EXCLUSIVE: 63K Migrants Apprehended in First 10 Days of Sept — Up 10 Percent from Aug

Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 63,000 migrants in the first ten days of September, according to unofficial reports reviewed by Breitbart Texas. This represents a nearly ten percent increase over the same period in August.

Agents in the nine southwest Border Patrol sectors apprehended approximately 62,738 migrants during the first ten days of September. During the same period in August, agents apprehended 57,075 migrants. This represents an increase of approximately ten percent in a month-to-month comparison.

With an average of nearly 6,300 migrant apprehensions daily, the September apprehensions could represent a major increase for the third consecutive month.

In August, agents apprehended more than 179,000 migrants, unofficial Border Patrol reports revealed. This was up from nearly 132,652 in July and 99,539 in June.

The Tucson Sector continues to lead the nation with the apprehension of nearly 17,000 migrants during the first ten days of September. This is followed by the Rio Grande Valley Sector (nearly 15,000) and the Dek Rio Sector (approximately 10,000).

The El Paso and San Diego Sectors followed closely with approximately 9,300 and 8,300 migrant apprehensions respectively.

The five Texas-based Border Patrol Sectors accounted for approximately 35,000 (56 percent) of the nearly 63,000 migrant apprehensions during the first ten days of September.

Border Patrol officials reacted to the increasing migrant apprehensions by pulling agents off the line and shutting down some interior immigration checkpoints, Breitbart Texas’ Randy Clark reported.

In addition, highly trained Homeland Security Investigations special agents are being utilized to drive vans to transport migrants to processing centers, according to a source within CBP.

“We’ve got them driving vans. The whole situation here is beyond belief,” the source told Clark.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2023/09/13/exclusive-63k-migrants-apprehended-in-first-10-days-of-sept-up-10-percent-from-aug/

UN Declares U.S.-Mexico Border World’s Deadliest Land Migration Route — AGAIN

The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) declared the U.S.-Mexico border the deadliest land border crossing after documenting 686 deaths and disappearances of migrants on in 2022. Tuesday’s announcement noted the toll for migrant disappearances and deaths throughout the Americas is the deadliest year on record since the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project (MMP) began.

Although data compiled during the Missing Migrant Project annual overview showed that deaths and disappearances along the U.S.-Mexico border decreased by 6 per cent from the previous year, the report indicates the death toll is likely higher than the available information suggests, due to missing official data. The death toll does not include information from Texas border county coroner’s offices and the Mexican search and rescue agency, Grupo BETA.

Nearly half of all the migrant deaths recorded in 2022 along the U.S.-Mexico border occurred during attempts to cross the desolate Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts that cover parts of northern Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. Current reporting shows this area will likely prove deadly in 2023 as well. In August, the Tucson Border Patrol led the nation in migrant deaths — most a result of heat related illness in the remote desert areas outside populated cities.

The death count recorded by the Border Patrol also faces data integrity shortfalls as the migrant death reports compiled by the agency do not include those whose bodies were recovered by other law enforcement agencies further inland from the border area that do not involve Border Patrol personnel or resources in the recovery.

The dangers for migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border begin long before reaching the United States. Along the Darien Gap, a dangerous jungle border crossing between Panama and Colombia, the IOM noted 141 migrant deaths in 2022. Current immigration figures for migrants attempting to cross through the Darien are increasing according to government officials in Panama.

As reported by Breitbart Texas, in August, Maria Isabel Saravia, Panama’s deputy director of migration, told reporters the number of migrants who traveled through the deadly jungle pathway since January broke previous yearly records. Officials estimate the total regional crossings could hit 400,000 by the year’s end.

The hazards posed by the jungle include several rivers with current flows that increase significantly during the rainy season. The jungle hosts an abundance of wildlife, including jaguars, pumas, and wild hogs. Aside from the natural hazards of the habitat, the Darien is home to violent drug and contraband traffickers, paramilitary groups, and guerillas.

Those successfully making the trek through the Darien are contributing to a rising number of migrants being encountered at the southwest border. Border Patrol agents apprehended just under 180,000 migrants in August, according to unofficial reports obtained by Breitbart Texas. This represents an increase of about 35 percent over July and is just under the total from August 2022.



https://www.breitbart.com/border/2023/09/13/un-declares-u-s-mexico-border-worlds-deadliest-land-migration-route-again/

Musk gave control of Starlink to Pentagon – biographer

The billionaire was allegedly eager to step away from the service after refusing to help Kiev attack the Russian naval fleet in Crimea

Elon Musk gave the US military full control over a “certain amount of Starlink equipment” and can no longer influence how the system is being used to aid Kiev’s war effort, his biographer has revealed, claiming the tech mogul wished to end his involvement in a scheme that could “cause a nuclear war.”

Speaking to the Washington Post’s David Ignatius in an interview published on Wednesday, Musk biographer Walter Isaacson was asked about the billionaire’s decisions regarding Starlink, a constellation of satellites designed to provide global internet access and phone service, which has also been used by the Ukrainian military.

Musk was initially “critically supportive” of Kiev and allowed near-full access to the Starlink system, according to Ignatius, who wondered why the entrepreneur eventually became “very nervous” and began restricting the range of the satellites, including in sensitive regions such as Crimea.

“I've talked to him during this whole thing, and late one night, he said, ‘Why am I in this war?’ He said, ‘I, you know, created Starlink so people could chill and watch Netflix movies and play video games. I did not mean to create something that might cause a nuclear war,’” Isaacson recalled.

The author went on to say that Musk “decided to sell and give total control over a certain amount of Starlink equipment, Starlink services to the US military so that he no longer controls the geofencing,” adding that the SpaceX CEO “no longer controls the terms of use” for the satellites.

Isaacson said Musk had also developed a “military version of the Starlink” dubbed “Starshield,” suggesting that he hoped to pass off the project to the military.

“I think that was his way of saying, ‘I got to get out of this. Even I don't believe I should have this much power,’” the biographer continued.

Musk has come under fire over his refusal to help Ukrainian forces attack Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port of Sevastopol – a revelation which only came to light in an excerpt from Isaacson’s biography published last week. The tech billionaire reportedly opted to prevent Kiev from using Starlink to guide naval drone strikes on Russian ships, fearing Moscow might use nuclear weapons in retaliation to what he called a “mini-Pearl Harbor.”

While Ukrainian Digital Transformation Minister Mikhail Fedorov purportedly demanded that Musk turn the system on, Musk refused outright, explaining that Kiev “is now going too far and inviting strategic defeat” by attacking Crimea.

The SpaceX CEO later claimed their services in the region around Crimea were not turned on at the time because his company was not allowed to provide coverage there due to US sanctions against Russia.

https://www.rt.com/news/582937-musk-sold-starlink-pentagon/

Zelensky aide backtracks on insults to India and China

Mikhail Podoliak had accused the two countries of having “low intellectual potential”

The top adviser to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Mikhail Podoliak, blamed “Russian propaganda” on Wednesday for reaction to his remarks about China and India having “low intellectual potential” and allegedly not understanding the world properly.

“Classic Russian propaganda: take it out of context, distort the meaning, scale it up to separate target audiences with conflict provocation,” Podoliak said on X, formerly Twitter.

He did not, however, deny saying what he said in a widely shared interview with a Ukrainian outlet on Tuesday.

“The problem with these countries is that they do not analyze the consequences of their own moves. These countries, unfortunately, have low intellectual potential,” Podoliak had said, adding that just because India has a lunar exploration program, that “does not mean that this nation understands what the modern world precisely is.”

His remarks drew criticism from many Indians on X, while the Chinese Foreign Ministry demanded a clarification.

On Wednesday, attempting to explain what he actually meant, Podoliak argued that “Türkiye, India, China and other regional powers are increasingly and clearly justified in claiming global roles in the modern world.”

However, he said, “the global world is much broader than even the most thoughtful regional national interests. The global world is based on stability and predictability, on rationality and strategy, on international law and clear rules of the game,” which he insisted Russia is trying to undermine.

“One way or another, it is irrational to ignore this due to situational and regional economic interests, as it has long-term consequences. The sooner Russia loses, the more chances the world has to return to stability and the rules of the game. The task of the great powers is to accelerate this moment,” he added.

Emerging as Zelensky’s most influential adviser after the resignation of Aleksey Arestovich in January, Podoliak has a long record of lashing out at countries, organizations and public figures seen as insufficiently supportive of Ukraine’s cause.

Podoliak’s most recent target was SpaceX head Elon Musk, who in his telling “enabled evil” by denying Ukraine the use of Starlink satellites – which Musk has provided Kiev free of charge – to attack Crimea with drones. He has also denounced Pope Francis as an “instrument of Russian propaganda” after the head of the Roman Catholic Church had kind words for Russia’s historical legacy.

https://www.rt.com/russia/582927-podoliak-india-china-insult/

That a Threat? Zelensky Warns Ukrainians in Europe Could Act ‘Unpredictably’ if Western Aid Is Cut

Don’t push Ukrainians into a corner by cutting Western support for the war or else the millions of refugees who have presently “behaved well” in Europe may start to act unpredictably, President Zelensky has said.

Speaking to a British centre-left-leaning news magazine, the Ukrainian President has made remarks that may to some ears sound like a threat, or at least a dire warning, as he spoke of the possible negative consequences for European nations if they reduced the donations and aid given to his country. While the interview with the Economist largely paraphrases Zelensky’s words — as a non-native speaker his English can be a little convoluted — the meaning appears from their writing to be clear, as the magazine warns curtailing aid would “create risks for the West in its own backyard”.

“There is no way of predicting how the millions of Ukrainian refugees in European countries would react to their country being abandoned”, Zelensky is reported to have intoned, saying while they are grateful for the asylum they had been given during the war and had “behaved well” so far, this could apparently not be guaranteed to continue.

In perhaps some of the darkest words Zelensky has had for his European allies during the war, the magazine reports he told them: “…it would not be a ‘good story’ for Europe if it were to ‘drive these people into a corner’.”

The comments came in the context of a discussion on how to end the war sooner, and Zelensky’s intuition of “a change of mood” in Western leaders away from bottomless support as long as it will take as the counteroffensive falters. “I see that he or she is not here, not with us”, he said of the new attitude towards Ukraine he claims to have detected.

Portraying things in black-and-white George W. Bush-like terms, he told the magazine: “If you are not with Ukraine, you are with Russia, and if you are not with Russia, you are with Ukraine. And if partners do not help us, it means they will help Russia to win. That is it.”

While perhaps the starkest yet, these remarks are not the first time Zelensky has made clear he believed there are consequences waiting for Western nations that fail to help him rout the Russian invasion. As reported this week, Zelensky told CNN that it was better for Europe to fund and arm him now than to let Russia win and leave them emboldened to invade European Union and NATO member states next. Rhetorically, he asked: “You can feel it when your family is under attack. You really want to try it? I cannot recommend it”.

There are four million Ukrainian refugees in Europe, according to the European Union, with a million apiece in Poland and Germany alone, with a further 210,000 in the United Kingdom. While it is broadly presumed most will want to go home when the war finished, some research challenged this perception.

As reported, a German study found earlier this year that 44 per cent of those surveyed said they want to stay in Germany “forever” or at least for “a few more years”, with just 31 per cent wanting to return to their homeland upon the conclusion of the war.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/09/13/that-a-threat-zelensky-warns-ukrainians-in-europe-could-act-unpredictably-if-western-aid-is-cut/

India Leads the World in Internet Shutdowns

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Wednesday that India is the world leader in shutting down Internet access, coming in ahead of heavyweight access-blockers like Iran, Libya, and Sudan with 84 regional shutdowns in 2022.

In fact, India accounted for over half of all Internet shutdowns detected around the globe by a digital rights group called Access Now, which began tracking access blockages in 2016.

Last year was especially bad because of the unrest in Manipur, a province of India tormented by tribal warfare. Indian officials shut down the Internet in Manipur soon after the latest round of violence began in May, and was only partially restored in July, albeit with heavy monitoring and continuing bans on mobile Internet and wifi.

India’s blockade on Internet access in Manipur was blamed for suppressing a shocking video that showed two women from the Christian Kuki tribe being paraded naked through the jungle and then sexually assaulted by a mob. The incident occurred in early May, but was not made public until July because of the Internet blockage, a delay that made it more difficult to identify and apprehend the perpetrators. Seven arrests were eventually made in connection with the assault, including the youth who filmed it.

“The Manipur shutdown crippled the ability for information to reach the rest of the world. If we had seen the videos hidden from us for almost 80 days back in May, we could have reacted to it sooner,” Indian technology lawyer Mishi Choudhary told Time in August.

Manipur takes a back seat to Kashmir for the longest Internet shutdown in India, and indeed the entire world. Internet access was blocked in Muslim-majority Kashmir in August 2019, and was only partially restored 552 days later, thanks to an order from India’s Supreme Court.

Other heavy shutdowns were ordered during the farm protests of 2020-2021, Hindu-Muslim tensions in western India in 2022, and the manhunt for Sikh separatist leader Amritpal Singh in early 2023.

Choudhary described India as “the most brutal censor of the Internet in the democratic world,” citing reports from digital rights groups that have awarded India that dubious distinction for the past five years running. As bad as 2022 was, India had already surpassed its number of Internet blocks by June 2023.

In addition to regional blockades on Internet access, India frequently blocks individual websites and social media accounts – almost 7,000 of them last year, according to Access Now. Time pointed out that the Indian government does not publish statistics on Internet shutdowns, and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology claims it does not keep them. All of the data on India’s Internet restrictions comes from outside watchdog groups.

Most of India’s Internet major shutdowns are imposed by the government during times of unrest, as in Manipur and Kashmir, but Time cited a report from the Internet Freedom Foundation and Human Rights Watch that found a third of the disruptions between 2020 and 2022 were imposed to prevent students and civil servants from cheating on exams.

The WSJ focused on the heavy costs of Internet shutdowns, which fall heavily upon India’s poor, and sharply contradict Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Digital India” initiative, under which he pronounced connectivity to be “as much a basic right as access to school.”

“Digital India” included a massive push to make mobile Internet access more affordable and get Indians to use digital commerce platforms. Shutting down the Internet yanks away the digital rug that all of those people were persuaded to stand upon, and wreaks havoc on small entrepreneurs who rely heavily on online business information and payment systems. The entire business model for enterprises like ride-hailing and food delivery services collapses when Internet access is blocked.

Shutdowns are also brutal on poor Indians who use online systems to collect subsidies, rural workers who receive their paychecks online, and startups hoping to lure foreign investment. The total economic damage from Internet shutdowns is approaching $5 billion, according to digital rights groups.

Digital rights advocates point out there is little evidence that Internet shutdowns actually help to quell unrest, especially since they tend to impose additional hardships on restless populations, giving them fresh reasons to be angry at each other and the government.

In June, the United Nations Human Rights Office reported on the suffering from Internet shutdowns and urged all member states to refrain from using such techniques.

“Shutdowns are powerful markers of sharply deteriorating human rights situations,” the U.N. warned.

https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2023/09/13/india-leads-the-world-in-internet-shutdowns/

Iran rejects US limits on use of its unfrozen money

President Ebrahim Raisi has claimed Tehran will decide how to spend the $6 billion freed up under a prisoner-swap deal

Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi has argued that the US has no right to regulate Tehran’s use of $6 billion in oil funds that were unfrozen under a prisoner-exchange agreement between the countries.

“This money belongs to the Iranian people, the Iranian government, so the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide what to do with this money,” Raisi said on Tuesday in an NBC News interview. Asked whether the money will be used for humanitarian purposes, as demanded by Washington, he said, “Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people need, so this money will be budgeted for those needs, and the needs of the Iranian people will be decided and determined by the Iranian government.”

Raisi’s interpretation of the prisoner-swap deal is clearly at odds with the views of US President Joe Biden’s administration. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday that money will be held in Qatari banks and strictly monitored by the US Treasury Department to ensure that it’s used only for humanitarian purposes.

The prisoner exchange includes the release of five Americans who had been detained on espionage charges and five Iranians who had been jailed in the US for allegedly violating Washington’s sanctions against Tehran. The Biden administration also issued sanctions waivers to enable banks in South Korea to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds.

Tens of billions of dollars owed to Iran for oil and other exports were frozen in bank accounts around the world under US sanctions, starting in 2018, after then-President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the Iran nuclear deal. Biden pledged during the 2020 presidential campaign to revive the nuclear agreement, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but he has failed to do so since taking office in January 2021.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters last month that the unfrozen money could only be used for such purchases as food, medicine and medical equipment that doesn’t have a military use. He speculated in an MSNBC interview on Tuesday that Raisi might be “playing to his domestic audience” by suggesting that Iran can use the funds however it pleases.

https://www.rt.com/news/582874-iran-us-unfrozen-funds/

Musk warns of ‘civilizational risk’

There is an “above zero” chance that “AI will kill us all,” the billionaire has claimed

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) could pose a “civilizational risk” to humanity if the technology continues to be developed without independent oversight, Elon Musk warned US senators at a tech leaders’ summit in Washington DC on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters as he left the US Capitol following the three-hour ‘AI safety forum’ – which also featured input from Bill Gates, Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, and Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai – Musk indicated that there was an “overwhelming consensus” among tech giants to rein in AI technology. A failure to do so could lead to “severe” consequences, he cautioned.

“The question is really one of civilizational risk,” Musk said, according to NBC News. “It’s not like one group of humans versus another. It’s like, hey, this is something that’s potentially risky for all humans everywhere.” The billionaire added his belief that there is an “above zero” chance “that AI will kill us all.”

AI language models, colloquially known as ‘chat bots’, became popularized last year with the public release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The technology is capable of answering questions or composing complex passages of prose in human-like language. Critics have warned that some of the information AI chat bots present to users can be wildly inaccurate.

It has also led to concerns about mass layoffs in employment sectors that could be replaced by AI, as well as increased online fraud and misinformation.

“I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the developer of ChatGPT, said. “We want to be vocal about that. We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening.”

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who convened the meeting, described the discussion as “historic.” He stated that there had been a unanimous call for regulation, but that no agreement had been reached on how this should be applied.

The introduction of an independent agency to oversee the pace of AI development was among the topics discussed at the forum, The Guardian reported on Thursday, as were methods on ensuring transparency in Big Tech companies.

However, Republican Senator Mike Rounds said following the meeting that the US Congress is currently “absolutely not” in a position to propose legislation to govern artificial intelligence, while outspoken GOP lawmaker Josh Hawley refused to attend what he called a “giant cocktail party for Big Tech.”

https://www.rt.com/news/582955-us-musk-ai-summit/

Ukraine joining NATO ‘would not promote peace’ – ex-French president

Kiev must adopt a neutral stance between Russia and the West, Nicolas Sarkozy has said

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned that Ukrainian membership of NATO and the EU “would not promote peace” and would be perceived as a “provocation” by Russia.

Speaking to French news station BFMTV on Wednesday, Sarkozy argued it is in Kiev’s best interests to remain “neutral” regarding Western blocs. The former leader also insisted that diplomacy with Moscow remains the most prudent option for Ukraine to end the current conflict.

“Bringing Ukraine into NATO would not promote peace,” said Sarkozy, who served as French president between 2007 and 2012.

NATO leaders declared at a summit in Lithuania in July that the bloc would only invite Ukraine to become a member “when allies agree and conditions are met.” NATO had already denied Kiev’s calls for a “fast-track” to full membership in September of 2022.

Moscow has frequently expressed its opposition to NATO’s eastward expansion. President Vladimir Putin cited the bloc’s involvement in Ukraine as among the key reasons when Moscow began its military operation against Kiev last year.

Ukraine has also pursued EU membership and was granted formal candidate status in 2022. In June, sources within the bloc told Reuters that Kiev currently meets two of the seven conditions required to be considered for full membership.

Rather than chasing closer ties with the West, Sarkozy told BFMTV there are “two solutions” available to Ukraine and its allies to bring an end to the hostilities. The first, he claimed, is the “annihilation” of Russia – before explaining that this is unrealistic because “we are not going to wipe out the second nuclear power in the world, or the world risks falling into total war.”

According to Sarkozy, a more achievable scenario is “diplomatic discussion.” The former president stated that his experience had given him a clear view of what can be achieved over the negotiating table. “They tell me Putin has changed and [that] we cannot have discussions with him,” Sarkozy said. “Those who say that are generally those who have never met him.”

Sarkozy reiterated to BFMTV his stance that Ukraine should pursue firm neutrality in its relationships with Russia and the West, arguing: “When you wave the muleta under the bull’s nose, you shouldn’t be surprised if he attacks.”

Sarkozy’s comments follow the backlash he received for an interview with French publication Le Figaro last month, in which he said Kiev should disregard joining NATO or the EU in favor of “an international agreement providing it with extremely strong security assurances to protect it against any risk.”

https://www.rt.com/news/582921-france-sarkozy-ukraine-nato-eu/

Germany stops taking in migrants from Italy – Die Welt

Interior Ministry officials reportedly cited Rome’s refusal to abide by the Dublin Regulation as a reason for the move

Germany has suspended “until further notice” the practice of admitting migrants arriving via Italy, Die Welt has reported. The newspaper, citing Interior Ministry representatives, said the decision was made due to “high migrant pressure” and took effect in late August.

In its report on Wednesday, Die WELT quoted officials as saying that the “voluntary solidarity mechanism” has been put on hold because Italy has consistently refused to honor the Dublin Regulation. The rule stipulates that an asylum seeker’s application should be processed by the first participating country the asylum seeker arrives in. Should the person apply for “protection in another Dublin country, he or she will be sent back” to the nation of entry.

According to Die Welt, in December of last year Rome notified other EU member states that it was canceling “for a limited period of time” migrant transfers back to Italy due to “suddenly arising technical” issues related to the country’s intake capacity. Despite the wording, this suspension has been in place ever since, the media outlet pointed out.

The article explained that the “voluntary solidarity mechanism” was created by Germany and France last June with the aim of temporarily redistributing across EU member states 10,000 asylum seekers, who had arrived in Italy and other EU countries. The idea was to take some of the pressure off those nations.

The German government has been trying for some time to put an end to the practice of migrants crossing into its territory from other safe countries, the article explained.

At present, asylum seekers who have already been registered in another country, but then moved to Germany, become the responsibility of Berlin unless the country of entry agrees to readmit the person under the Dublin Regulation within six months.

Meanwhile, Italy’s Interior Ministry reported last month that some 89,158 illegal migrants had arrived in small boats by crossing the Mediterranean Sea since the start of the year– an increase of 115% compared to the same period of 2022.

Rome declared a state of emergency in April due to the uptick in new arrivals, which has seen Italy’s main migrant processing center on the island of Lampedusa become overwhelmed.

While Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government has taken a number of measures aimed at curbing illegal migration, they have largely failed to stem the influx so far.

https://www.rt.com/news/582951-germany-suspends-migrant-admissions-italy/

>>19548665

tyb

o7