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Border Patrol agents ordered the young Senegalese men to wait in the scant shade of desert scrub brush while they loaded a more vulnerable group of migrants — a family with three young children from India — into a white van for the short trip in triple-degree heat to a canopied field intake center.

The migrants were among hundreds who have been trudging this summer in the scorching sun and through open storm gates in the border wall to U.S. soil, following a remote corridor in the sprawling Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument that’s among the most desolate and dangerous areas in the Arizona borderlands. Temperatures hit 47.7 degrees Celsius just as smugglers abruptly began steering migrants from Africa and Asia here to request asylum.

Suddenly, the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, which oversees the area, in July became the busiest sector along the U.S-Mexico border for the first time since 2008. It’s seen migrants from faraway countries like Pakistan, China and Mauritania, where social media is drawing young people to the new route to the border that begins in Nicaragua. There are large numbers from Ecuador, Bangladesh and Egypt, as well as more traditional border crossers from Mexico and Central America.

“Right now we are encountering people from all over the world,” said Border Patrol Deputy Chief Justin De La Torre, of the Tucson Sector. “It has been a real emergency here, a real trying situation.”

The patrol is calling on other agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration, for help in getting migrants “out of the elements and into our processing centers as quickly as possible,” De La Torre said.

During a recent visit, Associated Press journalists saw close to 100 migrants arrive in just four hours at the border wall near Lukeville, Arizona, inside Organ Pipe, as temperatures hit 43.3 degrees Celsius. The next morning, several hundred more migrants lined up along the wall to turn themselves in.

“Welcome to America, that’s good person,” a young Senegalese man said in his limited English, beaming as he crunched across the desert floor after Tom Wingo, a humanitarian aid volunteer, gave him some water and snacks. “I am very, very happy for you.”

The storm gates in the towering steel wall have been open since mid-June because of rains during the monsoon season. Rushing water from heavy downpours can damage closed gates, the wall, a rocky border road, and flora and fauna. But migrants get in even when the gates are closed, sometimes by breaking locks or slipping through gaps in the wall.

Agents from the Border Patrol’s small Ajo Station a half hour’s drive north of the border encountered several large groups the first weekend of August, including one of 533 people from 17 countries in the area that includes the national monument, an expanse of rugged desert scattered with cactus, creosote and whip-like ocotillo. The Tucson Sector registered 39,215 arrests in July, up 60% from June. Officials attribute the sudden influx to false advertising by smugglers who tell migrants it’s easier to cross here and get released into the United States.

Migrants are taken first to the intake center, where agents collect people’s names, countries of origin and other information before they are moved to the Ajo Station some 48 kilometers up a two-lane state highway. 

Arrests for illegally crossing anywhere along the nearly 3,200-kilometer U.S.-Mexico border soared 33% from June to July, according to U.S. government figures, reversing a plunge after new asylum restrictions were introduced in May. President Joe Biden’s administration notes illegal crossings were still down 27% that month from July 2022 and credits the carrot-and-stick approach that expands legal pathways while punishing migrants who enter illegally.

De La Torre said most migrants in the area request asylum, something far from guaranteed with the recent restrictions.

The Ajo Station’s area of responsibility is currently the busiest inside the Tucson Sector, De La Torre said. It includes the border areas of Organ Pipe and the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge, isolated areas with rough roads and scarce water and shade. They include the Devil’s Highway region, where 14 border crossers in a group of 26 died in 2001 after smugglers abandoned them.

CBP rescues by air and land along the border are soaring this year, with 28,537 counted during the 10-month period ending July 31. That compares with 22,075 for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2022, the agency said. There were 2,776 migrant rescues in July.

The rescues continued in August, including one especially busy day when a Black Hawk helicopter hoisted a 15-year-old Guatemalan boy from a remote southern Arizona mountain to safety. A short time later, the chopper rescued a Guatemalan man who called 911 from the vast Tohono O’odham Nation just east of Organ Pipe.

Some activists recently protested outside the Ajo Station, saying migrants kept in an outdoor enclosure there didn’t have enough shade. Patrol officials say that only adult men waiting to be transported to bigger facilities for processing are kept outside for a few hours, and under a large canopy with fans. Women, children and vulnerable people stay inside. The average wait time the facility is 15 hours.

The influx has also presented challenges for humanitarian groups.

Wingo, a retired schoolteacher working with Samaritanos Sin Fronteras, or Samaritans Without Borders, travels to the border several times a week to fill bright blue plastic barrels at six water stations. He and other volunteers distribute hats, bandanas, snacks and ice-cold bottled water to migrants they encounter.

“A lot of these people go out into the desert not knowing the trouble they are getting themselves into,” said Wingo.

During a recent border visit, Wingo handed bottled water to people from India waiting for help by the wall after a woman they were traveling twisted her ankle. He gave water and granola bars to a Guatemalan couple with three young children who were traveling with a Peruvian man.

Wingo said he pays especially close attention to those who may be more susceptible to the torrid heat, such as pregnant and nursing women and the elderly. He recently encountered an 89-year-old diabetic woman from India about to go into shock. When he called Border Patrol agents on that especially busy day, he said, they asked him to bring the woman himself to their intake center for medical care. The woman is recovering in a Phoenix hospital.

Many others don’t survive.

The remains of 43 suspected border crossers were found in southern Arizona in July, about half of them recently dead, according to the non-profit organization Human Borders, which works with the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office to track and map the numbers.

They included two found in Organ Pipe: Hilda Veliz Maas de Mijangos, 36, from Guatemala City, dead about a day; and Ignacio Munoz Loza, 22, of the Mexican state of Jalisco, dead for about a week. Both succumbed to heat exposure.

Serhiy Kolyada on what’s causing all the loud bangs in Russian occupied Crimea.

A report released by the EU says a number of social media platforms “failed to implement” new rules designed to combat Kremlin disinformation.

Australia said on Sunday it would send additional police to the Solomon Islands to boost security for the Pacific Games in November, keeping them there until June to assist with a general election.

The extended Australian police presence comes after the Solomon Islands upgraded ties with China, signing a policing agreement in July. Australia, New Zealand and the United States are concerned Chinese police could dislodge a long-standing security arrangement Canberra has with the Pacific Islands nation.

The Solomon Islands said on Friday it had invited Australia to extend the police presence, originally due to end in December.

Australia was the Pacific Islands nation’s “primary security partner,” a spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement on Sunday. The Australian police will work alongside officers from Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

“At the request of the Solomon Islands Government, Australia has extended its contribution to the Solomons International Assistance Force until June 2024 to assist with security for the national general elections,” the statement said.

The Australian police contingent arrived in December 2021 to quell anti-government riots, while Chinese police trainers arrived this year to prepare for the games.

More than 5,000 athletes from two dozen nations are expected to attend the games, for which China has donated and constructed stadiums and other venues.

China stepped up its funding for infrastructure after Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019. The Solomon Islands last year signed a security pact with China, raising concern in Canberra and Washington about Beijing’s naval ambitions.

President Joe Biden traveled to Florida on Saturday to survey the destruction from Hurricane Idalia and comfort victims of the storm, but he did not meet with Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential presidential rival, who opted not to come.

Biden, who praised DeSantis during the visit, said he was not disappointed by the Republican governor’s absence and said DeSantis had helped plan the trip.

DeSantis’ spokesperson said on Friday the governor had no plans to meet Biden, saying “the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.”

Biden, a Democrat, took an aerial tour and received a briefing from local officials and first responders in Live Oak, a town hit hard by the storm. He saw houses with fallen trees on them, and said no one “intelligent” could doubt that climate change was happening.

But politics hung over his trip. The president, who has spoken to DeSantis multiple times this week, had said on Friday they would meet in person. The governor’s decision caught the White House off guard.

Asked if he was disappointed DeSantis did not come, Biden said no.

“No, I’m not disappointed. He may have had other reasons. … But he did help us plan this,” Biden told reporters while standing in front of a damaged house. “He sat with FEMA and decided where we should go, where would be the least disruption,” the president said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Biden said he was pleased that Senator Rick Scott, a Republican former governor of Florida, had come despite their disagreements on many issues.

Scott, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, who was the 45th U.S. president, wore a hat that said “Navy” on the front and “45” on the back. Scott later said he wore the hat as a reference to his term as Florida’s 45th governor.

DeSantis, 44, spent the day about 50 miles (80 km) south, touring small communities along Florida’s Gulf Coast, according to his official schedule.

The governor is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to oust Biden from the White House, but trails Trump in opinion polls. Biden, 80, is running for re-election.

Biden and DeSantis have spoken regularly this week about the hurricane, which pummeled Florida’s Big Bend region with Category 3 winds of nearly 125 mph (200 kph). On Wednesday, the president said politics had not crept into their conversations.

It could have been politically perilous for DeSantis to be photographed with Biden overlooking storm damage now as the nominating race intensifies. Though he trails far behind Trump, DeSantis leads the other Republican candidates in the race.

When Biden visited Florida after Hurricane Ian last year, a photo of DeSantis standing awkwardly to the side as the president talked animatedly with a local couple went viral, highlighting the difference between the two politicians’ styles of public interaction.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who is also running for the 2024 Republican nomination, drew criticism for his praise of then-President Barack Obama in 2012 when the Democrat visited his state following superstorm Sandy.

During his visit to Live Oak, Biden received praise from Republican Senator Scott for declaring an official disaster early on.

The president, for his part, complemented Scott and DeSantis. “The governor was on top of it,” Biden said.

The White House said Biden, who was traveling with his wife, Jill, informed DeSantis about the visit during a conversation on Thursday, and the governor did not raise concerns.

Their failure to meet will not have any impact on recovery efforts, FEMA head Deanne Criswell said.

She told reporters that search and rescue operations had wrapped up and that officials were now focused on restoring power to affected regions. Less than 1% of Floridians were without power as of Saturday, she said, though that figure was significantly higher in some areas directly affected by the hurricane.

DeSantis has been a sharp critic of Biden, and the two have clashed over COVID-19 vaccines, abortion and LGBT rights. But when they met last year during Biden’s visit to Florida to Florida to assess the devastation from Hurricane Ian, the president said they had worked together “hand in glove.”

Biden visited Hawaii just last week after deadly wildfires there. He expressed confidence on Friday that Congress would approve his administration’s request for a further $4 billion to address natural disasters.

“I’m confident because I can’t imagine Congress saying ‘We’re not going to help,’” he told reporters.

After concluding the Florida trip, he traveled to his home state of Delaware, where he planned to spend the weekend.

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Australia said on Sunday it would send additional police to the Solomon Islands to boost security for the Pacific Games in November, keeping them there until June to assist with a general election.

The extended Australian police presence comes after the Solomon Islands upgraded ties with China, signing a policing agreement in July. Australia, New Zealand and the United States are concerned Chinese police could dislodge a long-standing security arrangement Canberra has with the Pacific Islands nation.

The Solomon Islands said on Friday it had invited Australia to extend the police presence, originally due to end in December.

Australia was the Pacific Islands nation’s “primary security partner”, a spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement on Sunday. The Australian police will work alongside officers from Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

“At the request of the Solomon Islands Government, Australia has extended its contribution to the Solomons International Assistance Force (SIAF) until June 2024 to assist with security for the national general elections,” the statement said.

The Australian police contingent arrived in December 2021 to quell anti-government riots, while Chinese police trainers arrived this year to prepare for the games.

More than 5,000 athletes from two dozen nations are expected to attend the games, for which China has donated and constructed stadiums and other venues.

China stepped up its funding for infrastructure after Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019. The Solomon Islands last year signed a security pact with China, raising concern in Canberra and Washington about Beijing’s naval ambitions.

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Domestic flights were cancelled and almost 3,000 people were evacuated as Taiwan girded for the arrival of Typhoon Haikui on Sunday, which is expected to bring torrential rain and strong winds to the island’s south and east.

Haikui is forecast to make landfall in the mountainous and sparsely populated far southeast of Taiwan late Sunday afternoon. Counties and cities in the east and south cancelled classes and declared a day off for workers.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen told a meeting of disaster management officials this would be the first typhoon to make landfall on the island and cross its central mountain range in four years.

People should avoid going out and not go up mountains, to the coast, fishing or engage in water sports, a statement from Tsai’s office quoted her as saying.

Haikui is a much weaker storm than Typhoon Saola which hit Hong Kong and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Saturday. Haikui is expected to be only a Category 1 or 2 typhoon when it hits Taiwan, according to Tropical Storm Risk.

Taiwan’s government said that 2,868 people had already been evacuated, mainly in the south and east.

Taiwan’s two main domestic airlines, UNI Air and Mandarin Airlines, cancelled all flights on Sunday, while ferry services to surrounding islands were cancelled as well.

There was less disruption to international flights, with only 37 cancelled for Sunday, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said.

The military has mobilised soldiers and equipment to help with flood relief and evacuation efforts.

After passing across southern Taiwan, Haikui is forecast to cross the Taiwan Strait into China.

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An icebreaker is on its way from Australia to an Antarctic research station to rescue an expeditioner suffering from a medical condition, the government said on Saturday.

The expeditioner is at Australia’s Casey Research Station which is on an ice cap 3,420 kilometers south of the Australian Antarctic Division headquarters in Hobart, Tasmania state.

The division has not identified the person or specified the medical condition.

“The expeditioner requires specialist medical assessment and care in Australia for a developing medical condition,” the division said in a statement.

Australian icebreaker RSV Nuyina left Hobart last week on the rescue mission, which is taking place at the start of the Southern Hemisphere spring season, the statement said.

The ship is carrying helicopters to be used in the evacuation, the division said.

The division did not reply after The Associated Press asked when the evacuation was expected to take place.

During the summer, more than 150 expeditioners visit the Casey research station. But over winter, fewer than 20 remain to perform maintenance work.

The division said all other personnel at Casey were “accounted for and safe.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used a flimsy excuse to avoid meeting with President Joe Biden today, when Biden visited the state to survey the damage from the latest hurricane. To be clear, DeSantis doesn’t have some strategy for refusing to meet with Biden. DeSantis is just afraid to do it. These things are tricky, and DeSantis knows he has no political savvy or social skills, so he’s hiding from the moment like a coward.

DeSantis knows he’ll take heat for dodging Biden today. It’ll drive his collapsing poll numbers even lower. And yet he’s concluded that if he did meet with Biden, he’d screw it up so badly that it would do even more damage to his numbers than dodging Biden.

DeSantis is surely afraid that if he were to meet with Biden like this, he could end up coming off like then-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie did when he had an allegedly too enthusiastic meeting with then-President Obama after Hurricane Sandy. But if Christie had dodged meeting with Obama entirely, Christie would have taken serious heat for that as well. If you keep dodging these kinds of big moments for fear you’re going to blow them, you’re never going to make it on the national stage.

Let’s not forget that this is who Ron DeSantis has been all along, from the very start of his political career: socially awkward, politically clueless, frequently resorting to going into hiding. It’s defined DeSantis’ entire tenure in Florida, even as the media (on both sides) created a fictional savvy version of him for ratings. It’s how I knew all along, and many of you knew as well, that DeSantis’ support would collapse the minute he stepped onto the national stage. He was always this much of a scared hesitant joke.

The post Ron DeSantis runs and hides appeared first on Palmer Report.

One family in central Mexico is struggling to preserve the production of cochineal dye, an intense, natural red pigment so prized that, after gold and silver, it was probably the most valuable thing the Spaniards found in Mexico after the 1521 conquest.

For centuries, red clothing — along with purple — had been a sign of power and wealth because it was rare and expensive. An indigenous Mexican process deriving the pigment from insects gave the Spanish empire a new source of red dye.

Some of Mexico’s most picturesque and imposing colonial cities, like Oaxaca, were essentially built on the wealth derived from cochineal dye, also called carmine, and known as “grana cochinilla” in Spanish. It was much prized by the Spanish nobility, and it would go on to dye, among other garments, the British empire’s Redcoat military uniforms, before it began to be replaced by synthetic dyes in the 1800s.

Obtaining the dye the old-fashioned way is slow, tedious and painstaking. It comes from the crushed bodies of tiny female insects that contain carminic acid and feed on the pads of nopal cactus plants.

It begins with bugs

Each insect, known as Dactylopius coccus, must be bred to a larvae stage and “planted” on a previously wounded cactus pad, and then left for months to feed and mature.

Then each must be harvested by hand, usually with a tiny brush, sifted, cleaned and left to dry in the sun.

The Mixtecs of Oaxaca first developed the method to obtain the precious pigment centuries before the Spaniards arrived. A symbol of status, carmine red was employed by the nobility of Mexico’s Indigenous peoples to dye garments, and widely used in the arts, to write codices, decorate ceramics and paint murals.

Mayeli Garcia and her family run a greenhouse in the village of San Francisco Tepeyacac, east of Mexico City, which specializes in the slow, traditional production process.

Process takes months

At their greenhouse, rows of hundreds of cactus pads are held on racks suspended in the air and covered by a white powder. That is the sign of the insects working beneath, drawing nourishment from the juices of the nopal and protecting themselves with the waxy powder.

“You have to wait three or four months for them to complete their life cycle, and then we harvest,” Garcia said. “You have to keep monitoring and watching every cactus pad.”

That’s essentially the way the best red was produced for three centuries.

Synthetic dyes

By the 1800s, synthetic chemical dyes, cheaper to produce and more plentiful, began to replace cochineal dyes.

But the story doesn’t end there. Artisans in Oaxaca maintained some production, because weavers of traditional clothing and rugs preferred it in handicrafts.

Some studies began suggesting that chemical dyes, and particularly some of the red ones, could have adverse health effects if consumed as food colorings or in cosmetics like lipstick. By 1990, U.S. authorities banned red dye No. 3 for use in cosmetics, though it is still allowed in food products.

Those concerns have begun to spur the demand for natural colorings — and there was Mexico’s cochineal dye all along.

No mass production

Companies that might want it on an industrial scale are out of luck. It isn’t available in such quantities.

“We have tried to automate a little bit to make it less manual work, with machinery we ourselves invented, to try some brushes” for brushing the insects off the cactus pads, Garcia said. The motor of their prototype burned out, she noted ruefully.

Garcia struggles to make a living off the 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of cochineal dye she produces each year, though she is trying to diversify into soaps, creams, cosmetics and other products derived from the nopal, such as jam.

Her family still grows fresh vegetables to make ends meet. Selling the dye for less isn’t an option.

“It is a lot of work, very labor intensive. It costs too much to produce in terms of labor, so the cost is difficult,” she said.

But she still has plenty of reasons for keeping on with the cochineal farm and its whole ecosystem designed to keep the tiny bugs happy, well fed, and safe from predators.

“We are having problems with synthetics and chemicals,” she said. “So I think that there is a revolution going on, of returning to what once was, what was once produced, because it kept us much healthier.”