Texas man hired through Craigslist arrested for smuggling migrants

Emily Jacobs

April 16, 12:14 AM April 16, 12:15 AM

A criminal smuggling organization recruited a Texas man through Craigslist to transport migrants from Mexico into the United States, authorities who arrested him said this week.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said officers arrested Nathaniel Chavez, 42, as he drove a black Volkswagen Passat through Val Verde County with four Mexican immigrants toward Austin, Texas, one of whom was a minor. Chavez, who authorities say is from Spring, Texas, was charged with two counts of smuggling persons for financial benefit and one count of smuggling of a minor.

TEXAS INVESTIGATING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CAMPSITE FOUND 30 MILES NORTH OF MEXICO BORDER

Asked by police what he was doing, the suspect said he found the driving job on Craigslist, the online classifieds domain. Chavez's expected compensation for the alleged smuggling operation was not immediately clear.

"Transportation gig available, payout same day and cash on delivery," the Craigslist ad, posted on the Houston area site, read. The classified was brief, noting that "all you need is a vehicle" for the task at hand, and that "all vehicle types" were "wanted."

“They’re being recruited off social media — whether it be Facebook, TikTok, Instagram — and they’re promised big money for very little work,” Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe told NewsNation of the new method for finding smugglers.

As migrants continue to flood the U.S.-Mexico border, more Americans are being recruited to smuggle them into the country. Chavez's arrest comes as border states struggle to respond to the crisis, and the legislative and executive branches remain unable to break the partisan bottleneck that has prevented any progress on major political issues, including immigration reform.

Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels told House and Senate lawmakers on a Congressional delegation to the border and port of entry earlier this month that the border crisis was directly connected to rising crime in his community.

Nearly every foreign national using Biden's migrant mobile app released into US

Heather Hunter

April 15, 06:27 PM April 15, 06:27 PM

A majority of the foreign nationals in Mexico using a Customs and Border Protection mobile app to apply for Title 42 exemptions are being released into the United States.

The migrant can upload information, including a photo, and after scheduling an appointment, they can show up at one of eight Ports of Entry in Arizona, Texas, and California.

BIDEN EXPAND IMMIGRANT ACCESS TO US HEALTH PLANS

The Biden administration is reportedly releasing up to 30,000 foreign nationals into the U.S. interior every month via the mobile app. Fewer than 1% have been found not to have met the exception criteria, according to a CBP spokesperson.

“It’s like a concierge service for illegal immigrants,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said about the app at a Senate hearing in March.

Center for Immigration Studies Fellow Todd Bensman posted a video this week of the migrants waiting on the U.S. - Mexico border.

"The Biden government has thrown in the towel on its highly vaunted pre-legalization app program for Venezuelans, Cubans Nicaraguans and Haitians. Now they’re just back to letting them in over the border by the thousands," he said on social media. "Into interior America, they tell me. Here it is up close."

Bensman added in a separate tweet of crowds at the border, “'Orderly' just like the DHS man wants. The US government could easily just close this gate and all these thousands would go back to CBP One in Mexico. But instead most appear to be getting the new fast-track asylum interviews, which end with many released into america, I am told."

Mayorkas calls migrant surge a 'significant challenge' when pressed to admit crisis

Asher Notheis

April 01, 05:43 PM April 01, 05:43 PM

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says he won't refer to the record number of illegal migrant crossings at the Mexican border as a "crisis," but rather as "a significant challenge."

Mayorkas said in an interview with 60 Minutes set to air Sunday that he would not refer to the current situation at the southern border as a crisis because he has "tremendous faith in the people of the Department of Homeland Security." The United States-Mexico border saw 1.7 million migrant encounters in the fiscal year 2021 and over 2.3 million in FY 2022, according to WHD News.

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"A crisis speaks to me of a withdrawal from our mission," Mayorkas said. "And we are only putting more force and more energy into it."

Mayorkas has been greatly criticized by Republicans for his handling of the southern border, with many in the GOP calling for his resignation or impeachment. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz testified at Congressional hearings last month that agents did not have "operational control" of the border.

"In five of those nine southwest border sectors, we have seen an increase in flow and that has caused a considerable strain on our resources and really has forced the Border Patrol to move so agents and even migrants to some of the other areas," Ortiz said.

Ortiz notably used the word "crisis" to describe the situation along the border. When Mayorkas was asked if he agreed with Ortiz, he claimed "we face a very serious challenge in parts of the border."

Mayorkas had a heated exchange with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) about the migrant surge at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, when the latter said the DHS chief had done a "disgraceful" job addressing the situation. Mayorkas responded by calling Cruz's words "revolting" before saying he would not address the senator's comments.

WATCH: Cruz and Mayorkas accuse each other of being 'revolting' in tense exchange

Anna Giaritelli

March 28, 02:30 PM March 28, 02:30 PM

The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security blasted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for unleashing a "revolting" series of accusations against him during a public hearing that descended into chaos over his handling of the border.

Cruz and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas faced off Tuesday afternoon in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about oversight of DHS.

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"Mr. Secretary, I want to say to you right now — your behavior is disgraceful. And the deaths, the children assaulted, the children raped. They are at your feet, and if you had integrity, you'd resign," Cruz said in his final statement.

"And I will tell you, the men and women of the Border Patrol, they've never had a political leader undermine them. They despise you, Mr. Secretary, because you're willing to let children be raped to follow political orders," Cruz continued. "This is a crisis. It's a disgrace. You won't even admit this human tragedy is a crisis."

As Cruz finished his remark, Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) gave Mayorkas the option of responding to Cruz's statement.

"What the senator said was revolting. I'm not going to address it," Mayorkas said.

Cruz jumped in with the final line.

"Your refusal to do your job is revolting," Cruz said.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) immediately launched into his own line of questioning and said Cruz's treatment of Mayorkas was "disrespectful."

House Democrat says he’s considering Mayorkas impeachment over border wall construction

Cami Mondeaux

March 18, 02:48 PM March 18, 02:48 PM

A House Democrat said he would consider voting in favor of impeaching Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, offering GOP lawmakers a possible path to charging the Biden administration official.

Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) expressed interest in joining his Republican colleagues to impeach Mayorkas, although for different reasons than what GOP lawmakers are currently trying to pursue. Vargas said he would consider voting to impeach the DHS secretary over the construction of a pair of border walls in San Diego that Mayorkas previously vowed to halt.

MAYORKAS HAS NO PLANS TO RESIGN AFTER REPUBLICANS WORK TO IMPEACH HIM

“[Mayorkas] told us that he would help us, and he hasn’t done it,” Vargas told reporters on Friday. “He betrayed us.”

Vargas is referring to a border wall project underway at Friendship Park, located between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Friendship Park has long served as a place for families to meet along the border with a gate in between them, but the area has been closed off by gates for several years.

Now, Border Patrol agents say the gates are deteriorating and should be replaced with new walls — a decision Vargas and other local Democratic officials have pushed back against. Construction on the new border walls reportedly began several weeks ago and is scheduled to be completed in six months.

Vargas accused Mayorkas of ending public access to the area, noting the Homeland secretary had once promised the construction would be stopped.

House Republicans have been adamant to impeach Mayorkas since taking control of the lower chamber in January. GOP leaders such as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) have long vowed to open impeachment inquiries into the DHS secretary if he doesn’t step down from office, targeting him for his handling of the southern border.

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) introduced three articles of impeachment against Mayoraks in January, accusing Mayorkas of allegedly undermining law enforcement activities at the southern border. Fallon’s impeachment inquiry introduces three articles against Mayorkas, including charges of engaging in a pattern of conduct “incompatible with his duties," providing false and misleading testimony to Congress, and “knowingly” slandering Border Patrol agents.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) introduced his own articles of impeachment against Mayorkas for “the systematic destruction of the geographical integrity of the United States of America.”

The articles of impeachment have been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, and it’s unclear if or when they will be considered by the entire House. If Republicans impeach Mayorkas, it’s unlikely he would be convicted in the Democratic-led Senate.

Meanwhile, the DHS said Mayorkas has no plans to resign from his post, noting the accusations being used to file the impeachment inquiry do not meet the constitutional standard of high crimes and misdemeanors.

“Secretary Mayorkas is proud to advance the noble mission of this Department, support its extraordinary workforce, and serve the American people," a DHS spokesperson told the Washington Examiner in January. "The Department will continue our work to enforce our laws and secure our border, while building a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system. Members of Congress can do better than point the finger at someone else; they should come to the table and work on solutions for our broken system and outdated laws, which they have not updated in over 40 years.”

Trump vs. Biden: Academic study determines what president was more effective on border

Anna Giaritelli

March 14, 06:02 PM March 14, 06:02 PM

A study from a top-ranked U.S. university concluded that former President Donald Trump’s “punitive” immigration policies deterred noncitizens from illegally immigrating while President Joe Biden’s “permissive” approach has led to the continuous surge of immigrants coming across the southern border.

Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy found that caravans, or large groups of immigrants who travel to the United States together, overwhelmingly set off for the U.S. southern border under the present administration because they believed they would face lesser consequences and potentially a reward — being permitted to reside in the country.

DESANTIS PUSHES 'STRONGEST' ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN U.S. AHEAD OF 2024 ELECTION

“We reached the conclusion that immigration policies that are perceived to be punitive in nature — including the MPP ('Remain-in-Mexico'), ending 'Catch and Release,' and other Trump-era policies — affected migrant caravans negatively, or deterred their formation and movement, while perceived permissive immigration policies — including DAPA, DACA, and ending Title 42 — likely affected migrant caravans positively, or spurred their formation and movement,” the researchers wrote in the March report.

The analysts specifically looked at push and pull factors that prompted immigrants to join caravans traveling from Central America to the U.S.

Nearly half of the 30 caravan movements tracked between 2017 and 2022 unfolded in 2021, Biden’s first year in office.

Trump’s early opposition to allowing illegal immigrants to be released into the U.S., policy implementation that required immigrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico during asylum decisions, and hundreds of executive actions were seen as obvious signals to immigrants entering the country without authorization that they would have to return to their country of origin.

In contrast, Biden’s decision to stop all deportations of illegal immigrants during his first 100 days in office, ceasing all border wall construction projects, and promises to remake the asylum system sent signals to people around the world that Trump’s hardening of the border had ended.

In Biden's first two years in office, the number of immigrants encountered attempting to enter the U.S. without authorization has spiked to the highest levels ever seen.

More than 5 million immigrants have been encountered, primarily between the ports of entry, since February 2021. Pandemic public health restrictions barred immigrants from requesting asylum at ports, prompting some people to cross between the ports and get arrested, then seek refuge.

‘Could hear the president cursing’: Biden furious about border early on in administration

Cami Mondeaux

December 30, 08:33 AM December 30, 08:33 AM

President Joe Biden was reportedly furious about the surge of immigrants illegally crossing the southern border during the first months of his administration, making him angrier than any other policy issue.

In the first six months of Biden’s White House term, the president could often be heard cursing in frustration at the lack of action taken at the southern border, according to the forthcoming book The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House by Chris Whipple. Biden had already appointed Vice President Kamala Harris as the “border czar,” a position that led to harsh criticism as the number of immigrants arriving at the border continued to increase.

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“Illegal immigrants kept arriving. And Biden was furious,” Whipple wrote, according to a copy of the book obtained by the Hill. “From all over the West Wing, you could hear the president cursing, dropping f-bombs (he’d always apologize when women were present).”

Biden was especially frustrated by the lack of solutions to address the problem, a struggle the president is still grappling with nearly two years into his presidency amid record-high immigration numbers. Roughly 411,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in October and November, according to the Center for Immigration Studies — surpassing the total number of immigrants who were apprehended at the border for all of fiscal 2020.

Harris’s allies reportedly complained about the vice president’s responsibility on the issue, according to Whipple, often lamenting that Biden was setting her up for failure by giving her the position. Others pointed to Republicans’ criticisms of her job performance as a way to get rid of her.

“I think there is a definite targeting of the vice president that has nothing to do with her assignment,” a senior adviser told Whipple. “And it has everything to do with who she is and the desire by some in the right wing to make her gone.”

The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House is set to be released on Jan. 17.

WATCH: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson calls Biden ‘inconsistent’ on Title 42

Steff Thomas

December 24, 05:23 PM December 24, 05:30 PM

The Biden administration has maintained that the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over, but the rush to end Title 42 shows how “inconsistent” their claims are, according to Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR).

Hutchinson said President Joe Biden has a “separate agenda” and is not merely trying to manage the public health crisis, but is using the emergency to extend Medicaid requirements.

“The fact is, we still have COVID. We still have flu. And we manage the COVID in the same way that you manage the flu, not in the sense of a public health emergency,” Arkansas's governor said Friday on Fox Business's The Evening Edit.

ALL EYES ON CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS AS TITLE 42 BORDER POLICY HANGS BY A THREAD

“Totally inconsistent. We need to continue [Title 42]. He knows what's coming ahead,” Hutchinson told host Elizabeth MacDonald. “It's unacceptable to say that we've got to end this now.”

Title 42 of the Public Health Service Act of 1944 was enacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in March 2020, one week after then-President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

The policy gave the Trump administration the ability to deny the admission of goods and people who posed a risk of spreading a communicable disease. Under the law, all noncitizens seeking asylum at ports of entry and those who crossed illegally between the ports were to be expelled back immediately into Mexico and not be taken into custody by Border Patrol.

The Arkansas Republican said the administration should keep the policy in place until April to give Congress time to enact specific changes to the Trump-era immigration policy.

“[There are] other ways to approach it that would protect our border. Congress needs to address it in that fashion,” he said.

Top Biden officials, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, have been silent about the end of Title 42, even as they’ve worked tirelessly to promote vaccination and other COVID-related restrictions. Hutchinson came to Fauci’s defense.

“While he should speak out and be clear, and he doesn't need to get in the political arena, he's a public health official, [so] he ought to stick to the public health requirements,” the governor said, since it’s a topic overlaid with politics.

But sometimes, Hutchinson noted, the leadership has to reverse what public health officials say in order to keep the economy moving or to protect the border. “We've got to put a practicality to our border security,” he said.

“Title 42 needs to continue, not because Dr. Fauci is saying we have a public health crisis, but because it is the practical thing that we need to do right now. Until we enact other options to protect our border: That's the bottom line,” Hutchinson said.

The policy was slated to expire on Wednesday but was kept from termination after Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary administrative stay following an emergency plea from 19 Republican-led states.

The Biden administration also asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday for a delay in the termination, asking for the program to conclude no sooner than next week.

Sun Bowl cancels El Paso event after facility is turned into 1,000-cot shelter for immigrants

Anna Giaritelli

December 23, 07:41 PM December 23, 08:23 PM

EL PASO, Texas — A major community event on the eve of the Sun Bowl college football game next week has been canceled as a result of the city’s decision to use the convention center to house up to 1,000 immigrants living on the streets downtown.

The Sun Bowl Association announced this week that it had axed the 2022 Sun Bowl Fan Fiesta on Thursday in response to Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser’s state of emergency declaration earlier this month.

“The mayor has declared a little humanitarian state of emergency,” Sun Bowl Association Executive Director Bernie Olivas said in an announcement Wednesday. “They are using the convention center to house some of these poor immigrants that are looking for shelter somewhere, so we have canceled the Fan Fiesta.”

The Sun Bowl college football game dates back to 1935, and this year's matchup features UCLA and Pittsburgh. As the game and other bowls have become bigger attractions, other events have been added to the weekend, such as the fan fiesta, which unites the community.

TEXAS MILITARY HELPS REGAIN CONTROL OF BORDER AMID EL PASO EMERGENCY

The fan fiesta that takes place on the eve of the big game was also canceled in 2020 and 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic outbreak. The last one that took place in 2019 boasted a fireworks show, a battle of the bands, live entertainment, performances by local cheerleaders, on-site food vendors, and activities for children.

The convention center has been converted into temporary housing for immigrants released by federal immigration officials after they illegally crossed the border. More than 10,000 immigrants were released into El Paso last week and more than 84,000 in a four-month period that ended in early December, according to publicly available city data.

The Washington Examiner observed hundreds of immigrants on the street in a couple of spots downtown this week. Immigrants were on the street after being released by Border Patrol to religious groups and nonprofit organizations that do not have the room or resources to take in as many people as is needed.

Fewer than 200 immigrants stayed at the convention center on Wednesday night, as well as Thursday night, El Paso Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said in a phone call Friday afternoon. The high number of beds left unused was not accidental but intentional, he said.

“We’re preparing for when Title 42 goes away,” he said, referring to a federal clause that, when canceled, is expected to result in more immigrants coming across the border into El Paso. Title 42 was slated to end Wednesday, but it remains in place following a Supreme Court temporary stay. “Of course time is more advantageous to us. It lets us prepare.”

The city’s approach avoids setting smaller operations and then needing to scale up with no time to prepare.

“We’re also looking at the next two facilities that we’ll stand up as shelters,” D’Agostino said.

The city is working to acquire two empty schools to house immigrants. The schools each had 1,500 students enrolled and could facilitate immigrants in classrooms and public spaces such as the cafeteria and the gym.

The convention center downtown opened to immigrants on Wednesday evening, according to D’Agostino, as an unusually cold weather system moved into the region. One reporter filmed immigrants being walked to a back entrance of the facility where trucks unload.

“We want to make sure they are out of the elements, they’re safe, they’re secure, there’s security here, and they’ll have meals provided,” said D’Agostino during an invite-only press conference with reporters Wednesday.

Despite the opening of the temporary shelter, hundreds of immigrants slept Wednesday evening body-to-body on the sidewalk outside the Sacred Heart Church downtown and a block from the Greyhound Bus Station, which is next to the convention center.

A front desk associate at the Hotel Paso Del Norte, a luxury hotel by Marriott International located one block from the convention center, said the cancellation had not significantly affected the number of guests expected to stay at the hotel.

“People are just calling in beforehand asking if it's safe to be here in El Paso, just with everything going on,” said an employee, Julia, on Friday morning. “These people are just trying to get from Point A to Point B just like you and me. They’re — they’re contained in their own spot. They’re not there wandering around.”

The Washington Examiner was unable to obtain interviews with Leeser, the police department, or the county sheriff’s office.

A request to tour the facility Friday morning was denied. As this reporter called El Paso city spokespeople outside, El Paso Live’s Director of Event Services Matt Christmas confronted the reporter and had two security officers escort her off the property.

The city expects $6 million in funding from the federal government to help cover the cost of operations. It has yet to be reimbursed for the spending thus far, D’Agostino said.

US must have 'record' financial investment at the border to halt terrorists: John Kirby

Ryan King

September 24, 03:25 PM September 24, 03:25 PM

In purchase to safeguard the United States from any felony features slipping in by way of the southern border, the Biden administration sought a "document" volume of financial commitment in protection actions, according to White House Nationwide Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

When underscoring that the Biden administration is "operating really hard to secure the border" and has troops stationed there to help the Border Patrol, Kirby threw shade at Republicans for blocking the "record" degree of border funding the Biden administration pursued from Congress previously this yr.

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"We continue to have troops that are down there aiding Border Patrol officers to check out to focus on this. We requested for document concentrations of funding for DHS. Sad to say, there was no Republican assistance for that," Kirby explained to WHD News Electronic.

In April, Republicans opposed a funding ask for from the Biden administration to tackle the expiration of the pandemic-period Title 42 plan, which denied immigrants entry at the border to assistance sluggish the spread of the coronavirus. Republicans had been opposed to allowing that plan to expire in the 1st area.

Kirby was pressed on no matter if he believed it was a wise plan to permit an open border amid remnants of terrorist groups, this kind of as the Islamic State and al Qaeda, reportedly running in the region. So considerably, the U.S. had a report 2.3 million arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border for the fiscal 12 months of 2022, which ends Friday.

"We are doing the job really hard to secure the border by way of trying to spend in innovative abilities," Kirby pressured in reaction to Fox Digital. "So, we're going to continue to keep at this, and we naturally want to unquestionably really encourage more aid coming from the Republican side for some of the points that we're seeking to do."

A amount of Republican-led states have begun sending illegal immigrants to metropolitan areas run by Democrats in protest of the mass inflow, which includes asylum-seekers pouring as a result of the southern border. Previously this month, for example, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent two busloads of immigrants shut to the home of Vice President Kamala Harris.

In addition to border security problems, Kirby also lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for leaning on nuclear weapons as "blackmail" in opposition to the West.

"I can explain to you, we have observed no indication that tells us we have to have to improve our strategic deterrent posture. Rather than blustering and professing he's staying blackmailed by other nations about the planet, he wants to finish the war," the Countrywide Stability Council spokesman explained. "He wants to pull his troops out. It could conclude now if he would do the suitable thing."

Jean-Pierre: 'I unquestionably do not want lectures' about southern border

Christian Datoc

September 06, 01:52 PM September 06, 01:52 PM

White Property push secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shot down a criticism from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) Tuesday about her past opinions about migration at the southern border.

Cruz, responding to Jean-Pierre's assert that migrants usually are not illegally crossing the border on foot, invited Jean-Pierre to stop by the border with him to witness the crossings in person.

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"I have been to the border. I went in 2018. I stood exterior facilities exactly where the Trump administration was separating people, tearing infants out of their mother's arms," she explained when asked about Cruz's reviews in the course of Tuesday's push briefing. "Some of all those kids nonetheless haven't been reunited with their people, and so, a person detail I will say is I absolutely you should not need lectures or invites from Republicans about the border or border procedures."

Jean-Pierre more criticized the Texas senator for voting in opposition to funding for the Section of Homeland Security involved in President Joe Biden's budget requests.

"Whilst people are sending invites, I will use this chance to, to invite him or any one else up coming time to vote for history funding for DHS, as President Biden has asked for," she reported.

Later on for the duration of the briefing, Jean-Pierre did handle the drowning of 10 migrants trying to get to cross the Rio Grande to obtain entry to the nation.

"That is tragic. When we listen to news like that, our hearts go out to the family members, definitely, and that is why we check out to function incredibly tough to secure the border and make confident that we really don't see those sorts of tragedies and heartbreaks," Jean-Pierre mentioned. "The Office of Homeland Protection is doing work really tricky on continuing to secure our border, to do function that was not carried out in the earlier various decades, and so, we're going to proceed to emphasis on that."

You can enjoy Tuesday's briefing in complete beneath.