Smugglers are bringing migrants to a remote Arizona border crossing, overwhelming US agents
The U.S. Border Patrol says it is overwhelmed by a shift in human smuggling routes, with hundreds of migrants from faraway countries like Senegal, Bangladesh and China being dropped in a remote desert area in Arizona.
Congressional watchdog describes border wall harm, says agencies should work together to ease damage
Congress' official watchdog says in a report that the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border under former President Donald Trump toppled untold numbers of saguaro cactuses in Arizona, put endangered ocelots at risk in Texas and disturbed Native American burial grounds.
The Biden administration guaranteed attorney access for all migrant screenings. Most donโt have it
As the Biden administration prepared to launch speedy asylum screenings at the border this spring, authorities pledged a key difference from a Trump-era version of the policy: Migrants would be guaranteed access to legal representation.
U.S. canโt quickly expel migrants under pandemic-era health rule, federal judge says
Title 42 was invoked early in the pandemic by the Trump administration and continued under President Joe Biden. Since then, immigration officials have used it more than 2 million times to turn away asylum-seekers at the border.
A look into US Customs and Border Protection Operations from KPRC 2โฒs Zach Lashway
With more than 60,000 employees, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is one of the worldโs largest law enforcement organizations. Its main goal is to keep us safe. The agency has three components-- Office of Field Operations, Border Patrol and Air and Marine Operations.
ACLU calls on feds to investigate Abbottโs policy transporting migrants back to border
In July, Abbott authorized state law enforcement to transport migrants to ports of entry. Itโs unclear how and why migrants are being detained, raising civil rights concerns and questions about whether the state is overstepping federal authority.
Greg Abbott blames Joe Biden for migrant deaths, but the governorโs own border security efforts have fallen short
To immigration experts, the astounding loss of life illustrates just how difficult it is to stem migration into the country, even as Abbott has spent the last year pouring billions of state dollars into securing the border.
Fatal boat trip highlights Haitians fleeing violence
Haitians are fleeing in greater numbers to the neighboring Dominican Republic, where they step onto rickety wooden boats as they attempt to reach Puerto Rico โ a trip in which 11 Haitian women drowned this week, with dozens of other migrants believed missing.
Investigation of journalists by Customs unit is under review
An internal review has been launched into the actions of a special Customs and Border Protection unit that used sensitive government databases intended to track terrorists to investigate as many as 20 U.S.-based journalists, including an Associated Press reporter.
Counterfeit vaccine cards, ivermectin pills headed toward Houston seized in Chicago, feds say
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Chicago seized four packages on Monday that contained counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards and Ivermectin pills bound for Houston and Seagraves, Texas, according to CBP.
U.S. Customs and Border Protectionโs closure of Del Rio bridge disrupts businesses and jobs on Texas side of the U.S.-Mexico border
Federal officials have halted traffic so they can process thousands of Haitian migrants seeking asylum. The closure has made it difficult for the Texas cityโs binational employees and business owners to keep normal operations going.
Over 4,000 migrants, many kids, crowded into Texas facility
Migrants are processed at the intake area of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley, in Donna, Texas, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Oscar Escamilla, acting executive officer of the U.S. Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley, said 250 to 300 kids enter daily and far fewer leave. Border Patrol agents asked them if they had a contact in the U.S. and allowed the child to call that person. The Border Patrol generally is not supposed to detain children for more than three days, but Health and Human Services lacks space. More than 2,000 kids have been at the Donna facility for more than 72 hours, including 39 for more than 15 days.
White House says itโs working on access to migrant centers
The fate of thousands of migrant families who have recently arrived at the Mexico border is being decided by a mysterious new system under President Joe Biden. Republican officials are also blaming the Biden administration for actions they say are leading more people from Central America to seek entry into the United States. AdGraham recently visited the border and said he saw a facility designed to hold 80 children with about 1,000 in it. โIt does not mean that they get to stay in the United States. AdPsaki said the administration is committed to transparency and providing access to those temporary Border Patrol facilities as soon as it can.
Biden is on his heels amid a migrant surge at Mexico border
The Biden administration is facing growing questions about why it wasn't more prepared for an influx of migrants at the southern border. Since Bidenโs inauguration, the U.S. has seen a dramatic spike in the number of people encountered by border officials. But Isacson added that the bottleneck was also affected by the lack of cooperation by the Trump administration with the Biden transition. AdThe Biden administration announced on Feb. 2 it would no longer uphold the Trump administration policy of automatically deporting unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. The president and other administration officials in recent days have stepped up efforts to urge migrants not to come.
FEMA to help manage unaccompanied minors at US-Mexico border
FILE - In this Thursday, May 2, 2019 file photo, Border Patrol agents hold a news conference prior to a media tour of a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporary facility near the Donna International Bridge in Donna, Texas. President Joe Bidens administration is refusing to allow lawyers who inspect facilities where immigrant children are detained to enter a Border Patrol tent in Texas where agents are holding hundreds of youths. โ The Biden administration is turning to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help managing and caring for record numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children who are streaming into the United States by illegally crossing the border with Mexico. During an record influx of unaccompanied minors in 2014, the Obama administration also turned to FEMA for help coordinating the governmentwide response. AdPresident Joe Biden has ended the Trump-era practice of expelling immigrant children who cross the border alone, but maintained expulsions of immigrant families and single adults.
US govt seizes over 10M phony N95 masks in COVID-19 probe
They have no utility whatsoever,โ Homeland Security Secretary Ali Mayorkas said of the fake masks. Homeland Security officials would not say which states the phony masks were sent to, but said criminal charges would be forthcoming. The company delivered some 2 billion N95 masks in 2020 as the pandemic intensified, but in the earlier months, when masks were in short supply, fraudsters took advantage. But phony masks have already made it to front-line workers in other cases. Over the past year there has been more than 1,250 raids by law enforcement resulting in the seizure of millions of fake masks.
Government investigating massive counterfeit N95 mask scam
This December 2020 image provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows a counterfeit N95 surgical mask that was seized by ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Federal investigators are probing a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities, and government agencies and expect the number to rise significantly in coming weeks. (ICE via AP)WASHINGTON โ Federal authorities are investigating a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation in which fake 3M masks were sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies. Nearly a year into the pandemic, fraud remains a major problem as scammers seek to exploit hospitals and desperate and weary Americans. There have been already more than 1,250 raids by law enforcement that resulted in the seizure of 10 million counterfeit 3M masks alone.
Ken Paxton files lawsuit challenging Biden administrationโs pause on deportations
Three days into the Biden administration, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed his first lawsuit against the federal government. The lawsuit seeks an halt to one of the president's executive actions on immigration, a 100-day pause on some deportations. It also retains an enforcement focus on people who have been convicted of an โaggravated felonyโ as defined by federal immigration law. Bidenโs attempt to prioritize enforcement resources on certain groups only, including recent crossers, is reminiscent of the Obama-era Priority Enforcement Program. Paxton is also currently involved in another lawsuit, filed in 2018, that sought to end the 2012 program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
Birth on a riverbank: Woman's ordeal shows risks at border
Merรญn gave birth to her daughter next to the Rio Grande, attended to by two Border Patrol agents, showing how lives routinely end up at risk at the U.S.-Mexico border. Mother and child were hospitalized for three days, then processed at a Border Patrol station before being released to Catholic Charities. โThereโs so many women in great danger,โ said Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. The Border Patrol blames smugglers for using people in medical distress as decoys, drawing attention from others trying to sneak into the country. The Border Patrol defends how it treats immigrants and the medical care they receive.
2 detained for speaking Spanish settle border patrol lawsuit
โ Two women who were detained in northern Montana by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents for speaking Spanish while shopping at a convenience store have reached an undisclosed monetary settlement in their lawsuit against the agency, the ACLU of Montana announced Tuesday. โMaโam, the reason I asked you for your ID is because I came in here and I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here,โ OโNeill said in the video. โWe stood up to the government because speaking Spanish is not a reason to be racially profile and harassed,โ Suda said in a statement provided by the ACLU. In gathering information for the lawsuit, the ACLU said Customs and Border Protection agents in northern Montana acknowledged they routinely profiled non-white people. โIf there's somebody speaking Spanish down there it's like all of a sudden you've got five agents swarming in, โWhatโs going on?'
Gloves linked to forced labor in China stopped at LA port
WASHINGTON โ A shipment of womenโs gloves at a California port has been traced to a factory that uses forced labor of people caught up in a brutal crackdown on ethnic minorities in China, U.S. authorities said Thursday. Overland, a retailer based in Fairfield, Iowa, was seeking to import the gloves and says it has provided proof to Customs that the goods were not made with forced labor and should be released. The administration, which has clashed with China on a range of issues, including trade and the coronavirus outbreak, has also increased enforcement of a U.S. law that bans the importation of goods made with forced labor. Labor and human rights groups say it's impossible to conduct legitimate inspections in Xinjiang because of the oppressive conditions. A bipartisan bill that would declare that all goods manufactured in Xinjiang are the product of forced labor, and therefore banned from the country, passed overwhelmingly last month in the House of Representatives.
US says it will block palm oil from large Malaysian producer
The United States will block shipments of palm oil from a major Malaysian producer that feeds into the supply chains of iconic U.S. food and cosmetic brands. โWe would also encourage U.S. consumers to ask questions about where their products come from.โMalaysia is the worldโs second largest producer of palm oil. Palm oil and its derivatives from FGV, and closely connected Malaysian state-owned Felda, makes its way into the supply chains of major multinationals. They include Nestle, LโOreal, and Unilever, according to the companiesโ most recently published supplier and palm oil mill lists. Under Wednesdayโs order, palm oil products or derivatives traceable to FGV will be detained at U.S. ports.
Fake Dior X Air Jordan 1 shoes seized in massive, $4.3M Texas bust: This is how counterfeit footwear were found
The shipment -- valued at more than $4.3 million -- included more than 1,800 pairs of counterfeit Limited Edition Dior X Air Jordan 1 shoes destined for Mexico. CBP says its officers targeted 60 boxes that originated from Hong Kong and were manifested as Ball Golf for an exam. Due to the poor quality of workmanship, incorrect packaging, and previous experience with similar products, CBP says officers determined the footwear were not authentic items. Counterfeiters trafficking in phony merchandise are not concerned about the American consumer or the damage their fake goods can do to our economy, said CBP Port Director Timothy Lemaux. In fiscal year 2019, Department of Homeland Security says its agencies seized counterfeit footwear for intellectual property rights that recorded a Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price of more than $37 million.
Protesters hit with gas as locals demand feds leave Portland
Federal officers deployed tear gas and fired less-lethal rounds into a crowd of protesters late Thursday. The actions came just hours after the head of the Department of Homeland Security called the protesters violent anarchists. Federal agents, some wearing camouflage and some wearing dark Homeland Security uniforms, used tear gas at least twice to break up crowds late Friday night, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said Friday night she was also suing Homeland Security and the Marshals Service. Federal officers deployed tear gas again just before midnight after a few protesters placed dismantled fencing in front of plywood doors covering the entrance of the federal courthouse.
Border arrests jumped 36 percent in May despite Trump emergency crackdown
According to new U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures, the number of migrants detained by U.S. authorities at the Mexico border rose 36 percent in May. CBP took 23,118 migrants into custody last month, up from 16,966 in April, the figures show. The Trump administration argues the emergency measures have aided in preventing a wider coronavirus outbreak by limiting the number of detainees held in cramped border cells. Since the implementation of the emergency orders in late March, nearly 43,000 migrants have been subjected to the rapid-expulsion proceedings, according to CBP figures. Trumps emergency restrictions have all but closed the United States to border crossers fleeing persecution, records show.
32-year-old US citizen dies in border custody in Texas
HOUSTON โ A 32-year-old U.S. citizen has died after being arrested by Border Patrol agents in South Texas, the U.S. government said Wednesday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not identify the man in a statement issued Wednesday, but alleged that he was a suspect in a human smuggling incident. The man was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday by agents assigned to the Border Patrol station in Brackettville, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of the border with Mexico. The agency did not identify the man's illness, symptoms or cause of death, which was first reported by BuzzFeed News. The Border Patrol does not ordinarily detain U.S. citizens, but it routinely arrests Americans accused of trying to smuggle immigrants who have crossed the border illegally.
Court rules against warrantless searches of phones, laptops
BOSTON, MA โ A federal court in Boston has ruled that warrantless U.S. government searches of the phones and laptops of international travelers at airports and other U.S. ports of entry violate the Fourth Amendment. They say border officers must now demonstrate individualized suspicion of contraband before they can search a traveler's electronic device. The number of electronic device searches at U.S. ports of entry has increased significantly, the ACLU said. During that same period of time, it conducted 40,913 border searches of electronic devices, representing less than .01 percent of arriving international travelers. "The court said today that suspicionless searches at the border of cell phones and laptops violate the Fourth Amendment," Rossman said.