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Straits Times
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
US troops make first detentions in Trump border military zones
FILE PHOTO: A Texas National Guard soldier stands near the wall on the border between Mexico and U.S. during a sandstorm, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo U.S. troops have made their first detentions inside military areas set up on the U.S.-Mexico border as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, the U.S. Army said. The unprecedented military areas along 260 miles (418 km) of border in New Mexico and Texas were declared extensions of U.S. Army bases by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, allowing troops to temporarily detain migrants and other civilian trespassers. Three 'illegal aliens' were detained by troops in the New Mexico area near Santa Teresa on June 3, before being handed to U.S. Border Patrol, Army spokesperson Major Geoffrey Carmichael said in an email. "This marks the first time Department of Defense personnel have recorded a temporary detainment within either National Defense Area," Carmichael said. U.S. presidents have long used active-duty and reservist troops on the international boundary in support roles to U.S. Border Patrol such as surveillance and construction. President Donald Trump took military use a step further by giving troops the right to hold trespassers they catch in the zones until civilian law enforcement assumes custody. Federal troops can also search people and conduct crowd control measures within the areas, according to the Army. Designation of the zones as military bases allowed troops to detain migrants without the need for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act. The 1807 law lets a U.S. president deploy federal troops domestically to suppress events like civil disorder. Prosecution of dozens of migrants caught in the zones has faced setbacks in court after judges in New Mexico and Texas dismissed trespassing charges, and acquitted a Peruvian woman, ruling they did not know they were entering restricted areas. The primary role of troops in the zones is to detect and track illegal border crossers, with around 390 such detections so far, the Army said. News of the detentions inside military areas came as Trump deployed state-based National Guard troops to Los Angeles during protests over immigration raids. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
05-05-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
Migrant children face fear and lack safety crossing Mexico, study shows
FILE PHOTO: A child's shoe is seen on the border between Mexico and the United States ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in November, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo Migrant children crossing Mexico in hopes of reaching the United States face alarming levels of violence, exclusion and prolonged uncertainty before, during and after their journey, according to a study published on Monday by Save the Children and Plan International. The report, based on 155 interviews conducted between November 2024 and February 2025, found that children fleeing danger at home often do not find the safety and international protection to which they are entitled, but rather new forms of vulnerability that continue to deprive them of their rights. The interviewees were aged between 7 and 16 years old. They came mostly from Mexico, Honduras and Venezuela, but also from Colombia, Guatemala and more distant locations such as Afghanistan and Haiti. The number of unaccompanied children traveling through Mexico to reach the United States has more than doubled in recent years, increasing from 69,488 in 2019 to 137,275 in 2023, driven by rising violence, deepening poverty and climate change-related displacement. "Migrant children are not finding safety when they cross the border into Mexico; they're finding more fear, more waiting, and more lost time," said Reena Ghelani, chief executive of Plan International, a UK-based humanitarian and development organization, in a press release. "No child should find themselves in this situation, especially after enduring such a perilous journey to find safety. They need support now – including protection, access to safe shelter, education and mental health care. We are seeing families so desperate that children are being forced to consider returning to the very places they fled from. That should never be their only option," she said. Plan International and Save the Children called for an immediate, coordinated response stating that authorities should strengthen child protection systems in border areas, improve access to education and mental health services, and provide adequate housing that prioritizes children's needs. The recent deportation of three U.S. citizen children — including one with cancer — to Honduras with their mothers has sparked criticism from human rights advocates. They accuse the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump of deporting children without due process, endangering their lives. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
US military creates new military zone along border with Mexico
Texas National Guard soldiers walk near the U.S.-Mexico border wall, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military has created a second military zone along the border with Mexico, adding an area in Texas where troops can temporarily detain migrants or trespassers after doing the same in New Mexico. President Donald Trump launched an aggressive immigration enforcement campaign after taking office, increasing troops at the southern border and pledging to deport millions of immigrants in the United States illegally. The Trump administration earlier this month designated a 60-foot-wide (18.3-meter-wide) strip along a base in New Mexico as a "National Defense Area." Late on Thursday, the U.S. military said that it had designated a second area along the border as the "Texas National Defense Area." U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintains jurisdiction over illegal border crossings in the area and troops would hand over migrants they detained to U.S. Border Patrol or other civilian law enforcement, according to the Defense Department. Eighty-two migrants have been charged for crossing into the buffer area. So far, U.S. troops have not detained any and it has been carried out by CBP officials. The buffer zone allows the Trump administration to use troops to detain migrants without invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act that empowers a president to deploy the U.S. military to suppress events like civil disorder. At the start of Trump administration, it had ordered the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security to recommend whether actions, including the Insurrection Act of 1807, would be needed to deal with migrants. A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week had recommended that at this time, the Insurrection Act was not needed. The last time the Insurrection Act was invoked was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Around 11,900 troops are currently deployed to the U.S. Southwest border where the number of migrants caught illegally crossing in March fell to the lowest level ever recorded, according to government data. (Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Andrew Hay; editing by Diane Craft)
The Star
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The Star
U.N. refugee agency to close four offices in Mexico amid funding crunch
FILE PHOTO: Mexican migrants deported from U.S. stand at the Migrant Assistance Center, a temporary shelter, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The U.N. refugee agency in Mexico has closed four offices in the country and laid off 190 people due to the "serious funding crisis" facing the agency, the head of UNHCR in Mexico said on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump slashed overseas aid. "UNHCR has had to make very serious decisions this year," Giovanni Lepri, UNHCR's representative in Mexico, said in a message to reporters, explaining that the agency's operations in Mexico have lost 60% of their budget. Mexico was last year among the top 10 countries with the highest number of asylum applications in the world, with nearly 80,000 applications registered by the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR), UNHCR said. The majority of applicants were from Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and Venezuela. The closure of the offices, including two offices in the southern Mexican cities of Palenque and Tenosique, and a third office in the large western city of Guadalajara, has raised concerns among migrant activists. "This will have a very big impact on migrant communities," said Jose Maria Garcia, director of the Juventud 2000 shelter in the northern Mexican city of Tijuana. UNHCR's operations in Mexico have been heavily dependent on U.S. funding, which has been hit by Trump's global funding freeze. On January 20, hours after taking office, Trump ordered a pause in foreign aid to review if it was aligned with his foreign policy priorities. Trump also enacted a sweeping crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border, aimed at slowing migration into the United States. The cuts to UNHCR have also impacted migrant shelters run by the Catholic Church that rely on the U.N. agency for funding said, Julio Lopez, director of the Scalabrini Foundation of Mexico. "The shelters have seen their budgets reduced and, consequently, have reduced programs and projects," he said. Nevertheless, he added: "the shelters continue to operate and support migrants." (Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Sandra Maler)
Straits Times
24-04-2025
- Climate
- Straits Times
Northern Mexico farmers fight drought amid water dispute with the US
Cows graze on a parched field, as Mexico contends that a historic drought fueled by climate change makes it impossible to fulfil its water commitments to the United States under a 1944 treaty, near Chihuahua city, Mexico April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez JULIMES, Mexico - Dead animals lie scattered across the planes of this cattle ranching town in northern Mexico, victims of a long-term drought that is forcing farmers here to consider uprooting their lives to look elsewhere for land and water. More than 64% of Mexico's territory is experiencing some level of drought, according to government data. Northern states are the hardest hit, particularly Chihuahua, with most of its territory engulfed by the most extreme levels of drought. The struggles of farmers come as Mexico and the U.S. are in tense negotiations over Mexican delays in delivering the quantities of water laid out in a 1944 treaty. President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs and sanctions if Mexico does not increase water deliveries which U.S. officials say have devastated Texan farmers. The Mexican government says drought has ravaged its ability to comply. In the agricultural town of Julimes in Chihuahua, farmers are wondering how much longer they can survive. "I don't think we'll be able to hold out much longer," said cattle farmer Leopoldo Ochoa, 62, as he rode with his granddaughter on horseback behind his herd. Farmers in northern Chihuahua have already had to move their herds out of the mountainous areas where they typically graze due to a lack of water and grass. Ochoa lives in Valle de Zaragoza, which is dependent on the strained La Boquilla Dam. "If there is no more water, we will have to leave this ranch and look elsewhere. Imagine leaving here at my age, where I have lived all my life," said Manuel Araiza, 60. "It is sad, but it is the reality that all of this is coming to an end," he added. As diplomats negotiate water deliveries from Mexico to the U.S., farmers in Chihuahua consider their own futures. "My children tell me this is no longer profitable and that I should sell the animals," said cattle rancher Estreberto Saenz Monje, 57. "The truth is, we've never seen anything like this before." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
