(NEW YORK) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed the first case of severe bird flu in the United States.
The federal health agency said Wednesday that the patient has been hospitalized in Louisiana. State health officials said the patient is over the age of 65 with underlying medical conditions.
The patient is experiencing severe respiratory illness related to bird flu infection and is currently in critical condition, a spokesperson from the Louisiana Department of Health told ABC News.
Genomic data showed the Louisiana patient was infected with a version of the virus recently found to be spreading in wild birds and poultry in the U.S., as well as found in some human cases in Canada and Washington state, according to the CDC.
This is different than the version of the virus found to be spreading in dairy cows and some poultry populations in the U.S.
The Louisiana patient was exposed to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks, although an investigation into the source of the illness is ongoing, the CDC said. This is the first case of human bird flu in the U.S. linked to exposure to backyard flock.
There have been 61 reported human cases of bird flu reported in the U.S. since April, according to CDC data.
Almost all confirmed cases have had direct contact with infected cattle or infected livestock. Prior to the case confirmed in the Louisiana patient, cases had been mild and patients had all recovered after receiving antiviral medication, according to the CDC and state health officials. One previous case in Missouri was hospitalized, but health officials pointed to other health conditions aside from bird flu infection involved in the patient's admission to the hospital.
Signs and symptoms of infection in humans often include sore throat, cough, fever, runny or stuffy nose, headache, muscle or body aches, fatigue and shortness of breath, the CDC says. Less common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures.
Infections can range from no symptoms or mild illness, such as flu-like symptoms, to more severe illness, such as pneumonia that could require hospitalizations, the CDC says.
"The best way to prevent bird flu is to avoid exposure whenever possible. Infected birds shed avian influenza A viruses in their saliva, mucous and feces," the CDC wrote Wednesday in a press release. "Other infected animals may shed avian influenza A viruses in respiratory secretions and other bodily fluids (e.g., in unpasteurized cow milk or 'raw milk')."
The CDC said no person-to-person transmission has been detected and the risk to the general public is low. However, those who work with birds, poultry or cows -- or have recreational exposure to them -- are at higher risk and should take precautions recommended by the health agency.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a new federal order last week that raw milk samples nationwide will be collected and shared with the department in order to test for bird flu.
The decision came after the bird flu virus was found in samples of raw milk from a California farm, which issued a recall of all of its raw milk products earlier this week. The farm was also placed under quarantine by state health officials.
On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency "to streamline and expedite the state’s response" to bird flu. There have been 33 cases of human bird flu confirmed in California this year, according to the CDC.
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) -- The stopgap spending plan negotiated between House Republicans and Democrats to avoid a government shutdown appears to be dead two days before the deadline after it was condemned by President-elect Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk.
Johnson's original plan called for extending government spending at current levels until March and added other provisions like relief for disaster victims and farmers and a pay raise for members of Congress.
In a joint statement Wednesday afternoon, Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance called on Congress to "pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn't give [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want."
"Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF. It is Schumer and [President Joe] Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief," Trump and Vance said.
Later Wednesday evening, Trump threatened any Republican in the House who voted for a clean bill.
"Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried," he posted on his Truth Social platform. "Everything should be done, and fully negotiated, prior to my taking Office on January 20th, 2025."
In another post, Trump also pushed Republicans to deal with the debt limit before he takes office, saying if they don't, "he'll have to 'fight 'til the end' with Democrats."
"This is a nasty TRAP set in place by the Radical Left Democrats!" he wrote. "They are looking to embarrass us in June when [the debt limit] comes up for a Vote. The people that extended it, from September 28th to June 1st, should be ashamed of themselves."
Scalise says 'hopefully tomorrow' the House will have deal Congress faces a deadline Friday, when the current government funding extension expires, to pass a new bill before a government shutdown kicks in.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters late Wednesday that negotiations on government funding remained ongoing after a "productive" late-night meeting in Speaker Mike Johnson's office.
"We are going to continue to work through the night to the morning to get an agreement we can bring to the floor," Scalise said, adding "hopefully tomorrow" the House can "get it resolved."
Among those in the speaker's office for negotiations was Vance, who told reporters the conversation was "productive," adding, "I think we will be able to solve some problems here."
In his remarks to reporters, Scalise said Trump "wants to start the presidency on a sound footing, and we want him to as well. And I think that's one of the things we're all focused on," he said.
Scalise added, "There's a lot we want to get done starting in January. But obviously we've got to get through this first. And we are going to get it resolved."
Asked if the debt limit is going to be part of any new agreement, as Trump has called for, Scalise said: "We are not there yet. We are still having conversations with our members with a lot of other folks too just to make sure that everybody is on the same page. But we are still talking about some good ideas that will address some of the issues our members raised today. And then make sure we take care of the disaster victims."
What Elon Musk said
Earlier Wednesday, Musk came out against the bill, going so far as to threaten lawmakers who voted for it.
After posting on X that "This bill should not pass," Musk escalated his rhetoric, warning that "any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!"
"Please call your elected representatives right away to tell them how you feel! They are trying to get this passed today while no one is paying attention," he implored his over 200 million followers.
He later posted that "No bills should be passed Congress until Jan 20, when @realDonaldTrump takes office."
Republican leaders had been discussing a clean short-term funding bill, but specifics are unclear, sources told ABC News. This comes less than a day after Republicans unveiled the legislative text that was the product of bipartisan and bicameral negotiations.
What Democrats are saying
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries signaled Democrats were not inclined to vote for a clean bill.
"An agreement is an agreement," Jeffries told reporters.
"House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government and hurt everyday Americans all across this country," he said. "House Republicans will now own any harm that is visited upon the American people that results from a government shutdown or worse."
House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about Musk's post during an interview on "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday morning. He appeared to not worry about Musk's post influencing the ability of the funding bill to get through both chambers ahead of a partial government shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday.
"I was communicating with Elon last night. Elon and Vivek [Ramaswamy] and I are on a text chain together and I was explaining to them the background of this. Vivek and I talked last night about midnight, and he said 'look I get it.' He said, 'We understand you're in an impossible position,'" Johnson said.
Johnson said Musk and Ramaswamy, the two DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) leaders, are aware of the tough spot the speaker is in with a slim majority and Democratic control of the Senate and White House. DOGE is an outside-of-government (or private) operation.
"We gotta get this done because here's the key. By doing this, we are clearing the decks, and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back with the American first agenda. That's what we are going to run with gusto beginning January 3 when we start the new Congress," he said.
Johnson, whose speakership has been characterized by beating back criticism from his far-right flank, had originally promised a clean bill that would solely extend current levels of government funding to prevent a shutdown. However, natural disasters and headwinds for farmers, necessitated additional federal spending.
In the end, the bill included $100 billion for recovery efforts from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and another $10 billion for economic assistance for farmers.
Johnson at an earlier press conference said his hands were tied after "acts of God" necessitated additional money.
"It was intended to be, and it was, until recent days, a very simple, very clean [continuing resolution], stopgap funding measure to get us into next year when we have unified government," he said. "We had these massive hurricanes in the late fall, Helene and Milton, and other disasters. We have to make sure that the Americans that were devastated by these hurricanes get the relief they need."
Still, Republican spending hawks cried foul, accusing Johnson of stocking the bill with new spending without any way to pay for it and keeping the bill's creation behind closed doors.
"We're just fundamentally unserious about spending. And as long as you got a blank check, you can't shrink the government. If you can't shrink the government, you can't live free," Texas Rep. Chip Roy said.
Musk, too, mocked the size of the bill.
"Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?" he posted on X, along with a picture of the bill stacked on a desk.
ABC News' Rachel Scott and Katerine Faulders contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) -- China has nearly tripled its nuclear warhead arsenal since 2020, according to the Pentagon's latest China military power report released Wednesday.
"DOD estimates the PRC has surpassed 600 operational nuclear warheads as of mid-2024," a senior U.S. defense official told reporters this week.
In 2020, the Pentagon estimated China's nuclear stockpile was in the low 200s.
"The PLA continues its rapid nuclear build up," the official said, using an acronym for the People's Liberation Army, adding that China is expected to exceed 1,000 warheads by 2030.
China is also diversifying the kinds of nuclear weapons it's building, the official said.
"When you look at what they're trying to build here, it's a diversified nuclear force that would be comprised of systems ranging from low-yield precision strike missiles all the way up to ICBMs, with different options at basically every rung on the escalation ladder, which is a lot different than what they've relied on traditionally," the official said.
China's budding nuclear arsenal, still dwarfed by those of the U.S. and Russia, is just one part of a broader strategy to build its influence on the global stage, the official said.
"The PRC seeks to amass national power to achieve what Xi Jinping has referred to as the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation by 2049 and to revise the international order in support of the PRC system of governments and its national interests," the official said.
Despite economic and corruption-related setbacks, China's military is making steady progress in modernizing its non-nuclear capabilities as well, according to the official.
"They also are showing some interest in developing a new conventional ICBM that could strike Hawaii, Alaska and the continental United States. And I think this is in part to address what they've seen as a long-standing asymmetry in the U.S.'s ability to conduct conventional strikes against the PRC, and for many decades, their inability to reach out and strike the U.S. territory with anything other than nuclear and ballistic missiles," the official said.
Beijing has become ever more willing to use military coercion to help achieve its aims, according to the DOD report.
"Throughout 2023, the PRC escalated tensions with the Philippines in the South China Sea by ramming and boarding vessels en route to supply Second Thomas Shoal. The PRC also amplified its diplomatic, political and military pressure against Taiwan in 2023 and into this year," the senior defense official said.
But the People's Liberation Army has identified some of its own shortcomings, including with the strength of its leaders, according to the report.
"The PLA to continues to highlight what they refer to as the 'five incapables,' which is a PLA slogan asserting that some PLA commanders are incapable of judging situations, understanding higher authorities' intentions, making operational decisions, deploying forces or managing unexpected situations," the defense official said.
Despite several soft spots, the U.S. lists China as the Defense Department's No. 1 "pacing challenge."
"Our National Security Strategy identifies the PRC as the only competitor with the intent, and increasingly, the capability, to reshape the international order," the official said.
(LONDON) -- Ukraine's intelligence services released new information Tuesday about the conduct of North Korean troops now fighting alongside Russian forces in the western Russian region of Kursk, which since August has been a key front of Moscow's war on its neighbor.
U.S. and Ukrainian estimates suggest there are between 10,000 and 12,000 North Korean troops currently inside Russia, with their focus on the Kursk region. Ukrainian and American officials now say North Korean forces are actively engaged in fighting and taking casualties.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) this week reported at least 30 North Korean troops killed and wounded in Kursk.
On Tuesday, the GUR said North Korean forces were taking additional security measures to try to blunt the threat of drone strikes.
"After serious losses, North Korean units began setting up additional observation posts to detect drones of the security and defense forces of Ukraine," the GUR wrote in a post to its official Telegram channel.
The directorate said North Korean troops gather in groups of between 20 and 30 soldiers before launching attacks, moving "to the concentration area in small groups of up to six servicemen" and using red tape for identification.
"The constant accumulation of assault groups by the personnel of the DPRK army in the Kursk region indicates that Moscow does not want to lose the pace of offensive actions," the GUR added, using an acronym for the country's official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The Security Service of Ukraine, meanwhile, claimed on Tuesday to have intercepted a phone call between a nurse at a hospital near Moscow and her husband -- a soldier fighting at the front.
In two days, the nurse said, more than 200 wounded North Korean servicemen were brought to one of the Russian hospitals near Moscow.
"Are they elite, these Koreans?" the nurse asked in the purported recording, which ABC News cannot independently verify. "We are freeing up certain wards for them."
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told a Tuesday briefing that the U.S. assesses "that North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat in Kursk alongside Russian forces."
"We do have indications that they have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded," he added, though declined to provide specific numbers.
"I would say certainly in the realm of dozens, several dozens," Kirby added when pressed. The North Korean forces are now also moving "from the second line to the front line," Kirby said.
An unnamed senior U.S. official, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that a couple hundred North Korean troops had been killed or wounded while fighting in Kursk.
The North Korean deployment followed more than two years of closer ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, a relationship that previously saw North Korean munitions sent westwards to support Russian operations in Ukraine.
Ukraine's foreign partners have condemned what White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby called a "dramatic move."
Both the U.S. and European Union this week introduced additional sanctions on individuals and entities they said are involved in North Korean military assistance to Russia.
TYLER — Tyler Transit is transforming its existing fixed route service into a MicroTransit service starting Monday, Jan. 13. New payment methods are being rolled out as well. Riders will be able to book a ride by calling (903) 533-8057 from the bus stop or through the Tyler Transit app. Public comment period will remain open until Monday, Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. Click here to submit questions and comments.
All Tyler Transit bus stops will be used as pick-up locations for riders. The ride will take them directly to the doorstep of a destination within sight of the closest bus stop on any existing route. The MicroTransit service will be split into three zones, with two drivers per zone. If a passenger’s destination is in a different zone from where they are picked up, they will be taken to Stop 400 near the Bergfeld Center and Fire Station 7, where a driver will be waiting or arriving shortly to complete the trip. Continue reading Tyler Transit launching MicroTransit service for all routes
SULPHUR SPRINGS (AP)- “People are uneasy and they want a safe place to put their family. And they have this attitude that it’s better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it,” said Atlas Survival Shelters CEO Ron Hubbard, amid showers of sparks and the loud buzz of welding at his bunker factory, which he says is the world’s largest, in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
Hubbard said COVID lockdowns, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war have driven sales.
On Nov. 21, in the hours after Russia’s first-ever use of an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile to attack Ukraine, Hubbard said his phone rang nonstop.
Four callers ended up buying bunkers in one day, he said, and more ended up ordering doors and other parts for shelters they were already building.
Hubbard said his bunkers are built for all disasters.
“They’re good for anything from a tornado to a hurricane to nuclear fallout, to a pandemic to even a volcano erupting,” he said, sweeping his arms toward a massive warehouse where more than 50 different bunkers were under construction.
A loaded shotgun at arm’s length and metal mesh window shields to block Molotov cocktails nearby, Hubbard said he started his company after building his own bunker about 10 years ago. He says callers ask about prices — $20,000 to multimillions, averaging $500,000 — and installations — they can go just about anywhere. He said most days he sells at least one bunker.
Under Hubbard’s doomsday scenario, global tensions could lead to World War III, a situation he is prepared to live through.
“The good news about nuclear warfare,” he said, “if there ever was any, that it’s very survivable if you’re not killed in the initial blast.”
He’s not wrong, say U.S. government disaster preparedness experts.
Story initially publised by AP. Full story can be read by clicking here .
(WASHINGTON) -- The upcoming change in the White House is sparking uncertainty for the Middle East. President-elect Donald Trump might be a familiar face (and a historically friendly one for the Israelis), but what he will do to address the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories remains unclear.
During his first term, Trump moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a deeply symbolic show of support for Israel. The decision created anger among Palestinians, since it effectively recognized the city as Israel's capital.
Jerusalem lies at the heart of the near-century-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, since it stands as a powerful political and religious symbol for both sides. Palestinian protests over the move spread to Gaza and the West Bank, turning deadly as demonstrators clashed with the Israeli military.
Many Israelis welcome Trump's return to the White House. In his first term, Trump became the first Western leader to officially recognize Israel's control over the Golan Heights, which it seized from Syria in 1967. And, as a thank you, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renamed a planned settlement in the area "Trump Heights" in 2019.
Some members of the Israeli government hope Trump will go a step further when he returns to the White House on Jan. 20. Days after Trump won the presidential election, Bezalel Smotrich -- Israel's far-right finance minister -- announced at a press conference that he's ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the West Bank.
"I intend, with God's help, to lead a government decision that says the government of Israel will work with the new administration of President Trump and the international community to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria," he said in Hebrew.
Smotrich referred to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria, a reference to ancient Israelite kingdoms as some Israelis assert that the area is a historic Jewish homeland.
Smotrich's plan would effectively cement the West Bank as Israeli territory, despite the occupied land being part of what would form a Palestinian state.
Official U.S. policy has always been in favor of a two-state solution, meaning it supports the creation of a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel. Trump's appointment of Mike Huckabee -- the former governor of Arkansas and a staunch supporter of Israel's expansion ambitions -- as ambassador to Israel has thrown continued commitment to that policy into question.
In the West Bank village of Al-Makhrour, a Christian area west of Bethlehem, local woman Alice Kasiya is holding out hope for better days under Trump. Her family's land was seized by Israeli settlers at the end of July. In a video posted to social media, she said 50 Israeli soldiers sealed off the area as bulldozers drove through.
"He's a business guy. He had many peace agreements with other countries before, in his presidential time," she told ABC News. "And I know everyone says no, it will, it will be worse with him, but I believe it will be better. He's a good guy."
Kasiya, who's been arrested three times while protesting, said she believes the situation can't get any worse. She noted that Israeli settler expansionism has accelerated dramatically since Hamas' deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
"We have seen many settlers coming and trying to take over lands, " she said. "So it's like cancer. They are spreading. They put the first step and they will keep moving around until they get everything slowly, slowly."
Kasiya also warned that what happens in her area reverberates far and wide.
"It's not for us only, it's for the whole world," she told ABC News. "Because this city is the Holy City that affects the whole world. If it's not in peace, nowhere else will be living in peace."
MARSHALL — The Marshall Fire Department said the investigation into the fire that damaged the historic First Methodist Church earlier this month has been completed. According to our news partner KETK, investigators determined that the fire originated in the lower level of the church where administrative officers were located. The fire was identified “as electrical in nature and was found to be unintentional.”
The fire was first reported at 1:15 a.m. on Dec. 9 and quickly spread requiring multiple agencies to respond. After 15 hours of intensive firefighting operations, the fire was brought under control at 4 p.m., however officials remained at the scene for several days to ensure the fire was completely extinguished. Continue reading Electrical issues caused fire at historic Marshall church
(LONDON) -- Russian investigators detained a 29-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan in connection with Tuesday's assassination of a general in Moscow, an attack in a residential neighborhood for which Ukraine claimed credit.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was killed by an explosive device that appears to have been hidden in a parked scooter and set off by remote control, Russian state-affiliated media TASS reported. The explosion also killed an aide accompanying him.
Kirillov was the head of Russia's radiation, chemical and biological protection troops. Sources told ABC News that the Security Service of Ukraine was behind the killing. Kirillov is the most senior Russian military official assassinated by Ukraine.
The suspect, whose name has not been released, had been recruited by Ukrainian intelligence officers, Russian police said as they announced the arrest.
"On their instructions, he arrived in Moscow and received an improvised explosive device," police said. "He placed it on an electric scooter, which he parked at the entrance of the apartment building where Igor Kirillov lived."
The suspect had used a carshare to rent a car and installed a video camera in the vehicle, which was then parked near where the blast went off, police said.
"The footage from this camera was broadcast online to the organizers of the terrorist attack in the city of Dnipro," Russia's Investigative Committee said. "After a video signal was received about the exit of the servicemen from the entrance, the explosive device was remotely activated by them."
Russia's internal intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, or FSB, released a video of a man who they said was the suspect. In the footage, which aired on Russian state TV, the man appears to confess to the killing, saying he had been hired by Ukraine, according to the FSB.
Russia claimed the suspect had been offered payment of $100,000, along with an agreement that he would be given a European passport.
President Vladimir Putin offered condolences on Wednesday for those who were killed, according to the Kremlin. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the country's law enforcement and intelligence services had been "working effectively."
"It is once again confirmed that the Kyiv regime does not disdain terrorist methods of work," Peskov said. "We clearly understand who our enemy is, what he is capable of, and this is once again proven by our actions during the special military operation."
ABC News' Joseph Simonetti, Helena Skinner, David Brennan and Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) -- The price of bitcoin topped $107,000 for the first time this week, climbing to a fresh high days after President-elect Donald Trump reaffirmed support for a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve akin to its strategic oil reserve.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has seen its price climb more than 50% since the election of Trump, who voiced support for bitcoin on the campaign trail.
Proponents of a potential government stockpile of bitcoin say it could diversify the nation’s financial holdings and prevent other countries from dominating the ascendant digital currency market. Critics warn, however, that the highly volatile asset lacks the type of financial or national security import that would warrant a strategic reserve.
Here’s what to know about a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve, according to experts:
How would a bitcoin strategic reserve work?
A U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve would amount to a substantial government holding of bitcoin similar to the country’s stockpile of oil or gold.
A strategic reserve typically acts as a safeguard against an emergency shortage or another sudden event that would require the government to draw upon its stockpile of a given asset.
For instance, the strategic petroleum reserve, or SPR, was established after the Arab Oil Embargo triggered an energy crisis in the early 1970s with devastating consequences for the U.S. economy. The SPR, in turn, provides an emergency source of oil that protects the U.S. against a sudden supply crunch.
A bitcoin strategic reserve would help ensure the U.S. plays a significant role in the cryptocurrency market, which supporters view as a fast-growing part of the global financial system, Nik Bhatia, a professor of finance and business economics at the University of Southern California who studies cryptocurrency, told ABC News.
“Bitcoin has now become the largest decentralized asset in human history,” Bhatia said.
“Having some ownership in the network would be natural for the U.S. given its leadership in technology,” Bhatia added, citing the nation’s role in the invention of the internet.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of a bitcoin strategic reserve?
Speaking at a pro-bitcoin conference in July, Trump said a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve would ensure the country exerts influence over bitcoin and prevents China from controlling the digital currency market.
Supporters of a bitcoin strategic reserve also say the asset would help diversify the nation’s financial holdings, protecting it from the potential decline in value of other assets, such as the U.S. dollar or gold.
Some proponents have said bitcoin holdings could help the U.S. pay down its national debt, since the price of bitcoin has recently climbed.
“While U.S. adversaries acquire traditional gold from a position of relative financial weakness, the U.S. can countermove by stockpiling digital gold in a way that amplifies its incumbent financial strength,” the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that supports a bitcoin strategic reserve, said earlier this year.
Some critics say bitcoin, launched 15 years ago, remains a relatively new asset lacking the kind of social utility or financial import that would necessitate a strategic reserve.
“You’re going to be hard pressed to say someone needs bitcoin the day-to-day way that they need petroleum,” Ananya Kumar, deputy director for future of money at the GeoEconomics Center, a part of the nonpartisan Atlantic Council, told ABC News.
Since the price of bitcoin is highly volatile, a large purchase of the asset could end up threatening the nation’s financial stability rather than safeguarding it, some critics say.
When asked about forecasts of future bitcoin gains that could ease the nation’s debt, Kumar says the long-term outlook for bitcoin remains uncertain. “The coin’s price has obviously been rising over time, but I’m not sure if that rise will continue,” Kumar said.
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. still separates some migrant children from parents while holding them after they cross the border despite broad improvements at detention centers in Texas, according to a court-ordered monitor’s final report.
The report, issued Friday under a monitoring agreement that began in 2022, offers a final glimpse into conditions inside the facilities ahead of Trump’s return to office. The report noted improvements to hygiene, food and medical care but found that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents routinely separated children from adult relatives during their time in custody.
Unlike separations that happened under Trump’s zero tolerance border policy during his first term, those noted in the report were temporary and did not involve sending adults to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention while they were criminally prosecuted and children to shelters for minors.
At a facility in Donna, Texas, in September, agents “continued to routinely hold children separately from parents or trusted adults,” the report said. By November, the monitor called regular visits among family at the same facility “encouraging.” Workers at the facility said they could arrange visits because it was no longer overcrowded.
CBP said they issued new guidance on family unity and increased training on detention policies, guidelines and regulations.
“Over the past two years, CBP has undertaken extensive measures to significantly expand and enhance its support efforts in both scope and scale for persons in custody, especially vulnerable populations such as children,” the agency said in a statement.
Advocates sued the Trump administration in 2019, citing reports of children in federal custody who described overcrowding at CBP facilities in Texas, as well as unsafe and unsanitary conditions. That year, nearly 70,000 migrant children entered federal custody, enough to exceed the of capacity a typical NFL stadium.
A 2022 court agreement created a temporary monitoring system that required CBP to provide adequate medical care and supervision. It also required keeping families together or allowing contact for those held separately in custody.
Last week’s report noted medical care improved in 2024 but also found hesitancy in sending sick children to a medical facility. In 2023, when CBP was struggling with overcrowding, an 8-year-old girl with heart problems died while in custody in the Rio Grande Valley.
The monitoring agreement ends Jan. 29, 2025, more than a week into Trump’s second administration. Leecia Welch, the deputy litigation director at Children’s Rights who represents children in CBP custody under the Flores settlement, expressed concern about what will happen to children without the agreement’s oversight.
“The report highlights the crucial role the independent monitors are playing to keep children safe and shows that CBP is very far from meeting its obligations — let alone ready for self-monitoring,” Welch said in a written statement.
Broader court oversight of facilities began in 1997 under what is called the Flores settlement, after Jenny Flores, a girl from El Salvador who sued the U.S. government in the 1980s. It was partially lifted in June when the Justice Department argued that new safeguards would in some ways exceed the Flores settlement’s standards.
HOUSTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers announced Tuesday they had issued a new subpoena that would require the state’s prison system to allow death row inmate Robert Roberson to testify in person this week about the state’s junk science law. An earlier subpoena ended up delaying Roberson’s Oct. 17 execution, which had been set to be the first in the U.S. tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
WAXAHACHIE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man being held in jail fatally assaulted a detention officer who was returning him to his cell following the one hour he was allowed out of his lockup each day, a sheriff said Tuesday.
Isaiah Patrick Bias, a 28-year-old who worked at the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office for over six years, was assaulted Monday afternoon at the county jail in Waxahachie, south of Dallas. Sheriff Brad Norman said during a Tuesday news conference that Arron Semeion Thompson, 45, from nearby Ennis, has been charged with capital murder in Bias’ death.
“Most of the time, law enforcement officers and detention officers deal with good folks having a bad day. Occasionally, we deal with bad folks,” Norman said. “I can honestly say that my staff, over the last day, has dealt with pure evil.”
Norman said Bias was a family-oriented person and beloved by colleagues.
“He was one of the kind of guys who if you needed help, he’d come help you,” Norman said.
Officials said Thompson has been in jail since last month on charges of assaulting a public servant, public intoxication and evading arrest.
Thompson’s bond in Bias’ death was set at $2 million. Jail records did not list an attorney for him.
TYLER — Two people have died following a Tuesday afternoon multi-vehicle wreck involving an 18-wheeler on Loop 323, the Tyler Police Department said. Tyler PD’s Public Information Officer Andy Erbaugh said at around 1 p.m., the police department was dispatched to a multi-vehicle wreck at West Elm Street and SSW Loop 323. According to our news partner KETK, a A preliminary investigation shows that a GMC SUV was on Elm Street on the west side of the Loop and was attempting to turn north on the Loop but pulled in front of a southbound 18-wheeler that struck the GMC.
The crash pushed both vehicles into the northbound lanes and caused three vehicles that were in the northbound turn lane to be hit. Officer Erbaugh said both occupants of the GMC died at the scene and have since been identified as William Connerly, 82, and Shirley Connerly, 79, both of Kerens. Their next of kin have been notified. Continue reading Identities released following fatal wreck in Tyler
