Crisis in California: Migrants overwhelming state with ‘no end in sight,’ local officials warn
Surging border crossings are putting a strain on communities in Southern California, where hordes of migrants are often spotted at transit hubs after immigration officials resumed street releases, local politicians say. “There’s no end in sight,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told Fox News. “This is a new norm, which I think we’re going to get a rude wake-up call someday.” SHOULD BIDEN PAY THE MEXICAN PRESIDENT’S $20 BILLION DEMAND OR GET TOUGHER ON IMMIGRATION? AMERICANS WEIGH IN Migrants’ first days in Southern California often follow a similar schedule. After going over, around or through gaps in the border fence, they surrender to Border Patrol agents. Maybe it’s immediate, maybe they have to wait on the side of the road for a few hours to be caught, or maybe they make a dangerous trek through mountains that Customs and Border Protection warns range from snow-covered in the winter to perilously hot and dry in the summer. They get searched, processed at a CBP facility tucked amid truck repair shops and car auction businesses, and released. The majority — but not all — get dropped off at local transit stations, Desmond said, gone from San Diego County before many residents have even registered their arrival. “A lot of them are going to the East Coast,” Desmond said of the folks he has spoken to at the border. “So a lot of them leave. But there’s a lot we don’t know.” WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE Located about 15 minutes from downtown San Diego, El Cajon has become one of a handful of drop-off sites for migrants. Mayor Bill Wells said the border has “always been a problem,” but the federal government always made an effort to prevent “bad actors” like cartels and gang members from entering the country. “Now the gates are wide open,” Wells told Fox News. “We’re no longer even trying.” The San Diego sector saw an 85% increase in encounters in February compared to the same month last year, according to CBP data. Agents there made more than 230,000 encounters during fiscal year 2023, a record 2024 is on track to shatter. AMID BORDER PATROL RECRUITMENT CRISIS, ONE STEP OF THE HIRING PROCESS IS WIPING OUT TONS OF APPLICANTS While the Biden administration promises “our borders are not open,” those on the front lines describe a contradictory scene. Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed with “give ups,” people who walk across the border and claim asylum so they can be detained, processed and then released into the United States. “I don’t blame the Border Patrol agents,” Desmond said. “Their hands are tied.” Both Wells and Desmond have documented crowds at local transit stations. Desmond said CBP releases between 600 and 900 people on a given day, usually at locations that lack bathrooms and other amenities. Sometimes nonprofits or “entrepreneurial” taxi drivers are there waiting, he said. “Unfortunately, San Diego Airport now has become the de facto migrant shelter, where they sleep there,” he added, estimating that around 90% of migrants continue to other cities around the country like Chicago or New York. “Hopefully a lot of them leave. But we have no, really, idea of if they do or not.” Until late February, migrants would likely have been taken to a vacant elementary school-turned processing center in San Diego. But the $6 million in county funding that was supposed to sustain the center from October through March ran out early, after processing 81,000 migrants, according to local news reports. The Board of Supervisors approved a plan to seek federal dollars and charitable donations to fund a replacement center to stem the tide of street releases. Desmond cast the sole “no” vote, arguing a long-term shelter would just be complicit in the federal government’s mess. ALL ROADS ‘LEAD BACK TO FENTANYL’: CITY OVERRUN WITH DRUGS SEES PROGRESS AFTER OVERWHELMED POLICE GET NEW HELP “What we’re allowing is a very undignified and inhumane process where people have to come over a 30-foot fence … [or] through a river,” he said. “We should enforce our laws and have a legal, dignified immigration process.” Americans increasingly rank immigration as the most important problem facing the United States. In California, nearly two-thirds of likely voters surveyed earlier this year by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, said the border is not secure enough. Californians Fox News spoke with largely said border security was an important voting priority for them and that they support immigration so long as it’s done legally. “If you have a fence around your house, if you lock your door at night, then we don’t need to explain to you the value of having a border fence. It’s not rocket science,” Mark Good said. Good‘s son-in-law spent five years waiting to immigrate to the U.S. from Bangladesh “the right way,” he said. “Then you see people coming over the border and getting given things,” his wife Pat said. “It’s hard. I feel bad for them, but it’s hard.” Wells, who is running for Congress, and other local leaders initially worried there would be a surge of migrants on the street after the welcome center closed. That hasn’t happened yet, he said, speculating that private organizations and nonprofits have been able to get migrants on planes and buses fast enough to keep up with the influx. “Pretty soon the system is going to be overwhelmed to the point where there’s not going to be enough money to send people everywhere they want to go,” Wells worried. With homeless shelters already full, he said migrants could end up on the streets. “Everything is already full because of the migrants and the homeless people that have flocked to California in the past couple of years,” Wells said. “So there’s very little in the way of safety net in California.”
Top GOP lawmaker believes he can ‘fix’ Social Security
A top House Republican wants to raise the retirement age for social security benefits to save the program from a projected 2033 insolvency deadline. Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Kevin Hern, R-Okla., released a budget last month that included conservative proposals to cut federal spending and extend the life of social security. If nothing is done, the critical program will face a roughly 20% cut in 2034. One option Hern argued for is raising the full retirement benefits eligibility age from 67 to 69 – a politically fraught idea that mainstream leaders in both parties have been hesitant to touch. “If you look at it, there’s only three options you can do to fix Social Security… one is you adjust the age, the second thing is you adjust what gets paid out of the program, and the third thing is… there’s more people working that pay into the program,” Hern said. HOUSE PASSES $1.2 TRILLION GOVERNMENT SPENDING BILL TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN On the subject of age specifically, Hern pointed out that the average life expectancy in the U.S. was in the early 60s when Social Security began. Today, the average life expectancy is in the late 70s. “So you’re living [more] years on a program that was never designed to… be that way,” Hern said. The RSC is a large bloc of conservative House Republicans, accounting for roughly 80% of the conference. The White House seized on the group’s budget proposal as a political cudgel, accusing Republicans of wanting to gut Social Security. TERM LIMITS, PREVENTING LEADER ‘MONARCHY’ BECOME TOP CONCERNS IN POST-MCCONNELL GOP “This is just another failed attempt by Joe Biden to push aside an issue that’s very important to retirees out there,” Hern told Fox News Digital of the backlash. “Our budget doesn’t touch anyone that’s in retirement, or near retirement.” He added: “If I told you today, at your age, just as it affected me when I was 21 years old, you’re going to move my retirement age two years, I’d think – so what, it’s not going to be there anyway. All we can look at is the budget window up to 10 years. So our path forward is what’s going to make it solid for the next 10 years. Joe Biden has no plan.” Biden’s own fiscal year 2025 budget proposal called for extending Social Security solvency by raising taxes on the highest-income earners. But Hern argued that the “best estimates are, that would extend it by one year.” HOUSE SPEAKER JOHNSON SAYS WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T ‘CALL THE SHOTS’ ON WHEN IMPEACHMENT IS OVER Publicly, the president has largely shied away from discussing solutions for how to prevent Social Security from reaching insolvency. Former President Trump, Biden’s likely GOP challenger in the 2024 presidential election, also has been unclear about his stance on the program. Conversations around reforming retirement benefits are usually politically dangerous, particularly in an election year. Hern insisted that any change would likely need to be bipartisan – and he said he’s been having discussions with Trump about what to do if he wins back the White House. “The reality is, is President Trump’s no different than us,” Hern said. “We’ve talked about this, he and I and his team. We have no desire, no desire to cut back on any benefits [for anybody who is] in retirement or near retirement, but he understands, his team understands, that we have to make sure it’s solid.” When asked for comment, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital: “As President Trump has repeatedly stated, he does not support cuts to Social Security nor does he support raising the retirement age. President Trump delivered on his promise to protect Social Security and Medicare in his first term, and President Trump will continue to strongly protect Social Security and Medicare in his second term.”
Trump-backed GOP Senate candidate aims to flip Dem-held seat in crucial battleground state
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Mike Rogers says “a weak and porous southern border” is fueling crime in his state. Rogers, a former FBI special agent who later served as House Intelligence Committee chair during his tenure in Congress and who is now running for the Republican Senate nomination in battleground Michigan, tells Fox News Digital that the top issues in his campaign are crime, the border, security and “the economy, which is in the tank.” The clear front-runner in the August GOP Senate primary, Rogers will likely face off with Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in the race to succeed longtime Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat who is not seeking re-election this year. The seat is one of a handful that Republicans are aiming to flip from blue to red in November, as they push to regain the Senate majority they lost in the 2020 cycle. TRUMP TARGETS PRESIDENT OVER ‘BIDEN’S BORDER BLOODBATH’ DURING STOP IN THIS CRUCIAL BATTLEGROUND STATE Rogers spoke to Fox News Digital minutes before he and other Republican leaders and law enforcement officials joined former President Donald Trump at a roundtable discussion and stood behind him at an ensuing campaign event where the presumptive GOP presidential nominee targeted President Biden over crime and the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. “We’ve had minors solicited by illegal immigrants not too far from here. We’ve had a murder of Ruby Garcia, a horrific murder, right here in Kent County. We’ve had criminal cartel gangs operating in Oakland and Wayne County on the southeast side of the state for months now. They’re very organized, and they’re doing a lot of damage. All of that because of a weak and porous southern border,” Rogers charged. TRUMP’S DUAL STRATEGY TO BALANCE COURT APPEARANCES WITH THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL The Trump visit came in the wake of the March 22 murder of Garcia, a 25-year-old woman allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant who had been deported to Mexico in 2020 but returned to the U.S. Garcia’s death – her body was discovered alongside a road in Grand Rapids – has dominated local conservative talk radio and social media. Police say Garcia was in a romantic relationship with the suspect, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who told authorities he shot her multiple times. Pointing to the roundtable discussion with law enforcement leaders who endorsed Trump minutes later, Rogers argued that they “have been kicked in the teeth for the last three years by the Biden administration and Democrats. This is their opportunity to talk about real policy changes that will help them protect communities here in Michigan.” Rogers bowed out of politics in 2016, the year that Trump won the White House. ROGERS FLIRTS WITH 2024 WHITE HOUSE RUN DURING EARLY STATE STOPS He returned to the campaign trail in late 2022 and early 2023, as he flirted with a long-shot Republican presidential nomination run, road-testing his message during stops in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, the four early voting states in the GOP nomination race. And part of his message was that Trump’s time leading the party had passed. But Rogers ultimately decided against a White House bid, and last autumn, after moving back to Michigan from Florida, launched a Senate campaign after being encouraged to run by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He backed Trump in the GOP presidential nomination race in January and Trump reciprocated a month ago. The former president gave Rogers another shout out in his comments to the crowd in Michigan. THIS FORMER FBI AGENT LAUNCHES SENATE RUN Rogers, in his Fox News Digital interview, emphasized that “Donald Trump is the right person at the right time to fix some huge problems for this country.” As he mulled a presidential run, Rogers was clear in rejecting Trump’s repeated unproven claims that his 2020 election loss to President Biden was due to a “rigged” election that was “stolen.” Asked how he squared his past criticism with his current backing of Trump, Rogers said “politics are like family fights. You have your family fight. You have your disagreements. You get up the next day. You dust yourself off. You move out smartly. We’re moving out smartly for a November win.” Besides the Trump endorsement, Rogers’ odds of winning the GOP nomination also improved after former Detroit Police Chief James Craig dropped his Senate bid a month ago and later backed Rogers. The Republican Senate field remains crowded. Among the other contenders are two vocal Trump critics — former Reps. Peter Meijer and Justin Amash, as well as entrepreneur and self-funding candidate Sandy Pensler. Rogers said that even with the Trump endorsement, “I’m used to being 1,000 points behind every single day and that’s how we act…. We’re not taking anything for granted. We’re still trying to put the party back together, every faction of it, to make sure that we have the infrastructure to beat the Democrat machine in November.” But Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Maeve Coyle claimed in a statement to Fox News that “Republicans are engulfed in a radioactive, expensive primary that will leave their eventual nominee deeply damaged.” And Coyle claimed that “every day is bringing new and damaging revelations about National Republicans’ chosen candidate Revolving Door Rogers – like how he supports a national abortion ban, enriched himself through ties to Chinese businesses, and ditched Michigan to live in a million dollar Florida mansion the first chance he got.” On the combustible issue of abortion, Rogers acknowledged that “I’m someone who supports life and always have.” In Congress over a decade ago, Rogers voted to enact federal abortion restrictions. Now he opposes such a move. And pointing to the 2022 vote by Michigan to codify reproductive rights, including access to abortion, in the state constitution, Rogers said “abortion is legal here in the state of Michigan. I’m not going back to Washington D.C. to undo what I believe was rightly done by the decision… it’s part of the [state] constitution. It is protected. It’s legal. I’m not
Never Say Never-Trump: Biden leaves GOP moderates with ‘no alternative’ but to back former president
Some Republicans who said they would never support former President Donald Trump again appear poised to do just that come November, as they feel President Biden’s policies and leadership cannot be allowed a second term. “It is not an enthusiastic vote,” Eric Levine, a former Nikki Haley supporter, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “I am left with no alternative.” DEMS BLASTED OVER LEAKED MEMO THAT SAYS ‘QUIET PART OUT LOUD’ ABOUT VOTER REGISTRATION EFFORTS Levine, a prominent Republican fundraiser, penned an essay to his vast network of fellow GOP donors and activists last week, informing them that despite his initial resolve after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots to “never” support Trump again, he would be doing just that. He led his memo by writing, “The adage of ‘never say never’ is a wise one.” GOP strategist John Feehery said it will depend “how horrified they are by Biden’s policies” whether “never-Trump” Republicans return to him. This was the case for Levine. He described his decision-making process as such: “I think it was more that I’m so offended by Biden. What am I going to do?” DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST BOASTS PARTY FOUGHT TO UNDERMINE ‘DANGEROUS’ THIRD-PARTY THREAT TO BIDEN For Levine, it was never a choice between Biden and Trump. Rather, it was whether he would stay home on Election Day or return to Trump. “Some will clearly go back to Trump,” explained Republican strategist Doug Heye. He noted this happens after primaries and is “what campaigns call ‘coming home.’” “But no one knows what that number is,” he added. With the likely Trump-Biden rematch shaping up to be competitive, that exact number could make the difference. NO LABELS DECLINES TO FIELD CANDIDATE IN 2024 PRESIDENTIAL SWEEPS: ‘A HERO NEVER EMERGED’ Andrew Smith, Director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said it was “too early” to know, but noted that “voters have a great ability to rationalize why they are voting for their party’s candidate rather than vote for the candidate from the other party.” “I think as we get closer to the election, after Labor Day, I believe most anti-Trump voters from the primaries will end up supporting Trump,” he predicted. When Levine sent the memo to his Republican network, he was surprised by the volume of responses he received. “Shockingly, on the extreme of the [Never-Trumpers], it was a split,” he said. “There [were] a number of folks who said, ‘Yeah, I guess we have to’ [support Trump].” Many Trump-averse Republicans had flocked to Haley leading up to the Republican primaries. TRUMP CAMPAIGN RIPS POLITICO FOR ‘HAREBRAINED ASSERTION’ THAT CHINA PREFERS HIM OVER BIDEN According to various exit polls in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Haley pulled in significant percentages of independent voters as she appeared more moderate than her opponents on the campaign trail. Her coalition was unique, garnering support from disaffected Republicans who were likely exhausted by Trump. She even managed to draw some Democratic support in some states, where those voters could participate in Republican primaries. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, endorsed Haley ahead of the state’s primary, where she garnered 43% of the vote. But In March, he shocked some when he announced his plan to vote for Trump, despite his previous criticisms of the former president. “Post-primary, the vast majority of folks always come back,” he said. “People will go to Trump because Biden has blown it that bad for himself and his party,” he said. According to him, they recognize that it’s about “whether you support a Republican agenda — a Republican administration.” Biden’s campaign has actively sought to win over Haley’s supporters. The president’s team even put out a 30-second ad in battleground states asking those voters to “save America” and “join us.” In contrast, Trump’s campaign hasn’t made any such specific effort to attract Haley’s coalition. “Telling your own voters to pound sand isn’t smart,” noted Heye. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “No amount of gaslighting from the Biden campaign can make voters forget Biden’s bloodbath he has brought all across America.” “Biden is hemorrhaging support from Black voters, Hispanic voters, and almost every other part of his base because of his disastrous policies and failed presidency. Meanwhile, President Trump’s support continues to grow,” he added. BIDEN HOLDS NARROW LEAD OVER TRUMP IN NEW POLL DESPITE CONCERNS HE’S ‘TOO OLD’ FOR A SECOND TERM Marlys Popma, a prominent Iowa Republican operative who endorsed Haley during the Iowa caucuses, said Trump’s lack of outreach may not put off Haley supporters because “when the hardcore reality sets in” people will say, “‘I’m going to vote for Trump because his policies are right.’” Levine said he couldn’t imagine Republicans who supported Haley choosing Biden in November. “I don’t see how any Nikki Haley voter can go from Nikki Haley to Joe Biden,” he said. “Everything Nikki Haley stands for, Joe Biden is against.” But Republican strategist David Kochel, a former adviser to Mitt Romney, offered another prediction: “I think a big number will either not vote in the presidential or will vote for Biden or a third party.” Gunner Ramer, Republican Accountability PAC political director, called it “disappointing yet unsurprising” to see a “member of the GOP elite” cowering and supporting Trump, in reference to Levine. Ramer’s organization recently launched an anti-Trump series of ads in pivotal Midwest swing states as it looks to prevent him from winning a second term. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
2 Texas principals charged for violating state election laws
Two principals in a Texas school district are facing criminal charges after allegedly violating state election laws by using their school emails to urge staff to vote for candidates who oppose school choice. Alexander Elementary School Principal Lindsey Lujan and Borman Elementary Principal Jesus Lujan, who are married, work in the Denton Independent School District. The two administrators emailed staff in February encouraging them to vote in March’s Republican primary election for candidates who oppose GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s school voucher plan, court documents show, according to Fox 4. TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON SUES SCHOOL DISTRICT AFTER PRINCIPALS ACCUSED OF VIOLATING ELECTION LAWS Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Denton ISD in response to the emails, which were leaked in February. Paxton’s office and the school district later reached a settlement. The principals were charged with unlawful use of an internal mail system for political advertising, a Class A misdemeanor. The charge carries a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. The Texas American Federation of Teachers, a teachers union, claimed the charges represent a “politically motivated legal attack.” TEXAS UNIVERSITY CLEARS DEI OFFICES, LAYS OFF EMPLOYEES IN LIGHT OF NEW STATE LAW: REPORT “This latest escalation in the campaign against educators and school employees fulfilling their duty to promote civic engagement and using their voices to highlight the high stakes for public education in our elections threatens to have a profound chilling effect in communities across the state,” Texas AFT said in a news release. The district said election laws should be followed, but also encouraged people to learn about the candidates and their positions before voting in the primary of their choosing. A court hearing for Lindsay Lujan is scheduled for next month while her husband’s hearing is set for June.
Thousands of Israelis protest against government, urging captive deal
Local media reported demonstrations taking place in 50 locations across the country amid anger at Netanyahu’s government. Thousands of Israeli antigovernment protesters have gathered in Tel Aviv, among other parts of the country, to call on the government to reach a deal to free dozens of captives held by the Hamas group in Gaza and to hold early elections. The demonstrators shouted slogans late on Saturday, expressing anger at Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for its inability to secure the release of the captives after six months of fighting. Israeli media reported scenes of confrontations between security forces and protesters in Tel Aviv, where demonstrators reportedly started several fires, before they were quickly put out by the police. People chanted “Police, police who exactly are you guarding?”, and “Ben-Gvir is a terrorist”, referring to Israel’s minister of national security, the Haaretz newspaper reported. The protest organisers quoted by local media said rallies were taking place at about 50 other locations nationwide in addition to Tel Aviv. Such Saturday protests have become a regular occurrence in Tel Aviv and other parts of the country, since the early months of the war that began on October 7. The latest demonstrations come as ceasefire negotiations – which include discussions about the release of the captives – are set to take place in Cairo. The talks are being mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. Two protests merge Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from Tel Aviv, said that two different rallies had merged on Saturday, and the huge turnout of protesters was likely to put a lot of pressure on Netanyahu. “The ‘Bring Them Home Campaign’ now joined the antigovernment protesters,” he said. “The former is the advocacy group for the hostages. For six months, they have been demanding the prime minister to release the Palestinian political prisoners and in turn, get the hostages back. “Now, they are saying enough is enough. It has been six months and nothing has happened in terms of getting the majority of people out,” our correspondent added. “All the speeches we heard tonight had two key messages: Netanyahu failed and the hostages have to come home now.” Organisers of the antigovernment protests in Tel Aviv say that 100,000 people participated in the demonstrations, according to the Israeli media. Saturday protests calling for the release of captives have become a regular occurrence in Tel Aviv and other parts of the country [Ariel Schalit/AP] Israel declared war on Gaza after Hamas carried out a deadly attack on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 200 others captive. More than 100 have since been released, but others remain captive in Gaza. Netanyahu launched Israel’s relentless war on Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas’s attack. In the last six months, at least 33,137 Palestinians have been killed and 75,815 wounded in Israeli attacks on the strip – with starvation and famine reported in particular in the north of the enclave due to lack of international aid access. Israel said on Saturday its special forces had recovered the body of a captive killed in Gaza. A new round of indirect truce negotiations is expected to begin in Cairo on Sunday. CIA Director Bill Burns will attend the talks along with his Egyptian counterpart. A representative from Hamas will also attend, the group said on Saturday. The Israeli side has not yet said whether it would send a delegation to the talks. Adblock test (Why?)
Does Israel’s attack on aid workers mark a turning point for its allies?
The killing of international aid workers with World Central Kitchen (WCK) sparks strongest Western reaction to date. After six months of war and more than 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza killed, it was Israel’s killing of international aid workers this week that triggered the West’s most furious response to date. Israel has faced sharp criticism since Monday’s attack on a World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid convoy in Gaza – with even the United States joining the global chorus of condemnation. So how have events this week affected Israel’s international standing? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Nour Odeh – Palestinian political analyst Gideon Levy – Columnist for Haaretz newspaper in Tel Aviv Chris Doyle – Director at the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London Adblock test (Why?)
Latin American countries condemn Ecuador raid on Mexico embassy
Governments across Latin America have rallied around Mexico after security forces in Ecuador stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest a controversial politician who had been granted political asylum there. Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela sharply rebuked Ecuador on Saturday, hours after the seizure of Ecuador’s former Vice President Jorge Glas, with Nicaragua joining Mexico in severing diplomatic ties with Quito. During the incident, which took place late on Friday night, special forces equipped with a battering ram surrounded the Mexican embassy in Quito’s financial district, and at least one agent scaled the walls to extract Glas. The 54-year-old politician is wanted on corruption charges and has been holed up inside the Mexican embassy since seeking political asylum in December. Mexican authorities granted that request on Friday. Following his arrest, Glas could be seen on video circulating on social media being taken by a police convoy to the airport in Quito, flanked by heavily armed soldiers. He then boarded a plane en route to a jail in Guayaquil, the Andean nation’s largest city. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blasted the unusual diplomatic incursion and arrest as an “authoritarian” act as well as a breach of international law and Mexico’s sovereignty, while the government of Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa argued asylum protections were illegal because of the corruption charges Glas is facing. Still, under international law, embassies are considered the sovereign territory of the country they represent, and the Vienna Convention, which governs international relations, states that a country cannot intrude upon an embassy on its territory. Brazil’s government condemned Ecuador’s move as a “clear violation” of international norms and said the action “must be subject to strong repudiation, whatever the justification for its implementation”. Colombian President Gustavo Petro argued in a post on X that Latin America “must keep alive the precepts of international law in the midst of the barbarism that is advancing in the world”, while his government said in a separate statement that it will seek human rights legal protections for the now-detained Glas. The United States also said it condemns any violation of the convention protecting diplomatic missions and encouraged “the two countries to resolve their differences in accord with international norms”. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, said he was “alarmed” by the raid, and urged both sides to show moderation in resolving the dispute, according to a spokesman. The Washington-based Organization of American States also issued a call for dialogue to resolve the escalating dispute, adding in a statement that a session of the body’s permanent council will be convened to discuss the need for “strict compliance with international treaties, including those that guarantee the right to asylum”. On Saturday, the Mexican embassy remained surrounded by police and the Mexican flag had been taken down. Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said late in the day that diplomatic personnel and their families would leave Ecuador on a commercial flight on Sunday, adding that personnel from “friendly and allied countries” would accompany them to the airport. In Mexico City, about 50 demonstrators rallied outside Ecuador’s embassy, accusing Quito of being “fascist”. In an interview with national broadcaster Milenio, Mexico’s top diplomat Alicia Barcena expressed shock at Ecuador’s incursion into the country’s embassy, adding that some embassy personnel were injured in the raid. She added that Glas was granted asylum after an exhaustive analysis of the circumstances surrounding the accusations he faces. Glas was vice president under former leftist president, Rafael Correa, between 2013 and 2017. He was released from prison in November after serving time for receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks in a vast scandal involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. He faces another arrest warrant for allegedly diverting funds that were intended for reconstruction efforts after a devastating earthquake in 2016. Glas has claimed he is the victim of political persecution, a charge Ecuador’s government has denied. Former President Correa, who has been exiled in Belgium since 2017 and was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for corruption, wrote on X that “not even in the worst dictatorships has a country’s embassy been violated”. He said Glas “was struggling to walk because he was beaten”. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Many like you have come and gone; Hindustan is…’: Smriti Irani slams Rahul Gandhi
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani holds an election campaign in support of central Chennai BJP candidate Vinoj P Selvam at the YMCA auditorium in the Veppery district of Chennai.
Agra Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Election 2024: Check important dates, key candidates, past results and other details
The date for the Agra Lok Sabha/Parliamentary Constituency in Uttar Pradesh is 7 May ( Phase 3 ).