Latest news with #Carrillo
CNBC
27-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
The Home Depot parking lot labor economy at heart of Trump's ICE immigration battle
Home improvement store parking lots were once teeming with aspiring laborers looking for a day's work. Contractors needing temporary help would swing by and scoop up a few workers for the day, and a symbiotic ecosystem thrived. Workers could snag a day's pay, and contractors could get cheap, temporary help without all the paperwork. Since President Trump was reelected, labor experts have warned of unpredictable outcomes for sectors dependent on immigrant labor, including construction and residential housing. The recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles area Home Depot store parking lots sparked protests and put a nationwide pall over the day laborer community. But beyond the deployment of troops and political finger-pointing, labor experts say that the Home Depot parking lot sweeps could have wide-ranging effects on whether critical work in the U.S. gets done. George Carrillo, CEO of the Hispanic Construction Council, estimates there are tens of thousands of "parking lot day laborers" across the country and that the recent ICE raids will have a chilling effect that ripples through the entire economy. "We have members reaching out to us seeing what they should do; they are scared," Carrillo said. The practice of workers gathering in home improvement store parking lots to seek employment is a longstanding part of the labor landscape and many of these workers come from Latin American countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, which are among the countries targeted by the Trump administration's tightening immigration policies. "They are trying to earn a living and have a tough decision to make: pop my head out and get deported or don't and can't support my family," Carrillo said. Carrillo says he is hearing more and more reports of ICE raids targeting construction sites where whole groups of workers are rounded up. The day laborer crackdown will exacerbate an already tenuous labor market in the U.S. The Hispanic Construction Council estimates a nationwide construction workforce shortage of 500,000 workers. Carrillo says that construction projects were 14% behind schedule when Trump took office, but that has now risen to 22% as deportations and immigration enforcement have thinned out the construction labor market. "We are getting farther behind on projects, and we are seeing across the country wherever there is a crackdown, people are not showing up for work," Carrillo said. Day laborers are not the workers on massive construction projects, more likely to be picked up by subcontractors who need help painting or reframing closets. But he added, "If the smaller subcontractor can't get those jobs done, it has a ripple effect throughout the construction industry." Jason Greer, a labor consultant and founder and CEO of Greer consulting, says that the crackdown is causing a slowdown in construction due to a shortage in labor. "Day laborers are scared to death to show up at places like Lowes, Home Depot, etc. because they do not want to be arrested by ICE," he said. While ICE has not commented directly on the Home Depot raids, they told the Los Angeles NBC affiliate "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents are on the streets every day, prioritizing public safety by locating, arresting, and removing criminal alien offenders and immigration violators from our neighborhoods," ICE's statement read. "All aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and if found removable by final order, removed from the U.S. Home Depot tells CNBC while it does not allow laborers to sell their services on the premises, they are also not involved in any ICE operations. "Like many businesses, we have a longstanding no-solicitation policy, which prohibits anybody from selling goods or services on our property," said a Home Depot spokesperson. "I'd also add that we aren't notified when ICE activity is going to happen, and we aren't involved in the operations. We instruct associates to report the incident immediately and not to engage in the activity for their safety. If associates feel uncomfortable after witnessing ICE activity, we offer them the option to go home for the rest of the day, with pay," the Home Depot spokesperson said. Lowe's and Menards did not respond to requests for comment. Rick Hermanns, CEO of staffing agency HireQuest, which places 70,000 workers from the C-suite all the way down to day workers, says the upstream effects from crackdowns on day laborers are complicated and enormous, and neither political party has solved the problem. Lax enforcement, Hermanns said, incentivizes people to directly or indirectly hire unauthorized workers, creating a two-tiered system where some workers are paid under the table while companies like HireQuest and others pay the requisite workers' compensation and social security. Hermanns says those mandated expenses make up at least 20% of the wages paid, so under-the-table day laborers create a competitive disadvantage. However, Hermanns said a crackdown like the one happening now also creates complications because it reduces an already thin labor pool, which forces wages higher and then spreads throughout the economy in the form of inflation. "The ripple effects are much deeper and broader than what anyone understands," Hermanns said. "Candidly to me, our entire political establishment is unserious about looking at all of the effects," he added. Higher wages can be good because they draw people into the labor pool who might otherwise sit at home. "But moving the foundational wage 20 percent higher is incredibly bad for inflation," Hermanns said. For businesses, Hermanns says the whiplash between the administrative approaches breeds uncertainty. "I'd rather have more lax or more strict; the uncertainty is worse. What needs to be done is for people from both camps to come together and realize what we have is unsustainable," he said. Atlanta-based immigration attorney Loren Locke says that the current sweeps of home improvement store parking lots are doing nothing to solve the country's complicated immigration situation. Locke noted that while day laborers who gather at home improvement store parking lots skew heavily toward immigrants and disproportionately lack U.S. work authorization, there is no reason to think the population is a good source of dangerous criminal immigrants. "Rather, they seem more like easy pickings for ICE to hit daily arrest quotas," Locke said. She points to the complex web of immigration programs that have evolved over the years, creating an unsustainable system. "We are in such a mess right now because there are millions of workers in the U.S. who are in this gray immigration status," Locke said. "They were allowed in, and now we are going back to treating them like they are all criminals who need to be deported immediately." Locke pointed out that there are children who were bestowed DACA status and are now grandparents. "This has not been fixed for their entire adult life," Locke said. Meanwhile, contractors and subcontractors throughout the construction food chain are finding a small labor pool heading into the summer season.
UPI
08-06-2025
- Climate
- UPI
6.5-magnitue earthquake recorded in Colombia
June 8 (UPI) -- A 6.5-magnitude earthquake was recorded in Colombia on Sunday about 56 miles east of Bogota, according to the Servicio Geológico Colombiano. The SGC's database for tracking such incidents recorded the earthquake around 8:08 a.m. local time near the city of Paratebueno and described it as having a shallow depth. The agency said that it had received some 5,000 reports of people who felt the earthquake. Data shows that at least two aftershocks have had magnitudes greater than 4. Carlos Carrillo, the director of Colombia's national disaster risk agency, said during a news conference Sunday that damage was recorded to a national highway in the area. "In the inspection area of Santa Cecilia and the village of La Europa, as well as in Medina, the main church has been affected, including collapsed walls," he said. "So far, two people have been reported injured in that municipality. Damage has occurred to walls and facades of churches and homes, and there may also be damage to bridges." He later clarified that four people total have so far been reported injured, two in Paratebueno and two in Medina. They are all said to have minor injuries. Carrillo said authorities were seeking to verify the impacts of the earthquake on a health center in the town of Fómeque and on a Catholic church in the town of Une in the Andes. Damage to homes were also reported in the towns of Tocaima and Caldas. The U.S. Geological Survey also recorded the earthquake, describing it as a 6.3-magnitude tremor.
Ammon
31-05-2025
- Science
- Ammon
Nearly 3,000-year-old Mayan complex discovered, featuring pyramids and canals
Ammon News - Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a nearly 3,000-year-old Mayan complex in Guatemala, revealing sanctuaries, pyramids and a unique canal system that could shed further light on the ancient civilization, the country's culture minister said Thursday. The complex was discovered across three sites — Los Abuelos, Petnal and Cambrayal — near the significant Mayan site of Uaxactún in the Petén region of northern Guatemala, the ministry said in a statement. The Mayan civilization arose around 2,000 BC and reached its height between 400 and 900 AD, predominantly in modern-day Mexico and Guatemala. During its height, people built temples, roads, pyramids and other monuments, and developed complex systems of writing, mathematics and astronomy. Los Abuelos, which means 'The Grandparents' in Spanish, lies around 13 miles (21 kilometers) from Uaxactún and gets its name from two human-like rock figures found at the site, believed to represent an 'ancestral couple,' the ministry said. These figures, along with several sacred sanctuaries, suggest it was an important site for Mayan rituals, said Luis Rodrigo Carrillo, Guatemala's vice minister of culture and sports, in a press briefing announcing the findings. A reconstruction of the altar illustrates the painted panels of red, black and yellow which would have depicted a person wearing a feathered headdress and flanked by shields or regalia. Related article Mysterious altar found in ancient Mayan city contains bodies – and wasn't made by the Maya 'Located here is one of the most important ritual centers in the region, with notable sanctuaries, helping to reassess our understanding of Mayan history,' the ministry said in a video announcing the discovery. East of Los Abuelos lies Petnal, which features a 33-meter-high (108-foot) pyramid. At its peak are two preserved rooms adorned with murals depicting various symbolic representations, Carrillo said. In Cambrayal, around three miles (4.8 kilometers) from Los Abuelos, scientists also identified 'unique' water canals inside a palace, marking a notable discovery, the ministry said. 'These sites form a previously unknown urban triangle whose existence we were unaware of until now… These new archeological discoveries constitute a testament of Mayan culture's greatness, which today we are making known to the whole world,' the ministry said. CNN
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Texas Takedown Weekly: Border's Biggest Busts
One bust involved a man accused of smuggling five illegal aliens; another netted a bus passenger wanted for rape. Here are this week's three biggest criminal apprehensions at the Texas border: 1. Yukon or Tahoe? Border Patrol Busts Alleged Smuggler With 5 Aliens A Border Patrol chief announced the arrest and prosecution of an alleged human smuggler last week — but the details seemed to shift depending on where you looked. Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez of the Rio Grande Valley sector posted on X on May 21 that agents had intercepted a white Tahoe allegedly used in an alien smuggling operation near Weslaco. 'Great Teamwork!' she wrote, alongside a photo showing one detained driver and five apparent illegal aliens. A separate post by the same Border Patrol sector — this time on Facebook — described the vehicle as a white Yukon. The types of vehicles described are very similar. However, the photo depicts a GMC, and only GMC makes the Yukon. Both posts claimed the driver was prosecuted under 8 U.S. Code § 1324, a statute commonly used in human smuggling cases. The names of those involved have not been released, and neither post included a specific date of arrest or location beyond the general sector. According to federal law, § 1324 violations can carry up to 10 years per count, with heightened penalties if the smuggling was done for profit or in a manner that endangered human life. The incident appears to be one of several recent smuggling cases in the Rio Grande Valley, a region that federal officials routinely cite as a major corridor for illegal entry and trafficking. 2. Minnesota Rape Suspect Nabbed at Border A man wanted for rape in Minnesota was arrested over Memorial Day weekend while attempting to enter the United States through a Texas port of entry, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release. CBP officials say 50-year-old Nestor Martinez Carrillo was traveling by bus when he arrived at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge near Laredo on May 24. Officers reportedly flagged Carrillo for secondary inspection, then used biometric tools and law enforcement databases to confirm his identity. Officials say Carrillo had an outstanding felony arrest warrant issued by the Stearns County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota. The warrant, originally filed in August 2020, stemmed from a third-degree criminal sexual conduct case involving a failure to appear in court. He was transported to the Webb County Jail and booked the same day, The Dallas Express reported. Jail records show Carrillo now faces a charge of 'sexual assault.' Like all criminal charges, the allegations remain unproven until tried in court. CBP officials cited the National Crime Information Center — a federal database for active warrants — as the tool that allowed officers to confirm Carrillo's fugitive status. The arrest was one of several over Memorial Day weekend. According to CBP, another individual wanted in Dallas County for allegedly soliciting minors online was apprehended on May 26, while yet another man accused of rape in Illinois was caught on May 21. A twice-deported sex offender, convicted of assaulting a 14-year-old, was reportedly picked up that same day. 'These types of apprehension perfectly exemplify CBP's ongoing commitment to keeping our communities secure,' said Port Director Tater Ortiz in the agency's press release. 3. Jesus Cedillo Turned A $6K Job Into A 10-Year Sentence for Moving Cocaine A man who admitted to transporting nearly 30 kilograms of cocaine through a Texas Border Patrol checkpoint was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced May 28. Federal prosecutors say Jesus Cedillo, 36, was stopped on October 28, 2024, near the Falfurrias checkpoint. A Border Patrol K-9 reportedly alerted to Cedillo's vehicle, prompting agents to search the car. Inside the speaker boxes in the trunk, they allegedly discovered multiple bundles of cocaine totaling 28.6 kilograms. Cedillo pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute and was sentenced to 126 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He admitted that a former co-worker had recruited him to make the delivery to Houston for $6,000. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bird prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Border Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Although the source and destination of the drugs remain undisclosed, the bust adds to a growing pattern of drug couriers using everyday vehicles to ferry large narcotics loads through inland checkpoints, sometimes for relatively small compensation. To read about last week's biggest border busts, click here: Texas Takedown Weekly: Border's Biggest Busts (May 23)
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Nearly 3,000-year-old Mayan complex discovered, featuring pyramids and canals
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a nearly 3,000-year-old Mayan complex in Guatemala, revealing sanctuaries, pyramids and a unique canal system that could shed further light on the ancient civilization, the country's culture minister said Thursday. The complex was discovered across three sites — Los Abuelos, Petnal and Cambrayal — near the significant Mayan site of Uaxactún in the Petén region of northern Guatemala, the ministry said in a statement. The Mayan civilization arose around 2,000 BC and reached its height between 400 and 900 AD, predominantly in modern-day Mexico and Guatemala. During its height, people built temples, roads, pyramids and other monuments, and developed complex systems of writing, mathematics and astronomy. Los Abuelos, which means 'The Grandparents' in Spanish, lies around 13 miles (21 kilometers) from Uaxactún and gets its name from two human-like rock figures found at the site, believed to represent an 'ancestral couple,' the ministry said. These figures, along with several sacred sanctuaries, suggest it was an important site for Mayan rituals, said Luis Rodrigo Carrillo, Guatemala's vice minister of culture and sports, in a press briefing announcing the findings. 'Located here is one of the most important ritual centers in the region, with notable sanctuaries, helping to reassess our understanding of Mayan history,' the ministry said in a video announcing the discovery. East of Los Abuelos lies Petnal, which features a 33-meter-high (108-foot) pyramid. At its peak are two preserved rooms adorned with murals depicting various symbolic representations, Carrillo said. In Cambrayal, around three miles (4.8 kilometers) from Los Abuelos, scientists also identified 'unique' water canals inside a palace, marking a notable discovery, the ministry said. 'These sites form a previously unknown urban triangle whose existence we were unaware of until now… These new archeological discoveries constitute a testament of Mayan culture's greatness, which today we are making known to the whole world,' the ministry said. The discoveries were made by Guatemalan and Slovak archaeologists, alongside international experts, as part of the Uaxactún Regional Archaeological Project (PARU) and with backing from Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, officials said. While rare, discoveries of new Mayan sites still occasionally happen, thanks to new research and technological improvements. In April, archaeologists uncovered a mysterious 1,700-year-old altar containing human remains in the nearby ancient city of Tikal, approximately 23 kilometers (14 miles) south of Uaxactún. Although discovered in a ruined Mayan city, archaeologists believe it wasn't decorated by Mayans, but was instead the work of artists trained hundreds of miles away in Teotihuacan. Scientists in recent years have also detected new sites using laser mapping technology, revealing the interconnectivity of Mayan cities, towns and villages.
