April 8, 2024

Developments

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters that the U.S. and Chinese governments are discussing increasing the currently very small number of Chinese citizens whom Beijing allows to be aerially deported back to China.

The latest monthly report on ICE deportation flights from Witness at the Border noted that a plane did take migrants back to South Korea and China in March. With eight Chinese nationals aboard, NBC News noted, this flight was an example of “expensive and logistically challenging ‘Special High-Risk Charter’ flights, sometimes via South Korea.”

David Noriega and Julia Ainsley, “U.S. and China in High-Level Talks to Deport More Chinese Nationals, Mayorkas Says” (NBC News, April 5, 2024).
Tom Cartwright, ICE Air Flights Mar 2024 and last 12 months (Witness at the Border, April 3, 2024).

Mayorkas added that Texas’s use of razor-sharp concertina wire along the Rio Grande is a problem. “We do not consider concertina wire to be effective. It impairs Customs and Border Protection’s ability to do its job, and we’re also seeing migrants rather easily cutting concertina wire,” the Secretary said.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “Mayorkas Denounces Gov. Abbott’s Efforts to Fortify Border With Razor Wire, Says Migrants “Easily Cutting” Barriers” (CBS News, April 5, 2024).

The Texas state National Guard has now extended its coils of concertina wire to the very edge of the Rio Grande in El Paso, to prevent asylum seekers from reaching U.S. soil and trying to turn themselves in to the federal Border Patrol farther up the riverbank. At parts of the El Paso border, asylum seekers have been encamped on the U.S. bank of the river, awaiting a chance to turn themselves in despite the heavy presence of Texas soldiers and police.

“Migrantes en Mexico Denuncian Que Texas Coloca Nueva Barricada” (EFE, Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), April 6, 2024).

In California, San Diego County authorities said that CBP had released 24,000 mostly asylum-seeking migrants onto the city’s streets since late February, when county funding for migrant reception shelters ran out.

Salvador Rivera, “County Supervisor Says 24,000 Migrants Released in San Diego Since Late February” (Border Report, April 5, 2024).

A “Migrant Via Crucis” caravan that began the week before Easter has now walked through much of Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas, with some arriving in Oaxaca. While the original participants have dwindled, more migrants have joined the procession. Human rights defenders said that some participants had an altercation with vehicles full of armed men, likely members of an organized crime group.

Jhonatan Gonzalez, “Crimen Organizado Amenaza a Migrantes Que Pasan por Chiapas” (Milenio (Mexico), April 7, 2024).
Ramon Bragana, “Caravana ‘Viacrucis Migrante’ Llega a Juchitan, Oaxaca” (Milenio (Mexico), April 6, 2024).

In Empalme, Sonora, Mexican soldiers threatened humanitarian workers who were offering assistance to migrants near the local railroad tracks. The director of the town’s Casa Franciscana shelter said a soldier told her, “You are on the list,” adding “It’s the first time that we encountered the Army doing something like this. We had a very good dialogue before.”

Jose Manuel Avalos, “Amenazan Militares a Activistas en Empalme, Sonora; ‘Estas en la Lista’, Dicen por Ayudar Migrantes” (Proyecto Puente (Mexico), April 5, 2024).

House Republicans’ impeachment of DHS Secretary Mayorkas, alleging that his management of the border and migration constitute “high crimes and misdemeanors,” is likely to end quickly in the Senate as the U.S. Congress reconvenes this week. An actual conviction, which would require a two-thirds vote in the Democratic-majority Senate, is impossible, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) will probably use other procedural maneuvers to prevent an actual trial from happening.

Richard Cowan, “Republican Impeachment of Biden’s Border Chief May See Swift End in Senate” (Reuters, Reuters, April 8, 2024).
Al Weaver, “Schumer Lays Out Senate to-Do List With Mayorkas Impeachment on Deck” (The Hill, April 5, 2024).

Former top border and migration agency officials, including Rodney Scott, who was chief of Border Patrol for the first several months of Joe Biden’s administration, flanked Donald Trump during a campaign event with a non-profit called “Border911.”

“Scott Nicol @scott_nicoltx on Twitter” (Twitter, April 5, 2024).

The foreign ministers of Panama and Colombia met on April 5 for a discussion of issues including migration through the Darién Gap region that straddles their common border. The two governments’ discussions of migration cooperation have been uncommon.

Manuel Vega Loo, “Cancilleres de Panama y Colombia se Reunen para Coordinar Temas de Seguridad y Migracion” (La Estrella (Panama), April 5, 2024).

The foreign ministers said they disagreed with an April 3 Human Rights Watch report documenting both governments’ lack of coordination and governance in the Darién region.

“Canciller de Colombia Le Responde a Hrw y Dice Que No Han Descuidado el Darien” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 5, 2024).

“Five men were killed early Friday, bringing the total to 21 homicide victims in the first five days of April” in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, noted Border Report.

Julian Resendiz, “Juarez Police Deal With Multiple Murders, Kidnappings in Single Morning” (Border Report, April 5, 2024).

Analyses and Feature Stories

An Associated Press analysis looked at Democrats’ election-year effort to neutralize the border security issue, seeking to convince voters that Republicans “playing games” with the border are to blame for current challenges.

Stephen Groves, “Democrats Lean Into Border Security as It Shapes Contest for Control of Congress” (Associated Press, Associated Press, April 6, 2024).
Sandra Sanchez, “Allred Calls Migrant Surge a ‘Crisis,’ Urges Senate to Pass Border Security Bill” (Border Report, April 5, 2024).

The Christian Science Monitor and Time, in an article by NYU professor Kevin Kenny, examined how the Texas state government’s actions at the border are challenging federal control over migration policy.

Henry Gass, Sarah Matusek, “Texas National Guard Tests State Authority on Us Southern Border” (The Christian Science Monitor, April 5, 2024).
Kevin Kenny, “Texas Is Trying to Upend Who Controls Immigration Policy” (New York University, Time, April 5, 2024).

Violent crime is dropping in the United States, and is lower in states with so-called “sanctuary cities” than elsewhere, wrote Caitlin Bellis in an analysis puncturing the “migrant crime” narrative for the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers’ Guild.

Caitlin Bellis, “We Need to Talk About Safety” (National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers’ Guild, April 5, 2024).

At Semafor, Jordan Weissman highlighted data indicating that the increase in migration at the U.S.-Mexico border may be buoying the robust current level of U.S. economic growth.

Jordan Weissmann, “The Border Crisis Might Be a Boon for the Economy” (Semafor, April 5, 2024).

The Los Angeles Times profiled iACT, a nonprofit that has organized soccer activities for children of asylum seekers stranded in northern Mexico border cities.