Company helping immigrants in detention ordered to pay $811M+ in lawsuit alleging deceptive tactics
A company that provides services for immigrants in federal detention has been ordered to pay more than $811 million in restitution and penalties in a lawsuit alleging it used deceptive and abusive tactics.
Smugglers are bringing migrants to a remote Arizona border crossing, overwhelming US agents
The U.S. Border Patrol says it is overwhelmed by a shift in human smuggling routes, with hundreds of migrants from faraway countries like Senegal, Bangladesh and China being dropped in a remote desert area in Arizona.
Congressional watchdog describes border wall harm, says agencies should work together to ease damage
Congress' official watchdog says in a report that the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border under former President Donald Trump toppled untold numbers of saguaro cactuses in Arizona, put endangered ocelots at risk in Texas and disturbed Native American burial grounds.
The Biden administration guaranteed attorney access for all migrant screenings. Most don’t have it
As the Biden administration prepared to launch speedy asylum screenings at the border this spring, authorities pledged a key difference from a Trump-era version of the policy: Migrants would be guaranteed access to legal representation.
Fatal boat trip highlights Haitians fleeing violence
Haitians are fleeing in greater numbers to the neighboring Dominican Republic, where they step onto rickety wooden boats as they attempt to reach Puerto Rico — a trip in which 11 Haitian women drowned this week, with dozens of other migrants believed missing.
Investigation of journalists by Customs unit is under review
An internal review has been launched into the actions of a special Customs and Border Protection unit that used sensitive government databases intended to track terrorists to investigate as many as 20 U.S.-based journalists, including an Associated Press reporter.
Migrantes menores alojados en albergues sin supervisión
Información confidencial conseguida por la AP indica que la cantidad de menores migrantes bajo custodia del gobierno se más que duplicó en los dos últimos meses y que esta semana el gobierno alojaba a unos 21.000 menores, desde pequeños de uno o dos años hasta adolescentes.
Migrantes están amontonados en centro de detención de Texas
Young unaccompanied migrants, from ages 3 to 9, watch television inside a playpen at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley, in Donna, Texas, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, Pool)(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Over 4,000 migrants, many kids, crowded into Texas facility
Migrants are processed at the intake area of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley, in Donna, Texas, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Oscar Escamilla, acting executive officer of the U.S. Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley, said 250 to 300 kids enter daily and far fewer leave. Border Patrol agents asked them if they had a contact in the U.S. and allowed the child to call that person. The Border Patrol generally is not supposed to detain children for more than three days, but Health and Human Services lacks space. More than 2,000 kids have been at the Donna facility for more than 72 hours, including 39 for more than 15 days.
Here is what Biden said during his 1st official news conference
(AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. Scott Applewhite) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. “If there is complete lockdown and chaos, as a consequence of the filibuster, then we have to go beyond,” Biden said. Biden also said he is concerned about the Republican legislatures across the country that are working to pass bills to restrict voting. Biden said it is going to be hard to meet the May 1st deadline to withdraw the U.S. military from Afghanistan.
Biden is on his heels amid a migrant surge at Mexico border
The Biden administration is facing growing questions about why it wasn't more prepared for an influx of migrants at the southern border. Since Biden’s inauguration, the U.S. has seen a dramatic spike in the number of people encountered by border officials. But Isacson added that the bottleneck was also affected by the lack of cooperation by the Trump administration with the Biden transition. AdThe Biden administration announced on Feb. 2 it would no longer uphold the Trump administration policy of automatically deporting unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. The president and other administration officials in recent days have stepped up efforts to urge migrants not to come.
Estados Unidos alojará a niños inmigrantes en centro de convenciones
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 09: A U.S. Customs and Border Protection patch on the uniform of Rodolfo Karisch, Rio Grande Valley sector chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol, as he testifies during a U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on migration on the Southern U.S Border on April 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. During the hearing, lawmakers questioned witnesses about child mentions, minor reunification, and illegal drug seizures on the Southern Border. (Photo by Alex Edelman/Getty Images)(2019 Getty Images)
Traveler’s sandals contain more than pound of cocaine at Miami airport, border patrol finds
MIAMI, Fla. – A bag check at Miami International Airport uncovered more than a pound of cocaine hidden in a pair of sandals. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, a drug balloon, or pellet, weighing 1.3 pounds of cocaine was found in the sandals last week. The Jamaican traveler who was stopped also admitted to swallowing cocaine and was taken to a local hospital for an X-ray. A Jamaican traveler had packed pellets with cocaine to bring them into the U.S. but the person was stopped at MIA. (WPLG)The X-ray showed that the individual had ingested 28 pellets, which was another way to smuggle the drugs, according to investigators.
US govt seizes over 10M phony N95 masks in COVID-19 probe
They have no utility whatsoever,” Homeland Security Secretary Ali Mayorkas said of the fake masks. Homeland Security officials would not say which states the phony masks were sent to, but said criminal charges would be forthcoming. The company delivered some 2 billion N95 masks in 2020 as the pandemic intensified, but in the earlier months, when masks were in short supply, fraudsters took advantage. But phony masks have already made it to front-line workers in other cases. Over the past year there has been more than 1,250 raids by law enforcement resulting in the seizure of millions of fake masks.
Government investigating massive counterfeit N95 mask scam
This December 2020 image provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows a counterfeit N95 surgical mask that was seized by ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Federal investigators are probing a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities, and government agencies and expect the number to rise significantly in coming weeks. (ICE via AP)WASHINGTON – Federal authorities are investigating a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation in which fake 3M masks were sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies. Nearly a year into the pandemic, fraud remains a major problem as scammers seek to exploit hospitals and desperate and weary Americans. There have been already more than 1,250 raids by law enforcement that resulted in the seizure of 10 million counterfeit 3M masks alone.
Birth on a riverbank: Woman's ordeal shows risks at border
Merín gave birth to her daughter next to the Rio Grande, attended to by two Border Patrol agents, showing how lives routinely end up at risk at the U.S.-Mexico border. Mother and child were hospitalized for three days, then processed at a Border Patrol station before being released to Catholic Charities. “There’s so many women in great danger,” said Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. The Border Patrol blames smugglers for using people in medical distress as decoys, drawing attention from others trying to sneak into the country. The Border Patrol defends how it treats immigrants and the medical care they receive.
2 detained for speaking Spanish settle border patrol lawsuit
– Two women who were detained in northern Montana by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents for speaking Spanish while shopping at a convenience store have reached an undisclosed monetary settlement in their lawsuit against the agency, the ACLU of Montana announced Tuesday. “Ma’am, the reason I asked you for your ID is because I came in here and I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here,” O’Neill said in the video. “We stood up to the government because speaking Spanish is not a reason to be racially profile and harassed,” Suda said in a statement provided by the ACLU. In gathering information for the lawsuit, the ACLU said Customs and Border Protection agents in northern Montana acknowledged they routinely profiled non-white people. “If there's somebody speaking Spanish down there it's like all of a sudden you've got five agents swarming in, ‘What’s going on?'
Foreign travelers at Miami International Airport will be included in federal facial biometric database
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami International Airport has a new touchless technology to screen foreign arrivals just in time for the holiday travel season. Daniel Alonso, CBP’s acting director of field operations, said this pandemic makes the need for a secure touchless travel experience even more critical now. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked Americans on Thursday to avoid holiday season travel. According to Diane J. Sabatino, CBP’s deputy executive assistant commissioner of field operations, implementing the new technology that will be used during the inspection process involves public-private partnerships. U.S. citizens who have privacy concerns can opt-out and go through the traditional process which will take a little longer.
Cameroon stone carvings recovered at South Florida airport
MIAMI – Authorities say customs officers have recovered ancient stone carvings from Cameroon at a South Florida airport. U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Tuesday that officers at Miami International Airport intercepted an air cargo shipment containing “Ikom Monoliths.”Investigators say the stone sculptures had been exported to the U.S. using fraudulent documents. Most countries have laws that protect their cultural property, such as art, artifacts, antiquities, or other archeological and ethnological material. These laws include export controls and national ownership of cultural property. “CBP has a critical role in protecting cultural property and preventing illicit trafficking,” Robert Del Toro, CBP’s Acting Port Director at MIA, said in a statement.
Gloves linked to forced labor in China stopped at LA port
WASHINGTON – A shipment of women’s gloves at a California port has been traced to a factory that uses forced labor of people caught up in a brutal crackdown on ethnic minorities in China, U.S. authorities said Thursday. Overland, a retailer based in Fairfield, Iowa, was seeking to import the gloves and says it has provided proof to Customs that the goods were not made with forced labor and should be released. The administration, which has clashed with China on a range of issues, including trade and the coronavirus outbreak, has also increased enforcement of a U.S. law that bans the importation of goods made with forced labor. Labor and human rights groups say it's impossible to conduct legitimate inspections in Xinjiang because of the oppressive conditions. A bipartisan bill that would declare that all goods manufactured in Xinjiang are the product of forced labor, and therefore banned from the country, passed overwhelmingly last month in the House of Representatives.
US says it will block palm oil from large Malaysian producer
The United States will block shipments of palm oil from a major Malaysian producer that feeds into the supply chains of iconic U.S. food and cosmetic brands. “We would also encourage U.S. consumers to ask questions about where their products come from.”Malaysia is the world’s second largest producer of palm oil. Palm oil and its derivatives from FGV, and closely connected Malaysian state-owned Felda, makes its way into the supply chains of major multinationals. They include Nestle, L’Oreal, and Unilever, according to the companies’ most recently published supplier and palm oil mill lists. Under Wednesday’s order, palm oil products or derivatives traceable to FGV will be detained at U.S. ports.
US agents seize record $27M in cash on ship bound for USVI
SAN JUAN Federal authorities announced Tuesday that they seized $27 million in undeclared cash aboard a ship bound for the U.S. Virgin Islands, the largest such seizure ever in the region. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said a dog inspecting cargo on Saturday aboard a ship docked in Puerto Rico alerted agents to the money found inside home moving boxes destined for St. Thomas. No one has been arrested.
Cash, stash of weapons seized by authorities on private jet
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Two Venezuelan nationals were arrested over the weekend after federal authorities confiscated cash and numerous weapons from a Learjet in South Florida, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced on Tuesday. According to authorities, Air and Marine Operations (AMO) agents from the Fort Lauderdale Marine Unit were alerted of an aircraft movement related to an ongoing investigation on Saturday night. Officials from CBP, Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Aviation Administration detained the plane that was heading to St. Vincent and inspected the jet. According to CBP officials, authorities seized 18 assault/bolt action rifles with optics, six shotguns, 58 semi-automatic pistols, $20,312 in U.S. currency and $2,618.53 in endorsed checks. Weapons seized on private plane in South Florida on Aug. 15, 2020.
Protesters hit with gas as locals demand feds leave Portland
Federal officers deployed tear gas and fired less-lethal rounds into a crowd of protesters late Thursday. The actions came just hours after the head of the Department of Homeland Security called the protesters violent anarchists. Federal agents, some wearing camouflage and some wearing dark Homeland Security uniforms, used tear gas at least twice to break up crowds late Friday night, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said Friday night she was also suing Homeland Security and the Marshals Service. Federal officers deployed tear gas again just before midnight after a few protesters placed dismantled fencing in front of plywood doors covering the entrance of the federal courthouse.
Venezuelan smugglers lost $3.2M in cars at Port Everglades, feds say
Dylan DeFrancisi, port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the value of each vehicle ranges between $20,000 and $140,000. The investigation began in April after a tip received by Homeland Security Investigation special agents in Bogot, Colombia. Salisbury said Raul Gorrin, the president of 24-hour television network Globovisin and La Vitalicia insurance company in Venezuela, was involved. John Tobon, HSI Miami deputy special agent in charge, is also involved in the investigation. How all these vehicles were going to Venezuela, paid for in cash and none of the businesses involved knew about it?
Customs: U.S. marijuana hidden in cereal boxes to be sent to Guyana
MIAMI – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Miami International Airport reported recently finding marijuana that was destined for Guyana. More than six pounds of marijuana likely grown in the southeastern region of the U.S. were in cereal boxes, cans of crackers and inside an iced tea container at MIA. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)Officers also reported finding an M4 rifle and a Tech 9 pistol with an ammunition magazine. The weapons were manifested as toys and also destined for Guyana. According to Christopher D. Matson, CBP Port Director at MIA, the “significant seizures” are a way to “disrupt dangerous criminal networks.”
Passenger arriving to Miami from Cuba found with plastic bottle containing dead bird
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A passenger who arrived Monday at Miami International Airport from Varadero, Cuba, was found with a plastic bottle containing two birds, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials confirmed in a news release. CBP agriculture specialists took custody of the birds, which were detained under quarantine and turned over to U.S. Department of Agriculture Veterinary Services. Authorities said the birds were smuggled into the U.S. in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, but did not confirm whether the passenger was arrested. “The statute makes it unlawful without a waiver to partake in any of these activities with birds listed therein as migratory birds. The statute does not discriminate between live or dead birds and also grants full protection to any bird parts including feathers, eggs, and nests.
Sheriff: Customs agent kills 3 family members, then himself
ORLANDO, Fla. – A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent killed three family members, including two juveniles, and then himself at his Florida home, authorities said Thursday night. Deputies learned the family members hadn’t been seen since last week, so they entered the home and found the four bodies, he said. Investigators weren’t immediately identifying the victims or the agent, who worked at the Orlando International Airport. Mina said the dead included a woman in her 30s, a middle-school-age boy and a high-school-age boy. Officials didn’t immediately say how the victims were related to the agent.
30 pounds of cocaine found on commercial plane at Miami International Airport
MIAMI – Federal agents say a K-9 has detected 13 kilograms of cocaine inside a commercial passenger plane at Miami International Airport. But, CBP canceled that offer, saying they cannot show the cocaine or speak any further on the matter at this time because they don’t want to compromise the investigation. Agents would not disclose what airline’s plane the drugs were found on or when exactly the cocaine was discovered. Agents did, however, say that the discovery highlights the good work that the agency is doing. Right now, the focus is on finding out who sent the cocaine and where it was headed.
Agents inspect flowers coming through Miami airport ahead of Valentine’s Day
MIAMI – With Valentine’s Day just three days away, flowers are in huge demand and that’s keeping airport workers busy. Authorities say 90% of all the flowers imported to the United States come through Miami International Airport. On Tuesday, Local 10 News got a behind-the-scenes look at how U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents inspect those flowers to make sure they’re free from pests and diseases before they’re sent to distributors. Most of the imported flowers come from Colombia and Ecuador. Any flowers with pests or diseases will be fumigated or destroyed.
12-year-old Bahamian evacuee separated from her family by Customs and Border Protection
Jose Jimenez / Getty ImagesMIAMI - Trying to escape the destruction of Hurricane Dorian, a 12-year-old Bahamian girl was separated from her family after arriving from the Bahamas at a South Florida airport. After they landed, U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it "made multiple attempts to contact family members" but those efforts were unsuccessful. It was at that point, according to the Herald, that CBP says it transferred Keytora to Department of Health and Human Services custody, separating her from her aunt because she wasn't the girl's biological parent. A spokesperson from U.S. Customs and Border Protection released a statement Tuesday that read, in part:"CBP made multiple attempts to contact family members however was unsuccessful, resulting in the need to transfer the child to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) custody. CBP has been in contact with the child's mother and is working through HHS to verify legitimate caretakers and reunite them."
Trump admin to allow longer detention of migrant families
Immigrant asylum seekers wait at a bus station after being released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), on Nov. 1, 2018, in McAllen, Texas. (CNN) - The Trump administration on Wednesday announced plans that could hold undocumented families detained together indefinitely, replacing the decades-old agreement that set a 20-day limit for holding children. This story is breaking and will be updated. The-CNN-Wire & 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.