Tag Archives: U.S. border officials

It’s costing $1Million a Week to keep migrants off the streets and money is running out

Border-Crossing-count

Important Takeaways:

  • Thousands of migrants could be released en masse onto the streets in days, causing chaos in southern border communities as support funding dries up, say officials.
  • Local governments and nonprofits in the region have long worked with U.S. border officials to take migrants to sites such as Casa Alitas, a Catholic-run shelter for migrant families in Tucson, Arizona, or the Regional Center for Border Health in Yuma.
  • The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disburses funds from the Shelter and Services Program to entities providing shelter, food, transportation, and support to people who have been processed and released from custody while awaiting the outcome of immigration proceedings. But that federal funding will run out on March 31.
  • The migrant releases and reduction in adequate shelter will sow more disorder at the border, said Diego Piña Lopez, the executive director of Pima County’s Casa Alitas—which is expected to stop most operations soon due to lack of federal funding
  • “I think that’s going to lead to a lot of chaos, and a lot more cost across the board for folks to get services, as many of the people coming through leave fairly quickly here,” Piña Lopez told The Arizona Republic.
  • Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher said the county cannot afford the roughly $1 million per week that previously would have been covered by federal funds to keep migrants off the streets in border communities.

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U.S. seizes record $1.3 billion meth haul bound for Australia

A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer extracts methamphetamine concealed in a loud speaker found in a shipment at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport bound for Australia, in this photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 9, 2019. CBP/Handout via REUTERS

By Gina Cherelus

(Reuters) – Authorities in California have seized a record 1.9 tons of methamphetamine worth some $1.3 billion along with heroin and cocaine, all bound for Australia.

The seizure followed an operation by U.S. border officials and Australian law enforcement and took place on Jan. 11 at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport, authorities said on Thursday. The drugs were “artfully” hidden in a shipment of loud speakers.

Authorities in California seize methamphetamine concealed in a shipment of loud speakers at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport bound for Australia, in this photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 9, 2019. CBP/Handout via REUTERS

Authorities in California seize methamphetamine concealed in a shipment of loud speakers at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport bound for Australia, in this photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 9, 2019. CBP/Handout via REUTERS

Four Australians and two U.S. citizens were arrested on Wednesday by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on suspicion of involvement in the trafficking, authorities said.

“There’s no question that the criminal organization behind this scheme has been dealt a significant blow,” Joseph Macias, special agent-in-charge for Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles, said in a statement.

The two containers of drugs, hidden inside metal boxes labeled “Single Loud Speakers,” contained 3,810 pounds (1,730 kg) of methamphetamine, about 56 pounds (25 kg) of cocaine and 11.5 (5.3 kg) pounds of heroin, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said.

It was the biggest seizure of methamphetamine in the United States and amounted to about 17 million doses, authorities said, adding that if it had reached Australia it would have been worth approximately $1.3 billion.

“Someone’s in TONNES of trouble!,” AFP officials said in a statement posted on Facebook with video footage of the suspects’ arrest. “Luckily we worked with our US buddies and were able to stop the shipment before it reached our shores.”

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)