Victim assaulted by person of interest in Audrii Cunningham case wishes he ‘would have shot him’

A man once assaulted by Don McDougal, the person of interest in the disappearance of 11-year-old Texas girl Audrii Cunningham, says his “one regret” is not shooting him.

McDougal, a 42-year-old career criminal who has spent time behind bars for enticing a child, is the last person known to be with Audrii, who has not been seen since Thursday morning, authorities said.

McDougal, who is currently in the Polk County Jail on an unrelated charge, has an extensive rap sheet with several violent convictions, including one for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2010, Fox 26 reported.

Elic Bryan III, who was attacked by Don Steven McDougal, the person of interest in the disappearance of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, said he wishes he’d have shot the career criminal. KRIV

The victim in that case, Elic Bryan III, worked with McDougal at a local garage — and said he “seemed like an all right guy” until he turned violent one night after a few drinks.

“We threw him out of the house, and he came back with a knife, slashed tires, tried to stab me with the knife,” Bryan told Fox 26.

Law enforcement believes there is foul play involved in Audrii Cunningham’s disappearance.
Audrii Cunningham disappeared on Thursday. Family Handout

“I had to run him off with a gun and the cops finally came out with dogs and got him,” he said, calling the incident “terrifying.”

“​He seemed like a nice guy, but he’s got this whole other side to him that no one seemed to know about until now,” Bryan said.

“I wish I would have shot him, to be honest with you. That’s my one regret. Didn’t want to do it then because it would make you feel bad. But looking back, maybe I should have,” he told the outlet.

McDougal is a friend of the girl’s family and has been living behind their home in a trailer. KRIV

“With all the allegations against him, he’s not a nice guy, apparently. Something is wrong with him in the head,” Bryan said, adding that he can personally relate to what Audrii’s family is going through.

“I lost my daughter when she was seven to cancer. So, I know how it is and this right here is even worse because there’s no closure,” he said. “I hope she’s alive and well somewhere because losing a child is… like I said nothing compares to it.”

Audrii, father, grandmother and other relatives, vanished in what authorities believe involved foul play as they continue a desperate search for the girl.

McDougal, who is a friend of the girl’s family, has been living behind their home in a trailer, Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons said Monday.

Don Steven McDouga KRIV

He left the house with her but hasn’t answered whether she ever reached the bus stop he was supposed to take her to, Lyons told reporters. 

“We do feel at this point that he was the last person who’s seen Audrii,” he said.

McDougal also served a prison sentence for enticing a child, a third-degree felony, more than a decade ago, KPRC reported.

He was initially indicted on a charge of attempted indecency with a child for allegedly attempting sexual contact with a girl in 2007 before he pleaded to the enticement charge in 2008 in another county.

McDougal did not have to register as a sex offender after that case, authorities said Monday.

Crime Stoppers has increased the reward for information leading to the recovery of Audrii to $10,000.

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Houston mall worker, Arthur Hector Fernandez, accused of group sex abuse of 2 toddlers in his care

A Houston mall worker allegedly partook in twisted group sexual abuse of two toddlers in his care and filmed at least some of the disturbing acts in a public bathroom, authorities said.

Arthur Hector Fernandez III, 29, was arrested and hit with federal charges after the FBI discovered several videos showing a group of men sexually abusing two two-year-olds on different occasions dating back to 2022, according to a Texas criminal complaint filed last month.

Fernandez, a former employee at the Houston Galleria, was one of at least seven individuals who allegedly appeared on camera in four disturbing videos — which were initially flagged by an Australian anti-child exploitation government agency on Dec. 6, 2023, the complaint states.

The short clips, in which Fernandez and one or two others allegedly abused the children, originally appeared on the dark web in an invitation-only forum, authorities said.

One of the small boys was abused in what appeared to be a public restroom while he was on a changing table, the FBI said. He was filmed in one of the videos, while the other boy appeared in three videos.

Fernandez, a former employee at the Houston Galleria, was one of at least seven individuals who allegedly appeared on camera in four disturbing videos. Brandon Bell

Fernandez is accused of being behind the camera capturing the sickening abuse in at least one of the clips, the feds said.

Federal authorities were able to identify the two tots and interviewed their relatives, who said that they each had asked Fernandez to babysit their kids while they were on the clock at a store in the Texas mall.

The mother of one victim said this past summer she was called in to work and brought her son with her. Fernandez, who worked at a kiosk in the mall, offered to push the toddler around the shopping center while she worked, the mom said.

One of the small boys was abused in what appeared to be a public restroom while he was on a changing table, the FBI said. Brandon Bell

The other victim’s relative said she used to bring her kid to the mall when she couldn’t find a babysitter, and Fernandez watched the child on a few occasions, the complaint outlines.

Fernandez was charged with sexual exploitation of children and will be detained pending trial.

“The evidence in this case is overwhelming and revolting,” the presiding judge wrote in a court order that kept him behind bars, according to USA Today.

“I cannot allow [him] to abuse any other minors and there are no conditions or combination of conditions that can alleviate a danger to the community. This is not a close call.”

One of the victim’s relatives said she used to bring her kid to the mall when she couldn’t find a babysitter, and Fernandez watched the child on a few occasions, the complaint outlines. Wonchalerm Rungswang

Investigators identified Fernandez by two silver bracelets seen on the wrist of one of the abuses in some of the videos, according to the complaint. The relatives of the victims each separately recognized the bracelets as the ones Fernandez would often wear.

Agents have since taken electronics from the alleged pervert’s home as part of their investigation.

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Michael Irvin under police investigation over undisclosed ‘allegation’

Michael Irvin is the subject of a police investigation in Texas over an allegation that has not been specified.

The Allen (Texas) Police Department confirmed the news to ProFootballTalk, declining to clarify the nature of the accusation.

“There has been an allegation, but we are not prepared to release any details at this time due to our investigation being in its very early stages,” the police department told the outlet.

Nevertheless, Irvin’s attorney, Levi McCathern, vehemently denied that his client did anything wrong.

“He didn’t do anything wrong or inappropriate,” McCathern told ProFootballTalk.

The lawyer continued to emphasize that there was “absolutely no truth” to the allegation.

There have been a number of times where Irvin has faced allegations of improper behavior that have not ended up in a conviction.


Michael Irvin is under investigation over an undisclosed allegation in Texas. Getty Images

McCathern predicted that this case, as happened with previous allegations, “will turn out to be much ado about nothing.”

NFL Media spokesperson Alex Riethmiller told The Post, “We’re aware of the report but don’t have any additional details at this point.”

Last year, Irvin was sent home from his broadcasting roles during Super Bowl week with NFL Network and ESPN after the Cowboys legend was accused of inappropriately propositioning a Marriott hotel worker.

Irvin maintained his innocence in this situation, saying he was being “railroaded” by a false accusation.


Michael Irvin appears on NFL Network on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023.
Michael Irvin appears on NFL Network on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. NFL Network/Twitter

McCathern, the attorney, spoke about being upset that video of the incident was taking a long time to be released.

“I’m mad as hell that they’re hiding this stuff that is so relevant to my client’s livelihood,” said McCathern, a Dallas-based attorney.

“I think it is terrible they’re doing that. I don’t know what’s on the video. None of us have gotten to see it. But I sure think that, at a minimum, Michael has got a right to see the video.”

Irvin filed a lawsuit against Marriott, and the suit reached an undisclosed settlement.

Irvin was reinstated to NFL Network right before this season began.

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No gun, cellphone found in car where Savanah Soto was found dead with boyfriend

The family of Savanah Nicole Soto’s boyfriend does not believe he killed the pregnant Texas teen who went missing on the day she was supposed to be induced – as it was revealed that no firearms or cellphones were discovered in the car where cops found the couple’s bullet-riddled bodies.

Gabriel Guerra, whose son Matthew Guerra, 22, was found dead alongside his girlfriend Soto, 18, outside of a San Antonio apartment complex, insisted that his child was not responsible for the couple’s deaths.

“They were inseparable. Was it a perfect relationship? No, but she definitely was not a prisoner there,” he told KENS5. .

Guerra’s father and stepmother described how the couple was looking forward to the arrival of baby Fabian.

“We still can’t believe we’re just never going to meet him,” Guerra’s stepmother, Raquel Guerra, told Fox San Antonio.

Meanwhile, his father, Gabriel, pointed out presents under a Christmas tree.

“Those are Savanah’s and Matthew’s and baby Fabian’s,” he told the outlet.

“We had to remind him at the baby shower to let Savanah open some of the gifts. He was opening all the gifts. They were both definitely happy and excited,” Gabriel said.

Savanah Nicole Soto,18, and her boyfriend, Matthew Guerra, 22, died from gunshot wounds, police revealed. TikTok

Soto’s brother, Jordan Corona, told CBS News that police told him that both the pregnant teen and her boyfriend were shot in the back of the head.

Soto had been in the front passenger seat with a child carrier on her lap and her boyfriend in the back, sources familiar with the probe told News 4 San Antonio.

Police did not find a firearm or Guerra’s cellphone inside the Kia sedan where the couple was found Tuesday.

Guerra’s family described their efforts in trying to locate the missing couple on Saturday, the day Soto was expected to be induced.

“Once it was, like, the 2:30 p.m. mark, we started panicking,” Gabriel told the outlet. “I started calling. I’m calling, racing home, racing over there, calling police.”

Gabriel and Raquel Guerra don’t believe their dead son killed his girlfriend, Savanah Nicole Soto. FOX San Antonio

He said he raced to his son’s apartment, where he kicked in the door and found a lit candle and the diaper bag that Soto planned to take with her to the appointment.

“That’s when I saw Savanah’s overnight bag for the hospital that she didn’t take with her and that even threw me more in a panic,” Gabriel told Fox San Antonio.

He said he asked Leon Valley police whether authorities could request his son’s location data information, but that a detective told him it was unlikely a judge would grant the request because the situation lacked exigent circumstances.

“(The detective) basically said, ‘They’re adults and if they want to disappear, they can disappear,” he told News 4. “And, again, I reminded them, the baby is overdue, has been overdue — they missed the due date.

The couple were both found dead in a car, Soto’s sister-in-law said. WOAI

“And to me that’s a life-threatening … I mean, there should have been more urgency,” he added.

The detective told the outlet that he had been instructed by the police chief to direct questions to the San Antonio Police Department, which did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for a comment.

“I just hope we can get to the bottom of this,” Raquel told News 4. “And justice be served, because I just can’t fathom how anybody could do that  to a pregnant woman/ I just can’t get that out of my head.”

Gabriel said he knows Guerra was arrested in 2022 for domestic abuse against Savanah — and even suggested that the boyfriend stay in custody longer.

“They had contacted each other on the phone and that was a violation, so they can please keep him in there and unfortunately it would have to be Savanah to say that, and she wouldn’t do it, so he was let out,” he told the outlet, adding that domestic abuse charges were never filed again.

Guerra was reportedly on probation for assaulting Soto on Christmas Day last year.

Gabriel said his son had a criminal history that included unlawful carry of a weapon, evading police and an assault charge causing bodily injury.

Savanah Soto was set to be induced the day she vanished. TikTok

In June, a judge granted Guerra probation for the family violence case, and permitted him to have contact with Soto as long as it was not  “harmful or injurious,” according court documents cited by News 4.

The probation was set to expire in June 2024, but a judge extended it to February 2025 after Guerra picked up additional, unrelated charges including unlawful carrying of a weapon, evading arrest in a vehicle, and reckless driving, according to the paper.

“He didn’t hang around the best crowd,” Gabriel said, but added that he believed the young man was going to change when he became a dad himself.

Soto (left) was excited to become a mom, her family said. Gloria Cordova / Facebook

“He talked about how it was going to make him better, a better person,” Gabriel told KENS5.

Meanwhile, Soto’s mother, Gloria Cordova, also said she is seeking answers about the mysterious deaths.

“Why was she in the front and he was in the back? Obviously, that says someone else was there,” she asked, adding that she suspects Guerra was involved in illegal activity, according to the outlet.

“I think it had something to do with him and things that he was doing, not my daughter,” Cordova told CBS News.

“My daughter just was there with him and they didn’t want … they didn’t want someone to say what happened, somebody that’s going to say it’s so-and-so or this is what he looked like. She just was there at the wrong time,” she added.

“He used to abuse her and I told her to get out of the relationship, but she — she was hard-headed, she wouldn’t listen. But I think this time she was going to leave him already. That’s what I’m hearing,” Cordova told the outlet.

“They took an innocent, an innocent girl that was going to be a mommy, they just took her life for nothing,” Cordova told KENS5.

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UT Southwestern teaches med students ‘gender is independent of physical structure’

Documents obtained by Fox News Digital show that University of Texas Southwestern medical students are being taught that gender is independent of physical structure.

Fox News Digital obtained the documents via a FOIA request from Do No Harm, a national association of medical professionals that combats “woke” activism in the healthcare system. 

According to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center’s Human Structure curriculum, they “explicitly acknowledge the differentiation between the terms sex and gender.”

“The latter is a psychological, social, and cultural construct, including self-identification. Gender is independent of physical structure, chromosomes, or genes,” curriculum materials read.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center’s Human Structure curriculum does teach in their Sex and Gender course the anatomy of the sexual organs in a binary manner.

They define anatomical sex as the physical structure including chromosomes, genes, and products “as the most frequent anatomical variants traditionally termed male and female.” 

However, they added, “We are aware that there are anatomical variants that do not correspond to either of these so-called ‘typical male’ or ‘typical female’ anatomical variants of sex.”

A video on the Human Structure Development of the Urogenital System shows the speaker refers to the “typical male” and “typical female” sex organs as the “two extreme manifestations of the sex spectrum.”


Documents obtained by Fox News Digital show that University of Texas Southwestern medical students are being taught that gender is independent of physical structure.
Tribune News Service via Getty Images

It also introduces that students will learn in more depth about intersex individuals and the continuum of the sex spectrum.

“As for other disorders and birth defects, disorders of sex differentiation should be briefly mentioned here. This is a whole complex of disorders in which the composition of sex chromosomes, internal genitalia, and external genitalia does not match or is ambiguous.”

“These disorders can have various causes. For example, legions of the SRY gene or loss of the entire Y chromosome. But also, hormonal defects.”

Fox News Digital recently reported on a similar curriculum material being adopted at another academic institution in Texas. 

A Texas school district offers a course that teaches students to use “gender-neutral” language when describing jobs in order to be more inclusive. 

The Judson Independent School District [JISD] told Fox News Digital that students are taught about “gender-neutral” language in a “Women and Gender Studies” course.

One activity called “Gender Language,” on page 11 of the “Gender Equity Booklet,” instructs students to consider words used to describe occupations, gives them a list of examples, and asks them to “think of ways you would change these titles to make them more gender fair or neutral.”

For example, the course gave students a list of job titles and phrases such as “mailman,” “policeman,” “woman’s institution” and “sportsmanship,” and asked them to take “man” out to make the terms “bias-free.”

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Texas museum to return stolen Roman bust after woman bought it for $35

The Roman bust of Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus that made headlines last year for being a $35 Goodwill find with a regal past, will be returned to Germany after it concludes its display run at the San Antonio Museum of Art.

A spokesperson with the Texas art museum confirmed to Fox News Digital that Sunday, May 21, will be the last day visitors can see the historic marble statue.

The centuries-old sculpture, which is reportedly modeled after Germanicus, a Roman military commander and politician who died around 9 BC in Germania – European tribal lands that were situated around the Rhine River, Vistula River, Danube River, North Sea, Baltic Sea and more – will be returned to the Pompejanum Museum in Aschaffenburg, Germany.

Art historians believe the bust of Germanicus may have been crafted between 1 BC and 1 AD, according to the San Antonio Museum of Art.

Centuries after its estimated construction, the museum reports that art history experts were able to trace the statue back to King Ludwig I of Bavaria (Aug. 1786 to Feb. 1868), who had the bust installed in the courtyard of the Pompejanum – a Roman-style villa he commissioned and had built in the 1840s as a replica of Pompeii.

Today, the Pompejanum is a tourist attraction that welcomes visitors who pay admission fees set by the Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes.


A Roman bust of Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus is being returned to Germany after it was bought for $35 in a Texas Goodwill store.
San Antonio Museum of Art via AP

The San Antonio Museum of Art obtained the bust from Laura Young, a Texas-based art collector who reportedly purchased the bust from a Goodwill thrift store in Austin in 2018.

In a press release, the art museum noted that it’s currently not known how the bust ended up in Texas, but authenticators with the international auction house Sotheby’s and the Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes, have confirmed the statue’s ties to Ludwig I.

The San Antonio Museum of Art told Fox News Digital that the marble bust of Germanicus had been purchased by Ludwig I through a “legitimate art market in Italy” and that very reason is why the statue will be returned to the Pompejanum in Aschaffenburg, Germany, instead of Rome.


Visitors will still be able to see the bust at the San Antonio Museum of Art until May 21.
San Antonio Museum of Art

“The German State was the last legal owner of the portrait, which was in the collection of the Bavarian King Ludwig I by 1833,” the museum wrote in an emailed statement.

Germany reportedly lost possession of the marble bust after World War II and art history experts suspect the statue may have been stolen by a soldier after Allied forces bombed Aschaffenburg in January 1944, which “seriously damaged the Pompejanum,” according to the San Antonio Museum of Art.

The museum reports that the bust could have been taken by someone in the U.S. Army between the 1940s and 1990s since the military branch had stations set up in Aschaffenburg until the end of the Cold War.


The bust will be brought back to the Pompejanum in Aschaffenburg, Germany — where it may have been stolen from after bombing in 1944.
San Antonio Museum of Art

The Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes restored the Pompejanum in 1960 and opened it to the public in 1994.

Visitors who wish to see the Germanicus bust before it’s sent back to Germany on May 21, can find it at the San Antonio Museum of Art at 200 West Jones Avenue from Tuesdays through Sundays.

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Woman killed after refusing to have kids with boyfriend: Cops

A San Antonio man allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend after she told him she did not want to have his baby, according to police. 

Adam Byrd, 23, has been charged with murder for gunning down his girlfriend, Jade Alyssa Alvarez, 22, just days after he robbed a store at gunpoint, according to local reports, which cited an arrest affidavit.

Alvarez’s dead body was found with multiple gunshot wounds on Capitol Avenue around 6:30 a.m. on April 6, according to KSAT.

A woman who had been with Alvarez the night before the shooting told police the victim had been dating Byrd.

He had been talking to Alvarez on the woman’s phone and asked for her to be dropped off on Capitol Avenue, where she was found dead hours later, KENS5 reported

Byrd at the time had an active Bexar County arrest warrant for two counts of aggravated robbery from the stickup earlier in the month. 

After being taken into custody this week and questioned about the robbery, Byrd admitted to police that he had killed Alvarez over an argument about how he wanted to have a child with her, but she did not. 


Adam Byrd has been accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend after she said she didn’t want to have a baby with him.

He also admitted to using the same gun to kill her as the one he used during the robbery, according to the affidavit.

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Texas pols cry foul after Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont calls Houston ‘butt-ugly’

Texas pols cried foul after Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont dunked on the city of Houston — calling it “butt-ugly” in a battle of cross-country trash talk that led him appearing to walk back his dis.

Lamont, who was visiting the city for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, delivered the jab on a radio show earlier this week following the University of Connecticut’s championship win on Monday.

“After winning the semifinals, you walk around downtown Houston, which is butt-ugly,” Lamont said on WPLR-FM’s “Chaz and AJ Show.” “Not much there.”

The zinger left Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner looking to tee up Lamont with a technical foul.

“Houston is not butt-ugly. Houston is a clean city. The downtown area is clean” he told local station KHOU in an interview posted to his Twitter page.

“He’s just factually wrong,” Turner said as he noted the city fed, housed and hosted him and the victorious UConn basketball team.

“And you’re going to go back and talk about ‘butt-ugly?’ Which end was he looking from?” Turner added.

Both Lamont and Turner are Democrats.


Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont called Houston’s downtown “butt-ugly” this week.
AP

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner did not appreciate Lamont’s dunk.
Getty Images

Turner also delivered a scathing rebuke in a series of tweets from his account.

In one tweet, he said Lamont’s statement is “indicative of a loser” and in another tweet he questioned “when is the last time Connecticut hosted a NCAA #FinalFour?”

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo also weighed in.

“Hi @NedLamont, I’m sure we got some wires crossed about how incredible Houston is” she tweeted as she offered to take him around the city. “Consider this a standing invite!”

Lamont appeared to backtrack when asked about the verbal barbs during an unrelated press conference Thursday, calling the people in the city gracious and welcoming.


The Final Four basketball in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament National Championship game at NRG Stadium.
NCAA Photos via Getty Images

“[Turner] said: ‘Maybe the governor’s looking at the wrong end of a beautiful horse,’” Lamont said. “I guess I resemble that comment. I want to say more importantly that nothing compares to the beauty of that amazing basketball championship on Monday night.”

He also stressed he was joking when he made the “butt-ugly” quip.

Turner tweeted Thursday evening that he and Lamont spoke over the phone and Lamont apologized for his comments.

“I accepted his apology and again congratulated his @UConnMBB team on their victory,” Turner said.

With Post wires



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Texas woman arrested for trying to sell car she rented — for cut-rate price

A Texas woman was arrested over the weekend for allegedly trying to sell a car she rented for $10,000.

The Humble Police Department posted the incident on Facebook, Sunday, saying an officer was flagged down by a citizen who said he was trying to purchase a car he found online, but believed it to be stolen.

The car was a 2022 Toyota Camry, and the seller, who police did not identify by name, was attempting to sell the nearly brand-new car for about half of its value.

Police said the seller agreed to meet with the buyer at a later time to complete the transaction and take a picture of their Texas driver’s license and title of the vehicle.

The buyer told police he thought the license looked off, and police said he was right.

“Upon running the information from the license, it was found that nothing matched up,” police said.

Officers used the VIN from the fake vehicle title and contacted the owner of the Camry, who said it was a rental and was not for sale.


A woman was arrested in Humble, Texas for allegedly trying to sell a car she rented, for $10k.
Humble Police Department

Collaborating with police, the buyer agreed to meet with the citizen after settling on a price of $10,000.

When the two met, police arrested and charged the woman with third-degree auto theft and second-degree tampering, both felonies.

The Humble Police Department did not immediately respond to questions about the incident.

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Title 42 replacement to disqualify many asylum-seekers

The Biden administration published a new immigration rule Tuesday that would dramatically shake up the current system and disqualify migrants who illegally cross into the US from applying for asylum.

US Customs and Border Protection officers have been stretched to their limits by the number of migrants who are showing up at the southern border — with a record-setting 2.4 million encounters in 2022.

The new rule would instead require asylum-seekers to apply for protection in any country they travel through before they arrive in the US.

The rule is expected to take effect in May, just before pandemic-era restriction Title 42 is expected to end and last two years, according to the Washington Post.


Asylum seekers lined up outside of El Paso, Texas, hoping to gain entrance to the US.
James Keivom

The government’s document announcing the rule states it is being issued “in anticipation of a potential surge in migration at the southwest border of the United States” when Title 42 ends.

Title 42 is a Trump-era COVID-19 policy the federal government has used to eject thousands of migrants back over the border to Mexico. The Biden administration has announced all pandemic policies will expire on May 11.

Under the new rule, migrants would become ineligible for asylum if they enter the country illegally — as they have been doing for the last two years since Biden has been in office — creating what city officials at the border have called an unsustainable crisis in their communities.


Migrants who claimed asylum and passed a security clearance were released into the streets of El Paso.
James Keivom

Chief Patrol Agent for the Tucson, Ariz., border sector John Modlin previously described how migrant apprehensions had increased in the last two years, telling a house oversight committee earlier this month: “In 2020, our total encounters were 66,000. That figure nearly tripled in 2021, and then quadrupled last year. We closed last year, 2022, with over 250,000 encounters in Tucson.”

In December, El Paso, Texas, declared a state of emergency as around 2,700 migrants flooded the city per day and surrendered to Border Patrol agents seeking asylum. Those who claimed fear for their lives if they returned to their country were released into the city while their cases play out in court — as is required by US laws.


President Joe Biden walks along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2023.
AP

As part of the new policy, migrants would be required to ask for refuge in any other country they stepped foot in when they left their home country. Those who failed to do would be immediately deported without going through an appeals process.

Immigrant advocates, such as the ACLU, have slammed this new policy, claiming it violates long-established laws that guarantee the right to claim asylum to anyone on US soil, regardless of how they got there.


At its peak in December, hundreds of migrants slept on the streets of El Paso, unable to get out of the west Texas city to their final destinations in cities across America.
James Keivom

“Critically, our courts have long recognized that a person’s decision not to seek asylum while in transit to the US has no bearing on their need for protection,” the organization said.

The Biden rule has also been denounced by immigrant advocates as merely “rebranded Trump-era policies.”

“With the [Biden] administration, people really think immigration did change, but in reality, it’s worse,” said Crystal Sandoval of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center told The Post. “It’s just rebranding, but they are the same policies we saw under [President] Trump.”

President Trump had previously enacted a “safe third country” rule in 2019 which required asylum seekers to apply for refuge in the first stable territory they came to after leaving their home country but it was struck down in court after numerous challenges.

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