PROFILE
FROM Richard Marosi
California v. feds on immigration and crime In some cases, when Customs and Border Patrol agents catch an immigrant wanted for a crime, they’re no longer sending them to the California law enforcement agency that issued a warrant for that suspect. Instead, federal agents are deporting the suspects back to their home countries. Is it in retaliation for California’s sanctuary state law?
On immigration, Congress drags its feet, White House doubles down House Republicans came up short, again, in an effort to produce some sort of immigration compromise. It is an issue that united Democrats, but has split conservative and moderate factions of the GOP. For the second time this week, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy gathered the factions, and emerged without a deal. There could be a vote on the issue, whether Speaker Paul Ryan wants it or not and it comes as immigration policies are having profound effects at the border.
How Wall Street created a housing disaster for millions of Mexicans An LA Times investigation finds that hastily built communities across Mexico are falling apart. Streets are buckling. Houses are bursting into flames. There’s no clean drinking water. We find out how Wall Street helped create the disaster.
Mexico and Walmart Team Up to Improve Farmworker Conditions Living conditions at huge Mexican farms that produce about half the tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers consumed in the US were recently revealed in appalling detail by the Los Angeles Times: children working in hot fields; families sleeping in rat-infested hovels, often on concrete; unreliable water; and pay as low as $8 a day. Now, Walmart and the Mexican government have struck a deal to improve life for the farmworkers . But how will they actually carry out and enforce the sweeping changes they're promising? Photo: Alex Proimos
The Human Cost of Cheap Produce Walmart, Safeway, Whole Foods and other American grocers import billions of dollars-worth of fruits and vegetables from Mexico. The companies advertise "ethical sourcing guidelines" including humane treatment of Mexican farm workers. But a recent Los Angeles Times investigation reveals unpaid laborers trapped behind fences far from home, living in squalor, short of drinkable water, bathing in irrigation canals. Is that what's keeping food prices down?
Listening on the Wire to the Sinaloa Cartel The Los Angeles Times is running a series on the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel, an institution ruled by fear, superstition and money. Reporter Richard Marosi is detailing how a nonstop river of cocaine runs from Colombia to Mexico to Los Angeles and then on to the rest of the country. The series is based on wiretaps made by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Mexico Beefs Up Border Security The United States is engaged in a continuing crackdown on goods and people flowing north across the Mexican border. Now, Mexico's President Felipe Calderón is about to turn that around. He's installing gates, cameras and vehicle scales to monitor traffic that flows south. Richard Marosi reports on border issues for the Los Angeles Times .
Mexican Drug War Rages along the US Border Two weeks ago, Mexico launched a military offensive against drug cartels that have been killing each other relentlessly. Since then, 70 people have been slaughtered in Tijuana alone, 38 just since Saturday. The latest killing spree has put the city's top law enforcement official out of a job as well as shaking up the military, as Richard Marosi reports for the Los Angeles Times .
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White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.