STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF ERIE I, Darlene Porter, duly swear that I am employed with The Buffalo News, a newspaper publication based in Buffalo, New York, as the Multimedia Major Account Executive and further swear that the Next Era Energy insertion ran in The Buffalo News on the following date(s): Date(s): January 30, 2019 February 6, 2019 Signature Sworn to before me on this 11th day of February 2019 Notary Signature BARBARA ANNE JUZWtAK Notary Public:, Stata of~ffe;;~ Appeinted In Ntagara My CommlSSion Expires ' The Buffalo News/Wednesday, January 30, 2019 A3 National News Trek across border veers migrants into more remote terrain By Simon Romero expanding it to crossings in Arizona, and Caitlin Dickerson New Mexico and Texas. Taken together, these moves effec- NEW YORK TIMES tively have forced some Central Amer- ANTELOPE WELLS, N.M. – The ican migrants to wait for months to Border Patrol’s tiny base in the south- apply for asylum, sometimes sleeping west corner of New Mexico is so re- on the street or in crowded shelters in mote that the wind howls through the Mexican border cities. surrounding basin where jaguars still Frustrated and increasingly des- stalk their prey. perate, thousands of families have But that hasn’t stopped thousands lately been opting to pay smugglers to of Central Americans from journey- take them to remote border stations ing in recent weeks to the rural out- where they can surrender quickly to post and other isolated points along U.S. officials and hope to be allowed the Southwest border, launching in- to remain in the United States while creasingly desperate bids for asylum their asylum claims are processed. in the United States. In December, which saw a record In a two-day span in January, 362 number of families arriving at the migrants surrendered to the Border border, 27,518 migrants traveling in Patrol in Antelope Wells, overwhelm- families were apprehended in areas ing the small base’s capacity to pro- outside normal border stations. The El cess asylum requests. Last week, a Paso sector, which includes the sud- New York Times new group of 306 migrants arrived at denly busy area of rural New Mexico, Landscape near the port of entry between Columbus, N.M., and Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico. the same location, including children saw a 1,866 percent increase in fam- Increasing numbers of migrant families have been appearing at remote, more dangerous border crossings. in need of immediate medical care – a ily apprehensions during October and situation officials in New Mexico say November of 2018, compared with the is without precedent. same period a year earlier. curity, laid blame on the federal gov- Jose Romero, a supervisory agent a handful of agents are deployed here Prompting these trips to ever- Pushing migrants toward remote ernment having to comply with the in the Border Patrol’s sector that over- for weeklong assignments. more-remote border locations are desert locations puts them at high- Flores agreement, a 1997 legal settle- sees operations in New Mexico, of- At another remote point to the not only the nearly 700 miles of bor- er risk of dehydration, heatstroke or ment aimed at preventing lengthy de- fered another explanation, claiming west in Arizona, the Border Patrol der wall and fencing built since 2006, hypothermia. Most are choosing the tentions of migrant children, and sub- that Mexican cannabis smugglers reported that 376 migrants had tun- but the Trump administration’s in- more dangerous crossing routes be- sequent legislation codifying parts of were trying to distract agents in the neled through the sandy soil under creasingly rigid immigration policies cause they have been foreclosed from the settlement into federal law. field by flooding remote stations with the border fence near Yuma earlier aimed at deterring the flow of mi- seeking asylum at the more widely “We continue to call on Congress asylum-seekers. this month and then surrendered to grant families that have streamed in traveled border crossings, said Fer- to address this humanitarian and se- “Our adversary is no idiot,” Rome- agents. The group ranks among the from Mexico since 2014. nando Garcia, director of the Border curity crisis that entices smugglers ro said, adding that while agents were largest groups of families and unac- Over the past year, the govern- Network for Human Rights in El Paso. to bring families across the border,” arresting 247 migrants in Antelope companied children ever arrested on ment has limited the number of asy- “How else to explain the desperation Waldman said. Wells one January day, traffickers the border with Mexico. lum-seekers who are allowed to pres- of thousands of people making it to Border Patrol officials have put were trying to smuggle hundreds of The grim cost of U.S. immigration ent their cases each day at certain the middle of nowhere just so they can forward various theories about why pounds of marijuana across the bor- policies is hardly new. Law enforce- ports of entry, stationed agents on surrender to Border Patrol?” crossings at remote locations are der in another location. “Now they ment authorities have found the re- bridges to turn asylum-seekers away Trump administration officials climbing that have nothing to do with know where our weak spots are.” mains of about 8,000 migrants who and launched tear gas at migrants at- have argued that the new policies are the administration’s policies. At the end of a 45-mile road from have died while crossing the border tempting to cross the border near San an attempt to discourage migrants Kevin McAleenan, commissioner the decaying hamlet of Hachita that with Mexico since the 1990s. And Diego. The administration went even from attempting the dangerous trips of Customs and Border Protection, runs through grazing lands dotted while undetected illegal border cross- further last week, announcing that it through Mexico, where they are vul- said in a conference call with report- with creosote bushes, the Border Pa- ings have fallen sharply over the past would start requiring some asylum- nerable to extortion and human traf- ers in December that smugglers could trol has maintained a small presence decade, hundreds of migrants die seekers to wait in Mexico while their ficking. Officials contend that exist- be trying to hold down the transit fees at Antelope Wells for decades. A sign making the attempt each year. At applications are processed, which can ing legislation encourages parents to they pay to other criminal organiza- says the base is open from 10 a.m. to least 413 migrants were found dead take years. Officials plan to imple- bring children along on the journey. tions with sway in northern Mexico by 4 p.m. The population of Antelope along the border in 2018, according ment the new policy at the San Ysidro Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman dropping migrants near remote loca- Wells, once 2, sometimes soars into to a preliminary count by the Inter- border crossing near San Diego before for the Department of Homeland Se- tions like Antelope Wells. the high single digits when more than national Organization for Migration. Navy veterans from Vietnam era STATEOFNEW YORK PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION CASE 18-T-0499 -Application of NextEraEnergy Transmission New York, Inc. win Agent Orange benefits case for aCertificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need Pursuant to Article VII of the Public Service Law for the Construction of a20Mile 345 Kilovolt Transmission Line Located in the Town of Royalton, NiagaraCounty, and the Towns of Alden, Newstead, By Ann E. Marimow Lancaster,and Elma in Erie County. WASHINGTON POST WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court NOTICE OF INFORMATION FORUMS AND PUBLIC STATEMENT HEARINGS (Issued January15, 2019) in Washington sided Tuesday with thousands Public comment is sought on arequest by NextEra EnergyTransmission New York, Inc. (NEETNY), to of Vietnam War veterans who were stationed construct and operate the Empire State Line Project (ESL Project), a345-kilovolt (kV) transmission line offshore during the war, and developed health and associated switchyards in the town of Royalton in Niagara County and the towns of Alden, Newstead, problems linked to exposure to the toxic herbi- Lancaster,and Elma in Erie County. If the request is granted, NEETNY would be authorized to construct cide Agent Orange. and operate anew,approximately20-mile long transmission line; anew 345 kV switchyard (Dysinger The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Cir- Switchyard) in Niagara County; and asecond, new switchyard (East Stolle Switchyard) in Erie County. cuit ruled 9 to 2 for these sailors, finding they are The 20-mile long transmission line would be built in an existing utility corridor,owned by New York State eligible for the same disability benefits as those Electric and Gas Corporation, and would connect the proposed Dysinger and East Stolle Switchyards who put boots on the ground or patrolled Viet- to each other.Two setsoftransmission lines, about 0.5 and 0.4 miles long, respectively, also would be nam’s inland rivers. constructed to connect the new switchyards to already existing transmission lines. The 9-to-2 decision reverses a decade-old Please takenotice thatopportunities forpublic information and comment regarding NEETNY’s request ruling by the court and applies to an estimated will be provided as follows: 52,000 veterans nationwide. A court majority Date: Wednesday, February 13, 2019 said Congress clearly intended to extend bene- Washington Post Location: AldenTown Hall -Auditorium 3311Wende Road Alden, NewYork fits to sailors who were stationed in the territo- Mike Yates is one of the “blue water” Navy Times: 2:30PMand 6:30 PM -InformationForums, 3:00 PM and7:00 PM -PublicStatement Hearings rial seas and are known as “blue water” Navy veterans who served on ships off the coast veterans.