XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: yaytrump@nytimes.com   
      
   Yeah, keep the trash on your side of the fence.  We're done   
   feeding them.  You deal with it.   
      
   LAREDO, Texas  – When people think of the southern border, it   
   may bring to mind a vast, open desert, flecked with cacti and   
   etched by a thin trail of fencing.   
      
   Not so here in Laredo Sector, where the Rio Grande narrows and   
   separates the bushy banks of Mexico and the U.S. by mere feet of   
   water. Migrants, predominantly adult men from Mexico rather than   
   the Central American families common in other sectors, take   
   advantage of the low river surrounded by trees. They know, as do   
   the smugglers who assist illegal immigrants, that if they   
   scramble across the water and into the trees, they are a short   
   sprint from disappearing in Laredo amid its many fast-food   
   restaurants, tiny houses and money exchanges.   
      
   But lately, the crisis-level surge in crossings has eased.   
      
   On an airboat tour Tuesday, accompanied by Fox News, Border   
   Patrol members carved through the Rio Grande looking for   
   trouble, slowing down occasionally to peer into the trees. This   
   time, they didn’t find it.   
      
   That’s not to say the migrants aren’t crossing – they are – but   
   the numbers are down significantly from the levels seen in the   
   spring. And while the furious heat of the summer months is a   
   factor in discouraging migrants, Sector Chief Patrol Agent Felix   
   Chavez says that the Trump administration’s push to get Mexico   
   to cooperate with immigration efforts has paid dividends.   
      
   “We’ve been monitoring the apprehension numbers closely,   
   specifically going back 70 days before June 10 and 70 days after   
   June 10,” Chavez told Fox News. “And what we’ve seen here in   
   Laredo Sector is a reduction in 30 percent in our apprehension   
   numbers, southwest border-wide numbers are down 38 percent.”   
      
   Trump announced in May that June 10 was the date he would impose   
   tariffs on Mexico if it did not help the U.S. combat the   
   migration crisis. Trump ultimately suspended the tariffs days   
   before after a deal was reached that included Mexico taking   
   “unprecedented steps” to boost enforcement, including deploying   
   its National Guard, while the “Remain in Mexico” policy by which   
   asylum applicants were returned to Mexico for their hearings was   
   expanded.   
      
   Officials at Laredo’s Border Patrol sector on Tuesday briefed   
   U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Acting   
   Director Ken Cuccinelli, who is visiting the border this week as   
   part of his efforts to understand the immense migration   
   challenge, on the status of their efforts.   
      
   “Much like yesterday when we viewed the Remain in Mexico   
   courtrooms that are being put up, it’s really just a granular   
   understanding of how things are working on the ground as opposed   
   to how we all talk about it on paper in Washington,” Cuccinelli   
   told Fox News.   
      
   Results are being seen across the entire border. CBP said this   
   month that it encountered 82,049 people in July, down 21 percent   
   from June when there were 104,344 people and down 43 percent   
   from May. The number of families and minors crossing the border   
   also dropped.   
      
   Chavez says that, along with efforts by the DHS toward further   
   collaboration with Central American governments, it is helping   
   reduce the once-overwhelming flow.   
      
   “So ever since June 10, I think a lot of things have been   
   happening. DHS has done a lot in terms of what they have been   
   doing with Central America, we’ve seen Mexico come to the table,   
   we’ve also seen the Migration Protection Protocols,” he said,   
   referring to the official name of the “Remain in Mexico” policy.   
   “So all those things need to continue.”   
      
   Officials emphasize that this is not a case of “crisis over.”   
   Summer months have in years past seen respites in migrant flows,   
   only to see them pick up again once the mercury drops. And the   
   numbers are still stark. In the fiscal year overall, the number   
   of apprehensions is up, while 70 migrants have died in Laredo   
   Sector -- mainly because of the heat, but some drown in the   
   deceptively gentle-looking Rio Grande. Agents have also made   
   2,470 rescues in fiscal 2019, preventing the number of deaths   
   from being significantly higher.   
      
   Border Patrol officials say they need more infrastructure as   
   well as changes in the law related to trafficking, the asylum   
   process and the Flores agreement that limits how long minors can   
   be detained. A change expanding that detention time was   
   announced by DHS Wednesday morning, though this led to criticism   
   that it amounted to a "cruel attack on children" by allowing the   
   government to "put more kids in jail for longer."   
      
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)