Connect with us

Politics

Top UK politician says voters, including in US, are demanding ‘robust action’ on migration crisis

Published

on

Top UK politician says voters, including in US, are demanding ‘robust action’ on migration crisis

FIRST ON FOX — A top British MP and former home secretary is warning that governments in developed countries need to show the “political will” to limit immigration, both legal and illegal, that voters want “robust action” from their representatives and that the global migration crisis will be a major issue for voters in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

Suella Braverman served as U.K. home secretary, making her the top official on matters related to border enforcement and immigration, from October 2022 to November 2023.

She championed lower levels of immigration overall and stricter enforcement of laws related to illegal immigration. She was also a supporter of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

She has also been a champion of the U.K.’s plan to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda and fought both in the Cabinet and from outside it to make it happen. 

Advertisement

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, and Home Secretary Suella Braverman attend a meeting with the community and police leaders following the announcement of a new police task force to help officers tackle grooming gangs April 3, 2023, in Rochdale, England. (Phil Noble/Pool/Getty Images)

While there has been a great deal of attention given to Britain’s illegal immigration crisis, particularly from small boats coming across the English Channel, Braverman warns that illegal and legal immigration are two sides of the crisis, noting legal immigration numbers are much higher despite successive governments pledging to reduce that number.

“Last year alone, the net migration figures into the U.K. topped an unprecedented number of 700,000. And just compare that back to 2019, at the time of our general election, when the Conservative Party pledged in our manifesto to lower the numbers,” she said. “Then, as they stood, 245,000. And then if you even go back to 2016, when we had the Brexit referendum, numbers were far lower even then.”

As for the illegal immigration crisis, the government has yet to send a plane of illegal immigrants to Rwanda, with whom it made a deal.

UK’S CAMERON MEETS TRUMP AHEAD OF PUSH FOR MORE US UKRAINE FUNDING

Advertisement

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman speaks in the House of Commons, London, on an illegal migration bill March 7, 2023.   (UK Parliament/Andy Bailey/ho photo via AP)

“The premise of the Rwanda scheme is based on deterrence. We believe that the model of people-smuggling gangs has to be broken. So, tens of thousands of people are paying these gangs to cross the channel illegally and break into the United Kingdom because they believe they’ll be able to stay here,” she said.

“If they are relocated to a third country like Rwanda, we believe that they will no longer make that journey in the first place,” she said. “And we’ve modeled it to some degree on what worked in Australia. The Australians managed to solve their illegal maritime immigration problem by relocating people from mainland Australia to Papua New Guinea and Nauru. And in quite a short space of time, the number of people coming into Australia illegally dramatically fell.”

Migrants packed tightly onto a small inflatable boat bail water as they attempt to cross the English Channel near the Dover Strait, the world’s busiest shipping lane, Sept. 7, 2020, off the coast of Dover, England.  (Luke Dray/Getty Images)

However, before a plane could take off, activists appealed, and the scheme was blocked by the European Court of Human Rights and, subsequently, by the U.K.’s Supreme Court for being in contravention of the European Convention of Human Rights. Many Conservatives, including Braverman, believe the U.K. needs to leave that charter.

Advertisement

LONDON IS THE ‘WORLD’S MOST ANTISEMITIC CITY,’ SAYS ISRAELI MINISTER

“My proposition to the prime minister has been that we need to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. We need to repeal the Human Rights Act so that the government, the elected government of the day, which has a mandate to control illegal migration, can actually put the interests of the British people first and impose meaningful border control,” she said.

Britain is not the only country to struggle with the issues of migration. Countries in the European Union are also struggling to stop illegal migration and facing backlash over the number of immigrants coming in overall.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is in the fourth year of a historic crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought to Dover, Kent, by the RNLI after a small boat incident in the channel.  (Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images)

Advertisement

Braverman, who is popular with Conservative voters and could become a future leader of the party, said the world is in a global migration crisis, “and I think that the international community hasn’t necessarily come up with a coherent plan to deal with that global migration crisis.

“Secondly, I would say the other issue, the other problem is that many of these developed countries simply haven’t demonstrated the necessary political will to do what’s essential to fix these problems,” she said.

Multiple migrants wade through the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sept. 27, 2023 (Benjamin Lowy for Fox News Digital )

Braverman, who was named Sue Ellen at birth after the character in the American TV show “Dallas,” met with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas when she served as home secretary and said she believed that immigration will be a major issue in the U.S. election as numbers increase.

Advertisement

“The impact on communities around the United States of America is getting more and more pressing. And, as a result, this issue is going to be a very big issue in your presidential election. People want solutions. They want border control, and they want robust action by their elected officials,” she said.

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

Politics

US military announces another deadly strike against ‘narco-terrorists’

Published

on

US military announces another deadly strike against ‘narco-terrorists’

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The U.S. military announced another deadly strike against a vessel that it alleges was involved in “narco-trafficking” efforts.

“On April 19, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” U.S. Southern Command indicated in a post on X.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the post continued.

US MILITARY KILLS 2 SUSPECTED CARTEL OPERATIVES IN LATEST EASTERN PACIFIC LETHAL STRIKE, SOUTHCOM SAYS

Advertisement

The U.S. military announced that it killed three “narco-terrorists” in a strike in the Caribbean on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (@Soutcom via X)

SOUTHCOM indicated that the attack killed three men.

“Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” the post noted.

President Donald Trump’s administration has carried out dozens of deadly strikes against vessels of alleged “narco-terrorists.”

US MILITARY CONDUCTS MORE DEADLY STRIKES AGAINST VESSELS OF ALLEGED ‘NARCO-TERRORISTS’

Advertisement

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Francis L. Donovan, nominee for commander of U.S. Southern Command, testifies during his Senate confirmatino hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 15, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

In a completely different part of the world, amid ongoing tensions between America and Iran, the U.S. attacked an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on April 19.

“Guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) intercepted M/V Touska as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the U.S. blockade,” U.S. Central Command noted.

US SEIZES IRANIAN SHIP AFTER OPENING FIRE; PAKISTAN TALKS IN DOUBT

President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Advertisement

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room. Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room. U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit later boarded the non-compliant vessel, which remains in U.S. custody,” CENTCOM noted.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

Uproar over mama bear killing could help launch a state wildlife coexistence program

Published

on

Uproar over mama bear killing could help launch a state wildlife coexistence program

A month after a public uproar over a mama bear being euthanized after swiping at a resident in Monrovia, state lawmakers are considering mandating the use of nonlethal ways to help allow wildlife and humans to coexist.

Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) said she believes the bear’s death, and the state’s decision to kill four wolves last year that were preying on cattle, raised public concern.

“That made everybody realize we have to do better here,” she told The Times on Thursday. “We need to recognize the importance of seeing ourselves, humans, as part of a larger ecosystem that includes animals and plants and our world and trying to protect it.”

Senate Bill 1135, introduced by Blakespear, would direct the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to create the Wildlife Coexistence Program, which would provide public education, offer technical assistance and maintain a statewide incident reporting system. It would help communities deploy nonlethal devices to deter predators, like barriers or noise and light machines.

At a legislative hearing on Tuesday, Blakespear told the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water that a three-year state initiative offering similar services was seeing positive results — until it was discontinued two years ago after funding ran dry. She said it was time to implement a permanent program.

Advertisement

“Human population growth, habitat loss and the growth of industry across California inevitably leads to interaction between humans and wildlife,” Blakespear told legislators. “No two animal species are the same and each has unique behavior patterns and territories. SB 1135 recognizes these differences and gives communities the tools to prevent conflict and respond when it occurs.”

The bill would also rename a state program that reimburses ranchers who lose livestock to wolves, calling it the Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program. It would require ranchers seeking compensation to show they were using nonlethal deterrents approved by the department.

Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) stressed that life in rural areas is different than living in a city. She said some families and cattle ranchers have a genuine fear of predators.

“When these baby calves drop on the ground and then two wolves start ripping them apart, it’s not the prettiest thing you’ve ever witnessed,” said Grove, who abstained from voting on the measure. “These wolves are not puppies.”

More than 30 organizations are supporting the legislation, including the National Wildlife Federation, Defenders of Wildlife, California State Assn. of Counties, Animal Legal Defense Fund and Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife.

Advertisement

The California Farm Bureau and the California Cattlemen’s Assn. are in opposition due to concerns over funding.

Last month, Blakespear sent a letter to the chair of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review requesting $48.8 million to implement the legislation, with $25 million earmarked for addressing wolf encounters. Half of the money for wolf conflicts would go toward deterrents; the remainder would compensate ranchers for their losses.

Kirk Wilbur, vice president of government affairs cattlemen’s association, said the organization is concerned about that division of funding — especially if funding is reduced.

Wilbur told legislators Tuesday that the organization supports some aspects of the bill and was having productive conversations with Blakespear to address their concerns.

The bill ultimately passed the committee with a 5-to-1 vote and now heads to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

Advertisement

Human wildlife conflicts have made headlines in California recently, with a bear refusing to leave a basement for weeks in Altadena and a mama bear dubbed Blondie crossing paths last month with a woman walking her dog in Monrovia.

Blondie swiped the woman’s leg, and was subsequently euthanized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Her two cubs were sent to the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center. The bear’s death upset many in the community, as thousands had signed a petition calling for other solutions, like relocation.

Deadly wildlife attacks on humans, however, are rare in California.

There have been six reported human fatalities from mountain lions since 1890, according to the state Fish and Wildlife Department. The agency recorded one human fatality from a coyote in 1981 and another fatality from a black bear in 2023. The department has no recorded human fatalities from gray wolves.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

Trump ally diGenova tapped to lead DOJ probe into Brennan over Russia probe origins

Published

on

Trump ally diGenova tapped to lead DOJ probe into Brennan over Russia probe origins

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The Justice Department is turning to former Trump attorney Joeseph diGenova to spearhead a probe into ex-CIA Director John Brennan and others over the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, as the department reshuffles leadership of the sprawling inquiry.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has tapped diGenova to serve as counsel overseeing the matter, according to a New York Times report, putting a former Trump attorney in a key role in the high-profile probe. A federal grand jury seated in Miami has been impaneled since late last year.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

DOJ ACTIVELY PREPARING TO ISSUE GRAND JURY SUBPOENAS RELATING TO JOHN BRENNAN INVESTIGATION: SOURCES

Advertisement

Joseph diGenova represented President Donald Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)

DiGenova, a former U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., who represented Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, has repeatedly accused Brennan of misconduct tied to the origins of the Russia probe—allegations that have not resulted in criminal charges.

He also said in a 2018 appearance on Fox News that Brennan colluded with the FBI and DOJ to frame Trump.

The origins of the Russia investigation have been the subject of ongoing scrutiny by Trump allies, who have argued that intelligence and law enforcement officials improperly launched the probe.

BRENNAN INDICTMENT COULD COME WITHIN ‘WEEKS’ AS PROSECUTORS REQUEST OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS

Advertisement

Joseph diGenova has previously said that ex-CIA chief John Brennan colluded with the FBI and DOJ to frame Trump. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)

DiGenova’s appointment follows the ouster of Maria Medetis Long, a national security prosecutor in the South Florida U.S. attorney’s office. She had been overseeing the inquiry, including a false statements probe related to Brennan and broader conspiracy-related investigations.

As the investigation continues, federal investigators have issued subpoenas seeking information related to intelligence assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

John Brennan has denied any wrongdoing related to the Russia investigation. (William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Advertisement

Brennan has previously denied wrongdoing related to the Russia investigation and has defended the intelligence community’s assessment that Moscow interfered in the 2016 election.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending