Latest news with #USborder
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Derailment in Abbotsford, B.C., closes road near Sumas border
ABBOTSFORD — Police in Abbotsford, B.C., say a train derailment has forced the closure of 4th Avenue near the Canada-U.S. border crossing. The department says in a post to social media that the road is blocked off between West Railway to the commercial vehicle entrance for the Sumas border crossing. Police say access to the border entrance is not impacted. They say no injuries have been reported, but did not mention how the derailment happened. The department initially posted an advisory around 11 p.m. Thursday about the closure and to ask drivers to avoid the area. It says in the updated post on Friday that the closure will remain "for a considerable amount of the day until heavy equipment is brought in to deal with the train cars." This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025. The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CTV News
4 days ago
- Automotive
- CTV News
No injuries after train derails in Abbotsford
A derailed train is seen on Friday, July 18 in this image handed out by the Abbotsford Police Department. Nobody was injured after a few train cars went off the tracks near the Canada-U.S. border in Abbotsford Thursday night, according to authorities. The Abbotsford Police Department first reported the derailment on 4th Avenue around 10:30 p.m., saying it had caused a 'significant block' on both sides of the tracks. As of 6:30 a.m. Friday, 4th Avenue remained closed between West Railway Avenue and the commercial vehicle entrance for the Sumas border crossing – but access to the crossing is not impacted, according to police. The APD says the road is expected to remain closed for a 'considerable amount of the day,' as heavy equipment needs to be brought in to move the train cars.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Automotive
- The Independent
Border Patrol hiring spree offers lessons as another immigration agency embarks on massive growth
In 2006, top U.S. Border Patrol officials were asked how long it would take to hire 6,000 agents, a roughly 50% increase at the time. Michael Fisher, then deputy chief in San Diego, says the officials concluded they would need five years. 'You have 2 1/2 years,' Fisher recalls being told. With Immigration and Customs Enforcement now preparing to add 10,000 employees within five years to assist with President Donald Trump 's mass deportation efforts, the Border Patrol's torrid expansion in the early 2000s serves as a cautionary tale. Hiring and training standards were changed and arrests for employee misconduct rose. Pressure to turbo-charge growth can also lead to attrition. "If they don't uphold pretty rigorous standards and background checks, you can end up hiring the wrong people, and then you pay a huge price in how the public perceives them,' said Gil Kerlikowske, who was commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol's parent agency, from 2014 to 2017. ICE, the main agency responsible for arresting and deporting people within the U.S., is set to get $76.5 billion, nearly 10 times its annual budget, under a bill Trump signed on July 4. Most of that money is for detention, but some is for hiring and other uses. The White House says ICE will grow from 20,000 employees to about 30,000. 'To do it today is an effort that needs to start years ago,' said Matthew Hudak, former Border Patrol deputy chief. 'The funding is there, but it is nearly impossible to bring in that many people that quickly because you hit challenges." Sponsoring a NASCAR race car and bull riding contests The Border Patrol nearly doubled its workforce from 11,264 agents in October 2005 to 21,444 agents six years later. To recruit officers, the agency sponsored a NASCAR race car and bull riding contests. It aired ads during Dallas Cowboys football games. It advertised at military bases. Billboards and job fairs hundreds of miles from the border promised fulfilling careers, resulting in thousands of applications a week. The agency also loosened some hiring guidelines and training requirements. The age limit for new hires was raised to 40 years old from 37. Spanish language training was cut by up to 30 days, some training was moved online and other instruction was shifted to the field to lessen time at a training academy that the agency opened in Artesia, New Mexico, during the hiring surge, according to a Government Accountability Office report. Arrests for illegal crossings fell to their lowest levels in decades — a sign for some that the strategy succeeded. But other measurements were more troubling. In 2008, the Border Patrol struggled to keep new agents, with about 20% failing to graduate from the academy and more leaving after returning to their stations. Arrests of CBP employees for misconduct increased to 336 in the 2012 fiscal year from 190 seven years earlier. The agency saw a spate of high-profile corruption cases, including agents accused of smuggling people across the border or working with drug cartels to bring illegal drugs into the U.S. The polygraph pass rate for new applicants tumbled to 33% in 2012 from 58% four years earlier. While the accuracy of the tests came under scrutiny, one applicant admitted that his brother-in-law, a known Mexican drug smuggler, asked him to use his employment to facilitate cocaine trafficking. Another admitted to using marijuana 9,000 times, including the night before the exam. A 2015 Homeland Security report found that the number of investigators assigned to internal wrongdoing was 'woefully inadequate' for the agency's growth. "Any time you have massive political pressure to beef up overnight, it never turns out well," said T.J. Bonner, the former president of the Border Patrol agents union who retired in 2011. "Too many corners have to be cut. Then when things go wrong. the fingers get pointed.' Stiff competition for qualified applicants ICE and Homeland Security did not respond to questions about lessons that the Border Patrol's hiring spree or detailed plans for hiring at ICE. 'The unprecedented funding for ICE will enable my hard-working officers and agents to continue making America safe again by identifying, arresting and removing criminal aliens from our communities,' Todd Lyons, the acting ICE director, said after Trump signed the bill. Critics say the administration's policy to target anyone in the country illegally, not just those with criminal records, could lead to abuses. Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff and lead architect of his immigration policies, had set an aggressive target of at least 3,000 arrests a day even before any additional hiring. 'When there are no priorities, everybody's a priority,' said Nayna Gupta, policy director of the American Immigration Council. 'You're very likely to see confusion, delay, wrongful arrest, more mistakes when law enforcement agencies, especially large ones, don't have clear direction and guidance for prioritization.' Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, said competition for qualified law enforcement is tough, with departments now offering signing bonuses of $10,000 to $100,000. Border Patrol staffing has yet to return to its peaks of the early 2010s. Trump tried to increase staffing in his first term. A contract with consulting firm Accenture PLC cost $13.6 million to set up in 2018 and resulted in only two hires over 10 months. Trump's bill allocates about $170 billion for border and immigration enforcement, with $4.1 billion for CBP hiring that includes 3,000 more Border Patrol agents. It comes at a time of historically low crossings after they reached a record high in December 2023. ___ Spagat reported from San Diego.
CTV News
14-07-2025
- CTV News
SUV carrying undocumented migrants crashes near U.S. border: Quebec police
Quebec police are searching for a group of undocumented migrants after their vehicle crashed with another vehicle and rolled over near the Canada-U.S. border. Quebec provincial police say they are searching for a group of undocumented migrants after the vehicle they were travelling in crashed with another vehicle and then rolled over near the Canada-U.S. border. The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) said they received a 911 call at about 4:15 a.m. about the crash that happened near the intersection of Route 202 and Montée Jackson near Hemmingford, Que., just a few kilometres north of the New York state border. Hemmingford, Que. crash Police say around a dozen migrants were in a black SUV when in collided with an alleged impaired driver and rolled over near Hemmingford, Que., on Sunday, July 13, 2025. (Swidda Rassy/CTV News) There were between 10 and 12 undocumented migrants inside a seven-passenger SUV when it flipped after colliding with another SUV, SQ spokesperson Stéphane Tremblay told CTV News. The exact number is not known as police gather more evidence. Between six and eight of them them fled on foot and are being sought by the SQ, with help from RCMP officers and a dog handler, Tremblay said The driver of the second SUV, a 48-year-old American male citizen, was arrested for impaired driving and will be questioned. There was at least one passenger in his vehicle at the time of the crash. Four people were sent to hospital for injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. Hemmingford crash A Sûreté du Québec vehicle blocks a road in Hemmingford, Que. after a crash involving two SUVs on Sunday, July 13, 2025. (Swidda Rassy/CTV News) The SQ said the investigation has been handed over to the RCMP, which did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday. A woman who lives nearby told CTV News that she was at the scene after the crash happened and said everyone involved was conscious. Jocelyn Madore said the people sent to hospital were two women and two men. While Madore says she has seen many migrants in the area in the past, she has never witnessed an incident like this one. Part of Route 202 in Hemmingford was closed to traffic as collision investigators analyzed the scene, but it was expected to reopen early Sunday afternoon. With files from CTV News' Olivia O'Malley and Swidda Rassy, and The Canadian Press
Al Jazeera
30-06-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
‘Coming back with nothing': Inside the reverse migration away from the US
Inside the reverse migration away from the US A boat carrying a group of returning migrants arrives at the pier in Necocli [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] A boat carrying a group of returning migrants arrives at the pier in Necocli [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] Necocli, Colombia – In the seaside town of Necocli, a white boat eases onto the shore. From a distance, it is identical to the many tourist skiffs that cruise along Colombia's picturesque Caribbean coast. As the passengers disembark, however, there are no photos and few smiles. Among them is a 21-year-old from Venezuela named Luis Angel Yagua Parra. It is not his first time passing through this port. 'I arrived at the border, but I couldn't cross,' he said, reflecting on his journey north to reach the United States. A faded blue band, representing his boat ticket, dangles around his wrist. 'So I came back.' Yagua Parra, along with the more than 50 passengers on board, has retraced his steps backwards across what was once one of the world's most dangerous migration routes. For years, migrants and asylum seekers travelled north from South America to reach safety and opportunity in the US. But now, with an immigration crackdown unfolding in the US, there are reports of an inverse trend emerging: wherein migrants are retreating from the US border in search of a new home elsewhere. Luis Angel Yagua Parra, 21, is among those returning to South America after attempting to reach the US [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] Luis Angel Yagua Parra, 21, is among those returning to South America after attempting to reach the US [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] The reversal has been stark. Last year alone, more than 302,200 people attempted to travel northwards from South America, according to the United Nations. However, as President Donald Trump makes asylum all but impossible to obtain in the US, migration northwards has slowed to a trickle. The Darien Gap — a sliver of untamed forest and steep terrain — used to be the main artery connecting South America to the north. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people would struggle to cross the land bridge on their way to the US. But not any more. The United Nations notes that, between January and March of this year, only 2,831 people made the dangerous trek. That marks a 98-percent drop compared with the same period in 2024. Yagua Parra made that journey himself, in his efforts to reach the US. The International Organization for Migration has called the path north to the US the world's deadliest land route for migration. 'The road was tough. Many things happened — kidnappings, everything,' Yagua Parra said, tattoos freckling his young features. 'People are hungry there. It's hard. Ugly things happen.' When he reached the southern US border, though, he found himself one of the thousands unable to cross. Upon taking office for a second term in January, President Trump cancelled the CBP One app, the online portal used to schedule asylum appointments. Anyone who crossed the border without documents was also barred from claiming asylum protections. Meanwhile, the US increased the military presence on the border, further driving down crossings. The Trump administration touted those measures as contributing to "historic lows" for border apprehensions. But the migrants unable to cross found themselves stuck in Mexico, stranded in a border region beset by trafficking and exploitation. A young Venezuelan father, 31, cradles his nine-month-old child who was born in the US [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] A young Venezuelan father, 31, cradles his nine-month-old child who was born in the US [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] So Yagua Parra came back, leaving Mexico in April. He and the other occupants of their boat paid between $250 and $300 each for a return journey to Colombia. According to local aid workers, about 100 people are arriving south from Panama each day in Necocli. Other "reverse migration" routes are cropping up on Colombia's Pacific coast. As sandalled feet clattered to shore in Necocli, a Virgin Mary statue stood sentinel at the pier's edge. Her plastic gaze welcomed the migrants and asylum seekers back to South America. Many had previously gotten as far north as Mexico. But some even reached the US and decided the political climate had grown too hostile for them to stay. Leaning against one of the pier's metal barriers, a young Venezuelan father, 31, lifted his daughter into a baby carrier strapped to his chest. Nine months ago, she was born in the US state of Colorado. But her parents, both of whom asked to remain anonymous, said life in the US had grown untenable. President Trump's hardline immigration policies and "mass deportation" campaign left them scared that their family would be ripped apart. 'We had to leave [the US] with our child,' said the girl's mother, 29. 'We were afraid they were going to kick us out. I heard so many stories about migrants being separated from their children. I prefer to leave voluntarily.' Still, the gruelling three-day journey from Panama to Colombia left their baby exhausted. 'She's a gringa,' her father joked, as he bounced his daughter rhythmically in her carrier. A heavy rucksack competed for space on his shoulder. They plan to return to Venezuela. Pastor Jose Luis Ballesta Mendoza sits in the church where he serves lunch to migrants in Necocli, Colombia [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] Pastor Jose Luis Ballesta Mendoza sits in the church where he serves lunch to migrants in Necocli, Colombia [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] Those who are able to continue their journey generally hop away on the public buses parked near the pier, while some migrants remain in Necocli, often due to a lack of funds. Pastor Jose Luis Ballesta Mendoza, 57, helps run a food hall for those who remain in Necocli. His church has provided a hot lunch and psychological care for passing migrants for the last five years. 'The migration that was going northward has changed,' he said. 'They are coming back.' As he spoke, he forged onward with his work. His fingers fluttered over the keys of a laptop. 'We started the year with a small number of migrants, but this has been increasing," he explained. "Every day, we are attending to around 120 or 130 people.' In his food hall, families huddle over hot plates brought from the kitchen. Steam curls upwards amid the hungry chatter of knives and forks. A free meal goes a long way, especially for those left destitute from the expense of migration. 'We're returning to the same place that we sold everything to leave,' said one Venezuelan man, 36, who also asked to remain anonymous. Behind a fringe of dark hair, his eyes moved between his wife, 33, her son, 16, and the busy kitchen. They spent about $1,500 each to travel from their home country to Mexico. There, they waited nine months to get an asylum appointment with US officials. But the appointment never came. They felt they had no choice but to go back to Venezuela. 'We're coming back with nothing, having to start from zero," he said. Sister Maria Elena Osorio Henao helps distribute supplies to migrants passing through Necocli, Colombia [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] Sister Maria Elena Osorio Henao helps distribute supplies to migrants passing through Necocli, Colombia [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] Though the food hall remains, those returning through Necocli are finding a town whose capacity for humanitarian care has been significantly reduced. Local advocates credit the shift to a decline in foreign aid from the US, as well as the perception of reduced need as migration northward slows. 'Most of the NGOs here have closed,' Pastor Ballesta Mendoza said. 'Before, there were 17 entities working here. Now, there are only seven.' He fears the lack of funding could force his food hall — the only one still open on weekdays — to close down as early as August. 'Very little support remains,' said Sister Maria Elena Osorio Henao, 59, who for the last 18 months has been working with the nonprofit Fundacion Diocesana Compartir, handing out supply bags to arriving migrants. 'The only one handing out kits is me.' She believes that the town needs more humanitarian funding in order to meet the growing needs of return migration. 'They arrive hungry and cold. They are living in the street without sufficient clothing,' she said. 'One food hall that provides a lunch and nothing more is not enough.' Few have felt the lack of shelter more acutely than Venezuelan couple Marisela Bellorin, 47, and her partner Yeral Banegas, 48. Six months ago, they arrived in Necocli with the intention of crossing the Darien Gap and heading northwards. 'We first came chasing the so-called American dream,' said Bellorin. But the couple did not have the $1,000 needed to fund their journey. Since then, they have been homeless in Necocli with their two children, 8 and 11. Marisela Bellorin and Yeral Banegas have spent six months homeless in Necocli with their two children [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] Marisela Bellorin and Yeral Banegas have spent six months homeless in Necocli with their two children [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] The four of them currently camp beneath the concrete bones of a half-constructed building, with little protection from the elements. 'It's hard — cooking on a wood fire, sleeping badly,' said Banegas. 'I don't sleep here, and neither does she. The children sleep, but we have to watch over them.' Sunlight fills their makeshift home from empty holes in the ceiling, and tangled plants burst from cracks in the floor. Bellorin apologised for the mess. 'It's normally more orderly,' she said, 'but we're packing to leave.' Her family has decided to move on. In one day's time, they will begin the long road to Chile. 'If they are going to send us back," Banegas said of the US, "it's better to just go somewhere else.' The family has already started to gather their belongings in plastic bags for the trip. Freshly washed clothes, once intended for a long voyage north, hang to dry in the pools of sunlight. The colourful sketches of a child, meanwhile, have been drawn directly on the concrete walls. One shows four stick figures, each marked with a label: 'Me, Brother, Mummy, Daddy.' Their crayon smiles watch as the family packs. Marisela Bellorin, Yeral Banegas and their children meet with an aid worker in their makeshift house [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera] Marisela Bellorin, Yeral Banegas and their children meet with an aid worker in their makeshift house [Euan Wallace/Al Jazeera]
