UN Just Got the Memo on Ansar al Sharia

Posted on November 29, 2014November 29, 2014 by Denise Simon

The United Nations has something call Blue Sheets which are immediate notices of concern as they often reference threats. The UN also has their own list of terror cells, organizations and individual terrorists by name.

The State Department also authors a SETL, Security Environment Threat List and the United Nations is part of the distribution list. Libya has been included on more than one SETL. For reference, this is what action is required by virtue of a SETL.

While the United States was quite slow for unknown reasons to list Ansar al Sharia on the terror list until February of 2014, the United Nations did not add Ansar al Sharia until this month, November 2014. Why you ask? Ah, the short answer is diplomacy.

Alas, it appears that after years, Libya has been officially recognized by the United Nations, so now what is the solution? None on the horizon.

UN Security Council adds Libya Islamists to terror list

United Nations (United States) (AFP) – The UN Security Council on Wednesday added to its terror list a Libyan Islamist group accused of involvement in the 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.

The council blacklisted Ansar al-Sharia for its ties to Al-Qaeda, slapping an arms embargo, assets freeze and global travel ban on the extremists at the request of Britain, France and the United States.

The measure targets Ansar al-Sharia Benghazi and its sister group Ansar al-Sharia Derna, which both have links to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other violent radical outfits.

In October, Ansar al-Sharia Derna pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS), the Islamist group that has seized control of territory in Iraq and Syria.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the decision would provide a boost to efforts by UN special envoy Bernardino Leon to broker a deal between Libya’s many militias and the government.

“This is an important decision because it draws a clear line between, on the one hand, jihadists with whom there can be no dialogue, and on the other, those Libyan groups — Islamist and others — that must take part in talks launched by special envoy Bernardino Leon,” Delattre told AFP.

Since 2012, the Benghazi wing has operated several training camps mainly to help armed groups in Iraq and Syria and to a lesser extent in Mali, according to the request filed by the three countries.

Twelve of the 24 jihadists who attacked the Algerian In Amenas gas complex in 2013 trained in the camps of Ansar al-Sharia in Benghazi, Libya’s second city, documents said.

More recently, the group has conducted several attacks on Libyan security forces, it added.

Ansar al-Sharia Derna also took part in the September 2012 attack on the US mission and is operating camps in the northeastern Derna and Jebel Akhdar regions to train fighters for Iraq and Syria.

A third sister group, Ansar al-Sharia Tunisia, was added to the UN terror list in September.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September that the group should face sanctions as part of efforts to prevent Libya from sliding further into violence.

The UN effort to broker a deal with various militias and the government on restoring order in Libya led to a 12-hour humanitarian ceasefire in Benghazi earlier on Wednesday.

Libyan authorities have struggled to assert control across a country awash with weapons and powerful militias after the ouster of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a 2011 revolt.

Libya’s internationally recognized government has been forced to take refuge in the country’s far east to escape a mainly Islamist coalition which seized control of Tripoli at the end of August.

***

Due in part to oil investments in Libya, the West takes extreme measures when it comes to Libya, while it is a failed state with no standing government.

So it takes experts to declare Libya is a rogue state? Just what experts exactly? Logical analysis is fleeting.

Islamic State has toehold in lawless Libya, experts say

TRIPOLI, Libya — With Libya engulfed in chaos, the town of Derna in the east of the largely lawless country is emerging as a new stronghold for the Islamic State jihadist group, experts say.

The North African state has been wracked by instability since the overthrow of autocratic leader Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, providing a fertile ground for Islamic extremists.

IS fighters have already swept across Iraq and Syria, and their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi recently boasted of vows of allegiance from militants in Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Some Western observers consider Derna, a town of 150,000, to be the home of a third IS franchise in North Africa, after Jund al-Khilifa in Algeria and Egypt’s Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis declared their support earlier this year.

“The Islamic State is in Derna. It’s well documented. There’s no doubt,” said Othman Ben Sassi, a former member of the now-disbanded Transitional National Council, the political arm of the rebellion that overthrew Kadhafi.

The jihadist group is exploiting “the absence of state authority and porous borders,” he added.

Statements and images have for several weeks circulated on extremist forums claiming to depict gatherings of “Libyan jihadists” belonging to IS — prompting concern in Washington.

“We have seen reports that violent extremists (in Libya) have pledged allegiance to IS and are looking to associate themselves with it,” said State Department spokesman Jeffrey Rathke.

Libyan authorities have struggled to control militant groups as well as powerful militias which ousted Kadhafi, and the internationally recognized government has been forced to take refuge in the far east of the oil-rich country.

‘Ideological fight’
Derna and large areas of Benghazi, Libya’s second city, have served as strongholds for radical groups including Ansar al-Sharia, which is classified by the UN as a terrorist organization.

In April, an offshoot of the group announced it had implemented Islamic sharia law in Derna.

The self-proclaimed “Shura Council of Islamic Youth” has reportedly opened Islamic courts and established a religious police force in the town.

Dozens of masked members have appeared in military fatigues, regularly parading in pick-up trucks brandishing rocket launchers and heavy machine guns and toting the black and white flag used by jihadists.

In August the Shura Council posted a video online appearing to show the public execution in a Derna football stadium of an Egyptian man accused of murder.

But the group has yet to formally pledge allegiance to IS, and analysts say there are divisions within its ranks.

“Several extremists in Derna are attracted to IS. But the majority of senior jihadists in Libya are former al-Qaeda members and there is an ideological fight between IS and al-Qaeda partisans,” said a Libyan expert on jihadists who did not want to be named.

The UN this month branded Ansar al-Sharia a terrorist organization owing to its affiliation with al-Qaeda’s North African franchise.

“The decision was based on reliable intelligence,” the Libyan expert said. “Ansar al-Sharia has closer ties to al-Qaeda than to any other group.”

‘Islamic emirate’
According to Claudia Gazzini, Libya analyst at International Crisis Group, some Derna factions have pledged allegiance to IS, but it is unclear which ones and how much support they enjoy.

“There is a misguided tendency to automatically associate the establishment of Islamic courts and the killings of soldiers with an IS agenda,” she said.

Derna was already considered by many analysts to be a de-facto “Islamic emirate”, entirely free from state control, before the reported claims of allegiance to IS.

The town has long been suspected of harboring and training foreign fighters who then go on to fight in Iraq and Syria, where IS has declared a “caliphate” and imposed its harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

“There are factions in Derna who reportedly swore allegiance to IS in the search for a group that could unify the Muslim community,” said a former Libyan official who also asked not to be named for security reasons.

“But ideological differences between jihadist groups and the international coalition offensive against IS means these factions have so far opted for discretion, or have gone to fight in Iraq and Syria,” the former official added.

According to one resident of Derna, life in the town goes on largely as normal — for most people.

“You go out, you do your chores, you visit friends. No one bothers you,” the resident said.

“But if you are a policeman, a soldier or a lawyer, you’re dead.

Money, People, Bribes, Politicians and Islamic State

Posted on November 29, 2014November 29, 2014 by Denise Simon

The U.S. Treasury maintains a sophisticated global banking network that tracks money for laundering, destinations, use, recipients and interim banks. But why is the top person in charge of tracking dark money not using the tools when it comes to the increasing wealth of Islamic State? The answer is chilling.

Corruption Currents: Islamic State Receives Millions in Ransom Payments

By Samuel Rubenfeld

Bribery:

Brazil’s bribery probe of Petrobras SA is threatening the firm’s debt financing. A suspect in the scandal turned himself in. (Bloomberg, AP)

The former chief executive of a Virginia defense contractor pleaded guilty to providing gratuities to a federal contracting official, and the company agreed to pay a $300,000 fine. (Washington Post)

Fewer Filipinos are giving bribes, according to a survey, but opposition politicians doubted the findings. (Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, ABS-CBN News, Manila Standard-Today)

Tom Fox navigates resource reductions, spots the Chamber of Commerce defending the FCPA and discusses doing business in India. The FCPA Blog notes a purge of ad men in China and reports on recent remarks from the SFO director. The FCPAProfessor runs a guest post about challenges in pursuing bribe-takers.

Fraud:

A grand jury found that fraud persists in programs meant to bring New York contracts to businesses owned by women and minorities. (NY Times)

Money Laundering:

An Indian regulator tightened regulations targeting money laundering. (Economic Times)

The founder and former president of a community bank was sentenced to two years in federal prison for bank fraud and money laundering. (AP)

A senior executive FIFA’s ticketing and hospitality partner could be jailed if he returns to Brazil to await trial for charges including money laundering, racketeering and illegally selling World Cup tickets. The executive denies the charges. (Bloomberg)

Iran and China agreed to fight money laundering together, Iranian media reported. (FARS)

A Thai court extended detention for family members accused of helping their “big brother,” a former top police official, launder bribes. The two denied the allegations. Thai police say the “big brother” confessed to the charges, including soliciting bribes for job appointments and allowing illegal gambling and oil smuggling. (Bangkok Post, AP)

Sanctions:

Republicans are fuming about the Iran nuclear talks extension. Both sides are racing to sign a deal before the new, Republican-controlled Congress takes office. Oman has played a low-key but important role in the negotiations. (National Journal, NY Times, Guardian, ABC News, BuzzFeed)

The extension in talks leaves a U.N. atomic agency probe in limbo; it needs more money to continue the investigation. (Reuters, Reuters)

A European court awarded damages, for the first time, in a sanctions case. (European Sanctions)

Terrorism Finance:

The Islamic State has received between $35 million and $45 million in ransom payments in the past year, a U.N. report said. (AP)

How can a bank know if it’s holding money for a terrorist? (Top Broker)

General Anti-Corruption:

China’s corruption watchdog launched a series of inspections of state-owned enterprises and government bodies, state media reported. (Reuters)

FIFA’s general secretary said the body will need years to repair its reputation. (NY Daily News, AP, Reuters)

The first tennis official to be banned for life from the sport for corruption said he’s innocent and is being used as a scapegoat. (Bloomberg)

What do you do when corruption is treated as part of the business process? (HR Reporter)

Corrupt politicians only suffer when there are local media organizations to report on it. (Nieman Lab)

***

No Blacklist Yet for Islamic State Banks

Why the United States isn’t using its biggest financial weapon against banks in the Islamist militant group’s territory.

In June, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants inspired fear and awe when they swept into Iraq’s second-biggest city, Mosul, and reports spread that they looted the city’s banks and walked away with more than $400 million.

Those claims were later contested, but the group’s reputation for being not only savagely violent, but also incredibly wealthy, was already set. In July, the Financial Times reported that armed guards from the Islamic State, as the group later renamed itself, were stationed outside the banks, but that the banks’ coffers had not been pillaged.

Over the summer, the United States continued blacklisting members of the group and its supporters, but not the financial institutions in territory under Islamic State control. The Treasury Department traces its efforts against the group and its predecessor, al Qaeda in Iraq, back to 2004. In August, the United States froze the assets of three key terrorist financiers, one of whom allegedly helped funnel money through Kuwait to ISIL, as the U.S. government calls the group.

In September, 11 more names of individuals were added to the list for allegedly helping move funds and fighters to facilitate terrorist organizations from Iraq to Indonesia. Still, the banks that were so brazenly overrun in Mosul and those in the rest of Islamic State-controlled territory were never named. The reasoning behind that decision illustrates how fraught the U.S. fight to disrupt the Islamic State’s funding has been, as even the best U.S. tools for fighting terrorist financing are ill-suited to the task.

The Islamic State evolved out of earlier extremist groups in the region and improved upon their financial models as it grew. Instead of relying mostly on outside donations, the Islamic State earns most of its money through criminal activity — from oil smuggling to kidnapping — within the territory it controls, which makes it less reliant on the formal financial system. The group’s ability to make money in the illegal financial sector using cash for dealings in stolen oil and antiquities means it is less vulnerable to the biggest weapon the United States uses to go after its enemies’ finances: shutting down the banks, accountants, and middlemen that keep the money flowing.

On Thursday the Obama administration will face questions from Republican lawmakers about U.S. attempts to undercut the Islamic State’s funding. Treasury Department anti-terrorism finance chief David Cohen is set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee.

Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling, the committee chairman, said the hearing would “examine the adequacy of international banking policies to combat the new challenges that the Islamic State and groups like it present.”

In remarks prepared for Thursday’s hearing, Cohen states that the United States is working with “Iraqi authorities, Iraqi bank headquarters, and the international financial community to prevent ISIL from using the scores of bank branches located in territories where it operates.

“The results of this work have begun to show,” Cohen’s remarks state. “We’ve seen a decline in financial activity in areas where ISIL operates, and banks under ISIL influence are losing their access to the international financial system.”

Cohen is also expected to say that U.S.-led airstrikes are taking a toll on the Islamic State’s oil smuggling operations. Since mid-June, the group reportedly has been taking in $1 million a day in illicit oil revenue, but Cohen says that the bombing has lessened the haul to “several million dollars a week” — an imprecise figure, to be sure.

According to Cohen, the United States is also trying to improve its ability to track the extremist group’s money: “We are working with our counterparts in the intelligence community to ramp up collection on ISIL’s finances.”

In addition, the United States is combing through financial data for potential connections to the Islamic State. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is assisting in the effort by looking at the data the agency collects in the United States and through the agency’s connections with international financial intelligence-gathering institutions, a spokesman for the agency said Tuesday.

The risk of the Islamic State using the banks to move money internationally has to be weighed against the possible effect on the local population if Treasury tries to cut off those institutions. In a speech last month, Cohen acknowledged that the United States was not using its biggest weapon — shutting banks out of the financial system — against the institutions that had fallen into the hands of the extremists for exactly that reason.

“Our interest is not in shutting down all the economic activity in the areas where ISIL normally operates,” Cohen said. “They are subjugating huge swaths of the population, millions of people, who are still trying to live their lives. And banks, as everybody knows, are important lubricants for the economy.”

Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on illicit money at the Brookings Institution, said there are more than humanitarian factors to consider; the United States also doesn’t want to anger locals and push them closer to the extremists.

“At the end of the day what will make a difference in debilitating ISIL will be how much the local population turns against the group,” Felbab-Brown said. “This very tempting desire to shut down the financial system will tremendously worsen the lives of people that are already living in desperation.”

Felbab-Brown said that Somalia taught the United States that lesson. The United States sanctioned al-Shabab in 2010 as a terrorist group, but the move also scared humanitarian organizations out of the country just as a devastating famine was bearing down. Although many blamed the resulting suffering and starvation on al-Shabab, concerns grew that the anger and frustration would push more people toward the militant group.

Felbab-Brown praised the Treasury Department’s careful approach.

“The good thing about Shabab and ISIL is that they’re very heavy-handed and tend to really overplay their hand in terms of violence to the local population,” Felbab-Brown said. Without interference, that violence often becomes intolerable and eats away at the group’s local political support.

“One has to judge very carefully the likelihood of making a difference,” Felbab-Brown said. “And what are the political effects of any policy.”

Dennis Lormel, who led the FBI’s terrorism-financing investigations after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said the United States doesn’t want to give the extremists an opening to demonstrate leadership.

“If they come out because they have the money to fund social programs that help the local economy and help the people, then they’re going to tout that and they’re going to demonstrate that they care and that the West doesn’t care,” Lormel said. “And they’ll use that as a recruitment tool.”

Perhaps acknowledging the importance of keeping the local economy going, if only so the group can continue extorting money from it, the Islamic State reportedly reopened the banks in Mosul in September, three months after it took control of them. Local reports said the Sunni militants allowed certain account holders to take out money, subject to the approval of an Islamic State committee and a hefty fee off the top.

Some analysts speculate that Treasury could also be keeping the banks open in order to glean intelligence that could help paint a clearer financial picture of the group.

“It’s considered to be more useful to try to watch what’s going on rather than to take some hard, punitive action right away and disrupt the process before you understand how it works and leverage your understanding,” said Patrick Johnston, a counterterrorism expert with the Rand Corp.

Even if the banks were blacklisted, though, it’s not clear that would keep the group from using them.

“They actually could be quite useful for ISIL without even having any real ability to transact with any foreign entity,” Johnston said.

Johnston said the conundrum for the United States is that even if they were to be cut off from the international financial system, the banks could be used to store and transfer money within the group’s territory for much the same reasons of efficiency and security that make banks a preferable way to move money in other countries.

“It really shows the challenge ahead of Treasury as much as anything else,” Johnston said.

Toxic Mortgages Part Deux

Posted on November 29, 2014November 29, 2014 by Denise Simon

Remember in 2008 when the economy blew up over toxic mortgages? Remember how Freddie and Fannie, the CountryWide and AIG and Wall Street and loan defaults and foreclosures and jobs were lost and it all pointed to a secret mission to allow anyone to buy a home without having any skin in the game? Remember?

Part Deux is here. Who wants to assume control of this as it will begin to fester after 2016? Will there be a different long-term result this time?

Mortgage Lenders Set to Relax Standards

Agreement With Fannie, Freddie Potentially Paves Way for More Applicants to Qualify for Loans

By Joe Light

Some of the largest U.S. mortgage lenders are preparing to further ease standards for borrowers after the release of new guidelines this month from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .

The new guidelines, to take full effect Dec. 1, resulted from an agreement in October meant to clarify when lenders would be penalized for making mistakes on mortgages they sell to Fannie and Freddie. Lenders have blamed the lack of clarity for tight credit conditions that have made it difficult for many consumers to qualify for a mortgage.

Relaxing the lending standards potentially could make it possible for hundreds of thousands of additional consumers to get mortgages. With different mortgages where you can view from places such as https://www.moneyexpert.com/mortgages/ consumers can have with the pick of what they want.

Some of the largest U.S. mortgage lenders are preparing to further ease standards for borrowers after the release of new guidelines this month from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .

Relaxing the lending standards potentially could make it possible for hundreds of thousands of additional consumers to get mortgages.

Laurie Goodman, director of the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute, said the moves are “going to be big,” but she added that “it’s going to take time” to see the full impact of the changes.

The Urban Institute, a Washington think tank, earlier this year estimated that as many as 1.2 million additional home loans would be made annually if mortgage availability were at “normal” levels.

Some lenders, including Wells Fargo & Co. and SunTrust Banks Inc., said borrowers should begin to see initial changes in a few weeks, including faster turnaround times for mortgage applications to be processed.

Currently, it can take two months or longer between the time a consumer makes an application and the loan is made.

Charges Against Mubarak Dropped

Posted on November 29, 2014November 29, 2014 by Denise Simon

IN the last few days there have been deadly demonstrations in Cairo. Egypt and Israel appear to be the only two countries working to establish peace and stability in the Middle East.

Cairo (CNN) — Three people were killed, 20 others were injured and dozens were arrested during limited anti-government protests calling for the preservation of Egypt’s Islamic identity Friday, a Health Ministry spokesman told CNN.

Today there are more.

Egypt Court Drops Murder Charges Against Mubarak

Ousted Leader Remains in Jail on Separate, Three-Year Sentence

CAIRO—An Egyptian court dismissed murder charges against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday in the killing of hundreds of protesters during a 2011 uprising against his autocratic rule, a decision that comes after the nation has shifted back toward authoritarianism.

The decision, read by the judge presiding over a panel of jurists who were considering the charges of culpability in the murder of the protesters, in addition to charges of corruption, caps a nearly four-year process that saw the former dictator sentenced to life in prison in 2012. The previous verdict, on the same charges, was overturned on a technicality in 2013.

Mr. Mubarak, 86 years old, is currently serving a three-year prison term after being found guilty on separate corruption charges this year. It was unclear Saturday if he would complete that sentence in a military hospital, where he is being held because of his frail health, or be released, officials said.

In addition to dismissing the charges against the former president on Saturday, the judge announced that Mr. Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, were found not guilty of corruption. Habib Al Adly, who served as interior minister under Mr. Mubarak, and six aides, were also found not guilty in the murder of protesters during clashes with police.

It was the final legal hurdle Mr. Mubarak faced after he was detained following his ouster on Feb. 11, 2012 after nearly 30 years in office. Legal experts said judicial authorities could rule that his detention could count as time served, raising the possibility that Mr. Mubarak could be freed in the coming weeks, despite his conviction on embezzlement charges in May.

Reaction to the court’s decision was muted. The courtroom erupted in cheers after chief judge Mahmoud al-Rashidi finished reading the verdicts. Mr. Mubarak smiled and embraced his sons inside the defendants’ cage.

Later, speaking to a private satellite news program by telephone, Mr. Mubarak was defiant, suggesting the criminal proceedings against him were politically motivated.

“I did not do anything at all,” he said.

In Tahrir Square, the telegenic epicenter of the 2011 revolt, a handful of supporters applauded the decision while others stood in silence holding placards denouncing the verdicts as a travesty of justice.

But in dozens of homes, families of the protesters who were killed expressed agony.

“Today, we were killed again,” Amal Shaker, the mother of Ahmed Zain El Abedin, who was killed during the 18 days of demonstrations against Mr. Mubarak, said through tears. “They acquitted the officers who followed the orders and killed our sons and now they acquit their superiors—the ones who gave the order to kill.”

As Egypt’s political transition stumbled under pressure from the military, families seeking justice for the deaths of their relatives have had no relief. Nearly 200 police officers who faced charges for killing of protesters were acquitted or had their cases dismissed for lack of evidence.

Mr. Mubarak’s 2012 conviction was thrown out on appeal because of a procedural error.

Once billed as the trial of the century in Egypt, public interest in Mr. Mubarak’s journey through the legal system has waned since the nation underwent seismic political changes after the January 2011 uprising that unseated him.

Egypt held its first democratic presidential elections in June 2012, which Mohammed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, won. He was then ousted by the military in July 2013, following large street demonstrations denouncing his rule.

Mr. Morsi was imprisoned and is currently facing a number of charges in separate trials, including treason and murder, which rights groups have characterized as politically motivated.

The former general who carried out the coup, Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, nominated himself for president in March and months later won against a weak opponent—reviving draconian laws against dissent as he presided over a fierce crackdown on Islamists and many of the figures who drove the uprising against Mr. Mubarak.

Legal experts said Saturday’s verdicts relating to Mr. Mubarak and the other defendants could be appealed, but there was little political will to do so.

The case had been mired in confusion and lacked transparency. Though a government sanctioned study found that nearly 900 people were killed during the 2011 uprising, the judge said on Saturday only 239 of the victims had been named in the case.

Mr. al-Rashidi, the judge, suggested during his reading of the verdict that prosecutors had erred in bringing a criminal case against the former president and that a criminal court didn’t have legal jurisdiction, leading him to dismiss the charges of murder.

He also said because of Mr. Mubarak’s advanced age and years of “public service,” it would best be left for history and god to judge him. He denied that the decision had “anything do with politics.”

The corruption charges Mr. Mubarak and his sons, along with a longtime associate, fugitive businessman Hussein Salem, were acquitted for involved the illegal sale of natural gas to Israel at reduced rates and for allegedly receiving vacation homes in exchange for political favors.

Write to Tamer El-Ghobashy at [email protected]

Obama Amnesty Edict Torpedoes Social Security

Posted on November 29, 2014November 29, 2014 by Denise Simon

If you don’t think that foreigners will be granted benefits at the expense of the legal American taxpayers, you need to think again. In a sweeping move, Barack Obama has redefined the definition of citizenship.

Stability of Social Security is at the core of the debate of Obama’s amnesty edict. The financial condition of Social Security is collapsing. The Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in 2033, three years sooner than projected last year, the administration said. And Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund will be depleted in 2024, the same as last year’s estimate, it said.

“The projections in this year’s report are somewhat more pessimistic than last year’s projections,” Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in issuing the annual report on the two programs, which together account for more than 35 percent of all federal spending.

Word spread like a fierce blowing wind south of the border.

Immigration Health Insurance: Undocumented Immigrants Eligible for Medicare, Social Security Benefits Under Obama’s Executive Orders

President Barack Obama’s immigration reform executive action has paved the way for undocumented immigrants to be eligible for Medicare and Social Security benefits, the White House has confirmed.

According to White House officials, undocumented immigrants who apply for work permits as a result of Obama’s executive action will be eligible for benefits because they will pay into the Social Security system through payroll taxes. The undocumented immigrants who will pay into the Social Security system, however, will not immediately receive such benefits. As with all Medicare and Social Security recipients, the individual has to work 10 years to become eligible for retirement and health care benefits.

With Obama’s immigration executive actions, none of the immigrants affected by the orders will receive federal assistance including food stamps, welfare or other income-based assistance. Immigrants will not be eligible to receive health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also referred to as Obamacare, both federal- and-state-level exchanges.

National Latino and immigrant rights groups have supported Obama’s executive action, but the belief is more can be done especially in the health sector. National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health Executive Director Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas commended Obama on addressing the record levels of deportations and injustices under current immigration laws and policies, and yet action could have been accomplished for one’s health.

“With this announcement, the president has taken a bold and necessary step to recognize the humanity of immigrant women and families — and he can and should do more. It’s time for this Administration to lift the bans on

health coverage for immigrant women and families, including those granted administrative relief, and to put an end to harmful detention policies,” Gonzalez-Rojas said.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health executive director acknowledged that responsibility to create “lasting, comprehensive solutions” is by Congress. She said, “We look to the House and Senate to stop playing games with the lives of immigrant women and support the health of our families, communities, and economy.”

National Institute for Latino Policy President Angelo Falcon said Obama’s immigration executive action was “way too long overdue,” and it should be recognized as a “temporary band aid” on issues affecting immigrant workers and their families.

“We are also concerned that the President will not fully exercise his power of executive action to impact on all those who should be eligible for legalization, and expect that they will be shortchanged in terms of what should be basic human rights benefits such as health insurance,” Falcon said in a statement, adding the upcoming Republican-controlled Congress will take serious consideration of accomplishing comprehensive immigration reform.

As Latin Post reported, Obama’s immigration executive action will grant eligible undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2010, to be deferred from deportation for a renewable three-year period. The three-year period rule will also affect recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), who previously was allowed to stay on a renewable two-year basis. The undocumented immigrants must pass criminal background checks and pay $465 for the “work authorization and biometrics fees” and no fee waivers and “very limited” fee exemptions.

Undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. after Jan. 1, 2010, and in the future, are not eligible of Obama’s executive actions.

***

So the real fight begins and it is not racist, it is economic.

Fight brewing over Social Security benefits for illegal immigrants

A new clash over retirement benefits has come to a head following President Obama’s decision to unilaterally protect up to 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation.

The White House now acknowledges that many of the illegal immigrants spared from deportation under Obama’s sweeping executive action will become eligible for Social Security and Medicare benefits once they reach retirement age.

The conservative backlash has been swift and will certainly extend into a GOP Congress’ deliberations in 2015 over how to limit the reach of the president’s immigration blueprint.

A central argument in Obama’s defense of the most extensive overhaul to the immigration system in decades was that those given reprieves from deportation would not qualify for Obamacare benefits. The president reminded critics that Dream Act-eligible immigrants previously granted deportation deferrals could not enroll in federal health exchanges.

However, Obama was less eager to wade into the debate about what to do with newly protected immigrants now paying into Social Security. He didn’t address the matter while outlining his immigration plan in a prime-time address to the nation, but White House aides later confirmed GOP suspicions about how Obama’s unilateral move would affect retirement benefits.

Analysts said that Republicans would use the admission to argue the president is misleading the public about the details of his immigration action.

“It is a bit of surprise,” said Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute who focuses on entitlement programs. “For a long time, there was an argument made by the administration that [undocumented immigrants] would not be eligible for such benefits. It does seem to be a contradiction.”

For Republicans, this debate is about far more than just Social Security. It fits into the broader narrative of painting the president as unwilling to spotlight an unpopular provision of his agenda until after it has been enacted.

“It’s Obamacare all over again, ‘If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,” one House GOP leadership aide told the Washington Examiner. “Obama was very clear on this issue. He said no benefits. What the president says just isn’t credible. That couldn’t be any more obvious by now.”

The administration says Obama’s move is sound fiscal policy, that it makes sense to grow the tax base. They also argue that it would be unfair to force people to pay into Social Security and not reap the same benefits as everybody else.

Immigrants would have to work at least 10 years to qualify for Social Security and Medicare benefits, administration officials said, and Obama’s executive action could always be reversed by any of his successors.

Though quiet about the Social Security implications of the president’s latest executive action, the White House has long argued that comprehensive immigration reform would strengthen the long-term outlook of entitlement programs.

“Over 500 days ago, the United States Senate passed legislation with bipartisan support to improve border security, streamline the immigration process and establish a firm but fair path to citizenship,” Vice President Joe Biden wrote in an op-ed this week in Irish Central. “It would be an absolute game-changer for our economy, adding $1.4 trillion to our economy and reducing the deficit by nearly $850 billion over 20 years, and extending the solvency of Social Security by another two years.”

However, some fiscal hawks say that any short-term benefit of having more people paying into Social Security would be eclipsed by the burden of paying out benefits to potentially millions of additional people.

Republicans also point to the illegal immigrants not yet covered by Obama’s unilateral action.

“It is also important to keep in mind that while 5 million [illegal immigrants] benefit affirmatively from executive amnesty with work permits, photo ID’s and social security numbers, almost all of the other 7 million illegal immigrants continue to remain functionally immune from enforcement,” said Stephen Miller, a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. “The problem for American workers will be compounded even more when the amnesty produces the ensuing wave of new illegal and chain migration.”