Author: Elliot Spagat
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Congress approves import ban targeting forced labor in China
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San Diego • T The head of the U.S. agency that grants citizenship and visas says it’s getting a grip on finances that threatened massive furloughs last year and is preparing to propose fees for its services that won’t limit legal immigration to the “very wealthy,” a jab at a Trump administration principle that newcomers…
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Border residents rejoice as U.S. says it will lift travel ban
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SAN DIEGO • Beleaguered business owners and families separated by COVID-19 restrictions rejoiced Wednesday after the U.S. said it will reopen its land borders to nonessential travel next month, ending a 19-month freeze. Travel across land borders from Canada and Mexico has been largely restricted to workers whose jobs are deemed essential. New rules will…
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Border Patrol chief, who supported wall, is leaving job
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CALEXICO, Calif. • The chief of the Border Patrol said Wednesday he was leaving his job after less than two years in a position that lies in the crosshairs of polarizing political debate. Rodney Scott wrote to agents that he will be reassigned. “I will continue working hard to support you over the next several…
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DHD chief defends policy as border crisis continues
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WASHINGTON • A surge of migrants on the southwest border has the Biden administration on the defensive, with the head of Homeland Security acknowledging the depth of the problem Tuesday but insisting it’s under control and saying he won’t revive a Trump-era practice of immediately expelling teens and children. The number of migrants being stopped…
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U.S. finds major cross-border tunnel used to smuggle drugs
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SAN DIEGO • A large haul of drugs, including opioids, methamphetamine and cocaine, being smuggled from Mexico to California was seized from a cross-border tunnel equipped with ventilation, lighting and an underground rail system, authorities said Tuesday. The tunnel connected warehouses in Tijuana and San Diego, extending about 2,000 feet with an average depth of…
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Synagogue shooting kills 1, wounds 3 during Jewish holiday
POWAY, Calif. — A 19-year-old gunman opened fire inside a synagogue near San Diego as worshippers celebrated the last day of a major Jewish holiday, killing a woman and wounding the rabbi and two others Saturday, authorities said. President Donald Trump and other elected officials decried what they called an anti-Semitic attack exactly six months…
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Gov’t kept track of journalists, others during caravan
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SAN DIEGO • The U.S. government kept a database on journalists, activists, organizers and “instigators” during an investigation into last year’s migrant caravan, infuriating civil liberties and media groups who called it a blatant violation of free speech rights. U.S. Customs and Border Protection compiled information that contained passport photos, date of birth, suspected role…
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California, long a holdout, adopts mass immigration trials
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Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save SAN DIEGO — A federal judge was irritated when an attorney for dozens of people charged with crossing the border illegally asked for more time to meet with clients before setting bond. It was pushing 5 p.m. on a Friday in May, and the judge…
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US starts processing asylum seekers slammed by Trump
TIJUANA, Mexico — U.S. border inspectors allowed some of the Central American asylum-seekers to enter the country for processing, ending a brief impasse over lack of space. But the migrants who crossed Mexico in a caravan may face a long legal path. Caravan organizers said eight members of the group criticized by President Donald Trump…
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U.S. says border crossing doesn’t have room for asylum seekers
TIJUANA, Mexico — Central Americans who traveled in a caravan through Mexico to the border with San Diego began turning themselves to U.S. authorities to seek asylum Monday in a direct challenge to the Trump administration. Nearly 200 migrants, many traveling with children, decided to apply for protection at the nation’s busiest border crossing after…