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    What we don't know about Mexico's efforts to stop migrants

    Terry H. Schwadron, DCReport @ RawStory
    June 18, 2019

    Thanks for your support!

    This article was paid for by reader donations to Raw Story Investigates.

    Central American migrants are seen inside an enclosure where they are being held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), after crossing the border between Mexico and the United States illegally and turning themselves in to request asylum, in El Paso, Texas, March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

    Terry H. Schwadron, DCReport @ RawStory

    OK, it’s been only little more than 10 days since Donald Trump told us that Mexico had agreed to move aggressively to stop immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras that aim to pass through Mexico for the U.S. border.


    How is the plan going?

    More importantly, how will the Trump administration and White House measure the change and adjudge it as adequate progress in 45 days. Without such a declaration, the president had warned, he might renew the threat of progressively increased tariffs on Mexican imports.

    It’s a little hard to tell—in part because it is too soon, and in part because no one is really compiling the information on a weekly basis to show progress or lack of it. In addition, there are questions of what exactly to measure or what that measure should be. Unlike the announced solutions, the problems themselves are complicated. And the new Mexican National Guard is still being formed.

    In short, maybe the Mexican moves will be effective and maybe not. It won’t be simple to tell.

    NBC News and others, for example, have been quick to show televised pictures from the 540-mile Mexico-Guatemala border areas devoid of any signs of the 6,000 Mexican National Guardsmen being deployed to those areas and scattered stoppages of cars carrying refugees. The reports suggest that migrants continue to flow into Mexico, along a border of waterways, mountains and forest.

    Of course, the television lens is narrow and does not see context or planning.

    Reuters reported that Mexican guardsmen detained nearly 800 undocumented migrants in four trucks near Veracruz on. Mexico and U.S. border patrols also reported that more African immigrants have joined Central Americans.

    Here’s what we know:

    The numbers. Various news agencies have pointed out that the immigration numbers may have peaked for the year, that there is a general seasonal reduction that kicks in about now from Central America because the heat adds to an already dangerous trek. Last month, U.S. authorities detained more than 144,000 migrants along the Mexico border, the highest level in 13 years and nearly double the number taken into custody in February. The United States is on pace to make more than 1 million arrests at the border this year, according to The Washington Post.

    Mexican officials have said their enforcement measures would reduce U.S. border arrest totals closer to 50,000 per month by October, with the goal of reducing migration to where it was in 2017, when detentions dropped to their lowest level since the early 1970s. Migration from El Salvador is far less than it had been some years ago.

    The Mexican National Guard. The Mexican National Guard, which is only just getting organized, was proposed by President Andrés Manual López Obrador and ratified by Mexico’s Congress in March. It was never suggested to Mexicans as a tool of border security or migration enforcement. It has not received the training of a border patrol agency and has no formal connection to the country’s migration authority. It was intended instead to fill the security void left by Mexico’s ineffective and often corrupt local policing agencies to combat violence.

    It is unclear what legal duties involving border security the Mexican Guard can assume. However, the deployment clearly is an escalation over what Mexico had been doing on the border areas. Apparently, Mexican negotiators showed up in Washington with detailed plans for more checkpoints, detention centers and ramped-up deportations—all aimed at preventing migrants from moving north and at deterring others from trying.

    Housing asylum seekers. The deal that Trump announced would have asylum seekers apply for protection in the first foreign country they reach, potentially allowing the United States to send Guatemalans back to Mexico, and Hondurans and Salvadorans back to Guatemala. Apparently Department of Homeland Security officials were in Guatemala last month to discuss setting up such a plan.

    Regional partners. While Mexico has said it will not agree to a “safe third country” accord that would require it to take in U.S.-bound asylum seekers, Mexican officials have been willing to negotiate something that would be shared among other nations in the region. That would require approval from Mexican lawmakers. So, that does not exist yet.

    Mexico had been resisting U.S. pressure to expand its temporary program to house migrants. At least 10,000 asylum seekers have been sent back to Mexican border cities, where migrants say they face dangerous conditions. In recent weeks, U.S. officials have been sending roughly 250 asylum seekers per day back to Mexico. Under the deal reached Friday, U.S. officials said they expect to increase the rate to 1,000 per day or more.

    It is not clear that those deportations among the more than 100,000 in detention in the United States have gotten underway yet.

    Indeed, there are continuing reports of overcrowded facilities along the border, particularly among families.

    In addition, Customs and Border enforcement officials, as well as Department of Health and Human Services representatives, have acknowledged that far more unaccompanied migrant young people are being detained, without adequate services and without adequate record-keeping to assure a return to their families in the United States or Central America. In fact, the Trump administration earned headlines again last week for cutting education and recreational funds for young migrant detainees.

    As always, we wonder about matching White House mouth with action.

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

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    Parkland parents unleash on conspiracy Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene after harassing video posted

    Sarah K. Burris
    January 27, 2021

    It has been almost three years since the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, but now it's a different "Marjorie" who is a threat: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, the newly elected Republican from Georgia.

    Since taking office, it was revealed that she chased Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg as he lobbied Capitol Hill for action to ban dangerous weapons. She denies that both the Parkland and Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings ever took place. She has also said that Sept. 11 was an inside job and that Hillary Clinton is murdering children to wear their faces.

    Politico reported Wednesday that at least one Parkland parent is ready to ensure Greene confronts "her lies."

    Parkland dad Fred Guttenberg lost his teenage daughter in the attack, he was the one who reposted the video of Greene coming after Hoog. As of writing, the video has 6 million views.


    .@mtgreenee, is this you harassing @davidhogg111 weeks after the Parkland shooting, that my daughter was killed in… https://t.co/WzP4WCaJM3
    — Fred Guttenberg (@Fred Guttenberg)1611753995.0

    "She is going to confront her lies," he told Politico. "She is a fraud. She has no place being the halls of Congress. I do intend to bring her evidence of my daughter's murder."

    He's vowing to meet up Greene at some point to show her proof that his daughter Jamie was killed in the shooting.

    Greene chases Hogg down the street in the video asking why he supports "red flag laws," which allow judges to take away weapons from someone deemed a violent threat to themselves or others. Republican former Gov. Rick Scott signed the measure into law in Florida after the shooting.

    Hogg noted on Twitter that Greene's attacks are really just 1/10 of the 1 percent of harassment that those advocating for control of weapons face daily.

    "You think we want to be doing this? @mtgreenee. F*ck no — I'd much rather be able to be a college student but I & others can't & you know why? Bc corrupt politicians like you have made it so it's on the survivors of Gun violence to end gun violence bc you can't do your damn job."

    Alaina Petty's dad Ryan also said that when someone in such a position calls the attacks "false flags" it's "cruel and hurtful to the families that have suffered the real loss of a loved one." When Infowars founder Alex Jones began conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook being a lie the attacks on the families were so substantial that some had to move for their own safety. They've since sued and won, proving that for some actions do have consequences. It's unclear if Greene's lies will reach that same level.

    Both Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) have been completely silent on the issue, refusing to condemn Greene or refute her lies about Parkland.

    Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) has, however. On Wednesday, he rushed to Twitter to tell the survivors to come to Washington and force the GOP to respond.


    I saw the pain this tragedy brought & the trauma that continues even today in our community. I encouraged the surv… https://t.co/8LTNkF7zgR
    — Rep. Ted Deutch (@Rep. Ted Deutch)1611780378.0

    Feds fear the Jan 6 pipe-bomber will strike again — and are hurrying to find him

    Sarah K. Burris
    January 27, 2021

    A man was filmed placing two pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic Parties on Jan. 6, and investigators suspect they were slated to go off and distract police from the attack on the Capitol. Police were able to deactivate the bombs. They never went off, but the Capitol was already understaffed and under attack.

    CNN reported Wednesday that federal investigators are concerned that the bomber will strike again. The Department of Homeland Security issued an urgent bulletin on Wednesday warning that there is a very real threat that violent anti-government extremists were will strike again. It's a sentiment that a Trump supporter echoed, saying ominously, "something's coming."


    This image obtained from the FBI shows a poster offering a reward for information on a suspect who allegedly planted bombs during the January 6 assault on the US Capitol

    According to the report, tips have poured in about the insurrectionists that attacked the Capitol but the identity of the bomber is still a mystery.

    "They could potentially be building more bombs right now," said ATF special agent Ashan Benedict in an interview with CNN. "This person obviously knows who he or she is, they may have told their story to someone else, and in the face of humanity, the fact that a lot of people could have been hurt if this device went off should be enough for someone to come forward so it doesn't happen again."

    The device was eight inches long and made of galvanized steel, law enforcement officials told CNN. They were placed out in the open and discovered by a woman who was working from home. She had just put in a load of laundry when she saw the bomb.

    "I just happened to look down by sheer luck," Karlin Younger told the Wisconsin State Journal. "And I noticed that by the recycling bin there was this tangle of wires."

    Law enforcement confirmed that the bombs were active and set to go off with a timer but either it was set incorrectly or the batteries weren't connected properly.

    While the FBI poster shows photos of the bomber from surveillance footage, they've pulled hours more footage from all over the area of the bomber.

    Agent Benedict said that when the call came into AFT about a possible bomb found and his top deputy got into the car to drive over, something he only does in serious cases. While he was at the scene the attack began to unfold and law enforcement voices filled the radio.

    "While we're standing there at this bomb scene, the radios from the uniformed officers I'm speaking with are going off in greater intensity. It's not just your normal radio transmissions -- folks are calling for help and their voices are raised," he said.

    Read the full report at CNN. And if you have any information about the possible bomber, you can contact 1-800-CALL-FBI.

    It took under three weeks for the Republican Party to crawl back to Donald Trump after the Capitol attack

    Sarah K. Burris
    January 27, 2021

    It's been three weeks since President Donald Trump told his supporters at a Washington rally that they had to "fight" for him, and he would walk with them to the Capitol to complain to Congress about the 2020 election. Now Republicans want everyone to just "move on."

    After terrified lawmakers panicked and were rushed to safety due to armed and violent people rushing the Capitol, they decided they weren't going to protest the 2020 election anymore. The incident left Americans rattled, according to a YouGov poll citing "62% of respondents said they were disappointed. Half said they were angry (51%) or ashamed (50%), with Democrats being more likely than the country overall to feel that way (74% angry, 66% ashamed)."

    Writing for the Daily Beast, Asawin Suebsaeng noted that it took less than three weeks for Republicans to go crawling back to Trump when they voted that impeachment of Trump was unconstitutional.

    "I said [to Trump] there will be a motion to dismiss [the impeachment trial], I think on the 8th," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in an interview with the Beast. "We need 51 to dismiss the case. I was stressing to [Trump] that we're most likely not going to get that, but we are going to get more than enough for an acquittal. Getting 51 votes on a motion to dismiss will probably be very difficult…He's in the mindset of [concluding the trial] sooner rather than later…I've been saying this for a long time: there's no appetite on our side for this trial."

    Graham never left Trump's side, but ten Republicans agreed that the attack on the Capitol was illegal and that Trump should be prosecuted for it.

    Some Republican members are saying that the Senate should just "move on" from this insurrection. It has been less than three weeks, Homeland Security issuing a bulletin that anti-government terrorists are ready to strike again and one Trump supporter warning "something's coming." The GOP was once the party of "America" and "Security," but after a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, they're urging the government to "move on."

    Even after denouncing his words and saying his "actions since Election Day will be judged harshly by history," Nikki Haley changed course. "They beat him up before he got into office and they're beating him up after he leaves office," Haley said. "I mean at some point, give the man a break. I mean, move on, if [Democrats] truly are about moving on."

    From "law and order" to "move on" from the insurrection in just 13 days. Former President Donald Trump isn't back on Twitter, and it isn't clear if he's running for president in 2024.

    Read the full report and interview with Graham at the Daily Beast.

     
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