Kelly Holt
Gunfight at Mexican Border Forces Unusual Crossing Closures
On Wednesday, March 14, cnsnews.com reported that gun battles between Mexican military and Mexican drug traffickers caused U.S. authorities to shut down two international crossings in Texas. The two bridges form the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) port of entry in Eagle Pass (county seat of Maverick County) Texas, about 140 miles southwest of San Antonio. They connect the city to Piedras Negras in the Mexican border state of Coahuila. The Eagle Pass Business Journal (EPBJ) reported that traffickers used high-powered automatic weapons, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades.
U.S. Government — Tracking Cash Cards?
The U.S. government has found another way to invade privacy in the name of fighting terrorism by proposing legislation that would track prepaid debit cards. As usual, the real losers would be, not terrorists who won’t comply anyway, but innocent Americans, or travelers, and card issuers burdened with yet another layer of record keeping and compliance procedures. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a branch of the Treasury Department, has drafted rules, taking effect Sep. 27, to establish a “more comprehensive regulatory approach for prepaid access.”
U.S./Mexican Border Violence Continues: Another American Murdered
According to Borderland Beat (BB) of July 21, a “puzzling web of events” has resulted in the death of yet another American in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, across the international border from El Paso, Texas. BB reported that three suspects were arrested Wednesday in connection with a man’s kidnapping on July 5, and a fourth suspect is sought. The American was found murdered the day after the kidnapping.
Former Miss USA Traumatized by TSA in Dallas
Susie Castillo, 2003 Miss USA and semifinalist for Miss Universe, was subjected to an invasive TSA pat-down in the Dallas airport on April 21 that left her in tears and emotionally upset.
More Americans Likely To Die in Border Crossfire
On April 19, MSNBC.com discussed the details of a U.S. State Department report about the increasing number of Americans caught in the crossfire of the Mexican cartel drug wars.
Mexican Drug Cartels Operating in at Least 1,286 U.S. Cities
On April 13, All Headline News reported that the influence of Mexican drug cartels operating in U.S. cities is growing because cartel members are becoming residents. Roberta Jacobson, Deputy Secretary of State for Mexico and Canada, brought this information to a political forum in Washington, D.C., quoting a March 27 report from the Justice Department. The findings are also being widely disseminated in the Mexican media.
Trafficking of Illegals in Texas Leads to Weekend Arrest
Austin, Texas, was the scene of another case of human trafficking over the weekend. Police arrested 39-year-old Felix Lugo Medina (picture, left) on Friday night in a southside apartment complex and charged him with kidnapping a man from Nuevo Laredo (across the international border — the Rio Grande River — from Laredo, Texas), according to KVUE.com, Austin’s ABC affiliate.
Americans Murdered At California Border Crossing
T
wo California men who had moved to Tijuana, Mexico were murdered at a border crossing while commuting to their jobs in San Diego on Monday morning. Fox News called the killings another action in America’s Third War.
U.S. Rep. from Texas Calls for Mexican Cartels to be Labeled Terrorists
Last Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas, picture at left), introduced legislation that would designate six Mexican drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.” According to the Deseret News for March 30, McCaul spokesman Mike Rosen said that “It was the first time ... a member of Congress had proposed the designation for the powerful Mexican drug gangs that have waged war against Mexican security forces over the last five years.”
Guatemalans Sue United States for 1940s STD Inoculations
In October 2010, The New American examined the findings of Dr. Susan Reverby of Wellesley College, which showed that between 1946 and 1948, hundreds of Guatemalan citizens had been deliberately inoculated with gonorrhea and syphilis without their permission or knowledge. A group of some of those Guatemalans and their heirs have filed a lawsuit against U.S. health officials, according to CNN World, March 15.
