A top Mexican government official who went to the hospital to receive treatment after testing positive for the coronavirus allegedly spit and coughed on hospital staff because he did not get preferential treatment.
&#8220;Dr. Daniel López Regalado visited Presidente C. Juárez General Hospital in Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, on Thursday and received ambulatory care after complaining that he was ill, according to a complaint report filed by the hospital,&#8221; The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8197689/Mexican-health-official-infected-COVID-19-fired-spiting-coughing-hospital-staff.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline">reported</a>. &#8220;Regalado, who oversaw the state health board, returned later in the afternoon and told doctors that he was experiencing a cough, fever, diarrhea, and was having difficulty breathing.&#8221;
Regalado subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus, was hospitalized, and later on that night allegedly started to treat hospital staff poorly, saying that he was not getting preferential treatment.
On Friday, staff at the hospital said that he became more aggressive toward them and that he was denied his request to leave the hospital.
On Saturday morning, the staff finally granted him his release from isolation after he allegedly &#8220;coughed and spat at them.&#8221;
&#8220;Dr. López Regalado was detained Monday and was placed under medical and psychological observation,&#8221; The Daily Mail noted, adding that he had reportedly been fired. &#8220;He has been charged with risk of infection.&#8221;
Yahoo News <a href="https://es-us.noticias.yahoo.com/funcionario-con-covid-19-tosio-y-escupio-a-trabajadores-de-la-salud-en-mexico-porque-no-le-dieron-trato-preferencial-190238600.html">reported</a> that Regalado was the “head of Jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health who led a brigade of the Epidemiological Emergencies Unit where he was in contact with infected people,” according to a Google translation of the article.
A Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker stated late on Tuesday that Mexico has at least 2,785 reported cases of coronavirus with at least 141 deaths.
The coronavirus, which originated in China, has infected a confirmed 1,430,141 people worldwide and killed at least 82,119 people.
The real numbers are likely far higher as there has been widespread reporting indicating that China lied about the extent of the outbreak in their country and that the real numbers are likely many, many times higher than what the Chinese Communist Party reported. Another country that is widely thought to have lied about the extent of the outbreak in their country is Iran.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/washington-post-evidence-coming-out-of-wuhan-suggests-real-death-toll-over-40000">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The coronavirus pandemic ravaging the globe officially claimed 2,563 lives in Wuhan, where it began in a market that sold exotic animals for consumption. But evidence emerging from the city as it stirs from its two-month hibernation suggests the real death toll is exponentially higher. …
Using photos posted online, social media sleuths have estimated that Wuhan funeral homes had returned 3,500 urns a day since March 23. That would imply a death toll in Wuhan of about 42,000 — or 16 times the official number. Another widely shared calculation, based on Wuhan’s 84 furnaces running nonstop and each cremation taking an hour, put the death toll at 46,800.</blockquote>
Bloomberg News reported last week that U.S. intelligence officials have told President Donald Trump that the real number of cases and deaths in China is far higher than what the communist nation reported.
“China’s public reporting on cases and deaths is intentionally incomplete,” Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/china-concealed-extent-of-virus-outbreak-u-s-intelligence-says">reported</a>, according to three U.S. officials that it spoke to. “Two of the officials said the report concludes that China’s numbers are fake.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.

TAIWAN-HEALTH-VIRUS

Mexican Health Official With Coronavirus Spit, Coughed On Hospital Staff For Not Getting ‘Preferential Treatment,’ Report Says

Coronavirus

Mexico

On Wednesday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley warned Mexican drug cartels that are trying to ramp up drug trafficking into the U.S. as the country deals with a pandemic that the U.S. military will defend the country &#8220;regardless of the cost.&#8221;
Milley&#8217;s remarks came after President Donald Trump announced late on Tuesday afternoon that the administration was launching a massive new offensive against the Mexican drug cartels that includes support from the U.S. Military.
&#8220;Today the United States is launching enhanced counter narcotics operations in the western hemisphere to protect the American people from the deadly scourge of illegal narcotics,” Trump said. “We are deploying additional Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft and helicopters, Coast Guard cutters and Air Force surveillance aircraft, doubling the capabilities in the region.”
After Trump&#8217;s remarks, Milley said, &#8220;There&#8217;s thousands of sailors, coast guardsmen, soldiers, airman, Marines, involved in this operation. We came across some intelligence some time ago that the drug cartels as a result of covid-19 were going to try to take advantage of the situation and try to infiltrate additional drugs into our country.&#8221;
&#8220;We are at war with terrorists and we are at war with the drug cartels as well,&#8221; Milley continued. &#8220;This is the United States Military. You will not penetrate this country. You will not get past jump street. You’re not going to come in here and kill additional Americans. And we will marshal whatever assets are required to prevent your entry into this country to kill Americans.&#8221;
&#8220;So right now, the Navy has marshaled additional ships &#8230; and they have set sail already and are in the Caribbean right now,&#8221; Milley concluded. &#8220;In addition to that, there [are] ten Coast Guard cutters and there&#8217;s special operation forces and security force assistance brigades along with Air Force reconnaissance aircraft. The bottom line is, you are not going to get through. Now is not the time to try to penetrate the United States will illegal drugs to kill Americans. With the United States Military, we will defend our country regardless of the cost.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Mark Milley: &quot;We&#39;re at war with COVID-19. We&#39;re at war with terrorists and we are at war with the drug cartels as well&#8230; You will not penetrate this country&#8230; You&#39;re not going to come in here and kill additional Americans.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/yyHNBOFPtT">pic.twitter.com/yyHNBOFPtT</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1245474029928153097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>GENERAL MARK MILLEY: Thank you, secretary, for those words. And thank you Mr. President for your leadership. I want to publicly thank the Admiral Craig Fowler, commander of U.S. Southern Command out of Miami for leading this operation, which is underway effective today and also Admiral Gilday, the Chief and Naval Operation Admiral Schultz for their contributions to this from their services.
There&#8217;s thousands of sailors, coast guardsmen, soldiers, airman, Marines, involved in this operation. We came across some intelligence some time ago that the drug cartels as a result of covid-19 were going to try to take advantage of the situation and try to infiltrate additional drugs into our country. As we know, 70,000 Americans die on an average annual basis to drugs. That is unacceptable. We are at war with covid-19. We are at war with terrorists. And we are at war with the drug cartels as well.
This is the United States Military. You will not penetrate this country. You will not get past jump street. You’re not going to come in here and kill additional Americans. And we will marshal whatever assets are required to prevent your entry into this country to kill Americans.
So right now, the Navy has marshaled additional ships &#8230; and they have set sail already and are in the Caribbean right now. In addition to that, there is ten Coast Guard cutters and there&#8217;s special operation forces and security force assistance brigades along with Air Force reconnaissance aircraft. The bottom line is you are not going to get through. Now is not the time to try to penetrate the United States will illegal drugs to kill Americans. With the United States Military we will defend our country regardless of the cost.</blockquote>

Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing in Washington, US

General Milley Drops Hammer On Mexican Cartels: ‘We Will Defend Our Country Regardless Of The Cost’

Donald Trump

Drug Cartels

By now, the world has learned that no one is immune from SARS-CoV-2 but a state governor in Mexico has a theory: poor people are immune to the coronavirus.
Mexico had 844 confirmed cases as of Sunday morning, and Gov. Luis Miguel Barbosa of the state of Puebla, southeast of Mexico City, said, “The majority are wealthy people.” He was referring to a recent government report that found three-quarters of the country’s cases are people who returned from international travel.
“If you are rich, you are at risk,” Barbosa said in a news conference that was broadcast live on YouTube and Facebook. “If you are poor, no. We poor people, we are immune.”
&#8220;Barbosa also seemed to be appealing to an old belief that poor sanitation standards increase immunity by exposing people to more bacteria,&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/mexican-governor-sparks-outrage-claiming-poor-are-immune-to-coronavirus">Fox News</a> reported.
&#8220;Mexico’s deputy health secretary Hugo López-Gatell this week announced the federal government will halt all nonessential activities and the country has closed schools nationwide through April 20,&#8221; Fox wrote.
But President Andrés Manuel López Obrador opposes a stay-at-home order and on Tuesday told reporters Mexico would be through “the worst of it” within a month, The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/mexican-governor-miguel-barbosa-prompts-outrage-with-claim-poor-are-immune-to-covid-19">Guardian</a> reported.
The U.K. newspaper said Barbosa&#8217;s comments &#8220;sparked controversy in a country where nearly half of the population are poor and the majority work in the informal economy.&#8221;
<blockquote>They also reflected the almost conspiratorial response of many Mexican politicians toward Covid-19, which threatens to wreck the government’s agenda of mega-projects and expanding social programmes.
The country’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose administration has promised to “put the poor first”, has responded with breezy optimism to the crisis. He told reporters on Tuesday that Mexico would be past the “worst of it” within a month.
López Obrador has resisted stiffer measures, such as quarantine and border closures, on the grounds that poor Mexicans are unable to afford not to work.
“The economy is in a nosedive and his base, the poor, is getting the short end of the stick,” Esteban Illades, the editor of Nexos magazine, said of the president’s motives. “A weak economy means his legacy is compromised.”</blockquote>
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says everyone is at risk of catching the virus. &#8220;Older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions may be at higher risk for more serious complications from COVID-19. These people who may be at higher risk of getting very sick from this illness, includes:
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li>Older adults</li>
<li>People who have serious underlying medical conditions like:</li>
<li>Heart disease</li>
<li>Diabetes</li>
<li>Lung disease</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
The CDC also says that &#8220;Based on available evidence, children do not appear to be at higher risk for COVID-19 than adults. While some children and infants have been sick with COVID-19, adults make up most of the known cases to date.&#8221; And the CDC said &#8220;with viruses from the same family as COVID-19, and other viral respiratory infections, such as influenza, women have had a higher risk of developing severe illness. It is always important for pregnant women to protect themselves from illnesses.&#8221;

Coronavirus Outbreak In Mexico

Mexican Governor Sparks Outrage For Claiming Poor Are ‘Immune’ To Coronavirus

Federal officials are moving to strictly limit travel across the U.S.-Mexico border as the coronavirus pandemic spreads while keeping trade between the two nations flowing.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is talking with Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard to enact &#8220;travel restrictions that balance protecting our citizens from further transmission of [COVID-19].&#8221;
&#8220;Together, we can reduce public health risks and prioritize essential cross-border commerce and trade,&#8221; Pompeo wrote on Twitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mexico?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mexico</a> Foreign Secretary <a href="https://twitter.com/m_ebrard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@m_ebrard</a> and I have been working closely on travel restrictions that balance protecting our citizens from further transmission of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a>. Together, we can reduce public health risks and prioritize essential cross-border commerce and trade.
&mdash; Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1240792677534351361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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President Trump on Wednesday said the U.S. and Canada agreed to close their border for all nonessential travel, underscoring on Twitter that “trade will not be affected.&#8221;
“We’re looking at both our northern and our southern border,” acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told reporters at the White House. “We want to make sure that cargo continues, trade continues, heath care workers continue to be able to traverse that border. But tourism, some recreational activities and other things needs to stop during this crisis.&#8221;
&#8220;U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials briefed business leaders Thursday on plans to prohibit non-essential travel with Mexico, similar to a measure announced earlier this week on the Canadian border, said Paola Avila, chair of the Border Trade Alliance, a business group,&#8221; the <a href="https://apnews.com/9c99d9ead1d95482f07ad7be445d29cf">Associated Press</a> reported.
<blockquote>The measure would effectively close the U.S. to all tourist and recreational visits along the Mexican border, said Avila, who participated in a conference call with CBP officials.
U.S. officials provided a long list of “essential” workers that would be unaffected going to and from their jobs, including farmworkers, restaurant and grocery store employees and bus drivers, said Avila. Mexico was preparing similar restrictions on visitors from the United States.</blockquote>
Under a Trump administration plan, asylum-seekers and other migrants at the northern and southern borders will be turned away, The New York Times reported.
The <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8132929/Cars-flood-Mexico-border-amid-possible-travel-restrictions.html">Daily Mail</a> reported that &#8220;hundreds of cars lined up to cross into the United States at the Mexico-US on Thursday after officials announced the possibility of restrictions on travel in a bid to curb the coronavirus.&#8221;
&#8220;Bumper-to-bumper traffic was seen at the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego, California,&#8221; the outlet reports. &#8220;Tijuana&#8217;s mayor Arturo González Cruz has urged residents in recent says to restrict their visits to the United States to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Mexico has reported its first death from coronavirus, a 41-year-old diabetic Mexican man whose symptoms began last week, the health ministry said late on Wednesday. No other details were immediately available.&#8221;
Mexico has a remarkably low number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 — just 164, with only one death. In the U.S., there are 14,250 cases and more than 200 deaths.
Some in Mexico have taunted Trump.
“There are more coronavirus patients in the USA than in Mexico. I will assume that the wall is to protect Mexicans!” one woman wrote in Spanish on Twitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hay más pacientes de coronavirus en USA que en México. Asumiré que el muro es para proteger a los mexicanos!
&mdash; malvarad (@malvarad00) <a href="https://twitter.com/malvarad00/status/1237516653132255233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“As there are more cases of coronavirus in the USA than in @mexico Mexicans should build the wall and pay for it @realDonaldTrump,” wrote another.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Como hay más casos de coronavirus en USA que en <a href="https://twitter.com/mexico?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mexico</a> los mexicanos deberían construir el muro y que lo pague <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>
&mdash; GerardoGRamos 💪 (@GerardoGRamos) <a href="https://twitter.com/GerardoGRamos/status/1237996563089285120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“At this rate the wall is done by Mexico due to the number of positive cases of coronavirus in the USA,” another tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A este ritmo el muro lo hace Mexico por la cantidad de casos positivos de coronavirus en Usa
&mdash; Quino (@joako_92) <a href="https://twitter.com/joako_92/status/1237925308579360768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Migrant Caravan Crosses Into Mexico

Trump Admin Moves To Severely Restrict Traffic Across U.S.-Mexico Border

Trump Administration

The United States will crack down on illegal immigration across its southern border, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/world/coronavirus-update-latest-news.html?action=click&amp;module=Spotlight&amp;pgtype=Homepage#link-28632499">the New York Times reports Wednesday</a>, and has pledged to &#8220;swiftly turn back&#8221; all unauthorized individuals, including those with foreign passports and those seeking asylum.
The news comes as the Trump administration considers a full border lockdown, drastically limiting border crossings not just from Mexico, but also from Canada. The United States has already taken measures to halt the flow of both immigrants and visitors from Europe and Asia.
Mexico has yet to take drastic measures to control the spread of the dreaded coronavirus and Trump administration officials fear that, though few cases have been resported, immigrants, visitors, and asylum seekers who travel from Central America and through Mexico may carry or come into contact with the virus.
&#8220;The administration officials said the ports of entry would remain open to American citizens, green-card holders and foreigners with proper documentation,&#8221; the NYT says. &#8220;Some foreigners would be blocked, including Europeans currently subject to earlier travel restrictions imposed by the administration. The points of entry will also be open to commercial traffic.&#8221;
The administration, according to the NYT, is expected to announced the change within the next 48 hours, and the new rules will include much stricter border interdiction measures &#8212; something the Trump administration has been pushing for since well before the first incidence of coronavirus.
Agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency will be told to &#8220;immediately return anyone to Mexico&#8221; who crosses without the proper documentation or who &#8220;attempts to cross the southwestern border between the legal ports of entry,&#8221; per the NYT.
At the moment, captured illegal immigrants and asylum seekers who cross somewhere other than a legal port of entry are being held for a short time in American detention facilities, then processed and sent to &#8220;remain in Mexico&#8221; while they typically await a hearing on their asylum claim. Border Patrol agents, however, say the current setup is fraught with potential danger. If held for any length of time, immigrants carrying coronavirus could spread the disease to others in detention facilities on either side of the border or even to Border Patrol agents.
Most of those captured are already in poor health, the Border Patrol told the NYT and, if no action is taken, many captured immigrants could wait weeks or even months in detention facilities; immigration courts are postponing most hearings until at least April 10 over concerns about coronavirus spreading within the United States.
“The president is 100% focused on protecting the American people from the coronavirus, and all options are on the table,” a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security told the Wall Street Journal.
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-may-close-u-s-borders-to-unauthorized-foreigners-over-coronavirus-risk-11584495442">President Donald Trump</a> would not comment on the issue except to say that “we are discussing things with Canada, and we’re discussing things with Mexico.”
There are hurdles: rules require that those seeking asylum receive at least some adjudication of their claim, and foreigners who are not Mexican cannot be returned to Mexico without some system in place to assure they will not be subject to harm if they are sent back to their respective home countries. Mexico, the WSJ says, would also need to sign off on any plan to simply turn illegal immigrants back around.
The administration does have the option to close the border entirely, however &#8212; and that&#8217;s something it is reportedly considering.

Border Patrol

United States To ‘Swiftly Turn Back’ Illegal Immigrants From Mexico At Southern Border

Illegal Immigration

Immigrants

Southern Border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

President Trump made stemming the flow of illegal aliens from Mexico into the U.S. a center point of his 2016 presidential campaign.
With the coronavirus beginning to spread across America, some are taking the opportunity to taunt the president in Spanish.
“There are more coronavirus patients in the USA than in Mexico. I will assume that the wall is to protect Mexicans!” one woman wrote in Spanish on Twitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hay más pacientes de coronavirus en USA que en México. Asumiré que el muro es para proteger a los mexicanos!
&mdash; malvarad (@malvarad00) <a href="https://twitter.com/malvarad00/status/1237516653132255233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“As there are more cases of coronavirus in the USA than in @mexico Mexicans should build the wall and pay for it @realDonaldTrump,” wrote another.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Como hay más casos de coronavirus en USA que en <a href="https://twitter.com/mexico?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mexico</a> los mexicanos deberían construir el muro y que lo pague <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>
&mdash; GerardoGRamos 💪 (@GerardoGRamos) <a href="https://twitter.com/GerardoGRamos/status/1237996563089285120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“At this rate the wall is done by Mexico due to the number of positive cases of coronavirus in the USA,” another tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A este ritmo el muro lo hace Mexico por la cantidad de casos positivos de coronavirus en Usa
&mdash; Quino (@joako_92) <a href="https://twitter.com/joako_92/status/1237925308579360768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
While there are 3,244 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., there are just 41 in Mexico, according to a running tabulation by <a href="https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6">Johns Hopkins</a> Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Meanwhile, Mexico is reportedly mulling measures it may take with its northern border over fears that coronavirus will spread from the U.S., health officials said on Friday. Mexico&#8217;s deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said contagion from the United States is a threat, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-mexico/mexico-could-consider-taking-measures-at-u-s-border-to-slow-coronavirus-idUSKBN2102BY">Reuters</a> reported.
&#8220;Mexico wouldn&#8217;t bring the virus to the United States, rather the United States would bring it here,&#8221; he said at a news conference on Friday. &#8220;The possible flow of coronavirus would come from the north to the south.&#8221;
&#8220;If it were technically necessary, we would consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance,&#8221; he said.
Trump, though, has barred incoming foreigners from Europe and elsewhere in Asia, and he contends the virus strengthens his argument that a wall is needed to secure the U.S. southern border.
&#8220;To this point, and because we have had a very strong border policy, we have had 40 deaths related to Coronavirus. If we had weak or open borders, that number would be many times higher!&#8221; Trump wrote on Twitter on Friday.
The United States ambassador to Mexico added that a new policy would be mutually beneficial to both the U.S. and Mexico, Reuters wrote.
“For both countries, it doesn’t benefit us to have completely open borders,” ambassador Christopher Landau said. “We see it now with the virus, and hopefully we can work closely together because in health issues, political parties and borders aren’t important.”
&#8220;The United States has now declared a state of emergency and most cities are restricting movement, closing schools, banning gatherings of more than 100 – 250 people, and encouraging residents to &#8216;self-quarantine&#8217; or practice &#8216;social distancing&#8217; in order to slow the spread of coronavirus,&#8221; The <a href="https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/mexico-now-considering-shutting-border-with-united-states-over-coronavirus/">Daily Wire</a> reported on Sunday.
<blockquote>The U.S. joined France, Spain, and Italy Saturday in imposing lockdowns, though the U.S. has yet to move toward aggressive enforcement of self-quarantine. Italy, particularly, has mobilized law enforcement to ensure people remain indoors amid concerns that Italians, despite huge jumps in confirmed cases and a health care system clearly under seige, are still not obeying “social distancing” orders.
Mexico has yet to implement any concrete policies on the subject, but several major events, like the Guadalajara Film Festival, have been canceled, and the Tecnologico de Monterrey university has canceled classes. The government is encouraging organizations to suspend “non-essential services.”</blockquote>
&nbsp;

US-Mexico Border Fence Impacts Borderlands Environment

Trump Taunted In Spanish Over Coronavirus: ‘The Wall Is To Protect Mexicans!’

Mexico has, so far, resisted Trump Administration efforts to restrict or close portions of the United States-Mexico border over concerns about illegal immigration but, this weekend, Mexican authorities, concerned about the spread of coronavirus, are reportedly considering shutting the border themselves to prevent the infection from affecting Mexican border cities.
Speaking to press on Friday, Mexico&#8217;s health minister called the United States a &#8220;danger&#8221; to Mexicans who have yet to suffer from coronavirus in large numbers. The country has only 26 confirmed cases and no deaths, though that number could climb considerably. The United States has around 2,000 confirmed cases and there have been around 50 deaths so far from the virus.
“If it were technically necessary to consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance we would have to take into account not that Mexico would bring the virus to the United States, rather that the United States could bring it here,” Mexican Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said, <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20200313151928-n3bce">according to Reuters</a>.
Lopez-Gatell did not provide media with any further details on which &#8220;mechanisms&#8221; of restriction the country was considering, or whether those &#8220;mechanisms&#8221; could include a border wall. Further questions to the country&#8217;s health ministers, from Reuters and others, were left unanswered.
Although it&#8217;s taken Mexico some time &#8212; and a new threat &#8212; to come around to the idea of further restricting access across the U.S.-Mexico border, the Trump Administration seemed happy to learn that Mexico might be open to the possibility of increased border interdiction or even a border wall.
“Because we have had a very strong border policy, we have had 40 deaths related to CoronaVirus. If we had weak or open borders, that number would be many times higher!” President Donald Trump tweeted earlier this weekend, suggesting that curbing the spread of coronavirus is yet another argument for a wall across the entire southern border.
The United States ambassador to Mexico added that a new policy would be mutually beneficial to both the U.S. and Mexico, per Reuters.
&#8220;For both countries, it doesn&#8217;t benefit us to have completely open borders,&#8221; ambassador Christopher Landau said. &#8220;We see it now with the virus, and hopefully we can work closely together because in health issues, political parties and borders aren&#8217;t important.&#8221;
The United States has now declared a state of emergency and most cities are restricting movement, closing schools, banning gatherings of more than 100 &#8211; 250 people, and encouraging residents to &#8220;self-quarantine&#8221; or practice &#8220;social distancing&#8221; in order to slow the spread of coronavirus. The U.S. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus/lockdowns-and-entry-bans-imposed-around-the-world-to-fight-coronavirus-idUSKBN21208S">joined France, Spain, and Italy Saturday in imposing lockdowns</a>, though the U.S. has yet to move toward aggressive enforcement of self-quarantine. Italy, particularly, has mobilized law enforcement to ensure people remain indoors amid concerns that Italians, despite huge jumps in confirmed cases and a health care system clearly under seige, are still not obeying &#8220;social distancing&#8221; orders.
Mexico has yet to implement any concrete policies on the subject, but several major events, like the Guadalajara Film Festival, have been canceled, and the Tecnologico de Monterrey university has canceled classes. The government is encouraging organizations to suspend &#8220;non-essential services.&#8221;

border wall

Mexico Now Considering Shutting Border With United States Over Coronavirus

Border Wall

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday the results from a massive federal operation targeting the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), which is one of the most notorious drug cartels in Mexico.
The Justice Department (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) revealed that over 600 arrests had been made as a result of Project Python, which started late last year.
“Project Python marks the most comprehensive action to date in the Department of Justice’s campaign to disrupt, dismantle, and ultimately destroy CJNG,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Criminal Division said during a press conference. “When President Trump signed an Executive Order prioritizing the dismantlement of transnational criminal organizations, the Department of Justice answered the call and took direct aim at CJNG. We deemed CJNG one of the highest-priority transnational organized crime threats we face. And with Project Python, we are delivering results in the face of that threat for the American people.”
President Donald Trump&#8217;s Executive Order 13773 instructed federal officials to identify, interdict, disrupt, and dismantle drug cartels, which has been a top priority of Trump&#8217;s.
The statement added:
<blockquote>CJNG is one of the fastest growing transnational criminal organizations in Mexico, and among the most prolific methamphetamine producers in the world. It is responsible for a significant proportion of drugs entering the United States, and elevated levels of violence in Mexico. With methamphetamine abuse and overdose deaths on the rise, Project Python aims to disrupt CJNG’s ability to distribute methamphetamine and other drugs throughout the United States by attacking the group at all levels.
The efforts highlighted in the more than 600 arrests nationwide are illustrative of the significant reach the CJNG has in manufacturing, importing and distributing a wide array of illegal narcotics within the United States and the negative impact on the fabric of our local communities. The proceeds from the local distribution of these narcotics are repatriated back to Mexico and further fuel transnational organized criminal organizations such as the CJNG. The Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously fight this scourge against the United States.</blockquote>
The 2019 DEA National Drug Threat Assessment <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-01/2019-NDTA-final-01-14-2020_Low_Web-DIR-007-20_2019.pdf">reported</a> the following about CJNG:
<blockquote>CJNG, based in the city of Guadalajara in the Mexican State of Jalisco, is the most recently formed of the six TCOs. With drug distribution hubs in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, it is one of the most powerful and fastest growing cartels in Mexico and the United States. CJNG smuggles illicit drugs into the United States by accessing various trafficking corridors along the SWB including Tijuana, Juarez, and Nuevo Laredo. CJNG’s rapid expansion of its drug trafficking activities is characterized by the willingness to engage in violent confrontations with Mexican Government security forces and rival cartels. Like most major Mexican TCOs, CJNG is a poly-drug trafficking group, manufacturing and/or distributing large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. CJNG reportedly has presence in at least 24 of 32 Mexican states.</blockquote>
“Project Python is the single largest strike by U.S. authorities against CJNG, and this is just the beginning,” Acting DEA Administrator Uttam Dhillon said during the press conference. “This strategic and coordinated project exemplifies DEA’s mission: to disrupt, dismantle, and destroy drug trafficking organizations around the world and bring their leaders to justice. Today, DEA has disrupted CJNG’s operations, and there is more to come as DEA continues its relentless attack on this remorseless criminal organization.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions And Mexican Counterpart Announce Enforcement Efforts Against Mexican Drug Cartel

‘Just The Beginning’: Trump Strikes Notorious Mexican Drug Cartel, 600+ Arrests Made

Cartels

Drugs

Two-Democrat appointed judges voted on Friday to block the Trump administration&#8217;s Migrant Protection Protocol program, a policy that forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are heard in the U.S., which came after news broke earlier in the day that Mexico had confirmed its first cases of coronvirus.
The program, commonly referred to as &#8220;Remain in Mexico,&#8221; was designed to stop illegal immigrants from exploiting loopholes in the U.S. immigration system. The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/trump-remain-in-mexico-halted-federal-court/2020/02/28/87bbf85e-e481-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The Trump administration has claimed that the migrant families have been exploiting loopholes in U.S. law to secure their release, knowing of the court-mandated 20-day limit for detaining children. The MPP program was designed to prevent families from entering the United States and later skipping their court hearings to avoid deportation; instead, families have been sitting on the Mexico side of the border.
&#8230;
Judges Richard A. Paez and William A. Fletcher, both appointed by President Bill Clinton, voted to uphold the injunction, while Ferdinand F. Fernandez, a President George H.W. Bush appointee, disagreed.</blockquote>
The ruling came after Mexican Assistant Health Secretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell announced earlier in the day that Mexico had confirmed its first two cases of the coronavirus, which originated in China, inside its borders.
The Associated Press <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/mexico-confirms-first-2-cases-of-novel-coronavirus">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Hugo Lopez-Gatell said one of the patients is in Mexico City and the other in the northern state of Sinaloa. While a second test is still pending on that case, he said, “We are treating this as confirmed.” Neither is seriously ill; one is in isolation at a hospital, the other is isolated at a hotel.
At least five family contacts of the first patient have been placed in isolation. He said the men had traveled to the northern Italian region where there has been an outbreak and had returned to Mexico between last Friday and Saturday.</blockquote>
The ruling by the Democrat-appointed judges combined with the news that Mexico has now multiple confirmed cases of the coronavirus is likely to anger President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly sought to strengthen border security for national security reasons.
A White House official <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-cruise-ship.html">told</a> The New York Times that Trump &#8220;views shutting the borders to infected people as critical to keeping the country safe and wants to be seen as managing a proper response&#8221; to the coronavirus pandemic.
Immigration attorney Matthew Kolken <a href="https://twitter.com/mkolken/status/1233504153453854720">predicted</a> that &#8220;the Trump administration&#8217;s next move will be to institute a travel ban for nationals of countries from Central America citing national security concerns relating to the Coronavirus.&#8221;
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I am willing to bet that the Trump administration&#39;s next move will be to institute a travel ban for nationals of countries from Central America citing national security concerns relating to the Coronavirus. <a href="https://t.co/PGqvJTVK4u">https://t.co/PGqvJTVK4u</a>
&mdash; Matthew Kolken (@mkolken) <a href="https://twitter.com/mkolken/status/1233504153453854720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Two Coronavirus Cases Confirmed In Mexico

Mexico Confirms Coronavirus Cases; Democrat-Appointed Judges Block Trump’s ‘Remain In Mexico’ Policy

Mexican cartels are using children to smuggle drugs and weapons across the border into the United States and vice versa, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/mexican-cartels-arizona-children-drug-smuggling">reported</a> that American children as young as 12 have been recruited by the cartels – and the problem is getting worse. In fiscal year 2018, about 36 children were arrested for narcotics-related offenses at Arizona’s points of entry. The next year that number increased to 57. There have already been 17 arrests in fiscal year 2020.
“It’s a problem, we know it’s there,&#8221; Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent Alan Regalado told Fox. &#8220;We’re trying to mitigate that issue through education and prevention.”
Regalado started the Together Educating and Mentoring Kids (TEAM Kids) program to try and stop children from getting recruited. He told Fox that after starting the program he soon realized it needed to be implemented before high school &#8212; as early as elementary school.
“We went out to local high schools and I noticed that students were already recruited at that point,&#8221; Regalado told Fox.
“There’s kids now being recruited in Phoenix, Tucson, not only for northbound activity but also southbound, where they are taking weapons from the United States into Mexico,&#8221; he added. &#8220;So, it’s not just the narcotics coming from Mexico into the United States.”
Regalado told the outlet that “These teenagers are either smuggling in vehicles, they’re smuggling on their body and in their body so it’s very dangerous.”
Three children have so far been prosecuted by the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office, Fox reported.
“As the county attorney I have the option of charging juveniles as adults if they’re 14 years of age or older and they commit a class two felony,” Santa Cruz County Attorney George Silva told the outlet. &#8220;Normally when they are transporting drugs for sale it’s going to be a class two felony.”
He added: “At this school I had promised the kids that if you are caught with dangerous drugs I’m sending you to prison and that’s what ended up happening to this 17 year old &#8230; this student was an honor roll student, you know he was a very good student, he wanted to go [Northern Arizona University] and he wanted to study criminal justice, so he thought &#8216;I can’t afford to go to college so one way of being able to pay for my college is to run dope.&#8217;”
Silva explained to the outlet that children are used to throw off law enforcement, but once kids started getting caught, the cartels use the elderly and pregnant women before switching back to children.
“[Children] do it because they think it’s cool but they also do it because of the easy money… the minimum sentence is 3.5 years and obviously prosecuting them as adults means that they would be convicted felons for the rest of their lives,” Silva told Fox.
WZTV <a href="https://abcstlouis.com/news/nation-world/report-mexican-cartels-hiring-american-children-as-young-as-12-years-old-to-smuggle-drugs-02-19-2020">reported</a> that the TEAM Kids program started by Regalado lasts four weeks and “warns students that cartel recruitment may even happen through social media and video games.”

Kids As Young As 12 Recruited By Mexican Cartels To Smuggle Drugs Across Border, Report Says

Arizona

The Democratic presidential primary debate was momentarily derailed after Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) was asked to explain why she was unable to name the president of Mexico during a recent interview with Telemundo, the American Spanish-language news network. 
“I don’t think that the momentary forgetfulness actually reflects what I know about Mexico and how much I care about it,” Klobuchar told the moderators. “But when it comes to Mexico, I am the one person on this stage that came out first to say I was for the U.S.-Mexican-Canadian trade agreement. That is going to be one of the number one duties of a president – is to implement that.”
After moderator Vanessa Hauc, who works for Telemundo, pressed Klobuchar on the incident further, Klobuchar retorted: “That’s right. I said I made an error. I think that having a president that maybe is humble, and is able to admit that here and there maybe wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
Hauc then asked Pete Buttigieg for his two cents, as the former mayor was actually successful in naming the Mexican president during a recent interview. “I wouldn’t liken this to trivia,” said Buttigieg, who then directed an attack back at Klobuchar. 
“But you’re staking your candidacy on your Washington experience,” said the former mayor. “You’re on the committee that oversees border security. You’re on the committee that does trade. You’re literally part of the committee that oversees those things.”
Klobuchar then issued a strong response to Buttigieg: “Are you trying to say that I’m dumb? Are you mocking me, Pete? I said I made an error.” 
The Minnesota senator then volleyed an attack about electability against Buttigieg: “I am the one, not you, that has won statewide in congressional district after congressional district. And I will say, when you tried to run in Indiana, Pete, what happened to you? You lost by over 20 points.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who was on offense the entire debate, then came to the defense of Klobuchar, calling the ability to memorize a name silly. 
“This is not right. I understand that she forgot a name. It happens. It happens to everybody on this stage,” Warren told the crowd, implying that the question was trivia-like in nature. “Let’s just be clear, missing a name all by itself does not indicate that you do not understand what’s going on. I just think this is unfair.”
During the series of tangents, former Vice President Joe Biden tried to chime in, unsuccessfully, on account that he had previously met the president of Mexico. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT), not wanting to be the only one not to offer his opinion on the matter – aside from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg – responded to Biden with an enthusiastic “Si!”
Following a short break, a debate moderator jokingly asked the primary candidates if they were ready “to play some Nevada trivia.”

Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate In Las Vegas Ahead Of Nevada Caucuses

Chaos Erupts After Mexico Trivia Question; Klobuchar To Buttigieg: ‘You Trying To Say That I’m Dumb?’

2020 Election

Amy Klobuchar

democratic debate

Pete Buttigieg

Mexico is taking its own illegal immigration problem &#8212; caravans of thousands of migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, and elsewhere &#8212; seriously, cracking down on border-crossers at its own southern border, and now critics are convinced that President Donald Trump, unable to get a physical border wall built, has convinced Mexico&#8217;s president to be come his de facto &#8220;border wall.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/26/mexico-immigration-amlo-enforcement-trump">The Guardian reported Sunday</a> that &#8220;Mexico has become Trump&#8217;s wall,&#8221; faulting Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador for increasing hostility among Mexican law enforcement agents toward migrant caravans.
Although Mexico was, initially, allowing these thousand-plus person caravans to cross its southern border on the promise that they would head directly to the United States&#8217; southern border to seek amnesty, the Mexican government has since taken an active role in interdiction, blocking passage through Mexico&#8217;s southern border and even firing tear gas into unruly crowds of migrants trying to push through into Mexico.
&#8220;López Obrador’s government greeted migrants in a more hostile fashion,&#8221; <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-24/in-turning-back-caravans-mexico-becomes-trumps-wall">the LA Times reported about incidents</a> that occurred last week. &#8220;Mexican National Guard troops in full riot gear blocked their way and fired tear gas canisters to disperse those seeking to breach the nation’s border with Guatemala. Hundreds of people were put on planes and buses back to Honduras, where most of the migrants in the latest caravan began their journey.&#8221;
There were no major injuries, though there were around 800 arrests, according to reports. Before things got hostile, the Mexican government says they offered migrants work visas and the chance to remain in Mexico&#8217;s southern states, but the migrants refused.
&#8220;The president, generally referred to as Amlo, once railed against the abuse visited on migrants. In opposition, he pleaded for Mexico to provide safe passage to people heading for the US border,&#8221; the Guardian reported in horror. &#8220;But 13 months into his presidency – and under the looming threat of US tariffs – Amlo has assumed a new role: immigration enforcer.&#8221;
This is a stark difference from just one year ago, when Mexican authorities were, largely, turning a blind eye to so-called migrant caravans, offering them temporary visas to travel through Mexico on their way to seek amnesty in the United States. Occasionally, the government would attempt a &#8220;crackdown,&#8221; but only when Mexicans were overly burdened by the caravans, and even then, the Mexican government typically offered migrants temporary work visas or free rides back to Central America.
Now, things have changed both at the southern border and in the board room. The Trump administration&#8217;s &#8220;remain in Mexico&#8221; policy, which has those individuals seeking amnesty stay south of the border while their claims are processed rather than remain in the United States pending a hearing, has made life for Mexicans in border towns difficult (and it has cut down significantly on the number of migrants seeking amnesty). President Donald Trump also threatened Mexico, last year, with tariffs and a trade freeze if Mexico did not enforce its own immigration laws.
But it&#8217;s not all Trump&#8217;s fault, regardless of what the Guardian may believe. The LA Times notes that Obrador is copying Trump&#8217;s &#8220;America First&#8221; strategy with a &#8220;Mexico First&#8221; attitude, taking a particular interest in domestic policy and mostly ignoring Mexico&#8217;s foreign entanglements.
But the Trump administration is, at least, pleased with what&#8217;s happening.
“The efforts by the Mexican National Guard and other officials have thus far been effective at maintaining the integrity of their border, despite outbreaks of violence and lawlessness by people who are attempting to illegally enter Mexico on their way to the United States,&#8221; the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement this week.

Mexico ‘Acting As Trump’s Border Wall’ Critics Say As Nation Cracks Down On Migrant Caravans

New details have emerged about the American family of nine that were murdered in Mexico back in November as a top Mexican government official was arrested late this week for his alleged involvement in the cartel attack on the family.
Former federal law enforcement official and Phoenix narcotics detective Robert Arce first reported the news on Christmas day. The story was later <a href="https://www.elheraldodechihuahua.com.mx/local/cae-director-de-policia-de-janos-por-caso-lebaron-noticias-de-chihuahua-4627236.html">confirmed</a> by The Herald of Chihuahua, which is a Mexican newspaper.
&#8220;The Police Chief from the Municipality of Janos, Chihuahua, is arrested for suspected links to the Sinaloa Cartel (Los Salazar) by members of the Subprocuraduría Especializada en Investigación de Delincuencia Organizada (SEIDO),&#8221; Arce tweeted. &#8220;The Public Security Director (pictured w/rifle) identified as Chief Fidel Alejandro Villegas Villegas was arrested on December 24, by organized crime investigators (SEIDO) assigned to the federal prosecutor&#8217;s office, the chief was later transported to Mexico City where he will be held along with three suspects, Luis Manuel &amp; Héctor Mario &#8216;El Mayo&#8217; Hernández &amp; a 3rd individual identified only as Cipriano, believed involved in the Lebaron family massacre which occurred on December 4, in nearby Bavispe, Sonora. &#8216;El Mayo&#8217; is accused of being the Plaza Boss for La Línea in Janos, Chihuahua.&#8221;
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1/ The Police Chief from the Municipality of Janos, Chihuahua is arrested for suspected links to the Sinaloa Cartel (Los Salazar) by members of the Subprocuraduría Especializada en Investigación de Delincuencia Organizada (SEIDO). The Public Security Director (pictured w/rifle) <a href="https://t.co/e6eVRksANw">pic.twitter.com/e6eVRksANw</a>
&mdash; Robert Arce (@robertrarce) <a href="https://twitter.com/robertrarce/status/1209957814455586817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
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3/ three suspects, Luis Manuel &amp; Héctor Mario “El Mayo” Hernández &amp; a 3rd individual identified only as Cipriano, believed involved in the Lebaron family massacre which occurred on December 4, in nearby Bavispe, Sonora. “El Mayo” is accused of being the Plaza Boss for La Línea <a href="https://t.co/U8cSGbU9CQ">pic.twitter.com/U8cSGbU9CQ</a>
&mdash; Robert Arce (@robertrarce) <a href="https://twitter.com/robertrarce/status/1209958572257234945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Janos is a small town located in the northwestern section of Chihuahua near the border with the Sonora &amp; approximately 45 miles southeast of Antelope Wells, New Mexico,&#8221; Arce continued. &#8220;The small rural communities located along the Chihuahua/Sonora border provide highly valuable cartel smuggling routes to the U.S. drug markets &amp; have a strong presence of Sinaloa cartel aligned gangs &amp; rival La Línea which is part of the Nuevo Cartel de Juárez or Juárez Cartel. Investigators are examining operational links between local cops &amp; criminal drug gangs that operate in the area. The Lebaron family massacre resulted in the death of three women and six children.&#8221;
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5/ valuable cartel smuggling routes to the U.S. drug markets &amp; have a strong presence of Sinaloa cartel aligned gangs &amp; rival La Línea which is part of the Nuevo Cartel de Juárez or Juárez Cartel. Investigators are examining operational links between local cops &amp; criminal drug
&mdash; Robert Arce (@robertrarce) <a href="https://twitter.com/robertrarce/status/1209959007756021760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The explosive revelation has been picked up by multiple American and British publications over the last day, including <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/12/27/mexican-security-chief-arrested-in-connection-to-mormon-family-massacre/">The New York Post</a>, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7831065/Mexican-police-director-cartel-ties-arrested-Mormon-family-massacre.html">The Daily Mail</a>, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mormon-massacre-mexico-fidel-alejandro-villegas-police-chief-killings-a9262411.html">The Independent</a>, and <a href="https://www.abc4.com/news/national/chief-of-police-arrested-over-mexican-mormon-massacre/">ABC News</a>.
President Donald Trump responded to the news by writing on Twitter, &#8220;A wonderful family and friends from Utah got caught between two vicious drug cartels, who were shooting at each other, with the result being many great American people killed, including young children, and some missing. If Mexico needs or requests help in cleaning out these monsters, the United States stands ready, willing &amp; able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively. The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!&#8221;
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&#8230;.monsters, the United States stands ready, willing &amp; able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively. The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1191708086140047361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Trump added, &#8220;This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth. We merely await a call from your great new president!&#8221;
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This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth. We merely await a call from your great new president!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1191708902041227264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Trump later floated the idea of designating the Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO), but eventually backed off the idea, suggesting that the administration had reached a new deal with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to fight the cartels.
“All necessary work has been completed to declare Mexican Cartels terrorist organizations,” Trump tweeted. “Statutorily we are ready to do so. However, at the request of a man who I like and respect, and has worked so well with us, President Andres Manuel [López Obrador] we will temporarily hold off this designation and step up our joint efforts to deal decisively with these vicious and ever-growing organizations!”
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&#8230;.will temporarily hold off this designation and step up our joint efforts to deal decisively with these vicious and ever-growing organizations!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1203096599435644928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Mexico Lebaron family

New Details Emerge About American Family Murdered In Mexico With Shocking New Arrest

Crime

Federal prosecutors revealed on Tuesday that authorities have charged Genaro Garcia Luna, the former Secretary of Public Security in Mexico from 2006 to 2012, for his involvement in an alleged drug trafficking conspiracy with Mexico&#8217;s largest and most powerful drug cartel and for making false statements.
&#8220;According to the indictment and other court filings by the government, from 2001 to 2012, while occupying high-ranking law enforcement positions in the Mexican government, Garcia Luna received millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for providing protection for its drug trafficking activities,&#8221; the Department of Justice said in a statement. &#8220;From 2001 to 2005, Garcia Luna led Mexico’s Federal Investigation Agency, and from 2006 to 2012, he served as Mexico’s Secretary of Public Security, controlling Mexico’s Federal Police Force.&#8221;
&#8220;In exchange for the payment of bribes, the Sinaloa Cartel obtained safe passage for its drug shipments, sensitive law enforcement information about investigations into the Cartel, and information about rival drug cartels, thereby facilitating the importation of multi‑ton quantities of cocaine and other drugs into the United States,&#8221; the DOJ continued. &#8220;On two occasions, the Cartel personally delivered bribe payments to Garcia Luna in briefcases containing between three and five million dollars.  According to financial records obtained by the government, by the time Garcia Luna relocated to the United States in 2012, he had amassed a personal fortune of millions of dollars.&#8221;
The case, which is being prosecuted in the Eastern District of New York, also alleges that Garcia Luna also committed a crime by trying to hide his history of alleged criminal activity with the Sinaloa cartel when he submitted an application for naturalization in 2018.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the charges, saying, “Garcia Luna stands accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes from ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s Sinaloa Cartel while he controlled Mexico’s Federal Police Force and was responsible for ensuring public safety in Mexico. Today’s arrest demonstrates our resolve to bring to justice those who help cartels inflict devastating harm on the United States and Mexico, regardless of the positions they held while committing their crimes.”
The news comes as President Donald Trump recently announced that the United States had secured a new deal to go after the Mexican drug cartels in conjunction with the Mexican government.
“All necessary work has been completed to declare Mexican Cartels terrorist organizations,” Trump tweeted late last week. “Statutorily we are ready to do so. However, at the request of a man who I like and respect, and has worked so well with us, President Andres Manuel [López Obrador] we will temporarily hold off this designation and step up our joint efforts to deal decisively with these vicious and ever-growing organizations!”
The announcement from the president came after he had stated in a recent interview that he planned on designating the drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
Multiple government agencies recognized the Sinaloa cartel as the most dominant drug cartel in Mexico, which the DEA <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/DIR-032-18%202018%20NDTA%20final%20low%20resolution.pdf">noted</a> in its 2018 National Drug Threat Assessment.

Genaro Garcia Luna

Former Top Mexican Official Arrested For Drug-Trafficking Conspiracy With Top Cartel, DOJ Says

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of African migrants attempting to travel into the U.S. through Mexico.
In 2007, the Mexican government started keeping records on migrants from countries in Africa. At that time, The Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/story/2019-12-08/record-number-of-african-migrants-at-u-s-mexico-border">reported</a>, an annual immigration report included 460 migrants from Africa. In 2018, that number was roughly 2,700 and in 2019 it doubled to about 5,800. From the Times:
And that dramatic increase has been mostly left out of U.S. immigration conversations, activists say.
“Even within the immigration movement, you see a lack of visibility of black narratives with what is happening at the border,” said Guerline Jozef, director and co-founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an organization that helps black migrants from all over the world.
Jozef was initially caught off-guard by the number of black migrants south of the border.
Jozef told the outlet that in 2016 she met with a group of Haitian migrants in Tijuana, which was unusual since Florida was the typical migration route for Caribbean migrants. At the time she met with 12 Haitian migrants. After a month in the area, she counted more than 400 migrants from Haiti and Congo, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone.
“Now, almost four years later, we have thousands and thousands of black migrants,” she told the outlet.
The Times reported that the vast majority of those who travel through Mexico to the U.S. border are from Central America, and that the journey for black migrants from Africa is especially difficult. From the Times:
The journey isn’t easy, many of them are robbed and beaten while traveling north.
On top of these dangers, African migrants face additional obstacles in terms of language and cultural barriers. They also have less access to services from legal aid organizations who do not have staff who speak the same language as the migrants.
They also face racism and discrimination because of the color of their skin, Jozef added.
The migrants from Africa are now unable to even reach the U.S. border, as the Mexican government no longer provides transit visas to travel to the border. This has resulted in the migrants camping out in front of the immigration building in Tijuana “because they literally have nowhere else to go,” immigration lawyer Rebecca Alemayehu told the Times.
Even with the situation at the border and in Mexico, African migrants continue to travel to Mexico to attempt passage into the U.S.
The Congressional Black Caucus had noted the increasing numbers of black migrants and their unique plight, writing in a statement that the number appears to be increasing “as Europe closes its doors to migrants.”
Alemayehu also tole the Times that the migrants can’t simply stay in Mexico because of the dangers they face there.
“A lot of them are getting robbed, beat up and mistreated there,” she told the outlet.

African migrangs

Record Number Of African Migrants Heading To U.S. Through Mexico

Africa

Immigration

Migrants

On Friday, iconic legacy news institution Newsweek <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/rising-death-rates-among-white-americans-caused-misperceived-threat-their-dominant-social-status-1474038">unintentionally encapsulated</a> leftist myopia and willful ignorance when it comes to one of the great social maladies of our time: Soaring death rates among white Americans. &#8220;Rising death rates among white Americans caused by misperceived treat [sic] to their dominant social status, study shows,&#8221; Newsweek <a href="https://twitter.com/Newsweek/status/1200210310747041794">tweeted</a>.
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Rising death rates among white Americans caused by misperceived treat to their dominant social status, study shows <a href="https://t.co/3zGDznL3cG">https://t.co/3zGDznL3cG</a>
&mdash; Newsweek (@Newsweek) <a href="https://twitter.com/Newsweek/status/1200210310747041794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The Newsweek piece cited a new <a href="https://m.phys.org/news/2019-11-loss-social-status-linked-mortality.html">University of Toronto public health study</a> for the proposition that &#8220;rising mortality in white Americans is partly due to perceptions that they are losing social status.&#8221; Newsweek quoted Arjumand Siddiqi, lead author of the study and an associate professor of epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health: &#8220;The anxiety of whites is coming from a misperception that their dominant status in society is being threatened, which is manifesting in multiple forms of psychological and physiological stress. &#8230; Status is a major predictor of health so our team hypothesized that it was a perception among whites that Blacks are economically catching up to them, when, in fact, income inequality and other socioeconomic factors continue to affect Black Americans more unfavorably.&#8221; In other words, &#8220;white anxiety&#8221; is to blame for rising drug/alcohol-induced deaths suicides among white Americans.
Well. It couldn&#8217;t have anything to do with our unprecedented national pandemic of transnational <a href="https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obama-hezbollah-drug-trafficking-investigation/">terrorist organization</a>-linked Mexican cartels syncing up with the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50327998">Chinese</a> to commit de facto <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/trump-right-drug-traffickers-heroin-fentanyl-killing-us/">chemical warfare</a> against vulnerable Americans, could it?
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It&#39;s actually the fentanyl. <a href="https://t.co/91AXUc9c5I">https://t.co/91AXUc9c5I</a>
&mdash; Charles Fain Lehman (@CharlesFLehman) <a href="https://twitter.com/CharlesFLehman/status/1200423168416059393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
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It’s totally not due to our porous border and interior enforcement policies and the way the Mexican cartels, mid-level traffickers, and illegal alien foot soldiers all coordinate a national distribution ring of lethal narcotics like fentanyl, right? <a href="https://t.co/AvrqBwged6">https://t.co/AvrqBwged6</a>
&mdash; Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) <a href="https://twitter.com/josh_hammer/status/1200423907083390983?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The reality, as Daniel Horowitz <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/media-willfully-ignores-connection-killer-drugs-illegal-immigration/">wrote</a> back in February for Conservative Review, is that our purported mainstream media vanguards are willfully and deliberately ignorant about the lethal nexus of a weak border security policy, feckless <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-border-wall-nice-interior-enforcement-nicer-josh-hammer">interior enforcement</a>, criminal illegal alien networks operating with impunity throughout the nation&#8217;s interior, and our debilitating drug and overdose epidemics. &#8220;[C]artels not only have control of our border,&#8221; Horowitz observed, &#8220;but operate with latitude on our shores and have endless illegal alien and transnational criminal networks working for them in all our major cities and even mid-sized cities on the East Coast. This is the key to understanding how illegal immigration is driving the drug crisis.&#8221;
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics">statistics</a> lay bare the statistical reality that is our nation&#8217;s crippling narcotics crisis. According to CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) nationwide drug seizure statistics, seizures of cocaine more than doubled over the course of fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2019: From 38,346 pounds to 89,207 pounds. Over the same time span, OFO seizures of methamphetamine increased from 25,495 pounds to 68,585 pound and OFO seizures of fentanyl increased from a negligible 70 pounds to an astounding 2,545 pounds.
There is a well-orchestrated, well-funded, systemic operation to commit chemical warfare upon this nation&#8217;s interior. Indeed, drug trafficking is likely the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-why-no-one-discussing-drug-trafficking-josh-hammer">single least discussed aspect</a> of the crisis afflicting our beleaguered southern border over the course of the past year. We have an unprecedented glut of deadly narcotics pouring into the nation. And recall that a sugar packet-sized dose of fentanyl can kill a whole room full of people.
To be sure, depressingly large swaths of this country&#8217;s citizenry also suffer from an existential crisis of meaning. Loneliness and despondency are on the rise. All varieties of the nation&#8217;s once-proud institutions seem to be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-who-will-stand-for-the-forgotten-american">failing middle America</a>, en masse. The need for a politics centered around <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-on-chick-fil-a-political-tribalism-and-the-need-for-national-solidarity">national solidarity</a> has never been greater.
But for goodness&#8217; sake, Newsweek, have the human decency to look just  a little harder at what might be greatly exacerbating soaring rates of white depression and suicide in America. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-federal-government-has-no-more-important-josh-hammer">Securing our border</a> once and for all and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-u-s-is-morally-obligated-to-take-on-the-mexican-drug-cartels">cracking down on the cartels</a> is hardly anywhere near a panacea for all the ills afflicting our nation, but stanching the supply of lethal narcotics will surely help. A lot.

Newsweek magazine

HAMMER: Newsweek Highlights The Left’s Willful Ignorance About Our Border And Drug Crises

Leftism

Media

Media Bias

Newsweek

Race

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador issued a new statement on Wednesday in response to President Donald Trump saying that the White House intends to designate the Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations. Lopez Obrador said that he rejects intervention by the United States in Mexico.
Lopez Obrador, a 66-year-old far-left populist, made the remarks in response to Trump&#8217;s comments yesterday during an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-announces-new-major-action-against-mexican-drug-cartels">interview</a> with Bill O&#8217;Reilly.
&#8220;Cooperation, yes, interventionism, no,&#8221; Lopez Obrador said when asked by reporters about Trump&#8217;s remarks.
In his interview with Trump, O’Reilly said, “One of the things that you’ve said to me … is that if another country murdered 100,000 Americans with guns, we would go to war with that country. Yet, the Mexican drug cartels kill more than 100,000 Americans every year by the importation of dangerous narcotics.”
“Are you going to designate those cartels in Mexico as terror groups and start hitting them with drones and things like that?” O’Reilly asked.
“I don’t want to say what I am going to do, but they will be designated,” Trump answered. “I’ve already offered Mexico … to let us go in and clean it out and he so far has rejected the offer but at some point something has to be done. Look, we are losing 100,000 people a year to what is happening and what is coming through on Mexico.”
“So you are going to designate the Mexican cartels as terror groups?” O’Reilly continued to prod.
“Yeah, I will be,” Trump replied. “I have been working on that for the last 90 days. You know, designation is not that easy, you have to go through a process, and we are well into that process.”
Trump&#8217;s remarks come after nine Americans were murdered in Mexico at the beginning of the month in an ambush on a highway.
&#8220;This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth,&#8221; Trump tweeted on November 5th in response to the tragedy. &#8220;We merely await a call from your great new president!&#8221;
After Trump made the announcement yesterday, Mexico’s secretary of foreign relations said in a statement: “By virtue of the good relations that exist between the two countries, the Government of Mexico will seek to have a high-level meeting as soon as possible to present Mexico’s position and know the views of the United States authorities.”
On Monday, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/1-mexico-does-not-expect-163951545.html" rel="noopener">said</a>, “I don’t think the United States will pursue this path because we’re working together, and I don’t think they would want to open up the possibility of Mexico invoking the same legal principles.”
Designating an entity as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), which is done by the State Department, provides the United States with additional tools to combat whatever entity that it gives the designation to, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-announces-new-major-action-against-mexican-drug-cartels">including</a>:
<ul>
<li>It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to a designated FTO.</li>
<li>Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to, and in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.</li>
<li>The Secretary of the Treasury may require U.S. financial institutions possessing or controlling any assets of a designated FTO to block all transactions involving those assets.</li>
<li>Supports U.S. efforts to curb terrorism financing and to encourage other nations to do the same;</li>
<li>Stigmatizes and isolates designated terrorist organizations internationally;</li>
<li>Deters donations or contributions to and economic transactions with named organizations;</li>
<li>Heightens public awareness and knowledge of terrorist organizations; and</li>
<li>Signals to other governments U.S. concern about named organizations.</li>
</ul>

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Issues New Statement On Trump Designating Cartels As Terrorist Organizations

The Mexican government responded to President Donald Trump saying on Tuesday that he intends to designate the Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations by asking to meet with the Trump administration.
Mexico&#8217;s Secretary of Foreign Relations said in a statement that Mexico&#8217;s Foreign Minister will make contact with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss the matter.
&#8220;By virtue of the good relations that exist between the two countries, the Government of Mexico will seek to have a high-level meeting as soon as possible to present Mexico&#8217;s position and know the views of the United States authorities,&#8221; the statement said.
Mexico said that it wanted to address money, weapons, and organized crime that flows from the United States into Mexico.
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📄Posicionamiento del <a href="https://twitter.com/GobiernoMX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GobiernoMX</a> sobre declaraciones del presidente de los Estados Unidos.<a href="https://t.co/ptCQSxLclP">https://t.co/ptCQSxLclP</a>
— Relaciones Exteriores (@SRE_mx) <a href="https://twitter.com/SRE_mx/status/1199497862574460930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2019</a></blockquote>
Trump made the announcement during an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-announces-new-major-action-against-mexican-drug-cartels">interview</a> with Bill O&#8217;Reilly on Tuesday when O&#8217;Reilly asked him about the matter.
“One of the things that you’ve said to me … is that if another country murdered 100,000 Americans with guns we would go to war with that country,” O’Reilly said. “Yet, the Mexican drug cartels kill more than 100,000 Americans every year by the importation of dangerous narcotics.”
“Are you going to designate those cartels in Mexico as terror groups and start hitting them with drones and things like that?” O’Reilly asked.
“I don’t want to say what I am going to do, but they will be designated,” Trump replied. “I’ve already offered Mexico … to let us go in and clean it out and he so far has rejected the offer but at some point something has to be done. Look, we are losing 100,000 people a year to what is happening and what is coming through on Mexico.”
“So you are going to designate the Mexican cartels as terror groups?” O’Reilly asked.
“Yeah, I will be,” Trump answered. “I have been working on that for the last 90 days. You know, designation is not that easy, you have to go through a process, and we are well into that process.”
On Monday, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/1-mexico-does-not-expect-163951545.html">said</a>, “I don’t think the United States will pursue this path because we’re working together, and I don’t think they would want to open up the possibility of Mexico invoking the same legal principles.”
Designating the Mexican cartels as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) provides that U.S. government with additional tools that it can use to go after the organizations.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/DIR-032-18%202018%20NDTA%20final%20low%20resolution.pdf">reports</a> that Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), which is the technical term for the Mexican drug cartels, &#8220;remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States; no other group is currently positioned to challenge them. The Sinaloa Cartel maintains the most expansive footprint in the United States, while Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion’s (CJNG) domestic presence has significantly expanded in the past few years. Although 2017 drug-related murders in Mexico surpassed previous levels of violence, U.S.-based Mexican TCO members generally refrain from extending inter-cartel conflicts domestically.&#8221;
This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.

Mexico Responds To Trump Decision To Designate Cartels As Terrorist Organizations

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday in an interview with Bill O&#8217;Reilly that he is going to designate the Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations, a move that gives the government officials more resources to combat entities that receive the designation.
&#8220;One of the things that you&#8217;ve said to me &#8230; is that if another country murdered 100,000 Americans with guns we would go to war with that country,&#8221; O&#8217;Reilly said. &#8220;Yet, the Mexican drug cartels kill more than 100,000 Americans every year by the importation of dangerous narcotics.&#8221;
&#8220;Are you going to designate those cartels in Mexico as terror groups and start hitting them with drones and things like that?&#8221; O&#8217;Reilly asked.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to say what I am going to do, but they will be designated,&#8221; Trump responded. &#8220;I&#8217;ve already offered Mexico &#8230; to let us go in and clean it out and he so far has rejected the offer but at some point something has to be done. Look, we are losing 100,000 people a year to what is happening and what is coming through on Mexico.&#8221;
&#8220;So you are going to designate the Mexican cartels as terror groups?&#8221; O&#8217;Reilly pressed.
&#8220;Yeah, I will be,&#8221; Trump responded. &#8220;I have been working on that for the last 90 days. You know, designation is not that easy, you have to go through a process, and we are well into that process.&#8221;
O&#8217;Reilly responded, &#8220;And wait to see, they&#8217;ll attack you for doing that.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t care,&#8221; Trump responded. &#8220;I&#8217;m attacked on everything.&#8221;
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/IF10613.pdf">notes</a> that to be designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), the Secretary of State must be able to prove that the entity of concern has met the three criteria to allow the Department to designate it as an FTO:
<ul>
<li>be a foreign organization,</li>
<li>engage in or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorism, and</li>
<li>threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests of the United States.</li>
</ul>
Satisfying the criteria should not be difficult for the Trump administration to do as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/DIR-032-18%202018%20NDTA%20final%20low%20resolution.pdf">reports</a> that Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) — which is the technical term for the Mexican drug cartels — &#8220;remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States; no other group is currently positioned to challenge them.&#8221;
The DEA added, &#8220;The Sinaloa Cartel maintains the most expansive footprint in the United States, while Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion’s (CJNG) domestic presence has significantly expanded in the past few years.&#8221;
The CRS notes the following consequences that result from designating an entity as an FTO:
<ul>
<li>It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to a designated FTO.</li>
<li>Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to, and in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.</li>
<li>The Secretary of the Treasury may require U.S. financial institutions possessing or controlling any assets of a designated FTO to block all transactions involving those assets.</li>
<li>Supports U.S. efforts to curb terrorism financing and to encourage other nations to do the same;</li>
<li>Stigmatizes and isolates designated terrorist organizations internationally;</li>
<li>deters donations or contributions to and economic transactions with named organizations;</li>
<li>heightens public awareness and knowledge of terrorist organizations; and</li>
<li>signals to other governments U.S. concern about named organizations.</li>
</ul>
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said yesterday that Mexico did not expect the United States to designate the cartels as terrorist organizations.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think the United States will pursue this path because we&#8217;re working together, and I don&#8217;t think they would want to open up the possibility of Mexico invoking the same legal principles,&#8221; Ebrard <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/1-mexico-does-not-expect-163951545.html">said</a> without providing any examples of U.S. entities operating in Mexico that do the equivalent of the Mexican cartels do to the U.S.

President Trump

Trump Announces New Major Action Against Mexican Drug Cartels

The mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas has resulted in 10 Mexican citizens filing a lawsuit, with the help of the Mexican government, against the retail giant.
On August 3, a 21-year-old man from Allen, Texas, who has espoused anti-immigrant and white nationalist sentiments, opened fire in a Walmart in El Paso, murdering 22 people and injuring another two dozen. The horrific shooting infamously took place the same day that a man expressing <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/08/07/dayton-shooting-what-do-we-know-connor-betts-politics/1943289001/">extremist left-wing</a> ideology fatally shot 10 people and injured a total of 27 in Dayton, Ohio.
Of the two shootings, the El Paso shooting has received the most media attention, in part because of the shooter&#8217;s white nationalist and anti-immigrant views,  as well as former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O&#8217;Rourke, who is from El Paso, making the shooting a key piece of his campaign messaging.
The ethnicity of many of the victims also played a role in the shooting&#8217;s national coverage. Of the 22 people killed, eight were Mexican nationals, while another eight of the 24 injured were likewise Mexicans.
On Wednesday, the Mexican foreign ministry issued a statement Wednesday declaring its rationale for supporting the lawsuit.
&#8220;The objective of these suits, presented in El Paso county, is to hold the company responsible for not taking reasonable and necessary measures to protect its clients from the attack,&#8221; the foreign ministry said in a statement reported by <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/mexicans-sue-walmart-over-el-paso-shooting-185938190.html">AFP</a>. &#8220;The plaintiffs are seeking not only justice for themselves, but security for the general public.&#8221;
The ministry said that among the ten Mexican citizens who brought the lawsuit are survivors of the shooting and relatives of the victims.
Before going on his rampage, the El Paso shooter posted a manifesto condemning the &#8220;Hispanic invasion&#8221; of the state; after he was arrested, he told authorities that he was deliberately attempting to kill Mexicans. The case is being investigated as an act of domestic terror and potential hate crime.
AFP notes that Walmart announced in September changes to how it handles the sale of firearms and ammunitions. The retailer will no longer sell some &#8220;military-style&#8221; rifles, will no longer sell ammunition for handguns, and will bar customers from carrying weapons inside the store.
The Mexican government&#8217;s announcement of the lawsuit against Walmart came just two days after another <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/19/walmart-shooting-duncan-oklahoma-double-murder-suicide-domestic-dispute/4237436002/">shooting</a> at the retailer, this time in the parking lot of a store in Duncan, Oklahoma, where police say a man shot his wife and her boyfriend before turning the gun on himself.
Following the shooting, O&#8217;Rourke, a former congressman from El Paso, made mass shootings and gun control the center of his presidential campaign, which he ended on November 1 after failing to gain traction in the polls and fundraising. At the third Democratic debate in September, O&#8217;Rourke famously declared that, &#8220;Hell yes,&#8221; he is indeed calling for the confiscation of Americans&#8217; guns to prevent future mass shootings.
“Some on this stage have suggested a voluntary buyback for guns in this country,” ABC News host David Muir <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/beto-says-hell-yes-were-going-take-americans-guns-james-barrett">said</a> in comments directed to O’Rourke. “You have gone further. You said, quote, ‘Americans who own AR-15s and AK-47s will have to sell them to the government, all of them.’ You know the critics call this confiscation. Are you proposing taking away their guns and how would this work?”
“I am, if it is a weapon that was designed to kill people on a battlefield,” he said, the Democratic crowd erupting in applause even before he could add the “battlefield” qualifier.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colt-suspends-production-rifles-civilians-says-its-james-barrett">Colt Suspends Production Of Rifles For Civilians, But Says It’s Not Why You Think</a>

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