Mexico developing app for migrants to send alert if about to be detained in the US

Mexico developing app for migrants to send alert if about to be detained in the US
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(NEW YORK) — Mexico is developing a cellphone app that will allow migrants to inform family members and local consulates if they think they are about to be detained in the United States, the country’s secretary of foreign affairs announced on Friday.

The app is expected to become available in January as President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to launch mass deportations of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission on Day 1 of his second term, takes office.

The app — dubbed Alert Button — will allow nationals who think they are about to be detained to notify the “consulate closest to their location about situations of imminent detention, notify family members who have previously been selected, as well as report to the Foreign Affairs Secretary,” Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.

The app was developed with the Mexican Digital Transformation Agency for “emergency cases,” Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico’s secretary of foreign affairs, said.

De la Fuente outlined other protective measures ahead of Mexican nationals’ possible detention under the incoming Trump administration.

“The foreign affairs secretary was emphatic in pointing out that to deport someone from the United States you need a court order, a final sentence of deportation or removal, and that is where the consular team will be very aware that due process is complied with,” the release said.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to get started on mass deportations as soon as he enters office.

He’s tapped several immigration hard-liners to serve in key Cabinet positions, including former Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan as “border czar.”

Homan previously discussed his vision for mass deportations, saying they would first concentrate on expelling criminals and national security threats. He didn’t rule out deporting families together.

An estimated 11.7 million unauthorized migrants are living in the U.S. without legal immigration status, including about 4.6 million from Mexico, as of July 2023, according to the Center for Migration Studies.

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Biden hosts Israel’s president at the White House amid peace push
Biden hosts Israel’s president at the White House amid peace push
Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(LONDON) — President Joe Biden hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House on Tuesday as the outgoing administration seeks cease-fire progress in Gaza and Lebanon before President-elect Donald Trump takes power in January.

“I know that you’re working very hard to make sure that this war will end,” Herzog told Biden as they met in the Oval Office. “And that there will be first and foremost security for the people of Israel, as well for the people of Lebanon.”

“Clearly, you’re thinking and working about the day after as well, which perhaps should be a trajectory of hope to the people of the region and the ability to have our neighbors, as well as us, live in security and peace,” Herzog added. “But first and foremost, we have to get the hostages back.”

“I agree,” Biden said.

While in Washington, Herzog’s office said, the president will also meet with Rep. Elise Stefanik — whom Trump has chosen to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime foreign policy adviser to Trump.

Biden hosted Herzog amid international concerns that Israel is still failing to facilitate adequate humanitarian aid flows into Gaza.

The Biden administration gave Israel a 30-day window to “surge” food and emergency aid into the devastated territory last month, warning that failure to address the issue may trigger U.S. laws requiring restrictions on military aid to Israel. The deadline for progress is Tuesday.

A letter signed by several international aid agencies and published Tuesday said Israel has failed to address the concerns. The “situation is in an even more dire state today than a month ago,” the groups wrote, per a report by The Associated Press.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar appeared to downplay the situation on Monday, telling reporters that “the issue would be solved.”

Herzog’s visit comes as the Trump transition operation picks up steam, and shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touted his recent close contact with the president-elect.

Netanyahu said this week he had spoken with Trump three times since the Nov. 5 election, describing the conversations as “very good and important talks designed to further enhance the steadfast bond between Israel and the U.S.”

Axios reported that Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer — long a close confidante of Netanyahu — also met with Trump on Sunday at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump is expected to loom large over Biden’s last months of diplomacy in the Middle East, as his administration seeks an end to the fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, plus the release of dozens of hostages — among them four Americans — taken by Palestinian militants during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack into southern Israel.

Trump’s first term saw close U.S.-Israel alignment. The incoming president is expected to cement American backing for Netanyahu’s government and revive his “maximum pressure” approach to Iran.

Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have framed Tehran as the “head of the octopus” funding and directing attacks against their nation.

Netanyahu said this week of his conversations with Trump, “We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects, and on the dangers they reflect.”

ABC News’ Bruno Nota and Dana Savir contributed to this report.

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Group with close ties to Trump presumed to have been attacked by Chinese hackers
Group with close ties to Trump presumed to have been attacked by Chinese hackers
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — America First Policy Institute, a think tank aligned with former President Donald Trump, is presumed by federal authorities to have been attacked by Chinese hackers, sources familiar with the matter have told ABC News.

AFPI’s Chief Communications Officer Marc Lotter told ABC News in a statement that “it is not surprising” that “hostile foreign actors” would target AFPI, noting it’s a leading Trump-aligned policy group.

“As the leading policy group in the America First movement, it is not surprising that hostile foreign actors would attempt to infiltrate our IT,” Lotter wrote. “The tactics, techniques, and procedures of the threat actor are similar to that of nation-state sponsored activities we have seen, allowing us to remediate and respond quickly.”

“Like the America First movement itself, AFPI will not creep at the speed of government but act at the speed of business with the world’s leading cyber experts to even further enhance our already robust security,” he continued.

Politico first reported the alleged hack.

AFPI is a policy advisory think tank group that houses hundreds of former Trump administration officials, including AFPI board chairwoman Linda McMahon, who has been named co-chair of the Trump Transition Team.

The reports of APFI’s being targeted by foreign actors come on the heels of alleged Iranian hacking of the Trump campaign.

The Justice Department unsealed an indictment last month that charged three Iranians over their alleged involvement in the hack of emails from former President Donald Trump’s campaign.

The indictment charged the men with a series of crimes ranging from computer hacking charges, material support to a foreign terrorist organization, identity theft and aiding and abetting.

Prosecutors say the three men were all employed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and engaged in a “wide-ranging hacking campaign” that used spear-phishing and other digital hacking techniques to compromise targets that included current and former U.S. government officials, members of the media, NGOs and “individuals associated with U.S. political campaigns.”

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Unidentified drones seen over 3 British air bases used by US forces
Unidentified drones seen over 3 British air bases used by US forces
Royal Air Force Lakenheath; David Goddard/Getty Images

(LONDON) — Unidentified drones have been spotted again over three British air bases used by the U.S. Air Force, officials confirmed Tuesday.

They were first seen last week over Royal Air Force Lakenheath, Royal Air Force Mildenhall and Royal Air Force Feltwell, the U.S. Air Forces in Europe said in a statement.

The “small unmanned aerial systems” varied in number, size and configuration, it added.

The three bases are all located within the same area of eastern England between Cambridge and Norwich, about two hours north of London.

“To safeguard operational security, we do not discuss specific force protection measures, however we retain the right to protect our installations,” the U.S. Air Force said.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Air Force confirmed the situation was “still ongoing.”

“I can confirm the situation is still ongoing and our units continue to monitor the airspace and are working with host-nation authorities and mission partners to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities, and assets,” the spokesperson said.

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