Politics

The DHS’s List Of ‘Outstanding Americans’ Reads Like A Who’s Who Among Open Borders Advocates

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Jonah Bennett Contributor
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The Department of Homeland Security is tasked with defending the U.S. borders and enforcing immigration law, and yet many of the winners of its “Outstanding American” award have pushed to undermine border security and advocate for illegal aliens.

Here are the eight “Outstanding Americans” the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services deemed good candidates for the award, which “recognizes the outstanding achievements of naturalized U.S. citizens.”

Maria Hinojosa, a 2009 recipient of the award, has been described by The Latin Post as having “worked tirelessly to broadcast the voice of la raza as a journalist, an anchor, an author, a producer and a reporter.”

After she received the DHS award in 2009, she continued to blast the agency for detaining illegals crossing the border and referred to detention efforts of migrant alien children as discriminatory. “If those were American children, this wouldn’t be happening,” Hinojosa said, according to PBS.

Eva A. Millona, a 2010 award winner, is executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, a taxpayer-funded organization that has severely criticized the DHS for carrying out a federal mandate that empowers the DHS to request that state and local police detain illegals.

The group has also advocated strongly for illegals and slammed deportations as being responsible for the death of illegals after they are sent back to their own countries.

The third winner on the list is Vartan Gregorian, who serves as president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The foundation holds billions in assets and is a key player in the open-borders movement in the United States through providing countless millions every year to open-borders advocates.

Some of that money goes to the Migration Policy Institute, the National Immigration Legal Center, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and the Immigration Legal Resource Center, among other groups. The group even funds a scholarship for illegal aliens in law school, who are in direct violation of U.S. immigration law.

Dr. Rangita de Silva de Alwis won the “Outstanding American” award in 2010. Alwis at the time was director at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College. The Wellesley Center has produced literature critiquing U.S. immigration policy through works expressing narratives on the difficulty of being undocumented and the gendered history of U.S. immigration policy.

Dr. Guillermo Linares served as the New York Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. MOIA has long been involved in pro-illegal alien activities, including the creation of a city-wide ID for illegal aliens in the region, which has the goal of “open[ing] the doors often closed to undocumented community members without alternative access to identity documents.”

The ID card allows illegals easier access to social benefits and financial services and entitles them to discounts on sporting goods from some stores. MOIA has also backed illegals trying to obtain professional licenses for occupations like medical doctor, teacher and pharmacist.

Kawther Elmi has been honored by the DHS for her work with Catholic Charities, a group linked with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. USCCB has participated in litigation against states that attempt to pass immigration enforcement measures. USCCB also provides assistance to illegals and uses tax-exempt funds to lobby for open-borders. In 2014, USCCB received $84 million from the government for, among other things, unaccompanied alien minors programs.

Patrick Corvington was CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which is a federal agency that offers legal representation, paid for by taxpayers, for illegal aliens.

Marina Belotserkovsky, who won the award in 2006, was director of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which receives a substantial amount of taxpayer funds. HIAS works as a refugee resettlement contractor and has pushed for open-borders. In 2015, HIAS attacked GOP Sen. Ted Cruz for advocating that the U.S. only allow Christian refugees fleeing Syria. HIAS referred to this requirement as a “religion-test.” And yet, HIAS has backed other tests seeming to be “religion-tests,” namely the 1990 Lautenberg Amendment, which gave refugee-status to Soviet Jews. The Lautenberg Amendment did not include Muslims, despite the fact that they, too, were suffering persecution in the Soviet Union.

Ian Smith, investigative associate at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that “it’s not a question of who for these groups, but how many. If a “religion test” brings people in, like the Lautenberg Amendment, it’s good; if it keeps people out, like a bill that focuses on Coptic Christians over Muslims, it’s bad. The more refugees, the bigger the taxpayer-funded contracts.”

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