Migrants From Around the World Converge on Remote Arizona Desert, Fueling Humanitarian Crisis at the Border
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona — A remote desert region along the southern border has become a makeshift international arrivals area for thousands of migrants from Africa, Asia and Latin America hoping to work and reunite with family members in the U.S.
Over the past few days, large groups of migrant men, women and some families with children have spent the night in a makeshift staging ground in this rugged section of the U.S.-Mexico border, waiting for overtaxed border officials to process them. Many expect to be released into the U.S. after being vetted by local Border Patrol agents, who lack the resources and manpower to screen everyone in a timely manner.
Most of the migrant men hailed from African countries, including Guinea, Mauritania, Morocco and Senegal, as well as some nations in Asia like Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Syria. Some men had left their hometowns in Ecuador and other parts of Latin America. The families traveling with children were predominantly Mexican and Central American… (Continue to full article)
Covid Vaccine Maker Agrees to $47M Class Action Settlement
Novavax, a pharmaceutical company that developed a Covid vaccine, has agreed to settle a Class Action lawsuit and establish a $47,000,000 fund to repay investors that were allegedly defrauded by Novavax.
The Securities Class Action lawsuit, originally filed in 2021, alleges that Novavax knowingly made false statements regarding its capacity and competency to produce a Coronavirus vaccine, and its ability to commercialize and scale the vaccine. The class action lawsuit also alleges that Novavax deceived investors by overstating its ability to achieve regulatory approval in time to be commercially viable, most notably approval from the FDA.
Novavax failed to dismiss the original class action complaint in 2022, and has now entered into a binding agreement to pay $47 Million towards a settlement fund that will be paid out to qualifying investors and class action claimants. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Novavax is expected to fully fund the $47,000,000 class action settlement using liability insurance, as the company has already been under significant financial duress since sequentially downgrading its forecasted revenue for 2022 through 2024.
While the class action settlement has been agreed upon and granted certification, the proposal may require full approval by the presiding judge and Court… (Continue to full article)
Aurora Residents Displaced After Denver Leases Motel for Migrants
Hundreds of migrants who arrived in Denver last month are being sheltered in Aurora. When they checked into the motel, residents who’d been living there for months say they were pushed out.
The City of Denver is currently providing shelter to more than 2,600 migrants. About 400 of them are staying at the Quality Inn in Aurora. The city says it leased the motel after hundreds of migrants arrived on Thanksgiving.
“I know they’re trying to better themselves by coming here. But the fact is we have our own people that we need to take care of“… (Continue to full article)
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree ~ Brenda Lee
550 people crossing into Arizona in little more than an hour on Thursday evening in just one small patch of the border with Mexico
Arizona Sends Federal Government $512 Million Bill for Picking Up Border Slack
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is pushing the federal government to reassign National Guard troops and reimburse the state government for border-related expenses.
In a letter to President Joe Biden, Hobbs is requesting that the 243 National Guard troops already on federal orders in the Tucson Sector be redirected to helping with the Lukeville Port of Entry’s reopening.
She also said that she wants “additional National Guard members currently on federal active duty orders to be reassigned to Arizona to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reopen the Lukeville Port of Entry.”
In addition, the governor included in her letter a request for the federal government to reimburse $512.5 million to the state over border security-related costs including “migrant transportation, drug interdiction, and law enforcement… (Continue to full article)
Border Patrol agents say they are powerless to do anything other than order buses to take the migrants on to processing facilities
Biden Administration Grants Temporary Legal Status and Work Authorization to Venezuelan Migrants
From a White House podium in May, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas outlined new legal pathways to the United States for Venezuelans and others, along with a “very clear” message for those who come illegally.
“Our borders are not open. People who cross our border unlawfully and without a legal basis to remain will be promptly processed and removed,” he said.
On Wednesday, Mayorkas announced temporary legal status for an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans who had arrived in the country as of July 31 — including some who ignored his stern warnings and came illegally. Circumstances change, but the Biden administration’s sharp expansion of Temporary Protected Status may complicate its messaging… (Continue to full article)
More Taxpayer Funds Going Toward Migrant Meals
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says the state will pay an additional $4 million to provide meals to asylum seekers through the end of the calendar year, which adds to the already inflated amount of taxpayer dollars for noncitizen migrants arriving in Chicago.
The $4 million is expected to cover meal costs for only the end of the month. November was covered by $2 million from the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The state has already provided $10.5 million in funding for food for new arrivals since they began to show up in the Windy City, bringing the total now to $12.5 million just for food.
Illinois has spent more than $500 million in taxpayer funding to care for the migrants since they arrived… (Continue to full article)
Biden Infuriated by Ukraine Impasse but Republicans Refuse to Bend Over Border
It is an astonishing bit of horse-trading over Ukraine that has left Democrats infuriated, even baffled. After Senate Republicans blocked a supplemental funding package on Wednesday to aid the country in its fight against the Russian invasion, demanding tough new southern border controls in exchange, the chamber’s leading Democrat took to the floor.
Calling it “a sad night in the history of the Senate”, Chuck Schumer bemoaned the vote as a disappointing reflection on the country, a step away from letting Vladimir Putin “walk right through Ukraine and right through Europe”.
“Republicans just blocked a very much needed proposal to send funding for Ukraine, funding for Israel, humanitarian aid for innocent civilians in Gaza, and funding for the Indo-Pacific,” Schumer said… (Continue to full article)