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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) claimed Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris is only going to the southwestern border region this week to undercut a planned visit by former President Donald Trump next week.

I mean, 91 days ago, she was named as border czar, in charge of the border crisis, and she demonstrated strong leadership by doing not a damn thing, by going nowhere near the border, by doing everything she could to hide from the crisis, Cruz told Fox News America Reports.

Now frankly, thats the same thing Joe Biden is doing, the senator continued. Shes emulating the president in hiding from the crisis, and so suddenly President Trump is going to the border and they realized, Oh, crap, we gotta do something.

Harris is scheduled to visit El Paso, Texas with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday. The vice president has come under pressure from lawmakers of both parties to travel to the region amid a surge in illegal immigration that has seen apprehensions by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reach highs not seen in more than 20 years.

However, Cruz argued that by traveling to El Paso, Harris was avoiding what he called the locus of the crisis hundreds of miles away in the Rio Grande Valley.

Chicago, Illinois is closer to Washington DC, than El Paso is to McAllen, the senator said. And so shes going where the height of the problem isnt.

Kamala, you need to go to the Rio Grande Valley, Cruz continued. Kamala, you need to go to McAllen. Kamala, you need to go to the Donna tent facility, which is the tent city your administration has built that is massively over capacity, that has kids in cages. You need to look at the children in cages that you and Joe Biden put there in a way that is endangering their safety and subjecting them to abuse and sexual assault.

Cruz went on to claim that Harris was not traveling to the area because she doesnt want the cameras to see the Joe Biden cages with kids in cages.

Trump is scheduled to visit the border region on June 30 alongside Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has declared a disaster in 34 counties along or near the border and announced earlier this month that he plans to construct a border wall.

After months of ignoring the crisis at the Southern Border, it is great that we got Kamala Harris to finally go and see the tremendous destruction and death that theyve createda direct result of Biden ending my very tough but fair Border policies, Trump said in a statement after the Harris trip was confirmed.

Harris and Biden were given the strongest Border in American history. And now, it is by far the worst in American history, the former president added. If Governor Abbott and I werent going there next week, she would have never gone!

In a second statement late Wednesday, Trump warned that [t]here has never been, in our Countrys history, a Border catastrophe like what is currently taking place at our Southern Border.

All Biden had to do is leave it the way it was, by far the strongest Southern Border our Country has ever had, he continued. Millions of people will now be streaming into our Country unchecked, unvetted, and unknown. Other countries are emptying their prisons with their worst criminals flowing into our Country. Drugs, gangs, and fugitives are pouring in every day. Hospitals, schools, communities, and police are overwhelmed. This is far more than a crisis, the former president concluded.

[O]ur Country is being destroyed!

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Cruz claims Harris is ducking 'locus' of migrant crisis

(Daily Caller News Foundation) Texas will build its own border wall as migrants continue illegally entering the state, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Abbott hosted a border security meeting with Texas law enforcement officials to discuss how they can combat illegal entry at the border,accordingto Abbott.

Abbott criticized the Biden administrations policies for causing an increase in illegal migration to the southern border.

I will announce next week the plan for the state of Texas to begin building the border wall in the state of Texas, Abbott said, the American-Statesman reported.

The Biden admin promised to end border wall construction, but continued seizing Texans land through April for new sections of the wall to be installed, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.

President Bidens open-border policies have led to a humanitarian crisis at our southern border as record levels of illegal immigrants, drugs, and contraband pour into Texas, Abbott said in a statement.

The Biden administration threatened Tuesday to sue Abbott if the state follows through with plans to close federal facilities holding migrant minors operating in the state, the DCNFreported. The Biden administration argued Abbotts disaster declaration discriminates against the federal government by targeting facilities it contracts with.

While securing the border is the federal governments responsibility, Texas will not sit idly by as this crisis grows, Abbott added. The state is working collaboratively with communities impacted by the crisis to arrest and detain individuals coming into Texas illegally.

Customs and Border Protection officialsapprehendedover 180,000 migrants at the southern border in May,accordingto the agency. Nearly 51,000 of migrants apprehended in May were encountered along Texas Rio Grande Valley sector and another 40,000 were apprehended in the Laredo and Del Rio sectors.

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Texas will build its own border wall in response to ...

Issued on: 31/05/2021 - 22:31

Morocco and Spain tradednew accusations on Monday in a diplomatic row triggered by theWestern Sahara territorial issue that led this month to amigration crisis in Spain's enclave in northern Morocco.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described Morocco'sactions in appearing to relax border controls with the enclaveof Ceuta as unacceptable and an assault on national borders.

Morocco's Foreign Ministry meanwhile blamed Spain forbreaking "mutual trust and respect", drawing parallels betweenthe issues of Western Sahara and Spain's Catalonia region, wherethere is an independence movement.

The dispute was sparked by Spain admitting Western Saharaindependence movement leader Brahim Ghali for medical treatmentwithout informing Rabat.

"It is not acceptable for a government to say that we willattack the borders, that we will open up the borders to let in10,000 migrants in less than 48 hours ... because of foreignpolicy disagreements," Sanchez said at a news conference.

Most migrants who crossed into Ceuta were immediatelyreturned to Morocco, but hundreds of unaccompanied minors, whocannot be deported under Spanish law, remain.

The influx was widely seen as retaliation for Spain'sdecision to discreetly take in Ghali.

Morocco regards Western Sahara as part of its own territory.

The Algeria-backed Polisario seeks an independent state in theterritory, where Spain was colonial ruler until 1975.

Describing Spain as Morocco's best ally in the EuropeanUnion, Sanchez said he wanted to convey a constructive attitudetoward Rabat but insisted that border security was paramount.

"Remember that neighbourliness ... must be based on respectand confidence," he said.

Morocco's foreign ministry said in a statement that Spainviolated good neighbourliness and mutual trust and thatmigration was not the problem.

Rabat added that it has cooperated with Madrid in curbingmigrant flows and in countering terrorism, which it said helpedfoil 82 militant attacks in Spain.

The case of Ghali "revealed the hostile attitudes andharmful strategies of Spain regarding the Moroccan Sahara," theministry said in a statement.

Spain "cannot combat separatism at home and promote it inits neighbour," it said, noting Rabat's support for Madridagainst the Catalan independence movement.

Separately Ghali, who has been hospitalised with COVID-19 inLogrono in the Rioja region, will attend a high court hearingremotely on Tuesday from the hospital, his lawyers office said.

Morocco, which has withdrawn its ambassador to Madrid, hassaid it may sever ties with Spain if Ghali left the country thesame way he entered without a trial.

(REUTERS)

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Morocco's action in migrant crisis was 'unacceptable ...

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building during the virtual National Bar Association meeting in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris released a sweeping strategy on Thursday to address the root causes of migration amid the recent surge in illegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings.

The strategy states that the pandemic and "extreme weather conditions" have exacerbated the root causes of migration, which includes corruption, violence, trafficking and poverty.

The announcement comes as the administration faces a southern border crisis, with migrant detentions hitting 20-year highs in recent months.

More than 1.1 million apprehensions have been recorded during the first six months of this fiscal year, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. And a record high of nearly 190,000 apprehensions were recorded in June alone.

While the Biden administration has sent millions of vaccine doses and hurricane relief to Central America, Harris noted that providing such short-term relief is "not enough to alleviate suffering in the long term."

Instead, the vice president's strategy promises more sustained efforts to address motivations for migration, including refocusing engagement with Central America.

"In Central America, the root causes of migration run deep and migration from the region has a direct impact on the United States," Harris wrote in a cover letter discussing the plan. "For that reason, our nation must consistently engage with the region to address the hardships that cause people to leave Central America and come to our border."

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden tapped Harris to lead the administration's diplomatic efforts to address the causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, and she visited the U.S.-Mexico border in June as a part of those efforts.

The strategy is the vice president's most recent step to address these root causes, and is a core component of the Biden administration's broader plan released Tuesday to establish a "fair, orderly and humane immigration system."

The plan is broken down into five pillars but it does not provide a detailed timeline or policy actions to be taken. The pillars include addressing economic insecurity and inequality, combating democratic corruption and promoting respect for human rights.

The plan also addresses gang violence and crimes, and combating sexual and gender-based violence.

Harris noted that the United Nations and the governments of Mexico, Japan and South Korea have committed to joining the effort to address the motivations of migration from Central America.

"The United States cannot do this work alone," Harris wrote in the cover letter. "Our Strategy is far-reachingand focuses on our partnerships with other governments, international institutions, businesses, foundations, and civil society."

On Tuesday, the White House also released a "Collaborative Migration Management Strategy," which President Joe Biden ordered in February. It outlines how the U.S. will work with other countries to "manage safe, orderly and humane migration" in North and Central America.

Efforts include expanding job opportunities and protections in countries where migrants leave, ensuring that border management is secure and humane and creating more legal pathways to come to the U.S.

Dozens of migrants of Central American and Mexican origin sleep on the esplanade of the National Institute of Migration near the El Chaparral border crossing, waiting for U.S. authorities to let them enter to begin their humanitarian asylum process in this country.

Stringer | picture alliance | Getty Images

Republicans have slammed the Biden administration over its immigration policies, claiming that its roll-back of several policies issued under former President Donald Trump have encouraged illegal migration to the U.S.

Democrats and immigration advocates have also mounted pressure on Biden, calling for him to ensure the humane treatment of migrant children and families at the border and lift a Trump-era public health order known as Title 42.

The health order has allowed border officials to expel migrants without giving them the chance to claim asylum.

On Monday, the Biden administration also announced that it would speed up deportations for some migrant families through "expedited removal," which allows immigration authorities to deport a migrant without a hearing before a immigration judge.

The speedy deportation procedure will specifically apply to family units who are not deported to Mexico under Title 42 and fail to qualify for asylum, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.

That decision drew further criticism from advocates on the left.

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Vice President Kamala Harris unveils strategy to address illegal immigration at the border - CNBC

In a globalised world, migration begets migration. Those who are well-off migrate to metros or the West to seek better career opportunities. They may invest their earnings in apartments in large cities. Their investment drives construction that drives further migration: these apartment are likely to have been built by economic migrants from Chhatisgarh or Bihar.

However, as the pandemic has shown, the two migrants arent equal: the elite migrant could retreat into Zoom calls and work from home, while the marginal migrant was left stranded. A life of dignity, always precarious for the poor, became impossible after the lockdown.

What might they do to recover their dignity? One way to do so is to vote with their feet, i.e., to stay in their home communities as much as possible and migrate only when the destination guarantees that their rights will be respected. Both options are fraught with danger, especially when the lands back home are captured by the powerful, whether local or distant and when their gram sabha and other political institutions cannot protect their rights in the destination cities.

These are some of the questions emerged from the citizens jury we called the Janta ka Faisla we organised in Raipur from July 11-July 15. The forum offered migrants the opportunity to participate in a deliberative exercise that addressed the challenges of Indian society. At a Janta ka Faisla, the jury assisted by a support staff delivers a verdict after hearing representations from experts across civil society, academia and officials from the government. The jury is in the drivers seat and actively questions the experts. As a result, the normal power relationship between migrants and elites is reversed, with the migrants sitting in judgment and experts acting as advisors.

Our first Janta ka Faisla demonstrated that migrants have a keen appreciation of their situation and the larger political economy in which they live their lives. For example, while they recognise that work sponsored by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guaratee Scheme restores some of their agency, it creates further problems: who will take care of their children while they have to travel substantial (if still local) distances for MNREGA-related work? Nutritional support for children has to go hand in hand with livelihood support for adults.

The jurors posed these questions directly to Amarjeet Bhagat, Chhattisgarhs minister of food and civil supplies and TS Singh Deo, the state health minister. Their answers are on record, but it is the spirit of questioning and judgment that we want to focus on.

Democratic life comes with rights as well as duties. Elections and parliaments are the best-known institutions in democratic life, since all citizens have the right to vote and also the civic duty to do so. Besides electoral institutions, we also have the law. In some countries such as the US, the law is an essential part of civic life, with every citizen serving on juries and delivering judgments.

Jury duty is often seen as a chore, but it serves an important purpose: it reiterates that in a democracy, the people are sovereign and it offers a visceral experience of enacting that sovereignty and of bearing witness to the acts of their fellow citizens. In short, jury duty distributes the act of representation and recognises that each of us have the capacity to represent all of us.

In India, we arent accustomed to treating migrants as full citizens. We dont protect their rights and we certainly dont allow them to represent us or sit in judgment on the actions of the powerful or the state. But the Janta ka Faisla showed clearly that a jury of migrants can not only take on the burden of being a collective witness, their perspective adds insights that are missing from the views of the powerful who are routinely represented in the media.

Take healthcare, for example. The jury noted that they keep being redirected from public to private health institutions and back for different things like tests, medicines and other services. Why cant all these services be housed in one organisation in each city? In asking these questions, the Janta ka Faisla jury exhibited the kind of platform thinking for which an IT consultant would charge crores of rupees. If nothing else, such questions enable a process of human-centred design that will help build institutions that work for all of us.

The Washington Post has a tagline: Democracy dies in darkness. While agreeing with that claim, we ask a natural follow up question: whose light will dispel the darkness? Our experience with the Janta ka Faisla suggests that the capacity to throw light on our collective affairs should be widely distributed and that members of marginalised communities are as capable of revealing the truth as the most powerful in the land.

Gangaram Paikra is the Director of Chaupal in Surguja, Chhattisgarh.Rajesh Kasturirangan is the CEO of Socratus Foundation for Collective Wisdom.Biraj Patnaik is the Executive Director of the National Foundation for India.

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What a peoples jury on the migrant crisis taught us about the gaps in Indian democracy - Scroll.in