Some 50 Members of Migrant Caravan Reach Mexico, U.S. Border

04/20/2018 The New York Times

MEXICO CITY — A group of 50 Central American migrants who set out from southern Mexico in late March have reached the U.S. border, having endured the long journey despite threats by President Donald Trump to secure the border with National Guard personnel.

Since peaking at around 1,500 people, the so-called migrant “caravan” has dwindled under pressure from Trump and Mexican migration authorities, who vowed to separate those migrants with a right to stay in Mexico from those who did not.

Some of those migrants began arriving in the Mexican border city of Tijuana on Wednesday and have requested asylum in the United States.

Read more…

Advertisements

California reaches deal with Trump administration on National Guard role

04/18/2018 The Washington Post

California Gov. Jerry Brown has reached an agreement with Homeland Security and Defense officials on the terms of his state’s National Guard deployment to the border, after insisting the troops will not be used to help U.S. agents enforce immigration laws.

Wednesday’s announcement follows several days of back-and-forth posturing between the White House and the Democratic governor, whose state’s “sanctuary” policies protecting undocumented immigrants are a frequent target of President Trump’s exclamatory Twitter barbs.

Brown said California will deploy 400 soldiers who will work against drug trafficking and cross-border criminal groups but eschew contact with border-crossing migrants.

Read more…

Homeland security secretary visits Calexico border construction

04/18/2018 The San Diego Union-Tribune

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen visited Calexico’s replacement border barrier project on Wednesday after holding a town hall with local Border Patrol agents and officials from other immigration-related agencies.

The new chief of the Border Patrol in El Centro, Gloria Chavez, gave Nielsen a piece of the old Vietnam War landing mats that separated Calexico from Mexicali before the construction project began in February. A 30-foot fence made of bollards — posts placed close enough together that people can’t pass between them — will replace just over two miles of the landing mats.

Construction has progressed since February with well over a football field length of fence already in place.

Read more…

Remnants of migrant caravan move toward US-Mexico border

04/18/2018 The Washington Post

The remnants of a migrant caravan of Central Americans that drew the ire of President Donald Trump were continuing their journey north through Mexico toward the U.S. border on Wednesday.

Organizer Irineo Mujica, speaking from the western Mexico city of Guadalajara, said that about 500 migrants had been riding trains north since departing Mexico City last weekend. The caravan that left the Guatemala-Mexico border in late March grew to more than 1,000 migrants who found safety travelling in numbers.

In Mexico City, Mujica had said the capital was the caravan’s last official stop, but many of the migrants feared going solo on the dangerous final leg north and decided to keep travelling en masse. Some who had split off to press on alone reported back about kidnappings and having their papers for safe passage torn up.

Read more…

Remnants of Migrant Caravan Move Toward US-Mexico Border

04/18/2018 The New York Times

MEXICO CITY — The remnants of a migrant caravan of Central Americans that drew the ire of President Donald Trump were continuing their journey north through Mexico toward the U.S. border on Wednesday.

Organizer Irineo Mujica, speaking from the western Mexico city of Guadalajara, said that about 500 migrants had been riding trains north since departing Mexico City last weekend. The caravan that left the Guatemala-Mexico border in late March grew to more than 1,000 migrants who found safety travelling in numbers.

In Mexico City, Mujica had said the capital was the caravan’s last official stop, but many of the migrants feared going solo on the dangerous final leg north and decided to keep travelling en masse. Some who had split off to press on alone reported back about kidnappings and having their papers for safe passage torn up.

Read more…

President Trump bashes California Gov. Jerry Brown for limiting National Guard mission at Mexico border

04/17/2018 CNBC

President Donald Trump on Tuesday took aim at California Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision to limit his state’s National Guard troops’ mission at the border.

“Looks like Jerry Brown and California are not looking for safety and security along their very porous Border,” the president tweeted. “He cannot come to terms for the National Guard to patrol and protect the Border. The high crime rate will only get higher. Much wanted Wall in San Diego already started!”

Brown said he would not permit soldiers to fully engage in immigration enforcement on the border, which is a big snag in Trump’s plan to bolster military presence at the boundary as he awaits construction of his long-promised wall.

Read more…

California limits National Guard’s border mission, risking clash with Trump

04/17/2018 The Washington Post

The state of California has rejected the terms of the Trump administration’s initial request to deploy National Guard troops along the border with Mexico, U.S. military officials and the head of the Border Patrol said Monday, the latest sign of persistent tension with the White House over immigration enforcement.

The troops in California are under the command of Gov. Jerry Brown (D), who last week said he would send up to 400 personnel in a limited role.

Just how limited became clearer Monday after California’s National Guard told Homeland Security officials the state will not allow soldiers to do the types of things they’re doing elsewhere on the border: monitoring surveillance cameras, performing maintenance and transporting U.S. border agents.

Read more…