WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Thursday the U.S. would immediately begin turning away Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans who cross the border from Mexico illegally, his boldest move yet to confront the arrivals of migrants that have spiraled since he took office two years ago. The new rules expand on...
AP Exclusive: DOJ Rescinds ‘Zero Tolerance’ Immigration Rule
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued the new memo to federal prosecutors across the nation, saying the department...
Trump Forgoes Insults of Past, Calls Mexico Cherished Friend
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, who has denigrated Mexican migrants and threatened the U.S. ally with crippling tariffs, welcomed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the White House on Wednesday, called him a cherished partner and claimed the countries' economic and security ties were reaching new heights. Trump's warm words...
Turkey Deploying Special Forces to Border Amid Migrant Surge
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey said Thursday it would deploy special forces along its land border with Greece to prevent Greek authorities pushing back people trying to cross into Europe, after Turkey declared its previously guarded gateways to Europe open. Thousands of refugees and other migrants have tried to cross into...
AP Exclusive: Border Apprehensions Drop 8 Straight Months
WASHINGTON — The number of border apprehensions has dropped for the eighth straight month, following crackdowns by the Trump administration that include forcing asylum seekers back over the U.S.-Mexico border to wait out their claims, a Homeland Security official said Monday. The official said the number of encounters with border...
Trump Administration Picks a New Leader for US Border Patrol
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has named a new head of the U.S. Border Patrol. Rodney Scott will take over for Carla Provost, who is retiring, according to an announcement obtained Friday by The Associated Press from Mark Morgan, acting head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Scott has been...
What Crackdown? Migrant Smuggling Business Adapts, Thrives
HERMOSILLO, Mexico — The heavy-set man swept through a curtain into the reserved area of a nightclub as his bodyguard stood nearby. In the darkness, he agreed to talk about his business: handling the income from smuggling migrants across a 375-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border. “We control all the...
US Takes Step to Require DNA Samples From Asylum-Seekers
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is planning to collect DNA samples from asylum-seekers and other migrants detained by immigration officials and will add the information to a massive FBI database used by law enforcement hunting for criminals, a Justice Department official said. The Justice Department on Monday issued amended regulations...
Trump Administration Puts Tough New Asylum Rule Into Effect
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — With a go-ahead from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Trump administration Thursday began enforcing a radical new rule that would deny asylum to nearly all migrants arriving at the southern border — a move that spread despair among those fleeing poverty and violence in their homelands....
Mexico Claims Success in Stopping Migrants; Activists Say No
MEXICO CITY — Under threat of crippling U.S. tariffs, Mexico said Friday it had reduced the flow of migrants arriving at its northern border by 56% in three months. Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said he believes Mexico's strategy of cracking down on illegal migration with a National Guard deployment, investment...