Border Report Live

A migrant advocacy organization in El Paso is working with Catholic churches to help migrant families affected by immigration raids.In the latest episode of Border Report Live, correspondents Julian Resendiz and Sandra Sanchez speak with Jesus de la Torre, assistant director for global migration at the nonprofit Hope Border Institute about how the organization is galvanizing support and resources to help Catholic churches, especially those in with smaller congregations, support migrants in West Texas and south of the border.Hope Border Institute officials along with El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz in October presented Pope Leo XIV a letter asking for the Catholic church to help migrants amid increasing raids and arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the United States.The pope has since criticized the Trump administration’s treatment of migrants, and he has urged Catholic dioceses in the United States to help families where they can.

Over 9,000 people have been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents this past year in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, according to construction industry officials who say workers are being targeted as the industry is hurting for labor.In the latest episode of Border Report Live, South Texas correspondent Sandra Sanchez speaks with Paul Rodriguez, president and CEO of Valley Land Title Company about how ICE arrests are causing financial instability among builders, suppliers and within financial loan companies in the Rio Grande Valley.Rodriguez was among community leaders who on Monday attended a symposium held by the South Texas Builders Association to address industry concerns.

Controlled blasting for border wall construction is taking place at the foot of a revered historic religious monument near El Paso, Texas.
The new border wall is being put in near Mount Cristo Rey, a mountain topped with 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Christ located at the intersection of Sunland Park, New Mexico, El Paso and Mexico.
Border Report’s El Paso correspondent Julian Resendiz describes the blasting and controversies surrounding it in the latest episode of Border Report Live, with South Texas correspondent Sandra Sanchez.
WATCH: Blasting for border wall construction begins at Mount Cristo ReyAlso, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, visited El Paso this week and talks to business leaders about ICE enforcement operations and recent deaths at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility commonly called “Camp East Montana.”

Rumors have started swirling that Arizona is the next stop for one of President Trump’s crackdowns on illegal immigration, and it has officials on alert.
The governor recently told reporters that she fears what has transpired in other U.S. cities, including this month’s deadly shooting in Minneapolis, could happen in her state.
Some Arizona lawmakers welcome the arrival of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and are trying to pass legislation that would severely punish those who interfere with immigration officers.
But Arizona has been dealing with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown for months.

Just days after voting to advance a war powers resolution to block President Trump from using military force in Venezuela, two Republican senators changed course and helped defeat it.
The two senators, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana, came under immediate fire from the Trump administration.
Pablo Manriquez, editor of Migrant Insider, says Hawley’s decision to reverse his vote likely had more to do with helping his state in the long run than looking out for the people of Venezuela.
Manríquez is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist who reports from the halls of Congress. He appeared on Border Report Live to discuss the ever-evolving situation in Venezuela on Capitol Hill.

A congressman from New Mexico is blasting the Trump administration’s plan to build a $1.6 billion stretch of border barrier in a remote portion of his district.
The area known as the Bootheel of New Mexico is sparsely populated, mountainous and is seeing little migrant or drug smuggling activity, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico, said Wednesday on Border Report Live.
“This Bootheel border wall project is the absolute definition of waste and will do nothing to make our country safer,” Vasquez said. “American taxpayers will get zero return on their investment if the Department of Homeland Security pursues this plan to build a $1.6 billion dollar border wall in one of the most rugged, remote stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border.”
The contract awarded to Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. consists of a 49-mile barrier in Hidalgo County, New Mexico. It includes a primary border wall system, a secondary barrier and extensive motion detection technology. A dirt road to facilitate vehicle traffic by construction crews and Border Patrol vehicles also reportedly is under construction.

A migrant who was found in distress along the border on Christmas Day died at a hospital the following day.
U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Del Rio sector encountered the Mexican man sitting on a chair near the Rio Grande west of Del Rio, Texas, according to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In this episode of Border Report Live, we discuss the lawsuits have been filed against the government over the care of the migrants in their custody.

A crime reporter became the first to be killed this new year in Mexico, which has been historically one of the deadliest countries for journalists.
According to the Associated Press, local news outlets identified the reporter as Carlos Castro, the director of Código Norte Veracruz. He was shot and killed at a restaurant in Poza Rica, in the Gulf state of Veracruz.
Like Castro, Mexicans journalist risks their lives when they go to work. Castro had reportedly left Veracruz for months to escape threats.
In this Episode of Border Report Live, host Rudy Mireles and El Paso correspondent Julian Resendiz discuss some of the dangers reporters face in places like Mexico and along the border, especially those who cover crime.