The EU is weighing whether to deport migrants to countries they have no obvious connection to
Rights groups say the 'safe third country' plans unveiled Tuesday contravene EU values and will burden poorer nations. Under the bloc's rules, people can be sent to countries deemed safe, but not to those where they face the risk of physical harm or persecution.
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Associated Press
23 minutes ago
- Associated Press
First immigration detainees arrive at Florida center in the Everglades
The first group of immigrants has arrived at a new detention center deep in the Florida Everglades that officials have dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' a spokesperson for Republican state Attorney General James Uthmeier told The Associated Press. 'People are there,' Press Secretary Jae Williams said, though he didn't immediately provide further details on the number of detainees or when they arrived. 'Next stop: back to where they came from,' Uthmeier said on the X social media platform Wednesday. He's been credited as the architect behind the Everglades proposal. Requests for additional information from the office of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which is building the site, had not been returned early Thursday afternoon. The facility, at an airport used for training, will have an initial capacity of about 3,000 detainees, DeSantis said. The center was built in eight days and features more than 200 security cameras, 28,000-plus feet (8,500 meters) of barbed wire and 400 security personnel. Immigrants who are arrested by Florida law enforcement officers under the federal government's 287(g) program will be taken to the facility, according to a Trump administration official. The program is led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and allows police officers to interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation. The facility is expected to be expanded in 500 bed increments until it has an estimated 5,000 beds by early July. Environmental groups and Native American tribes have protested against the center, contending it is a threat to the fragile Everglades system, would be cruel to detainees because of heat and mosquitoes, and is on land the tribes consider sacred. It's also located at a place prone to frequent heavy rains, which caused some flooding in the tents Tuesday during a visit by President Donald Trump to mark its opening. State officials say the complex can withstand a Category 2 hurricane, which packs winds of between 96 and 110 mph (154 and 177 kph), and that contractors worked overnight to shore up areas where flooding occurred. DeSantis and other state officials say locating the facility in the rugged and remote Florida Everglades is meant as a deterrent — and naming it after the notorious federal prison of Alcatraz, an island fortress known for its brutal conditions, is meant to send a message. It's another sign of how the Trump administration and its allies are relying on scare tactics to try to persuade people in the country illegally to leave voluntarily. State and federal officials have touted the plans on social media and conservative airwaves, sharing a meme of a compound ringed with barbed wire and 'guarded' by alligators wearing hats labeled 'ICE' for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Republican Party of Florida has taken to fundraising off the detention center, selling branded T-shirts and beer koozies emblazoned with the facility's name. _____ Anderson reported from St. Petersburg, Florida. Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida. Associated Press reporters Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed.
Fox News
26 minutes ago
- Fox News
Colby's China-focused Pentagon playbook sparks Ukraine arms freeze
A recent pause in the U.S. sending Patriot missiles and ammunition to Ukraine is part of a wider, global review of military aid driven in part by the Pentagon's China-leery policy chief, Elbridge Colby. "A capability review is being conducted to ensure U.S. military aid aligns with our defense priorities," Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters this week. That review is part of a plan championed by Colby to conserve U.S. resources that may be needed for war in the Indo-Pacific. Upon first news of the pause, Pentagon officials said it was due to concerns about the U.S.' stockpile of munitions, which came after the U.S. and Iran traded strikes on each other in the Middle East. However, Parnell wrote on X that it was "flat out wrong" to suggest Colby caught other administration officials off-guard with the aid pause. Colby "routinely provides policy recommendations to the Secretary of Defense and the President," but they have the ultimate say, he said. A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital they were "aware of the pause ahead of time." "The President and top officials expect the DOD to regularly review aid allocations to ensure they are in line with the America First agenda," the official said. Colby has long advocated for limiting resources in Europe and the Middle East in case they're needed in a war over Taiwan. "What I have been trying to shoot a signal flare over is that it is vital for us to focus and enable our own forces for an effective and reasonable defense of Taiwan and for the Taiwanese, as well as the Japanese, to do more," Colby said during his confirmation hearing. "A Europe first policy is not what America needs in this exceptionally dangerous time. We need to focus on China and Asia - clearly," he wrote on X. last year. The weapons put on pause, including missile interceptors and 155 mm ammunition shells, were already on their way to Ukraine, U.S. officials told Fox News. Since Russia's 2022 invasion, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with nearly $66 billion in security assistance, the Pentagon noted. "Part of our job is to give the president a framework that he can use to evaluate how many munitions we have and where we're sending them," Parnell added. "We can't give weapons to everybody all around the world." Still, critics like former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger claimed Colby had "blood on his hands" over the halt. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., requested an "emergency briefing" from the White House and the Defense Department to "review our nation's weapons and munitions stockpiles, and ensure the United States remains fully committed to providing Ukraine with the resources it urgently needs." Dan Caldwell, a former Pentagon official who worked with Colby on policy, defended his past colleague on X. "The incentives at DoD favor maintaining the status quo: Keep troops in Syria, keep sending weapons to Ukraine that we need for our defense, etc. That is why when patriots like @ElbridgeColby put the interests of their own country and own troops first, they are viciously smeared." Six months into President Donald Trump's second term, U.S. military prowess has largely focused back on the Middle East: an offensive campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, hitting Iran's nuclear sites and boosting defenses in the region. Air Force Gen. Daniel Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said defending the Al-Udeid base from an Iranian counterattack was the largest Patriot missile salvo in history.
Bloomberg
30 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
EU Corporate Giants Look Ready to Fold on Trump Tariffs
European corporate giants, including German carmaker Mercedes Benz and French luxury group LVMH, are leading a rearguard action to blunt the bloc's response to US President Donald Trump's proposed sanctions. In a bid to head off a transatlantic trade war, some executives have been holding back-channel meetings with US officials to pursue their own interests, we're told. European efforts to tone down the risk of a full-blown trade war unfolded as a top Chinese official suggested there's reason to optimistic about ties between the world's two biggest economies. Both the Chinese and the Americans are hoping for a 'friendly, good' relationship between their countries, and politicians are expected to heed the will of the people, said Liu Jianchao, head of the Communist Party's International Department.
