Gun used in kidnapping of Americans in Mexico came from US
Federal court documents say the a man who admitted to purchasing firearms that he knew would be going from the U.S. to a Mexican drug cartel was arrested in Texas after the discovery that one of the weapons was linked to the deadly kidnapping of four Americans in the border city of Matamoros.
FBI creates new tip line for information about case involving 4 abducted Americans in Mexico
The San Antonio Division of the FBI created a new Digital Media Tip Line to help them identify the person or people responsible for the murders and kidnapping of a group of U.S. citizens who visited Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on March 3.
The people we left behind: How closing a dangerous border camp adds to inequities
Cuban asylum seeker Joel Fernandez Cabrera outside the migrant camp in Matamoros, Mexico, on Feb. 24. About 2,200 of those migrants have been admitted so far, including almost everyone from the Matamoros camp, according to the U.N. โThe Matamoros camp became a visible symbol of a much larger problem,โ said Yael Schacher, a historian who serves as a legal advocate at the global organization Refugees International. โThat causes panic and misinformation.โAs the Matamoros camp was dismantled, new arrivals pitched tents outside of the park where it had stood. โThe Matamoros camp ultimately contained only a tiny fraction of those asylum seekers subjected to this cruel border policy,โ Sawyer said.
US gives hope to previously denied asylum seekers in camp
Late Friday night, an official with Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry said via Twitter that the last asylum seekers with active cases from the camp had been processed and the camp was closed. Others with closed asylum cases who were told their cases could be reopened were urged to move to a shelter. She agreed that the U.S. government would evaluate the possible reopening of closed cases for the people who remained in the camp, Sierra said. By Friday afternoon, only several dozen asylum seekers remained in the riverside camp. The Matamoros camp has been an uncomfortable monument to the exceptional policy for its residents, as well as the U.S. and Mexican governments.
Fact-checking Gov. Abbottโs claim of migrants entering Texas border cities with virus
โThey cannot cross the border without having a negative test result,โ Romero said. The other group is people who crossed the border illegally and are dropped off by U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the catch-and-release program. Of those tests, 169, or just over 13%, tested positive, but thatโs just for the city of Brownsville. Romero said local non-governmental organizations have set up shelters and hotel rooms for those who test positive to stay in and quarantine if they choose to. Romero said the city received 10,000 Rapid COVID-19 tests from the Texas Department of Emergency Management to facilitate the process.
Asylum seekers navigate new future in the U.S. after months in Mexico
MCALLEN, Texas โ Some asylum seekers have spent more than a year and a half living in tent cities in Matamoros, Mexico, during the Trump administration. The Trump administrationโs Remain in Mexico Policy forced asylum seekers to wait in distressed conditions for months at a time. The Biden administration has ended the policy, allowing thousands of asylum seekers to enter the country and move forward. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials report an increase in illegal border crossingsKSATโs Jonathan Cotto is in Mcallen, Texas talking to activist groups about the situation as it unfolds. Read also:Biden lifts Trump-era ban blocking legal immigration to USChild migrant facility reopened by Biden administration in South Texas draws criticism from immigration advocatesAdDemocrats consider piecemeal approach to immigration reform
Aid groups aim to bring health care to migrants on way to US
The efforts are part of a growing trend in humanitarian aid that has accelerated amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has highlighted the difficulties in getting basic health care to migrants. But the group's goal is not just to care for migrants once they reach the border. It wants to offer health care along the routes migrants take. The group is working to connect migrants to health care and other resources by asking them what they need via WhatsApp. Maria de Jesus Ruiz Carrasco says she would have lost her foot if Global Response Management hadn't stepped in.
U.S. Supreme Court will hear cases on border wall funding, "remain in Mexico" policy
In the border wall funding case, the high court will consider a challenge to the Trump administration's use of about $2.5 billion earmarked to pay members of the U.S. military to instead fund construction of part of his long-promised wall on the southern border. That case, Sierra Club v. Trump, was brought by the ACLU on behalf of the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition. Gloria Smith, managing attorney at the Sierra Club, said the Supreme Court will hear the larger case that challenges the use of both types of Pentagon funding. "Stopping this wasteful and irreversible damage is long overdue, and we look forward to making our case before the Supreme Court,โ she said in a statement. Implemented as a way to deter migrants from seeking asylum, the policy has sent about 60,000 asylum seekers, most of them from Central America and Cuba, across the southern border.
Trump administration to cut refugee admissions to record low.
โLet this serve as a wake-up call to those who believe this administration supports avenues of legal immigration. But as of the end of the 2020 fiscal year Wednesday, that figure dipped below 1,000, according to Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service statistics. That slowdown parallels the national trend under the Trump administration, who has made revamping immigration policy one of his first-term priorities. From January 2017 to September 2019, the administration admitted about 76,200 refugees, compared with about 85,000 admitted in 2016 alone. โRefugees are the most thoroughly vetted populations that are admitted to the United States.
Mexican army finds unfinished tunnel under Rio Grande
MEXICO CITY The Mexican army said Thursday that soldiers patrolling along the Rio Grande river have found an unfinished tunnel that was apparently dug under the river bed in a bid to reach U.S. territory. The army said a small pump was found at the mouth of the structure and was apparently used to clear water from it. The army said the tunnel was found earlier this week near the city of Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas. The tunnel was apparently used for illegal activities. The river, known in Mexico as the Rio Bravo, is a frequent crossing point for drugs and migrant smuggling.