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--:-- John Bickley: This is a temporary pause and a freeze to ensure that all of the money going out from Washington, D.C. isn't aligned with the president's agenda. President Trump's attempt to freeze trillions in federal funding is foiled by a judge for now. Why did the judge block the order and which programs are affected?
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, January 29th, and this is Morning Wire. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem starts off her tenure with a bang in betting with ICE agents on deportation raids. Here in New York City this morning, here again, the dirt bags off these streets. And religious non-profits come under a harsh spotlight for their assistance in illegal immigration. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: Trump shook up Washington Tuesday when his administration froze all federal financial assistance programs, though a federal judge swooped in to temporarily block the order. Here to break down the sweeping funding freeze is Daily Wire Deputy Managing Editor Tim Reisatam. So a rather dramatic move yesterday from Trump's new administration, and then this judge's order right before it was going to be enacted. Walk us through what's going on here.
--:-- Tim Reisatam: Yeah, John, the Office of Management and Budget released a memo freezing all federal grants and loans, which shake out to around $3 trillion a year. The memo notes that government officials have a duty to, quote, align federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through presidential priorities. Agencies have until February 10th to submit a detailed breakdown of impacted programs to OMB, which will then determine whether or not there are good use of federal funds.
--:-- John Bickley: The quick timeline for the review and the memo's somewhat cloudy language made it a bit more controversial than, say, the Department of Government Efficiency or the federal hiring freeze. Democrats have tried to frame the freeze in the most dire possible terms. Chuck Schumer even said it will mean missed payrolls and rent payments and everything in between, chaos for everything from universities to nonprofit charities and more. Right. A lot of hand-wringing over this from Democrats. Is that fair? Is Schumer's framing of this correct?
--:-- Tim Reisatam: Well, the White House says no. They say that things won't be that bad and that the whole review process could take as little as a day if agencies determined their programs match the administration's priorities. And in her first briefing yesterday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt repeatedly made clear that direct federal assistance will not be cut off. Social Security benefits Medicare benefits food stamps welfare benefits assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause.
--:-- John Bickley: And I want to make that very clear to any Americans who are watching at home who may be a little bit confused about some of the media reporting. This administration, if you are receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will still continue to receive that. However, it is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. This follows pretty clearly from Trump's campaign promises and the policy changes he's enacted so far. And the president's talked about this before. As Russell Vogt, Trump's picked to lead OMB, noted during his confirmation hearing. It is the law of the land.
--:-- Tim Reisatam: As you know, the president has run on that issue. He believes it's unconstitutional. For 200 years, presidents had the ability to spend less than an appropriation if they could do it for less. And we have seen the extent to which this law has contributed to waste, fraud, and abuse. But now we have this order from the judge blocking the freeze for now. Where do things stand with this order at this point?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, a federal district judge blocked the freeze late Tuesday afternoon, but the order only applies to grants that are already open and doesn't say anything about the legality of the freeze. It just gives the court more time to consider it, which it's set to do in a Monday hearing. And we'll be sure to follow up on that then.
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--:-- John Bickley: Former South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem began her tenure as Homeland Security Secretary by joining ICE agents on a raid of illegal aliens in New York City. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about Noam's start at Homeland Security. Hey, Tim, so what can you tell us about this ICE raid in New York?
--:-- Tim Pierce: They busted illegal aliens with charges for murder kidnapping assault and burglary. The secretary released images of the arrest herself. And then a few hours later, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt highlighted some of the violent criminals that ICE deportation efforts have targeted so far. On January 23rd, ICE San Francisco arrested a citizen of Mexico unlawfully present in the United States who has been convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child aged 14 years or younger. Ice St. Paul has arrested a citizen of Honduras who was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
--:-- John Bickley: So once again, the administration is hammering the public messaging around deportations. And it's also getting some pushback now from Democratic leaders of sanctuary city jurisdictions. What can you tell us about that?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Things are definitely heating up. House Republicans on Monday actually called the mayors of several major cities to testify in Congress next month on anti-immigration enforcement policies. Letters were sent to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. But some of them don't appear to be backing down. Here's Chicago's mayor comparing ICE operations to terrorism.
--:-- [Clip plays of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson]
--:-- Tim Pierce: The whole point of that level of intimidation is to have that type of impact. That's what terror does. It works to disrupt the way of life. We literally have acts of terror that are being promulgated from the federal government.
--:-- John Bickley: And here's Boston's mayor defending her sanctuary city policies.
--:-- [Clip plays of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu]
--:-- Tim Pierce: What we know here at the local level is that we are not participating in the federal government's actions. We cannot overrule what they do, just as they cannot overrule or step into what is within our domain here at the local level. And within our domain, we're very clear in schools, in interactions with public safety officials, in community centers, we don't ask about immigration status.
--:-- John Bickley: In New York City, local law enforcement actually worked with ICE on the round of raids that Secretary Noem was a part of. Adams, of course, has gotten friendlier with Trump in recent months. And so though he's a Democrat, he may turn out to be closer to Republicans on this than some of his colleagues.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Right. An interesting development there. What about the border? We've seen some concerning reports about Mexican drug cartels like we documented yesterday. What's going on there now?
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah. Well, as we reported yesterday, there was a firefight on Monday between Border Patrol agents in Texas and suspected cartel members. We're learning now that incident may be a part of a trend of more violence along the border.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The U.S. consulate in Mexico on Tuesday warned Americans against traveling to the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. That's across the border from McAllen, Texas. The State Department put its highest travel warning a level four over the area. It warned of gun battles, kidnapping, and even IEDs present in a Mexican town just over the border.
--:-- John Bickley: And this after a couple law enforcement officials told the Washington Examiner yesterday that Mexican drug cartels have been given a green light to fire a U.S. federal law enforcement. Things appear to be escalating quickly along the southern border.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Tim, thanks so much for joining us. Good to be on.
--:-- John Bickley: I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns or are they actually worried about their bottom line?
--:-- [Clip plays of Vice President J.D. Vance]
--:-- John Bickley: We're going to enforce immigration law. We're going to protect the American people. That was Vice President J.D. Vance firing back at the United States Conference of Catholic bishops after they released a statement condemning President Trump's immigration orders.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Megan, a lot of buzz about this exchange in particular. We had some sharp words from the vice president for the USCCB right there. What sparked that exchange?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, so last Wednesday USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio said that some of Trump immigration orders, quoting, are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences. And then on Thursday, he also addressed Trump's decision to rescind a policy Biden had enacted at the end of 2021 that required ICE agents to get special permission to apprehend criminal aliens in a church, a school, a hospital, or other areas that are deemed sensitive. The archbishop called that action contrary to the common good.
--:-- Megan Basham: So that prompted CBS's Face the Nation to ask Vance on Sunday about those remarks during his first sit-down interview in office. And well, you heard his fiery response. Right. So about that response, how much validity is there to Vance's claim that the USCCB is only worried about their government funding?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, you know, we can't read their hearts, of course, but there's definitely no question that Catholic Charities, which is the name of the immigration NGO affiliated with the Bishops' Conference, has received billions in taxpayer money over the years to resettle refugees and asylum seekers.
--:-- Megan Basham: And if you look at all of the streams of funding, it can be hard to nail down a specific figure related only to immigration. But in 2010, for example, the New York Times pegged Catholic Charities' total in government grants at nearly $2.9 billion annually, which then accounted for about 62% of its annual revenue.
--:-- John Bickley: And we can also look at Protestant groups for recent figures. World Relief, for example, is the immigration NGO affiliated with the National Association of Evangelicals. According to its most recent IRS filings, it received well over $126 million in 2022 alone to resettle refugees.
--:-- Megan Basham: So really a huge sum. By contrast, that same year, they only took in $33 million in private donations. So you can see that they really do rely on that government funding.
--:-- John Bickley: Trump's immigration orders have now frozen all of that money. So some people, though, will defend these groups. They're arguing that they're just facilitating legal immigration, not illegal. Is that fair to say?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, you know, it's a tricky subject. First, because essentially these charities also help people who came into the U.S. illegally then gain legal status by claiming asylum. And it can take years for an asylum claim to be adjudicated. So in the meantime, these groups argue that the immigrants are technically legal, even though they broke the law to enter the country and their asylum claims are most often denied.
--:-- John Bickley: Plus, groups like the Heritage Foundation have conducted studies geofencing cell signals, and they claim that groups like Catholic Charities do appear to have helped illegal immigrants come across the border and move into the interior of the United States.
--:-- Megan Basham: And then right after that Vance interview, a video from Catholic Charities leaked. In it, one of their lawyers coaches illegal immigrants on how to avoid arrest and deportation.
--:-- [Clip plays of Catholic Charities lawyer]
--:-- Megan Basham: If you are undocumented and immigration officers come to your workplace, be aware of the following. First, do not panic and do not run away. If you are asked where you were born or how you entered the United States, you may simply refuse to answer or remain silent.
--:-- John Bickley: Now that prompted Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett to call for Catholic charities to be defunded.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, and there is the further context that a lot of these orgs are tax exempt.
--:-- John Bickley: Megan, thanks for reporting. Anytime. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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