Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas just held big meeting to train on what post-Title 42, new “asylum ban” rule looks like, per a USCIS employee 1/ "Who is subject to the rule?" "Applies to noncitizens who enter [US] from Mexico across the southwest land border or adjacent coastal borders…If they traveled through a country that is a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol" 2/

As we @latimes & others reported extensively, Remain in Mexico forced some 68k asylum seekers back to some of world's most dangerous cities to await US immigration cases, which many view as violation of US and int'l law-incl asylum officers implementing it lat.ms/3ca6ubn

https://twitter.com/mollymotoole/status/1399818625125584898

@latimes Mayorkas careful to avoid saying MPP unlawful - but makes a few important notes: 1. That program was *designed* for asylum seekers to miss hearings - ~44% cases 'completed' due to 'in absentia' removal orders, per DHS - but 2. actually *worsened* backlogs bit.ly/3uHhvHV

One lawsuit vs Biden WH says Title 42 expulsions illegal; one says not expelling everyone is. Critics call for policy's end as maybe help extend it. Narrow openings negotiated but add confusion. As COVID improves, buying time w/human cost. NEW @latimes lat.ms/3yonCUj 1/ @latimes First, news: Biden officials have quietly agreed to narrow but substantial changes — a stop to lateral flights that expelled migrants hundreds of miles from where they crossed & expelling migrants at night, which exacerbate vulnerability to kidnapping: lat.ms/3v2Guq6 2/

Karen, a Honduran mother now in Tennessee, got a call that upended her life: Kidnappers in Nuevo Laredo had abducted her pregnant sister Tani & her 4-year-old, and they wanted $20k. | How Biden Title 42 policy fuels migrant kidnappings, US extortion lat.ms/3xHvIau THREAD Before we get to Karen's fight to save her family, let me explain Title 42. In March 2020, the Trump WH put into place arguably the most restrictive immigration policy ever implemented at the US border. In January, President Biden quietly continued it. lat.ms/3nt44Jm 1/

Amid finger-pointing & rhetoric over whether border "crisis" & whose is it, politicians & public are missing Title 42, most restrictive policy ever implemented at the border, started year ago today by Trump, quietly continued by Biden lat.ms/2OJ2o1H @latimes A #s thread: @latimes Migration spikes aren't new! Numbers at border do respond-temporarily, & not entirely-to policy shifts. 2014, Biden's last "unaccompanied minors crisis" about same as Trump's in 2019-one of highest totals in decades *after* family separation, metering, Remain in Mexico put in 1/

Biden promised change at the border. He's kept Trump's Title 42 policy to close it and cut off asylum. In a year of more than 650,000 encounters with migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, fewer than 1% have been able to seek protection. latimes.com/politics/story… @latimes @latimes On March 20, 2020, the Trump administration put into place one of the most controversial and restrictive immigration policies ever implemented at the U.S. border — and in January, President Biden quietly continued it. Never heard of it? It's known as Title 42. 1/

A 21-yr-old Guatemalan asylum seeker may lose his hands after suffering severe frostbite in the historic winter storm in Texas. Border Patrol guarding his hospital room told him he’d be removed as soon as he’s discharged, under Trump policy Biden has kept latimes.com/politics/story… The smuggler was long gone; and though Douglas yelled and yelled, no one came. The 21-year-old and a dozen other migrants already had been wandering in the desolate desert landscape around Big Bend, Texas, for two days when the snowstorm began. 1/

Maybe this just ends up being a superficial name change, but at first glance - this is HUGE -> ICE is ending long-term immigrant family detention bit.ly/3uvPqnT @mysa @mySA Why do you ask? Here's a few reasons. Biden promised to end for-profit private immigration detention. He's made no real moves to do so. 1/

Least surprising conclusion, but still shocking: Biden admin expected to release Thursday* declassified US intel report finding that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi @Reuters citing 4 officials reut.rs/37HBSvW @Reuters With this news, a brief thread on a generous colleague - In a twist of fate, I interviewed Khashoggi from Morocco in 2017 (he'd recently gone into exile in VA) for stories on Saudi's 'deradicalization' program and migrant workers -& he said he'd recently spoken to MBS on labor 1/

“Every kid that comes into this program is a symptom of a broken immigration system,” said Weber, who has worked at HHS since 2012. “So today we’ve got over 7,000 symptoms of a broken immigration system.” 1st migrant facility for children opens under Biden wapo.st/3pFKOIg But let's remember damage needlessly done @HHSGov -same that wouldn't let @latimes interview lone teen in custody despite her, parents' & lawyers' permission, for her "safety" though it's her legal right, then essentially hid teen (under MPP) from lawyers & deported her to no one

I spent the week before @JoeBiden inauguration covering 200mi of US-MX border from Pacific to Yuma-a reckoning of the chaos wrought by 4 yrs of Trump policies & realization of already dangerous uncertainty about Biden plans to deal with it lat.ms/3933qwE @latimes THREAD @JoeBiden @latimes El Chaparral, one of world's busiest border crossings, was quiet. Gabi & her husband waited to again extend a temporary Mexican residency visa. Fleeing El Salvador after witnessing murder of their 14yo nephew who refused to join the gang, they were put into MPP here - in 2019 1/

House Oversight chair @OversightDems writes scathing letter to @CBPMarkMorgan saying CBP refusing to comply with subpoena over “dozens of employees who participated in secret Facebook groups that posted racist, sexually violent, dehumanizing, and abhorrent material”: @OversightDems @CBPMarkMorgan Year after CBP launched internal investigation, @latimes broke news last July that CBP had fired only *four* Border Patrol agents for scandal over groups that counted thousands of current and former CBP as members - & as of October, that all 4 had appealed lat.ms/38xuofv

President Trump’s role in inciting a deadly siege on the Capitol has given new urgency to a question that has been building throughout his presidency: Is he a security threat to the very country he was elected to lead? w/ @Noahbierman lat.ms/35rMcqx @latimes (Thread) @Noahbierman @latimes Of 15 current & former national security officials contacted after the Capitol breach, including Trump Cabinet members, WH NSC leadership, agency heads, and DHS and State staffers. @latimes interviewed 10, & 2 requested anonymity, citing professional or legal concerns. 1/

Behind the story: From Nepal to Saudi Arabia, reporting how a dead man came back to life - from twists of fate over momos to tripping over my abaya to help from Jamal Khashoggi & eternal thanks to many who risked much helping me tell it @latimes THREAD lat.ms/2HGcrAz @latimes I'd been living in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, for only a few weeks when I saw a short headline buried in a newspaper: “Dead Man Comes Back to Kathmandu.” But I couldn't find him. 1/

The #2020 election is in less than a week, the #Dodgers won the World Series, but I hope you'll stick with me for a story I chased for more than 3.5 years from Nepal to Saudi Arabia and back, equal parts existential dread & unparalleled joy @latimes THREAD lat.ms/35KuHBh @latimes Santoshi’s nightmares repeat. Someone brings her to the woods and leaves her there alone. Then she sees the pyre where the body is burning, the body she burned after her husband Subash, a migrant worker, was declared dead in Saudi Arabia 5 years ago. The body reaches for her 1/

What timing @DHSOIG > CISA's plans "do not sufficiently mitigate other potential risks to physical security, terrorism threats, or targeted violence to the election infrastructure, nor do they identify dependencies on external stakeholders that impede" bit.ly/2HErZ8k 1/ @DHSOIG "DHS senior leadership turnover and ongoing CISA reorganization have hindered CISA’s ability to enhance planning and effectively monitor its progress in securing the Nation’s election infrastructure." bit.ly/2HErZ8k 2/

Remember "Myth/Fact:Known and Suspected Terrorists/Special Interest Aliens”? I noted at time no evidence for "KST" through border, conflation w/SIA & Nielsen's manipulation. This alleges she-aided by @MilesTaylorUSA & others-lied for perceived pol benefit: bit.ly/3iixIO4 @MilesTaylorUSA Wolf w/Cuccinelli intro gave "State of Homeland" today downplaying white extremist threat, emphasizing "all sides"- Murphy alleges Cuccinelli said "needed to specifically modify"part on"White Supremacy"to make"less severe" & add"violent 'left-wing' groups" bit.ly/3m0x9uN

Remember 'heat ray' @CBP reportedly wanted to use per @nytimes ? Well @DHSOIG found Nov'18 CBP used "acoustic advice" not authorized to have that "may increase the risk of temporary or permanent hearing loss" & apparently lied in internal investigation bit.ly/34OPNzn @CBP @nytimes @DHSOIG Regarding @CBP use of tear gas Nov '18 and Jan '20 (against 'caravans) - "not all Border Patrol agents had the required
training and certification to carry less-lethal devices. This occurred because Border Patrol lacked internal controls to ensure agents had fulfilled" reqs /2

Under the cover of coronavirus, Trump officials have brought back family separation in new forms: lat.ms/2M5ObGW @latimes 1/ @latimes Meet Jose - a street preacher in El Salvador who fled death threats from MS-13. He's now in Maryland stringing together gardening jobs after the restaurants closed, not letting his four kids touch him when he gets home, for fear of the virus. lat.ms/2M5ObGW @latimes 2/

UPDATE: Teen whom @HHSGov blocked from @latimes interview despite her permission, mother’s permission & lawyers’ permission - a move legal experts say violates her rights - now due to be deported by ICE at 2 pm Central unless emergency decision by judge lat.ms/2yaxSWc @HHSGov @latimes As part of @latimes @theCindyCarcamo reporting on how Trump admin citing coronavirus to delay releases of migrant kids in custody at same time as tries to deport them, I was connected with the Guatemalan girl’s lawyers @DMRS_ElPaso lat.ms/2X5QqPU 2/

About 6 wks ago as I was reporting on detention & risky deportations amid coronavirus, I started hearing from lawyers about Trump officials citing the virus to refuse to release migrant kids to ready sponsors — even as they tried to deport them lat.ms/2zyQhMs @latimes 1/ @latimes So @theCindyCarcamo & I started collecting examples across the country, scouring court documents & the complex swirl of ongoing litigation over extreme steps the Trump WH has taken to restrict immigration in its pandemic response - here's what we found lat.ms/3dQnulJ 2/