BORDER PATROL

After a dip in illegal crossings that followed policy changes in May, the Biden administration is again on its heels as more asylum-seekers cross the U.S. border from Mexico.

Smugglers are suddenly steering migrants through some of the most desolate and dangerous areas of the Arizona borderlands, forcing them to walk for miles in scorching heat.

The Biden administration has announced a major expansion of temporary legal status for Ukrainians already living in the United States, granting a reprieve for those who fled Russia’s invasion.

A report says Border Patrol does not have a protocol in place for assessing the medical needs of children with preexisting conditions.

Texas has started rolling out what is set to become a new floating barrier on the Rio Grande.

The death in Border Patrol custody of an 8-year-old Panamanian girl is the second child migrant fatality in two weeks under government supervision, raising questions about how prepared authorities are to address medical emergencies of people arriving after an often-exhausting journey.

The mother of an 8-year-old girl who died in Border Patrol custody says agents repeatedly ignored pleas to hospitalize her medically fragile daughter as she felt pain in her bones, struggled to breathe and was unable to walk.

U.S. officials say a 98% drop in Venezuelan arrivals has helped lead to a steep decline in migrants crossing the U.S. border illegally from Mexico since pandemic-related asylum limits expired last week.

Pandemic-related asylum restrictions that expelled migrants millions of times have ended in a shift that threatens to put a historic strain on the nation’s beleaguered immigration system.

Migrants are rushing across the border hours before pandemic-related asylum restrictions are to expire, fearing that policies will make it far more difficult to gain entry into the United States.

Federal prosecutors announced that they have busted a human smuggling operation on the Detroit River.

Cuban migrants are still arriving by boat in the Florida Keys even as the Biden administration promises a crackdown.

The Biden administration has been conspicuously silent about how migrants who plan to claim asylum should enter the United States when Trump-era limits end, fueling rumors, confusion and doubts about its readiness.

A Mexican citizen who was arrested in Auburn Hills last week was wanted for sex crimes with a child in Oakland County and had been previously removed from the United States four times, officials said.

Arizona is refusing the federal government’s demand to take down double-stacked shipping containers it placed to fill gaps in the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying it won’t do so until the U.S. moves to construct a permanent barrier.

The United Nations says almost three-quarters of the 6 million Venezuelan migrants currently in Latin America lack adequate food, shelter, employment or medical care.

The Biden administration has agreed to accept up to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants, similar to how Ukrainians have been admitted since Russia’s invasion.

U.S. authorities say the number of Venezuelans taken into custody at the U.S. border with Mexico soared in August.

Officials said they arrested a Spanish man, a Chilean man, and a Brazilian man who took a boat across the St. Clair River to cross illegally from Canada into Michigan in the middle of the night.

The Border Patrol is seeing a dramatic shift in the type of migrants who come across the busiest places on the U.S.-Mexico.

At least eight migrants were killed as dozens attempted a hazardous crossing of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas, officials said Friday.

Officials said border patrol agents arrested three people when they tried to cross the St. Clair River from Canada into Michigan.

The Border Patrol paroled more than 207,000 migrants who crossed from Mexico from August through May.

Unaccompanied child migrants trying to enter the United States will no longer be denied a chance to seek asylum under new guidance announced by U.S. health authorities.

There are many conflicting stories about whether a lane is open or closed again. We’ve seen no traffic on the Ambassador Bridge Friday (Feb. 11) except Border Patrol and bridge company repair crews.

A strained Border Patrol is getting increased attention from the Biden administration.

An internal review has been launched into the actions of a special Customs and Border Protection unit that used sensitive government databases intended to track terrorists to investigate as many as 20 U.S.-based journalists, including an Associated Press reporter.

The Detroit-Windsor border crossing is the busiest border crossing in North America.

In 2015, Anas Elhady was a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Dearborn who was stopped by CBP after returning from a visit with family in Canada.

In 2015, Anas Elhady was a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Dearborn who was stopped by border patrol after returning from a visit with family in Canada.

A convicted sex offender is back in jail, after he was arrested by Border Patrol agents from the Detroit station, for allegedly illegally re-entering the United States.

Congressional investigators say two Border Patrol agents were fired from among 60 found to have committed misconduct for participating in a private Facebook group that mocked migrants and lawmakers.

Faith-based groups are scrambling to keep up with fast-paced developments in the Haitian migrant crisis.

Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib has questions for U.S. Customs and Border Protection that she claims are going unanswered.

In its new report, the Michigan ACLU accuses the Michigan Branch of Customs and Border Protection of “blatant racial profiling” and making people of Latino or Hispanic descent a “primary suspect.”

Here are tonight's top stories.

Several people stopped to help a man from a burning car that crashed on Northwestern Highway in Farmington hills Saturday night.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday will announce commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to address the root causes of migration from the region.

The U.N. refugee agency has made an unusual plea for the Biden administration to lift pandemic-related restrictions on people seeking asylum in the United States.

While asylum-seeking families and children dominate public attention, single adults represent a growing number of encounters with U.S. border agents.

The number of unaccompanied children encountered on the U.S. border with Mexico in April eased from an all-time high a month earlier, while more adults are coming without families.

U.S. officials are scrambling to handle a dramatic spike in children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border alone.

Vice President Kamala Harris has announced plans to visit Mexico and Guatemala on what would be her first official trip abroad, as she pushes ahead on leading the White House’s diplomatic efforts on the migration challenge at the southern border.

The nonprofit said all of the children will be tested for coronavirus twice -- once before traveling to Michigan and again upon arriving at Starr Commonwealth’s campus.

Migrant families will be held at hotels in the Phoenix area in response to a growing number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, another step in the Biden’s administration rush to set up temporary space.

U.S. authorities say they picked up nearly 19,000 children traveling alone across the Mexican border in March.

U.S. authorities are releasing migrant families at the border without notices to appear in immigration court, and sometimes without any paperwork at all. The agency didn't answer questions about how many migrants have been released without court notices or without documents at all. Immigration attorneys had mixed reactions to people being released without court notices or paperwork, particularly the requirement to check in with ICE. Initially, U.S. authorities didn't even require the ICE check-in when it began releasing families without court notices over the past two weeks. D'Cruz said ICE could potentially issue a notice to appear in court, expel people from the country or do nothing.

DETROIT – Michigan may play a role in easing overcrowding at border facilities. The Great Lakes State was mentioned in a list of states along the Canadian Border to potentially be used in a little-known immigration program to help decrease over-crowding. According to emails obtained by the Washington Post, officials have requested air support from U.S. Immigration to relocate migrants to states like Michigan, South Dakota or Montana. The DHS program, known as ICE Air, was used during the Trump Administration at the height of immigration in 2019. Rep. Rashida Tlaib visited the U.S. southern border Friday alongside other lawmakers to tour a facility in Texas.

Harris has no plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border region “in the near future,” spokeswoman Symone Sanders said Friday. Sanders said Harris will go to the border at some point but emphasized the diplomatic nature of the vice president's role. “The vice president is not doing the border,” Sanders told reporters on a flight to Connecticut, where Harris was promoting the administration's COVID-19 relief package. He tweeted out photos of dozens of minors, wrapped in foil-like space blankets, lying on the floor of crowded Border Patrol facilities. It is not unusual to see increases in migrants coming across the border at this time of year and the Border Patrol has faced similar situations in the past, the official said.

FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2019 file photo, immigrants seeking asylum walk at the ICE South Texas Family Residential Center, in Dilley, Texas. The number of children crossing by themselves, mostly from Central America, appears to be surging in particular in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. AdThe total of 561 unaccompanied minors from Monday offers a snapshot of how quickly conditions have changed along the border. “They’re all coming across the border, they’re coming fast, and they’re wearing Biden T-shirts,” said the Oklahoma Republican. The Biden administration last week ended a Trump policy that made relatives reluctant to contact HHS to retrieve children for fear of being deported themselves.

The lawyers interviewed more than a dozen children Thursday in Donna, Texas, where the Border Patrol is holding more than 1,000 people. The Border Patrol currently has a record high of more than 3,000 children in detention, according to government data obtained by AP. More children are waiting longer in Border Patrol custody because long-term facilities operated by U.S. Health and Human Services have next to no capacity. AdMost Border Patrol stations were designed for short-term detention of adults, with cold, concrete cells with the lights always on. One died of the flu at the Border Patrol station in Weslaco, Texas, where minors are currently being held.

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)EL CENTRO, Calif. – Nine migrants in an SUV packed with 25 people that drove through an opening in a border wall suffered major injuries after their vehicle slammed into a tractor-trailer and killed 13 others inside, the California Highway Patrol said Thursday. The driver was among the 13 killed in the SUV, from Tuesday’s collision in California’s Imperial Valley, a farming region that produces many of the winter vegetables sold in U.S. supermarkets. The oldest was a 46-year-old woman from Guatemala City, also with major injuries. The Border Patrol said surveillance video showed the Expedition and a Chevrolet Suburban drive through an opening in the border wall about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of the crash. The Expedition soon struck the tractor-trailer, whose driver, a 68-year-old man from El Centro, suffered major injuries.

DETROIT – Glen Richard Mousseau was sentenced Wednesday to 71 months imprisonment after having plead guilty to using a submarine business to smuggle drugs between the United States and Canada. Original Story: Man using submarine to smuggle drugs across Detroit River found tied to floating bags of marijuanaMousseau, 49, is from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. After trying to stop the vessel, agents said they saw two large bundles being thrown into the water. While approaching the bundles, agents said they saw an unconscious man in the water. More Information: Man using submarine to smuggle drugs across Detroit River found tied to floating bags of marijuana

This photo provided by the US Customs and Border Protection shows a hole cut into Southern California's border fence with Mexico on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Thirteen people killed in one of the deadliest border crashes on record were among more than 40 migrants who entered the U.S. through the hole cut into Southern California's border fence with Mexico, the Border Patrol said Wednesday. The Suburban carried 19 people, and it caught fire for unknown reasons on a nearby interstate after entering the U.S. All escaped the vehicle and were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents. The Border Patrol said its agents were not pursuing the vehicle before the wreck. AdA pandemic-related measure that allows the Border Patrol to expel people without an opportunity to seek asylum potentially leads some to try to evade authorities instead of surrendering, sometimes with fatal consequences.

Border Patrol agent Justin Castrejon speaks in front of newly replaced border wall sections Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, near Tecate, Calif. Top Trump administration officials will visit South Texas five days before Election Day to announce they have completed 400 miles of U.S.-Mexico border wall, attempting to show progress on perhaps the president's best-known campaign promise four years ago. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)HOUSTON – Top Trump administration officials visited Texas five days before Election Day to announce they have nearly completed 400 miles of U.S.-Mexico border wall, trying to show progress on perhaps the president's best-known campaign promise four years ago. DHS officials have held several events announcing immigration operations this month in states considered competitive in the election. As of last week, 381 miles (613 kilometers) of wall have been completed during the Trump administration. Of the more than 150 miles (241 kilometers) funded by Congress in the last two years, just 5 miles (8 kilometers) have been built.

A rescue helicopter couldn't land in the steep terrain, but authorities dropped water before border agents arrived and whisked them back to Tijuana, Mexico. Lopez quickly recovered and began planning another attempt to reach San Diego, where he hopes to earn a more steady living. The annual figure hasn't topped 14% since the Border Patrol began keeping track seven years ago. “It’s a little bit more of the revolving door than it used to be,” said Scott, the Border Patrol chief. Border Patrol agents may refer people for screening under the U.N. Convention Against Torture, but the bar is extremely high.

PORT HURON, Mich. More than a half-ton of marijuana has been found in a commercial truck attempting to cross into Michigan from Canada via the Blue Water Bridge. The trucks records indicated it was hauling office furniture to various locations in Michigan, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Officers found more than 1,114 pounds (505 kilograms) of marijuana in vacuum-sealed packages concealed in cardboard boxes. Authorities have seized more than 4,400 pounds (1,995 kilograms) of marijuana at ports of entry across Michigan since March. The Blue Water Bridge spans the St. Clair River and connects Port Huron, Michigan, to Sarnia, Ontario.

FILE - In this March 18, 2020, file photo, a Border Patrol agent walks along a border wall separating Tijuana, Mexico, from San Diego, in San Diego. What happened next illustrates how difficult it has become to seek asylum in the United States during the coronavirus pandemic. Alexy, 32, and his son Samuel were whisked to the border in the wee hours of June 28 and returned to Mexico. Alexy believes hiking in the San Diego mountains precipitated Karina's labor. Together with the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties, the group plans to ask the Homeland Security Department to investigate what happened.

DETROIT Customs and Border Patrol is pushing back against claims the agencys air and marine arm used drones to surveil protesters during Detroits recent protests against police brutality and racial injustice. The letter claimed specifically unmanned predator drones were flown by CBP over Detroit, Minneapolis and San Antonio to capture video of protests and protesters. Our U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Predator aircraft did not fly over Detroit at anytime during the protests, CBP spokesman Mark Grogan said in a statement. Neither of the aircraft in Detroit were predator drones, which were only flown over Minneapolis for roughly two hours. CBPs support in communities and cities nationwide is to protect innocent Americans and help ensure safe and peaceful protests.

DETROIT As protesters took to the streets, U.S. Customs and Border Protection took to the skies -- flying drones over marches in Detroit, according to members of Congress. READ: Black Lives Matter protest interrupted in Taylor when woman drives through crowdSome members of Congress said predator drones were used to collect and disseminate live video feeds over protests in multiple states. Members of congress also said private data from cell phones and license plates were captured. Agencies, like CBP, are allowed to use drones to monitor within 100 miles of an international border. Drones and spy planes were also used over the protests in Buffalo, San Antonio and Washington DC.

DETROIT The United States and Canada have agreed to extend the border closure another 30 days, putting it in place until July 21, according to multiple reports. Non-essential travel between the United States and Canada has been banned since March amid the coronavirus pandemic. The border crossing ban began March 21 and was extended another 30 days in April. The border was set to remain closed to non-essential travel through at least June 21, and now that is extended until July 21. MORE: Canada, US border closure: Heres what to know

A man who admitted to using his submarine business to smuggle drugs between the United States and Canada escaped authorities by fleeing a hotel in the middle of the night and was found in the Detroit River attached to floating bags of marijuana, officials said.

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A Border Patrol agent was assaulted Friday while trying to arrest a person who was in the country illegally, according to officials. The attack happened around 7:30 a.m. Friday in Waterford Township. The agent was trying to arrest someone for being in the United States illegally when an altercation broke out, according to authorities. Officials said the suspected attacker fled and couldn’t be found during a search. Authorities called off the search around 10 a.m. Friday.

Water-related deaths tripled in the Border Patrol's Del Rio sector from fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2019, according to data CNN obtained from US Customs and Border Protection. But water-related rescues shot up more than 650%, increasing from 65 in fiscal year 2018 to 490 in fiscal year 2019. The increase was especially dramatic in the Del Rio sector, where water-related deaths tripled. In fiscal year 2018, the Del Rio sector reported six water-related deaths; the following year, there were 18. But she isn't surprised to hear about water-related deaths on the rise in one sector of the border.

(CNN) - Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan, speaking at the White House on Monday, touted a drop in border arrests and highlighted the construction of new sections of the border wall. The August numbers show a consistent decline in arrests since the spring, and come as the Trump administration has pushed forward numerous controversial policies intended to help stem the flow of migrants arriving at the southern border. The acting CBP commissioner also touted the President's border wall. "This wall is absolutely needed to safeguard our southern border," Morgan said. Defense Department officials say 127 military construction projects are being put on hold in order to use the $3.6 billion to fund building 175 miles of southern border wall.

CNNOTAY MESA, California (CNN) - A shipment of jalapeos from Mexico to the US proved to be carrying more than just a spicy kick when Border Patrol agents found nearly 4 tons of marijuana hidden in the cargo. The discovery was made Thursday when a truck driver was flagged for a secondary inspection at the Otay Mesa border crossing in California. During the inspection, a K-9 team alerted officers to the peppers, according to a press release from US Customs and Border Protection. Inside the pallets of peppers officers discovered over 300 green packages that field-tested for marijuana. "I am proud of the officers for seizing this significant marijuana load," said Otay Mesa Port Director Rosa Hernandez in the press release.

Border Patrol vehicles are seen as they line the banks of the Rio Grande on the U.S./Mexico border. (CNN) - At least 14 people were rescued while attempting to cross the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, on Monday, an El Paso Fire Department spokesman told CNNOfficials are still looking for a man who they say was helping a mom and child cross the river. He was not part of the original group of 14, the spokesman said. Fire and US Customs and Border Protection officials transported three people to local hospitals. The Rio Grande forms the border between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.

(CNN) - US Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost said on Wednesday that she was a member of a secret Facebook group that reportedly contains vulgar and offensive posts, adding that she told internal investigators once she realized her involvement. Provost denied knowing of the "highly offensive and absolutely unacceptable posts" ahead of the ProPublica investigative report that first exposed the Facebook group dubbed "I'm 10-15." The name refers to Border Patrol code 10-15 for "aliens in custody." Earlier this month, The Intercept reported Provost was a member of the Facebook group. She said, "It is completely unacceptable and not representative of the border Patrol as a whole."

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Residents in Harrison Township are dealing with high water levels that are threatening their homes. It's nice that someone is willing to come out and help us," Harrison Township resident Susan Lewis said. "We've been calling for help since May sometime when water levels increased drastically," homeowners association President Patti Nass said. Water levels appear to continue to rise closer to the homes around Lake St. Clair and the Clinton River. Bags that they supplied us," Harrison Township resident Wayne Lewis said.

The group, which was originally uncovered by ProPublica, featured jokes about migrant deaths and derogatory posts and images of Latina members of Congress. "Those posts are unacceptable," McAleenan said. Ocasio-Cortez -- who was personally attacked in a sexually graphic post in the group -- asked McAleenan about what he knew about the group prior to the media reports and whether any agents involved were still on the force. Posts in the group featured comments about the death of a teen Guatemalan migrant in Weslaco, Texas, such as "oh well" and "if he dies he dies." This is an agency that rescues 4,000 people a year, that's absolutely committed to the well-being of everyone that they interact with," McAleenan responded.

(CNN) - A US Border Patrol agent from Clint, Texas is accused of using Facebook to harass the mother of a 12-year-old migrant child who was in custody, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. According to the report, "a U.S. Border Patrol agent allegedly sought out an undocumented Guatemalan woman living in California, sent her Facebook messages and asked her to watch a live video of him masturbating all while her 12-year-old son was in custody at the Border Patrol station in Clint, Tex., where he worked." The story was based on an April complaint filed with US Customs and Border Protection obtained by the Post, and interviews with the child's mother, according to the Post. In a statement to CNN, CBP said the agency "is aware and is investigating this matter, but cannot comment on an ongoing investigation." This alleged conduct is not in line with our code of conduct and will not be tolerated," the statement said.

(CNN) - Demonstrators are converging on cities across the United States on Tuesday to demand the closure of detention facilities holding migrant children and families. Crowds of protesters chanting, "Close the camps, now!" gathered outside the offices of various US senators and representatives in cities such as New York, Chicago and Indianapolis. This is not a place for children," protester Charlie Fomby said outside a facility housing unaccompanied migrant children in Homestead, Florida. Dr. Dolly Lucio Sevier, a pediatrician who interviewed 39 children, submitted a court declaration likening the conditions in the detention centers to those in "torture facilities."

(CNN) - Extreme overcrowding and children younger than 7 being held in custody for more than two weeks -- far longer than the allowed 72 hours -- are among the "urgent" issues discovered at Border Patrol facilities in unannounced visits by an internal government watchdog. The report includes several photos that depict the extreme overcrowding, as well as standing-room-only conditions in some Border Patrol facilities, which are designed to be temporary holding facilities. Inside the cavernous space, the center is divided into sections for single adults, families and unaccompanied minors, who are kept behind chain-link fencing. Inspectors also said they observed "serious overcrowding" among children and families, as well as single adults, during the visit to five Border Patrol facilities in the region. This report comes nearly a month after the inspector general found "dangerous overcrowding" and other issues in the El Paso Border Patrol region.

Border Patrol vehicles are seen as they line the banks of the Rio Grande on the U.S./Mexico border. (CNN) - US Border Patrol agents are searching the Rio Grande River for a missing 2-year-old girl. The agency was alerted to the missing girl late Monday after a woman from Haiti was detained by agents at the Del Rio Border Patrol Station, the statement said. She told agents that she lost her 2-year-old daughter while crossing the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas. "Any time a child is lost it is a tragic event," said Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz.

Maryland: A man allegedly assaulted a Maryland public library board member during a Drag Queen Storytime library event. A man allegedly assaulted a Maryland public library board member during a Drag Queen Storytime library event. Illinois: A black man says he was racially profiled by white police officers while he was being treated at an Illinois hospital and went for a walk hooked up to an IV drip. Texas: A 30-year-old Honduran man died in ICE custody Sunday in a hospital in Humble, Texas, the agency said. More SPORTS and ENTERTAINMENT headlines:Tweets by Local4NewsCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.