Mexico opposition leader urges UN lawsuit over US border wall

TLAPANALOYA, Mexico (Reuters) - A leading contender for the Mexican presidency urged his government to lodge a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump at the United Nations for the wall he plans to build on the border with Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants.

Speaking as Trump gave orders to start work on the wall along the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border with Mexico, two-time presidential runner-up and leftist opposition leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the announcement was an insult to his country.

"I respectfully suggest that the government of Mexico presents a lawsuit at the United Nations against the U.S. government for violation of human rights and racial discrimination," Lopez Obrador told a crowd of supporters north of Mexico City.

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Wow, I don't even know where to begin. This pendejo, whose country has a wall on its southern border to prevent illegals from entering Mexico and has laws harshly punishing caught border hoppers, claims that the US' desire to protect itself from Mexican illegals is a "violation of human rights and racial discrimination". Apparently, disrespect for other country's sovereignty is Mexicans' "human right".

Why It's OK for Mexico to have a wall on their southern border, BUT it's racist for US to do the same?🤔 #NoBanNoWall pic.twitter.com/Pzm5nqjWFJ

— Pamela Moore (@Pamela_Moore13) January 25, 2017

Middle Eastern Woman Caught Surveilling U.S. Point of Entry at Mexican Border

Found drawing sketches detailing placement of security cameras.

Judicial Watch is reporting that a Middle Eastern woman was caught with two accomplices surveilling a U.S. port of entry on the Mexican border earlier this month.

It was December 2, when a Customs and Border Patrol agent approached the 23-year-old Leila Abdelrazaq and found that she was making sketches of the facility, making special notice of the placement of security cameras around the area. With the woman was a 31-year-old male, Gabriel Schivone, and a 28-year-old female, Leslie Mcafee.

JW describes what agents observed from the official report:

When federal officers asked Abdelrazaq why she was drawing sketches of the facilities she “stated because she’s never been to the border,” according to the CBP report. Abdelrazaq resisted showing officers the sketchbook, citing personal reasons, but subsequently handed it over. “During the inspection of the Abdelrazaq sketching book, CBPOs noticed the book contained writings in English and Arabic language,” federal officers write in the document. “There were drawings of what appeared to be vehicle primary inspection area and an additional drawing of pedestrian turn stile gate depicting video surveillance cameras above the gate.” The report proceeds to reveal that the drawings were “partial and incomplete.”

December 2 was the same day of the San Bernardino, California massacre, which happened to be co-led by Pakistani-born Tashfeen Malik. JW notes that weeks earlier, five young Middle Eastern men were arrested in Arizona near the U.S. border, two of them carrying stainless steel cylinders in their backpacks. Curiously, the Department of Homeland Security was called in for backup but denies that claim. Furthermore, only three of those men's names were fingerprinted and entered into the Border Patrol's tracking system. The other two were simply labeled "unknown subjects." And these are just a few in the long line of trouble at the border.

Well, at least there are no ISIS camps near the Mexican border. Oh, wait, there are.

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5 Syrian "refugees" turn themselves in at US-Mexico border

LAREDO, Texas (AP) — Federal officials say another group of Syrian refugees has turned themselves in to immigration authorities along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Sunday that the group identified themselves to border agents in the South Texas town of Laredo on Friday. The group consisted of a family of three along with two other men.

They were held to check their identities against national security databases and then turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for temporary detention.

Their arrival came after two Syrian families identified themselves Tuesday to border officials in Laredo. In each instance, the men were taken to one detention facility and the women and children to another. [...]

It's not uncommon for Syrians and others from the Middle East to seek asylum in the U.S. through various routes. However, the detention of the Syrians in Texas comes at a time of heightened national security concern from several governors and GOP presidential candidates who oppose a federal plan to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the wake of the Paris attacks.

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Gunmen kill 5 members of a family near Mexican border city

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Gunmen believed to belong to a local drug cartel killed five members of a family near the Mexican border city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, authorities said Thursday.

The assailants arrived at the family's home and forced the inhabitants outside, then killed a grandfather, his son and three of his grandchildren, aged 10 to 19, Tamaulipas state's government said. The killings took place late Wednesday.

The gunmen reportedly questioned the family about a rival gang, and then shot them to death and ransacked the home on a road between Reynosa and the neighboring city of Matamoros.

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Vatican: The entire country of Mexico is possessed by demons, needs a nation-wide exorcism

Vatican City, Jun 16, 2015 / 03:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Can a country with deep Christian roots like Mexico find itself at the mercy of demons? Some in the Church fear so.

And as a result, they called for a nation-wide exorcism of Mexico, carried out quietly last month in the cathedral of San Luis Potosí.

High levels of violence, as well as drug cartels and abortion in the country, were the motivation behind the special rite of exorcism, known as “Exorcismo Magno.”

Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, the archbishop emeritus of Guadalajara, presided at the closed doors ceremony, the first ever in the history of Mexico.

Also participating were Archbishop Jesús Carlos Cabrero of San Luis Potosí, Spanish demonologist and exorcist Father José Antonio Fortea, and a smaller group of priests and lay people.

The event was not made known to the general public beforehand. According to Archbishop Cabrero, the reserved character of the May 20 ceremony was intended to avoid any misguided interpretations of the ritual.

But how can an entire country become infested by demons to the point that it’s necessary to resort to an Exorcismo Magno?

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Mexican girls’ cheer-dance team does Nazi-themed routine

(AP) A cheer-dance team in Mexico drew criticism Friday for a routine in which they displayed flags with swastikas, dressed in pseudo-military outfits. One girl also appeared to toss a Nazi salute to the crowd.

The performance by about two dozen girls aged 10 to 16 and one boy came at a cheer-dance competition in the western city of Guadalajara at the end of May.

The girls wore red armbands, camouflage dance outfits and carried red flags as they strutted in marching-style formations.

A video of the performance drew condemnation when it began to circulate Friday on social media sites.

On local news sites, many readers said the girls probably didn’t know much about the Nazis, and blamed the event organizers and the team’s choreographer for the questionable routine.

Event organizer Enrique Casas said he would not identify the team for security reasons, because the comments on social media sites “have been a little aggressive.”

“The comments have gone beyond freedom of expression … and have included direct insults against the girls.”

Casa said the routines were the individual choice of the 192 teams that participated.

But Casas said that organizers may put safeguards on the next competition “to avoid hurting people’s feelings.”

“The invitations are going to be restricted in certain ways,” he said “to avoid social conflicts.”

Mexico doesn’t have any significant neo-Nazi movements. Cheer/dance competitions combine cheerleading and dance routines.

Mexican cartel forced new recruits to eat hearts of people they murdered in shocking ritual to root out infiltrators

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A vicious Mexican drug gang forced some members to eat the hearts of murder victims as part of a gruesome initiation rite to root out infiltrators, a government security official said on Tuesday, citing witness testimony.

For much of the past year, Michoacan, a mountainous, agricultural state in western Mexico, has been ravaged by fighting between drug gang henchmen and vigilantes who took up arms against the cartels but have since splintered into violent factions.

A mid-December shootout between two rival groups that killed 11 people has reignited fears the government is failing to control the state after flooding it with federal troops and pressing vigilantes into a fledgling rural police force.

The renewed fighting in Michoacan comes as President Enrique Pena Nieto faces his deepest crisis since taking office, following the apparent murder of 43 trainee teachers by a drug gang working with corrupt police in neighboring Guerrero state.

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4 Turkish terrorists caught in Texas after being smuggled across border from Mexico

(WT) Four men flew from Istanbul through Paris to Mexico City in late August, where they were met by a Turkish-speaking man who stashed them in a safe house until their Sept. 3 attempt to cross into the U.S. over the border with Mexico.

Their capture by the Border Patrol in Texas set off a fierce debate over the men’s intentions, with some members of Congress saying they were terrorist fighters. Homeland Security officials, including Secretary Jeh Johnson, countered that they were part of the Kurdish resistance which, like the U.S., is fighting the Islamic State’s advance in Iraq.

But whether the men are linked to anti-U.S. jihadists or not, they admitted to being part of a U.S.-designated terrorist group, and their ability to get into the U.S. through the southern border — they paid $8,000 each to be smuggled into Texas — details the existence of a network capable of bringing terrorists across the border.

The four men’s story, as discerned from internal September and October documents reviewed by The Washington Times, also seems to contrast with what Mr. Johnson told Congress in September, when he assured lawmakers that the four men were not considered terrorist threats to the U.S., even as behind the scenes his department proposed the four be put on terrorist watch lists.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Marsha Catron said the individuals weren’t associated with the Islamic State, which is also known by the acronyms ISIL and ISIS.

“The suggestion that individuals who have ties to ISIL have been apprehended at the southwest border is categorically false, and not supported by any credible intelligence or the facts on the ground,” Ms. Catron said. “DHS continues to have no credible intelligence to suggest terrorist organizations are actively plotting to cross the southwest border.”

Marines investigate Islamic State leaflets found at Quantico base, with possible links to Mexico

(Marine Corps Times) Officials have launched an investigation into leaflets found near Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., which “may or may not be associated with the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State,” base spokesman Maj. Andrew J. Bormann told Marine Corps Times on Friday.

Quantico is a major Marine Corps installation that includes several important units and commands, such as Training and Education Command, Manpower and Reserve Affairs, and Marine Helicopter Squadron 1, better known as HMX-1, which transports President Obama in Marine One and tests experimental aircraft. The base is also close to the FBI Academy.

A government employee came upon seven leaflets on Wednesday afternoon while running through the town of Quantico, Bormann told Marine Corps Times. The leaflets have a reversed image of the Islamic State group’s flag and writing in Arabic that is translated as “We are here from Mexico and came by train,” Bormann said in an email.

“Security personnel from the base informed the town of Quantico, the FBI and NCIS,” Bormann said. “While these leaflets may be a hoax, base officials are taking their discovery seriously.”

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is leading an investigation to determine if the leaflets are authentic, he said. The leaflets have not been found at any other Marine Corps installations.

The base has not taken any extra security precautions due to the discovery of the leaflets, but the Marine Corps issued an administrative message on Wednesday night telling Marines to report “even the most minor suspicious activity.”

“Every Marine is our first line of defense and we emphasize to them that if they see something, say something,” Bormann said. “Our Eagle Eyes program is a program to enable just that.”

ISIS terrorists caught entering U.S. through southern border in last 36 hours

(Examiner) According to Judicial Watch, it has been confirmed by Homeland Security sources that four Islamic terrorists have been apprehended in the last 36 hours by federal authorities and the Texas Department of Public Safety in McAllen and Pharr. California Congressman Duncan Hunter, a former Marine Corp Major and member of the House Armed Services Committee, disclosed on national television that at least ten Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) fighters have been caught crossing the Mexican border in Texas.

Hunter believes, “If you really want to protect Americans from ISIS, you secure the southern border.” He went on to point out that, "ISIS doesn’t have a navy, they don’t have an air force, they don’t have nuclear weapons. The only way that ISIS is going to harm Americans is by coming in through the southern border – which they already have.”

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, said four alleged terror suspects were captured on Sept. 10 in Texas. In an interview with BuzzFeedNews on Wednesday, Chaffetz said the men flew from a Middle Eastern country to Mexico City, where they paid a smuggler to take them to and across the border. From there, the men ended up in a safe house for immigrants. They were en route to New York City, Chaffetz said, when they were captured.

Although Chaffetz would not reveal his source of the information, he said he confirmed it with government officials. “I had an informant tell me about it and then I questioned the Secretary of Homeland Security,” he said. “I have no doubt about its authenticity.”

CBS reported on Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security released a statement that claims alleging Islamic State militants have been apprehended at the Mexican border are “categorically false.” The DHS insists they have no credible intelligence that suggests terrorist organizations are actively plotting to cross the southwest border. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says that Islamic State militants are not entering the U.S. through the southern border. Johnson was responding to a claim made by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., that at least 10 Islamic State operatives were detained trying to come in from Mexico.

Congressman Hunter, however, isn't buying that explanation. His spokesman told BuzzFeed News Wednesday that they have evidence from reliable sources about “foreign nationals” being captured along the border. Kasper said those foreign nationals may not technically be ISIS fighters, but do have suspected terror group affiliations. Kasper did not identify his sources but said that Hunter’s office remains convinced that the lawmaker was correct.

Our worst fears may already be realized because despite the recent surge of immigrants from Central America and other parts of the world at the southern border, the Obama administration has been unwilling to deploy the National Guard or other military assets to back up the Border Patrol. With the Border Patrol overwhelmed by a massive influx, illegal immigrants have been walking across the southern border into Texas from at least 75 different countries, and not just from Central America. Many of those apprehended in the Rio Grande area and elsewhere are released into the country after being initially detained by Border Patrol agents.

Is it plausible that ISIS is already in America after crossing the U.S.-Mexican border?

Mass graves with charred victims found in southern Mexico

IGUALA Mexico (Reuters) - Authorities have found mass graves with the charred remains of up to 20 people in the restive southern Mexican state of Guerrero, at a time when police are scouring the area for nearly four dozen missing students after a rash of violence.

The remains were buried on a hillside up a rocky dirt track on the outskirts of Iguala in six suspected graves, which were still fresh, a local official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Investigators discovered the burned remains, which were put into bags, two officials said, asking to remain anonymous. It was unclear who the remains belonged to, they added.

Guerrero Attorney General Inaky Blanco told reporters in Iguala on Saturday that the remains would be sent to Mexico's forensic service to determine whether or not the corpses match those of the missing students.

He declined to say how many graves or corpses had been found.

The grisly discovery was made just before midday on the northwestern outskirts of Iguala. Local and state police cordoned off the entrance to road leading up a hill where multiple police vehicles had entered.

Blanco, flanked by armed guards, visited the site and said investigators were examining the graves in the heavily guarded area.

"In the next few hours we will determine the cause of death and the number of bodies," a spokesman for the state attorney general's office said.

Iguala is located about 120 miles (193 km) south of Mexico City in the increasingly violent state of Guerrero, the site of clashes involving students, police and armed men last week. At least six people were killed in a spate of incidents.

The state governor said earlier this week that photos showed police had taken some of the students away.

An police official said on Saturday that there is video footage of between eight to 10 students being put into police trucks.

Twenty-two police officers were arrested in Guerrero on Sunday accused of killing two students during the clashes last week.

Guerrero Governor Angel Aguirre said on Saturday that a total of 30 individuals have now been detained in connection with the incidents.

Local government officials criticized the police for showing an excessive use of force with the students in Guerrero, where gangs have evolved from a fragmented drug cartel and are fighting turf wars.

Thirteen of an original group of 57 missing people re-emerged this week. Some had hidden, others had gone home. Dozens are still unaccounted for.

Many mass graves have been found across Mexico in recent years and months, the legacy of drug gang violence that has killed around 100,000 people since 2007.