WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is set to take a first step toward enacting his pledge to “build a wall” on the Mexican border as he rolls out a series of immigration-related decrees on Wednesday.
The White House said that Trump will make the announcements in a visit to the Department of Homeland Security in the afternoon.
“Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” Trump tweeted late Tuesday.
Trump will also sign a measure targeting “sanctuary” cities where local officials refuse to help round up people for deportation, The Washington Post reported. CNN said he also plans to expand the number of customs and border agents.
Stemming immigration was a central plank of Trump’s election campaign and his signature policy was to build a wall across the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border between the United States and Mexico.
Some of the border is already fenced, but Trump says a wall is needed to stop illegal immigrants entering from Latin America.
Experts have voiced doubts about whether a wall would actually stem illegal immigration, or if it is worth spending billions on a wall when there are cheaper methods, such as electronic surveillance, of achieving similar results.
But a border wall has become a clarion call for the US right and far-right, the core of Trump’s support.
Still, any action from the White House would be piecemeal, diverting only existing funds toward the project.
The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply new money if the wall is to be anywhere near completed, and Trump’s party has spent decades preaching fiscal prudence.
Furthermore, much of the land needed to build the wall is privately owned, implying lengthy legal proceedings, political blowback, and substantial expropriation payments.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly even told his confirmation hearing that the border wall might not “be built anytime soon.”
Trump had promised to make “Mexico pay” for the wall, something that the Mexican government has repeatedly said it will not do.
Trump aides have weighed increasing border tariffs or border transit costs as one way to “make Mexico pay.” Another threat is to finance the wall by tapping into remittances that Mexican migrants sent home, which last year amounted to $25 billion.
By coincidence, Mexican foreign minister Luis Videgaray and the country’s economy minister are in Washington to prepare a visit by President Enrique Pena Nieto scheduled for January 31.
“There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start,” Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told the Televisa network in Mexico just ahead of the trip.
Asked whether the Mexico would walk away from talks if the wall and remittances are an issue, Guajardo said: “Absolutely.”
Trump also wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada, warning last week that he would abandon the pact unless the United States gets “a fair deal.”
Mexico has said it is willing to “modernize” the pact, which came into force in 1994 and represents $531 billion in annual trade between Mexico and the United States.
Some 80 percent of Mexico’s exports go to the US market.
Trump has also floated the idea of a ban on Muslims coming to the United States.
Trump this week is set to slash the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the United States, according to the New York Times, particularly from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries.
Around 4.8 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries alone, according to the United Nations.
An estimated 18,000 Syrians have fled to the United States.
Former officials said Trump could slow the process down by moving resources away from processing visa requests, or cut migrant quotas and programs.
The orders would restrict immigration and access to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Washington Post.
Citizens from those countries already face large obstacles in obtaining US visas.
But the move has prompted a fierce backlash even before it was announced.
“Donald Trump is making good on the most shameful and discriminatory promises he made on the campaign trail,” said Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council. Iran was one of the countries that may be listed.
“He called for a Muslim ban and is now taking the first steps to implement one. This will not stand. The American people are better than this.”
Trump set to move on Mexican border wall
Trump set to move on Mexican border wall
Russian troops are advancing fast along Ukrainian frontline, defense minister says
- Some 427,000 servicemen have signed contracts with the army this year
MOSCOW: Russian troops have pushed Ukrainian forces out of almost 4,500 square kilometers of territory this year and are advancing an average 30 square kilometers per day, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said on Monday.
Some 427,000 servicemen have signed contracts with the army this year, Belousov told a meeting of defense officials and President Vladimir Putin.
Military spending had reached 6.3 percent of gross domestic product, he said, a figure in line with Russia’s budget proposals.
Philippines eyes Gulf investors in bid to diversify investment partners
- Philippines is currently in negotiations for a free-trade agreement with the UAE
- Manila seeks Gulf investment in food processing, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy
Manila: The Philippines is prioritizing efforts to attract investors from the Gulf region, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority said on Monday, as Manila seeks to diversify its investment partners.
PEZA, an agency under the Department of Trade and Industry, has been working to attract Gulf investors as part of a broader economic growth strategy, and to increase cooperation with more partner nations beyond the US and Japan.
The Philippines is seeking Gulf investments in various fields, including food processing, pharmaceuticals and renewable energy, PEZA’s Director-General Tereso Panga said on Monday.
“For investments coming from the Middle East, especially UAE and even Saudi (Arabia), we are looking at food processing, agro-based industries, renewable energy development.
“And there’s also a potential to bring some pharmaceutical companies into the Philippines from those countries,” Panga said. “We will continue our investment promotions in the Middle East … It’s a priority.”
The DTI’s Secretary Cristina Roque previously said that UAE investors were looking to invest PHP25 billion ($425 million) in the Philippines, including on ports development, following her visit to the Gulf nation in October.
The Philippines sees an opportunity “to position itself as an attractive destination for more Gulf investors” as Middle East nations diversify away from oil to agriculture and manufacturing, PEZA said in a statement.
Manila has been in negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the UAE since the beginning of this year. Once finalized, it will be the Philippines’ first free-trade pact with a Gulf nation.
EU ‘not there yet’ on sanctioning Georgia over crackdown
- Georgia has been in turmoil since the governing party claimed victory in contested parliamentary elections
- Georgian Dream party-run government also announced it would delay EU membership talks for four years
BRUSSELS: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday Brussels had put forward a list of Georgians to sanction over a crackdown on pro-Western protesters, but Hungary was set to block the measures.
“We have proposed the list for sanctions for these people who are... using really force and violence against the opposition,” Kallas said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
“But everybody needs to agree to the list, and we are not there yet.”
Georgia’s authorities have forcefully clamped down on pro-EU demonstrators taking to the streets in recent weeks to protest the government’s decision to shelve its push to join the bloc.
The Black Sea nation has been in turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party claimed victory in contested October parliamentary elections and then announced it would delay EU membership talks for four years.
Riot police have used tear gas and water cannons against largely peaceful demonstrators who fear that Georgian Dream is dragging the country back into Russia’s orbit.
Brussels says there are “credible concerns” of torture and has called for the immediate release of detainees after more than 400 were arrested.
But despite a raft of EU states seeking to take a tougher line, Hungary’s nationalist leader Viktor Orban — a staunch supporter of Georgia’s government — has rejected attempts to sanction Tbilisi.
The EU has already suspended some support for the Georgian government and said in June the country’s membership bid had “de facto” been frozen after authorities pushed through Kremlin-style laws targeting NGOs.
EU officials said the bloc was also eyeing the possibility of imposing restrictions on Georgian diplomatic passport holders.
But there was not yet consensus on what would be a largely symbolic move.
At least 30 North Korean soldiers killed and wounded in Russia’s Kursk region: Ukraine
KYIV: Ukraine said Monday that its troops killed or wounded at least 30 North Korean soldiers who had been deployed by Russia to its western Kursk region, where Ukraine has seized territory.
Thousands of troops from North Korea have come to reinforce Russian forces, including in the Kursk border region where Russia has been clawing back territory after a surprise offensive from Ukrainian forces this summer.
“On December 14 and 15, army units from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) suffered significant losses near the villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba, Martynovka in the Kursk region of Russia — at least 30 soldiers were killed and wounded,” Ukraine’s military intelligence said.
The units are “being replenished with fresh personnel” from North Korea, which Western officials estimate has sent at least 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow.
Russia and North Korea have boosted their military ties since Moscow’s invasion.
Russia has begun deploying “a noticeable number” of North Koreans in assaults to push Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region, Zelensky said on Saturday.
He said that according to his information, “the Russians include (North Koreans) in combined units and use them in operations in the Kursk region,” where Ukraine launched an incursion in August.
Zelensky said he has also heard the North Koreans “may be used in other parts of the front line,” and that “losses among this category are also already noticeable.”
Russia’s defense ministry said last week its troops recaptured some small settlements in the Kursk region.
Last month a Ukrainian army source told AFP that Kyiv controls 800 square kilometers of territory there, down from previous claims it controlled around 1,400 square kilometers.
Race against time for rescuers as hundreds feared dead in Mayotte
- The cyclone has left French Indian Ocean territory’s health services in tatters
- Officials fear that many could still be trapped under rubble in the inaccessible areas
SAINT-DENIS DE LA REUNION: Rescuers raced against time Monday to reach survivors after a devastating cyclone ripped through the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, destroying homes across the islands, with hundreds feared dead.
Images from Mayotte, which like other French overseas territories is an integral part of France and ruled from Paris, showed scenes of devastation, with homes reduced to piles of rubble.
The crisis, which erupted at the weekend the day after President Emmanuel Macron appointed Francois Bayrou as the sixth prime minister of his mandate, poses a major challenge for a government still only operating in a caretaker capacity.
The cyclone has left health services in tatters, with the hospital extremely damaged and health centers knocked out of operation, Health Minister Genevieve Darrieussecq told France 2.
“The hospital has suffered major water damage and destruction, notably in the surgical, intensive care, maternity and emergency units,” she said, adding that “medical centers were also non-operational.”
Macron was due to chair a crisis meeting in Paris at 1700 GMT, the Elysee said.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, whose super ministry is responsible for Mayotte, arrived on the island.
Cyclone Chido caused major damage to Mayotte’s airport and cut off electricity, water and communication links when it barreled down on France’s poorest territory on Saturday.
Asked about the eventual death toll, Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville, the top Paris-appointed official on the territory, told broadcaster Mayotte la Premiere “I think there will definitely be several hundred, perhaps we will come close to a thousand or even several thousand.”
With roads closed, officials fear that many could still be trapped under rubble in the inaccessible areas.
The mayor of Mayotte’s capital Mamoudzou, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, said the storm “spared nothing.”
“The hospital is hit, the schools are hit. Houses are totally devastated,” he said.
Some 160 additional soldiers and firefighters to reinforce the 110 already deployed.
The nearby French island of La Reunion was serving as a hub for the rescue operations.
Chido was packing winds of at least 226 kilometers per hour when it slammed into Mayotte, which lies to the east of Mozambique.
At least a third of the territory’s 320,000 residents live in shantytowns, where homes with sheet-metal roofs were flattened by the storm.
One resident, Ibrahim, said of “apocalyptic scenes” as he made his way through the main island, having to clear blocked roads himself.
As authorities assessed the scale of the disaster, a first aid plane reached Mayotte on Sunday.
It carried three tons of medical supplies, blood for transfusions and 17 medical staff, according to authorities in La Reunion.
Patrice Latron, prefect of Reunion, said residents of Mayotte were facing “an extremely chaotic situation, immense destruction.”
Two military aircraft are expected to follow the initial aid flight, while a navy patrol ship was also due to depart La Reunion.
There have been international pledges to help Mayotte, including from the regional Red Cross organization PIROI.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc is “ready to provide support in the days to come.”
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the WHO “stands ready to support communities in need of essential health care.”
With around 100,000 people estimated to live clandestinely on Mayotte, according to France’s interior ministry, establishing how many people have been affected by the cyclone is proving difficult.
Ousseni Balahachi, a former nurse, said some people did not dare venture out to seek assistance, “fearing it would be a trap” designed to remove them from Mayotte.
Many had stayed put “until the last minute” when it proved too late to escape the cyclone, she added.
Chido is the latest in a string of storms worldwide fueled by climate change, according to experts.
The “exceptional” cyclone was super-charged by particularly warm Indian Ocean waters, meteorologist Francois Gourand of the Meteo France weather service said.
Chido blasted across the Indian Ocean and made landfall in Mozambique on Sunday, where officials said the death toll stood at three.
The UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, warned 1.7 million people were in danger and the remnants of the cyclone could also dump “significant rainfall” in Malawi through Monday.
