(NEW YORK) — The Border Patrol has made fewer than 1,800 apprehensions per day over the past week, a major decline following the implementation of new asylum restrictions that significantly cut humanitarian protections for those who cross the border illegally.
Migrant encounters along the southern border are down 55% since the restrictions took effect seven weeks ago, according to new data from the Department of Homeland Security.
The Border Patrol made 83,536 apprehensions in June, the lowest number since Biden took office in Jan. 2021.
DHS officials credit a dual-track approach that balances increased enforcement measures along with the expansion of new options for legal migration. The measures, announced at the beginning of last month, all but banned asylum for those who crossed into the U.S. illegally. Meanwhile, at U.S. ports of entry, the administration continues to admit a limited number of pre-screened migrants for asylum processing.
“So it’s the kind of culmination of a yearslong effort to build up both of those things, and I think that we are really seeing that pay dividends,” one senior Customs and Border Protection Official said.
“We’ve been kind of building up both enforcement at the border and access to lawful pathways since, since we started here,” the official added.
The official said the White House has been directly involved in this effort, including Vice President Kamala Harris herself, to craft the strategy that has brought illegal border crossings down dramatically.
“I think we’ve, we’ve got some real positive impacts here, and we’re also continuing to work to maximize them, and to double down on these efforts, both ourselves and in coordination with our foreign partners, to not only maximize enforcement at our border, but to disrupt the way that people are moving up and getting to our border,” the official said.
DHS continues to engage in an aggressive deportation effort, removing or voluntarily returning 65,000 individuals to more than 125 countries, with more than 200 international repatriation flights in recent weeks, according to DHS. The number of people released into the U.S. pending deportation proceedings has declined by 70%, officials say.
The San Diego region continues to see the highest level of migrant encounters compared to other border regions, but those numbers have reduced by 60% in recent weeks, according to a senior CBP official.
“So we’re really now, just now, starting to see the full impact out there,” the official told ABC News. “And I think that’s definitely an indication of success, and also something that we continue to work to even see if we can achieve further results.”
(NEW YORK) — In early July, a man wearing a gator face mask, sunglasses, and camera equipment attached to a vest walked into the elections building in King County, Washington, and began to take videos and photos of the employees and their surroundings.
The man, according to a video obtained by ABC News, approached a counter and began harassing the election workers as he recorded them with his equipment.
After he left, the man posted a video of the interaction on YouTube and published some of the staff’s names, emails, and phone numbers, which officials said resulted in “dozens of calls and emails” to election workers.
The incident, which left King County employees feeling uneasy, is an example of the ongoing harassment and threats election workers are facing as they prepare for November’s election.
Experts and election workers say the threats began after baseless claims of election fraud proliferated following the 2020 election, and they have not slowed down. And with the potential misuse of artificial intelligence and the threat of deadly opioids being mailed to election offices, election workers ABC News spoke with said they are feeling even more unnerved.
The concerns from election workers come months after former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss won a $148 million judgment after a judge found former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani guilty of defaming them. In an interview with ABC News’ Terry Moran in 2022, the mother and daughter described how threats of violence, both online and in person, temporarily drove Freeman from her home and drove them both from their work as election officers.
“Election workers are still dealing with a lot of lies that are being told about the elections, and are in many ways bearing the kind of the consequences of those lies with harassment, abuse and sometimes threats,” said Lawrence Norden, senior director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a bipartisan public policy think tank.
Stocking up on Narcan
Last August, when King County received an envelope with a suspicious substance in the mail, it also came with an unsettling message: “Enjoy some complimentary WHITE POWDER! Not saying what it is but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ASKING AROUND FOR A NARCAN!”
“There must be: NO MORE ELECTIONS!” the letter said.
After law enforcement confirmed the envelope contained traces of fentanyl, election officials in the county implemented robust safety protocols and stocked up on Narcan — a drug that’s sprayed directly into the nostrils of someone experiencing an overdose by touching or inhaling an opioid, which blocks the effects of opioids and can quickly restore breathing.
Two months later, the county was targeted again with another letter in an envelope that was also laced with the deadly opioid.
“It was terrifying,” said Julie Wise, the director of elections for King County.
After election offices in four other states received envelopes with fentanyl and other dangerous substances last year, election workers added Narcan to the safety measures they’re implementing heading into the election.
In Washoe County, Nevada, interim registrar of voters Cari Anne Burgess told ABC News the county has 35 kits of Narcan.
“We absolutely have our Narcan kits,” Burgess said. “We’ve all been trained on it and we’ve also been trained on ‘Stop the Bleed.'”
“Fentanyl is of big concern these days,” said Josh Zygielbaum, the clerk and recorder for Adams County, Colorado. “We now have Narcan everywhere, and have changed our mail-opening processes due to some concerns that we could be a target for potential biological or chemical threat.”
Zygielbaum said that since the 2020 election, he has worn a bulletproof vest to work every day — an extreme measure he felt he had to take to feel safe.
“It’s sad, but I love what I do,” Zygielbaum said. “Without having safe and secure elections, we don’t have a democracy. And so it really is the front line of the fight to preserve democracy.”
Fighting the threat of AI
While election officials work to combat physical threats, experts say artificial intelligence could potentially pose an even greater danger to the electoral process.
In January, AI-generated robocalls that appeared to impersonate the voice of President Joe Biden targeted voters in New Hampshire to discourage them from voting in the primary.
“The threat from AI is potentially a change in the degree of what [election workers] have seen before,” Norden from the Brennan Center told ABC News.
Zygielbaum, who said he is increasingly concerned about AI, said his county has been working with local schools that have STEM programs to learn more about the technology and how to make voters more aware of its dangers.
In King County, Wise told ABC News that AI has been a boon to the county’s election operation — but she’s still concerned about its misuse.
“AI has allowed us to save at least $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to use towards translation services,” Wise said. “So there’s certainly pros and cons to this technology and it’s definitely been a big conversation in the election community nationwide.”
At the same time, Wise, said, “We’re poised really well to react to any mis- or disinformation that can result from AI.”
Wise and other officials told ABC News that the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is working with election workers across the country to teach them about AI and how to identify potential threats and disinformation created with the technology.
According to a report from the Brennan Center, AI has the potential to threaten election security not only by more effectively spreading disinformation, but also by more easily exploiting cyber vulnerabilities in election systems.
“The misinformation, the threats, the attempts to intimidate election officials — that all existed before,” said Norden. “It’s just that now, AI makes it easier to do at a larger scale and in a more sophisticated way.”
(LAS VEGAS) — A tourist from Belgium has been hospitalized in Las Vegas after suffering third-degree burns to his feet while walking on sand dunes in Death Valley, officials said.
The 42-year-old man was wearing flip flops when officials from the National Park Service said that they either broke or he lost them in the sand last Saturday at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
Air temperatures were 123 degrees at the time, but park officials say that the sand temperatures would have been much hotter.
“The man’s family called for help and recruited other park visitors who carried the man to the parking lot,” according to the NPS statement. “Park rangers determined the man needed to be transported to a hospital quickly due to his burns and pain level.”
Mercy Air’s helicopter was not able to safely land in Death Valley due to extreme temperatures which can reduce rotor lift so park rangers initially transported the victim by ambulance to a landing zone at a higher elevation, which was 109 degrees. From there, the Belgian tourist was taken by Mercy Air to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas where he is being treated for his injuries.
“Park rangers recommend that summer travelers to Death Valley National Park stay within a 10 minute walk of an air conditioned vehicle, not hike after 10 a.m., drink plenty of water, eat salty snacks and wear a hat and sunscreen,” said the National Park Service following the incident.
(NEW YORK) — A man shot three tree workers while they were clearing trees for a power company before being shot himself by police officers during his arrest, police said.
The incident began near Murphytown, North Carolina, located in the Green Mountain area of Yancey County, when local resident 36-year-old Lucas Wilson Murphy confronted contract workers clearing the right of way for the power company, according to a statement from the Yancey County Sheriff’s Office released on Wednesday.
“Mr. Murphy was armed during the confrontation with the tree service workers, and subsequently, three workers were shot,” authorities said in their statement. “All three victims sustained serious injuries and were transported to area hospitals where they are receiving medical treatment.”
Yancey County Deputies immediately responded to the scene and began to exchange gunfire with Murphy as they attempted to arrest him.
“During this exchange, an officer-involved shooting took place, resulting in Mr. Murphy sustaining an injury,” police said. “He was then immediately taken into custody. Murphy was transported to an area hospital, where he is being treated for his injury.”
Authorities did not release any possible motives in the case but the Yancey County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation confirmed that they are conducting a thorough investigation into the incident.
“I want to start out by saying that my thoughts and prayers are with the Asplundh victims of today’s shooting for a speedy recovery. I am so proud of my incredible deputies and dispatchers! They did an awesome job responding and getting the situation under control quickly,” said Yancey County Sheriff Shane Hilliard in a post on social media following the shooting. “I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Heritage EMS, the out-of-county EMS departments, fire departments, rescue squad, and the other law enforcement agencies that sent personnel to assist.”
The conditions of the three workers are currently unknown and additional information will be released as it becomes available.
(NEW YORK) — A 70-year-old man is in “good spirits” after being found nearly a week after going missing while on an off-road trail in California, authorities said Wednesday.
Warren Elliott got lost after walking away from his group while on the Rubicon Trail in Placer County Friday afternoon, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
Following a dayslong search in tough terrain, Elliott was found “safe and uninjured” Wednesday morning at Hell Hole Reservoir, the sheriff’s office said. A person texted 911 at approximately 8 a.m. PT that they were with a missing person who was determined to be Elliott, the sheriff’s office said.
Elliott was camping in Rubicon Springs with a group doing trail rehab ahead of an upcoming event dubbed the Jeepers Jamboree when he got lost after going out for a walk, the sheriff’s office said. He was familiar with the area but upon returning from his walk he went in the wrong direction, according to the sheriff’s office.
Elliott managed to drink water from a river and ate a “handful of berries” while lost, the sheriff’s office said.
He was found roughly nine miles from the point where he was last seen though had walked much farther than that over the past five days, the sheriff’s office said.
Elise Soviar, a spokesperson for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, said Elliott was airlifted out of the area by helicopter. The remote region, located west of Lake Tahoe, is accessible by road, though a helicopter was the quickest way to evacuate him, she said.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter transported him to the command post at Homewood Mountain Resort, where he was “greeted by cheers and clapping” and reunited with his family, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office released a video of Elliott’s emotional return, in which he could be seen in the now-tattered shirt he was wearing when he went missing.
“This is a tremendous relief for Mr. Elliott’s family and friends,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media post. “A heartfelt thank you to all the search and rescue teams who tirelessly assisted from across the state.”
The sheriff’s office said they were also “immensely grateful to Jeepers Jamboree,” which provided food, drinks and a place to camp overnight amid the search.
Dozens of searchers from 10 agencies across the state were involved in the search, which also used drones and dog teams, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Rubicon Trail is an approximately 22-mile-long route near Lake Tahoe that features a popular off-highway vehicle trail.
“Tears of joy are flowing this morning,” the Jeepers Jamboree said on social media after Elliott was found. “All of us at Jeepers Jamboree are so incredibly relieved to have Warren found! We can’t express the appreciation we have for everyone who has been a part of finding Warren!”
(NEW YORK) — A Connecticut woman was found dead at her home on Wednesday, hours before she was scheduled to be sentenced for killing her husband.
Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi, 76, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in March in the 2017 death of her husband, 84-year-old Pierluigi Bigazzi, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. Police found the University of Connecticut Health doctor and professor dead in the basement of the couple’s Burlington home while responding to a welfare check call from his employer, who had not heard from him for several months, prosecutors said.
Kosuda-Bigazzi also pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny for continuing to receive her husband’s pay following his death, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. Investigators found that checks from her husband’s employer were deposited into the couple’s joint checking account from his death in July 2017 until the discovery of his body in February 2018, prosecutors said.
Kosuda-Bigazzi’s hearing was scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Her death was “not anticipated,” according to her attorney.
“We were honored to be her legal counsel and did our very best to defend her in a complex case for the past six years,” her attorney, Patrick Tomasiewicz, said in a statement. “She was a very independent woman who was always in control of her own destiny.”
Connecticut State Police said they have opened an “untimely death” investigation in the incident.
Troopers responded to her home Wednesday morning after an individual reported at approximately 10:37 a.m. ET that they were at her residence but were unable to make contact with her, state police said.
With help from the local fire department, troopers entered the residence and found Kosuda-Bigazzi unresponsive inside, state police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
No additional details were released by state police.
ABC News has reached out to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice for comment.
Kosuda-Bigazzi had been out on $1.5 million bail while awaiting sentencing.
Police found handwritten documents at the home in which Kosuda-Bigazzi claimed she had killed her husband in self-defense, according to court records.
Bigazzi’s death was ruled a homicide by blunt injuries to the head, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Bigazzi was a UConn Health faculty member in the School of Medicine for over 40 years. Kosuda-Bigazzi also worked at UConn Health from 1986 to 1998 as a science instructor and she then volunteered, helping her husband through the summer of 2017, school officials said.
(NEW YORK) — The man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie on stage at a speaking event in upstate New York in 2022 now faces federal terrorism charges, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.
Hadi Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, was indicted by a grand jury on three counts, including attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and providing material support to terrorists. The indictment alleges that he “knowingly did attempt to provide material support and resources” to Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and “had engaged, and was engaging, in terrorism.”
Matar was also charged with an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries for the attack against Rushdie on Aug. 12, 2022, at the Chautauqua Institution in southwestern New York. The indictment alleges that he “did knowingly attempt to kill, and did knowingly maim, commit an assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and assault with a dangerous weapon.”
The grand jury was empaneled in July 2023 though the charges weren’t filed until July 17, according to the indictment.
Matar has not yet entered a plea on the federal charges, according to online court records. ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment.
Matar has pleaded not guilty to two state charges — second-degree attempted murder and assault — in connection with the attack.
The new charges come after Matar rejected a plea deal earlier this month that involved the state and not-yet-filed federal charges.
The deal required a guilty plea to the top state count of second-degree attempted murder for a sentence of 20 years — down from a maximum of 25 years for the charge, the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office said.
Under the deal, state and federal prosecutors agreed to the 20-year sentence “with the understanding that Mr. Matar would also plea to a charge in federal court and receive an additional 10-20 years in a federal facility,” the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement to ABC News at the time.
The federal sentence would have run consecutive to his state sentence, for 30 to 40 years of total incarceration plus lifetime supervision upon release, the office said.
The defense had made a counteroffer that proposed a 15-year sentence for the second-degree attempted murder charge, which was rejected by the state, his public defender, Nathaniel Barone II, told ABC News.
“At that point, it was determined that he was not going to accept the state’s offer,” Barone said at the time.
Matar, who was 24 years old at the time of the attack, remains in custody at the Chautauqua County Jail.
The trial in the state case was pushed back last week from September to October. Both men are expected to testify.
Rushdie is now blind in his right eye from the attack, which he recounted in a new book, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.
(NEW YORK) — Several people were taken to the hospital after an escalator caught fire at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told ABC News.
The small fire in Concourse C sent smoke billowing through the airport’s Terminal 8 at about 7 a.m.
Nine people received minor injuries due to smoke inhalation, four of whom were hospitalized, according to New York ABC station WABC-TV. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening.
About 960 people were evacuated on buses to another area of the terminal, officials said.
One traveler, Nate Peckinpaugh, told ABC News he had been about to board a flight from New York to Washington, D.C., when the fire broke out.
“I was catching a flight at the exact terminal we evacuated from. The alarm was going off for a long time and no one was paying attention,” Peckinpaugh told ABC News.
“Eventually this woman started running around and yelling for someone to help,” he added.
Peckinpaugh recorded the incident on his phone, from the alarm going off at the terminal to passengers being escorted outside, some covering their faces from the smoke. Firefighters were then seen arriving at the scene, with a few people being rescued from the jet bridge while others were being put on stretchers to receive assistance.
Operations had resumed in the terminal by about 8:15 a.m., officials said, and the cause of the fire is now under investigation.
HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(LOS ANGELES) — Agricultural officials in Southern California are battling an active infestation of red imported fire ants that are “highly aggressive in nature,” and pose a risk to California’s agricultural economy.
The infestation occurred at a private property in Montecito, in Santa Barbara County, according to a recent press release from the Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office.
Located over 90 miles north of Los Angeles, Montecito is best known as a celebrity enclave with Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle among the town’s residents.
Officials did not name the owners of the private property.
Venom released from the ants’ stings can cause “painful pustules on the skin, and can be particularly dangerous, even fatal, to sensitive groups or those with an allergy to the venom,” officials said in the July 18 release.
Red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, pose “an immediate threat” to California’s agricultural economy because they require a quarantine of nursery products, officials said.
The ant species is native to South America but has established populations in parts of Southern California, particularly in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties. The first recorded presence of the species in California was in 1984.
Siavash Taravati, an entomologist and integrated pest management advisor with the University of California’s Cooperative Extension offices, noted the distinction between this species of ants and ants native to California.
Native fire ants and argentine ants appear similar to red imported fire ants in size and color but the quickest way to differentiate them is by their “aggressive behavior,” Taravati told ABC News.
The ants’ stinging behavior is hazardous to fieldworkers and infestations can clog irrigation systems and damage electrical wiring, Taravati said.
The presence of red imported fire ants is known to increase the cost of fruit picking in the region, according to Taravati, due to the health dangers associated with the species.
The ants can also threaten wildlife and displace native ant species, Taravati said.
This is the only known active infestation in Santa Barbara County, according to officials, who said there are currently no red imported fire ant quarantines in place.
The infestation is believed to have originated from a nursery stock shipped from Riverside County in September 2023, which was infested by the red ants and spread to the surrounding property.
Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office staff are conducting regular surveys of the impacted property and determining appropriate treatments by a licensed and registered pest control business, according to the release.
Officials are working in collaboration with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), and Riverside County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office staff.
(HOUSTON) — A suspect has been identified after an abandoned newborn was found crying by a dumpster in Houston, police said Wednesday.
A person called 911 early Sunday afternoon reporting that they had heard a baby crying near a dumpster at an apartment complex, according to Houston Police Department spokesperson Jodi Silva.
First responders found the infant in the dumpster area, Silva said. Video captured by a bystander showed first responders rescuing the baby from the dumpster and appearing to swaddle him in a blanket.
The newborn was transported to a local hospital and is believed to be in good health, Silva said.
Child Protective Services has since taken custody of him, she said. It is unclear how long the infant was by the dumpster.
Police have been investigating the incident, including checking surveillance footage, to identify who placed the newborn there and any potential witnesses, Silva said.
Police have since identified a suspect and “are continuing to work through the investigation,” Silva said.
No additional details on the suspect have been released at this time, including their alleged connection to the incident. The name of the suspect will not be released until charges have been filed, Silva said.
