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Migrant families separated under Trump still feel fallout, fear his return

Washington — Billy’s friends don’t know he was one of thousands of children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border under then-President Donald Trump’s zero tolerance immigration policy. 

At their rural high school in the South, where Billy plays football and soccer, the 16-year-old doesn’t talk about what he went through — that his father was told six years ago that Billy was being given up for adoption and feared he would never see his son again. 

With the United States on the verge of an election that could put Trump back in office, Billy wants people to know that what happened to him and several thousand other children reverberates still. Some families have not been reunited, and many of those together in the U.S. have temporary status and fear a victorious Trump carrying out promised mass deportations. 

“It was a very painful thing that happened to us,” said Billy, who was 9 at the time. He did not want his full name or the state he lives in to be identified for fear of endangering his family’s asylum application. 

Trump has made his immigration views central to his campaign, accusing the Biden administration and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, of failing to secure the southern border. Harris has not made immigration a campaign focus but has raised Trump’s zero tolerance policy, one of his most contentious immigration actions as president. 

The Trump administration aimed to criminally prosecute all adults coming across the border illegally. Parents were separated from their children, who were transferred to shelters nationwide. 

Trump and his campaign did not say specifically whether he would revive the practice if he wins on Nov. 5, though he has previously defended it. 

“President Trump will restore his effective immigration policies, implement brand new crackdowns that will send shockwaves to all the world’s criminal smugglers, and marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history,” Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s press secretary, said. 

The Harris campaign held an event this month featuring children who were separated from their families, aiming to draw attention to Trump’s policies. 

Billy, who spoke at the event, is part of a group of children who are sharing their stories in short social media videos to highlight the policy. Billy and his father also visited lawmakers in Washington. 

Billy told The Associated Press that even though he doesn’t usually talk about his experiences, he and the others are “making sure that we raise our voices and that we share our stories” so something like this never happens again. 

Most of the families who were separated years ago are in legal limbo, their immigration status in doubt. Under a settlement announced last year between families and the Biden administration, the families have two years to apply for asylum under a more favorable process. 

As the election nears, advocates say they have heard from families who were separated expressing fears about Trump, if elected, making good on promises to deport millions of people. 

A 2023 settlement bars future administrations from using family separation as a widespread policy until 2031. But advocates have concerns. 

Christie Turner-Herbas, senior adviser with Kids in Need of Defense, said she worries about exceptions to the policy being exploited and says there has to be political will to enforce the settlement. 

The Trump administration’s policy deviated from the general practice of keeping families with children together when they come to the southern border. 

The goal was to dissuade people by criminally prosecuting everyone who crossed the border. For families, parents were prosecuted. Kids, who cannot be held in custody, were treated as unaccompanied minors and transferred to shelters. 

After an outcry, Trump said on June 20, 2018, that he was ending the policy. Six days later, a judge ordered the government to reunite the families, thousands of whom had been separated. Agencies kept poor records, making it difficult to reunite families. Many parents were deported, complicating things even more. 

When Democrat Joe Biden became president, he created a task force to reunite families. Building on efforts by groups that had sued the Trump administration, the task force identified about 5,000 children were separated, and about 1,400 aren’t confirmed to be reunited with their families. 

Some are in the process. Others are believed to have reunited in the U.S. but aren’t coming forward, possibly fearing government interaction. For others, no valid contact information exists, so the search continues. 

The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought a lawsuit against the Trump administration that helped end family separation, puts the number of separated children closer to 5,500. 

Lee Gelernt, lead counsel in that lawsuit, said the ACLU estimates that as many as 1,000 families are still apart. 

Families and separated children have struggled with the fallout. 

For 22-year-old Efrain, there was guilt. Efrain said his father didn’t want to bring him to the U.S. in 2018, but he pushed for it. When they were eventually separated, Efrain wondered whether it would have been better if his father had been alone. 

His father was sent back to Guatemala. Efrain, who didn’t want his full name used because he fears the repercussions, was placed in a shelter for unaccompanied children for roughly five months. 

Three years later, they reunited at the Atlanta airport. Ever since, Efrain says he’s been trying to make up for lost time. He says he struggles with anxiety and loneliness, echoing the isolation he felt after being separated from his father. 
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Vietnamese Americans in California turn to politics to address local, national concerns

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Chinese hackers breach parts of US telecom system, target Trump, Harris campaigns

washington — Hackers linked to the Chinese government have broken into parts of the U.S. telecommunications system in a breach that might be connected to an attempt to access data from the presidential campaigns of Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.  

The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency late Friday said they were investigating “unauthorized access” to commercial telecommunications infrastructure, attributing the attack to Chinese-affiliated actors.

The agencies said they immediately notified affected companies once the breach was detected and had offered assistance, though there might be additional victims.

“The investigation is ongoing, and we encourage any organization that believes it might be a victim to engage its local FBI field office or CISA,” the statement said.

“Agencies across the U.S. government are collaborating to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses across the commercial communications sector,” it added.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington dismissed the U.S. hacking allegations as disinformation, calling the U.S. “the origin and the biggest perpetrator of cyberattacks.”

“For some time, the U.S. has compiled and spread all kinds of disinformation about the so-called Chinese hacking threats,” said embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu in an email to VOA.

“China’s position is consistent and clear,” he said. “China firmly opposes and combats cyberattacks and cyber theft in all forms.”

Word of the breach linked to China followed a report by The New York Times on Friday that Chinese hackers are thought to have broken into telecommunications networks to target the Trump campaign.

People familiar with the investigation told the Times that the Chinese hackers specifically looked to access data from phones used by Trump and his running mate, Republican Senator JD Vance.

Separately, a person familiar with the investigation told VOA that people affiliated with the campaign of Vice President Harris were also targeted. 

Investigators are still trying to determine what data the hackers were able to get, if any, and whether the hackers could listen in on conversations in real time.  

The FBI declined to comment on the Trump and Harris campaign breaches.

In a statement shared with VOA, the Trump campaign acknowledged the breach and blamed Harris for letting it happen.

“This is the continuation of election interference by Kamala Harris and Democrats who will stop at nothing, including emboldening China and Iran attacking critical American infrastructure, to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House,” said Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign communications director.

“Their dangerous and violent rhetoric has given permission to those who wish to harm President Trump,” Cheung added.

The Trump campaign did not respond to questions asking for more details on how Harris or her campaign enabled the Chinese hack.

The Harris campaign has yet to respond to VOA’s request for comment.

U.S. intelligence agencies have warned for months that foreign adversaries have been using a combination of cyberattacks and influence operations to meddle with the November 5 U.S. presidential election.

According to a declassified intelligence assessment issued this week, “foreign actors — particularly Russia, Iran and China — remain intent on fanning divisive narratives to divide Americans and undermine Americans’ confidence in the U.S. democratic system consistent with what they perceive to be in their interests.”

It further warned that Russia and Iran were formulating plans to spark election-related violence.

In addition, reports issued this week by private cybersecurity firms likewise indicated a significant uptick in activity by actors linked to Russia, China and Iran.

All three nations have repeatedly denied accusations of election meddling.

And while U.S. intelligence officials assess there is little agreement among the three countries on the desired outcomes of the presidential election — Russia is said to want a Trump win, Iran is said to be rooting for Harris, and China sees both as equally bad — the Trump campaign has become a frequent target of attacks.

Last month, the U.S. Justice Department charged three Iranian hackers tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in connection with a hack-and-leak operation seeking to undermine Trump’s reelection bid.

U.S. intelligence officials have also accused Iran of trying to ensnare the campaign of current U.S. President Joe Biden before he stepped down in favor of Harris.

But U.S. security officials have been even more leery of China.

U.S. agencies, led by CISA and the FBI, have been warning that China-linked hackers have burrowed into U.S. computer systems and networks, in some case hiding for years.

The China-linked group, known as Volt Typhoon, has been “positioning itself to launch destructive cyberattacks that would jeopardize the physical safety of Americans,” according to an advisory issued in February.

“What we’ve found to date is likely the tip of the iceberg,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement at the time.
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Republican candidate for VP credits his grandmother, Kentucky roots

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Handful of races across US to decide control of Senate

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What makes Nevada a ‘pure battleground’ state

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New evidence China, Russia and Iran targeting US elections

WASHINGTON — There is new evidence China, Iran and Russia are aggressively expanding their efforts to influence American voters to potentially sway the result of the upcoming U.S. elections.

Two threat intelligence reports Wednesday, one from software giant Microsoft and the other from the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, detail growing activity by cyber actors linked to each country — all aiming to impact U.S. public perceptions with less than two weeks before voters go to the polls.

The biggest change, according to Microsoft, comes from Chinese-linked actors known to researchers as Spamouflage or Taizi Flood.

“Chinese influence operations have recently taken a new turn, shifting focus to several down-ballot candidates and members of Congress,” Microsoft said, noting that starting in September, China has targeted at least four prominent Republican lawmakers, all of whom are known critics of the government in Beijing.

Most recently, the Chinese-linked accounts targeted Texas Republican Michael McCaul, accusing the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee of “abusing power for personal gain.” 

Late last month, other Spamouflage began going after Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, Microsoft said. And earlier this month, the same effort began promoting Blackburn’s opponent in the November 5 election.

Other targets include Alabama Republican Representative Barry Moore, who was subjected to content criticizing his support for Israel, and the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Marco Rubio, who was accused of corruption.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington rejected the allegations in the Microsoft report.

“The presidential elections are the United States’ domestic affairs,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu told VOA Wednesday, echoing previous Chinese denials. 

“Such allegations are full of malicious speculations against China, which China firmly opposes,” he added.

U.S. lawmakers, however, said they were not surprised by the uptick in malign activity.

“The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] cannot stand anyone who supports and gives a voice to those they oppress; their response is to sanction and attack,” McCaul said in a statement to VOA. 

“I consider it a badge of honor when the CCP — a leading abuser of human rights, censor of free speech, and oppressor of its own people — takes issue with my work,” he said. 

Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for the Chinese influence efforts to “be taken very seriously.”

“China is becoming increasingly more aggressive,” Rubio said in a statement to VOA. “China’s goal is to shape American opinion on critical issues and target specific candidates, especially those they view as anti-China.”

Growing threats

The reports from Microsoft and Recorded Future warn Beijing is not alone.

Specifically, the reports caution the Russian-linked cyber actors, known to researchers as Storm-1679 or Operation Overload, have increased their pace of operations over the past month and a half and are showing signs that more influence operations are on the way.

“Operation Overload is very likely to ramp up its activities,” said the Recorded Future report.

Recorded Future said many of the Russian efforts, of late, have sought to provoke anger toward the LGBTQ+ community “using disinformation to perpetuate discriminatory beliefs around transgender individuals, perceived behavioral issues, gender transition and reassignment surgeries, and pharmaceutical treatments.”

Other influence operations, the report said, are making use of AI-generated voiceovers to emulate the style of U.S. broadcast journalists.

Microsoft said the Russian cyber actors also have found ways to reach additional U.S. voters by shifting much of the content from the Telegram social media platform to X.

“Storm-1679 videos posted to X received higher levels of engagement,” Microsoft said.

Microsoft researchers also warned there are signs Iran is also ramping up its election interference efforts.

The Microsoft report says that in one instance, less than two weeks ago, “an online persona operated by Iran began falsely posing as an American and called on Americans to boycott the elections due to both candidates’ support for Israel’s military operations.”

Russia and Iran, like China, have repeatedly denied any involvement in efforts to meddle with the U.S. election.

But the new findings from Microsoft and Recorded Future align with assessments from U.S. intelligence officials.

“Foreign actors — particularly Russia, Iran and China — remain intent on fanning divisive narratives to divide Americans and undermine Americans’ confidence in the U.S. democratic system consistent with what they perceive to be in their interests,” according to a declassified assessment issued Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

U.S. intelligence officials have previously said Russia has been working to boost the chances of former president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump, while Iran has been working to hurt Trump’s reelection bid and instead buoy the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

And while there is little evidence to suggest China has sought to affect the U.S. presidential race, intelligence officials have said Beijing has been focusing its efforts on congressional and state and local candidates perceived to be promoting policies detrimental to Beijing’s interests.
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US Justice Department warns Musk’s super PAC over $1 million giveaways

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department has sent a letter to Elon Musk’s super PAC warning that the billionaire Tesla CEO’s $1 million giveaways may violate federal law, several media organizations reported on Wednesday, citing people briefed on the matter.

A letter from the department’s public integrity section, which investigates potential election-related law violations, went to the PAC.

The Justice Department and Musk’s America PAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

South African-born Musk, who has thrown his support behind Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump ahead of the November 5 election, announced on Saturday while speaking before a crowd in Pennsylvania that he was giving away $1 million each day until Election Day to someone who signs his online petition supporting the U.S. Constitution.

He handed $1 million checks to two separate people over the weekend — one to a man in Harrisburg on Saturday and another to a woman in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Musk, ranked by Forbes as the world’s richest person, so far has supplied at least $75 million to America PAC, according to federal disclosures, making the group a crucial part of Trump’s bid to regain the White House.
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