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EL PASO, Texas — The nation began readying for an arctic storm that could plunge temperatures around the country, but on the southern border many migrants say they didn't know they were in for colder, nastier weather. Random El Paso residents also brought by food and clothes to migrants. Ruben García, director of Annunciation House, which provides shelter for migrants, said the focus needs to be on “hospitality capacity” in El Paso and elsewhere. “It’s very important for people to understand this is not an El Paso need, this is a borderwide need,” he said. Andrés González, Guad Venegas and Julia Ainsley reported from El Paso, Texas and Suzanne Gamboa reported from San Antonio.

☆ Second migrant this year dies by suicide in New York City shelter, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A second migrant died by suicide in a New York City shelter last week, according to officials and NBC New York. "These families are coming to New York City after a months-long harrowing journey, in some cases, still reeling from the trauma they experienced along the way," the spokesperson said. A bus carrying migrants arrives into the Port Authority bus station in New York City in Aug. 2022. Spencer Platt / Getty Images fileThousands of migrants have arrived in New York City by bus from out-of-state since the spring. Several migrants told NBC News they have struggled to find work and build their lives upon arriving in New York.

☆ Remote Workers Are Blowing the Whistle, Employees Exposing Companies
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Britta Lokting | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The Securities and Exchange Commission — which implemented a whistleblower program in 2011 and where Haugen and others have sent documents — has received a historic jump in complaints over the past few years. How remote work sparked a flood of whistleblowersAs the pandemic spread and workers retreated to their makeshift home offices, employees began to reconsider their relationship with work. MacGann, the Uber whistleblower, told Politico that it wasn't until the pandemic that he "had time on his hands" to really ponder his decision to come forward about the ride-hailing company's treatment of workers. Remote work, she explained, helps to remove some of those barriers to whistleblowing. In addition to the record-breaking number of tips, the SEC whistleblowing program awarded $229 million in 103 cases this year.

☆ U.S. Congress aims to pack additional measures into government funding bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Democrats and Republicans alike aim to tuck as many legislative wish-list items as possible into the "omnibus" bill funding the government through the end of its fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2023, without derailing the whole package. "Republicans simply were not going to lavish extra-liberal spending" on non-defense programs into the omnibus bill, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said last week. The Senate's cumbersome rules mean that it could take a few days for the funding bill even to come to a vote, after which the House will need to pass it. Another add-on to the spending bill appeared certain: Republican and Democratic leaders have agreed to clarify and tighten the way U.S. presidential election winners are certified by Congress. Lawmakers and their aides spent the weekend gauging how to wedge other special initiatives into this catch-all spending bill.

☆ Organized retail crime has ballooned into a $100 billion problem — and store employees are dying over it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Organized retail crime increased by 26.5% in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation. It's organized retail crime, and it's a nearly $100 billion problem for the industry. A 2022 study the National Retail Federation conducted found that organized retail crime at retailers surged by 26.5% in 2021 compared to the year prior. Organized retail crime is not the $10,000 jewelry heist you see in the movies, Jake Stauch, the director of product for the security company Verkada, said. The rise of e-commerce has, in large part, fueled organized retail crime.

☆ Appeals court declines to block end of Trump-era rule known as Title 42 that expelled migrants at U.S. border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday declined to block a lower court order lifting Covid restrictions for asylum seekers at the southern border by Wednesday. Attorneys general from 19 Republican-led states had asked the appeals court to temporarily prevent the end of restrictions known as Title 42. Since Title 42 was enacted in March 2020 by the Trump administration, migrants have been sent back to Mexico 2.4 million times. “Title 42 must end because it it is a public health law, not a border management tool,” said Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union suing to lift Title 42, in a statement. “The states seeking to keep Title 42 are acting hypocritically, to say the least, since they have opposed every COVID restriction except the one targeting vulnerable asylum seekers.”

☆ Biden administration releases plan for the scheduled lifting of Title 42 next week
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Rosa Flores | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Department of Homeland Security’s six-pillar plan for the scheduled end of Title 42 next week includes surging resources to the border, increasing processing efficiency, imposing consequences for unlawful entry, bolstering nonprofit capacity, targeting smugglers and working with international partners. The federal government has also added 10 soft-sided facilities to increase Customs and Border Protection holding capacity by over one-third since 2021, the plan states. According to the six-pillar plan, CBP spends 30% less time processing migrants now compared to early last year – which will help mitigate overcrowding of CBP facilities. As the agency expects a surge of migrants with the lifting of Title 42, it plans to impose legal consequences on those who cross unlawfully and don’t have a legal basis to stay in the United States, the plan states. “For noncitizens seeking to evade apprehension, repeat offenders, and those engaging in smuggling efforts, we are increasing referrals for prosecutions,” the plan states.

☆ Senate passes legislation to ban TikTok from US government devices
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Senate passed legislation Wednesday evening to ban TikTok from US government devices, in a move designed to limit perceived information-security risks stemming from the social media app. The vote by unanimous consent approved the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, a bill authored by Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley. “Once again, Sen. Hawley has moved forward with legislation to ban TikTok on government devices, a proposal which does nothing to advance U.S. national security interests,” a spokesperson for TikTok said in a statement. (Another state, Nebraska, banned TikTok from state devices in 2020.) Already, the US military, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have restricted the app from government-owned devices.

The number of people granted asylum in immigration courts hit a historic high this fiscal year under the Biden administration's adjustments to the asylum process, a recent data analysis shows. The TRAC report, released in late November, said the 2022 number was the largest number of individuals granted asylum in any year in the courts' history. However, the analysis also showed that grants of asylum have slowed, with 50% of cases granted asylum in June falling to 41% of cases in September. Also, those released from detention had better asylum grant rates, 54% this fiscal year, compared to those who were detained, 15% of whom were granted asylum. Just 23% of people from Ecuador, or 3,380, were granted asylum, placing the country near the bottom.

☆ DOJ sues Arizona for placing shipping containers at the border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Taylor Romine | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The federal government is suing Arizona for placing shipping containers at the border as a temporary wall, according to court documents filed Wednesday. Doug Ducey, a Republican, issued an executive order telling the state’s Department of Emergency and Military Affairs to use shipping containers to fill in gaps along the border, and did so without official permits or authorization, CNN previously reported. The federal government has been battling with the state ever since to get the containers removed, according to the lawsuit. “Not only has Arizona refused to halt its trespasses and remove the shipping containers from federal lands, but it has indicated that it will continue to trespass on federal lands and install additional shipping containers,” the lawsuit states. “Arizona stands ready to cooperate with the federal government on construction of a border wall and always has been,” the letter from Ducey’s office said.

Schumer, a New York Democrat who has long pressed the administration to terminate Title 42, is far from alone. Since March 2020, when the authority was invoked, border officials have turned away migrants at the US-Mexico border more than two million times. But just days away from the anticipated end of Title 42, plans are still being sorted out. The Biden administration is also asking Congress for more than $3 billion as it prepares for the end of Title 42, according to a source familiar with the ask. It is not specific to the end of Title 42, the source said.

☆ Photos: El Paso sees surge in border crossings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Migrants, mostly from Nicaragua, are seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, along the shore of the Rio Grande and below the US border wall on Tuesday, December 13. By Catherine E. Shoichet and Will Lanzoni, CNNAs a growing number of migrants arrive in the border city of El Paso, Texas, officials there say the situation is "unsustainable" and could intensify into a full-blown crisis. Many of the arriving migrants have told reporters they're from Nicaragua. El Paso Times reporter Lauren Villagran told CNN on Wednesday that she spoke with Nicaraguan migrants waiting outside in frigid temperatures. Deputy City Manager Mario D'Agostino told reporters in recent days about 2,500 migrants have crossed the border daily, noting that the situation is different than past surges of migrants across the border.

☆ Biden administration warns of potential influx of migrants immediately after Title 42 ends
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Priscilla Alvarez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Administration officials have been bracing for an influx of migrants when a public health authority, known as Title 42, ends next week. In September, Venezuelans, Cubans and Nicaraguans accounted for almost half of encounters along the US southern border, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas underscored the whole of government approach in a statement, noting that mass movement of people around the globe has posed a uniquely difficult challenge. In October, the administration rolled out a humanitarian parole program geared toward Venezuelans to encourage them to apply for entry into the United States instead of crossing unlawfully. But the calculus of migrants may change when Title 42 lifts, the memo says.

☆ How one family’s struggle illustrates problems with the program meant to help Afghans who helped the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Jim Sciutto | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —For more than a year, I have been trying to help a family leave Afghanistan for safety and a new life abroad. However, SIV approval does not equal freedom for him and other Afghans with similar status – far from it. And last week, Congress removed language from the National Defense Authorization Act that would have extended the program for another year. To get to one of those countries, Afghans need passports – a relative luxury for many. The State Department tells CNN it had been managing to get only about 250 Afghans and their family members out of the country per week.

☆ El Paso faced a ‘major surge in illegal crossings’ over the weekend, senior border official says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Priscilla Alvarez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —More than 2,400 migrants crossed into the United States near El Paso, Texas, daily over the weekend, according to a senior Border Patrol official, marking what he described as a “major surge in illegal crossings” in the region. “Over the weekend, the El Paso Sector experienced a major surge in illegal crossings, with a 3-day average of 2,460 daily encounters, primarily through the downtown area of El Paso. We will continue to keep the public informed as the situation evolves,” said acting Chief Patrol Agent Peter Jaquez of the El Paso Sector in a tweet. El Paso city has been monitoring the situation and is in ongoing discussions with federal, state and local partners, according to Laura Cruz Acosta, strategic communications director for the city. The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that it had deployed additional agents to El Paso amid the surge, claiming that criminal smuggling organizations are behind the influx.

☆ The Biden administration wants $2 billion to deal with a looming migrant surge at the border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Republicans have been reluctant to approve additional funding for the Democratic administration’s border efforts, saying they want the border secured before more money is spent. Covid-19 restrictions known as Title 42 have kept migrants from claiming asylum more than 2.4 million times since the policy began under former President Donald Trump in 2020. “We are in the hole for millions, even without Title 42 lifting,” one of the DHS officials said. The Biden administration appealed the federal court ruling that lifted Title 42 on Wednesday, saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was correct in implementing it. But the administration did not ask the judge to keep Title 42 in place.

☆ The Biden administration still hasn't found parents of 120 children separated from their families under Trump
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

120 children separated from their families under Trump are still without their parents. At least 5,000 children were separated from their families under the Trump administration in 2017 and 2018, and the precise number remains in flux as families continue to apply for help from the Department of Homeland Security. Some of the parents of separated children have been removed from the United States and cannot be contacted, they said. "We continue to try to reach the parents of the remaining 120 children. The Biden administration has also entered into settlement discussions that remain ongoing four years later with families affected by the Trump administration policy, according to the status report.

A gay California lawmaker revealed Tuesday that he received a bomb threat laced with homophobic tropes and rhetoric, amid a simmering culture war that has sparked widespread anti-LGBTQ threats and attacks nationwide. California state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said an unnamed individual threatened to bomb his home and shoot up his office. Within the last two weeks, Greene called Wiener a “communist groomer” on Twitter, and Kirk accused Wiener of releasing “pedophiles” from jail without further explanation. In response to NBC News’ request for comment, Greene’s communications director, Nick Dyer, called Wiener “ridiculous” without expanding further. The latest threat against Wiener comes amid widespread bigoted rhetoric, threats and attacks directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people across the country.

☆ Feds cite rarely used law to charge 12 with violent scheme to 'monopolize' business at U.S.-Mexico border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The Justice Department invoked a rarely used, 132-year-old law on Tuesday to charge 12 people with running a violent and sometimes deadly scheme to “monopolize” the resale of American cars and other goods in Central America by fixing prices and retaliating against those who refused to be extorted. The Justice Department charged the group under the Sherman Act of 1890, an antitrust regulation used to break up American monopolies Standard Oil in the 1920s and AT&T in the 1970s. Those who challenged the group were met with threats, kidnappings and even death, the indictment said. The defendants’ addresses in the indictment range from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to just across the border in Matamoros, Mexico. The indictment said the group met at the Holiday Inn in Harlingen, Texas, in March 2019 to divide $44,000 in cash.

Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields has said a motive for the attack — which initially plunged 45,000 people into darkness — is still undetermined as local authorities and the FBI investigate. A cryptic post“The power is out in Moore County and I know why,” Emily Rainey wrote on her Facebook page less than an hour after the electricity failed. Taylor Shook / USA Today NetworkClymer saw Rainey’s posts and began speaking with other people in Moore County, she said. Kevin Dietzel, executive director of Sunrise Theater, said the venue was also targeted on social media and with phone calls. After that, she made the decision to cancel the rest of the show to “ensure everyone’s safety” during the outage.

☆ How Trump Org's tax fraud conviction could bar Trump from federal contracts, even for Secret Service
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Laura Italiano | Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Trump Organization was found criminally liable of tax fraud on Tuesday after a six-week trial. A ban could end his 'exorbitant' billing of Secret Service agents who protect him at his resorts. At the Trump Organization headquarters in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the cars, apartments, and tuition were considered part of Weisselberg's $940,000-a-year income, prosecutors said. Secret Service a tough targetWatchdogs concede that Trump's Secret Service billing is a tough target. Barring the unlikelihood of a cash-free solution — Trump letting the Secret Service "stay at our properties for free," as Eric Trump once promised, or forgoing Secret Service protection voluntarily, as Richard Nixon did — Trump's Secret Service spigot may well remain open, watchdogs acknowledge.

U.S. air travelers now have until May 7, 2025, to obtain a driver's license or other government ID that complies with the federal REAL ID Act. How do you know if you have a REAL ID? Your passport will remain a suitable alternative if you do not have a REAL ID-compliant card by the new deadline, DHS says. And minors will not be required to carry a REAL ID card. According to The Washington Post, just under half of Americans currently have REAL ID-compliant cards.

☆ Real ID deadline for air travel extended another two years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Colbi Edmonds | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that it is extending the deadline to require Real ID-compliant identification for air travelers, pushing the start date from May 3, 2023, to May 7, 2025. The extension will give states more time to ensure residents have driver's licenses and identification cards that comply with enhanced security standards under the Real ID Act. The deadline for the new IDs has already been extended previously. Congress passed the new standards as part of the Real ID Act in 2005, based on a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. The enhanced security standards for state-issued identification cards and driver's licenses aim to make IDs harder to counterfeit and allow records checks.

☆ Hackers linked to Chinese government stole millions in Covid benefits, Secret Service says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Sarah Fitzpatrick | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kit-Ramgopal-Byline.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Hackers linked to the Chinese government stole at least $20 million in U.S. Covid relief benefits, including Small Business Administration loans and unemployment insurance funds in over a dozen states, according to the Secret Service. One senior Justice Department official called it “dangerous” and said it had serious national security implications. ‘The horse is out of the barn’As soon as state governments began disbursing Covid unemployment funds in 2020, cybercriminals began to siphon off a significant percentage. China’s targets include state governments, which can have inadequate cybersecurity defenses. “The state governments don’t allocate a lot of cyber protection money to their state I.T.

☆ U.S. again delays deadline for Real IDs, until May 2025
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Department of Homeland Security said Monday the Real ID Act will not be enforced until May 2025, marking the latest postponement for the rule. It noted that the pandemic made it more difficult for people to obtain licenses or identification cards that are Real ID-compliant. Real IDs can be identified by a star in the right-hand corner of a driver's license or identification card. "This extension will give states needed time to ensure their residents can obtain a Real ID-compliant license or identification card. Enforcement of the Real ID rule has been repeatedly delayed since the original 2008 deadline.

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