Author: Dawn Sutton
 For immediate release: June 21, 2021 Contact: Fallon Pearre 410-230-6241 Maryland Has Detected Over 500,000 Potentially Fraudulent Unemployment Claims In Last Six Weeks Over 1.3 Million Claims Investigated By Department of Labor Confirmed Fraudulent Marylanders Should Remain Vigilant to Protect Themselves Against Scams BALTIMORE, MD—The Maryland Department of Labor (Labor) today announced that the department has detected over 508,000 fraudulent new unemployment insurance claims since the beginning of May.“With fraudulent activity rampant in unemployment insurance programs across the country, Maryland has consistently adapted and added new security measures to prevent, detect, and report fraud,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “In fact, an astonishing 1.3 million claims flagged by the state have been confirmed as fraudulent since the beginning of the pandemic, with over 508,000 being detected in the last month and a half alone.”With the record number of unemployment insurance claims filed and the additional federal benefits available during the COVID-19 pandemic, states have combated bad actors and fraudsters using illegally obtained data to file fraudulent unemployment insurance claims. “As the economy recovers and states across the country continue to opt out of the federal benefits programs, bad actors are becoming more brazen and aggressive in their attempts to exploit unemployment insurance programs than ever before,” said Labor Secretary Tiffany P. Robinson. “I strongly encourage all Marylanders to remain especially vigilant in the coming weeks to protect themselves against scams and identity theft.”Over 508,000 Potentially Fraudulent Claims Detected Since MayIn partnership with LexisNexis, the vendor selected through a competitive procurement process to provide identity verification and fraud detection services, it has been determined that 508,079 potentially fraudulent claims have been filed since the week ending May 8. Week Ending DateNumber of Fraudulent Claims DetectedMay 823,413May 1523,414May 2225,201May 29106,929June 5190,016June 12139,106Over 1.3 Million Claims Flagged and Investigated Confirmed as FraudulentWith aggressive security measures in place, Labor continues to investigate potentially fraudulent in-state and out-of-state claims. To date, 1,344,599 (92.23%) of claims flagged and investigated have been confirmed as fraudulent. Of the 339,083 out-of-state claims that have been identified as potentially fraudulent, 317,545 (93.65%) have either not uploaded the verification documentation requested or their documentation has been reviewed and denied.Of the 1,118,829 in-state claims that have been identified as potentially fraudulent, 1,027,054 (91.80%) have either not uploaded the verification documentation requested or their documentation has been reviewed and denied.Of the 1,457,912 total claims flagged, there are 37,088 (2.54%) in-state and out-of-state potentially fraudulent claims pending review.*Note that these numbers are subject to change as the department continues to flag potentially fraudulent claims. Labor continues to coordinate its investigation with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.Report Unemployment Insurance FraudIf you believe that your information has been used to fraudulently file an unemployment insurance claim, please contact the Division of Unemployment Insurance’s Benefit Payment Control Unit by completing a “Request for Investigation of Unemployment Insurance Fraud” form and emailing it to ui.fraud@maryland.gov. If you believe you have been a victim of identity theft, please read the Maryland State Police’s (MSP) Identity Theft Protection Quick Guide to find additional resources and learn more about the next steps you should take to protect your identity. For additional information about avoiding unemployment insurance scams, including those on social media, visit MSP’s press release. If an employer believes a fraudulent claim has been charged to their account, they should immediately file a benefit charge protest through their BEACON employer portal. The department will investigate their protest and will remove charges that are deemed fraudulent. For additional assistance, employers can contact the Employer Call Center by calling 410-949-0033. For more information, visit MDunemployment.com.-###-This email was sent to gopofkent@gmail.com using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Maryland Governor’s Press Office · 100 State Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401 |
The first link is to the Fox video clip.
The second link to the Washington Times tells a little about her very interesting story!
The attacks on Portland Police have led to an increase in violent crime. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)
Originally published in PJ Media
A staggering number of murders and shootings took place in Portland, Oregon, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis touched off violent riots across America. Many of the most violent riots occurred in Portland, and with police resources stretched thin, lawlessness increased exponentially across the city. The correlation could not be more clear—after Floyd’s death, the “defund the police” movement sprung up under misplaced motivations of social justice, and many people died unnecessarily. Floyd’s death, over Memorial Day weekend in 2020, created a clear demarcation after which murders and shootings skyrocketed in Portland.
Crime policy expert Sean Kennedy, a fellow at Maryland Public Policy Institute, crunched the numbers, based on Portland Police Bureau stats and media reports:
- Since June 2020, there has been a 255% increase in murder in Portland through February 2021;
- Shootings up 173%—by 551;
- Shootings increased 126% in 2020, and Year to Date have increased 93%.
- The numbers are truly alarming. From January through April 2020, there were a total of three murders in Portland. Just in January and February 2021, we’ve already seen 20 murders. For the period of June 2020 through February 2021, 71 murders have occurred in Portland. That’s a staggering 255% increase over the same period one year prior.
- Shooting statistics tell another grim tale. In the period of June 2020 through February 2021, 870 shootings occurred in Portland. For the same period one year prior, Portland saw 319 shootings. That’s a 173% increase.
- This is a crisis that the city of Portland and Multnomah County are not taking seriously.
- Kennedy notes that 53 people were murdered through the end of 2020, after Floyd’s death and the subsequent push to defund the police. He told PJ Media, after compiling the numbers:
The lawlessness that Portland experienced this summer directly contributed to the subsequent and dramatic increase in violence—especially homicides. Portland’s political leaders, including Mayor Wheeler and Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt’s contempt for law and order, disempowered and demoralized the police. The result is chaos and death. Over 50 Portlanders did not have to die but for the rhetoric and actions of local officials caving to the mob and attacking the police.
Law enforcement sources in Portland have repeatedly reported that they cannot respond to all violent crimes when the dual forces of defunding the police force and responding to nightly riots handcuff them. This crisis in police response times was highlighted in September when a home intruder locked a single father out of his home and held his 12-year old son hostage. The father called 911 and did not receive a response for over an hour and a half:
Henry Kirim had ducked out of his Southeast Portland apartment to search his car for a missing bank card when a strange man rushed into his ground-floor unit, closed the door and locked it.
Kirim’s 12-year-old son remained inside.
Kirim fumbled for his house key, thankful he had it on the same ring as his car key, and raced to open his apartment door.
“I was so scared,” he said.
The next 10 minutes unfolded in a blur on Aug. 22. The stranger grabbed a kitchen knife. Kirim’s petrified son managed to dart out of the apartment. Kirim followed and started yelling for neighbors to help. When the man eventually fled, several residents gave chase and cornered him nearby.
It took police more than 90 minutes to arrive. Just before an officer finally appeared, the suspect ran off. More than a half-dozen calls had come into 911 over the course of the bizarre ordeal. But that apparently didn’t speed the response.
Maybe that has spurred Mayor Wheeler into action. He asked for a partial restoration of police funding last week, to the tune of $2 million:
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, announced Thursday he would seek $2 million in one-time funding for police, other agencies and outreach programs to try to stem rampant gun violence in the city.
The move by Mayor Ted Wheeler represents an about-face after city leaders in June voted to cut nearly $16 million from the police budget, reductions that included the elimination of a gun violence reduction unit. The cuts came amid racial justice protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
It remains uncertain if the activists on the city council, such as Jo Ann Hardesty, will go along with the plan to try to rein in the violence in Portland.
Jeff Reynolds is the author of the book, “Behind the Curtain: Inside the Network of Progressive Billionaires and Their Campaign to Undermine Democracy,” available at www.WhoOwnsTheDems.com. Jeff hosts a podcast at anchor.fm/BehindTheCurtain. You can follow him on Twitter @ChargerJeff, on Parler at @RealJeffReynolds, and on Gab at @RealJeffReynolds.
March 17, 2021
Commentary
The Biden administration is scrambling to shelter thousands of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border from Central America. The media are declaring the crush at the border a “crisis.”
Truth is, this crisis could be heading to your school district. If your kids are in public school or you pay school taxes, you need to know the facts.
The media show photos of young migrant children. Don’t fall for that. Three-quarters of these unaccompanied minors are young men ages 15 to 17. Think tattoos, not teddy bears.
These teens are carrying the name and phone number of a relative in the United States who will sponsor them. A few weeks after surrendering to border officials, they’ll board buses to Los Angeles, Houston, or New York City—the three most frequent destinations—or elsewhere in the United States where their sponsor lives.
It’s the beginning of a hard road. The law requires them to go to school. But they’ve endured trauma on their trek and missed months or years of schooling. Few speak English, and many don’t know Spanish, only Mayan.
Their education will cost thousands of dollars a year more than for the average student because they’ll need linguistic experts, tutors, psychological counseling, vaccinations, and other support.
They also consume most of a classroom teacher’s attention, leaving the rest of the class to make do with less.
Even so, only 66 percent of students without English skills ever graduate.
They will struggle, but so will our own kids. This migration wave is hitting schools just as they’re reopening after the pandemic. Students have missed an entire year of school activities.
For school districts with tight budgets, the added costs of educating these young newcomers will mean an end to art classes, band and orchestra, and other enrichment activities.
School districts in four states will likely be most affected—Florida, California, Texas, and New York. But Connecticut also has Central American communities and will likely be receiving minors.
In 2014, New York City schools rolled out the red carpet for 1,662 migrants from Central America, committing a whopping $50 million for special programs. At the time, parents asked the question they should be asking again now: Why is the federal government allowing this influx of needy students when New York City already has challenges? Over half of city students read below grade level.
President Joe Biden seems oblivious. Last week, he announced a program to enable Central American children to apply for admission to the United States from their home country. That would spare them the dangerous trek. But it doesn’t alleviate the strain on our schools.
The Democratic Party pays lip service to reducing economic inequality. But their open border policy is doing the opposite—fostering a permanent underclass working for low wages.
In the Chicago suburbs, these young teens labor nights in meatpacking plants and auto parts plants, come home at 6 a.m. when their shift ends, and then go to school two hours later on almost no sleep, according to a ProPublica expose. No wonder they fall asleep in class and age out of high school before getting a diploma. The Dickensian era of child labor is being resurrected in our country today, thanks to open borders.
Teens who fail to get a diploma are almost doomed to poverty. Nearly half the Central American adult migrants in the United States don’t have a high school diploma. Their education levels are lower than other immigrants or the U.S.-born population. And no surprise, they are also poorer.
Worst of all, allowing this wave of migration to continue now will cripple our public schools and further set back our kids, just when they’re struggling to get back on the learning track.
Message to Biden: close the border, protect our schools, and put our own kids first.
Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D., is a political commentator, constitutional expert, syndicated columnist, and author of several books, including “The Obama Health Law: What It Says and How to Overturn,” and “The Next Pandemic.” She is also a former lieutenant governor of New York.
US NEWS
108 Illegal Immigrants Released by Border Patrol in Texas Tested Positive for COVID-19: Officials
BY JACK PHILLIPS March 3, 2021 Updated: March 3, 2021
More than 100 illegal immigrants released into Texas since late January by U.S. Border Patrol agents have tested positive for the CCP virus, which causes COVID-19, officials said.
Felipe Romero, a spokesperson for Brownsville, Texas, told Fox News that 108 migrants tested positive for the CCP virus since Jan. 25—when rapid testing began. That represents about 6.3 percent of the total undocumented migrants who were rapid-tested at Brownsville’s bus station, the official said.
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agency that oversees the Border Patrol, didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Romero told Fox that the city doesn’t have the authority to halt migrants who test positive for the virus from traveling anywhere else in the United States, although officials have advised them to quarantine and follow federal health guidelines.
“The City of Brownsville continues to follow all guidelines provided by the CDC and [Department of State Health Services] for COVID-19. The migrants who test positive at the B-Metro facility are advised of quarantine procedures and are asked to socially distance,” Romero also told Noticias Telemundo Investiga.
“There are several NGOs providing resources to a positive case,” he said to the outlet. “For example, organizations help with quarantine either in a shelter or at a hotel. Since the City started testing the migrants on January 25, there has been 6.3 percent of positive cases. The Cameron County positivity rate is 13.8 percent.”
Several illegal immigrants told Noticias Telemundo Investiga that they tested positive for the CCP virus after taking a rapid test in Brownsville, which is located near the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We were tested for COVID and they separated about eight of us because we were positive,” Miriam Izaguirre, of Honduras, told Noticias Telemundo Investiga on March 2. “We are waiting right now.” She was waiting to catch a bus to Houston.
Some illegal immigrants who told the network they had tested positive said they are planning to go to New Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina.
Eva Orellana, 29, told the outlet that she’s planning to go to North Carolina.
“On the way, we were wearing a mask all the time, gel, washing our hands,” she said. “Really, I don’t feel anything.”
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), whose congressional district lies partially on the border, told Fox News this week that the surge of migrants along the border may turn into a full-fledged crisis.
“It is not a crisis yet, but it will become a crisis,” Cuellar warned. “The numbers have been increasing, and as your report just said a few minutes ago, the numbers are just increasing every day. The number of unaccompanied kids, the number of families who are coming in are just increasing every day.
“In my district, just a couple of days ago: 166 people. And it goes on, and just different numbers are going up. So, it’s not a crisis yet, but it’s going to get there very soon.”
The Democrat noted that his concern isn’t just about the increase in migrants—but also the virus.
“You add COVID-19 on top of that. You add a lot of the border communities are not getting the vaccines fast enough. The fact they aren’t letting Mexican legal visa holders come across, but they’re letting undocumented people in, that does cause a concern to me and a lot of my border community leaders down there,” he said.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2021
Contact: Walter Smoloski, 202-225-5311
WASHINGTON, DC: Rep. Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01) today voted against H.R. 1, the For the People Act. The legislation would, among other actions:
– Create a taxpayer funded 600% small dollar match for campaign contributions to political candidates
– Force states to permanently implement mail-in voting
– Mandate “ballot harvesting”
– Disregard state voter ID laws for in-person and mail-in voting
– Nationalize federal elections, thereby removing a right mainly given to the States in the Constitution
– Automatically enroll voters via state motor vehicle and other government databases, leading to duplications, deceased voters being added, and even illegal immigrants
– Impair the ability of a state to correct their voter rolls
Congressman Harris made the following statement:
“Our nation just endured a contentious election, where many overreaching, probably unconstitutional last minute changes due to COVID-19 led to mass voting confusion, serious concerns about ballot integrity, and a large percentage of Americans questioning the legitimacy of some state results. This bill, instead of addressing those issues, is a complete federal overhaul of elections, and will only result in repeats of last November’s election woes. This bill is a partisan attempt to overhaul elections, and a complete sellout to the swamp, as it will aid embedded politicians by using hard-earned taxpayer dollars to fuel political campaigns. Shame on Congress.”
For media inquiries, please contact Congressman Harris’ Washington, DC office at 202-225-5311, or contact Walter Smoloski at Walter.Smoloski@mail.house.gov.