India’s Enforcement Directorate reports they are investigating alleged links between dozens of colleges in Canada and entities in Mumbai accused of illegally trafficking Indian students across the Canada-U.S. border.

A multi-city search has turned up incriminating proof of human trafficking, according to the Enforcement Directorate, a multidisciplinary agency that looks into money laundering and foreign currency regulations.

Following the discovery of 39-year-old Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, his wife, and two children dead on January 19, 2022, close to a border crossing between Manitoba and the United States, Indian officials said they began their investigation.

Steve Shand of Florida and Harshkumar Patel, an Indian national who was apprehended in Chicago, were convicted guilty of four counts of human trafficking last month by a Minnesota jury for bringing illegal immigrants into the country for financial gain.

According to the prosecution, Shand was a driver responsible for picking up 11 Indian migrants on the Minnesota side of the border, while Harshkumar Patel oversaw a complex operation. Seven people made it via the foot crossing.

Later that morning, the RCMP discovered the Patel family dead from the cold.

Canada’s Student Visa Program

This week, Indian authorities opened an inquiry after a complaint was made against Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel for allegedly organizing the family’s trip. According to officials, each family member should have paid between $93,000 and $102,000 to enter the United States from Canada.

According to the Enforcement Directorate, Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel allegedly assisted Indian people in obtaining student visas by arranging their admission to Canadian universities.

Once in Canada, the individuals crossed the U.S.-Canada border illegally rather than enrolling in college. After that, the money paid for the college entrance was given back.

The Enforcement Directorate reported one entity referred over 25,000 students, while another institution referred over 10,000 students annually to different colleges. The people trafficking scheme is associated with over 112 Canadian colleges.

The announcement of the Indian probe coincides with diplomatic difficulties with India, a federal reconsideration of international student policy, and border security issues with the United States.

Threats from Trump

If the Trudeau administration does not adequately combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to levy tariffs on Canadian goods.

Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s new finance minister, and Mélanie Joly, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, visited Florida on Thursday to discuss trade and border security with the incoming U.S. president.

Before that, in October (new window), Canada expelled six Indian ambassadors on charges that they had used their position to gather information about Canadians and then given it to criminal gangs, who then went after the individuals directly.

Canada also claimed at the time that India’s home affairs minister had directed intelligence-gathering activities (new window) against Sikh separatists who wanted to separate India into an independent nation of Khalistan.

Source: The Press in Canada

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(VOR News) – Federal officials said on Friday that the United States experienced a significant rise in homelessness this year, totaling 18.1%, mostly attributed to a lack of affordable housing, severe natural disasters, and an influx of migrants in various areas of the country.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that federally mandated counts conducted nationwide in January indicated that over 770,000 individuals were categorized as homeless;

However, this statistic does not account for certain individuals or those residing with friends or family due to a lack of personal housing. This increase follows a 12% rise in 2023, which HUD ascribed to the cessation of pandemic assistance and soaring rents.

In 2023, newly homeless individuals also contributed to a surge in homelessness.

The data reveals that 23 per 10,000 Americans are homeless, with a disproportionately elevated rate of Black individuals affected by homelessness.

HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman asserted that the focus must remain on “evidence-based initiatives to prevent and eradicate homelessness,” emphasizing that “no American should experience homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to guaranteeing that every family has access to affordable, safe, and quality housing.”

A roughly 40% rise in family homelessness, significantly affected by the surge of migrants in major urban areas, was among the most concerning trends.

HUD reports that family homelessness rose by under 8% in 373 towns, while it more than quadrupled in 13 communities affected by migration, including Denver, Chicago, and New York City. In 2024, around 150,000 children experienced homelessness on a single night, representing a 33% rise compared to the prior year.

The rise in the number was also affected by calamities, notably the catastrophic Maui wildfire that transpired last year, marking the deadliest wildfire in the United States in nearly a century. During the census night, more than 5,200 individuals were accommodated in emergency shelters in Hawaii.

Renee Willis, the incoming interim CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, stated that “the tragic, yet foreseeable, result of insufficient investment in the resources and protections that assist individuals in securing and sustaining safe, affordable housing is a rise in homelessness.”

“The incidence is increasing as individuals grapple with exorbitant housing expenses, as cautioned by advocates, researchers, and those with firsthand experience.”

These statistics support more communities cracking down on homelessness.

Communities, especially in Western states, have started implementing camping regulations in response to the often perilous and unsanitary tent encampments.

This follows the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision last year that banning outdoor camping does not contravene the Eighth Amendment. Proponents for the homeless said that penalizing individuals in need of shelter would render homelessness a criminal offense.

Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End, stated, “The reduction in veteran homelessness provides a definitive framework for tackling homelessness more broadly.”

We can replicate this success and reduce homelessness nationwide with bipartisan backing, adequate funding, and strategic policy measures. Federal investments are crucial to tackling the nation’s housing affordability crisis and ensuring that all Americans have access to secure, stable housing.

The population of homeless individuals has effectively diminished in several major urban areas.

Dallas’ systemically changing homeless population dropped 16% from 2022 to 2024.

Since 2023, unsheltered  in Los Angeles has diminished by 5%, resulting in an increase in housing availability for the homeless.

The highest population of homeless individuals in the United States is located in California, the most populous state, followed by New York, Washington, Florida, and Massachusetts.

The United States has had almost a decade of success, which stands in stark contrast to the significant increase in homelessness observed in the past two years.

According to the original 2007 research, the United States made steady progress in reducing homelessness for approximately a decade, with the government particularly focusing on increasing money to assist veterans in securing housing. From 2010 to 2017, the population of homeless individuals declined from about 637,000 to approximately 554,000.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress implemented emergency rental assistance, stimulus money, support for states and local governments, and a temporary eviction moratorium, resulting in a modest increase to approximately 580,000 in the 2020 figure, which remained relatively consistent over the subsequent two years.

SOURCE: USN

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Revolver News Carves Out a Distinctive Space for Itself

Blake Lively’s claims that director and co-star Justin Baldoni launched a smear campaign against her have been supported by a new lawsuit filed by Baldoni’s former publicist.

Stephanie Jones, who has been representing Baldoni since 2017, filed the case on Tuesday in New York State Court in Manhattan.

According to the report, the actor and his film production firm, Wayfarer, extended their deal in 2020, agreeing to a $25,000 monthly fee.

The lawsuit said that Baldoni, 40, and Wayfarer teamed up with publicists last August, when the film was released, to try to “bury” and “destroy” Lively, fearing that reports of misogynistic and toxic on-set behavior while filming the love drama would ruin his reputation and career.

Jones requested unspecified damages from the defendants, including Jennifer Abel, a former employee who she claims was behind the campaign to harm Blake Lively and tarnish Jones’ reputation.

The lawsuit claims that Abel was fired after Jones discovered on August 21, 2024, that Abel had “stolen more than 70 proprietary and sensitive business documents and additional client leads” from Jones Works as she prepared to leave the firm to start her own publicity company, with Baldoni and Wayfarer as clients.

The lawsuit also claims that Abel collaborated with Melissa Nathan, a crisis management professional who previously represented actor Johnny Depp, in an attempt to influence and control media information damaging to Blake Lively and Jones.

Numerous text conversations included in the case were recovered from Abel’s corporate phone, which she returned to Jones Works after being fired, the Associated Press reported.

In response to a request for comment on Wednesday, Abel forwarded an email with screenshots of text communications between herself and Jones, as well as a July 26 email she sent to Jones, two weeks after declaring her intention to leave the company on August 23, 2024, during a Zoom call.

In the email, she said, in part: “I know this journey will not be easy, but I wish to keep you in my life as a mentor, friend, and close confidant because I honestly consider you family and would be lost without your support.

I want to assure you that, unlike others who have burnt you in the past, there is no ill will here.

She said further: “I have left a company before with grace and with my relationships intact, and that’s what I fully plan on, and hope for.”

Blake Lively, 37, filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department last week, a step that frequently precedes the filing of a lawsuit, alleging that Baldoni sought to harm her reputation after Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds addressed “repeated sexual harassment” by Baldoni and a film producer.

Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its reps, described the charges in Lively’s filing as “completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious.”

He denied Blake Lively’s claims of a planned effort, stating that the studio “proactively” employed a crisis manager “due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production.”

A message addressed to Freedman on Wednesday seeking comment on Jones’ lawsuit was not immediately returned.

“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s popular 2016 novel, defied box office estimates with a $50 million launch and eventual sales of $350 million.

Baldoni appeared in the telenovela parody “Jane the Virgin,” directed “Five Feet Apart,” and penned “Man Enough,” a book that challenges traditional ideals of masculinity.

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