Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Madrid today, in a massive show of support for Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta. The protests follow weeks of crisis in the region following a border surge from neighboring Morocco.

More than 70,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta during the surge and local authorities estimate that more than 10,000 migrants remain in makeshift camps scattered across the enclave. The residents are dealing with lawlessness, chaos and criminal activity. Protesters in Madrid wave Spanish flags, called for stronger border control and criticize Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez over his handling of the crisis. The demonstrations are ongoing as serious clashes and fights between migrants and local residents continue in Ceuta.

CEUTA, Spain, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Residents of Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the handling by Madrid of a migration crisis caused by a deadly border surge in July when at least 72,000 people crossed from Morocco.

Thousands of people marched through the streets of the city of about 80,000 residents in a protest that coincided with the annual Ceuta Day. Waving Spanish flags and blowing whistles, they chanted: “Ceuta is not for sale, Ceuta must be defended.”

One placard read: “SOS. Europe, save us from our traitor government” while some demanded that authorities should “expel the invaders” and others called for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to resign as demonstrations also took place in other cities across Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao. (read more)

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The Justice Department has issued an important ruling requiring states to follow the legislated rule of reporting illegal aliens who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).  This rule can substantially alter the nature of financial support programs currently taking place with federal funds. [Full Press Release] [Full Opinion]

The Office of Legal Counsel has issued a legal opinion clarifying that when a state chooses to participate in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs, all agencies within that state — not only those that administer TANF or SSI benefits — must report individuals known to be not lawfully present in the United States to The Dept of Homeland Security. {citation}

DOJ Press Release: […] “Congress wrote this requirement plainly,” said Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. “When a state chooses to participate in TANF, it accepts the obligation to report illegal aliens in the United States. Tax dollars intended to help vulnerable Americans should not perversely encourage illegal entry into the United States, but rather should reinforce our laws and our borders.”

“Our clarification does not impose new obligations on states,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joshua Craddock of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and author of the opinion. “It simply restores the original meaning of the statute Congress enacted and ensures that DHS receives the information it is legally entitled to. States that accept TANF funding must abide by federal law, and failure to comply may lead to serious consequences, including loss of program funding.”

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A rather remarkable statement from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick puts the Canadian government on notice.  If Lutnick is accurately outlining what took place, there’s no way Trump is going to give them a trade deal.

When he is questioned about the U.S-Canada trade agreement collapse, Secretary Lutnick quotes the Canadian govt officials.  “I said to him, are you trying to blow this up? and he said, and I quote, “I’m not allowed to say that.“” Lutnick then encapsulates what that response meant.

“They decided for political reasons, domestically, domestic Canada, they’d rather fight with Donald Trump; even if it’s bad for the economy of Canada, for their political ambition to get a certain election,” Lutnick noted.  He continued, “now remember, Quebec has the sovereign party was in the lead, so that’s why they came up with this French nonsense. You think the American side talked about how people speak in Quebec? We have a deal with France, we have a deal with Italy, we have a deal with Germany, we don’t care about their language; none of that was true.”   WATCH (prompted):

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Considering that European NATO partners are urgently trying to expand the Ukraine conflict and assemble a united NATO war effort against the Russian Federation, it is worth reviewing the current position of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Putin held a press conference on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan.  A transcript is below:

Olga Knyazeva: Today, very much attention is given to our contacts with the United States. The CIA director has reportedly visited [Moscow] to offer trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine talks.

Do you think we need any negotiation tracks now or possibly new intermediaries, including American ones?

Vladimir Putin: First, communication between our intelligence services is maintained at all times. You may have noticed that we have recently handed over to the American side an American citizen who was serving a prison term in Russia. We did that for health and humanitarian reasons. He is a simple guy, a drinker and a brawler with health problems, so we sent him home to get medical assistance.

It was my first point. Communication is and was always maintained, even in the most difficult periods of the Cold War, and even more so now. Direct contacts are also maintained between the senior officials of our intelligence services.

As for expanding the number of negotiators, we believe that negotiations, any kind of negotiations, should be primarily filled with concrete content. If anyone is making or can make a practical contribution to this process, we are all for it.

The only thing we would like to avoid is to carry on a senseless process. If anyone can make a positive contribution to this negotiating process, which has been frozen to some extent, as we see this, we would not be against this. But this requires the involvement of specialists, the military and diplomats, of course.

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Canada is drowning in the Sea of China. The USA is the rescue swimmer.  When we reach the victim they thrash, try to climb on our back and pull us under. Survival for both now requires us to punch them in the face, back away and ask them if they prefer to drown. If not, listen to instructions.

The USMCA or CUSMA needs to be terminated!  That’s the punch in the nose.

Then a bilateral trade agreement can be negotiated.  That’s the swimmer giving the victim instructions.

If Canada chooses to drown in the Sea of China, so be it.

Then we build a regulatory wall against all Canadian products, banning the entry of Chinese component parts in EVERYTHING!

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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Within 12 hours of the Friday announcement that Canada had walked away from trade discussions with the U.S, we were able to piece together what the four points were.  Several people disagreed and claimed something else was involved.  Today, Prime Minister Mark Carney affirmed specifically the accuracy of those four points.

While Prime Minister Carney used his verbose gaslighting to describe them, you can listen for yourself.  It boiled down to four issues: [1] U.S. streaming services writing code for “search engines” in the French language (cultural issue). [2] The U.S. having a right to reject a trade deal made by Canada with a non-market economy, ie. CHINA. [3] Removal of tariffs on Canadian assembled heavy trucks, semi-trucks and industrial trucks (not in the auto sector). [4] Canada demanding 5% of gross revenues from U.S. tech platforms, with an attitude that U.S. controls North American trade.

You can listen to his own words describing these issues.  WATCH:

The United States must, as a matter of U.S. national security and survival, immediately cut all trade ties with Canada completely.  I’ll explain why this is so critical and important.

The most appropriate metaphor is the drowning victim (Canada) with an intentionally placed anchor on its foot (China), now becoming a threat to the rescue swimmer (USA).   If we don’t cut ties, we risk our own livelihood.

Here’s the four counterpoints:

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Representatives on the House Oversight Committee Task Force on Protecting Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses, held a hearing today on the subject of Birthright Citizenship and immigration fraud [hearing below].

The committee subpoenaed Dr. Wladimir Lorentz, the owner and founder of Miami Medical Concierge Services, following his refusal to testify. The committee intended to ask questions about the company’s role in arranging births for foreign nationals. Following the subpoena, Dr Lorentz invoked the Fifth Amendment to every question, citing a pending federal investigation into his business, also known as “Have My Baby in Miami.” WATCH (prompted):

…”Birth tourism has created a for-profit industry that abuses our nation’s immigration laws.  The birth tourism industry consists of a complex underground network of fraud involving visa manipulation, maternity-hotels, and sometimes unpaid medical bills, which place burdens on American taxpayers.

Thankfully, Republicans and the Trump Administration are working to expose and address the birth tourism problem through proposed legislation and executive action.  We must protect, strengthen and uphold the dignity and value of American citizenship, and protect our country from foreign efforts to subvert what it means to be an American.”…  ~ Representative Brandon Gill

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On the sidelines of the Asheville, North Carolina, G20 meeting of global finance ministers, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent holds a fireside chat to discuss current geopolitical events and economic conditions.

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