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Biden UN Appointee Calls for ‘Mandatory Reparations’ of $5M Per Person -- Without US Approval
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A group of African American academics is pushing for a UN ‘reparations tribunal’ to make Washington pay multimillion dollar sums to black citizens for slavery-era abuses, DailyMail reported.

Justin Hansford, a professor at Howard University School of Law, led the charge for $5 million payouts to black Americans at the UN this week, flanked by colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University.

The long-shot effort underscores how reparation payouts are unpopular among white American taxpayers and have little chance of becoming federal law, leaving advocates scrambling for a workaround.

‘I come to you today with a novel proposal, that we begin to think our own thoughts, propose our own vision of justice, and implement that justice,’ Hansford told UN racial justice talks in New York City this week.

He called for a ‘process of apology, and reparation — not on their terms, but on our terms.’

Hansford, a rising star of the critical race theory movement, spoke at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, a group that was created in 2021.

The ‘special tribunal’ was formally proposed by David Comissiong, representing Barbados, a Caribbean island state.

Hansford quickly endorsed the plan. He later told DailyMail.com that many African and Caribbean UN members were behind the scheme.

The US mission to the UN, which is headed by ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a Biden administration appointee who is black, does not officially support the tribunal.

But Hansford said US diplomats at the mission had been ‘supportive overall.’

Thomas-Greenfield also spoke at the event, saying African-American families often lived in polluted neighborhoods. She grew up in Louisiana ‘near so-called cancer alley,’ she added.

‘Let us dismantle structural racism, brick by brick,’ said the career diplomat.

‘Let’s leave our children a cleaner, fairer, more just world.’

The UN General Assembly in 2005 created a five-point legal framework for reparations for victims of slavery and other abuses, which can lead to payouts, apologies, and demand policy changes.

But like much of the UN system, decisions are not legally binding, and it remains unclear whether a tribunal could do anything other than add some external pressure to buoy racial justice activists in the US.

Neither the US mission to the UN nor the UN’s human rights team in Geneva, which oversees the permanent forum, immediately answered DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.

In an interview, Hansford said a UN reparation tribunal was only one route to push the US federal government, as well as state and city officials, to address racial inequalities dating back to the slavery era.

Howard University gave legal advice to Evanston, Illinois, which in 2021 became the first US city to make reparations payments to black residents, with $25,000 grants to those affected by racist housing policies before 1969, he said.

Payouts to black Americans should be assessed case-by-case, said Hansford, a descendant of slaves in Forsyth, Georgia.

For families that have endured generations of ‘horrific’ oppression, sums of $5 million would be ‘on the low end of what’s appropriate,’ he said.

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Read 87 Comments
  • WannBeWhiteLikeMe says:

    Boogie, boogie. It’s all about White Envy. You can’t give them anything to make them happy. Blacks are the malcontents of the earth because they want to be white.

  • EZ says:

    fuck you buckwheat, I’m American Indian and I want $5 Trillion per Indian, we come before your black asses.

  • Birdie says:

    So then i will get 5 million because my smeared were Irish slaves. And i know others who’s ancestry has Asian slaves, and I’m sure many more it wasn’t just black slaves. Does this man understand that???
    Now no one that isn’t a slave from that era gets anything. It’s insanity that this man is even saying this. No American that is black was a slave alive today. So stop the nonsense and get in with your lives working hard to get what you need. Because if he tries this, then every other race that were slaves will be wanted their reparations too.

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    NYC Mayor Eric Adams Demanded Sex Acts from Cop, Committed Sexual Assault: Lawsuit

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    The family of the St. Louis teen who was violently attacked in a viral video shared an update on her condition, saying the road ahead remains long and uncertain.

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    Report: British Actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson Formally Offered Role of James Bond

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    Brit actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson is taking his martinis shaken, not stirred, after being formally offered the job as the new James Bond.

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    Sam spoke about falling for Aaron on the Nowhere Boy set but insisted nothing happened until filming had ended.

    She said: “I managed to hold off really until almost the end of the film.

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    Bond boss Barbara previously confirmed they would be casting a man in the 007 role despite calls for a woman to step in.

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    Ex-Olympian Caitlyn Jenner Backs Ban on Man in Women’s Sports

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    Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner on Monday said she supported a local New York official’s order banning female sports teams with transgender athletes from using county-owned facilities.

    The ban applies to over 100 athletic facilities in New York City’s Long Island suburbs. Speaking alongside Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman at his office in Mineola, Jenner said allowing transgender athletes like herself to compete against other women will “ruin women’s sports” for years to come.

    “Let’s stop it now while we can,” said the reality television star, who came out as a transgender woman in 2015.

    The LGBT Network, a Long Island-based advocacy group, called Jenner’s comments a “baffling contradiction” to her own identity as a transgender woman that is “not only hypocritical but also harmful” to the LGBTQ community.

    “It is disheartening to witness someone who has experienced the challenges of being marginalized actively contribute to the oppression of others within the same community,” David Kilmnick, the group’s president, said in a statement. “Such actions only serve to amplify the voices of intolerance and detract from the collective efforts towards a more inclusive society.”

    Blakeman, a Republican elected in 2022, issued an executive order in February requiring any teams, leagues or organizations seeking a permit from the county’s parks and recreation department to “expressly designate” whether they are for male, female or coed athletes.

    Any teams designated as “female” would be denied permits if they allow transgender athletes to participate.

    The ban doesn’t apply to men’s teams with transgender athletes. It covers all Nassau County-owned facilities, including ballfields, basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools and ice rinks.

    Jenner, 74, competed against men when she won the Olympic gold medal in the decathlon in 1976. She said she has “sympathy” for LGBTQ people and “understands their struggles” but argued that allowing transgender people to compete with women would undermine gains female athletes achieved under Title IX, a law banning sex discrimination in programs that receive federal funds.

    “All I’m trying to do is protect women,” Jenner said Monday.

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    Blakeman has argued the ban is intended to both foster fair play and protect girls and women from getting injured if they play against transgender women. His executive order, however, also covers sports like swimming, gymnastics, figure skating and track, where there is no physical contact between competitors.

    The executive order also takes decisions about who can play out of the hands of leagues and gives it to the government.

    The Long Island Roller Rebels, a local women’s roller derby league, asked a New York court to invalidate the county order, saying it violates the state’s anti-discrimination laws.

    The New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the league, called Jenner’s appearance “another disgraceful attempt” to target and villainize transgender women and girls. Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said Blakeman’s order is “transphobic and discriminatory” and violates state law.

    Blakeman has filed his own lawsuit asking a federal court in New York to affirm that the order was legal.

    The order is part of a growing number of anti-transgender athletic restrictions imposed nationwide. Bills banning trans youth from participating in sports have passed in some 24 states, though some have been blocked by ongoing litigation.

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    Trump Unable to Secure Bond for $454m Judgment, Letitia James Threatens to Seize Assets

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    Donald Trump’s efforts to secure a bond to cover a $454 million judgment in a New York civil fraud case has been rejected by 30 surety companies, his lawyers said on Monday, inching him closer to the possibility of having his properties seized.

    The former president must either pay the sum out of his own pocket or post a bond to stave off the state’s seizure while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 judgment against him for misstating property values to dupe lenders and insurers.

    Trump, two of his adult children and other Trump Organization executives had so far approached the 30 companies through four separate brokers without success, his lawyers said. The other defendants face judgments totaling $10 million.

    A bonding company would be on the hook for any payout if Trump loses his appeal and proves unable to pay.

    The case, brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James in September 2022, is one of several legal travails the businessman-turned-Republican candidate faces as he seeks a Nov. 5 election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.

    Trump, 77, has denied wrongdoing and vowed to appeal the judgment, which threatens his family’s real estate empire.

    He must post cash or a bond within 30 days of Engoron’s formal entry of the order on Feb. 23 or risk the state seizing some of the Trump Organization’s assets to ensure James can collect. Thirty days end on March 25.

    In a court filing on Monday, Trump’s lawyers urged a mid-level state appeals court to delay enforcement of the judgment, arguing the amount was excessive. It was unclear when the court, known as the Appellate Division, would rule.

    The lawyers asked that Trump instead be allowed to post a $100 million bond while he appeals the judgment.

    Gary Giulietti, an executive with insurance brokerage the Lockton Companies hired by Trump to help get a bond, wrote in the court filing that a bond for the full $464 million is not possible under the circumstances presented.

    Giulietti said many sureties would not issue bonds above $100 million and were willing to accept only cash or securities – not real estate – as collateral.

    “Enforcing an impossible bond requirement as a condition of appeal would inflict manifest irreparable injury on Defendants,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

    Before a three-month, non-jury trial began in October, Engoron found Trump had engaged in fraud by overvaluing properties including his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, his penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, and various office buildings and golf courses.

    The trial dealt mostly with damages. In the Feb. 16 decision, Engoron wrote that Trump and the other defendants “are incapable of admitting the error of their ways.”

    Trump this month posted a $91.6 million bond to cover an $83.3 million defamation verdict for the writer E. Jean Carroll while he appeals, in a case that arose from his branding her a liar after she accused him of raping her decades ago. He has denied wrongdoing.

    He has also pleaded not guilty in four criminal cases stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, his handling of government documents after leaving office in 2021, and hush money paid before his 2016 election win to a porn star who said she had a sexual encounter with him.

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    King Charles Declared “Alive” After Russian Media Shares Fake Death Announcement

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    Ukraine’s British embassy was today forced to give an official statement confirming King Charles III is still alive after Russian media claimed he had died.

    A host of Russian news sites and their associated social media accounts reported earlier today that the King had died aged 75 as a result of cancer complications, citing unnamed ‘media’ sources in an inexplicable stream of posts.

    It came as an image of a clearly fake statement from ‘Buckingham Palace’ reporting Charles’ ‘unexpected death’ was circulated on social media.

    ‘King Charles III of Great Britain has died at the age of 75, according to media reports,’ Russian newswire Sputnik reported.

    ‘There is no information about this on the royal family website or in the British media.’

    Minutes later their stories were updated after they were forced to climb down following reports the King was in fact not dead.

    The British Embassy in Kyiv shared an abrupt notice on social media that read: ‘We would like to inform you that the news about the death of King Charles III is fake.’

    Several prominent outlets reported the bogus news but it was not immediately clear whether they had made an error or whether Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine was directly behind it.

    The sick stunt involving the monarch followed criticism in Britain and other Western countries of Vladimir Putin’s election ‘victory’ in a ‘rigged’ presidential election.

    The British embassy’s Telegram channel posted a notice in Russian to stress the reports were fake.

    ‘Reports about the death of King Charles III of Great Britain are fake,’ said the announcement, shortly after the British Embassy in Ukraine issued a similar message.

    Early outlets running the fake report were RIA, Sputnik, Readkovka and Mash – staunchly pro-Putin outlets – but all later corrected their stories.

    Mash media outlet wrote: ‘Britain’s King Charles III has died, Buckingham Palace reports. The son of Elizabeth II ascended the throne less than a year ago – the coronation took place on May 6, 2023. He was 75 years old.’

    It updated to say ‘the message turned out to be fake’ while adding: ‘Let us remember that a few months ago he was diagnosed with cancer.’

    But the outlet later stated: ‘The fake news about the death of Charles III quickly spread and was just as quickly debunked.

    ‘The King of Great Britain is alive and continues to go about his business. At least that’s what Buckingham Palace says.’

    Even Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova joined the fray, posting: ‘London looks pathetic.’

    Pro-Kremlin BAZA online media posted: ‘The Russian media reported the death of British King Charles III with reference to a document allegedly published by Buckingham Palace.

    ‘The screenshot of the message about the death of Charles III turned out to be fake.’

    The fake palace announcement was dated today and said: ‘The King passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon.’

    Independent outlet Meduza stated: ‘A number of media and Telegram channels reported the death of the British King Charles III – with reference to a fake statement from Buckingham Palace.

    ‘A screenshot of the statement, which became a news source, is provided, in particular, by the BAZA Telegram channel.

    ‘This statement is not on the website or social networks of the royal family.’

    Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti corrected its earlier report while admitting it was based on ‘rumours’, stating: ‘The press service of Buckingham Palace denied RIA Novosti rumours about the death of King Charles III.

    ‘He continues to conduct official and private affairs.

    ‘Information about Charles’ death appeared some time ago in many Russian sources. The basis for it was a certain message, the authorship of which was attributed to Buckingham Palace and which, apparently, turned out to be a fake.’

    State news agency TASS reported that the story was fake.

    The Kremlin’s own newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, published by Putin’s government, wrote: ‘King Charles III continues to carry out work and private affairs, Buckingham Palace said.

    ‘Previously, many Telegram channels published unverified and false information about the death of the monarch.’

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    Trump Slams “Fake News Media” After Spin on Auto Industry “Bloodbath” Prediction

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    Former President Donald Trump slammed the media on Monday after multiple outlets ran out of context headlines on a prediction he made about there being a “bloodbath” in the auto industry job market due to President Joe Biden’s policies.

    NBC News, CBS News, Rolling Stone, and other outlets published headlines on Trump’s “bloodbath” comments excluding the fact that he was referring to American auto workers being hurt by Biden’s trade policies. Trump made the remarks during a speech in Ohio on Saturday.

    “The Fake News Media, and their Democrat Partners in the destruction of our Nation, pretended to be shocked at my use of the word BLOODBATH, even though they fully understood that I was simply referring to imports allowed by Crooked Joe Biden, which are killing the automobile industry,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “The United Auto Workers, but not their leadership, fully understand what I mean.”

    Trump also took a shot at Biden’s electric vehicle policies, which he said would lead to no cars being made in the United States.

    “With the Electric Car Mandate being pushed by Biden, there soon won’t be any cars made in the USA – UNLESS I’M ELECTED PRESIDENT, IN WHICH CASE AUTO MANUFACTURING WILL THRIVE LIKE NEVER BEFORE!!! MAGA2024,” he said.

    During his Ohio rally, Trump said that China was building manufacturing plants in Mexico to sell cars in the United States “with no tax at the border.”

    “Let me tell you something to China, if you’re listening President Xi, and you and I are friends, but he understands the way I deal,” he continued. “Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now and you think you’re going to get that, you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us?”

    “No. We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going be able to sell those cars. If I get elected. Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it,” he said.

    After the speech, NBC News ran a headline saying, “Trump says there will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses the election,” while CBS News said, “In Ohio campaign rally, Trump says there will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses November election.” Biden’s campaign also commented, releasing a statement on the “bloodbath” remark without a single mention of cars but repeated mentions of violence.

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    Comer Says Biden Impeachment Inquiry Will Lead to ‘Multiple’ Criminal Referrals

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    The corruption-focused impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden will lead to criminal referrals, the lead investigator in the probe said on Sunday.

    House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) made the announcement on Fox News while discussing his plans to proceed with a public hearing this week even though Biden’s son, Hunter, declined to participate after he took part in a private deposition last month.

    “If he does not show up, then it’s not going to end well for the Bidens, because we have three witnesses that … have already testified under oath to significantly different stories as to what exactly the Biden influence peddling schemes were,” he told “Sunday Morning Futures” anchor Maria Bartiromo.

    “This is very serious, because we’re at the point now of criminal referrals,” Comer added. After Bartiromo asked the chairman how many criminal referrals were in the making, Comer said there would be “multiple” criminal referrals, but he did not say how many or exactly who would be receiving them.

    Biden and his defenders have sought to counter the impeachment effort, calling it a “sham” inquiry lacking impeachable offenses. Still, the president’s denials of being involved in his family members’ business dealings have been belied by evidence of Biden meeting and speaking with their associates.

    Comer said there has been “massive obstruction” from the White House and the Biden legal team. Still, congressional investigations have been “able to get probably 80% of the information that we have requested,” he said.

    “We have accumulated lots of evidence of wrongdoing, from the 170 suspicious activity reports, to the multiple shell companies that were used to launder the money and then send the ten different Biden family members incremental payments, all the payments from Romania, from Kazakhstan, from Ukraine, from Russia that were sent to the Bidens during — most of which was — happened during Joe Biden’s tenure as vice president of the United States,” Comer said.

    “We have given the Bidens opportunities to explain what business they were actually in. And, as of this point, I can’t tell you a single legitimate business the Bidens had, other than they were influence peddling,” Comer added. “And I think most Americans would agree that we don’t need the immediate family of our President of the United States profiting to the tune of tens of millions of dollars from our adversaries around the world.”

    He continued, “So we’re at the point of holding people accountable for criminal wrongdoing. And I think we have already demonstrated several instances of criminal mischief by multiple members of the Biden family.”

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    United Airlines CEO Tries to Reassure Customers That the Airline Is Safe Despite Recent Incidents

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    United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby reassured flyers in a letter this week that the carrier is looking into the string of incidents that have recently involved its planes, from engine and structural issues to a wheel falling off during takeoff.

    At least six unrelated incidents have occurred on planes operated by United since the end of February. Five of them involved a Boeing plane.

    “Safety is our highest priority and is at the center of everything we do,” Kirby said in a letter sent to United customers. “Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety.”

    While the incidents were all unrelated, they “have our attention and have sharpened our focus,” Kirby said in the letter.

    Safety Concerns

    Last week, a Boeing 777 was forced to turn around midflight after leaving Sydney due to a hydraulic leak.

    A few days earlier, an Airbus A320, en route to Mexico City, was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport after a reported hydraulics issue.

    Shortly before that, a Boeing 737 “rolled onto the grass” at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston after landing, and a Boeing 777-200 aircraft bound for Japan lost a tire shortly after taking off in San Fransisco.

    Earlier this month, a flight from Houston to Fort Myers, Florida, made an emergency landing after experiencing an engine issue. A video showed flames spewing out of one of the plane’s engines as a crew member acknowledged the situation.

    In February, a Boeing 757 operated by United diverted to address an issue with the slat on the wing of the aircraft. A passenger reported seeing the wing “coming apart” and missing noticeable chunks during the flight.

    Kirby said United is currently in the process of reviewing the details of each incident to better understand what happened. The airline is using those insights to “inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups,” he continued.

    The company already planned to give pilots an extra day of in-person training starting in May, according to Kirby. United has also already created a centralized training curriculum for new-hire maintenance technicians.

    “We’re also dedicating more resources to supplier network management,” Kirby added.

    The chief executive said he is empowering the company’s team to “speak up” if they see something wrong. Still, he said that passengers can still “be confident that every time a United plane pulls away from the gate, everyone on our team is working together to keep you safe on your trip.”

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    Study: How Google Has “Interfered 41 Times” in US Elections Since 2008

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    Google has “interfered” with major elections in the United States 41 times over the last 16 years, according to a new study from the Media Research Center.

    “MRC researchers have found 41 times where Google interfered in elections over the last 16 years, and its impact has surged dramatically, making it evermore harmful to democracy. In every case, Google harmed the candidates – regardless of party – who threatened its left-wing candidate of choice,” MRC Free Speech America vice president Dan Schneider and editor Gabriela Pariseau wrote in a summary of their findings.

    “From the mouths of Google executives, the tech giant let slip what was never meant to be made public: That Google uses its “great strength and resources and reach” to advance its leftist values,” they continued. “Google’s outsized influence on information technology, the body politic and American elections became evident in 2008. After failing to prevent then-candidate for president Donald Trump from being inaugurated following the 2016 election, Google has since made clear to any discerning observer that it has been — and will continue — interfering in America’s elections.”

    Google pushed back, insisting it has a “clear business incentive” to keep both sides happy and that safeguards ensure non-biased and accurate search results.

    MRC Free Speech America, a division of the conservative Media Research Center, believes the most recent example was recorded after Google artificial intelligence Gemini “refused to answer questions damaging” to President Biden.

    The group’s research found that from 2008 through February 2024, “Google has utilized its power to help push to electoral victory the most liberal candidates, regardless of party, while targeting their opponents for censorship.”

    Examples include appearing to favor Barack Obama over John McCain in 2008, favoring Obama over Mitt Romney in 2012, refusing to correct a “Google bomb” that “smeared” then-leading GOP primary candidate for president Rick Santorum, using its algorithm to exclude autofill results that were potentially damaging to Hilly Clinton in 2016, “not doing the same for then-candidates Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders,” and working with partners to help likely pro-Clinton Latino voters go to the polls that same year, according to MRC Free Speech America.

    Other examples cited by the MRC include disabling Tulsi Gabbard’s Ads account just as she became the most searched candidate following the first Democratic Party primary debate in 2020, suppressing news critical of Biden, concealing most Republican campaign websites for the 12 competitive Senate races in 2022, and aiding Biden in 2024 by “burying in its search results the campaign websites of every one of his significant opponents.”

    The study cites several other examples.

    “Utilizing the many tools in its arsenal, Google aided those who most closely aligned with its leftist values from election cycle to election cycle since as far back as the 2008 presidential election. Meanwhile, it targeted for censorship those candidates who posed the most serious threat,” Schneider and Pariseau wrote.

    “While its interference was first evident in 2008, its meddling has turned into an organizational mission to ensure that its candidates win on election day,” they continued. “Many studies reveal the results of the tech giant’s commitment.”

    Schneider and Pariseau cited AllSides and Dr. Robert Epstein, who performed additional research and found that “Google’s search algorithm likely shifted at least 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton” in 2016 and that “Google’s results and get-out-the-vote reminders favored Democrats and shifted the 2020 election results by at least 6 million votes.”

    Google strongly denied any wrongdoing.

    “There is absolutely nothing new here – just a recycled list of baseless, inaccurate complaints that have been debunked by third parties and many that failed in the courts. Politicians on the left have a long history of making similar claims too. We have a clear business incentive to keep everyone using our products, so we have no desire to make them biased or inaccurate and have safeguards in place to ensure this. Numerous conservatives have been particularly successful in using our platforms to spread their message to a wide audience,” a Google spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

    Google has said it is restricting the types of election-related queries on Gemini out of an abundance of caution, directing users to Google Search instead. As for Gabbard’s ads, Google points to a federal judge dismissing a lawsuit she filed against the company on the matter.

    MRC Free Speech America offered three recommendations.

    The conservative watchdog feels Speaker Mike Johnson should “direct relevant committees and committee chairmen to investigate Google for abridging people’s constitutional rights” by “coordinating with government to violate freedom of speech,” “interfering in elections by making unreported in-kind contributions,” and for “defrauding its users by failing to meet its Terms of Service.”

    The group also feels state legislatures should resolve any question of whether Google is a common carrier and urged Americans should stop using Google products, particularly its search engine.

    “From our research, alternatives appear to produce better, less biased results,” Schneider and Pariseau wrote.

    Media Research Center founder and president Brent Bozell urged Congress to act.

    “No organization has more control over information than Google, and they have repeatedly used that power to manipulate the public to vote for the most left-wing candidates in every major election since 2008. It’s un-American to attempt to manipulate elections this way. It’s time Congress acts to shut down this massive election interference scheme,” Bozell told Fox News Digital.

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    WATCH: Don Lemon Releases Interview with Elon Musk

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    Don Lemon’s comeback show with Elon Musk saw the duo get into a tetchy exchange over his alleged heavy drug use, in a wide-ranging interview that included arguments over his Twitter habits and relationship with Donald Trump.

    The former CNN anchor claimed last week that Musk was ‘so upset’ by the interview that he cancelled their deal to exclusively share the show on X.

    In the wide-ranging grilling – which at times sounded more like a deposition than an interview – Lemon took issue with the Tesla CEO’s stance on woke ideology, racism, trans rights and drug use.

    The pair frequently disagreed, and traded barbs about neither having ‘evidence’ to back up their claims. Musk told him that users on X would correct any discrepancies in real time as they watched the interview.

    When quizzed over his prescription ketamine use, Musk appeared to take offense to Lemon’s questioning and said it is ‘pretty private to ask somebody about a medical prescription.’

    Watch:

    As of Monday morning Musk has not responded to the release of the interview, however several commentators have waded in to condemn Lemon’s approach to the interrogation.

    ‘The Don Lemon interview is the worst piece of media I’ve ever seen,’ said commentator Benny Johnson. ‘Nothing else even comes close. Offensive to the eyes & intellect… Oh this is painful.’

    Others noted the seemingly low viewership numbers that the show received in the hours after it was shared, drawing just over 80,000 views in five hours. In comparison, Tucker Carlson’s first X show drew a total of 120 million views.

    Conservative pundit Liz Wheeler criticized the questioning over Musk’s drug use, saying: ‘My jaw dropped. Don Lemon had the AUDACITY to ask Elon Musk what doctors prescribe him medication for… Kudos to Elon for handling that INSANELY rude question with class.’

    Drug Use

    As the topic fell on Musk’s private life, he brushed off claims he is a heavy partier and seemed to try and direct the conversation back towards his work.

    ‘I think anyone who smokes pot can tell I don’t know how to smoke pot,’ he said, adding his infamous toke on the Joe Rogan podcast in 2018 was just ‘one puff.’

    Musk has previously hailed the benefits of ketamine use for treating depression, and told Lemon that those that are struggling with their mental health should ‘talk to their doctor about ketamine instead of SSRI’s.’

    ‘There are times when I have a negative chemical state in my brain, like depression I guess, or depression that’s not linked to any negative news, and ketamine is helpful for getting one out of a negative frame of mind,’ he added.

    When asked if he has ever ‘abused’ the tranquilizing drug, Musk continued: ‘I don’t think so… if you use too much ketamine you can’t really get work done, and I have a lot of work.’

    ‘It’s a prescription from a real doctor, not a, you know…’ he added, as the conversation stalled and became awkward.

    ‘Putting in 16-hour days, that’s normal for me, and it’s rare for me to even take off a weekend day, so I don’t really have a situation where I can be not mentally acute for an extended period of time.

    ‘I can’t really get wasted.’

    Musk noted that he will take a ‘small amount’ of ketamine every other week on average, and often ‘there will be several weeks go by that I don’t use it.’

    Cancelled show

    The show’s release on Monday comes a week after Lemon’s comeback was rocked before the interview was ever published, as he claimed Musk axed their deal in response to Lemon’s line of questioning.

    On X, Musk countered that he decided to end his partnership with the show after finding Lemon’s approach was ‘basically just CNN, but on social media.’

    ‘And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity,’ he said, referencing Lemon’s ex-CNN boss.

    A source added to the New York Post that Musk was ‘underwhelmed’ at the end of the interview, and canned it after ‘realizing how bad it was.’

    The two have since traded barbs online in the week since, as Musk branded Lemon a ‘pompous fool’ while Lemon challenged him to ‘actually watch it.’

    Allegations also emerged that Lemon had made a number of demands in his X contract, which included a Tesla Cybertruck, an equity stake in X and a $5 million upfront bonus.

    Much of the interview centered on Lemon asking Musk about his private life and allegations that have been made against him, including at one point directly asking him: ‘Do you suffer from depression?’

    ‘I ask as someone who has suffered from depression,’ Lemon said in an attempt to qualify the question.

    ‘I wouldn’t say that I have a case of extended depression, it’s just once in a while I get into a negative chemical mind state,’ Musk responded.

    The two also failed to agree on the facts in Lemon’s questioning, as when Lemon claimed that hate speech has increased since Musk bought X, he replied: ‘That is false.’

    Relationship with Donald Trump

    Earlier in the show, Lemon asked Musk about his relationship with Donald Trump, as the billionaire has frequently shared right-wing jokes and comments online that have linked him to the former president’s run for the White House.

    Lemon referenced a recent meeting between Musk and Trump in Florida, which the billionaire brushed off as a chance encounter rather than a scheduled meeting.

    ‘I was at a breakfast at a friend’s place, and Donald Trump came by, that’s it,’ he said.

    When asked what the two of them discussed, Musk paused and laughed, appearing to flounder for an answer for several seconds.

    ‘He did most of the talking,’ he said with a laugh.

    ‘Of all the things he said, there wasn’t really anything groundbreaking or new. But he, you know… President Trump likes to talk.’

    When the meeting was revealed, it sparked rumors that Musk could put his huge fortune behind the former president. However, he quickly denied he had any plans to do so.

    ‘While I’ll voice my opinion (on the presidential race), I think I don’t want to put my thumb on the scale voluntarily.’

    Musk responded with a blunt ‘no’ to several questions on the topic, including whether he plans to help Trump pay for his mounting legal bills.

    Racism and DEI

    Musk has courted controversy since buying Twitter, now X, in April 2022, and has used it as a platform to take on ‘woke’ issues including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in corporate America.

    He argued that ‘trying to make everything a race issue is divisive or corrosive to society’, and felt that race is given too much importance in the minds of many.

    ‘I think we should not make this a constant subject I think we need to move on. I think we need to treat people as people,’ he continued.

    ‘But I think we want to look to the future rather than the past. Because if you look at history everyone was a slave. We are all descended from slaves, it’s just a question of whether it was less recently or more recently.’

    Musk argued that DEI lowers standards, using the example of surgeons to claim that if they received their job through DEI, they may be more likely to make a medical mistake.

    Lemon then interrupted that there was ‘no evidence of that’, leading to a tense moment as Musk repeated, ‘I think there is’ while Lemon insisted there wasn’t.

    ‘They literally lowered the standards at Duke University… are you saying they didn’t?’ Musk said. ‘I believe that is a false statement you’re making.’

    Musk grew irate as Lemon repeated that he was citing a ‘hypothetical’ scenario where a surgeon kills a patient as a result of DEI, angrily responding: ‘I didn’t say it was happening, I said it will!’

    ‘Do you believe that women and minority pilots are inherently less intelligent and less skilled than white pilots?’ Lemon asked, again angering Musk as he responded with a quick ‘no.’

    ‘I’m just saying we should not lower the standards for them,’ he said, challenging Lemon to read replies on X for ‘all the evidence’ that standards are lower under DEI.

    Lemon claimed that Musk was ‘insulting’ him as he implied that Musk was arguing that he hadn’t been discriminated against in his life, which the Tesla chief batted off and insisted that wasn’t what he was saying.

    ‘You keep putting words in my mouth,’ he responded.

    ‘I’m saying that we as a country should move beyond questions of race and gender, and we should treat people as individuals.’

    Trans Rights

    Lemon also took aim at Musk’s past remarks on trans rights, bringing up an old tweet where Musk said that having pronouns in your bio means the ‘woke mind virus ate your brain.’

    Musk’s daughter Vivian came out as transgender several years ago, and they appear to be estranged. When she sought a legal name change in 2022 to Vivian Jenna Wilson, she said: ‘I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.’

    The topic of transgender rights has since become a common theme of Musk’s jokes, and Lemon said he ‘writes a lot about that on the thing’ – presumably meaning X.

    ‘Do you know what the term woke actually means?’ Lemon asked.

    Musk countered that the term has ‘come to mean a lot of things’, to which Lemon cut him off by noting the original meaning was to have an understanding of ‘inequities in society.’

    Great Replacement Theory

    Musk sparked backlash late last year after branding an anti-Semitic post about the ‘Great Replacement Theory’ the ‘actual truth’.

    The theory alleges that Jewish communities are orchestrating the reduction of white populations in Western countries by replacing them with mass immigration.

    His tweet led a number of advertisers to leave X, and Musk later visited Auschwitz in an apology tour where he admitted the post was ‘foolish.’

    He has also claimed that Democrats push immigration to get ‘more votes’, a claim that Lemon took issue with in his interview as he noted that undocumented immigrants can’t vote, so ‘how is that possible?’

    ‘You’re conflating two things,’ Musk responded, as he argued that he ‘doesn’t subscribe’ to the Great Replacement Theory.

    ‘Immigrants have, at least from what I’ve read, a very strong bias to vote Democrat,’ he said.

    While they cannot legally vote, Musk said that censuses also count non-citizens, and the states that have higher immigration therefore receive more representation in Congress.

    He cited higher numbers of illegal immigrants in California and New York, and claimed that not counting them in Congressional representation would lead Democrats to lose approximately 20 seats in the House.

    When Musk claimed the same is true with the presidential Electoral College, Lemon responded that the Electoral College system actually mathematically helps Republicans.

    In another tense exchange, Musk responded: ‘I think that statement is true, but I think that what I said is also true.’

    Tesla

    While much of the interview centered on Musk himself and his personal life, Lemon also quizzed him on the upcoming release of the new Tesla Roadster.

    Musk has said that deliveries of the vehicle, which has been in the works since 2017, may finally be ready for 2025, and has claimed it will be the fastest car of all time with a 0-60mph acceleration in under a second.

    ‘Are there any kind of updates?’ Lemon said, adding a jab that Tesla stock has dropped. ‘What’s next for the company?’

    ‘The stock’s going to go up and down, but what really matters is, are we making and delivering great products?’ he replied.

    ‘The Tesla products are outstanding,’ Musk continued. ‘Last year, the Tesla Model Y was the best selling car of any kind in the world.

    ‘We launched the Cybertruck, that’s obviously being very well received… So, it’s a really special product.’

    At the conclusion of the show, Lemon remarked that he knew Musk had to leave soon so he offered him a ‘rapid fire’ final question – if the billionaire would ‘change anything that you’ve done’ from any stage of his life.

    ‘I have made many mistakes over the years,’ he said. ‘If I had a time machine I’d go back and fix them, but I don’t have a time machine.’

    Lemon closed the interview with a brief monologue saying: ‘And that’s it. And as Elon would say, you be the judge.

    ‘Let me tell you something about this show. The conversation doesn’t end just because the camera stops. We’ll see you next time.’

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    Wild Pics Show Spring Break Mayhem in Miami Beach as Cops Bust Over 250 Partiers

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    Wild photos show the chaos of spring break revelry in Miami Beach as officials confirmed they have busted over 250 partygoers despite dramatic preemptive crackdowns by the city, including a midnight curfew implemented over the weekend.

    The hotspot for spring breakers implemented a curfew that began at 11:59 p.m. and continued until 6 a.m. from Friday through Monday.

    The curfews came in response to last year’s mayhem that resulted in nearly 500 arrests, the seizure of 105 guns and two fatal shootings.

    Despite the measures, cops in the party town have already made 256 spring break-related busts from March 1 to March 16, according to Christopher Bess, a spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department.

    Photos show some arrests made Friday as droves of scantily clad men and women raged for hours of rampant partying during the day and at night.

    In preparation for the annual celebration, Gov. Ron DeSantis dispatched at least 140 state troopers to the locale, along with drones and license plate readers to proactively curb violence.

    DeSantis vowed to crack down on crime for the event.

    “We welcome people to come and have a good time. What we don’t welcome is criminal activity,” DeSantis warned. “What we don’t welcome is mayhem and people who want to wreak havoc on our communities.”

    And last month, the city announced in a messaging campaign that it is “breaking up with spring break.”

    In a video for the campaign, a woman warned, “This March, you can expect things like curfews, bag checks and restricted beach access, DUI checkpoints, $100 parking and strong police enforcement for drug possession and violence.”

    In a statement to The Post, Miami police said the situation was managed effectively and officers were able to keep the crowd under control.

    “While some arrests were made during the evening, we can confirm that all incidents were handled efficiently and in a controlled manner by our law enforcement personnel,” the Miami Police Department said.

    The city experienced three years in a row of violence during the co-ed bash that inevitably descended into anarchy.

    In nearby Fort Lauderdale, roughly 10 “isolated” spring break-related arrests have been made from March 4 through March 12, in incidents involving disorderly conduct, drugs, thefts and battery of law enforcement, according to Fort Lauderdale Police Department spokesperson Casey Liening.

    “Our spring break crowds have been as expected so far this year, with this week being the busiest week we are anticipating,” Liening said.

    Liening added that they haven’t had “any major issue or disturbances” that would have forced mass arrests.

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    One Dead, Two Injured After Gunman Opens Fire During St Patrick’s Day Celebration in Florida

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    One person has been killed and two other have been injured after a gunman opened fire in the beachfront Bar District at Jacksonville Beach in Florida.

    Around 10 gunshots rang out sending hundreds of people who had been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day on a warm spring evening, rushing out onto the beach in order to escape the terror.

    One of those hit is said to be in serious condition while a third victim has non-life-threatening injuries.

    Revelers ran onto the sands in sheer terror as gunshots could be heard ringing out from the boardwalk.

    Police have closed off an eight block area and have completely shut down the beachfront Bar District ‘until further notice’ while the suspects are still at large.

    Officers say they are still trying to work out if there were in fact multiple shooters.

    The incident happened on the boardwalk close to Jacksonville Beach Pier near 2nd Ave N & 1st St N.

    ‘We got here and everybody was safe and next thing you know there was things going down,’ said the owner of Salt Bar & Restaurant to News4Jax.

    ‘People got scared. There was a few people who were worried about getting shot from blind bullets, but the boardwalk is a public beach and sometimes people come out that maybe shouldn’t be here.’

    Jacksonville Beach Police Department first revealed they were working an active shooter incident in the downtown area just after 9pm on Sunday night.

    The Department asked those in the area to shelter in place until the all-clear was given which came just after 11pm. Officers say they are working on getting descriptions of the suspects.

    Sergeant Tonya Tator with the Jacksonville Beach Police said authorities are still looking for suspects

    ‘If anyone knows or sees anything, they are asked to call the Jacksonville Beach Police Department’, Tator told reporters, while confirming the shooting happened ‘out in the open’, rather than inside a bar.

    The downtown area was busy with plenty of revelers celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and enjoying Spring Break.

    Jacksonville Beach Mayor Christine Hofmann said she was at the scene to show support for officers. Multiple agencies were at the scene from across the region.

    Hofmann said business owners acted bravely on what was a particularly busy weekend.

    “We have a lot going on out here. The fact we had a couple of bad actors out here that really made a dangerous situation for everyone is extremely tragic and unfortunate,’ Hoffman said to First Coast News.

    Law enforcement agencies have been on heightened alert across the entire state of Florida with the popular Spring Break getaway underway.

    Earlier this month, Governor DeSantis said 17 law enforcement agencies had requested extra Florida Highway Patrol troopers to help patrol their communities because of spring breakers.

    The Jacksonville Beach Police Department, however, was not one of them.

    ‘If you have any information that can assist us, please call 904-270-1661,’ read a post on the police Facebook page and the Jacksonville Beach Emergency Preparedness X account.

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    Putin Wins Russia Election in Landslide

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    Russian President Vladimir Putin is projected to win Russia’s election in a record post-Soviet landslide on Sunday, extending his rule for at least another six years, according to exit polls.

    Putin clinched 87.8 percent of the vote, according to an exit poll as the polls closed Sunday from the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM). This is the highest voting percentage in Russia’s post-Soviet history, and the first official results suggest FOM’s early polls are accurate, Reuters reported Sunday.

    A preliminary statement from Russia’s Central Election Commission said Putin received about 87 percent of the votes, deeming him the winner of the election, according to multiple media outlets. The commission also reportedly said voter turnout was about 75 percent nationwide.

    The results are poised to hand Putin his fifth term since first being elected as Russia’s president more than 20 years ago in late 1999. The win will make Putin Russia’s longest-serving leader since Catherine the Great in 1796, surpassing the record held by former Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin, Reuters reported.

    Prior to Putin’s rule, the Russian Constitution allowed for presidents to serve just two successive terms of four years, but amendments made in 2008 under Putin’s rule lengthened the presidential term to six years. Amendments in 2020 removed the rule that presidents could not serve more than two terms, per Reuters.

    FOM’s exit polls showed communist candidate Nikolai Kharitonov followed in second with a little under 5 percent of the vote, while Vladislav Davankov of the New People party came in third with more than 3 percent of the vote. Leonid Slutsky, an ultra-nationalist, came in fourth, per the exit polls.

    Putin’s win comes as no surprise, with two other official opponents previously barred from the ballots due to opposition against the Ukraine invasion.

    The election drew a massive protest on Sunday from thousands who attempted to cast ballots against Putin.

    Putin has faced increasing opposition since the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a remote Arctic penal colony last month. Navalny endorsed the scheduled protest days before he died.

    The Kremlin has rejected accusations from other Russian opposition leaders and Western governments that Putin is to blame for Navalny’s death.

    Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, participated in Sunday’s protest and vowed to continue fighting against Putin.

    “Thank you very much to the wonderful, best people who stood with me today from 12 noon for a whole six hours, side by side in line at the polling station. Thank you for coming, crying, laughing. Thank you for endlessly shouting ‘Yulia, we are with you’ and ‘Navalny’ and telling me that I gave you back hope,” she wrote in a post on social media.

    “In fact, of course, it’s the other way around — it’s you who give me hope that everything is not in vain, that we will fight on. Thank you to all of you who came out in every city around the world. You are my support and buttress. I love you all very much,” she added.

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    WATCH: FDNY Commissioner Booed at St. Patrick’s Day Parade After Call to “Hunt Down” Letitia James Hecklers

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    The New York City Fire Department’s fire commissioner was booed and jeered at by protesters during a lively St. Patrick’s Day parade in the Big Apple.

    “You suck,” one protester yelled at New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire commissioner Laura Kavanaugh as she paraded by Trump Tower. “Firefighters are the hunters.”

    The outburst against Kavanaugh came after the city official promised to “hunt” down the protesters who booed Attorney General Letitia James when she took the stage at a ceremony last week.

    One protester held a protester with Kavanaugh face on the body of a donkey.

    “Pin the tail on the jacka–,” the poster said.

    Later in the video, FDNY members were seen stopping to wave and shake hands with the protesters.

    “Trump, Trump, Trump,” the protesters yelled.

    The controversy began after booing erupted as James walked up to the podium to honor the swearing-in of the first Black female chaplain of the FDNY, the Rev. Pamela Holmes, as well as other first responders at a promotion ceremony on Thursday at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn.

    “Oh, c’mon, we’re in a house of God. Simmer down,” James told the rowdy crowd. “Thank you for getting it out of your system.”

    As James continued her remarks, the crowd repeatedly chanted “Trump!”

    Following the interruption, Hodgen’s wrote that the Bureau of Investigation and Trials (BITS) would “hunt” down the firefighters who were there.

    “BITS is investigating this, so they will figure out who the members are,” Hodgens was said to have warned in an email to high-ranking FDNY officials Friday. “I recommend they come forward. I have been told by the Commissioner it will be better for them if they come forward, and we don’t have to hunt them down.”

    The FDNY downplayed reports it was hunting anyone to begin with following an eruption from firefighters.

    “Nobody is hunting anyone down,” FDNY spokesman Jim Long told Fox News Digital in an email. “We’re looking into those who clearly broke department regulations. It has nothing to do with politics. It’s about professionalism at an official event held in a house of worship.”

    The department further softened its language, saying that leadership is having a “conversation” about “decorum.”

    “FDNY leadership is having ongoing conversations with our members about decorum during department events to ensure we are upholding the core values that make the FDNY the greatest fire department in the world,” a spokesperson told Fox News. “Being a NYC firefighter is an honor, and we will continue to impress upon our members that their actions impact everyone who wears the uniform.”

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    Chicago Begins Evicting 2,000 Illegal Aliens from City Shelters

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    Chicago officials on Sunday began evicting some migrants from shelters, joining other cities that have made similar moves to ease pressure on overstretched resources.

    The process is starting gradually. Out of the nearly 11,000 migrants living in 23 homeless shelters in Chicago, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, a fraction — 34 single adults — were required to leave on Sunday.

    Many people will be eligible for exemptions. They will be determined on a case-by-case basis, city officials said, for pregnant women, people with certain medical issues and migrants who are already in the process of securing housing. Families with children can receive renewable 30-day extensions.

    But officials said that more than 2,000 people would be evicted by the end of April. And many families with children may be forced to exit the shelter network altogether by the summer.

    Backed by an army of volunteers, Chicago and other cities have found shelter for migrants, enrolled their children in schools, provided food assistance and held workshops to help them fill out paperwork to apply for work permits.

    But housing migrants has been draining city coffers — Chicago has received more than 37,000 migrants since August 2022. Overall, in the past year, hundreds of thousands of migrants have ended up in large cities.

    The evictions are placing even more pressure on the volunteers as they scramble to fill the void. Many of them said they had grave concerns about the impact, particularly when they begin to apply to families.

    “There is a lot of fear there will be people in the streets,” said Annie Gomberg, whose volunteer group, People’s Shelter Response, has been assisting migrant families in Chicago.

    For families in the shelters, there was confusion and worry as news spread of the policy.

    A Venezuelan migrant named Nelly, who declined to share her last name for fear of retribution, said that her family’s allotted time in the shelter would expire on March 19. “The social worker said that there was no extension order, and we are waiting for the actual day to arrive to find out what happens,” she said.

    A mother of two special-needs children, ages 5 and 6, and a former dental hygienist in her home country, she said that neither she nor her husband had found jobs because they still lacked work permits. “It’s an anguishing situation,” she said, “because we can’t make money.”

    For months, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration had delayed enforcing a 60-day limit on shelter stays amid frigid temperatures and concerns over the repercussions of evicting people who might have nowhere to go.

    A progressive Democrat who took office last year, the mayor has repeatedly struck a welcoming tone toward migrants from Central and South America, while criticizing Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas for orchestrating charter buses that have brought tens of thousands of migrants to Chicago.

    But citing limited city services, Mr. Johnson decided to begin enforcing the limit. And Chicago is not alone.

    Denver began to clear hotels housing migrants in February. The city has received about 40,000 migrants.

    The number of arrivals has declined since late last year, as they have in Chicago. So far this month, Denver has received 11 charter buses from the border, compared with seven in February — substantially fewer than in December, when 144 buses unloaded migrants. Still, the large number of newcomers has overwhelmed the city.

    “What we have been doing actively is working with nonprofits day and night to help families secure housing,” said Jon Ewing, a spokesman for Denver Human Services.

    “But we don’t have resources to do this forever, and the nonprofits don’t either,” he said. “It’s very, very important to keep the numbers down.”
    Hundreds of local families have been hosting migrants, and more are expected to do so in the coming months.

    In New York, where the migrant shelter population stands at about 65,000, the city will begin limiting the amount of time most adult migrants can remain in shelters to 30 days.

    Some would be allowed to stay longer if they met certain criteria. The new cap on shelter stays represents a major shift in the city’s right-to-shelter policy, and it is a culmination of months of negotiations in state court.

    The city had already imposed limits on how long migrants could stay in several shelters, evicting many and requiring them to reapply if they still wanted a bed, which is also part of the new policy in Chicago.

    Families still have 60 days before they have to leave shelters, and can ask to be readmitted under the new rules. The city has said that 80 percent of evicted migrants end up giving up and voluntarily not trying to remain in the shelter system.

    In all the cities, the biggest impediment to the migrants achieving self-sufficiency has been their inability to secure steady jobs without employment authorization, a permit that gives them the legal right to work in the United States. Migrants who have crossed the border illegally and seek asylum are eligible for employment authorization but can only apply for the benefit 150 days after they have filed their asylum claim in immigration court.

    Many migrants are finding odd jobs, but they have been unable to save enough money to afford skyrocketing rents and support their families in expensive cities, creating a burden on social services. The cities’ mayors, struggling with busted budgets, have pleaded for assistance from the federal government.

    In a statement on Friday, Mayor Johnson said his city “is committed to compassion. By encouraging resettlement while also providing case-specific extensions with a focus on health and safety, we are advancing a pathway to stability and self-sufficiency.”

    Although migrants in Chicago who are evicted will have the option of returning to the city’s so-called landing zone, an intake center, to apply for admission to a different facility, the potential to be repeatedly uprooted is problematic, especially for families with children in school.

    “There is so much uncertainty and concern,” said Erika Villegas, a volunteer who has helped families secure apartments. “The families are wondering, ‘When is it going to be me next?’”

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