EL PASO, Texas — ABC-7 has learned that as many as nine migrants flown into El Paso from the Rio Grande Valley have tested positive for Covid-19. The nine are among hundreds being brought to El Paso by the U.S. Border Patrol because of a surge in migrants requesting asylum in southern Texas, which has
Continue Reading
MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Lawmakers in Mexico on Wednesday approved a bill to legalize recreational marijuana, which could make the nation the world’s largest cannabis market. The news agency Reuters said Mexico’s lower house of Congress approved the bill on a 316-127 vote. The measure now heads to the Senate for its review and approval.
Continue Reading
WASHINGTON, DC — The new statistics emerging daily about what’s happening at the US-Mexico border are enough to make anyone’s head spin. It’s a fast-moving situation, described by the Biden administration as a “stressful challenge” and decried by critics of immigration as a “crisis.” There are a lot of details we’re still learning in real
Continue Reading
WASHINGTON, DC — The number of migrant children and families seeking to cross the U.S. southwest border has surged to levels not seen since before the pandemic, a challenge for President Joe Biden as he works to undo the restrictive immigration policies of his predecessor. Roberta Jacobson, Biden’s senior official for southwest border affairs and
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — Aides who traveled to the southern border at the behest of President Joe Biden have described to him a troubling surge of migrant children the administration is now racing to house as the President’s more humane approach to immigration faces a critical early test. Biden entered office vowing to reverse what he
Continue Reading MISSION, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott, during a news conference Tuesday at the Texas-Mexico border to discuss the state’s border security efforts amid what the governor claimed was an “ongoing humanitarian crisis,” alleged that the Biden Administration was not providing access to Covid-19 vaccines to U.S. Border Patrol staff. Abbott’s remarks came after he took an
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The number of unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. Border Patrol facilities intended for adults climbed on Tuesday, surpassing record highs from the previous day, according to new figures reviewed by CNN. More than 3,400 unaccompanied migrant children were in Customs and Border Protection custody, according to the data dated Tuesday. Of those,
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — Democratic lawmakers from Texas are urging the state’s governor to accept federal funds to help with the testing and quarantining of migrants released from U.S. Border Patrol custody, according to a letter obtained by CNN. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has blamed migrants for spreading Covid-19, without evidence, while blocking federal plans to
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The number of unaccompanied migrant children in US Border Patrol facilities, which are akin to jail cells and not intended for kids, has reached dramatic highs, according to internal agency documents reviewed by CNN, underscoring the urgent challenge facing the Biden administration. More than 3,200 unaccompanied migrant children were in Customs and
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — El Paso will begin receiving planes full of migrants from the Rio Grande Valley for processing, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said. “What we are seeing is families continue to arrive at our nation’s front door and the only difference today than a year ago … is the pandemic, and so
Continue Reading
MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Comedian Ricardo González Gutiérrez, who was best known for his performances as a beloved Mexican clown under the name Cepillín, has died. He was 75, KABC-TV in Los Angeles reported. Cepillín was a dentist by profession who quickly gained fame in the Mexican entertainment world with his children’s songs, the most
Continue Reading
CIUDAD JUÁREZ , Chihuahua (KVIA) — A group of bus drivers blocked northbound traffic into El Paso early Monday morning, ABC-7’s news partners in Juarez, Canal 44, report that these bus drivers were protesting the State of Chihuahua because it intends to remove concessions that would modernize public transport. A spokesperson for CBP tells ABC-7
Continue Reading MATAMOROS, Mexico — A tent camp in Matamoros, Mexico, where hundreds of migrants stayed in deplorable conditions after being subject to a Trump-era policy requiring they stay in Mexico until their immigration court date in the US, has been drawn down, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CNN. Over recent years, migrants have set
Continue Reading IMPERIAL COUNTY, California — Hours after 13 undocumented migrants were killed in a collision on a desolate stretch of California’s Imperial Valley, Hugo Castro said a prayer and planted small crosses on the sandy, rocky edge of the cordoned off highway. The crosses were fashioned from cedarwood at a shelter just across the US-Mexico border
Continue Reading MISSION, Texas — An American flag blew in the South Texas wind as Father Roy Snipes prepared to welcome 100 migrants to the school close to his church. He set the church bells to chime just in time for the migrants’ arrival and play “Santa Maria del Camino,” a hymnal honoring traveling pilgrims. But the
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is stalling efforts by the Biden administration to provide federal funds for Covid-19 tests for migrants released from custody, a senior Homeland Security official tells CNN. After announcing that he’s relaxing state Covid restrictions, Abbott alleged that migrants coming into Texas are exposing the state’s residents to the
Continue Reading
WASHINGTON, DC — The Biden administration is preparing to convert its immigrant family detention centers in South Texas into Ellis-Island-style rapid-processing hubs that will screen migrant parents and children with a goal of releasing them into the United States within 72 hours, according to Department of Homeland Security draft plans obtained by The Washington Post.
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, Dc — Migrant children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border alone are staying in Border Patrol custody for longer than three days on average, overwhelming capacity at border facilities and indicating a crisis taking shape, according to internal documents reviewed by CNN. The Customs and Border Protection documents dated Tuesday show a growing trend of unaccompanied
Continue Reading
HOLTVILLE, California — The U.S. Border Patrol says 13 people killed in a Southern California crash were among 44 people who entered the U.S. through a hole cut into the border fence with Mexico. Gregory Bovino, the agency’s El Centro sector chief, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that surveillance video showed Ford Expedition and
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — After ABC-7 first reported last week on a new migrant holding facility being created in west El Paso that is intended to house children, new details emerged Monday about it. The non-profit BCFS organization that operates through the U.S. Department of Health and Human services tells ABC-7 that the facility will
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — As President Joe Biden looks to dismantle the last administration’s hard-line immigration agenda, he worked Monday to build a partnership with someone who found an unexpected understanding with Donald Trump: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Biden and López Obrador met for a virtual bilateral meeting, with immigration, the coronavirus pandemic and
Continue Reading
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — New Mexico State University is rejecting requests that the Las Cruces campus take on sanctuary status for students who are in the country illegally. The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that officials declined formal proposals from the Associated Students of NMSU and the Faculty Senate to establish a sanctuary declaration. Proponents of NMSU
Continue Reading TENOSIQUE, Mexico — Carlos was working in the field a few weeks ago, planting corn and beans under the scorching Honduran sun, when he suddenly knew what he would do. Amidst poverty and recent natural disasters — and with a friendlier face these days in the White House — the time had come to emigrate
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The Biden administration could reunite migrant families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under former President Donald Trump in the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Monday. Mayorkas, who’s leading the family reunification task force established by President Joe Biden, said the administration hopes to reunite separated families in the U.S.
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — A year into the pandemic, counterfeit COVID-19 products are still coming into the United States. Customs and Border Protection officers are offering tips for consumers to stay safe. Shipments of counterfeit Covid-19 products surged at the start of the pandemic. In one seizure in April, CBP officers seized more than
Continue Reading
WASHINGTON, DC — Democratic lawmakers are wrestling with how to move forward with a series of immigration bills that would legalize undocumented immigrants, with some pushing for sweeping immigration revisions out of the gate and others urging caution. Lawmakers are hoping to resurface immigration bills on the House floor before April 1, a period in
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — Most of the 25 asylum-seeking migrants who settled into an El Paso shelter on Friday are preparing to reunite with family members across the country, but one woman didn’t stay for long. “When she arrived, she was pregnant and no sooner had she arrived we had to call 911 and we
Continue Reading The Biden administration is planning to open another facility in south Texas to expand processing capacity for children and families arriving at the US-Mexico border, a Department of Homeland Security official confirmed to CNN. It’s the latest move by the administration to address the growing number of migrant families and unaccompanied children at the US
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — A new facility designed to house migrant children is reportedly preparing to open just blocks away from the Coronado Country Club, in what is regarded as one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city. The new migrant facility will be situated where the ‘SunRidge at Desert Springs’ Alzheimer’s care center
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — El Paso on Friday became the third U.S. border crossing to accept asylum-seekers who had been forced to wait in Mexico. There were 25 migrants who were the first to be processed by U.S. immigration officials in El Paso. The group entered the U.S. on the Paso Del Norte bridge before
Continue Reading