DV Journal

Behind Attorney General Dave Sunday’s friendly demeanor is a no-nonsense lawman elected in November to be Pennsylvania’s chief law enforcement officer–a workhorse, not a show pony.

In a recent interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday said he doesn’t mind being a boring attorney general.

“We have a lot of people in this world that are very performative in the way that they do their job,” Sunday told DVJournal in a podcast interview. “And so I have a lot of pride in the fact that I focus on the daily grind of what it takes to keep people safe. And so I’m the type of guy, you’re not going to see a million tweets out of me. You’re not going to see me just screaming and yelling for the sake of doing it.

“I don’t mind being the guy who just gets the job done and provides outcomes, and not the guy who is just talking about it all day long and trying to make a lot of noise,” said Sunday. “And I’m not really calling anyone specifically out. I’m just stating that I think we need to get back to a place where we reward outcomes.”

Recently, in Washington, D.C., Sunday attended a meeting with other Republican state attorneys general, President Donald Trump, and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, to talk about keeping Americans safe. Sunday, the former York County district attorney, spoke about the fentanyl problem afterward.

“One of the reasons I ran for Attorney General in the first place is because of the devastation that I’ve seen, um, in our communities with families, with children, everybody, from the opioid epidemic…has now morphed into fentanyl.”

That drug is “one hundred times more potent than the traditional heroin that people were using,” said Sunday. “It’s so powerful. A few little specks can cause someone to die.”

Even though Trump has closed the border, there is “a lot (of fentanyl) already in the system.”

Asked whether he’ll help Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforce border laws, Sunday said he will.

“We will work with our federal partners anytime an issue comes up,” said Sunday. “I mean, honestly, this really comes down very simply to enforcing the law, right? And it’s that simple.”

Sunday joined 25 other state attorney generals in signing a friend of the court brief in support of Trump’s deportation of dangerous Tren de Aragua gang members.

Sunday noted the Biden administration had designated the gang a “transnational criminal organization. And the Trump administration took it a step further and said they are a foreign terrorist organization.”

Those gang members have committed crimes in at least 16 states, including Pennsylvania, Sunday said.

“So, the Trump administration acted within its constitutional and statutory authority to remove that violent gang,” said Sunday. “That’s what I weighed in on,” not whether “it’s appropriate to violate a court order.”

A federal judge had ordered the justice department to turn around planes carrying those gang members to a prison in El Salvador.

DV Journal asked Sunday about progressive Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and whether he would use a proposed state law to take over some prosecutions from him.

“Throughout the entirety of my campaign, I made it very clear that I would work with the Philadelphia district attorney to the extent that he would be willing to work with me to achieve public safety,” said Sunday.

Sunday said he’s cracking down on Medicaid fraud. A report showed Pennsylvania had more Medicaid fraud prosecutions than any other state.  He noted that with Medicaid fraud, it’s taxpayers’ money was being stolen.

Delaware Valley U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Delaware) is one of the three House Democrats leading the defense of a Syrian immigrant facing deportation over leadership role in antisemitic protests at Columbia University, comparing his treatment to “McCarthyism.”

Mahmoud Khalil is a former Columbia student and current green card holder who’s been an outspoken participant in the anti-Israel campus protests, including illegal encampments and angry encounters that left some Jewish students afraid to attend class.

Khalil has been targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, and he’s currently in federal custody. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who’s overseeing the deportation effort, points to the green card holder’s public support for the terror group Hamas, including handing out pro-Hamas fliers and celebrating the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack that left more than 1,200 dead in Israel.

“When you apply for a student visa or any visa to enter the United States, we have a right to deny you for virtually any reason. But I think being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down, being complicit in what are clearly crimes, vandalization, complicit in shutting down institutions,” Rubio said. “If you told us that’s what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in. And if you do it once you get in, we’re going to revoke it and kick you out.”

Progressives are outraged, calling Khalil’s detention an attack on free speech and a sign of encroaching fascism. Hundreds poured into Trump Tower in New York City Thursday to protest the Trump administration’s actions. Nearly 100 were arrested.

Scanlon has joined far-left Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) in a letter to Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem supporting Khalil.

According to Jewish Insider, more than 100 Democrats have signed onto the letter, which “does not mention or acknowledge the specific nature of Khalil’s activities on Columbia’s campus, including his involvement with the anti-Israel encampment and the alleged distribution of pro-Hamas pamphlets at a protest he helped organize,” the outlet reports.

“We express our grave concern over the constitutionally dubious use of an obsolete Cold War era section of the Immigration and Nationality Act to have federal agents pick up a lawful permanent resident at his home, arrest him and detain him for exercising his First Amendment Rights,” the letter said.

The letter continues to say the Trump administration’s “maneuver evokes the Alien and Sedition Acts and McCarthyism.”

“Weaponizing the immigration system to crush and chill protected free speech puts our nation on the side of authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping,” the authors wrote.

Supporters of his deportation say Khalil’s problem isn’t his speech but rather his behavior. As City Journal reports:

“Videos appear to show Khalil standing with a bullhorn near the library’s entrance surrounded by keffiyeh-masked disruptors. The gathering featured propaganda bearing the label ‘Hamas Media Office,’ including a booklet celebrating the Oct. 7 massacre entitled, ‘Our Narrative . . . Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.'”

Rabbi Matt Abelson, a member of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia, said, “Under the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, Secretary of State Rubio can make the decision to detain Mahmoud Khalil. That’s not in dispute. The court will render a decision, and I trust that decision will be reasonable. That Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon would take the lead in circulating a letter condemning Khalil’s detention is consistent with the votes she has cast post 10/7, which have emboldened Hamas and its supporters on college campuses.”

Pro-Hamas demonstrations, encampments and marches occurred on many American campuses since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks on Israel that took the lives of 1,200 innocent Israelis. Another 200 were taken hostage.

Columbia was at the forefront of these demonstrations, with more than 100 people arrested. Locally, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple, Swarthmore, and Haverford have all weathered pro-Palestinian protests.

Protesters have threatened Jewish students and antisemitism is on the rise.

President Donald Trump promised to protect Jewish students’ civil rights and told some 60 colleges and universities, including Swarthmore, to protect their Jewish students or else.

The administration has canceled $400,000 in grants to Columbia.

Fellow Pennsylvania Democrat U.S. Sen. John Fetterman has a very different view than Scanlon.

Responding to congressional Democrats who posted “Free Mahmoud Khalil” on social media, Fetterman wrote, “Free all the hostages who have been tortured, starved, raped, beaten and STILL in tunnels in Gaza by Hamas since October 7th, 2023.”

Immigration lawyer and pundit Christine Flowers said, “The people who are attempting to make Mahmoud Khalil a victim of some fascist plot to deny an immigrant his First Amendment rights don’t understand the law and are ignorant of the facts. Khalil is not being targeted because of anything he said. If anything, his words are innocuous and more or less similar to the ridiculous rhetoric of the Pro-Palestinian agitators, who throw around the word genocide as some trendy hashtag on social media.

“While none of us know all of the facts, suffice it to say that Khalil is receiving more due process than the victims of Oct. 7 received, and what he would receive in most Middle Eastern countries that have refused to condemn Hamas,” Flowers added.

(This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty.)

To protest the recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and operations ordered by President Trump, some businesses in Philadelphia and across the country protested against the president’s deportation of illegal immigrant criminals with a “Day Without Immigrants” on February 3rd.

The anti-Trumpers urged illegal immigrants to forgo reporting to work, attending classes, and spending money, which they claim will point out dramatically just how vital illegal immigrants are to the American economy.

The protest did not cause a ripple in the economy. And one should note that the illegal immigrants that ICE is deporting are hardly working honest jobs or attending classes. They are mostly hardened criminals who are preying on American citizens, just as they preyed on innocent victims in the counties they fled.

Who are the illegals getting the boot from the United States?

On January 25th, ICE in Philadelphia removed Raymundo Rojas Bacilio, a Mexican citizen. Rojas is a foreign fugitive wanted by law enforcement authorities in Mexico for rape.

“The removal of the criminal alien Raymundo Rojas Bacilio, a sexual predator, underscores the critical importance of our enforcement actions. His repeated illegal entries into the United States and his heinous criminal acts posed a significant threat to the safety and security of our communities,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia acting Field Office Director Brian McShane. “This removal demonstrates that we will relentlessly pursue and remove those who endanger the American public.”

According to ICE, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Rojas near Nogales, Arizona on January 6, 2012, for entering the United States without admission or parole by an immigration official. The Border Patrol served him with a notice and order of expedited removal, charging inadmissibility, and removed him from the to Mexico.

Border Patrol agents arrested Rojas near Nogales, Arizona, on Jan. 12, 2012, for entering the U.S. without admission by an immigration official. Once again, the Border Patrol served him with a notice and order of expedited removal charging inadmissibility and removed Rojas to Mexico on Jan. 15, 2012.

Mexican authorities in Mexico issued an arrest warrant for Rojas for rape on May 31, 2013. Rojas again entered the U.S. without admission or parole by an immigration official on an unknown date and at an unknown location.

The Kings County Supreme Court in Brooklyn, New York, convicted Rojas for forcible touching of the intimate parts of another person on Nov. 11, 2024. The court sentenced him to incarceration for 60 days, probation for six years, and required him to register as a sex offender.

ICE arrested Rojas in Corona, New York during a targeted enforcement action on Dec. 17, 2024, and served him a notice of intent to reinstate the prior order of removal. He remained in ICE custody pending removal.

On January 31, ICE removed Francisco Javier Melendez Torres, an El Salvador citizen. Melendez is a foreign fugitive wanted by law enforcement authorities in El Salvador for aggravated rape of a minor and sexual harassment.

“The removal of Francisco Javier Melendez Torres, a dangerous criminal alien wanted for aggravated rape of a minor in El Salvador, highlights the dangers individuals like him pose to our communities,” said Brian McShane. “ICE is committed to ensuring that dangerous individuals like Melendez Torres do not find safe harbor in the United States and do not further threaten the American public.”

On February 4th, ICE removed Serafin Leon Rojas, a Mexican citizen. He is a foreign fugitive wanted by law enforcement authorities in Mexico for domestic violence.

“The removal of Serafin Leon Rojas demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that criminal aliens face justice,” said Brian McShane. “By collaborating with our international law enforcement partners and enforcing immigration laws, we protect our communities and support our national security objectives.”

According to ICE, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Leon near Laredo, Texas, for entering the United States without inspection or parole by an immigration official and served him with a notice and order of expedited removal, charging inadmissibility. He was removed to Mexico on July 23, 2016. Leon again entered the U.S. without admission or parole by an immigration official on an unknown date and at an unknown location.

The Philadelphia Police Department in Pennsylvania arrested Leon on August 7, 2024, for driving under the influence, and this charge remains pending. ICE arrested Leon in Philadelphia on December 12, 2024, during a routine enforcement action and served him with a notice of intent to reinstate the prior order from July 21, 2016, charging removability. Leon remained in ICE custody throughout removal proceedings.

On February 10, in Lynn, Massachusetts, ICE lodged an immigration detainer against Eric Dionida German-Pena, 25, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, following his apprehension in Lynn for his alleged role in the murder of a Massachusetts sandwich shop owner during an apparent home-invasion robbery.

“Eric Dionida German-Pena will have his day in court, but he stands accused of a very serious and disturbing crime against a member of our Massachusetts community. ICE Boston takes its public safety mission extremely seriously — which is why we’ve lodged an immigration detainer against him with Lynn police,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has charged him with murder, and with the cooperation of the Lynn District Court, we intend to take him into ICE custody after he has paid his debt to society. ICE Boston will continue our mission of arresting and removing egregious alien offenders from New England.”

The Lynn Police Department police arrested German February 5 and charged him with the murder. ICE discovered that German illegally entered the United States in September 2022.

These are only some of the illegal immigrant criminals that the Trump administration is sending back to their countries to face justice. If the deported criminals escape justice in their home countries, they will find it much more difficult to reenter the U.S. now that the president has increased border security.

I was just at a round table where we discussed, in the most civilized manner possible, the immigration controversy.

Everyone in the conversation liked and respected each other, and listened to the opinions, sometimes quite diverse, from those at the other end of the philosophical spectrum. Some were focused on the chaos at the border. Others wanted to find a way to legalize the millions who were living here already with no status. Another person was upset about ICE raids on a Puerto Rican restaurant that essentially amounted to an attempt to deport U.S. citizens.

Another participant mentioned that the most extreme moves from the Trump administration, like the termination of birthright citizenship, would be blocked by the courts because they were unconstitutional. And finally, someone talked about the need to get rid of criminal aliens, the ones who have been preying upon innocent Americans like Laken Riley.

To be honest, we did have that conversation. And there were a number of people at the table. But every one of those comments was made by me.

I write this to show that you can walk and chew gum, be a law and order conservative and compassionate, oppose abortion and random and cruel family separations at the same time. In me you will find the wide range of opinions and priorities of the American public, and in me you will find someone who cannot be pushed into one category. I am neither “deport them all,” nor am I “accept them all.”

This is an issue of great nuance. But unfortunately, nuance does not seem to win elections.

I mentioned during that conversation that the slew of executive orders and actions were designed to create “shock and awe,” and keep the promises that President Donald Trump made during his campaign. While many pretended that “it was the economy, stupid,” I knew in my heart that the most explosive and compelling issue was immigration. After all, one of Trump’s first acts after his first inauguration was to issue the travel ban, which some incorrectly insisted on calling the “Muslim Ban.”

It was not a ban targeting Muslims, otherwise Albania, Bosnia, Turkey and a host of other countries with Muslim populations would have been included on the list. They were not. The list mirrored many countries that had been suspected of involvement in terrorism. On that basis, I was able to defend the action in some ways, even though I ended up at the airport to protest what I feared would be excesses.

This time around, though, Trump is more seasoned. He was not prepared for the backlash that many of his ill-thought out immigration policies would trigger, and some of them actually fizzled out when they were challenged in court. That is happening again. Many of his initiatives will be tied up in the courts, and that is a very good thing. The president does not get to rearrange refugee policy with a ballpoint pen, regardless of what he thinks about a unitary executive.

Nonetheless, it is very clear that Trump 2.0 has a plan, and has made sure that he picked the people he believes will execute it the best. I think Tom Homan, who served under Obama as well as Trump, is an excellent choice because he is not an ideologue interested in ethnic cleansing, like some of Trump’s advisers. Homan is the real deal. I don’t hold out much hope for Kristi Noem, who is a pretty face and wears a cowboy hat with élan, but who has never in her life had to deal with significant border and security issues as governor of South Dakota, one of the least populous states in the nation.

As a conservative, I want to see the chaos at the border erased. I want to support Trump in his efforts to get rid of criminal aliens, and in that group I include those who have one conviction as well as repeat offenders. If we have to start somewhere, start with the people who pose a threat to our security.

But, also as a conservative, I cannot support the idea that children will go to school one day and come home to an empty house because their parents have been picked up and put on a plane home. Those parents are not criminals, because violating immigration policy is not penal. It is civil. Those people clean your houses and trim your bushes and cook your meals. And yes, they are parents to U.S. citizens, because birthright citizenship is not going anywhere. As someone who is radically pro-life, I cannot deal with fellow pro-lifers who think that the baby in the womb deserves protection but a child born in this country to undocumented parents does not.  As a lawyer, I don’t like to see my constitution manipulated for political gain.

Many have said to me that I am too emotionally involved in this issue. Some have even suggested that they think I am criticizing the government because it’s cutting into my business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Chaos is good for my business. Deportation is good for my business.  The more suffering there is, they more clients need assistance.  And I am repulsed by the suggestion from my conservative friends that this is all part of my master plan.

When I sat at that round table, I said I hoped we would arrive at common sense solutions. I said that I hoped we would honor the founding principles of this country, which has always been a refuge for the dispossessed, while at the same time giving priority to the safety and prosperity of United States citizens.

When the Trump administration begins deporting illegal immigrants currently living in Pennsylvania, will Gov. Josh Shapiro step up and help, stand aside, or try to stop them?

Shapiro spokesman Manuel Bonder made it sound like the governor was ready to take on the Trump administration, telling Newsweek that Shapiro would “never back down from defending Pennsylvanians’ fundamental freedoms.”

“The Shapiro administration is preparing for all scenarios and taking steps to safeguard our commonwealth from potential federal actions that could be harmful to Pennsylvania families and communities,” Bonder added.

But when DVJournal followed up with Bonder about whether Shapiro was going to join Democrats like Denver Mayor Mike Johnston or Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and try to hinder Trump’s deportation plans, he appeared to walk back his bold talk. Bonder pointed DVJournal to a statement Shapiro made last month while visiting a York County business in which he said he would hold off deciding how to respond until he new more about the specifics of Trump’s plans.

“Let’s wait and see,” Shapiro said.

That’s a very different response from Democrats like Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-Ill.) who have clearly announced their plans to resist Trump’s mass deportation efforts.

“I am going to do everything that I can to protect our undocumented immigrants. They are residents of our state,” Pritzker told MSNBC. “And I also, obviously, need to make sure that whatever (federal immigration agents) are doing in our state, that it is actually within federal law or state law for them to do it.”

Shapiro is sometimes labeled a moderate within the Democratic Party, though he largely embraces the progressive policies of the Biden-Harris administration. And he’s clearly not staking out a centrist position like New York City Democrat  Mayor Eric Adams, who has said he will work with President-elect Donald Trump to deport illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

Even Shapiro’s fellow Keystone State Democrat, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, says it’s time for their party to support border security.

“Well, one area where we kind of lost ourselves was the border,” he told Fox News after the November election. “And I’ve been on this network saying, ‘Hey, you know, it can’t be controversial for our party to have pro-immigration, but we need a secure border.'”

Polls show a solid 57 percent of Americans support mass deportation of people in the U.S. illegally. And Gallup polling shows a huge swing in voters’ attitudes about immigration during the Biden presidency. In May 2020, slightly more Americans wanted to see increased vs. decreased immigration (34 to 28 percent).

By June of this year, support for increased immigration had plunged to 16 percent, while the number supporting decreased immigration soared to 55 percent — a 45 percent swing.

Reports of crimes by illegals, including apartment buildings taken over by Venezuelan gang members in Aurora, Colo., and brutal murders, including Laken Riley and Lizbeth Medina, have galvanized public opinion.

In the Delaware Valley, a jailbreak in Chester County by undocumented Brazilian and convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante resulted in widespread outrage last year in the two weeks he was on the loose.

Other problems caused by the influx of undocumented immigrants include overcrowded schools and hospitals, deadly drugs, and some 300,000 missing migrant children.

Pennsylvania has an estimated 170,000 undocumented immigrants. Lancaster resident Kevin Lynn, executive director of the Institute for Sound Public Policy, believes the government can and should deport illegal immigrants. He said the 2,500 or so Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents could remove 2.4 million illegal immigrants a year.

“We have the capacity to do it,” said Lynn. “We have the personnel to do it. We’ll be able to remove all the people who have come here [illegally] in the last four years. Now people are screaming about the expense.”

But he noted, there is already the cost to the government of “putting them up at the Roosevelt Hotel (in New York), they don’t seem to care about that.” These undocumented immigrants also receive taxpayer paid cellphones, housing and food stamps.

The U.S. House Budge Committee found in May the cost of the open southern border was $150.7 billion and counting. Various religious and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) receive block grants from the federal government to resettle the immigrants, who are being relabeled “newcomers.”

“I think removing the grants and bringing back ‘public charge’ rules, where if you come here you have to demonstrate that you can get by without being on the government dime would go a long way. That’s easy enough to do,” Lynn said.

Many illegal immigrants can be “removed expeditiously. They don’t have to go in front of an immigration judge or anything like that,” said Lynn. “If there’s a mayor or a governor impeding that, as far as I’m concerned, they’re aiding and abetting a criminal.”

“Mass deportations are possible and they’re justified. We have to do that because we won’t have a country if we don’t,” said Lynn. “I’ve just sat by in absolute horror watching it happen.”

The southern border has become a humanitarian disaster affecting the nation. This situation requires an immediate and effective federal response.

While we can feel compassion for those seeking a better life, we must also recognize that unfettered access to this country is not compassionate as it has created conditions for massive human and illicit drug trafficking, leading to enormous suffering. Furthermore, it threatens our national security.

No other nation in the world allows such unrestricted immigration.

We must take the following steps to rectify this situation while implementing balanced, compassionate immigration reform.

—Finish the wall. A wall provides a measure of control that no amount of electronic surveillance can. We have only 19,000 border agents, and there is no way to control every mile of the border with agents alone. When appropriately resourced with personnel and technology, the wall is an effective deterrent.

—Reinstate the Stay-in-Mexico policy. The policy was better for America and those seeking to immigrate here legally. The United States decides who has access; at the same time, immigrants should be given a clear, understandable and swift process for immigration.

—Deport any undocumented immigrant convicted of a felony. Following punishment, send the offender back to his or her country of origin. The United States should not bear the burden of felons who are here illegally.

—Make fines for employers of undocumented immigrants higher and more enforceable. We should do what we can to disincentivize employers who illegally lure in workers.

—Establish sound and reasonable work visa regulations with clear reporting requirements.

—Eliminate social services paid for by taxpayers for undocumented immigrants. Staying in the country must require following the law. American citizens should not bear the burden of those here illegally.

—Assist Mexico, Central America and South America with creating thriving economies and harmonious societies built on the rule of law. Relations with such nations must de-incentivize illegal border crossings and include plans to cripple cartels enriching themselves from human suffering.

Though the vast majority of illegal immigrants are people who are merely seeking a better life, there are thousands of hardened criminals or bad actors who must be prevented from entering.

Lax border policies allow easy entry for individuals from countries worldwide, including terrorist elements. Increasingly belligerent nations such as Russia, China and Iran are exploiting open borders. Have we so soon forgotten the attacks of 9/11?

President Biden’s policies encourage drug cartels to build ungoverned empires along the southern border, championing evildoers who have no respect for human life or our nation’s sovereignty over the well-being of American citizens.

Seemingly beneath our noses, the federal government is conducting middle-of-the- night secret transportation of illegal immigrants from the border to every state without consent from state authorities. It is no longer surprising to see undocumented immigrants sneaking across backyards or ranches after crossing the border.

Furthermore, the U.S. is using taxpayer dollars to spend on health and welfare for undocumented immigrants when such support escapes our own citizens. Fentanyl, heroin and cocaine are streaming across the border unchecked. Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for those between 18 and 45 years.

Large quantities of drugs have shown up in  Florida,  Texas,  California and  Massachusetts.  As recently as July, Colorado law enforcement seized “about 170,000” fentanyl pills in Aurora. In fact, according to the Colorado State Patrol, just days ago, the state has “already seized more fentanyl in 2022 than all previous years combined.”

A well-controlled southern border will benefit Mexico and other South American countries, discourage the cartels and reduce human suffering.

The administration’s dereliction of duty on the southern border situation is undermining the sovereignty of the United States, threatening our national security, contributing to skyrocketing crime, and creating an increased drain on our economy. This epic failure is hurting American citizens. We must rectify this dangerous situation immediately.

Congress must act now.

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