Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Thursday, July 4, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, and on our nation’s 248th birthday, there are some very important stories going on that you need to know about.
First, the federal government deports more than 100 Chinese nationals, be very cautious when using one particular online shopping app, and the IRS is proposing new rules when it comes to paying taxes. Also, the FDA bans an additive in certain foods, and a major offshore wind project is going up off the Jersey shore.
US Deports Chinese Nationals in First Removal Flight to China Since 2018
This past weekend, the U.S. government initiated its first large-scale flight since 2018 to deport Chinese nationals who are not eligible to remain in the country. It removed 116 of them.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made the announcement earlier this week, in coordination with Chinese authorities.
The DHS said the flight is one of more than 120 it has chartered to more than 20 different countries since last month, which was when President Joe Biden issued new executive actions that paused asylum eligibility once illegal crossing numbers reached more than 2,500 per day over seven consecutive days.
Since then, Border Patrol agents have seen the seven-day border encounters drop by more than 40 percent on average, according to DHS.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said his department is engaging with its Chinese counterparts on issues such as illegal border crossings and cross-border human smuggling efforts.
Just last month, the Department of Justice brought criminal charges against two dozen people in connection to an alleged Chinese money laundering network, which they say handled more than $50 million in cross-border drug trafficking proceeds for the Sinaloa cartel.
You should know that so far this fiscal year, Border Patrol agents say they’ve already apprehended more than 31,000 Chinese nationals here in the United States, and in fiscal year 2023, they say they apprehended more than 24,000 Chinese nationals.
Americans Warned to Stop Shopping via Chinese App Temu
Arkansas’s top prosecutor says Americans should exercise caution when it comes to using the Temu app, calling it effectively a “data theft business.”Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, whose office filed a lawsuit this week against the company, says that Temu is not an online marketplace like Amazon or Walmart, which collect certain consumer data as part of the normal course of business.
Instead, he says, Temu is a business that sells goods as a means to an end. Mr. Griffin says Temu uses malware and spyware to “get into your phone, your device, and to collect your data,” which he says is not just traditional consumer data. Rather, they’re using spyware to get complete access to your information, he says—plus, their code is written in such a way that it could evade detection.
Temu is operated by the Shanghai, China-based parent company Pinduoduo Inc., which Mr. Griffin says includes “former Chinese communist officials” in its ranks.
His lawsuit primarily cites information from an organization called Grizzly Research. That group analyzes publicly traded firms, and alleges that Temu can “purposely ... gain unrestricted access to a user’s phone operating system, including, but not limited to, a user’s camera, specific location, contacts, text messages, documents, and other applications.”
In its report, Grizzly Research also says it suspects that Temu is “already, or intends to, illegally sell stolen data from Western country customers to sustain a business model that is otherwise doomed for failure.” The report goes on to say that on average, Temu is losing around $30 per order and that its ad spending and shipping costs are astronomical.
A Temu spokesperson tells The Epoch Times that “the allegations in the lawsuit are based on misinformation circulated online,“ and that they ”are totally unfounded.” The spokesperson also said that they’re committed to the long-term and are confident that their actions and contributions to the community will speak for themselves over time.
Just this week, the Texas Public Policy Foundation issued a similar warning about the app, saying that Chinese Communist Party officials “could theoretically install applications and spyware files on an individual’s smart device to use for complete surveillance of all user activity on a phone.”
IRS Proposes to Directly Accept Tax Payments by Credit, Debit Cards
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is proposing new regulations that would allow taxpayers to pay their taxes using credit cards or debit cards.The proposed changes are based on provisions of the Trump-era Taxpayer First Act, which became law in July 2019. The goal of that law was aimed at turning the IRS into a more taxpayer-friendly agency.
Currently, the IRS authorizes third-party processors to collect tax payments made with credit or debit cards and they don’t charge a fee for this service, but the credit card company does charge a fee.
You should know that if the IRS proposal is accepted and you use a credit card to pay your taxes, the IRS will now charge you a percentage of your tax bill, and if you use a debit card, it’s a flat $2 fee.
Up until now, two restrictions have prevented the IRS from directly accepting tax payments by credit cards or debit cards. The first regulation prohibits the IRS from paying a fee to use a third-party service to process taxes paid with credit and debit cards. The second regulation prohibits the IRS from imposing any fee on individuals who pay taxes using those options.
This newly proposed rule change would remove both restrictions and if implemented, it would authorize the IRS to pay a fee to a card issuer or a bank in order to process payments.
By law, the IRS is required to minimize those fees and if they do pay a fee, under the proposal, the IRS would pass it on to the taxpayer by charging for the “reimbursement,” which would be due with their taxes.
The IRS says that expanding payment options for taxpayers generally encourages tax compliance, so they say it’s beneficial for both the government and taxpayers.
FDA Bans Brominated Vegetable Oil, Food Additive Used in Soda
Just this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it will ban brominated vegetable oil (BVO). It’s a vegetable oil modified with bromine, which is a toxic gas, and has been used in foods for about 100 years.In the 1960s, the FDA authorized using BVO in small amounts in citrus-flavored sodas to keep the flavoring from floating to the top, and it’s also been used in a variety of other products.
The FDA now says that the intended use of BVO in food is no longer considered safe, following studies that were conducted in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health. Those studies found that BVO created the potential for adverse health effects in humans, saying that it may harm the thyroid, liver, and heart. You should also know that BVO has been linked to a variety of neurological problems.
Consuming BVO has also been associated with an increased accumulation of bromine fatty acids, and too much of these substances can result in what is called bromine toxicity, which damages the central nervous system and causes headaches, nausea, memory loss, and poor coordination.
The agency’s ban on BVO takes effect on Aug. 2, and food manufacturers will have one year to comply with the ban.
US Interior Department Greenlights Major Offshore Wind Project in New Jersey
The Department of Interior (DOI) has just approved a large-scale offshore wind turbine project in New Jersey.The department says the Atlantic Shores South project will be located about 8 miles off the New Jersey shore, and will include the construction of 195 wind turbines that will be supported by 10 offshore substations. The project’s two wind farms will have the capacity to generate 2,800 megawatts of electricity, which can power up to 1 million homes.
The DOI says it’s the ninth offshore wind energy project at a commercial scale to get federal approval, and that these nine projects will generate up to 13 gigawatts of offshore wind-generated energy, which is enough to power up to 5 million homes.
Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland says that “thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda we are addressing climate change, fostering job growth, and promoting equitable economic opportunities for all communities.”
Atlantic Offshore Wind is a partnership between Shell New Energies and EDF Renewables North America. Joris Veldhoven, Atlantic Offshore Wind’s CEO, says that the decision “brings us one step closer to delivering New Jersey’s first offshore wind projects and for the state achieving its ambitious goal of 100% clean energy by 2035.”
The company says just one of the wind farm projects will give the local economy an $848 million boost through “job creation and workforce development,” and in total, the entire project will bring $1.9 billion to the state.
Protect Our Coast NJ and other organizations have opposed the construction. “Offshore wind construction and operations disrupt wildlife and ecosystems, and threaten the livelihoods of commercial fisherman and small businesses up and down the east coast,” Protect Our Coast NJ says.
Officials with the organization say they’re “incredulous” that these projects are moving along at such a rapid pace.
You should know that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management claims the project will have “negligible to moderate adverse impacts on most resources.”
One of our most precious resources is time, and right now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so let’s call it a wrap for the Thursday edition—the Independence Day edition—of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, we’ll turn off the lights, shut the studio down, lock the doors, and prepare for one of our country’s biggest holidays. By the way, if you have some free time today, we hope you’ll tell some folks you know about our program as we’re always trying to grow our ever-expanding News Brief family. And we’re proud to have you as one of our family members.
*(Don’t forget the News Brief Motto): We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap things up with a very “notable” quote:
This one comes to us from former President Harry S. Truman, who said: “America was not built on fear, America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.”
President Truman was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953, and in about four months, we’ll find out who the next president will be.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas, and thanks a million for spending some time with us today. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday and whatever you have planned for the holiday—a picnic, BBQ, parade, fireworks show—whatever your plans call for, please be safe, have a great celebration, and happy 248th birthday, America!
Have an incredible day today, and bye for now.
