Committeeman Josiah Gattle Announces Candidacy for Chairman
Precinct Committeeman Josiah Gattle declared his candidacy for the BREC Chairmanship with the following email to fellow BREC Committee Members on Monday, November 12th:
Hello,
I am writing to you regarding the upcoming election for the leader of Brevard Republican Executive Committee. I know that you and several others have mentioned that there is a need to replace the current leadership of the BREC and keep the county Republican. I was initially skeptical, but after completing the campaign as the Field Organizer for the RPOF, I have become deeply concerned about the direction of the BREC.
Under the leadership of the current Chair, Rick Lacey, we seem to have relegated our legal responsibility of providing poll watchers or support for a candidate, while simultaneously creating deep rifts in the fabric of our party across Brevard. It was mentioned to me by several people during this campaign cycle that I should run for the chairmanship of BREC and that there was a movement afoot to bring the BREC back to functionality and leadership in the state. After serving in this campaign and seeing the need first hand, I feel compelled to offer myself to lead the committee.
Growing up in Brevard, I served on my first campaign in 2008 at age 16 stuffing envelopes for the soon to be Congressmen Bill Posey. I was happy to support a man who would be stepping into the shoes of Dave Weldon and continuing the legacy of conservative leadership in Brevard County. In 2010, I served as an intern working with Charles Steen and the RPOF thirty-five hours a week and while being a fulltime college student in order to help Marco Rubio and Rick Scott win their first terms. After the campaign, I joined the BREC and worked to improve my precinct and district becoming District 4 Vice Chair. During the 2012 campaign, I served on the campaign for Dave Weldon, my childhood hero, helping him run one of the most cost-effective campaigns in history. Later that year I was privileged to join the Texas Delegation at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Throughout my time in law school in Georgia, I continued to support conservative causes establishing a Young Americans for Liberty Club, being elected as Treasurer of the Republicans on campus, and serving as my class representative for 2 terms in the Student Bar Association. In August after returning to Florida, I gave Margaret Goudelock, RPOF Regional Field Director, a call and have worked every moment of every day for 4 months to see our party succeed in this election. Through this process, I remembered what I have always loved and desired to do which is help put good leaders in positions to succeed. Through this process, I built teams of youth who knocked on over 83,000 doors in our county and personally contacted over 20,000 voters through both phone calls and door knocking on our way to sweeping Brevard County. Our hard work paid off in achieving a 75.8% turnout among Republicans this year and thus guaranteeing victory for our Brevard Republican slate across the board.
Through this process, Rick Lacey was notably absent. Every time we needed him, he was nowhere to be found. Every time there was a photo op, there were not enough cameras to be chased. Rick Lacey was happy to tell others to phone bank, not doing so himself. Rick Lacey was happy to tell others to door knock but left after the photo op to rub elbows with the next group. Rick Lacey loved the concept of being chair, but when opportunities came dressed in overalls and looked like work, he was nowhere to be found. In recent days, he has stooped to canceling the November meeting to thwart challengers and retain the chair for himself. Throughout these final days of his term, there have been uncoordinated calls to action and last-minute emails to be able to say he did something, but the truth remains that when we have needed his leadership, Rick Lacey was nowhere to be found. Due to this void of leadership and the obstruction of normal election proceedings I am contacting you directly to offer my candidacy for Chair.
I know that I am young, but I have been doing the work in Brevard for Republicans and the conservative movement for 10 years. I am answering the call for leadership to restore the Party in Brevard. I will continue to do the work, so our elected officials and candidates can finally feel the support that they deserve from our party in Brevard County. I want to build this party and enable our candidates to succeed. I would like to ask for your support in running for the chairmanship of the Brevard Republican Executive Committee to do the work of being Chairman, building others and positioning our party for success both in the off year and in 2020.
Josiah Gattle
321-806-5862
josiahmgattle@gmail.com
Why Do People Support Donald Trump?
Migrants and refugees flooding into Europe have presented European leaders and policymakers with their greatest challenge since the debt crisis. The International Organization for Migration calls Europe the most dangerous destination for irregular migration in the world, and the Mediterranean the world’s most dangerous border crossing.
Distinguishing migrants from asylum seekers and refugees is not always a clear-cut process, yet it is a crucial designation because these groups are entitled to different levels of assistance and protection under international law.
An asylum seeker is defined as a person fleeing persecution or conflict, and therefore seeking international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention on the Status of Refugees; a refugee is an asylum seeker whose claim has been approved. However, the UN considers migrants fleeing war or persecution to be refugees, even before they officially receive asylum. (Syrian and Eritrean nationals, for example, enjoy prima facie refugee status.) An economic migrant, by contrast, is person whose primary motivation for leaving his or her home country is economic gain. The term migrant is seen as an umbrella term for all three groups. Said another way: all refugees are migrants, but not all migrants are refugees.
Both the burden and the sharing are in the eye of the beholder. I don’t know if any EU country will ever find the equity that is being sought
Migrant detention centers across the continent, including in France, Greece, and Italy have all invited charges of abuse and neglect over the years. Many rights groups contend that a number of these detention centers violate Article III (PDF) of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment.
In contrast, migrants in the richer north and west find comparatively well-run asylum centers and generous resettlement policies. But these harder-to-reach countries often cater to migrants who have the wherewithal to navigate entry-point states with safe air passage with the assistance of smugglers.
These countries still remain inaccessible to many migrants seeking international protection. As with the sovereign debt crisis, national interests have consistently trumped a common European response to this migrant influx.
Some experts say the block’s increasingly polarized political climate, in which many nationalist, anti-immigrant parties are gaining traction, is partially to blame for the muted humanitarian response from some states. France and Denmark have also cited security concerns as justification for their reluctance in accepting migrants from the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in the wake of the Paris and Copenhagen terrorist shootings.
The backdrop is the difficulty that many European countries have in integrating minorities into the social mainstream”
Underscoring this point, leaders of eastern European states like Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic have all recently expressed a strong preference for non-Muslim migrants. In August 2015, Slovakia announced that it would only accept Christian refugees from Syria. While selecting migrants based on religion is in clear violation of the EU’s non-discrimination laws, these leaders have defended their policies by pointing to their own constituencies discomfort with growing Muslim communities.
The recent economic crisis has also spurred a demographic shift across the continent, with citizens of crisis-hit member states migrating to the north and west in record numbers in search of work. Some experts say Germany and Sweden’s open immigration policies also make economic sense, given Europe’s demographic trajectory (PDF) of declining birth rates and ageing populations. Migrants, they argue, could boost Europe’s economies as workers, taxpayers, and consumers, and help shore up its famed social safety nets.
In August 2015, Germany announced that it was suspending Dublin for Syrian asylum seekers, which effectively stopped deportations of Syrians back to their European country of entry. This move by the block’s largest and wealthiest member country was seen as an important gesture of solidarity with entry-point states. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also warned that the future of Schengen was at risk unless all EU member states did their part to find a more equitable distribution of migrants.
Germany reinstated temporary border controls along its border with Austria in September 2015, after receiving an estimated forty thousand migrants over one weekend. Implemented on the eve of an emergency migration summit, this move was seen by many experts as a signal to other member states about the pressing need for an EU-wide quota system. Austria, the Netherlands, and Slovakia soon followed with their own border controls. These developments have been called the greatest blow to Schengen in its twenty-year existence.
In September 2015, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced plans to revisit a migrant quota system for the block’s twenty-two participating members.
Some policymakers have called for asylum centers to be built in North Africa and the Middle East to enable refugees to apply for asylum without undertaking perilous journeys across the Mediterranean, as well as cutting down on the number of irregular migrants arriving on European shores. However, critics of this plan argue that the sheer number of applicants expected at such hot spots could further destabilize already fragile states.
Other policies floated by the European Commission include drawing up a common safe-countries list that would help countries expedite asylum applications and, where needed, deportations. Most vulnerable to this procedural change are migrants from the Balkans, which lodged 40 percent of the total asylum applications received by Germany in the first six months of 2015. However, some human rights groups have questioned the methodology used by several countries in drawing up these lists and, more critically, cautioned that such lists could violate asylum seekers rights.
The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race Cheat Sheet
Migrants and refugees flooding into Europe have presented European leaders and policymakers with their greatest challenge since the debt crisis. The International Organization for Migration calls Europe the most dangerous destination for irregular migration in the world, and the Mediterranean the world’s most dangerous border crossing.
Distinguishing migrants from asylum seekers and refugees is not always a clear-cut process, yet it is a crucial designation because these groups are entitled to different levels of assistance and protection under international law.
An asylum seeker is defined as a person fleeing persecution or conflict, and therefore seeking international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention on the Status of Refugees; a refugee is an asylum seeker whose claim has been approved. However, the UN considers migrants fleeing war or persecution to be refugees, even before they officially receive asylum. (Syrian and Eritrean nationals, for example, enjoy prima facie refugee status.) An economic migrant, by contrast, is person whose primary motivation for leaving his or her home country is economic gain. The term migrant is seen as an umbrella term for all three groups. Said another way: all refugees are migrants, but not all migrants are refugees.
Both the burden and the sharing are in the eye of the beholder. I don’t know if any EU country will ever find the equity that is being sought
Migrant detention centers across the continent, including in France, Greece, and Italy have all invited charges of abuse and neglect over the years. Many rights groups contend that a number of these detention centers violate Article III (PDF) of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment.
In contrast, migrants in the richer north and west find comparatively well-run asylum centers and generous resettlement policies. But these harder-to-reach countries often cater to migrants who have the wherewithal to navigate entry-point states with safe air passage with the assistance of smugglers.
These countries still remain inaccessible to many migrants seeking international protection. As with the sovereign debt crisis, national interests have consistently trumped a common European response to this migrant influx.
Some experts say the block’s increasingly polarized political climate, in which many nationalist, anti-immigrant parties are gaining traction, is partially to blame for the muted humanitarian response from some states. France and Denmark have also cited security concerns as justification for their reluctance in accepting migrants from the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in the wake of the Paris and Copenhagen terrorist shootings.
The backdrop is the difficulty that many European countries have in integrating minorities into the social mainstream”
Underscoring this point, leaders of eastern European states like Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic have all recently expressed a strong preference for non-Muslim migrants. In August 2015, Slovakia announced that it would only accept Christian refugees from Syria. While selecting migrants based on religion is in clear violation of the EU’s non-discrimination laws, these leaders have defended their policies by pointing to their own constituencies discomfort with growing Muslim communities.
The recent economic crisis has also spurred a demographic shift across the continent, with citizens of crisis-hit member states migrating to the north and west in record numbers in search of work. Some experts say Germany and Sweden’s open immigration policies also make economic sense, given Europe’s demographic trajectory (PDF) of declining birth rates and ageing populations. Migrants, they argue, could boost Europe’s economies as workers, taxpayers, and consumers, and help shore up its famed social safety nets.
In August 2015, Germany announced that it was suspending Dublin for Syrian asylum seekers, which effectively stopped deportations of Syrians back to their European country of entry. This move by the block’s largest and wealthiest member country was seen as an important gesture of solidarity with entry-point states. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also warned that the future of Schengen was at risk unless all EU member states did their part to find a more equitable distribution of migrants.
Germany reinstated temporary border controls along its border with Austria in September 2015, after receiving an estimated forty thousand migrants over one weekend. Implemented on the eve of an emergency migration summit, this move was seen by many experts as a signal to other member states about the pressing need for an EU-wide quota system. Austria, the Netherlands, and Slovakia soon followed with their own border controls. These developments have been called the greatest blow to Schengen in its twenty-year existence.
In September 2015, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced plans to revisit a migrant quota system for the block’s twenty-two participating members.
Some policymakers have called for asylum centers to be built in North Africa and the Middle East to enable refugees to apply for asylum without undertaking perilous journeys across the Mediterranean, as well as cutting down on the number of irregular migrants arriving on European shores. However, critics of this plan argue that the sheer number of applicants expected at such hot spots could further destabilize already fragile states.
Other policies floated by the European Commission include drawing up a common safe-countries list that would help countries expedite asylum applications and, where needed, deportations. Most vulnerable to this procedural change are migrants from the Balkans, which lodged 40 percent of the total asylum applications received by Germany in the first six months of 2015. However, some human rights groups have questioned the methodology used by several countries in drawing up these lists and, more critically, cautioned that such lists could violate asylum seekers rights.
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Migrants and refugees flooding into Europe have presented European leaders and policymakers with their greatest challenge since the debt crisis. The International Organization for Migration calls Europe the most dangerous destination for irregular migration in the world, and the Mediterranean the world’s most dangerous border crossing.
Distinguishing migrants from asylum seekers and refugees is not always a clear-cut process, yet it is a crucial designation because these groups are entitled to different levels of assistance and protection under international law.
An asylum seeker is defined as a person fleeing persecution or conflict, and therefore seeking international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention on the Status of Refugees; a refugee is an asylum seeker whose claim has been approved. However, the UN considers migrants fleeing war or persecution to be refugees, even before they officially receive asylum. (Syrian and Eritrean nationals, for example, enjoy prima facie refugee status.) An economic migrant, by contrast, is person whose primary motivation for leaving his or her home country is economic gain. The term migrant is seen as an umbrella term for all three groups. Said another way: all refugees are migrants, but not all migrants are refugees.
Both the burden and the sharing are in the eye of the beholder. I don’t know if any EU country will ever find the equity that is being sought
Migrant detention centers across the continent, including in France, Greece, and Italy have all invited charges of abuse and neglect over the years. Many rights groups contend that a number of these detention centers violate Article III (PDF) of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment.
In contrast, migrants in the richer north and west find comparatively well-run asylum centers and generous resettlement policies. But these harder-to-reach countries often cater to migrants who have the wherewithal to navigate entry-point states with safe air passage with the assistance of smugglers.
These countries still remain inaccessible to many migrants seeking international protection. As with the sovereign debt crisis, national interests have consistently trumped a common European response to this migrant influx.
Some experts say the block’s increasingly polarized political climate, in which many nationalist, anti-immigrant parties are gaining traction, is partially to blame for the muted humanitarian response from some states. France and Denmark have also cited security concerns as justification for their reluctance in accepting migrants from the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in the wake of the Paris and Copenhagen terrorist shootings.
The backdrop is the difficulty that many European countries have in integrating minorities into the social mainstream”
Underscoring this point, leaders of eastern European states like Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic have all recently expressed a strong preference for non-Muslim migrants. In August 2015, Slovakia announced that it would only accept Christian refugees from Syria. While selecting migrants based on religion is in clear violation of the EU’s non-discrimination laws, these leaders have defended their policies by pointing to their own constituencies discomfort with growing Muslim communities.
The recent economic crisis has also spurred a demographic shift across the continent, with citizens of crisis-hit member states migrating to the north and west in record numbers in search of work. Some experts say Germany and Sweden’s open immigration policies also make economic sense, given Europe’s demographic trajectory (PDF) of declining birth rates and ageing populations. Migrants, they argue, could boost Europe’s economies as workers, taxpayers, and consumers, and help shore up its famed social safety nets.
In August 2015, Germany announced that it was suspending Dublin for Syrian asylum seekers, which effectively stopped deportations of Syrians back to their European country of entry. This move by the block’s largest and wealthiest member country was seen as an important gesture of solidarity with entry-point states. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also warned that the future of Schengen was at risk unless all EU member states did their part to find a more equitable distribution of migrants.
Germany reinstated temporary border controls along its border with Austria in September 2015, after receiving an estimated forty thousand migrants over one weekend. Implemented on the eve of an emergency migration summit, this move was seen by many experts as a signal to other member states about the pressing need for an EU-wide quota system. Austria, the Netherlands, and Slovakia soon followed with their own border controls. These developments have been called the greatest blow to Schengen in its twenty-year existence.
In September 2015, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced plans to revisit a migrant quota system for the block’s twenty-two participating members.
Some policymakers have called for asylum centers to be built in North Africa and the Middle East to enable refugees to apply for asylum without undertaking perilous journeys across the Mediterranean, as well as cutting down on the number of irregular migrants arriving on European shores. However, critics of this plan argue that the sheer number of applicants expected at such hot spots could further destabilize already fragile states.
Other policies floated by the European Commission include drawing up a common safe-countries list that would help countries expedite asylum applications and, where needed, deportations. Most vulnerable to this procedural change are migrants from the Balkans, which lodged 40 percent of the total asylum applications received by Germany in the first six months of 2015. However, some human rights groups have questioned the methodology used by several countries in drawing up these lists and, more critically, cautioned that such lists could violate asylum seekers rights.
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Migrants and refugees flooding into Europe have presented European leaders and policymakers with their greatest challenge since the debt crisis. The International Organization for Migration calls Europe the most dangerous destination for irregular migration in the world, and the Mediterranean the world’s most dangerous border crossing.
Distinguishing migrants from asylum seekers and refugees is not always a clear-cut process, yet it is a crucial designation because these groups are entitled to different levels of assistance and protection under international law.
An asylum seeker is defined as a person fleeing persecution or conflict, and therefore seeking international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention on the Status of Refugees; a refugee is an asylum seeker whose claim has been approved. However, the UN considers migrants fleeing war or persecution to be refugees, even before they officially receive asylum. (Syrian and Eritrean nationals, for example, enjoy prima facie refugee status.) An economic migrant, by contrast, is person whose primary motivation for leaving his or her home country is economic gain. The term migrant is seen as an umbrella term for all three groups. Said another way: all refugees are migrants, but not all migrants are refugees.
Both the burden and the sharing are in the eye of the beholder. I don’t know if any EU country will ever find the equity that is being sought
Migrant detention centers across the continent, including in France, Greece, and Italy have all invited charges of abuse and neglect over the years. Many rights groups contend that a number of these detention centers violate Article III (PDF) of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment.
In contrast, migrants in the richer north and west find comparatively well-run asylum centers and generous resettlement policies. But these harder-to-reach countries often cater to migrants who have the wherewithal to navigate entry-point states with safe air passage with the assistance of smugglers.
These countries still remain inaccessible to many migrants seeking international protection. As with the sovereign debt crisis, national interests have consistently trumped a common European response to this migrant influx.
Some experts say the block’s increasingly polarized political climate, in which many nationalist, anti-immigrant parties are gaining traction, is partially to blame for the muted humanitarian response from some states. France and Denmark have also cited security concerns as justification for their reluctance in accepting migrants from the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in the wake of the Paris and Copenhagen terrorist shootings.
The backdrop is the difficulty that many European countries have in integrating minorities into the social mainstream”
Underscoring this point, leaders of eastern European states like Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic have all recently expressed a strong preference for non-Muslim migrants. In August 2015, Slovakia announced that it would only accept Christian refugees from Syria. While selecting migrants based on religion is in clear violation of the EU’s non-discrimination laws, these leaders have defended their policies by pointing to their own constituencies discomfort with growing Muslim communities.
The recent economic crisis has also spurred a demographic shift across the continent, with citizens of crisis-hit member states migrating to the north and west in record numbers in search of work. Some experts say Germany and Sweden’s open immigration policies also make economic sense, given Europe’s demographic trajectory (PDF) of declining birth rates and ageing populations. Migrants, they argue, could boost Europe’s economies as workers, taxpayers, and consumers, and help shore up its famed social safety nets.
In August 2015, Germany announced that it was suspending Dublin for Syrian asylum seekers, which effectively stopped deportations of Syrians back to their European country of entry. This move by the block’s largest and wealthiest member country was seen as an important gesture of solidarity with entry-point states. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also warned that the future of Schengen was at risk unless all EU member states did their part to find a more equitable distribution of migrants.
Germany reinstated temporary border controls along its border with Austria in September 2015, after receiving an estimated forty thousand migrants over one weekend. Implemented on the eve of an emergency migration summit, this move was seen by many experts as a signal to other member states about the pressing need for an EU-wide quota system. Austria, the Netherlands, and Slovakia soon followed with their own border controls. These developments have been called the greatest blow to Schengen in its twenty-year existence.
In September 2015, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced plans to revisit a migrant quota system for the block’s twenty-two participating members.
Some policymakers have called for asylum centers to be built in North Africa and the Middle East to enable refugees to apply for asylum without undertaking perilous journeys across the Mediterranean, as well as cutting down on the number of irregular migrants arriving on European shores. However, critics of this plan argue that the sheer number of applicants expected at such hot spots could further destabilize already fragile states.
Other policies floated by the European Commission include drawing up a common safe-countries list that would help countries expedite asylum applications and, where needed, deportations. Most vulnerable to this procedural change are migrants from the Balkans, which lodged 40 percent of the total asylum applications received by Germany in the first six months of 2015. However, some human rights groups have questioned the methodology used by several countries in drawing up these lists and, more critically, cautioned that such lists could violate asylum seekers rights.
Ben Carson Is Running for President
Migrants and refugees flooding into Europe have presented European leaders and policymakers with their greatest challenge since the debt crisis. The International Organization for Migration calls Europe the most dangerous destination for irregular migration in the world, and the Mediterranean the world’s most dangerous border crossing.
Distinguishing migrants from asylum seekers and refugees is not always a clear-cut process, yet it is a crucial designation because these groups are entitled to different levels of assistance and protection under international law.
An asylum seeker is defined as a person fleeing persecution or conflict, and therefore seeking international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention on the Status of Refugees; a refugee is an asylum seeker whose claim has been approved. However, the UN considers migrants fleeing war or persecution to be refugees, even before they officially receive asylum. (Syrian and Eritrean nationals, for example, enjoy prima facie refugee status.) An economic migrant, by contrast, is person whose primary motivation for leaving his or her home country is economic gain. The term migrant is seen as an umbrella term for all three groups. Said another way: all refugees are migrants, but not all migrants are refugees.
Both the burden and the sharing are in the eye of the beholder. I don’t know if any EU country will ever find the equity that is being sought
Migrant detention centers across the continent, including in France, Greece, and Italy have all invited charges of abuse and neglect over the years. Many rights groups contend that a number of these detention centers violate Article III (PDF) of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment.
In contrast, migrants in the richer north and west find comparatively well-run asylum centers and generous resettlement policies. But these harder-to-reach countries often cater to migrants who have the wherewithal to navigate entry-point states with safe air passage with the assistance of smugglers.
These countries still remain inaccessible to many migrants seeking international protection. As with the sovereign debt crisis, national interests have consistently trumped a common European response to this migrant influx.
Some experts say the block’s increasingly polarized political climate, in which many nationalist, anti-immigrant parties are gaining traction, is partially to blame for the muted humanitarian response from some states. France and Denmark have also cited security concerns as justification for their reluctance in accepting migrants from the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in the wake of the Paris and Copenhagen terrorist shootings.
The backdrop is the difficulty that many European countries have in integrating minorities into the social mainstream”
Underscoring this point, leaders of eastern European states like Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic have all recently expressed a strong preference for non-Muslim migrants. In August 2015, Slovakia announced that it would only accept Christian refugees from Syria. While selecting migrants based on religion is in clear violation of the EU’s non-discrimination laws, these leaders have defended their policies by pointing to their own constituencies discomfort with growing Muslim communities.
The recent economic crisis has also spurred a demographic shift across the continent, with citizens of crisis-hit member states migrating to the north and west in record numbers in search of work. Some experts say Germany and Sweden’s open immigration policies also make economic sense, given Europe’s demographic trajectory (PDF) of declining birth rates and ageing populations. Migrants, they argue, could boost Europe’s economies as workers, taxpayers, and consumers, and help shore up its famed social safety nets.
In August 2015, Germany announced that it was suspending Dublin for Syrian asylum seekers, which effectively stopped deportations of Syrians back to their European country of entry. This move by the block’s largest and wealthiest member country was seen as an important gesture of solidarity with entry-point states. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also warned that the future of Schengen was at risk unless all EU member states did their part to find a more equitable distribution of migrants.
Germany reinstated temporary border controls along its border with Austria in September 2015, after receiving an estimated forty thousand migrants over one weekend. Implemented on the eve of an emergency migration summit, this move was seen by many experts as a signal to other member states about the pressing need for an EU-wide quota system. Austria, the Netherlands, and Slovakia soon followed with their own border controls. These developments have been called the greatest blow to Schengen in its twenty-year existence.
In September 2015, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced plans to revisit a migrant quota system for the block’s twenty-two participating members.
Some policymakers have called for asylum centers to be built in North Africa and the Middle East to enable refugees to apply for asylum without undertaking perilous journeys across the Mediterranean, as well as cutting down on the number of irregular migrants arriving on European shores. However, critics of this plan argue that the sheer number of applicants expected at such hot spots could further destabilize already fragile states.
Other policies floated by the European Commission include drawing up a common safe-countries list that would help countries expedite asylum applications and, where needed, deportations. Most vulnerable to this procedural change are migrants from the Balkans, which lodged 40 percent of the total asylum applications received by Germany in the first six months of 2015. However, some human rights groups have questioned the methodology used by several countries in drawing up these lists and, more critically, cautioned that such lists could violate asylum seekers rights.
Governor-elect DeSantis Transition Announces Staff Hires
Tallahassee, FL – Today, Governor-elect Ron DeSantis’ Transition Team announced key staff recruited to lead transition operations for the Governor-elect. James Blair, Chris Clark, Drew Meiner, Amanda Emmons, Ben Gibson, Dave Vasquez, and Claire Whitehead will serve among the first hires of the operation.
“We are excited to announce this great team of professionals who will help us build a larger staffing framework to serve Governor-elect DeSantis,” said Transition Executive Director Susie Wiles. “This team will not only be dedicated to Governor-elect DeSantis and his administration, but also to the State of Florida, as we work together to establish an administration to secure Florida’s future.”
James Blair, Director of Policy
The longtime advisor to House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Enterprise Florida board member will serve as Director of Policy for the transition efforts.
Chris Clark, Director of Recruiting
The longtime advisor to Governor Bush and former Chief of Staff to Florida Senate President Don Gaetz will serve as Director of Recruiting for the transition.
Drew Meiner, Director of Operations
The former Deputy Campaign Manager for Operations of the DeSantis campaign and recent Deputy District Director for DeSantis’ Congressional office will serve as Director of Operations for the transition.
Amanda Emmons, Director of Scheduling
The Former staff assistant for Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and DeSantis campaign aide will serve as Director of Scheduling for the DeSantis Transition team.
Ben Gibson, General Counsel
Longtime Deputy General Counsel to Governor Rick Scott and current Partner at Shutts & Bowen LLP will serve as General Counsel to the DeSantis Transition.
Dave Vasquez, Press Secretary
The former campaign manager to Rep. Bob Cortes and longtime DeSantis communications aide will serve as Press Secretary for the transition team.
Claire Whitehead, Assistant to Incoming First Lady
The former Appointments analyst and Regional Representative for Governor Rick Scott will serve as assistant to Incoming First Lady Casey DeSantis.
###
TRANSITION CONTACT: Dave Vasquez, (727) 504-4676
RPOF CAMPAIGN CONTACT: Meredith Beatrice, (850) 688-5405
Governor-Elect DeSantis Transition Announces Staff Hires
Tallahassee, FL – Today, Governor-elect Ron DeSantis’ Transition Team announced key staff recruited to lead transition operations for the Governor-elect. James Blair, Chris Clark, Drew Meiner, Amanda Emmons, Ben Gibson, Dave Vasquez, and Claire Whitehead will serve among the first hires of the operation.
“We are excited to announce this great team of professionals who will help us build a larger staffing framework to serve Governor-elect DeSantis,” said Transition Executive Director Susie Wiles. “This team will not only be dedicated to Governor-elect DeSantis and his administration, but also to the State of Florida, as we work together to establish an administration to secure Florida’s future.”
James Blair, Director of Policy
The longtime advisor to House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Enterprise Florida board member will serve as Director of Policy for the transition efforts.
Chris Clark, Director of Recruiting
The longtime advisor to Governor Bush and former Chief of Staff to Florida Senate President Don Gaetz will serve as Director of Recruiting for the transition.
Drew Meiner, Director of Operations
The former Deputy Campaign Manager for Operations of the DeSantis campaign and recent Deputy District Director for DeSantis’ Congressional office will serve as Director of Operations for the transition.
Amanda Emmons, Director of Scheduling
The Former staff assistant for Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and DeSantis campaign aide will serve as Director of Scheduling for the DeSantis Transition team.
Ben Gibson, General Counsel
Longtime Deputy General Counsel to Governor Rick Scott and current Partner at Shutts & Bowen LLP will serve as General Counsel to the DeSantis Transition.
Dave Vasquez, Press Secretary
The former campaign manager to Rep. Bob Cortes and longtime DeSantis communications aide will serve as Press Secretary for the transition team.
Claire Whitehead, Assistant to Incoming First Lady
The former Appointments analyst and Regional Representative for Governor Rick Scott will serve as assistant to Incoming First Lady Casey DeSantis.
Governor-elect Ron DeSantis Statement on Election Returns
Jacksonville, Fla. – Governor-elect Ron DeSantis today released the following video statement regarding the first unofficial election returns submitted to the Department of State. Click on the image below to watch the statement.
At noon, today, Supervisors of Elections from across the state submitted their election returns to the Secretary of State.
Those results are clear and unambiguous, just as they were on Election Night, and I am honored by the trust that Floridians have placed in me to serve as your next governor.
I want to express my appreciation to the supervisors, the canvassing boards, and the staffs for working hard to ensure that all lawful votes are counted in this election.
It is important that everyone involved in the election process strictly adhere to the rule of law which is the foundation for our nation.
Since the election a few days ago, we have begun our transition efforts to build an administration that can secure Florida’s future.
With the election behind us, it’s now time to come together as a state as we prepare to serve all Floridians.
Since Tuesday night, that is what I have been doing and that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead as I prepare to take office as the 46th Governor of the State of Florida.
I’m honored by the trust you’ve placed in me.
May God bless you, and may God bless our great state of Florida.
