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☆ Pandemic-related asylum restrictions known as Title 42 expire, straining U.S. immigration system
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

The expired rule, known as Title 42, was in place since March 2020. While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. Migrants cross the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents before Title 42 ends, in Matamoros, Mexico May 10, 2023. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had already warned of more crowded Border Patrol facilities to come. They were quickly apprehended by Border Patrol agents.

☆ Fact Check-Video of migrants rushing back to Ciudad Juárez at border dates to at least March 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The at least two-month-old video is recirculating as the United States is preparing to end a COVID-19 border restriction known as Title 42. The video circulating depicts people crossing El Paso del Norte International Bridge into Ciudad Juárez (bit.ly/42JUKV7), (ibb.co/mHMRmr4), but dates to at least March this year. Reuters video shows the group trying to cross the bridge towards El Paso, Texas (here). Reuters addressed other miscaptioned footage falsely linked to the U.S.-Mexico border in May 2023 (here), (here). This footage showing migrants at El Paso del Norte International Bridge in Ciudad Juárez is not new, rather it dates to at least March 2023.

[1/2] Oil tanker Kerala, chartered by Chevron, is loaded in the Bajo Grande oil terminal at Maracaibo Lake, in the municipality of San Francisco, Venezuela, January 5, 2023. To back up its license application, Chevron last year signed an oil-for-debt swap with Venezuela's state-run PDVSA. The initial exports have rapidly drained the ventures' oil inventories, which had built up for years. Chevron plans to continue pushing up heavy crude output mainly at oilfields in eastern and western Venezuela belonging to its Petropiar and Petroboscan projects, according to the sources. GOLDEN TICKETChevron's license broke a four-year U.S. prohibition on Venezuelan oil exports to the United States designed to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

☆ DeSantis signed a bill into law that creates new hurdles for undocumented workers and patients in Florida. It provides $12 million to relocate migrants to blue states
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

DeSantis signed a bill into law to crack down on undocumented workers in Florida. The legislation includes $12 million to relocate migrants to blue states. Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping bill into law Wednesday that will make it harder for undocumented people to work in Florida, even though the measure fell short of his demands. DeSantis boasted about the stunt during a press conference in Jacksonville, Florida, on Wednesday, saying officials in blue states expected border states to "grin and bear" the care of an influx of migrants. DeSantis signed the immigration measures into law a day before before the federal Title 42 is set to expire.

☆ Migrants risk life and limb to jump Mexico trains in rush to border
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jose Luis Gonzalez | Gustavo Graf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

I doubt it,” said Romario Solano, 23, a Venezuelan, while waiting for hours in baking sun near the trash-strewn rail tracks in Huehuetoca. For years, mainly Central Americans have crisscrossed Mexico on cargo trains, dubbing them collectively “La Bestia” (The Beast) due to the risk of injury, even death, if they fell off. The latest wave of people aboard “La Bestia” are largely poor Venezuelans, including families with small children, mostly aiming to reach Ciudad Juarez, opposite the Texan city of El Paso. “There are hundreds of people arriving every day,” said migrant activist Guadalupe Gonzalez last week in the central city of Irapuato, where the train makes a stop. “We hadn’t seen so many migrants passing through here like this before.”During the past month, as many as 700 people were trying to board per day, she said.

☆ Disinformation researcher who led now-defunct DHS unit sues Fox News for defamation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The researcher, Nina Jankowicz, briefly served in the Biden administration as head of the now-defunct Disinformation Governance Board, which was housed in the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of high-profile defamation cases brought against Fox News in recent years. The network last month settled a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, the largest publicly known settlement in US history. Smartmatic’s case survived a motion to dismiss filed by Fox News last year and continues to move through the court system. Lachlan Murdoch, the chief executive of Fox Corporation, the parent company of the right-wing channel Fox News, said on Tuesday that the company will fight Smartmatic’s lawsuit.

METETÍ, Panama—Five months ago, the Barrios family fled economic calamity in Venezuela along with 7.2 million fellow citizens. In April, they picked up again, this time from the country that had taken them in, Colombia. Unable to get the documentation they needed to legalize their status, Franklin Barrios and Rebeca Herrera joined thousands of other Venezuelans leaving Colombia and trying to make it to the U.S., say migrant advocates and the Venezuelan travelers themselves.

The scenes come as Title 42 is set to expire just before midnight on Thursday. But Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council representing U.S. border agents, confirmed that agents distributed the handouts. Judd said border officials were working to process as many migrants as possible before Title 42 ends. The flyer also said migrants must report to border authorities before accessing El Paso shelters, an assertion advocates said was not true. But hours later, after seeing other migrants return with U.S. paperwork, he lined up at a border patrol station.

☆ Ron DeSantis is banning Chinese citizens from buying land in Florida, accusing China of taking up swathes of farmland: 'We don't want the CCP in the Sunshine State'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ron DeSantis has signed a new bill banning Chinese citizens from buying land in Florida. DeSantis cited concerns that Chinese investors have been buying up too much farmland in the state. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Monday that bans most Chinese citizens from purchasing land in his state. The new bill, SB 246, prevents Chinese nationals from buying land in Florida unless they are also American citizens or permanent residents. Investors from Canada own the most US land out of any foreign country, holding 12.8 million acres worth around $11.6 billion, per the department's 2021 report.

☆ Seven people remain hospitalized after fatal crash outside Texas migrant shelter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Nouran Salahieh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Seven people remain hospitalized in Brownsville, Texas, as a candlelight vigil is planned Tuesday in another Texas border town for the eight others who were killed when a vehicle plowed into a group of people at a bus stop over the weekend. The fatal crash comes as Brownsville and other border towns brace for a migrant surge when the public health emergency measure known as Title 42 lapses on Thursday. A memorial site set up after a deadly crash at a bus stop in Brownsville, Texas, seen on Monday. Romero said that after the crash, the driver got out of his vehicle and appeared to be impaired. The driver was uncooperative after the crash and gave authorities different names, Brownsville Police spokesman Martin Sandoval said.

HOUSTON, May 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. court of appeals has granted Venezuela a temporary stay preventing six companies from joining a proposed court auction of shares in a Citgo Petroleum parent to enforce judgments for past expropriation of assets. The companies had won conditional attachments to a federal case in which the judge has approved a process to auction the shares to pay a $970 million judgment won by miner Crystallex. The six hold arbitration awards or judgments that total about $2.6 billion and wanted those awards to be included in the auction. The proposed auction, which could break up the seventh largest U.S. refiner to pay creditors, took a giant step forward last month with a greenlight from the U.S. Treasury. Washington has since recognized the opposition-led congress as the entity controlling the refining subsidiary, extending protection to prevent its breakup at the hands of Venezuela creditors.

☆ El Paso Is Packed With Migrants and Bracing for More After Biden Policy Shift
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Alicia A. Caldwell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

EL PASO, Texas—Thousands of migrants have set up an encampment on sidewalks and alleys around a church in this border city, where they wait for assistance and swap stories of their recent rush to cross into the U.S. ahead of a planned policy change by the Biden administration. Among the crowd of adults and children Thursday was Angel Amarista, a 22-year-old Venezuelan who left for the U.S. in March in part because of rumors that he should enter before the law known as Title 42 expires.

☆ Migrants stranded on Chile-Peru border repatriated to Venezuela
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Undocumented migrants from Venezuela who were in limbo at Chile-Peru border, stand at the airport while they board a special homecoming flight to Venezuela from Arica airport, Chile May 7, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander InfanteSANTIAGO, May 7 (Reuters) - Chile's government said that 115 Venezuelan migrants who had been stranded on the border with Peru were repatriated to Venezuela on a humanitarian flight Sunday. Hundreds of migrants, mostly Venezuelans seeking to return home, had been stranded in the country's northern border after being denied entry into Peru. The incident sparked diplomatic tensions as Peru sent police and soldiers to the border to block migrants. In a statement released Sunday, Chile's Foreign Ministry said the flight was the result of diplomatic efforts with the Venezuelan government and its "Return to the Homeland" plan.

☆ Mage wins Kentucky Derby, seven horse deaths being investigated at Churchill Downs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] May 6, 2023; Louisville, KY, USA; Mage jockey Javier Castellano celebrates after winning the 149th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs May 6, 2023. Mandatory Credit: Andrew P. Scott-USA TODAY SportsMay 6 (Reuters) - Mage won the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday to capture the first leg of U.S. thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. Mage, who finished second in the Florida Derby last month, finished the 1-1/4-mile race in two minutes and 1.57 seconds. The victory was the first Kentucky Derby win for Venezuelan trainer Gustavo Delgado and Venezuelan Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, who won the Run for the Roses after 16 attempts. Thank you for the opportunity to run this horse, that has a lot of heart."

☆ Venezuelan opposition party replaces Guaido as candidate
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 5, CARACAS - Venezuelan opposition party Voluntad Popular on Friday named a new candidate for a key presidential primary in October, replacing formerly anti-government leader Juan Guaido who left Venezuela unexpectedly in late April. At a news conference, Voluntad Popular named political coordinator Freddy Superlano, a 46-year-old engineer and critic of President Nicholas Maduro, as its nominee, explaining Guaido could not represent the party from "exile." Voluntad Popular member Desiree Barboza said the decision to name Superlano the party's candidate was unanimous. From 2019 to December 2022, Guaido served as acting president in a shadow government challenging Maduro until the opposition dissolved it. Like Guaido, Superlano is barred by judicial and administrative rulings from running for public office.

It allows border agents to rapidly expel many migrants to Mexico. The anticipated increase in border crossings will be "extremely challenging," Mayorkas said during a press conference in Brownsville, Texas. The Mexican government will step up border security in southern Mexico as part of an agreement reached this week, Mayorkas said. Migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border have risen in recent weeks, which Mayorkas attributed to a spike in Venezuelan crossers. Beginning May 12, roughly 1,000 appointments will be available each day, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

☆ Chevron export earnings boost supply of US dollars in Venezuela -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Mayela Armas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Companies Chevron Corp FollowCARACAS, May 2 (Reuters) - Some of U.S. oil major Chevron Corp's (CVX.N) export earnings from its Venezuela operations are bolstering supplies of U.S. dollars in the South American country, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Chevron operates in Venezuela, which is under U.S. sanctions, with special authorization from Washington. The central bank also sells dollars, mostly the product of oil sales. According to local consulting firm Sintesis Financiera, the central bank offers between $40 million and $50 million per week. The central bank did not respond to requests for comment.

CNN —Venezuela’s former opposition leader Juan Guaidó is visiting Washington this week, where he hopes to meet with the Biden administration, he told reporters on Tuesday during a surprise appearance at the Washington Conference on the Americas. Asked if he sought political asylum in the US, he said, “I am currently visiting. Guaidó landed in Miami the following day, after accusing Colombia of forcing him out of the country – a claim Colombian officials refuted. “We also hope to meet with the Biden administration – obviously it’s a critical moment for the region, especially Venezuela, a moment in which we are pressing to achieve a free election,” he said. The Biden administration loosened some sanctions against the Maduro government in 2022, and last November, it granted Chevron limited authorization to resume pumping oil from Venezuela.

☆ Cuba fuel shortages spark fistfights, queues and holiday cutbacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Patrick Oppmann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Havana, Cuba CNN —As the gas lines grow longer, tempers in Cuba are growing shorter. Since mid-April, Cuba has been beset with its most dire fuel shortages in years, prompting comparisons to the severe disruptions Cubans suffered after the fall of the Soviet Union. Lines stretch for blocks even at gas stations where there has been no fuel for days. Taxi drivers wait in line to fill fuel at a petrol station in Havana. “How can we go to May Day when we have to be in a line for gas,” she said.

Companies Chevron Corp FollowHOUSTON, April 28 (Reuters) - U.S. oil producer Chevron Corp (CVX.N) could raise its production in Venezuela this year by up to 50%, to 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), without significant new investments, Chief Executive Michael Wirth said on Friday. The second-largest U.S. producer in November became the first U.S. producer to get a license from the U.S. Treasury Department to revive oil output and resume exports from Venezuela after a three-year pause triggered by U.S. sanctions. The company is producing about 100,000 bpd in Venezuela, and the growth, Wirth said, is limited by terms of its U.S. license, which includes limits to activities it can do. Chevron is offering input to the U.S. government on the matter, Wirth said, but he refrained from saying whether the company has requested a license extension. Chevron has been able overcome operational issues to ramp up output and exports, including finding tanker owners willing to work in Venezuela, easing infrastructure bottlenecks and repairing oil upgrading facilities.

HOUSTON, April 28 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp (CVX.N) has stepped up sales of Venezuelan crude oil to rival U.S. refiners, adding PBF Energy Inc (PBF.N) and Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC.N) to its list of customers for the crude, vessel tracking and loading schedules showed. Chevron, the last big U.S. oil producer still operating in U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela, has increased exports of the crude since January. So far in April, it has loaded about 148,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil at Venezuelan ports, with cargoes going to at least three other U.S. refiners, besides Chevron's own refinery. In mid-April, Chevron sold about 550,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude to PBF for its 185,000-bpd Chalmette refinery, near New Orleans, U.S. Customs data on Refinitiv Eikon showed. Chevron has sent Venezuelan crude to its 369,000-bpd Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery and this month shipped a cargo to a Bahamas oil-storage terminal, PDVSA's schedules showed.

Even gaining qualifications in Italy didn't help Abhishek, a 26-year-old migrant from India who got a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Turin's Polytechnic University last year. Italy, which is also contending with an exodus of skilled nationals to stronger economies, needs qualified immigrants to fill growing skilled labour shortages, many economists say. In 2023, work permits will be granted to around 83,000 non-EU migrants, according to government data, less than a third of the 277,000 who applied for them. Barbera at Turin University said the lack of migrants in skilled professions has become entrenched and hard to reverse. "Migrants in Italy have virtually no access to the middle class," he said.

☆ Venezuelan Opposition Figure Flees Country, Arrives in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Juan Forero | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Juan Guaidó said he left Venezuela because his family was threatened. Photo: GABY ORAA/REUTERSBOGOTÁ, Colombia—Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaidó, who had led a pro-democracy movement with the support of the U.S. and dozens of countries, landed Tuesday in the U.S. after fleeing his homeland. Mr. Guaidó had remained a notable figure in the Venezuelan saga even though the opposition stripped him of his position in January when the parallel government he ran was dissolved. In describing his exit from Venezuela, Mr. Guaidó said that his family was under threat.

☆ Fox agrees to give more Murdoch docs to Smartmatic in its defamation case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Fox News has agreed to give voting technology company Smartmatic additional documents about Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and other senior corporate executives. “We will produce the materials as quickly as we are able to,” Fox lawyer Winn Allen said. These materials will include deposition transcripts and exhibits, apparently from the recently settled defamation case involving Dominion Voting Systems, a Smartmatic lawyer said in court. The monster case pits Smartmatic against Fox News, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Fox hosts Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro, and former host Lou Dobbs, who all promoted the baseless lie that Smartmatic rigged the 2020 election. An appeals court recently dropped Fox Corp. as a defendant, but Smartmatic refiled its lawsuit and is trying to re-add the parent company.

[1/5] A Cuban tanker ship enters Havana's bay with a sign that reads in Spanish: "No more blockade", referring to the trade embargo on Cuba imposed by the U.S., Havana, Cuba, April 25, 2023. Venezuela's oil exports to Cuba so far this year have dropped to 55,000 barrels per day (bpd) from almost 80,000 in 2020. Cuba has also imported since November at least five cargoes from Russia, a long-time supplier, as well as fuel from Caribbean terminals and Europe, the data shows. Officials also blame U.S. sanctions, which complicate the financing and transport of fuel to Cuba, for the crisis. Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA and oil ministry, Pemex, and Mexico's foreign ministry did not reply to requests for comment.

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