The Government Of Trinidad And Tobago Has Responded To Nicki Minaj's Claim About A Cousin's Friend's Swollen Testicles

Health officials said they "wasted so much time" trying to verify the rap star's claim about swollen testicles.

Salvador HernandezBuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on September 15, 2021,

Abaca Press / Sipa USA via AP

Nicki Minaj's claim that a cousin's friend's testicles became swollen after taking the COVID-19 vaccine caused such an uproar that the government of Trinidad and Tobago responded directly to the startling allegation Wednesday.

Minaj's story that the cousin's friend became impotent and, as a result, had his wedding called off touched off a firestorm that spread from Twitter to late-night shows, cable news, and official government updates on the pandemic in the UK and Trinidad and Tobago

During a televised update on COVID-19 Wednesday, health officials of the Caribbean island said they had "wasted so much time" trying to confirm or debunk Minaj's claim, spending most of Tuesday trying to find out if there had been a case of swollen testicles in the island.

"As we stand now, there is absolutely no reported such side effect or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad," Trinidad and Tobago Health Minister Dr. Terrence Deyalsingh said Wednesday morning. "Unfortunately, we wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim."

Deyalsingh's confirmation that there have been no such reported claims come as health officials across the world continue to fight disinformation and false claims about the COVID-19 vaccines, which health officials have repeatedly said is the best way to fight the ongoing deadly pandemic.

The uproar began Monday after Minaj tweeted that attendees for the Met Gala were asked to be vaccinated, and the rap star confirmed she had not received the shot.

Minaj said she wouldn't be vaccinated until she felt she'd "done enough research" and encouraged people to wear masks.

Twitter: @NICKIMINAJ

Then she followed up with a tweet claiming that her cousin was not vaccinated because a friend allegedly "became impotent" after getting the shot, and his fiancé called off their wedding as a result.

In the tweet, Minaj became the most recent celebrity to cast doubt on the safety of the vaccines, relaying the story about how the friend's "testicles became swollen" and telling people to "make sure you're comfortable with ur decision."

Twitter: @NICKIMINAJ

However, the CDC and several independent studies have found COVID-19 vaccines are safe as well as effective in preventing infection, reducing the chances of severe symptoms in breakthrough cases.

Other studies have found none of the vaccines have created fertility or sexual problems.

During the Wednesday press conference, Deyalsingh said health officials have found no recorded incident in Trinidad and Tobago, or anywhere else in the world, of testicles getting swollen because of the vaccine.

Minaj has so far stood by her comments, even after the tweet became fodder for late-night comics and garnered international headlines.

Online sleuths inquired who "the friend" might be with no success. Even Fox News host Tucker Carlson — who has spread misinformation on vaccines as well — made an appeal for "the friend" to reach out to the show.

Twitter: @NICKIMINAJ

In the United Kingdom, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Prime Minister Boris Johnson were asked about her comments during the country's COVID-19 briefing.

Whitty said the rapper "should be ashamed," and Johnson claimed he was not very familiar with her work.

Twitter: @onikamajestyy

Meanwhile on Twitter, Nicki Minaj later said she'll likely be vaccinated in the future because she has "to go on tour, etc."

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Before AOC Wore It On A Dress, Occupy Wall Street Called To "Tax The Rich"

Ten years after thousands gathered to protest capitalism, the message and mission of Occupy Wall Street still feels relevant.

Kirsten ChilstromBuzzFeed News Photo Editor

Posted on September 15, 2021, 

This week, social media has been abuzz with critiques over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Tax the Rich” dress, yet the sentiment is nothing new to those who witnessed the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. Some may even argue that if not for the Occupy movement, a candidate like Ocasio-Cortez would not have been elected.

Since the organizing of Occupy Wall Street, America has aged 10 years and witnessed remarkable mass movements, including #MeToo, March for Our Lives, and Black Lives Matter. Occupy Wall Street was started in a time of recession and corporate bailouts for financial services, and the main messaging was centered around the divide between the 99 percent and the 1 percent. It was on Sept. 17, 2011, that a group of protesters launched the two-month-long rebellion calling for economic inequality reform. Hundreds of people set up camp in downtown Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, and thousands joined in daily protests until being forced to vacate the area in November 2011. Versions of the protest popped up across the nation; according to the Guardian, over 600 communities in the United States and 70 major cities saw OWS initiatives.

Occupy Wall Street sparked conversations and demands for a higher minimum wage and encouraged everyday people to question the status quo. Reading the messages scrawled across the signs in these photos gives us the opportunity to reflect on where our country stands today and how much further we have to go

Mario Tama / Getty Images



Demonstrators rally outside One Police Plaza during an Occupy Wall Street march on Sept. 30, 2011, in New York City.


Mario Tama / Getty Images



A protester at the start of a march by demonstrators opposed to corporate profits on Wall Street, Sept. 30, 2011, in New York City.


Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images



Protesters shout slogans while holding Occupy Wall Street banners on Oct. 3, 2011, in Los Angeles.




Jewel Samad / AFP via Getty Images



A man signs a huge banner during "Occupy DC" at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, on Oct. 10, 2011.


Ramin Talaie / Corbis via Getty Images



Protest signs are left on the ground in Zuccotti Park where protesters demonstrated against the economic system in Lower Manhattan, Sept. 19, 2011.


Mario Tama / Getty Images



Demonstrators opposed to corporate profits on Wall Street march on Sept. 30, 2011, in New York City.


Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images



A protester holds up a sign during the Occupy Wall Street march on Oct. 3, 2011, in Los Angeles.



Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images



Occupy Wall Street demonstrators continue their protest at Zuccotti Park in New York on Oct. 20, 2011.


Michael Nagle / Getty Images



People protesting the economic system flood sidewalks in the Financial District as office workers head to work on Sept. 19, 2011, in New York City.


Ethan Miller / Getty Images



A protester with the Occupy Las Vegas movement takes part in a march on the Las Vegas Strip, Oct. 6, 2011.


Michael Nagle / Getty Images



A protester demonstrates against the economic system near the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 19, 2011, in New York City.

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Mario Tama / Getty Images



A sign at a gathering of demonstrators opposed to corporate profits on Wall Street at Zuccotti Park in the Financial District on Sept. 30, 2011.


New York Daily News Archive / NY Daily News via Getty Images



Protesters march with a golden calf around the Occupy Wall Street protest encampment in Zuccotti Park.


Emmanuel Dunand / AFP via Getty Images



People demonstrating around Wall Street attempt to disrupt the pedestrian flow for financial workers who are going to work in New York City, on Sept. 19, 2011.


Mario Tama / Getty Images



Granny Peace Brigade demonstrators affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement march through downtown Manhattan on Sept. 30, 2011.




Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images



A protester holds a placard during a late afternoon march through downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 3, 2011, in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York City.


Mario Tama / Getty Images



Protesters with the Occupy Wall Street movement rally in Foley Square before marching through Lower Manhattan on Oct. 5, 2011, in New York City.


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A protester in Freedom Plaza, part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, on Oct. 6, 2011, in Washington, DC.


Scott Olson / Getty Images


Demonstrators with Occupy Chicago protest outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Oct. 3, 2011.




Stan Honda / AFP via Getty Images



Demonstrators march to One Police Plaza, headquarters of the New York Police Department, on Sept. 30, 2011.


Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images



A man chats with police near a sign where protesters were staying overnight in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 4, 2011.


Ramin Talaie / Corbis via Getty Images



A protester at Zuccotti Park where hundreds of demonstrators camped out in Lower Manhattan for 14 days, Sept. 30, 2011.


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Thousands of Wall Street protesters are joined by union members during an afternoon protest on Oct. 5, 2011, in New York City.




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A sign is planted in the ground in Dewey Square in Boston on Oct. 2, 2011, as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement.


Joe Longobardi / Flickr Vision



The protest is in solidarity with movements across the country that began on Wall Street in New York City on Sept. 17, 2011.







Contact Kirsten Chilstrom at kirsten.chilstrom@buzzfeed.com.

Haitians on Texas border undeterred by US plan to expel them

By JUAN A. LOZANO, ERIC GAY and ELLIOT SPAGAT

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A dust storm moves across the area as Haitian migrants use a dam to cross into and from the United States from Mexico, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. The U.S. plans to speed up its efforts to expel Haitian migrants on flights to their Caribbean homeland, officials said Saturday as agents poured into a Texas border city where thousands of Haitians have gathered after suddenly crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)


DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — Haitian migrants seeking to escape poverty, hunger and a feeling of hopelessness in their home country said they will not be deterred by U.S. plans to speedily send them back, as thousands of people remained encamped on the Texas border Saturday after crossing from Mexico.

Scores of people waded back and forth across the Rio Grande on Saturday afternoon, re-entering Mexico to purchase water, food and diapers in Ciudad Acuña before returning to the Texas encampment under and near a bridge in the border city of Del Rio.

Junior Jean, a 32-year-old man from Haiti, watched as people cautiously carried cases of water or bags of food through the knee-high river water. Jean said he lived on the streets in Chile the past four years, resigned to searching for food in garbage cans.

“We are all looking for a better life,” he said.

The Department of Homeland Security said Saturday that it moved about 2,000 of the migrants from the camp to other locations Friday for processing and possible removal from the U.S. Its statement also said it would have 400 agents and officers in the area by Monday morning and would send more if necessary.

The announcement marked a swift response to the sudden arrival of Haitians in Del Rio, a Texas city of about 35,000 people roughly 145 miles (230 kilometers) west of San Antonio. It sits on a relatively remote stretch of border that lacks capacity to hold and process such large numbers of people.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press on Friday that the U.S would likely fly the migrants out of the country on five to eight flights a day, starting Sunday, while another official expected no more than two a day and said everyone would be tested for COVID-19. The first official said operational capacity and Haiti’s willingness to accept flights would determine how many flights there would be. Both officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Told of the U.S. plans Saturday, several migrants said they still intended to remain in the encampment and seek asylum. Some spoke of the most recent devastating earthquake in Haiti and the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, saying they were afraid to return to a country that seems more unstable than when they left.

“In Haiti, there is no security,” said Fabricio Jean, a 38-year-old Haitian who arrived with his wife and two daughters. “The country is in a political crisis.”

Haitians have been migrating to the U.S. in large numbers from South America for several years, many having left their Caribbean nation after a devastating 2010 earthquake. After jobs dried up from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, many made the dangerous trek by foot, bus and car to the U.S. border, including through the infamous Darien Gap, a Panamanian jungle.

Jorge Luis Mora Castillo, a 48-year-old from Cuba, said he arrived Saturday in Acuna and also planned to cross into the U.S. Castillo said his family paid smugglers $12,000 to take him, his wife and their son out of Paraguay, a South American nation where they had lived for four years.

Told of the U.S. message discouraging migrants, Castillo said he wouldn’t change his mind.

“Because to go back to Cuba is to die,” he said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection closed off vehicle and pedestrian traffic in both directions Friday at the only border crossing between Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña “to respond to urgent safety and security needs” and it remained closed Saturday. Travelers were being directed indefinitely to a crossing in Eagle Pass, roughly 55 miles (90 kilometers) away.

Crowd estimates varied, but Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano said Saturday evening there were 14,534 immigrants at the camp under the bridge. Migrants pitched tents and built makeshif t shelters from giant reeds known as carrizo cane. Many bathed and washed clothing in the river.

It is unclear how such a large number amassed so quickly, though many Haitians have been assembling in camps on the Mexican side of the border to wait while deciding whether to attempt entry into the U.S.

The number of Haitian arrivals began to reach unsustainable levels for the Border Patrol in Del Rio about 2 ½ weeks ago, prompting the agency’s acting sector chief, Robert Garcia, to ask headquarters for help, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Since then, the agency has transferred Haitians in buses and vans to other Border Patrol facilities in Texas, specifically El Paso, Laredo and Rio Grande Valley. They are mostly processed outside of the pandemic-related authority, meaning they can claim asylum and remain in the U.S. while their claims are considered. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement makes custody decision but families can generally not be held more than 20 days under court order.

Homeland Security’s plan announced Saturday signals a shift to use of pandemic-related authority for immediate expulsion to Haiti without an opportunity to claim asylum, the official said.

The flight plan, while potentially massive in scale, hinges on how Haitians respond. They might have to decide whether to stay put at the risk of being sent back to an impoverished homeland wracked by poverty and political instability or return to Mexico. Unaccompanied children are exempt from fast-track expulsions.

DHS said, “our borders are not open, and people should not make the dangerous journey.”

“Individuals and families are subject to border restrictions, including expulsion,” the agency wrote. “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.”

U.S. authorities are being severely tested after Democratic President Joe Biden quickly dismantled Trump administration policies that Biden considered cruel or inhumane, most notably one requiring asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while waiting for U.S. immigration court hearings.

A pandemic-related order to immediately expel migrants without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum that was introduced in March 2020 remains in effect, but unaccompanied children and many families have been exempt. During his first month in office, Biden chose to exempt children traveling alone on humanitarian grounds.

Nicole Phillips, legal director for advocacy group Haitian Bridge Alliance, said Saturday that the U.S. government should process migrants and allow them to apply for asylum, not rush to expel them.

“It really is a humanitarian crisis,” Phillips said. “There needs to be a lot of help there now.”

Mexico’s immigration agency said in a statement Saturday that Mexico has opened a “permanent dialogue” with Haitian government representatives “to address the situation of irregular migratory flows during their entry and transit through Mexico, as well as their assisted return.”

The agency didn’t specify if it was referring to the Haitians in Ciudad Acuña or to the thousands of others in Tapachula, at the Guatemalan border, and the agency didn’t immediately reply to a request for further details.

In August, U.S. authorities stopped migrants nearly 209,000 times at the border, which was close to a 20-year high even though many of the stops involved repeat crossers because there are no legal consequences for being expelled under the pandemic authority.

___

Lozano reported from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico and Spagat reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers Ben Fox, Alexandra Jaffe and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.

  

Haitian migrants' tortuous journey ends in Mexico limbo

Issued on: 19/09/2021 -

Murat "Dodo" Tilus set off from Chile with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren on August 8, 2021, leaving a country that had welcomed him following the 2010 earthquake that left 200,000 dead in Haiti 

CLAUDIO CRUZ AFP

Tapachula (Mexico) (AFP)

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.

Tens of thousands of migrants, including many Haitians previously living in South America, are stuck in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, waiting for documents that would allow them to continue.

Those who tire of waiting or run out of money try crossing Mexico anyway, hoping not to be caught by the authorities and deported to Guatemala.

But when they reach the border with the United States, they find themselves trapped again.

Thousands of migrants, many of them Haitians, are now crowded under a bridge in Texas after crossing the Rio Grande river, hoping to be allowed into the country.

Despite the hardships, migrants keep pouring into southern Mexico from Guatemala.

- Fleeing quake fallout -

Every night, Murat "Dodo" Tilus wakes with an excruciating pain in his arm -- the result of a fall on a Colombian mountain on his way to the United States, where he hopes to join his brother.

Haitian migrant Judith Joseph and her children spent two months traveling overland between Chile and Mexico

 CLAUDIO CRUZ AFP

He set off from Chile with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren on August 8, leaving a country that had welcomed him following the 2010 earthquake that left 200,000 dead in Haiti.

"My house collapsed (in the quake), my relatives died, then I decided with my wife to go to another country," the 49-year-old electrician told AFP.

But the "Chilean dream" began to fade in 2018 when the government imposed measures making life harder for migrants.

These days in Chile, "it's very difficult to get a work permit. Everything became more expensive, so people want to leave to look for a better life," he said.

He and his wife Rose Marie raised about $5,000 for the journey, setting off by bus.

After a month-long odyssey crossing 10 countries, they arrived in Tapachula.

Now they sleep in a room in a home that they share with four other Haitian families, while they wait for an appointment to process their refugee claim.

Haitian and Central American migrants march to the immigration offices in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula to demand documents 

CLAUDIO CRUZ AFP/File

It is only thanks to money sent by Tilus's brother that they are not sleeping in the streets like some migrants.

The Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance is struggling with a backlog of requests for documents.

So far this year, it has arranged about 77,559 permits for migrants, compared with 70,400 for all of 2019.

Hundreds of migrants tried to cross Mexico on foot this month in caravans but were blocked by the Mexican authorities.

"I want to continue (to the United States) legally," Tilus said.

- Perilous journey -

Judith Joseph fled to Chile from Haiti in 2017 after one of her three children was murdered.

Despite suffering from ailments including diabetes and difficulty walking, the 43-year-old set off on July 10 and arrived in Tapachula nearly two months later with her other two children, Samuel and Cristelle.

The worst part of the journey was crossing the Darien Gap, an area of jungle between Colombia and Panama infested with armed gangs and drug traffickers.

Migrants, mostly from Haiti, gather at a makeshift encampment under the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas on the border with Mexico 

Jordan Vonderhaar GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

They saw some migrants drown, while others lost their few belongings.

Life in Haiti, where his mother worked in a market, was equally difficult, said 11-year-old Samuel.

"There were mice in the kitchen at night. During the day there were always Haitian soldiers shooting outside the house," he said.

Now they share a room with others on the outskirts of Tapachula, while they wait for refugee status to continue a journey that Samuel wishes they had never begun.

"I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay in Chile," he said.

© 2021 AFP

Official: US to expel Haitians from border, fly to Haiti
By ERIC GAY and ELLIOT SPAGAT


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Haitian migrants use a dam to cross to and from the United States from Mexico, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. Thousands of Haitian migrants have assembled under and around a bridge in Del Rio presenting the Biden administration with a fresh and immediate challenge as it tries to manage large numbers of asylum-seekers who have been reaching U.S. soil. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)


DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — The Biden administration plans the widescale expulsion of Haitian migrants from a small Texas border city by putting them on flights to Haiti starting Sunday, an official said Friday, representing a swift and dramatic response to thousands who suddenly crossed the border from Mexico and gathered under and around a bridge.

Details are yet to be finalized but will likely involve five to eight flights a day, according to the official with direct knowledge of the plans who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. San Antonio, the nearest major city, may be among the departure cities.

Another administration official speaking on condition of anonymity expected two flights a day at most and said all migrants would be tested for COVID-19.

U.S. authorities closed traffic to vehicles and pedestrians in both directions at the only border crossing in Del Rio, Texas, after chaos unfolded Friday and presented the administration with a new and immediate challenge as it tries to manage large numbers of asylum-seekers who have been reaching U.S. soil.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it was closing the border crossing with Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, “to respond to urgent safety and security needs.” Travelers were being directed to Eagle Pass, Texas, 57 miles (91 kilometers) away.

Haitians crossed the Rio Grande freely and in a steady stream, going back and forth between the U.S. and Mexico through knee-deep water, with some parents carrying small children on their shoulders. Unable to buy supplies in the U.S., they returned briefly to Mexico for food and cardboard to settle, temporarily at least, under or near the bridge in Del Rio, a city of 35,000 that has been severely strained by migrant flows in recent months.

Migrants pitched tents and built makeshift shelters from giant reeds known as carrizo cane. Many bathed and washed clothing in the river.

The vast majority of the migrants at the bridge on Friday were Haitian, said Val Verde County Judge Lewis Owens, who is the county’s top elected official and whose jurisdiction includes Del Rio. Some families have been under the bridge for as long as six days.

Trash piles were 10 feet (3.1 meters) wide, and at least two women have given birth, including one who tested positive for COVID-19 after being taken to a hospital, Owens said.

Val Verde County Sheriff Frank Joe Martinez estimated the crowd at 13,700 and said more Haitians were traveling through Mexico by bus.

The flight plan, while potentially massive in scale, hinges on how Haitians respond. They may face a choice: stay put at the risk of being sent back to their impoverished homeland -- wracked by poverty, political instability and a recent earthquake — or return to Mexico. Unaccompanied children are exempt from fast-track expulsions.

About 500 Haitians were ordered off buses by Mexican immigration authorities in the state of Tamaulipas, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) south of the Texas border, the state government said in a news release Friday. They continued toward the border on foot.

Haitians have been migrating to the U.S. in large numbers from South America for several years, many of them having left the Caribbean nation after a devastating earthquake in 2010. After jobs dried up from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, many made the dangerous trek by foot, bus and car to the U.S. border, including through the infamous Darien Gap, a Panamanian jungle.

It is unclear how such a large number amassed so quickly, though many Haitians have been assembling in camps on the Mexican side of the border, including in Tijuana, across from San Diego, to wait while deciding whether to attempt to enter the United States.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment. “We will address it accordingly,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on MSNBC.

An administration official, who was not authorized to address the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the action is not targeting Haitians specifically and does not reflect a policy shift, just a continuation of normal practices.

The Federal Aviation Administration, acting on a Border Patrol request, restricted drone flights around the bridge until Sept. 30, generally barring operations at or below 1,000 feet (305 meters) unless for security or law enforcement purposes.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican and frequent critic of President Joe Biden, said federal officials told him migrants under the bridge would be moved by the Defense Department to Arizona, California and elsewhere on the Texas border.

Some Haitians at the camp have lived in Mexican cities on the U.S. border for some time, moving often between them, while others arrived recently after being stuck near Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala, said Nicole Phillips, the legal director for advocacy group Haitian Bridge Alliance. A sense of desperation spread after the Biden administration ended its practice of admitting asylum-seeking migrants daily who were deemed especially vulnerable.

“People are panicking on how they seek refuge,” Phillips said.

Edgar Rodríguez, lawyer for the Casa del Migrante migrant shelter in Piedras Negras, north of Del Rio, noticed an increase of Haitians in the area two or three weeks ago and believes that misinformation may have played a part. Migrants often make decisions on false rumors that policies are about to change and that enforcement policies vary by city.

U.S. authorities are being severely tested after Biden quickly dismantled Trump administration policies that Biden considered cruel or inhumane, most notably one requiring asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while waiting for U.S. immigration court hearings. Such migrants have been exposed to extreme violence in Mexico and faced extraordinary difficulty in finding attorneys.

The U.S Supreme Court last month let stand a judge’s order to reinstate the policy, though Mexico must agree to its terms. The Justice Department said in a court filing this week that discussions with the Mexican government were ongoing.

A pandemic-related order to immediately expel migrants without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum that was introduced in March 2020 remains in effect, but unaccompanied children and many families have been exempt. During his first month in office, Biden chose to exempt children traveling alone on humanitarian grounds.

The U.S. government has been unable to expel many Central American families because Mexican authorities have largely refused to accept them in the state of Tamaulipas, which is across from Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. On Friday, the administration said it would appeal a judge’s ruling a day earlier that blocked it from applying Title 42, as the pandemic-related authority is known, to any families.

Mexico has agreed to take expelled families only from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, creating an opening for Haitians and other nationalities because the U.S. lacks the resources to detain and quickly expel them on flights to their homelands.

In August, U.S. authorities stopped migrants nearly 209,000 times at the border, which was close to a 20-year high even though many of the stops involved repeat crossers because there are no legal consequences for being expelled under Title 42 authority.

People crossing in families were stopped 86,487 times in August, but fewer than one out of every five of those encounters resulted in expulsion under Title 42. The rest were processed under immigration laws, which typically means they were released with a court date or a notice to report to immigration authorities.

U.S. authorities stopped Haitians 7,580 times in August, a figure that has increased every month since August 2020, when they stopped only 55. There have also been major increases of Ecuadorians, Venezuelans and other nationalities outside the traditional sending countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

___

Spagat reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers Ben Fox, Alexandra Jaffe and Colleen Long in Washington, Paul Weber in Austin, David Koenig in Dallas and Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.

10,000 migrants, many Haitian, packed under Texas bridge

Issued on: 17/09/2021 -

Haitian and Central American migrants march to the Siglo XXI Migratory Station in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, aiming to travel to the United States. 

CLAUDIO CRUZ AFP

Houston (AFP)

More than 10,000 undocumented migrants, many of them Haitians, were being held under a bridge in Texas on Friday, US officials said, posing a new challenge to President Joe Biden's immigration policy.

Bruno Lozano, the mayor of Del Rio on the US-Mexico border, said that the migrants were crowded in an area controlled by the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) beneath the Del Rio International Bridge.

Many of them were Haitians hoping to stay in the United States as their country suffers after a large earthquake and continuing political turmoil, Lozano said.

The mayor said there were 10,503 people under the bridge on Thursday evening, up from around 8,000 earlier in the day.

Video footage showed families sitting and sleeping in the open air, awaiting processing by the CBP, which has been overwhelmed by migrants crossing the border from Mexico as well as tens of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan.

"The border patrol right now is so overwhelmed with the influx of migrants in the Del Rio sector," Lozano said.

He said, besides those under the bridge, there were another 2,000-3,000 held in detention by CBP in the area.

- Risk of heat illnesses -

In a statement, the CBP said it was sending extra personnel and resources.

"To prevent injuries from heat-related illness, the shaded area underneath Del Rio International Bridge is serving as a temporary staging site while migrants wait to be taken into Border Patrol custody," it said.

CBP said the "vast majority" of single migrants and many of the families would be expelled under the government's Title 42 policy curtailing immigration due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Those who cannot be expelled under Title 42 and do not have a legal basis to remain will be placed in expedited removal proceedings," CBP said.

Both Republicans and Democrats called for quick action from Biden, whose administration recorded and mostly expelled more than 200,000 migrants at the border in both July and August, the highest numbers in more than a decade.

Some said Biden's decision in late July after Haitian president Jovenel Moise's assassination to allow Haitians without US visas at the time to remain in the country offered an incentive for others to come.

"10,503 illegal aliens are under this bridge tonight because Joe Biden made a political decision to cancel deportation flights to Haiti," Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz tweeted on Thursday.

Meanwhile Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, herself an immigrant, also pressed Biden to act.

"This needs an urgent response from the Biden administration that is comprehensive and includes a cross-agency collaboration," she said in a statement.

"Let's help these folks who are stranded there and act swiftly before this gut-wrenching situation grows to unmanageable level."

© 2021 AFP

US holds thousands of migrants under Texas bridge

More than 10,000 migrants, mainly fleeing Haiti, are currently being held under a bridge at Del Rio near the US-Mexico border as immigration facilities in the area have reached capacity.

The bridge crosses the Rio Grande river that separates the US and Mexico

The mayor of Del Rio declared a state of emergency on Friday after more than 10,000 undocumented migrants poured into the Texas border town. 

US border officials said they were closing the Del Rio border crossing following the arrival of the Haitian migrants, many of whom were being held under a bridge controlled by the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to await processing. 

CBP announced the closure and said people would be rerouted 57 miles (93 kilometers) east to the Eagle Pass border crossing.

The migrants are living in squalid conditions and desert heat

"The border patrol right now is so overwhelmed with the influx of migrants in the Del Rio sector," local Mayor Bruno Lozano said, adding that the number of migrants under the bridge had increased from 8,000 Thursday, to over 10,000 on Friday. 

The mayor said most of the people are Haitians fleeing the aftermath of a large earthquake and ongoing political turmoil.

The White House remained silent on the issue as pressure mounted on US President Joe Biden to address the influx.

'Temporary staging site'

The CBP said in a statement it was increasing staff in the area and was providing drinking water, towels and portable toilets.

It said the bridge was being used as a "temporary staging site" to provide shade and prevent heat-related illness.

Migrants have been building make-shift shelters out of cardboard.

Unable to buy supplies in the US, many of the migrants have been wading across the knee-deep Rio Grande river to buy supplies in Mexico. 

Many of the migrants are reportedly wading across the Rio Grande back into Mexico to acquire 

essential supplies

Why are Haitian migrants coming?

It is unclear how such a large number of Haitian migrants assembled so quickly in Del Rio.

Edgar Rodriguez, a lawyer for the Casa del Migrante migrant shelter near Del Rio, told the Associated Press that the increase of Haitians began several weeks ago. He believes misinformation and rumors about US immigration policy may have played a role in the influx.

Several of the migrants told Reuters news agency that they had followed a route shared among migrants on WhatsApp, that provided a safe route into the US avoiding Mexican authorities. 

"Those ahead sent directions by phone. I helped people coming behind me," one of the people at the camp said. 

Officia: Migrants likely to be sent back by plane

The acute migrant influx is presenting the latest immigration challenge to Biden, who faced calls from both Democrats and Republicans to take quick action.

The Biden administration is planning a widescale expulsion of the migrants by putting them on flights to Haiti starting Sunday, The Associated Press (AP) reported on Saturday, citing an official with direct knowledge of the plans.

Details are yet to be finalized, but will likely involve five to eight flights a day, according to the official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. 

Immigration authorities have said many of the migrants will likely not be permitted entry into the US

Although Biden rolled back many of former President Donald Trump's more hardline border policies, he left in place a pandemic-related expulsion policy, called Title 42. The directive allows migrants to be turned back at the border.

The CBP said the "vast majority" of single migrants and many of the families would be likely expelled under the policy.

"Those who cannot be expelled under Title 42 and do not have a legal basis to remain will be placed in expedited removal proceedings," CBP said.

Although a federal judge on Thursday ruled that Title 42 does not legally allow migrant expulsions, the order will not go into effect for 14 days

HAITIANS ARE THE GREAT REPLACEMENT

'Silent revolution': Texas' Dan Patrick mirrors language of far-right extremists

James Barragãn, The Texas Tribune
September 18, 2021

Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (Screenshot/WFAA)

Denouncing the thousands of Haitian asylum-seekers who are camped out under a South Texas bridge as an "invasion," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick accused Democrats of allowing their entry into the country for political gain.

"[Democrats] are allowing this year probably 2 million [immigrants], that's who we apprehended, maybe another million, into this country," Patrick said on Laura Ingraham's Fox News show. "At least in 18 years even if they all don't become citizens before then and can vote, in 18 years if every one of them has two or three children, you're talking about millions and millions and millions of new voters and they will thank the Democrats and Biden for bringing them here. Who do you think they're going to vote for?"

He said President Joe Biden and Democrats had begun a "silent revolution" to take over the country by winning over the votes of migrants.

"This is trying to take over our country without firing a shot," he added.

Patrick's rhetoric mirrors a far-right theory started in France known as the Great Replacement, which says that elites are replacing white populations with nonwhite populations through mass migration and demographic growth. These writings influenced the worst mass shooting of Hispanics in recent U.S. history in El Paso in 2019. The shooter, who killed 23 people and injured 23 others, ranted about a Hispanic invasion and told police he came to the city to kill Mexicans.

Patrick has repeatedly called the increase of migrants at the border an "invasion" throughout the year.

State Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, who leads the House Democratic Caucus said blasted Patrick for his comments.

"These comments are not only vile, they are incendiary and dangerous," Turner said on Twitter. "Leaders have a responsibility to not incite with their words & actions - Patrick fails that test, again."

Patrick, a two-term Republican, was responding on Thursday to the thousands of asylum-seeking migrants — most of them from Haiti — who are waiting under an international bridge in Del Rio. The Caribbean country experienced a 7.2 magnitude earthquake last month that destroyed thousands of homes.

State and federal government butted heads on how to handle the migrants' arrival, with Gov. Greg Abbott backpedaling on an order to close the ports of entry after U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the agency had not asked the state to do so. Abbott has blamed the Biden administration for the increase of migrants on the border this year.

Patrick told Ingraham the state received a "call for help" from U.S. Border Patrol, which led Abbott to order the closure of the ports of entry. A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said the agency had no information on Abbott's decision to close the ports.

"Then we found out that Border Patrol did not have permission from Homeland Security or the president, and so they came out and said 'No, we didn't say we needed any help. We didn't say that,'" Patrick said. "Someone in the administration flip-flopped on the issue, Texas did not take a back step."

Patrick urged Republican-led states to tell the White House they were being "invaded," adding that Democrat-led states did not care.

"This is not authorized by the state of Texas," he said. "It's not welcome by the state of Texas or any other Republican state that I know and they're not invited."

Patrick invoked Article IV of the Constitution, which guarantees states protection from invasion.

"What's a republican form of government? It's defined as a government that focuses on citizens running their government," he said. "We now will have illegals in this country denying citizens the right to run our government. Because our government, our representatives that we elect, can't even stop them from coming."

"This is denying us our government that's run by our citizens with illegals who are here who are going to take our education, our health care, all [of it]," he said. "This is selling out our country."

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/17/texas-dan-patrick-immigrants-democrats-haitians/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org

Biden’s Border Policy Is Trapping LGBTQ Asylum-Seekers In Dangerous Conditions In Mexico

"We're exposed here and very scared of what might happen to us now."

Adolfo FloresBuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on September 16, 2021,



Handout / Via Sofía
Isela and Sofía.


When Isela arrived at the US southern border, a man had already injured her spine in an anti-gay attack and she was still reeling from being raped by Mexican police officers. She thought her experiences would be enough to convince US authorities to let her in to claim asylum, but she was wrong.

Instead, Isela, who declined to use her full name out of fear of retribution from Mexican authorities, found there were few pathways for asylum-seekers into the US. Isela and her partner of 13 years, Sofía, requested humanitarian parole, which would allow them to enter the US temporarily.

Their request was denied by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sept. 1, and the two Honduran women have since been living on the streets of Mexico with no end in sight.

"I don't know why the government is closing its door to immigrants like us, we have proof," Isela told BuzzFeed News. "Just like in our country, there is a lot of homophobia and discrimination in Mexico."


Marco Ugarte / AP
An immigrant woman carrying a child moves away from Mexican National Guard officers blocking the passage of a group of Central Americans near Tapachula in January 2020.

Nearly all pathways for asylum-seekers to seek protection at the US border are currently sealed off, the result of constantly shifting immigration policies and court rulings.

Most asylum-seekers are being blocked by a Trump-era policy the Biden administration has decided to continue. Citing an obscure public health law known as Title 42 to contain the coronavirus, the US immediately expels immigrants at the border, blocking them from accessing the asylum system. Border Patrol agents, however, aren't applying the policy to unaccompanied children and some families. Whether or not Title 42 is used to expel families from the US generally depends on nationality, where immigrants cross, and whether border authorities decide to put them on flights to quickly oust them somewhere else.



Twitter: @adam_wola


Immigrant advocates have condemned the expulsions, saying it sends people back to danger and is more about controlling migration than the coronavirus. A Human Rights First report tracked at least 6,356 kidnappings, sexual assaults, and other violent attacks, such as rape, kidnapping, and assault, against immigrants blocked at official border crossings or expelled to Mexico by the US since President Joe Biden took office.

On Thursday, a federal court ordered the Biden administration to stop using Title 42 to expel immigrant families with children, though Judge Emmet Sullivan put his order on pause for two weeks.

There used to be exemptions to Title 42 expulsions for vulnerable immigrants through a lawsuit filed by the ACLU as well as a separate process by which organizations chosen by the Biden administration identified people, such as LGBTQ immigrants, who should be allowed into the US to seek protection due to heightened risks in Mexico.

Both those processes no longer exist. In August, the Biden administration halted the exemption process with the ACLU after settlement talks ended. A consortium of humanitarian groups, which were identifying vulnerable immigrants for the government through a separate track, stopped their efforts this summer after realizing there was no end in sight for Title 42.

"Considering the lack of justification of keeping Title 42 in place for health reasons, and the threat of supporting a system that externalizes US asylum in violation of international human rights law, HIAS will discontinue its Title 42 referrals," said Bill Swersey, a spokesperson for the global Jewish nonprofit that helps refugees, in a statement this summer.


Jose Torres / Reuters
Mexican immigration agents detain a member of a caravan of immigrants and asylum-seekers who were hoping to reach Mexico City and obtain paperwork that would allow them to travel the country. Immigrants had grown tired of waiting for the documents in Tapachula.

Advocates said one of the few remaining pathways for asylum-seekers to enter the US is humanitarian parole, which allows people who would otherwise be barred into the country temporarily, but successfully gaining the status is difficult.

Margaret Cargioli, managing attorney for Immigrant Defenders Law Center’s Cross-Border Initiative program in San Diego, said the humanitarian parole process is highly discretionary and it’s not clear exactly why some cases are approved and similar ones are denied.

"It's especially alarming to see these denials now because there's no other recourse for asylum-seekers," Cargioli told BuzzFeed News. "Quite literally, asylum law is dead right now for someone fleeing for their safety."

In a statement, DHS said that on a case-by-case basis, the agency can, and does, allow immigrants who would otherwise be subject to Title 42 to be exempt for humanitarian reasons. DHS said it can’t comment on individual cases due to privacy and security reasons.

Isela and Sofía, who also declined to use her full name out of fear of Mexican authorities, left Honduras in 2018 after they were both sexually assaulted by two police officers. The assaults, Isela said, followed years of discrimination at home for being lesbians.

They made their way to Mexico, landing in Tapachula, a city near the Guatemalan border. Tapachula is a popular crossing point for asylum-seekers that has a reputation as a prison city for immigrants who are unable to get paperwork that would allow them to travel freely through Mexico. Advocates say immigrants are also routinely targeted by criminals and Mexican authorities in the city.

Sofía and Isela were sleeping in a Tapachula park one night when they were detained by Mexican police and placed in their car. The officers then drove the couple to a dark bridge and raped them, Sofía said.

"They said if we said anything we would be dead and thrown in the river," Sofía told BuzzFeed News.

A few months later, Isela, who worked at a general store, was attacked by her employer's drunk son. After he started calling her anti-gay slurs, he pushed her and she fell in a sitting position with her outstretched left hand. The pain to her pelvis and back was unbearable, and an ambulance had to pick her up.

Isela suffered a fractured spine, pelvis, and hand as a result of the attack. Isela said she tried to file a police report against the store owner's son, but authorities refused to document it because the family had paid a bribe.

Doctors told Isela she needed surgery for her pelvis and spine, but the couple was only able to afford the pelvis procedure.

From there, it only got worse. While recovering from her surgery and unable to move, Isela said a social worker with the hospital tried to force her to perform oral sex on him.

"He said he would make me like men," Isela said. "He grabbed my head and I tried to move away even though I could barely move my neck. I yelled for help and that's when he stopped."

Isela and Sofía filed a police report, but authorities refused to give them a copy and Isela started getting threatening text messages, prompting her to check out of the hospital. They suspect Tapachula authorities told the social worker about the report and that he was the one threatening them. In June, Isela and Sofía left Tapachula and made it to the US–Mexico border, but they discovered they couldn't even start the asylum process because of Title 42 expulsions.

Through the help of other immigrants, the couple was able to get in touch with an attorney from Al Otro Lado, a binational legal service provider, who filed a humanitarian parole request, their only hope of leaving Mexico.

"We've suffered so much because we're part of the LGBT community, and we hoped that the US would help us, but instead they closed the door on us," Sofía said. "We're very confused about why we were denied."

The ever-changing immigration policies and court orders are also creating confusion, despair, and vulnerability for people who are already in a precarious situation, Cargioli, the immigration attorney with Immigrant Defenders, said. The confusion, she added, allowed smugglers and the cartel to spread misinformation about the border being open in order to get more business. It's also made it easier for people to scam immigrants into paying to submit asylum applications that can't actually be filed.

"The Biden administration has had ample time to handle and resume processing of asylum-seekers," Cargioli said. "Asylum is legal, it is an essential service, and a legal obligation the United States must abide by."

“Remain In Mexico” Asylum-Seekers Thought There Was Hope Under Biden, But Despair Is Sinking Back In

"One day we were waiting on the call to enter the US, and the next we don't know if we will ever be allowed in."

Adolfo FloresBuzzFeed News Reporter

Hamed AleazizBuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on September 10, 2021, 

Gregory Bull / 
Asylum-seekers wait for news of policy changes at the border in Tijuana, Mexico.

After being forced to wait in dangerous Mexican border towns since 2019, Frank finally got the call he and his wife had been anxiously waiting for; in a few days, a UN official said, they’d receive a second call with a time to arrive and be processed into the US.

But that call never came. And then a few days later, someone on a WhatsApp group of Cuban asylum-seekers shared an article about how the Supreme Court had refused to block a requirement that the US restart a Trump-era program that forced thousands like Frank and his wife to wait in Mexico until a decision on their case was made

"My wife fell to the floor in tears," said the 32-year-old, who declined to use his full name out of fear of government scrutiny. "One day we were waiting on the call to enter the US, and the next we don't know if we will ever be allowed in."

More than 70,000 immigrants and asylum-seekers were sent back to Mexico under what’s officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) and unofficially known as the “Remain in Mexico” program, where they have little access to legal aid and live with the constant threat of violence from cartel members. Now, until the Biden White House resolves the recent court action, thousands of immigrants like Frank will be back to square one.

The Biden administration's recent troubles in ending the Remain in Mexico policy stem from a district judge's order that it be reinstated on Aug. 13. The Supreme Court refused to block the order after the administration appealed, forcing the government to restart it. This week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told CBS Evening News that while he opposed the Trump-era program, he was "obliged" to revive it due to the federal court order.

This summer, Biden fulfilled a campaign promise and formally ended Remain in Mexico. And, as part of a second phase, the US was allowing in people like Frank, who had been ordered deported in absentia after failing to attend his MPP court hearings.

But Christopher Boian, a spokesperson for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said that the organization was waiting for confirmation from the US on how the court ruling will affect people with in absentia orders.

In a statement to BuzzFeed News, the Department of Homeland Security said that as long as the lower court’s injunction remains in effect, it and its partners will suspend efforts to process immigrants who were previously enrolled in MPP.

DHS added that it was working on a way to accommodate those who were enrolled in MPP under the previous administration, are still outside the US, and have active immigration proceedings.

For immigrants who had been ordered to be deported after not attending their hearings — sometimes because they were a victim of a crime in Mexico — the US went through a labor-intensive process to reopen their cases.

ICE prosecutors were also told in late August in an email that they must suspend “any and all processes” related to winding down the program.

Asylum officers received an email in late August as well, saying the agency was taking steps to reimplement and enforce MPP in good faith. The email also said DHS was working with the State Department and the Mexican government to ensure the “expeditious reimplementation” of the Remain in Mexico program.

But the email from Andrew Davidson, head of asylum at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, also said restarting the program would depend on Mexico and the return of the necessary infrastructure to handle the cases.

Staffers were also told that the agency should “cease all activities” at ports of entry related to processing people who were previously enrolled in MPP.

Jose Luis Gonzalez / Reuters
An immigrant child, an asylum-seeker under the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP) program, inside the El Buen Samaritano shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico


Some immigrants missed their court hearings because they were kidnapped or targeted by criminals. From February 2019 to February 2021, Human Rights First counted at least 1,544 public reports of murder, rape, and other attacks committed against people in MPP.

Frank and his wife missed their hearing because of a shootout that occurred outside their apartment in Ciudad Juárez. They were already running late because Frank's wife was sick, but the shooting all but ensured they would miss their appointment.

Life in Mexico isn't easy for immigrants. Not only are asylum-seekers under a constant threat of violence, but neither employers nor rental property owners want them.

Two months ago, a group of men assaulted Frank at a stoplight, stealing the bike he used to get to work. He used to have a job at a US-operated factory in Mexico, where he assembled pieces for heaters. Now he’s a repairperson, but jobs are inconsistent and he barely makes enough for rent and food.

Frank also has a fear of being kidnapped and doesn't leave his apartment unless he has to. All immigrants and asylum-seekers run the risk of being kidnapped, but criminals sometimes target Cubans because their families are more likely to be established in the US and have more money

"Here in Mexico, they call us ATM machines," Frank said. "It hasn't been easy living here, and I'm begging the US to at least let those of us with open cases enter the country. I don't know how much longer we can wait."

Body composting a ‘green’ alternative to burial, cremation
By THOMAS PEIPERT

September 16, 2021


1 of 22

In this Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, photo, Seth Viddal, who co-owns The Natural Funeral, stands behind a nearly completed human body composting vessel in Arvada, Colo. On Sept. 7, Colorado became the second state after Washington to allow human body composting, and Oregon will allow the practice beginning next July. The vessel will be packed with wood chips and straw and will be able to compost a body in six months. About the size of a standard grave, the rectangular insulated wooden box is lined with waterproof roofing material and packed with wood chips and straw. Two large spool wheels on either end allow it to be rolled across the floor, providing the oxygenation, agitation and absorption required for a body to compost. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)


LAFAYETTE, Colo. (AP) — In a suburban Denver warehouse tucked between an auto repair shop and a computer recycling business, Seth Viddal is dealing with life and death.

He and one of his employees have built a “vessel” they hope will usher in a more environmentally friendly era of mortuary science that includes the natural organic reduction of human remains, also known as body composting.

“It’s a natural process where the body is returned to an elemental level over a short period of time,” said Viddal, who likened the practice to backyard composting of food scraps and yard waste. “This is the same process but done with a human body inside of a vessel, and in our case, in a controlled environment.”

On Sept. 7, Colorado became the second state after Washington to allow human body composting. Oregon will allow the practice beginning next July. In Washington, the three businesses licensed to compost human remains have transformed at least 85 bodies since the law took effect in May 2020, and more than 900 people have signed up for the service as natural funerals become more popular.

Viddal, who co-owns The Natural Funeral in Lafayette, lobbied the Colorado Legislature for the option and started building a prototype vessel in an industrial area soon after the bipartisan bill was signed into law.

Based on a design being used in Washington, the insulated wooden box is about 7 feet long (2 meters), 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep, lined with waterproof roofing material and packed with wood chips and straw. Two large spool wheels on either end allow it to be rolled across the floor, providing the oxygenation, agitation and absorption required for a body to compost.

Viddal calls the process an “exciting ecological option,” and in death, he also sees life.

“Composting itself is a very living function and it’s performed by living organisms. ... There are billions of microbial, living things in our digestive tracts and just contained in our body. And when our one life ceases, the life of those microbes does not cease,” he said.

After about three months, the vessel is opened and the “soil” is filtered for medical devices like prosthetics, pacemakers or joint replacements. The remaining large bones are then pulverized and returned to the vessel for another three months of composting. Teeth are removed to prevent contamination from mercury in fillings.

The vessel must reach 131 degrees Fahrenheit (55 Celsius) for 72 continuous hours to kill any bacteria and pathogens. The high temperature occurs naturally during the breakdown of the body in an enclosed box.

In six months, the body, wood chips and straw will transform into enough soil to fill the bed of a pickup truck. Family members can keep the soil to spread in their yards, but Colorado law forbids selling it and using it commercially to grow food for human consumption and only allows licensed funeral homes and crematories to compost human bodies.

“It accomplishes the conversion of the body back into a very beneficial substance — soil, earth,” said Viddal, who envisions building more than 50 body composting vessels.

The Natural Funeral charges $7,900 for body composting, compared with $2,200 for flame cremation, and Viddal notes that a traditional burial and service in the Denver area can run well north of $10,000. The company has not yet composted any bodies, but several people have signed up and paid for the service.

AJ Killeen, 40, of Boulder, has already expressed interest in having his body composted when he dies, even though he is relatively young.

After a car accident a couple years ago, a doctor discovered Killeen had a heart condition. That got Killeen thinking about what would happen to his body after he dies, and composting seemed like a natural fit.

“It’s what’s going to happen anyway, right? I mean, we’re all going to turn to dust, basically. So this is just a little more natural,” he said. “They’re going to control the humidity. They’re going to control the soil amendments and hopefully some worms and some mushrooms find a good home in me for a few months. And, you know, at the other end of it, I’ll be just a few bags of dirt.”



Killeen, who manages commercial real estate, said his concern for the environment played a large role in considering the option. Flame cremation burns fossil fuels that can contribute to climate change, and the process also releases toxic, mercury-laden fumes into the atmosphere. Traditional burial takes up space in a cemetery that will use additional resources to keep the plot constantly watered and mowed.

“I always joke that I hope I expire on trash day if that’s just easier for my family,” said Killeen, who composts food scraps and yard waste through the city’s collection program.

Killeen is among a growing number of people considering more natural funeral options, especially since the pandemic began, and he thinks the option will become more accepted once people get over “the ick factor.”

The Colorado Catholic Conference, a group of bishops aimed at molding public policy, opposed the bill, saying body composting “does not promote human dignity.” Some rabbis also are against body composting because they say it violates Jewish religious law. Other opponents are concerned there is not enough research on whether the compost contaminates soil and there is no way to prevent people from using it in home vegetable gardens.

“We don’t know what they’re going to do with it if they take it all home,” said Stacey Kleinman, a board member of the Colorado Funeral Directors Association. They helped craft the legislation, but the group’s stance is neutral.

Even with the opposition, several states are considering the option as Americans become more open to afterlife alternatives.

According to a Choice Mutual Insurance Agency survey of 1,500 Americans this summer, when many were burying loved ones killed by the coronavirus, 21% said the pandemic changed how they want their body disposed of. Traditional burial and cremation remained the front-runners, but 11% said they would opt for burial involving natural decomposition without a casket. Only 4% said they would choose that option in a similar survey conducted in 2020.

Choice Mutual, which specializes in burial insurance, did not specifically ask about body composting, but the survey highlights an increased interest in more natural and environmentally friendly options.

Micah Truman, CEO and founder of Return Home south of Seattle, runs an 11,500-square-foot (1,068-square-meter) facility that includes 74 vessels. So far, his company has composted 16 bodies in what he describes as an “extremely precise scientific operation” that takes only 60 days.

Truman said that because the composting option is so new, “it’s really a matter of changing hearts and minds right now.” But he has been surprised by how many young people are interested, including someone who recently signed up their 8-year-old child.

“Our young people are going to teach us how to die better. It’s been really powerful for us,” Truman said. “I think what’s happened is that the younger generation really genuinely understands that we have to make sure that our Earth can stay whole.”