International
Even in the Nido de las Águilas, a section without a wall, border crossings in the United States go down
The crossing of asylum-seeking migrants has been reduced in recent weeks on the border of California (USA) with Mexico, even by the popular Nido de las Águilas, a stretch of about 500 meters without a wall and one of the favorites of coyotes or human traffickers in decades.
The Border Patrol recognizes that the area, just 5 kilometers east of the urbanized area of San Diego, where the Otay mountains begin to be steep, is still one of the resources of migrants to enter the country. “There are migrants who still continue to cross in that area, as in others of the San Diego Sector of the Border Patrol,” said officer Gerardo Gutiérrez.
However, the Patrol says it does not know how many people have crossed there since President Donald Trump took office on January 20. Throughout San Diego County, civilian groups and the Coast Guard have reported a total of 77 detainees, but now most, 63, have arrived by sea, and there are no reports of arrests in the area without walls.
Residents of the place told EFE that although they still hear nocturnal noises of people passing by, now it is minimal. “I would tell you that at the end of 2023 large groups of people passed by, from about 30 to 40 people every now and then. One group was on right now and in minutes the other. Now I only have to see a small group of four people and stop counting, that was all, about two weeks ago,” Ventura, a resident of the area in Tijuana (Mexico) told EFE.
“I see that they continue to arrive, but it can no longer be compared,” said another resident of the Nido de las Águilas neighborhood, a highly populated neighborhood in Tijuana where the border wall about 9 meters high is interrupted.
The resident whose window has a direct view of the border said that now “very few people are seen crossing. Nothing as it was until a few months ago.”
Without wanting to say his name or accepting that photos be taken “for safety”, he said that “before they were groups every now and then: last year still sometimes in an hour I could see groups one after another.”
‘El Nido’ became one of the most frequented corridors since the 1990s, when the construction of the wall with Mexico began for the first time on the San Diego border and the Border Patrol deployed for the first time a larger operation, Operation Guardian.
The wall was then a closed metal obstacle ten feet (about 3 meters) high with a sharp finish that often cut fingers or caused injuries to migrants.
But unlike San Diego, with the largest and most populated urban area on the US border, ‘El nido’ has constantly had less surveillance and still has no wall, on top of a hill.
From the homes of the people who live in Mexico you can see the two interrupted parallel walls, and also if there is surveillance of the Border Patrol. For those ‘adventages’, it became known as a neighborhood of coyotes.
However, the mountain and open field area on the side of the United States, represents much less obstacle than, for example, San Ysidro, about 10 kilometers to the west, where there is not only a double wall and greater surveillance of patrol boats, but also teams of military engineers reinforced with barbed wire.
Another of the sections where migrants still arrive is to an area between parallel border walls to the west of the San Ysidro checkpoint, where in previous years thousands of people came to camp in search of asylum.
The director of the American Friends Committee, Pedro Ríos, who has headed a permanent post of assistance to migrants who arrive at that point reports only two groups so far this month: eight people from the Middle East and Africa, and a family of six people from Uzbekistan.
The other resource, more frequented since last January 20, is the sea, which has led the Coast Guard to take charge for the first time of intercepting boats with migrants, a task that CBP previously carried out in the Pacific with the support of the Border Patrol.
The Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported on Tuesday an 85% reduction in crossings along the southern border with Mexico during the first eleven days of the Trump administration, compared to the same period in 2024.
Since former President Joe Biden (2021-2025) decreed greater restrictions on asylum in June 2024, border crossings have been decreasing.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
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