Report finds โunnecessaryโ force by Border Patrol agents at Rio Grande
Border Patrol agents on horseback engaged in โunnecessary use of forceโ against non-threatening Haitian immigrants but didnโt whip any with their reins, according to a federal investigation of chaotic scenes along the Texas-Mexico border last fall.
Mayorkas tours border to prepare for asylum limits to end
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says authorities are prepared for an expected increase in migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border amid plans to lift a public health order that has been used to turn away migrants nearly 2 million times without a chance to seek asylum.
Biden administration speeds up deportation flights for Haitians in growing Texas migrant camp
The situation in Del Rio spiraled this week as more than 15,000 migrants, many of them from Haiti, arrived at the border in recent days, settling in a makeshift camp as they waited for CBP agents to process their petitions to stay in the U.S.
EXPLAINER: Questions remain about conditions of migrant kids
DONNA, Texas โ The Biden administrationโs decision this week to allow journalists to see Customs and Border Protectionโs main holding center for unaccompanied migrant children answered some questions about the conditions they are being held in but raised others. Here are some of the takeaways from Tuesdayโs visit to the facility in Donna, Texas, by The Associated Press and CBS. What's clear is that the Donna facility, which opened Feb. 9, is tremendously overcrowded. Rooms walled with plastic partitions and designed for 32 children held more than 500 on Tuesday. The Biden administration let journalists tour the Donna facility for the first time Tuesday, with permission for photos and video to be shot.
Small Texas border town is route to US for migrant children
As soon as the sun sets, at least 100 migrants crossed through the Rio Grande river by smugglers into the United States. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)ROMA, Texas โ As darkness sets on the Rio Grande, U.S. Border Patrol agents hear pumps inflating rafts across the river in Mexico. Roma, a town of 10,000 people with historic buildings and boarded-up storefronts in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, is the latest epicenter of illegal crossings, where growing numbers of families and children are entering the United States to seek asylum. More than 16,000 unaccompanied children were in government custody as of Thursday, including about 5,000 in substandard Customs and Border Protection facilities. A group of Republican senators on Friday visited the Rio Grande Valley, which is the busiest corridor for illegal crossings, and toured a holding facility.
JBSA-Lackland asked to house unaccompanied migrant minors, Pentagon says
SAN ANTONIO โ Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland may house migrant minors who are unaccompanied at the U.S.-Mexico border, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday afternoon. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has asked the Pentagon for the request, which the Department of Defense is reviewing, Kirby said. โWhat I can tell you is we have a request and those are the two sites that HHS just asked for support from,โ Kirby said. Greg Abbott sent a letter to President Joe Biden demanding answers to the humanitarian situation at the border. The governor also demanded that the Biden Administration make clear what they are doing to prosecute human traffickers and address the surge in border crossings.
Federal judge prevents Biden administration from pausing deportations for two more weeks
(Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune)A federal judge in Texas has extended the block on President Joe Bidenโs deportation moratorium for two more weeks as the case continues to play out in court. Tipton originally issued a 14-day suspension of Bidenโs moratorium on Jan. 26. The pause in deportations was part of Bidenโs attempted day-one overhaul of several of former President Donald Trumpโs immigration policies. In his order Tipton, a Trump appointee who took the bench last year, said Texas would face more harm than the federal government if the extension was not granted. Citizenship and Immigration Services agencies as the Biden administration developed its final priorities, according to the Biden administration.
US to block cotton from China region targeted in crackdown
Officials said Customs and Border Protection will use its authority to block products suspected of being produced with forced labor to keep out cotton, tomatoes and related products from the Xinjiang region of northwest China. That is especially true with Chinese cotton that is used to make clothing for export in other countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam. The U.S. imported about $9 billion worth of cotton goods from China overall last year, according to Brenda Smith, the executive assistant commissioner at Customs and Border Protection's Office of Trade. China denies allegations of rights abuses and forced labor, saying it aims only to promote economic and social development in the region and stamp out radicalism. "The so-called forced labor is nothing but a lie fabricated by certain institutions and individuals in Western countries," he said.
Arizona border deaths hit 10-year high after record heat
The previous annual high mapped by the Pima County Medical Examinerโs Office in Tucson and the nonprofit Humane Borders was 224 migrant deaths in 2010. Despite the increase in deaths, U.S. Border Patrol apprehension figures suggest that the number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in Arizona has actually fallen by almost 50% over 10 years. From January to September 2020, the Border Patrol listed 43 deaths in the Arizona border area. Arizona is not the only place with fluctuations in border deaths over the years. The Brooks County sheriff's office said this week that migrant deaths in its jurisdiction fell to 34 last year from 45 in 2019.
US to block goods from Chinese company over rights abuses
Any U.S. company seeking to import goods from the company would have to prove they were not made with the forced labor of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities subjected to the crackdown. It is the sixth enterprise from the Uighur region whose goods have been blocked by Customs in recent months. โChinaโs systemic abuse of forced labor in the Xinjiang region should disturb every American business and consumer,โ acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan said. โForced labor is a human rights violation that hurts vulnerable workers and introduces unfair competition into global supply chains." Chinese spokesperson Hua defended Chinese labor practices and treatment of Uighurs, while accusing the U.S. of violating market principles and damaging the interests of both countries' companies and consumers.
Customs and Border Protection officers seize more than $6.9 million in Laredo cocaine busts
LAREDO, Texas โ Laredo U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized 904 pounds of alleged cocaine in two different drug busts over the weekend, officials said. Port authorities discovered 135 packages containing 337 pounds of alleged cocaine in the shipment, officials said. The same day, CBP officers discovered 223 packages containing 567 pounds of alleged cocaine within another tractor-trailer also hauling aluminum scrap. Andrew Douglas, acting port director for the Laredo port of Entry, said the alleged drugs have a combined estimated street value of $6,973,400. Related: El Paso Customs and Border Protection officers seize 120 water bottles filled with liquid meth
Border apprehensions down sharply in 2020 but spiked in September
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 400,651 people on the southwest border during the 2020 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. โWeโre already seeing the numbers increase.โFrom 2015 to 2018, apprehensions hovered between 415,000 to 553,000 before surging in 2019. During that time, the border saw an increase in family units and unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the United States. In Texas, only the Laredo Border Patrol sector saw an increase in the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended, from 2,521 in 2019 to 2,641 in 2020, a 5 percent jump. In the other four sectors along the Texas-Mexico border, the number of minors apprehended without an adult dropped between 32 percent and 70 percent this year.
Texas ACLU criticizes the extensive law enforcement presence at George Floydโs burial
Hundreds of law enforcement officers, National Guard units and a specialized U.S. Border Patrol team, were dispatched to a Houston suburb during the funeral for George Floyd, the man whose death in police custody reenergized national outrage over the treatment of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement. Shaw Drake, policy counsel of the ACLU of Texas Border Rights Center said use of deadly force is a standing option for law enforcement officers under current law. โCBP is the largest law enforcement agency in the country, and also the least accountable,โ he said in a statement. The memo also includes screen shots of social media posts that alarmed citizens and law enforcement officers. Dallas County's district attorney is probing allegations that officers used unnecessary force during otherwise peaceful protests earlier this year.
Exotic bird discovered during human smuggling attempt in Texas, officials say
BROWNSVILLE, TX U.S. Border Patrol announced Monday that they seized an exotic bird while taking a group of people illegally smuggled across the board into custody. As agents arrived to the location, they discovered evidence of several of people who entered the country illegally, CBP said in a statement. Additionally, agents noticed a plastic bag carried by one of the aliens with a live bird inside.After agents inspected the bag they determined the bird to be a toucan. CBP officials stated that while it is uncommon for exotic animals to be discovered in human smuggling attempts, agents rescued a tiger cub stuffed in a duffel bag near Brownsville two years ago. Related: CBP: Agents at World Trade Bridge in Laredo seize over $11 million in narcotics
Border authorities use pandemic powers to expel immigrants
FILE - In this March 18, 2020, file photo, a Border Patrol agent walks along a border wall separating Tijuana, Mexico, from San Diego, in San Diego. What happened next illustrates how difficult it has become to seek asylum in the United States during the coronavirus pandemic. Alexy, 32, and his son Samuel were whisked to the border in the wee hours of June 28 and returned to Mexico. Alexy believes hiking in the San Diego mountains precipitated Karina's labor. Together with the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties, the group plans to ask the Homeland Security Department to investigate what happened.
South Texas landowners are hoping to use President Trump's own words against him in a new border wall lawsuit
Landowners in South Texas filed a federal lawsuit on Monday, alleging that construction of a border barrier is unconstitutional. Callie Richmond for The Texas TribuneLandowners in South Texas are launching another front in their battle against President Trumps efforts to build a wall on the Texas-Mexico border. Flores said that the administration has to show that it has a narrowly tailored compelling governmental interest to justify constructing the border wall. The lawsuit also argues that a border wall would hurt recreation and public safety: Fishing, hiking and recreation will all be affected. DHS/CBP is effectively commandeering these local resources as part of their wall construction.
Firsthand look at apprehension of families at southwest US border
About 12,800 family units were apprehended in August, a 38 percent increase in the number of apprehensions in July, which was 9,247. The latest numbers also show that more than 90,000 immigrants came as part of families crossing the southwest border illegally in the last 11 months. During the ride-along, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Marcelino Medina darted through spiny bushes and began searching for a group of people crossing the border illegally. AdDHS press secretary Tyler Houlton released the following statement:"August Southwest Border Migration numbers show a clear indicator that the migration flows are responding to gaps in our nationโs legal framework. Southwest Border Family Apprehensions StatisticsData obtained from Customs and Border Protection website.