International
The United States begins the deployment of 1,500 soldiers on the border with Mexico
The United States Government began this Wednesday the deployment of about 1,500 soldiers on the border with Mexico, thus taking the first step to fulfill the promise of President Donald Trump to “close” the passage of migrants and strengthen border security.
The White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, explained this Wednesday in statements to journalists that the president signed the executive order for that deployment on Monday and the Pentagon later confirmed that it has already mobilized to comply with it.
The acting Secretary of Defense, Robert Salesses, said on Wednesday that he has authorized three actions that will begin today. First, the sending of those troops and helicopters and their respective personnel, as well as intelligence analysts to assist in the detection and control work.
According to his figures, this represents a 60% increase in the number of active forces on the ground since Trump took office on Monday.
The Pentagon will also provide military air transport to support the deportation flights of more than 5,000 “illegal aliens” from San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas, detained by Customs and Border Protection.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to its statement, will be responsible for enforcing the law and the State “will obtain the necessary diplomatic authorizations and notify the host country.”
The Pentagon added that it will “begin to help in the construction of temporary and permanent physical barriers to add security and reduce illegal border crossings and illicit trafficking.”
“This is just the beginning,” the Secretary of Defense emphasized in his note.
Leavitt in turn stressed that these measures are something “for which Trump campaigned.”
“The American people were waiting for a moment like this, in which the Department of Defense takes national security seriously. It is a number one priority for the American people and the president has already fulfilled it,” he said.
The 1,500 troops will be added to the 2,200 active military and the 4,500 Texas National Guard reservists who are already deployed at the border.
As CNN explained, the new troops will perform functions similar to those of the personnel already present, focused on supporting the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with logistical and administrative tasks, such as vehicle maintenance and data entry.
During his first term (2017-2021), Trump ordered the sending of 5,200 troops to the border with Mexico.
This Monday, hours after assuming the presidency again, he signed an executive order that instructs the Pentagon to mobilize the troops necessary to achieve “complete operational control of the southern border of the United States”.
The order also establishes that Trump will evaluate in the next 90 days the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Law of 1807, which would allow the military to assume law enforcement functions within the country, in a role closer to that currently played by the security forces.
Currently, the troops deployed at the border are not authorized to carry out police tasks, such as arresting migrants or seizing drugs. In the United States, laws such as the Posse Comitatus of 1878 prohibit the armed forces from acting as police in the national territory.
Internacionales
Jalisco’s grim discovery: drug cartel mass grave found in construction site
A mass grave was discovered in a residential area under construction in the municipality of Zapopan, part of the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco.
“After analyzing the recovered remains, they correspond to 34 individuals,” said a state official during a press conference. Jalisco has one of the highest numbers of missing persons in Mexico, largely due to the activity of drug cartels.
As of May 31, official data shows that Jalisco has recorded 15,683 missing persons, according to the state prosecutor’s office. Authorities attribute most of these cases to criminal organizations, which often bury or cremate their victims clandestinely.
“The construction company notified us at the end of February after discovering some remains,” explained the official, González, adding that excavation efforts have been ongoing since then.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) operates in the region and was designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington has accused CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel of being the main sources of fentanyl trafficking, a synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the U.S.
Mexico has accumulated more than 127,000 missing persons, most of them since 2006, when the federal government launched a heavily criticized military-led anti-drug offensive.
International
U.S. targets families of sanctioned drug traffickers with new Visa restrictions
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday a new visa restriction policy targeting the family members and close associates of individuals sanctioned for drug trafficking, as part of efforts to combat the spread of fentanyl.
Overdoses from this synthetic opioid remain the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 44. According to official sources, more than 220 overdose deaths are reported daily in 2024, and over 40% of Americans know someone who has died from opioid-related causes.
“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy (…) which will apply to close family members and personal or business associates of individuals sanctioned for drug trafficking,” Rubio said in a statement.
International
White House claims challenged as most ICE arrests in LA involve non-criminals
Nearly seven out of ten people arrested during immigration raids in Los Angeles from June 1 to June 10 had no criminal record, contradicting White House claims that the raids targeted “criminals,” according to an analysis published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times.
Around 722 individuals were detained in the Los Angeles metropolitan area during the first ten days of June, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated the raids, according to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project of the University of California Berkeley School of Law.
The Los Angeles Times analysis found that 69% of those arrested during this period had no criminal record, and 58% had never been charged with any crime.
These figures contradict the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which said in a statement Tuesday that since June 6, ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched an operation “to remove the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin warned that the arrests are part of President Donald Trump’s promise to secure the border by deporting criminals, including drug traffickers in Los Angeles, without providing further details.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass criticized last week in a CNN interview that although the White House said it would target violent criminals, the raids had focused on workers.
“This wasn’t a drug den, it was a Home Depot,” Bass said, questioning the locations where raids were conducted.
Activists have also denounced the raids for targeting vulnerable workers who are easy to detain.
The Los Angeles Times analysis found that the average age of those arrested was 38, mostly men. Nearly 48% were Mexican, 16% Guatemalan, and 8% Salvadoran.
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