Articles written by Elliot Spagat
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Illegal crossings surge in remote areas as Congress, White House weigh major asylum limits
LUKEVILLE, Ariz. (AP) — Hundreds of dates are written on concrete-filled steel columns erected along the U.S. border with Mexico to memorialize when the Border Patrol has repaired illicit openings in the would-be barriers. Yet no sooner are fixes m...
As economy falters, more Chinese migrants take a perilous journey to the US border to seek asylum
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The young Chinese man looked lost and exhausted when Border Patrol agents left him at a transit station. Deng Guangsen, 28, had spent the last two months traveling to San Diego from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, t...
Under pressure over border, Biden admin grants protection to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under intense political pressure from fellow Democrats, the Biden administration announced late Wednesday that it was granting protection to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are already in the country. The move to give V...
Illegal crossings on the US-Mexico border rose in July but were still down from last year
Arrests for illegally crossing the U.S. border from Mexico soared 33% from June to July, according to U.S. government figures released Friday, reversing course after a plunge that followed the introduction of new asylum restrictions in May....
As illegal crossings drop, the legal challenges over Biden's US-Mexico border policies grow
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Immigration advocates said Thursday that an online appointment system to seek asylum at the U.S. border with Mexico is out of reach for many migrants, in the latest legal challenge to the Biden administration's immigration agenda. T...
DeSantis recruiters eyed Catholic church for migrant flights that bishop calls 'reprehensible'
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' recruiters set their sights on Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the Texas border city of El Paso in search of asylum-seekers they could take from its bustling migrant shelter to California's capital on t...
Border appears calm after lifting of pandemic asylum restrictions
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The border between the U.S. and Mexico was relatively calm Friday, offering few signs of the chaos that had been feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the U.S. before the end of pandemic-related immigration r...
In reversal, Biden weighs detaining migrant families
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is considering detaining migrant families who cross into the U.S. illegally as it prepares to end COVID-19 restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to U.S. officials familiar with the plans. That w...
US Supreme Court keeps asylum limits in place for now
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is keeping pandemic-era limits on asylum in place for now, dashing hopes of migrants who have been fleeing violence and inequality in Latin America and elsewhere to reach the United States. Tuesday's ruling p...
A dad's anguish outside Texas school while shooting unfolded
UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Javier Cazares raced to his daughter's school when he heard there was a shooting, leaving his truck running with the door open as he ran into the school yard. In his rush, he didn't bring his gun. He spent the next 35 to 45 a... Full story
Daughter and her best friends 'are all gone now,' dad says
UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Jacklyn Cazares hadn't yet reached her 10th birthday, but her father described her as a tough-minded "firecracker" always looking to help people in need. Jacklyn and her second cousin, Annabelle Rodriguez, were especially t...
Official: Girl told 911 'send the police now' as cops waited
UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Students trapped inside a classroom with a gunman repeatedly called 911 during this week's attack on a Texas elementary school, including one who pleaded, "Please send the police now," as officers waited more than an hour to b...
'Precious individuals' taken in Texas school shooting
UVALDE, Texas (AP) — One student was an avid runner, so fast she swept the races at field day. Another was learning football plays from his grandfather. One girl sensed something was wrong and wanted to skip school. On Wednesday, stories began to e...
Court ruling extends uneven treatment for asylum-seekers
EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — As the sun set over the Rio Grande, about 120 Cubans, Colombians and Venezuelans who waded through waist-deep water stepped into Border Patrol vehicles, soon to be released in the United States to pursue their immigration c...
US speeds entry for Ukrainians as more reach Mexico border
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — The United States has sharply increased the number of Ukrainians admitted to the country at the Mexican border as even more refugees fleeing the Russian invasion follow the same circuitous route. A government recreation c...
US reopens to international travel, allows happy reunions
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Parents held children born while they were stuck abroad. Long-separated couples kissed, and grandparents embraced grandchildren who had doubled in age. The U.S. fully reopened to many vaccinated international travelers Monday, a...
Inside Biden's border plans: How optimism turned to chaos
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — For about four months before President Joe Biden took office, advisers engaged in intense internal debate about how quickly they should undo his predecessor's hardline border policies. The answer, almost always, was that D...
Officials: Many migrants from border camp staying in US
DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — Many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released in the United States, two U.S. officials said, undercutting the Biden administration's public statements that the thousands in the camp faced i...
US ramps up plan to expel Haitian migrants gathered in Texas
DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — U.S. officials said Saturday that within the next three days, they plan to ramp up expulsion flights for some of the thousands of Haitian migrants who have gathered in a Texas city from across the border in Mexico. The D...
Thousands of Haitian migrants converge on Texas border town
DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — Thousands of Haitian migrants have assembled under and around a bridge in a small Texas border town as chaos unfolded Friday and presented the Biden administration with a new challenge as it tries to manage large numbers of a...
US to expedite immigration cases of families on border
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Families arriving at the U.S. border with Mexico will have their cases fast-tracked in immigration court, the Biden administration said Friday, less than two weeks after it said it was easing pandemic-related restrictions on seeking...
US calls reports of migrant children in buses 'unacceptable'
Reports of unaccompanied migrant children being forced to stay overnight in parked buses at the Dallas convention center are "completely unacceptable" if true, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Friday. Dr. Amy Cohen, a...
Policy changes help drive US migrant crossings to new highs
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Paying a smuggler, Edgar Mejia could afford to take only one child with him to the United States. He chose his 3-year-old "warrior" son, leaving his 7- and 12-year-olds with their mother in Honduras. "Pitifully, I had use h...
Amid border surge, confusion reigns over Biden policies
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — It took less than a month for 200 tents to fill every spot in a Mexican plaza at the busiest border crossing with the United States. At the camp in Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, some 1,500 migrants line up for h...
EXPLAINER: Is the US border with Mexico in crisis?
SAN DIEGO (AP) — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Monday during a visit to El Paso, Texas, that, "It's more than a crisis. This is human heartbreak." Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday called the wave of migrants a d...
