Biden extends temporary protections for more than 800,000 immigrants

US president moves to shield roughly 230,000 Salvadorans and 600,000 Venezuelans against Trump administration

The Biden administration on Friday extended temporary humanitarian protections for about 230,000 Salvadorans and 600,000 Venezuelans living in the US, in an effort to shield those groups from an incoming Trump administration that has promised to deport them.

The decision in the dying days of Joe Biden’s presidency came after immigrant advocates and lawmakers urged the Department of Homeland Security to extend temporary protected status (TPS), designed to protect immigrants from being deported to countries that are engulfed in disaster or conflict.

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US Senate advances Laken Riley Act, which would detain undocumented immigrants for theft

Laken Riley Act passed House on Tuesday by 264 to 159, showing Democrats are feeling pressure over immigration

The US Senate advanced a bill calling for the detainment of undocumented immigrants charged with theft-related crimes on Thursday, as Donald Trump and fellow Republicans press their hardline immigration agenda after their victories in the November elections.

The overwhelmingly bipartisan vote was 84 to nine, as dozens of Democratic senators joined Republicans in supporting the motion to begin debate on the bill. But some Democrats who voted to advance the legislation indicated that they wanted to see amendments to the proposal, raising questions about how many of them would support its final passage.

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Republican congressman says party should drop ‘food fight’ over leadership

Mike Lawler says Mike Johnson should remain speaker as cracks appear between Trump’s team and far right

The US House member Mike Lawler attempted on Sunday to tease out two pressing issues facing the new Congress beginning in 2025, telling an American political talkshow that this was not the moment for his fellow Republicans to have a “food fight” over leadership in Capitol Hill and that the country “needs an immigration system that works”.

Both issues have dominated political headlines in recent days, as potential policy splits become apparent between far-right congressional Republicans and the executive team being assembled for their party leader Donald Trump’s second presidency beginning in January.

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Trump sides with Musk on support for H-1B visas for foreign tech workers

Remarks follow social media posts from Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who vowed to go to ‘war’ to defend program

Donald Trump on Saturday sided with Elon Musk, a key supporter and billionaire tech CEO, in a public dispute over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully backs the program for foreign tech workers opposed by some of his supporters.

Trump’s remarks followed a series of social media posts from Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who vowed late Friday to go to “war” to defend the visa program for foreign tech workers.

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Family detentions to return in migration crackdown, says Trump ‘border czar’

Tom Homan also said that undocumented parents of US-born children will be deported, with or without their kids

US immigration authorities will resume the controversial policy of putting families with children in detention centres as part of a drive to deport undocumented immigrants, the incoming Trump administration’s “border czar”, Tom Homan, has said.

Homan, regarded as the “architect” of the widely vilified family separation policy applied to undocumented immigrants in the first Trump administration, also said officials would not hesitate to deport parents whose children were American citizens because they had been born in the US.

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Trump threat and mounting dangers in Mexico drive migrant rush towards US

People waiting in Tapachula by Guatemala border fear Trump’s election could worsen crisis and spur northward flight

Outside the migration office, Tito subtly pointed out the watchful human smugglers leaning against a wall.

They had already tried to sell their services to Tito, who was on his way to the US but, like everyone else there, found himself stuck in Tapachula, a town in southern Mexico that has become a global way station.

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Justin Trudeau promises Trump that Canada will increase border surveillance

Canadian PM dines with Trump, who vowed tariffs unless country stops migrants and drugs from entering US

Justin Trudeau promised Donald Trump that Canada would increase surveillance over the long undefended joint border, a senior Canadian official said on Sunday. The Canadian prime minister flew to Florida on Friday to have dinner with the US president-elect, who has promised to slap tariffs on Canadian imports unless Ottawa prevents undocumented people and drugs from crossing the frontier.

Canada sends 75% of all goods and services exports to the United States and tariffs would badly hurt the economy.

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Mexican president claims ‘no potential tariff war’ with US after call with Trump

Sheinbaum says she had cooperative talks with president-elect who threatened 25% tariff against Mexico on Tuesday

Claudia Sheinbaum has said her “very kind” phone conversation with Donald Trump, in which they discussed immigration and fentanyl, means “there will not be a potential tariff war” between the US and Mexico.

The president of Mexico spoke to reporters on Thursday following Trump’s threat earlier in the week to apply a 25% tariff against Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% tariff against China, when he takes office in January if the countries did not stop all illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling into the US.

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Trump’s incoming ‘border czar’ promises secure southern US border – as it happened

This live coverage has ended. you can find our US politics stories here.

Donald Trump has used the fentanyl crisis gripping the US to support his ambition to impose trade tariffs on China. It gives the incoming US president an opportunity to both appear to be addressing the narcotics emergency, while also reinforcing one of his key aims in terms of US trade.

China is the dominant source of chemical precursors used by Mexican cartels to produce fentanyl, while Chinese money launderers have also become key players in the international drug trade, US authorities say.

Trump has said that, as soon as he gets into office, he will impose a 25% tariff on “ALL products coming into the United States” from Mexico and Canada.

He says the tariffs will remain in place until both countries clamp down on migrants and drugs crossing the border into the US.

Trump also says he will impose a further 10% tariff “above any additional tariffs” on all products coming into the US from China.

It was not entirely clear what this would mean for China as Trump has previously pledged to end China’s most-favoured-nation trading status and slap tariffs on Chinese imports in excess of 60% - much higher than those imposed during his first term.

The reasons for the China tariff, Trump said, was their failure to curb the supply of drugs into the US. China is a major producer of the chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl.

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Trump vows 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada and deeper tariffs on China

President-elect attacks neighbors over immigration and accuses China over fentanyl entering US

Donald Trump has said that he will sign an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on all products coming in to the United States from Mexico and Canada, and additional tariffs on China, once he becomes US president again.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

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Ice could add 600 beds to New Jersey detention center, documents show

ACLU obtains documents showing agency’s effort to expand state’s detention capacity for undocumented immigrants

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials could add 600 beds to detain unauthorized immigrants in New Jersey, according to new documents obtained by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday.

An additional 600 detainees could mark a significant increase in the number of people held in New Jersey. The Elizabeth detention center – the only facility in the state that holds detainees – can currently accommodate up to 300 detainees, the Bergen Record reported in April. There were 285 detainees in the facility as of the end of October, according to data analyzed by the Guardian from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

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Female migrant in Florida subjected to ‘horrific’ treatment, complaint alleges

Detainee, identified as Ana, mocked and leered at by male guards after they strapped her almost naked to a chair

A female migrant in mental distress was kept in solitary confinement for a month at a Florida detention center, then mocked and leered at by male guards after they strapped her almost naked to a restraint chair, a federal civil rights complaint alleges.

The reported sexual and mental abuse of the detainee, identified solely as Ana, took place at the Baker county detention facility, a rural camp 30 miles west of Jacksonville with a long history of allegations of mistreatment, harassment, retaliation and cruelty to detainees.

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ACLU files lawsuit to gain information about Trump mass deportation plans

Suit made against Ice comes as Trump vows to deport millions of undocumented immigrants upon taking office

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) seeking more information about how the agency might carry out Donald Trump’s plans for a mass deportation program.

The US president-elect has vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants upon taking office, a threat that he has doubled down on since winning the presidential race earlier this month. On Monday, Trump confirmed a report that he intended to declare a national emergency to activate military resources as part of the mass deportation operation.

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Canadian minister says ‘not everyone is welcome’ amid Trump migrant threat

Immigration minister Marc Miller’s comments come as country braces for migrant rise when Trump takes office

Canada’s immigration minister has said “not everyone is welcome” in the country as officials brace for an increase of migrants when Donald Trump returns to the White House with a pledge to carry out mass deportations.

The minister’s warning, seven years after Justin Trudeau promised that “Canadians will welcome” asylum seekers, reflects a stark shift in tone amid waning support for immigration and refugee resettlement in the country, according to migration experts.

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

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’

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

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’

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

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

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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