WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
An extreme move by one state has stoked the ire of the federal government to protect those who illegally access the nation.
The Department of Justice under the Biden Administration has filed suit against the state of Texas, after the latter began placing floating buoy obstructions at the Rio Grande crossing. Additionally, Texas National Guard troops have also placed barbed wire at other key points.
The Administration feels that the buoy setup could infringe on the Mexican border. There are also concerns that troops have allegedly been told to push people back across.
On July 24, Governor Greg Abbott defended Texas’ right to secure the border through the recent deployment of floating marine barriers in the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass as part of the state’s unprecedented response to America’s ongoing border crisis.
In a letter to President Joe Biden, the Governor counters threats by the U.S. Department of Justice to sue the state over the barriers by pointing out that the U.S. Constitution grants Texas sovereign authority to protect its borders because the President refuses to enforce federal immigration laws.
“If you truly care about human life, you must begin enforcing federal immigration laws,” reads the letter. “By doing so, you can help me stop migrants from wagering their lives in the waters of the Rio Grande River. You can also help me save Texans, and indeed all Americans, from deadly drugs like fentanyl, cartel violence, and the horrors of human trafficking. To end the risk that migrants will be harmed crossing the border illegally, you must fully enforce the laws of the United States that prohibit illegal immigration between ports of entry. In the meantime, Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused. Texas will see you in court, Mr. President.”
In addition to highlighting Texas’ right to defend its borders, Governor Abbott argues against claims that Texas’ floating marine barriers violate Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. Governor Abbott also included a copy of the January 8, 2023 letter he hand-delivered to President Biden in El Paso and the November 16, 2022 letter to the President that outline America’s current immigration laws President Biden must enforce to satisfy his constitutional obligation to safeguard American citizens and the sovereign authority of states to protect their borders when the President refuses to do so.
On July 24, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and senior Government of Mexico officials hosted a U.S. delegation led by Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Kristie Canegallo, and Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Rich Verma to further the significant cooperation that our countries already have undertaken, including on the global fight against illicit fentanyl and dual-use chemical substances, combatting arms trafficking, managing migration, and modernizing our shared border. This meeting built on previous high-level meetings led by Dr. Sherwood-Randall and Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez.
The leaders discussed our commitment to continuing joint efforts under the U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities to combat drug traffickers, disrupt the supply of the chemicals used to make illicit fentanyl, prevent trafficking of these deadly narcotics across our shared border, and promote public health services to reduce harm and demand and increase treatment services. Our countries also recognize that discovering, disrupting, and dismantling firearms trafficking networks is critical to our shared efforts to combat illicit fentanyl, and we remain committed to addressing firearms trafficking that contributes to violence and destruction on both sides of our shared border.
The leaders also discussed the challenges and progress in cooperation regarding regional migration and committed to continue to forge a region-wide response, guided by the principles in the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. To that end, the United States and Mexico committed to further expand the availability of legal pathways throughout the region, including to Mexico and the United States. Leaders also discussed expanding our joint development work in Central America, and maintaining strong consequences for irregular entry at our shared border.
Finally, the United States and Mexico committed to furthering ongoing work to modernize and advance infrastructure projects that support our border communities and benefits both nations and strengthens our bilateral relationship and security.
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 7-25-2023 at 12 p.m.
2023 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2023)
Total Mass Shootings: 470
Total Dead: 595
Total Wounded: 1864
Shootings Per Day: 2.28
Days Reached in Year 2023 as of July 25: 206
Latest High Profile Incident (See above)
Location: Suburban home – Verdigris, OK
Time: Around Between 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. local time, July 20.
Deceased: 4.
Injured: All decedents.
Shooter(s): Brandy McCaslin, age unknown.
Weapon(s): Handgun.
Motive: Murder-suicide.
Status: Deceased after self-inflicted gunshot would.
Notes: McCaslin took the loves of her three children an eventually herself after holding another woman and two children hostage earlier. Per reports, McCaslin had a long history of mental illness, and the children’s father was worried about her recently gaining unsupervised visitation.
MIDDLE EAST
DESPERATE EFFORT UNDERWAY TO PREVENT OIL SPILL
On July 25, the UN began siphoning one million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker off the coast of war-torn Yemen, a crucial step in the race against time to prevent a potential environmental disaster.
The supertanker, the FSO Safer, became a symbol – thanks largely to UN efforts – of the need for urgent action to avoid massive damage to the marine ecosystem in an area that is home to key global shipping lanes.
The stranded rusting vessel holds four times the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez – enough to make it the fifth largest oil spill from a tanker in history.
“The United Nations has begun an operation to defuse what might be the world’s largest ticking time bomb. This is an all-hands-on-deck mission and the culmination of nearly two years of political groundwork, fundraising and project development,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Lying north of the Yemeni port Hudaydah, UN officials have warned for years about the possibility that the 47-year-old tanker could crack and explode.
According to UNDP, an oil spill would result in the closure of all ports in the area, cutting off food, fuel and other life-saving supplies to Yemen – a country where 80% of the population already rely on aid.
The UN chief warned that the cost of a cleanup alone would be $20 billion and said that shipping all the way to the Suez Canal could be disrupted for weeks.
Praising the project’s cross-UN collaboration he highlighted the “relentless political work” that the operation entailed “in a country devastated by eight years of war.” But noted that this was just a “milestone in the journey,” as the next step involves securing the replacement vessel to a specialized safety buoy.
The UN Secretary-General has called for a further $20 million to finish the project, including the scrapping of the Safer and removing any remaining environmental threats to the Red Sea.
The transfer of some 1.13 million barrels of crude oil from the FSO Safer to a second tanker known as the Yemen is taking place amid ongoing war between the Government and Houthi rebels.
Pumping began at 10:45 AM, local time, and will continue round-the-clock over the next 19 days.
Achim Steiner, head of the UN Development Program (UNDP), which is implementing the “unique and unusual salvage operation”, hailed the development as a major milestone.
“As we know, sadly Yemen is still a country that finds itself in the midst of conflict…with many consequences for its people,” he said, speaking via videoconference to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York.
“But one thread that has been looming large over the people of Yemen, but also the Red Sea and all the countries in the region, is this 47-year-old rusting tanker.”
CARIBBEAN
HUMAN SMUGGLING NETWORK CRUSHED
An operation targeting a transnational criminal network smuggling Cuban nationals to the European Union has led to the arrest of 62 individuals, including 25 Cubans.
The investigation, coordinated by INTERPOL and Europol, was launched in October 2021 after an increased number of Cuban citizens attempting to enter Europe with fake documents was reported by Finland, Greece, North Macedonia and Serbia.
For a payment of around EUR 9,000 the network would arrange the trip, transfers and provide the falsified documentation. The migrants would fly from Cuba to Serbia, which until recently did not require a visa, before they were smuggled into Greece from where they were flown into Spain.
It is estimated some 5,000 Cuban nationals were successfully smuggled into the EU, generating a profit of around EUR 45 million.
The first in a series of joint operational meetings was hosted by INTERPOL at its General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon in March 2022.
The investigation revealed a complex criminal infrastructure set up in cities across Greece, Serbia and Spain. On a day of action across the three countries in June, as well as making 26 arrests, police also recovered hundreds of fake and genuine documents and around EUR 100,000 in cash. In addition, 18 pieces of real estate and 133 vehicles were seized and 144 bank accounts frozen.
INTERPOL and Europol also deployed specialists to provide on the ground support with intelligence analysis and cross match reports.
Initially the Cuban nationals flew commercially direct to Russia where smugglers offered the option to either irregularly cross the Russian-Finnish border to then enter the EU, or fly to Serbia to continue their journey into Central or Southern Europe.
However, following the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the route was changed with Cubans instead flown via Germany to Serbia. The criminal networks would then facilitate irregular entry into Greece and North Macedonia, often forcing groups of migrants to walk in the dark for hours with no supplies.
Some of the most vulnerable migrants, which included minors, were subjected to scams, robberies and extortion, with some women transferred to other criminal groups for sexual exploitation.
Investigations are continuing and further arrests are expected.
