Economist Thomas Sowell once noted, “Immigration laws are the only laws that are discussed in terms of how to help people who break them.” The story of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Blank and his illegal alien wife, Annie Ramos, is a perfect example of Sowell’s assertion.

According to CBS News, Ramos — who is now 22 — was illegally brought to the United States by her family in 2005. Staff Sergeant Blank married Ramos, knowing full well that she was an illegal alien. He stated to the New York Times, “I knew she didn’t have status. [But] we were doing everything the right way.” Ramos was eventually arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a few days after the couple was married, at the military base where Blank was stationed.

If litigants are free to ignore court appearances without consequences, the whole system falls apart.

Of course, despite Blank’s assertions to the contrary, nothing was done “the right way” in this case. After entering the United States unlawfully, the Ramos family was scheduled for an appearance before the U.S. Immigration Court. They failed to appear. When a respondent in immigration proceedings defaults, the immigration judge is required pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5) to enter an in absentia order of removal. This is clearly conveyed to all illegal aliens placed in immigration proceedings, both verbally by the immigration officers handling their cases and in all written notices issued by the court.

In absentia removal notices may seem harsh to the casual observer, but they are not. Courts engage in serious business. And running legal tribunals costs taxpayers a significant amount of money. If litigants are free to ignore court appearances without consequences, the whole system falls apart. Accordingly, courts expect litigants to appear for scheduled hearings, on time, every time. That is why every court in the United States imposes penalties, ranging from monetary fines to additional criminal charges and extended sentences, when litigants fail to appear.

Moreover, the above-mentioned statute governing in absentia removal orders provides an “out” for individuals who missed their hearings due to exigent circumstances. It specifically states that such an order may be rescinded “upon a motion to reopen filed within 180 days after the date of the order of removal if the alien demonstrates that the failure to appear was because of exceptional circumstances” or “upon a motion to reopen filed at any time if the alien demonstrates that the alien did not receive notice” of the hearing.

There is no indication that Ms. Ramos or her family ever made any attempt to reopen immigration proceedings and seek rescission of the order of removal entered against them. That is likely because the Ramos clan was fully aware they were likely to be deported. Contrary to popular opinion, the vast majority of illegal aliens do not qualify for any form of relief from removal, with 79% to 80% being either ordered removed or granted voluntary departure. Instead, Ms. Ramos waited approximately 15 years and applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama administration’s ill-fated attempt to impose an immigration amnesty by executive fiat.

And what of Staff Sergeant Blank’s status as a member of America’s armed forces? In 2022, the Biden administration unilaterally and arbitrarily directed the Department of Homeland Security “to generally refrain from seeking the deportation of U.S. military veterans or service members and their immediate family members.” Of course, that policy was unlawful. Neither the Uniform Code of Military Justice (the statute governing the actions of members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force) nor the Immigration and Nationality Act has any provisions exempting either service members, or their families, from the laws governing the admission of foreign nationals into the United States. And only Congress has the authority to enact such exemptions, which it has never done.

Accordingly, the Trump administration rescinded team Biden’s illegal policy. It began applying the provisions of the INA to service members in the same manner as to everyone else. This is as it should be. Pro forma leniency toward alien immigration violators merely because they are related to a military member is bad policy. It makes our service members targets for foreign intelligence agents. And the presence of illegal aliens on military installations undermines the security of those facilities.

Recently, Annie Ramos was released from immigration detention. It remains to see how ICE will proceed with her case. But both our political leaders and the generals in charge of our armed forces should tread carefully. Every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, and guardian commences his or her military career by taking an oath that begins, “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true allegiance to the same.” If military service becomes a free pass to violate the very laws that preserve our national sovereignty, then service members are not bearing true faith and allegiance to our Constitution — they are claiming to be exempt from it.

​Ice, Illegal alien, Immigration law, Immigration laws, Us army, Opinion & analysis 

Democrats have in recent years likened redistricting efforts to the Holocaust, called them “a threat to democracy,” and characterized them as “authoritarian.” However, in the lead-up to Virginia’s gerrymandering referendum, Democrats adopted a disparate view.

Presented with the opportunity to all but ensure that 10 out of the state’s 11 congressional seats go to their comrades, Democrats reconstrued gerrymandering as a noble pursuit — an alleged means to “help level the playing field,” a way to “restore fairness,” and, in the words of Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a “response to what we’re seeing in other states that have taken extreme measures to undermine democratic norms.”

‘The result of a process that’s unconstitutional and illegal.’

With the help of out-of-state dark money and propagandizing by big-name liberals like former President Barack Obama, Democrats proved victorious on Tuesday in disenfranchising Republican voters in Old Dominion.

The following loaded question appeared on the April 21 ballot: “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”

With over 97% of the votes counted, the Associated Press reported that 51.5% of the ballots were cast in favor of the proposal and 48.6% were cast in opposition — a difference of just over 88,700 votes.

Election Day votes, a majority of which were “no” votes, reportedly accounted for 55% of the total; early in-person votes accounted for 35% of the total; and mail-in votes accounted for 10% of the total, 72% of which were “yes” votes.

RELATED: How Spanberger managed to hit record-low approval rating in 80 days

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Spanberger stated, “Virginia voters have spoken, and tonight they pushed back against a President who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress.”

“As we watched other states go along with those demands without voter input, Virginians refused to let that stand,” continued Spanberger, who claimed when running for governor last year that she had no plans to redistrict the state. “We responded the right way: at the ballot box.”

In a statement where he ironically criticized “unprecedented gerrymandering,” Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D) said that “fairness won. Accountability won. And the Commonwealth that gave America its Constitution has once again reminded the nation what that Constitution is for.”

Obama congratulated Virginia, thanking voters “for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back.”

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) excitedly announced that “House Democrats have crushed Donald Trump’s national gerrymandering scheme.” He added, “Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”

Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who previously emphasized that the new map was “the result of a process that’s unconstitutional and illegal,” said in a statement, “Thank you to all the voters who turned out to vote against this egregious power grab. The race was much closer than the left expected because Virginians know a 10-1 map is not Virginia.”

“I urge the Virginia Supreme Court to rule against this unconstitutional process that will disenfranchise millions of Virginians,” added Youngkin.

There are multiple lawsuits pending before the Virginia Supreme Court regarding the legality of the constitutional amendment. Oral arguments for the cases are tentatively scheduled for Monday.

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​Barack obama, Congress, Constitution, Democrats, Donald trump, Election day, Elections, Gerrymandering, Hakeem jeffries, Old dominion, Redistricting, Referendum, Republican voters, Unconstitutional, Virginia, Virginia supreme court, Glenn youngkin, Spanberger, Politics 

Many people were alarmed by an appalling viral video posted over the weekend of an Israeli soldier desecrating a statue of Christ Crucified in Southern Lebanon. Others, however disgusted by the act, argued that he was simply a “bad apple” in the Israel Defense Forces.

However, there may be more “bad apples” than originally thought, as footage of similar attacks on Christian holy sites have resurfaced in the wake of the alarming photograph.

The monastery, which has roots dating back to the 15th century, was razed by Israeli forces during the 2006 Lebanon War.

More recorded examples of IDF soldiers apparently acting inappropriately in and around holy sites have emerged online, lending credence to the idea that these incidents are not anomalous but rather represent a pattern of behavior.

One notable example shows a group of Israeli soldiers apparently entering an Orthodox church, including the sanctuary — the restricted area behind the veil that only bishops, priests, and deacons are allowed to enter at specific times — mocking Christian saints, imagery, and rituals and pretending to have sex with each other after a mock wedding ceremony.

RELATED: IDF soldier caught smashing Jesus statue with sledgehammer — officials and critics react

COURTNEY BONNEAU/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images

The original video was posted by Younis Tirawi, the same journalist who over the weekend posted the photo of the IDF soldier smashing Christ’s head with a sledgehammer. It should be noted that the IDF claims to have worked with locals in Debel, Lebanon, to replace the destroyed cross and said that it “expresses deep regret” over the recent incident.

The older video, however, has not apparently received the same response from Israeli authorities.

The video appears to have been first posted on November 25, 2024. Tirawi reported that the video was taken in a church in Deir Mimas, South Lebanon. Blaze News independently confirmed that the video matches the interior of the Monastery of St. Mamas in Deir Mimas.

The video has a caption written in Hebrew, and the soldiers in the video are also speaking Hebrew. Tirawi described the soldiers as “Israeli soldiers from the Golani Special Operations Unit,” more commonly referred to as the Golani Brigade, which has a history of operations in Southern Lebanon and the surrounding region.

The caption also includes a translation, which reads, “First wedding in the team,” followed by a cross emoji and an emoji of two raised hands.

Multiple outlets covered the video at the time. These reports claimed that the Israeli soldiers themselves posted the video first, though this video appears to have been deleted. The Council on American-Islamic Relations also issued a condemnation of the actions in the video alongside its disavowal of an alleged “call by a top Israeli official for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.”

On the same day the video of the soldiers in the church was posted, the Times of Israel reported that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “It’s possible to create a situation in which Gaza will have less than half its current population within two years.”

Cited by a detailed article of the incident by Public Orthodoxy, the Israel Defense Forces issued a vague statement seemingly regarding the incident at the Monastery of St. Mamas, though it did not acknowledge the specific actions shown in the video. The statement, dated November 26, 2024, reads:

This is a serious incident that is not in line with the values of the IDF and its orders.
The IDF respects all religions and condemns such behavior.
The incident is under review, and those involved face disciplinary repercussions.

Public Orthodoxy explained that the incident was not the first time the church has been harmed by Israeli forces. The monastery, which has roots dating back to the 15th century, was razed by Israeli forces during the 2006 Lebanon War.

The article added that a pattern has emerged of Israeli soldiers filming and posting videos of themselves committing crimes, referring to a compilation of alleged examples by the Washington Post and Al Jazeera.

The IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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​Christ crucified statue, Debel lebanon, Deir mimas church, Ethnic cleansing gaza, Finance minister bezalel, Israel defense forces, Israeli forces crimes videos, Israeli soldier desecrating, Israeli soldiers mocking, Monastery of st mamas, Orthodox church incident, Politics, Southern lebanon 

The other day I drove from the tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula to Marquette in the Upper Peninsula.

It was about a three-and-a-half-hour drive through the wilderness. It’s not a terribly confusing trip — there’s about nine turns total, and I’ve made it many times. So I didn’t bother to summon my usual co-pilot — the always reliable Google Maps.

When I was a kid, my parents drove us from Michigan to California using a paper map. It probably took a little longer, with a much vaguer ETA.

No phone attached to the dashboard barking commands at me. No little cartoon avatar of my vehicle to look at.

And a funny thing happened. Time passed more quickly. The drive felt easier. I was less anxious. I had a more enjoyable time.

Yooper trooper

I wasn’t going particularly slow. I maintained a steady 5 to 15 over the limit, as one does on the empty and police-free northern roads of the Upper Peninsula. It’s the local custom.

I wasn’t trying to go especially fast either. It was a work trip, and I wanted to get to Marquette as soon as possible. But I wasn’t stressed, and I wasn’t annoyed at how long it was taking. I didn’t dread the drive. I didn’t even get bored. I never felt that feeling that I always feel at some point — the one where I start to think that maybe a self-driving car wouldn’t be so bad after all.

I concluded that, of course, my more relaxed demeanor in the driver’s seat was due to the absence of Google Maps on U.S. Route 2. But I wanted to test it again, just to see if it wasn’t a fluke. So I did.

Time trial

Yesterday a couple of the kids and I drove another three and a half hours south to visit their grandparents. It’s a drive I’ve made tons of times, so I left my phone on the passenger’s seat, and the same thing happened again.

The drive was easier. Time passed more quickly. I never really got sick of the road, and I really did have a much better time doing something I normally don’t really like doing at all.

It’s really very interesting and perhaps a bit counterintuitive. You’d think getting continual updates about how many more miles until the next turn, how many hours until arrival, and where exactly you are on the map might make things go more quickly. You’d think eliminating the mystery and guesswork would make for a more relaxing drive.

In fact, it’s the opposite.

Road worrier

The continual updates and ticking clock make me more anxious. When Google Maps is open on my phone, I find myself checking the route and seeing 2:35 until arrival, and then only two minutes later doing the same thing again just to see 2:33 until arrival. Over and over again I do this, and it feels like watching water boil. Having all those updates makes me feel like I’m never going to get there. It makes the trip feel longer. The information stretches time or something. It’s too zoomed in, too detailed, too much. Information over-saturation.

When I was a kid, my parents drove us from Michigan to California using a paper map. It probably took a little longer, with a much vaguer ETA. But why do we need to know the exact minute we’re going to get there anyway?

Constant companions

Learning that Google Maps was making all my car travel feel unnecessarily long and annoying makes me wonder what other technology is secretly ruining my daily life.

The global news cycle comes to mind, of course. As does most doomscrolling on social media. But those are obvious culprits. What about the less obvious stuff? The hidden stuff? I didn’t realize that the Google Map updates were having a negative psychological impact on my trip until I put the phone away on a whim. That irritating, anxiety-inducing information was hiding in plain sight.

Our modern lives are great. We enjoy so many conveniences that our grandparents could only dream of. And they say people are more anxious today than ever before. Maybe we just need to stop complaining.

Or maybe a lot of these conveniences are more curse than blessing.

What if we really are more anxious because we can order anything we want from anywhere, because we have infinite choices, because we are able check the tracking on our packages every other hour, read news from every corner of the globe, unlock new fears by way of IG reels, and get blow-by-blow updates on our phones about how many more miles until we get there and when we need to turn right?

What if we know too much?

​Google maps, Men’s style, Lifestyle, Road trips, Upper peninsula, Michigan, Family, The root of the matter