The Mexican government announced Friday that the number of migrants
coming to its border with the U.S. had dropped by 56 percent over the
past three months as the country tries to avert President Trump's
threatened tariffs on Mexico's exports to its northern neighbor.
Foreign
Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, citing data from U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) said the number of migrants apprehended at the frontier
in August was 63,989 in August, down from 146,266 in May. Those numbers
included people who presented themselves at U.S. ports of entry and
were deemed inadmissible.
The Mexican government has deployed more
than 20,000 police officers and National Guard troops across the
country as part of an aggressive campaign meant to deter Central
American migrants from passing through its territory en route to the
United States. Ebrard said there had been seven formal complaints of
human rights violations involving the National Guard, a relatively low
number which he saw as another sign of success.
The
U.S. and Mexico agreed in June to a 90-day window to allow Mexico to
reduce the flow of migrants from Central America to the U.S. The
agreement averted plans by Trump to impose a five percent tariff on
Mexican goods in the U.S. that would have increased every month until it
hit 25 percent.
Ebrard, is scheduled to meet with U.S. officials at the White House Tuesday to review the Mexican government's progress.
"We're
showing that the strategy that Mexico put forward has been successful,"
Ebrard told reporters. "I don't expect a tariff threat Tuesday because
it wouldn't make sense."
While drops in migration are typical
during the summer months, officials denied any link between the drops in
migration and seasonal trends.
Despite
the apparent progress in stopping illegal migration, Ebrard repeated
his government's refusal to become a so-called "third country,' as Trump
has proposed. That would require migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to
apply for such protections in Mexico instead.
"The Mexican
strategy is working," said Ebrard, according to Agence-France Press. "We
will not agree to be a safe third country ... because it goes against
our interests. It is unfair to our country."
Trump
has not yet responded to the latest figures, but on Wednesday he seemed
very pleased by Mexican efforts. "I want to thank Mexico, the Mexican
government, their great President of Mexico, for helping us," he told
reporters. "They're helping us in a very big way. Far bigger than
anybody thought even possible."
In addition to stopping U.S.-bound
migrants, Mexico said it has been targetting smuggling networks, which
it blames for instigating large migrant caravans bound for the U.S.
which popped up earlier this year. Authorities have raided freight
trains that migrants ride north, and pulled thousands off buses and out
of the freight compartments of trucks. The government has warned bus and
taxi drivers they could lose their permits if they transport migrants. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is writing a memoir reflecting on her two-year tenure working for the Trump administration that is expected to be released in the fall of 2020, her publisher, St. Martin’s Press, announced Thursday.
The book, which has yet to receive a title, will be about “the most
dramatic and challenging moments” during her time in the White House and
will address “the media, family, faith, and performing an all-consuming
and highly visible job while raising her young family,” according to a news release.
Sarah Sanders is seen in the White House briefing room during her
former role as White House press secretary, June 14, 2018. (Associated
Press)
"From Arkansas to the White House and back, I’m
excited to tell my story about the challenges of being a working mom at
the highest level of American politics, and my role in the historic
fight raging between the Trump administration and its critics for the
future of our country," Sanders said in a statement.
"From
Arkansas to the White House and back, I’m excited to tell my story
about the challenges of being a working mom at the highest level of
American politics, and my role in the historic fight raging between the
Trump administration and its critics for the future of our country." — Sarah Sanders, former White House press secretary
George
White, editor-in-chief of St. Martin’s Press, added that the book “will
offer a truly unique perspective on the most important issues, events,
and both public and behind-the-scenes conversations inside the White
House.”
Sanders worked on Trump’s presidential campaign before
succeeding Sean Spicer as White House press secretary in July 2017.
During her tenure, she was known for her contentious relationship with
the White House press corps and eventually ended the decades-old
tradition of formal daily White House press briefings, instead arranging
for Trump to address reporters himself, the New York Times reported.
She
stepped down from the role in June, and Stephanie Grisham was named to
take her place. Announcing her departure, Trump tweeted that Sanders was
“a very special person with extraordinary talents.” “We’ve been through
a lot together. She’s tough and she’s good,” Trump said on stage at a
separate White House event. Trump also called her a “warrior” and
encouraged her to run for governor in Arkansas in 2022, a position once
held by her father, Mike Huckabee.
Sanders
launched a campaign-style website in August that features a lengthy bio
and photos of her with President Trump but has yet to officially
announce a bid for governor, Politico reported. She joined Fox News as a contributor this month.
Two columnists on opposite coasts didn’t mince words Thursday in disagreeing with a San Francisco Board of Supervisors resolution labeling the National Rifle Association a domestic terrorist organization.
Los Angeles Times columnist Michael McGough said the label may be good politics but is “irresponsible.”
"It’s not the business of a county board of supervisors to designate terror organizations," he wrote, adding that it's also a First Amendment concern if officials try to blacklist contractors who work with the NRA.
"It’s not the business of a county board of supervisors to designate terror organizations." — Michael McGough, Los Angeles Times columnist
Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen called the resolution “McCarthyism: pure and simple.”
“Words matter,” he wrote, “and there are few words that stigmatize a person faster than calling him or her a terrorist.”
He
said that for the NRA is be a terrorist organization, it would have to
“intentionally encourage and support the use of violent attacks on U.S.
citizens with the intent of creating general fear so as to force
submission to its political agenda.”
“The NRA clearly does not do
that,” he said, sarcastically adding, "Congratulations, average NRA
member: Your $30 one-year membership makes you a terrorist."
He called the resolution “slanderous” and “harmful” and said it worsens the already toxic political environment.
He
wrote that Republicans are often asked to call out outrageous comments
made by those on the right and now liberals must do the same.
“Democrats should immediately denounce the San Francisco board for its insulting and unconstitutional resolution,” he said in closing.
“Democrats should immediately denounce the San Francisco board for its insulting and unconstitutional resolution.” — Henry Olsen, Washington Post columnist
The
board passed the resolution Tuesday, urging the federal government to
do the same after a recent spate of mass shootings across the country.
If you eat hamburgers or use plastic drinking straws, consider yourself part of the climate-change problem. That was the assessment of Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Thursday during an appearance on CNN’s "New Day."
Buttigieg,
the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., told host Alisyn
Camerota he thinks many people view climate issues from "the perspective
of guilt."
"You know, from using a straw to eating a burger. Am I
part of the problem? In a certain way, yes," he said. "But the most
exciting thing is that we can all be part of the solution."
Buttigieg said part of his climate-change proposal involves motivating the public.
"I
think the downside to us facing just how colossal of a challenge this
is, is it can feel paralyzing," Buttigieg said. "But we can rise to meet
this and be proud of it. That's part of what my climate plan is about.
It's not only about all of the things we've got to do technologically
and with regulation and so on. It's about summoning the energies of this
country to do something unbelievably hard.
"If you look at the
moments when this country rose to a major challenge, overcoming the
Great Depression, winning World War II, going to the moon, it required
something out of all of us. And I think we could be standing taller," he
continued.
Buttigieg made his remarks a day after he and other
Democrats running for president discussed plans to combat climate change
during a CNN town hall telecast Wednesday.
During the town hall,
the 2020 hopeful claimed climate change was a national security issue
and that the Syrian war was the first war “partly caused” by climate
change. He also invoked God and religion in the climate change debate,
saying environmentally irresponsible behavior was “kind of a sin.”
"Let's talk in language that is understood across the heartland about
faith," Buttigieg said. "If you believe that God is watching as poison
is being belched into the air of creation, and people are being harmed
by it — countries are at risk of vanishing in low-lying areas — what do
you suppose God thinks of that? I bet He thinks it's messed up."
He
added, "You don't have to be religious to see the moral dimensions of
this because frankly, every religious and non-religious tradition tell
us that we have some responsibility of stewardship, some responsibility
of taking care of what's around us- not to mention taking care of our
neighbor... At least one way of talking about this is that it's a kind
of sin." Fox News Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Police in Massachusetts reportedly arrested 12 pro-immigration protesters Thursday after hundreds of demonstrators marched through the Boston area, blocking rush-hour traffic.
The
group, arrested for trespassing at the Amazon building in nearby
Cambridge, across the Charles River via the Longfellow Bridge, were
advocating for private businesses to stop cooperating with U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Cambridge police said,
according to The Hill.
The unscheduled route frustrated passengers
and police. “It’s rush hour, there’s only one way (on the bridge). Take
some other way around,” a man said to WBZ-TV in Boston. The protesters reportedly refused to tell police their planned route.
“It’s rush hour, there’s only one way (on the bridge). Take some other way around.”
— Boston-area rush-hour commute
"Never Again Is Now" protesters rally at the New England Holocaust
Memorial and then march across the Longfellow bridge into the Amazon
local business building lobby, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019 in Cambridge,
Mass. (Associated Press)
The organizers, "Never Again Action: Jews Against
ICE," posted on Facebook they were specifically protesting Amazon’s
contracts with ICE and the company’s reported attempts to sell its
facial recognition technology to the agency, The Hill reported.
Eighteen people were arrested at a similar "Never Again" protest in July.
The Trump administration is offering a $15 million reward for anyone
who can disrupt the finances of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
President Trump designated the military unit as a terrorist
organization back in April, and said the IRGC is Iran’s primary source
of directing its terrorist campaign.
U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook announced the reward
Wednesday after the U.S. slapped sanctions on Iran’s National Space
Agency for helping develop ballistic missiles. The administration also
wants information on entities assisting the IRGC and its illicit
oil-for-money schemes.
“We are announcing a reward of up to $15 million for any person who
helps us disrupt the financial operations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
Corps and Quds force,” stated Hook. “The IRGC has been running an
illicit petroleum shipping network over the last several months — this
network has moved hundreds of millions of dollars worth of illicit oil.”
The U.S. special representative went on to say these steps are part
of the Trump administration’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign to get Iran to
negotiate a new deal.
FILE-
In this Sept. 18, 2016 file photo released by an official website of
the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Revolutionary Guard Gen.
Qassem Soleimani, center, attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran. (Office of
the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, File)
