICE death squads.

minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS
Jenna Stocker

A conservative in the chaos of Minnesota

If you live in Minnesota, as I do, don’t turn on your TV. Don’t log on to social media. Don’t turn on the radio, pick up a newspaper or drive under an overpass. We are approaching a zombie apocalypse in Gotham City level of breakdown. And all indications point to more of the same – or worse.Rioters are rushing to make this the Winter of Despair, modeled after 2020’s BLM Summer of Love. There wasn’t much in terms of consequences for those responsible for Minneapolis’s devastation by fire and looting, so this winter, the activists have reconvened for an epic reunion of riff-raff hell-bent on destroying whatever respectability (and infrastructure) remains in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Wednesday

Neal Pollack

Is affordability a hoax perpetrated by the fake news media?

According to a proposal filed by US Customs and Border Protection, travelers coming to the US from more than 40 countries may soon have to provide detailed social-media histories and a selfie in order to gain admittance. This will help restrict flow from countries like the UK, France, Japan and Germany, all of which the US has fought against in wars at some time in history. But lest you think these new standards represent some advanced level of paranoid xenophobia, be assured that a careful screening of visitors is actually in the United States’s best interest. I’ve applied for jobs before, and have applied to be a contestant on an infinite number of game shows. The US is simply looking for unproblematic visitors with good personalities who might also make good TV.

Wednesday

Ben Domenech

The Big Dog unleashed on immigration

The Big Dog has returned to the campaign trail, and he’s up to his old tricks. No, not those tricks — the one where he offers a running commentary on the choices campaigns are making instead of just stumping for the Democratic candidate. Barack Obama does the same thing, of course, except he’s just perpetually disappointed in all Americans. Bill Clinton’s mistake is being too honest about what he thinks is really going on and warning Democrats why they might lose if they don’t shape up.

bill clinton