India, China appear to mend fences as direct flights resume
India and China have resumed direct commercial flights for the first time in five years, marking a cautious thaw in relations between the two Asian gi...
Cuba calls Trump’s proposed mass deportation of immigrants "unrealistic and unfair," urging adherence to U.S.-Cuba migration accords. Trump aims to deport record numbers, focusing on criminals, but faces criticism for potential community and family impacts.
HAVANA (Reuters) -A proposal by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for mass deportation of immigrants living illegally in the United States that may include Cubans is unrealistic and unfair, Cuba's deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Trump has pledged a vast immigration crackdown, aiming to deport record numbers of immigrants, an operation that his running mate JD Vance estimated could remove 1 million people a year.
Wednesday's comments by Carlos Fernandez de Cossio followed routine migration talks in Havana with counterparts from the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.
Any such deportation proposal must be vetted within the bounds of existing migration agreements between the United States and Cuba, he told reporters.
"In that context, it's not realistic to think that there could be mass deportations from the United States to Cuba," de Cossio said.
Under existing accords, Cuba has accepted small numbers of deportations from the U.S. by air and by sea during the Biden administration.
Trump's incoming border czar Tom Homan has said deportations would focus on criminals and those given final deportation orders, but has not committed to exemptions for specific groups or nationalities.
The Trump deportation proposal was not discussed with Biden officials during Wednesday's two-way migration talks, de Cossio said.
A U.S. delegation had met Cuban officials in Havana to review the U.S.-Cuba Migration Accords, which date back to 1984, Brian Nichols, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, said on X.
"(The delegation) highlighted our success curbing irregular Cuban maritime and land-based migration," Nichols said.
It was unclear whether Trump would abide by existing accords with Cuba or seek to renegotiate them, as he has in other circumstances.
For decades, Cuba has blamed the U.S. Cold War-era trade embargo for decimating its economy and encouraging the mass migration of Cubans to the United States.
But a large-scale deportation to send them back home would be drastic and unfair, de Cossio said.
"Trying to deport tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of Cubans to Cuba ... would be uprooting people who have already made their lives in the United States," he added.
Trump struggled to ramp up deportations during his first term, from 2017 to 2021.
When counting both immigration removals and faster “returns” to Mexico by U.S. border officials, Biden deported more immigrants in fiscal 2023 than in any Trump year, government data shows.
Immigrant advocates warn that a broader Trump deportation effort would be costly, divisive and inhumane, leading to family separations and devastating communities.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
The war in Ukraine has reached a strategic impasse, and it seems that the conflict will not be solved by military means. This creates a path toward one of two alternatives: either a “frozen” phase that can last indefinitely or a quest for a durable political regulation.
A shooting in Nice, southeastern France, left two people dead and five injured on Friday, authorities said.
Snapchat will start charging users who store more than 5GB of photos and videos in its Memories feature, prompting backlash from long-time users.
India and China have resumed direct commercial flights for the first time in five years, marking a cautious thaw in relations between the two Asian giants.
Cameroon's incumbent President Paul Biya, 92 has been announced as the winner of the country's Presidential election amidst allegations of election irregularities.
The UN has appealed for the safe evacuation of civilians trapped in Sudan’s el-Fasher, as paramilitary forces claim to have captured the army’s main base in the city.
When Javier Milei assumed Argentina's presidency on 10 December 2023, the self-proclaimed "anarcho-capitalist" inherited one of the world's most troubled economies.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he hoped to secure a trade deal with China to add to a series of agreements reached during his ongoing visit to Asia, as he arrived in Tokyo to a royal welcome.
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