Day: October 5, 2023

(NewsNation) — As the number of migrants crossing the southern border illegally has risen, migrants and smugglers have gone to great lengths to avoid being caught by Customs and Border Protection.

For smugglers, bringing people across the border is big business, with cartels taking in billions of dollars per year as they smuggle drugs and people into the U.S.

For migrants, it’s a desperate attempt to flee poverty and violence in their home countries as they seek opportunities in the U.S.

In an effort to make it into the U.S. without going through legal ports of entry, smugglers and migrants have resorted to often dangerous methods to reach the U.S. Here are some of the ways NewsNation has witnessed people trying to make it across the southern border.

Scaling the Wall

As President Joe Biden recently waived laws to allow construction on the border wall in Texas, existing sections of the wall have not always proven to be a deterrent for those determined to make it into the U.S.

Rope and Pulley Systems

In some cases, smugglers have created assembly line-like systems that use ropes and pullies to hoist groups of people over the wall quickly.

Through the Desert

The areas between points of entry can be isolated. That makes it more difficult for CBP to patrol, creating an opportunity for smugglers to get people across, but it also means migrants face serious and sometimes deadly conditions due to heat and lack of water.

Boats

The majority of migrants crossing the southern border come through Mexico, entering the U.S. in Texas, Arizona or California but others come by sea. Key West, Florida, is just 90 miles from Havana, Cuba, making it the main destination for those arriving by boat.

Tunnels

Cartels have dug tunnels that pass under the border wall in some locations, allowing them to move drugs and people across the border undetected.

Storm Drains

Storm drains are another way smugglers bypass the border wall, a dangerous option as narrow pipes and metal grates over openings mean migrants risk getting stuck and drowning.

Over Floating Barriers

The Biden administration is in court over the construction of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande, where barbed wire and floating objects create risks of injury or drowning. Those risks don’t always stop people from crossing, even when they have babies with them.

Under Barbed Wire

Crawling under barbed wire comes with significant hazards, but people still attempt to evade detection, even having young toddlers crawl under the wire while covered with a cardboard box for protection.

Abandoning Children

Families may send minors to the border without related adults, in some cases with hopes of uniting the child with family members already in the U.S. In some cases, unaccompanied children have been found as young as two months old.

The United States on Thursday shot down an armed Turkish drone that was operating near its troops in Syria, the Pentagon said, the first time Washington has brought down an aircraft of NATO ally Turkey.

A Turkish defense ministry official said the drone that was shot down did not belong to the Turkish armed forces, but did not say whose property it was.

Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency carried out strikes in Syria against Kurdish militant targets after a bomb attack in Ankara last weekend, a Turkish security source said on Thursday.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said Turkish drones had been seen carrying out airstrikes Hasakah, Syria on Thursday morning about 1 km away from U.S. troops.

A few hours later a Turkish drone came within less than a half a kilometer (0.3 miles) of U.S. troops and was deemed a threat and shot down by F-16 aircraft.

“We have no indication that the Turkey was intentionally targeting U.S. forces,” Ryder told reporters.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Turkish counterpart after the incident, a call Ryder said was “fruitful.”

The incident comes at a delicate moment for U.S.-Turkish relations, with the United States hoping Turkey will ratify NATO membership for Sweden.

While the United States has not shot down a Turkish aircraft before, tensions have flared and there have been close calls. In 2019, U.S. troops in northern Syria came under artillery fire from Turkish positions.

U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish forces said Turkish attacks had killed eight people in an escalation prompted by the bomb attack in Ankara by Kurdish militants.

U.S. support for Kurdish forces in northern Syria has long caused tension with Turkey, which views them as a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). That group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in Ankara near government buildings.

On Wednesday, Turkey said the two attackers had come from Syria. The bombing killed both attackers and wounded two police officers. The Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish-led force backed by the United States, denied that the bombers had passed through its territory.

On Thursday, a Turkish defense ministry official said a ground operation into Syria was one option that Turkey could consider. Turkey has mounted several previous incursions into northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish YPG group.

“Our only goal is to eliminate the terrorist organizations that pose a threat to Turkey. A ground operation is one of the options to eliminate this threat, but it is not the only option for us,” the official said.

Security forces in northeastern Syria said Turkey launched a series of attacks on Thursday with more than 15 drones entering the region’s airspace and hitting targets including infrastructure and gas and oil stations. In a statement, the security forces said Turkish attacks killed six members of the internal security forces in northeastern Syria, and two civilians in two separate strikes.

Turkey has redoubled its operations targeting the outlawed PKK, by carrying out air strikes in northern Iraq.

Turkish officials said any infrastructure and energy facilities in Iraq and Syria controlled by the PKK, as well as People’s Protection Units (YPG), were legitimate military targets.

“The PKK and the YPG are the same terrorist organization, they are our legitimate target everywhere. Turkey conducted operations whenever and wherever necessary in the past, and these operations will continue if needed again,” the defense ministry official said.

“These operations are being conducted under self-defense rights arising from international law to eliminate terrorist attacks on Turkish territory and to ensure border security,” the official added.

The YPG is also the spearhead of the main ally of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. Support for the YPG by the United States and other allies, including France, has strained ties with Turkey. Turkey has warned forces of third countries to stay away from facilities controlled by the PKK and YPG.

“We are calling on all parties, our friendly and allied countries in particular, to stay away from those terrorists. This is just a reminder. It is up to them to take necessary precautions,” the official said, without naming any country.

The dollar eased while a gauge of global equities edged higher on Thursday as investors grapple with how best to judge a still-tight U.S. labor market and a Federal Reserve signaling interests rates will stay higher for longer.

European stocks rebounded from three days of losses. But Wall Street’s three main indexes pared early losses to trade little changed and long-dated Treasury yields hovered under 16-year highs before a much-anticipated U.S. jobs report on Friday.

Oil prices extended Wednesday’s sharp losses as the demand outlook remained uncertain, while the market faces monetary policy that San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said on Thursday is “well into” restrictive territory.

Daly told the Economic Club of New York that as the labor market continues to cool and inflation heads back to the Fed’s 2% target, “we can hold interest rates steady and let the effects of policy continue to work.”

But markets have set a higher neutral rate than what the Fed believes it will be, said Mike Sanders, head of fixed income at Madison Investments in Madison, Wisconsin.

“They’re committed to a higher for longer stance and there’s uncertainty of where the neutral is,” he said.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 207,000 for the week ended Sept. 30, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 210,000 claims for the latest week.

“It’s pretty evident that the jobs market and the consumer are doing OK. Claims are still very, very low,” Sanders said. If claims are up to mid-250,000 by year’s end, “that’s a fairly obvious sign that there’s a loosening of the labor market.”

Long-dated Treasury bonds were flat to a bit higher, while the benchmark 10-year note slipped lower after hitting 4.884% the previous session and shorter-dated notes fell.

“We continue to get pretty strong commentary from central banks, particularly from the U.S. Fed, that rates are going to stay higher for longer,” said Nate Thooft, chief investment officer of multi-asset solutions at Manulife Investment Management in Boston.

“There’s quite a bit of uncertainty and questions being asked on this topic,” Thooft added.

Financial markets see the chance of the Fed hiking rates in November at 22.2% and have priced in the U.S. central bank’s overnight lending rate staying above 5% through to June 2024, with the first big cut happening then. Earlier this week the target rate was seen above 5% through next September.

The two-year Treasury yield, which reflects interest rate expectations, fell 2.3 basis points to 5.027%, while the benchmark 10-year note yield was down 1.9 basis points at 4.717%.

The dollar index fell 0.375%, with the euro up 0.4% to $1.0545. The yen strengthened 0.43% versus the dollar at 148.43, below the 150 mark seen as a possible threshold that can lead to intervention by the Bank of Japan.

Analysts speculated earlier this week that Japanese authorities may have intervened to support the currency, but Bank of Japan money market data showed on Wednesday that was unlikely.

Despite the dollar’s recent renewed strength, analysts expect weakness, a Reuters poll showed.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) gained 0.33%, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) closed up 0.28%, with the travel and leisure index (.SXTP) up 1.45% on the prospect of easing fuel costs boosting airline stocks.

On Wall Street, the major indexes eased off earlier lows. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 0.02%, the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) was flat and the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.02%, with consumer staples leading declining sectors.

Asian shares rebounded from 11-month lows overnight, following Wednesday’s small gains on Wall Street. China’s mainland markets remain closed for holidays.

European government bond yields were mixed, with the benchmark 10-year German yield down 1 basis point at 2.885% . The German curve was its least inverted since March.

U.S. crude futures fell $1.91 to settle at $82.31 a barrel, while Brent settled down $1.74 to $84.07.

“Investors are worried that peak demand for fuel consumption is behind us,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial. “But the market is still going to be under-supplied to the end of the year. It’s searching for an equilibrium.”

Gold prices edged lower for a ninth straight session.

U.S. gold futures settled 0.2% lower at $1,831.80 per ounce.

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