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Wednesday, February 26, 2020

MARVEL MOVIE "THE ETERNALS" TO INCLUDE HOMOSEXUAL SUPERHERO, SAME-SEX KISS

SLEIMAN RAISED MUSLIM, TURNED "SPIRITUAL" AFTER PLAYING "JESUS" IN "KILLING JESUS" FILM
MARVEL MOVIE "THE ETERNALS" TO INCLUDE HOMOSEXUAL SUPERHERO, SAME-SEX KISS 
BY HEATHER CLARK
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:

The upcoming film “The Eternals”, based on the fictional characters depicted in Marvel Comics books, will include a homosexual superhero and his “spouse,” who will kiss on screen, the actor who plays his partner has revealed.



“I just shot a Marvel film with the first openly gay superhero: ‘The Eternals.’ I’m married to the gay superhero Phastos, played by Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry, and we represent a gay family and have a child,” actor Haaz Sleiman told NewNowNext.



When asked if there would be kissing in the film, he replied, “Oh yeah, absolutely, and it’s a beautiful, very moving kiss. Everyone cried on set.”



“For me, it’s very important to show how loving and beautiful a queer family can be,” Sleiman added. “Henry is such a tremendous actor and brought so much beauty into this part, and at one point I saw a child in his eyes, and I think it’s important for the world to be reminded that we in the queer community were all children at one point. We forget that because we’re always depicted as sexual or rebellious. We forget to connect on that human part.”







The film is scheduled to open in theaters in November and will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios.



Sleiman, who was raised Muslim but now simply identifies as “spiritual,” had previously played Jesus in the 2015 National Geographic film based on the Bill O’Reilly book “Killing Jesus.” He told reporters at that time that the role made him less judgmental of others as he came to view Jesus as inclusive.



“[H]ow could you not fall in love with Jesus and what He stood for? It’s that simple for me. It’s like one of the most beautiful things that you can apply to your life. And I’m still trying to, cause it’s not easy,” he said, according to CBN News. “Love your enemy. Judge not so that you not be judged. Forgive them so that you [can] be forgiven. If you do that, it’s freedom and it’s the truth. For me, it is at least.”



“I think what was magnificent about this story and Him, and how He handled it, was that He really saw the bigger picture and the truth of things. He was not caught up in the games that were being played. He didn’t judge the games, because He didn’t judge humanity,” Sleiman claimed. “He actually saw beauty in all of it. He saw even beauty in the chaos.”



“He had only love for the people, even if they were the ones who were acting out of ignorance or because they couldn’t see. … Jesus saw the truth. He was in that place of knowing the truth. He also came from a place of love and not judgment, even with those who came at Him and treated Him badly.”



Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, the same chapter from which many singly lift the “judge not” teaching, “Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”



He also said in verse 21, “Not every one that saith unto me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in Heaven.”



In Luke 11:3-5, He declared, “Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”



Jesus taught in John 3 that men must be regenerated by the second birth — a working of the Holy Spirit — or they cannot see the kingdom of God.



“He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,” He outlined in John 3:18-20. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
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MICHIGAN EPISCOPAL DIOCESE ORDAINS ITS FIRST LESBIAN "BISHOP"

"Perry says she has been in a "committed relationship" with Susan Harlow for 32 years. Her partner, the Rev. Dr. Susan Harlow, is senior pastor at The Peoples Church of Chicago, a United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations."
"She also met her partner, Susan Harlow, a doctoral candidate at Columbia University who also took courses at Union. Perry graduated in 1988 and was seen as an up-and-comer. In 1990, she was ordained by now-retired Newark Bishop John Shelby Spong, an outspoken liberal leader who recruited rising stars and still champions the ordination of openly gay clergy."
BONNIE PERRY WITH LESBIAN PARTNER, SUSAN HARLOW
MICHIGAN EPISCOPAL DIOCESE 
ORDAINS ITS FIRST LESBIAN "BISHOP"
BY HEATHER CLARK
SEE: https://christiannews.net/2020/02/25/michigan-episcopal-diocese-ordains-its-first-lesbian-bishop/;  republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
DETROIT, Mich. — The Michigan Diocese of the Episcopal Church has ordained its first lesbian as bishop.
Bonnie Perry was consecrated during a ceremony on Feb. 8 at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, followed by a seating at The Cathedral of St. Paul in Detroit. The ceremony was led by Presiding Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry, who had been chosen to deliver the message during the 2018 royal wedding in the United Kingdom.
“I think that this is a wonderful day, not just for the Episcopal church, but for the faith of Christianity, as a face that smiles, and that really is loving, and really is welcoming,” he told Michigan Public Radio. “Bishop-elect Bonnie Perry represents that faith.”
“For me, it’s about full inclusion for all people — straight, gay, bi, trans, gender fluid. This is about everyone; all are welcome,” Perry also stated, according to CNN. “Every time you exclude someone, you exclude the possibility of change and transformation.”
Perry “married” Susan Harlow in December 2012 and has led All Saints Episcopal Church in Chicago since 1992. She was ordained a deacon and priest in New Jersey 30 years ago.
“If you look at Scripture, Jesus said absolutely nothing about homosexuality,” Perry claimed during a press conference on Friday, according to ABC News. “And over and over and over again, we see Jesus always being with people who were perceived by other folks to be on the margin, to be outsiders or less than or not worthy.”
In pointing back to Genesis, Jesus said in Mark 10:7-8, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh.” Jesus, who is God and who thus wrote the moral law of God as given to Moses, said in Matthew 5:17, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled,” he declared. “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.”
Perry now succeeds Wendell Gibbs, who retired at the end of last year. While she is the first lesbian leader for the Michigan diocese, she is not the first homosexual nationwide to be ordained as bishop. In 2010, the Los Angeles, California diocese elected Mary Douglas Glasspool, a lesbian. In 2003, Gene Robinson was elected to be bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire. He delivered an invocation at the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama.
The Bible says of the qualifications for a bishop in 1 Timothy 3:1-5 that Church leaders are to be men and the “husband of one wife.”
“A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous,” it states. “One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?”

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TWIN FALLS, IDAHO: METHODIST CHURCH SPONSORS DRAG QUEEN EVENT AT LOCAL BAR FEATURING ONE OF ITS OWN PARISHIONERS

chaise_manhattan drag queen umc twin falls
"PASTOR" BUDDY GHARRING:
Easter preparations
TWIN FALLS, IDAHO: METHODIST CHURCH SPONSORS DRAG QUEEN EVENT AT LOCAL BAR FEATURING ONE OF ITS OWN PARISHIONERS 
A United Methodist Church in Twin Falls, Idaho has been sponsoring drag queen events at a local nightclub in the area which features one the church’s very own parishioners. Twin Falls United Methodist Church hosted the Drag Queen Theology gathering at the local Yellow Brick Café.
Of course, what men dressed up as women and gyrating on stage has to do with theology, salvation, or the mission of the Church is still up in the air, but at least one parishioner of the church made a name for himself as he — who recently moved to town with his husband — answered questions from the audience and performs as a drag queen named Chaise Manhattan.
“For us, this is the most progressive church in town,” Smith told the denomination’s local conference news outlet. “This is the first church that felt like home; like family.”
Apparently, in a denomination that is currently facing the judgment of God as He mercifully gives people one last chance to repent as He calls His people out of her as it moves closer to a split, sexually confused men who can’t figure out that God hates perversion and His wrath abides on them as they put on a disturbing display of Romans 1 is just par for the course.
Apparently they held a “panel discussion” too and fielded “tough questions” from the audience as they joked. But God is not laughing — He will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7).


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CATHOLIC CHURCH ORDAINS "NON-BINARY TRANSGENDER" WOMAN AS "PRIESTESS"~SOCIAL JUSTICE "WOMEN-PRIESTS" DEFY CANON LAW & ORDAIN OTHER WOMEN UNDER GUISE OF "APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION"

"INCLUSIVE" APOSTASY DEEPENS THROUGH ECUMENISM, INTERFAITH, UNIVERSALISM, GAY AFFIRMATION

CANON LAW DEFIED TOGETHER WITH DEFIANCE OF GOD'S WORD

ABOVE: 

Parliament of World Religions—Toronto Canada

(These young women who had just received turbans from the Sikhs were thrilled

to spend some time with us at our booth in the exhibit hall.)

A New Way to be Catholic with Women Priests


VIDEO: 
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests ordains women in apostolic succession for public ministry in the Church as a prophetic act of justice to foster women’s equality in inclusive Catholic communities. All are invited to receive Eucharist in our inclusive Catholic faith communities. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is a renewed model of priestly ministry that is non-clerical and non-hierarchical in a community of equals. We treasure the mystical, prophetic and sacramental traditions of Roman Catholicism. Our church history demonstrates that women were apostles, prophets, preachers, deacons, priests and bishops in the early Church. We are reclaiming our rightful place as spiritual equals. Visit our ARCWP website: https//arcwp.org

"We women are no longer asking for permission to be priests. Instead, we have taken back our rightful God-given place ministering to Catholics as inclusive and welcoming priests.

Yes, we have challenged and broken the Church’s Canon Law 1024, an unjust law that discriminates against women. Despite what some bishops may lead the faithful to believe, our ordinations are valid because we are ordained in apostolic succession within the Roman Catholic Church."

CATHOLIC CHURCH ORDAINS "NON-BINARY TRANSGENDER" WOMAN AS "PRIESTESS"
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:

It’s difficult to make much sense of what actually just happened here and it’s also unclear just by looking as to whether this “non-binary transgender” person is actually a male or a female, but at least one report says she was born as a woman. One thing is clear, however, is that this “non-binary transgender” person is the first in the U.S. to be ordained as a priestess in the Catholic Church by the Roman Catholic Womenpriests.







Kori Pacyniak was recently ordained as a “priestess” at the Mary Magdeline Apostle Catholic Community — a Catholic Church in San Diego, CA. She has been a member of the “pastoral” team since January of 2017 and according to her bio, received her Master of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School and is also currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Religious Studies at the University of California at Riverside, focusing on Queer and Trans Studies in Religion



And now, apparently, she’s the priestess of the town.








According to one report, she’s wanted to be a priest since she was 8 years old and around 100 people gathered to witness this act,



“I never dared to think that it would be possible to manage in a movement, the RCWP, and with the support of a community, Mary Magdalene, which completely affirms my identity,” Kori told the Union-Tribune, “I am very excited about future opportunities to be a pastor at the intersection of faith, sexuality, and gender.”



Now, one might wonder, doesn’t this go against the Roman Catholic faith? Well, officially it does. But look at what the Roman Catholic Church has allowed people to get away with since the current pope took office. Homosexuality is rampant and Catholic idolatry and paganism has been taken to new heights. However, this event certainly marks a first. It is unclear whether this will be allowed to officially stand, but it did certainly happen.










OTHER VIDEOS:
7 WOMEN ORDAINED IN MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY
















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NEW STUDY SHOWS NEARLY HALF OF MAINLINE PROTESTANT PASTORS SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE 














NEW STUDY SHOWS NEARLY HALF OF MAINLINE PROTESTANT PASTORS 



SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE 







republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 


purposes:





A new study by LifeWay Research says that forty-seven percent — nearly half — of all Mainline Protestant pastors now support same-sex marriage. This is up 15 percent from ten years ago. The same study shows that Evangelicals over the years have remained steady at 8 percent with no increase over the same time period.









According to the report at LifeWay, “Around a third (32%) say they see nothing wrong with civil unions between two people of the same gender. Almost two-thirds (63%) say they disagree, with a majority (54%) strongly disagreeing.”



The study aligns itself with the evidence that is persistent in mainline Protestant denominations — such as the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), the United Methodist Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), all apostate denominations that ordain women and, in many cases, homosexuals.



While the United Methodist Church has been divided over the cause of same-sex marriage, the ELCA and PCUSA are both actively involved in the promotion of sodomy both in the world and in their religious institutions. It comes as no surprise that these apostate denominations continue to increase their support for aberrant sexuality as they’ve already traded the truth of God’s Word for a lie. Now, they’ve been completely given over to the lusts of their hearts.
















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WHY AREN'T "FAITH HEALERS" LIKE FRANCIS CHAN, TODD WHITE & TODD BENTLEY IN CHINA FIGHTING THE CORONAVIRUS?
















WHY AREN'T "FAITH HEALERS" LIKE FRANCIS CHAN, TODD WHITE & TODD BENTLEY IN CHINA FIGHTING THE CORONAVIRUS?



republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 


purposes:



Todd White, Todd Bentley, and now, interestingly but unsurprisingly, Francis Chan have told countless stories about how they’ve healed sick people, cured chronic and mortal diseases, and even raised people from the dead. Interestingly, however, there has never once been any unassailable proof of their claims.







Francis Chan — who recently departed the faith to join the faith-healer charismatic cult — recently told a story of how he healed countless people in Myanmar. “Every person I touched was healed. I have never experienced this in 52 years,” he told his audience at Moody Bible Institute. But what he didn’t tell them is that nobody saw it, nobody can attest to it, nobody can vouch for it, and, of course, there was no video or medical documentation of it. That is typical.



But what a better way to prove to the world that you’re not just another charismatic crazy quack with false testimonies of faux-healings than to go to China and start healing people of the worst pandemic of a deadly viral disease the world has seen in this generation? Why are they silent? Why aren’t they there, in China, healing people and ending this outbreak of coronavirus?



When Jesus healed people, the world saw it. The people witnessed it. And the Scriptures attest to it. Jesus didn’t heal people for the simple purpose of just those he healed knowing about it. Jesus healed people to prove to the world who he was. Further, he gave the Apostles and certain others the power to perform miracles not simply for the purpose of lessening suffering in the world but to establish the authority of God’s Word of which they spoke and wrote. These miracles were never performed in obscure places but were done in the presence of the world to witness.



Today, those who claim the power to heal people, cure people of sickness, and even raise people from the dead interestingly only do it places of obscurity without any form of documentation or evidence. This is why it’s prevalent in third-world countries — like Myanmar. Because people like Francis Chan can come back and say “every person I touched was healed” without worrying about tribal people without any form of technology being able to out him.



The reason Chan, White, and Bentley — and anyone else who claims to be able to heal people — won’t go to China to heal people of the COVID-19 coronavirus is simple: they can’t. They have no power to heal people. These men are liars and deceivers. It’s sad that Francis Chan has taken that path, but Francis Chan has now joined the ranks of liars and deceivers around the world. Some of these men may have slightly different motives than others for doing this, but one thing is clear — they do it for to appease their own appetites.





For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Romans 16:18



Michael Brown, the world’s most renowned apologist for Satan, has relentlessly defended the heresy these people spread like wildfire throughout third-world countries — where apparently phones don’t have working cameras — and makes excuses for their wicked behavior while labeling those who are skeptical as “hyper critics.”












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POLYAMORY SHOWING UP IN CHURCHES ACROSS THE US












POLYAMORY SHOWING UP IN CHURCHES ACROSS THE US



BY LISA CHRISNER



republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 


purposes:



Below is a story about a new trend called polyamory. It’s not only being practiced by non-believers. Christians are also falling for this debauchery.



Preston Sprinkle was recently made aware of a polyamorous situation by a pastor and acquaintance of his.



Tyler and Amanda (names changed) were high-school sweethearts raised in Christian homes, living in the Bible belt. After getting married, they seemed to be living the American dream with a house, good jobs, and two kids.



Then Jon, a friend of Tyler’s, began living with their family. Amanda developed a close relationship with him, but their flirtation soon developed into something more, and Jon and Amanda proposed to Tyler that they begin exploring polyamory, with Amanda adding Jon as a significant other. They also encouraged Tyler to develop a relationship with another woman he’d met at the gym. He agreed.



When Tyler and Amanda came out as polyamorous, their parents were shocked. What seemed like a fringe practice of the sexual revolution had settled into the heartland of America.



Making the situation even more complex, Tyler and Amanda sought counseling from a Christian counselor who advocated polyamory. (What??!) Tyler’s parents were disturbed by what their son and daughter-in-law heard there: “It’s only adultery or cheating if someone is kept in the dark. If you are open and honest, this is a God-honoring relationship. And this is good for the kids! It takes a village to raise a child, so a polyamorous relationship actually brings more support and ‘family’ into your kids’ lives, much like the extended families in the past.”



Tyler’s parents wanted to know how to respond to their children but also wanted to know how the church should respond. Should Jon be welcomed into the church as an addition to Tyler and Amanda’s family? In a world where many sexual choices and identities are accepted, polyamory is often still stigmatized, so Tyler’s parents didn’t know who to talk to or where to turn.



How popular is this practice? According to one estimate, “as many as 5 percent of Americans are currently in relationships involving consensual non-monogamy,” which is about the same percentage as those who identify as LGBTQ. A recent study, published in a peer-reviewed journal, found that 20 percent of Americans have been in a consensual non-monogamous relationship at least once in their lives. Another survey showed that nearly 70 percent of non-religious Americans between the ages of 24 and 35 believe that polyamory is okay. And roughly 24 percent of church-going people believe that consensual polyamorous relationships are morally permissible.



This is absolutely absurd!!! Unbelievable!! Do people NOT read their Bibles anymore??? I [Lisa] cannot wrap my brain around this.



The road is very, very narrow, folks. Make sure you are on the right path.



______________________________________________________________



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NIGERIA: FORMER MINISTER SAYS OBAMA, KERRY, HILLARY CLINTON HELPED ENABLE MUSLIM PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS












NIGERIA: FORMER MINISTER SAYS OBAMA, KERRY, HILLARY CLINTON HELPED ENABLE MUSLIM PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS



BY ROBERT SPENCER



republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 


purposes:



“What Obama, John Kerry and Hilary [sic] Clinton did to Nigeria by funding and supporting [Muhammadu] Buhari in the 2015 presidential election and helping Boko Haram in 2014/2015 was sheer wickedness. The blood of all those killed by the Buhari administration, his Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram over the last five years are on their hands.”



No one in the Western establishment media, of course, will ask Obama, Kerry, or Clinton about this.







“Former Nigerian Minister Faults Obama for Slaughter of Christians,” by Martina Moyski, ChurchMilitant.com, February 21, 2020:





LAGOS, Nigeria (ChurchMilitant.com) – While former President Barack Obama is taking credit for the current surge in economic growth and job creation in the United States, a former Nigerian minister is blaming him and key members of his cabinet for the slaughter of Nigerian Christians at the hands of Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram.



Femi Fani-Kayode, Nigeria’s former Minister of Culture and Tourism, faults the Obama administration for backing 2015 presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim. Buhari won the nation’s presidency and afterward, Fani-Kayode said, went soft on Boko Haram.



“What Obama, John Kerry and Hilary [sic] Clinton did to Nigeria by funding and supporting [Muhammadu] Buhari in the 2015 presidential election and helping Boko Haram in 2014/2015 was sheer wickedness,” said Fani-Kayode, the country’s former Minister of Culture and Tourism. “The blood of all those killed by the Buhari administration, his Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram over the last five years are on their hands.”



In a Feb. 12 Facebook post, the minister, who was campaign chief for former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, said that upon Buhari’s election, he canceled contracts to eradicate the terrorists.



Fani-Kayode stated that had Donald Trump been president of America in 2015, matters “would have been very different.”



“Boko Haram would have been history and the Fulani herdsmen [a mostly Muslim group also attacking Christians] would never have seen the light of day,” he said.



The former minister backed up his statements by highlighting a January Al Jazeera interview with a former military contractor whose company was hired to eradicate Muslim terrorists in Nigeria.



Eeben Barlow, chairman of a private army group called “Specialized Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection International,” explained that he was subcontracted in 2014 to assist the Nigerian government under then-president Goodluck Jonathan to help eradicate the Boko Haram threat.



During the interview, Barlow says that one of the first acts of then-incoming president Buhari in 2015 was to terminate his contract.



“In one month, we took back terrain larger than Belgium from Boko Haram. We were not allowed to finish because it came at a time when governments were in the process of changing,” said Barlow.



“The incoming president, President Buhari was heavily supported by a foreign government, and one of the first missions was to terminate our contract.”



When asked, Barlow identified the United States as the “foreign government,” adding it “funded President Buhari’s campaign” as well as providing a campaign manager.



Fani-Kayode took Barlow’s interview comments to affirm that Obama, Kerry and Clinton share responsibility for the terrorism and bloodshed taking place in Nigeria today.



He said that he predicted the bloodshed caused by Boko Haram “throughout the 2015 presidential campaign but Nigerians would not listen.”



“Those of you that still love the evil called Barack Obama should listen to [Barlow’s interview] and tell me if you still do,” said Fani-Kayode….














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TRUMP FLIPS LIBERAL 9TH CIRCUIT COURT AS LEFTISTS IN TOTAL PANIC MODE 












TRUMP FLIPS LIBERAL 9TH CIRCUIT COURT 



AS LEFTISTS IN TOTAL PANIC MODE



 ★★★ A NEW CONSERVATIVE AGE IS RISING ★★★

Did you know that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is so liberal, in one of their judicial terms, they had 19 of their 26 decisions overturned by the Supreme Court? But did you know that this judicial activist mecca has finally met their match? We’re going to take a look at what one publication calls the ‘shock wave’ that President Trump has sent throughout the nation’s most liberal circuit, and how liberals are officially in panic mode as their days of judicial activism have indeed effectively come to an end; you’re going to love it! 
















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TRUMP MOVES FORWARD WITH NEW RULE: NO GREEN CARDS FOR WELFARE USERS 












TRUMP MOVES FORWARD WITH NEW RULE: 



NO GREEN CARDS FOR WELFARE USERS



BY LUIS MIGUEL



republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 


purposes:



The Trump administration is moving forward with implementation of its “public charge” rule, which restricts issuance of green cards for immigrants who would be dependent on government welfare upon receiving permanent resident status.



Democrats have opposed the rule, but officials maintain it is a necessary step to protect American taxpayers.



“It’s consistent with our law for over 140 years, it's a core American value of self-sufficiency, and it’s just plain old logic — what country wants to bring welfare problems into its society? We don't want to do that,” said acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli. “We’re happy to open our doors to people from all over the world but we expect them to stand on their own two feet.”



The rule was initially slated to take effect in October of last year after being published in August, but was halted by various court challenges. In January, however, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted preliminary injunctions in a 5-4 vote. And on Friday, the court ruled the same way on a separate injunction for Illinois — allowing the rule to go into effect throughout the country beginning Monday.



“This final rule will protect hardworking American taxpayers, safeguard welfare programs for truly needy Americans, reduce the Federal deficit, and re-establish the fundamental legal principle that newcomers to our society should be financially self-reliant and not dependent on the largess of United States taxpayers,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.



U.S. immigration law already includes a “public charge” standard that requires immigrants to provide documents demonstrating self-sufficiency. The standard, however, has until now lacked a formal statutory definition.



The Trump administration’s new rule clarifies the matter by defining a “public charge” as an immigrant who receives one or more designated benefits for more than 12 months during a 35-month period. The list of designated benefits includes Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and most forms of Medicaid. The rule expands the considered benefits from interim guidance that had been issued back in 1999.



It does contain exclusions for certain forms of government assistance, however, including emergency medical assistance, disaster relief, national school lunch programs, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Medicaid received by pregnant women and persons under age 21. Tax credits are also included on the exemptions list.



The rule will be applied to immigrants with temporary or nonimmigrant visas who seek to change their status to legal permanent resident. While DHS estimates 382,000 immigrants would be reviewed per year, it is not certain how many green card applicants would be rejected under the new standards.



Liberal and pro-immigration groups have strongly opposed the rule, arguing it would discourage migrants from seeking government help because doing so might disqualify them from permanent residency eligibility. Proponents of the rule might argue that’s the point.



“Nearly every sector of society has gone on record in opposition to this morally repugnant and legally dubious regulation, and for good reason: its implementation will hurt countless of immigrant and citizen families, and we’re all worse off as a result,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.



Bernie Sanders, who leads the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, has stated he would reverse the rule if elected, claiming it and other Trump immigration policies are “designed to demonize and hurt those who are the most vulnerable of all.”



Cuccinelli countered that such arguments highlight a “fundamental difference” in immigration perspectives.



“We don't think immigrants should be relying on the U.S. government for welfare and they have some legal ability to do that, but if that's their approach to the United States of America and they have no interest in self-sufficiency and standing on their own two feet, that's not who we want joining our American community long term.”



The DHS head also said that many Americans are surprised such a rule is even needed:



The reaction by most ordinary Americans that talk to me about this is ‘I can’t believe we needed to do this, I can't believe that welfare is available for people who aren’t American citizens or who aren’t already here on a permanent basis.’ They are stunned by that for starters and the idea that we would encourage that is not something I have seen much in the way of favorable response.



While President Trump’s immigration agenda has repeatedly faced setbacks in the courts, it has also scored victories. The Supreme Court has allowed enforcement of the president’s travel ban and the Remain-in-Mexico policy, which sends illegal aliens to Mexico while they await their immigration hearings.



Cuccinelli suggested the wins are sending a message to activist judges: “Some of these lower courts are, I think, gradually getting the message that they have to start being judges again and stop being political activists.”
















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