JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- The Mexican government, through the National Institute of Migration (INM), announced last weekend the launch of an Emerging Safe Mobility Corridor to assist and transport foreign persons who have a CBP One appointment.

This project aims to ensure the safety of migrants who decide to travel by land to the point of entry picked for their appointment along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The National Institute of Migration (INM) said they will give priority to family units in Mexico for them to travel together.

INM will establish two departure locations, located at the Immigration Station in Villahermosa, Tabasco, and at the Immigration Regulation office in the Southern Zone in Tapachula, Chiapas; both in Southern Mexico.

According to a news release, INM will grant a Multiple Immigration Form (FMM) valid for 20 days for those migrants with a confirmed CBP One appointment.

Those who choose to travel to the scheduled place for their appointment through the Emerging Safe Mobility Corridor will allow them to have a regular stay status in Mexico during their journey.

"In a joint security effort, the buses that are enabled to carry out the transfer will be accompanied by security institutions at the federal, state, and municipal levels; in addition, food will be provided during the corresponding trips," INM said in a statement.

According to Mexican officials, up to date, 300 people who have requested their CBP One appointment in Tabasco and Chiapas received a response from the U.S. government to their request within a few days.

Officials in Mexico say they want to work in institutional coordination to have a safe, regular, orderly, and humane migration across the country.

This might bring a rise in capacity at local shelters in Juarez if migrants choose El Paso for their CBP One appointments.

According to the city's Director of Human Rights in Juárez, currently, the city shelters are at 30% capacity and they will work and coordinate with the federal government to house migrants.

The director of the federal government shelter in Juárez also said, they are currently at 60% capacity and that has been the number this year.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- 52-year-old Juarez resident Rene Hernandez-Cordero was just sentenced to 300 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, 180 months for straw purchasing firearms and trafficking firearms, and 60 months for conspiracy to smuggle bulk cash. The sentences will run concurrently, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DOJ) explained Thursday.

DOJ officials say that Hernandez-Cordero and his codefendant, 53-year-old Jesus Gerardo Ramos, were caught in August 2023 trying to smuggle guns from the U.S. into Mexico. Officials say they had been running a gun smuggling operation from August 2022 to August 2023.

Ramos pleaded guilty in April and will be sentenced later this year, along with fellow codefendant 21-year-old Brian Alexis Munoz Castro.

The group's other codefendant, 38-year-old Maria Del Rosario Navarro Sanchez (aka "Chayo," aka "Fernanda"), is currently a fugitive.

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Update (2:10 PM): U.S. District Judge in Western Texas, Kathleen Cardone, approved El Mayo's move from El Paso to the Eastern District of New York. The new court documents just obtained by ABC-7, state that the defendant is not opposed to the move.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- New court documents obtained by ABC-7 show that a court just denied the government's request to move Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia to New York for trial.

Zambada, a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was indicted on numerous crimes and was detained on those charges in the Borderland this summer.

Officials brought Zambada to a jail in El Paso, where he has been held since. He has appeared in court during his time in custody in El Paso and has pleaded not guilty.

Soon after his arrest, the government started trying to move Zambada to New York for trial. Today's denial will stop that process, at least for now.

Zambada's next status conference is scheduled for Monday, September 9, 2024.

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Update (September 5, 2024): The balloon arrived at the U.S. Border Patrol Santa Teresa Station. U.S. CBP and Border Patrol El Paso Sector confirmed the aerostat will be deployed this month.

SANTA TERESA, New Mexico (KVIA) -- U.S. Customs Border Protection El Paso Sector is planning to deploy an aerostatic balloon just west of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry in September 2024 to monitor the area of the U.S.-Mexico border in that zone.

This area is part of the Santa Teresa, New Mexico Border Patrol Station area of operation, which has the largest number of migrant encounters in the El Paso Sector.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations (AMO) uses the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) to provide long-range detection of low-altitude aircraft at the radar’s maximum range. The elevated sensor mitigates the curvature of the earth and terrain masking limitations.

According to a spokesman with U.S. CBP El Paso Field Office, this area also has a significant number of human smuggling-related deaths and rescues as the area’s harsh desert conditions and remote terrain present a dangerous risk to migrants who are often abandoned in the area by criminal smugglers.

In a statement sent to ABC-7, U.S. CBP said:

"The Tactical Aerostat Program (TAS) is an aerostat-borne surveillance capability which provides land domain awareness and persistent surveillance along the United States-Mexico border. The TAS Program consists of lighter-than-air aerostats. The aerostat systems feature multiple sensor types, including electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR)."

ABC-7 also contacted U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector to learn the current numbers recorded in our border area.

A spokesperson with Border Patrol said El Paso Sector has seen 230,336 migrant encounters this FY24 through July, representing a 36% reduction compared to this same time last year (364,089). Most of the migrant encounters take place in the Santa Teresa, New Mexico area.

El Paso Sector has recorded 927 rescues and 168 deaths.

U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez also commented on the aerostat deployment saying:

"This technology is not only meant to increase Border Patrol's situational awareness and ability to apprehend folks that are crossing the border illegally, it also enables them to save lives, and we can do that effectively with the implementation of smart technology, including the aerostat, which should come online next month, right here at the Santa Teresa border patrol station. That along with other technology that we really need to fund, will prevent those types of deaths that we're seeing in Dona Ana County. Technology is just one part of that solution."

According to his office, Rep. Vasquez wrote a letter last fall asking CBP to deploy tactical aerostats in the El Paso sector, because he is supportive of this technology to reduce the number of migrant deaths and rescues in our sector.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Juárez, Chihuahua, and Mexican authorities responded to reports of a train derailment Tuesday night.

According to a statement sent by the City of Juárez, personnel from the Civil Protection Department responded to a call at 11:01 p.m. last night.

"The train derailment happened at kilometer 302 of the Juárez-Chihuahua highway, between Villa Ahumada and Samalayuca," said Sergio Rodríguez, Director of Juárez Civil Protection.

Officials reported that in this incident left 13 train cars overturned, of which five were transporting sulfuric acid.

A leak was detected in one of these tanks with a capacity of approximately 53,000 liters, identified with the number 1830. The leak was provisionally controlled using a wooden stake.

Rodriguez also said a tank car transporting chlorine gas suffered structural damage, although no leaks of this chemical were reported.

The director of Civil Protection added that during the search efforts in the area, it was reported that several migrants were traveling on top of the train.

After a pedestrian search, they located four people, to whom pre-hospital care was provided.

Local and federal reports said the injured people are:

• A woman originally from Venezuela, with a right foot amputation and hip pain. She was transferred to the General Hospital
• A 17-year-old male was also transported to the General Hospital
• A 7-year-old boy had direct trauma in the head; he was turned over to the National Migration Institute along with his dad

Rodríguez said that members of the Fire Department, the Municipal Rescue Department, the Red Cross, URGE, Chihuahua State Police, Chihuahua Attorney General's Office, as well as the National Migration Institute, the National Guard, participated in the operation, and Ferromex which oversees all cargo trains in Mexico.

Authorities continue with the investigations to determine the causes of the derailment and ensure that no more people are affected.

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SANTA FE, New Mexico (KVIA) -- New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham just announced the results of "Operation Disruption," a human trafficking and organized crime fighting effort in southern New Mexico, specifically in Dona Ana and Luna Counties.

A spokesperson for the Governor's Office says the operation took place over 12 days in August, disrupting criminal networks and rescuing victims.

“Let this be a warning to those who would traffic in human lives: New Mexico will not tolerate this reprehensible criminal behavior," Governor Lujan Grisham stated Tuesday. "We are coming after you, and when we find you, we will shut down your illegal operation and put you in jail.”

According to the governor's spokesperson, New Mexico State Police "rescued" 91 people. The spokesperson did not provide any details on what types of situations the victims were rescued from or exactly where they were found. The spokesperson adds that Operation Disruption also identified 33 stash houses, conducted 735 traffic stops, and made 16 arrests.

The New Mexico State Police Crime Suppression and Uniform Bureaus conducted Operation Disruption in conjunction with the New Mexico Organized Crime Commission, Border Patrol, HSI, the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office, Las Cruces Police Department, Bureau of Land Management, Texas DPS, and Mexican officials, according to the governor's spokesperson.

"This humanitarian and cartel disruption effort was focused on protecting the victims of human trafficking organizations," the Governor's Office explained Tuesday.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Seven people have been arrested in connection to a jewelry store robbery in Ciudad Juarez on Saturday, August 31st. The incident was allegedly caught on surveillance camera.

Juarez authorities say an armed group used firearms to shoot at display windows at a jewelry store inside the Plaza Juarez Mall. Officials say the group got away with several pieces of jewelry. Authorities say the group then fled in a red minivan that had no license plates.

After several hours, Juarez authorities were able to locate and arrest the alleged robbers in the Salvárcar neighborhood. Authorities seized 2 firearms and 148 pieces of jewelry. The suspects names have not yet been released.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Family members, friends, classmates, and Juarez residents gathered to say a final goodbye to 15-year-old Juárez resident Rafael Rodríguez, who died over the weekend.

Rafita, as Rodríguez was affectionately known, was swept away by the torrential rains that hit the Borderland on Friday. His family members conducted the funeral services at Funerales "Ríos" in South Juárez starting last night.

In front of his school, CONALEP II, some of his classmates put up letters, signs, and white balloons to remember the late student. The classroom chair that he used to sit at also featured candles and some of his favorite snacks.

According to local media outlets, part of the cost of the funeral arraignments was covered by the State Commission for Victim Assistance of the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office (FGE).

Rafita's family asked the media for respect and space while they mourn.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- The Juárez Civil Protection Department in coordination with the Fire and the Rescue Departments carried out the search and tracking of a missing minor on Tapioca Street, who was swept away by the current during the torrential rains of August 30, at approximately 9:00 p.m.

The city provided ABC-7 with the following timeline of events;

• "August 31, 07:00 hours: A team of 20 elements continues the search for the minor, using three boats, pikes, hooks, ropes, and a motor pump to drain a well and access the dam.
• August 31, 12:15 hours: A cell phone is located in the search area. However, when it is presented to the relatives, it is ruled out that it belongs to the missing minor.
• August 31, 16:30 hours: A gray backpack is found floating in the water. After reviewing its contents, which include notebooks, books and school supplies with the name Rafael Rodríguez Hernández, the minor's family is notified, who confirm that the backpack belonged to him.
• August 31, 6:30 p.m.: Juárez Mayor Cruz Pérez Cuéllar arrives at the site to speak with the boy's family and gives instructions that the work continues without ceasing, working day and night.
• August 31, 7:00 p.m.: One hundred elements of the Municipal Public Security Secretariat (SSPM) join the search efforts, using drones and two jet skis. In addition, State Civil Protection personnel join the operation, providing a boat to support the work.
• August 31, 7:30 p.m.: The Municipal Water and Sanitation Board (JMAS) installs two high-flow suction pumps and one low-flow pump to help drain the dam.
• August 31, 8:00 p.m.: Volunteers from the Zorros del Desierto and Fire Rescue groups join the search operation.
• September 1, 7:00 a.m.: Mayor Cruz Pérez Cuéllar returns to the site to supervise the search and deliver a message to the citizens.
• September 1, 8:30 a.m.: The body of the minor is located. After the recovery of the body, it is handed over to the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office concluding the operation."

The city of Juárez also said in a statement:

"Since the beginning of the operations, the search work did not stop until certainty was achieved regarding the location or recovery of the minor's body. In addition, at the request of the relatives, they were allowed to be present throughout the entire operation process."

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UPDATE: The Juarez Civil Patrol says the body of Rafael Antonio Rodríguez Ibarra was found by search and rescue team Sunday at 8:30 a.m.

The director of the Juarez Civil Patrol, Sergio Rodriguez, says the search and rescue protocols were activated on Friday at 9:30 p.m. when they received reports of Ibarra and another teen being swept by currents caused by the floods along Paseo de la Victoria and Tapioca Streets. The other teen was found Friday night alive.

Rodriguez says special equipment, including drones and small boats, were used in the search of a dam in the area where Ibarra was reported missing.

Ibarra would have turned 16 today.

JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) - The Juarez Civil Patrol's Search and Rescue team continue their efforts to find a 16-year-old boy that was reported swept away by the current after heavy rains flooded streets in Juarez.

Channel 44, our news partners in Juarez, say Rafael Antonio Rodríguez Ibarra and another teen were swept away along Tapioca Street Friday night. The second teen was eventually found alive and well.

The search was originally postponed until Saturday morning and teams began their search in a dam near Tapioca Street which is near where he goes to school at CONALEP.

"About 7 or 7:40 pm Friday, which is when they get out of school, my mom who is his grandmother came to pick him up, she waited for him for awhile where she always waits for him and he never showed up," Ibarra's aunt said. "My mom came back home, and later we found out that he was just not coming back. So we came back here and through social posts we found out what happened, that he was taken by the flooding waters."

A backpack was found along with other debris during the search efforts Saturday, but so far no indication of where Ibarra might be.

He was last seen wearing a white polo shirt, light grey pants, school or dress shoes, and had a thin silver chain.

Saturday his family asked the community to join search efforts.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIa) -- Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said during a news conference he will "pause" the relations Mexico has with the U.S. and Canada Embassies after their ambassadors criticized his proposal to have judges elected by popular vote.

According to CNN, López Obrador announced the move during his daily press conference on Tuesday, saying the “pause” is with the embassies and not the countries. He said relations will be reestablished once the diplomats are “respectful of the independence of Mexico, of the sovereignty of our country.”

AMLO's proposal for judicial reform is part of a series of constitutional changes he has sought since he got in office.

These changes have to be approved, this week a congressional committee approved this proposal and now it requires two-thirds approval in both chambers of the Mexican Congress.

US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said last Thursday on social media that he believes a “popular direct election of judges is a major risk to the functioning of Mexico’s democracy.” Salazar stressed that judicial reforms should ensure the judiciary would be strengthened and not “subject to the corruption of politics.”

ABC-7 has reached out to local political experts to learn how this decision could impact the relationships between the three countries.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- U.S. and Mexican authorities announced during a news conference today the arrest of multiple wanted criminals due to information provided through the Se Busca Información tip-line. The authorities also unveiled five new targets wanted along the U.S./Mexico border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Marshals, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the City of Juárez and the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office, and other binational agencies attended the presser.

This initiative was first announced five years ago. It combines authorities in the U.S. and Mexico to identify the most wanted criminals and ask the public for any information to get them into custody.

Anyone with information about any suspects could inform authorities through phone or WhatsApp at (915) 314-8194.

Currently, the 10 most wanted suspects are the following:

• EP 1. Emeterio Sifuentes Ortegas “Oso”, illegal possession of a firearm, kidnapping
• EP 2. Jorge Rodríguez Luján “Kory”, possession/distribution of narcotics and attempted aggravated homicide
• EP 3. Leonel Salas Favela “El Sobrino”, aggravated kidnapping
• EP 4. Manuel Galindo Moncayo “Chivis” “El Profe”, aggravated homicide, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated homicide of a male
• EP 5. Daniel Herrera Rodríguez “El Palito” “Dany”, torture, possession/distribution of narcotics
• EP 6. Ángel Daniel Perales Herrera “El Perales”, aggravated homicide
• EP 7. Michel Eduardo Gómez Lazarín “Cirujano”, aggravated homicide, aggravated kidnapping
• EP 8. Armando Maldonado Lozoya “Chivo”, homicide
• EP 9. Miguel Ángel Lares Mendoza “El Lares”, possession/distribution of narcotics, homicide
• EP 10. Alberto Mariscal, sexual assault of a child

Binational authorities keep inviting members of the community to tip them or report any suspicion that leads to the whereabouts of these fugitives.

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SAN ELIZARIO, Texas (KVIA) -- Congressman Tony Gonzales is discussing border security efforts with law enforcement officials in San Elizario today.

Watch the news conference above.

ABC-7 will be at the event and will report on what happens in our evening newscasts.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) just announced that, through FEMA and CBP, $380 million will be allocated to communities supporting incoming migrants.

The funding is part of the Shelter and Service Program. DHS is giving the money to communities that provide support such as food, shelter, clothing, acute medical care, and transportation to migrants released from DHS custody who are waiting their day in immigration court.

"This grant cycle provides a new opportunity through a competitive program and builds on the support being provided to communities on the border and in the interior," DHS officials explained Wednesday. "Last year, more than $780 million awarded through SSP and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program – Humanitarian Awards (EFSP-H) funding in Fiscal Year 2023 went to organizations and cities across the country."

DHS officials explained that because demand exceeds the money approved by Congress, not all communities will receive their requested funding.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Today marks eight years since El Divo de Juárez died. Juan Gabriel died on August 28, 2016, in Santa Monica California; he was 66 years old.

Juanga, as he was affectionately nicknamed, suffered from hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, diseases that experts say ended up contributing to his heart attack on the day of his passing.

He was set to perform in El Paso days after his death, concerts that fans didn't have the chance to experience.

Today, on the eighth anniversary of his death, as part of the Juárez Juangabrielísimo festival, the City of Juárez along with the Juan Gabriel Museum, will hold a mass at the San Lorenzo Sanctuary at 1 p.m. to remember him.

This is part of the 10-day celebrations planned during Juan Gabriel week.

ABC-7 will attend the mass and bring you the events' sights and sounds in later newscasts.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The El Paso Processing Center (EPC) is part of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement Removal Operations, El Paso Field Office. It is a facility located right next to the El Paso International Airport.

The EPC's original buildings were constructed in 1966, with modernized processing (intake/release), dining, medical, and laundry facilities built between 1966 and 1998, and other modernizations set to start later this year until the start of Fiscal Year 2026.

This Processing Center can house up to 840 individuals made up of both adult male and female ICE detainees.

Detainees are housed at the EPC upon pending removal proceedings before an immigration judge, are pending an asylum screening/interview by an U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer, or are pending removal coordination to their country of citizenship.

"So nationwide, the asylum cases that are approved are probably a little less than 10%, nationwide asylum cases that are denied are more like 90%. Unfortunately, most of the individuals that are seeking asylum will not be granted asylum," said the Director of the El Paso Field Office for ICE Mary De Anda-Ybarra.

Director De Anda-Ybarra also said, most of the individuals that are going into their custody are for economic reasons. That's why of of their asylum requests are denied.

ICE has had individuals with proper documentation before processing, but others will use aliases and federal authorities are not aware of that until it's time to remove them.

The El Paso Field Office does not have families in any of its four processing centers anymore.

"We also have commercial removals. Besides having diplomatic relations with Mexico to be able to return them here through the land border, we also are working right now for interior repatriation."

"The Otero Processing Center has one flight that leaves every Tuesday to be able to repatriate individuals who are from the interior of Mexico back into the interior."

Director De Anda-Ybarra also said each country has to accept their deportees back into the country. This means individuals need to either issue a passport or a valid travel document before being turned over.

The average number of days an individual stays at the EPC is about 66 days if they are noncriminals. If they are criminals that ICE chooses to keep in custody, they keep them longer; it could be up to a year or more sometimes.

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Originally Published: 26 AUG 24 21:31 ET

By Associated Press

(CNN) — A federal judge in Texas on Monday paused a Biden administration policy that would give spouses of US citizens legal status without having to first leave the country, dealing at least a temporary setback to one of the biggest presidential actions to ease a path to citizenship in years.

The administrative stay issued by US District Judge J. Campbell Barker comes just days after 16 states, led by Republican attorneys general, challenged the program that could benefit an estimated 500,000 immigrants in the country, plus about 50,000 of their children.

Texas, one of the states leading the challenge, claimed in the lawsuit that it has had to pay tens of millions of dollars annually for services such as health care and law enforcement because of immigrants living in the state without legal status.

President Joe Biden announced the program in June. The court order, which lasts for two weeks but could be extended, comes one week after the Department of Homeland Security began accepting applications.

“The claims are substantial and warrant closer consideration than the court has been able to afford to date,” Barker wrote.

Barker was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2019 as a judge in Tyler, Texas, which lies in the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, a favored venue for advocates pushing conservative arguments.

The judge laid out a timetable that could produce a decision shortly before the presidential election November 5 or before a newly elected president takes office in January. Barker gave both sides until October 10 to file briefs in the case.

The policy offers spouses of US citizens without legal status, who meet certain criteria, a path to citizenship by applying for a green card and staying in the US while undergoing the process. Traditionally, the process could include a yearslong wait outside the US, causing what advocates equate to “family separation.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the order.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton cheered the order, posting on X, “This is just the first step. We are going to keep fighting for Texas, our country, and the rule of law.”

Several families were notified of the receipt of their applications, according to attorneys advocating for eligible families who filed a motion to intervene earlier Monday.

“Texas should not be able to decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of US citizens and their immigrant spouses without confronting their reality,” Karen Tumlin, the founder and director of Justice Action Center, said during the news conference before the order was issued.

The coalition of states that sued accused the administration of bypassing Congress for “blatant political purposes.”

The program has been particularly contentious in an election year in which immigration is one of the biggest issues, with many Republicans attacking the policy and contending it is essentially a form of amnesty for people who broke the law.

To be eligible for the program, immigrants must have lived continuously in the US for at least 10 years, not pose a security threat or have a disqualifying criminal history, and have been married to a citizen by June 17 — the day before the program was announced.

They must pay a $580 fee to apply and fill out a lengthy application, including an explanation of why they deserve humanitarian parole and a list of supporting documents proving how long they have been in the country.

If approved, applicants have three years to seek permanent residency. During that period, they can get work authorization.

Before this program, it was complicated for people who were in the US illegally to get a green card after marrying an American citizen. They can be required to return to their home country — often for years — and they always face the risk they may not be allowed back in.

The-CNN-Wire
& © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Juan Gabriel's museum at his former home started receiving visitors over the weekend.

As part of the pre-opening, with the official opening set to happen next week, museum officials started receiving media outlets and some residents to the museum.

With immersive images and sounds, as well as a personalized tour of every corner of what was his home in Ciudad Juárez, the museum is presented not only as a tribute to his musical legacy but also as a new space for cultural meeting and a strong tourist attraction for Mexico, staff of the museum said in a statement.

The museum is aiming to provide personalized attention to each guest, which is why visits are in groups of a maximum of 15 people, and each tour lasts 120 minutes.

"We are excited to welcome fans to this project that has been in development for more than 20 years since the first idea was presented to Don Alberto in 2005. He was always enthusiastic about the idea of ​​creating a museum in his home in Ciudad Juárez," said Felipe Rojas, director of the Juan Gabriel Museum.

"From the beginning, we wanted this to be a different museum because Juan Gabriel is a unique artist, and Ciudad Juárez is a special frontier," Rojas added. "His museum could not be anything other than a meeting place for all fans, both from Mexico and the United States. abroad and we worked together with Don Alberto for several years to define what he wanted to leave in this museum."

Tickets can be purchased free of charge for one week, from August 25 to September 1 on the Museum's official website at museojuangabriel.mx.

The space is suitable for the whole family and visitors over 12 years of age must obtain their own ticket.

The Juan Gabriel Museum invites fans and visitors to download the free Mobile App called "Museo Juan Gabriel", where people can find “Tutorial” (the step by step to learn how to use the App), “Show tour” (Takes your cell phone close to Juan Gabriel's photograph of the outside of the house and discover great surprises); “Rockola, (listen to your favorite Juan Gabriel songs in the Museum gardens) and much more! On the Show Tour, the lighting conditions determine the optimal functioning of the experience.

Phones are allowed inside, however, museum staff will put them inside a plastic bag that blocks both cameras on your cell phone to prevent anyone from taking pictures or videos inside the museum.

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UPDATE: ABC-7 has been made aware that the incident in which "Edgar T." punched an officer and the incident in which he ran a stop sign are two separate events. Below is the amended account of the arrest.

Road security agents in Juarez who arrested an El Paso man for driving under the influence also say the man previously assaulted an officer at the border.

Juarez officials say they stopped a man identified as "Edgar T." at Ruben Posada Poma and Adolfo Lopez Mateos after he ran a stop sign. Road safety agents performed a breathalyzer test, which they say gave a positive result.

Agents say they also identified him from a previous incident. On July 13, officials say Edgar punched a highway police officer while waiting to cross at the Bridge of the Americas before escaping.

He will serve 36 hours for the DWI and has been fined 10,000 Mexican pesos, or $520.

JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Road security agents in Juarez arrested an El Paso man they accuse of hitting one of their officers.

The man, identified only as Edgar T., was waiting in line at a port of entry when he ran a stop sign. Agents then pulled him over. This happened July 13, 2024, officials in Juarez say.

Officials say they arrested Edgar after he punched an officer. He then reportedly failed a breathalyzer test.

He was given 36 hours in a recovery center and fined 10,000 pesos.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Ciudad Juárez and the Borderland are ready to start the celebrations in honor of the eighth anniversary of Juan Gabriel's death on Aug. 28.

In a 10-day multicultural festival, Juárez authorities plan to remember "Juanga" with parades, concerts, memorials, and marathons, among other events.

Celebrations will start tonight outside Juan Gabriel's house in Downtown Juárez with a Protocolo de reapertura, or reopening ceremony, at his museum.

Residents and visitors are expected to fill up the streets around Juan Gabriel's house for these celebrations.

Juárez authorities and officials have previously said the goal of this festival is to attract more people from outside Juarez who love Juan Gabriel and his music. Tourism plays an important role here too, as outsiders are expected to visit the city for the celebrations.

Juan Gabriel passed away in Santa Monica, California on August 28, 2016.

The City of Juárez has previously announced big operations conducted by the Juárez Secretariat of Public Safety and Road Safety Coordination to prevent any incidents or events during the festivities.

Juárez Juangabrielísimo is expected to finish on Sept. 1 at the Red X close to the Bridge of the Americas with a concert by famous Mexican singer Edith Marquez.

If you want to attend any planned events, you can check them here.

'Museo de Juan Gabriel is expected to open on Saturday, August 24 and the information you need to attend the event is also here.

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Associated Press

Sixteen Republican-led states are suing to end a federal program that could potentially give nearly half a million immigrants without legal status who are married to U.S. citizens a path to citizenship.

The coalition filed suit Friday to halt the program launched by President Joe Biden in June, saying in court filings that the administration bypassed Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for “blatant political purposes.”

“This action incentivizes illegal immigration and will irreparably harm the Plaintiff states,” the suit filed in federal court in Tyler, Texas, says.

Under the policy, which started taking applications Monday, many spouses without legal status can apply for something called “parole in place,” offering permission to stay in the U.S., apply for a green card and eventually get on a path to citizenship.

But the program has been particularly contentious in an election year where immigration is one of the biggest issues, with many Republicans attacking the policy and contending it is essentially a form of amnesty for people who broke the law.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Friday that the plan “violates the Constitution and actively worsens the illegal immigration disaster that is hurting Texas and our country.”

The suit filed against the Department of Homeland Security, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other Biden administration officials accuses the agency of attempting to parole spouses “en masse,” which the states contend is an abuse of power. The states also filed a motion asking for the program to be put on hold while the lawsuit proceeds.

In a post on X, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said her state is challenging the parole in place policy because she believes the Biden administration “is illegally using ‘parole’ in a systematic way to advance their open-borders agenda.”

The conservative nonprofit America First Legal, which is headed by Stephen Miller, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, is serving as co-counsel in the lawsuit.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Mayra Alejandra said the agency will defend the Keeping Families Together program in court and continues to process already submitted applications as well as accept new applications.

“Keeping Families Together is grounded in well-established legal authority, and its purpose — enabling the families of U.S. Citizens to live without fear of separation — is consistent with fundamental American values,” Alejandra said.

White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández fired back against Republicans “playing politics” and characterized the lawsuit as another form of family separation.

“This lawsuit is seeking to force U.S. citizens and their families, people who have lived in the United States for more than ten years, to continue to live in the shadows,” Fernandez said in a statement.

The bipartisan immigration and criminal justice organization FWD.us said the program is in compliance with the law and noted the timing of the lawsuit — as Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for president.

“The only motivation behind this lawsuit is the cruelty of tearing families apart and the crass politics of hoping a judge might do the bidding of the anti-immigrant movement,” the organization said in a statement.

Karen Tumlin, founder and director of the Justice Action Center, called the legal challenge “unsurprising yet extremely disappointing and cruel.”

“However, it’s important to emphasize that nothing changes for now, and the process is still open and accepting applications,” she said.

To be eligible for the program, immigrants must have lived continuously in the U.S. for at least 10 years, not pose a security threat or have a disqualifying criminal history, and have been married to a citizen by June 17 — the day before the program was announced.

They must pay a $580 fee to apply and fill out a lengthy application, including an explanation of why they deserve humanitarian parole and a long list of supporting documents proving how long they have been in the country.

If approved, applicants have three years to seek permanent residency. During that period, they can get work authorization. The administration estimates about 500,000 people could be eligible, plus about 50,000 of their children.

Before this program, it was complicated for people who were in the U.S. illegally to get a green card after marrying an American citizen. They can be required to return to their home country — often for years — and they always face the risk they may not be allowed back in.

The lawsuit contends that states will bear the burden of additional immigrants staying in the country.

Texas, the suit says, spends tens of millions of dollars each year on a program that provides health insurance for children, including those in the country illegally. It says that the state also spends millions each year “for increased law enforcement as its citizens suffer increased crime, unemployment, environmental harm, and social disorder due to illegal immigration.”

Because the program beneficiaries will be entitled to work authorization, those additional workers “will drive down the wages of Texas residents, directly harming the State and its citizens,” the lawsuit says.

Evelyn Wiese, an immigration attorney at Americans for Immigrant Justice, described the lawsuit as an “attack” on mixed status families who have spent years contributing to their communities in the United States.

“Trying to rip apart these families and prevent them from accessing a lawful pathway to status in the U.S. is cruel and reflective of anti-immigrant extremism,” she said.

___

AP writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this report from Washington.

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SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Sunland Park Fire Chief Daniel Medrano is crediting a new technique with helping save additional lives in the desert. 

In May, the small department introduced the ice bag technique to assist patients suffering from heat-related illnesses. 

Each summer, SPFD receives dozens of calls from people suffering from heat stroke or heat exhaustion. Many of them are migrants who have just crossed the border into the United States. Some are often alone, very weak and dehydrated. 

The chief said that during many summer days the temperature in our area reaches 110 degrees Fahrenheit, but the sand can reach 150 degrees. 

Medrano said this year, so far, the department has responded to 30 body recoveries. 

Shortly after introducing the program, the department was able to use it firsthand on a patient. 

"We actually saved this young lady's life. We are able to convert her body temperature down to an acceptable range. And she survived, which is a success. You know, we were hesitant at first. It was a new technique, and we weren't sure if it was going to work, but it worked really well. She was completely unconscious when she presented," Chief Medrano told ABC-7. 

Firefighters place the patient in a body bag and then fill it with water and ice in an effort to try to bring down their body temperature. 

Chief Medrano said the patient usually stays inside the bag for 30 minutes. He said the method can work in as quickly as 10 to 15 minutes. 

He said they have been able to lower a patient's temperature from 107 degrees to 103. 

"Doctors were baffled because we hadn't really told the emergency departments the kind of procedures we were doing. So when we took this poor girl in a body bag full of ice, they didn't know what to make of it at first. And now it's, it's common practice," he said. 

The chief said they have used the innovative method about 30 times in the last three months, and a handful of them have been successful.

"We anticipated we were going to use it, but not as much," he said. 

The department decided to introduce the idea after receiving a large number of heat exhaustion calls last year, many of them later turning into body recoveries. Chief Medrano first learned of this concept from a news article from Phoenix.

"Just based on the numbers last year, we had so many deaths in this area, so many heat exhaustion, we weren't sure if those deaths were preventable or if we could have done something about it," he said. 

Medrano said he has received much feedback from the medical community since the method's inception. 

"For doctors and nurses who hadn’t seen it before, they didn't know what to make of it. It was, it was interesting. I have had some doctors actually approach me and said, you know, 'What's going on?' Several of them were shocked. The ambulance, private ambulance service here, when we first did it, they were baffled by what we're doing."

Chief Medrano also explained the ice bath method isn't expensive. The department invested in an ice machine and ice bags, making it cost-effective. He said his crews carry around an ice chest with several pounds of ice and water that are ready to be used at a moment's notice. 

Although Chief Medrano said there are risks involved, they will continue to use this method. 

"Just for the lives that we know you've saved, it's been worth it, you know?"

The chief said many other fire departments in the Southwest have reached out to him inquiring about the method. He believes this is a method that other first responders should look into. 

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OTAY MESA, California (KVIA) -- CBP officers stationed at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility seized $5 million worth of meth concealed within shipments of watermelons Friday.

The officers reported finding 4,587 pounds of meth when they stopped a 29-year-old man driving a semi into the U.S. from Mexico.

The truck's manifest recorded a shipment of watermelons, however, when the semi underwent secondary inspection, officers found drugs inside.

“I am incredibly proud of our team for their exceptional work over the past few weeks in uncovering sophisticated and diverse smuggling methods," stated Rosa E. Hernandez, Port Director for the Area Port of Otay Mesa. "As drug cartels continue to evolve their smuggling techniques, we will continue finding new and better ways to prevent these dangerous drugs and other contraband from entering the country."

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — The strange saga of how two Mexican drug lords were detained after landing in a plane in the United States in July just got stranger.

The Mexican government now says it is bringing charges against Joaquín Guzmán López, but not because he was a leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel founded by his father, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Instead, Mexican prosecutors are bringing charges against the younger Guzmán for apparently kidnapping Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada — an older drug boss from a rival faction of the cartel — forcing him onto the plane and flying to an airport near El Paso, Texas.

The younger Guzmán apparently intended to turn himself in to U.S. authorities, but may have brought Zambada along as a prize to sweeten any plea deal.

Federal prosecutors issued a statement saying “an arrest warrant has been prepared” against the younger Guzmán for kidnapping.

But it also cited another charge under an article of Mexico’s criminal code that defines what he did as treason. That section of the law says treason is committed “by those who illegally abduct a person in Mexico in order to hand them over to authorities of another country.”

That clause was apparently motivated by the abduction of a Mexican doctor wanted for allegedly participating in the 1985 torture and killing of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Kiki Camarena.

Nowhere in the statement does it mention that the younger Guzmán was a member of th e “little Chapos” faction of the Sinaloa cartel, made up of Chapo’s sons, that smuggles millions of doses of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the United States, causing about 70,000 overdose deaths each year.

The federal prosecutors’ statement also included an unusually harsh and revealing description about evidence presented by prosecutors in the northern state of Sinaloa that has since proved to be false.

Sinaloa state prosecutors were apparently trying to distance the state’s governor, Rubén Rocha, from the killing of a local political rival, Hector Cuén, who was at a meeting that was used as a pretext for luring Zambada to the abduction site. Zambada has said he expected the governor to be at that meeting; Rocha has said he made a trip out of the state that day.

To play down reports of the purported meeting, state prosecutors published a video of an apparent shooting during what they claimed was a botched robbery at a local gas station. They said Cuén was killed there, not at the meeting site, where Zambada said Cuén was murdered.

While federal prosecutors stopped short of saying the gas station video was a fake, they earlier noted that the number of gunshots heard on the video didn’t match the number of gunshot wounds on Cuén’s body.

On Wednesday, the federal prosecutors went further, saying the video “is unacceptable, nor does it have sufficient value as evidence to be taken into account.”

Zambada has said that Guzmán, who he trusted, had invited him to the meeting to help iron out the fierce political rivalry between Cuén and Rocha. Zambada was known for eluding capture for decades because of his incredibly tight, loyal and sophisticated personal security apparatus.

The fact that he would knowingly leave that all behind to meet with Rocha means that Zambada viewed such a meeting as credible and feasible. The same goes for the idea that Zambada, as the leader of the oldest wing of the Sinaloa cartel, could act as an arbiter in the state’s political disputes.

The governor has denied he knew of or attended the meeting where Zambada was abducted.

The whole case has been an embarrassment for the Mexican government, which didn’t even know about the detentions of the two drug lords on U.S. soil until after the fact.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has long viewed any U.S. intervention as an affront, and has refused to confront Mexico’s drug cartels. He recently questioned the U.S. policy of detaining drug cartel leaders, asking, “Why don’t they change that policy?”

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) — US government indicts Guatemalan national on smuggling-related charges over 2022 deaths of 53 migrants in trailer.

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EL PASO (KVIA) - Wednesday, August 21st is National Fentanyl Prevention Awareness Day. Jennipher Talamantes spent the day in New York City while taking part in a special ceremony to pay tribute to the lives lost from fentanyl. She says a picture of her son, Jake, who passed away from fentanyl poisoning, was featured in time square, along with others.

Fentanyl is a drug that's killing people in the El Paso and Las Cruces area at alarming rates. As officers continue to crack down on drug dealers, more people who've lost loved ones to fentanyl are also joining the fight.

ABC-7's Paul Cicala caught up with Jennipher Talamantes Guerra, a grieving mother who's son tragically died from a fentanyl overdose, while she continues to raise awareness about the dangers of the drug in order to prevent other parents from experiencing the loss of a loved one.

It's been over four years since the death of her son, Jacob Talamantes, who took in a dose of fatal fentanyl poisoning.

"They told me that they had found my son deceased in a hotel," said Jennipher Talamantes, as she opened up about the day of her son's death on April 24th, 2020, "His so-called friends left him there to die. He had very little fentanyl in his system. Less than two milligrams."

It was enough fentanyl to be deadly, after she says that Jacob thought he was taking a percocet. However, the counterfeit drug was laced with fentanyl.

Towanda Thorne-James, Special Agent in Charge for DEA El Paso Division, said, "One pill can kill. Fentanyl is extremely dangerous."

Towanda Thorne-James says that traces of fenanyl are commonly found in prescription drugs that may derive from the streets, and -not- the pharmacies. .

"You should not take a pill that has not been prescribed to you by your doctor or a pharmacist," said Towanda.

Since the death of Jake Talamantes, just 25 years old, Jenipher Talamantes has begun the non-profit called "Fighting to Save Lives in the 915" to not only pay tribute to her son's life, but to reach out to parents through fentanyl awareness programs.

"It's so important that parents become aware of the dangers of fentanyl, and speak to their children," said Jenipher Talamantes.

She's warning families that fentanyl deaths aren't just relegated to drug-abusers on the streets, which is something echoed by Special Agent Thorne-James, who recommends parents to "Advise your children on the dangers of social media, because, this is what they're utilizing. It's a on one stop shop, so if you have a phone, then you have a drug dealer."  

DEA laboratory testing reveals that six out of ten fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills now contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, and, Talamantes reiterated to ABC-7's Paul Cicala that "even college students dealing with stress can be exposed to fentanyl without knowing."

Talamantes adds, "It's not that they're drug addicts. They just took a xanax for anxiety. They just ran out of their xanax pill, and their friend happened to give them xanax that was laced with fentanyl."

Special Agent Thorne-James said, "People aren't only being poisoned by fentanyl. They don't even know they're taking it. They don't know that it's in every drug imaginable. They don't know that it's in cocaine, that it's in methamphetamine, that it's in marijuana." 

According to the El Paso County Attorney's office, deaths from fentanyl have risen gradually from 75 in 2021 to 79 in 2022 and 96 in 2023.

Southern New Mexico is also seeing a rise in fentanyl-related deaths.

According to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety's "High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program", in 2021 there were 57 deaths linked to fentanyl.

In 2022, the number remained the same with 57 deaths, and in 2023, it rose to 61 people killed from fentanyl.

Towanda Thorne-James, Special Agent in Charge for DEA El Paso division, said "There is demand for the fentanyl and our priority is to save American lives, so we continue to focus on our outreach."

She says, the DEA is putting pressure on the organizations who control the fentanyl distribution.

Some strategies appear to be working, at least in the Las Cruces area, where the handing out of Narcan, the brand name for the drug Naloxone, can help revive someone who may have overdosed from fentanyl. Thorne-James tells ABC-7's Paul Cicala that it's helping to keep the deaths from having such a marked increase that we've seen nationwide.

The New Mexico Department of Public Safety's "High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program" released graphics indicating:

From 1999, when talking about National Drug-Related overdoses as a whole, there were less than 20,000 in 1999.

Meanwhile the numbers have steadily grown over the last two decades to a whopping 106,699 deaths associated to drug overdoses in 2021, nationwide.

When ABC-7's Paul Cicala asked Jennipher Talamantes if she could give a direct message to people who are dealing fentanyl to youngsters out there, what would she tell them, the grieving mother answered, "What if you were killing one of your own children? They don't know the pain that they cause parents who are losing their children or family. And, not until it happens to them, are they going to feel the pain."

And, -that pain- of a mourning mom's memories of that devastating day lingers on.

"It still seems like it was just yesterday.  So it doesn't get easy. It's still difficult," said Talamantes, "We really miss him."

If you would like to donate to "Fighting to Save Lives in the 915", just click on THIS LINK.

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SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) -- U.S. Representative for New Mexico's 2nd District Gabe Vasquez hosted a binational meeting along with Juárez Mayor Cruz Pérez Cuéllar, Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea, and other local and federal officials.

They met at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.

The meeting was to discuss current binational trade, economic opportunities, and issues related to immigration, among other topics.

Border communities like Sunland Park and Juárez want to keep working together to have economic development on both sides of the border.

"We want to get some commitments from the government, both the municipal government of Ciudad Juárez and also the state government of Chihuahua. As the US invests in infrastructure on our side of the border, that we will have that infrastructure matched on the Mexican side," said Rep. Vasquez.

"We want to talk about the evolving process of asylum-seeking, legislation, and policy so that we can make sure that as folks come into the border area and that we have systems set up for asylum seekers, that they are both safe, that they are not being preyed on by the cartels, and that folks are being held accountable on both sides of the border, as they make their journey to the United States," Rep. Vasquez added.

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Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil will begin imposing restrictions on the entry of some foreign citizens from Asia who are seeking refuge in the country as a means to migrate to the United States and Canada. The justice ministry’s press office said on Wednesday that the restrictions will begin on Monday, and will affect Asian migrants who require visas to remain in Brazil. A Federal Police investigation has shown these migrants often buy flights with layovers in Sao Paulo’s international airport en route to other destinations, but stay in Brazil as means to begin their journey north. A document says that the majority of requests for refuge at the airport comes from people with Indian, Nepalese or Vietnamese nationalities.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A 43-year-old Juarez woman was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for recruiting for a Mexican drug trafficking organization.

Karla Adriana Votta-Cardenas is said to have worked for a drug trafficking organization that is allegedly led by Jorge Sanchez-Morales.

Court documents state, the organization primarily trafficked methamphetamine in liquid form from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso.

Later, it was transported to Atlanta, Georgia concealed in fuel tanks of semi tractors. The liquid methamphetamine was then converted to crystal form and distributed.

Documents also state that Sanchez-Morales supervised the operation on behalf of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

Votta-Cardenas is said to have served as a large scale recruiter. Recruiting drivers through social media ads.

They say she recruited more than 20 drivers using social media, also concealed the fact that they were trafficking drugs.

Votta-Cardenas was arrested by Mexican authorities and extradited to the U.S. on November 1, 2023.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Law enforcement officers in El Paso arrested two Mexican bus drivers Saturday for the alleged smuggling of ammunition.

Court documents state that Lucio Enriquez Garcia was driving a Mexican charter bus through the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry when inspectors found 26 black totes containing 92,900 rounds of ammunition.

Garcia and his assistant bus driver, Ramiro Antonio Barbosa Resendiz, both denied having firearms to the inspectors. They claimed to be driving passengers from Phoenix, Arizona to Zacatecas, Mexico.

Officials charged Garcia and Resendiz with one count of smuggling goods from the U.S., according to officials. They could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Federal officials have not released the pair's booking mugshots.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)-- Officials with the El Paso Fire Department confirmed one person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries following a water rescue.

Authorities said the EPFD Water Rescue Team was called to the canal near the 10000 block of Pan American Dr. and Southside Rd. Tuesday morning.

The scene was turned over to U.S. Border Patrol. No other details were provided about the victim.

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Officials in Mexico say that one migrant was killed and eight were wounded when unidentified assailants in northern Mexico opened fire on the vehicle they were traveling in. The dead migrant was a boy from southern Mexico, and the wounded included Mexicans and people from Ecuador and Africa. Prosecutors in the northern state of Sonora said the attack took place Sunday in a township called Tubutama, about 47 miles (75 kilometers) south of Sasabe, on the Arizona border. No motive was given in the attack, but the area has been hit by violence between competing gangs of migrants smugglers allied with warring drug cartels.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Mexican drug lord Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada's case could be moved to Brooklyn after U.S. prosecutors presented a formal request to move the case from Texas to New York.

"El Mayo" was arrested on July 25 along with the son of "El Chapo", Joaquín Guzmán López at the Doña Ana County Jetport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

According to the federal court records, Federal prosecutors in Texas asked a court yesterday to hold a hearing to take the necessary procedural steps to transfer him to the New York jurisdiction that includes Brooklyn, where “El Chapo” was found guilty in 2019 on charges of drug trafficking and conspiracy and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mexican Officials and the country's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador have said recently they requested the flight information from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the route the plane where Zambada and Guzmán López took when they traveled from Mexico to the U.S.

They requested the aircraft's serial number, FAA records, passenger information, and customs and border authorization documents.

Zambada has appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas El Paso Division two times since his arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to several charges including drug trafficking and other charges.

U.S. Federal prosecutors in Texas submitted a plaintiff on Thursday to hold a hearing to take the procedural steps needed to move him to the Eastern District of New York.

U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza and Assistant U.S. Attorney Antonio Franco Jr. forwarded a copy of the plaintiff to "El Mayo's" lawyers Frank Perez and Ray Velarde.

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EL PASO (KVIA) -- Fentanyl is a drug that's killing people in the El Paso and Las Cruces area at alarming rates. As officers continue to crack down on drug dealers, more people who've lost loved ones to fentanyl are also joining the fight.

ABC-7's Paul Cicala caught up with Jennipher Talamantes Guerra, a grieving mother who's son tragically died from a fentanyl overdose, while she continues to raise awareness about the dangers of the drug in order to prevent other parents from experiencing the loss of a loved one.

It's been over four years since the death of her son, Jacob Talamantes, who took in a dose of fatal fentanyl poisoning.

"They told me that they had found my son deceased in a hotel," said Jennipher Talamantes, as she opened up about the day of her son's death on April 24th, 2020, "His so-called friends left him there to die. He had very little fentanyl in his system. Less than two milligrams."

It was enough fentanyl to be deadly, after she says that Jacob thought he was taking a percocet. However, the counterfeit drug was laced with fentanyl.

Towanda Thorne-James, Special Agent in Charge for DEA El Paso Division, said, "One pill can kill. Fentanyl is extremely dangerous."

Towanda Thorne-James says that traces of fenanyl are commonly found in prescription drugs that may derive from the streets, and -not- the pharmacies. .

"You should not take a pill that has not been prescribed to you by your doctor or a pharmacist," said Towanda.

Since the death of Jake Talamantes, just 25 years old, Jenipher Talamantes has begun the non-profit called "Fighting to Save Lives in the 915" to not only pay tribute to her son's life, but to reach out to parents through fentanyl awareness programs.

"It's so important that parents become aware of the dangers of fentanyl, and speak to their children," said Jenipher Talamantes.

She's warning families that fentanyl deaths aren't just relegated to drug-abusers on the streets, which is something echoed by Special Agent Thorne-James, who recommends parents to "Advise your children on the dangers of social media, because, this is what they're utilizing. It's a on one stop shop, so if you have a phone, then you have a drug dealer."  

DEA laboratory testing reveals that six out of ten fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills now contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, and, Talamantes reiterated to ABC-7's Paul Cicala that "even college students dealing with stress can be exposed to fentanyl without knowing."

Talamantes adds, "It's not that they're drug addicts. They just took a xanax for anxiety. They just ran out of their xanax pill, and their friend happened to give them xanax that was laced with fentanyl."

Special Agent Thorne-James said, "People aren't only being poisoned by fentanyl. They don't even know they're taking it. They don't know that it's in every drug imaginable. They don't know that it's in cocaine, that it's in methamphetamine, that it's in marijuana." 

According to the El Paso County Attorney's office, deaths from fentanyl have risen gradually from 75 in 2021 to 79 in 2022 and 96 in 2023.

Southern New Mexico is also seeing a rise in fentanyl-related deaths.

According to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety's "High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program", in 2021 there were 57 deaths linked to fentanyl.

In 2022, the number remained the same with 57 deaths, and in 2023, it rose to 61 people killed from fentanyl.

Towanda Thorne-James, Special Agent in Charge for DEA El Paso division, said "There is demand for the fentanyl and our priority is to save American lives, so we continue to focus on our outreach."

She says, the DEA is putting pressure on the organizations who control the fentanyl distribution.

Some strategies appear to be working, at least in the Las Cruces area, where the handing out of Narcan, the brand name for the drug Naloxone, can help revive someone who may have overdosed from fentanyl. Thorne-James tells ABC-7's Paul Cicala that it's helping to keep the deaths from having such a marked increase that we've seen nationwide.

The New Mexico Department of Public Safety's "High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program" released graphics indicating:

From 1999, when talking about National Drug-Related overdoses as a whole, there were less than 20,000 in 1999.

Meanwhile the numbers have steadily grown over the last two decades to a whopping 106,699 deaths associated to drug overdoses in 2021, nationwide.

When ABC-7's Paul Cicala asked Jennipher Talamantes if she could give a direct message to people who are dealing fentanyl to youngsters out there, what would she tell them, the grieving mother answered, "What if you were killing one of your own children? They don't know the pain that they cause parents who are losing their children or family. And, not until it happens to them, are they going to feel the pain."

And, -that pain- of a mourning mom's memories of that devastating day lingers on.

"It still seems like it was just yesterday.  So it doesn't get easy. It's still difficult," said Talamantes, "We really miss him."

Wednesday, August 21st is National Fentanyl Prevention Awareness Day. Jennipher Talamantes will be in New York City on that day for a special ceremony to pay tribute to the lives lost from fentanyl. She says a picture of her son, Jake, will appear in time square, along with others.

If you would like to donate to "Fighting to Save Lives in the 915", just click on THIS LINK.

The post “Xtra Depth”: Mother grieves for son lost to fentanyl, while she & DEA continue fight to prevent drug deaths appeared first on KVIA.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in Mexico’s border state of Sonora have arrested a local police officer in the killing of an American man in July. The Sonora state prosecutors’ office identified the victim only by his given names, Kevin Ray. The office says the man had fired a weapon at a relative of the city police officer at a nightclub in the coastal city of Guaymas, killing him.  Prosecutors say the American fled the scene and the officer pursued and killed him. The police officer has been arrested and faces homicide charges. The U.S. Embassy did not immediately answer queries about the American’s name and hometown.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Dozens of migrants and staff at both the Kiki Romero and Leona Vicario migrant shelters gathered at the Estadio 20 de Noviembre in Ciudad Juárez for the second edition of the Copa América Migrante, or Migrant America Cup.

Representing eight countries, they gathered to enjoy one of their favorite sports: soccer.

Juarez Human Rights Department Director Santiago González Reyes said the event is exciting because this is the only sporting tournament in the world designed for the participation of migrants.

ABC-7 was at the tournament and spoke with some of the migrants, who said they were excited to play fútbol in Juárez.

Some migrants had just arrived at the border in recent days, excited to participate before continuing towards the United States.

The countries represented by the migrants were Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia, and Ecuador.

In a series of games, the tournament's winner is set to be crowned this afternoon.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Texas National Guard soldiers just reinforced the razor wire barrier along the border, according to Governor Greg Abbott.

The governor posted about the reinforcement on social media. He also included two pictures of soldiers doing the work.

El Paso

Texas National Guard soldiers reinforce the razor wire barrier to stop illegal entry.

Texas will continue to redouble our border security efforts. pic.twitter.com/WHIJFiVXOt

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 14, 2024

"Texas will continue to redouble our border security efforts," Abbott explained.

The razor wire barrier has been at the center of a legal fight in recent months.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, and Immigration Customs Enforcement agents, among others, continue to find stash houses across the Borderland.

With stash houses recently found inside homes and even short-term rentals, the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations told ABC-7 that HSI El Paso special agents have discovered more than 20 Airbnb properties that were used as stash houses in the past two years.

Last Friday, HSI EL Paso and Border Patrol agents arrested 13 migrants and 1 smuggler in a Central El Paso house rented on Airbnb; it was the second time that week. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) also assisted with this operation.

On Aug. 6, agents assigned to the Border Enforcement Task Force (BEST) also arrested 56 undocumented noncitizens in a stash house in West El Paso.

ABC-7 reached out to U.S. Border Patrol El Paso sector to learn more about the recent trend in stash houses in the El Paso - Ciudad Juárez Borderplex.

Agent and spokesman Orlando Marrero-Rubio said they are seeing a trend of transnational criminal organizations exploiting migrants with the false promise of a safe and secure passage into the country.

But for migrants, the reality is different as human smugglers only put them in danger risking their lives with no regard for the migrants' well-being.

Currently, El Paso Sector for FY2024, Border Patrol has seen 240 stash houses with 2,361 migrants rescued so far. On FY203 they saw a little over 260 stash houses.

Federal authorities continue to see a 37%decrease on the encounters and apprehensions of migrants.

This year, Border Patrol El Paso Sector has recorded over 218,000 encounters, this same time last year they saw 344,000.

"They're making them cross in remote areas almost already dehydrated. Most of the rescues occur within a mile of the border barrier, which tells us that they are being kept in stash houses outside of the U.S., where there's a lack of food, lack of nutrition. So when that migrant makes that entry, that illegal entry into the country, they're already dehydrated, in need of rescue."

This fiscal year the El Paso Sector has also seen an increase in migrant rescues and deaths with 828 rescues, last year it closed with 597, that's a 129% increase according to Agent Marrero-Rubio.

FY2023 closed with 149, this fiscal year has seen 155 so far.

"You understand, the migrants they don't know where they're going to cross. They do not dictate where they're going to cross. The transnational criminal organizations, the human smugglers, and the human trafficking traffickers are the ones that will dictate where they cross and where they will be taken," Agent Marrero-Rubio added.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Ciudad Juarez authorities continue to look for the people that shot and killed two men on the streets of a residential neighborhood.

Juarez authorities say the two men were driving in a Porche when they were shot in the Campestre neighborhood early Monday morning.

Officials have identified the victims as 27-year-old Carlos Alberto Hernández Toribio and 25-year-old Miguel Amador Zubía Martínez.

Our news partners in Juarez, Canal 44, shared video of the scene with ABC-7.

Officials say police found the bodies with gunshot wounds inside the car.

Weapon casings from an AR-15 assault and a 9 millimeter caliber were found.

According to the Chihuahua Prosecutor's Office, the shots were fired by an experienced gunman.

Officials say the victims were seen partying with friends Sunday night.

So far, no one has been arrested.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector says they have seen a recent increase in attacks against Border Patrol agents.

The El Paso Sector has seen 66 assaults against agents this Fiscal Year 2024 as of August 9. Fiscal Year 2023 saw a total of 104 assaults on El Paso agents. Each fiscal year starts in October.

Border Patrol says the frequency in attacks has increased with the influx of migrants trying to cross illegally into the border.

ABC-7 spoke with El Paso Border Patrol, who told us that these assaults often happen when migrants or smugglers get desperate and confrontational with agents.

Agent Orlando Marrero-Rubio, spokesperson for Border Patrol El Paso Sector, told ABC-7 that many times migrants and smugglers will try to use anything from rocks to punches against agents.

Marrero-Rubio says their agents are trained on the use of force to prepare for situations like these.

“The mission on the use of force situation or event is to de-escalate the situation as safely as possible for us and for the migrant,” said Marrero-Rubio.

Border Patrol told us that anyone who assaults or resists arrest by a federal officer will be arrested and charged with federal law 18 U.S.C. 111. Consequences that could lead to one to up to twenty years in prison.

Border Patrol also says that the majority of the assaults are happening in the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, area.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- In a join collaboration, Ciudad Juárez authorities and U.S. Marshals have arrested a woman wanted in the U.S. for allegedly committing crimes against health.

Authorities say Juanita H. was arrested in Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, on August 9th. U.S. Marshals had a warrant out for her arrest and notified Chihuahua authorities of the warrant.

Officials say Juanita H. was taken to the Puerto Palomas International Border where she was transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Juárez's Ecology Department recovered a female crocodile that was rescued by members of the city's Civil Protection Department on Sunday evening.

César Díaz Gutiérrez, head of Ecology, reported that the reptile is approximately eight months old and was found in the Luis Echeverría neighborhood at 7:30 in the afternoon, from where it was transferred to the Municipal Pet Rescue and Adoption Center (RAMM).

Díaz also said that Ecology notified the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (PROFEPA), the agency that will be in charge of taking the lizard, and if it has been legally acquired, it will be returned to the owner.

ABC-7 spoke with both departments this morning, Director Díaz said since the Egyptian cat was also rescued from CERESO 3, they have encountered several exotic animals.

Among them, is the crocodile, tigers, lions, foxes, snakes, raccoons, alligators, and caimans, among others.

It is unknown if PROFEPA took the crododile to another Juárez facility or in Mexico.

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JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Juarez is preparing to mark the eight anniversary of the death of legendary singer Juan Gabriel.

Ahead of the anniversary, the City of Juárez announced a 10-day event to commemorate Gabriel, who is widely considered one of the city's most famous residents.

Events will start on August 23 at 8 p.m. outside of Gabriel's home in Downtown Juárez with a formal reopening ceremony of the Juan Gabriel Museum.

The celebrations will go on until September 1, featuring concerts, parades, contests, marathons, and memorials, among other things.

All Borderland residents are invited to the celebrations in Juarez.

You can check the full list of events here.

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — The United States managed to arrest Mexico’s most-wanted drug lord, but Mexican prosecutors — and the president — now say they are considering bringing treason charges against those who handed him over. It’s part of the long strange trail of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who unexpectedly appeared on a flight in July arranged by another drug capo who decided to turn himself in. Officials say Joaquín Guzmán López — the son of imprisoned cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — flew to the U.S. on a private plane, but abducted Zambada before leaving Mexico and forced him onto the plane. Mexican prosecutors said late Sunday they were considering bringing treason charges.

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Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican drug cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada said he was ambushed and kidnapped when he thought he was going to meet the governor of the northern state of Sinaloa, then was taken against his will to the United States, according to a letter released Saturday by his lawyer.

In the two-page letter, Zambada said fellow drug lord Joaquín Guzmán López asked him to attend a meeting July 25 with local politicians, including Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya, from the ruling Morena party.

But he was led into a room where he was knocked down, a hood was placed over his head, he was handcuffed, and then taken in a pickup truck to a landing strip where he was forced into a private plane that finally took him and Guzmán López, one of the sons of imprisoned Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, to U.S. soil, according to the letter.

Zambada’s comments were released a day after the U.S. ambassador to Mexico confirmed that the drug lord had been taken to the United States against his will, when he arrived in Texas in July on a plane along with Guzmán López.

The letter raised question about links between drug traffickers and some politicians in Sinaloa, the Pacific coast state that is the home base of the Sinaloa cartel, but the governor denied any links to the criminals and said he was not in Sinaloa that day. After the arrests, he had said he was in Los Angeles.

“There is no complicity with crime,” Rocha said Saturday at an event in Culiacán alongside Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the country’s president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum.

“We have all the confidence in the governor,” López Obrador said.

Referring to his rivals, Rocha said, “They want to make me a narco by force.”

“If they said I was going to be there (at the meeting), they lied, and if he (Zambada) believed them, he fell into the trap,” the governor said.

Zambada’s letter didn’t say Rocha was at the meeting place.

It did say that at the site was Héctor Melesio Cuén, a former local congressman, former mayor of Culiacan and former rector of Sinaloa University, whom he described as “a long-time friend.” Mexican officials have said Cuén was murdered the same day, and Zambada’s letter said he was slain at the meeting place.

The trafficker said one of his security guards, who is now missing, was a commander of the judicial police of Sinaloa.

In early August, Zambada, 76, made his second appearance in U.S. federal court in Texas after being taken into U.S. custody the week before.

Guzmán López apparently had been in negotiations with U.S. authorities for a long time about possibly turning himself in. Guzmán López, 38, has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in federal court in Chicago.

But U.S. officials said they had almost no warning when Guzmán López’s plane landed at an airport near El Paso. Both men were arrested and remain jailed. They are charged in the U.S. with various drug crimes.

Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said the plane took off from Sinaloa and filed no flight plan. He stressed that the pilot wasn’t American, nor was the plane.

The implication is that Guzmán López intended to turn himself in, and brought Zambada with him to procure more favorable treatment, but his motives remain unclear.

Zambada was considered the Sinaloa cartel’s strategist and was thought to be more involved in its day-to-day operations than his better-known and flashier boss, “El Chapo,” who was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. in 2019.

Zambada’s faction of the Sinaloa cartel has been engaged in fierce fighting with another faction led by the sons of Guzmán.

Zambada was considered a good negotiator with his rivals and the most influential trafficker who “has been running extensive corruption networks across many administrations in Mexico,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Brookings Institution.

Zambada is charged in a number of U.S. cases, including in New York and California. Prosecutors brought a new indictment against him in New York in February, describing him as the “principal leader of the criminal enterprise responsible for importing enormous quantities of narcotics into the United States.”

___

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Mexico confirmed Friday that drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was brought to the United States against his will when he arrived in Texas in July on a plane along with fellow drug lord Joaquín Guzmán López.

Zambada’s attorney had earlier claimed the longtime chief of the Sinaloa cartel had been kidnapped. But officials had not confirmed that and Zambada’s age and apparent ill-health had led some to speculate he turned himself in.

U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar on Friday said “the evidence we saw … is that they had brought El Mayo Zambada against his will.”

“This was an operation between cartels, where one turned the other one in,” Salazar said. Zambada’s faction of the Sinaloa cartel has been engaged in fierce fighting with another faction, led by the sons of imprisoned drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Guzmán López is the half-brother of the factional leaders.

Salazar said no U.S. personnel, resources or aircraft were involved in the flight on which Guzmán López turned himself in, and that U.S. officials were “surprised” when the two showed up at an airport outside El Paso, Texas on July 25.

Frank Pérez, Zambada’s attorney, said in a statement in July that “my client neither surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the U.S. government.”

“Joaquín Guzmán López forcibly kidnapped my client,” Pérez wrote. “He was ambushed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquin. His legs were tied, and a black bag was placed over his head.”

Pérez went on to say that Zambada, 76, was thrown in the back of a pickup truck, forced onto a plane and tied to the seat by Guzmán López.

In early August, Zambada made his second appearance in federal court in Texas after being taken into U.S. custody the week before.

Guzmán López had apparently long been in negotiations with U.S. authorities about possibly turning himself in. Guzmán López, 38, has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in federal court in Chicago.

But U.S. officials said they had almost no warning when Guzmán López’s plane landed at an airport near El Paso. Both men were arrested and remain jailed. They are charged in the U.S. with various drug crimes.

Salazar said the plane had taken off from Sinaloa — the Pacific coast state where the cartel is headquartered — and had filed no flight plan. He stressed the pilot wasn’t American, nor was the plane.

The implication is that Guzmán López intended to turn himself in, and brought Zambada with him to procure more favorable treatment, but his motives remain unclear.

Zambada was thought to be more involved in day-to-day operations of the cartel than his better-known and flashier boss, “El Chapo,” who was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. in 2019.

Zambada is charged in a number of U.S. cases, including in New York and California. Prosecutors brought a new indictment against him in New York in February, describing him as the “principal leader of the criminal enterprise responsible for importing enormous quantities of narcotics into the United States.”

The capture of Zambada and Guzmán López — and the idea that one cartel faction had turned in the leader of the other — raised fears that the already divided cartel could descend into a spiral of violent infighting.

That prompted Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to take the unusual step of issuing a public appeal to drug cartels not to fight each other. ___

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

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SANTA TERESA, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Senator Martin Heinrich (D), and Representative Gabe Vasquez (D) of New Mexico will host a news conference following a tour of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry.

According to a spokesman for Senator Heinrich, the two will be discussing "how $400 million they secured for new, state-of-the-art inspection technologies for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) is helping law enforcement personnel crack down on fentanyl trafficking and strengthen border security."

Later in the day, Sen. Heinrich and Rep. Vasquez will host another news conference in Las Cruces to highlight the work of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program, as well as to talk about their additional efforts in combating the fentanyl crisis.

You can watch both of them live right here on KVIA.com, and on our KVIA mobile news app.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The Bridge of The Americas temporarily closed due to protesters standing in solidarity with Venezuela.

The peaceful protest called for Venezuela President Nicolas Madruo to honor the results of the election.

Political Expert Dr.Richard Pineda says "based on the CBP data, we know that there are a number of Venezuelans who are in El Paso and also had made it to Juarez and have been able to cross for their attempt to seek asylum."

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Homeland Security Investigations El Paso special agents busted their second stash house of the week Thursday.

They arrested 13 migrants, nine from Mexico and four from Guatemala, and an alleged American smuggler at a Central El Paso house. The house had been rented out on Airbnb.

The house is located on Cebada Street. HSI said they received a report of potential migrants inside of the home which led to the investigation.

"The migrants had been at the stash house for a day. And although the conditions inside the stash house were better than most, the migrants were crammed into small quarters," a spokesperson for HSI El Paso explained. "The group consisted of 10 men, two women, and a juvenile. The migrants’ ages ranged from 16 to 44. They were all turned over to U.S. Border Patrol for processing."

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