Trump considering naming an 'immigration czar'
President Donald Trump is considering bringing on a "border" or "immigration czar" to coordinate immigration policy across various federal agencies, according to four people familiar with the discussions.
Trump is weighing at least two potential candidates for the post: former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, according to the people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the conversations publicly.
Kobach and Cuccinelli are far-right conservatives with strong views on immigration. Cuccinelli was seen at the White House on Monday.
The planning comes as Trump is threatening anew to close the US-Mexico border as soon as this week if Mexico does not completely halt illegal immigration into the US. And it serves as the latest sign that the president plans to continue to hammer his hardline immigration rhetoric and policies as he moves past the special counsel's Russia investigation and works to rally his base heading into his 2020 re-election campaign.
Aides hope the potential appointment, which they caution is still in the planning stages, would serve as the "face" of the administration on immigration issues and would placate both the president and his supporters, showing he is serious and taking action.
White House press aides, Kobach and Cuccinelli did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment. Kobach previously served as vice chair of the president's short-lived election fraud commission, which was disbanded after finding little evidence of widespread abuse.
A Department of Homeland Security official noted that White House czars have been appointed in the past when there has been an "urgent need" for sustained, inter-agency policy coordination. While Homeland Security often plays a leading role when it comes to immigration policy and enforcement, the department is not in charge of officials at the departments of Health and Human Services, State, Defense and Justice, which often play key roles.
Trump has often complained, both publicly and privately, about how he has not been able to do more to stop the tide of illegal immigration, which he has likened to an "invasion" and described as a national security crisis. Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months and border agents were on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March. More than half of those are families with children.
Still, Trump has been pushing. He has deployed National Guard troops to the border, forced a government shutdown to try to pressure Congress to provide more money for his long-promised border wall, and eventually signed an emergency declaration to circumvent lawmakers. He also moved Saturday to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, where citizens are fleeing north and overwhelming US resources at the southern border.
Those moves have involved a swath of government agencies. The Justice Department manages the immigration courts that decide whether a migrant is deported; Health and Human Services manages the care of migrant children apprehended at the border; agencies within Homeland Security manage the allocation of legal status, immigration enforcement and asylum requests; and the Pentagon and the Army Corps of Engineers manage facets of border wall construction.
But not all are always on the same page.
Earlier this year, for example, Health and Human Services closed down a temporary facility being used to house migrant children in Tornillo, Texas, creating a problem for border agents who ran out of bed space when the number of unaccompanied children crossing the border spiked. Homeland Security is not allowed to hold children in detention facilities for longer than 20 days.
And last year, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions instituted a "zero tolerance" policy at the border without consulting others, causing a spike in the number of migrant children separated from their families.
The separated children were placed in HHS custody, but there was no tracking system in place to link parents with their children until a federal judge ordered one, causing widespread fear and concern about whether families would ever see each other again.
It has yet to be decided whether the czar position would be housed within Homeland Security or within the White House, which would not require Senate confirmation.
A person positioned within the White House could coordinate immigration policy across various agencies, working closely with aides who are deeply involved in the issue, including senior advisers Stephen Miller and Jared Kushner, national security adviser John Bolton and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who supports the idea.
Appointing a person based within Homeland Security could be trickier because the department's agency heads are all Senate-confirmed positions and, in the case of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Protection, are long-time immigration officials with decades of experience dealing with the border.
While immigration officials would welcome an adviser focused specifically on policy across the varying agencies, the names being floated are likely to spark backlash and criticism.
Kobach, an immigration hardliner, ran a failed bid for governor promising to drive immigrants living in the US illegally out of the country. He has recently been working for a non-profit corporation, WeBuildtheWall Inc, which has been raising private money to build Trump's wall.
Cuccinelli has advocated for denying citizenship to American-born children of parents living in the US illegally, limiting in-state tuition at public universities only to those who are citizens or legal residents, and allowing workers to file lawsuits when an employer knowingly hires someone living in the country illegally for taking a job from a "law abiding competitor."
Thomas Homan, the former acting ICE director, has also been mentioned as a potential pick, according to one of the people familiar with the talks.
Source-AP
ILLEGAL VESSEL CAPSIZED OFF WEST CAICOS
The Ministry of Border Control and Employment Services, on Sunday, March 31st 2019, through the Task Force Unit of its Immigration Department, received a report around 8:00 am that there was a possible capsized sloop in the waters off of West Caicos. Shortly thereafter Immigration officials, along with members of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Marine Branch, were dispatched to the area where it was further confirmed that a sloop had capsized and several passengers had survived, while a number of them had died.
During the day’s rescue attempts, a total of fourteen souls were saved and detained, while another fourteen bodies were recovered from the water. The search continues today with the hopes of recovering any remaining bodies that might still be at sea.
The Deputy Premier and Minister for Border Control and Employment Services, Hon. Sean Astwood, in speaking to this horrific incident, expressed his heartfelt sympathy to the family and friends of the deceased and especially to Haitian people both here and abroad for the unfortunate loss. Hon. Astwood further took the time to agitate against illegal migration and admonished persons living in the Turks and Caicos Islands, especially within the Haitian community, not to encourage and or facilitate their friends and family members in Haiti in taking this dangerous voyage.
In recent months, there has been an increase in arrivals of illegal migrants, mainly from the Republic of Haiti. In its efforts to address this activity, the Turks and Caicos Islands Government has made and continues to make attempts to gain greater cooperation from the Haitian government including the Haitian Consulate here in the TCI to address the concerning situation of illegal migrant sloops, however to no avail. The Turks and Caicos Islands Government continues to advance opportunities for cooperation with the government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, on which further information will be shared in coming weeks.
The Ministry of Border Control and Employment Services extends its sincere appreciation and commendation to its brave officers in the Task Force and the entire Department of Immigration, the Marine Branch of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force and all other stakeholder and partner agencies who assist in the response to illegal migration activities for their hard work and dedication in helping to keep the Turks and Caicos Islands safe.
EasyJet says Brexit, economic uncertainty hits demand
British no-frills airline EasyJet, on Monday said that uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the economic outlook is hitting demand for air travel.
The announcement came in a trading update to coincide with the start of the group's second half.
“For the second half we are seeing softness in both the UK and Europe which we believe comes from macroeconomic uncertainty and many unanswered questions surrounding Brexit, which are together driving weaker customer demand,” Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said in the update.
EasyJet added that given the uncertainty, its outlook for the second half “is now more cautious”.
The news sent the company's share price diving 8.0 per cent to £10.28 in early deals on London's FTSE 100 index, which was up 0.8 per cent overall.
For the first half, EasyJet said that group revenue was expected to have grown by more than seven per cent to £2.34 billion (US$3.01 billion, 2.72 billion euros).
“EasyJet has performed in line with expectations in the first half,” Lundgren said in the trading statement.
“We have flown around 42 million customers with a significantly reduced number of cancellations and continued high levels of customer satisfaction.”
He added: “We are operationally well prepared for Brexit. Now that the EU Parliament has passed its air connectivity legislation and, together with the UK's confirmation that it will reciprocate, means that whatever happens, we'll be flying as usual.”
In order to continue to fly smoothly in Europe post Brexit, EasyJet has also set up three airline divisions, split between Austria, Britain and Switzerland.
Source-
T&T PM Rowley hails Skerritt's victory, warns hard road to recovery
Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley said he had a more optimistic outlook on West Indies cricket following the election of Ricky Skerritt and Dr Kishore Shallow as president and vice president respectively, of the sport's regional governing body, Cricket West Indies.
Dr Rowley warned however, that there was plenty work ahead for the Skerritt-led administration for the Windies to avoid being relegated to the second tier of the game.
“The ICC is going to create two divisions of cricket, and West Indies may not find itself in the upper echelons of Test cricket,” said Dr Rowley. “We're going to find ourselves with Afghanistan, Holland, and Kenya.
“What we are looking for now is a best practice model to rebuild a Test team that has declined. What was happening to West Indies cricket is that we were not able to put that ladder down in that pit to climb out of it, and I'm hoping now that Skerritt provides that ladder so that we climb out of it. We cannot continue to have a C-Class horse running an A-Class race.”
West Indies are currently ranked eighth in the Test rankings, ninth in the One-day Internationals, and seventh in the Twenty20 Internationals although they are currently the reigning World champions in that format.
About the CWI election result, which saw Skerritt and Dr Shallow unseat incumbents Dave Cameron and Emmanuel Nanthan, Dr Rowley said he was extremely happy about the outcome.
“I think it opens the door for us to bring about the improvements that we anticipate,” he said. “It made my day.
Where Dave Cameron is concerned, what happened in India, in any management structure, that is when things should have come to a head,” he said, referring to the players' dramatic walk-out on the 2014 Tour of India.
“To have escaped that and become in charge of hegemony after that told me that West Indies cricket was on the wrong track.
“You could not have created an environment like that, created those liabilities for future earnings, and be impregnable.”
Source-CMC
Police identify suspect in Nipsey Hussle murder
The Los Angeles Police Department has identified a suspect in Sunday's murder of rapper and community activist Nipsey Hussle.
"Eric Holder is wanted for Homicide in the shooting of Nipsey Hussle," the LAPD tweeted early Tuesday morning.
"He was last seen in a 2016 white 4 door Chevy Cruze CA license plate 7RJD742," the tweet continues. "Anyone with information related to his whereabouts or this deadly shooting is urged to contact South Bureau Homicide at 323-786-5100."
The news came just hours after at least 19 people were injured during a Monday night vigil for Hussle in South Los Angeles when a panic ensued after false reports of shots fired at the scene. The Los Angeles Fire Department said two of the injured were in critical condition and two in serious condition, with the majority of the injuries non-life-threatening and said to be caused by being trampled while attempting to flee the scene.
Grammy-nominated rapper Hussle, 33, born Ermias Joseph Asghedom, was shot multiple times and killed Sunday afternoon outside of his Marathon Clothing store in the Hyde Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles.
TURKS AND CAICOS POST CABINET MEETING STATEMENT
His Excellency the Governor, Dr John Freeman, chaired the 8th meeting of the Cabinet on Thursday, 28 March 2019, at the Hilly Ewing Building on Providenciales.
All ministers were present with the exception of the Hon. Minister of Education.
At this meeting Cabinet:
- Noted the recommendations of the Procurement Board on the award of the following capital projects:
a) PN 005470 TR 18/14 Schools Infrastructure Project Phase 2, Lot 1: Clement Howell High School
- b) PN 005470 TR 18/47 Schools Infrastructure Project Phase 2, Lot 2: Mary Robinson Primary School
- c) PN 005473 TR 18/40 Fire Truck and Equipment
- d) PN005475 TR 18/76 Replacement Furniture for Departments
- e) PN005480 TR 18/55 Replacement of Government Vehicles Phase II
- f) PN005480 TR 18/50 Replacement of Government Vehicles Phase II- Passenger Van with Wheelchair accessibility
- g) PN005483 TR 18/45 DECR and Tourism Facilities-Four Engines
- h) PN 005484 TR 18/54 Enhancing the Tourism Product: Implementation Of Online Monitoring
- i) PN 005485 TR 18/52 Furniture and Equipment for Ministry of HASH Ambulance
- j) PN 005487 TR 18/63 Development of Non-Communicable Registers and Sports Development Project, STEP Survey-Equipment
- k) TR 18/74 Grand Turk Fire Hall
- l) TR 18/32 South Caicos Control Tower Repair
- m) TR 18/83 Gatehouse Furniture-Grand Turk and Providenciales
- n) TR 18/84 Providenciales Port Pavement Project
Approved the reallocation of funding under the Development Fund Project PN 005469, Schools Infrastructure Project Phase 1 as follows:
a) Raymond Gardiner High School, North Caicos subproject increased to $174,917; and
- b) Oseta Jolly Primary School, Providenciales subproject reduced to $1,783,
- Approved the reallocation of funds for the Airport Authority from the South Caicos Terminal budget ($1.5million).
- Approved the rental agreement submitted by the Hon. Attorney General for a temporary property in Grand Turk for HE the Governor.
Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.
TCIFA President Sonia Fulford re-elected to the Concacaf Council
The 34th Ordinary Congress of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) was held today March 28, 2019, at The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, The Congress is an annual meeting of all 41 Member countries of Concacaf. It is presided over by Concacaf President and FIFA Vice President, Victor Montagliani and deals with the various matters being currently dealt with by the Confederation, a review of past year events and finances amongst other pertinent matters.
A critical agenda item is the Congress’ annual elections and this year, there were 6 positions up for contest: Concacaf President, Concacaf Vice President (Caribbean), Concacaf Vice President (North America), Concacaf Member (Central America), Concacaf Female Member, and FIFA Council Member. TCIFA President Sonia Fulford is the incumbent in the Concacaf Female Member position and was challenged by Jeaninne Wong-Loi-Sing of Bonaire.
Ms. Fulford was co-opted to the Concacaf Council in 2013 and subsequently elected by Congress in 2015 as the first female to hold a position (with voting rights) on the Concacaf Council. At the recent election, the Delegates showed tremendous faith in her stewardship by re-electing Ms. Fulford with a resounding majority of 34 to 7 votes.
In retaining her seat as Female Member of the Concacaf Council, Ms. Fulford shares the collective responsibility of crafting the various statutes, regulations, and resolutions that guides all the countries in the 3 geographical areas, North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. In this, Sonia Fulford has maintained her platform to bring a path to parity for women in the male-dominated sport of football. This drive to change involved defying gender stereotypes, and building a gender-balanced and inclusive presence, so that women are able to fulfill their full potential both in sports and society.
In commenting on her re-election, Ms. Fulford said: “Firstly I would like to thank the Members for their support and confidence in me by their electing me to another term on the Concacaf Council. I am humbled by the overwhelming support and plan to use this mandate to continue my role in the development of football. Though I am elected as the Female Member, my responsibilities and obligations are not limited to the area of Women’s Football. It is more all-embracing and extends to all the areas of football both on and off the field. I see myself here as a representative of all the Member Associations and look forward to assisting them and address their unique needs all with the overall goal of raising the quality and profile of the game in our region, both on and off the field”.
ACTING MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND PREMIER REFUTES FORMER MINISTER OF EDUCATION’S CLAIM
As Acting Minister of Education, I must respond to the claims of the Former Minister of Education that the EDF11 Program signed by myself in Aruba last year February is 2 years behind. These claims are regrettably untrue and whilst we have experienced challenges from mother nature and man – made, we are pleased with the progress of the Program and was commended for this progress during the month of February this year whilst attending the EU Forum in Tahiti.
The Financing Agreement signed between TCIG and the European Union in February 2017 is in support of the Government’s plans to reform the education sector. It should be noted and understand that the reformation of the education sector is not limited to the new Primary School only, but it includes numerous areas which the Government committed to improve over the life of the agreement.
While it is true that the Government experience some delays in the commencement of the construction of the new Primary School in Long Bay, this is not to say that there are delays in other areas. For example, the Agreement made provision for consultancy to assist the Ministry in;
1) to develop a ten-year school infrastructure and equipment maintenance and modernisation plan for the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Library Services (MoEYSLS);
2) to build capacity within the Ministry/ Department of Education Schools to develop school maintenance plans and also to better monitor school infrastructure projects which is directly applicable to their school.
These initiatives are well underway, and since 2018/19 financial year, each School was provided with their own maintenance budget to facilitate minor and quick maintenance of their equipment and infrastructure. In addition, work is in advance stage by the consultant to adequately project the space need and resource requirements to ensure effective planning and financing well into the future to meet the needs of our students.
The Agreement also provided for a team of consultants to conduct a feasibility study and implementation strategy for the establishment of a National Technical Vocational Training Centre and Agency. This work is nearing completion and we are receiving a presentation from the consultant this week. Based on the results of the feasibility study, the Government will use this information as guidance in establishing a Vocational Education System in the TCI.
We have already seen a number of changes in reforming the Scholarship Policy, the reform of the School Curriculum for infants 1-4 with further revision of the primary school curriculum for upper grades in progress for completion by summer 2019. We have witness the introduction of CPEA to replace the GSAT exams and the introduction of CCSLC in the lower forms of High Schools in order to reform the way our students learn.
These are but a few examples of the depth of work which is involved in the reform of the Education System. In respect to the New Primary School, the apparent delay in the commencement of the construction was due to a number of factors;
1) The Ministry conducted an extensive survey of possible site locations to place the new school. Taking into consideration a number of factors, including but not limited to environmental consideration, transportation issue, size of land and proximity to a community. In the end the location was finalized to be Long bay.
2) Given the environmental sensitivity of the Government, before proceeding, the Ministry retained the services of an independent consultant to conduct an in-depth Environmental Impact Assessment which looked at all possible implications to the site and the neighboring environment, including potential noise impacts. The report provided a number of recommendations to mitiate the impacts which we are working to implement.
3) We also received challenges from community members and the elected representative and former Minister of Education Hon Akierr Missick about the location of the school. This further delayed the start of the School. The Government listened to their concerns, and held several meetings to better explain the details of the proposed plans. Wherever possible, we took on board some of the recommendations to mitigate and alleviate the concerns raised by the community members. We are pleased that now both the elected representative and the community members are now settled and the Project will be moving forward. Though we are behind in terms of timeline, we expect the building of the School to move forward quickly. We continue to enjoy much success under the EDF11 Program and my Government is grateful to the EU and the Government stakeholders for all the work done.
Hon Sharlene L Cartwright Robinson
Premier & Minister of Finance
The Turks and Caicos Islands
EDUCATION DIGESTS PUBLISHED ON TCIG WEBSITE
In planning for the development of school infrastructure and providing the resources for a first class education, The Ministry of Education, Youth, Culture and Library Services (MoEYCLS) annually collates data on the Education System. This data consists of information on teacher population and qualifications; student enrollment and nationality; examinations and financial statistics for public and private schools and tertiary and continuing education. Once analysed, the data which is published in the Ministry’s Education Digests informs the policies and programmes designed for the growth and development of the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands through education.
The latest of these Digests which covers 2015 – 2016 and 2016 – 2017 can now be accessed on the Government Website. These statistics allow for the monitoring and evaluation of the National Education System against regional and international provision and are sort by external agencies such as the Caribbean Development Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, CARICOM and the European Union. Many of these agencies provide technical as well as financial support in building the capacity, for improving the services which afford, to all our citizens, lifelong learning opportunities in safe environments.
The efficiency with which this education data is collected and analysed has been improving since the introduction of the UNESCO data management software OpenEMIS in 2016. Both public and private schools have now been registered and can take advantage of this mechanism for recording and analyzing enrollment, attendance, teacher, assessment, welfare and financial information on their schools. The software is being updated and the Department of Education has been providing training in the use of this valuable tool which saves time and allows for the easy management of data.
The published Education Digests have been made available at https://www.gov.tc/ under the ‘Reports and Statistics’ tab for MoEYCLS and show trends in education statistics from 2013.
PUBLIC FORECAST FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT
GENERAL SITUATION: A NEAR STATIONARY FRONTAL BOUNDARY PRESENTLY EXTENDS ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS…LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT WEST OF THE AREA AND MOVE THROUGH THE ISLANDS BRINGING SHOWERS, THUNDERSTORMS AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS TO MOSTLY THE NORTHWEST AND PARTS OF THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS TODAY.
WARNINGS: BOATERS AND BEACHGOERS IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS ARE URGED TO REMAIN IN PORT AND REFRAIN FROM SWIMMING TODAY DUE TO STRONG WINDS, ROUGH SURF AND THE HIGH RISK OF DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS.
AREA: TURKS & CAICOS AND CENTRAL SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
ADVISORY: GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS CAN BE EXPECTED IN SHOWERS.
WINDS: SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET OVER THE OCEAN.
WEATHER: ISOLATED SHOWERS POSSIBLE.
MOONSET: 6:20AM MOONRISE: 6:05PM
HIGH TIDE: 6:06AM & 6:31PM LOW TIDE: 12:29PM & 12:45AM WED
EXTENDED FORECAST: FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS THE NW BAHAMAS WILL SLOWLY SHIFT SOUTHEASTWARDS WEDNESDAY…A REINFORCING COLD FRONT ACROSS NORTH FLORIDA WILL PUSH SOUTH AND MERGE WITH FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS THROUGH THURSDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ACROSS THE AREA IN WAKE OF THE FRONT.