THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019
Guidelines target Spanish speakers at border
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — Bor-
der agents have been told
to explicitly target Spanish
speakers and migrants from
Latin America in carrying out
a Trump administration pro-
gram requiring asylum seek-
ers wait in Mexico, according
to memos that reveal some
inner workings of a top gov-
ernment priority to address
the burgeoning number of
Central Americans arriving in
the country.
The Trump administra-
tion launched the program in
late January in what marks
a potentially seismic shift
on how the U.S. handles the
cases of immigrants seeking
asylum and fl eeing persecu-
tion in their homeland.
The program initially
applied only to those who
turned themselves in at offi -
cial border crossings. But a
memo from a division chief
of the Border Patrol’s San
Diego sector says it expanded
Friday to include people who
cross the border illegally.
The guidance includes
instruction about various
groups of immigrants who are
not to be sent back to Mexico
and instead go through the
traditional asylum process in
the U.S. immigration court
system. They include preg-
nant women, LGBT migrants
and people suffering medical
issues. Authorities said pre-
viously that Mexican asylum
seekers are excluded, as are
children traveling alone.
U.S. offi cials must check
if the asylum seeker has any
felony convictions and notify
Mexico at least 12 hours
before they are returned.
Those who cross illegally
AP Photo/Christian Torres
Migrants awaiting their chance to request asylum in the U.S.
pass the time inside a shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
must have come as single
adults, though the administra-
tion is in talks with the Mex-
ican government to include
families.
The program is being
implemented as border
arrests soared in February to
a 12-year-high and more than
half of those stopped arrived
as families, many of them
asylum seekers who generally
turn themselves in instead of
trying to elude capture. Gua-
temala and Honduras have
replaced Mexico as the top
countries, a remarkable shift
from only a few years ago.
The instructions say Mex-
ican offi cials insist that no
more than 20 asylum seekers
are returned each day from
San Diego to Tijuana, Mex-
ico, on Monday through Sat-
urday, underscoring chal-
lenges that the U.S. faces in
trying to quickly ramp up one
of its top border enforcement
priorities and most signifi cant
changes to the U.S. immi-
gration system of Donald
Trump’s presidency. Author-
ities said Tuesday that more
than 76,000 were stopped or
apprehended at the Mexican
border in February, more than
double the same period last
year.
A memo on Tuesday to
top Border Patrol offi cials in
San Diego said the agency is
under “pressures to utilize this
program as much as we can.”
A5
Asylum-seeking families
are typically released from
U.S. custody immediately
and allowed to settle with
family or friends while their
cases wind through immi-
gration courts, which often
takes years. Critics say that
amounts to “catch-and-re-
lease,” which administration
offi cials want to limit with
the new Mexico program.
In a statement, the Depart-
ment of Homeland Secu-
rity described the program as
“another tool available in the
law” to respond to the record
numbers of Central Ameri-
can migrants arriving at the
border in recent months.
The agency said the pro-
gram is being carried out in
a “thoughtful and deliberate
manner” that protects vulner-
able migrants and is done in
collaboration with the Mexi-
can government.
WORLD IN BRIEF
Associated Press
McSally says in Senate hearing
she was raped in Air Force
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Martha
McSally, the fi rst female Air Force fi ghter
pilot to fl y in combat, said she was sexu-
ally assaulted by a superior offi cer and later,
when she tried to talk about it to military
offi cials, she “felt like the system was rap-
ing me all over again.”
The Arizona Republican, a 26-year mili-
tary veteran, made the disclosure at a Senate
hearing on the military’s efforts to prevent
sexual assaults and improve the response
when they occur. Lawmakers also heard
from other service members who spoke of
being sexually assaulted and humiliated
while serving their country.
McSally said she did not report being
raped because she did not trust the system
and was ashamed and confused. She said
she was impressed and grateful to the survi-
vors who came forward to help change the
system. She was in the ninth class at the Air
Force Academy to allow women, and sex-
ual harassment and assault were prevalent.
Victims mostly suffered in silence.
McSally served in the Air Force from
1988 until 2010 and rose to the rank of col-
onel before entering politics. She deployed
six times to the Middle East and Afghan-
istan, fl ying 325 combat hours and earn-
ing a Bronze Star and six air medals. She
was the fi rst woman to command a fi ghter
squadron.
Jones’ life. They also charged him with
attempted fi rst-degree murder because they
believed that while they couldn’t prove
beyond a reasonable doubt which of the six
shots killed him, the second volley was a
conscious effort to kill Jones as he ran away.
is at the center of U.S.-Chinese tensions
over technology competition and cyberspy-
ing. The company has spent years trying to
put to rest accusations it facilitates Chinese
spying or is controlled by the ruling Com-
munist Party.
Fired Florida offi cer guilty of China’s Huawei sues to
slaying black motorist
challenge US security law
‘Jeopardy!’ host Trebek says
he has pancreatic cancer
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A fi red
Florida police offi cer was found guilty of
manslaughter and attempted murder today
for fatally shooting a stranded black motor-
ist, becoming the fi rst offi cer in the state to
be convicted of an on-duty shooting in 30
years.
Nouman Raja, 41, now faces a manda-
tory minimum sentence of 25 years, and
could spend his life in prison for the death
of Corey Jones, 31.
Prosecutors said Raja, one of very few
police offi cers across the nation to be con-
victed of an on-duty shooting, escalated
what should have been a routine interaction
into a deadly confrontation.
Prosecutors charged Raja with man-
slaughter because they believed his actions
created the confrontation and showed “cul-
pable negligence,” meaning a “reckless
disregard” or “conscious indifference” for
LOS ANGELES — “Jeopardy!” host
Alex Trebek said he has been diagnosed
with advanced pancreatic cancer but intends
to fi ght the disease and keep on working.
In a video posted online Wednesday, the
78-year-old said he was announcing his ill-
ness directly to “Jeopardy!” fans in keeping
with his long-time policy of being “open
and transparent.”
He’s among 50,000 other American who
receive such a diagnosis each year, Trebek
said. Normally, the “prognosis for this is
not very encouraging, but I’m going to fi ght
this, and I’m going to keep working.”
Trebek, a native of Canada, has been
host of the syndicated quiz show since
1984. Although he had publicly toyed with
the idea of retiring, he instead renewed his
deal in 2018 with Sony Pictures Television
for three more years, through the 2021-22
season.
SHENZHEN, China — Chinese tech
giant Huawei is challenging a U.S. law
that would limit its American sales of tele-
com equipment on security grounds as the
company steps up efforts to preserve its
access to global markets for next-genera-
tion communications.
Huawei Technologies Ltd.’s lawsuit,
announced today, asks a federal court to
reject as unconstitutional a portion of this
year’s U.S. military appropriations act that
bars the government and its contractors
from using Huawei equipment.
It comes as the biggest global maker of
network equipment fi ghts a U.S. campaign
to persuade allies to shun Huawei. That
threatens to block access to major mar-
kets as phone carriers prepare to invest bil-
lions of dollars in fi fth-generation, or 5G,
networks.
Huawei, China’s fi rst global tech brand,
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