By , (Reuters) - Red tape and rules on importing medical gear have delayed work on a field hospital for migrants in an asylum camp near Mexico’s border with Texas, undercutting efforts to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic, according to organizers of the project.Mexican authorities approved construction of the 20-bed field hospital on April 2. But since then, a trailer laden with supplies for the project has been parked in Brownsville, Texas, less than a block from the U.S.-Mexico border.Global Response Management, the nonprofit sprearheading the project, said the trailer contains an...…By , (Reuters) - Red tape and rules on importing medical gear have delayed work on a field hospital for migrants in an asylum camp near Mexico’s border with Texas, undercutting efforts to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic, according to organizers of the project.Mexican authorities approved construction of the 20-bed field hospital on April 2. But since then, a trailer laden with supplies for the project has been parked in Brownsville, Texas, less than a block from the U.S.-Mexico border.Global Response Management, the nonprofit sprearheading the project, said the trailer contains an...WW…

By , , , WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has blamed leftwing extremist groups for instigating nights of looting and violence in cities across the United States, but an intelligence assessment offers limited evidence that organized extremists are behind the turmoil.In part of a June 1 internal intelligence assessment of the protests seen by Reuters, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said most of the violence appears to have been driven by opportunists.The assessment, prepared by the department’s intelligence and analysis unit, said there was some evidence...…By , , , WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has blamed leftwing extremist groups for instigating nights of looting and violence in cities across the United States, but an intelligence assessment offers limited evidence that organized extremists are behind the turmoil.In part of a June 1 internal intelligence assessment of the protests seen by Reuters, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said most of the violence appears to have been driven by opportunists.The assessment, prepared by the department’s intelligence and analysis unit, said there was some evidence...WW…

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Top aides to President Joe Biden are ramping up pressure on the agency that shelters thousands of unaccompanied migrant children, voicing frustration that kids are not being released quickly enough from detention, three U.S. officials said.In daily calls with representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other agencies, White House officials have demanded HHS speed up releases from its overloaded shelter system to free up space for children packed into crowded border...…Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Top aides to President Joe Biden are ramping up pressure on the agency that shelters thousands of unaccompanied migrant children, voicing frustration that kids are not being released quickly enough from detention, three U.S. officials said.In daily calls with representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other agencies, White House officials have demanded HHS speed up releases from its overloaded shelter system to free up space for children packed into crowded border...WW…

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Top aides to President Joe Biden are ramping up pressure on the agency that shelters thousands of unaccompanied migrant children, voicing frustration that kids are not being released quickly enough from detention, three U.S. officials said.In daily calls with representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other agencies, White House officials have demanded HHS speed up releases from its overloaded shelter system to free up space for children packed into crowded border...…Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Top aides to President Joe Biden are ramping up pressure on the agency that shelters thousands of unaccompanied migrant children, voicing frustration that kids are not being released quickly enough from detention, three U.S. officials said.In daily calls with representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other agencies, White House officials have demanded HHS speed up releases from its overloaded shelter system to free up space for children packed into crowded border...WW…

By , , DEL RIO, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. officials are trying to drive home an increasingly emphatic message to the growing number of mostly Central American asylum seekers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border every day: “Do not come. The border is closed.”The reality on the ground is less clear.While the United States is expelling migrant families and individuals to Mexico under a Trump-era public health order to limit the spread of the coronavirus, thousands of families have been released into the United States in recent weeks pending the outcome of their immigration cases.On the same day...…By , , DEL RIO, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. officials are trying to drive home an increasingly emphatic message to the growing number of mostly Central American asylum seekers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border every day: “Do not come. The border is closed.”The reality on the ground is less clear.While the United States is expelling migrant families and individuals to Mexico under a Trump-era public health order to limit the spread of the coronavirus, thousands of families have been released into the United States in recent weeks pending the outcome of their immigration cases.On the same day...WW…

By , , CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - The United States is expelling migrants to Mexico far from where they are caught crossing the border, according to Reuters witnesses, in a move that circumvents the refusal of authorities in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas who stopped accepting the return of migrant families with younger children.The practice is a sign that President Joe Biden is toughening his approach to the growing humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexican border after his administration’s entreaties for Central American migrants to stay home have failed to stop thousands from...…By , , CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - The United States is expelling migrants to Mexico far from where they are caught crossing the border, according to Reuters witnesses, in a move that circumvents the refusal of authorities in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas who stopped accepting the return of migrant families with younger children.The practice is a sign that President Joe Biden is toughening his approach to the growing humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexican border after his administration’s entreaties for Central American migrants to stay home have failed to stop thousands from...WW…

By , WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to deal with an increasing number of migrant children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, but it has limited options and “none are great,” one U.S. official said.The influx, which comes as Biden relaxes some of former President Donald Trump’s more restrictive immigration policies, has left the Democratic president facing criticism not only from opposition Republicans but also members of his own party, who say some children are being held in custody for too long.Biden’s administration, however, faces legal, space...…By , WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to deal with an increasing number of migrant children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, but it has limited options and “none are great,” one U.S. official said.The influx, which comes as Biden relaxes some of former President Donald Trump’s more restrictive immigration policies, has left the Democratic president facing criticism not only from opposition Republicans but also members of his own party, who say some children are being held in custody for too long.Biden’s administration, however, faces legal, space...WW…

By , , PENITAS, Texas (Reuters) - Along the banks of the Rio Grande in the scrubby grassland near Penitas, Texas, hundreds of colored plastic wristbands ripped off by migrants litter the ground, signs of what U.S. border officials say is a growing trend among powerful drug cartels and smugglers to track people paying to cross illegally into the United States.The plastic bands - red, blue, green, white - some labeled “arrivals” or “entries” in Spanish, are discarded after migrants cross the river on makeshift rafts, according to a Reuters witness. Their use has not been widely reported...…By , , PENITAS, Texas (Reuters) - Along the banks of the Rio Grande in the scrubby grassland near Penitas, Texas, hundreds of colored plastic wristbands ripped off by migrants litter the ground, signs of what U.S. border officials say is a growing trend among powerful drug cartels and smugglers to track people paying to cross illegally into the United States.The plastic bands - red, blue, green, white - some labeled “arrivals” or “entries” in Spanish, are discarded after migrants cross the river on makeshift rafts, according to a Reuters witness. Their use has not been widely reported...WW…

By , , NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO (Reuters) - From apple packing houses in Washington state to farm workers in Florida and a California county known as “the world’s salad bowl,” outbreaks of the novel coronavirus are emerging at U.S. fruit and vegetable farms and packing plants.A rising number of sick farm and packing house workers comes after thousands of meat plant employees contracted the virus and could lead to more labor shortages and a fresh wave of disruption to U.S. food production.The Trump administration said last month it may extend an executive order to keep meat plants...…By , , NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO (Reuters) - From apple packing houses in Washington state to farm workers in Florida and a California county known as “the world’s salad bowl,” outbreaks of the novel coronavirus are emerging at U.S. fruit and vegetable farms and packing plants.A rising number of sick farm and packing house workers comes after thousands of meat plant employees contracted the virus and could lead to more labor shortages and a fresh wave of disruption to U.S. food production.The Trump administration said last month it may extend an executive order to keep meat plants...WW…