Joe Biden’s border shutdown shows how politics around immigration have shifted to the right
As dawn breaks on a new era in American immigration policy, a young boy peels and eats a clementine in the gap between the border fence that separates the United States and Mexico.
A teenage girl wraps herself in a silver thermal blanket and a man passes his mobile phone through the metal slats in the fence for someone on the other side to charge.
They are the lucky ones, in a way, because they are among the final group of migrants to enter the United States before the introduction of a new border policy.
The executive order, issued by President Biden, will temporarily seal the border along the southern states if illegal crossings exceed 2,500 people a day, which they do on a regular basis at the moment.
The order had been a closely guarded secret, until it wasn’t. President Biden used the announcement to criticise Republicans in Congress for failing to pass a bipartisan bill on the border and defend his own immigration policy.
“This action will help us gain control of our border, restore order into the process,” he said. “If the United States doesn’t secure our border, there’s no limit to the number of people who may try to come here. Doing nothing is not an option, we have to act.”
It represented a sharp about-turn for a man who came to power criticising Donald Trump’s draconian action to curb immigration but is now making moves reminiscent of his predecessor.
Pic: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Proponents of the order say it will relieve an overwhelmed system. But critics say it will put the lives of genuine asylum seekers at risk.
Stakeholders on both sides of the political aisle say it is a politically cynical move, five months out from a general election when immigration will be a major factor in voters’ minds.
“It’s setting a very bad precedent,” says Lilian Serrano, director of Southern Border Communities Coalition, a non-government organisation.
Lilian Serrano, director of Southern Border Communities Coalition
“A president making decisions that are politically motivated to gain political points in an election year is more important for President Biden than respecting human rights? That is the message.”
Once the migrants are processed at the border in San Diego, now the busiest place in the country for illegal border crossings, they are bussed to the outskirts of the city and dropped at a roadside.
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Some of them have no idea which city they are in. One man, from Ghana, asks me how to get to New York, almost 3,000 miles away.
Durlei is trying to get to San Francisco
Durlei, a young woman from Colombia, is trying to get to San Francisco to be reunited with a friend.
She was a shoe shop owner in her home country but says she is seeking asylum from gang violence.
“I come here fleeing my country,” she says. “If Biden changes his laws I don’t know where I will go.”
Word has reached Aurelio, from El Salvador, about the new policy. “I’ve heard about the new order,” he says. “I feel fortunate to have arrived before it takes effect, because it’s my dream to be here.”
Children who cross the border unaccompanied are excepted from the new policy, as are victims of human trafficking.
Nevertheless, this is the most restrictive border policy by a Democrat president in decades.
It is a shutout which shows just how much the politics around immigration have shifted to the right.
There are 161 people still missing in Texas in the aftermath of last weekend’s deadly flash floods, the state’s governor has said.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, governor Gregg Abbot said the number of missing had risen markedly.
He said among the missing were five children and one counsellor from Camp Mystic – where at least 27 people were killed in the flash flooding.
At least 109 people are confirmed to have died in the floods, which took place on the 4 July weekend, but this figure has been steadily climbing ever since.
People comforted each other in Kerville. Pic: Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP
The bulk of deaths, and the main search for additional bodies, have been concentrated in Kerr County and the city of Kerrville.
The area was transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early last Friday, unleashing deadly flooding along the Guadalupe River.
Travis County, Kendall County, Burnett County, Williamson County, and Tom Green County were also hit.
Mr Abbot said many of those who were unaccounted for were in the Texas Hill Country area, but had not registered at a camp or hotel, posing further challenges for authorities.
Camp Mystic
Mr Abbot planned to make another visit to Camp Mystic.
The century-old all-girls Christian summer camp was badly hit by the flash floods, with at least 27 campers and counsellors dying.
Hanna Lawrence, left, and Rebecca Lawrence, right. Pic: John Lawrence/AP
Lila Bonner (L) and Eloise Peck both died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout
Chloe Childress. Pic: Debra Alexander Photography via AP
Some of the victims include Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, both eight, Chloe Childress, 19, who was among the counsellors at Camp Mystic when the flood hit, and Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner, both nine.
There were scenes of devastation at the camp as the flood water receded.
Outside the cabins where the girls had slept, mud-splattered blankets and pillows were scattered.
Also in the debris were pink, purple and light blue luggage, decorated with stickers.
A view inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after the flooding. Pic: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
Camper’s belongings lie on the ground following flooding on the Guadalupe River, at Camp Mystic.
Pic: Reuters
‘Everything looked flooded and broken’
One of the campers, 10-year-old Lucy Kennedy, told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that she woke up to the sound of thunder at around midnight before the floods struck.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” she said. “I just had a feeling that something really bad was about to happen.”
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She said the girls at the camp were told to grab blankets, pillows and water bottles and line up single file as the floodwater rose, before getting airlifted to safety.
Wynne Kennedy, Lucy’s mother, added: “When I saw her, she was wrapped up in a blanket, had a teddy bear.
“We just held each other tight, and I held her all night.”
Their home in Kerrville was also destroyed by the flash floods.
Lucy Kennedy, 10 who was rescued from Camp Mystic, and her mother Wynne. Pic: NBC
Political row
Meanwhile, a political row has unfolded parallel to the recovery efforts, with some questioning whether local authorities sent out warnings and alerts early enough.
Similarly, Democrats have criticised Donald Trump over cuts his Elon Musk-launched Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has made to the National Weather Service – but it isn’t clear whether these actually made any difference.
Read more:
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Wall of water
The flash floods erupted before daybreak on Friday, after massive amounts of rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to rise by eight metres in less than an hour.
The wall of water overwhelmed cabins, tents and trails along the river’s edge.
Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
Some of the campers had to swim out of their cabin windows to get to safety, while others clung to rope to make it to higher ground.
The date for Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sentencing hearing has been confirmed.
Following his high-profile trial, the hip-hop mogul was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution by jurors in Manhattan, New York, last week – but was cleared of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
Defence lawyers argued Combs, who has been in prison in Brooklyn since his arrest in September last year, should be bailed ahead of sentencing given the not guilty verdicts for the more serious charges, but Judge Arun Subramanian denied this – citing, among other things, the rapper’s own admissions of previous violent behaviour.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in court after the verdict was delivered. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy carried a potential life sentence. Combs still faces up to 20 years in prison for the prostitution-related offences, but is not expected to receive the maximum punishment.
After the verdict was delivered, the judge scheduled the sentencing hearing for 3 October. At a remote follow-up conference on Tuesday, with agreement from the defence and prosecution, the judge approved the date.
Combs joined the call but did not make any comment.
Any sentence will include credit for time already served – which will be just over a year by the time the hearing takes place.
During his trial, Combs was accused by prosecutors of abusing and coercing three alleged victims, including his former long-term partner, singer and model Cassie Ventura.
Jurors found the allegations did not amount to sex-trafficking or racketeering, or running a criminal enterprise – but they did find him guilty of transporting Cassie and another former girlfriend “Jane” for prostitution offences around the US, and paying male escorts to engage in sexual encounters.
Despite the guilty verdict on those charges, the 55-year-old’s team described it as “the victory of all victories”.
Read more:
How the trial unfolded
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
In an interview over the weekend, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo said Combs had received a standing ovation from fellow inmates when he returned to jail after being acquitted of the more serious charges.
“They all said, ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government’,” he said.
Ahead of sentencing, Combs’s lawyers will file their recommendations by 19 September, with prosecutors likely to follow a week later.
Prosecutors previously said the rapper could face about four to five years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, while the defence has suggested a two-year sentence.
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