Mexican band changes its tune after cartel leader's face shown at concert
A popular Mexican band under investigation for glorifying a wanted drug lord has released an anti-narco song in a bid to clear its name.
The band, Los Alegres del Barranco, is accused of condoning crime over a song praising Nemesio Oseguera, head of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel in western Mexico.
In April, the United States, which has designated the cartel as a terrorist organization, revoked the band's visas for displaying images of Oseguera during a concert and last month prosecutors in Jalisco state opened an investigation into the group. Oseguera — better known as "El Mencho" — has a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head.
In a bid to curry favor with the authorities, the band released a new song on YouTube on Sunday titled "El Consejo" (The Advice). Its lyrics warn that there are only two avenues open to those who become involved in drug trafficking: "the pantheon (of dead traffickers) or prison."
The Jalisco prosecutor's office reacted positively to the new track, which had garnered nearly 80,000 views on Monday, saying that "by spreading a positive message in a song, there is a possibility that the investigation will be suspended."
However, the band remains under investigation for suspected illicit funding, prosecutors said.
The Jalisco cartel, one of the country's most powerful drug cartels, developed rapidly into an extremely violent and capable force after it split from the Sinaloa cartel following the 2010 killing of Sinaloa cartel leader Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel Villarreal by the military.
Several Mexican states have cracked down on "narcocorridos," a controversial subgenre of regional Mexican folk music that includes shout outs to drug traffickers.
Earlier this month, the popular Los Tucanes de Tijuana band was fined more than $36,000 for performing songs glorifying drug cartels in the northern city of Chihuahua.
Performers of drug ballads have themselves also been targets of gang violence.
In late May, five members of the group Fugitivo were found dead in Tamaulipas state, days after being hired to perform a concert. Their deaths were blamed on suspected drug traffickers.
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum launched a music competition in April "for peace and against addictions" in an attempt to counter the popularity of "narcocorridos." Contestants are from both Mexico and the United States.
The second phase of the competition is set to start July 5 after a panel of judges selects the participants who will advance. The finale is set for Oct. 5 in Durango, Mexico.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
‘Ticking time bomb': Ice detainee dies in transit as experts say more deaths likely
A 68-year-old Mexican-born man has become the first Ice detainee in at least a decade to die while being transported from a local jail to a federal detention center, and experts have warned there will likely be more such deaths amid the current administration's 'mass deportation' push across the US. Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado's exact cause of death remains under investigation, according to Ice, but the Guardian's reporting reveals a confusing and at times contradictory series of events surrounding the incident. The death occurred as private companies with little to no oversight are increasingly tasked with transporting more immigration detainees across the US, in pursuit of the Trump administration's recently-announced target of arresting 3,000 people a day. 'The system is so loaded with people, exacerbating bad conditions – it's like a ticking time bomb,' said Amilcar Valencia, executive director of El Refugio, a Georgia-based organization that works with detainees at Stewart detention center and their families. Avellaneda Delgado lived most of the last 40 years in the US, raising a large family, working on tobacco and vegetable farms – and never gaining legal immigration status. He was arrested in Statenville, Georgia on 9 April due to a parole violation – and died on 5 May in the back of a van about half-way between the Lowndes county jail and Stewart detention center. His family say their search for answers has been frustrating, and have hired an attorney to help. Two of Avellaneda Delgado's six children who lived with their father told the Guardian he had no health conditions before being detained – but somehow was put in a wheelchair during the weeks he spent in jail, and was unable to speak during a family visit. The Guardian learned that he was given medications while in jail. 'Junior' Avellaneda, who bears his father's name and is the youngest, said he and his sister, Nayely, were rebuffed several times in their attempts to visit their father during the 25 days he was in jail, receiving emails that said only 'visit request denied'. Screenshots of the emails were shared with the Guardian. On 4 May, Junior finally was allowed a visit and drove the 30 minutes from the house where he lives with his father and Nayely, in Statenville. At the jail, he was shocked to see his father brought out in a wheelchair. 'My heart drops,' Junior said of the moment he saw Abelardo Sr. 'I'm thinking, 'What's he doing in the wheelchair?' Junior, 32, said he had never seen his father like that. The two sat facing each other, with a glass partition between them. 'I tried to get his attention and tapped on the glass. He was zoned out. At one point, he tried to stand up and fell back on his chair.' 'He didn't make eye contact with me and kept bobbing his head left and right,' he said. Junior asked a jail staffer accompanying Abelardo, Sr to hold the phone to his ear. 'I said, 'Dad, please answer me! Say something to me!' He just said, 'Hmmmm.' It broke me.' The staffer told Junior: 'We gave him his medication, that's probably why he's that way.' He thought, what medication? His father never took any medications at home, he said. Lowndes county jail's Capt Jason Clifton told the Guardian that Avellaneda Delgado was kept in the medical unit of the jail. Asked why, he referred to 'a note in the system that says he hadn't been eating enough, and didn't like the food'. 'I don't believe he was on any medications,' Clifton said. 'I don't see anything in the medical chart.' Told about Junior's account, the captain checked with the jail's nurse, who listed five medications being given to Avellaneda Delgado, two of which were for high blood pressure, plus an antibiotic. The morning after Junior's visit, the local jail handed Avellaneda Delgado over to Ice, for transport to Stewart detention center. Several hours later, Webster county coroner Steven D Hubbard was called to Weston, Georgia, where the van transporting Avellaneda Delgado had stopped on 5 May, after the driver called 911. A text summarizing the call sent by police to Hubbard said Avellaneda Delgado was 'unresponsive', with a blood pressure of 226/57. When the coroner arrived at the scene, he was already dead. The coroner told investigative reporter and immigration researcher Andrew Free he suspected that an aortic aneurysm was the cause of death. The Guardian heard a recording of the interview. Hubbard told the Guardian he doesn't know where the blood pressure reading cited in the text summarizing the 911 call came from – 'but if that was his blood pressure when he left Lowndes, he shouldn't have been going to Stewart. He should've been going to the hospital.' Avellaneda Delgado's family only learned of his death because the Mexican consulate in Atlanta called Nayely with the news – a pattern seen in most deaths under Ice custody, said Valencia, of El Refugio. 'You want to know what happened, but you face a system that is stopping access every step of the way,' he said. Ice's press release on the incident says the death is 'under investigation'. But Clifton and Hubbard both told the Guardian no one has contacted them, more than a month later. The family has learned there are at least two public agencies and three private companies that may have answers about what happened: Lowndes county and Ice; plus CoreCivic, which runs Stewart; CoreCivic's wholly-owned subsidiary TransCor, the company paid to transport detainees; and Southern Health Partners, the company paid to provide healthcare to detainees in Lowndes county jail. The Guardian asked Ice, TransCor and CoreCivic about the incident – including whether vans and buses transporting immigration detainees are equipped with cameras. Ice and TransCor did not respond. Ryan Gustin, senior director of public affairs for CoreCivic, said: 'At TransCor, the safety and security of the public, our staff, and those entrusted to our care are our highest priorities. To that end, we do not publicly disclose how the TransCor fleet is equipped, related to safety and security equipment.' Transportation of detainees is more under the control of private companies than in the past, said Katherine Culliton-González, chief policy counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. TransCor president Curtiss D Sullivan titled the company's 2025 first quarter outlook 'The Time for Growth is Now'. 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'As input/output grows – not just in size, but in speed – the likelihood of making mistakes is going to increase,' Schriro said. 'Ice should make sure every person they take from law enforcement is fit for travel – for the length and conditions of being transported.' Avellaneda Delgado was the first Ice detainee in at least a decade to die while being transported from a local jail to a federal detention center, said Free, who also wrote about the case for ACPC, an Atlanta-based digital outlet. Meanwhile, Avellaneda Delgado's children just spent their first Father's Day without him. The day was doubly difficult for the youngest because it was also his birthday. Heavy rains kept the family from visiting Avellaneda Delgado's grave. 'It bothers me,' Junior said. Then he added: 'He was a great grandfather.'
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
ICE detains Marine Corps veteran's wife who was still breastfeeding their child
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Marine Corps veteran Adrian Clouatre doesn't know how to tell his children where their mother went after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained her last month. When his nearly 2-year-old son Noah asks for his mother before bed, Clouatre just tells him, 'Mama will be back soon.' When his 3-month-old, breastfeeding daughter Lyn is hungry, he gives her a bottle of baby formula instead. He's worried how his newborn will bond with her mother absent skin-to-skin contact. His wife, Paola, is one of tens of thousands of people in custody and facing deportation as the Trump administration pushes for immigration officers to arrest 3,000 people a day. Even as Marine Corps recruiters promote enlistment as protection for families lacking legal status, directives for strict immigrant enforcement have cast away practices of deference previously afforded to military families, immigration law experts say. The federal agency tasked with helping military family members gain legal status now refers them for deportation, government memos show. To visit his wife, Adrian Clouatre has to make an eight-hour round trip from their home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to a rural ICE detention center in Monroe. Clouatre, who qualifies as a service-disabled veteran, goes every chance he can get. Paola Clouatre, a 25-year-old Mexican national whose mother brought her into the country illegally more than a decade ago, met Adrian Clouatre, 26, at a southern California nightclub during the final months of his five years of military service in 2022. Within a year, they had tattooed each other's names on their arms. After they married in 2024, Paola Clouatre sought a green card to legally live and work in the U.S. Adrian Clouatre said he is 'not a very political person' but believes his wife deserved to live legally in the U.S. 'I'm all for 'get the criminals out of the country,' right?' he said. 'But the people that are here working hard, especially the ones married to Americans — I mean, that's always been a way to secure a green card.' Detained at a green card meeting The process to apply for Paola Clouatre's green card went smoothly at first, but eventually she learned ICE had issued an order for her deportation in 2018 after her mother failed to appear at an immigration hearing. Clouatre and her mother had been estranged for years — Clouatre cycled out of homeless shelters as a teenager — and up until a couple of months ago, Clouatre had 'no idea' about her mother's missed hearing or the deportation order, her husband said. Adrian Clouatre recalled that a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staffer asked about the deportation order during a May 27 appointment as part of her green card application. After Paola Clouatre explained that she was trying to reopen her case, the staffer asked her and her husband to wait in the lobby for paperwork regarding a follow-up appointment, which her husband said he believed was a 'ploy.' Soon, officers arrived and handcuffed Paola Clouatre, who handed her wedding ring to her husband for safekeeping. Adrian Clouatre, eyes welling with tears, said he and his wife had tried to 'do the right thing' and that he felt ICE officers should have more discretion over arrests, though he understood they were trying to do their jobs. 'It's just a hell of a way to treat a veteran,' said Carey Holliday, a former immigration judge who is now representing the couple. 'You take their wives and send them back to Mexico?' The Clouatres filed a motion for a California-based immigration judge to reopen the case on Paola's deportation order and are waiting to hear back, Holliday said. Less discretion for military families Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement that Paola Clouatre 'is in the country illegally' and that the administration is 'not going to ignore the rule of law.' 'Ignoring an Immigration Judge's order to leave the U.S. is a bad idea,' U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a June 9 post on X which appeared to refer to Clouatre's case. The agency added that the government 'has a long memory and no tolerance for defiance when it comes to making America safe again.' Prior to the Trump administration's push to drive up deportations, USCIS provided much more discretion for veterans seeking legal status for a family member, said Holliday and Margaret Stock, a military immigration law expert. In a Feb. 28 memo , the agency said it 'will no longer exempt' from deportation people in groups that had received more grace in the past. This includes the families of military personnel or veterans, Stock said. As of June 12 , the agency said it has referred upward of 26,000 cases to ICE for deportation. USCIS still offers a program allowing family members of military personnel who illegally entered the U.S. to remain in the country as they apply for a green card. But there no longer appears to be room for leeway, such as giving a veteran's spouse like Paola Clouatre the opportunity to halt her active deportation order without facing arrest, Stock said. But numerous Marine Corps recruiters have continued to post ads on social media, geared toward Latinos, promoting enlistment as a way to gain 'protection from deportation' for family members. 'I think it's bad for them to be advertising that people are going to get immigration benefits when it appears that the administration is no longer offering these immigration benefits,' Stock said. 'It sends the wrong message to the recruits.' Marine Corps spokesperson Master Sgt. Tyler Hlavac told The Associated Press that recruiters have now been informed they are 'not the proper authority' to 'imply that the Marine Corps can secure immigration relief for applicants or their families.' ___ Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
ICE detains Marine Corps veteran's wife who was still breastfeeding their child
Even as Marine Corps recruiters promote enlistment as protection for families lacking legal status, directives for strict immigrant enforcement have cast away practices of deference previously afforded to military families, immigration law experts say. The federal agency tasked with helping military family members gain legal status now refers them for deportation, government memos show. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up To visit his wife, Adrian Clouatre has to make an eight-hour round trip from their home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to a rural ICE detention center in Monroe. Clouatre, who qualifies as a service-disabled veteran, goes every chance he can get. Advertisement Paola Clouatre, a 25-year-old Mexican national whose mother brought her into the country illegally more than a decade ago, met Adrian Clouatre, 26, at a southern California nightclub during the final months of his five years of military service in 2022. Within a year, they had tattooed each other's names on their arms. Advertisement After they married in 2024, Paola Clouatre sought a green card to legally live and work in the U.S. Adrian Clouatre said he is 'not a very political person' but believes his wife deserved to live legally in the U.S. 'I'm all for 'get the criminals out of the country,' right?' he said. 'But the people that are here working hard, especially the ones married to Americans — I mean, that's always been a way to secure a green card.' Detained at a green card meeting Adrian Clouatre takes a selfie of himself and his wife Paola. Adrian Clouatre/Associated Press The process to apply for Paola Clouatre's green card went smoothly at first, but eventually she learned ICE had issued an order for her deportation in 2018 after her mother failed to appear at an immigration hearing. Clouatre and her mother had been estranged for years — Clouatre cycled out of homeless shelters as a teenager — and up until a couple of months ago, Clouatre had 'no idea' about her mother's missed hearing or the deportation order, her husband said. Adrian Clouatre recalled that a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staffer asked about the deportation order during a May 27 appointment as part of her green card application. After Paola Clouatre explained that she was trying to reopen her case, the staffer asked her and her husband to wait in the lobby for paperwork regarding a follow-up appointment, which her husband said he believed was a 'ploy.' Soon, officers arrived and handcuffed Paola Clouatre, who handed her wedding ring to her husband for safekeeping. Adrian Clouatre, eyes welling with tears, said he and his wife had tried to 'do the right thing' and that he felt ICE officers should have more discretion over arrests, though he understood they were trying to do their jobs. Advertisement 'It's just a hell of a way to treat a veteran,' said Carey Holliday, a former immigration judge who is now representing the couple. 'You take their wives and send them back to Mexico?' The Clouatres filed a motion for a California-based immigration judge to reopen the case on Paola's deportation order and are waiting to hear back, Holliday said. Less discretion for military families Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement that Paola Clouatre 'is in the country illegally' and that the administration is 'not going to ignore the rule of law.' 'Ignoring an Immigration Judge's order to leave the U.S. is a bad idea,' U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a June 9 post on X which appeared to refer to Clouatre's case. The agency added that the government 'has a long memory and no tolerance for defiance when it comes to making America safe again.' Prior to the Trump administration's push to drive up deportations, USCIS provided much more discretion for veterans seeking legal status for a family member, said Holliday and Margaret Stock, a military immigration law expert. In a Feb. 28 memo, the agency said it 'will no longer exempt' from deportation people in groups that had received more grace in the past. This includes the families of military personnel or veterans, Stock said. As of June 12, the agency said it has referred upward of 26,000 cases to ICE for deportation. USCIS still offers a program allowing family members of military personnel who illegally entered the U.S. to remain in the country as they apply for a green card. But there no longer appears to be room for leeway, such as giving a veteran's spouse like Paola Clouatre the opportunity to halt her active deportation order without facing arrest, Stock said. Advertisement But numerous Marine Corps recruiters have continued to post ads on social media, geared toward Latinos, promoting enlistment as a way to gain 'protection from deportation' for family members. 'I think it's bad for them to be advertising that people are going to get immigration benefits when it appears that the administration is no longer offering these immigration benefits,' Stock said. 'It sends the wrong message to the recruits.' Marine Corps spokesperson Master Sgt. Tyler Hlavac told The Associated Press that recruiters have now been informed they are 'not the proper authority' to 'imply that the Marine Corps can secure immigration relief for applicants or their families.'
