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Trump visits US-Mexico border, lays out hard-line immigration proposals – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Mexico

beachfrontcabohouse

November 19, 2023

Trump visits US-Mexico border, lays out hard-line immigration proposals – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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Donald Trump will return to the U.S.-Mexico border for a visit Sunday as he promotes a hard-line immigration agenda that would be far more expansive than the policies he pursued during his first term as president.

Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks in Edinburg, Texas, after serving meals to National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving. He will be joined by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, a longtime ally and fellow border hawk who is expected to endorse the front-runner for the 2024 nomination during the visit, according to a person close to Trump who spoke on condition of anonymity before a formal announcement.

Trump has been laying out immigration proposals that would mark a dramatic escalation of the approach he used in office and that drew alarms from civil rights activists and numerous court challenges.

“On my first day back in the White House, I will terminate every open-borders policy of the Biden administration. I will stop the invasion on our southern border and begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” he said in Iowa Saturday.

He also wants to:

— revive and expand his controversial travel ban, which initially targeted seven Muslim-majority countries. Trump’s initial executive order was fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld what Trump complained was a “watered down” version that included travelers from North Korea and some Venezuelan officials.

— begin new “ideological screening” for all immigrants, aiming to bar “Christian-hating communists and Marxists” and “dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots and maniacs” from entering the United States. “Those who come to and join our country must love our country,” he has said.

— bar those who support Hamas. “If you empathize with radical Islamic terrorists and extremists, you’re disqualified,” Trump says. “If you want to abolish the state of Israel, you’re disqualified. If you support Hamas or any ideology that’s having to do with that or any of the other really sick thoughts that go through people’s minds — very dangerous thoughts — you’re disqualified.”

— deport immigrants living in the country who harbor “jihadist sympathies” and send immigration agents to “pro-jihadist demonstrations” to identify violators. He would target foreign nationals on college campuses and revoke the student visas of those who express anti-American or antisemitic views.

— invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove from the United States all known or suspected gang members and drug dealers. That law was used to justify internment camps in World War II. It allows the president to unilaterally detain and deport people who are not U.S. citizens.

— end the constitutional right to birthright citizenship by signing an executive order his first day in office that would codify a legally untested reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment. Under his order, only children with at least one U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident parent would be eligible for a passport, Social Security number and other benefits.

— terminate all work permits and cut off funding for shelter and transportation for people who are in the country illegally.

— build more of the wall along the border, crack down on legal asylum-seekers and reimplement measures such as Title 42, which allowed Trump to turn away immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

— press Congress to pass a law so anyone caught trafficking women or children would receive the death penalty.

— shift federal law enforcement agents, including FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration personnel, to immigration enforcement, and reposition at the southern border thousands of troops currently stationed overseas. “Before we defend the borders of foreign countries we must secure the border of our country,” he said.

Trump has made frequent trips to the border as a candidate and president. During his 2016 campaign, he traveled to Laredo, Texas in July 2015 for a visit that highlighted how his views on immigration helped him win media attention and support from the GOP base.

The border has also become a centerpiece of Abbott’s agenda and the subject of an escalating fight with the Biden administration over immigration. The three-term governor has approved billions of dollars in new border wall construction, authorized razor wire on the banks of the Rio Grande and bused thousands of migrants to Democrat-led cities across the United States.

Abbott is expected to soon sign what would be one of Texas’ most aggressive measures to date: a law that allows police officers to arrest migrants suspected of entering the country illegally and empowers judges to effectively deport them. The measure is a dramatic challenge to the U.S. government’s authority over immigration. It already has already drawn a rebuke from Mexico.

Still, the Texas GOP’s hard right has not always embraced Abbott. Trump posted on his social media platform earlier this year that the governor was “MISSING IN ACTION!” after Republicans voted to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Trump ally. Abbott was also booed at a 2022 Trump rally.

But Abbott’s navigation within the GOP has built him broad support in Texas, where he has outperformed more strident Republicans down-ballot and helped the GOP make crucial inroads with Hispanic voters.

Democrats tried to use the trip to portray Trump’s plans as extreme.

“Donald Trump is going after immigrants, our rights our safety and our democracy. And that is what really is on the ballot last year,” Biden reelection campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said on a conference call with reporters.

Pollings show many voters aren’t satisfied with the Biden administration’s handling of the border.

A Marquette Law School poll of registered voters conducted in late September gave Trump a 24-point advantage over Biden on handling immigration and border security issues — 52% to 28%.

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Climate change is hurting coral worldwide. But these reefs are thriving

Business

beachfrontcabohouse

November 19, 2023

Climate change is hurting coral worldwide. But these reefs are thriving

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OFF THE COAST OF GALVESTON, Texas — Divers descending into azure waters far off the Texas coast dip below a horizon dotted with oil and gas platforms into an otherworldly landscape of undersea mountains crusted with yellow, orange and pink coral as far as the eye can see.

Some of the world’s healthiest coral reefs can be found in the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) off the Texas coast. Sheltered in a deep, cool habitat far from shore, the reefs in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary boast a stunning amount of coral coverage. But scientists say that like all reefs, they are fragile, and their location will only offer protection for so long in the face of a warming climate.

“To see that much coral in one place is really magnificent — an experience that most people don’t get on reefs in this day and age,” said Michelle Johnston, the acting superintendent and research coordinator for the federally protected area.

The sanctuary had some moderate bleaching this year but nothing like the devastation that hit other reefs during the summer’s record-breaking heat. Still, Johnston said that’s among her top concerns for the sanctuary’s future. Waters that get too warm cause corals to expel their colorful algae and turn white. They can survive if temperatures fall but they are left more vulnerable to disease and may eventually die.

Florida’s coral reef — the world’s third-largest — experienced an unprecedented and potentially deadly level of bleaching over the summer. Derek Manzello, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Watch, said that so far this year, at least 35 countries and territories across five oceans and seas have experienced mass coral bleaching. He said it’s too early to know how much of Florida’s reefs will recover since coral may die as much as a year or two after the bleaching.

Manzello said climate models suggest that all of the world’s coral will be suffering severe bleaching every year beginning around 2040.

“If you have severe bleaching events every year, the prognosis is not good because that basically means the corals aren’t going to have a chance to recover,” he said.

Sanctuary officials say even in the occasional years when Flower Garden Banks has experienced more serious bleaching than this year, it has bounced back quickly thanks to its overall health and depth, and it’s already recovering this year.

A report expected in the coming months will look at the sanctuary’s vulnerability to the projected effects of climate change.

The Flower Garden Banks stands out for its amount of coral cover — an average of over 50 percent across some areas of the sanctuary — compared with around 10 percent cover in the Caribbean and Northwest Atlantic region, Manzello said. Its corals are also about 60 feet (18 meters) below the surface and surrounded by even deeper waters, compared with many reefs where corals are in shallower water just offshore.

In the early 1900s, fishermen told of peering into the Gulf’s waters and seeing a colorful display that reminded them of a blooming garden, but it was such an unusual spot so far from shore that scientists making the initial dives in the 1960s were surprised to actually find thriving coral reefs.

The corals in the Flower Garden Banks were able to flourish so far from shore because of mountain-like formations called salt domes, which lifted the corals high enough to catch the light, Johnston said.

Divers travel from around the world to see the reefs at Flower Garden Banks, where colorful fish, manta rays, sharks and sea turtles waft through and worms that look like Christmas trees pop in and out of corals.

Andy Lewis, a Houston attorney, said he knew from his first trip to the sanctuary about a decade ago that it was “going to have to be part of my life.” Lewis became a divemaster and is now president of Texas Caribbean Charters, which takes about 1,000 people a year out on diving trips there, with about half making a return trip.

“It’s just a real adventure,” said Lewis, who also serves on the sanctuary’s advisory board. “I love getting on the boat.”

That boat leaves from a spot near Galveston, where currents from Mississippi River drop sediment that turns the water near shore a murky brown. By the time the boat motors out to the sanctuary, the water is clear and blue.

“You drop down and you are on top of live coral as far as you can see,” Lewis said.

Lauren Tinnes, a nurse from Colorado, described rounding a bluff on her dive this fall and being surrounded by massive reefs as schools of fish darted through. She found the description from so long ago apt: “It’s like a field of flowers,” she said.

The Flower Garden Banks is one of 15 national marine sanctuaries and two national marine monuments protected by the NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, and the only one in the Gulf of Mexico.

The sanctuary is made up of 17 separate banks that cover 160 square miles (414 square kilometers). When it was designated in 1992, the sanctuary had two banks. Its largest and most recent expansion of 14 banks came in 2021, a process that included input from the advisory committee, which includes representatives from industries that rely on the Gulf, from oil and gas to recreation to fishing.

Johnston said that one way to help the reefs stay healthy is to reduce stresses. That includes making sure mooring buoys offer boats a place to tie up so their anchors don’t damage reefs, and removing invasive species that could cause the number of fish to decline.

Manzello said efforts like those are being done in hopes that greenhouse gas emissions will also be cut globally.

“We need all of these things happening in concert to really shepherd coral reefs through the next 20, 30, 40 years,” Manzello said.

Coral reefs support about a fourth of all marine species at some point in their life cycle. They are also economic drivers. By providing a home for fish that keeps them healthy, they support commercial fishing in addition to bringing in tourism revenue.

“Because coral reefs are declining all over the globe, when we find ones that are healthy, we want to keep them that way,” said Kelly Drinnen, education and outreach specialist for the Flower Garden Banks. “And they kind of serve as the repositories for what could help restore some other reef potentially in the future.”

In fact, samples of healthy corals from the sanctuary are being banked and studied in a lab at Galveston Island’s Moody Gardens, a tourist destination that includes an aquarium. That includes growing out fragments of coral with hopes of someday replanting them.

The Flower Garden Banks weren’t damaged by the massive oil spill that followed the deadly 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, but other reefs in the Gulf were. Data gathered from studying the sanctuary’s deeper habitat is being used to help guide restoration of those reefs.

Researchers are also studying the genetics of the Flower Garden Banks coral, including whether it’s different than species in Florida.

“The more knowledge we have, the better we are equipped to try to protect that reef,” said Brooke Zurita, a senior biologist at Moody Gardens.

___

Stengle reported from Dallas. LaFleur reported from Galveston.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Trump returns to the US-Mexico border as he lays out a set of hard-line immigration proposals

Mexico

beachfrontcabohouse

November 19, 2023

Trump returns to the US-Mexico border as he lays out a set of hard-line immigration proposals

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EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — Donald Trump returned to the U.S.-Mexico border for a visit Sunday as he promotes a hard-line immigration agenda that would be far more expansive than the policies he pursued during his first term as president.

Before making remarks in Edinburg, Texas, Trump served meals to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving. He was joined by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, a longtime ally and fellow border hawk who is expected to endorse the front-runner for the 2024 nomination during the visit, according to a person close to Trump who spoke on condition of anonymity before a formal announcement.

Trump and Abbott handed out tacos, and the former president shook hands and posed for pictures. They planned to speak to about 150 supporters outside an airport hangar in the town, which is roughly 30 miles from the border.

Trump has been laying out immigration proposals that would mark a dramatic escalation of the approach he used in office and that drew alarms from civil rights activists and numerous court challenges.

He also wants to:

— invoke the Alien Enemies Act to to remove from the United States all known or suspected gang members and drug dealers. That law was used to justify internment camps in World War II. It allows the president to unilaterally detain and deport people who are not U.S. citizens.

— terminate all work permits and cut off funding for shelter and transportation for people who are in the country illegally.

— press Congress to pass a law so anyone caught trafficking women or children would receive the death penalty.

Democrats tried to use the trip to portray Trump’s plans as extreme.

Pollings show many voters aren’t satisfied with the Biden administration’s handling of the border.

A Marquette Law School poll of registered voters conducted in late September gave Trump a 24-point advantage over Biden on handling immigration and border security issues — 52% to 28%.

___ Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.

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SpaceX Starship Launch Fails Minutes After Reaching Space

Business

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November 19, 2023

SpaceX Starship Launch Fails Minutes After Reaching Space

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SpaceX’s uncrewed spacecraft Starship, developed to carry astronauts to the moon and beyond, failed in space shortly after lifting off Saturday, cutting short its second test but making it further than an earlier attempt that ended in an explosion.

The two-stage rocket ship blasted off from the Elon Musk-owned company’s Starbase launch site near Boca Chica in Texas, helping boost the Starship spacecraft as high as 90 miles (148 kilometers) above ground on a planned 90-minute test mission to space and back.

But the rocket’s Super Heavy first stage booster, though it achieved a crucial maneuver to separate with its core Starship stage, exploded over the Gulf of Mexico shortly after detaching, a SpaceX webcast showed.

Meanwhile, the core Starship stage boosted farther toward space, but a few minutes later a company broadcaster said that SpaceX mission control suddenly lost contact with the vehicle.

“We have lost the data from the second stage… we think we may have lost the second stage,” SpaceX engineer and livestream host John Insprucker said. He added that engineers believe an automated flight termination command was triggered to destroy the rocket, though the reason was unclear.

About eight minutes into the test mission, a camera view tracking the Starship booster appeared to show an explosion that suggested the vehicle failed at that time. The rocket’s altitude was 91 miles (148 kilometers).

FAA will oversee investigation

The launch was the second attempt to fly Starship mounted atop its towering Super Heavy rocket booster, following an April attempt that ended in explosive failure about four minutes after lift-off.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees commercial launch sites, confirmed a mishap occurred that “resulted in a loss of the vehicle,” adding no injuries or property damage have been reported.

The agency said it will oversee a SpaceX-led investigation into the testing failure and will need to approve SpaceX’s plan to prevent it from happening again.

The mission’s objective was to get Starship off the ground in Texas and into space just shy of reaching orbit, then plunge through Earth’s atmosphere for a splashdown off Hawaii’s coast. The launch had been scheduled for Friday but was pushed back by a day for a last-minute swap of flight-control hardware.

Testing failures

Starship’s failure to meet all its test objectives could pose a setback for SpaceX. The FAA will need to review the company’s failure investigation and review its application for a new launch license. SpaceX officials have complained that such regulatory reviews take too long.

On the other hand, the failure in a program for which SpaceX plans to spend roughly $2 billion this year was in line with the company’s risk-tolerant culture that embraces fast-paced testing and re-testing of prototypes to hasten design and engineering improvements.

“More things were successful than in the previous test, including some new capabilities that were significant,” said Carissa Christensen, CEO of space analytics firm BryceTech.

“There’s not money and patience for unlimited tests, but for a vehicle that is so different and so big, two, three, four, five tests — is not excessive,” Christensen said.

At roughly 43 miles (70 kilometers) in altitude, the rocket system executed the crucial maneuver to separate the two stages — something it failed to do in the last test — with the Super Heavy booster intended to plunge into Gulf of Mexico waters while the core Starship booster blasts farther to space using its own engines.

But the Super Heavy booster blew up moments later, followed by the Starship stage’s own explosion. SpaceX in a post on social media platform X said, “success comes from what we learn,” adding that the core Starship stage’s engines “fired for several minutes on its way to space.”

A fully successful test would have marked a key step toward achieving SpaceX’s ambition producing a large, multi-purpose, spacecraft capable of sending people and cargo back to the moon later this decade for NASA, and to Mars.

SpaceX’s worker safety culture underpinning its speedy development ethos is facing scrutiny by lawmakers after a Reuters investigation documented hundreds of injuries at the rocket company’s U.S. manufacturing and launch sites.

Clock is ticking

NASA, SpaceX’s primary customer, has a considerable stake in the success of Starship, which the U.S. space agency is counting on to play a central role of landing humans on the moon within the next few years under its human spaceflight program, Artemis, successor to the Apollo missions.

NASA chief Bill Nelson, who has made competition with China a core need for speed in Artemis, said Saturday’s Starship test was an “opportunity to learn — then fly again.”

Musk — SpaceX’s founder, chief executive and chief engineer — sees Starship as eventually replacing the company’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket as the centerpiece of its launch business that already lifts most of the world’s satellites and other commercial payloads into space.

“The clock is ticking,” said Chad Anderson, a SpaceX investor and managing partner of venture capital firm Space Capital. “NASA has a timeline where they’re trying to get to the moon, and this is their primary vehicle to do it. So, SpaceX needs to deliver on a timeline.”

Jaret Matthews, CEO of lunar rover startup Astrolab that has booked space on a future Starship flight, toured SpaceX’s Starbase site this year and said he expects the company to resume tests after the Saturday flight, though such a pace is expected to be driven largely by the FAA’s review and the extent of Starship’s technical failures.

“They have the next number of vehicles already lined up in the factory ready to go,” he said. “I think people will be shocked by the cadence that emerges next year.”

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Amarillo area business news and developments for Nov. 19, 2023

Business

beachfrontcabohouse

November 19, 2023

Amarillo area business news and developments for Nov. 19, 2023

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NWTHS announces Behavior Health Hospital CEO

November 13, 2023 – Northwest Texas Healthcare System (NWTHS), announced the selection of Chris Veal, RN, MSN, CEN as Chief Executive Officer for the NWTHS Behavioral Health hospital, effective Nov. 13.

Chris began his career in healthcare in 2009 attaining his nursing degree from West Texas A&M University, at University Medical Center in Lubbock where he became the Assistant Director for the Emergency Center. Chris later moved back to Amarillo to serve as the Director of Nursing for a local Freestanding Emergency Center. In 2019, Chris began his career at NWTHS as the Emergency Department Manager, promoting to the Director of Med/Surg then transitioning to the Director of the Emergency Department.

NWTHS Behavioral Health hospital is an 85-bed hospital that has been taking care of patients with mental illnesses since 1967. The hospital serves patients from the vast area surrounding Amarillo including the surrounding states of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado. The Behavioral Health hospital offers services from children, adolescents, adults, senior and uniformed service members.

Amarillo KOA Journey recognized with major awards during annual convention

Kampgrounds of America, Inc. (KOA), the world’s largest system of open-to-the-public campgrounds, is pleased to announce that the Amarillo KOA Journey campground has earned the KOA Founder’s and President’s Awards. These prestigious awards were presented Thursday, November 16 at Kampgrounds of America, Inc.’s Annual International Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The KOA Founder’s Award, named in honor of Dave Drum, who founded KOA on the banks of the Yellowstone River in Billings, Montana. in 1962, is KOA’s highest service award, according to a news release. It is awarded exclusively to those KOA campground owners and managers who attain world-class scores in both customer service and the KOA Quality Review. The KOA President’s Award is presented to those campgrounds meeting exceptional quality standards and who receive high customer service scores from their camping guests. KOA surveys hundreds of thousands of campers each year regarding their KOA camping experience.

“Our campground owners and thousands of dedicated employees are essential to providing the superior level of outdoor hospitality KOA guests expect and it’s an honor to recognize this hard work,” said Toby O’Rourke, president and CEO of Kampgrounds of America, Inc. “Our President’s and Founder’s awards are driven by camper feedback and an extensive annual review process. These award-winning KOA owners have made the right investments in their campgrounds and their staff to provide the best outdoor experience in North America.”

Campers are an enthusiastic group of travelers with growing expectations, according to recent research conducted by Kampgrounds of America, Inc. The company’s research found that 53% of campers had already booked at least one camping trip for 2024 compared to just 13% of leisure travelers. This enthusiasm could be tied to the satisfaction campers experienced during their camping trips this year; 58% of campers state that their 2023 trips thus far have exceeded expectations.

To find out more about this KOA campground or the more than 500 KOAs across the U.S. or Canada, visit www.KOA.com.

WT personnel news: Rogers Award, new hires, more

CANYON, Texas — Here’s a roundup of recent news about West Texas A&M University faculty and staff.

Dr. Elizabeth Rogers, assistant professor of counseling in the Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences, was presented the 2023 John Shirley Advocacy Award from the Texas Counseling Association at the association’s Nov. 1-3 Professional Growth Conference in Houston.

The John Shirley Advocacy Award recognizes an individual or community organization for excellence in legislative advocacy efforts. Rogers has served as president of the West Texas Counseling Association and is president-elect of the Texas School Counseling Association. She serves as the TCA’s policy liaison to the State Board of Educator Certification.

Christina Cahillane, a 2009 and 2010 graduate, is WT’s new executive director of communications for Enrollment Management. Cahillane, who previously was a marketer for the academic departments, returned to WT after more than a decade in sales and marketing.

Lizette Calzada recently started as a major gift officer in WT’s Office for Philanthropy and External Relations. Calzada, who previously worked in WT Athletics as assistant athletic director for ticket operations, was raised in Plainview and earned a bachelor’s in business administration from Wayland Baptist University in 2017 followed by a master’s in sports management from Texas Tech in 2020.

KyLeah Frazier, a 2022 WT graduate, recently began as the communication and community outreach specialist in the Office of the President. Frazier, previously a reporter for NewsChannel 10, is no stranger to the Panhandle, growing up just down the road in Lubbock.

Dr. Shawn Fouts is WT’s new director of residential living, in addition to continuing as senior director of campus community. Fouts, who previously served as associate director of the Jack B. Kelley Student Center, returned to WT in October 2022 as the senior director of campus community and after having worked at Amarillo College and in private coaching/consulting practice.

Brenda Keith recently was named executive director of the Office of College Access and Academic Enrichment Programs in the Office of Student Affairs. Keith previously served as director of WT’s Upward Bound programs and has served in various roles at WT for more than 20 years.

Amanda Lawson, formerly assistant director for new student and transfer orientation, recently was named senior director for orientation and academic success. Lawson, who has worked at WT since 2010, earned her bachelor’s in history and English in 2013 from WT, then her master’s in interdisciplinary studies in 2015.

Steven McLean is WT’s new director of Sponsored Research Services. McLean, who previously worked at WT for more than a decade in the office, has spent the last two years doing grant proposal administration for the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is a Certified Research Administrator.

Carlo Vazquez recently began his duties as unit director for SSC at WT. Vazquez came to WT from the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, where he was vice president and chief facilities officer. Prior to that, he served as assistant director for research support and operations at the University of Texas at El Paso and facilities services general manager at the Universidad de Monterrey in Nuevo León, Mexico. Vazquez has served as the plant engineer for ACEREX, a joint venture with Worthington Industries, Inc., and Hylsamex, Mexico’s second-largest steel manufacturer.

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Borderlands: ITS Logistics making big moves in Lone Star State

Mexico

beachfrontcabohouse

November 19, 2023

Borderlands: ITS Logistics making big moves in Lone Star State

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Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: ITS Logistics is making big moves in the Lone Star State; Lineage Logistics opens a cold chain logistics center in Houston; a metal recycling firm acquires a 55-acre tract at a logistics park; and TQL opens a new brokerage office in Arizona.

ITS Logistics making big moves in Lone Star State

ITS Logistics recently opened a $100 million logistics facility in Texas aimed at creating a distribution and fulfillment service across the U.S.

The 1.1 million-square-foot facility is located in Fort Worth at the Intermodal Logistics Center, a development adjacent to BNSF Railway’s Alliance Intermodal Facility and also in close proximity to FedEx and UPS regional hubs, Fort Worth Alliance Airport and Interstate 35.

“The Dallas-Fort Worth center is a big one and … we’re starting a heavy-haul special projects division that’s going to focus on cross-border, really heavy industry freight that supports oil and gas, aerospace and manufacturing that’s going to be spearheaded through Houston,” Paul Brashier, vice president of drayage and intermodal at ITS Logistics, told FreightWaves. “We’re going to start really building out that triangle from Houston to Dallas, down to Austin, San Antonio, back to Houston.”

Reno, Nevada-based ITS Logistics is a 3PL providing supply chain solutions across the U.S. The company offers logistics and warehouse services, as well as commercial trucking transportation.

The Fort Worth facility is ITS’ first logistics facility in Texas and, combined with the company’s existing facilities in Reno and Indianapolis, will support efforts to offer national fulfillment services to 95% of the U.S. population in three days or less.

The new space features 40-foot clear heights, 200-plus dock doors and parking for 211 trailers. It also allows ITS to add regional trucking operations, including dedicated contract services, drayage, linehaul and expedited.

Brashier said increasing freight flows at ports along the Gulf of Mexico is another reason for the new logistics facility in Fort Worth.

“If you look just at what’s going on in Texas through Port Houston, and some of the other Gulf Coast ports, it’s the reason that we’re shifting focus there,” Brashier said. “We’re also starting to focus on cross-border. Mexico is now the U.S.’ largest trading partner, larger than China.”

ITS Logistics recently issued its monthly U.S. port/rail ramp freight index on port container and drayage operations for the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf coasts for November.

For the first time in the history of the index, all modes across all regions are at normal operations, ITS Logistics said.

“As the good news arrives just in time for the holidays, shippers and carriers should continue closely following the choke points at the Suez and Panama Canals as water conditions worsen and the current conflict between Israel and Gaza continues,” according to the index.

Brashier said water levels in the Panama Canal are limiting the amount of cargo that can be transported, while unrest in the Middle East also has the potential to affect vessel flow through the Suez Canal.

The ongoing freight recession is also causing many carriers to offer rates under their operations cost, which will cause more trucking companies and owner-operators to exit the market in the coming months, Brashier said.

“The largest concern there is that you’re seeing that these exits are not just in the dray space. You’ve seen Yellow go down, Convoy. … You’re seeing the canaries in the coal mine,” Brashier said. “It’s adversely affecting the small to medium-sized carriers a lot more.”

Brashier also said shippers should be wary of just looking for the cheapest freight transportation providers in the market.

“If you’re going to the RFP right now, you’re going to get cheap capacity [that is] in many cases, 75% to 65% rate reductions on lanes year over year,” Brashier said. “So you’re going to get the savings that you want, but it’s also a call out to what are you buying? The thing that we always tend to be mindful of and communicate back to our clients and those in this ecosystem is, how financially healthy are those providers?

When rates bottom out, many providers are operating at a loss on a rate per mile, which is bad for the overall freight industry.

“As long as rates stay there, you’re going to start seeing a lot of the folks that probably provided some really super-low rates start kind of washing out, they won’t be able to maintain those rates,” Brashier said. “Make sure that you have strong relationships and folks that you have a long-standing business relationship with, keeping them in network.

“It’s a very difficult balance for shippers, but taking in the fiscal health of the carrier base and hedging and just bringing more carriers on if you’re not 100% sure on some of your current carriers is a smart decision, we feel, as you go into uncharted waters in 2024.”

Lineage Logistics opens cold chain logistics center in Houston

Lineage Logistics announced the opening of a 315,000-square-foot temperature-controlled logistics facility in Houston, its sixth facility in the area.

Known as the Houston ColdPort facility, it’s located near the Jacintoport Terminal at Port Houston and offers integrated transportation and drayage operations to support import and export demand.

“[Houston] has recently seen a surge in port demand amid congestion and other issues at the big ports on the West Coast,” Brian Beattie, Lineage president of North American West, said in a news release. “By adding ColdPort to our Houston network, Lineage’s customers have another option to help manage their costs and increase productivity.”

The addition expands Lineage’s footprint in Texas to 20 facilities totaling more than 192 million cubic feet of capacity. Lineage also recently opened a cold storage facility in Lancaster, near Dallas.

Novi, Michigan-based Lineage Logistics operates more than 400 facilities on three continents, employing 17,000 workers.

OmniSource LLC, a subsidiary of Steel Dynamics Inc., has acquired a 55-acre, rail-served tract at the Gulf Inland Logistics Park to expand its metals recycling operations.

Gulf Inland Logistics Park is located in Dayton, Texas, about 37 miles northeast of Houston. The logistics park totals 2,400 acres and aims to provide manufacturing, distribution, rail services, storage and transportation capabilities for companies in the Gulf Coast region.

“Gulf Inland Logistics Park’s strategic proximity to Houston and its direct connectivity to key road and rail networks make it the perfect site for our latest metals recycling facility,” Miguel Alvarez, president at OmniSource, said in a news release. “The opportunity to begin operations in 2024 will empower us to quickly enhance our capacity to cater to our customers’ demands and significantly extend our footprint throughout the southern U.S.”

OmniSource operates around 70 scrap collection and processing facilities in the U.S. and Mexico. Its parent company, Steel Dynamics, opened a 1.2 million-square-foot flat roll steel mill about 226 miles south in Sinton, Texas, in 2022.

TQL opens new brokerage office in Arizona

Total Quality Logistics (TQL) recently opened a brokerage office in Tucson, Arizona, which reinforces its investment across the region, officials said.

“We chose Tucson because it is a major transportation hub and has a great pool of talent,” TQL President Kerry Byrne said in a news release.

The company opened its Phoenix office in 2016 and currently employs 100 people at the location. Tucson is the company’s 57th location nationwide.

Cincinnati-based TQL is one of the largest logistics firms in North America, with more than 9,000 employees in 56 offices across the U.S.

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Houston may restrict cargo truck movements inside city limits

10 Roads Express lays off 66 workers in Texas

Mexico remains top US trade partner, Laredo No. 1 gateway

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Mexico will host Miss Universe 2024: When will the beauty pageant be held?

Mexico

beachfrontcabohouse

November 19, 2023

Mexico will host Miss Universe 2024: When will the beauty pageant be held?

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After the great Miss Universe 2023 edition, it has been announced which country will host next year’s edition. The organizing committee of the international beauty pageant has revealed that Mexico will be where the next ceremony will take place.

Once Miss Nicaragua was crowned as the winner of Miss Universe 2023, the event did not miss the opportunity to share that Mexico will be the one to receive the baton as organizer for the next edition.

New rules for Miss Universe 2024

With the triumph of Sheynnis Palacios, this year ended with the pageant that has become a true standard for beauty and, above all, to show the power of women to the world. And this has become much more valuable, since the rules were modified in 2021, now the eyes of the whole world are on what happens at Miss Universe more than ever.

In addition, for 2024, Miss Universe confirmed another important change, since women between 18 and 28 years old on January 1 of the year in which she will compete will be able to participate. That is why, from the 2024 edition of Miss Universe, the upper age limit will be eliminated.

Miss Universe 2024 will be held in Mexico

During the last minutes of the event, the presenters of the beauty pageant surprised with a piece of news, as they revealed that the new venue for Miss Universe 2024 is Mexico.

This was also announced by Danilo Carrera, who at the head of Miss Universe 2023 announced the great news that heats up what will be Miss Universe 2024.

What day will be Miss Universe in Mexico 2024?

Mexico will host this Miss Universe ceremony in its next version, which has been officially announced as September 28th of the following year 2024.

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Trump heads to US-Mexico border as he escalates anti-immigrant rhetoric

Mexico

beachfrontcabohouse

November 19, 2023

Trump heads to US-Mexico border as he escalates anti-immigrant rhetoric

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CNN
—

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to give a speech Sunday in Texas near the US-Mexico border as he escalates his anti-immigrant rhetoric and campaigns on hard-line immigration policy proposals.

The front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination will appear alongside Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to endorse Trump at the event. The trip is being dubbed as an official state visit, and both Trump and Abbott are expected to discuss plans for curbing illegal immigration.

Trump has been ramping up his rhetoric on the campaign trail, promising to conduct the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if he wins the White House next year. He has said that undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” in comments that echoed White supremacist rhetoric and has compared migrants who come to the US to the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter.

“There’s never been anything like this. Our country is being invaded. This is an invasion,” Trump, who has made curtailing illegal immigration a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign, declared at a recent rally in Hialeah, Florida.

Trump is planning a widespread expansion of his administration’s hard-line immigration policies that would restrict both legal and illegal immigration, should he be elected to a second term. The plans include rounding up undocumented immigrants already in the US and placing them in detention camps to await deportation. Such a proposal would necessitate building large camps to house migrants waiting for deportation and tapping federal and local law enforcement to assist with arrests of undocumented immigrants across the country.

“Stopping the invasion at our southern border is an urgent national security necessity and one of President Trump’s top priorities. For that reason, he has laid out – in his own speeches and Agenda 47 platform – by far the most detailed program for securing the border, stopping illegal immigration, and removing those who should never have been allowed into our country in the first place,” a spokesperson for the Trump campaign said in a statement to CNN.

Biden campaign officials slammed the policies last week, calling them “unAmerican.”

“Simply put, Donald Trump is going after immigrants, our rights, our safety and our democracy. And that is really what’s on the ballot next year,” said Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

The Biden campaign also blasted Trump’s planned visit to the US-Mexico border, casting the former president’s immigration policies as “inhumane” and “draconian.”

The former president has been pointing to the Israel-Hamas war to stoke fear and anti-immigrant sentiment within the US to advocate an immigration crackdown. He’s pushed for “ideological screenings” of immigrants, blocking immigrants and refugees from predominantly Muslim countries, and deporting people in the US on visas who he argues have “jihadist sympathies.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.

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Trump Is Returning to the US-Mexico Border as He Lays Out a Set of Hard-Line Immigration Proposals

Mexico

beachfrontcabohouse

November 19, 2023

Trump Is Returning to the US-Mexico Border as He Lays Out a Set of Hard-Line Immigration Proposals

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EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — Donald Trump will return to the U.S.-Mexico border for a visit Sunday as he promotes a hard-line immigration agenda that would be far more expansive than the policies he pursued during his first term as president.

Trump has been laying out immigration proposals that would mark a dramatic escalation of the approach he used in office and that drew alarms from civil rights activists and numerous court challenges.

“On my first day back in the White House, I will terminate every open-borders policy of the Biden administration. I will stop the invasion on our southern border and begin largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” he said in Iowa Saturday.

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— terminate all work permits and cut off funding for shelter and transportation for people who are in the country illegally.

— press Congress to pass a law so anyone caught trafficking women or children would receive the death penalty.

Democrats tried to use the trip to portray Trump’s plans as extreme.

A Marquette Law School poll of registered voters conducted in late September gave Trump a 24-point advantage over Biden on handling immigration and border security issues — 52% to 28%.

___ Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.

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Trump is returning to the US-Mexico border as he lays out a set of hard-line immigration proposals

Mexico

beachfrontcabohouse

November 19, 2023

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EDINBURG, Texas — EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — Donald Trump will return to the U.S.-Mexico border for a visit Sunday as he promotes a hard-line immigration agenda that would be far more expansive than the policies he pursued during his first term as president.

Trump has been laying out immigration proposals that would mark a dramatic escalation of the approach he used in office and that drew alarms from civil rights activists and numerous court challenges.

He also wants to:

— terminate all work permits and cut off funding for shelter and transportation for people who are in the country illegally.

— press Congress to pass a law so anyone caught trafficking women or children would receive the death penalty.

Democrats tried to use the trip to portray Trump’s plans as extreme.

Pollings show many voters aren’t satisfied with the Biden administration’s handling of the border.

A Marquette Law School poll of registered voters conducted in late September gave Trump a 24-point advantage over Biden on handling immigration and border security issues — 52% to 28%.

___ Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.

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