Category Archives: US immigration

Trump to reportedly appoint immigration hardliner Stephen Miller to top White House job – live

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The architect of Trump’s immigration policy is expected to become the deputy chief of staff for policy, CNN reports

US president-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), will be in charge of the country’s borders in his new administration.

Homan’s areas of control will include “the southern border, the northern border, all maritime, and aviation security”, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. Trump added that “border czar” Homan will be in charge of the deportation of illegal immigrants.

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Trump says vow to deport millions of undocumented people has ‘no price tag’

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President-elect’s plan to quash undocumented migration through mass deportations met with Democratic resistance

Donald Trump’s vow to deport millions of undocumented immigrants has no “price tag”, the president-elect has said, setting the scene for a confrontation between his incoming administration and Democratic officials across the US.

As Democratic state governors and mayors signalled their determination to resist the most extreme elements of his agenda, Trump promised that his campaign pledge to expel an estimated 11 million people – though Trump himself has given a figure as high as 21 million – would be implemented come what may.

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US diplomats brace as Trump plans foreign policy shake-up in wider purge of government

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Analysts say it is hard to separate the president-elect’s bluster from his actual plans but it’s clear his priority is to bin many of Joe Biden’s policies

The US foreign policy establishment is set for one of the biggest shake-ups in years as Donald Trump has vowed to both revamp US policy abroad and to root out the so-called “deep state” by firing thousands of government workers – including those among the ranks of America’s diplomatic corps.

Trump’s electoral victory is also likely to push the Biden administration to speed up efforts to support Ukraine before Trump can cut off military aid, hamper the already-modest efforts to restrain Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza and Lebanon and lead to a fresh effort to slash and burn through major parts of US bureaucracy including the state department.

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Sheinbaum tells Mexicans stunning Trump win is ‘nothing to worry about’

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President reassures her country as threat of US tariffs and deportations looms

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has reassured her country that “there’s nothing to worry about” after Donald Trump’s stunning victory in the US presidential election.

But Trump’s extreme campaign promises have left Mexico bracing for punishing tariffs, mass migrant deportations – and even the far-fetched but alarming suggestion of US military strikes on organised crime groups in Mexican territory.

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Migrant deaths in New Mexico have increased tenfold in last two years

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In 2020, nine bodies were found near US-Mexico border. In the first eight months of 2024, there were 108.

Ten times as many migrants died in New Mexico near the US-Mexico border in each of the last two years compared with just five years ago.

During the first eight months of 2024, the bodies of 108 presumed migrants, mostly from Mexico and Central America, were found near the border in New Mexico, according to the most recent data. Many of the bodies were discovered less than 10 miles (16km) from El Paso.

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Harris holds Las Vegas rally as Nevada becomes crucial swing state in election

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VP and Trump are making frequent stops in state, with Harris visiting two days after visiting US-Mexico border

Kamala Harris held a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday night as the state, with six electoral college votes, becomes increasingly important in a presidential race that polls show is barely moving to favour either candidate.

Both the vice-president and Donald Trump have been making frequent trips to Nevada, but Harris’s rally takes place two days after she visited the US-Mexico border, a vulnerable issue for Democrats that Harris is looking to defuse.

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Activist with far-right ties fronts Marco Rubio-linked anti-immigration effort

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Nate Hochman recorded several videos for America 2100, a thinktank linked to the Republican Florida senator

The rightwing activist Nate Hochman, who was fired last year by the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, for employing neo-Nazi imagery in a campaign video, is now the face of a Marco Rubio-linked thinktank’s efforts to spread anti-immigrant panic from Ohio to Pennsylvania.

Videos featuring Hochman recorded in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, have been boosted on X by a range of rightwing figures including the platform’s owner, the tech billionaire Elon Musk.

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Ohio city’s mayor issues emergency order over false migrant rumors

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Springfield mayor Rob Rue says the order will allow city officials to ‘acquire resources to address potential threats’

The mayor of Springfield, Ohio, has issued an emergency proclamation following the continued rise in public safety threats over false rightwing rumors about the city’s migrant communities.

On Thursday, Rob Rue released a statement, saying: “Ensuring the safety of Springfield’s residents is our top priority.” He added: “We are addressing these threats with the seriousness they warrant and are taking immediate steps to ensure the security of both our community and our employees. Our commitment to preventing harm is unwavering.”

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JD Vance defends pet-eating remarks: ‘The media has a responsibility to fact-check’

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Republican VP nominee claims at Wisconsin rally that constituents told him ‘they’d seen something in Springfield’

JD Vance defended his comments about Haitian immigrants eating pets during a Tuesday rally, saying that “the media has a responsibility to fact-check” stories – not him.

The rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, came two days after the Ohio senator told CNN host Dana Bash it was OK “to create stories” to draw attention to issues his constituents care about, regarding inflammatory and unfounded claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, had eaten residents’ pets.

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Harris targets Trump for falsehoods on abortion and immigration in fiery debate

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Presidential candidates meet for first time in contentious face-off as moderators fact-check Trump’s statements

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump sparred on Tuesday in a contentious presidential debate that repeatedly went off the rails, as Trump pursued bizarre and often falsehood-ridden tangents about crowd sizes, immigration policy and abortion access.

The Philadelphia debate marked arguably the most significant opportunity for both Harris and Trump since Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race in July, and the event began cordially enough. Harris crossed over to Trump’s podium to shake his hand and introduce herself, an acknowledgement that the two presidential nominees had never met face to face before Tuesday night.

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Kamala Harris defends policy stances and shares plan for office in first major interview

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In sit-down with CNN’s Dana Bash, vice-president defends shifts on policy issues and her support for Biden

Kamala Harris sat for her first interview as the Democratic presidential nominee with CNN’s Dana Bash alongside her running mate, Tim Walz, on Thursday, and defended her shifts on certain policy issues over the years and her support for Joe Biden.

In the interview, which was taped in Savannah, Georgia, earlier on Thursday, the vice-president said her highest priority upon taking office would be to “support and strengthen the middle class” through policies including increasing the child tax credit, curtailing price gouging on everyday goods and increasing access to affordable housing – all policies that she has announced since she started campaigning for the presidency.

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Republicans accuse Kamala Harris of flip-flopping on border wall policy

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Vice-president once called the border wall ‘un-American’ but now is trying to revive an immigration deal that funds it

Republicans have accused Kamala Harris of a policy flip-flop after she embraced an immigration crackdown that would involve expanding the controversial US southern border wall, which she once called “un-American” and “a medieval vanity project”.

Harris committed to reviving a bipartisan immigration deal that collapsed in the Senate earlier year at last week’s Democratic national convention.

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Migrant crossings have plunged after Biden’s asylum ban. But top Democrats are asking: at what price?

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Congress members are saying asylum seekers are ‘forced to wait in danger’ as advocates try to get them legal protection

In early June, Ofelia Arrellano said a gang in Mexico City threatened to kidnap her younger son if she didn’t pay a $160 monthly fee for keeping her toy store afloat.

Arellano, 37, and her two sons gathered enough money and fled. She feared the gangs’ reach if she stayed in Mexico, so they went north, towards the US, she said.

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Donald Trump claims to ‘know nothing’ about Project 2025

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Critics point out political roadmap for a potential second term created by ‘more than 20 officials Trump appointed’

Donald Trump is trying to claim he has “nothing to do” with Project 2025, a political roadmap created by people close to him for his potential second term.

The project, which is led by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank, seeks to crack down on various issues including immigration, reproductive rights, environmental protections and LGBTQ+ rights. It also aims to replace federal employees with Trump loyalists across the government.

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US expels more than 100 Chinese migrants in rare mass deportation

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Department of Homeland Security says it plans more such ‘large charter flights’, sparking concerns for safety of migrants escaping poverty or repression

The US has sent back 116 Chinese migrants in the first such “large charter flight” in five years, the Department of Homeland Security has said.

“We will continue to enforce our immigration laws and remove individuals without a legal basis to remain in the United States,” homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.

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Panama to shut down Darién Gap route in deal that will see US pay to repatriate migrants

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New president José Raúl Mulino has vowed to close the route through which thousands of migrants travel to the US every year

The US will cover the costs of repatriating migrants who enter Panama illegally, under a deal agreed with the Central American country’s new president who has vowed to shut down the treacherous Darién Gap used by people travelling north to the United States.

In his first address as president, José Raúl Mulino promised to seek international assistance to find solutions to what he described as a costly “humanitarian and environmental crisis”.

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US-Mexico border crossings fall to three-year low after Biden’s executive order

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About 84,000 people crossed into the US in June, the lowest monthly total since Biden assumed office in January 2021

Undocumented crossings at the US’s southern border have fallen to a three-year low, marking the lowest in Joe Biden’s presidency just a short time after he signed a controversial executive order limiting immigration there in June.

The latest data from the federal Customs and Border Patrol obtained by CBS News is the most recent since Biden signed his executive order – and comes as the president is accused of failing to address concerns about the amount of people crossing into the US without permission.

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Some immigrants celebrate Biden’s extension of legal status while others left out

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Hundreds of thousands of immigrants married to US nationals can now exit ‘the shadows’ while others remain stuck in limbo

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants had reason to rejoice when Joe Biden unveiled a highly expansive plan to extend legal status to spouses of US citizens but, inevitably, some were left out.

Claudia Zúniga, 35, was married in 2017, 10 years after her husband came to the United States. He moved to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, after they wed, knowing that, by law, he had to live outside the US for years to gain legal status. “Our lives took a 180-degree turn,” she said.

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Biden pledges citizenship pathway for spouses and children of US citizens

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President touts ‘commonsense fix’ that would provide relief for more than half a million ‘mixed-status’ families

Joe Biden on Tuesday announced an expansive new plan to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented spouses of US citizens, calling it a “commonsense fix” that would provide relief to more than half a million “mixed-status” families in the country.

The move comes as the Democratic president tries to strike a balance before the 5 November election: confronting rising public concern over the unprecedented levels of migration at the southern border, while appeasing progressive Democrats and Hispanic leaders furious over Biden’s aggressive asylum crackdown, which they likened to Trump-era policies.

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Judge blocks Iowa law allowing police to charge people facing deportation

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Controversial law, due to go into effect on 1 July, is unconstitutional and cannot override federal rules, judge says

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked an Iowa law that allowed law enforcement in the state to file criminal charges against people with outstanding deportation orders or who previously had been denied entry to the US.

US district court judge Stephen Locher issued a preliminary injunction because he said the Department of Justice and civil rights groups who filed suit against the state were likely to succeed in their argument that federal immigration law pre-empted the law approved this spring by Iowa legislators.

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