--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's November 11th, Veterans Day, and this is a Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Amid a spike in anti-Semitism on college campuses, a new report finds a strong link between funding from the Middle East and anti-Israel sentiment among American students. And pressure mounts on DHS Secretary Mayorkas after innocent Americans are killed by a suspected human smuggler.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I don't see how endangering American people and a failure to follow the Constitution that allows the United States to secure our country, how that's not an impeachable offense. It is.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A heated city council meeting was shut down this week after hundreds of Chicago residents spoke out against the city's sanctuary status amid the growing migrant crisis. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So, Georgia. Yeah, as you said, residents do appear to be frustrated over this crisis. And specifically, it seems they're even more frustrated with the fact that they just don't feel like they're being listened to.
--:-- Georgia Howe: At this latest meeting, city council was deciding if there will be a resolution added to next spring's ballots on whether the city stays a migrant sanctuary or not. Residents made clear that they don't want Chicago to remain a sanctuary. And due to the apparent hostile nature of the meeting, it was cut short after some 30 minutes or so.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Here's some audio from that.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Do you, as a resident of the city of Chicago, believe that we should remain a sanctuary city? It's a simple question.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'll note that these sentiments, which run counter to Mayor Brandon Johnson's early messaging on this, they've been voiced by Chicago residents for a while now.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Here's audio of a recent town hall that was held in the south side of Chicago on this migrant issue.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: We should be marging in Washington. We should be crushing them. They shouldn't even be allowed in our neighborhood.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And here's Anthony Beal. He's a member of the Chicago City Council also sounding off on this.
--:-- Anthony Beal: We have to draw the line somewhere. While we're waiting for the federal government to act, we need to be doing something here at home to protect us.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The people that are coming here, we don't know if they have criminal backgrounds. We don't know if they're child molesters. We don't know if they're murderers. We don't know anything concrete about the people coming here.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We already have enough crime here in the city of Chicago.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So it sounds like even on the city council there pushback against this sanctuary city designation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Where exactly does Mayor Johnson land on this?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The mayor did say early on in his tenure that Chicago is a sanctuary city and has an incredible history of being, quote, a welcoming space for families across the country and across the world.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Frankly, though, that's sort of an untenable position right now.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So the mayor has shifted a bit. So for example, he's asking President Joe Biden for billions of dollars in federal tax money to help with the flow of migrants into Chicago.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Currently, there's no place for literally thousands of these migrants. Some are sleeping at police stations, others at airports or in tents outside.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Johnson did say in September that he's looking to build base camps to house migrants for the upcoming cold winter months by purchasing or repurposing facilities for more space.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's been estimated that the crisis so far is costing the city some $40 million a month.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Wow.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So slightly tangential, but there was a little more news about chaos at the city councils earlier this week. The mayor's city council floor leader has resigned over some pretty shocking behavior.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, that's right. Carlos Ramirez Rosa resigned earlier this week after he apparently physically blocked a female council member named Emma Mitts from entering council chambers during a special council meeting about migrants last Thursday.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This most recent meeting featured residents who said they felt like they weren't being listened to.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So an extremely fraught issue in Chicago, like a lot of places.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. Now, when will this issue be addressed again?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The next meeting is scheduled for November 16th, and I would expect a pretty big turnout there.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, we'll be watching.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: You're welcome.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Following the terror attacks on Israel last month, anti-Semitism on college campuses has been on shocking display, and it's led many to wonder how academia turned so sharply against Israel in recent years.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, one report finds that funding from the Middle East might be contributing to propaganda efforts on American college campuses.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire investigative reporter Mairead Elordi is here with the details.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Hi, Georgia. So this is a report from an organization called the Network Contagion Research Institute in collaboration with researchers from Rutgers University and Johns Hopkins University.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The researchers looked at foreign funding, where that funding came from, as well as measures of antisemitism and suppression of speech on campus.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Overall, through a meta-analysis of several studies, they found that there is a correlation between foreign funding and antisemitism, anti-American sentiment, and speech suppression on campus.
--:-- Georgia Howe: There was also a more granular correlation between funding from Middle Eastern regimes and anti-Semitism.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Now, it's important to note that this Middle Eastern funding is not necessarily causing the rise in anti-Semitic behavior, but the allegation is that the correlation exists.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, how did they measure anti-Semitism and or the degree of speech suppression?
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Well they looked at things like usage of specific hashtags like hashtag Israeli apartheid as well as student surveys.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As for speech suppression they looked at quote campaigns to investigate censor demote suspend or terminate speakers and scholars.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: And I want to note, they counted campaigns that came from both the left and the right.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Just to give you a data point, the study found that campuses receiving undocumented funds exhibited approximately twice as many campaigns to silence academics as those that did not.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Now, how significant was the correlation between funding from the Middle East and anti-Semitism?
--:-- Georgia Howe: It was very significant.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: The study found that from 2015 to 2020, institutions that accepted money from Middle Eastern donors had, on average, 300% more anti-Semitic incidents than those institutions that did not.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Another interesting finding is that Qatar was the top contributor of this kind of funding.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: So how much funding are we actually talking about?
--:-- Georgia Howe: The report found that at least 200 American colleges and universities illegally withheld details about $13 billion in undisclosed contributions from foreign regimes between 2014 and 2019.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Many of those regimes are authoritarian, with much of that funding coming from the Middle East. Qatar was the top donor at almost $3 billion.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The U.K. was second and China was third. Saudi Arabia held the fourth spot at about $1 billion.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Now, we have reported on Chinese money in American schools in the past.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Have there been similar trends identified associated with that funding?
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Well, a CCP-funded campus initiative known as the Confucius Institute has gotten a lot of attention.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The organization advertises itself as a harmless language learning program, but certain elements of the curriculum raised flags about foreign propaganda.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: An organization called Parents Defending Education coined the term Little Red Classrooms as part of the campaign to shut down the program, which was ultimately successful.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And in 2018, Congress restricted federal funding to schools that had Confucius Institutes, and since then, they almost all shut down operations.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: That said, that hasn't stopped American schools from accepting millions in grants from China, particularly elite universities.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As of now, we haven't seen the same kind of mobilization around Middle East funding, but that could change now that it's been revealed how much money it is.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Right. Hopefully this will be a wake-up call.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Maraid, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Thanks, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene moved to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandra Mayorkas on Thursday.
--:-- John Bickley: Greene filed the motion after two of her constituents were among eight people who died in a car crash with a suspected human smuggler in Texas.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here with the details.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So, Tim, this isn't the first time Greene has filed for impeachment. Is there a reason to suspect this one will get further than past attempts?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, unlike past attempts, Green filed a privileged resolution, which requires a vote within 48 business hours.
--:-- Tim Pierce: None of her past attempts have gone to a vote. So at the very least, it will force lawmakers to go on the record on the matter.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Green has said she expects a vote next week.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here she is introducing the motion on the House floor.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Clause 2A1 of Rule 9, I seek recognition to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the House The form of the resolution is as follows Impeaching Alejandro Nicol Mayorkas Secretary of Homeland Security for high crimes and misdemeanors
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, impeachment resolutions are nothing new for Greene. She's filed five against President Biden alone since last year, and she's filed more against other members of his administration.
--:-- Tim Pierce: None have gone anywhere yet, and this one appears to be on a similar track.
--:-- Georgia Howe: She said she wasn't able to discuss it with Speaker Johnson before filing it.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, that said, Mayorkas is also getting heat from Republicans in the Senate.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What's going on there?
--:-- Tim Pierce: That's right. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley has accused Mayorkas of lying under oath.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Hawley confronted Mayorkas in an October 31st hearing about a whistleblower tip about DHS's investigative unit.
--:-- Tim Pierce: According to Hawley, the whistleblower said, quote, We are being told to shut down investigations to go hand out sandwiches and escort migrants to the shower and sit with them while they're in the hospital and those types of tasks.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's some of the back and forth between Holly and Mayorkas last week.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Is she wrong? This is one of your agents. Is she wrong? She says that there are 600 at least special agents pulled off of other cases sent down to the border to babysit illegal immigrants. Is she wrong?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Senator, our personnel, we use our personnel to achieve the maximum law enforcement objective possible. That is what we do.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So you're not going to deny it.
--:-- Georgia Howe: On Thursday, a DHS spokeswoman said in a statement, quote, The House majority has wasted months trying to score points with baseless attacks.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The statement went on to say that instead of impeachment, Congress should work with us to keep our country safe, build on the progress DHS is making, and deliver desperately needed reforms for our broken immigration system.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, is there any appetite among House Republicans for an impeachment resolution?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Essentially, every Republican agrees that Mayorkas has failed horribly, but the conference disagrees on how to handle it.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Conservative members such as Chip Roy are on board with impeachment, depending on how it's handled and how the case is made.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's Roy.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Of course we should impeach Alejandro Mayorkas. I've been calling on it for two years, have written out the case.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I believe that my colleague, Marjorie Taylor Greene, put an impeachment resolution, I believe, on the floor today.
--:-- Tim Pierce: I've not had a chance to read it or review it. You know, it does matter what's in it. The facts will matter. The presentation of the case will matter.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But more moderate members have reservations.
--:-- Tim Pierce: They think that pushing too hard against Mayorkas without solid public backing could cost Republican seats in the House next election.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The GOP only has a very slim majority, so losing just a few seats would have big implications for the conference.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, we'll see what happens next week, but it sounds like public sentiment is shifting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All right, that's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with an extra edition of Morning Wire.
