Headline

‘Please Let Us In’: Trump Crackdown Leaves Migrants In Tears

Published

9 months ago

January 21, 2025

Editor

Margelis Tinoco broke down in tears after her asylum appointment was canceled as part of a sweeping immigration crackdown announced by US President Donald Trump on his first day in office.

“I don’t know what will become of my life anymore,” said the 48-year-old Colombian, who made the long and dangerous journey from South America with her husband and son.

Trump began his second term in office with a series of announcements intended to drastically reduce the number of migrants entering the United States.

He vowed to declare a national emergency at the border with Mexico, immediately halt “all illegal entry” and begin the process of deporting “millions and millions of criminal aliens.”

Minutes after he was sworn in, an app introduced by his predecessor Joe Biden to help process claims for entering the United States went offline.

“Look what it says,” Tinoco said, pointing to a message on her cellphone screen informing users of CBP One that existing appointments had been canceled.

“Have compassion and let us cross,” she pleaded, saying that she had endured “six months of suffering” after leaving Venezuela where she had been living with her family.

Yaime Perez, a 27-year-old Cuban, also made an emotional appeal to Trump.

“Since we are here, please let us in, please, after all the work we have put in to get here, let us enter your country, so that we can better ourselves in life and be somebody,” she said.

Antony Herrera arrived at the border with his wife and three children after a long journey from their native Venezuela only to discover that their appointment had been canceled.

“We don’t know what is going to happen,” said the 31-year-old, one of millions of people who have left crisis-hit Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro was inaugurated this month for a third term after a disputed election victory.

During his first term in the White House from 2017 to 2021, Trump put heavy pressure on Mexico to turn back a tide of migrants from Central America.

On Monday, he quickly moved to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy that prevailed under his last administration.

Under that rule, people who applied to enter the United States at the Mexican border were not allowed to enter the country until their application had been decided.

Mexico agreed during Trump’s first term to receive deportees from other countries in exchange for the Republican withdrawing his tariff threats.

It is unclear if the current Mexican government would do the same this time round.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that Mexico would receive its own deported nationals, without mentioning how it would proceed with other foreigners expelled from the United States.

Congratulating Trump on his inauguration, she called for “dialogue, respect and cooperation” between the closely connected neighbors.

In southern Mexico, hundreds of US-bound migrants ignored Trump’s warnings and set off on foot from near the border with Guatemala.

The caravans are a way for migrants to pressure the Mexican authorities to issue permits allowing them to transit through the country without being detained.

“I’m a little scared because with everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve fought for, with all the sacrifices we’ve made, it’s very hard to have the doors closed on us and not be able to cross,” said Jefferzon Celedon, a 24-year-old Venezuelan.

Despite the gloomy mood, fellow Venezuelan Leonel Delgado said he was still determined to reach the Mexican-US border.

“We have to keep going and not be swayed by what people say, whether they close it or not. We will see when we arrive,” the 42-year-old said.
(Vanguard)

Headline

Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Published

22 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Israel said that the last 20 living hostages released by Hamas on Monday had arrived in the country.

“Welcome home,” the foreign ministry wrote in a series of posts on X, hailing the return of Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker.

AFP

Headline

20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Published

1 day ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”

“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Headline

South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

Published

1 day ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.

The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.

“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.

Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.

The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.

South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

AFP