Daily Archives: July 25, 2017

The discovery of dozens of migrants in a dangerously overheated trailer in San Antonio this weekend has further inflamed the national debate over illegal immigration, particularly sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with federal authorities.

In a Facebook post late Sunday, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) appeared to blame the tragedy on sanctuary policies like those adopted by San Antonio, San Francisco, Chicago and other jurisdictions, which he said entice people to illegally cross the border by creating the impression that local authorities will shield them from deportation.

He praised a Texas law currently under court challenge that would impose harsh penalties on jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Immigrant rights groups, in contrast, pointed the finger at increasingly harsh U.S. tactics toward undocumented immigrants, which they said drive would-be migrants to turn to unsafe methods to enter the United States.

They cited the Texas law, which will take effect Sept. 1 unless the lawsuit against it is successful, as an example of that worsening treatment.

Authorities say the tractor-trailer found in the parking lot of a San Antonio Walmart on Sunday was used to illegally transport more than 100 immigrants from Mexico as part of a smuggling operation.

There was little ventilation and no cooling in the cargo bay, creating punishing conditions as temperatures soared into the triple digits. Ten of the trucks occupants have died, and dozens of others remain hospitalized, some in critical condition.

The incident comes at a time of stepped-up immigration enforcement by the Trump administration, which has made it a priority to deport those in the country illegally and pledged to dramatically increase border security.

In Texas, tensions also are rising over the anti-sanctuary-city law known as S.B. 4. The measure requires local authorities to hold and turn over undocumented immigrants who have been ordered detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It carries harsh penalties, including fines and even jail time, for officials who refuse to comply.

Several cities and counties, including San Antonio, have sued to block the measure, arguing that it violates the U.S. Constitution. Critics of the law say cooperating closely with federal immigration authorities erodes public trust and often forces them to keep people in jail beyond their sentences.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) suggested Sunday on Twitter that better border security would have forestalled this weekends human-smuggling episode.

Compassion is called for, he wrote. But lawlessness ensures cartels will continue to profit from these tragedies. Status quo is not compassionate.

In his Facebook statement, Patrick wrote, Sanctuary cities entice people to believe they can come to America and Texas and live outside the law. Sanctuary cities also enable human smugglers and cartels. Today, these people paid a terrible price and demonstrate why we need a secure border and legal immigration reform so we can control who enters our country.

The posting which was shared more than 1,500 times drew immediate rebukes from immigrant rights advocates, who argued that the anti-sanctuary-cities law would make such tragedies more common.

We think that it is policies like S.B. 4 and the growing criminalization of immigrants and the growing militarization of our border that ... pushes people into shadows, sometimes literally to the back of the truck to hide from authorities, said Amy Fischer, policy director for the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.

In 2003, 19 people died in the trailer of an 18-wheeler during a 120-mile journey across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Two weeks ago, Houston police discovered 12 immigrants who had been locked in a sweltering box truck for hours and were seeking help by banging on the walls. And in May, border agents discovered 18 immigrants locked in a refrigerated produce truck, the temperature set at 51 degrees.

At a vigil for the victims Sunday night, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), said U.S. lawmakers should bear some of the blame for this and other smuggling disasters.

This represents a symptom of a broken immigration system that Congress, of which I am a part, has had the chance to fix but has not, Castro said. Thats a colossal failure that has a human cost.

Rey Saldaa, the San Antonio City Council member who represents the area where the truck was discovered, said it would be a mistake to conclude that people are drawn to the United States because of sanctuary policies. He said they come because of larger and more complex desires for a better life pressures that have existed for decades.

I would lay a lot of this on people who have ignored a system that has incentivized this one kind of entry, Saldaa said. And so people turn to the danger of human smugglers.

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Horrific episode of human smuggling fuels both sides of immigration debate - Washington Post

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Human microchips coming to Wisconsin company near you - Washington Times

High animal welfare standards used in producing meats such as beef could be threatened by post-Brexit trade deals. Photograph: Jeff Morgan/Alamy

Overwhelming support in the UK for high animal welfare standards is under threat from Brexit, an influential parliamentary committee has said.

The report from the House of Lords warns the standards of UK producers could be put under pressure by demands from other countries to allow an influx of cheap and lower-standard food as part of trade deals.

It was published as the prime ministers spokesperson said that allowing imports of US products such as chicken meat washed with chlorine would not be ruled out in trade deals. This came from No 10, despite assurances to the Guardian last week from the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) that any trade deal would maintain or raise food standards.

Preserving food standards would be of the highest priority Defra told the Guardian, and trade deals in agriculture would not be a race to the bottom.

Livestock welfare and crop-growing standards in the UK are among the worlds highest, but that could be subject to sudden change if farmers are challenged by imports from countries that produce meat and other food with much lower standards. Without firm and explicit support for agricultural standards in any post-Brexit trade agreements, the UKs high standards would be at risk.

The governments wish for the UK to become a global leader in free trade is not necessarily compatible with its desire to maintain high animal welfare standards

The House of Lords subcommittee on EU Energy and Environment found that if imports from other countries were allowed without the current EU safeguards, then the standards of UK producers would come under pressure.

The governments wish for the UK to become a global leader in free trade is not necessarily compatible with its desire to maintain high animal welfare standards, the committee found.

Liam Fox, one of the ministers leading the governments Brexit strategy, is in the US for talks on a new trade agreement that is almost certain to include agricultural products, including meat and genetically modified vegetables.

At present, the UK is protected from controversial US-produced agricultural goods, by EU standards that deter imports of products such as meat that has been washed in chlorine, which has a high bacterial content related to low animal welfare standards. EU rules also barmeat that has been fed with hormones and growth-promoting antibiotics.

Such products are allowed for sale in the US and attempts by the UK to impose higher standards on any imports would be a difficult part of trade deal negotiations.

Lord Teverson, chairman of the sub-committee that wrote the House of Lords report, said Brexit would threaten the UKs high standards of food for human consumption.

We heard overwhelming support for farm animal welfare standards to be maintained or improved. We urge the government to secure the inclusion of high farm animal welfare standards in any free trade agreements it negotiates after Brexit.

But he warned: The government will need to consider the effect of increasing standards on the competitiveness of UK producers as well as the future trading relationship with the EU.

The committee said that while consumers are currently protected by the high welfare standards required by the EU, which are much more stringent than those in countries such as the US and China, most people buying food are unaware of this.

Food labelling standards may also confuse consumers, the committee said, as they do not make it clear where and to what standards meat and vegetables have been produced.

Keith Taylor, an MEP and spokesman for the Green party, said: Fox is promising to discard the vital precautionary principle that guides EU policy-making and protects citizens from any process, procedure or product that carries with it a plausible risk of harm.

He pointed to the example of pesticides, dozens of which are permitted in the US but banned in the EU on health and environmental grounds.

In the US,antibiotics are routinely used to improve animals growth, sparking fears that meat consumption could increase human resistance to antibiotics. They are also used to limit diseases that could otherwise spread in the megafarms, holding tens of thousands of animals, that are commonplace in US farming.

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Post-Brexit trade deals 'threaten UK's animal welfare standards' - The Guardian