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Trump’s Tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico Take Effect

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President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico took effect at midnight Tuesday morning, increasing the taxes that U.S. importers will pay on certain goods when they enter the country.

Effective Tuesday, U.S. imports from China, the third-largest U.S. trading partner, will be subject to a new 10% tariff on top of the initial 10% tariff he imposed on Chinese goods last month.

Tariffs on imported goods from Canada and Mexico – America’s two largest bilateral trading partners, according to Census Bureau data – are also set to rise, with 25% tariffs levied on all imports from the two countries. The tariffs include a carve-out for a lower 10% tariff on Canadian oil imports.

President Trump was asked on Monday whether there was room left for any room left for Canada or Mexico to make a deal to avoid tariffs and he replied, “No room left for Mexico or for Canada. No, the tariffs, you know, they’re all set. They go into effect tomorrow.”

Shortly after taking office in January, Trump announced he would impose tariffs on the three countries and cited the flows of illegal fentanyl shipments across the Mexican and Canadian borders, as well as precursor chemicals for fentanyl shipped from China. He cited authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). (Read more from “Trump’s Tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico Take Effect” HERE)

Report: Former Mexican Consulate Lawyer Coaches Illegals to Lie to ICE

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The Mexican consulate in Tucson, Arizona, is working with a leftist group that facilitates illegal immigration, according to an investigation by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.

“These are hotbeds of radical activity,” Mike Howell, executive director of the Oversight Project, said to The Federalist. “They’re doing everything to coach these illegals to evade arrest. … It’s foreign interference through our domestic policies when you have the Mexican consulate involved.”

Mayra De La Torre — a former lawyer for the consulate — told illegals to lie to law enforcement about working in America in a video the Oversight Project published on Monday. The undercover footage exposed a seminar for illegals at Tucson’s Southside Worker Center, a non-governmental organization “building collective power” that hires out workers.

“You can make things up. ‘We’re not working, we’re volunteering here, this person is just helping,’” De La Torre said in the video. “What if they ask, ‘What about the $200?’” someone in the audience asked. “Say, ‘It’s a gift for my good work, for being a volunteer,’” De La Torre replied.

Howell said he is unsure how much time has passed since De La Torre stopped working for the Mexican consulate in her official capacity, or whether she is still working for it in an “unofficial capacity.” (Read more from “Report: Former Mexican Consulate Lawyer Coaches Illegals to Lie to ICE” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Medevac Plane Crash Victim ID’d as Young Girl Headed Home to Mexico After ‘Life-Saving Treatment’ in US

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The young patient who was on board the small medevac jet that crashed in a Philadelphia neighborhood Friday evening was heading home to Mexico after receiving “life-saving treatment” in the US, an official said.

The girl was one of six — four passengers and two crew members — onboard the Learjet 55 that plummeted out of the sky shortly after 6 p.m., less than a minute after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport en route to Missouri’s Springfield-Branson National Airport.

The child was heading back to Tijuana with her mother, a doctor, paramedic, pilot and copilot, Shai Gold, spokesman for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, told NBC 10 Philadelphia.

“All I can say is the patient was sponsored by a third-partner charity to undergo life-saving treatment in the US,” Gold said, adding, “She did her course of care. She was going home.

“She fought quite a lot to survive, and unfortunately this tragedy on the way home.” (Read more from “Medevac Plane Crash Victim ID’d as Young Girl Headed Home to Mexico After ‘Life-Saving Treatment’ in US” HERE)

Mexico Refuses to Accept U.S. Deportation Flight as Trump’s Immigration Overhaul Gets Into Full Swing

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Mexico refused to allow a plane carrying illegal migrants to land in the country on Thursday after President Trump dramatically beefed up security at the border and ordered mass raids and deportations since reclaiming the White House, according to military officials.

The deportation flight was blocked from leaving the US after two Air Force C-17 flights, each carrying about 80 deportees to Guatemala, successfully took off Thursday night, NBC reported, citing two defense officials and a third person familiar with the situation.

It was not immediately clear why Mexico blocked the plane, but tensions have flared between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum since he threatened to slap 25% tariffs on Mexican goods in response to migrants illegally crossing the border.

A White House official told the outlet via text message that “the flights thing was an administrative issue and was quickly rectified.”

The flight rejection appeared to be confusion over the Department of Defense flight manifest, according to Fox News’ Bill Melugin, who cited a senior State Department official. (Read more from “Mexico Refuses to Accept U.S. Deportation Flight as Trump’s Immigration Overhaul Gets Into Full Swing” HERE)

Drug Cartels Now Mexico’s 5th-Largest Employer

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Some 175,000 people now actively work for Mexico’s smuggling cartels, according to a shocking estimate that would make cartels the country’s fifth-largest private employer.

Rafael Prieto-Curiel, who led the research, said the cartels’ secret is their viciously efficient recruitment ability. He said the cartels hire more than 350 people weekly.

That helps them counter massive losses through arrests, killings and dropouts.

“Cartels, they need to have roughly 175,000 members. They cannot be much smaller because they would have collapsed. They cannot be much bigger because they would have grown so fast,” Mr. Prieto-Curiel said. “So they have to be roughly 175,000 members, which means roughly, just to put it into context, the fifth-largest employer in the country.”

He and his fellow researchers used computer models to peer into the country’s notoriously secretive cartels. They ran millions of permutations on the 150 cartels and evaluated their recruiting and losses to arrests, killings and dropouts. (Read more from “Drug Cartels Now Mexico’s 5th-Largest Employer” HERE)

Florida Man Shoots at Two Migrants in Alleged Home Invasion, One Died

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A Florida homeowner shot at two migrants who allegedly broke into his home Thursday night. One of the migrants, a Mexican national, died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells told reporters his deputies responded to a call about a shooting connected to an alleged home invasion burglary. The homeowner said his home surveillance camera alerted him to the two masked men who were about to break into his home, Fox 13 reported.

“He [the homeowner] knew something bad was about to happen, and he didn’t stall. He grabbed his firearm, told his wife to get into a safe spot,” the sheriff said. “This is the state of Florida. If you want to break into someone’s home, you should expect to be shot.”

The homeowner reportedly told his wife to find a safe place in the house as he grabbed his firearm to defend his home and family. Florida is a Castle Doctrine state that allows a homeowner to use deadly force to defend himself or others.

The homeowner entered a room where a Mexican national was standing, later identified as Nestevan Flores-Toledo, 27. aka Anibal Miller-Valencia. The homeowner fired at least three shots, striking the intruder multiple times. (Read more from “Florida Man Shoots at Two Migrants in Alleged Home Invasion, One Died” HERE)

Mexico Braces for Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan With 25 New Shelters

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Mexico is preparing for President-elect Donald Trump’s forthcoming mass deportation mission by opening 25 new shelters that will house more than 12,000 Mexican nationals.

Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda announced plans Monday to open the additional shelters, including six in Tijuana and two in Mexicali, according to the Border Report.

Ávila Olmeda called it a “strategic plan” to provide housing to “exclusively people who get deported after January 20.”

The new shelters will not provide accommodations to other foreign nationals. She explained that deported Mexican migrants will be temporarily placed in the facilities until they can be returned to their hometowns.

Each of the 25 shelters will be able to accommodate 500 people. According to the Border Report, some shelters will house men, while others will accommodate women, unaccompanied minors, and family units. The new shelters are slated to open by Trump’s Inauguration Day. (Read more from “Mexico Braces for Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan With 25 New Shelters” HERE)

Mexico’s Leftist President Tries To Preempt Any U.S. Invasion Targeting Drug Cartels

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Mexico’s leftist president is trying to take away any chance President-elect Trump could order the use of military force against the infamous Mexican drug cartels that control much of Mexico and traffic lethal drugs across the American border.

Trump said last weekend, “All foreign gang members will be expelled and I will immediately designate the [drug] cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. I will do so immediately.”

Trump’s choice for national security advisor, hard-core conservative Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) co-introduced legislation in January 2023 calling for an “Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Mexican cartels for trafficking lethal fentanyl and other related activities that have caused destabilization in the Western Hemisphere.”

Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice for Defense Secretary, said the cartels are “terrorist-like organizations poisoning our population. … If it takes military action, that’s what it may take, eventually. Obviously, you’re gonna have to be smart about it. Obviously, the precision strikes. But if you put the fear in the minds of the drug lords, at least as a start, [and] they can’t operate in the open with impunity, [it] changes the way they operate.” (Read more from “Mexico’s Leftist President Tries To Preempt Any U.S. Invasion Targeting Drug Cartels” HERE)

Doing Biden a Favor: Mexico Aggressively Rounding up Migrants Ahead of U.S. Presidential Election

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Video reports coming from Mexico show government immigration officials rounding up large groups of migrants near Juarez. The Mexican immigration officials are reportedly sending the migrants back to the southern end of the country.

Video reports posted on X show large numbers of Mexican immigration enforcement vehicles loaded with migrants who were apprehended in Juarez approaching the border with El Paso, Texas. The migrants are reportedly being transported back to southern Mexico or other interior locations within the country.

In another video, a migrant woman pleads with Mexican immigration officers to let her continue her journey to Texas. . .

Center for Immigration fellow Todd Bensman reports the moves by Mexican immigration officials are part of a Biden-Obrador election ploy intended to deflect from the magnitude of the border crisis in Texas.

(Read more from “Doing Biden a Favor: Mexico Aggressively Rounding up Migrants Ahead of U.S. Presidential Election” HERE)

To Stop the Border Invasion, Get Tough on Mexico

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A group of several hundred illegal immigrants forcibly pushed past Texas National Guard troops on Thursday in El Paso, Texas, breaking through razor wire and assaulting guardsmen as they forcibly rushed a border gate.

Video of the clash, which was filmed by reporters from the New York Post, quickly went viral. It shows the crowd of migrants, all of them adult men, at first putting their hands up as they crowd around a small group of Texas guardsmen trying to block an opening in the fence the migrants had created. After what appears to be a brief physical altercation, the crowd rushes past the guardsmen. The Post reporter at the scene described it as a “riot.” . . .

What can be done to stop this? In the near term, mostly nothing. The riotous scenes at the border, the millions of illegal immigrants processed and released into the country by federal immigration authorities, the chaos of homeless illegal immigrants camped out on the streets of major American cities — all of these were totally predictable policy outcomes that the Biden administration knew would happen. They did it anyway, and they will probably not do anything to stop it.

But even if the Biden administration recognized that the border invasion might be a political liability going into the November presidential election, the steps required to bring the situation under control at this point are so drastic that there’s almost no chance the Biden White House would even consider them.

The key thing to understand about the crisis is that it’s being managed by Mexican cartels, along with their partners inside the Mexican government, as a for-profit enterprise. Under Biden, the cartels have turned illegal immigration into big business, a massive black market in which every illegal immigrant who crosses the border represents a source of income for the cartels. They are all being trafficked, in other words. It is not too much to say the cartels are running slave markets, as my friend Joshua Treviño did in these pages recently, “in which children are bought and sold to increase the chances that the norteamericanos will admit a supposed family unit, and also to provide supply to the vile and ravenous market in sex.” (Read more from “To Stop the Border Invasion, Get Tough on Mexico” HERE)