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.

SINEMA AND GONZALES TO VISIT ARIZONA BORDER AS CONGRESS STALLS ON IMMIGRATION REFORM

"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.

Jim Jordan demands answers on low ICE deportations

Misty Severi

March 27, 11:05 PM March 27, 11:05 PM

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent letters to immigration officials on Monday. He questioned whether the officials are moving aggressively enough to detain and deport immigrants that enter the United States illegally.

Jordan requested that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials appear before the judiciary committee for transcribed interviews related to their enforcement of federal immigration laws, or lack thereof.

SENATE DEMOCRATS WARN BIDEN AGAINST DETAINING MIGRANT FAMILIES

Jordan's letter, which was sent to five acting assistant directors at ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations Office and field office directors in five cities, highlights relatively low numbers of deportations in 2021 and 2022, the growing population of nondetained illegal immigrants, and unused detention space.

In fiscal 2021 and 2022, the average number of removals of illegal aliens declined by 70%, according to Jordan, and 11,000 available detention spaces have been left empty by the Biden administration during a period of skyrocketing illegal immigration.

"This decision to leave so many spaces empty raises serious questions about ICE ERO’s performance of its mission to 'protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of our communities and the integrity of our immigration laws,'" Jordan said.

The requests come as House Republicans examine agencies to slash funding from. It also comes shortly after House GOP leadership instructed Jordan to reschedule a meeting that was scheduled for this week, wherein eight bills the party had prioritized were supposed to be taken up in the first step toward a House floor vote.

Those eight bills will now not see any action until, at the earliest, mid-April after lawmakers return from Easter recess, according to a report by Punchbowl News on Thursday.

Rep. Chip Roy introduces bill to designate Mexican cartels 'foreign terrorist organizations'

Misty Severi

March 10, 08:18 PM March 10, 08:18 PM

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) reintroduced a bill Friday that, if passed, would require the State Department to designate certain Mexican cartels "foreign terrorist organizations." The move comes in response to drug trafficking across the southern border.

The bill, called the Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act, seeks to label the Gulf cartel, Cartel del Noreste, the Sinaloa cartel, and the Jalisco New Generation cartel as foreign terrorist organizations. The legislation comes on the heels of the kidnapping of four U.S. citizens and a fentanyl crisis within the United States.

MEXICO'S PRESIDENT MAKES CLEAR HE ISN'T AN ALLY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST FENTANYL

"It's long past time to designate these cartels as the terrorists they are and give U.S. authorities the tools needed to take them down," Roy told WHD News.

"That's why I started pushing the Trump administration for FTO designations during my first few months in Congress, why I introduced this legislation last Congress, and why I'm introducing it again," he said.

Cartels are responsible for the smuggling of illicit drugs such as fentanyl into the U.S., contributing to the opioid crisis. They also smuggle immigrants across the southern border. Two U.S. citizens were also killed by the cartels during a recent kidnapping.

"They are bold enough to kidnap and kill foreign nationals in broad daylight; there is no limit to the inhumane methods they will use to achieve their ultimate end: profiting off of human suffering," Roy said. "This most recent atrocity adds to the already massive human toll, including 72,000 dead Americans from fentanyl poisoning, more than 1,000 dead migrants along our border, and countless human and sex trafficking victims."

Roy's legislation has 21 co-sponsors, including Reps. Dan Bishop (R-NC), Lisa McClain (R-MI), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Byron Donalds (R-FL). Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced a companion bill in the Senate this week.

If the bills are enacted, the State Department would need to provide a report on the cartels. The designation would also give the federal government the power it needs to crack down on the cartels, such as the ability to stifle financial support for the cartels because it is illegal for a U.S. citizen to support FTOs.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was supportive of using the designation on the cartels because the fentanyl crisis was purposely caused by the cartels. However, the designation could strain the U.S.'s relationship with Mexico.

Al Qaeda, ISIS, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — People's Army are already considered foreign terrorist organizations.

US in touch with families of Americans killed and kidnapped in Mexico, White House says

Katherine Doyle

March 08, 01:56 PM March 08, 01:56 PM

U.S. officials have been in touch with the families of Americans kidnapped in Mexico after two were found dead, the White House said.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration had spoken with the victims’ families but declined to say whether President Joe Biden had or whether he intended to do so.

BIDEN'S ABILITY TO GET DEMOCRATS ON THE SAME PAGE IN LEGISLATIVE FIGHTS SCRUTINIZED

Four Americans went missing after crossing the southern border on a trip to Mexico for a medical procedure. Two were discovered killed on Tuesday and one was found injured and a fourth unharmed.

Jean-Pierre stressed that the United States would be “relentless in pursuing justice” in the case.

“We will do everything in our power to identify, find, and hold accountable the individuals responsible for this attack, and we continue to work in coordination with the Mexican government,” she added.

Jean-Pierre and national security spokesman John Kirby called the killings “unacceptable” on Tuesday.

Mexican megachurch chief convicted of kid intercourse abuse addresses fiercely loyal congregation from jail

Brady Knox

September 19, 06:17 PM September 19, 06:17 PM

The leader of a Mexican megachurch convicted of sexual abuse and kid molestation addressed his fiercely loyal congregation from jail by mobile phone.

Naason Joaquin Garcia, 53, chief of the La Luz del Mundo megachurch, is regarded by his 5 million followers to be an "apostle" to Jesus Christ even with the accusations versus him, according to the . He was arrested in California in 2019 underneath suspicion of in excess of 20 counts of little one sexual abuse, human trafficking, and youngster pornography, even though most costs ended up dropped when Garcia acknowledged a plea deal for decreased time. Struggling with 16 several years in a U.S. prison for the admitted sexual abuse of minors, the spiritual chief continues to be the head of his large congregation, not long ago addressing them by jail telephone driving bars.

MEXICAN MEGACHURCH Chief SENTENCED TO Around 16 Yrs FOR Youngster Sexual intercourse ABUSE

“I do not see the bars that different me from you,” he instructed his followers, the report explained. “I see your attractive faces ... mainly because you are the little ones of God.”

He later on questioned his followers to increase their hands and chant, "I guarantee you, Lord, that what ever the struggling, I will never abandon you."

Hundreds of his followers gathered in the key temple in Guadalajara to hear his newest address, with throngs of worshipers extending out to the avenue to listen to him. Many have been described to have broken into tears upon listening to his voice. The church users sustain his innocence.

“I assume it transformed for the improved in the feeling that now we feel a lot more united, and we really feel much more empowered,” a person church member told the outlet, talking of his conviction. “It has been a extremely hard difficulty, of class, for him and for us. We all go through a little something in everyday living, but a single learns to know these moments wherever you see that God is performing some thing to enable you, to get forward, not to enable you tumble.”

The church maintains that Garcia is innocent and only had to get a plea deal for a lesser sentence for the reason that evidence in opposition to him was doctored by the corrupt legal technique.

“The Apostle of Jesus Christ has experienced no decision but to accept with substantially agony that the settlement presented is the most effective way forward to secure the church and his relatives,” the church reported, according to the outlet.

Five of Garcia's victims testified in courtroom, working with anonymity to protect by themselves from backlash, and referred to as him “evil,” a “monster,” “disgusting human squander,” and the “antichrist” in their testimony.

He is claimed to have made use of faith to justify his abuse, telling the women they confronted everlasting damnation if they resisted.

“I worshiped my abuser,” his niece informed the court docket. “He applied me in excess of and over all over again like a sacrificial lamb taken to slaughter.”

The victims ended up outraged to hear of the plea offer, believing it was much also lenient.