BUSINESS
Artificial intelligence a key challenge for Germany's next government

Germany's reputation as an industrial powerhouse could be on the line if the country fails to integrate artificial intelligence technology. Succeeding will require addressing several smaller issues first.

A skilled labor shortage and problems with digitalization are slowing Germany's uptake of artificial intelligence
Germany has long been a leader in science and engineering. Now, with artificial intelligence (AI) coming of age, the erstwhile technological trailblazer in western Europe is experiencing some growing pains.

AI is poised to become one of the key technologies of the economic and industrial future. Germany's federal election is just around the corner, and the country's next government will have a laundry list of grievances to address to make the country fit for the AI future.

This isn't news to those leading Germany. Since 2018, the federal government has had a strategy in place aimed at cultivating the use of artificial intelligence at home, backed up by similar efforts on the EU level. Mobility, health care, the digitalization of industry and manufacturing, environmental sustainability and, of course, the coronavirus pandemic were some of the key areas considered in a progress update published last December by Germany's government. The country sees major potential for the integration of AI technologies in these areas, but has identified several hurdles that need to be overcome first.

Germany has long contributed to academic research on the topic of artificial intelligence. But in such a dynamic field, the country needs to do more to stand out globally, the government and experts in the field agree.

For one, to become attractive to international AI talent, Germany will have to improve its reputation in the realm of tech and innovation. In 2019, over 50% of AI job vacancies in Germany either could not be filled or were filled later than wished or with less desirable candidates. Germany has already been grappling with a shortage of skilled labor. Expertise in AI specifically will be even harder to come by.

"Talent is very important both for industry and academia, for both of us," Antonio Krüger, CEO and director of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), told DW. "And we need to provide environments that are very attractive to these kinds of people."

Upgrading the SMEs

The government also wants to encourage the use of AI technology by Germany's all-important small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The so-called Mittelstand, which generates around a third of the total turnover of German companies, according to the Federation of German Industries (BDI), has been slow to take up the use of AI, despite government efforts. A recent study from the Economy Ministry showed that only around 6% of companies surveyed said they used AI technology.

"It will be crucial that developments in AI can be utilized by these smaller companies," said Krüger. "This means having good interfaces, having good tools, and good cloud infrastructure for AI. And which enables these small- and medium-sized enterprises to put AI into their products and to enhance their product with digital services that rely on AI techniques."

Such developments will rely on Germany making greater strides on digitalization, an area where it has notoriously fallen behind countries like China and the United States.

Germany also wants to use AI to fight the spread of the coronavirus. As part of its coronavirus stimulus package, the federal government has promised to increase its spending on AI from €3 billion ($3.54 billion) to €5 billion by 2025. Most of the funds will be used to develop supercomputing technology in Germany.

"AI can assist in the management of pandemics, for example in pandemic forecasting, monitoring and modeling the course of the epidemic or the effectiveness of different measures, and in research, inter alia in developing vaccines," wrote the authors of the government's strategy update.

Coordinating medical data for these purposes will be particularly difficult in Germany, however, where personal data is largely decentralized and highly protected.

"This, I think, is one of the major hurdles in this respect," said Krüger. "This has been identified. So it's something that we know in Germany, and we are starting slowly to change it. But it's taking too long." He hasn't called for less regulation, however, but instead for greater unification of systems.

AI relies on vast amounts of data to learn and become more effective. The question of when and where to use AI technologies and the data they need will be another puzzle to figure out.

For its part, the federal government wants "to ensure that all stakeholders in the field of AI honor their individual responsibility to respect human rights." AI technology should also be energy- and resource-efficient and contribute to environmental conservation.

Voting on the future of AI

In the upcoming federal election on September 26, AI is on the ballot as well. Most of Germany's five major parties have devoted sections of their party platforms to the topic.

While Germany's right-of-center parties have stressed the importance of AI for preserving Germany's position as an economic powerhouse and industry leader, the left-of-center parties have drawn more attention to its dangers. Used carelessly, they say, the technology has the potential to entrench discriminatory patterns or end up violating the data protection standards that German society holds so dear.

All parties have, however, acknowledged the importance of AI, albeit with different points of emphasis: public sector goods provision for the center-left Social Democrats; ecological and climate monitoring and forecasting for the Greens; industrial competitiveness for the conservative Christian Democrats and the neoliberal Free Democrats.

A likely compromise could take the form of increased funding in the short term while regulatory issues are hashed out.

Let's talk about sex — in space

It's naturally part of every human space exploration but remains taboo. Here's what we do and don’t know about cosmic sex.



Better hold on to each other: Sex in space will be more difficult than on Earth because of microgravity.

German astronaut Matthias Maurer breezes through interviews, rarely missing a beat when he answers journalists' questions around his upcoming six-month trip to the International Space Station (ISS). But one topic throws even Maurer off momentarily: sex drive in space.

"We haven't talked about this, because it's a professional environment," he replied to DW's question on whether astronauts exchange insights on how to handle their desires.

Thanks to commercial space flights, more people are entering the cosmos than ever before. Just this past week,SpaceX launched four tourists through the Earth's orbit. Ten years from now, the first crew of astronauts will likely set off on a mission to Mars that could last multiple years.

Sexuality is intrinsic to human nature and inevitably factors into space missions. But while space science is progressing, our understanding of sex in space is still basic.

NASA, the US's National Aeronautics and Space Administration, insists that no humans have had sex in space, and American astronauts famously avoid the topic. The few experiments that have been conducted on space sex focused on animals, not humans.

"We need to know more about sexuality in space if we are serious about long-duration space flights. Sexuality is very possibly going to be a part of that," Paul Root Wolpe, who spent 15 years as a senior bioethicist at NASA, tells DW.

German astronaut Matthias Maurer told DW that there is no official training on sexuality in space

Sex in space matters

Addressing sexuality in space isn't just important because it's what's on everyone's mind. Asked by DW whether sexuality is part of an astronaut's training, Matthias Maurer replied: "No, but maybe it should be.”

"If we look at sexual health as a core component of health, it's important to understand the conditions we are putting individuals in," Saralyn Mark, former senior medical adviser to NASA, tells DW.

Sex and masturbation are linked to physical and mental health — that doesn't change in space.

Ejaculation is essential for men to avoid the risk of bacteria building up in their prostate, and orgasms have been shown to relieve stress and anxiety as well as improve sleep quality, which likely helps during a high-pressure space mission.

Has it already happened?

We can only speculate, but it seems likely that sex in space has already happened. There are two space missions that jump out as candidates for the first cosmic coitus.

In 1982, Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya, only the second-ever woman in space, joined the Soyuz T-7 space mission for eight days. Two male colleagues were already on board when she arrived, making it the first co-ed space mission.

In his book, Höllenritt durch Raum und Zeit (A hellride through time and space), German astronaut Ulrich Walter notes that, according to the team's doctor, Oleg Georgievich Gazenko, the flight was planned with a sexual encounter in mind.

The second mission in question took place in 1992, when NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavor was launched with a married couple on board. Mark Lee and Jan Davis, both astronauts, met at NASA. They married in secret a year before lift-off. Their joint flight to space was practically their honeymoon.

Svetlana Savitskaya and her colleagues Anatoly Berezovoi and Valentin Lebedev made up the world's first mixed-sex space crew

How is it different from here on Earth?

So, we can assume that sex in space is a reality. But how is it different to ours on Earth? Let's start with the basics: sex drive.

The little publicly available information that we have indicates that being in space leads to reduced libido, at least at first.

That's because microgravity, the weightlessness astronauts experience in space, causes hormonal changes, like decreases in estrogen. Low estrogen levels have been linked to a drop in sex drive.

Unfortunately, most of what we know about hormones in space comes only from tests on men. That's because only 11.5% of astronauts are female, and the relatively few women who have been to space opted to go on birth control beforehand to avoid menstruation. This makes it tricky to disentangle artificial hormonal changes from those caused by space flight.

Another factor in cosmic sex drive is a change in astronauts' internal clock.

"When you're going around the planet right now, every 90 minutes, your circadian rhythms are altered and that alters everything, including your sex hormones and probably your libido," Mark says.

The science also matches astronaut Walter's on-site experience. In his book, he writes that, during his short 10-day stay in space, he had no libido.

But there's hope: According to Walter, astronauts' sex drive does readjust after a few weeks in space.

Astronauts and arousal

While our knowledge of sex drive is still fuzzy, we have a much clearer picture on whether humans can get physically aroused in space.

Microgravity causes blood flow to reverse its course and move upwards, towards the head and chest, instead of circulating in the lower half of the body. The internet abounds with speculation on whether this prevents men from getting erections in space.

When asked whether space boners are viable, Mark gave a clear answer: "Yes, microgravity does not affect that path."

Root Wolpe agrees: "There is no reason why it should be biologically impossible."

Ron Garan, an American astronaut who went to space twice, was asked whether erections are possible in space on an Ask Me Anything Reddit thread.

"I know of nothing that happens to the human body on Earth that can't happen in space," he answered.

For women, arousal in space is possible as well but getting wet feels physically different than on planet Earth. In zero gravity, liquids collect at their point of origin, meaning they form a blob at the spot where they are secreted, instead of flowing freely.


Astronauts Mark Lee and Jan Davis spent their honeymoon aboard a space shuttle

Velcro and dolphin sex

So much for the biological basics. Now we are left with speculating about the act itself. One thing is certain: Sex in space is a far more exhausting endeavor than here on Earth.

In zero gravity, Newton's third law, which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, makes thrusting against each other a real challenge.

"We don't realize how much gravity assists us in the act of intercourse," Wolpe says. "Sex involves pressure. In space, without any counterforce, you end up constantly trying to push your partner away from you."

But where there's a will, there's a way.

In an interview with German public broadcaster NDR, Walter suggested that astronauts could adopt a method employed by dolphins in the ocean, where a third party holds the other two together to prevent them from drifting.

Wolpe has another idea: "Everything on the walls of the space station is covered in Velcro, so you could take advantage of that by velcroing one partner to the wall. You have to get creative in this space."

SPACE TOURISM: OUT OF REACH FOR MOST EARTHLINGS

An unbeatable record

Dennis Tito was and always will be the first civilian to travel to space. Tito had been a NASA engineer before turning to finance. He had always dreamed of a trip to space and is said to have paid $20 million to have his dream come true. It was hard convincing the big space agencies, but on April 28, 2001, Tito took a ride on a Soyuz rocket and spent six days at the International Space Station.

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Denouncing Texas law, Uma Thurman reveals she had abortion as a teen

Issued on: 22/09/2021 - 

US actress Uma Thurman, in a newspaper column expressing opposition to a new Texas law restricting abortion, revealed that she had an abortion while in her teens

 Angela Weiss AFP/File

Washington (AFP)

American actress Uma Thurman, in a newspaper column expressing opposition to a near-total ban on abortion in Texas, revealed Wednesday that she had an abortion as a teenager.

"It has been my darkest secret until now," the 51-year-old Hollywood star said in the op-ed published in The Washington Post.

"The abortion I had as a teenager was the hardest decision of my life, one that caused me anguish then and that saddens me even now, but it was the path to the life full of joy and love that I have experienced," she wrote.

The actress, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the 1994 film "Pulp Fiction," said the Texas abortion law, which went into force on September 1, "is a staging ground for a human rights crisis for American women."

"This law is yet another discriminatory tool against those who are economically disadvantaged," she said. "Women and children of wealthy families retain all the choices in the world, and face little risk."

The "Texas Heartbeat Act" bans abortion once a heartbeat can be detected, which usually occurs at six weeks -- before many women even know they are pregnant. It makes no exceptions for rape or incest.

The bill passed by Republican lawmakers in Texas, the country's second-largest state, allows members of the public to sue doctors who perform abortions after six weeks or anyone who facilitates the procedure.

Thurman said she was "grief-stricken" over a law that "pits citizen against citizen, creating new vigilantes who will prey on these disadvantaged women, denying them the choice not to have children they are not equipped to care for."

Recounting her own experience, Thurman said she was "accidentally impregnated by a much older man" while living in Europe in her late teens.

She said she discussed her options with her parents and "we decided as a family that I couldn't go through with the pregnancy, and agreed that termination was the right choice.

"My heart was broken nonetheless," she said.

She had the abortion in Cologne, Germany. "It hurt terribly, but I didn't complain," she said. "I had internalized so much shame that I felt I deserved the pain."

Thurman, who has three children, said "choosing not to keep that early pregnancy allowed me to grow up and become the mother I wanted and needed to be."

She said she was sharing her own experience "in the hope of drawing the flames of controversy away from the vulnerable women on whom this law will have an immediate effect."

The Justice Department has filed suit against Texas, arguing that the state law violates Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case in which the US Supreme Court guaranteed the right to an abortion so long as the fetus is not viable outside the womb, which is usually not until the 22nd to 24th week of pregnancy.

© 2021 AFP

US filmmaker Gus Van Sant sets Andy Warhol's early life to music

Issued on: 22/09/2021

Warhol was a leading exponent of the Pop Art movement, famous for his depictions of "Campbell's Soup Cans", Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Chairman Mao Cindy Ord 

GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Lisbon (AFP)

US filmmaker, writer, painter, photographer and musician, Gus Van Sant, is now turning his hand to theatre with a new musical in Lisbon about the early career of Pop Art creator, Andy Warhol.

Van Sant -- best-known for films such as "My Own Private Idaho" and "Good Will Hunting" -- said he had long wanted to make a film about Warhol, and even wrote a screenplay with US actor River Phoenix, who died at 23 in 1993, set for the lead role.

Now, in his first-ever work for the stage, the 69-year-old laureate of Canne's Palme d'Or has written the musical "Andy", which is being premiered on Thursday in the Portuguese capital as part of the Biennial of Contemporary Arts where Van Sant is one of this year's artists in residence.

"I was trying to put together the greatest hits of Andy's life to explain his rise into the art world in the 60s," the filmmaker said.

With dialogue and songs penned by Van Sant himself, the musical -- which is being staged in English in Lisbon's prestigious Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, ahead of a European tour that takes it to cities such as Rome, Amsterdam, Paris and Athens -- is a collection of anecdotes about Warhol's encounters with leading figures of American culture, like writer Truman Capote, art critic Clement Greenberg and actor Edie Sedgwick.

The picture that emerges of the artist is one of "a very strange character that is not really related to the Andy Warhol that maybe we know. He's sort of a stand-in for Andy," Van Sant said.

Among Van Sant's films are biopics about iconic figures such as Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain in "Last Days" and gay rights campaigner Harvey Milk in "Milk".

"Very few people knew who Andy Warhol really was," said Portuguese actor Diogo Fernandes, who plays the artist in the production.

"I think he was someone who was shy, fascinated by American culture and who wanted to be a star, but never imagined what impact he would have," Fernandes told AFP.

For Van Sant's collaborator on the project, John Romao, Warhol was "someone half-hidden in the shadows, shy, but very forceful at the same time thanks to his ability to turn his ideas into reality. This made him both fascinating and frightening to those around him."

Born in Pittsburgh in 1928, Warhol began his career as a commercial illustrator.

But he soon became a leading exponent of the Pop Art movement and worked in a wide range of different media, such as painting, photography and film.

His studio in New York, The Factory, was a meeting place for intellectuals, drag queens, playwrights, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy patrons.

Best-known for his silkscreen paintings of "Campbell's Soup Cans", Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Mao Zedong, he also managed and produced the experimental rock band, The Velvet Underground, and founded Interview magazine.

He died in New York at the age of 58 in 1987.

© 2021 AFP

GREEN CAPITALI$M

Leonardo DiCaprio invests in two lab-grown meat startups

Issued on: 22/09/2021 -

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, shown here at a 2017 climate change march in Washington, 

has taken stakes in two alternative meat companies Jose Luis Magana AFP/File

New York (AFP)

US actor and climate activist Leonardo DiCaprio has taken an investment in two different lab-grown meat startups, the companies announced Wednesday.

DiCaprio has bought an unspecified stake in Aleph Farms and Mosa Meat, two companies developing protein products grown from cow cells -- an emerging area in the growing alternative meat market.

The Academy Award-winning actor will also act as an advisor to the companies, said a joint press release from Israel-based Aleph Farms and Netherlands-based Mosa Meat.

"One of the most impactful ways to combat the climate crisis is to transform our food system," DiCaprio said in the news release. "Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms offer new ways to satisfy the world's demand for beef, while solving some of the most pressing issues of current industrial beef production."

The announcement comes on the heels of earlier investments by the "Titanic" star in publicly traded Beyond Meat, which sells burgers and sausages made from plants.

Aleph Farms "grows beef steaks, from non-genetically engineered cells isolated from a living cow, without harming animals and with a significantly reduced impact to the environment," while Mosa Meat "introduced the world's first cultivated beef hamburger in 2013, by growing it directly from cow cells," according to the press release.

Alternative meat advocates characterize such ventures as a critical component of addressing climate change.

Conventional livestock management is a source of greenhouse gases through the clearing of trees to make room for animal feed production and the raising of livestock, and emissions from the animals themselves.

But while plant-based meat has made its way to mainstream supermarkets, cultivated meat remains at a much earlier stage of commercialization. Costs remain high, and thus far only Singapore has approved the sale of such products.

© 2021 AFP

US, EU step up Yemen aid but UN warns millions face hunger

"If donors are getting fatigued, well, end the war,"

Issued on: 22/09/2021 -

Internally displaced Yemenis whose camp was ravaged by fire receive food aid near the flashpoint Red Sea port city of Hodeida on July 19, 2021 

Khaled Ziad AFP/File

United Nations (United States) (AFP)

Donors led by the United States and European Union on Wednesday pledged another $600 million for Yemen, but the United Nations said that a financial shortfall meant that millions could go hungry.

The United States promised an additional $290 million but said the ultimate solution was to end the war that has led to what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian situation.

"Humanitarian assistance makes a critical difference in people's lives, but it alone cannot resolve this crisis," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement to a pledging event at the United Nations.

He called on Saudi Arabia, which has led a devastating air campaign in Yemen, as well as Huthi rebels and the government to help ensure the flow of fuel into the country, one factor that has destabilized the economy and kept staples out of reach for many Yemenis.

The European Union promised 119 million euros. Oxfam said around $600 million was pledged in total, although the UN plea for $3.9 billion to help Yemen was still underfunded by around $1 billion.

David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme, welcomed the new pledges but said that the UN agency still did not have enough to support the 12.9 million people dependent on aid, which is nearly half the country.

The World Food Programme expects it will need to cut rations for 3.2 million people in October and more in December, he said.

While donations have averted widespread famine, every 10 minutes a child in Yemen is dying from preventable causes, according to the United Nations.

"We are predicting that if we don't receive the funds that we need in the next 6 months -- which is $800 million -- when we start cutting rations, you could actually see that number go to 400,000 children under age five dying in the next year," Beasley said.

"What if that was your little girl, and your little boy? We have a moral obligation to speak out and step up."

He also said the priority needed to be on ending the war, in which the Huthi rebels have seized much of the nation as they battle a Saudi-backed government and a military coalition spearheaded by Riyadh.

"If donors are getting fatigued, well, end the war," Beasley said.

© 2021 AFP

Gas pipe workers find 800-year-old bodies in Peru

Issued on: 22/09/2021 - 

A handout picture released by Peruvian gas company Calidda, shows objects, food, artifacts and ancient funeral bundles containing the remains of eight people unearthed by workers 

Jesus BAHAMONDE Calidda/AFP

Lima (AFP)

Peruvian workers laying gas pipes found the remains of eight people buried in a common tomb with food and musical instruments some 800 years ago, an archaeologist said Wednesday.

The bodies of adults and children had been wrapped in plant material, with corn, dishes, and a variety of wind instruments, including flutes, placed around them, Cecilia Camargo, an archaeologist hired by the Calidda gas company whose workers made the discovery, told AFP.

The eight had lived in the ancient town of Chilca some 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Lima.

Some had been buried with shells on their heads, and had bags in which coca leaves, traditionally chewed as a stimulant, are kept.

"It is an important find that gives us more information about the pre-Hispanic history of Chilca," said the researcher.

Workers of the same company found another 30 ancient bodies in Chilca in 2018.

© 2021 AFP

Climate change: EU-backed study shows alarming state of oceans

Ocean temperatures and water levels are continuing to rise as a result of human intervention. This is having a widespread impact on sealife and weather patterns.



Humans are continuing to have an adverse affect on the world's oceans

The state of the world's oceans is worsening, according to an environmental report released on Wednesday by a European Commission-funded marine monitoring service.

Oceans cover over 70% of Earth's surface and are crucial in regulating the climate.
Key findings from the report

The Copernicus Marine Environmental Monitoring Service report highlighted the speed of change in oceans due to human intervention.

The warming of the world's oceans and melting land ice caused sea levels to rise by 2.5 millimeters (.1 inches) per year in the Mediterranean.

Worldwide, levels are rising by up to 3.1 millimeters each year.

Although this seems like a small figure, the report pointed to the flooding of Venice in November 2019, when the water level rose up to 1.89 meters, as an example of the impending consequences.

The report showed that marine life is migrating to cooler waters. Warmer waters are also causing the populations of some sea-dwelling species to shrink.

It found that sole, European lobster, sea bass and edible crabs were being adversely affected by extreme heat fluctuations in the North Sea.

The report found that Arctic sea ice reached its lowest levels in the last two years.

Between 1979 and 2020, the report found the Arctic lost an area of ice about six times the size of Germany.

Loss of Arctic sea ice could contribute to regional warming, erosion of Arctic coasts and changes in global weather patterns.
'Unprecedented stress on oceans'

"Climate change, pollution and overexploitation have caused unprecedented stress on the ocean," Karina von Schuckmann, chair of the Ocean State Report, said in a statement accompanying the report.

How much impact will the report have?

Schuckmann said accurate and timely monitoring is crucial to better understanding the oceans and responding to changes.

The Copernicus Marine Service is designed to serve EU policies as well as international legal commitments related to ocean governance.

It provides inputs that support major EU and international policies and initiatives concerning the environment and oceans.

The findings of the report will likely contribute to these areas.

The report follows almost two months after a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that the key 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) threshold in the fight to stop climate change will be crossed within the next 15 years.

Mexico president tells US 'time to act' on migrant crisis
Issued on: 22/09/2021 

Haitian migrants hoping to enter the United States cross the Rio Grande river to get food and water in northern Mexico 

PEDRO PARDO AFP


Mexico City (AFP)

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged the United States on Wednesday to act quickly to tackle the causes of the migrant crisis affecting the two neighboring countries.

"Enough talking, it's time to act," Lopez Obrador told reporters as thousands of Haitian and other migrants massed on Mexico's northern border seeking access into the United States.

Mexico and Central American countries were still waiting for several billion dollars pledged by Washington for economic development to reduce the need for migrants to flee poverty, he said.

"There was a commitment that they were going to invest four billion -- two billion for Central America and two billion for Mexico. Nothing has come -- nothing," Lopez Obrador said.

At the same time he added that US President Joe Biden "is interested" in solving the problem and said he was hopeful there would be a regional agreement on economic development.

The Mexican leader has repeatedly proposed expanding one of his domestic welfare programs into Central America with the aim of generating 1.2 million jobs in the region.

He has also proposed allowing participants to qualify for a US work visa after three years.

The US authorities have begun to repatriate Haitians by air from the Texas border city of Del Rio, prompting a warning from the United Nations that people with genuine asylum claims may be at risk.

Tens of thousands more migrants are stranded in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, waiting for documents that would allow them to continue north.

© 2021 AFP

US-Mexicos migration crisis: Haitian migrants' tortuous journey ends in Mexico limbo

After weeks on the road, traversing mountains and jungles, risking assault and drowning, thousands of Haitian migrants hoping to reach the United States have instead found themselves stranded in Mexico. Many embarked on the journey encouraged by family and friends already living the American dream -- but who often failed to mention the dangers that lay in wait.

19,000 migrants amassed in Colombia near Panama border: official

Issued on: 22/09/2021

Thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and elsewhere have been stranded in Colombia seeking to cross into Panama and make their way to the United States JOAQUIN SARMIENTO AFP/File

Bogota (AFP)

Some 19,000 migrants, mainly Haitians, are amassed on the north coast of Colombia, from where they hope to cross to Panama and find a route to the United States, an official in Bogota said Wednesday.

Some have been stranded for weeks in the coastal town of Necocli in the northwestern Antioquia department, waiting for seats on boats that cross the Gulf of Uraba by boat to Acandi, which borders Panama.

There are only 250 boat tickets available every day, said Colombia's human rights ombudsman Carlos Camargo.

He reported that a mission "evaluating the migrant crisis" at Necocli -- a village of 45,000 people -- counted some 19,000 undocumented migrants there.

Most were Haitians, Camargo said on Twitter.

Haitians form a significant portion of the tens of thousands of migrants who have arrived at the border between Mexico and the United States in recent months, posing a headache for US President Joe Biden's administration.

Waiting out the bottleneck in Colombia, migrants rent private rooms or homes or camp on the beach, depending on their means.

Some 11,500 people have bought tickets to make the boat trip by October 13, and a further unknown number of people unable to purchase tickets have resorted to other forms of "illegal" crossings," said Camargo.

Once across, the migrants start, on foot, the dangerous trek from Acandi through the Darien jungle, where they battle snakes, steep ravines, swollen rivers, tropical downpours and criminals often linked to drug trafficking.

In a recent report, Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym MSF) said criminal gangs in the jungle prey on migrants, and assaults and rapes are common.

Under an agreement between the governments of Colombia and Panama, no more than 650 migrants are allowed to make the trip daily.

More than 50,000 people have crossed the border Colombia-Panama border so far this year.

Once in Panama, MSF reported last month, migrants are held for processing and deportation.

Those with pending administrative or judicial processes -- refugee applications, for example, or giving testimony against human traffickers -- can be held at a migrant reception center for weeks or months.

"The centers are a source of complaints, as those who are held there face inadequate food and shelter, a lack of clean water and showers, and no means to communicate with their families," MSF said.

The Colombia-Panama border is a key crossing for migrants hoping to make a new life in the United States, often fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries.

Last year, a steady influx of migrants from Colombia northward dried up due to coronavirus travel restrictions and border closures.

But officials say there have been several thousand new arrivals at Necocli in recent weeks.

© 2021 AFP

Haitian migrants caught between rock and hard place

Issued on: 22/09/2021 -

A Haitian migrant rests in Ciudad Acuna near the Mexican-US border 

PEDRO PARDO AFP

Ciudad Acuña (Mexico) (AFP)

Lying on cardboard in a park, Haitian mother Marie Chickel spent a sleepless night fearful of being detained by Mexican authorities and separated from her children before reaching the United States.

"I heard that the immigration authorities were going to come -- that's why I couldn't sleep. If they find me here I don't know where I'll go," the 45-year-old said.

The rumor spread during the night inside the park in the Mexican city of Ciudad Acuna, which Haitian migrants have turned into a makeshift camp near the border with the United States.

Most of the refugees gave up on the idea of staying under the bridge linking Ciudad Acuna with Del Rio in Texas, fearful that US patrols would arrest them and deport them to Haiti.

But on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande river, police and immigration agents also patrol and sometimes arrest migrants in the street or in hotel raids.

So Chickel and hundreds of refugees like her avoid leaving the park as much as possible.

Haitian migrants queue for food in the Mexican city of Ciudad Acuna 

PEDRO PARDO AFP

In one raid witnessed by AFP, members of what appeared to be a family, including two young children, were detained at a hotel in downtown Ciudad Acuna.

They were escorted by members of Mexico's National Guard and put into vans from the National Migration Institute.

- 'My heart aches' -

Chickel and her 10-year-old twins left Chile and crossed almost all of South and Central America before arriving in July in the Mexican city of Tapachula near the border with Guatemala.

"My heart aches," she said, adding that her children could not sleep or eat well or go to school.

Haitian migrants hoping to enter the United States cross the Rio Grande river to get food and water in northern Mexico 

PEDRO PARDO AFP

"It's very difficult," Chickel said.

Her greatest fear is having her children taken from her and not being able to see her sister who lives in Boston, she said.

But Chickel, who has qualifications as a lab technician, an electrician and a nurse, is willing to take whatever opportunities she finds.

"If I can't cross and if I can find papers here to work, to send my children to school, I can say thank you to the Lord," she said, stifling a sob.

Amid the despair and uncertainty, the Haitians have found some respite thanks to the generosity of Ciudad Acuna residents who have brought them something to eat, drink or wear.

"The Mexicans are giving us food, clothes and now we have a place to sleep," said Kabelo Joseph, who came from Chile with his two sons and pregnant wife.

But "we're afraid of the migration authorities because we're here without documentation," the 29-year-old said.

A man cooks chicken for Haitian migrants in Ciudad Acuna in northern Mexico 

PEDRO PARDO AFP

He said he planned to stay in Ciudad Acuna "for two or three months if migration doesn't bother us."

- 'Our Haitian brothers' -

Street vendor Haydee Briceno usually sells the used clothes she brings from the United States, but after seeing the migrants' plight she decided to give some of them away instead.

"We're going to give a little bit of what we have to our Haitian brothers," she said.

"I've been in places where I didn't know anyone and believe me it's something very, very difficult," said Pastor Roberto Montano, who lived as an undocumented migrant in the United States years ago.

"We've had the same feeling that they have now of being in need," he said.

The help is a lifeline for people like Chickel, who is exhausted.

"I feel very happy. I say thank you to the Lord because they have hearts. They don't let us die here without food," she said.

© 2021 AFP

Haitian migrants at US border keep hoping

Thousands of Haitians have arrived in the US border town of Del Rio in Texas. Rumors are fueling their hopes of being allowed to stay. But the American president, whom they’re looking to for help, has other plans.

   

Migrants wade through the Rio Grande from Del Rio, Texas, to Ciudad Acuna in Mexico as they 

 go back and forth for supplies

A pale yellow building next to a dusty football field in the border town of Del Rio in Texas represents hope for migrants wanting to come to the US. Those who have made it here have crossed the river and the border, and, for the moment at least, have left behind some of their uncertainty. Migrants holding brown paper envelopes are standing in line in the shade of the buildings, waiting for a bus on this mercilessly hot afternoon.

It's more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade, but there is water and fruit here and volunteers from the Border Humanitarian Coalition who are taking care of the migrants. There are no makeshift camps and inhumane conditions like those that exist under the city's bridge spanning the Rio Grande and connecting Mexico with the United States.

The building of the Border Humanitarian Coalition is a point of some refuge for the migrants

Charly is one of more than a hundred migrants here. And, like almost all of them, he is from Haiti. The 32-year-old has been on the move for a long time.

Charly spent two months on the road, traveling through 12 countries. It's all to secure his future, he says. He left his native country years ago and stayed in Chile for a few years. But the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the economic situation there, increasing discrimination against migrants like him.

Charly, seen here with the baby of a fellow refugee, has been on the road for two months

For him, returning to Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, is not an option, and he sees no future for himself there. The country slid deeper into chaos after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July and an earthquake in August.

Wearing a blue baseball cap and colorful floral-printed shirt, Charly is finally on American soil. He's hoping he won't be deported, because he has family in Orlando.

It's the same with Edlin. The 27-year-old sits somewhat to the side, feeding her 1-year-old daughter. "I'm hoping for work and a better life," she says. She, too, initially fled to Chile, in 2018 and, just like Charly, was on the road for about two months. "I'm doing fine," Edlin says, despite everything she's been through. She speaks in short sentences, almost always looking at her daughter.

Edlin also has the envelope in which she has papers that will supposedly lead her to her family in the US. Among the people here, there's a widespread rumor that no one who has family in the US will be deported. Many of the migrants here believed that things would get better with Joe Biden as US president and that the promise of America would be within reach.

But even though Biden has promised a more humanitarian immigration policy than Donald Trump and stopped Trump's wall-building, it hasn't really led to fewer fortifications along the country's long southern border.

Damaging images around the world

A few kilometers (miles) south of the yellow building in Del Rio, hope quickly fades as a black steel fence looms. After images of deplorable conditions in an impromptu overcrowded migrant camp under a bridge in the town went public, access to the site has been blocked.

The no-man's-land in the border region is now sealed off. In the windows of a long-closed supermarket, there's an advert in Spanish for cigarettes and alcohol. The paint peeling off, it still holds out the promise of a golden land.

A few meters away, roadblocks and state trooper cars close off the bridge, which usually sees heavy border traffic. National Guard soldiers drive across the road in all-terrain vehicles. One of the entry gates is still open for the hundreds of officials that the government in Washington has sent to Texas.

They are charged with quickly bringing the situation back under control to avoid a repeat of further disturbing images from which President Biden is trying to distance himself.

His homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, has come to make the administration's message clear once again: "Don't come." And those who have arrived in Del Rio are now being firmly sent back.

Thousands of people have been camping under a bridge in Del Rio in disastrous conditions

Anger at politicians

Since Sunday, Haitians have been being flown back to their country, and thousands more are being transferred to other places in the US, where a decision will be taken on their status.

The vast majority of them, however, Mayorkas repeats, are to be sent back to their native countries. But despite the sealed-off bridge, people are still trying to get in. Videos have shown border guards on horseback yelling at migrants in the Rio Grande river to turn back and using their reins as whips to deter them.

The White House has said it's appalled by the scenes. But they are now out there for all to see, just like the images of tens of thousands of migrants camped under the bridge. By the end of the week, the Border Patrol wants to have broken up the camp.

Frank Lopez isn't surprised by any of it — neither the chaos nor the many people who have flocked to the city, where he has lived for a long time. "The only people surprised by this are the politicians," said the 55-year-old, who himself worked for a long time as a border agent.

For him, the city of Del Rio, which has a population of 35,000, is a war zone. And in his view, the president is to blame for promising open borders. Standing at the sealed bridge where he regularly films short videos for his Facebook page, Lopez says a promise like that is just calling for a disaster. 

Lopez doesn't have much time, but he's in the mood to talk. The Trump supporter is angry at politicians, and not just the Democrats, though he says Trump at least raised pressure on Mexico.

But, Lopez says, none of the lawmakers have a clue about how such decisions affect the lives of citizens. Life in Del Rio is going on as usual with football games on the weekend and residents going about their daily routines. But the presence of so many migrants scares people, Lopez says, adding that more will be pouring in if the country doesn't deport people as a matter of course. There are migration laws in place, Lopez says. "We aren't heartless, but we simply can't help everyone. There are limits."

Immigration a hot-button issue

For conservatives like Lopez, those limits have long since been reached. Border crossings in the US have reached their highest level in decades. More than 200,000 undocumented people were apprehended by Border Patrol in August, and more than 1.5 million since last October.

Republicans blame Biden's immigration policies. Ted Cruz, a senator in Texas, had himself filmed under the bridge and added the hashtag #BidenBorderCrisis.

The immigration debate will be one of the most contentious issues in next year's midterm elections. And President Biden has yet to find a way out of the dilemma of wanting to act humanely while sticking to his "don't come" rhetoric, which would seem to point rather toward policies designed to keep migrants out.

Human rights organizations and the left wing of the Democrats have criticized the president for the deportation flights to Haiti. "This is completely inhumane. Haitians are experiencing a crisis after crisis and deserve compassion," congresswoman Ilhan Omar tweeted.  

Roberte Marquez, who goes by the pseudonym Robenz, sums it up in a slogan on a large canvas in front of the border fence in Del Rio. "Stop the deportations," it says in black letters on an orange and white background. Brushes and paint lie ready on his pickup truck. Robenz is here because he wants to show solidarity "with my brothers under the bridge."

Originally from Mexico, he's now an American citizen and has been working for years with migrants. Jobs would help them, Robenz says. But many Americans fear losing their jobs, which is precisely the argument used by Republicans to justify restrictive immigration policies. Still, there are many jobs in the country done by undocumented people. Robenz didn't approve of Trump's policies, and he's not yet sure about Biden either. But sending people back will achieve nothing, Robenz says.  "They'll come back."

For Charly and Edlin, the journey continues, for now. After some delay, the bus organized by the volunteers in Del Rio rounds the corner. Both of them find seats on it. It takes them a little deeper into America. But it's unclear whether they will be allowed to stay.

This article has been translated from German.

Many migrants staying in US even as expulsion flights rise

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, MARIA VERZA and JUAN A. LOZANO

1 of 21

Migrants are released from United States Border Patrol custody at a humanitarian center, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)


DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — Three hours after being freed from a giant migrant camp under an international bridge, Mackenson Veillard stood outside a gas station and took stock of his sudden good fortune as he and his pregnant wife waited for a Greyhound bus to take them to a cousin in San Antonio.

The couple camped with thousands for a week under the bridge in Del Rio, Texas, sleeping on concrete and getting by on bread and bottled water.

“I felt so stressed,” Veillard, 25, said this week. “But now, I feel better. It’s like I’m starting a new life.”

Many Haitian migrants in Del Rio are being released in the United States, according to two U.S. officials, undercutting the Biden administration’s public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate expulsion to Haiti.

Haitians have been freed on a “very, very large scale” in recent days, one official said Tuesday. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and thus spoke on condition of anonymity, put the figure in the thousands.

Many have been released with notices to appear at an immigration office within 60 days, an outcome that requires less processing time from Border Patrol agents than ordering an appearance in immigration court and points to the speed at which authorities are moving.

The releases come despite a massive effort to expel Haitians on flights under pandemic-related authority that denies migrants a chance to seek asylum. A third U.S. official not authorized to discuss operations said there were seven daily flights to Haiti planned starting Wednesday.

MORE ON BORDER CRISIS
– White House faces bipartisan backlash on Haitian migrants

Ten flights arrived in Haiti from Sunday to Tuesday in planes designed for 135 passengers, according to Haitian officials, who didn’t provide a complete count but said six of those flights carried 713 migrants combined.

The camp held more than 14,000 people over the weekend, according to some estimates. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, during a visit Tuesday to Del Rio, said the county’s top official told him the most recent tally was about 8,600 migrants. U.S. authorities have declined to say how many have been released in the U.S. in recent days.

The Homeland Security Department has been busing Haitians from Del Rio, a town of 35,000 people, to El Paso, Laredo and Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border, and this week added flights to Tucson, Arizona, the official said. They are processed by the Border Patrol at those locations.

Criteria for deciding who is flown to Haiti and who is released in the U.S. is a mystery but two officials said single adults were a priority. If previous handling of asylum-seekers is any guide, the administration is more likely to release those deemed vulnerable, including pregnant women, families with young children and those with medical issues.

The Biden administration exempts unaccompanied children from expulsion flights on humanitarian grounds.

Wilgens Jean and his wife Junia Michel waited in Del Rio this week for relatives to send the $439 in bus fare to get to Springfield, Ohio, where Jean’s brother lives. Michel, who is pregnant, huddled under the little shade the parking lot had to offer from the brutal heat. Her only request was for sunscreen that she softly rubbed on her pregnant belly.

On the concrete in front of them lay two backpacks and a black garbage bag which held everything the couple owns. The pair left in Haiti in April and were in the Del Rio camp for five days. Jean said because his wife is expecting, they were released from the camp on Monday.

“I entered by crossing the river,” Jean said. “Immigration gave me a ticket.”

The system is a “black box,” said Wade McMullen, an attorney with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, who was in Del Rio. “Right now, we have no official access to understand what processes are under way, what protections are being provided for the migrants.”

Accounts of wide-scale releases — some observed at the Del Rio bus station by Associated Press journalists -- are at odds with statements Monday by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who traveled to Del Rio to promise swift action.

“If you come to the United States illegally, you will be returned, your journey will not succeed, and you will be endangering your life and your family’s life,” he said at a news conference.

Homeland Security, asked to comment on releases in the United States, said Wednesday that migrants who are not immediately expelled to Haiti may be detained or released with a notice to appear in immigration court or report to an immigration office, depending on available custody space.

“The Biden Administration has reiterated that our borders are not open, and people should not make the dangerous journey,” the department said in a statement. “Individuals and families are subject to border restrictions, including expulsion.”

Meanwhile, Mexico has begun busing and flying Haitian migrants away from the U.S. border, signaling a new level of support for the United States as the camp presented President Joe Biden with a humanitarian and increasingly political challenge.

The White House is facing sharp bipartisan condemnation. Republicans say Biden administration policies led Haitians to believe they would get asylum. Democrats are expressing outrage after images went viral this week of Border Patrol agents on horseback using aggressive tactics against the migrants.

Immigrants have described a screening process at the camp where individuals are given a colored tickets for four categories: single men; single women; pregnant women; and families with young children, McMullen said. The vast majority of immigrants he and other advocates have interviewed and who have been released into the U.S. have been families with young children and pregnant women.

About 200 migrants were released on Monday in Del Rio. About 50 of them, mostly Haitian and many pregnant or with small children, boarded a bus to Houston, from where they would fly to destinations across the country. The Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition advocacy group arranged the charter bus and supplied sack lunches of a sandwich and cookies.

After an initial stay with family in San Antonio, Veillard eventually hopes to get to New York City to live with his sister. He will take any job he can find to support his growing family.

Veillard and his wife left Haiti four years ago and had been living in Brazil until they began their journey to the United States in June, much of it on foot.

“I don’t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow but now I feel lucky,” he said.
___

Spagat reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers Maria Verza in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Evens Sanon from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

  

Officials: Many Haitian migrants are being released in US

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, MARIA VERZA and JUAN A. LOZANO

1 of 35

Migrants, many from Haiti, are seen at an encampment along the Del Rio International Bridge near the Rio Grande, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. The options remaining for thousands of Haitian migrants straddling the Mexico-Texas border are narrowing as the United States government ramps up to an expected six expulsion flights to Haiti and Mexico began busing some away from the border.

 (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)


DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — Many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released in the United States, two U.S. officials said Tuesday, undercutting the Biden administration’s public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate expulsion.

Haitians have been freed on a “very, very large scale” in recent days, according to one U.S. official with direct knowledge of operations. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and thus spoke on condition of anonymity, put the figure in the thousands.

Many have been released with notices to appear at an immigration office within 60 days, an outcome that requires less processing time from Border Patrol agents than ordering an appearance in immigration court and points to the speed at which authorities are moving, the official said.

The Homeland Security Department has been busing Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso, Laredo and Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border, and this week added flights to Tucson, Arizona, the official said. They are processed by the Border Patrol at those locations.

A second U.S. official, also with direct knowledge and speaking on the condition of anonymity, said large numbers of Haitians were being processed under immigration laws and not being placed on expulsion flights to Haiti that started Sunday. The official couldn’t be more specific about how many.

U.S. authorities scrambled in recent days for buses to Tucson but resorted to flights when they couldn’t find enough transportation contractors. Coast Guard planes took Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso.

The releases in the U.S. were occurring despite a massive effort to expel Haitians on flights to Haiti under pandemic-related authority that denies migrants an opportunity to seek asylum. A third U.S. official not authorized to discuss operations said there were seven daily flights to Haiti planned starting Wednesday.

Accounts of wide-scale releases - some observed at the Del Rio bus station by Associated Press journalists - are at odds with statements a day earlier by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who traveled to Del Rio to promise swift action.

“If you come to the United States illegally, you will be returned, your journey will not succeed, and you will be endangering your life and your family’s life,” he said at a Monday news conference.

Homeland Security, asked to comment on releases in the United States, said Wednesday that migrants who are not immediately expelled to Haiti may be detained or released with a notice to appear in immigration court or report to an immigration office, depending on available custody space. The department declined to say how many have been released.

“The Biden Administration has reiterated that our borders are not open, and people should not make the dangerous journey,” the department said in a statement. “Individuals and families are subject to border restrictions, including expulsion. Irregular migration poses a significant threat to the health and welfare of border communities and to the lives of migrants themselves, and should not be attempted.”

The releases come amid a quick effort to empty the camp under a bridge that, according to some estimates, held more than 14,000 people over the weekend in a town of 35,000 people. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, during a visit Tuesday to Del Rio, said the county’s top official told him the most recent tally at the camp was about 8,600 migrants.

The criteria for deciding who is flown to Haiti and who is released in the U.S. was unclear, but two U.S. officials said single adults were the priority for expulsion flights.

Meanwhile, Mexico has begun busing and flying Haitian migrants away from the U.S. border, authorities said Tuesday, signaling a new level of support for the United States as the camp presented President Joe Biden with a humanitarian and increasingly political challenge.

The White House is facing sharp bipartisan condemnation. Republicans say Biden administration policies led Haitians to believe they would get asylum. Democrats are expressing outrage after images went viral this week of Border Patrol agents on horseback using aggressive tactics against the migrants.

Mexico has helped at key moments before. It intensified patrols to stop unaccompanied Central American children from reaching the Texas border in 2014, allowed tens of thousands of asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration courts in 2019 and, just last month, began deporting Central American migrants to Guatemala after the Biden administration flew them to southern Mexico.

Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign relations secretary, said Tuesday he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, about the Haitians’ situation. Ebrard said most of the Haitians already had refugee status in Chile or Brazil and weren’t seeking it in Mexico.

“What they are asking for is to be allowed to pass freely through Mexico to the United States,” Ebrard said.

Two Mexican federal officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed Mexico’s actions.

One of the officials said three busloads of migrants left Acuña on Tuesday morning for Piedras Negras, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) down the border, where they boarded a flight to the southern city of Villahermosa in the state of Tabasco.

The other official said there was a flight Monday from the northern city of Monterrey to the southern city of Tapachula near the Guatemala border. Tapachula is home to the largest immigrant detention center in Latin America. The flight carried about 100 migrants who had been picked up around the bus station in Monterrey, a hub for various routes north to the U.S. border.

The second official said the plan was to move to Tapachula all Haitians who already solicited asylum in Mexico.

The Haitian migrants who are already in Mexico’s detention centers and have not requested asylum will be the first to be flown directly to Haiti once Mexico begins those flights, according to the official.

Around Ciudad Acuña, Mexican authorities were stepping up efforts to move migrants away from the border. There were detentions overnight by immigration agents and raids on hotels known to house migrants.

“All of a sudden they knocked on the door and (yelled) ‘immigration,’ ‘police,’ as if they were looking for drug traffickers,” said Freddy Registre, a 37-year-old Venezuelan staying at one hotel with his Haitian wife, Vedette Dollard. The couple was surprised at midnight.

Authorities took four people plus others who were outside the hotel, he said. “They took our telephones to investigate and took us to the immigration offices, took our photos,” Registre said. They were held overnight but finally were given their phones back and released. Authorities gave them two options: leave Mexico or return to Tapachula.

On Tuesday afternoon, they decided to leave town. They bought tickets for a bus ride to the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, planning to continue to Tapachula where they had already applied for asylum.

Others left without being told. Small groups arrived at Ciudad Acuña’s bus station to buy tickets to Veracruz, Monterrey and Mexico City. The same bus lines prohibited from selling them tickets for rides north through Mexico, sold them tickets to head south without issue.

In Haiti, dozens of migrants upset about being deported from the U.S. tried to rush back into a plane that landed Tuesday afternoon in Port-au-Prince as they yelled at authorities. A security guard closed the plane door in time as some deportees began throwing rocks and shoes at the plane. Several of them lost their belongings in the scuffle as police arrived. The group was disembarking from one of three flights scheduled for the day.

___

Verza reported from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, and Spagat from San Diego. Associated Press writers Mark Stevenson in Mexico City, Felix Marquez in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Evens Sanon from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Michael Balsamo in Washington, Michael R. Sisak in New York and Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan, also contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration