Mesilla, United States | AFP | Ovidio Lopez Tum sold tortillas in his hometown of Chicaman in Guatemala to support his wife and eight children. But after being wounded in machete and grenade attacks by extortionists, the 53-year-old Lopez said he decided to flee to the United States. To bolster his …
Read More »US detained over 50,000 illegal immigrants in December
Washington, United States | AFP | Illegal border crossings into the United States continued at a high pace in December, with more than 50,000 people detained for a third straight month as the number of families illegally entering surged, US Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday. With the US government in …
Read More »Trump demands $5.7 bn for steel barrier on US-Mexico border
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump demanded $5.7 billion to fund a wall on the US-Mexico border in his first televised Oval Office address Tuesday, describing a “growing crisis” of illegal immigration hurting millions of Americans. The president stopped short of calling for a much-touted state of …
Read More »Stop holding Americans ‘hostage’ over shutdown, Pelosi tells Trump
Washington, United States | AFP | Top congressional Democrats on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump of holding Americans “hostage” by refusing to strike a deal to fund shuttered government agencies, and using fear mongering to justify his demand for his much-hyped border wall. “President Trump must stop holding the American …
Read More »White House chief: Trump not building a ‘wall’
Washington, United States | AFP | Outgoing White House chief John Kelly said in an interview published Sunday that he had “nothing but compassion” for undocumented migrants crossing into the US, and undercut President Donald Trump’s claims to be building a “wall” at the Mexico border. As a partial government …
Read More »Trump blames Democrats for migrant children’s death, amid govt budget impasse
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Saturday blamed opposition Democrats for the death of two immigrant children in US custody, comments set to heighten tensions as the second week of a government shutdown began over his demands for a border wall. “Any deaths of children …
Read More »Trump threatens to ‘entirely’ close US-Mexico border unless wall demands met
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to “entirely” close the southern US border with Mexico if lawmakers refuse his demands to fund a wall. “We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the …
Read More »US to examine migrant children in custody after second death
Washington, United States | AFP | US Customs and Border Protection announced medical checks on all children in its custody following the death of an eight-year-old Guatemalan migrant — the second child fatality in American detention this month. Guatemala called for an investigation into the boy’s death and some US …
Read More »US government shutdown would impact 800,000 federal employees
Washington, United States | AFP | A threatened shutdown of the US government would see hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed and many more working without pay. President Donald Trump warned Friday that a shutdown could last a “very long time” unless Democrats in the Senate join Republicans and …
Read More »US govt shuts down at midnight as House adjourns with no deal
Washington, United States | AFP | The US House of Representatives adjourned Friday without Congress passing a spending deal, assuring a partial government shutdown at midnight as President Donald Trump and lawmakers remain at odds over border wall funding. Operations for several key agencies will cease in the early hours …
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