Mexico erupts, a new ICE manual, and a win in Jersey
El Mencho’s killing triggers violence across 20 states as the White House claims an intelligence role, a fatal shooting unfolds near the Canada border, New Mexico launches an Epstein “truth commission
We start the week with our eyes on Mexico, a person shot by the Border Patrol in New Hampshire, the Epstein Truth Commission in New Mexico, and a glimpse of good news in New Brunswick.
A wave of violence breaks out in 20 Mexican states after the assassination of “El Mencho.”
Mexican military forces in the west of the country killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho.” According to The Associated Press, the move “decapitates the most powerful cartel in the country.” Similarly, this is the first time that the Mexican government has taken such significant measures in the fight against drug trafficking.
On the other hand, and what concerns many of us, international analysts associate the assassination of “El Mencho” with a way for the Mexican government to “show” President Donald Trump that they are willing to take action.
Worse still, it is also, in part, a U.S. intervention. According to NBC News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday night that the U.S. “provided intelligence support to the Mexican government to assist with an operation in Talpalpa, Jalisco, Mexico,” in which Oseguera Cervantes was killed.
“President Trump has been very clear — the United States will ensure narcoterrorists sending deadly drugs to our homeland are forced to face the wrath of justice they have long deserved,” Leavitt said.
She said the Trump administration “commends and thanks the Mexican military for their cooperation and successful execution of this operation.”
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said on X that the operation was carried out by Mexican special forces “within the framework of bilateral cooperation, with U.S. authorities providing complementary intelligence.”
The aftermath was the unleashing of a wave of violence in 20 of Mexico’s 32 states. National media reported burnings and looting, 252 roadblocks, and at least 14 deaths, including seven members of the National Guard, and 64 arrests.
Similarly, many anticipate that the death of “El Mencho” will not resolve anything. “The big question is, in the coming weeks and months, how the cartel itself will reorganize and how it will fare in its battles against smaller local groups in different states. The cycles of violence in Guanajuato, Michoacán, and elsewhere can be explained by these conflicts,” researcher David Mora explained to the BBC.
Border Patrol shoots and kills another person in New Hampshire
(This is a developing story)
At the time of writing, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Boston office said that the U.S. Border Patrol shot and killed a person after allegedly shooting at a federal agent early Sunday morning in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, near the U.S. Canada border.
According to NBC News, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Boston office said they are investigating the incident, which occurred around 1 a.m., during which the federal agent was allegedly shot at and returned fire, hitting the person.
The person who was shot was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The severity of their injuries is unknown at this time, and authorities have not released their name.
The agent was not injured, the spokesperson added. His name has also not been released.
Authorities have not disclosed what led to the shooting.
The Trump administration takes Tom Homan’s “immigration manual” to the whole country
After the bloody and terrible events in Minneapolis, the Trump administration does not intend to back down. The government announced that it plans to redouble its efforts “in the enforcement of specific immigration laws” by applying them to several cities across the country, according to CNN. These specific measures were developed by Tom Homan, a 180-degree turn from the visible and aggressive tactics of Gregory Bovino. “Enough of Bovino’s nonsense. That program is canceled,” a Homeland Security official told CNN.
The return to ICE’s “typical tactics” of immigration control includes identifying targets in advance, rather than conducting broad raids in areas of immigrant trafficking. As CNN explained, by the end of last year, agents had focused more on locating targets rather than limiting themselves to street encounters.
But that changed with the unprecedented deployment of thousands of federal agents to Minneapolis following a welfare fraud scandal that affected the Somali community.
Two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by federal agents.
Two other officials are under investigation for their accounts of what happened in an operation in which one of them shot a Venezuelan man in the leg.
Homan announced a reduction in federal troops in Minneapolis last week, citing agreements with local officials that allow for additional cooperation.
Current and former members of the Department of Homeland Security emphasized that the recent move toward a more targeted enforcement approach does not mean that crackdowns are diminishing, as some cities may still see an increased presence of ICE agents.
New Mexico takes the lead in the Epstein investigation
After federal agents never searched Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico, the state Department of Justice launched what they call the “truth commission.”
“Upon reviewing information recently released by the US Department of Justice, Attorney General Raúl Torrez has ordered that the criminal investigation into allegations of illegal activity at Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch be reopened,” the New Mexico Department of Justice posted online on Thursday.
“I was deeply heartened by the unanimous support of our New Mexico House of Representatives to establish the truth commission. As chair, it is my sworn duty to do everything within our power to seek answers for the public about what occurred at Zorro Ranch, and to pursue justice for every victim who was allegedly harmed there,” Democratic state representative Andrea Romero said by email on Friday.
“Our House has spoken clearly: no one is above the law, and we will stop at nothing to establish a full and transparent record of truth.”
The Zorro Ranch was one of several properties where the sex-trafficking conspiracy was conducted. Some accusers have alleged the ranch was the site of sex trafficking.
The New Mexico state Department of Justice said its renewed inquiry will “follow the facts wherever they lead, carefully evaluate jurisdictional considerations and take appropriate investigative action, including the collection and preservation of any relevant evidence that remains available.”
Good news from New Brunswick
This is another one of those stories that unfolds while no one is paying attention. Over the past year, the construction of artificial intelligence data centers has proliferated across the country, affecting many communities’ access to clean water. However, New Jersey is showing the country what we can achieve when we work together.
In a video that went viral on social media, community organizer Ben Dziobek’s voice is heard shouting in victory: “They canceled it! They canceled it!” Dziobek shouts in footage shared by New Jersey’s Climate Revolution Action Network. Loud cheers followed, and then a chant: “The people, united, will never be defeated!”
The New Brunswick City Council had just decided to remove data centers from the list of permitted uses in a plan to redevelop several parcels of land. Although no data center had yet been proposed, the mere possibility of one being built there alarmed city residents.
“The city administration is asking the council to amend the redevelopment plan to remove data centers as a permitted use, and to reinsert the requirement for inclusion of a park on the site that’s provided in the prior redevelopment,” New Brunswick’s city planner Daniel Dominguez said at the meeting.