SAN DIEGO: The Border Patrol arrested Gerardo Henao 14 hours after President Joe Biden suspended asylum processing at the US border with Mexico this week. But instead of being summarily deported, he was dropped off by agents the next day at a San Diego bus stop, where he caught a train to the airport for a flight to Newark, New Jersey.
Henao, who said he left his jewelry business in Medellin, Colombia, because of constant extortion attempts, had one thing working in his favor: a scarcity of deportation flights to that country. Lack of resources, diplomatic limitations and logistical hurdles make it difficult for the Biden administration to impose its sweeping measure on a large scale.
The policy, which took effect Wednesday, has an exception for “operational considerations,” official language acknowledging the government lacks the money and authority to deport everyone subject to the measure, especially people from countries in South America, Asia, Africa and Europe who didn’t start showing up at the border until recently.
The Homeland Security Department said in a detailed document outlining the ban that “demographics and nationalities encountered at the border significantly impact” its ability to deport people.
Thousands of migrants have been deported under the ban so far, according to two senior Homeland Security Department officials who briefed reporters Friday on condition that they not be named. There were 17 deportation flights, including one to Uzbekistan. Those deported include people from Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru and Mexico.
Henao, 59, said a Border Patrol agent told him about the ban after he was picked up Wednesday on a dirt road near a high-voltage power line in the boulder-strewn mountains east of San Diego. The agent processed release papers ordering him to appear in immigration court Oct. 23 in New Jersey. He casually asked Henao why he fled Colombia but didn’t pursue that line of questioning.
“It was nothing,” Henao said at a San Diego transit center, where the Border Patrol dropped off four busloads of migrants in a four-hour span Thursday afternoon. “They took my photo, my fingerprints and that was it.”
Many migrants released that day were from China, India, Colombia and Ecuador. One group included men from Mauritania, Sudan and Ethiopia.
“Hello, if you are arriving right now, you have been released from immigration custody and you can go to the airport,” a volunteer with a bullhorn told the migrants, directing them to a light-rail platform across the parking lot. “You can go for free if you don’t have money for a taxi or an Uber.”
Under the measure, asylum is suspended when arrests for illegal crossings reach 2,500 a day. It ends when they average below 1,500 for a week straight.
Border officials were told to give the highest priority to detaining migrants who can be easily deported, followed by “hard to remove” nationalities requiring at least five days to issue travel documents and then “very hard to remove” nationalities whose governments don’t accept US flights.
The instructions are laid out in a memo to agents that was reported by the New York Post. The Associated Press confirmed its contents with a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity because it has not been publicly released.
Homeland Security has been clear about the hurdles, said Theresa Cardinal Brown, senior adviser for immigration and border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
“There’s a limitation to the resources that the government has for detention and removal of people, and in particular to countries that we have a hard time removing people to because the (other) government is not cooperative,” Brown said. “We can’t detain them indefinitely.”
US Immigration and Customs and Enforcement did 679 deportation flights from January through May, nearly 60 percent of them to Guatemala and Honduras, according to Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that analyzes flight data. There were 46 flights to Colombia, 42 to Ecuador and 12 to Peru, a relatively small amount considering that tens of thousands enter illegally from those countries every month.
There were only 10 deportation flights during that period to Africa, which has emerged as a major source of migration to the United States. There was just one to China, despite the arrests of nearly 13,000 Chinese migrants.
Mexico is the easiest country for removals because it’s only a matter of driving to the nearest border crossing, but Mexicans accounted for less than 3 of 10 border arrests in the government’s last fiscal year, down from 9 of 10 in 2010. Mexico also takes up to 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, countries that have limited capacity or willingness to take people back.
Some countries refuse to accept flights to avoid getting overwhelmed themselves, Corey Price, then-director of ICE enforcement and removal operations, said in an interview last year.
“We don’t drive the bus on this,” said Price, who retired last month. “We don’t decide unilaterally, ‘OK, we’re sending your citizen back to you.’ No, that country still has to agree to take them back.”
Some nationalities escape Biden’s sweeping asylum ban because deportation flights are scarce
https://arab.news/rgnr3
Some nationalities escape Biden’s sweeping asylum ban because deportation flights are scarce
- Joe Biden suspended asylum processing at the US border with Mexico this week.
- The policy, which took effect Wednesday, has an exception for ‘operational considerations’
‘Existential hour’ for Palestine at 30-country conference in Colombia
- UN special rapporteur: ‘The time has come to act in pursuit of justice and peace’
- Participants will lay groundwork for implementing UNGA motion calling for end to occupation
LONDON: A 30-country conference aimed at ending Israel’s occupation of Palestine is one of the most significant political developments of the past 20 months, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has said.
The two-day event starts on Tuesday in the Colombian capital Bogota, and will be attended by representatives from countries including China, Spain and Qatar.
Albanese will announce that the conference comes at “an existential hour,” The Guardian reported on Tuesday.
Participating countries will use the event to lay the groundwork for implementing a UN General Assembly motion calling on member states to pressure Israel into ending its illegal occupation of Palestine.
The motion included a deadline of September for putting into action the International Court of Justice’s 2024 opinion that found Israel’s occupation of Palestine to be unlawful.
The court’s advisory opinion last July called on Israel to end its occupation “as rapidly as possible.”
UN member states also have an obligation “not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory,” it found.
Conference host Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s president, said the meeting will demonstrate a global will to move from condemnation to collective action against Israel.
In an article for The Guardian last week, he said: “We can either stand firm in defense of the legal principles that seek to prevent war and conflict, or watch helplessly as the international system collapses under the weight of unchecked power politics.”
The Hague Group behind the conference was initially established by Colombia and South Africa, but now includes Spain, Qatar, Indonesia, Algeria and Brazil.
The group met in January at a nine-country conference and agreed to implement the ICJ’s provisional measures.
Albanese will tell the Bogota meeting: “For too long, international law has been treated as optional — applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful. This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order. That era must end.
“The world will remember what we, states and individuals, did in this moment — whether we recoiled in fear or rose in defense of human dignity.
“Here in Bogota, a growing number of states have the opportunity to break the silence and revert to a path of legality by finally saying: enough. Enough impunity. Enough empty rhetoric. Enough exceptionalism. Enough complicity.
“The time has come to act in pursuit of justice and peace — grounded in rights and freedoms for all, and not mere privileges for some, at the expense of the annihilation of others.”
Some airlines checking Boeing fuel switches after Air India crash
- Precautionary moves by India, South Korea and some airlines in other countries
- Some airlines around the world said they had been checking relevant switches since 2018
NEW DELHI: India on Monday ordered its airlines to examine fuel switches on several Boeing models, while South Korea said it would order a similar measure, as scrutiny intensified of fuel switch locks at the center of an investigation into a deadly Air India crash.
The precautionary moves by India, South Korea and some airlines in other countries came despite the planemaker and the US Federal Aviation Administration telling airlines and regulators in recent days that the fuel switch locks on Boeing jets are safe.
The locks have come under scrutiny following last month’s crash of an Air India jet, which killed 260 people.
A preliminary report found that the switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run position to cutoff shortly after takeoff. One pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. “The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report said.
The report noted a 2018 advisory from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which recommended, but did not mandate, operators of several Boeing models including the 787 to inspect the locking feature of fuel cutoff switches to ensure they could not be moved accidentally.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it had issued an order to investigate locks on several Boeing models including 787s and 737s, after several Indian and international airlines began making their own inspections of fuel switches.
The regulator oversees the world’s third-largest and fastest-growing aviation market. Boeing planes are used by three of the country’s four largest airlines.
Precautionary checks
Some airlines around the world said they had been checking relevant switches since 2018 in accordance with the FAA advisory, including Australia’s Qantas Airways and Japan’s ANA.
Others said they had been making additional or new checks since the release of the preliminary report into the Air India crash.
Singapore Airlines said on Tuesday that precautionary checks on the fuel switches of its 787 fleet, including planes used by its low-cost subsidiary Scoot, confirmed all were functioning properly.
A spokesperson for the South Korean transport ministry said checks there would be in line with the 2018 advisory from the FAA, but did not give a timeline for them.
Flag carrier Korean Air Lines said on Tuesday it had proactively begun inspecting fuel control switches and would implement any additional requirements the transport ministry may have.
Japan Airlines said it was conducting inspections in accordance with the 2018 advisory.
Boeing referred Reuters’ questions to the FAA, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Over the weekend, Air India Group started checking the locking mechanism on the fuel switches of its 787 and 737 fleets and has discovered no problems yet, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.
About half the group’s 787s have been inspected and nearly all its 737s, the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity. Inspections were set to be completed in the next day or two.
The Air India crash preliminary report said the airline had not carried out the FAA’s suggested inspections as the FAA’s 2018 advisory was not a mandate.
But it also said maintenance records showed that the throttle control module, which includes the fuel switches, was replaced in 2019 and 2023 on the plane involved in the crash.
In an internal memo on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out.
Indonesia rescues 11 who swam for hours to survive boat capsize
- Two boats and dozens of rescuers hunted for those missing after the boat with 18 aboard overturned off the Mentawai Islands in the province of West Sumatra
JAKARTA: Indonesian rescuers found alive on Tuesday 11 people missing at sea who had survived a boat capsize in bad weather by swimming for at least six hours to the nearest island, officials said.
Two boats and dozens of rescuers hunted for those missing after the boat with 18 aboard overturned off the Mentawai Islands in the province of West Sumatra at about 11 a.m. on Monday, regional officials said.
“It was raining hard when the incident happened,” island official Rinto Wardana said. “Some of the passengers managed to swim and reach the nearest island.”
Seven had been rescued earlier, Wardana added. Ten of those on board were local government officials on a business trip to the town of Tuapejat, the boat’s destination when it left Sikakap, another small town in the Mentawai Islands.
The Mentawai Islands consist of four main islands and many smaller ones.
Boats and ferries are a regular mode of transport in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, where accidents are caused by bad weather and lax safety standards that often allow vessels to be overloaded.
When a ferry sank this month near the tourist resort island of Bali with 65 aboard, 30 passengers survived, while 18 died and 17 went missing.
Bangladesh struggles to contain the fallout of an uprising that toppled its leader last year
- One year after Hasina’s ouster, interim government faces growing unrest, delayed reforms, political fragmentation
- Rights concerns remain a major issue, conservative religious factions gain ground and Yunus resists calls for early elections
DHAKA: Bangladesh was on the cusp of charting a new beginning last year after its former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was removed from power in a student-led uprising, ending her 15-year rule and forcing her to flee to India.
As the head of a new interim government, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus promised to hold a credible election to return to democracy, initiate electoral and constitutional reforms and restore peace on the streets after hundreds were killed in weeks of violence that began on July 15, 2024.
A year later, the Yunus-led administration has struggled to contain the fallout of the uprising. Bangladesh finds itself mired in a growing political uncertainty, religious polarization and a challenging law-and-order situation.
Here’s what to know about Bangladesh a year after the protests that toppled Hasina.
Chaotic political landscape
Uncertainty about the future of democracy looms large in Bangladesh.
The student protesters who toppled Hasina formed a new political party, promising to break the overwhelming influence of two major dynastic political parties — the Bangladesh Nationalists Party, or BNP, and Hasina’s Awami League.
But the party’s opponents have accused it of being close to the Yunus-led administration and creating chaos for political mileage by using state institutions.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s political landscape has further fragmented after the country’s largest Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, returned to politics more than a decade after it was suppressed by Hasina’s government.
Aligned with the student-led party, it’s trying to fill the vacuum left by the Awami League, which was banned in May. Its leader, Hasina, is facing trial for crimes against humanity. The strength of Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, is unknown.
Both BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami party are now at loggerheads over establishing supremacy within the administration and judiciary, and even university campuses.
They are also differing over the timing of a new parliamentary election. Yunus has announced that the polls would be held in April next year, but poor law and order situation and a lack of clear-cut political consensus over it have created confusion. The chief of Bangladesh’s military also wanted an election in December this year — a stance Yunus didn’t like.
“Post-revolution honeymoons often don’t last long, and Bangladesh is no exception,” says Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst and senior fellow of Asia Pacific Foundation. “The interim government faced massive expectations to restore democracy and prosperity. But this is especially difficult to do as an unelected government without a public mandate.”
Yunus wants reforms before election
Yunus has delayed an election because he wants reforms — from changes to the constitution and elections to the judiciary and police. Discussions with political parties, except Hasina’s Awami League, are ongoing.
Some of the reforms include putting a limit on how many times a person can become the prime minister, introduction of a two-tier parliament, and appointment of a chief justice.
There appears to be little consensus over some basic reforms. While both the BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami parties have agreed to some of them with conditions, other proposals for basic constitutional reforms have become a sticking point.
The Jamaat-e-Islami also wants to give the interim government more time to complete reforms before heading into polls, while BNP has been calling for an early election. The student-led party mostly follows the pattern of the Jamaat-e-Islami party.
Kugelman says the issue of reforms was meant to unite the country, but has instead become a flashpoint.
“There’s a divide between those that want to see through reforms and give them more time, and those that feel it’s time to wrap things up and focus on elections,” he says.
Human rights and the rise of Islamists
Human rights in Bangladesh have remained a serious concern under Yunus.
Minority groups, especially Hindus, have blamed his administration for failing to protect them adequately. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council says minority Hindus and others have been targeted in hundreds of attacks over the last year. Hasina’s party has also blamed the interim government for arresting tens of thousands of its supporters.
The Yunus-led administration denies these allegations.
Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, says while the interim government has stopped enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions that had occurred under the Hasina government, “there has been little progress on lasting security sector reforms or to deliver on the pledge to create robust, independent institutions.”
Meanwhile, Islamist factions — some of whom have proposed changes to women’s rights and demanded introduction of Sharia law — are vying for power. Many of them are planning to build alliances with bigger parties like the BNP or the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Such factions have historically struggled to gain significant electoral support despite Bangladesh being a Muslim majority, and their rise is expected to further fragment the country’s political landscape.
Diplomatic pivot and balancing with global powers
During Hasina’s 15-year rule, Bangladesh was India’s closest partner in South Asia. After her ouster, the Yunus-led administration has moved closer to China, which is India’s main rival in the region.
Yunus’ first state visit was to China in March, a trip that saw him secure investments, loans and grants. On the other hand, India is angered by the ousting of its old ally Hasina and hasn’t responded to Dhaka’s requests to extradite her. India stopped issuing visas to Bangladeshis following Hasina’s fall.
Globally, Yunus seems to have strong backing from the West and the United Nations, and it appears Bangladesh will continue its foreign policy, which has long tried to find a balance between multiple foreign powers.
But Kugelman says the country’s biggest challenge may be the “Trump factor.”
In January, the Trump administration suspended USAID funds to Bangladesh, which had sought significant levels of US support during a critical rebuild period post Hasina’s ouster.
“Dhaka must now reframe its relations with an unconventional US administration that will largely view Bangladesh through a commercial lens,” Kugelman says.
Russia says it destroys 55 Ukrainian drones overnight, several people injured
- Several apartments in multi-story buildings in the city of Voronezh that is the administrative center of the broader Voronezh region were damaged
- Additionally, several commercial facilities throughout the region were damaged by falling drone debris
Several people were injured and houses and non-residential buildings were damaged as a result of Ukraine’s overnight drone attack on the neighboring Russia’s southwestern regions of Lipetsk and Voronezh, regional governors said on Tuesday.
Russia’s air defense units destroyed 12 drones over the Voronezh region that borders Ukraine, Governor Alexander Gusev said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Unfortunately, there were injuries,” Gusev said. “In central Voronezh, several people sustained minor injuries due to debris from a downed UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles).”
Several apartments in multi-story buildings in the city of Voronezh that is the administrative center of the broader Voronezh region were damaged, as well as houses in the suburbs, Gusev said.
Additionally, several commercial facilities throughout the region were damaged by falling drone debris, he said, without providing further details.
In the city of Yelets in the Lipetsk region a drone crashed in an industrial zone, regional governor Igor Artamonov said on Telegram.
“One person was injured and is receiving all necessary medical assistance,” Artamonov said.
The Russian defense ministry said on Telegram that its units destroyed 55 Ukrainian drones overnight over five Russian regions and the Black Sea, including three over the Lipetsk region.
The full extent of damage from the attacks was not immediately known. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about the attack.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes during the war that Russia launched against Ukraine more than three years ago. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
Ukraine has launched multiple air strikes on Lipetsk, a strategically important region with an air base that is the chief training center for the Russian Aerospace Forces.
