ISRAEL BETRAYED: Biden Admin Resumes Aid to Palestinians, Despite "Pay for Slay"

Today on Sekulow, Israel betrayed.

The Biden administration is resuming aid to Palestinians, despite Pay for Slay and the Taylor Force Act. We'll talk about that and more with former Secretary of State and ACLJ team member, Mike Pompeo. Live from Washington, DC, Sekulow Live. Phone lines are open for your questions right now.

Call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. All right, folks, we knew something was coming from the State Department on funding to Palestinians. And yes, last night, the State Department announced through Secretary of State Blinken that on April 7th, so just yesterday evening, that the State Department and the United States government under the Biden administration are planning to, quote, restart US economic development and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people, stating that includes 75 million in economic and development assistance in the West Bank and Gaza, 10 million for peace building programs through USAID, and 150 million in humanitarian assistance for the UN Relief Works Agency.

That is a total of $235 million. Now, that comes in spite of the fact that the Taylor Force Act, a bipartisan law enacted in 2018, expressly prohibits economic support funds being provided to the Palestinian government. Their work around here is that they're not directly giving the funds to the government. First, they're giving it to another agency who then ends up giving it to the government, which I'm not sure if that's enough of a work around the Taylor Force Act, if that money is knowingly going to the Palestinian government once they receive it at these relief and works agencies and other parties.

If you could get around the law by simply having an intermediary shell, an intermediate company that then gives the aid to the various organizations, that violates, in my view, that would constitute a violation of the law. Now, that's not been litigated, so no one knows for sure. But it was clear what Congress had intended. What Congress had intended though is until the Palestinian Authority changed its methods and programs to discourage pay to slay, that this would not happen. On top of that, Wes, you pointed this out, Colonel Wes Smith, that there is money going to the education programs and the curriculums in these schools still teach about, it's very graphic, they talk about the blood of Israel running in the streets of Jerusalem.

Absolutely, yeah. Secretary Blinken in the official State Department statement mentioned the fact that he was particularly proud of the fact that some of these funds will go to help educate, he said, over 500,000 Palestinian boys and girls. And yet there is no stipulation with these funds that they changed their curriculum, Jay, and that curriculum still calls for the hatred of Jews and for the destruction of Israel. And I'm sorry, it doesn't matter how they get the funds.

You know, if we channel funds through a UN agency or through USAID, but it is still going to the Palestinians. I'm not an attorney, but seems to me that's still a violation of the Taylor Force Act. I want to, you know, Thanh, you talked about this saying at least violates the spirit of the act, but I mean, this is another shell game by the administration here. It's clearly a violation of the act and here's why. The act does provide a path for resumption of funding. It doesn't say if you give it to another account and then they give it to the prohibited use.

It's okay. It specifically says, Jay, that to resume resumption of this funding, the Secretary of State, in this case, Tony Blinken, has to certify a number of things. And two of the things are that the Palestinian government is taking credible acts to end the violence and that they have terminated payments for acts of terrorism. Jay, the State Department specifically acknowledges that they cannot certify according to those things. So look, they can give it to any account that they want. They have not satisfied the merits of the Taylor Force Act and this funding will be in violation of that act.

Yeah, I mean, I think when you look at all of this, folks, you put it all together. This is another action and we've taken action on this, the ACLJ, through our FOIA work. We'll talk about it with Mike Pompeo later in the broadcast, but we want to talk to you about it as well at 1-800-684-3110.

That's 1-800-684-3110. This willingness to, you know, get involved with Iran as quickly as possible, to get hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinians as quickly as possible when they have not changed their policies on pay to slay. It is bad policy being just repeated again, but we're fighting back now. Support the work of the ACLJ Matching Challenge Month this month of April. So March and April is so important for the American Center for Law and Justice. Double the impact of your donation at ACLJ.org. We'll be right back. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad, whether it's defending religious freedom, protecting those who are persecuted for their faith, uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy, and fighting to protect life in the courts and in Congress, the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support.

For that, we are grateful. Now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's Matching Challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.

A $50 gift becomes $100. This is a critical time for the ACLJ. The work we do simply would not occur without your generous support.

Take part in our Matching Challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. All right, welcome back to Sekulow. So again, $75 million in economic and development assistance, $10 million for peace building, $150 million in humanitarian assistance. This is what the Biden administration has announced through Secretary of State Blinken, that they are going to start restoring assistance for the Palestinians. They're proud of this.

They are excited about this. They've been looking at doing it. The problem is there is a law on the books that makes it more difficult for them. I mean, someone's got to ask Secretary Blinken, well, do you believe as the Taylor Force Act requires that would you certify right now the Palestinian government's terminated payments for acts of terrorism, pay for sleigh, and is taking credible steps to end acts of violence against Israeli and US citizens? I mean, I don't think he would want to certify that right now.

He wouldn't. So instead, they are trying a workaround approach, typical. The question is, when you have a law on the books and you're trying to work around, is the workaround violating the law or is it just a bad policy in the law or maybe the law needs to be updated? We're going to find out. First of all, the law, if there is a loophole. We haven't seen it specifically yet.

Yeah. So if there is a loophole, we need to look at what that loophole might be. If there's, in other words, Than, if they're utilizing a funding mechanism to invalidate a duly enacted law that says that the Secretary of State has to certify that the Palestinian Authority and its leadership is certifying that they are no longer engaged in these kind of activities that promote terrorism against Israelis. If there is now a circumvention of that by just saying, well, we'll give it to USAID and they'll give it to this group and then it'll get there. Well, then they'll never certify changes. I mean, it defeats the entire purpose of bipartisan legislation to protect our interests, including the United States.

By the way, Taylor Forrest was a US citizen, soldier, student at Vanderbilt. So this is a US interest that's involved here. And if it's that easy to just get around it, that's a problem. Yeah, it violates the entire intent of the law. And look, they haven't told us exactly what they're going to do yet. But Jay, I really strongly suspect this is the Planned Parenthood strategy where you give dollars for a prohibited use by sending it through a permitted account.

But look, let's put this in a slightly different light, Jay. If you can't certify that a certain government, any government is not using dollars to kill your own citizens, Jay, why in the world would you even want to find a workaround? I think that's the question. I mean, even if they think even if they technically think they can comply, if they are using money to kill your own citizens, why should you try to find a workaround? Of course you shouldn't. They don't want to comply. I mean, who are we kidding here?

This is where we're living in Fantasy Island. The idea is, so since they're not going to comply, we're not going to give them the money. That was the idea behind the act, Wes. That is the idea. As the chief executive of the United States, he has taken an oath to enforce law.

And rather than enforce this law, it appears his administration is trying to get around the law. We talked about the curriculum that teaches young Palestinian boys and girls to hate Jews and to kill Jews, and that's in their curriculum. We're not stipulating that it changes. We're going to give part of this to education. No wonder that these children grow up as young men and women to attack Jews and Americans, because the Pay to Slay program, which we've talked about, we are actually in an indirect way, but in a very real way, we will continue to help pay for that program. And yet, Secretary Blinken, I kid you not, with a straight face said, I quote, these dollars will help support Israeli-Palestinian understanding, and it is in accord with US values and US interests. This is just trying to undo what the Trump administration successfully did, which is a reshaping of the Middle East with new aligned partnerships and peace arrangements and trees, including the Abraham Accords between major Muslim-majority countries and the state of Israel, including economic cooperation, military cooperation.

That's what they're trying to undo here. And they weren't going to let the previous administration, the Trump administration, to not let the recalcitrance of the Palestinians, their inability to negotiate and unwillingness to negotiate, to stop it. Now, let me tell you what we did. On March 29th, we sent a letter, a FOIA letter, to the United States Department of State regarding US aid to the Palestinian Authority in the Taylor Force Act. Here's what we requested, records pertaining to the US Department of State's knowledge and efforts surrounding the story that the Biden administration is pursuing increasing US aid to the Palestinian Authority in spite of the limitations imposed by the Taylor Force Act. That's what we're asking for. I'm sure we'll have to go to court over it, but that process has started. We've not gotten a response yet. No, and then we've got – this is the State Department's spokesperson, Ned Price. He's asked about it directly and says it's going to be consistent with US law.

Take a listen by 24. MR PRICE You asked about how we ensure that this aid is consistent with applicable US law, including the Taylor Force Act. I just want to underscore that all — And inactive. MR PRICE I'm sorry?

And inactive. And I just want to underscore that all of this aid is absolutely consistent with relevant US law, including those two statutes. MR PRICE So there you go. They believe that they can use this work around there, that they believe that if they're not directly handing the money to the Palestinian Authority, so if the USAID money goes to some other group and then goes directly to the Palestinian Authority, that's okay to them. I think that's where they could get into some trouble is that if they know, if they knowingly give this money over to an agency or group that then is going to give the money to the Palestinian Authority directly, that's what we have to find out.

What of this money is going to the Palestinian Authority directly? Because if any of it is, it does violate very clearly the Taylor Force Act, and thus it's illegal. MR MCGURK Jordan, I'm not sure Ned Price and Tony Blinken have actually read the statute, because their excuse, or at least their purported excuse for what makes this compliant, has literally nothing to do with the text of the Taylor Force Act. We already talked about this, but if that funding, Jay, even if — Jordan, even if it indirectly ends up with the Palestinian Authority, if it is not accompanied by that certification from Tony Blinken that pay-for-slay is over and, Jordan, that the Palestinian government is taking credible steps to end the violence, then it is in violation. That's the follow-up that needs to happen, and I'll just tell you this, Jordan, that is one of the very reasons that we filed this FOIA request. We want to know who inside the State Department had this conversation when they looked at the Taylor Force Act and somehow came up with the conclusion that this was in compliance with the law, because quite clearly, Jordan, all you've got to do is read the statute. It doesn't comply.

So our office compiled a brief memorandum on this this morning, and let me just read two paragraphs from it, because I think it's relevant. It seems that the Biden administration is attempting to circumvent the Taylor Force Act through indirectly providing economic support funds and assistance to the Palestinian Authority. So in other words, they're using these various entities to get around it. However, even if these funds are funneled through what are called humanitarian accounts, they remain in violation of U.S. law unless accompanied by the certification we've been talking about from the Secretary of State that the Palestinian Authority has, in fact, ended its pay-for-slay program, which they have not and have no intent on doing, as Mike gathered. They'd also have to take real steps to condemn and reverse violence. Senator Tom Cotton has said the resumption of any U.S. foreign aid and foreign assistance that indirectly funds the Palestinian Authority's pay-for-slay terrorist program would violate U.S. law, betray our Israeli partners, and put Americans living in or visiting Israel in harm's way. The truth of the matter is, Colonel Smith, that there is no desire on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to do away with this pay-to-slay program. They still fund it. They've been funding it while we cut their funding out. They still funded it. Yeah, a couple of years ago when President Trump withdrew $300 million worth of aid to the Palestinians unless they would renounce it, they immediately issued a statement the next day, and they were very clear, we will not stop this program. And they basically told us that we could keep our money.

I think we should still keep it. The Palestinians also, Jay, they do not want a two-state solution. They have rejected it numerous times. This is why the Arab states in the area have grown tired of this, and they are aligning with Israel. And what I wonder now is some of these same Gulf states and Arab nations, if they're also aligning with Israel, because they see the United States as an unreliable ally, because every four years we change political leadership, and so they still appear to be aligning with Israel in spite of the vacillation on our own State Department. Yeah, but Jordan, there is a law here.

So this should transcend administrations. They're just trying to figure out a way around it. There's a law in place to bar this funding, and I'm not sure that by giving it to one agency, that agency then handing it over to the Palestinian Authority, even if one dime goes to the Palestinian Authority, then that law is violated. And if they know that's going to happen, I think you're violating the law. Because if you know that the money is gonna end up in the Palestinian Authority's hands, or some of it will, I'm talking hundreds of millions of dollars here, then you know that you're violating the law. You're intentionally violating the law because you know that the money is getting, it is a workaround. So they're gonna have to explain, you know, is this money all gonna be distributed by the UN directly to what, Palestinian Authority run schools? Well then there you go, law violated. So I think that's where you have to look at is that secondary action, which here isn't hard to figure out.

It's not as like, it's not like there's hundreds of different things going on here. There's a massive chunk going to the UN. The UN is gonna be distributing those funds, which is scary enough to think about.

And then many of those funds I think will get to the Palestinian Authority directly. That's where the law is violated. That's where action could be taken by Congress. And I'm waiting to see Republicans in Congress and those who are bipartisan supported the Taylor Force Act.

If they actually wanted it to mean anything, this is the time for them to start standing up in a bipartisan way and saying, no, you can't do this because you are violating the purpose of this law and you're doing so in an intentional way. You know how you're violating it because you know this money eventually gets to the Palestinian Authority. And I don't think it's that many hands. I think it's one hand. I think you give it to the UN, the UN is gonna give a significant portion over to the Palestinian Authority directly at some point.

So I mean it's a one degree of connection. Support our work. Mike Pompeo coming up next on Sekulow. We've got our matching challenge a month of April. Double the impact your donation at ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. At the American Center for Law and Justice we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. Whether it's defending religious freedom, protecting those who are persecuted for their faith, uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy, and fighting to protect life in the courts and in congress, the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support.

For that we are grateful. Now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way. For a limited time you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge. For every dollar you donate it will be matched. A ten dollar gift becomes twenty dollars.

A fifty dollar gift becomes one hundred. This is a critical time for the ACLJ. The work we do simply would not occur without your generous support. Take part in our matching challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Welcome back to Sekulow, our senior council for Global Affairs joining us now, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Hey Mike it's Jay. I want to start with something we were just talking about if we could and that is the Biden administration has decided to reinstate economic support to the Palestinian Authority ignoring basically the Taylor Force Act which would require your predecessor to, your successor rather, to certify that these funds are not going to be used for the pay to slay programs or violence and terrorism. Some of this money is going to the West Bank and to Gaza.

Gaza of course controlled by Hamas. What's your reaction to that move by the administration? You know Jay it just shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the work that led to the Abraham Accords. They will be very difficult I think to certify that funds going to the Palestinian Authority aren't going to end up in the hands of bad actors in violation of the Taylor Force Act and you know so more than illegal it's immoral to underwrite what the Palestinian Authority is doing to support a regime that continues to pay people to commit these heinous acts all across the Middle East is outrageous.

The American people are rightly disturbed by this and I'm glad that the ACLJ is working so hard. Now more than ever these are the kinds of things I think we'll see happen and we need to put pressure on the Biden administration to stop underwriting the Palestinian Authority. It will upset the central dealings that we deliver, the peaceful accords that we deliver throughout the Middle East. You know I was thinking about that this all that success in your administration on reshaping the Middle East and all the new relationships that have been formalized.

I still think those will continue and we got to fight to make sure they continue but it kind of tells you where the new administration is. I want to switch to the ICC issue the International Criminal Court now you know I've had one of the one I'm one of the few American lawyers that have actually appeared before the ICC and I've done it twice and most recently in the Grand Chamber and that was over the United States trying to be hauled before the ICC. Well now the ICC is going after Israel. The Israelis interestingly Secretary Pompeo said yesterday that they have decided that their response is going to be you have no jurisdiction over us which is correct.

They had thought about not responding at all but I think they're going to send a formal letter. We have already sent legal documents in saying that not only is there no jurisdiction but that the Israeli military justice system is a complementary system. It's a sufficient system if there was to be any kind of wrongdoing by in the military they have the capabilities of examining that themselves. What do you think you know I know what your view of the ICC is but I think it's important for our audience to understand that this tribunal is trying to get their hands around individuals including American soldiers and Israeli soldiers.

It's the individuals not just the states not the states actually. Jay this won't be limited to the Israelis the administration has undone now the work that we did to sanction this woman her name is Fatou Bensouda you know her well. This is a corrupt actor she has behaved in ways that are inconsistent with her obligations under the rules of the ICC. We tried to convince the ICC that she shouldn't be in charge of these prosecutions that she's planning against not only Israelis but against young American soldiers who were serving in Afghanistan in the aftermath of 9 11. She is determined to go after these people these kids these wonderful American soldiers who were doing the Lord's work to uh create uh the appropriate deterrence against al-qaeda and yet she wants to pursue them the American system Israeli system are both complementary this this is outrageous I regret that the Israelis are having to do this. I know that you've been central to helping defend all these individuals against the threat that this rogue court I hate to hesitate to even call this rogue body in the Hague has now become. Well you know it's very personal to us because we've got team members and our international offices and Wes you know this Colonel Smith that that are could be subject to this. Yeah absolutely I mean this puts American soldiers literally around the world at risk particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq and of course does the same thing for Israeli soldiers.

It's unreal Jordan. Yeah well no but this this ties into the what we're seeing uh secretary Pompeo with the new uh shuttle diplomacy that the Biden administration is so excited about with Iran. They're excited that in Vienna that Iran will even uh send messages back and forth between uh European countries and the United States and that they're praising this as a big step forward. I mean this is again to me it seems like they will just do anything uh and the Iranians are kind of like yeah it's kind of we're kind of doing this but they're certainly not uh it's the but it's weird to me uh secretary Pompeo it's the Biden administration that seems so excited about it not the Iranians. You think they'd be the ones who are excited about maybe getting sanctions lifted but it's the Biden administration rushing back. The Iranians are in no hurry they know that the longer they wait the more this administration will give them it's simple it's simple math for them uh this administration will stop at almost nothing it won't be pallets of cash this time I suspect it'll be worse it'll be billions of dollars in wealth creation for the Iranian regime in exchange for going back into an outdated agreement agreement that was flawed from its inception that was predicated on the fact that they declared all their nuclear materials we know that not it's not true there were two secrets ideals center caught and I found the Israelis uncovered a set of archives the the entire predicate of the agreement was based upon a lie it is remarkable to see this article of faith almost from the Biden administration to just desperately cling to go back into this deal that guarantees a patient pathway for a nuclear program for the Iranians. And then we have the Chinese government the communist party they're deciding that they are going to in kind of engage the Middle East in a way they haven't before uh there was a 400 billion dollar deal with Iran uh and China's clearly kind of trying to triangulate the United States uh in that region but try China really does represent a multi-level threat here I mean it's not just a threat to destabilize the Middle East region by propping up the Iranians but it also has direct involvement in our engagement in uh in the Middle East because we can find ourselves uh in at least policy opposition strongly we will against the Chinese government. It's so true Jay it's interesting to watch the Chinese applaud the Biden administration caving to the Iranians don't forget one of the central provisions of the JCPOA was a provision that prevented conventional arms sales to from from Iran and and uh Iranian arms sales from Iran as well that's expired already that was a five-year deal it's over started in 2016 it's now 2021 it expired in September of last year uh the Chinese can now sell weapons and they will they'll sell weapons to the Iranians the Iranians will transport oil to them in exchange for that this is not good for the Middle East it's terrible for our friend and ally Israel and it creates real risk for the United States of America as well. One quick question uh and and that is this the situation with China is not just of course in the Middle East there's other engagement points and we only got a minute left here is this Chinese threat the way it's being at least handled so far by the Biden administration creating more difficulties for the United States and for our citizens?

Jay so far the rhetoric has been okay they've talked about being tough on China but every action that they have taken today suggests that they're they're not going to do that this the threat from the Chinese Communist Party is real it is on so many fronts we could spend a lot of time talking about it we need to counter in every one of them whether it's in space or satellites or information warfare technology all of those fronts we have to counter them I hope the Biden administration will follow through on the promises he made during his campaign and actually protect the United States and secure our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party. We're working Michael just so you know and I think you may be you'll see drafts of this soon we are working on a comprehensive piece on China right now that I'm sure we will look forward to your input on that's been worked on by our senior team policy team so we'll have that we appreciate you being with us as always thank you thank you Jordan so long left all right all right folks we are going to be taking your phone call second half hours coming up so what are your thoughts on this move by the State Department to fund the Palestinian Authority again to reopen those funds begging the Iranian taxpayer dollars yeah with your taxpayer dollars so we want your thoughts your questions 1-800-684-3110 that's 1-800-684-3110 remember our matching challenge why we have people like Mike Pompeo, Rick Renell on our team because your support for the ACLJ double the impact your donation donate today ACLJ.org at the American Center for Law and Justice we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad for a limited time you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge for every dollar you donate it will be matched a ten dollar gift becomes twenty dollars a fifty dollar gift becomes one hundred you can make a difference in the work we do protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family give a gift today online at ACLJ.org Live from Washington D.C. Sekulow Live and now your host Jordan Sekulow. All right welcome back to Sekulow our second half hour coming up now I want to encourage you to call in at 1-800-684-3110 because I want your thoughts especially those of you may have served in the military too that the fact that the Biden administration just puts out basically a press statement from Secretary Blinken saying we're going to resume aid to the Palestinians we're going to comply with all the existing US law and they basically lay out how they think and I mean I don't think I'm putting words in their mouth it's how they think they're working around the Taylor Force Act which prohibits funding to the Palestinian Authority and if that if they believed what they believed which was that these workarounds were available because you could go through other agencies I don't know why they had to make such a big deal about this why do they feel like they need to start defending it immediately if this is something they they wanted to do they don't feel like their supporters are going to be upset about I feel like they had to proactively I'll go to Thand Bennett on this right away but then I think they felt like they had to proactively kind of respond to the question in that that's why they had to do this statement in the first place because people say wait I thought we passed a law members of Congress on both sides of the aisle that say you can't do this until you come to us and tell us that everything is okay and that has certainly not happened yet. I totally agree with you Jordan if this complied with US law they wouldn't have made any statement about it at all but look saying that the funding is consistent with US law does not make it so Jordan and you know we can argue about this all all day long and I think it probably will be litigated I think they're clearly on the wrong side of the issue but I come back to the motive I mean I want people to really think about this take take the names off of the nations or the states or the people involved and just imagine that US taxpayers are funding an entity or a government that has a program that pays hundreds of millions of dollars to slaughter Israeli citizens and American citizens. Jordan no matter what the US law said I think the US law is on our side here but even if it wasn't why in the world would you want to fund that entity why in the world would you even want to find a workaround that's the question that I don't think they can answer. And listen they think it's highly technical this is Ned Price again state department spokesperson he kept getting pressed on the Taylor Force Act take a listen by 26. You asked about this fairly technical issue as to how we ensure that this aid is consistent with the Taylor Force Act and yeah and that doesn't directly but I would not say that that's fairly technical no no well I'm getting I'm getting to a technical point you're either breaking the law or you're following the law well it is it is you're right it is very clear we are following the law everything we are doing here is quite consistent with it scrupulously so. Okay so I look I don't know how he got from saying that that was highly technical to no no problem we're very clear we're not everything's good here so the United States says it issues an announcement Harry it says it's pleased to announce that working with Congress working with Congress really really working with Congress we plan to restart U.S. economic development humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people no certification from the Secretary of State of Compliance. Absolutely not so the United States State Department is committed to global elitism the State Department is filled with individuals who are skilled as what they're skilled in duplicity they're not skilled in telling the truth they're not skilled in complying with the law so I think the questioner in that clip that you played Jordan was precisely on point is the United States in compliance or are they not in compliance I think the answer is clear if you look at the Taylor Force Act which requires that the State Department certify that the Palestinian Authority has terminated its pay to slay policy and its support for terror neither of those things are true and they haven't been true since the Taylor Force Act was passed nonetheless we have an administration which lives in the land of make-believe they continue to defy the facts that are on the ground. And Sam quickly you said that they've told Congress they can't certify compliance according to the Washington Free Beacon they've told Congress behind the scenes that they know the Palestinians aren't in compliance and either way Jordan they haven't certified it right why would you do this I think it's just this is part of their agenda they want to go back to the Iranian nuclear deal they want to start again sipping tea with the UN members and to sip tea with the UN members you got to fund the Palestinians and their terror or else you don't get to go to the tea party we'll be right back on Secular. At the American Center for Law and Justice we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad whether it's defending religious freedom protecting those who are persecuted for their faith uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy and fighting to protect life in the courts and in Congress the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support for that we are grateful now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way for a limited time you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge for every dollar you donate it will be matched a ten dollar gift becomes twenty dollars a fifty dollar gift becomes one hundred this is a critical time for the ACLJ the work we do simply would not occur without your generous support take part in our matching challenge today you can make a difference in the work we do protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family give a gift today online at ACLJ.org only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive and that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life we've created a free powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn it's called Mission Life it will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support and the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists the ramifications of Roe v Wade 40 years later play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift all right welcome back to secular we are taking phone calls at 1-800-684-3110 that's 1-800-684-3110 I want to get to the first call of the day if you want to talk to us again it's 1-800-684-3110 Jim in Michigan online one hey Jim hey uh just want to say thank you uh Jay and Jordan for getting me get my call through um I do a monthly donation to you guys and did the matching uh thing too because I believe yeah and I I just appreciate your content but basically I'm calling because it's it's so um it's so frustrating that a lot of the things that the Biden administration and others are have been doing since before the election with the election changes that they did um is they're totally uh going against what you guys are saying is is obvious legal issues uh breaking laws in obvious ways so for me you know I'm I'm uh disappointed that the that someone isn't um actually bringing them to accountability but don't be disappointed Jim because we are it's a process though so we have filed with the uh United States Department of State I'm holding my hand uh the first FOIA request freedom of information act request uh on exactly this which is a FOIA request to the U.S. Department of State regarding U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority and the implications of the Taylor Force Act now we're going to have to litigate that I suspect they're not going to give us that information once that information becomes public then if there's a violation of the law there are ways to challenge what has happened so well first we got to find out what exactly happened so we are on that already our government oversight project is the largest it has ever been in the ACLJ's history because it sounds like you listen to this broadcast regularly pretty much every day or so we're adding a new case a new file so that's ongoing right now so I just want to let you know that let me let me change gears for a second here because I want to hit this immigration issue because this is Harry these numbers are staggering I want to read this to everybody the number of migrants encountered at the U.S. border in March just March was almost was the most in 15 years the U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended 172,000 people this by the way of the records from the Biden administration included 19,000 children and teenagers traveling without a parent that doubles the level from February and the most ever in a single month the overall surge in March a 71% spike over February's figures illustrates the scope of the challenge that the Biden administration is facing but yet the person in charge of this the vice President has had time to travel to Chicago to visit a vaccine site and to go to California but not to the border that she's in charge of the policy of absolutely so in 19 or sorry 1838 Abraham Lincoln said if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher as a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide I think it is clear beyond question that there are officials within the Biden administration that prefer suicide to enforcement of the law to enforcement of national security and to ensuring that the United States remains a republic if you look at the numbers the number of migrants is exploding child sex abuse is rising and we are incentivizing drug trafficking and drug cartels yet Biden officials starting with vice President Harris and including the DHS secretary prefer to ignore the real problem the real problem at the end of the day is that the Biden administration has reversed Trump era policies that were working and then the Biden administration not only reversed these policies they didn't have a plan to deal with the flood of migrants who were coming across or planning to come across the border so this is a very unintelligent policy by an increasingly unintelligent administration I'm holding in our hand a another legal document dated April 7 2021 to the US Department of Homeland Security to the United States custom and border protection to the United States immigration and custom enforcement and to the United States citizenship and immigration services from your American Center for Law and Justice this is what it's regarding pursuant to the document this is the FOIA document FOIA letter FOIA request to the US Department of Homeland Security customs immigration and citizenship and immigration services regarding records of the handling of the border crisis related to threats or crime the cancellation or postponement of Operation Talon and the arrest of persons on the FBI's terrorism watch list and the do not fly list that is already been sent I say already just two days ago by the American Center for Law and Justice to Jordan to those government agencies we are taking action on this immediately yeah right this is a massive crisis and I mean just to put this in perspective 15 days ago vice President Harris was put in charge of the border she's supposed to be handling the diplomatic activities she's been on the phone with the President Mexico she's made trips cross-country trips back home to her home in Cal in Northern California she's also made trips to the Midwest on COVID but she's made no trips to the border not even to look at the facilities where you've got this massive rise 19,000 children a month 172,000 people in a month these are the biggest numbers ever before in history and yet the person running this for the federal government has not has not yet even seen these facilities has not been to the border as vice President take a listen because Jen Psaki got pushed on this very aggressively she's got time to stop for snacks in Chicago just not time to take the vice President's plane and head to the border and see what's going on take a listen she's traveling this week took time to visit a bakery in Chicago I'm wondering is she still working on this and can you address the perception that she's kind of quietly backing off while secretary Mayorkas is pursuing some Trump era policies such as potentially building new border barriers and potentially prosecuting people who illegally cross multiple times there's a whole lot packed in there so let me just see what I can do here first I would say the vice President was visiting Chicago actually to talk about COVID and the importance of communities getting the vaccine when it's available and accessible to them and so while she was there like many Americans she got a snack I think she's allowed to do that I mean I want you to think about what this woman just said Jen Psaki just said while there she was allowed to get a snack everything is a joke everything is a comedy everything is is uh hypothetical and there's no policy but the real policy here is that there's a crisis on our border that's expanding by the hour they're flying kids and others to Newark today with no ID no identification except a letter from DHS that's what they're doing yeah you know sometimes Jay when people act like they don't care it's not an act and you know this is this is a grave serious situation on the border and yet just yesterday this was on on the media today Nancy Pelosi when questioned about the border crisis said we are in a good place on the border under the leadership of Joe Biden they either seriously are delusional or they absolutely don't care and I hate to be jaded but more and more I'm thinking they don't care I I just it's the ramifications Harry are so significant on this though I think every day not just the border states they're flying them all over absolutely so the Biden administration is failing to take the border crisis seriously they refuse to admit what is open and obvious to every single American that there is indeed a border crisis that there's a surge of migrants and so while Jen Psaki is joking about going to the bakery children are apparently being sexually molested in a San Antonio detention facility and guess what the Biden administration is refusing permission to the state of Texas to investigate these allegations so at the end of the day what are we elevating we are elevating vice President Harris's ability to go shopping in a bakery while Rome burns Jordan well I just think it's it's listen it's she got tasked with this assignment first thing you would usually do fan is you would go down ministry of presence and you would see what was actually happening so that you could report back and say we this is good this is bad we need to do this we need to do that I don't think she wants to see the kids in cages and own that so I think she's not gonna stay away from that as long as possible Jordan children are being trafficked in they're being trafficked in and then they're being recycled that's what they call it they call it recycling sent back over the border and brought in again as a free ticket to the United States this is not Republican Democrat or independent Jordan it's a humanitarian crisis and there's a solution to it by the way there's a bill that would require DNA testing at the border when a minor is involved not a single Democrat is on that you know who could get Democrats on that bill and get it enacted the vice President of the United States she needs to do it well I think folks again I think it's important to I think folks again we've got another segment coming up we continue to take your phone calls we'll get to you Richard right out when we come back from the break 1-800-684-3110 if you want to talk to us on air about the immigration situation too why do you believe the vice President Harris is so afraid of just going to the border to be there to see it for herself as vice President as the person tasked with leading this effort give us a call why is she afraid she's obviously afraid 1-800-684-3110 remember our matching challenge support the work of the ACLJ double the impact your donation to ACLJ.org only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive and that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life we've created a free powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn it's called Mission Life it will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support and the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists the ramifications of Roe v Wade 40 years later playing parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift at the American Center for Law and Justice we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad whether it's defending religious freedom protecting those who are persecuted for their faith uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy and fighting to protect life in the courts and in congress the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support for that we are grateful now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way for a limited time you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge for every dollar you donate it will be matched a ten dollar gift becomes twenty dollars a fifty dollar gift becomes one hundred this is a critical time for the ACLJ the work we do simply would not occur without your generous support take part in our matching challenge today you can make a difference in the work we do protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family give a gift today online at ACLJ.org all right welcome back to secular we are going to take your phone calls now 1-800-684-3110 let's go to Richard in California first hey Richard you're on the air god's blessings to you guys and I love your program and I just want to thank you for doing what you're doing what I I this whole thing is driving me crazy I'm an older gentleman I'm a Vietnam vet and all that stuff and and I love this country and I hate seeing this country self-destruct with the people that we have in there I don't think any of them know what they're doing there is no common sense I believe that Biden's a puppet and he's got you know there's been sound bites where they've caught him asking him asking what he's signing he doesn't even know what he's signing so how can we expect this person to run this country we've got teachers in San Diego volunteering to teach these illegals and they're not even being tested for covid uh our kids can't go back to school and and uh this is just uh it's driving me crazy listen first of all thank you for your service for the country and you're a hundred percent there's nothing you said that any of us would disagree with I mean you the whole situation is the fact that she doesn't go down there number one number two that they're talking about filling in the gaps i.e building the wall uh number three they're flying people all over the country now to get them into communities without knowing who these people are number four kids being dropped 14 feet over walls uh this is a policy harry of chaos absolutely and so at the apex at the very top of the pyramid in leading this effort to stop the surge we have the vice President of the united states who is engaged in what a marie antoinette act she is essentially saying to the american people and to the migrants who are in these terrible facilities please have some more cake this is an absurd policy it is a policy which is created in my judgment by individuals who need to spend less time in the loony bin you know we we asked you to why do you think that vice President harris uh doesn't want to go is it because she doesn't want to be seen with the kids in the cages for political purposes uh but diana has a different idea too in indiana online too i don't think there's a wrong answer here by the way if you if you've got a if you've got thoughts on this 1-800-684-3110 it's a head scratcher that they can't even figure out how to do an event down there uh diana but welcome to show you're on the air thank you so much for taking my calls um i believe that it's twofold really one is that she is to um but she truly doesn't care which i think is reflective of the entire administration and two that she um is way too incompetent to handle this situation well i think that i think that listen we talked about the don't care it's a political issue to them there's some aspect of that i do think though it's it's it's that so she doesn't want to be bothered with it even though she was tasked with the job but the second thing is it's horrendous because it goes against their narrative the imagery will be that i don't want to own it no because the imagery certainly doesn't want to own it no and i think that biden passed off to her she has a longer of course political career likely than him yeah and uh and she does she wants nothing to do with it i mean the reporters are actually asking is she even still being tasked with this so fan what is the sense on capitol hill i know they're in recess now but what's the sense on capitol hill on this you know jay honestly the sense is not that it's incompetence i think the sense is that it's deliberate i mean i think these are smart people generally that actually this is their policy the policy is non-enforcement and i think honestly jay i think the evidence of that is what we talked about earlier in the week where they scrub the website of that announcement that two terrorists had crossed the border i mean jay i think they know what they're doing i think they're doing it intentionally but they're just trying to hide it from the american people so i i honestly tell you i think in dc i think giving them the pass of incompetence i think that's going too easy jay i think they're doing it with eyes wide open but i don't understand how you evaluate a situation and you show command and control military talk when you're not there you can't you absolutely cannot and for lay politics aside lay their their you know hatred of donald trump aside what what would help ameliorate this situation there are some things they could do but because they were trump policies they refused to do them they could reinstate the remaining mexico policy which would help they are talking about building the wall which i think is wonderfully ironic uh they could also stop catch and release and do what the trump administration all these children coming through jay what the trump administration did they endeavor to fly them back to central america and reunite them with their families even that would help right now it is getting worse and worse and it is a moral and a humanitarian issue by the way west smith has got a brand new article up on aclj.org it should be up by now and it's on the iran nuclear deal it's called the iran nuclear deal is not a deal wide distrust is necessary everybody we're going to get that out on all of our platforms you need to do it uh we've got another call is coming in let's go ahead and try to grab a couple of those jordan yeah actually actually let's go to bill in wyoming first hey bill yeah thanks for taking my call i've got two things to say number one i think they're up there to just have the position so they can do whatever they want to without having to face any consequences there is an upside to this uh when i got some of the stimulus money from biden i went ahead and decided to stimulate some of your work and i sent well we appreciate that thanks bill i like that i and again for those of you who are in a situation where you can do that i think it's a great idea the uh but i think bill you know is right that they get there they think they can pick and choose issues but that's not what happens when you're President vice President senators sometimes you can yes you have to weigh in on a lot but you don't have to own everything they kind of decide and that's what she's used to that's what biden's used to and as vice President under obama he was certainly taking a back seat role to someone who is much more prominent now that he's in the front seat though the buck stops with them on everything on every issue and that includes the the sovereignty of the united states and what's happening in our border i think that's the biggest problem but let's take final call of the day gloria and ohio online too hey gloria hello uh thank you for my call and i just wanted to make a comment that i believe that the vice President is afraid to go to the border because of past comments she has made about the border patrol i look i think you're right about the or comments about the border patrol and you're right about the comments about border security this is cutting totally against harry their narrative on how to handle this immigration crisis and she as jordan said she just doesn't want to own it absolutely so i think vice President harris has said many critical things about the trump administration now it's on her watch and then the question becomes what can she do to reverse it well there's an old saying that says that when you're in a hole stop digging the biden administration prefers at the moment keep digging and try to ignore the problem when the migrant crisis is actually being fueled by incentives and one of the incentives or one of the sources of incentives is simply the fact that the biden administration has generally speaking reverse virtually every single trump era policy that was working not only with respect to the border but also with respect to for instance the palestinians and the romanians they just hate President trump so much they actually have blinded themselves to a solution to the problem and it's time for them to open their own eyes so we're going to continue this fight taking action yeah exactly we're not going to just stand by and talk about this we take action on these issues take action on the issues involving the funding to the palestinian authority and we were talking about earlier broadcast and the taylor force act and making sure the biden administration is not violating existing u.s law which it really does appear that they are and we're going to get to the bottom of that support the work of the aclj double your impact your donation it's a matching challenge month both march and april so april also critical to the aclj financially double the impact your donation donate online today at aclj.org we'll talk to you tomorrow at the american center for law and justice we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad for a limited time you can participate in the aclj's matching challenge for every dollar you donate it will be matched a ten dollar gift becomes twenty dollars a fifty dollar gift becomes 100 you can make a difference in the work we do protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family give a gift today online at aclj.org