Tag Archives: Mexico

Alternet: ‘Embarrassing boondoggle’: Trump’s ‘big beautiful wall’ is now on life support in Texas

Posted on by
Reply

Long before President Donald Trump pushed the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, he called for a “big, beautiful wall” on the U.S./Mexico border. And of the four U.S. states that shared a border with Mexico, GOP-leaning Texas had the loudest and most vocal support for the wall.

But MSNBC’s Ja’han Jones, in his June 19 column, stresses that Trump’s “big, beautiful wall” now seems to be on life support in the Lone Star State.

“Texas appears to have quietly stopped funding its plans to construct its own border wall with Mexico, which could mark the end of an embarrassing boondoggle designed to bolster one of President Donald Trump’s early campaign slogans,” Jones explains. “For years, conservatives have framed the idea of a border wall as essential to immigration enforcement, despite a chorus of critics denouncing it as costly and ineffective. And Texas Republicans’ decision to defund the project seems like a tacit acknowledgment of that reality.”

‘Embarrassing boondoggle’: Trump’s ‘big beautiful wall’ is now on life support in Texas

https://www.alternet.org/trump-border-wall-texas-msnbc

The Hill: Pregnant US citizen detained by Border Patrol agents: ‘We didn’t do anything wrong’

Posted on by
Reply

A pregnant U.S. citizen who was detained by federal agents approximately two weeks ago has since given birth to a healthy baby girl, but her boyfriend is now being held out of state and her problems are far from over.  

Cary López Alvarado told Nexstar’s KTLA that she “tried to remain strong” during the scary ordeal, which took place outside a building where her boyfriend and cousin were doing maintenance work on June 8. She was nine months pregnant at the time.

Video taken by López depicts her struggling with a masked agent wearing a Border Patrol uniform asking to see her identification as she was protecting a truck carrying her boyfriend Brayan Nájera and cousin Alberto Sandoval — the latter of whom is also a U.S. citizen.  

All three of them were eventually detained. Further footage posted on social media shows agents detaining López after they had pinned her truck between a wall.

…

The then-soon-to-be-mother was taken to a processing facility in San Pedro, where, according to her, the agents automatically assumed she was undocumented.  

“[They said] ‘But you’re from Mexico, right?’ And I’m like ‘No, I’m from here,’” López said. “[They asked] … ‘Where’s here?’ and I’m like, ‘Here, the U.S., Los Angeles.”

“They put us in chains, so I had a chain from my hands under my belly that went all the way to my legs,” she added. “Every now and then, I would fix my hands because I felt like I would be putting too much pressure because the chain went under my belly.” 

López was released after complaining of stomach pain and went straight to a hospital where she started having contractions, which she believes were caused by the stress of what she had gone through. 

Pregnant US citizen detained by Border Patrol agents: ‘We didn’t do anything wrong’

https://thehill.com/latino/5359169-pregnant-us-citizen-border-patrol-agents

SFGate: From San Diego to the Bay Area, California restaurants are on edge over immigration raids

Posted on by
Reply

Brandon Mejia usually spends his weekends conducting a symphony of vendors serving pupusas, huaraches and an array of tacos at his two weekly 909Tacolandia pop-up events.

…

But in the past week, that’s all come to a screeching halt. As the Trump administration ramps up immigration raids in California, some restaurants, worried about their workers or finding that customers are staying home more, are closing temporarily. Many street vendors are going into hiding, and some food festivals and farmers markets have been canceled.

Mejia called off all Tacolandia events last week. His mind raced about whether agents would come for his vendors as videos surfaced on social media of taqueros, farm workers and fruit vendors vanishing in immigration raids around LA and neighboring Ventura County.

“A lot of these vendors, their goal is to have restaurants. They want to follow the rules,” said Mejia, who was born and raised in San Bernardino in a family from Mexico City. But after conferring with vendors, they decided the risk was too high: “Some people have told me that their relatives have got taken, so I don’t want to be responsible for that.”

After a week of mass protests and more raids at farms, grocery stores and at least one swap meet, Mejia and many others remain on edge. Mejia said some small food businesses are getting desperate, trying to decide whether to risk reopening or stay closed while their own families grow hungry.

…

From San Diego to the Bay Area, California restaurants are on edge over immigration raids

https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/from-san-diego-to-the-bay-area-california-20385093.php

Newsweek: ICE detains green card-holder returning from visit to son in US Air Force

Posted on by
Reply

Victor Avila, a 66-year-old green card holder who has lived in the United States since he was a teenager, was detained in May by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at San Francisco International Airport after returning from a trip to visit his son, a U.S. Air Force servicemember stationed in Japan, according to local reports and a GoFundMe page.

…

Avila was detained May 7 at San Francisco International Airport after returning from Japan. The 66-year-old has been a legal permanent resident since 1967, when he immigrated to the United States from Mexico. He was returning from the trip with his wife, who had not been detained.

According to a GoFundMe page, his wife, four children and six grandchildren are all U.S. citizens, including his son, who serves in the U.S. Air Force.

A longtime resident of San Diego, Avila has worked as a legal assistant at the workers’ compensation law firm Kiwan & Chambers APC for over a decade.

…

Avila’s daughter, Carina Mejia, told local outlet ABC 10 News that her father was pulled over in 2009 and arrested for a DUI and drug possession misdemeanor. He served his time and paid the fines for the misdemeanors. She said he has been able to renew his green card two times since that arrest.

ICE detains green card-holder returning from visit to son in US Air Force
Victor Avila, a green card holder for more than 50 years, was arrested after returning from a visit to his son, a U.S. Air Force servicemember stationed in Japan.

https://www.newsweek.com/ice-detains-green-card-holder-returning-visit-son-us-air-force-2087397

Associated Press: US resumes visas for foreign students but demands access to social media accounts

Posted on by
Reply

The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas but all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for government review.

The department said consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles.

… or which might otherwise annoy our pathetic thin-skinned Grifter-in-Chief.

Currently only about half of social-media users have public profiles, and even then they may choose to limit access on a post-by-post basis.

This will not work to our advantage in the long run.

US resumes visas for foreign students but demands access to social media accounts

https://apnews.com/article/student-visas-trump-social-media-6632a2c585245edcd6a63594345dd8c7

Washington Post: Many here wanted Trump to enforce immigration law, but ‘it’s going overboard’

Posted on by
Reply

Interviews with more than four dozen people in this swing region encompassing northern Los Angeles County show how much tactics matter in the immigration debate.

Jesus Martinez, a 36-year-old aerospace worker, said he initially supported President Donald Trump’s decision to send the military to quell immigration protests in California. But he has grown increasingly uneasy after seeing images of ICE raids near schools and at workplaces where families are being separated.

“It’s going overboard. It’s too much,” said Martinez, a former Democrat who supported Trump in 2020 and sat out the 2024 election.

“They said only criminals, and now they’re saying, ‘Well, they did come in illegally, so they are criminals,’” he added. “Hispanics or Latinos that voted for Trump, they didn’t think he was going to go after kids.”

…

In this working-class and heavily Latino area known for its wildflower blooms, a region that moved toward Trump in the 2024 election, voters from both parties voiced support for Trump’s promises to deport immigrants who are here illegally, especially those with criminal records. But they drew lines — some over the scope of those deportations and, to a lesser extent, over his decision to crack down on immigration protesters with the military.

“When you already have aggressive people and then you’re sending in people like that, I feel like it just makes it kind of worse,” said Christian Strand, a 19-year-old EMT from Palmdale, a majority-Latino city, referring to the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines. “It’s creating more of a pushback, because the aggression is rising.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/17/trump-california-immigration-voters

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/many-here-wanted-trump-to-enforce-immigration-law-but-it-s-going-overboard/ar-AA1GUEAR

AFP: Balloons, bubbles, tear gas: LA anti-Trump protests turn chaotic

Posted on by
Reply

For hours, thousands of people in Los Angeles peacefully celebrated their defiance of US President Donald Trump Saturday with music, marching, bubbles and balloons — then police unexpectedly moved in, and chaos and confusion broke out.

The demonstration — part of the nationwide “No Kings” day of protests across the country — was by far the largest in more than a week of protests ignited by anger against immigration raids the Trump administration has been carrying out across the country’s second-largest city. 

Like those before it, Saturday’s had been largely peaceful. A march that began in the morning had finished, with demonstrators milling about on a sunny afternoon as the scene took on the air of a street festival. 

But then:

Then police unexpectedly began moving people away from the area, igniting confusion and anger among demonstrators caught off guard and unsure of where to go.

Police on horseback pushed crowds back as law enforcement fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades hours ahead of an 8:00 pm (0300 GMT) curfew. 

A police spokeswoman later told local TV channel KTLA that a “small group of agitators” had begun throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers, prompting the decision to order the crowd to disperse.

Balloons, bubbles, tear gas: LA anti-Trump protests turn chaotic

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/balloons-bubbles-tear-gas-la-anti-trump-protests-turn-chaotic/ar-AA1GJd8h

Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Deportation Raids in L.A. Hit Longtime Workforce

Posted on by
Reply

He is one of the millions of immigrants who make up greater Los Angeles’s Hispanic community, one of the nation’s largest and oldest. Some crossed the border illegally, overstayed visas or were brought here illegally as children and are stuck in legal limbo. They assumed President Trump wouldn’t target them for deportation and that he would instead focus on criminals and more recent arrivals.

The raids that unfolded here this past week, triggering protests and Trump’s deployment of National Guard and active duty troops, shattered that belief and altered life for a community that underpins the economy of the nation’s second-largest metropolis.

…

Experts estimate the number of immigrants who entered illegally or are living illegally in Los Angeles County at close to one million people, or roughly 10% of the population.

So if King Donald and his Nazi Stephen Miller have their way, one out of every ten L.A. residents will be disappeared.

Trump’s Deportation Raids in L.A. Hit Longtime Workforce
The region is home to one of the nation’s largest and oldest Hispanic communities, which underpins the economy.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-s-deportation-raids-in-l-a-hit-longtime-workforce/ar-AA1GIsGf

MSNBC: Elon Musk’s bad-faith response to the Minnesota shootings risks encouraging political violence

Posted on by
Reply

In the wake of the attacks, prominent right-wing social media commentators and conspiracy theorists were quick to falsely lay blame at the feet of Democrats.

The shootings of two Minnesota state legislators and their spouses this weekend — resulting in the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband and grievous injury to Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, who were shot multiple times — is the latest horrific episode of political violence across the country.

It won’t be the last.

In the wake of the attacks, prominent right-wing social media commentators and conspiracy theorists were quick to falsely lay blame at the feet of victims and Democrats. After reports surfaced that Gov. Tim Walz had appointed the Minnesota shooting suspect, who was taken into custody Sunday, to a state workforce development board, right-wing social media personality Mike Cernovich asked on X whether Walz had unleashed an “assassin” and “ordered the political hit against a rival who voted against Walz’s plan to give free healthcare to illegals.” Elon Musk was swiftly mocked online after he blamed the “far left” for the killings in a post on X.Expand article logo  Continue reading  Back to Home

These conspiracy theories are patently wrong. The suspect in custody for Saturday’s killings has reportedly voted for Trump and is a supporter of the president, according to a close friend of his who spoke with NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis, and he appears to have deliberately targeted progressive and liberal candidates and causes. Police discovered a list of other targets, including Democrats who support abortion rights and Planned Parenthood clinics. He was an ordained Christian minister who had taken several trips to proselytize overseas.

…

When political leaders use rhetoric that demonizes their opponents, declaring them enemies who are worthy of revenge or pledging retribution, their supporters may feel emboldened or empowered to take violent action.

Opinion | What happens when pundits politicize responses to political violence?
In the wake of the attacks, prominent right-wing social media commentators and conspiracy theorists were quick to falsely lay blame at the feet of Democrats.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/minnesota-shootings-suspect-elon-musk-response-conspiracies-rcna213152

Latin Times: Mexico Confronts ICE Over Denied Access After Death of Detained Mexican Citizen in Georgia

Posted on by
Reply

Jesús Molina-Veya was discovered unresponsive in his cell [with a ligature around his neck] on June 7 and died shortly after being taken to a local hospital

Mexico is pursuing legal options after a Mexican citizen died earlier this month while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. According to Mexican media reports, ICE is now preventing officials from the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta from entering the facility to speak with other detainees.

On June 7, 45-year-old Jesús Molina-Veya was found unconscious in his cell with a ligature around his neck, according to ICE. Despite CPR efforts, medical staff transferred him to Phoebe Sumter Hospital in Americus, where he was pronounced dead later that evening.

As the investigation into his death continues, Proceso reports that Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) has raised concerns that consular staff were “not notified for interviews” during recent visits to the ICE facility and has requested an explanation from officials at the detention center.

…

Molina-Veya’s death marks the second time a Mexican national has died while in ICE custody at the Stewart Detention Center, a facility that has recently come under scrutiny for poor living conditions, reports of abuse and allegations of medical negligence.

Just last month, another Mexican national, Abelardo Avellaneda-Delgado, died while being transferred to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin.

And more generally:

According to ICE’s detainee death reporting data, Molina-Veya is the eighth person to die in ICE custody so far in 2025. The number of deaths reported in the first six months of this year represents 72% of all ICE custody deaths reported in 2024, raising alarm among immigrant rights advocates.

Mexico Confronts ICE Over Denied Access After Death of Detained Mexican Citizen in Georgia
Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) has raised concerns that consular staff were “not notified for interviews” during recent visits to the ICE facility and has requested an explanation from officials at the detention center.

https://www.latintimes.com/mexico-confronts-ice-over-denied-access-after-death-detained-mexican-citizen-georgia-584991