By Sharon Bernstein

(Reuters) -The dramatic increase in migrants crossing the U.S. border from Mexico has pushed the city of El Paso, Texas, to “a breaking point,” with more than 2,000 people per day seeking asylum, exceeding shelter capacity and straining resources, its mayor said on Saturday.

“The city of El Paso only has so many resources and we have come to … a breaking point right now,” Mayor Oscar Leeser said at a news conference.

The arrival of largely Venezuelan asylum seekers is part of a larger swell of immigrants who traveled dangerous routes on buses and cargo trains to Mexican border towns near San Diego, California, and the Texas cities of El Paso and Eagle Pass.

Migrant numbers had plummeted in recent months, and the recent rise has generated a new wave of political attacks on U.S. President Joe Biden heading into the 2024 election.

Lesser said El Paso plans to open a new shelter, and on Saturday chartered five buses to take migrants to New York, Chicago and Denver.

Republican governors in Texas and Florida have been criticized for sending migrants to cities perceived as liberal such as New York and Sacramento. But Leeser, a Democrat, said all of the migrants on the El Paso buses were going voluntarily to the cities of their choice.

Leeser said the Biden had been a good partner. But he said the overall U.S. immigration system was broken.

Many migrants from Venezuela, he said, lacked transportation to their desired destinations, while El Paso’s current shelter houses only 400 people, and must also be available to help the homeless.

As recently as six weeks ago, about 350 to 400 people were crossing into El Paso per day, but the past few days have brought 2,000 or more.

Over the past 10 days, the city has worked with the U.S. Border Patrol to provide shelter for 6,500 people, Leeser said.

About two-thirds of those crossing into El Paso currently are single men, he said. About 32% are families and just 2% are unaccompanied children.

“I think it’s really important to note that we have a broken immigration system,” he said. “It’s the same thing over and over again.”

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by David Gregorio and Jamie Freed)

(Reuters) -A tropical storm off the mid-Atlantic coast began dumping rain on parts of North Carolina on Friday and will likely bring more precipitation along with high winds and storm surges to parts of Virginia and Delaware, the National Weather Service said.

In Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the storm, dubbed Ophelia, which was still out at sea as of Friday evening.

He said emergency responders would move into place in advance of the storm, which is expected to bring high surf, coastal flooding and tropical storm force winds to areas along the Chesapeake Bay and tidal areas of the Potomac River.

Tropical storm warnings are in effect for much of the area, along with storm surge warnings, the National Weather Service said. Late Friday, the agency also issued a hurricane watch for parts of eastern North Carolina, saying that Air Force Reserve hurricane hunters had found that Ophelia had strengthened.

By Friday afternoon, Ophelia was powering 70 miles per hour (113 kph) winds, the Air Force data showed, and was expected to reach coastal areas on Friday night, bringing rain and high winds through Saturday.

In addition to life-threatening storm surges along the coast, Ophelia could spur flooding from North Carolina to New Jersey through Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

As the storm bore down on Friday evening, Maryland Governor Wes Moore also declared a state of emergency.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Timothy Gardner and Rosalba O’Brien)

(Reuters) – Negotiators for the striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Hollywood studios will meet again on Sunday after a fourth day of talks failed to reach a deal.

The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents studios like Walt Disney, Netflix and other media companies, held talks on Saturday as the strike reached its 145th day.

Writers walked off the job in early May after negotiations failed to agree on compensation, minimum staffing of writers’ rooms, the use of artificial intelligence and residuals that reward writers for popular streaming shows.

The SAG-AFTRA union, comprising 160,000 members from actors to stunt performers, joined the writers in July, calling for a work stoppage and putting Hollywood into two simultaneous strikes for the first time in 63 years.

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday rebuked what he called “extreme Republicans”, saying the party’s lawmakers needed to take immediate steps to prevent a government shutdown ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline.

The deal reached between congressional Republican leadership and his administration in May would have funded essential domestic and national security priorities and still cut the budget deficit by $1 trillion over the next 10 years, Biden said at a congressional awards dinner on Saturday.

“Now a small group of extreme Republicans don’t want to live up to the deal,” he said.

A shutdown would harm food safety, cancer research and children’s programs, Biden said, adding that ensuring that the government is funded is one of the core functions of congress.

“[I]t’s time for Republicans to start doing the job America elected them to do. Let’s get this done,” he said.

Biden also cast his 2024 campaign against likely Republican challenger former President Donald Trump as a battle against political extremism.

“I wish I could say our threat to democracy ended with our victory in 2020 but it didn’t,” Biden said. “Our democracy is still at stake, don’t kid yourself.”

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicut and Joel Schectman; Editing by William Mallard and Jamie Freed)

By Sharon Bernstein

(Reuters) -The dramatic increase in migrants crossing the U.S. border from Mexico has pushed the city of El Paso, Texas, to “a breaking point,” with more than 2,000 people per day seeking asylum, exceeding shelter capacity and straining resources, its mayor said on Saturday.

“The city of El Paso only has so many resources and we have come to … a breaking point right now,” Mayor Oscar Leeser said at a news conference.

The arrival of largely Venezuelan asylum seekers is part of a larger swell of immigrants who traveled dangerous routes on buses and cargo trains to Mexican border towns near San Diego, California, and the Texas cities of El Paso and Eagle Pass.

Migrant numbers had plummeted in recent months, and the recent rise has generated a new wave of political attacks on U.S. President Joe Biden heading into the 2024 election.

Lesser said El Paso plans to open a new shelter, and on Saturday chartered five buses to take migrants to New York, Chicago and Denver.

Republican governors in Texas and Florida have been criticized for sending migrants to cities perceived as liberal such as New York and Sacramento. But Leeser, a Democrat, said all of the migrants on the El Paso buses were going voluntarily to the cities of their choice.

Leeser said the Biden had been a good partner. But he said the overall U.S. immigration system was broken.

Many migrants from Venezuela, he said, lacked transportation to their desired destinations, while El Paso’s current shelter houses only 400 people, and must also be available to help the homeless.

As recently as six weeks ago, about 350 to 400 people were crossing into El Paso per day, but the past few days have brought 2,000 or more.

Over the past 10 days, the city has worked with the U.S. Border Patrol to provide shelter for 6,500 people, Leeser said.

About two-thirds of those crossing into El Paso currently are single men, he said. About 32% are families and just 2% are unaccompanied children.

“I think it’s really important to note that we have a broken immigration system,” he said. “It’s the same thing over and over again.”

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by David Gregorio and Jamie Freed)

By Sharon Bernstein

(Reuters) – The surge of migrants crossing the U.S. border from Mexico has pushed the city of El Paso, Texas, to “a breaking point,” with more than 2,000 people per day seeking asylum, exceeding shelter capacity and straining resources, its mayor said Saturday.

“The city of El Paso only has so many resources and we have come to … a breaking point right now,” Mayor Oscar Leeser said.

The crush of largely Venezuelan asylum seekers is part of a larger swell of immigrants who traveled dangerous routes on buses and cargo trains to Mexican border towns near San Diego, California, and the Texas cities of El Paso and Eagle Pass.

Migrant numbers had plummeted in recent months, and the recent dramatic increase has generated a new wave of political attacks on U.S. President Joe Biden heading into the 2024 election.

Lesser told a news conference that El Paso plans to open a new shelter, and on Saturday chartered five buses to take migrants to New York, Chicago and Denver.

Republican governors in Texas and Florida have been criticized for sending migrants to cities perceived as liberal such as New York and Sacramento. But Leeser, a Democrat, said all of the migrants on the El Paso buses were going voluntarily to the cities of their choice.

Leeser said the Biden had been a good partner. But he said the overall U.S. immigration system was broken.

Many migrants from Venezuela, he said, lacked transportation to their desired destinations, while El Paso’s current shelter houses only 400 people, and must also be available to help the homeless.

As recently as six weeks ago, about 350-400 people were crossing into El Paso per day, but the past few days have brought 2,000 or more.

Over the past 10 days, the city has worked with the U.S. Border Patrol to provide shelter for 6,500 people, he said.

About two-thirds of those crossing into El Paso currently are single men, he said. About 32% are families and just 2% are unaccompanied children.

“I think it’s really important to note that we have a broken immigration system,” he said. “It’s the same thing over and over again.”

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by David Gregorio)

By Sharon Bernstein

(Reuters) – The surge of migrants crossing the U.S. border from Mexico has pushed the city of El Paso, Texas, to “a breaking point,” with more than 2,000 people per day seeking asylum, exceeding shelter capacity and straining resources, its mayor said Saturday.

“The city of El Paso only has so many resources and we have come to … a breaking point right now,” Mayor Oscar Leeser said.

The crush of largely Venezuelan asylum seekers is part of a larger swell of immigrants who traveled dangerous routes on buses and cargo trains to Mexican border towns near San Diego, California, and the Texas cities of El Paso and Eagle Pass.

Migrant numbers had plummeted in recent months, and the recent dramatic increase has generated a new wave of political attacks on U.S. President Joe Biden heading into the 2024 election.

Lesser told a news conference that El Paso plans to open a new shelter, and on Saturday chartered five buses to take migrants to New York, Chicago and Denver.

Republican governors in Texas and Florida have been criticized for sending migrants to cities perceived as liberal such as New York and Sacramento. But Leeser, a Democrat, said all of the migrants on the El Paso buses were going voluntarily to the cities of their choice.

Leeser said the Biden had been a good partner. But he said the overall U.S. immigration system was broken.

Many migrants from Venezuela, he said, lacked transportation to their desired destinations, while El Paso’s current shelter houses only 400 people, and must also be available to help the homeless.

As recently as six weeks ago, about 350-400 people were crossing into El Paso per day, but the past few days have brought 2,000 or more.

Over the past 10 days, the city has worked with the U.S. Border Patrol to provide shelter for 6,500 people, he said.

About two-thirds of those crossing into El Paso currently are single men, he said. About 32% are families and just 2% are unaccompanied children.

“I think it’s really important to note that we have a broken immigration system,” he said. “It’s the same thing over and over again.”

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by David Gregorio)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter made an outing on Saturday to view a festival in Georgia, the Carter Center said in a tweet.

Carter, 98, and his wife were driven through the former president’s hometown Plains on Saturday to attend its annual peanut festival. Carter, a one-term Democrat who left office in 1981, has lived longer after leaving the White House than any former president in U.S. history.

In recent years, the Georgia native suffered from several health issues including melanoma that spread to his liver and brain, although he had responded well to treatment he received.

The Carter Center announced in February that he would receive hospice care and “spend his remaining time at home with his family” instead of seeing additional medical intervention.

(Reporting by Joel Schectman; Editing by Josie Kao)

By Doyinsola Oladipo and Abhirup Roy

(Reuters) – U.S. auto workers expanded their strike on Friday with a clear target for distress: dealers who sell and service GM and Stellantis vehicles.

Selling and installing parts is one of the most profitable parts of the auto business, but it is also one of the most vulnerable, because the industry relies on just-in-time shipments. The strategy of choking parts delivery increases problems for some dealers who say it already had been difficult to source some components.

“It’s going to become near impossible to get a lot of these parts,” said Richard Fasulo, a diagnostic technician from Wappinger, New York, who works for a Cadillac franchise dealer and used car dealers. The broader strike, which targets 38 parts distribution centers owned by GM and Stellantis, “is going to have these shops telling their customers ‘We don’t know when we can fix your vehicle. It might be indefinitely.'”

Selling repair parts and service returns is the key to many dealers’ profits, and returns 40% or better gross profit margins for big auto retail chains such as AutoNation and Lithia.

“If your car doesn’t work, you’re just stuck. It’s just mean, don’t you think?” said Howard Drake, a GM dealership owner based in California, describing the difficult situation for customers needing repairs. “I thought the punishment would be in the form of adverse selection for customers with limited choice. I didn’t think it would be my lot stacked up with cars that I can’t fix because they won’t man a parts distribution center,” he said.

National Association of Auto Dealers President and CEO Mike Stanton said: “Dealers don’t want to see anything to limit our potential to serve customers, so we certainly hope automakers and the UAW can reach an agreement quickly and amicably.”

The UAW had been expected to expand their strike by shutting down plants that made the highest-profit vehicles, such as pickup trucks. But automakers have built up vehicle inventory and for many dealers problems with repairs will start soon.

“It’s definitely going to impact customers,” said Thomas Morris, 60, who went on strike on Friday at a General Motors parts distribution center in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

The center serves GM dealerships from Pennsylvania to Maine, moving some 30,000 parts for auto repairs each day, workers said.

GM said in a statement the company has “contingency plans for various scenarios” while Stellantis said it was awaiting a response from UAW to their “competitive offer” on Thursday and looking forward to a “productive engagement”.

Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said the UAW had made a smart move.

“I think it is a great strategy going after the distribution centers,” he added. Services are big business, he said. “That’s how they make a lot of their money.”

Brad Sowers, the CEO of Jim Butler Auto Group which owns the largest Chevrolet dealership in St.Louis, Missouri, said if a deal is not inked in 60 days he’ll be upset, even though he had the foresight to load up on parts in anticipation of the strike.

“I just want them to get together and get it done,” he said.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco and Doyinsola Oladipo in New York and Jarrett Renshaw in Pennyslvania; editing by Peter Henderson and Shri Navaratnam)

By Doyinsola Oladipo and Abhirup Roy

(Reuters) – U.S. auto workers expanded their strike on Friday with a clear target for distress: dealers who sell and service GM and Stellantis vehicles.

Selling and installing parts is one of the most profitable parts of the auto business, but it is also one of the most vulnerable, because the industry relies on just-in-time shipments. The strategy of choking parts delivery increases problems for some dealers who say it already had been difficult to source some components.

“It’s going to become near impossible to get a lot of these parts,” said Richard Fasulo, a diagnostic technician from Wappinger, New York, who works for a Cadillac franchise dealer and used car dealers. The broader strike, which targets 38 parts distribution centers owned by GM and Stellantis, “is going to have these shops telling their customers ‘We don’t know when we can fix your vehicle. It might be indefinitely.'”

Selling repair parts and service returns is the key to many dealers’ profits, and returns 40% or better gross profit margins for big auto retail chains such as AutoNation and Lithia.

“If your car doesn’t work, you’re just stuck. It’s just mean, don’t you think?” said Howard Drake, a GM dealership owner based in California, describing the difficult situation for customers needing repairs. “I thought the punishment would be in the form of adverse selection for customers with limited choice. I didn’t think it would be my lot stacked up with cars that I can’t fix because they won’t man a parts distribution center,” he said.

National Association of Auto Dealers President and CEO Mike Stanton said: “Dealers don’t want to see anything to limit our potential to serve customers, so we certainly hope automakers and the UAW can reach an agreement quickly and amicably.”

The UAW had been expected to expand their strike by shutting down plants that made the highest-profit vehicles, such as pickup trucks. But automakers have built up vehicle inventory and for many dealers problems with repairs will start soon.

“It’s definitely going to impact customers,” said Thomas Morris, 60, who went on strike on Friday at a General Motors parts distribution center in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

The center serves GM dealerships from Pennsylvania to Maine, moving some 30,000 parts for auto repairs each day, workers said.

GM said in a statement the company has “contingency plans for various scenarios” while Stellantis said it was awaiting a response from UAW to their “competitive offer” on Thursday and looking forward to a “productive engagement”.

Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said the UAW had made a smart move.

“I think it is a great strategy going after the distribution centers,” he added. Services are big business, he said. “That’s how they make a lot of their money.”

Brad Sowers, the CEO of Jim Butler Auto Group which owns the largest Chevrolet dealership in St.Louis, Missouri, said if a deal is not inked in 60 days he’ll be upset, even though he had the foresight to load up on parts in anticipation of the strike.

“I just want them to get together and get it done,” he said.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco and Doyinsola Oladipo in New York and Jarrett Renshaw in Pennyslvania; editing by Peter Henderson and Shri Navaratnam)