USA - Asylum seekers treated like criminals: Men on horses chasing Black asylum seekers? Sadly, America has seen it before - by Moustafa Bayoumi

You’ve probably seen a photograph haunting the internet this week: a white-presenting man on horseback – uniformed, armed and sneering – is grabbing a shoeless Black man by the neck of his T-shirt. The Black man’s face bears an unmistakable look of horror. He struggles to remain upright while clinging dearly to some bags of food in his hands. Between the men, a long rein from the horse’s bridle arches menacingly in the air like a whip. The photograph was taken just a few days ago in Texas, but the tableau looks like something out of antebellum America.

The image is profoundly upsetting, not just for what it portrays but for the history it evokes. What’s happening at the border right now puts two of our founding national myths – that we’re a land of liberty and a nation of immigrants – under scrutiny. To put it plainly, we don’t fare well under inspection.

Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/23/men-on-horses-chasing-black-asylum-seekers-sadly-america-has-seen-it-before?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Coronavirua Travel Restrictions: Canada-U.S. border restrictions extended as U.S. congressman pushes for reopening plan

< The Canada-U.S. border will remain closed to non-essential travel until at least May 21. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair tweeted the extension this morning.

"We will continue to base our decisions on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe from COVID-19," he said.

Read more at a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/borer-closed-extended-may-1.5994968">Canada-U.S. border restrictions extended as U.S. congressman pushes for reopening plan | CBC News

Canadian-US relations: Trudeau and Trump are worlds apart on the Canada-U.S. border closure

Although Canada and the U.S. have agreed to close their shared land border to non-essential travel, they don't appear to agree on several related issues — including what to do next.

More than seven months after the border closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump have offered up contradictory messages about what happens now.

The Canada-U.S. border is set to stay closed until Oct. 21, and Trudeau implied this week that the date will be extended.

In an interview Wednesday on Winnipeg podcast The Start, Trudeau said Canada plans to keep the border closed as long as COVID-19 case counts in the U.S. remains high.

Read more at: 
Trudeau and Trump are worlds apart on the Canada-U.S. border closure | CBC News

Canada - US Relations: Canada-U.S. border will remain closed until Sept. 21

The federal government will extend the Canada-U.S. land border closure for another 30 days until Sept. 21, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Friday.

The closure to non-essential travel has been in place for months, but with caseloads still high in many U.S. states, the two governments have mutually agreed to continue restricting movement across the world's longest international border.

Read more at:
Canada-U.S. border will remain closed until Sept. 21 | CBC News

Canada-US Relations: Canadians travelling to or through U.S. should pay close atten to their withering rights

Travellers on their way from Canada into the United States should be aware that changes to the Canada-United States Preclearance Agreement, ostensibly enacted to increase the efficiency of travel and trade across the boundary, give U.S. officials dangerously extended power on Canadian soil.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-border-crossing-rights-1.5382547

Venezuela: the end of Maduro could be near as Venezuela soldiers abandon posts at Colombia border.

Venezuela soldiers abandon posts at Colombia border

Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-47343918

Mexico: US border authorities block Central American migrant caravan

US officials have told would-be asylum seekers at the Mexican border that the crossing is too full to process their cases. The migrants have already drawn the wrath of US President Trump during their trek through Mexico.

More than a hundred migrants from Central American countries have camped out at the US-Mexican border after being told by US border inspectors on Sunday that a crossing facility had no capacity for them

It was not immediately clear whether the migrants, who have traveled 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) through Mexico to the border at Tijuana, would be turned back or allowed in later.

"We have reached capacity at the San Ysidro port of entry," US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said in a statement. He added that the asylum seekers might need to wait temporarily in Mexico.

Organizers of the caravan expressed surprise that border inspectors were not ready to receive the group.

"They have been well aware that a caravan is going to arrive at the border," Nicole Ramos, a lawyer working on behalf of caravan members, told a news conference. "We can build a base in Iraq in under a week. We can't process 200 refugees. I don't believe it."

Read more: US border authorities block Central American migrant caravan | News | DW | 30.04.2018

IRELAND - Brexit: Theresa May accused of 'switching her language' over Irish border

Former taoiseach (Irish prime minster) Bertie Ahern has accused Prime Minster Theresa May of "switching her language" over a physical border between Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit.

He told The Observer that "any kind of physical border" would be "bad for the peace process".

Mrs May has said she wants a "seamless, frictionless border" after Brexit.

She also said that the ability of people to move freely across the border is "an essential part of daily life".

However, Mr Ahern, who played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process, said she appeared to be changing her stance.

"(May) seems to be switching her language," he said. 

Read more: : Brexit: Theresa May accused of 'switching her language' over Irish border - BBC News