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Biden administration to restart deportations to Venezuela
Oct 5, 2023
The Biden administration is restarting deportations of illegal immigrants to Venezuela, officials said Thursday, vowing “harsh” consequences for those who try to jump the border moving forward.
An administration official said officials already have a group of Venezuelans in mind for the first flight, which will take place “in the next few days.”
“Today’s announcement is a key part of our continuing efforts to strengthen the consequences that are in place at the border for migrants who cross unlawfully,” the senior official told reporters.
The policy applies to Venezuelans who enter between the legal border crossings. It does not apply to Venezuelans who don’t have a visa to enter but schedule their arrivals anyway, seeking to take advantage of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ “parole” programs.
The move stands in contrast with a decision Mr. Mayorkas made just weeks ago to grant a deportation amnesty to migrants who made it to the U.S. before the end of July.
In declaring Temporary Protected Status on Sept. 20, Mr. Mayorkas said the South American country was in turmoil and wasn’t safe enough to take back hundreds of thousands of migrants who made it here.
Officials didn’t have a good answer for what changed in the last two weeks to make removals palatable, saying only that it’s common practice to deport some people even as countries have been designated for TPS.
Those who arrived before July 31 won’t be targets.
Officials promised a “significant” number of flights back to Venezuela, and said the Maduro government, which has been at odds with the U.S. for years, has agreed to work with taking the deportees back.
The deportation announcement came a day after Mr. Mayorkas announced he has waived 26 laws in order to speed construction of miles of border wall in southern Texas.
The one-two punch seems intended to get a handle on the surge of illegal immigrants at the southern border — a problem that has plagued the Biden administration from its first days, but has risen to new heights in recent weeks.
From May 1 to Aug. 31, Customs and Border Protection encountered more than 1 million unauthorized migrants.
A senior official said Thursday that roughly 300,000 migrants have been ousted since May 12. The official didn’t say what happened to the others, though it’s likely most were caught and released.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/oct/5/biden-administration-restart-deportations-venezuel/
Shocking moment jet crashes after taking off from Brazilian airport, killing pilot and terminal worker as two passengers miraculously survive
16:08 EDT, 5 October 2023
A harrowing surveillance footage has captured the moment a twin-engine plane crashed at an airport in west-central Brazil, killing the pilot and a terminal worker while two passengers survived.
The aircraft crashed just moments after it had taken off from Bom Futuro Airport in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, on Wednesday afternoon.
The King Air C90 plane could be seen falling sideways and then trying to land on the runway. But it crashed on the tarmac and skidded it away.
It finally came to a full stop near a passenger terminal and burst on fire before it exploded.
The small plane's pilot, Fernando Kawahata, 42, died instantly.
Juan Jaramillo, a 62-year-old Venezuelan national, was killed after a part of the engine struck him near the terminal building.
The two survivors, Adelar Jacobowski, 55, and Valdir Jacobowski, 52, are siblings who work in the agriculture industry and who owned the aircraft, were able to escape on their own, the Civil Police said.
They were rushed to a private hospital and treated for back and abdomen injuries. They were expected to be discharged Thursday.
The Brazilian Air Force's Regional Service for the Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents is investigating the cause of the accident.
The plane is the same model involved in the November 2021 crash that killed country music singer Marilia Mendoça. The pilot, co-pilot, who was also her uncle, and a producer also died.
Civil Police chief Marcos Lira told G1 news outlet that investigators are looking into whether the accident was caused by engine failure or negligence. They will also check to see if Kawahata had any existing health issues that may have contributed to the crash.
The injured farmers have not been interviewed yet because they are still in the early stages of recovery.
Kawahata is survived by his wife and two sons, ages 12 and 18.
'He died doing what he loved. It's difficult, but life goes on,' his eldest son told the outlet.
Kawahata's tragic death comes just two weeks after his mother passed away.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12598897/jet-crashes-Brazilian-airport-killing-pilot.html
Elon Musk isn't convinced there are aliens out there: 'We're the aliens'
Oct 5, 2023, 10:17 AM PDT
Elon Musk says he hasn't seen any signs of aliens during his explorations of outer space.
The SpaceX CEO spoke at the 74th International Astronautical Congress where he was rewarded the World Space Award. During his interview, Musk went on a tangent about his theory on aliens.
"People often ask me if I'm seeing any evidence of aliens — and I unfortunately have seen no evidence of aliens yet," Musk said. "We are the aliens," he joked.
The topic of discussion was Musk's Starship mega-rocket, which makes the SpaceX's Falcon 1 look like "a child's toy," Musk said.
But the tech billionaire made sure to also mention his thoughts on extraterrestrial life.
He said his observations suggest that "humanity is all that exists in a vast darkness." In other words, that we're all alone.
Musk once talked about aliens with Twitter employees in June 2022 before he purchased the company. In the talk, he said he hadn't seen "actual evidence for aliens."
Still, Musk has joked about the existence of life outside of Earth — and has even suggested he may be an alien walking among us. If an alien paid this planet a visit, he's also said he'd be the one of the first to know.
Musk said his new artificial intelligence company, xAI, could help humans solve issues related to contacting aliens if they do exist.
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-whether-he-thinks-aliens-exist-spacex-2023-10