Sunday, December 10, 2017

Border News: Migrant Killed, “Kate’s Wall” Hyped, Drugs Mailed, Profits to Be Made

Photo: David Bacon
A Border Patrol agent shot an apparent border crosser dead on November 29 in the Tohono O’odham Native American Nation, which has had many problems with the Border Patrol in the past. The government promised an investigation of the latest shooting, and the incident quickly dropped out of the news. In contrast, Kate Steinle’s tragic death continues to get media coverage—it’s become an argument for Trump’s border wall, even though it had absolutely nothing to do with failures in border security.

And why would we want a wall? The New York Times reveals that even the best border security isn’t going to stop drug dealers. The main reason for the wall obsession is undoubtedly the psychological appeal of walls to some personality types, but we shouldn’t forget that certain people stand to make a killing—the financial kind—on the Great Wall of Trump.—TPOI editor

Arizona: Border Patrol Kills Migrant on Tohono O’odham Reservation

Democracy Now!
December 1, 2017
In Arizona, a Border Patrol agent shot and killed an undocumented migrant in a remote mountainous region on the Tohono O’odham Nation on Wednesday. The shooting occurred about 20 miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border. The chief of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson sector is claiming, without evidence, that the shooting occurred after the man grabbed the gun of one of the agents. Migrant justice groups are demanding the killing be investigated.

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The fraudulent case for 'Kate's wall'
[C]alls to name Trump’s intended border fortification “Kate’s wall”… would make it the world’s largest free-standing non sequitur. Garcia Zarate’s presence in the United States does not prove the weakness of our border security. Just the opposite.

By Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune
December 6, 2017
One night last month, a Border Patrol officer in Southwest Texas was killed and his partner seriously hurt while on patrol near the Mexican border. What quickly emerged was a gruesome tale. The officers were “ambushed by a group of illegal aliens” who smashed their heads with rocks, according to the head of the union representing Border Patrol agents.[…]

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Heroin in Soups and Lollipops: How Drug Cartels Evade Border Security
Instead of smuggling heroin through ports of entry or across the border, the cartel’s traffickers exploited weaknesses in border security: parcels shipped through the mail, UPS and FedEx; air cargo; and travel on transit systems with relatively little security, like Amtrak.

By Ron Nixon, New York Times
December 2, 2017
BALTIMORE — The tip came on the last day of January 2014 to special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement: A drug courier was about to land at the Baltimore airport with a large shipment.[…]

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Wall Street Stands to Make a Killing From Building Trump's Border Wall: Report
Hate is profitable for the Mercers, BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

By Ilana Novick AlterNet
November 16, 2017
The border wall with Mexico, Donald Trump's proposed monument to nativism and bigotry is, according to an October story from NBC News, at least 10 months away from "meaningful construction." It currently has no funding from Congress nor from Mexico, contrary to reports from Trump's fever dreams. This reality hasn't dimmed the visions of dollar signs in the eyes of America's largest corporations, which, according to a new report from Make the Road New York, the Center for Popular Democracy, New York Communities for Change, and the Partnership for Working Families, are behind a company making one of the wall prototypes and stand to benefit handsomely.[…]

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