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Approximately eighteen months ago there was significant public commentary and proposed solutions by the current government and their self-proclaimed sheriff to stopping illegal migration and human trafficking, particularly the infamous sloops.

As I write this article, a press release has been issued stating that an illegal vessel has been intercepted with 137 persons onboard. Ironically, this has become the status quo with this administration, send a release and keep talking tough. Transitioning to present day, the self-proclaimed sheriff seems not to be able to proverbially speaking, shoot straight with an effective strategy or policy.

However, I must make mention of the increase in penalties for human smuggling and other immigration offences amendments was an encouraging approach, with support from the opposition in the House of Parliament, otherwise the current government has not established an effective national strategy to this vexing problem.

As Turks and Caicos Islanders, we all know of the negative externalities of human smuggling and the illegal entry of sloops to our shores, such as gun smuggling, narcotics smuggling and the public health and security risk to our communities nationwide. By extension, the illegal migration tentacles dont stop at our borders. They reach deep into our scarce natural resources, with the development of unsafe housing and squatter villages, which can be a breeding ground for criminality and unsavory behaviors.

This occurs while our very own Turks and Caicos Islander cannot get access to their own land to build the life they desire in their own country. This is one primary reason to act with haste in developing a national strategy with a focus on curbing this trade.

During this government's tenure thus far, the Turks and Caicos Islands has been inundated with illegal sloops breaching our borders. To be more precise, in 2021 there were 15 sloops intercepted, carrying over 1,400 persons and 8 confirmed landings of illegal vessels that were not intercepted with an unknown number of persons that the government is aware of, as shared in public releases and forums.

I commend the law enforcement agencies associated with the interceptions. In 2022, thus far 8 sloops carrying approximately 860 illegal migrants have been intercepted and approximately 9 landed with an unknown number of persons and cargo. More boats landed in this country this year than were intercepted.

To be plain speaking, this is overwhelming on our immigration personnel, marine branch, our tax dollars and a serious threat to our national security. If we do a simple conservative estimated calculation of $250.00 per illegal migrant, excluding detention cost, security and food, the numbers add up. So what will the Sheriff do?

Many would ask what did the previous administration do to combat this national security concern? Well, here is a summary of what they accomplished during their governance as it relates to illegal migration and national security. The question will also be asked, was it enough?

Comparatively they may have a superior case.

Implemented an MOU with The Bahamas to Patrol TCI waters. Allocated financing for additional Coastal Radar Coverage Established the first Permanent Secretary of National Security Office Established the National Security strategy to implement strategy on illegal Migration, Security and Crime Advance Passenger Information Systems New marine police vessels Establishment of the TCI Regiment. (Lets compare and contrast the above with what this current administration has accomplished as it related to illegal migration and national security, roughly halfway through their term); Increased penalties for illegal migration Increased personnel for the Task Force (ongoing) Outside of the above-mentioned accomplishments, that I am aware of, the sheriff has been proverbially shooting blanks to combat illegal migration and human smuggling operations into the Turks and Caicos Islands, and I state this from an open and objective prospective.

In the area of national security, the people of these islands want an effective approach to curbing this illicit trade, not just tough talk, but tough action and transformative ideas. To transform the ways in which we combat the vexing illegal trade, we must give our best and brightest law enforcement minds an opportunity to brainstorm and contribute to this national security threat.

Having worked in the field for over twenty years, I know that the best ideas does not always originate at the top. Speaking of transformation, I will share several suggestions that the sheriff may want to consider.

Procure two cutters to patrol our territorial waters on 24hr basis. This will allow for a return at sea process, heighten our enforcement and patrol capabilities. Construct a modern detention center for migrant processing and detention to improve health, safety, and security of our officers. Establish an immigration court to swiftly deal with immigration matters, persons charged with immigration offences remain in the TCI on bail too long and continue to be a national security threat. Reduce the pull factors by not processing work permit applications for persons who enter the TCI illegally. Cease issuing work permits to persons seeking employment through TC Islanders who themselves dont have gainful employment, introduce a means test process for TC Islanders applying for work permits. Increase radar coverage for the entire Turks and Caicos Islands archipelago. Train and arm the Immigration Task Force to combat the threats they encounter and enhance intelligence gathering capabilities.

Whilst these recommendations may not be a cure all, we must change our current land and sea strategies on this issue. The cost of heightening our national security is worth ever expense, or we can continue with the antiquated methods we are currently using, which we have seen the negative results. The choice is clear; act or be outnumbered in our own country. Therefore, the overarching question is, can the sheriff and his deputies stop the sloops, or not?

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What will the Sheriff do about The Sloops? - Turks and Caicos Sun

LARUT: A total of 243,297 illegal immigrants have been repatriated under the recalibration programme which has been extended until the end of this month, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (pic).

He said that as of Thursday (June 23), 282,561 illegal immigrants had registered for the programme, which allows them to be sent home voluntarily.

"The process will end at the end of this month and as usual, we will take firm action against anyone (undocumented migrants) who refused to take up this offer.

"These migrants comprise those staying here without documents, without valid documents or verification made by the immigration.

"Employers who hire them will also be taken to court,' he told reporters when met at a gathering in Kampung Anak Kurau here on Saturday (June 25).

Hamzah, who is MP for Larut, said undocumented migrants could register to be sent home under the programme or apply to work legally in the country through the Manpower Recalibration Programme.

"Initially, we expected only about 200,000 people but now the number of immigrants who want to go back and those wishing to work again has reached 400,000," he said.

He said the government had received almost RM1bil in levies, including from this programme, so far this year.

Among the conditions for joining the recalibration programme for going home were that the applicants must have valid travel documents approved by their own embassies and possess flight or ferry tickets to return to their home countries.

Meanwhile, Hamzah said controls at the Malaysian-Thai border would be tightened following Thailands move to legalise medical cannabis, which would make the substance more easily available in that country.

"Our recent visit to Turkiye shows that certain aspects of its border controls can be adopted for our country to tighten security," he added. - Bernama

Read more:
More than 200000 illegal immigrants repatriated under recalibration programme - The Star Online

WESLACO, Texas U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez has apologized for the behavior of some of his congressional colleagues during a recent congressional field hearing in the Rio Grande Valley.

The U.S. House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth was supposed to be in the region to gather facts on economic disparity and fairness in growth. But, Republican members on the committee spent much of their time attacking President Biden over border security.

Obviously, we had a group of members that went rogue and totally got off subject. They were here for totally political reasons and political purposes. They were here to get re-elected or elected. They were not here to learn of our problems or solve our problems. It is unfortunate. I apologize to our community for the members that went rogue on us today, Gonzalez told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service.

Asked by a reporter if half the allotted time of the next congressional field hearing on border security could instead be spent on economic disparity, Gonzalez said: Right. I was appalled that my Republican colleagues used this unique opportunity to paint South Texas as a lawless and unsafe community. With all of their statistics, they failed to mention that the Rio Grande Valley is home to some of the safest communities in the entire country.

Gonzalez, D-McAllen, said he worked hard to get the select committee to visit the Valley.

As we are now investing trillions of dollars in infrastructure funding, I thought it imperative that the committee came down here in person and saw the challenges we face every single day, Gonzalez said.

We are still the largest urban community in the United States that is not connected to an interstate highway. We still have drainage issues. We have major drainage issues. We have a digital divide that is like no other in the country.

In a media advisory sent out before the hearing, Gonzalez set out the parameters for the visit.

The field visit will help underscore practical approaches from the federal to local level to enhance roadways, improve drainage infrastructure, and expand access to broadband, as well as include a tour of a local colonia to illustrate unique infrastructure challenges impacting South Texas communities and highlight obstacles in escaping generational poverty.

After the event, Gonzalez acknowledged the visit did not go exactly to plan.

It was ignorant and highly disrespectful of my Republican colleagues to continue to use the Rio Grande Valley as a political backdrop and use my constituents as political pawns. It is time my Republican colleagues take some time to sit down and learn a thing or two about what South Texans are all about.

The attendance for the select committees field hearing in Weslaco held at the offices of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council resembled a Whos Who of Valley leaders. The chairman of the committee, Democrat Jim Hines of Connecticut said the number of people attending was the best the committee had ever had.

This is actually the biggest attendance we have had for a field hearing. It is important to hold the hearings outside of Washington so we can actually see the problems we are trying to address, Hines said.

We are here primarily to listen. This committee has a very simple charge. The speaker of the House asked us to look at the disparity, the economic disparity that exists in this country and all over this country.

Hines added: We believe as Americans that every American regardless of the zip code, the color of their skin, where they were born, what language they speak, they should have the opportunity to partake in the American Dream.

Hines won applause for this last remark.

Because there were more GOP members of the committee members present, there was no continuity in the discussion. Local leaders focused on issues such as drainage and flooding, the need to expand broadband, connecting I-69 East and I-69 Central to the rest of the nations interstate system, and building a second causeway to South Padre Island. But when the Republicans on the panel spoke, the focus turned sharply to undocumented immigration and beefing up border security.

U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, a Republican from Wisconsin, is the ranking member on the select committee. He said he liked to get out of the Washington swamp in order to hear from ordinary folks.

In his opening remarks Steil claimed the Valley would have more local funds to address drainage issues if it did not have to spend as much on border security. He pivoted from flooding to border security in just a few sentences.

Flooding has had a significant impact on the Rio Grande Valley. This committee had an opportunity to see some of that firsthand today with the committees visit to the colonias. I think we should really explore how the federal government can partner with local areas to meet this need. Flood infrastructure costs millions of dollars. But what is so frustrating when I hear from folks here is that the federal government and local resources are being used to address a different crisis. And that is the porous border crossing the state of Texas and cities across the Rio Grande Valley millions of dollars each year, Steil said.

Steil said a video to be aired at the hearing would show that a local school had to barricade its grounds with large boulders to stop car chases. However, the school was in Brackettville, Kinney County, not the Valley. The video featured Brent Smith, the county attorney for Kinney County.

U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, a Republican from Florida, said she would take the Valleys concerns about flooding back to Washington, D.C.. But, like the other GOP members, she spent much of her time talking about immigration. Cammack asked the five witnesses who testified at the hearing if there was a crisis at the border. Four of them refused to say yes. They were Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevio, Hidalgo County Commissioner David Fuentes, Cameron County Commissioner David Garza, and digital inclusion specialist Jordana Barton.

Only one of the witnesses said there was a crisis at the border Susan Kibbe, executive director of the South Texans Property Rights Association. After the hearing, Kibbe, a resident of Brooks County, said: Washington has turned its back on the property owners and citizens of South Texas. I wish I could say that the administration considers us second class citizens, but to them, we dont even exist.

Kibbe said South Texas rural landowners are adversely affected by an un-secure border. Local Emergency services are being diverted from local public safety needs of their communities to deal with smuggling pursuits, bailouts, and the lost, injured, and dehydrated or dead immigrants. The normal daily emergency needs dont just put themselves on hold until illegal immigration slows down. They just become needs that are unmet.

After the hearing, Rep. Gonzalez said he kept trying to steer the conversation back to infrastructure.

We already know this but we were trying to enlighten the folks that have not been down here that we have drainage issues that need to be attended to. We are also the largest urban area in the country that is not connected to an interstate highway. Two of the three cities least connected to broadband are in the Rio Grande Valley and we need to make those substantial investments. The only way to do it is through federal funding, funding that was passed largely by Democrats. If we had not gotten those funds people would still be drinking yellow water, Gonzalez said.

I would like to thank all of the local leaders and experts for sharing their time, experiences, and recommendations with us.

Producing quality journalism is not cheap. The coronavirus has resulted in falling revenues across the newsrooms of the United States. However, The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service is committed to producing quality news reporting on the issues that matter to border residents. The support of our members is vital in ensuring our mission gets fulfilled.

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Gonzalez: Congressional hearing was supposed to focus on infrastructure, not immigration - Rio Grande Guardian

Voting at Swanson Middle School in Westover in November 2021 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 4:40 p.m.) The ballot for the general election has been set, with three races to be decided by local voters.

Multiple candidates for Arlington County Board, School Board and the 8th Congressional District have qualified for the ballot. The first day of in-person early voting is Friday, Sept. 23 and the last day to register to vote is Monday, Oct. 17, according to Arlingtons election office.

8th Congressional District

In the 8th Congressional District Democratic primary, incumbent Rep. Don Beyer overcame challenger Victoria Virasingh. Beyer goes on to the general election to face the GOP nominee, Arlington resident Karina A. Lipsman, and independent candidate Teddy Fikre.

The seat for the 8th District, which encompasses Arlington, Alexandria, the City of Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County, has been held by a Democrat for decades. Beyer won a crowded primary for former Congressman Jim Morans seat in 2014 and the general election later that year.

Lipsman was nominated to take on the progressive establishment, said an email from the Arlington GOP after the nomination.

Lipsman, who is originally from Ukraine, outlines priorities such as supporting law enforcement, opposing tax increases, stopping illegal immigration and her stance against abortion on her website. She says she supports school choice and community colleges, technical schools and vocational training programs.

Among issues Beyer lists on his campaign website are climate change, housing, immigration, gun violence prevention, the federal workforce and others.

Fikres website says he is an IT project manager with an MBA from Johns Hopkins University, cares about inclusive justice and implementing policies that restore fairness in America and enacting laws that are rooted in love. Among issues hes focused on are making taxes voluntary for the working, middle and upper-middle-class, as well as forgiving all student loans.

Arlington County Board

Three familiar names are up for consideration for a County Board seat. Incumbent Matt de Ferranti was not challenged for the Democratic nomination.

During his tenure on the board, de Ferranti says he has focused on Covid response, racial equity and priorities like affordable housing, hunger, climate change and school funding.

Two independent candidates will also be on the ballot and not for their first time seeking a seat.

Independent Adam Theo, who is vice president of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, is running on a platform of expanding government accountability, prioritizing public safety and making housing affordable. Theo describes himself as a fierce non-partisan free-thinking progressive libertarian.' He was previously deployed to eastern Afghanistan while serving in the Air Force Reserve as a civil engineer.

This is Theos second time running for the County Board in as many years. Last year, he ran in a crowded County Board race for the seat that Democrat Takis Karantonis occupies.

Civic activist Audrey Clement is also running as an independent, seeking to reduce taxes, stop up-zoning, and preserve parks, trees and historic places. She said on her website shes running because the Board has pushed harmful policies resulting in: overcrowded schools, gentrification, loss of green space, and a 10 year average annual effective tax rate increase that is twice the rate of inflation.

The Westover resident has been a perennial candidate over the last decade or so and says she believes once people realize the Missing Middle housing push will rezone some neighborhoods, they will support a candidate like her.

Arlington School Board

After some commotion surrounding the Democratic endorsement for the School Board seat up for grabs, only two names will be on the ballot: James Vell Rives and Bethany Sutton.

The Arlington County Democratic Committee endorsed Sutton through its endorsement process, which saw a few changes this year in light of calls for a broader reform that were ultimately defeated.

Brandon Clark, a Gunston Middle School teacher, was also vying for the Democratic endorsement before he withdrew to run as an independent, claiming education shouldnt be partisan. But he has since withdrawn from the race altogether.

I decided to withdraw and focus on being a husband, father and teacher for the time being, he told ARLnow. I plan to be involved in advocating for educators as Chair of the Teachers Council on Instruction and through community engagement.

Sutton served on Randolph Elementary Schools PTA board for seven years, three of which she was president of the board. Since spring 2020, she has led the Randolph Food Pantry, a community-based volunteer effort to support families affected by the pandemic.

Rives is a psychiatrist and serves as co-chair of Arlington Public Schools School Health Advisory Board. His website asserts that as an independent, he is not indebted to any political party or interest group.

The Fairlington resident particularly wants to help as schools recover from the effects of the pandemic, keeping schools open so students can catch up on lost skills and ensuring that APS retains teachers.

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Here's who will be on the ballot for the November general election in Arlington - ARLnow

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Hundreds of migrants suspected to have entered the country illegally were seen Thursday wandering the side of a highway in Eagle Pass, Texas, a small town just east of the Rio Grande on the Mexican border, a video taken by Texas law enforcement showed.

Between August and May Border Patrol officers have paroled more than 207,000 migrants to avoid overcrowding in detention centers, a system started under the Biden administration.

It's unclear if the migrants seen in the video had been paroled.

Hundreds of migrants suspected to have entered the country illegally were seen this week wandering the side of a highway in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Law Enforcement Source/Bill Melugin)

By law, the Homeland Security Department may parole migrants "for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit." The Border Patrol says it turned to parole because it lacks holding space and resources are "overwhelmed."

The Border Patrol in Eagle Pass sends around 1,000 migrants every day to a nonprofit called Mission: Border Hope in the town.

COAST GUARD SENDS BACK 36 CUBAN NATIONALS INTERCEPTED NEAR FLORIDA KEYS

The area now rivals the Rio Grande Valley in illegal crossings.

People wait at a warehouse run by the Mission: Border Hope nonprofit group, in Eagle Pass, Texas, May 23, 2022. The Border Patrol releases up to 1,000 migrants daily at Mission: Border Hope. The nonprofit group, run by the United Methodist Church, outgrew a church and moved to the warehouse in April amid the Biden administration's rapidly expanding practice of releasing migrants on parole, particularly those who are not subject to a pandemic rule that prevents migrants from seeking asylum. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

In May, 51,132 migrants were paroled, a 28% increase from April, according tocourt records.

AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER: DOZENS OF MIGRANTS DETAINED AS BORDER PATROL CONTENDS WITH NIGHTLY INFLUX

People line up for a commercial bus that will take them to the San Antonio airport at a warehouse run by the Mission: Border Hope nonprofit group run by the United Methodist Church in Eagle Pass, Texas, May 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

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In the previous seven months before last August, only seven migrants had been paroled.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Hundreds of migrants seen wandering on side of road in Texas amid illegal immigration surge - Fox News