Trump’s Pentagon Chief Quashed Idea to Send 250,000 Troops to the Border

10/20/2021

Source: The New York Times

President Trump’s defense secretary thought the idea was outrageous.

In the spring of 2020, Mark T. Esper, the defense secretary, was alarmed to learn of an idea under discussion at a top military command and at the Department of Homeland Security to send as many as 250,000 troops — more than half the active U.S. Army, and a sixth of all American forces — to the southern border in what would have been the largest use of the military inside the United States since the Civil War.

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US-Mexico border prepares as vaccinated travelers can enter US starting Nov. 8.

Source: CBS8

The U.S. will lift travel restrictions on Nov. 8 making it possible for travelers outside the country to enter for the first time since the start of the pandemic. This new travel system will require vaccinated foreign air travelers to show proof of full vaccination and test for COVID-19. Also starting on Nov. 8th fully vaccinated people can cross the Mexico and Canada border for nonessential travel. In early January, those traveling for essential purposes will be required to show proof of full vaccination. 

The opening of the Mexico border for nonessential tourism is a huge win for San Ysidro where 86% of their customers come from Mexico. 

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After Pastor Evicts Nearly 200 Migrants, His Brother Welcomes Them All

Source: New York Times

MATAMOROS, Mexico — Over the summer, as migrants rushed into the Mexican border city of Matamoros, a local pastor lost his patience.

The pastor, Víctor Barrientos, had already invited dozens of asylum seekers to live in his church, believing that was his religious duty as an evangelical Christian. But suddenly, it seemed to him, there were too many people. His guests were messy, he said, and “out of control” — and then, just as the pandemic’s third wave hit, they started getting the coronavirus.

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Mexico to resume voluntary flights for migrants who want to return to Haiti

09/27/2021

Source: Reuters

Mexico’s government said on Sunday that it will resume flights to Port-au-Prince starting next week for Haitian migrants who want to return home.

The flights from Tapachula in Chiapas and Villahermosa in Tabasco will be offered to “those who voluntarily wish to return to their country,” the Mexican government said in a statement.

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US extends travel restrictions at Mexican and Canadian land borders as it makes plans to allow fully vaccinated foreign visitors to fly to America

09/21/2021

Source: CNN

The United States is extending nonessential travel restrictions at land crossings with Canada and Mexico through October 21, even as it makes plans to allow fully vaccinated foreign visitors to come to the US later this year.

“We do not have any updates to the land border policies at this point. Title 19 is being extend for another month, as it is done on a monthly bases, through October 21, and as I said, no further updates on that policy at this point,” White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients announced Monday.

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Number of migrants stopped trying to cross southern U.S. border drops slightly

09/13/2021

Source: NBC News

The number of undocumented immigrants apprehended trying to cross the southern border is down slightly compared to this time last month, when crossings were at a 21-year high, according to data obtained by NBC News.

As of Friday, the 21-day average of immigrants stopped crossing the U.S.-Mexico border by Customs and Border Protection was 6,177 per day, down from 7,275 in mid-August.

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Court orders Biden to reinstate Trump’s ‘remain in Mexico’ policy

08/14/2021

Source: Reuters

A federal judge has ordered President Joe Biden’s administration to reinstate his Republican predecessor’s “remain in Mexico” policy, which forced tens of thousands of Central American asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for U.S. court cases.

In a victory for the states of Missouri and Texas, which brought the suit, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk said on Friday that the Biden administration had violated laws on procedure by failing to consider “several of the main benefits” of the program and acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in ending it.

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Migrants held in filthy conditions in Mexico border town

07/02/2021

Source: KVOA Tucson

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s governmental human rights commission says migrants have been detained in filthy conditions in the border town of Piedras Negras, across from Eagle Pass, Texas.

The commission described visiting a municipal police facility where there was sewage, blocked toilets, rats and a horrendous smell in some cells. The commission said Thursday it found 13 migrants in the facility; while it did not list their nationalities, most migrants detained in Mexico are from Central America.

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Mexico Pushing For Reopening Of California-Baja California Border

06/29/2021

Source: Fronteras

Mexico’s president was recently in the state of Baja California, and said the recent vaccination push should open the door for loosening restrictions for crossing the border.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador praised the rapid administration of roughly 1.2 million doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in just over a week. He also thanked the United States, which recently donated 1.35 million doses to help get all adults along Mexico’s northern border vaccinated.

“We thank them because health is a fundamental human right,” AMLO, as he is widely known, said. “We have to give each other a hand, help each other, not be selfish, not turn our backs on those suffering, those who need our support. There must be solidarity and we have to move toward that beautiful ideal of universal fraternity.”

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As VP Harris visits Mexico City, a migrant tent camp grows in border town

06/08/2021

Source: NBC News

REYNOSA, Mexico — Amid scorching temperatures, the number of tents grows daily in this city across the border from McAllen, Texas, as some 700 migrants, including hundreds of children, have set up camp at Plaza de la República.

Carolina wiped away tears as she shared how she and her 12-year-old daughter, Genesis, were deported from the U.S. just hours before.

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