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An aerial view shows a truck crossing into the United States over the Cordova of the Americas border bridge, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on April 2, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Border apprehensions plunge, Maplewashing crops up, Fentanyl trickles in, Trump puts “Truth” on the block
7,180: US border authorities apprehended just 7,180 migrants illegally crossing the Southern Border in March, the lowest monthly number on record. The figure marks a twentyfold decline from the monthly average over the past four years as the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on undocumented migration continues. A recent poll put popular support for Trump’s immigration approach at 49%, the highest mark of any issue.
6: You may have heard of “pinkwashing,” “greenwashing,” “sanewashing,” or the more conventional “whitewashing.” But now there’s “maplewashing.” As of mid-March, Canadian authorities have busted six companies for fraudulently claiming their products are made in Canada rather than the US. The crackdown comes as the “Buy Canadian” movement, which boycotts American products, continues to grow in response to Donald Trump’s threats against Canada.
0.1: Donald Trump has said fentanyl is “pouring” into the US from Canada. But one man’s “pour” is another man’s “barely perceptible trickle.” Turns out, barely 0.1% of the drug seized along the US northern border last year actually came from Canada, according to government data obtained by the Globe & Mail. The remaining 99.9% came either from Mexico or from elsewhere in the US.
2.3 billion: The truth may be priceless, but Truth Social? That’s a different story. President Donald Trumpsuggested this week that he was open to selling his $2.3 billion stake in the social media company, which is a competitor of X in the microblogging space. The company has lost some 40% of its market value this year amid a wider stock market plunge triggered by uncertainty about Trump’s trade and tariff plans.Migrants, most with children follow a path along the concertina wire where ultimatley they will placed under guard by Border Patrol after having crossed the Rio Grande on May 27 2022 in Eagle Pass Texas, USA. Title 42, the Trump era mandate which was set to prevent migrants from entering the US, was to expire on May 23 but was blocked by a lawsuit filed by several states citing that the move to strike down the law “failed to meet standards set by the Administrative Procedure Act” and that there is no permanent solution to handling the inevitable surge in immigration. Opponents to upholding of the law voiced their demands stating that Title 42 is illegal in that it violates immigration laws that prevents immigrants from their right to seek asylum. Since the implementation of Title 42 in March 2020, US Customs and Border Protection has effected “more than 1.8 million expulsions, mostly on the southern border of the US-Mexico Border”.
Migrants rush to US border fearing Trump’s return
Hundreds of migrants from around a dozen countries left Mexico’s southern border area by foot onSunday, heading north toward the US border. They hope to make it to the frontier before November’s election out of fear that Donald Trump could win and close the border to asylum-seekers.
Migrants in the group reported that they fear that a Trump administration might stop granting appointments to migrants through CBP One, an app used by asylum-seekers to enter the US legally — by getting appointments at US border posts, where they then make their cases to officials. The app only works in northern Mexico and Mexico City.
Trump is likely to use the caravan to make his case that the US needs a president who is tough on immigration. During the Republican National Convention, he promised to crack down on the border if elected, including increasing deportations of illegal migrants and making asylum-seekers wait in Mexico while their claims are processed.
If the caravan continues to make the headlines, it could be bad news for Kamala Harris, as she trailsTrump on immigration and as a majority of Americans – some 55% – believe that immigration levels should be reduced for the first time in two decades.
United States President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Black History Month Reception at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.
Border bill fails in Senate: the jockeying intensifies
President Joe Biden is blaming Donald Trump for killing a Senate bill on Ukraine support and border security on Wednesday.
The bill would have delivered billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine and Israel along with stricter border security – including asylum restrictions, a major stated goal for the GOP.
The bill looked like it might have enough bipartisan support to pass until Trump weighed in to trash it. In the end, only four Republicans voted “yes”.
The bill would have been a win for Biden at a time when the Trump-led GOP are keen to amplify their message that President Biden is neglecting the border to a “constitutionally violating” degree.
Biden is trying to flip the script by blaming Trump for the demise of the border deal, aid to Ukraine, support for Israel, and relief for Gaza – all at once.
Four Democrats also voted against the bill, including majority leader Chuck Schumer, who, after seeing GOP support evaporate, cast a “no” vote as a tactical move allowing him to quickly call for a vote on the foreign aid portion alone. Doing so forces the GOP to decide whether to block Ukraine and Israel's aid twice in one day.
Texas Governor Gregg Abbott speaks during a news conference near the International Bridge between Mexico and the U.S
Texas takes immigration into its own hands
Critics argue that the law could lead to racial profiling and wrongful arrests of US citizens and legal immigrants. Legal experts are questioning the law's constitutionality, as immigration laws can only be enforced by the federal government. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union has already vowed that they will see Gov. Abbott in court.
The law's supporters, however, argue that it is necessary due to perceived inadequacies in federal immigration enforcement. They believe the law will help protect Texans and deter illegal immigration.
Showdown looms: Whatever the stance, it is likely to trigger a high-stakes legal and political clash between the Texas government, civil rights groups, and the Biden administration. It also raises significant questions about the future balance of power between state and federal authorities in immigration enforcement at the southern border.United States Senator Ron Johnson (Republican of Wisconsin)
Will Democrats and Republicans head for the border?
But there is now more talk in Washington of a legislative compromise that Dems would accept and Republicans would cheer in the form of policies that make it tougher for asylum-seekers to enter the US.
Why might the Dems give way? They want more money from Republicans to help Ukraine repel Russia, and concessions on border policy might help. Dems also worry that another border crisis will undermine their 2024 election chances by boosting Republican turnout and diverting attention from other issues – like abortion rights – where Democrats hold a stronger political hand.
What’s the Republican calculation? Winning Dem concessions to tighten the border is a political victory, but an election-year border crisis on Biden’s watch might be more valuable.
We’ll be watching to see how heavyweights in each party play their respective political hands.
Migrants gather near the border wall
Biden is (re)building the wall
No, you haven’t gone back in time to 2016. Yes, the US government is building a wall along the southern border.
The Biden administration announced this week that it will bypass environmental laws to fast-track 20 miles of barrier construction in the Rio Grande Valley – where 245,000 border arrests were made over the last year.
President Joe Biden, who campaigned on stopping Donald Trump’s border wall, is being called a hypocrite by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. In a press conference on Thursday, he told reporters the decision was not a policy reversal, and while he does not believe border walls are effective, the money Congress allocated to barrier construction under Trump in 2019 could not be allocated elsewhere.
But if the money has been allocated since 2019, why restart construction now? Biden is facing pressure from his party to get illegal immigration under control. Democratic leaders from New York to Illinois fear it could strengthen Republicans' tough-on-crime platforms and cost them suburban and moderate voters.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has criticized Biden’s inaction, convinced the president to authorize work visas for nearly 500,000 Venezuelans to ease the strain on his city’s resources. Adams is currently on a tour of Latin America to dissuade would-be asylum-seekers from coming to the Big Apple.
Democrats will be trying hard not to lose gains in the state’s increasingly liberal cities and suburbs, particularly among Hispanic voters who are increasingly voting for the GOP. In Starr County, which is 95% Hispanic and construction on the wall is about to resume, voters shifted to the right by 55 points in 2020 compared to 2016.
Constructing a 20-mile barrier will neither win back these voters nor fix the country’s migrant crisis. But Biden’s decision underscores that border policy is a complex issue with decisive consequences in the 2024 election.
Mexican authorities and firefighters remove injured migrants, mostly Venezuelans, from inside the National Migration Institute (INM) building during a fire, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico March 27, 2023.
Hard Numbers: Deadly Mexican fire, ZAUKUS, terror in the Sahel, Luke Skywalker saves Ukraine
38: Migrants fearing deportation set an immigration detention center ablaze in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, killing 38 asylum-seekers and critically injuring dozens. The blaze was one of the deadliest incidents ever for Mexico's immigration system, which is accused of mistreating migrants as it struggles to accommodate the rising number of asylum-seekers arriving at the U.S-Mexico border.
4: New Zealand may become the 4th country to join the US, UK, and Australia in the AUKUS alliance – or shall we say ZAUKUS? While less concerned with the non-nuclear pillar of the alliance – the part Wellington may join – China has already signaled its opposition to AUKUS’S potential to disrupt the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.
2,000: The number of terrorism victims has increased by 2,000% in the Sahel region of Africa over the past 15 years, according to the 2023 Global Terrorism Index. More than 20,000 civilians have been killed by terrorism in the region since 2007 – a concern for local governments and European leaders faced with increased migration as a result of the violence.
14 million: Luke Skywalker has joined the fight. Mark Hamill, who played Skywalker, is the new voice of Ukraine's aerial bombardment Air Alert app. The app has been downloaded over 14 million times, and now Ukrainian users will hear the Jedi Knight warn them when to find shelter – before sending them on their way (when the danger has passed) with the iconic phrase: “May the force be with you.”
Migrants use their phones to access the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a shelter near the US-Mexico border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico February 24, 2023.
Hard Numbers: Glitchy US border app, Japanese no-show canned, Paris stinks, Argentina’s inflation hits triple digits
2.5: A new US government app meant to speed the processing of asylum-seekers and other migrants arriving from Mexico has a rating of just 2.5 stars on Google play. Small wonder, given that the app is reportedly glitchy, difficult to use, and creates opportunities for scammers to prey on migrants and their families.
7: WFH FTW? Not in Japan’s parliament. After failing to show up to work a single time in seven months, Japanese MP Yoshikazu Higashitani was expelled from parliament on Tuesday. Higashitani, a YouTube star who specializes in celebrity gossip under the name GaaSyy, was elected last July as a member of a party whose only issue is to reform Japan’s public broadcast system.
5,600:Paris le Pew! Some 5,600 tons of stinking, uncollected trash have piled up in the City of Light, the result of an ongoing strike by public sanitation workers opposed to the government’s controversial plan to raise the pension age.
100: Argentina’s annual inflation rate has hit 100%, cracking triple digits for the first time since way back in 1991, when, to put things in proper perspective, Maradona was still with Napoli. The country’s soaring prices are a major concern for voters ahead of what is sure to be a super-contentious election this fall.