The World Opinion

Tag: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

  • U.S. Agent, Suspected Smuggler Killed In Shootout Off Puerto Rico Coast

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Customs and Border Coverage agent and a suspected smuggler died right through a shootout Thursday off the Puerto Rico coast, government mentioned. Two different U.S. officials had been injured.

    CBP’s Air and Marine Operations unit used to be on regimen patrol round 8 a.m. Thursday when the pictures had been fired about 12 miles (19 kilometers) off the coast from Cabo Rojo, a big drug smuggling hall for cocaine popping out of South The us referred to as the Mona Passage, the company mentioned. It lies between Puerto Rico’s western beach and the Dominican Republic.

    3 CBP Marine Interdiction Brokers exchanged gunfire with two individuals who had been aboard the suspected smuggling send, officers mentioned. All 3 brokers had been shot and airlifted to native hospitals in Puerto Rico.

    Some of the brokers used to be later pronounced useless. The agent’s identification used to be now not instantly launched and the situation of the opposite two brokers used to be now not instantly transparent.

    Some of the folks aboard the suspected smuggling send used to be additionally killed, officers mentioned. The second one particular person on that vessel used to be arrested.

    After the capturing, every other U.S. marine interdiction team intercepted every other boat within reach, discovering firearms and different contraband onboard, Customs and Border Coverage mentioned. The 2 folks on that send had been additionally arrested.

    The FBI is main the investigation into the capturing.

    Federal agents wait for news of their injured colleagues outside the Rio Piedras Medical Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, who were airlifted from the coast of Cabo Rojo, a major drug smuggling corridor for cocaine coming out of South America known as the Mona Passage. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent and a suspected smuggler died during a shootout Thursday off the Puerto Rican coast, authorities said. (Courtesy of Carlos Giusti/GFR MEDIA via AP)
    Federal brokers watch for information in their injured colleagues out of doors the Rio Piedras Scientific Heart in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, who had been airlifted from the coast of Cabo Rojo, a big drug smuggling hall for cocaine popping out of South The us referred to as the Mona Passage. A U.S. Customs and Border Coverage agent and a suspected smuggler died right through a shootout Thursday off the Puerto Rican coast, government mentioned. (Courtesy of Carlos Giusti/GFR MEDIA by the use of AP)

    Chatting with newshounds in Puerto Rico, CBP spokesman Jeffrey Quiñones mentioned it used to be too early to understand the place the vessel originated from, the nationality of its two passengers and whether or not it used to be sporting narcotics or servicing every other suspected drug vessel within the Caribbean.

    Normally, drug cartels recruit deficient fishermen from Colombia and Venezuela to move huge quantities of cocaine northward to the Dominican Republic the place it’s damaged down into smaller bales and transferred at sea to ready vessels manned via better-paid, on occasion well-armed Puerto Rican drug runners.

    Place of birth Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas mentioned in testimony ahead of a Senate committee that an Air and Marine Operations agent used to be killed and several other different brokers had been “gravely wounded.”

    “Those are courageous individuals of our Air and Marine Operations inside of U.S. Customs and Border Coverage,” Mayorkas mentioned. “So the trouble of this task can’t be in comparison to the trouble that our frontline group of workers face each day. Their bravery and selfless provider will have to be identified.”

    Air and Marine Operations employs about 1,650 folks and is without doubt one of the smaller devices of CBP, the biggest regulation enforcement company in america that still contains the Border Patrol. It really works to prevent the unlawful motion of folks, medication and different items.

    The unit detected 218 “typical airplane incursions” on U.S. soil within the 2021 fiscal yr, seized 1.1 million kilos of narcotics, $73.1 million in illicit forex, made greater than 122,000 arrests and rescued 518 folks, consistent with CBP.

    Goodman reported from Miami. Related Press author Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this file.

  • U.S. Border Company Chief Resigns Amid Wave Of Migrants

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The pinnacle of U.S. Customs and Border Coverage has resigned from his activity main the country’s biggest regulation enforcement company as brokers come across report numbers of migrants coming into the U.S. from Mexico.

    Chris Magnus submitted his resignation to President Joe Biden on Saturday, pronouncing it have been “a privilege and honor” to be a part of the management.

    White Area press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated Biden had accredited Magnus’ resignation. “President Biden appreciates Commissioner Magnus’ just about 40 years of carrier and the contributions he made to police reform all the way through his tenure as police leader in 3 U.S. towns,” she stated.

    Two individuals who had been briefed at the topic informed The Related Press on Friday that Magnus used to be informed to renounce or be fired not up to a 12 months after he used to be showed. The folks spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to deal with the topic publicly.

    Magnus’s elimination is a part of a bigger shakeup anticipated at Native land Safety because it struggles to control migrants coming from a much broader vary of nations, together with Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. This comes as Republicans are more likely to take keep an eye on of the Area in January and are anticipated to release investigations into the border.

    Migrants had been stopped 2.38 million occasions on the Mexican border within the fiscal 12 months that ended Sept. 30, up 37% from the 12 months ahead of. The once a year general surpassed 2 million for the primary time in August and is greater than two times the best stage all the way through Donald Trump’s presidency, in 2019.

    The Los Angeles Instances used to be first to record at the ultimatum. In a commentary to the newspaper, Magnus stated he used to be requested by way of Native land Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to step down or be fired.

  • The California exodus continues as citizens head south of the border

    Greater than 360,000 other folks left California in 2021, in what some are calling “The California Exodus” — many leaving for states like Texas, Arizona and Washington.

    And a emerging choice of former Californians are migrating abroad altogether and are as an alternative heading south of the border. Many are searching for a extra at ease and inexpensive way of life in Mexico.

    California regularly ranks top as some of the nation’s costliest states to reside in. The median asking value for a house in California is ready $797,470 — simplest 25% of the state’s families may just have enough money that within the fourth quarter of 2021. 

    California’s inhabitants expansion has been declining for greater than 30 years now. However due to the upward thrust in far flung paintings because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ones tendencies have sped up. The power to paintings any place has 62% of American citizens taking into account shifting to a brand new nation.  

    On the other hand, there are some setbacks. Many critics argue that American citizens are using up the price of housing for locals and pricing them out of the marketplace.

    Watch the video to be told extra in regards to the affect of this migration pattern.