Southwest
'Listen to us': Border mayors reveal what they want to see from next president
Sitting in traffic on a sweltering afternoon, waiting to cross the border back into Arizona from a meeting in Mexico, Nogales Mayor Jorge Maldonado’s main request for the next administration was achingly relevant: more Customs and Border Protection staff.
“We got people trying to cross the border that are taking two or three hours long,” Maldonado said. “These are the legal crossers… and we’re not taking care of them.”
Perhaps a surprising priority, as video of people sneaking through holes in fences, wading through chest-deep rivers and steering boats onto beaches have dominated coverage of the United States’ border crisis.
Traffic is seen backed up in Nogales, Arizona, as drivers wait to cross into Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, on Oct. 8, 2022. The ongoing migration crisis at the southern border has strained Customs and Border Protection, affecting even legal crossings between the U.S. and Mexico, according to the Nogales mayor. (Max Herman/AFP via Getty Images)
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But despite being located in Arizona’s Tucson sector, a stretch of border that saw an explosion in migrant encounters earlier this year, Maldonado said Nogales hasn’t experienced as dramatic a flood of border crossings as other areas.
What they do have is a steady stream of American and Mexican citizens trying to legally cross the border for work, school, recreation and commerce.
“These are the people that are going to come into our country and leave their money,” Maldonado said. “We’ve lost focus on the legals because we were so concentrated on the illegals.”
Every section of the border is different and has different needs, Maldonado said. That’s why he and other mayors say it’s so important for the next presidential administration to visit the southern border.
“People in Washington are making policies a thousand, 2,000 miles away,” Dr. Victor Treviño, the mayor of Laredo, Texas, said. “We serve on the front lines… and if they come here and listen to us a little bit, that might help them.”
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During the Trump administration, Mayor Douglas Nicholls said he was invited to the Oval Office to discuss a surge of border crossings near Yuma, and left the meeting with more resources. Shortly after that, Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy took effect, which Nicholls said drastically cut back on illegal entries.
By contrast, Nicholls said requests for policy changes “haven’t landed anywhere” with Biden or Harris, despite the vice president being tasked with addressing the root causes of Central American migration.
“The term ‘border czar’… it’s become more of a political liability since there wasn’t a lot done,” Nicholls said when asked why the White House might be distancing Harris from the informal title.
The Biden Administration oversaw unprecedented levels of illegal immigration. While annual migrant encounters ranged from a low of about 303,916 to a high of 851,508 during Trump’s tenure, crossings surged to 1,734,686 in Biden’s first year in office.
Border encounters continued to rise, hitting 2.5 million in 2023 and 1.8 million with three months still to go in fiscal year 2024.
Migrants cross through a gap in the U.S.-Mexico border fence on Dec. 18, 2023, in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. (Mark Abramson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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But all three border mayors said they have seen a significant decrease in illegal crossings lately.
“We really don’t see a large amount of migrants crossing anymore,” Treviño said in Laredo.
He credited much of that decrease to Biden’s new border policies, which were implemented in June.
The measures restrict asylum eligibility and make it easier to remove people who crossed the border illegally. That month, encounters at the southern border hit their lowest point since Biden took office, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
Republicans slammed the move as a “political stunt” and “cheap” ploy to garner goodwill mere months ahead of the election. Biden in turn blamed congressional Republicans for blocking bipartisan border legislation earlier this year.
“That’s kind of been the frustration is, here at the 11th hour, now the president put an executive order that is along the lines of what we’re really looking for, but really it’s years, literally, late,” Nicholls said.
Nicholls hopes the next president will work with countries like Mexico to find “incentives for them to be a partner on solving this and not just a pass through.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and migrants at the southern border. (Getty Images)
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“The next administration that comes into power really needs to have a change of policy that is at the root of our immigration,” Nicholls said, adding that it “would be great” if Congress could act on the border, but that lawmakers would likely take too long.
He also suggested better funding for federal agencies like ICE, and local communities that find their emergency services overwhelmed by migrants.
“The impacts to communities and to the nonprofits, while they’re funded right now, those are not sustainable programs,” he said. And so we need to get to the point where the numbers make those programs not needed.”
Ramiro Vargas contributed to the accompanying video.
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Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
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