CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (KVIA) — A massive fire broke out in Juarez factory near the Zaragoza bridge early Friday morning. The flames and smoke are visible from miles away in El Paso’s Lower Valley and the east side. ABC-7 first noticed the fire on Texas Dept. of Transportation cameras just after midnight. El Diario de
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CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — Dozens of street vendors who rely on International Bridge traffic between El Paso and Juarez have lost their source of income and been forced to stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic and economic freeze. The lack of international traffic comes after the mayors of both cities issued stay-at-home orders Juarez
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CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Officials in Mexico said Thursday they were looking into a Juarez death that may be linked to the coronavirus. Dr. Arturo Zorrilla Valenzuela, the director of medical service in the northern region of Mexico, said the victim was a 39-year-old woman who died at a Juarez hospital of pneumonia earlier this
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SOCORRO, Texas — U.S. Border Patrol agents found and recovered a body from a canal behind the City of Socorro’s Cougar Park on Wednesday afternoon. The discovery happened around 1:30 p.m. Socorro police detectives initially responded to the scene, but they later turned the case over to Border Patrol for investigation. Authorities did not identify
Continue Reading CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Officials in Juarez reported two additional confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Monday. The two new additions bring the total number of cases in Juarez to four. The new cases involve two young women, ages 19 and 21. Officials said both women recently traveled to Sapin and are currently in isolation
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WASHINGTON, DC — Acting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf says illegal border crossings have dropped by 50% after restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration is turning back anyone crossing illegally, among other restrictions. Wolf says because migrants often come without identification paperwork it’s unclear how to trace their medical history and to
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MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Authorities in Mexico say a Mexican navy helicopter has crashed during an anti-kidnapping operation, killing a police officer and injuring 10 military personnel in the Gulf state of Veracruz. The official Twitter account of Veracruz Gov. Cuitláhuac García says the aircraft crashed Saturday in the mountainous Zongolica area while supporting state
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EL PASO, Texas — As of Saturday, Mexican border restrictions were officially in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Only essential travel is allowed between Mexico and the U.S. for the foreseeable future. Essential travel includes individuals traveling for medical purposes, attending school or engaged in trade, like truck drivers, among others, according
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MEXICO CITY, Mexico — The president of Mexico’s Liga MX soccer league announced he has tested positive for coronavirus. League President Enrique Bonilla said in a statement that “I don’t have serious symptoms.” He says he’ll remain in isolation and keep up with the situation of Mexican first-division soccer. Mexican first-division soccer matches were suspended
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WASHINGTON, DC — President Trump announced Friday that all “non-essential travel” across the U.S.-Mexico border would be restricted amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Citing the “unscreened” and “unvetted” people who come into the U.S. from the southern border, Trump said the border would be sealed off “mostly, and even beyond, but mostly during this global
Continue Reading CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A second person has tested positive for the coronavirus in Juarez, Chihuahua state health officials confirmed Friday. This second case involves an 18-year-old woman who recently traveled to New York City. Officials indicated that she has mild symptoms and is recovering at home. Earlier this week, Chihuahua’s Health Department announced what
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EL PASO, Texas — A person was hospitalized in serious condition after being pulled late Tuesday night from the water of the Rio Grande. That person was discovered by the El Paso Fire Department’s Water Rescue Team as they searched the river near the Zaragoza Bridge and Loop 375 after receiving reports of several people
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SAN DIEGO, California — The Trump administration is considering a plan to turn back all people who cross the border illegally from Mexico, two administration officials said Tuesday, using powers they say the president has during pandemics like the coronavirus outbreak to mount what would be one of the most aggressive attempts to curtail illegal
Continue Reading CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Chihuahua’s Health Department announced Tuesday that a 29-year-old man is the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state. The man arrived in Juarez on March 12 and self-quarantined. Officials said he traveled from Europe via Los Angeles. The patient is now reported to be recovering at home under quarantine. The
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PHOENIX, Arizona — The U.S. government says a new rule disqualifying more people from green cards if they use government benefits will not apply to immigrants with coronavirus or virus symptoms if they seek care. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said late Friday night that seeking treatment or preventive services won’t affect someone’s immigration status
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MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Mexican health officials, worried about how the coronavirus could spread from the U.S. to Mexico, are considering border restrictions that could soon take effect. The news agency Reuters said Mexican health officials fear their country, which has been relatively unaffected, could be exposed to infections coming from the U.S. side of
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — A 19-year-old pregnant woman from Guatemala died this week from injuries suffered when she fell trying to climb the U.S. border wall near El Paso, both U.S. and Guatemalan authorities said Thursday. Guatemala identified the woman as Mirian Stephany Girón Luna. Media reports there indicate she was the former beauty queen
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MILAN, Italy — It’s been two days since Italy was placed on lockdown in an effort to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus. As of Wednesday, the number of infected is over 10,000 and the number of deaths has surpassed 600 in Italy. Movement is restricted for the 60 million people living in Italy,
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LOS ANGELES, California — In the darkness, the team suits up quietly, putting on their helmets and tactical gear. Federal agents lug battering rams, bolt cutters and heavy weaponry by foot up a hill on a residential California street that’s softly aglow from street lamps. Then the agents turn onto the walkway of their target’s
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would allow the Trump administration to continue enforcing a policy that makes asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings, despite lower court rulings that the policy probably is illegal. The justices’ order, over a dissenting vote by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, overturns a lower
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SANTA TERESA, New Mexico (KVIA) — Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan is confident about his agency’s ability to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. “We have pandemic plans. This isn’t the first rodeo for CBP,” Morgan said. “H1N1, Ebola — and look, we’ve had issues with Tuberculosis. For CBP, this isn’t anything
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EL PASO, Texas — Eighty U.S. troops arrived in El Paso over the weekend and are expected to soon be providing assistance to Customs and Border Protection agents while the future of the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy remains uncertain, officials told ABC-7 on Monday. The White House recently announced the deployment of 160 troops total
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JUAREZ, Mexico — Hundreds of protesters gathered in Juarez demanding justice Saturday for the women who have been missing, sexually assaulted and killed throughout Mexico. Protesters of all ages began at the Paso Del Norte bridge on International Women’s Day and marched their way to the Benito Juarez Plaza, some carrying signs that read “We’re
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — The Trump administration is deploying around 80 troops to El Paso as a result of uncertainty over the future of one of its key asylum policies, US Customs and Border Protection announced Friday. About 80 more will be sent to the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego. Last week,
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EL PASO, Texas — Author Mike Tapia has written his second book, Gangs of the El Paso-Juarez Borderland. Tapia is an associate professor of criminology at New Mexico State University. “Gangs of the El Paso–Juárez Borderland: A History” examines gang history in the region encompassing West Texas, Southern New Mexico, and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico. The
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The Department of Homeland Security refused entry into the U.S. to 241 people within the past month because of the coronavirus, according to data provided by the department. DHS denied entry to 14 people at airports and 227 at land ports. The figures provided by DHS were recorded from February 2 to
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PHOENIX, Arizona — A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Thursday that a partial ban on asylum doesn’t apply to anyone who appeared at an official border crossing before the policy was announced last summer. The Trump administration announced in July it would deny asylum to anyone who traveled through
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CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A woman was dead and a man injured following gunfire Wednesday night at the Abraham Gonzalez International Airport in Juarez, prosecutors confirmed Thursday, but no arrests had yet been made. The shooting occurred around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday in a parking lot outside the airport and the gunmen were chased off by National
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SAN FRANCISCO, California — In the latest twist on a key Trump administration immigration policy, a federal appeals court said it will prevent the government from making asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings starting next week unless the U.S. Supreme Court steps in sooner. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — A federal jury in Las Cruces has convicted a former Sunland Park militia leader of impersonating a U.S. Border Patrol agent last year. Prosecutors said Wednesday that 45-year-old James Christopher Benvie was found guilty of two counts of false personation of an agent and faces up to three years in prison on each
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