Migrants from 4 Countries, including Russia, Arrive in the Florida Keys

The makeshift fishing boat was actually flying a large American flag. It is unclear if the migrants were actually residents of Cuba, however the investigation continues. They are all presently in the custody of the Border Patrol with the assistance of the Coast Guard and the FBI. They were later loaded into a commercial truck for detention transport after some were in fact found at a beach cafe. Border Patrol says they will be deported.

cuban chug at beach.jpg source

 

MIAMI (Tribune News Service) — U.S. Border Patrol agents took 77 migrants into custody over the weekend in the Florida Keys, including several from former Soviet bloc countries, federal officials said Monday.

The Border Patrol said the groups were caught during seven separate landings, and that the migrants came from four different countries.

While most of the arrivals were from Cuba, a sports fishing yacht pulled into the shallow waters off Key West around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, unloading four people from Kazakhstan, nine people from Russia and two from Kyrgyzstan, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said on background.

Federal officials did not offer specifics of that incident Monday, except for releasing a statement that it was likely a human smuggling operation.

“Smugglers have no regard for the lives of migrants, and far too many lives are lost at sea as individuals take the dangerous journey in makeshift boats, rafts, and other vessels ill-equipped to handle the rough waters. The Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and local law enforcement patrol the waters, and individuals attempting to enter the United States by sea, without a lawful basis to enter, will be subject to removal.”

The landings come as the Border Patrol and Coast Guard are dealing with a surge in maritime migration from Cuba and Haiti to South Florida, numbers not seen in several years. The Keys and the island chain’s surrounding waters have been the migrants’ most frequent destination.

Last week, one man from Cuba was found dead in a migrant vessel that arrived with six survivors off Summerland Key in the Lower Keys.

The people on the boat said others in their group were missing at sea. The Coast Guard called off its search for those people over the weekend.

More about those Russian Oligarchs in the U.S.

We tend to have short memories but we have a chance to recall Russian operatives in the United States during all things RussiaGate. We learned that oligarchs clean dirty money and escape investigations generally through covert real estate transactions not only in the United States but especially in Britain.

With the sanctions…many of them are now scrambling and should be. Remember that Alfa Bank fake scandal tying Donald Trump directly to the bank servers?

OREANDA-NEWS Billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Peter Aven “in the near future” will resign from the board of directors of Alfa-Bank because of the sanctions imposed against them. Businessmen Alexander Galitsky and Sergey Matsotsky will leave the council together with them. On February 28, against the background of the ongoing Russian “special operation” in Ukraine, the EU blacklisted a number of businessmen, military personnel and public figures.

The press service of Alfa-Bank reported that the board of directors will be headed by the president of the credit institution Oleg Sysuev, who previously held the position of first deputy chairman.

Mikhail Fridman also resigned from the board of directors of Veon, the owner of the Vimpelcom mobile operator (Beeline brand). Friedman has been a member of the board of directors of Veon since 2010, 47.9% of the shares of Veon belong to LetterOne, which is part of the Alfa Group of Mikhail Friedman and partners.

After the start of the “operation” of the Russian army in Ukraine, Western countries imposed new sanctions. Among them are personal restrictions on high-ranking officials, including President Vladimir Putin. Also blacklisted were large businessmen, military, parliamentarians and cultural figures.

Earlier, The Secret wrote that the government would spend part of the National Welfare Fund to buy shares of Russian companies. In 2022, up to 1 trillion rubles will be allocated for these purposes.

While Britain is going after their own oligarchs in and around London…good ole’ Miami Beach has some work to do.

Barrons reports in part:

Altogether, Russian buyers accounted for just 0.8% of all foreign buyers who purchased U.S. residential property between April 2015 and March 2021. During that time, total purchases by foreign-born buyers accounted for just 1.8% of total existing-home sales. A little over half of the Russian purchases were all-cash deals, compared with 27% of overall transactions in January.

Florida was the most popular destination for Russian-born buyers, representing 29% of these deals. Georgia was next at 16%, followed by New York at 13%. But as the report notes, even within Florida these transactions represent a mere fraction of overall home purchases. Only 0.2% of the homes sold in Florida between July 2020 and June 2021 were bought by Russian-born individuals.

***

Sunny Isles, Florida, has long been an escape for Russia’s wealthy and elite, who have purchased so much luxury property in the area that it’s become known as “Little Moscow” and “Moscow by the Sea.”

sunny isles beachSunny Isles, Florida. Meinzahn/Getty Images

“They love to be here, and they like to spend their money and enjoy their life,” Lana Bell, a Russian real-estate agent, told the News Nation correspondent Brian Entin on Monday.

President Joe Biden issued sanctions this week that target Russia’s elite and their families and restrict the Kremlin’s ability to access Western financial institutions. Though people in Little Moscow have been worried the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict will threaten their lifestyle and blacklist them from buying American real estate, Entin reported, Bell said it hadn’t been a problem. Experts told the Miami Herald’s Michael Wilner the sanctions in place were unlikely to have a strong effect in South Florida. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday showed the tensions were far from over.

“We are extending the reach of US sanctions to prevent the elites close to Putin from using their kids to hide assets, evade costs, and squander the resources of the Russian people,” a National Security Council official told the Miami Herald. “This is a new approach.”

Anders Åslund, a Swedish economist and the author of “Russia’s Crony Capitalism: The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy,” doesn’t think this will affect the Russian rich in the greater Miami region that Little Moscow is in. He told Wilner that the Miami Russians weren’t powerful enough to feel the sanction burn.

“These are comfortable people, rather than the top people,” he said.

Florida’s Russian rich

In Sunny Isles, condos can cost as much as $35 million. The most expensive home in the area listed on Sotheby’s is $13.9 million. It’s an area where the Trump brand is dominant, which The Washington Post reported was part of the appeal among Russian investors looking to move their money in the post-Soviet economy.

Jose Lima, a salesperson for the company that developed the region’s Trump towers, told The Post in 2016 that Russian speakers bought about one-third of the 500 units he sold. (While Trump doesn’t actually own the buildings, The Post reported, he licensed the use of his name there.)

 

Texas Allowed to use Abandoned Border Wall Material to Build the Border Wall

A welder straightens out a post in a new section of border wall that is being constructed near Eagle Pass on Nov. 20, 2021.  A welder worked last November on a new section of border wall near Eagle Pass. Credit: Nick Wagner for The Texas Tribune

The state has said some border residents have offered to donate land to have barriers built on their property. But the state has refused to release the names of those private landowners or the location of those properties, saying that if those details were made public, the properties could be targeted by criminals and owners could drive up the land prices and hurt the Facilities Commission’s negotiations — an indication that the state is also looking to purchase property, although that option hasn’t been publicly discussed.

U.S. will Require Vaccinations for all Border Crossings

Except for the gotta-ways? Exactly how does this get enforced?

Anyone else a non-believer besides me?

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise nationwide, the U.S. will require non-U.S. travelers entering the country by land or water to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 beginning Saturday, Jan. 22.

The new rule affects both the U.S. Canada and U.S. Mexico border crossings and it includes travel for essential or non-essential reasons.

The new restrictions will not apply to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or U.S. nationals.

COVID-19 testing is not required for entry via land or ferry port of entry.

The Department of Homeland Security first announced the new rules back in October when the White House announced that beginning November the U.S. government would move away from the country-by-country restrictions. This was previously applied during the COVID-19 pandemic and adopted travel policies that relied primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of travel.

In March 2020, to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, the U.S. government issued restrictions on travel into the United States. DHS implemented temporary restrictions, limiting entry at the U.S. northern and southern land borders to persons engaged in essential travel, including lawful trade, emergency response, and public health purposes.

Current requirements to enter the United States:

  • All foreign travelers who intend to enter the United States will have to present proof of vaccination against COVID-19 as described by the CDC.
  • You are required to show a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 when you travel to the United States by air.
  • Wearing a mask over your nose and mouth is required in indoor areas of public transportation, including airplanes.

What vaccines will be accepted?

The United States will accept vaccines approved and accepted by the World Health Organization.

These are the nine vaccines approved by the WHO.

  • Moderna ARNm-1273
  • Pfizer-BioN-Tech BNT162b2
  • Jansen (Johnson & Johnson) Ad26.COV2.S
  • Oxford-AstraZeneca AZD1222
  • Covishield
  • Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV
  • Sinovac CoronaVac
  • Covaxin
  • Novavax/Covovax

What documents will be accepted as proof of vaccination?

The CDC specifies that the following proof of vaccination against COVID-19 will be accepted:

 

  • Verifiable records on paper or digital: Certificate with QR code or digital pass in a phone application 
  • Non-verifiable printed records: Printed vaccination record, vaccination card. 
  • Non-verifiable digital records: Digital photos of the vaccination card or vaccination certificate from a public agency or application without a QR code.

The vouchers must include the full name and date of birth that matches the passport of the person entering the country.

Name of the official agency that issued the proof of vaccination.

Manufacturer of the vaccine and vaccination dates.

Going back to last year –>

A senior administration official said the requirement, which the White House previewed in October, brings the rules for essential travelers in line with those that took effect earlier this month for leisure travelers, when the U.S. reopened its borders to fully vaccinated individuals.

Essential travelers entering by ferry will also be required to be fully vaccinated by the same date, the official said. The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.

https://www.gobytrucknews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/border.jpeg

The rules pertain to non-U.S. nationals. American citizens and permanent residents may still enter the U.S. regardless of their vaccination status, but face additional testing hurdles because officials believe they more easily contract and spread COVID-19 and in order to encourage them to get a shot. Read more here including the effects on truck drivers.

 

Biden Admin is Forcing Every City/Town to be an Illegal Sanctuary

Where is the compliance to law on this?

Flying into the United States from any foreign country, passengers even though vaccinated with validated proof still go through extreme procedures due to Covid including additional testing, including American citizens returning home. Yet….walking across the Southern border requires….NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING.

According to CDC requirements, all air passengers two years of age or older traveling internationally, regardless of vaccination status, must provide a negative test to the airline before boarding the flight.

  • Passengers fully vaccinated must provide a negative test no more than three days before the flight’s departure from a foreign country, in addition to showing proof of vaccination.
  • Passengers over two years of age not fully vaccinated must provide a negative test no more than one day before the flight’s departure.  Except in the limited circumstances allowed by CDC, unvaccinated travelers will be US citizens and legal permanent residents.

Those who recently recovered from COVID-19 may travel with documentation of recovery and a letter from a licensed healthcare provider or public health official indicating the patient is cleared for travel.

However, it was just a few months ago that a Federal judge blocked portions of Florida law passed in 2019 preventing the entire state of Florida from being a sanctuary state.

A federal judge in Miami on Tuesday blocked Florida from enforcing a ban on so-called sanctuary cities, declaring portions of a law unconstitutional and tinged with “discriminatory motives.”

The judge’s ruling struck down a key portion of the 2019 law that prohibits local and state officials from adopting “sanctuary” policies for undocumented migrants, a main focus for Gov. Ron DeSantis, who vowed to ban “sanctuary cities” in Florida when running for governor in 2018 even though there were none in the state.

The judge also blocked the state from enforcing a provision in the law that requires law enforcementofficers and agencies to “use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law” when they are acting within their official duties. But the court allowed other provisions to stand, including one that required state and local law enforcement agencies to comply with immigration detainers — federal requests to hold undocumented immigrants past their release dates so that immigration agents can pick them up. The entire ruling is found here.

So, the Biden administration is taking advantage of this ruling by flying into the State of Florida, secretly and without any warning, several dozens flights full of illegal immigrants. Frankly, Governor De Santis should revoke all landing rights to DHS chartered flights…but read more….

 

TSA screeners face vaccine deadline with up to 40 percent lacking shots -  The Boston GlobePolicies and procedures are NOT law by the way…

Under a new policy, federal immigration law enforcement is now largely prohibited from arresting criminal aliens in your neighborhood if you live near a playground, a recreation center, a school, a place of worship or religious study, a location that offers vaccinations (such as a pharmacy), a community-based organization, any location that hosts weddings (such as a civic center, hotel, or park), any location with a school bus stop, any place “where children gather,” and many more places that are common to most towns.

What used to be safe spaces for law-abiding Americans and vulnerable members of society have been transformed into safe spaces for violent offenders with no right to be in the United States.

The scope is virtually limitless and prohibits all of the authorities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), such as “arrests, civil apprehensions, searches, inspections, seizures, service of charging documents or subpoenas, interviews, and immigration enforcement surveillance.”

Officers are prohibited from doing their job anywhere “near” a so-called “protected area,” an imprecise standard that Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), admits has “no bright-line definition.” Mayorkas, who outlined the new policy last month, claims that putting a sanctuary in every community is a “noble” way to “advance our country’s well-being” and ensure that illegal aliens have access to “essential services” and can engage in “essential activities.”

DeSantis office claims Border officials secretly sent 70 planes of migrants  to Florida

ICE already had a sensitive locations policy that largely prohibited enforcement in religious institutions, at weddings, at hospitals, and at marked school bus stops when children are present, for example. The Biden administration’s new “protected areas” policy is meant to look similar, but it’s an overbroad, nationwide sanctuary policy in disguise and applies to locations that aren’t even open.

Because it “applies at all times and is not limited by hours or days of operation,” this means that ICE officers are now prohibited from making arrests or even conducting surveillance near any location where a wedding might occur even if a wedding isn’t occurring, or near any location that has an unmarked school bus stop in the middle of summer when school is out, or near a recreation center that’s closed for the winter, for example. When you plot out on a map the locations that are now no-go zones for federal law enforcement, it becomes clear that the real intent of this policy is to transform huge portions of our communities into safe havens for criminal aliens.

Biden’s DHS explains that the limitations don’t apply where there’s an “imminent” risk of harm or a “hot pursuit,” but those are rare circumstances. It means that officers are prohibited from arresting a known child abuser on the same street as a playground unless they observe the alien starting to victimize someone. Of course, officers are prohibited from conducting surveillance near playgrounds anyhow, so officers likely wouldn’t be present to stop an assault from happening.

The Biden administration has already limited which illegal aliens can be arrested; most foreigners who violate our immigration laws, including most criminal aliens, are currently allowed to run free. But even for those violent offenders the Biden administration claims to support arresting, the ability of ICE officers to make a targeted arrest (which often requires surveillance in order to confirm whether a target is at a location) has been dramatically curtailed by this policy. Public safety has taken a backseat to illegal alien advocacy.

To those who live in a neighborhood near a church, a school, a playground, or near any of the dozens of other locations implicated by this policy: Biden’s political appointees have decided that you and your family don’t deserve the protection you once had, and that shielding criminal aliens from the law is the top priority. source