U.S. flights to Mexico fail to cut migrant deaths
A U.S. government program that returns illegal immigrants to Mexico by flying them deep into the country is ineffective at reducing the number of deaths in the Arizona desert, analysts said on Wednesday.
The Interior Repatriation Program of daily charter flights from Tucson to Mexico City and Guadalajara was implemented in 2004 to cut deaths in the summer months.
Instead of dropping the migrants near the border as is usually done, the program flies them hundreds of miles inside Mexico. The idea was to deter migrants from immediately reattempting to cross the border via the desert corridor from Mexico.
More : washingtonpost.com
US resumes repatriation flights for illegal immigrants from Mexico
The US Department of Homeland Security [official website] resumed its repatriation program [JURIST report; DHS backgrounder] for illegal immigrants from Mexico Friday with a flight carrying 67 people to Mexico City. This is the third straight summer that the federal government has used the program, which twice daily flies Mexicans caught illegally crossing the US-Mexico border to Mexico City and then buses them to their home communities. It specifically targets women, children, and those deemed at physical risk if they tried to cross the border again.
The US government hopes that the
US says migrant deaths at record on Mexico border
Deaths of illegal immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border soared to an all-time high in the past year, as a brutal heatwave killed hundreds in the remote Arizona desert, the U.S. agency in charge of border security said on Monday.
The U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection said at least 464 immigrants died crossing the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border during the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, a rise of 43 percent on the previous year and the highest number since records began.
Spokesman Mario Villarreal, speaking in a phone call from Washington, said well
Fog closes Mexico City airport, disrupting 71 flights
A blanket of fog closed Mexico City's airport for several hours early Monday, disrupting 71 international and domestic flights during the travel industry's busiest season, the airport spokesman said.
Authorities shut down the airport from 5:10 a.m. until 8:32 a.m., said Jose Luis Uribe, airport spokesman.
Officials canceled seven domestic flights and diverted 11 domestic flights to airports in Acapulco, Guadalajara and Morelia to wait until the airport reopened.
"This is the season for blankets of fog," Uribe said. "But because it is also vacation time, it's a problem."
Soure: signonsandiego.com
Gulf of Mexico dolphin deaths reported
Scientists concerned by bottlenose dolphin deaths in the Gulf of Mexico have reportedly asked for the marine mammal equivalent of a disaster declaration.
A 12-member working group of scientists voted Monday to recommend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration add the dolphin deaths to an "unusual mortality event" the group declared in March for manatees, the Naples (Fla.) Daily News reported Tuesday.
The scientists suspect "red tide" is responsible for the deaths and NOAA is expected to initiate a study of the microscopic algae bloom's effects on dolphins, manatees, sea turtles and even seabirds.
More: upi.com
Delta Adds Nonstop Flights From LAX To Mexico, Central America
Delta Air Lines announced Monday that it will add nonstop flights from Los Angeles International Airport to 11 destinations in Mexico and Central America later this winter.
The new routes are part of the airlines effort to accommodate Hispanic customers, officials said.
Los Angeles is at the heart of Hispanic culture in the United States and we are pleased to expand our service to meet the needs of our customers in this growing West Coast market, said Glen Hauenstein, an executive vice president with Delta.
Beginning in December, Delta Air Lines
Mexico pushing for probe in deaths of 2 immigrants
Their ire stoked by plans in Washington for tougher border enforcement, Mexican officials and politicians are pressing for investigations of the deaths of two young men while they were crossing illegally into the United States.
The men's deaths, one near San Diego last week and the other at Laredo in mid-December, are being blamed on the U.S. Border Patrol.
President Vicente Fox's government sent a diplomatic note this week to the Bush administration calling for an investigation into the Dec. 30 shooting death of Guillermo Martinez, 18, on the border near San Diego.
And
Delta could grow more in Brazil, Mexico
Even as Delta Air Lines Inc. struggles with its own bankruptcy, the airline could capitalize on the financial troubles of two international competitors: Mexicos AeroMéxico and Brazils Varig.
AeroMéxico, Mexicos biggest airline -- which is for sale -- has been reducing flights to some U.S. cities.
And Brazils largest carrier, the bankrupt Varig, made headlines recently by running out of operating cash, canceling hundreds of flights, and threatening to strand about 5,000 customers at the World Cup soccer competition in Germany -- including, some worried, Brazils national soccer team.
Enter Delta (OTC: DALRQ), which
Record deaths on US-Mexico border
A record number of illegal migrants have died while trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States, say US customs officers.
At least 464 had died in the past year to 30 September, they said. The figure is a 43% increase on the previous year.
High temperatures in June and July caused many deaths, but others were due to car accidents or drowning.
A more accurate reporting procedure in the Arizona area was another factor in the rise.
According to the Reuters news agency, border patrols also conducted a record number of 2,570
Beyond the season of death on the US-Mexico border
When I arrived in southern Arizona in the first days of June, temperatures were in the 90s - considerably more bearable than two weeks earlier when the mercury spiked and reached 115 degrees. The heat wave marked the early beginning of another "summer of death" in Arizona's Sonoran Desert: Authorities found the bodies of 12 unauthorized immigrants in the scorched terrain stretching from Yuma in the west to Douglas in the east.
This summer has been especially deadly in Arizona as migrants are perishing - most frequently from heatstroke and dehydration -
Several airlines have regular direct flights from Europe to Mexico City. Air France and AeroMexico from Paris; Iberia and AeroMe'xico from Madrid; KLM from Amsterdam; British Airways from London; Lufthansa and Delta from Frankfurt (LTU and Condor charter flights from Germany to Mexico City or Cancun); City Bird from Brussels. Aeroflot fly to Mexico City from Moscow via Shannon on Wednesday. Most connecting flights in Europe are through Madrid or Gatwick. Fares vary from airline to airline and according to time of year. Check with an agency for the best deal for when you wish to travel.
