Bill Donohue

Surveys show that the majority of Americans want illegal immigrants deported, especially those who have been convicted of crime. If they were asked exclusively about those convicted of sex crimes, that number would surely be greater. But many in Congress disagree—they want to keep them right here in America.

In the last year, a total of 158 Congressmen voted not to deport migrants convicted of sex crimes, and 140 of them were reelected in November. Everyone of them were Democrats.

Here are the names of those who were reelected and voted to keep illegal migrants convicted of sex crimes in the United States.

Rep. Alma Adams, North Carolina
Rep. Pete Aguilar, California
Rep. Gabe Amo, Rhode Island
Rep. Jake Auchincloss, Massachusetts
Rep. Becca Balint, Vermont
Rep. Nanette Barragán, California
Rep. Joyce Beatty, Ohio
Rep. Ami Bera, California
Rep. Donald Beyer, Virginia
Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Georgia
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon
Rep. Shontel Brown, Ohio
Rep. Julia Brownley, California
Rep. Salud Carbajal, California
Rep. André Carson, Indiana
Rep. Troy Carter, Louisiana
Rep. Greg Casar, Texas
Rep. Ed Case, Hawaii
Rep. Sean Casten, Illinois
Rep. Kathy Castor, Florida
Rep. Joaquin Castro, Texas
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Florida
Rep. Judy Chu, California
Rep. Katherine Clark, Massachusetts
Rep. Yvette Clarke, New York
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri
Rep. James Clyburn, South Carolina
Rep. Steve Cohen, Tennessee
Rep. Gerald Connolly, Virginia
Rep. Luis Correa, California
Rep. Jim Costa, California
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Texas
Rep. Jason Crow, Colorado
Rep. Danny Davis, Illinois
Rep. Madeleine Dean, Pennsylvania
Rep. Diana DeGette, Colorado
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut
Rep. Suzan DelBene, Washington
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, California
Rep. Debbie Dingell, Michigan
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Texas
Rep. Veronica Escobar, Texas
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, New York
Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, Texas
Rep. Bill Foster, Illinois
Rep. Valerie Foushee, North Carolina
Rep. Lois Frankel, Florida
Rep. Maxwell Frost, Florida
Rep. John Garamendi, California
Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, Illinois
Rep. Robert Garcia, California
Rep. Sylvia Garcia, Texas
Rep. Dan Goldman, New York
Rep. Jimmy Gomez, California
Rep. Al Green, Texas
Rep. James Himes, Connecticut
Rep. Steny Hoyer, Maryland
Rep. Valerie Hoyle, Oregon
Rep. Jared Huffman, California
Rep. Glenn Ivey, Maryland
Rep. Jonathan Jackson, Illinois
Rep. Sara Jacobs, California
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Washington
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, New York
Rep. Henry “Hank” Johnson, Georgia
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, California
Rep. Bill Keating, Massachusetts
Rep. Robin Kelly, Illinois
Rep. Ro Khanna, California
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
Rep. Greg Landsman, Ohio
Rep. Rick Larsen, Washington
Rep. John Larson, Connecticut
Rep. Summer Lee, Pennsylvania
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, New Mexico
Rep. Ted Lieu, California
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, California
Rep. Doris Matsui, California
Rep. Lucy McBath, Georgia
Rep. Jennifer McClellan, Virginia
Rep. Betty McCollum, Minnesota
Rep. Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky
Rep. James McGovern, Massachusetts
Rep. Gregory Meeks, New York
Rep. Rob Menendez, New Jersey
Rep. Grace Meng, New York
Rep. Kweisi Mfume, Maryland
Rep. Gwen Moore, Wisconsin
Rep. Joseph Morelle, New York
Rep. Seth Moulton, Massachusetts
Rep. Kevin Mullin, California
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York
Rep. Richard Neal, Massachusetts
Rep. Joe Neguse, Colorado
Rep. Donald Norcross, New Jersey
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York
Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota
Rep. Frank Pallone, New Jersey
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, California
Rep. Scott Peters, California
Rep. Brittany Pettersen, Colorado
Rep. Chellie Pingree, Maine
Rep. Mark Pocan, Wisconsin
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts
Rep. Mike Quigley, Illinois
Rep. Delia Ramirez, Illinois
Rep. Jamie Raskin, Maryland
Rep. Deborah Ross, North Carolina
Rep. Raul Ruiz, California
Rep. Linda Sánchez, California
Rep. Mary Scanlon, Pennsylvania
Rep. Janice Schakowsky, Illinois
Rep. Bradley Schneider, Illinois
Rep. Robert “Bobby” Scott, Virginia
Rep. David Scott, Georgia
Rep. Terri Sewell, Alabama
Rep. Brad Sherman, California
Rep. Darren Soto, Florida
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, New Mexico
Rep. Haley Stevens, Michigan
Rep. Marilyn Strickland, Washington
Rep. Mark Takano, California
Rep. Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Rep. Mike Thompson, California
Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Michigan
Rep. Jill Tokuda, Hawaii
Rep. Paul Tonko, New York
Rep. Norma Torres, California
Rep. Ritchie Torres, New York
Rep. Lori Trahan, Massachusetts
Rep. Lauren Underwood, Illinois
Rep. Juan Vargas, California
Rep. Marc Veasey, Texas
Rep. Nydia Velázquez, New York
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida
Rep. Maxine Waters, California
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey
Rep. Nikema Williams, Georgia
Rep. Frederica Wilson, Florida

Bill Donohue

The results of the presidential election show that well-educated, wealthy secularists are not like the rest of us. In virtually every demographic group, Donald Trump either won, or did better than he did in 2016, with the exception of this cadre of voters.

All the exit polls show that Trump beat Kamala Harris among men, whites, middle-age voters, and seniors; she won with women, non-whites and young people. But Trump won the white women’s vote, and the married women’s vote. Harris won among women who were not married. Indeed, single women—those who never married or are widowed or divorced—always vote for the Democratic candidate. Security is clearly an issue with these voters.

Regarding education, Harris won the college graduate vote and did even better among those with a postgraduate degree. Trump did best with those who attended high school (or dropped out) and among those with some college or an associate’s degree. The effect that college has on one’s political views is a reflection of the liberal-left bias of the faculty; there are very few conservatives among the professoriate.

Religion is another important factor. Catholics and Protestants voted handily for Trump; Harris won the Jewish and the Muslim vote, also by wide margins. Orthodox Jews voted for Trump but secular Jews, who are the majority, voted for Harris. Muslims lean Democratic though in local elections, where gender ideology reigns in the schools, they turn to the Republicans.

Why, if Trump either won or did better than he did in 2016 with most segments of the population, did he fail with those who (a) have an income of $100,000 or more (b) possess a post-graduate degree and (c) are religiously unaffiliated?

Wealthy, well-educated persons do not have the same kinds of experiences that most Americans have. They live in comfort and in low-crime areas, which means it is easy for them to exercise their virtue-signaling muscles: they show how much they care for the poor by voting for those who support generous welfare policies. This allows them not to feel guilty about doing nothing for the poor themselves.

Having spent many more years in school than the rest of us, they are natural candidates for believing what their professors believe in—nothing. Too smart to believe in God, they are obsessed with their own godly abilities. While they do not believe in the mystery of faith, they are much more likely than the rest of us to believe that a man who says he is a woman is—bingo—a woman.

It’s time we stopped calling those with lots of degrees well-educated, even if many of them are. It would be more accurate to say they are well-schooled. Moreover, it seems plain that there is an inverse correlation between education and common sense: the more years spent in school, the less common sense one is bound to have.

It’s also time we started importing more working class people from around the world. We badly need more Americans with common sense.

Bill Donohue

The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) annually collects data on the state of religious liberty. Its latest report garnered media coverage on both sides of the Atlantic, but most of it was simply a tally of offenses committed against Christians; the motives of the perpetrators were given scant coverage. Had they probed more deeply, they would have reported on the oversized role played by militant secularists.

Given that most of the major media outlets in North America and Europe are left-of-center, this outcome is not surprising. It seems clear that this was less an oversight than a calculated decision.

In the nearly 15 years that OIDAC Europe has been documenting anti-Christian hate crimes, there has been a steady increase in the number of incidents; they range from vandalism to murder. The researchers found  there were 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes in 35 European countries last year, including 232 personal attacks on Christians. France, the United Kingdom and Germany posted the worst records.

Who’s mostly responsible? The 2024 Report says most of the attacks were done by (a) radical Islamists (b) those who were anti-religious and (c) those who identify with the radical left. The latter two categories combine for the large share of the offenses, and although the Report does not say so explicitly, those two demographic groups are representative of militant secularists.

A review of the types of offenses detailed by the Report validates this conclusion. Radical Muslims are not the biggest threat to religious liberty in Europe; it is left-wing radicals who harbor an animus against Christianity. It should be mentioned that much the same kind of persecution is taking place in Canada and in the United States.

For example, those who follow traditional Christian teachings were discriminated against by losing their jobs, being subjected to unfounded investigations, the closing of bank accounts, humiliation and bullying.

“Expressing religious convictions such as ‘marriage is a union between one man and one woman,’ or ‘human life begins at conception,’” were among the reasons Christians lost their jobs. Those are the kinds of beliefs that trigger militant secularists on the left to act, not radical Islamists (they are more prone to strike out against converts to Christianity).

The Report also found that “In the context of employment, Christians who expressed traditional views, were often reported by activists, subjected to disciplinary hearings—which some described as interrogations about their personal beliefs—and subsequently dismissed.” Left-wing activists fit the bill completely.

Here’s how discrimination on the basis of traditional moral beliefs works. “Any mention of faith in a CV precludes one from an interview. My yearly assessment was lowered because I spoke of Christ.” That is precisely the type of bullying that secular activists are very good at.

Besides the workplace, traditional Christians are being targeted in the universities. “This perception seems to stem mainly from a hostile attitude towards Christianity among students from the political left and from negative preconceptions about Christians that are attributed to anyone who professes the Christian faith.” That says it all.

Some Christian haters in Europe have gone so far as to punish praying in public. They even attack those who pray silently. Christians are being interrogated by the police, fined and prosecuted if they pray outside an abortion clinic.

Adam Smith-Connor is an army veteran and father. He was found guilty in October 2024 by a British court after “praying silently in his own mind in a public area in a so-called ‘buffer zone,’ because at one point his head was seen slightly bowed and his hands were clasped.” That was it. In Northern Ireland a woman who was caught peacefully praying by the roadside now faces up to six months in prison if found guilty.

In May, another person who was simply standing on a public street corner in a “buffer zone” in Birmingham was asked by the police, “Are you here to pray for the lives of unborn children?” By the way, these “buffer zones” include private homes: it is against the law in Scotland for private home owners to display pro-life signs if they can be seen within 200 meters of the premises.

This is the kind of thing we would expect from the dictators in North Korea, not democratically elected officials in Europe.

Transgenderism is all the rage in Europe. They are now banning teachers in the U.K. for “misgendering” a transgender pupil, meaning they are punishing teachers for calling a boy a boy and a girl a girl even when the boys and girls falsely claim that they are of the opposite sex.

In Switzerland, the government took a couple’s 16-year-old daughter from her parents and placed her in a state home because the parents objected to her “gender transition.”

This is the mark of totalitarians, and it is not radical Islamists who are doing it. It is the work of militant left-wing secularists who hate Christianity.

They are locking up the wrong people in Europe.

Bill Donohue

Today, the Catholic League erected a life-size nativity scene in Central Park. It is located on 59th St. and 5th Avenue, at the Grand Army Plaza, not far from the Plaza Hotel. We received a permit from the New York City Parks Department, as we have for decades.

We display our manger scene to let New Yorkers, and tourists, know that the Christmas season begins with Jesus—all the other celebrations that accompany Christmas are important, but they mean nothing without acknowledging the historical truth of the birth of the Prince of Peace.

We hope that New Yorkers, and those visiting New York City this Christmas season, will stop by and see the Catholic League’s nativity scene in Central Park. It will be up until January 6, 2025.

Bill Donohue

The National Basketball Association touts its commitment to social justice, emphasizing its opposition to racial discrimination. It’s also opposed to anything that might upset the LGBTQ crowd. But when it comes to religious minorities being persecuted, tortured, and subjected to cultural genocide in China, it takes the side of the barbarians.

After the Charlotte Hornets recently defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 115-114, Hornets star LaMelo Ball was asked how his team managed to contain Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. “We loaded up—no homo.” The NBA front office went ballistic and fined him $100,000. But their interest in social justice clearly does not extend to truly serious cases of injustice.

In fact, the NBA has an incestuous relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It will never do anything to cross these totalitarian thugs. That’s because China’s share of the NBA’s revenue is in the double digits, and may reach 20 percent by the end of this decade. Money talks, morality walks.

It has been well reported that the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority, are used as slave laborers in China, most prominently by Nike, the giant athletic company. What has received far less attention is the degree to which the CCP persecutes Christians, and not just laborers.

Dr. Bob Fu is president of ChinaAid. Last December he gave his assessment of conditions in China. “Without exaggeration, the persecution against the Christians and other religious minorities has really reached the worst level we have not seen in 40 years since the Cultural Revolution…. For the first time, we have seen the Communist Party is cracking down on the Church across the board; literally declared a war against Christianity.”

Aid to Church in Need agrees. “Churches are monitored and sometimes forcibly closed. Plus, it is illegal for anyone under 18 to attend Church services. Many Christians have been arrested and sentenced for unclear reasons.”

International Christian Concern specializes in tracking Christian persecution globally. One of the most despicable tactics used by the CCP is sinicization [Sino means China-related] which means that cultural institutions must put aside their norms and values and adopt the thinking of the Party. This is nothing less than cultural genocide, an attempt to wipe out allegiances to every person and institution unaffiliated with the CCP.

Applied to Christians, this means that all must bow to the CCP, not God. Thus, Christians are told to take down crosses and pictures of Jesus in their homes and replace them with communist symbols and pictures of Xi Jinping, the head of the CCP. If they don’t cooperate, they risk losing state benefits, if not more.

The NBA knows this to be true but doesn’t care. It’s all about the cash.

One brave soul who spoke out against this persecution is Daryl Morey. In 2019, when he was the general manager of the Houston Rockets, he issued a tweet that said, “Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.” The freedom-loving people in Hong Kong, who are terrified of the CCP taking over altogether, loved it. Who was angry? The CCP, the Houston Rockets and the NBA.

Morey got the message—shut up and fall in line. He promptly apologized to Chinese basketball fans and sponsors, saying, “I would hope that those who are upset will know that offending or misunderstanding them was not my intention.”

He had no choice. The owner of the Rockets threw Morey overboard, and Rockets player James Harden said, “We apologize. We love China.” NBA superstar LeBron James was positively condescending, saying Morey “wasn’t educated on the situation.” But at least they didn’t play both sides of the street.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver did. He said that while Morey had a right to say what he did, he emphasized that the NBA was “apologetic” over what happened. Responding to the CCP backlash, he dutifully obliged his masters by saying that although the Party cancelled an event with the Brooklyn Nets, the NBA would still donate computers, as planned, to an education center in Shanghai.

The NBA under Silver is so corrupt that last year America First Legal petitioned the Department of Justice to require the NBA and Silver to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as agents of the CCP.

Today there is no bigger fan of the CCP in the NBA than Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai. Even though he was born in Taiwan—which the CCP plans to take over—he is determined to forge better relations with the tyrants in exchange for their goodwill, which is measured in dollars. He is chairman of Alibaba, a CCP-affiliated company.

Not surprisingly, Tsai wanted Morey fired. Worse, he defends the wholesale abuse of human rights in China, saying, “80%-90% of the population” are “very, very happy.” He doesn’t have the guts to talk to Catholics living under this nightmare regime.

The elites who run the NBA are in it for the money, and the money alone. They are infinitely more concerned about a gay slur than they are in wholesale violations of elementary human rights. Their venality is stunning.

Contact Adam Silver: adam@nba.com