Illegal border crossings per year

The speedy re-opening of mothballed detention facilities and new construction projects along the border show the Biden administration knows exactly what is on the horizon. In a press conference on Monday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas clearly invites illegal border crossers to come to the United States, with one caveat — not now, but soon. “We are not saying don’t come, we are saying don’t come now because we will be able to deliver a safe and orderly process to them as quickly as possible,” Secretary Mayorkas stated when answering a question related to how long it might take to rebuild the United States’ immigration system. The re-opening of a facility in South Texas designed to accommodate an influx of unaccompanied migrant children and soft-sided detention facilities in the Texas Rio Grande Valley serve as telling signs of things to come. Primarily, that Secretary Mayorkas understands what the future holds as a result of the … [Read more...] about Clark: Border Activity Contradicts DHS Secretary’s ‘No Crisis’ Message

A Vietnamese man has been sentenced to one year in prison for organizing a South Korean man’s illegal entry into Cambodia from Long An Province, located in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region. The People’s Court of Long An Province on Monday handed down the sentence on Nguyen Van Luy, a 33-year-old man dwelling in An Thanh Commune in Ben Cau District, situated in southern Tay Ninh Province. According to the indictment, Luy worked as a ‘xe om’ (motorbike taxi) driver at the Moc Bai border gate in Tay Ninh, where he got to know a South Korean man named Kim. On August 6, 2020, Kim texted Luy to ask the Vietnamese man to help his South Korean brother cross the border into Cambodia. After accepting the job for US$1,000, Luy asked an unknown person, who worked as a motorbike taxi driver in the area of Tho Mo Market in My Quy Tay Commune in Long An’s Duc Hue District, to transport the South Korean man to Cambodia for a wage of VND10 million ($434). On August 7, 2020, Luy booked a car to … [Read more...] about Vietnamese man jailed for helping S.Korean illegally enter Cambodia

WASHINGTON - Diplomats sat beside stacks of briefing papers, flanked by flags and emphasized their closeness. But they were geographically far apart Friday as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, because of the pandemic, started a new chapter in North American relations with virtual visits to Mexico and Canada in what was billed as his first official trip. Though symbolically important in any administration, the decision by President Joe Biden to dispatch Blinken to Mexico and Canada for the first visits, even virtually, is part of a broader effort to turn the page from a predecessor who at times had fraught relations with both nations. The three nations signed a revamped trade accord last year after then-President Donald Trump demanded a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The secretary began his virtual visits with Mexico, a country Trump repeatedly disparaged in his campaign and early in his presidency, though relations turned more cordial under President … [Read more...] about Top US Diplomat ‘Visits’ Mexico, Canada on Virtual Trip

Home Secretary Priti Patel is reportedly set to announce that people smugglers will face life sentences, in the latest attempt to deal with the ongoing Channel migrant crisis. Under current law, people smugglers only face a maximum sentence of fourteen years. However, as with most criminals jailed in the UK, they are unlikely to serve their full term, with most typically serving less than five years behind bars. Patel is looking to increase the penalty to a maximum sentence of life, which would prohibit the smugglers from being able to qualify for automatic early release, according to The Times. The move, which is expected to be introduced legislatively later this year, would primarily target low-end traffickers, including those who actually steer the migrant boats. A Home Office source told the paper: “At the moment the 14-year maximum sentence does constrain obviously what judges can do because that narrows the range of sentences available. “We’re not naive enough to … [Read more...] about Priti Patel to Introduce Life Sentences for People Smugglers: Report

THE HAGUE: Investigators looking into the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine released intercepted phone calls on Thursday (Nov 14) showing close links between "high-ranking" Russian officials and rebel suspects facing trial over the crash. The international probe said the communications raised questions about the possible involvement of top officials in Moscow in the deployment of the missile that shot down the Malaysia Airlines plane in 2014. The intercepts also showed that ties between the Kremlin and fighters from the separatist Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine were "much closer" than originally believed, the probe said. "There was almost daily telephone contact between the leadership of the DPR and their contacts in the Russian Federation," the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team said in a statement. "They spoke with leaders in Moscow, near the border with Ukraine and in Crimea. Communication mostly took place via secure telephones provided by the … [Read more...] about MH17 calls ‘show ties between Russian officials, rebels’