Asylum seekers will be sent back to dangerous Mexico city by U.S.
HOUSTON — The U.S. government on Friday expanded its requirement that asylum seekers wait outside the country to a part of the Texas Rio Grande Valley across from one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities.
The Department of Homeland Security said that it would implement its Migrant Protection Protocols in Brownsville, Texas, across the border from Matamoros, Mexico.
Under the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy, asylum seekers are briefly processed and given a date to return for an immigration court hearing before being sent back across the southern border. Since January, at least 18,000 migrants have been sent back to Mexico under the policy, according to Mexico’s National Migration Institute.
Man scales down high-rise to escape fire
PHILADELPHIA — A man scaled several floors down the side of a 19-story building in Philadelphia to escape a fire that injured four residents and three police officers.
The fire at the Holden Tower apparently began in a trash chute about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, causing flames to shoot out and spread heavy smoke to all floors of the high-rise.
The man’s name and further information about him was not disclosed.
Apollo 11 astronauts reunite
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins reunited Friday on the eve of the 50th anniversary of humanity’s first moon landing.
They gathered in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump, who got a rundown on his administration’s plans to get astronauts back on the moon by 2024 and then on to Mars in the 2030s.
Both sons of the late Neil Armstrong, the first man to step onto the moon on July 20, 1969, also attended.