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Divrei hashkafah from Rav Gershon Ribner, rosh kollel of Kollel Nesivos Hatorah, on negative feelings about the Adirei Hatorah event.

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Recognizing the need for a program that goes beyond traditional approaches to addiction and mental health treatment, *Onward Living* introduces a solution that emphasizes integration back into life and a model for lasting recovery for those struggling with mental health, trauma, and addiction.  

Founder and CEO, Moshe A. Yachnes, LCSW CSAT, shares, “It’s presumptuous to assume that individuals who struggle for years will discover long term sobriety and stability in just 30 days.  Witnessing the repeated cycle of relapse post-treatment, we realized the need for a new model—one that blends a structured residential program while integrating a comprehensive outpatient therapeutic design. This formula empowers the individual psychologically and stabilizes them behaviorally”. 

At Onward Living, through combining clinical treatment and support with immersive real-world experiences, participants learn to confront triggers head-on and implement newfound coping mechanisms in real-time situations, all while being provided continual support from staff and camaraderie from fellow peers.  

Vice President of Clinical Development, Devora Shabtai LCSW, PhD(c) explains “Onward Living is not only a treatment program, it is an entire philosophy to healing. Our program design involves individual and group therapeutic services for addressing ongoing core struggles. Our vocational coaching program where Residents learn how to obtain and maintain employment. In addition, we have evening fellowship and therapeutic activities in our Onward Sober Living Residence. These different aspects of the program combine to make one singular clinical intervention for building healthy relationships with self and others, learning accountability and structure, and finding purpose and meaning… the building blocks for stable, sober, meaningful living.”  

“What ties everything together is the wrap-around oversight and communication across the board,” says Aryeh Garbacz, Executive Director. Our Residents have autonomy during the day and learn to navigate real-time workplace stress and interpersonal conflicts. There is communication with employers throughout the day along with thorough transfer of information to our evening staff creating a “24/7” infrastructure. As Moshe Yachnes explains, “The interplay of therapeutic support and self-autonomy is the key to helping individuals re-establish themselves, identify purpose, learn to manage real life triggers, and discover happiness. Our strategic hybrid approach sets a foundation for long term sustainable recovery”. 

What sets Onward Living apart is its culturally sensitive approach. With a staff that understands the nuances and specific needs of the orthodox community, and a program individually tailored to  address the unique challenges faced by individuals within it, participants find themselves in a supportive environment conducive to their recovery journey. As recently stated, “Their results speak for themselves, with a thriving alumni community made up of 7 years of beautiful success stories, and Jewish men who have learned how to move their lives Onward.”  

For more information about Onward Living and its transformative program, visit https://www.onwardliving.org/ 

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By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for Vaad Mishmeres Stam Since the horrific events of October 7th, numerous Gedolei Torah have told us that we are living in an idna derischa – a period of Divine Anger.  This can be further observed from the nearly unprecedented anti-Semitism we are experiencing across the country and across the globe.  What can we do? It seems, however, that careful observance of the Mitzvah of Mezuzah may have the ability to placate Divine Wrath.   How so? One who purposefully lives in a home (such as a tent) or shapes his doorways in a manner where he is fully exempt from observing the Mitzvah of Mezuzah will not be saved during a period of Divine Wrath – BeIdna DeRischa.  This is found in the introduction to the Sefer Chareidim.  It is also a Shla in Chulin based upon the Gemorah in Shabbos 32b (cited in Saichel Tov p. 55.) RAV CHAIM KANIEVSKY ZT”L Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l in Kuntrus Mezuzos Baisecha 285:1 cites an authority who states that someone who does this is also subject to the very serious issue discussed in the Gemorah in Shabbos 32b. ANOTHER INDICATION FROM SEFER SHMOS The 713 letters in the Mezuzah allude to the words that Moshe Rabbeinu used to avert the destruction of the Jewish people in his supplication before Hashem (Shmos 32:12) “Return from Your Divine Wrath – Shuv MeCharon Apecha.” These three words are equivalent in Gematriah to the number of Hebrew letters in a Mezuzah – 713. OTHER PROTECTIONS Both the Tur and TaZ 286:9 quote the Maharam MiRothenberg who states that before he affixed a Mezuzah between the Bais Midrash and his home, a ruach rah would disturb him while he was taking his afternoon nap. NO IR HANIDACHAS Even though Hashem dislikes a wayward city, an ir hanidachas, and included a chapter in the Torah (Dvarim 13:13) telling us how to “lay it waste and everything that is in it”, it is the Mezuzah that ensured that there never was a city in Eretz Yisrael’s history that was destroyed on account of its evil. This is a Gemorah in Sanhedrin 71a and 113a (also see Yalkut Shimoni Parshas Re’eh §888) The reason that it is not destroyed is because the verse says to destroy everything in it (Dvarim 13:16) and a Mezuzah cannot be destroyed since the verse earlier (Dvarim 12:31) states, “Do not do so to Hashem your G-D.” Therefore, the command to destroy the entire city cannot be fulfilled. The city can thus never be designated as a “wayward city.” This is Rabbi Eliezer’s position. According to Rabbi Yonasan, however, there was such a city and apparently, they destroyed everything in it but the Mezuzah. REWARDS The reward for observing this Mitzvah is also very great. If one is careful in the performance of this Mitzvah, he and his descendants will merit long life. The converse, however, is also true (see Shulchan Aruch 285:1; Tur; Sifrei Aikev Piskah 46. See also Shabbos 32b regarding the sin of being neglectful in this Mitzvah.) And there are other physical rewards as well. The Talmud (Shabbos 23b) tells us that one who is careful in the Mitzvah of Mezuzah merits a beautiful home[8]. This can be attested to by the experience of many people. THE BAAL HATURIM […]

Following a report in Germany’s BILD that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the reduction in US military aid is encouraging Israel’s enemies — Iranian proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas — to continue their attacks and prolong the war, the Washington Post reported that two key Democrats finally agreed to support a major arms sale to Israel after months of delay. On Tuesday afternoon, Netanyahu posted an English-language video message, slamming the Biden administration for withholding arms while Israel is involved in battles against its enemies. “When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation,” Netanyahu began. “I said I deeply appreciated the support the US has given Israel from the beginning of the war.” “But I also said something else, I said it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel. Israel, America’s closet ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies.” “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case. During World War II,  Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job.’ And I say, give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.” Former Ambassador to Israel David Friedman retweeted the video, commenting: “When President Trump was in office we had one overriding rule regarding our relationship with Israel: NO DAYLIGHT.” “Current relationship is so unfortunate, Biden has adopted the worst policy coming at absolutely the worst time.” “Give Israel what it needs! Israel’s victory is America’s victory!” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A group of senior gedolei Torah from Eretz Yisroel is set to travel to the United States to raise funds for “Keren LeMa’an Olam HaTorah,” an initiative to raise $100 million for yeshivos in Eretz Yisroel.

The group will include Maran Rav Dov Landau, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Salbodka; the senior mashgiach Rav Don Segal; Rav Yaakov Hillel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ahavat Shalom; and the Rachmastrivka Rebbe.

They are slated to arrive in the United States on Sunday.

They will join Maran Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Salbodka, who is already in the U.S., to spearhead this mission.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea for supporting his actions in Ukraine and said their countries will cooperate closely to overcome U.S.-led sanctions as he headed to Pyongyang on Tuesday for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Putin’s comments appeared in an op-ed piece in North Korean state media hours before his expected arrival for a visit through Wednesday as the countries deepen their alignment in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with Washington. In the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, the streets were decorated with Putin’s portraits and Russian flags. A banner hung on a building said: “We warmly welcome the President of the Russian Federation.” Putin, who will be making his first trip to North Korea in 24 years, said he highly appreciates its firm support of his military action in Ukraine. He said the countries would continue to “resolutely oppose” what he described as Western ambitions “to hinder the establishment of a multipolar world order based on justice, mutual respect for sovereignty, considering each other’s interests.” The Kremlin’s forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Putin also said Russia and North Korea will develop trade and payment systems “that are not controlled by the West” and jointly oppose sanctions against the countries, which he described as “illegal, unilateral restrictions.” North Korea is under heavy U.N. Security Council economic sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile programs, while Russia is also grappling with sanctions by the United States and its Western partners over its aggression in Ukraine. Putin said the countries will also expand cooperation in tourism, culture and education. Before heading to North Korea, Putin traveled to Yakutsk, a city in eastern Russia, where he met regional Gov. Aisen Nikolayev, and received briefings on technology and defense-related projects. He also met with young professionals working in Russia’s Far East. Putin is being accompanied by several top officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Denis Mantrurov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to his foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov. He said a number of documents will be signed during the visit, possibly including an agreement on a comprehensive strategic partnership. Putin’s visit comes amid growing concerns about an arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions to fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that would enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program. U.S. and South Korean officials say military, economic and other exchanges between North Korea and Russia have sharply increased since Kim met Putin in September in the Russian Far East, their first since 2019. U.S. and South Korean officials accuse the North of providing Russia with artillery, missiles and other military equipment for use in Ukraine, possibly in return for key military technologies and aid. Both Pyongyang and Moscow deny accusations about North Korean weapons transfers, which would violate multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions that Russia previously endorsed. Along with China, Russia has provided political cover for Kim’s continuing efforts to advance his nuclear arsenal, repeatedly blocking U.S.-led efforts to impose fresh U.N. sanctions on the North over its weapons tests. In March, a Russian veto at the United Nations ended monitoring of U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program, prompting Western […]

A record 23 of NATO’s 32 member nations are hitting the Western military alliance’s defense spending target this year, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday, as Russia’s war in Ukraine has raised the threat of expanding conflict in Europe. The estimated figure is a nearly fourfold increase from 2021, when only six nations were meeting the goal. That was before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “Europeans are doing more for their collective security than just a few years ago,” Stoltenberg said in a speech at the Wilson Center research group. After the speech, Stoltenberg met at the White House with President Joe Biden. The U.S. president said the alliance has become “larger, stronger and more united than it’s ever been” during Stoltenberg’s tenure. Biden spoke affectionately of Stoltenberg, calling him “pal” and saying he wished that Stoltenberg, who has been NATO’s secretary general since 2014, could serve another term when the current one expires in October. “Together, we’ve deterred further Russian aggression in Europe,” Biden said. “We’ve strengthened NATO’s eastern flank ,making it clear that we’ll defend every single inch of NATO territory.” Stoltenberg noted that allies were buying more military equipment from the U.S. “So NATO is good for U.S. security, but NATO is also good for U.S. jobs.” he said. NATO members agreed last year to spend at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense. The surge in spending reflects the worries about the war in Ukraine. Poland, at more than 4%, and tiny Estonia both lead the United States this year in the percentage of their GDP they spend on defense. Both countries border Russia. Defense spending across European allies and Canada was up nearly 18% this year alone, the biggest increase in decades, according to NATO’s estimated figures released Monday. Some countries also are concerned about the possible reelection of former President Donald Trump, who has characterized many NATO allies as freeloading on U.S. military spending and said on the campaign trail that he would not defend NATO members that don’t meet defense spending targets. “Shifting U.S. administrations have had the absolutely valid point to say that U.S. allies are spending too little,” Stoltenberg told reporters. “The good news is that’s changing.” Stoltenberg’s visit is laying the groundwork for what’s expected to be a pivotal summit of NATO leaders in Washington next month. The mutual-defense alliance has grown in strength and size since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago, with both Sweden and Finland joining. Defense spending by many European countries fell after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union seemed to neutralize what was then the prime security threat to the West. But after Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, NATO members unanimously agreed to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense within a decade. The full-scale invasion that Putin launched in 2022 spurred European countries newly on the front line of a war in the heart of Europe to put more resources into meeting that target. Much of the focus of the summit is expected to address what NATO and NATO member governments can do for Ukraine as it faces unrelenting air and ground attacks from its more powerful neighbor. They so far have resisted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appeals to take his […]

President Biden once again raised concerns about his age and mental fitness over the weekend after he froze up on stage at a fundraiser in Los Angeles and had to be rescued by Barack Obama.

Biden seemed lost after a forty-five-minute sitdown with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel; Joe froze for nearly ten seconds while staring out into the audience before being led off stage.

 

Watch the clip above.

From The New York Post:

The incident follows a spate of caught-on-camera moments where Biden appeared dazed or confused about where he was, including when he appeared to wander off at the G7 summit in Apulia, Italy, during parachute exhibition.

In that instance, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stepped in to gently take Biden’s hand and lead him back in time for a group photo with other world leaders.

The Biden campaign raised more than $30 million at the event, which was attended by Hollywood luminaries like George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand.

The event was also swarmed by hundreds of anti-Israel protesters, who attempted to block entry to the ritzy gala — tickets for which ranged from $250 to $500,000.

Dozens of police clad in riot gear formed a line outside the theater to prevent the protesters’ advance, who shouted jeers at the President including “Biden, Biden you’re a liar, we demand a ceasefire.”

The group also waved Palestinian flags and chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will live forever,” a slight variation on a slogan the Antidefamation League says calls for the eradication of Israel.

No arrests were made, according to the LAPD.

 

{Matzav.com}

The skydiving video; the Juneteenth video; the fundraiser — fake?

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about recent viral videos of President Biden looking confused or slow to react; she says they’re all “cheap fakes.”

“Instead of Republicans focusing on the President’s performance in office and what he’s been able to accomplish … they focus on these ‘cheap fakes,’” KJP said.

KJP also addressed the Juneteenth video in which Biden is incredibly still while everyone around him is dancing; “that’s not a health issue,” KJP said.

KJP chalks up the fake videos to “right-wing critics” of the President.

Watch the clips below:

 

{Matzav.com}

 

George Washington never did cut down the cherry tree, despite the famous story to the contrary, but he did pack away quite a few bottles of the fruit at his Mount Vernon home. Dozens of bottles of cherries and berries — impossibly preserved in storage pits uncovered from the cellar of his mansion on the banks of the Potomac River — were discovered during an archaeological dig connected to a restoration project. Jason Boroughs, Mount Vernon’s principal archaeologist, said the discovery of so much perfectly preserved food from more than 250 years ago is essentially unprecedented. “Finding what is essentially fresh fruit, 250 years later, is pretty spectacular,” Boroughs said in an interview. “All the stars sort of have to align in the right manner for that to happen.” Whole pieces of fruit, recognizable as cherries, were found in some of the bottles. Other bottles held what appear to be gooseberries or currants, though testing is underway to confirm that. Mount Vernon is partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is conducting DNA testing on the fruit. They are also examining more than 50 cherry pits recovered from the bottles to see if any of them can be planted. “It’s kind of a longshot,” said Benjamin Gutierrez, a USDA plant geneticist, of the chances of using a cherry pit to grow a tree. Seeds preserve best when they are dry, and most of the samples found at Mount Vernon were waterlogged. A couple of pits tested initially were not viable as seeds. Still, he said the bottles are a remarkable find. In addition to DNA testing, he said chemical testing may be able to show if particular spices were used to preserve the fruits. Records at Mount Vernon show that George and Martha Washington were fond of cherries, at least when mixed with brandy. Martha Washington’s recipe for a “cherry bounce” cocktail survives, and Washington wrote that he took a canteen of cherry bounce with him on a trip across the Alleghenies in 1784. These cherries, though, were most likely bottled to be eaten simply as cherries, Boroughs said. The quality of the preservation reflect a high caliber of work. Slaves ran the plantation’s kitchen. The kitchen was overseen by an enslaved woman named Doll, who came to Mount Vernon in 1758 with Martha Washington, according to the estate. “The enslaved folks who were taking care of the trees, picking the fruit, working in the kitchen, those would have been the folks that probably would have overseen and done this process,” Boroughs said. “It’s a highly skilled process. Otherwise they just wouldn’t have survived this way.” The bottles were found only because Mount Vernon is doing a $40 million revitalization project of the mansion that they expect to be completed by the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026. “When we do archaeology, it’s destructive,” Boroughs said. “So unless we have a reason to disturb those resources, we tend not to.” “In this case, because of these needed structural repairs to the mansion, the ground was going to be disturbed. So we looked there first,” he continued. “We didn’t expect to find all this.” They know the bottles predate 1775 because that’s when an expansion of the mansion led to the area being covered over with a brick floor. Mount Vernon […]

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The Biden administration sees increased foreign terrorist threats to the US compared to a year ago, thanks to renewed efforts by the Islamic State militant group and Middle East unrest tied to the Israel-Hamas war.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said his department has noticed “a resurgence in recruiting of ISIS, ISIS’s public communications and efforts to galvanize individuals to divide us,” using a common acronym for the Sunni Muslim insurgent group.

The warning about global threats marks a recent shift for Mayorkas and the department, which had focused on domestic violent extremism as the most pressing – and lethal – threat facing Americans over the past few years. Mayorkas said that while his concern that domestic violent extremists are the greatest threat to the nation “certainly persists,” worry about foreign terrorism is rising – hearkening back to the early days of DHS, which was formed after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“The threat of foreign terrorism is uppermost in our minds as well now, more so than it was last year. The war in the Middle East following the Oct. 7 attacks has heightened the threat landscape,” Mayorkas told a group of Bloomberg News reporters and editors.

The Homeland Security chief also warned of growing dangers from disinformation spread by foreign actors heading into the November presidential election, which the rise of artificial intelligence has made easier to disseminate.

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea remain “four predominant actors” responsible for disinformation in the US, according to Mayorkas.

The goals of those pushing deliberately false information online and on social media appear to be to “exacerbate the social discord and to exploit the divisiveness” in the US and to exert “electoral influence” by “the dissemination of information about particular positions and particular people,” he said.

(c) 2024, Bloomberg · Jordan Fabian and Ellen M. Gilmer 

The photo of a headless flamingo seemed like something only artificial intelligence could dream up. After all, the almost perfectly round, pink puffball atop two toothpick-like legs carried the hallmarks of an AI-generated image: offbeat vibes, odd proportions and missing body parts.

In fact, the picture – in equal measure absurd and lifelike – was so mind-bending that it was honored last week in the AI category of the 1839 Awards’ Color Photography Contest. But “F L A M I N G O N E,” as it was titled, wasn’t conjured by a text prompt entered into an image-generating tool. Rather, the photo features a very much real – and not at all beheaded – flamingo that photographer Miles Astray captured on the beaches of Aruba two years ago.

Astray’s entry – which had won both third place in the category and the People’s Vote award – was disqualified after the photographer revealed the truth. However, Astray told The Washington Post, “F L A M I N G O N E” accomplished its mission nonetheless: sending a poignant message to a world grappling with ever-advancing, powerful technology and the profusion of fake images it brings.

“My goal was to show that nature is just so fantastic and creative, and I don’t think any machine can beat that,” Astray told The Post. “But, on the other hand, AI imagery has advanced to a point where it’s indistinguishable from real photography. So where does that leave us? What are the implications and the pitfalls of that? I think that is a very important conversation that we need to be having right now.”

When it comes to AI-generated photos, much attention has fallen on its bizarre results: the Pope clad in a Balenciaga-style puffer jacket, a melted-face Elon Musk tanning on Mars, a flood of people with too many teeth or too many fingers. Yet the technology has also enabled the proliferation of deepfakes – images that could be used for more nefarious goals, such as upending elections or spreading disinformation. In creative circles, it’s led to debates about job security and fair compensation. It’s all resulted in worldwide calls to regulate the technology.

As Astray sees it: “Technology itself is not inherently good or bad. It’s how we apply it, right? So I think we really need to get ahead of that now; otherwise, it’s going to be very difficult to catch up with it.”

That’s partly what prompted Astray to engage in some trickery, which was inspired by similar stunts in recent years. But those other cases have involved AI-generated images winning photography prizes – “that’s why I approached this from the other side.”

For about two years, the 38-year-old globe-trotting photographer had been mulling over the “surreal photo of an already surreal-looking type of bird” he had shot on a pristine beach off the coast of Aruba. That sunny day, Astray had left around 5 a.m. on the first boat bound to a tiny island known for its flock of flamingos, hoping to beat the crowds. When he got there, he spotted a bright pink bird “doing its morning routine” and cleaning its feathers, he said. The “very lucky shot” captured the flamingo mid belly scratch.

Over the last few years, he thought the funny-looking bird could be the perfect medium for his AI protest, “but there weren’t a lot of competitions with the category.” Opportunity came knocking late last year when the Creative Resource Collective asked whether he’d like to enter the 1839 Awards’ Color Photography Contest, which is judged by an array of industry experts from the Centre Pompidou, the New York Times and Getty Images, among others.

“I felt bad about deceiving them,” said Astray, who added that he disclosed to Creative Resource Collective that the image was not AI-generated when the organization emailed him to let him know he had won. “And it goes without saying that they made the right decision in disqualifying me out of fairness to the other participants in that category that submitted real AI imagery.”

In a statement to The Post, Lily Fierman, director of Creative Resource Collective, said that while the organization fully appreciates the “powerful message Miles relayed with his submission,” it moved to disqualify him because Astray’s image didn’t meet the category’s requirements.

The stand-alone AI category, the first in the contest’s history, Fierman said, “was intended to be a space for artists working in this new medium. For example, we didn’t want folks who travel to the ends of the Earth to capture incredible animals or landscapes to compete with AI.”

Nevertheless, she added, “we hope this will raise awareness (and send a message of hope) to other photographers who are worried about AI.” Now, Fierman added, Creative Resource Collective is working with Astray to publish a blog post on the topic. “As an artist, his voice will make a difference in this conversation,” she said.

Astray, whose work focuses on “capturing the world as-is,” said he wasn’t expecting that positive reaction – nor the hundreds of “hilarious, thoughtful and heartfelt comments” he has received across social media.

“All those are human qualities that AI can never replicate or relate to,” he said. “I think that’s beautiful and it’s a part of that message that I initially wanted to send. Actually, all of that combined is the message.”

(c) 2024, The Washington Post · María Luisa Paúl 

President Joe Biden is planning to announce a sweeping new policy Tuesday that would lift the threat of deportation for hundreds of thousands of people married to U.S. citizens, an aggressive election-year action on immigration that had been sought by many Democrats. Biden will announce the new program at a White House event to celebrate the Obama-era “dreamers” directive that offered deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants, according to three people briefed on the White House plans. The policy will allow roughly 490,000 spouses of U.S. citizens an opportunity to apply for a “parole in place” program, which would shield them from deportations and offer them work permits if they have lived in the country for at least 10 years, according to two of the people briefed. They all spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the announcement publicly. The White House on Monday declined to comment on the announcement. The announcement will be a significant marker for Biden. He opened his presidency with promises to fight for widespread relief for the millions of immigrants who live in the country without permanent legal status. But as the number of migrants reached historic levels and he prepares for a reelection contest against Donald Trump, Biden earlier this month enacted a border clampdown that critics say is similar to those pursued by his predecessor. The White House’s decision earlier this month to implement a restrictive proposal that essentially halted asylum processing at the U.S.-Mexico border angered many of Biden’s political allies. However, Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., who chairs a Democratic group of lawmakers called the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said she expected the policy announcement Tuesday would cause “tears of joy paired with some sighs of relief” from the families of those who stand to benefit. Families who would potentially benefit from Biden’s actions were expected to attend the White House event Tuesday afternoon. For some time, administration officials have been deliberating various options to offer protections for immigrants who lack legal status in the U.S. but have longstanding ties. The authority Biden is invoking not only gives deportation protections and work permits, but removes a legal barrier to allow qualifying immigrants to apply for permanent residency and, eventually, U.S. citizenship. It’s a power that’s already been used for other categories of immigrants, such as members of the U.S. military or their family members who lack legal status. “Today, I have spoken about what we need to do to secure the border,” Biden said at a June 4 event at the White House, when he rolled out his order to suspend asylum processing for many migrants arriving now to the U.S. “In the weeks ahead — and I mean the weeks ahead — I will speak to how we can make our immigration system more fair and more just.” Biden was also expected to announce a policy of making recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program eligible for visas, rather than the temporary work authorization they currently receive, according to two of the people briefed. Immigration advocates praised the policy expected to benefit the spouses of U.S. citizens, saying on a conference call Monday that it is often impossible for the spouses to gain legal status even though they have deep ties in the country. […]

President Joe Biden today will clear the way for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens to apply for legal residency in one of the most expansive immigration programs of his presidency, according to two federal officials with knowledge of the plans.

The policy shift is a bold move for the Democratic president months before the November elections, and a rebuke to congressional Republicans who have ignored his calls to expand border security and to create a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, many for decades.

Biden will unveil the policies at a celebration at the White House to mark the 12-year anniversary of another executive action taken to aid immigrants when he was vice president. On June 15, 2012, President Barack Obama said he would allow undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children to apply for work permits, a program that transformed hundreds of thousands of lives.

The White House had no immediate comment on Tuesday’s announcement.

Marrying an American citizen is typically a fast track to U.S. citizenship, but immigrants who cross the border illegally are subject to significant bureaucratic hurdles that have left them in limbo for years. Federal law requires such immigrants to leave the United States for up to 10 years and then apply to return, but immigrants call the penalty excessive.

Biden will allow undocumented spouses to apply for legal residency without having to leave the United States, a major relief for those who have jobs and are raising young children and worry that there is no guarantee they will be allowed back into the country.

“It’s just too much risk for me to leave my wife, my son and everything we’ve established in the United States,” said Foday Turay, a 27-year-old immigrant from Sierra Leone who is married to a U.S. citizen and is among those invited to Biden’s announcement at the White House.

Turay crossed the Mexican border unlawfully in 2003 when he was 7 to join his mother, who had earlier fled that country’s war. He is now an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia and has a work permit through Obama’s 2012 program. But he said he wants to become a citizen.

About 500,000 undocumented spouses and 50,000 undocumented stepchildren of U.S. citizens are expected to be eligible to apply,federal officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the proposal.

To be eligible, immigrants must have lived in the United States for at least a decade and meet other requirements.

Biden is also expected to announce a work-visa program for current enrollees in Obama’s 2012 program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and others who were shut out of the program after the Trump administration called it an illegal amnesty and tried to terminate it in 2017.

A federal judge in Texas has ruled that DACA is unlawful, and it is limited to existing enrollees while the case is pending. Biden will allow some Dreamers to apply for work visas, which will put them on a more solid legal footing than the deferred-action program, the officials said.

Details for both programs are still being worked out and are expected to be made public over the summer, officials said.

Anyone who applies is expected to pass criminal background checks and meet other requirements, in keeping with standard immigration procedures.

Angela Kelley, a senior adviser at the American Immigration Lawyers Association and a former Biden administration official at the Department of Homeland Security, called the move a “game changer” for immigrant families.

“They don’t have to look over their shoulder anymore and worry about the family being separated,” she said of those related to U.S. citizens.

As with DACA, advocates for immigrants expect fierce blowback to the program from Republicans who have challenged similar policies in court.

But lawyers said Biden’s program for undocumented spouses should be on strong legal footing because the legal authority will be “parole in place,” which is already allowed in federal law and therefore potentially insulated against any legal challenges in court.

“Parole’s been around for decades and decades and used in many different contexts,” said Kerri Talbot, executive director of the Immigration Hub, an advocacy group. “I think the courts will recognize the importance of having that power.”

The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute estimates that 1.1 million to 1.3 million undocumented immigrants are married to U.S. citizens, so hundreds of thousands of immigrants will be shut out of the program because they haven’t been here for a decade, have criminal records or for other reasons.

Advocates for immigrants say even the modest program for spouses will be a major relief to immigrants and millions more of their U.S. citizen relatives who they hope will vote in the November elections.

“Hopefully, it will also inspire people to not sit this one out,” said Marielena Hincapié, a scholar at Cornell Law School and a former executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. “I’m hoping it’s an indirect benefit from an announcement like this.”

Some Democrats have soured on Biden as his early efforts to create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants were eclipsed by record numbers of new migrants arriving at the U.S. southern border, spurring him to crack down on illegal crossings. This month he created new asylum restrictions because he said border apprehensions had reached emergency levels.

But Biden has also deployed his executive powers to protect undocumented immigrants more broadly than any other president. The Biden administration has granted temporary protected status to more than 1 million immigrants in the United States and allowed in hundreds of thousands from other groups fleeing violence or poverty abroad. His administration has also stopped carrying out workplace raids or other enforcement that would target long-standing undocumented immigrants.

Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups have urged Biden for months to expand relief for long-term undocumented immigrants, amid threats from his Republican rival, former president Donald Trump, that he would carry out mass deportations if elected in November.

Turay, a prosecutor, expressed frustration that he is the only member of his family who is not a U.S. citizen, after decades in the United States, a law degree and a job as a public servant. He married his wife on June 17 of last year, and they have a 10-month-old son.

Turay said his mother fled Sierra Leone first because she qualified to be a refugee, but he said she could not bring him with her immediately. She left him in the care of his grandmother and sent for him when the woman grew sickly; she later died.

“She took extreme measures,” he said of his mother. “There was no way she was going to leave her only child” alone.

But because of his unlawful crossing, he said, he fears he would not be allowed back into the country if he left to apply for legal residency through his wife.

“It’s absurd that I’m still dealing with all this,” he said. “Instead of me focusing on victims of crime, I’m here trying to get relief to stay.”

(c) 2024, The Washington Post · Maria Sacchetti 

Hunter Biden’s lawyers almost immediately rescinded a filing Monday that included a request for a new trial, just days after the first son’s conviction on federal gun charges. “The Motion for a New Trial (formerly DI 233) has been deleted at the request of counsel,” a note on the court docket read.

No reason was given for the “correcting entry”—meaning that the filing, which argued that the U.S. district court in Delaware did not have jurisdiction over the case because of Second Amendment rulings currently pending in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, could be resubmitted at any time. It’s unclear whether Biden’s legal team intends to do so, and they did not respond to a number of news outlets’ questions about the filing.

Judge Maryellen Norieka, who handled Biden’s case, previously tossed a request to dismiss his case after lawyers argued that the charges violated his Second Amendment rights. Read more. 

A shocking incident unfolded on the second day of Shavuos outside a Stamford Hill shul, as a suspect attempted to forcibly steal two small children from their father in broad daylight. Surveillance footage from the Chabad House on Stamford Hill N16 captured the harrowing struggle between the suspect and the identifiably Jewish father, who miraculously managed to protect his children from the assailant. The incident occurred at approximately 11:56 a.m. on Thursday morning. The suspect fled the scene after the failed attempted kidnapping. Witnesses told Stamford Hill Shomrim that the motivation behind the crime was likely antisemitism, although further details are still unknown. Shomrim and local police are urging the victim and other witnesses to come forward and aid in the ongoing investigation. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A new CBS News/YouGov poll has found widespread support among American voters for a national program to deport all undocumented immigrants living in the US illegally. The survey, conducted earlier this month, shows that 62% of registered voters support such a program, while 38% oppose it. The poll’s findings are even more striking when broken down by demographic groups. A majority of women (58%) and college-educated individuals (58%) expressed support for the program. Moreover, 53% of Hispanic voters, a key demographic group, also favor the program, although this is lower than the 67% of white respondents who support it. These results align with other recent trends showing an increase in concern about the US southern border and a shift in Hispanic voters’ preferences towards Republican candidate Donald Trump. Overall, Trump holds a significant advantage over President Joe Biden among Hispanic voters on the issue of immigration, with 49% trusting Trump more on border security and immigration compared to 24% for Biden. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)